The Aftermath Foundation: An Update
Lady Atheist
by Unknown
1w ago
Shortly after my previous post about the Aftermath Foundation, they announced new board members, and people working on the short-lived billboard project have spoken out. The new board members include British apostate Jon Atack, who left Scientology in 1983 and wrote one of the must-reads about Scientology, A Piece of Blue Sky and interviews people on his YouTube channel, "jon atack, family and friends," Phil Jones, whose self-funded "Call Me" billboard campaign, inspired this year's billboard, and Stefani Hutchinson a "never-in," (a term coined by YouTube commentators when the SPTV moveme ..read more
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The Aftermath Foundation: Ex-Scientologists Setting an Example for other Ex-Cultists
Lady Atheist
by Unknown
1w ago
A few ex-scientologists who were featured on Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath have set up a foundation to raise funds for the work they were already doing to help Sea Organization members (the equivalent of priests and monks) to escape the cult.  For those in the main facilities, life is extremely circumscribed:  they have no access to the internet or libraries, many have no high school diplomas (or have even gone to high school), they live and eat communally, and they are paid a very tiny stipend as "religious volunteers."  They have almost no ability to live on the ..read more
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Happy Birthday, L. Ron Hubbard
Lady Atheist
by Unknown
2w ago
L. Ron Hubbard, (all informational links in the post go to Wikipedia pages unless otherwise specified) founder of the "church" of Scientology, would be 113 today.  Scientology has a few annual celebrations, and the anniversary of the birth of "LRH" is one of them.  (This is a bit odd, because Scientology believes in past lives and the eternal nature of the spirit, or "thetan," so every day is probably at least one birthday for him.)  Hubbard died, or "dropped his body" in 1986, and may or may not be spreading the good news of Scientology on another planet, a.k.a. "Target Two ..read more
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Twelve Questions in Genesis
Lady Atheist
by LadyAtheist
2y ago
Some Questions about the Creation Story as told in Genesis: How could there be days before the Sun was made?  (Gen 1:3 vs. Gen 1:14-18) How could there be plants before there were night and day?  (Gen. 1:11-16) God made the Sun, the Moon and the Stars but not planets?  Where are the planets?  (Gen 1:14-19) If God is all-powerful why did he need a day of rest?  (Gen 2:2) Why aren't microscopic plants and animals mentioned? Why did God make livestock and then tell Adam & Eve to eat only plants?  (Gen 1:24; Gen 1:29) Why does Chapter 2 have a different version ..read more
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Eugenie Scott profiled in the New York Times
Lady Atheist
by LadyAtheist
2y ago
She's a true hero in the battle for science education.  Kudos to the New York Times for calling attention to her life and work: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/03/science/eugenie-c-scott-fights-the-teaching-of-creationism-in-schools.html?pagewanted=1&tntemail0=y&_r=2&emc=edit_tnt_20130902& And they also profiled high school students who defended science education ..read more
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August 31 Link Round-Up
Lady Atheist
by LadyAtheist
2y ago
Kitten in a Cup for to Cheer you Up The myth of the teenaged temptress.  "It doesn't matter if a young girl is saying yes, it's an adult man's job to say no."  (Blog post in response to the judge who gave a teacher a slap on the wrist in a rape case involving a 14-year-old student who subsequently committed suicide.  The judge basically blamed the victim in his statement) Employers are not accommodating diverse religions, but evangelicals have no problem expressing themselves at work, unlike others.  Wow.  Surprise. A new film, God Loves Uganda, documents the ..read more
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August 24 Link Round-up
Lady Atheist
by LadyAtheist
2y ago
Rationalist assassinated in India. Wow. Just. Wow. Anti-vaxxer Texas megachurch surprises nobody with measles outbreak.  Another example of child abuse in the name of religion! Westboro Baptist Church gets another smack-down from another legal venue.  It seems protests at funerals offend just about everybody everywhere. God tries to smite the creation museum with lightning, misses, only injures one person. Fundamentalist muslim in Australia says "Kill all Buddhists and Hindus."  Religion of peace.  yeah. Religion rakes in $82 billion per year.  Well, if tax subsidi ..read more
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Jerry Coyne on Beluga Whales in Confinement
Lady Atheist
by LadyAtheist
2y ago
My previous post included a link to a recent decision by the NOAA not to grant permission for importation of captured beluga whales.  Although I follow Jerry Coyne's blog, I had forgotten that he had written a touching and passionate blog post about this petition last year: http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/beluga-whales-to-be-captured-jailed/ Apparently, this is one instance when the good guys won.  Perhaps the outcry by Coyne and his readers and other humans with compassion for other sentient beings has turned the tide for these animals. I hope sentient sea mamma ..read more
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On the Ethics of Keeping Animals
Lady Atheist
by LadyAtheist
2y ago
Note: there will be no link round-up today because a couple of blog posts and news items inspired the following post: A recent study found that humans have more empathy for beaten puppies than for human crime victims: Jack Levin  and Arnold Arluke, sociology professors at Northeastern University, used the opinions of 240 men and women, most of whom were white and between the ages of 18-25 (college students), at a large northeastern university (guess which one) who randomly received one of four fictional news articles about; the beating of a one-year-old child, an adult in his thirties, a ..read more
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More Child Abuse in the Name of Religion
Lady Atheist
by LadyAtheist
2y ago
In the local paper today, a Christian couple that starved their children after leaving Muncie to join some cult in Branson, Missouri, are being held to account: http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20130815/NEWS01/308150037/child-neglect According to documents at the time of their arrest, Jason and Amy Doty told police they had moved to Branson, Mo., in March 2012 “to follow a church ministry there.” While there, the family ran through its savings; the parents acknowledged they would go without feeding the children for two to four days at a time, and had noticed them losing weight but did not ..read more
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