Idiocy is contagious as Penuel Mnguni learns from Lesego Daniel

In the past I have mentioned Pastor Lesego Daniel, who now apparently is Prophet, who got members of his congregation to drink gasoline which he magically made into Pineapple juice.

Well, apparently not to be outdone one of his understudies Pastor Penuel Mnguni has gone and made some of his congregations members strip naked. Now, while this is in South Africa I should note that this incident occurred at night in an outdoor meeting, where the temperature can drop below 10 degrees Celsius or even get below zero. Obviously, this sadist did not think it was cold enough as he then commanded the temperature to decrease into snow weather. Just a heads up, it did not start snowing so I gather his delusions of grandeur did not work. Not surprisingly the fact that he could not command the weather did not perturb his flock who carried on being the good sheep they are as they stripped down. Now, while I wish I could say this was all it is not. This fool then went and sat on his naked church members, which is bizarre and shows the true sadistic domineering nature of this retard. If you want to see some pictures of how cold it was you can go to the End Times Ministeries Disciples Facebook page and see for yourself. Or, if you follow the first newspaper link, you can see a photo of this pastor sitting on his congregation.

I have said this before, and I will say it again now, this needs to be stopped. How long will the government allow this to continue before someone dies? Making people drink petrol, eat grass and strip naked are all forms of abuse by sadists that want to dominate and hurt. That the government can not see this happening goes a long way in showing that they honestly do not care. Yet should we be surprised when politicians and judges unabashedly say that Christians should lead the country. To those people that believe religion does not create problems as its personal, to you I say think again.

Bibleman or Thor you choose

So who is Bibleman? Well let me explain, he is a Christian who thinks the Bible is awesome and goes around the world getting rid of evil. It involves those virtues of beatings, with the use of light sabers, as all good Christians should be doing. In other words he is your average superhero Christian, or watch the short Promo video of the show Bibleman and let him explain himself.  So basically, Bibleman is pretty much like the Avengers with all the good parts taken out.

Now while Bibleman is no Thor or Hulk, he can do other cool things like sing and teach you moral lessons from the Bible. Honestly, its just too easy to take cheap shots at Bibleman and for this reason I am going to keep this post short. I think the fact that the first time I ever heard about Bibleman was this year and this goes a long way in showing how highly popular this ten year old series is. In fact it has been lambasted by comedians in England during the You Have Been Watching show.

Bibleman, is unique in that it shows what is so great about Christianity. Or to put it more simply, it shows that Christianity is a great laugh if you are rational. The problem is that there are people that actually believe this tripe. I also have to wonder how any sane adult would subject their child to this, as it is insanely boring (unless you are an atheist who sees it for the comedy it is) and guaranteed to make you Mr unpopular at school when you wear your Bibleman T-shirt and your friends all have their Spiderman T-shirts on.

The rise and rise of Islam

While in South Africa I went with my Sister and Brother to one of the major malls in the area. What struck me can be best summarized by the comment I made to my sister tongue in cheek "Hey, I did not know we came to Pakistan?". Seriously, at the risk that I may be called an Islmaphobe (I do not care) I have never seen so many burqas/hijabs in a public space in South Africa....ever.

Additionally, while driving between the hospital and home I was astounded at the amount of mosques that have risen up. Granted when I was growing up South Africa was mired in Christianity and racism, but that ended over 20 years ago. On top of that, I can only remember ever seeing one mosque in South Africa when I was there 6 years previously. For reference there are no mosques in the city of half a million I live in now.

These visual observations made me realise what people are actually fearing when they see Islam on the rise. Islam is dressed up in the factitious label of peace while most Muslims when pushed would agree that ISIS is actually not doing anything wrong according to the Koran. For me to see Islam on the rise and people leaving their countries of birth to join Islamic terrorist groups in other countries rings a warning signal that this is something we should all be fearing. While Islam may not be dominant in your country today, it could be in the future and next to Christian/Buddhist/Scientology fundamentalists these people are Savages that make Jeffrey Dahmer look like a normal neighbour.

Perhaps it is time that we start challenging Muslims as much as we challenge other religious groups. The only problem I have found is that when you challenge Muslims they are far quicker to mute you or avoid you. I guess there Imams are smarter than the other religions in that they have bred the fear of questioning anything about Islam so far that these people genuinely live in fear of retribution.

Is Evolution Impossible? Seriously Ken?

According to the fine people idiots over at AnswersinGenesis Evolution is not a scientific fact at all. In fact the mantra that we atheists chant "Science has proven evolution is fact." is utterly false. You know that mantra that gets chanted while we sacrifice babies and engage in carnal behaviour on the alters made of fossils put in the ground by our Lord and Saviour Satan. I am adding the layers of heavy sarcasm, as I keep saying the same things so I need to add some colour.

Back on topic, according to AIG we have never ever seen a fish transition into an amphibian. Well turns out that was probably the worst example of a "missing link" ever as in fact we have. Tiktaalik, is an amazing fossil and one that everyone with the Internet knows about. As such, I am not sure why the people at AIG, who have an Internet website, missed the memo.

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Of course this fossil is still impossible as we have never seen DNA mutations add information....except we have. Darn two shot and two misses the Creatards are as sloppy as ever with their "research".

Now while this post may seem like a cheap shot at AIG and other creationists, let me elaborate why I wrote it. This is the best there is, almost every time you debate a creationist the arguments head along the lines of missing links and DNA. These are not arguments, they are lies told by fundamentalists that only have trust in the preachers telling them the lies.Its the worst form of apologetics out there, as it does not even attempt to make a good argument. Instead it uses discredited or pseudo-scientific ideas to support a belief system which has no supporting evidence in the first place. If creationism ever had to take hold as a valid "scientific" theory taught at schools, it would be the biggest layered lie ever sold.

Praise God for his beauty

Christians and other religious believers are always posting their praise God pictures on-line, or in spam, thanking him for the beauty of the world that surrounds us. Just in case you have not been spammed lately, I spam you in the name of Jesus ;)
 

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Now, this whole idea is absurd, as it ignores the reality of beauty being subjective, as well as the minor point that there is zero evidence for a god to thank in the first place. Regardless, I decided to make some praise god pictures for the theistic readers, after all God did give us everything.

To the theists reading this, if this makes you feel sick ask yourself the question "why did God create this?"

The prayer problem....yet again

Prayer does not work, if you rationally think about it and study it (as has been done) you quickly come to this conclusion.

Now, as you may know recently I was in South Africa with my father for a major operation. Luckily, due to the medical teams skill and training the tumour removal was a success. Obviously, this is the beginning point on the road to recovery as he still requires regular check-ups. But so far so good. I would also like to take the chance to say thanks to those that left kind messages.But, that's back-story to what made me chuckle. After the operation, as happens when the religious family members are around, you get claims of God's divine intervention. Its for this reason, that I had more or less the following conversation with a few people.

Believer: See I told you prayer gets answered.
Me: Sorry, I don't understand what you mean.
Believer: I prayed for your father and he survived the operation.
Me: So the skill of the doctors had nothing to do with it.
Believer: Well, God guided their hands and this shows prayer works
(Stunned silence)
Me: You do know I also have Muslim friends right?
Believer: Yes...
Me: They prayed as well, so how do we know that it was your prayer and not theirs? Or simply put why is your god the one that answered this prayer.
Believer: (chuckles)

I think the chuckle sums up the problem. When finally faced with a difficult question the easiest and most unproductive way to handle it is to laugh it off. After all, what does a "god-hating" atheist know.

On a side note, my father is an atheist and he summarily told the religitards to piss off when they somehow got permission to invade the intensive care unit. I say invade as it was not during visiting hours, and it was a group which is against visitation rules of two people per time. Honestly, the only lucky for these religitards, was that he just told them to "piss off". If he was feeling well as I am sure he would have been far more vocal in telling them to get stuffed.

Away for two weeks and wondering why there are still creationists

Its amazing that there is still doubt about the validity of evolution. Seriously though, I have been away for two weeks and when I get back to reading my journal feeds I get news of two astounding evolutionary finds. Let me also note here that this is an almost every week thing, its just that usually when you are exposed to it often you forget how amazing it really is. So in a way being away gave me a new found love for the scientific method that I love so dearly.

The first finding was published in Nature and shows the evolutionary link between eukaryotic cells (we are these types) and prokaryotic (bacteria are these types). This research offers real insight into how bacteria changed into cells that multicellular organisms are made of. In other word it makes the already logical conclusion that we all came from a single cell ancestor a whole lot more logical. Also what is really cool is that the name of this ancestral species is  Lokiarchaeota..... or Loki for short.

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The second study, published in Nature Communications shows yet another link between birds and fossils. Now, while the link between dinosaurs and birds is very well known this study shows that the evolution may have started up to five million years prior to the date previously accepted. Also, theses birds looked a lot more like modern birds than Archaeopetryx, click the Nature Communications link above to see photos of these fossils that will blow your mind. I should not though, that as we know have another transition fossil, all this means is that now we have two gaps instead of one in the fossil record ;)

Then on another note, there was a recent study published in Science about the benefits of vaccines. Amazingly, like every other study, this study has shown that vaccines are really good for you. In fact, if you needed to get the memo that vaccines are good for you then maybe you need a brain transplant. Now, I will say the wording of this manuscript does lead a lot to be desired. But for a basic understanding it is best to consider the words of co-author Jessica Metcalf who said "In other words, if you get measles, three years down the road, you could die from something that you would not die from had you not been infected with measles" so basically a measels infection albeit in a vaccine form is really beneficial.


Maybe, I need to disappear more often.:)

A rant on stupidity and air-planes

I have just got back from a long trip and I feel it necessary to have a rant about stupid people and air-planes. Consider it my cathartic rant to clear my mind and get me over my jet lag faster.

How can anyone in this day and age be so stupid as not to understand airport security. Regardless of whether you think it is correct or not the rules are there and they are to be obeyed to make it easier for all passengers.I can't even count how many people delayed massive security check lines, because they wanted to take their bottle of water, or their favourite pressurized deodorant can, etc. onto the plane through security. I think the graphic below is pretty clear on what you can and cannot take through security checks, so why do stupid or arrogant idiots continue to try?

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Then finally you get through security in minimal time as you are not a blithering idiot who can understand simple signs and rules. But, as you were delayed you are in a rush and you run to your gate and board the plane, all the time wishing that you still had that spare extra ten minutes for that cup of coffee or glass of water you wanted to get before boarding. Thanks idiots.

Then you are on the plane waiting for take off, if only people would put their seats in the take off position, turn of their cellphones,stow their trays away etc. Instead you have to listen to all the stewards running around telling people to either put their bags away, turn their phones off, or fasten their seat belts. Come on people its just not that difficult! And do not think that once they have been told that they actually listen. Granted, the plane will probably take off in most cases anyway, but its simple aviation policies and you are not above the law unless you want to end up on a no fly list.

Lastly, to parents of children and babies. Bring your kids by all means, but try control them and stop the screaming and banging. While you may think its okay to bring your kids up in that free spirited way, its very disrespectful to people that are trying to get some sleep in or finishing a spreadsheet before a business appointment or the like. Remember, not everyone on a plane is going on a holiday trip.

Science shows first world feminism is dead

Feminism is something that bothers me in many ways. To be clear I am an advocate of equality and as such I believe that men and women are equal, just as black and white are equal, just as everyone is equal. However, I cannot and will not endorse feminism in its current first world form as it is no longer about equality, it is truly about putting women in a superior position and that is wrong. I highlight first world feminism, as many women in third world countries still need feminism which is based on equality and not superiority.

That said there are issues relating to sex that are very important that warrant support, and at the same time show that feminism truly is dead. For example in 2014 the US National Institutes of Health introduced a policy that lab mice used for medical tests should be half male and half female. This is a very important policy as male and female have a different response to medicine. As such the institute decided to address an issue which has real world effects, i.e. medicines need to be effective for both sexes and dosages may need to be adjusted based on sex.

Then there is the issue of mice reacting to men and women differently in a study published in 2014. In this study the authors showed that mice stress levels are elevated when men are around compared to women and this results in a painkiller effect. This clearly is important as laboratories need to either be only female, 50/50, or only male for trials as sex is having a demonstrable effect. Additionally, this number needs to be recorded so that other labs can reproduce results accurately by using the same gender makeup.

Lastly, there is a study published this year (2015) which shows that in certain fields women are more likely to be hired than men for tenure track positions by a 2:1 ratio. I think this result is especially telling as if feminism was truly about equality then we would have seen outrage trying to correct this imbalance. But don't listen to me and I quote from PNAS "Our findings, supported by real-world academic hiring data, suggest advantages for women launching academic science careers. "


Honestly, I do not care who a company hires. All I want is a company to be able to hire the best person for the job, as that translates into the best for the society. What feminists, chauvinists, race equality proponents, etc need to do is stop complaining like theists, as the places to hide faulty arguments are no longer existent in a first world society.

Here is JacylynGlenn making fun of first world feminism and addressing more important issues of equality.

The intelligent design is not creationism lie

There is a lie trotted out by the Intelligent Design (ID) camp that ID is not creationism, but that it is in fact a valid scientific field of inquiry. This claim is a bold faced lie, and as I recently got "called out" for referring to ID as creationism I thought I would address this so called slight. After all, I have no problem being wrong, but I know that I am not wrong in drawing this correlation.

So let me delve into the evidence to show that in fact these two ideas are the same.

The first evidence comes from the fact that we have seen creationism evolve into intelligent design. We just need to look at the book Of Pandas and People to see this happening. To quote from the Wikipedia article.
"In drafts of the book, over one hundred uses of the root word "creation," such as "creationism" and "Creation Science," were changed, almost without exception, to "intelligent design," while "creationists" was changed to "design proponents" or, in one instance, "cdesign proponentsists""
The fact that the word "cdesign propenetsists" even exists is evidence that creationism is ID. Anyone that denies that is delusional. This is one reason that my creationist friend (mentioned above) ended the conversation, as the evidence proving them wrong was in their face for everyone to see, and yes it is embarrassing to be wrong.

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But, say we exclude this hard evidence and accept that the ideas of ID have evolved beyond the concepts of creationism. Well, there is one tiny issue with that, all sarcasm intended. If you want to be an IDiot, you need to prove that an Intelligent Designer exists. As far as I am aware, there is zero evidence for the designer/god they are claiming. Its simple really, if you are claiming a scientific theory you need scientific evidence and if your theory is based on a designer you need to prove this designer. If you cannot do this, then you do not have a valid theory. Its so simple that even a two year old could understand it.

Lastly, if you support ID and claim that it is not using the idea of the Christian God and therby further trying to distance yourself form the Creationsim that you embrace. I call you a liar again. As I have written before, the evidence is there that ID is driven by belief in the Christian god. If it was not being driven by Christianity then we would have Muslims, Christians, Jews, Scientologists, Mormons etc all working together and praising a universal designer. However, we do not see this happening at all.

ID is creationism and I am not wrong to equate the two.

Its true, because I believe it

Belief is a strange word really, or should I say strange in the way it is applied in rational versus irrational arguments. For example, scientific beliefs are based on evidence that is verified and reproducible and may not be what you want to hear. While religious beliefs are largely based on heresay and feeling good about yourself. If we want to categorise beliefs based on verifiable evidence purely, we can say rational beliefs are based on this evidence, while irrational beliefs reject this evidence.

The problem is that trying to get irrational believers to understand why rational believers get so inflamed by their idiocy. So, I decided to take another try at it and explain why I believe your irrational thoughts are just that.

Most theists will tell you that they believe in a god, as they feel god is in their heart, or that when they take a deep breathe in the morning that they can see that only a god can have created this world. They believe that their experiences are all evidence that god is real. Those moments of enjoyment, are all subtle hints at the what is assumed to be rational thought. I mean why would we exist if it was not to experience god in all his glory. This is your typical theistic believer.


There are also believers that have intense moments of pleasure in things they deem can only be true. They gaze upon objects and deem them worthy of their attention as they know that they were put there especially for them. They believe we are all mistaken in our interpretation of their beliefs and that we unfairly discriminate against them. When there eyes are filled with objects of their desires they feel an inner calm knowing that this is all that makes sense to them. This is your typical paedophile.

So, does it make sense now why I reject your beliefs?

What happened to rationalwiki?

I never gave RationalWiki much thought  before, as really it is a great resource. However, recently when reading an article there I was amused but also wondering why RationalWiki needed to go and make some snarky comments about people. I mean criticism of a persons ideas is okay, but attacking them personally is different. Although recently I did equate Ken Ham as a zombie, so I am also guilty of snark. But let me give some examples of what I mean.

On the Global warming Denialism page, they have a section entitled "National or international scientific bodies that reject anthropogenic global warming" Under this picture there is the following gif file.

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Now, while this is funny is it necessary? Is it there to enrage? Whats its point in providing rationality except for taking a cheap shot. It is more something I would expect from Encyclopedia Dramatica than RationalWiki. Additionally, as I have written before here, I really think that to equate scientists who agree the climate is warming but disagree on the cause as denialists, is dishonest.

Or how about the fact that Thunderf00t's RationalWiki page is filed under the tag "Someone is Wrong on the Internet". Regardless of how you feel about Thunderf00t the guy is probably one of the more rational people out there in the vlogosphere, so why is he classified as wrong? Apparently, as he dares question feminism this makes him more or less Satan in the eyes of the rational?

Or the page on Rebecca Watson that carried no criticism of her work. In fact her page is remarkably bleak considering she is held as a shining light in some skeptic communiies, and she was a party involved in the Elevatorgate saga, although they do put a "see also" link to it.

So, while I am hesitant to say avoid RationalWiki as it is a good resource, I would say be aware that not everything is so rational on RationalWiki. Like every website they have biases and as a skeptic we should always be aware of this. Lastly, as with Wikipedia, this is a public encyclopedia so there is always the chance that it could contain unverified false information.

What if climate change is real?

I pose this question, not because I do not believe climate change is occurring, not because I do not believe the average global temperature is rising and not because I do not believe man is having an influence. I pose the question, as I think it is something we as humans need to very carefully think about.

The biggest problem about climate change to me is this. We as humans are pretty adept at improvising our environments and we are pretty adept at obtaining resources. However, compared to the other animals on this planet we are pretty darn useless. It is in our capabilities as humans and the innovative ideas we have that we are also exposing ourselves to problems we may not be able to tolerate. For example, about 100 years we did not have air conditioning. It is due to these innovations that we have been able to live in warmer and colder climates. Thereby we have increased our reach and resources available to us. However, without these innovations that would not be possible. Most humans cannot tolerate warm and cold weather even if the temperature swings are not large. So the question arises, what if it gets extreme? We have seen how we respond to massive Hurricanes, with the rebuilding efforts and the stronger storm walls. We have seen how we respond to dwindling food resources, when we go towards commercial farming. But what happens when it is no longer feasible and a whole population gets displaced? Where do they go, or where do they get food when another food producing region likewise ends up as a dessert? BTW, if you are a hippie, you need to face the facts that free range farming is not feasible with the current world population.

One example of the problems climate change can cause has recently been highlighted with Ice Core researchers losing data as the ice cores are no longer stable. While this may not seem like a big issue, it really is as without our history we have no way of understanding our future. It also goes to show this warming is unprecedented, as if it was not these cores would not exist in the first place.

So what will happen with climate change? The honest answer is we have no idea, although the evidence of likelihoods (such as biodiversity loss) is increasing. The question we should be asking is this though, do we want to find out? I realize this is many what if questions and not all solid fact. But we should certainly take time to pause and consider that while other animals may adapt to these changes, we may not be so lucky.