Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
If there was any doubt...
...about what the real motives of the Catholic church are in regards controlling human sexuality, this news item ought to clear them up:
NEW FRANKEN, Wis. - A Catholic priest has removed his church's organist and choir director from her duties saying her sale of sex toys was not "consistent with Church teachings."
Linette Servais, 50, played the organ and sung with the choir for 35 years. Much of her work as choir director and organist was done without pay. When her parish priest asked to meet with her, she thought it was to say thank you.
Instead, she was told to quit her sales job with company known as Pure Romance or she would lose her [unpaid] position in the church.
Yup, can't have people havin' sex unless it's about makin' babies, according to the Vatican.
This is all about control, not God-belief. And that little insight ought to make even the faithful stop and think again about the 'moral authority' of their local Shaman.
Jim Downey
Via BoinBoing.
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Ha
This comment thread is so timely. I just got back from lunch with a super religious baptist girl who was very upset with her friend (who is my friends girl friend) for giving away her secret. The secret was that she cheated on her boyfriend got an std then went back to her boyfriend and didn't want to tell him. She even admitted that she didn't want to talk about it to him because the way she was raised that was something that was simply wrong and nothing more needed to be said, its immoral don't do it. That's all well and good until it happens anyway and now you have no idea how to handle it. Nothing like the atheist teaching the baptist about right and wrong, would surprise most people wouldn't surprise most atheists.
I love the irony of the girls who will take it in the brown-eye so they can stay "pure" until marriage. "Yeah she was a virgin until we consummated our marriage, but she farts like you wouldn't believe."
This seems like a good first comment after becoming an official UTI member, oh and when do I get my badge?
Badges? (You know what's coming)
We don't need no stinkin badges!
Truly though, we at UTI don't need artificial badges. The crusted blood of innocent puppies around our fingernails is enough of an identifier.
your damn right
Thats the exact response I was looking for.
Is that why Brent's picture is right at the top? So we can recognize him. I mean as am assistant supervisor I would hope that he doesn't have to actually get his hands dirty/bloody. And how do you know that the puppies are really innocent? I have so much to learn...
What Rick said.
Yeah, what Rick said.
(But if you post enough, we will tell you the trick of how to hold the puppies to stop from nicking your fingernails.)
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
In other church related
In other church related news, here is the headline from my local paper this morning-
Priest charged with having child porn
Felony complaint says he had sexually explicit images on a computer
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=593649&category=&BCCode=&newsdate=5/30/2007
Is there something about religion that actually causes deviant sexual behaviors or is it just a coincedence?
I was just reading the other day about 'abstinance only' teens contracting the same amount of diseases that normal teens get. The article claimed that the abstinance pledges instead were having anal and oral sex. Wow! The little Christian darlings are having BUTT SEX. Hows that for a loophole?
Forgive the pun, but I think Xians have it ASS backwards.
insane
Of course not allowing physiologically norman men to have sex is a recipe for all sorts of crazy behavior. The problem isn't religion in this matter. The problem is the Catholic Church's policy of keeping their priests celibate.
And, could you provide the link to the story about abstinence teens and other teens having the same rate of disease?
More links.
I see Dirk has already responded, but here are some more links for your consideration.
USA Today from this year.
Study News Release on which that article was based.
And an earlier study about sexual activity by those taking 'abstinence pledges':
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Jim, if you have time, I was
Jim, if you have time, I was wondering if you could show me how to make a link into a word. For example, you made 'USA Today' into a link above. I would love to know how to do that. Or send me to a webpage that explains the process and any other cool tricks you know of. Also, how do folks post pictures and avatars in their profile?
Look at the icons...
Hey Dirk,
When you go to post a comment, you'll note a series of icons on top of the box where you type your text. The one that looks like a globe will allow you to turn a word into an embedded link. Just highlight the word you want to use, then click on that globe. It will insert something that looks like this:
< a href="http://">link< /a>
except that I have added a space after the < sign in each case so that the code shows. Then you put in the url of the link you want to use between the "" where there is just the http:// in the above example.
That help?
As for the other stuff - I dunno. Brent's magic. Someone else can explain it, maybe.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Jims Book
Jims Book
I got it, thanks.
Damn. No I didn't. I tried the link and it keeps taking me here to UTI.
Google
Again, it doesn't work. Oh well, I guess I am just a moron. Thanks for trying to help the helpless, you can go back to unscrewing the inscrutable.
Hmmm...
Hmmm...this is what it should look like:
< a href="http://www.communionofdreams.com/">Jims Book< /a>
once again, there's an extra space after each < Why you're getting the UTI url in the front there, I dunno.
Ah - just looked at your post more closely. You need to have the // after the http: and before the www.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Jims Book Finally. I got
Jims Book
Finally. I got it. Thanks for being patient.
Avatar
Hi Dirk,
Here's how to upload an avatar:
1. Find an image that you would like to use.
2. Using your own photo-editing software, or the online photo-editing software located here:
...reduce your image's size to NO MORE THAN 80 pixels wide by 80 pixels high.
3. Save the 80x80 image on your hard drive where you can find it again later.
4. Log in to UTI, then click the "My Account" link in your left-hand personalized menu.
5. Click the "edit" tab.
6. Scroll down to the "Picture" section and click the "Browse" button.
7. Navigate to where you saved your avatar image and choose it. Click Open.
8. The location will appear in the Picture text box.
9. Scroll down to the bottom of the Edit screen and click the Submit button.
10. Your avatar will now appear in your profile and on any post or comment you make on UTI.
Hope this helps a bit!
Thanks Brent. As you can
Thanks Brent. As you can see I was able to do it.
link
Bisch-
From Medical News Today:
Many Teens Who Take 'Virginity Pledges' Substitute Other High-Risk Behavior for Intercourse, Study Says http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=21606
I bet you thought this 'abstinance only' crap was a good idea. I wonder what you think with this new information?
oops, another one
No kidding, eh? Kids that didn't pledge to abstain from vaginal sex had vaginal sex? Shocking!!
That rat be staaaaaaaaaankey!!
my reading comprehension
It's been 15 years since I've been in college, so reading statistical data in a summary of a study may be harder for me than it used to be, but I must say that I smell a rat.
Throughout the study it said "anal or oral sex" over and over, as if those forms were equally risky. That was the first red flag, that they would throw those together. The only similarity they have is the fact that they both aren't vaginal sex.
Then after painstakingly talking about not only percentages, but actual numbers, in the "STD Findings" paragraph, in the ironically named "Details" paragraph, they say
So in this blip they differentiate between oral and anal sex, but don't anywhere else. And they don't give the raw numbers about these virgin boys who engaged in anal sex. And no doubt they lumped the "whole study pledgers" with the "some of the study pledgers" which further skews the data.
I also noted this...
Good of them to throw that quote in. So apparently the pledgers in the study did pledge "technical virginity" instead of "sexual purity" which is quite a different thing. And then after reading the quote, I noted the rundown in the "STD Findings" paragraph.
There were three groups. The entire study pledgers, part of the study pledgers, and not at all pledgers. The group of entire study pledgers had one of the three chosen diseases (more on that below) 4.6% of the time, while the not at all pledgers had one 6.9% of the time. Later the study tells me this difference isn't statistically significant. Since when isn't a 50% increase statistically significant? The not at all pledgers are 50% more likely to have an STD from the list than the entire study pledgers. Am I missing something?
And why did they only use trichomoniasis, chlamydia or gonorrhea as the STDs to be considered? Why not AIDS, genital herpes, genital warts, syphilis, yeast infections, and some forms of hepatitis?
But the more important idea to me is the question of what we would like our kids to think. Are we all of the opinion that it would be better for kids to wait until marrying to have sex? Throw the religious argument out. Is it healthier for a person to have sex with one person their whole life? Or is having multiple partners equally healthy? My opinion is that it's healthier for people to have sex with one person their whole lives. So to set that up as the ideal is a good thing. Whether kids are successful or not isn't the point. I do acknowledge that if a kid is going to have sex, it's better that they know about disease prevention and birth control, but the danger of a pledger pledging, not getting educated, and having sex is just as high as the danger of a kid hearing the message that having sex is all good as long as he uses a condom, and then having all the sex he wants because he feels like he's bulletproof with the condom. But I want my kids to hear that plan A is to wait until they are married, and have all the other stuff be secondary.
Plan A isn't necessarily realistic
Some people can do it, but it isn't normative. Mother Nature is damned persuasive and lots of "good" little boys and girls pretended they weren't going to do it while cruising down the road to "it" with their foot on the floor. Trouble is, when you reach the destination, you don't have a condom with you or you don't put it on because that would involve being... dispassionate about it. Which implies forethought if not foreplay, and is therefore a deliberate sin as opposed to a simple error.
AND I'm not even sure that "one partner" is the ideal. Yes, from a purely epidemiological perspective it's theoretically preferable. But disease is not the only factor in play. "Wait until you're married" also leads to early marriage in many cases, which puts a big dent in future happiness and greatly increases the chances of divorce and infidelity to say nothing of poverty.
I told my kids; "Celibacy is not harmful - if you can swing it, fine. But if you're headed for sex, admit it to yourself and discuss it in advance with your partner. Go to Planned Parenthood together and pay attention to their videos, their pamphlets and counselors as if your life depended on it, and remember that you're juggling live hand grenades when you pull down that zipper."
Why?
Good lord, no. Why would you want that? Just fear of disease? Give me an argument that isn't bible-based.
Perhaps only in the sense of being less risky. But even there, statistics are against you, with the divorce rate and the propensity for us hairless apes to "cheat" on our partners.
I'm older, and come from a different era in terms of mindset and fear of disease. But I had dozens of partners before I got married, and I am glad I did. The range of knowledge my wife and I have to bring to this area of our life (and she was married previously) is wide enough that we were not just a couple of repressed, fumbling 18 year-olds, finally allowed outside of the house on our own and in such a rush to get laid that we got married too young. That is real 'health', I'd warrant.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Porn decreases rape
Another UTI member named C.L. Hansen has a blog called Letters from a Broad she turned me onto yesterday in the Amber post. Here is a sample from her article-
I didn't know internet porn decreased the likelyhood or rape before I read her article. There is so much I don't know, but I am always learning and try to keep an open mind at least. I hope you do the same.
always
If I come off as closed-minded, I am not expressing myself well.
I always acknowledge that I have a lot to learn.
I just saw some apparent flaws in the study. I acknowledge there are some practical flaws in teaching kids to abstain, too. In this world, it seems there isn't black and white, but some better and worse decisions that both end up having a bit of bad, but some less bad than others.
Bisch- Here is a whole page
Bisch-
Here is a whole page of articles from the Journal of Adolescent health for you to scrutinize an nit pick. I wasn't trying to play doctor and don't want to dispute peer reviewed medical research with you.
The point of my original post was to ask if religious folks are more deviant than the rest of us. I don't know the answer, but it seems like every time I pick up the paper or turn on the tv some fundie just got caught acting bizarre.
Here is some more information. Not only does the ‘abstinence only’ education lead to Butt Sex, but it also may lead to violence-
I also need to disagree with your assesment of what is best for people regarding their sexual habits. It's just not normal for men(and probably women) to be monogamous or wait until marriage for sex and it is NOT healthy. Somewhere there is a guy who is sick of banging Amber Heard (babe from previous post). Even Angelia Jolie gets dumped.
I don't want to marry a virgin. I would like someone who knows what they are doing in the bedroom, not some ignorant cold fish.
experience isn't all it's cracked up to be
Dirk, thanks for the dialogue. I wasn't meaning to nitpick the study, only pointing out the items that appeared to be faulty or biased. We all have our biases, me included. To see what they published as unbiased studies screamed out for scrutiny in my view.
First off, I noticed you changed the discussion from "abstinence pledges" to "abstinence education." I am not accusing you of doing that on purpose, because I almost didn't notice it. But those two items are significantly different.
That's quite a naked assertion. I don't deny there's our share of Jim Bakkers and Jerry Falwells and Ted Haggards (no proof there, but I can glean the truth from the subsequent actions to be sure), but to say you see it all the time seems a bit of an exaggeration. What have you seen lately, maybe in the last 2 months? And leave out Catholic priests. Those dudes are not "fundies."
That one was interesting.
Because people get bored of the same partner, it's unhealthy to stay with the same partner? I don't see how you can argue the fact that it's not healthy from a disease standpoint. I know you're arguing it from a mental health standpoint, but even then, I don't know how you can say it's healthier to have different partners than to have the same partner. At best, I'd give you equally healthy.
It was really fun to learn together in my wife's and my case, not knowing hardly anything, exploring together. And not having memories of other women is a big benefit.
Abstinence
Jim covered the experience part, so I will skip ahead. And by the way, I wouldn't trade my experiences with anyone except Wilt Chamberlan or the real Dirk Diggler, maybe.
I didn't mean to change the topic from abstinence pledges to abstinence only, but to me they are very similar. Folks who want to teach abstinence only education (and want the gov't to fund it) are the same people who pressure their children into taking these pledges. What kid just wakes up one day and feels the need to proclaim a virginity pledge? You must be kidding if you think their church community didn't badger these kids into doing so.
As for the recent deviant behavior by fundies, re-read my first post on this thread and follow the link I provided from my local paper yesterday. And again, I wasn't accusing, I was asking if there is a correlation between sexually repressed religious people and deviance.
On that one you're correct and I apologize for mis-speaking. From our previous conversations, you know I am a live-and-let-live type of guy. If you want to remain a virgin until matrimony that is fine. The opposite should be societally acceptable as well. I am even okay with parents teaching that to their children, but the gov't using tax payer funds and taking this position is outrageous. Abstinence should be taught (as one possible means of disease prevention) in schools along with the rest of sex ed. Not instead of the rest.
What I was really talking about is how messed up our society is. We act like six year olds when we see Janet Jackson's boobie at the Super Bowl. Why people are so uptight about sex is beyond me. I think it is healthy for kids to grow up learning that sex is part of being a human. A really really great part, that is.
Must be something in the air...
...because the Rude One weighs in on this topic in today's post. And a warning: it really is fairly Rude, and more mocking of religion than you'll generally find here on UTI.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
"experience isn't all it's cracked up to be"?
Um, how can you say that, without the experience? Just curious.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
excellent point
I got sloppy with my thinking. Good catch.
Kinda hard to have it both ways, in this case...
My advice...
...is that it's just sex.
I'm an adult student--gone back to school--so I'm usually surrounded by 19-21 year olds. I've been surprised at how many were actually still virgins. I get conversations somewhat frequently about how freaked out some of these girls are about losing their virginity--as if it's somehow wrong. They've had it beat into their heads that it is, and now no amount of critical thinking can counteract the damage their idiot parents did (and society) to them.
So, I ask them "Do you love the guy?" Of course they do. "Do you want to have sex with him?" Of course they do. Then I tell them that, hey, it's just sex. It's two people getting together and enjoying themselves. Of course I tell them to be careful; to play it safe. And they usually look at me like "Well, yeah, duh..."
I don't see what the big deal is. It's just sex (you can be emotionally involved, or not, but let's face it, when we're arguing over anal, vaginal, or oral sex, it's really the physical aspect that we're talking about, not the emotional, and therefore it really is just sex if that's all we're talking about here). No one's a whore for doing it. No one's a slut because she did it before she was married. I really do think this bullshit is incredibly damaging. Talk about what is and isn't healthy--who cares if you decide to have one partner your whole life, or 100. It's this garbage "we" tell girls and women about what whores they are if they have sex---that's what's unhealthy.
"Please don't beat Teddy." - Teddy, Night of the Seagulls
This is all about control,
This is all about control, not God-belief.
Absolutely. Even without this example this seems so blatantly obvious. The world is full of idiots. *sigh*
"Please don't beat Teddy." - Teddy, Night of the Seagulls
I still say...
...that the logical inconsistancy of listening to old men who have (supposedly) been celibrate all their adulthood on matters of sexuality is so great that it should collapse the entire Catholic church, anyway. But that's just me *thinking* for myself, I suppose.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.