In Defense of South Park!

Please Note:  I had to update this video since the original one posted here was taking down due to an ongoing copyright dispute.  Fortunately Thunderfoot, wasted no time in creating a new one.

In defense of South Park and the Genius behind it.  Namely its creators and writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone.  I'm posting this YouTube video by Thunderf00t  - it says it all and so much more.





The only thing that I would add is that ultimately No Religion Has a place in the Enlightened World.  Especially the Abrahamic Religions.  Christianity, Islam and Judaism are all based on the same book.  "The Book of Hear-Say" or as some people still call it "The Holy Bible". 

Now I'm well aware that there are many reformed, liberal and progressive versions of these three major world religions, but unfortunately, no matter how advanced the sect.  They all have at their core the teachings of the Old Testament.  And Anyone who still thinks in this day and age that the Bible is Holy.  Has either never really read it, or at the very least has sacrificed their ability to reason for purposes of belief.  Which come to think of it would probably make a good definition for the word Faith.


Agnostic Thinking... Please feel free to comment below, ( just click on the word comments if the panel is not open) or you can e-mail me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.

In Defense of the Catholic Church!

I've received some criticism recently, because some of you think I have been "Dumping" too much on the Catholic Church.  So in an effort to be  "Fair and Balanced"  (à la Fox News style)  I thought I would post this YouTube video I found in defense of the Catholic Church.

Now I realize the video runs a little bit longer (about eight minutes) than some of you might like.  But it's worth watching all the way through, the man makes some excellent points so give him a chance and hear him out.



     Agnostic Thinking...

Please feel free to comment below, ( just click on the word comments if the panel is not open) or you can e-mail me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.

And don't forget to check out my original blog
  Just Thinking 

The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways!

In a statement that's mostly ridiculous and more reminiscent of Pat Robertson or perhaps someone channeling Jerry Falwell, Rush Limbaugh has declared that the Icelandic Volcano Eruption is a punishment from God!

Why would God want to punish most of Europe by polluting its air and disrupting its air traffic?

Well according to Rush.  It's because Americans passed health-care! ? 

Believe it or not that's exactly what the man said.  Seriously now, you just can't make this stuff up. 

Mount  "Rush-More"  Erupts Again...

I recently used this same cartoon graphic on my other blog,  Just Thinking... - so when this God/Punishment story came along.  I just couldn't resist using it here as well.

Thanks Rush, you've done it again!


Agnostic Thinking...

Please feel free to comment below, ( just click on the word comments if the panel is not open) or you can e-mail me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.

And don't forget to check out my original blog
  Just Thinking 

The Pope Gives a Shout-Out to the Beatles!

Some forty plus years since John Lennon first boasted that  "The Beatles Are Bigger Than Jesus Christ" -the ever Benevolent Pope Benedict has decided to forgive them. 

Yes it's true, the same church that back in the 60's was warning Catholic parents worldwide to keep their children away from the Evil and Satanic Influence of Beatles Music. Has now decided to give the group.  Its stamp of approval.

The irony here is that back in the 60's.  The church did nothing to warn parents about its own Child Molesting Clergy.  As they knowingly and deliberately continued to put children in harms way.

While this story received a considerable amount of media attention in the past week.  I think perhaps the best coverage came last night On Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update with Seth Meyers.  Check out the video...



Agnostic Thinking...

Please feel free to comment below, ( just click on the word comments if the panel is not open) or you can e-mail me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.

And don't forget to check out my original blog
  Just Thinking 

I've Joined the Atheist Blogroll!

I'm happy to inform you that My Blog,  Agnostic Thinking...  has been added to The Atheist Blogroll.

You can see the blogroll in my sidebar.  The Atheist blogroll is a community building service provided free of charge to Agnostic/Atheists and Rationally Thinking Bloggers throughout the world.  It's a simple one-stop source for like-minded bloggers and thinkers.   Simply click on any blog that interests you.

Visit Mojoey at  Deep Thoughts  for more information about the atheist blogroll.

"Introduction on the Atheist Blogroll"

My name is Eddie O'Reilly and my blog is called  Agnostic Thinking...  A place where I write about "Atheists, Agnostics and Queers Oh My!" - Well something like that anyway. I actually write about Religion (or my lack of it), Agnostic/Atheism, Rational Thinking, Gay Subculture And Related Topics.

I consider myself to be a Rationalist.  "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."  - Carl Sagan

Since I can find no way to rationally justify a belief in a personal god, I guess that also makes me an Agnostic and or Atheist.  "I expect death to be nothingness, and for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism"  - Isaac Asimov

I have taken great comfort in discovering the online Agnostic/Atheist community. As both a "Doubter" and a "Homosexual" I've often felt both isolated and alone.  Kind of like  a fish out of water  in most social settings.

You might think that  "Nonbelievers"  would be readily embraced by the Gay Community.  But that's not true at all.  You'd be surprised at how many Religious Gays there really are.  Even though Homosexuality has been almost Universally Condemned by Mainstream Religions;  Gays still seem to find a way to Believe.
It's always amazed what lengths people will go to, just "To Believe".

Gay people make a God who accepts Gays.

One group thinks the Bible is the literal word of God. While another decides, No - it's merely interpretive.

Couples living out of wedlock create a God who accepts them.

Polygamists have miraculously discovered a God who accepts that. And so it goes, on and on.

It is never ending. Why do people insist on creating Gods? Why is having a God so damn important to them? I honestly don't understand.

I was raised Roman Catholic, parochial school and all and believe me that wasn't always easy. But I guess I was resistant to indoctrination.

From the earliest of ages, I was always getting in trouble during Catechism Class for asking what I thought were reasonable and rational questions. The Priests, Nuns and Brothers of course, just viewed me as being insolent.

To this day, I'm not really sure which was more difficult. "Coming Out" as a Gay Man or as an Atheist. I'm happy to say that in the Agnostic/Atheist community, I seem to have found acceptance as both. When people are freed from religious dogma and superstitious beliefs they tend to be a lot more open-minded and less judgmental.

I hope you'll enjoy reading my blog and please feel free to comment. Thanks!

Vatican Dares to Compare Church Critics to Anti-Semites!

A Vatican priest, speaking before a "Packed House" (I use the term advisedly. It is all "Showbiz" after all.)  at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome with Pope Benedict XVI in attendance;  compared the world’s outrage at the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church to Anti-Semitism and the persecution of the Jews throughout history. 

The remarks immediately prompted angry criticism from both Jewish leaders and victims advocate groups.  A Vatican spokesperson later tried to distance both the Church and the Pope himself from the unfortunate remarks.   But I honestly think the damage had already been done.  I know that I personally was overwhelmed by the audacity and hypocrisy of them trying to employ this tactic.

It seems like the church's massive public relations and marketing team can't seem to get a handle on how best to coordinate its response to all of the recent negative press and criticism.  Perhaps they're just feeling overwhelmed with something called "Catholic Guilt". 

The Priest, the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, explained that Easter and Passover fell during the same week this year, and said "he was led to think of the Jews". 

Isn't it interesting how The Church is only willing to make the Easter/Passover connection when it's convenient for them to do so.  The rest of the time, they just ignore the fact that the Last Supper was actually a Passover Seder.  Where the eating of unleavened bread (matzoh crackers) is a Jewish tradition.

I remember when I was in college having read an anthropological survey that showed a significant majority of eighth grade catechism students were unaware that both Jesus and all of his disciples were Jews.  As were all of the early Christians for that matter.  In fact, back then, you had to be a Jew (A descendent of Abraham, one of the Bible's chosen people).  In order to become a Christian. 

This obvious gap in religious teachings was certainly no accident, but rather by design.  The church has deliberately chosen to distance itself from its Jewish origins.  Lest it might find itself in conflict with its frequently engaged in anti-Semitic agenda.

For the Vatican to now attempt to align itself with the plight of the Jews as a way of gaining sympathy in this time of crisis is truly appalling.

The Church is obviously only interested in protecting its reputation, wealth, property and power. Their defensive tactics however, often do more harm than good.  Instead of acknowledging their mistakes, the Vatican wants to blame the media for reporting the truth.  The church has in fact been its own worst enemy.  They need to seriously reevaluate their priorities, policies and procedures.

When there is actually no theological reason for their priests to be celibate they force their clergy into an unnatural lifestyle for the sole purpose of preserving wealth and property.  While celibacy may have always been encouraged by church officials.  It didn't become law until the mid-1200's when the church decided to put a stop to wives and children inheriting the wealthy estates of bishops and priests.

While the church's history of subjugating women, persecuting gays, and most recently promoting the spread of AIDS by banning the use of condoms is indeed reprehensible.  It all pales in comparison to these recent revelations of sex abuse and the deliberate cover-up engaged in by the Pope himself  (see previous post).

  
Perhaps It's Time for the Pontiff to Acknowledge His Fallibility and Just Resign.

Agnostic Thinking...

Please feel free to comment below, ( just click on the word comments if the panel is not open) or you can e-mail me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.

And don't forget to check out my original blog
  Just Thinking 

Papal Sex Abuse Cover-Up!

According to recent news reports, Pope Benedict himself played a leading role in a systematic cover-up of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic clergy.

In 2001 while he was still Cardinal.  He issued a secret Vatican edict to Catholic Bishops all over the world, instructing them to put the churches interest ahead of the safety of children.  Yes I said children.  As if taking advantage of the trust and innocence of teenage boys wasn't bad enough.  We now learn that victims were of both sexes, often as young as four, five and six years old.  Some were mentally and physically handicapped.  Still others, as in the recently revealed case in Milwaukee were deaf or otherwise physically impaired.

The Papal Edict commanded that rather than reporting sexual abuse to the relevant legal authorities (which is the law).  Bishops should encourage the victim's, witnesses and perpetrators not to talk about it at all.  And to keep the victims quiet.  The document threatened that if they repeated the allegations they would be excommunicated! 

To the true believer, that meant you were being threatened with Eternal Damnation if you stood up for these young victims and told the truth.  And to think, The Church Calls Itself Holy!

The Church further reinforced this strict cover-up policy by introducing a new principle:  The Vatican must have what it calls "Exclusive Competence".  In other words the Pope (then Cardinal Ratzinger) demanded that all child abuse allegations should be dealt with directly by Rome and no one else. 

As Father Tom Doyle, a former Vatican lawyer until he was sacked for criticizing the church's policies states:  "What we have here is an explicit written policy to cover up cases of child sexual abuse by the clergy and to punish those who would call attention to these crimes."

Father Patrick Wall, another former Vatican approved official who was working in America said.  "I found out I wasn't working for a holy institution at all,  but rather a for-profit organization.  That was solely concentrated on protecting itself and its bottom line."

What does it mean when an institution commands a "Code of Silence" and compliance even when serious criminal acts are involved?  Sounds like "Organized Crime" to me.

What does it mean when you knowingly and deliberately conceal the criminal and felonious acts of another?  Isn't that aiding and abetting, isn't that criminal conspiracy?

And what does it mean when you do all this to protect your goodwill, reputation, and ultimately your profits?  Isn't that some sort of racketeering?

Let's face it, if you or I did any of these things.  We'd Be in Jail!!

Agnostic Thinking...

Please feel free to comment below, ( just click on the word comments if the panel is not open) or you can e-mail me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.

And don't forget to check out my original blog
  Just Thinking