Hypocrisy At Its Finest!!

Imagine that!! People being hypocritical!! Big shocker!! Not!! People in Houston are pissed that the Quran was left on doorsteps.

Residents Angered by Group's Distribution of Korans

Some Houston residents are upset after Korans were left on the doorsteps of hundreds of homes in their neighborhood as part of a campaign to educate people about Islam.

Residents of Braes Timbers in southwest Houston began finding the holy books two weeks ago, MyFOXHouston.com reported. The Korans came with a note saying they had been left by the Book of Signs Foundation, which claims to have distributed 30,000 free copies of the texts to residents throughout the city.

"If we went into a Muslim country and left a Bible, we would be in prison and then decapitated a few years later," Sue Ann Pieri, a resident who chose not to destroy the book, as other neighbors did, told MyFOXHouston.com.

The foundation, which left the books on doormats or hanging from doorknobs, said in a note accompanying the Koran that "rather than judging Islam and Muslims by the actions of a few, we want our fellow citizens to judge us by the book that influences and guides the lives of over 1 billion Muslims."

Tarick Hussein, the president of Houston's Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the station he believes the Book of Signs Foundation wants to educate non-Muslims about the religion.

He told MyFOXHouston.com: "This is a very peaceful way of conveying a message."

This is really very hypocritical!! I wonder how many of these people that are bitching are Christians. Christians have no problem going door to door, "spreading the word of God" to anyone and everyone. But when someone of a different faith leaves their book on their doorstep, all of a sudden it's horrifying!!

I've had my fair share of annoying Christians knocking on my door, trying to preach to me from their Bible and trying to con me into going to their church. One woman was so annoying that she would show up every weekend. It got so bad that I had to post a No Religious Soliciting sign on my door. When she came back one weekend, she was going to knock on the door but saw the sign and walked away.

These people don't take no for an answer. You can tell them that you have a religious faith or belong to a church, and they still try to preach to you. They pull out their Bibles, and preach away even after you ask them to leave. They don't care!! They don't listen.

I really don't have a problem with what happened here. It's not like they went knocking on doors. It's not like they hounded people in Houston. They simply left their book on doorsteps. Ooh, arrest them!!

By the way, would these people be bitching if Jewish people left books on their doorsteps? How about people of other Christian faiths? Buddhists? Hindus? I would say, it's highly unlikely.

They're simply bitching because it was the big, bad, evil Muslims!! And for that I say, FUCK YOU HOUSTON!!

Pennsylvania Emergency Contraception Bill

The Pennsylvania House may vote on a bill next week that would require access to emergency contraception.

Hospitals would have to inform rape victims about emergency contraception and provide the so-called morning-after pill upon request under a bill pending in the House.

Rep. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, sponsored the bill that could be called for a floor vote by next week. The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference likens the pill to abortion in some cases and opposes the bill. They are seeking an amendment that would exclude religious-affiliated hospitals from issuing contraception.

Backers of the bill include Planned Parenthood of Pennsylvania Advocates and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape. Both groups say the bill protects women from further trauma and should apply to all hospitals.

The bill is awaiting a vote almost a year after an emergency-room physician at Lebanon's Good Samaritan Hospital failed to inform a 20-year-old rape victim about emergency contraception. Dr. Martin Gish, a Mennonite, later said he has a problem with the medication, and the woman drove to Reading to get it.

Rep. Bev Mackereth, R-Spring Grove, who sits on the House Health and Human Services Committee, backs the bill. She said the pill is birth control and rape victims should have the opportunity to take it.

Mackereth opposes an exception for religious hospitals, saying distraught rape victims should not have to find somewhere else to go.
Rep. Steven Nickol, R-Hanover, also supports it. He said it would result in more abortions if rape victims don't have the chance to take the pill.

Nickol also said current law already protects medical personnel from participating in a procedure that violates their conscience, and he does not want to extend similar protections to entire hospitals.

Last fall, a Senate committee approved a bill requiring notification of emergency contraception, and that version excluded religious facilities from providing it. That bill languished without a floor vote at the end of the 2005-06 term.

Catholic Conference spokeswoman Amy Beisel said religious-affiliated hospitals should not be forced to administer the contraception because the pill can create conditions that have a detrimental effect on a fertilized egg.

"From our perspective, life begins at conception," Beisel said.

Susan Gobreski of Planned Parenthood said the contraception is birth control that does not work on a fertilized egg.

"It's not an abortion. It prevents abortion," Gobreski said.

Another possible amendment to Leach's bill would require hospitals to perform a pregnancy test to ensure a woman is not pregnant before any emergency contraception can be administered.

Though Leach's bill is on the House calendar this week, it was hard to predict Wednesday when House leaders will call a vote on the controversial measure. Lawmakers are also absorbed with negotiating a state budget and voting budget-related bills before the next fiscal year begins July 1.

THE BILL:

Requires all hospitals to tell rape victims about emergency contraception, and provide them with state-approved literature.

Requires hospitals to provide emergency contraception if the victim requests it.

Requires hospitals to offer a rape counselor, and give the victim a chance to consult with the counselor at the hospital.

I always love the argument that life begins at conception. The fact of the matter is, rape victims didn't consent to that conception. It was violently FORCED upon them against their will. But hey, side with the rapist!! After all, this is what's happening in this country. The rapist is becoming the victim, and the rape victim is becoming the criminal.

I'm really sick of these religious people demanding a pass because of their religious beliefs. A rape victim who is taken to a hospital most likely isn't going to get a choice of what hospital she's taken to. Why should she be forced to choose another hospital simply because of someone else's damn religious beliefs? It's a crock of shit!!

If you're a doctor, you take a hippocratic oath. Part of that oath states that you will never deliberately do harm to anyone for anyone else's interest. Clearly if you deliberately withhold information regarding emergency contraception from a patient because your RELIGION tells you to do it, you're doing harm to that patient. Clearly if you refuse to give someone contraception because your RELIGION tells you to do it, you're doing harm to that patient. Clearly if you refuse to perform an abortion on a patient because your RELIGION tells you to do it, you're doing harm to that patient. Therefore, you should no longer be a DOCTOR!!

There should be NO EXCEPTION made for hospitals with a religious objection. They have a duty to serve everyone, not just who they agree with morally. If you can't put your moral and religious beliefs aside, you don't belong in business. I'd say that the state should even go as far as shutting down these hospitals that refuse to comply if this law is passed.

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

I'm currently reading the book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. When I first heard about the book coming out, I decided that I wanted to read it. So, tonight I went down to my local Barnes & Noble and plopped down $24.99 for it. It was a big purchase for me (if it's not on the bargain or clearance rack I usually won't buy it), but I wanted it. I'll let you all know if I would recommend it as soon as I'm finished reading it.

HIV/AIDS Ignorance And Facts

New Jersey is attempting to become the first state to require HIV/AIDS testing for both a pregnant woman and the child.

As I was surfing some blogs this morning, I came across ignorant statements about HIV/AIDS. It's 2007, and people are still delusional about the disease. They don't get it!! They think that just because they're married they're not going to get the disease. I mean, don't you know that all wedding vows are sacred, and nobody ever breaks those wedding vows?

Another ignorant statement has to do with condom use. I get so sick and tired of hearing religious people (especially Catholics) profess that condom use is EVIL. Given the choice between using a condom to prevent getting HIV or not using a condom so that they stay true to their faith and getting HIV, some of these morons would honestly choose the second option. They don't want to go to hell for actually putting on a condom. The problem there is the Church. Their faith teaches them that condoms are evil because they "prevent life." But what they refuse to acknowledge is that not using a condom also TAKES LIFE. The Church also doesn't help when they have these lunatics preaching about how condoms are laced with AIDS.

Another ignorant statement has to do with abstinence. I'm sick and tired of hearing that the only solution to preventing disease is abstinence. It's a crock!! If we're being realistic, you're not going to prevent everyone in the world from having sex. If they're going to have sex, they're going to have sex. It's nothing more than pushing your moral and religious beliefs on other people.

The following statistics and information is from the Global Health Council:

* By the end of 2005, 40.3 million people were living with HIV/AIDS, including 17.5 million women and 2.3 million children under the age of 15.

* 4.9 million people became newly infected with HIV in 2005, including 700,000 children. Of these, 3.2 million new infections occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa.

* In 2005 alone, a total of 3.1 million people died of HIV/AIDS-related causes.

* World-wide, only one in ten persons infected with HIV has been tested and knows his/her HIV status.

* Ninety-six percent of people with HIV live in the developing world, most in sub-Saharan Africa. The epidemic continues to grow in this region, with nearly a million new infections between 2003 and 2005.

* In some African countries, three quarters of those infected are women - many of whom have not had more than one sexual partner.

* An estimated 5 to 6 million people in low- and middle-income countries will die in the next two years if they do not receive antiretroviral treatment (ART). At the end of 2005, only one in seven Asians and one in ten Africans who need ART were receiving it.

* In six African countries, (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe), more than one in five of all pregnant women have HIV/AIDS. In Swaziland, nearly 40% of pregnant women are HIV-positive.

* Without prevention efforts, 35% of children born to an HIV positive mother will become infected with HIV. At least a quarter of newborns infected with HIV die before age one, and up to 60% will die before reaching their second birthdays.

* Injecting drug use and commercial sex work are fueling the epidemic across Asia and Eastern Europe, and few countries are sufficiently reaching out to these marginalized groups or addressing the poverty that often underlies these behaviors.

* Discrimination against vulnerable groups is evident in the Russian Federation, where more than 90% of the estimated one million people living with HIV were infected through injecting drug use, but represent only 13% of those receiving antiretroviral therapy.

* By the end of 2005, women accounted for nearly half of all people living with AIDS worldwide, and represent almost 60% of infections in sub-Saharan Africa. The impact of HIV on women is also growing in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and South and South-East Asia. Moreover, young women are several times more likely than young men to contract the disease through heterosexual contact. Worldwide, 62% of infected young people are girls, and that number soars to 77% in sub-Saharan Africa. A woman's vulnerability to the virus is attributable not only to biological differences, but also to deeply entrenched socio-economic inequalities that further compound her risk.

* Because 70% of the world's poor are women, women have fewer economic options. They are far more vulnerable because of absolute poverty to engage in transactional sex to pay for food, school fees and other necessities. They are also vulnerable to coercive or forced sex and often unable to negotiate condom use. One in three women world-wide have been affected by gender-based violence, but poor women are even more likely to be abused.

* Many women, particularly married women, cannot control the circumstances under which sex takes place. Research in several countries shows that for far too many young girls, the first sexual experience is coerced or forced. Married women are especially unable to negotiate sex or condom use with their husbands who may have extramarital partners. Some research indicates that married women are in fact more at risk for HIV than unmarried women because they are more frequently exposed to intercourse within marriage.

* HIV-positive women may transmit HIV to their children during pregnancy, in childbirth or through breastfeeding. Today, mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV is the primary mode of acquisition of HIV for the more than 2 million children living with HIV. While antiretroviral therapy significantly reduces the risk of MTCT of HIV, prevention coverage in the 30 African countries with the highest HIV prevalence is only 5 percent.

* As AIDS ravages families and communities, the burden of caring for ill family members rests mainly with women and girls - many of whom may be seriously ill themselves. A woman affected by HIV/AIDS is plunged further into poverty, losing the ability to provide for herself and her children. Combined with pervasive social stigma and the collapse of traditional family and support structures, HIV/AIDS is eroding the status of women in many countries.

I'm tired of the ignorance!! This is not a "gay person's" disease. This is not a "drug user's" disease. This is a disease that anyone can get. Stop taking the ignorant approach that because you're married you're not going to get the disease. Your spouse could CHEAT, or they could become infected accidently with the disease. You could be a rape victim, and contract the disease through no fault of your own if your rapist has HIV. You could be given a bad blood transfusion, and contract the disease through no fault of your own. You could be working in the medical profession, and contract the disease by accidently pricking yourself with an infected needle from a patient. There are things that could happen. It doesn't just take drug use and promiscuity to get this disease.

People need to wake up because this is not the 80's when nobody knew a damn thing about this disease. They need to stop spouting their archaic moral and religious beliefs. They need to check back into reality!! We need to be proactive, and reactive instead of simply dismissing it with an "oh well, it's your own damn fault" attitude.

I Hope You Know, Jesus Loves You Today!!

That's what some woman said to me today.

I was working, and she came up to me. She said something, and I didn't hear what it was so I said "What?". She repeated herself and said, "I hope you know, Jesus loves you today." I was almost tempted to tell her that I don't believe in God because I'm an atheist. I'm not an atheist, but it would have been interesting to see her reaction to that one!! But I figured that she probably would have pulled out her trusty little travel-size Bible and would start preaching to me. So, I just said "uh-huh" and let her go. As she was about to leave, she turned around and started preaching her religious mumbo-jumbo to me again.

I don't care if someone is religious. But they should have enough respect to not impose their religion on others. I don't walk up to people I don't know and say, "I hope you know, Jesus loves you today" because that's just rude. How did she know that I wasn't Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or practiced any other religion out there? How did she know that I wasn't an atheist? Seriously, do people not understand how rude that is to come up to someone they don't know and start preaching their religious crap to that person?

When someone actually prevents you from doing your job which is what she did, they deserve to be thrown out of the place. I didn't have her thrown out by security, but I should have because I was trying to do my job. I would have done the same thing if it were anyone else who was not talking to me for legit reasons. If you want to preach religion, that's what a church or your home is for. Keep it away from me, and especially when I'm working. I don't want to hear that!!

Tomorrow is another work day. I can't wait to see who I meet next!! If it's an interesting person, I'll be sure to blog about it.

Some Georgia Public Schools To Offer Bible Classes

I smell a lawsuit, and a justifiable lawsuit at that!!

Some Georgia public schools are going to offer classes on the Bible. Although Georgia has a law that allows these classes, there's a problem. It's a violation of church and state separation. I don't care if they say that they're not going to promote or teach one particular religion. The point is, they're teaching RELIGION by teaching about the Bible. By the way, what religion are you promoting if you're teaching the entire Bible? It sure as hell isn't Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, or any other religion for that matter. By teaching the Bible, you're promoting CHRISTIANITY.

People will stop at nothing to get religion taught in schools. If you want your child to learn about religion, send them to a private or religious school. That's what they're for!! And people wonder why more parents homeschool their children. Who can blame them? Who wants their child indoctrinated?

Supporters say fully understanding history, literature and political science — from the writings of Martin Luther King Jr. to the war in Iraq —requires knowledge of the Bible.

Gee, I don't understand the war in Iraq. I don't understand history. I don't understand literature. I don't understand political science. I don't understand what the hell Martin Luther King Jr. was saying. I'm just stupid because I don't understand anything. That's because I don't know the Bible. Good God!! We're not brain-dead idiots!!

"I don't think you can understand Shakespeare, that you can understand a great deal of literary allusions or that you can understand a great deal of Western civilization without understanding the role of the Bible," said Pennock, a former Western civilization teacher.

Here we go again!! You can't understand anything unless you understand the Bible. Well, I understand the Bible!! And I don't think it should be shoved down the throats of anyone. I don't think it should be taught in public schools. And, I hope that parents and others sue to keep it out of schools. Like I already said, if you want your child to learn about religion then send them to a private or religious school. Otherwise, take them to church. But stop this nonsense with the damn Bible being taught in schools!! It's ridiculous!!

Pease, a Christian, said she'd support schools teaching comparative religion classes, including those that studied the holy books of other major faiths like Islam's Quran.

Oh yeah!! Like those right-wing, Bible-thumping, Christian, conservative, whack jobs would really allow the teaching of any religion but Christianity to take place in school. Like hell they would ever allow Islam to be taught in school. Like hell they would ever let the Quran be taught in school. It's a crock of shit to think that they would. Anyone who thinks that they would is clearly delusional!!