I am constantly astounded by Israel’s ability to commit outrageous acts of military violence against civilians, then cast themselves as the victims. The above video is a great example: it singles out attacks on Israeli soldiers, but for goodness sake—the Israeli military is conducting a raid on an unarmed vessel in international waters! The people on board are doing whatever they can to defend themselves—they have no guns, so they’re using what they have. In response, the Israeli military opens fire on them! The result is up to 19 people dead—and not a single one of them was Israeli.

So what terrible crime were the people on this boat engaging in to receive such treatment? They were trying to bring aid to Palestinians in Gaza. And why did they need to do that? Because Gaza has been blockaded from receiving aid from the outside world by Israel! So this is, in effect, one outrageous crime against humanity, that has come about as a result of another outrageous crime against humanity—both committed by Israel. Yet Israel still tries to claim that they are the victims!

As always, Israel’s actions have received the usual piss-weak response from western governments, especially (also as always) the US. While I have defended Obama’s performance in many areas, on Israel I’m afraid I have to give him the same score as every President who has gone before him: a great big fat zero. How many more atrocities will Israel have to commit before the west (particularly the US, who have always stuck by Israel through thick and thin) takes decisive action to stop them?

One of the most common questions I get in relation to my sexy Bible readings is if I do the Koran. I have already stated several good reasons why I don’t, but that certainly doesn’t mean I think Islam is better than Christianity—far from it. One of the most problematic and frustrating aspects of Islam is how any criticism of it is met with violence and death threats, often resulting in censorship of what would otherwise be free speech. Hence I wanted to bring everyone’s attention to this campaign (that I’ve only just found out about myself), which makes a stand against this practice: Draw Mohammed Day. Well known YouTube atheist Thunderf00t‘s video above clearly explains the rationale behind it.

UPDATE: I’ve had to change the original Draw Mohammed Day Facebook page link to their backup page, as the original has been taken down. Plus their WordPress page has been taken down as well!

Today I posted my second Bible reading from the 10 Commandments on my YouTube channel (and third overall). Sorry my hair is a little messy—I thought I’d better not brush it on the Sabbath Day.

Today was once again the National Day of Reason, and this year there’s something to celebrate: the National Day of Prayer (which was the original inspiration for this day) was ruled an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state by a federal judge. Sadly however (though given the political realities of the US, hardly surprisingly), President Obama will continue to observe it until all appeals are exhausted, and (like every President before him) ignore the National Day of Reason. It is very difficult to see how the National Day of Prayer could be constitutionally valid, however, so it seems inevitable that it will eventually be declared illegal. I hope this will make more Americans aware of the fact that the US constitution was not founded on Christian values, but secular ones.

European Muslim women in full Islamic dress (Reuters: Jean-Paul Pelissier)

With the recent approval of a draft law in Belgium to ban the Islamic facial veil, as well as continued discussion of such a law in France, this controversial issue is very much in the news at the moment.

On the one hand, such a law can obviously be seen as being discriminatory toward Muslims, which could worsen relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. Even worse, it may result in Muslim men preventing their women from leaving the house, which would obviously be deeply concerning. Also, what about Muslim women’s right to dress as they please? I guess the key question here is whether they really want to wear such clothing, or are if they’re forced to. I’m sure many Muslim women think they make this choice of their own free will, but I find it difficult to believe that they really want this—social and religious conditioning can make it difficult for them to truly be objective about this issue.

On the other hand, such a law could actually enhance relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. The facial veil is a huge barrier to social interaction, and is a great source of resentment amongst non-Muslims toward Muslims. Also, it isn’t actually required by Islam anyway—in reality, it is just something that has arisen as a means for Muslim men to control their women, with only a vague and tenuous religious basis. Perhaps a ban on the facial veil could force some modernisation and greater integration of the Muslim community in western countries. It will no doubt lead to problems initially (such as what I refer to above), but perhaps in the long term, it will actually lead to greater harmony.

There are also simple practical issues to consider, such as the inability to identify people wearing a facial veil, which is obviously necessary for law enforcement and many normal, everyday activities. From an ideological perspective, this issue presents quite a challenge: freedom of religion versus the rights of women. And even that isn’t clear-cut: as I say above, it isn’t actually required by Islam anyway, but on the other hand, many Muslim women might argue that such a law would infringe on their right to dress as they please. Still, if they were truly objective, I’m sure they’d see it for what it really is: the oppression of women. So what do you think? Should the Islamic facial veil be banned?

When I received a tip-off about this event (thanks Randy!), I just had to participate. So I put on one of my most exposing tops, and went shopping (photographic proof is above!). Okay, so I usually do this at least once a week anyway, but I just had to make this outing in honour of this worthy cause.

I’m sure you’ve all heard by now of Christopher Hitchens’ and Richard Dawkins’ push to have the Pope arrested for crimes against humanity, for his multiple cover-ups of priests sexually abusing children. In my opinion, there isn’t any question that he should be—I guess the only real question is, can he? Perhaps we’ll find out soon. If he can’t, that would be a crime against humanity in itself.

Seemingly unable to come up with any genuine criticism of my first Bible reading, Christians mostly responded to it in one of two ways: do the Koran instead, or talk about the “good” stuff in the Bible, such as the ten commandments. So for my second Bible reading, I’ve done exactly that—here’s what the Bible has to say about disciplining children, so as to comply with the fifth commandment (“honour your father and mother”). I will tackle more commandments in my next few Bible readings.

For this new reading, I’ve also done an extended, topless version for my web site members—this is something I will be doing every month from now on. And even better, so that as many people can see these new videos as possible, I’ve dropped the price of my web site membership to only $9.99 for one month (and $4.99 per month recurring)! Also, so as not to disadvantage anyone who has joined recently, if you joined earlier this year you can claim a $10 credit to use at my online store!

That title may sound like bad news, but actually, I consider it to be a very good news—clearly, it means that atheists are really starting to make an impact in the media and on the population at large. With the recent passing of “Zombie Jesus Day” (thanks Joe!), we have of course had the annual Good Friday sermons from Christian leaders in Australia. Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen took it as an opportunity to spout two old chestnuts: that atheism is as much a religion as Christianity, and that it has resulted in mass murder at the hands of Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot. I have already responded thoroughly to these claims in my Religion and Morality article, so I won’t repeat myself here. Suffice it to say, I agree with the Australian Atheist Foundation president David Nicholls that this is an act of desperation by the church—here is what else he had to say. I’ve also always found the claim that atheism is a religion in itself to be rather curious anyway—it’s kind of like saying “well okay, we admit that that our belief system is crap, but hey, yours is crap too!”.

I am very sorry about the lack of posts recently, but the reaction to my new sexy Bible readings has been overwhelming! Anyway, I’ve been intending to do a detailed article on the passing of Obama’s health care plan and the reaction to it, but I wanted to get a post up quickly to bring this petition to everyone’s attention: Tell the Republican Party to STOP Inciting Tea Party Racism! The extremism and hatred of the American right in what is supposed to be a civilised country is simply astonishing.