Religion

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!

Here is my second Bible reading video from the ten Commandments, and third Bible reading overall. As with my last reading, there’s also an extended, super high quality topless version for my web site members. Sorry my hair is a little messy, but 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?

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 how to discipline 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!”.

With the International Atheist Convention starting in Melbourne, Australia today (March 12), I felt I had to do something to mark the occasion, seeing as unfortunately I am unable to attend myself. So it seemed like an appropriate occasion to launch a new venture we’ve been planning for some time now: Sachiko’s sexy Bible readings! It does seem that when a lot of people first see me (or at least conservative types), they immediately think “when it comes to brains, she’s got great tits”, simply because I have big tits, and I am a nude model. So I thought it might be fun to really play up to this stereotype, and channel my inner bimbo, as I figured this would be a very funny and effective way to show up the absurdity of a lot of what is written in the Bible, as well as some of the utterly ludicrous contortions of logic people use to defend religious belief. I have to say: it’s really fun to play dumb!

If you can’t view YouTube videos in your country, we also have a locally hosted version, as well as a super high quality version for my web site members.

For quite some time now I’ve been meaning to do an article on why creationism should not be taught in science class, but I think A.C. Grayling covers it very well in this video. I guess the only thing I would add (although he does already touch on this point toward the end of the video) is that the only thing that should be taught in science class is, well, science, and that creationism simply does not fit the true definition of science. That is, not trying to make the facts fit a preconceived notion (as in the case of the Biblical creation story), but rather, looking at the facts objectively, and seeing what conclusions it leads us to, then testing our conclusions through objective, repeatable experiments.

Oh yes: calling creationism “intelligent design” doesn’t make it any more scientific or respectable.

Okay, yes I know I posted this video last Christmas, but it’s just so damn funny that I had to post it again! Besides, I thought some of my newer readers may have missed it when I posted it last time. A word of warning though: this video may be highly offensive to Christians of delicate sensibilities.

Speaking of Christians, I’ve been starting to receive emails letting me know that not all Christians are extremists who want to force their beliefs on other people. Well of course I do know that: if all Christians practised the sort of modern, progressive and—above all—peaceful and tolerant outlook advocated by such people as Bishop John Shelby Spong, then I wouldn’t feel any need to write about Christianity at all. But sadly, we know that isn’t the case, especially in the US, where fundamentalist Christianity is on the rise. And many moderate Christians make apologies for such people, instead of attacking them head on as the threat to the future of humanity (and indeed Christianity) they are.

So having said that, I would like to wish a merry Christmas to all my more progressive and tolerant Christian readers and fans, and a happy holidays to all!