Recently in Fundies Category

United States: Scientists have complained that anti-gay religious groups are pretending to be legitimate scientific organisations, and presenting deliberately distorted versions of their research as fact. This is nothing new—the Prattle dissected one example back in 1998. The most recent case involves Dr. Gary Remafedi of the University of Minnesota, whose work on adolescent sexuality has been appropriated and misrepresented by a bogus paediatrics organisation, the American College of Pediatricians, trying to deny any support whatsoever to LGBT kids in school.

The letter, and the Facts About Youth website it pointed school officials to, was dense with footnotes citing scientific studies. Remafedi's research was at the top of the list.

The ACP argues that schools shouldn't support gay teens because they're probably just confused. Most adolescents who experience same-sex attraction...no longer experience such attractions at age 25, the letter says, citing a 1992 study by Remafedi.

Except that's not what Remafedi's research suggested at all. His work showed that kids who are confused about their sexuality eventually sort it out—meaning many of them accept being gay.

That's not the only example of this organisation lying about Remafedi's research. They took his finding that people who come out earlier are more likely to experience stigma and isolation, leading to an increased suicide risk, and twisted it to claim that identifying as gay itself was the problem. As Remafedi noted, It's obvious that they didn't even read my research. I mean, they spelled my name wrong every time they cited it.

Alvin McEwan has summarised the problem in a posting at the Huffington Post, and also links to Respect My Research—a Truth Won Out site dedicated to highlighting such abuses.

Evangelists treat the distorted research as the truth when they need to justify hate speech against LGBT people. Bradlee Dean looks like a 1980s hair rocker, a particularly naff one. His You Can Run But You Cannot Hide ministry uses allegedly punk music (with hair that long?!) to corrupt young minds with his imaginary friend. He has recently praised Islam for its murderous intolerance of homosexuality, and urged Christians to kill LGBT people. And he uses falsified scientific research to justify his violence.

On average, they molest 117 people before they’re found out. How many kids have been destroyed, how many adults have been destroyed because of crimes against nature?

As The Freethinker points out, this claim is bollocks, based on misrepresentation of research. Perhaps he was confused and thinking about the child abuse scandals involving Christian clergy (of several denominations) which have recently come to light?

University of Minnesota professor's research hijacked—City Pages, 26th May 2010; 'Let's threaten gays with death as the Muslims do', says Christian wingnut—The Freethinker, 26th May 2010.

United Kingdom: Special diets foods retailer Goodness Direct is a front for the coercive cult, the Jesus Army.

I am privileged to have a reasonable (for the UK) whole foods shop close to where I live, but for more unusual animal-free products, I have good personal experience of shopping with Vegan Store, which appears to be a small, independent, vegan-owned company. Comments about alternative suppliers of gluten-free products in the UK would be welcomed by some of my friends.

Science fiction is apparently evil and to be avoided, but not because most of it is crap. No, it's because it's about science and written by atheists.

With it being a product of an evolutionary worldview that denies the Almighty Creator, you'd think the Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service would have no trouble coming up with more than the six dead men they did. They completely forgot about Douglas Adams, Iain Banks, Ben Bova, Angela Carter, Thomas M. Disch, Greg Egan, Harlan Ellison, Harry Harrison, Stanislaw Lem, H.P. Lovecraft, China Miéville, Terry Pratchett, Rober J. Sawyer, Bruce Sterling and Charles Stross.

They also chose to ignore this list and linked pages at adherents.com, which shows a wide variety of superstitious belief, or lack thereof, among SF writers. And clearly are unaware of that noted name William Charles Deich IV (via Pharyngula.)

Meanwhile, here is a useful summary of all knowledge.

Scotland: A few days ago, a tornado hit Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. Ten days or so before that, the first Sunday ferry sailed to Stornoway, and eight days (the Record got it wrong) after the first civil partnership took place on the island. It took less than 24 hours for a superstitious bampot to make a connection between these events and his imaginary friend.

The Reverend James Tallach, of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, told the Record: I'm not in a position to say this was the will of God. I don't have that information here.

"But I am prepared to say that it's certain no good will come out of defying God's law.

"That is what a Civil Partnership does. What happened on Monday was in defiance of God.

"We have also seen a clear breach of the Fourth Commandment, which regards keeping the Sabbath holy. Sunday sailings were also against the law of God.

You can see why we keep these people on a small island a long way from civilisation. Anyway, we can draw one major conclusion from this: God has a really shit aim. He managed to miss the fuel depot for the ferries, for example. Furthermore, the Prattle has a contact on Lewis, a man who was on that first Sunday ferry and who wore a T-shirt designed to wind up the protesters. Obviously the sort of character God would want to smite, and indeed He got within about 20 metres. The exact quote was something like Well it hit number 34, but I live at number 32! Really, you can't get the deities these days.

Discussion in the pub also brought forth an interesting hypothesis: if we take the time between an event said to incur the wrath of God, and an incident which is said to be caused by the aforementioned wrath, then we can work out how far away God must be. Of course, this assumes a deity is bound by the speed of light.

Stornoway tornado was 'wrath of God', says minister—Daily Record, 30th July 2009.

Cheryl has noticed an interesting OpEd piece in the Mormon Times, in which science fiction writer Orson Scott Card calls for terrorism against any government which allows same-sex marriage.

I will act to destroy that government and bring it down, so it can be replaced with a government that will respect and support marriage, and help me raise my children in a society where they will expect to marry in their turn.

As Cheryl comments, [p]resumably the Department of Homeland Security will be taking note, but it brings two questions to mind. Firstly, how is ensuring his children can marry regardless of the sex of their beloved stopping them from doing so? And doesn't Mormonism historically have a definition of marriage which is ever so slightly different from the one which inspires Card's violent thoughts?

A Call for Revolution—Cheryl's Mewsings, 29th July 2008, citing State job is not to redefine marriage—Mormon Times, 24th July 2008.

United States: The American Family Association operates a 'news' outlet which, it has been recently discovered, alters stories to suit its agenda. The tinkering was noticed when they reported on the success of an American athlete:

Tyson Homosexual was a blur in blue, sprinting 100 meters faster than anyone ever has.

His time of 9.68 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials Sunday doesn't count as a world record, because it was run with the help of a too-strong tailwind. Here's what does matter: Homosexual qualified for his first Summer Games team and served notice he's certainly someone to watch in Beijing.

It means a lot to me, the 25-year-old Homosexual said. I'm glad my body could do it, because now I know I have it in me.

The athlete's name is really Tyson Gay.

Christian Site's Ban on 'G' Word Sends Homosexual to Olympics—Washington Post Blogs, 1st July 2008.

Englandshire: Dr. Who fans could find themselves a bargain as the memorabilia collection of Simon White goes on sale after he swapped science fiction for fantasy.

The collection, which Mr White estimates is worth nearly £7,000, was built up over a number of years but is to be cast aside because of his religious beliefs.

Dr Who and his materialistic obsession with it represents the greatest lie that Satan ever told according to Mr White...

He said: God delivered me from the evil that is Dr Who.

Don't offer too much now. We wouldn't want to reward him for his sinfulness now, would we?

Dr Who Tardis on sale on eBay—Wiltshire Times and Chippenham News, 21st March 2008.

United States: A religious extremist has complained about an advertisement for a Boston gym featuring nuns in a life drawing class. Or more precisely, he complains that the object of his fetishism has been depicted as normal human beings, with human failings, as the Sisters are clearly tempted by the buff young man modelling for them.

C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts told the Herald the ad portrays a callous contempt for the sensibility of Catholics.

Perhaps it's not the nuns that the complainer finds erotic? The model's such a Muscle Mary, the only nuns who would fancy him in real life would be Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

Naked-Man Ad Riles Hub Catholics—WCVB TV, 30th January 2008.

This has already been everywhere, but Fundies Say the Darndest Things have published their top 100 fundie quotes. Some favourites, a few of which must be trolls, surely?

• Atheists have the greatest "cover" of all, they insist they believe in no god yet most polls done and the latest research indicates that they are actually a different sect of Muslims.
• Apes are just creatures twisted by Satan to mock Jesus by giving EVILolition credibility. Further more they are naturally lust crazed for human women. Since they are not natural creatures they should be exterminated forthwith as the tools of evil they are.
• To say the Bible was written by men and may contain inaccuracies completely contradicts the word of the Bible.
• Make sure your answer uses Scripture, not logic.
• [One Christian speaking to another] You are banned. You are not a Christian for Christians don't accuse brothers and sisters in Christ of being non-Christian.
• If we did evolve from monkeys then how come babies arent born monkeys
• I can sum it all up in three words: Evolution is a lie
• I am a bit troubled. I believe my son has a girlfriend, because she left a dirty magazine with men in it under his bed. My son is only 16 and I really don't think he's ready to date yet. What's worse is that he's sneaking some girl to his room behind my back. I need help, God! I want my son to stop being so secretive!

100 Greatest Quotes from fundamentalist christian chat rooms (a bit slow right now, so here's a mirror.

A few headlines for you:

• United States: A Texas man who told emergency services he killed his girlfriend and cooked parts of her body later described his actions as being compelled by God, police said. Alleged cannibal killer claims he was compelled by God—The Guardian, 8th January 2008.
• United Kingdom: Fundie told she must obey the rules, like everyone else. BA worker loses discrimination case over cross—The Guardian, 9th January 2008.
• United States: Inspiring this kind of thing is usually Kali's job: A man who believed he bore the "mark of the beast" used a circular saw to cut off one hand, then he cooked it in the microwave and called 911, authorities said. Man Cuts Off, Microwaves His Own Hand—Breitbart, 9th January 2008.
• United Kingdom/Kenya: Gilbert Deya tries to use Kenyan unrest to avoid extradition. Forgets British government revels in sending people back to dangerous war zones. Deya loses his appeal against extradition—icSouthLondon, 9th January 2008.
• England and Wales: End in sight for offences against the non-existent. Ministerial compromise averts backbench revolt over repeal of blasphemy offence—The Guardian, 10th January 2008.
• England and Wales: And a related motion gets an amusing number. Commons call to disestablish church is number 666—The Times, 10th January 2008.
• United States: "Embarrassed" Law Student Apologizes For Anti-Gay Bar Exam Scandal—Queerty, 10th January 2008.
• United Kingdom: Girl found dead in river 'had feared a forced marriage'—The Guardian, 9th January 2008.
• Spain: Bishop of Tenerife blames child abuse on the children—Typically Spanish, 27th December 2007.

Scotland: BloodSpell is a work of machinima—a computer animation made using video games. It's fantasy, and, as you might expect, there are some people out there who have difficulty understanding the meaning of that word. Such people base their lives on a very early example of the genre, and are unable to differentiate between fantasy and real life. And so it was that someone styling themselves The Enemy turned up in a forum dedicated to the production. He didn't enjoy it.

While the technique of Machinima to make such a film is both novel and well done given the limitations of the craft, the film itself wasn't worth the 1.5 hours to sit through. I can't imagine anyone being so captivated by this disgusting idea that they'd surrender 3 YEARS of their life to make it into a movie.

And what did he find disgusting about it? Well, it seems that the fantasy world it's set in isn't one that obeys the rules of one of the characters in his favourite fantasy book. He presents us with a list of objections (all religious)

1) Worship of angels - Forbidden in the real Scriptures.
2) Human sacrifice to angels - At no time throughout the Scripture is a human blood sacrifice ever encouraged or commanded.
3) Alligance with demons - Summoning demonic spirits may make for an interesting game to allow for all kinds of digital carnage and outlandish artwork, but playing with Satan's host is no laughing matter.
4) Demonic fight against the angel - Of course, with a volutary human blood sacrifice used to kill the angel which demanded both blood and worship, I'm at a loss as to whether the angel wasn't actually a Satanic figure himself who "appears as an angel of light". Lucifer means "star of the dawn".
5) Anti-Catholic - While no doubt that y'all have more reason to resent the Catholic church than us in the States, and, no doubt, they're guilty of the past and present crimes that they've committed, this film is hardly a truce to the hostilities, is it?
6) Anti-Christian? - However, you didn't attack "Catholics" or "Cardinals" or "priests" or "Popes", did you? You attacked "the church", the attendees of "churches", any moral standard, all bounds of restraint, and everyone who holds to such a standard.

He then complains further, in an utterly non-bigoted way, and attacking no-one at all:

Why is it that you can't bash homos or spicks or niggers or wetbacks, but you can bash a Christian who's just trying to live their own lives in peace with their God? Instead, you make a film that calls all people who worship anything other than themselves, their own lusts, and their own power the enemy.

Australia: The Family First Party have always been a paranoid, hypocritical bunch of loons, but one of their current candidates seems determined to outdo his brethren.

Andrew Quah was a candidate for the Family First Party, a political front for the Assemblies of God cult, until he was dumped due to his hobbies clashing with the dominionist leanings of his party. They are a group with a serious hate-on for homosexuals, so when photos of him flashing his genitals turned up on gay web sites, they booted him.

United Kingdom: A inquiry reviewing abortion law has warned scientists presenting evidence that they must disclose links to faith groups after it was found that religious organisations were trying to influence the result surreptitiously.

At least eight submissions of written evidence have come from medical professionals who have not disclosed their membership of Christian groups opposed to abortion on faith grounds. Six of the doctors are members or activists with the Christian Medical Fellowship, an organisation that has given its own evidence to the inquiry.

Suspicion that contributors had not been transparent about their affiliations has led the clerk of the committee to take the unusual step of writing to all those who gave evidence asking them to disclose their links to any relevant organisations...

Some on the committee are worried that unless witnesses are transparent about their affiliation to anti-abortion groups the inquiry will not be able to properly assess their evidence.

Evan Harris MP, the Liberal Democrats' science spokesperson, said: This inquiry is specifically about the scientific evidence not moral or religious arguments and our witnesses need to be evidence-led not ideologically or theologically driven. The CMF risk undermining the inquiry by getting people called as expert scientific witnesses when they are not.

Two witnesses who will give evidence today, Chris Richards, a paediatrician and honorary clinical lecturer at Newcastle University, and John Wyatt, a neonatal paediatrician at University College London, are members of CMF, but did not disclose that on their original submission.

Abortion inquiry asks scientists to disclose links to faith groups—The Guardian, 15th October 2007.