We received an un­so­licit­ed copy of this ridiculous book in the mail. It drones on and on about Satan and his plans, bashing both Catholics and Protes­tants. Apparently, ‘Sunday worship is “the mark of the beast!”’. Who knew? Who cares.

I assumed that it's from the Seventh Day Adventists, though I couldn't confirm that from skimming it. However, Catholic Answers confirms my guess.

Best avoided, especially on Sundays.

Nine years ago, the Ryan Commission was set up to produce a report on physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of children in Catholic Church–run re­for­ma­to­ries in Ireland. This week, they released a 2600-page report detailing abuse to tens of thousands of children from the 1930s to the 1990s. The abuse and violence were systemic and in­sti­tu­tion­al­ized, if not universal, and they were hushed up and overlooked for decades. The stories of the abused, in their own words, make for horrifying reading. It's a national disgrace.

The Christian Brothers come off the worst of the many religious orders who are implicated. Even in their day schools, they long had a reputation …continue.

The Pope has reinstated four ex­com­mu­ni­cat­ed bishops:

Pope Benedict XVI, reaching out to the far-right of the Roman Catholic Church, revoked the ex­com­mu­ni­ca­tions of four schismatic bishops on Saturday, including one whose comments denying the Holocaust have provoked outrage.

Pam has more. Newsweek has context.

Last month, the Pope said:

that saving humanity from homosexual or trans­sex­u­al behaviour was just as important as saving the rainforest from de­struc­tion.

Shit like this reminds me of why I am no longer a Catholic.

I was raised Catholic in Ireland and spent eleven years at a priest-run school. It didn't take; I had lost my faith by my mid-teens.

But even if I still believed in …continue.

Mis­cel­la­neous links.

• I mentioned Schneier on security theater recently. Via Pavel, I see that Schneier notes that a five-year-old was detained at SeaTac because his name appeared on a no-fly list.

• Male fruit flies, when drunk, become much more likely to court other male fruit flies. Or, Oh God, I was so drunk ...

• Health insurance companies are making out like bandits in Washington state.

• Here's a damning RIAA interview, via Gabriel:

  When asked why the RIAA is going after an easy target--college students--the response made me cringe: "College students have reached a stage in life when their music habits are crys­tal­lized," Duckworth said. "And their ap­pre­ci­a­tion for in­tel­lec­tu­al property has not yet reached its …continue.

I'm traveling in Europe at present (Ireland last week, Italy this week and next), so I have little op­por­tu­ni­ty to keep up with U.S. news, but the Larry Craig case leapt out at me. Craig is the second U.S. Senator to be exposed in the last few months as a major sexual hypocrite who espouses 'family values' but can't keep his pecker in his pants. Schaden­freude is just the right term for the pleasure I take in seeing these dickwads hoist on their own petards.

David Vitter (brother of one of my professors at Brown, Jeff Vitter) repeatedly consorted with pros­ti­tutes. Larry Craig has pled guilty to soliciting sex in a men's restroom, joining …continue.

Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority, died today. As an atheist, I don't believe in hell, but if it existed, a thor­ough­go­ing shit like Falwell would surely be headed there. Falwell was a liar, a hate-monger, a parasite, and a crook.

“The abor­tion­ists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the Pagans, and the abor­tion­ists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an al­ter­na­tive lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who …continue.

More on the Ta­l­abap­tist front. In yes­ter­day's Washinton Post, Kevin Phillips on How the GOP Became God's Own Party.

Rolling Stone magazine profiles Senator Sam Brownback in God's Senator. It's a scary look at the Christian far Right.