Boycott Easter {Christian Imperialism}

It's that time of year again. When we celebrate the death and ressurection of our Lord and Saviuor Horus...oh wait...Zeus.... no, that's not it....Santa?.... Oh right Jebus..er...Jesus.


I'm mad as hell and want to balk louder than the Cadburry easter bunny whilst searching for it's eggs.


Good{ahem, cough,cough!!!}Friday and Easter Sunday, the Christian holy-days are upon us this weekend, and in honour of this oh so persecuted faith group, the gov't offices and lots of secular business are closing their doors. As a result lots of people; many NOT Chrisatians, whom NEED the money they'd be making these days if they weren't FORCED to take them off in honour of the Christian myth, will be forced to observe at least to some degree. Sure, some will be happy as a clam, but others are barely muddling through and will be losing dozens dollars{some even more} that they NEED in able to muddle through; yes, lets make the poor starve and barely be able to pay their rent and bills in order to remember the death and ressurection myth of the ancient judeo-pagan cult...er...Christian myth cult man Jesus.


You know something else I find disgusting? I'm not sure about other cities, but here in Brandon,Manitoba the largely Christian run local Soup Kitchen- "Helping Hands" is even closing up. For many, the meal that is recieved every day{except for weekends, cause apparently the poor,homeless,welfare recipients, and hungry somehow magickally have more money for weekends and more food; assuming they've got working stoves;}at this place, is their only REAL or "substantial" mean{for some it's all they get; unless they go out and beg or borrow from friends and family; of course, "some" of these people are irresponsible dolts anyways, but not all of them are}, hmmm...the so-called Christians than run these soup kitchens apparently think that taking the day off is more important than feeding the poor,underfed, opressed poor masses; I guess they have forgotten that even Jesus and his diciples picked corn from the fields on a Sabbath holy day, meh. I am shocked that these so-called charities run by largely supposedly Chirst-loving people are closing their doors to the hungry so they can what? Really, what the hell is so damn important that they have to do on those days that they can't open for a few hours to feed people whom make next to nothing or whom are inbetween jobs or in certain circumstances where they are'nt currently able to feed themselves? What?


And what are the less fortunate to do, they can't go out and eat at expensive restaurants that might eb open, they can't go and do something; many will be forced to be cooped up in shitty slums all fuckin day{or, of course they could go to a Church good friday or easter service and be manipulated and guilte din their ignorance to beeing subservient to this lie of a faith and it's hypocrite tyrant mythgod}.


The worst thing is that this is the religious cultural imperialism of one particular faith on the whole damn country and culture at large, of a faith that whines all the goddamned time that it,it's followers, and it's god are oh so persecuted! Fuckers!!! The gov't and businesses observing this for them ins stupid!!! Do they close up for Ramadan{one of the many Islamic holy days}? Hows about Hannukah{Jewish}? Imbolc{Pagan}, or for the holydays/holidays of any other religion or creed, FUCK NO!!! Why the hell all the concesiions to the suppoedly persecuted Christian faith then?

Of course, there are those that'll claim "it's a secular holiday too?". Right, the easter bunny, chocolate{bowing to the God Nestle and other chocolate giants}. NO, IT' NOT!!! it IS "CHRSTIAN!" Just because you take the name that refers to a christian holy event and put athe face of a chocolate bunny on it doe'snt make it so! Plus, if so, than why the hell are we closing up our gov't offices and all gov't related places, malls, postal services, Public transit services, malls, grocery stores, and many other places? Why, for the love of chocolate bunnies? No, it's in order to give into the pressures of the Christian faith and honour their myths as if their myths are somehow more special than other myths! Plain and simple!


I recall the 1980's when everything was still closed on Sundays to observe the Sabbath{which is supposed to be Saturdays anyways; well...at least the Seventh day advetists get this right}or 'Lords day" I recall the battles to stop this cultural religious imperialism, in the end we got a victory{but only "partial", cause things till generally open late and close early}. What we need to do to is do the same thing in regards all the other Christian holy days that are still enforced upon our society at large by this oh so persecuted religion{whiny,hypocritical ,imperialist fucks seeking special status for themselves-their faith-and their mythological three-headed hydra-dragon beast deity}


Lets fight back. I say.... BOYCOTT and PROTEST these dumbass Easter restrictions,closings,and when some dumbass christian or other idiot assumes that everyopne is a christian and says "happy easter" to ya{I had this happen to me today, and I happenned to be wearing a black metal t-shirt, a spiked gauntles-AND AN INVERTED CRUCIFIX AROUND MY NECK at the time}, and loss of our liberties and equality to give special status to this plague called Orthodox Christianity. Enough is enough!!!


In Reason:
The Very Irreverand Bill Baker


p.s. if you care to, please spread this message around.

Of faith{absolutism},mental illness, and child abuse!!!

The time to stop kissing ass has come!

We whom know the facts need to in our every day life start calling Absolutist/revealed/fundamentalist faith/religion what it is;
like schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder,depression,multiple personality disorder, arachnaphobia{phobias in general},etc, we need to call it{absolutist/fundy faith} a psychological/mental disorder. There is no real difference between it and those whom claim to see or hear people or entities or voices,Zeus,flying pink elephants,etc, and things that are not there.

Like phobias such as arachnaphobia,etc. Absolutist faiths are also disturbing phobias and even worse. They believe and proclaim to the world that unless everyone converts to their biased, archaic, limiting, unhealthy views of the Universe,Theology,and so-called morality, that they will all burn in eternal hellfire w/no hopeof repreive from it; done so by the decree of a suppoedly loving Creator father{male} whom see fit to make sure his Creations/Children are tortured eternally.

Because of this, these people whom claim to live by faith, are, by proxy, living in a horrible state of phobia/fear that most people are going to this hell and need to be evangelized; that there are fallen angels/evil demigods/demons around every corner making sure that everyone worships other versions of deity or none at all, making sure that everyone stay in a perpetual state of "sin"{many of these so-called "sins" beeing harmless and even healthy parts of our nature as human animals; which can be demontratably proven by science,psychology,sociology,etc,etc,etc}, yes, these demons are everywhere, so...whatch out{nothing keeps the masses under the thumb of a system or of rulers better than fear}.

What's worse, these mentally disturbed masses and individuals are legally allowed and even encouraged to raise their children{and by association-our children} to have the same disorders and phobias; it's tiume to start calling this what it is-CHILD ABUSE!
If parents were raising their children from birth w/fear that literally around every corner was a murderer, or that Freddy Kruegers were haunting their dreamsn and that if they were killed in their sleep they'd die in real life, if they trained them to believe that Frank Sinatra was watching over them; we'd either label them "nuts" or "child abusers" or both.
That children are taught from birth to fear imaginary devils,demons, and eternal hell, and that the only way to be protected and spared is to worship the god{s}/ess{es} that lurk in their parents psyche or that are the most favoured and/or propagated for the longest period of time in their particular culture and/or geographical location; and that all those whom worship other god{s}/ess{es} here or elswhere, now or in the past, no matter how loving/just/ethical those people are, that they are headed for that childs parents/religions/cultures version of afterlife torture for all eternity with no hope for reprieve from it; and that they must go out of their way in life to try to evangelize them all and convince them all of their wicked beliefs/or non-beliefs{somehow it's ok for these competing absolutist faiths to prejudge each other,everyone else, and even variuos so-called "heretical" sects of their own religion; but it is taboo for us to speak against thier dangerous,unhealthy, prejudiced,willfully ignorant archaic delusions}, to convince others to worship the god that luks in thier parents brains or in their partcicular culture or spend an eternity raosting in a afterlife torture at the decree of that god.

Folks this IS "child abuse", lets admit it and do something about it!!!

Folks this whole thing IS a seriuos "psychological disorder", lets admit it and do something about it!!!

We must stop making concessions for them; we must stop making absolutist/fundamentalist faith{s} untouchable, a taboo to speak against in such a way.
If someone was teaching false ideas about racial equalityor false ideas about nulcear physsics,etc, would we sit back and say "oh, that's ok if these people beileve this; if they think it's true-it's true forthem"?-NO OLF COURSE NOT! Why then is faith so taboo to counter and even expose??? Why are we so afraid of it and those that propogate absolutist faiths?
They don't afford us the same courtesy, nor dothey afford fields of knowledge and evidences the proper regard{unless it supports something about the existence of one of the places or individuals,etc, in their so-called holy books;when it does the contrary they just resort to circular logic and "gods ways our not our ways; gods ways are mysteriuos; do not lean on thy own understanding; etc"-of course, WHICH god is the TRUE one then??? People,it is nonsensical their arguments!}; hey accuse our lives and beliefs/unbeliefs ALL THE TIME- the very core of their archaic doctrines is based on such prejudgement,bias, and accusations based in their ancient founders ignorance and bias and fears. For thousands of years these absolutist faiths negative consequences have far outweighed the few positive contributions they have made{which could have been reached via pure "reasoning" and evidences; and in fact have been further perfected upon by such}.

Ages ago, these absolutist faiths "may" have served a usefulpurpose in that stage of evolution/development and for some sort of order in their ancient,ignorant[said not rudely, but just as a statement of fact} societys; but they can mostly only be harmful to us in this age of profression,knowledge, and reason.

It is my opinion as a man of reason that it is high time we{at the very least} label these things as "psychological/mental disorders" and "child abuse"; and that we slowly start to implment programs and policiesthat require such people to get help{even if we have to pay for it financially in the beginning as tax payers}psychologically and maybe from medications{if required}; maybe not by "force", but by on a massive societal level speak against their ideas and start to make it mandatory that they leaRN the facts{that means, NO CHRISTIAN/FAITH-BASED SCHOOLSOR COLLEGES; THAT MEANS NO BEEING ALLOWED TO HOMESCHOOL FOR THEM,ETC}.
Certainly we need to stop favouring and showing such tolerance to their ideas of their ancient predecesors; and stoppaying lip service tothem and especially their leaders such as popes and evangelists,etc.{ie: John Paul, Billy Graham,etc}, and also their media propaganda{icluding christian rock music, christian t.v.s hows and movies and books,entertainment; such as the "Left Behind" series and "Passion of the Christ"; they should be allowed to share those ideas and make that propaganda yes, but not given as mush coverage and favour by the non-faith based media and govts,etc}.

Most importantly we need to put legal restrictions on allowing parents to indoctrinate children from birth through entire life{if you've been raised such yourself and have broken free, you know how painful the break away from these myths and fears can be} w/these dangerous ideas, CHILD ABUSE! Would we be so lenient towards parents whom riase their children as racial supremacists, I bet most would'nt be, sowhy so w/spiritual/moral superiority base don archaic biases that hold little relevance for the modern and progressing world? Yes, they should be legally alowed to believe as they believe and to express their beleif through the press,media, and public spheres{but we should also be ridiculing them and these ideas at every turn; as the saying goes-"that which is proposed w/out evidence can be dismissed w/out evidence"}, but be required,possibly by law to not indoctrinate their children; they should be allowed to teach their children about their "personal" beliefs, but then also required to teach them about every other beleif and unbeleif and not to subvert them or forcethem to believe the same thing as them; they should be required to teach their children to be unbiased{at threat of legal fine or something}, so that their children{and our children whom associate w/them and their children} can later makea more informed and more personal choice for what they wish to believe or not to believe. It's only fair; just as we are working to eliminate racial prejudice and bias, sowe should do w/this.

We need to TAX CHURCHES/SYNAGOGUES/MOSQUES/ETC, we need to STOP ALLOWING FAITH-BASED CHARITIES which BRIBE the needy and ignorant, and use their needs to prosalatyze them to do so! We must make it illegalfor representatives of these faiths to go door to door w/pamphlets and preaching; and we must always protest when we see one particular absolutist faith beeing promoted before and above allthe othersand before/above relatvist faiths/philosophies/beliefs and unbeliefs.

We must stop deluding ourselves into thinking that their beliefs are ok and/or harmless; their absolutist/fundamentalist/literalist beliefs don't hurt just themselves, but their children and their childrens children,etc, they hurt our children and our childrens children,us,democracy; on alllevels,legally,ethically,psychologically,etc.

Their beliefs, by their "core nature" are intolerant/prejudiced; why should we continue to abuse and misuse the noble word/idea of tolerance and continue to give them and their myths the power,wealth,influence that these mental disorders have over their lives,our lives, our laws and ideas, and more importantly theirs and our children and childrens children,etc.?

We must write our govts and professional scientists,psychologists,law/policy makers;protest,petition,etc, about this ,the most important{or at least one of the most important} issues facing the world.

If we don't do this, or at least start calling these things/people what they are-"psychollogical disorders/psychollogically disturbed" and "Child abuse" and "Phobias"; we don't do so then at our own peril and treat and expense of reason,evidences,progress,peace, and our own minds. To give them the wealth,power,and influence that we do, the social and political influence that we do, is done possibly as a threat and to our own,our childrens and their childrens,etc,long-term peril, and to the peril of our ever-evolving and progressing species{as well as the Terra firma/earth and all inhabiting it}.

The even worse thing is how much favour and praise the secular/non-absolutist world stupidly heapson these people and their leaders.One only need look at the amount of honor given to the Pope and Billy Graham by the ass-kissing secular groups and individuals,govts, and media{like afforementioned in this post},etc; THIS MUST END!!! WE MUST NOT ENCOURAGE THEIR DANGEROUS ARCHAIC DELUSIONS, BIASES AND FEARS!!! The govt,media,etc, must be rebuked and held accountable for encouraging it/them.

This is a challenge to asll those whom know I'm correct about this, to stop kissing ass and to stop beeing politically correct and misusing that noble ideal of "tolerance" to help these mental disturbances, abuses, and dangerous absolutist viruses to spread and mutate; I have found in my protestations and polemic arguments that many people agree but are to chicken shit to step up to the plate and be counted amongst the reasonable and progressing, there are only a few whom do so, but those that read their books,writings,etc, and yet are too afraid to at least{in the very least} speak the truth that these things are what I have just labelled them; now is the time to stand be counted friends; are we going to continue to allow the un/anti-reasonable, the superstitious,the PREjudgiced, the blindly traditional herd, the absolutist/fundamentalist/literalist faithists/faiths to continue to railroad over us and to rape the worlds progress,unity/peace, and progression???
Where are our guts, our convictions? Where are the faithless heroes? Where are the reasonable ultra liberal faithists{in other words; symbolic and relativist philosophers} and the balanced faitless, how come to many are afraid to expose these people and their beliefs for what they are?

P.S. Absolute faith/ists and personal/subjective/relativist philosophy based on reason and evidences, and logical propositions rhat don't run directly contrary to those realities; SHOULD NOT be confused with/for one another. But I am calling those ultra liberal faithists to stand up and quit kissing the ass of the absolutists. For "relativist" "liberal/moderate"{ultra} faith, though in my opinion stilla bit of a delusion, is/are still held by "reason" and sciences{etc} based people and should not be confused w/the dangerous absolutists faiths.
HOWEVER.... I personally hold this tolerance towards them, if it can be proven to me that they are a threat or as much a threat as the absolutists, then perhaps I will altar my opinion someday, but for now-I hold that they are for the most part=harmless,and maybe even helpful{on a "symbolic/metaphorical" level}.

p.p.s. a note to "strong" atheists{not just regular/personal atheists; which are ok and their conclusions-ok}; your absolute claims about the Universe/creatorology,spirituality,etc; is also somewhat absurd, given how little we still knowe about our vast multi-verse; I'm not calling for the same revolt againmst you and your views as I am of absolutist faithists; but my fear is that someday we may have to, for that "absolutism"may someday be a threat as well.

In Reason:
The very irreverand Bill Baker

JUNE 15 updte on prayer/meeting/religion,etc controversy I've stirred up.

Before reading this, if you have not yet read the other posts on this subject matter, scroll down and read all the posts before this one and all the letters to editors,etc. Then read this one.
Bill



JUNE 15:

In todays paper there is a letter from a local citizen entitled "ENOUGH SATANIST RAMBLING" which misrepresents satanism and of course implies it to have the very faults that fundy/evangelical christyian faith and it's Bible have. So I sent a new letter defending it,etc. Also the semi-local candidate for the political party "The Christian Heritage Party" had a letter printed. I never responded to his letter, I did however call him up and have a reasonable conversation{which he dragged out by asking me my beliefs and debating theology/morality w/me, and it was long distance I think to a nearby town, and I was phoning from a University phone,so...}, but I phoned him merely to take him up on his challenge to me to show that in his words "I challenge Mr.Baker to show us the good works done by his faithless freethought pseudo-religions". I took him up on that and got im good, teehee! His letter was titled "Christians do good works".So, my third letter appeared in todays paper:HERE IS THAT LETTER AGAIN;



"PLEA FOR REASON AND EQUALITY":
Regarding Pastor Mike Davis' letter in Sundays Sun.Pastor Mike said that I said the prayer meeting at city hall was/is Evangelical/Conservative, and that it isn't, that is is inter-denominational. Fist, I said Evangelical/Fundamentalist, not "conservative"; this may be semantics, but their are slight though notable differences. Second, I never said it was not inter-denominational, I knew that it was, otherwise I would've been more specific and said something akin to it was "pentecostal" or "Baptist" or "Protestant" or "Catholic",etc. In Brandon, most of, if not all of these denominations ARE Evangelical and/or Fundamentalist. So, I never said anything that was not true.Next, in regards my letters to the editors on the Pope and on faith-based charities, I will not redefend my opinions, I will simply say that I adequetely explained why I hold those positions and why I believe they are ethical and correct in the actualy letters.As far as the national poll that Mike makes referance to. First, there are margins of error in all polls that vary in degree. Also, regardless of how many people "pray", they are not all praying to the same god{s}/ess{es}, and even many Christians are praying to a more liberal/equality minded god{or perhaps one that is a metaphor}. Many are simply praying to{or sending thoughts out to} the ether, the collective unconciuos,etc.The Statement "our thoughts and prayers are with you" said by the govt leaders is a fair statement, it does not show favor to a monotheistic god or any version of divinity at all; it is fair and inclusive to the faithful of all faiths and to the faithless by way of term "thoughts".Many people{faithful included} believe help is needed; however, not all of them are asking for this from a monotheistic,anthropormorphic ancient, Abrahamic sheep herder/war deity. Many are against the monopoly {some Christians/Abrahamics included} that Fundamentalist faiths have on "positive" ideals and on deity/divinity} and their opposition to democratic equality rights-such as "gay marriage" for exampl{many christians agree with me on this}.Mikes quote from the book of Timothy reveals the devotion to Pauls ideas rather than to Jesus's that most modern evangelicals/fundamentalists have. they should call themselves "Paulians".Mike says that this meeting is open to "all" whom wish to come and peacefully participate. Really? How would you react to a Liberal Christian coming and praying for equality for all{including gays in marriage,etc}? How would you feel about Non-christians coming and praying to their version of deity in this supposedly inclusive prayer meeting?Those who regularly attend are not interested in debating or entertaining a protest, pastor Mike says. Well, Pastor, I think we know the reason for this. Could it be because of your desire to pretend to be democratic while praying for your faith{and your version of it} to dominate everything including the political and social spheres. Could it be that you are afraid that to answer any questions as to the ethicalness or validity of praying in govt offices will expose a agenda of wishes to subvert democracy w/theocratic ideals of the fundamentalist christian faith}?"One City, one church, many congregations". Indeed. And all of them are Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christian denominations, and this whole thing undermines and excludes those opf other faiths,philosophies, or no faith. My assertion that your version of the christian faith has too much wealth,power, and influence here by your own proclamations-shown, by evidence, to be quite true.Now, as far as Mikes attack on the Branodn Sun for what he says is "negative articles' against the authorities/leaderships; that's quite hypocritical coming from one whom is part of a version of the Christian faith which often goes out of it's way to attack, speak negatively in the press and public,etc, against those authorities that seek democracy for all{such as for gays}. The pastor is one of their most vocal mouthpieces here in Brandon. It seems that unless it serves the evangelical/fundamentalist christian agenda it is negative, if it serves their agenda-it is positive.Here, Pastor Mike is dooing to the Brandon Sun what he did to the editors of the BU "Quill" several months ago, telling them what is appropriate and not appropriate and responsible or non, for them to print. Why? Well, because he as a conservative/fundamentlist/evangelical Christian{beeing as specific as I can} is offended at the democracy and fair-minded displayed, and the humanistic values, because they do not serve to glorify his version of god as supreme aobe all others..I am a man of reason, as such I am not against all Christians/faithists, nor equality for "all" of them and us included{by us, I mean the faithless, or people of alternative faiths}. I am simply opposed to "Absolutists"{that would include those of faith and of no-faith} having special privelages or excess wealth,power, and influence. All I want{as many other do} is equality across the board.And after all is said and done here, the fact still remains that Burgess and Dvis group are avoiding apologizing for their corrupt,untehical actions-the Mayors and other "govt" offices used by any special interest/faith group is innapropriate and should be aknowledged as such, or again-make them pay for the usage like in say Winnipeg{or "tax" them-the churches}. Allthough, since some don't have the equal wealth that these churches have and would'nt be able to afford it, the best thing to do is to not allow any in there. There is a sayig about "respect all, or respect none' in this case because of these facts, the govt should respect all by respecting none{this is too Burgess}.To Mike and his group and all the evangelical/fundamentalists; don't pray in our govt offices and we won't think in your churches. However, if you want to do so, then it's only fair that we be allowed to come into your churches and think out loud like you pray out loud in govt offices. And Burgess, you owe the city an apology, instead of dodging the fact that is is wrong.One more thing, I wish to thank publicly the Sun for their open-minded and fair coverage of this issue, I also wish to thank Tannya A. Ross for her encouragement.In Reason:Bill Baker
p.s. to Brandon Sun editor. Thank you again for your coverage of the issue. Myself, and others such as Miss Ross, and other like us thank you..Peace to you
END.


Here is the letter from the guy attacking satanism,etc:


"ENOUGH SATANIST TALK"A group of us was talking at the Westman air show the other day about Bill Baker's letters to the editor{June 7 and 11} and we were shaking our heads in disbelief.Why would the Brandon Sun let some pro-satanist ramble on about how unfair it is for Christians to use city hall to pray? Good grief, so what! So they want to pray for our leadership-good!What do Satanists want, other than to stamp out Christianity and anything that gets in the way of their lifestyle? If you think we are making this up, pick up a copy of the Satanic Bible by Anton Lavey.Christians are the ones running soup kitchens and helping the poor-you know, those horrible fundamentalist-types like the Salvation Army. Christians are helping the poor all over the world and are changing lives for the better.Some of those guys I met at the air show were from variuos churches and just shook their head sin disbelief that such a big deal could be made of praying at city hall, and that the Brandon Sun would give space to a pro-satanist.I thank God for Brandon and the life I have here and I'm so glad theer are people praying for our mayor. Lets give that some good coverage and stop siding with evil.From what I saw at the air show, you not only lost respect, you also lost readers as well.Do not give into this small minority, Mayor Dave Burgess. We support you!RYAN PRITCHARD, BRANDON.


Here is the Christian Heritage Party guys letter


"CHRISTIANS DO GOOD WORKS".Re: latters to the editor by Bill Baker on Christians beeing able to pray in City Hall{June 7 and 11}. These people were harming no one, speaking to no one, but merely earnestly asking God to help our leaders to stand for what is right and good for us all. Yes, they could meet in a church or a home. But Christianity is no ordinary religion. It happens to be the largest religion worldwide and the largest by far in Canada. Canada was founded on principles that recognize the supremacy of God. Polls show that more than 80% of Canadians believe in the God of the Bible. There are perhaps as many as 30,000 churches in Canada. Further, Christianity has done more good in the world than any other organization in history. It is fitting thn, Christianity should still be honoured by our Canadian institutions. We are not really a secular or atheistic country, but more of a Christian country than anything else. Mr. Baker spoke of the seperation of church and state. What the Americans had in mind was that there should be no state church, like the Church of England in in the UK. It has nothing to do with preventing Canadian Christians, as individuals or as a group, from bringing their beliefs into politics. Christians are not second-class citizens. In a democracy, people of faith or no faith are welcome to bring their beliefs to the public square.Most nations are in terrible shape morally. Canada is like heavan in comparison, and we must keep it that way. Canada needs all the prayer it can get if it is not going to degenerate into a immoral and lawless society.I can't see why Mr.Baker is against fundamentalist Christians and considers them dangerous. Normal Christianity is a peaceful religion with no other agenda than has to been plain for all to see for nearly 2000 years. Fundamental Christians hold traditional orthodox Christian beliefs just like Jesus and the early church did. They, like the early Church, accept the promise that as Jesus was raised from the dead, so they will be raised from the dead to everlasting life. This promise is the reason why Christians want to do good for others. They do not want to stop otjer people from the freedom to live their lives in their own way, so long it is good for all concerned.Today the equal worth of men and women, and our love for children, came to us though Christians, who are also responsible for the abolition of slavery, the creation of democracy, trade unions, most schools, universities, orphanages, hos[itals, feeding the poor and many other benefits.I challenge Mr Baker to show us the good works done by his faithless freethought pseudo-religions.COLIN ATKINS: SOURIS.


My last letter, which I just sent, which may or may not be published.


:In response to Mr.Ryan Pritchards letter in June 15th's Sun.Mr. Pritchard, I have read Anton Layveys "Satanic Bible", I've also studied variuos satanists sites and other info and talked w/Satanists. Satanists do not see Laveys book the same way revealed religionists see their books, they see it as basically just a thougt-provoking but humanly flawed book of philosophy, rather than a commandment book of absolutes, they just ahppen to agree w/most of Laveys Philosophy. Laveys Philosophy, like that of other "Symbolic" Satanists is one based in rational humanism and ethical hedonism, it is one rich w/sybology and metaphor. Lets compare shall we. The Satanic Bible talks about vengeance and indulgence, but when compared to the context of the whole thing is either mostly symbolic or based in justice and moderation, not blatantly going out of ones way to seek vengeance on people for inane things, the indulgence principle is further elaborated on as needing consent between informed,consenting adults or perhaps teens. I've also read the Christian Bible, having spent 26 years as a mainstream,non-denominationa, fundamentalist/evangelical. The Old Testament is filled w/accounts of the god of the bible commanding through his prophets mass genocide,infanticide, Rape of virgins and other war crimes, it is filled w/commands from the god of the bible to commit torture against people even for the most harmless of so-called "sins". The New Testament though filled w/less of that, as Jesus had evolved god into a slighly more fair-play deity, but it still has some commands and rules that would be considered untethical for our time, and Christians in general in the west have forsaken that, whilst still calling it all gods infallible,unchangeable word{except for Liberal ones, bless their souls and informed minds}, showing their own hypocrisy in their pickiness of what to obey and what not too.Also, the Satanic Religion since Lavey brought it from the underground,persecuted religion, to the out in the open persecuted religion, has not once had any evidence proven against it of dooing any harm in the name of the religion; though some fundamentalist Christians have had fun making up stuff, or exploiting the very few cases of ignorant teen reverse christian devil worshipping cults dooing stupid things; Satanists look upon such cruelty and stupidity w/as much disdain as any other ethical humanist, even Laveys Book does. It is a rational,ethical, fair-play minded, balanced hedonistic philosophy,it has never been used more opression of others{like say Christianity} it is opposed to that kind of tyranny and hypocrisy. Though it uses a fair bit of extreme imagery/symbolism in order to show the the lack of sense and close-mindedness of those who will judge a book by it's cover, it's mostly symbology friend. On top of that symbolic Satanists are mainly atheists,agnostics, or of some other rationalist philosophy. I myself consider myself{for the time beeing} a symbolic satanist w/a small "s", though I am more deistic or pantheistic in my thinking, hence my main religiou sphilosopgy is Universism w/a big "U". Satanists have had very little chance to defend themselves, Christians have had plenty. So, thank you to the Brandon Sun for giving me a chance to defned them and explain the philosophy a little. My last word on it is "don't judge a book by it's cover". As far as Christians beeing the ones dooing all that charitable work, yes-to prosalatyze to uninformed minds of those that have been impoversished and in need and oppressed; I know, I was once part of this. People of other religions, including Satanists, are just adept at charitable work, except most of them do not have the ulterior motive of wanting to try to convert people, especially the un/misinformed people; actually, I talked to a Satanist int he States whom actually had a charity going for awhile{a soup kitchen or something if I remember correctly}, but because of whom was running it, he could not get as much support from the community and the govt,etc, and lost his charity. Christians are seeminly more charitable because they have more wealth,power, and influence than other groups of religions in the west, and they flaunt their "charity"{prosalatyzing centers/actions}, and these fundamentlaist/evangelical Christians have been able to convinve everyone of their religions ultimate goodness{whilst downplaying the cruelty of the god of the Bible in the Old Testamant} and that every other religion lacks what they've got, they bene able to successfully monopolize the finer qualities of human nature as beeing of their religion or perhaps of only monotheistic, revealed faiths; qualities like compassion,justice, ethics,etc. They ahve also claimed monopoly on the ineffable, boxed it in, and made it in their own image{as 'he" was by his partriarchal male creators from aeons ago}.Now, this is not an attack on "all" christians, or "all" forms of Christianity, I've tried to be very specific in my letters and only point the finger at the Fundamentalists/Evangelicals, I try to seperate the Liberal Christians from them. Also, not all evangelical/fundamentalists are bad or have the ulterior motiver to prosalatyze, I know "some" whom are upstanding human beeings. My accusations are levelled at the organized maintream,evangelical, fundamentalist church collective. It is because of my desire to be precice,fair, reasonable, that I have seemingly long letters. I am a secular humanist, I am relativist{as most Universists and also most Symbolic Satanists, and atheists, agnostics,deists,etc, are.Thank you all again{especially to the Brandon Sun} for your patience,open-mindedness and for giving me this space to speak these views, and also tod efend the Satanist community and other marginalized,prejudged,minority religious groups. A last comment to Mr.Pritchard in regards to his "do not give in to this small minority" comment, yes, Mr.Pritchard that is the very mind-set of the persecution of Wiccans, gays, blacks, and other minorities whom used to be even more severely persecuted than they are now. It is also the mind-set of the Nazi's against the Jews. Think w/Reason, not w/prejudice. And, No "most' Satanists are not trying to stamp out Christianity, merely to fight the tyranny and more than equal amount of well pretty much everything that the Fundamentalist/Evangelical and other absolutist,monotheistic faiths have on the world, which gives them the chance to indoctrinate more people and even to make it appear as if their version of the faith is the only good one and that the Moderates of their faith are demonically decieved.That defense made and said...I have one quick issue, and I am digressing greatly here; that spotlight disgracing our night skies, I have talked w/many people whom share my opinion on this, it is making star gazing and enjoying night skies annoying. Could the city please do something about it?This is my last letter on these issues for now, I have filled enough papers w/these issues. What needed to be said, has been said, thank you to the Sun for this opportunity.In Reason:Bill BakerBrandon
END:


I only wish that I had;nt promised the paper that I was done. And that I had enough room to write more in that letter to challenge the disgustign,monopolizing, fallacies of the letter of Colin Atkins{the "Christian Heritage Party" guy}, the stuff he spoke claiming christianity/christians wer behind the abolition of slavery{they were also behind the slavery thing itself, democracy{um...a mixture of things, including liberal christianity,deism, ancient greek philosophy,etc}, trade unions,etc,etc,etc,,,,I mean....what a loa dof fallacy, but I cannot respond, which pisses me off, aaaarrggghh!!! I only hope that enough people know that these thigns are fallacies and that perhaps someone else will write in and expose them as such.


Jebus, this is a difficult battle!


ONWARDS FAITHLESS/REASONS SOLDIERS!!!

In Reason:
The Very Irreverand Bill Baker

UPDATE on the prayer meeting/mayor-city hall/newspaper, controversy.

First to get the full context of this issue, please scroll down and read the post below this one, my original post on the matter/issue, that post wiull tell you to go to my other blog and read, do that{if you have'nt allready, and then return here to read this post;


First here is an update on what transpired after my original letter to the editor of the local newspaper about the issue of the fundy prayer meeting in the Mayors office.
First they published my original letter in the paper. Two days later they did a front page cover story on the cotroversy, with all the plaeyers opinions and what happenned,etc{Myself, the Myor, a city counsllor, well-they did'nt have anything from the religious leaders whom held the meeting}.]
The Mayors response was typcial,evasive,deceptive, and he showed a lack of understanding of satanism,paganism, and "others" whose religions he "thinks" are BLANKET anti-religious and that he "thinks" "go against the grain".

So, I wrote another letter to the editor to address his prejudgedmental misconceptions, and also to correct the Article writer for a mistake in reporting on who I am and what I do{he called me a University student, and understandable mireading oif my email address westman@UNIVERSIST.COM}.

Anyways, here is todays letter to the editor from me,a supporting letter from another citizen of my city who gives me praise for what I've done, and... the newspapers publisher short article peace of support of me and furhter questionong of the mayors and the religious groups deceptiveness:


ACTUALLY HERE IS THE FULL LETTER:{They did however altar it a bit in the newspaper from what it says here, they made it look better with less grammatical,spelling erros,etc; and in places where I SORTA REPEAT MYSELF OR DRAG ON THEY SHORTENED IT UP A BIT OR RE-WROTE IT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT BUT GET THE SAME POINTS ACROSS: oops..sorry for the "shouting" there-the "caps lock' button keeps getting stuck in place w/out me noticing it and I don't feel like going back to correct it, LoL!!! I'm lazy, sorry}

.LETTER TO EDITOR: "RELIGIOUS GROUPS SHOULD PAY TO USE CITY HALL".Thank you for printing my letter about the prayer meeting in Mayor Burgess office,and thank you for the front page article on the matter.I wanted to clear up a couple misunderstandings that appeared in the June 9th,front page article.First, I am not a University student{at the moment}. I think that this misunderstanding is from my email address which ends with @universist.com. Universism is a faithless freethought pseudo-religion that unites Atheists,Agnostics,Deists,Pantheists, and Trancendentalists. I figured I should clear this up, again I am not currently a University student, and the misconception is likely from the email address.Second, Mayor Burgess should indeed make an apology, even if, as Councillor Barletta put it,it is an "isolated incident". Because as we can see in your article, Mayor Burgess is playing favoritism at least to "some" degree as I said before in my letter. Mayor Burgess ignorant attitude against Satanists{and "others"} is appalling. Let me make this clear to you,"most"{not neccaserily "all"} Satanists don't 'oppose' "all" other religions, they 'oppose' those ones that seek to dominate above everyone else, that think they alone have the one true way and thereby demonize all other religions/non-religions. Mayor Burgess says he's not respectful of those that have an anti-religious attitude. REALLY? Hmmm..what do you call those fundamentalists you allowed to pray in your office? I know for a fact that they are anti-religion against EVERY other religion and non-religion in existence, I used to be one of them; in fact I used to be involved w/Bethel Temple. So, I't's ok for these people whom think every other religion,non-religion, and even many sects of those that share their basic faith is demonically decieved and must be saved from that belief to do this, that is'nt anti-religious; but those groups that are opposed to that kind of one wayist arrogant attitude and are ok w/other religions that are'nt of that kind of prejudgement and arrogance are anti-religiuos, please explain the logic of this argument to me?! As far as those that go against the grain, please- elaborate, is that why you were hesitent abaout paganism too{ie: Wicca, Asatru, Odinism,etc}? It saddens me to see that this kind of ignorance and double-standard still exists here. It's acceptable for those that think EVERY belief/unbelief and even many sects of their own faith are evil and demonically decieved,etc, and to be opposed and saved from their wicked ways,to do such things and are respected for it; and yet those that are democratically minded and oppose only those religions that are like that, and do not oppose those that are'nt so much so. Wow! I'm truly disgusted at these hypocritical double-standard. I think burgess owes a public apology to those freethinking,progressive non-revealed religions that he has just insulted as well as those that he by proxy has insulted{other revealed religions included} by assuming that fundamentalist christians are respectful of other religions whilst satanists,pagans, and other groups that go against the grain {but are more fair and just in their thinking}are not- and are anti-religious. Truly this ignorance should be addressed and altered. Obviously, the fundamentalists mindsets have indeed had a subversive affect on the Mayor after all{just as I suspected}I propose that "if" this is going to be allowed in City Hall, that Brandon do something akin to what Winnipeg does, and make religious groups pay up first. But I do demand that Mayor Burgess publicly apologize for his lack of understanding and his ignorant double-standarded comments making satanists,pagans, and those myterious "others"{please elaborate on whom?} anti-religious and "against the grain"{whatever that means} and bad, whilst making the fundamentalists whom by nature of their fundamentalist faith see EVERY other belief/unbelief and even sects of their own faith as demonically decieved,sinful,evil. Also, I hope that he will apologize for allowing them to hold their worship service in his office, "isolated incident"or not, as the Maypr he should have known better, he is obviuosly trying to shirk responsibility for his mess up.I hope this letter will be published for a few reasons. {1} to clear up the "university student" confusion, and {2} to clear up the ignorant misconceptions and double-standards of that Mayor Burgess spoke and showed. and {3} to show that those so-called "anti-religious", "against the grain" groups are actually more fair and equality minded than the fundamentalists that have been showered w/praise when they are by nature quite the opposite.Thank you again to the "Brandon Sun" for allowing me to address this very important issue of religious tolerance, equality, and seperation of church and state.I appreciate it, and others of like mind likely thank you as well.In Reason: Bill Baker


Now here is the newspaper publishers response and thee reponse from the local citizen:


Here are those articles. First, what the newspaper publisher had to say about the issue{his name is Ewan Pow}, and then what the local citizen wrote{the local citizens name is Tanya A. Ross}


.EWAN POW:{quote}Mayor Dave Burgess told the Brandon Sun he makes no apologies for letting religious groups use Brandon City Hall for prayer meetings. The issue was raised in a letter to the editor in last Tuesadays Sun. The Writer, Bill Baker, questioned the appropriatness of holding, as he described, "fundamentalist prayer meetings" in the Mayors office.Mr.Burgess Told the Sun neither he nor other City Hall administration took part in the session saying "...they pray for the work of city services and elected officials and the city at large. I think that's a very credible,worthy endeavor to take on". The Use of City Hall for that meeting was not an isolated occasion. City communications staff reported this particular group has been meeting at City Hall for about three years.Forgive my cynicism, but I can't help but feel there is an ulterior motive for meeting at City Hall. After all I am sure there is adequate space in one of the churches for such a prayer meeting. Some might view them as a lobby group. You know- if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, chances are it's a duck.Last month, intergovernmental affairs and trade minister Scott Smith wondered out loud whether Brandon should rethink the choice it made against gambling less than three years ago. Mr. Burgess was annoyed, saying for the minister to even bring it up risks tearing the community apart and fuelling the racial tensions that marred the casino debate.Bethel Christian Assembly Pastor Mike Davis claimed the the city's clergy was even more opposed to a city casino today than it was in 2002.Citizens of Brandon can legitametely ask whether or not a third party influenced the city's position on casinos unduly.City Council and administration need to be conciuos of the optics of such use of 410 ninth street. Ewan Pow{Brandon Sun Publisher}-{unquote}



Letter the Editor:KUDOS TO BAKER:{QUOTE} I just read Bill Bakers recent letter to the editor{June 7}. I found it to be a well-reasoned, articulate expression of concern about the influence that a select few local religious groups may have at City Hall.Mr. Bakers letter served to expose an important issue that many others were too timid to write about. That took courage on his part. I look forward to reading future letters written by Mr.Baker regardding issues of concern to him.Tanya A.Ross. Brandon {UNQUOTE}



This is truly awesome folks. Brandon {my city} is alot like the Southern States of the U.S. heavily inundated w/evangelical/fundamentalist Christianity. To have this kind of impact for the faithless, the freethinking the non-fundamentalists, and the people{including those of faith} that are concerned about seperation of church and state beeing honoured; well, I'm shocked that the respose to this thus far has been so positive to be honest, seriuosly shocked!!! and happy the culture war in indeed on!!!



p.s. I think another reason this is of concern to the local newspaper and some other citizens is because last yeaar w/the mayors approval some workers from city hall were sent to America on a "business training trip: to the U.S. to a conference held by a Christian evangelical business group, and they were sent on the citys dime.


Anyways, this is what has traspired, I will continue to keep you informed of what happens.

In Reason:
The very irreverand Bill Baker

My invasion of a Fundamentalist Payer meeting in Local Mayors office and subsequent events.

Read about this at my other Blog= "Raving-Madman": http://raving-madman.blogspot.com

In Reason:
The Very Irreverand Bill Baker