Archive for the 'Religion' Category

Was the Tasso da Silveira shooter a Muslim?

Published on April 9, 2011 by Trench Reynolds in Religion and Tasso da Silveira. 0 Comments

After Wellington Menezes de Oliveira shot and killed himself after killing 12 students at the Tasso da Silveira school in Rio police found a note that Olivieria left behind. Here is the text of that note translated into English from Portuguese.

You should first know that the impure cannot touch me without gloves, only the chaste or those who lost their chastity after marriage and were not involved in adultery can touch me without gloves, or, in other words, no fornicator or adulterer can have direct contact with me, nor anything that is impure can touch my blood, nothing impure can have direct contact with a virgin without his permission, those who prepare my burial should take off all my clothes, wash me, dry me and wrap me totally naked in a white sheet that is in this building, in a bag that I left in the first room on the first floor, after they have wrapped me in this sheet they can put me in my coffin. If possible, I want to be buried next to the grave where my mom sleeps. My mom’s name is Dicea Menezes de Oliveira and she is buried in the Murundu cemetery. I need to be visited at my grave by a faithful follower of God at least once, he must pray in front of my grave and ask God’s forgiveness for what I did praying that upon his return Jesus wakes me from the sleep of death for eternal life. 

I left a house in Sepetiba which no family needs, there are poor institutions, financed by generous people, that take care of abandoned animals, I want this space where I passed my final months donated to one of these institutions, because the animals are being very despised and need much more protection and care than human beings who have the advantage of being able to communicate, to work to feed themselves, so those who take ownership of my house, I ask you to please have some common sense and abide by my request, automatically they will be fulfilling the wishes of my parents who wanted to pass this property to my name and everybody knows this, comply with my request otherwise they automatically will be disrespecting my parents’ wishes, which would prove that all of you have no consideration for our parents who now sleep, I believe that all of you have some consideration for our parents, proving this by doing what I asked.

Previously it had been rumored that Oliveria was either HIV positive or had AIDS. Now it’s being rumored that he made these requests because he was a Muslim.  His own sister said that he had become a devout Muslim and would sit on the internet all day. I’m sure this is sending some ultra right wing types into a frothing frenzy thinking this was some kind of jihad attack.

This is where I remind those types that not all Muslims are plotting jihad 24/7/365. Most of them that live in the Western world are much like those of other religions just trying to get by in their lives.

Not to mention that in his letter Oliveria says that he awaits for the return of Jesus Christ. While Jesus is a prophet in Islam can’t think of too many Muslims who are praying for his return.

Don’t believe me? How about some of the leading theologians of Brazil?

Trying to identify Oliveira’s religion, the theologian said it is highly unlikely that the gunman was an evangelical because “evangelicals do not say there is a possibility of forgiveness after death.” 

Lopes linked him more with Catholicism, based on the gunman’s request. “This man leans more toward Catholicism or a vague mysticism.”

While we’re at it let’s hear from higher up in the Brazilian Islam community…

But the president of the National Union of Islamic Entities in Brazil, Jamel El Bacha, assured on Thursday that the gunman had no ties to Islam. Moreover, the organization condemned the crime, calling it “insane and inexplicable.”

And let me finish this up by asking one simple question. So what? So what if he was a Muslim? I don’t care if he was Muslim, Catholic or he worshiped a head of lettuce named Ralph. All that matters to me is that he cowardly killed 12 children at the Tasso da Silveira school then cowardly killed himself.

Cowardly scumbags come from all religions.

Fred Phelps dares tangle with the master

Published on May 23, 2010 by Trench Reynolds in Dio Rules the World and Religion. 0 Comments Tags: , .

WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH To Picket RONNIE JAMES DIO’s Public Memorial Service?

You know, I’ve been keeping quiet about Fred Phelps and his merry band of assclowns from the Westboro Baptist Church for a few years now. In case you don’t know who they are they’re the ‘God hates fags’ church. And I use the term church very loosely. In the past they’ve been known to protest the funerals of AIDS victims, gay people that have been killed in hate crimes and even those in our military who gave their lives for their country so asshats like Phelps can be guaranteed his free speech.

I’ve known about them longer than most people and I was outraged at first however I soon learned that the real way to combat these idiots is to ignore them. The more attention they get the more they thrive on it. So I’ve been biting my tongue on them hoping others would follow suit so that their ‘organization’ would whither and die. But people still get outraged with them and they still get the attention they seek.

Now they’re doing something that even has my attention. They plan on protesting the public memorial of the one true metal god and my icon Ronnie James Dio.

Check out what these idiots had to say…

“You know 67 year old, Satan-worshiping (or at least one of their enablers) Ronnie James Dio (of showing his devil horns to the world each time he goes in public) BLACK SABBATH fame is dead, right? We’ll be there! Just because the chances of any of God’s elect being amongst this group of heavy metal sycophants is slim to none does not mean they should not get some good words.”

I guess the WBC gets all their exercise jumping to conclusions. I am a Christian. I am proud to be a Christian. I am also proud that I a, a huge fan of Ronnie James Dio. I also know plenty of other Dio fans that are Christians as well. And while I do not like getting into who is more Christian than who type arguments I can honestly and without hyperbole claim that me and my fellow Dio loving Christians are more Christian than anyone in the WBC will ever be.

They continue to engage in their usual brand of verbal diarrhea.

“Yes, it is true that Ozzy Osbourne did ‘accidentally’ bite off the head of a bat, but THAT is the least of their sins (little nasties!), they currently do not do that, but they throw raw meat to the audience and encourage violence of EVERY FORM!”

Hold the phone just a minute there junior. I’ve been to Sabbath shows. I’ve been to Dio SHows. I’ve also been to several dozen Ozzy shows. Not once was even a scrap of anything even remotely resembling meat ever thrown to the audience. I think they may be thinking of GWAR shows. And again at none of those shows was violence ever encouraged. As a matter of fact it was quite the opposite as I always made temporary friends with those in the seats around me or waiting in line. They continue…

admitted sins of this now dead and in hell pervert: 1) He hates his neighbor(s) starting with Ozzy Osbourne

Let’s stop right there. I’m sure they’re meaning neighbor in the biblical sense as in Love thy…which the Westboro clowns seem to forget. Anyway, Ronnie and Ozzy buried the hatchet a long time ago.

and continuing down to his pornography star niece Gen Padova!

I didn’t know Ronnie had a porn star niece and even if he does what the hell does that have to do with him? And how do they know that she’s a porn star? Every Obit I’ve read about Ronnie mentioned his son, grandchildren and father but I haven’t read anything about a niece. Not to mention Ronnie’s real name is Padavona not Padova.

2) He hates God. Pay especial attention to the fact that he changed his original sir name from Padova to Dio, which means God in Italian.

He hates the Catholic Church and at this point I can’t blame him for that but that’s another rant for another day. But how can you say he hates God when he has songs like Hungry for Heaven. And he took the name Dio from a gangster in the 50s.

3) Ronnie the simpleton enabled, and encouraged Sorceries: everything he was about including the little finger horn thing (he got this from his mother which is an incantation to ward off the ‘evil eye’) to the drugs, bloody raw meat and his fellowship with those pentagon necklace wearing freakish band members.”

First off the horns, aka the maloik, he got from his superstitious grandmother. So if you think about it the horns are about as evil as throwing salt over your shoulder. And so the guy writes about dragons and wizards and he’s encouraging sorcery? At the very worst he encouraged some kids to play D&D. Again, no raw meat and I don’t think they wore pentagon necklaces. Would they pick those up at the Pentagon gift shop in Washington?

With all the outlandish lies that come out of the WBC it makes me wonder if they’re just one giant troll out for the lulz. Like an IRL version of 4chan.

Anyway if they do protest his memorial they will be walking into the dragon’s den so to speak. It’s not really a good idea to piss off a bunch of mourning metalheads.

Now I’m going back to acting like Phelps and his inbred brood don’t exist. And while I’m at it let me reiterate that not all Christians are judgmental assahts like Phelps. As a matter of fact I don’t even consider them Christians. Most of us are generally nice people but idiots like Phelps give us a bad name. Not to mention that the press doesn’t give coverage to normal Christians just overzealous assclowns.

Low Mass of the Dawn

Published on December 28, 2009 by Trench Reynolds in Religion. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Little-known Mass celebrated in Phila:

I thought this was an interesting article about a Christmas Mass that I never heard of called the Low Mass of the Dawn or the the Shepherds’ Mass. Basically it’s just a stripped down low key mass without all the hippy songs and lifeless repetition from the congregation. Just the Liturgy.

If the Catholic Church had more services like that and less Vatican II stuff I might actually consider returning to the fold.

Low Mass of the Dawn would also be a cool album name.

Of God and the Psychopath

Published on July 9, 2006 by Trench Reynolds in Columbine and Religion. 10 Comments Tags: , , , .

The Columbine Diaries: Old Wounds … New Passions:

I’m usually not to one to force my religious beliefs on others but I don’t hide the fact that I’m a Christian. And by Christian I mean one who tries to follow in the teachings of Christ and believes that Christ is the son of God. Not, “bibile-beating zealot who thinks you’re going to hell because you don’t believe in the same things I do”. Now having said that let me share this article with you about a youth pastor from Littleton, Colorado…

I was a youth pastor in Littleton with a youth group made up primarily of Columbine students. In fact, for a time the Bernall family attended our church and Cassie attended some of our meetings. I had made an appointment to meet a student on the Columbine campus for lunch on April 20th, but that morning I woke up feeling very sick and decided to stay home. At 11:30 I got a phone call from one of my interns who was sobbing and urging me to turn on the television.

At first the images struck me as a fire at the school, but within seconds the cold hard reality of what was really going on sunk in to my conscious mind.

The unthinkable was happening. If you were old enough to remember that day, you know what I’m talking about. A quiet suburban neighborhood was transformed into a war zone, except instead of soldiers being shot, there were innocent teens going through hell on earth.

Over the next several months I met with each of my students who were there to let them pour out their anger and grief, and somehow try to answer the unanswerable question of why God would allow this to happen.

Now seven years later the old wounds are reopened with the release of over 900 pages of documents from the killers. Inside you’ll find what you probably expected…angst, hate, vitriolic diatribes, and even a glimpse into the thinking patterns of a psychopath and a depressive.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t excited about the release of these diaries, I don’t enjoy reliving the feelings of that day. Yet as I have processed things the past few days, I was given an insight that hadn’t occurred to me before.

Perhaps sometimes when old wounds are opened, new passion is born. And that is the case with me today. I work with a ministry that is trying to reach every teen in America with the life changing message of the gospel, and we believe with all our hearts that the message of Christ is the answer to violence in the schools.

One of saddest entries in these diaries is from one of the killers who hoped to find peace in the afterlife. The tragedy of that is that the peace he sought was available to him in this life, and perhaps if he would have found it, 15 families would still have their loved ones. Our hope and prayer is that God will take the calamity and heartbreak of Columbine and use it to reach thousands, even millions of anger ridden students who may simply be looking for peace.

Say what you will about religion but maybe if Harris and Klebold had a little more “Thou shalt not kill” in their lives we wouldn’t even be discussing this.

06/06/06

Published on June 5, 2006 by Trench Reynolds in Religion. 3 Comments Tags: , .

6.6.6: Tuesday is June 6, 2006:

I normally don’t inflict my religious views on people but since “666″ has been in the news lately I’d thought I’d share this article with you. This is especially for people who think that the Book of Revelations was written by the Apostle John and that it foretells the Apocalypse…

Most modern scholars attribute the writing of the book of Revelation to John of Patmos. He is said to have received visions on a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, most likely around 90 A.D., that make up the book’s contents.

The Roman emperor Nero, who ruled from 54 to his suicide in 68 A.D., persecuted Christians in horrific ways that were likely to be remembered only a couple of generations later when John may have been writing Revelation. It was under Nero that both St. Peter and St. Paul are traditionally thought to have been martyred in Rome.

Domitian, the emperor from 81-96 A.D., during John’s time in Patmos, “was the first one to take emperor worship seriously,” said the Rev. Dan Doriani, pastor at Central Presbyterian Church in Clayton and former chair of the New Testament department at Covenant Seminary. “Since Christians were not worshipping him, they were liable for persecution.”

“Said Frank Flinn, an adjunct professor of religious studies at Washington University, “Nero conducted the first systematic persecution of both Jews and Christians and is clearly identified with the real beast of Revelation.”

“Back then there were no separate symbols for numerical values,” said the Rev. Louis A. Brighton, a professor of New Testament interpretation at Concordia Seminary. So letters did double-duty as numbers. The Hebrew consonants that spelled out “Nero Caesar,” in the Greek form of the name, add up to 666. (Transliterated into the Latin form of Nero Caesar, the numbers add up to 616.)

John was a Christian prophet of Jewish origin who was possibly living in self-imposed exile in a cave in Patmos. He wrote his vision in letters to a group of seven Christian churches in western Asia Minor, now Turkey – communities he clearly knew well.

In the first verse, John introduces his book as an apokalypsis, or revelation, a term that has come to define the literary genre – a narrative, told in the first person, that includes visions of the future. The book of Revelation is sometimes called “The Revelation to John” or “The Apocalypse of John.”

Brown said apocalypses are most often addressed to people living in times of suffering and persecution – times so desperate they are seen as the embodiment of supreme evil.

He said the modern misuse of Revelation “is based on the misunderstanding that the message is primarily addressed to Christians of our time if they can decode the author’s symbols. Rather, the meaning of the symbolism must be judged from the viewpoint of the 1st-century (churches)” which received John’s letters.

Revelation is so full of symbolism that nearly anything can be read from it. At one time or another, Hitler, Stalin, Saddam Hussein, Rasputin, Torquemada and Osama bin Laden have all been considered the antichrist.

But here, Tuesday is likely to be just another day – especially since the Gregorian calendar was not adopted by most of Christendom until 1500 years after Revelation was written.

So lighten up folks. It’s history not Armageddon.

Catholics not welcome to adopt

Published on July 17, 2005 by Trench Reynolds in Disposable Life and Religion. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Adoption Agency Rejects Catholic Parents:

You have no idea how pissed off I am about this. As an adoptee and a semi-Catholic this infuriates me to no end.

So this “Christian” adoption agency in Mississippi called Bethany Christian Services does not allow Roman Catholics to adopt through their agency because Roman Catholicism conflicts with their “Statement of Faith.” Now I checked their “Statement of Faith” and I see nothing in there that specifically excludes true believers of the Catholic Church. Even so this is ridiculous. In this day of abortions on demand they should be happy that any couple regardless of faith is willing to adopt. They’re willing to deny a child a family and deny a family a child solely based on religion. Even Catholic Social Services isn’t that bad. According to CSS of North Carolina the only religious requirement is you must have religious faith and be an active church participant regardless of denomination.

This is why I’m not so hung up about gay marriage. I’d rather see a child be adopted by a gay couple then end up in an abortionist’s dumpster. Agencies like Bethany Christian Services should make it easier for parents to adopt, not more difficult. And discriminating based on religion is about as anti-Christian as you can get.

TOF to Deb.

The Last Tolerated Hate Crime

Published on April 27, 2005 by Trench Reynolds in Religion. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Group Sues Over Christian College’s Funding:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska ? A group advocating the separation of church and state (search) has sued the federal Education Department over funding for a tiny Christian college with a predominantly Alaska Native or American Indian student body.

Alaska Christian College (search) in Soldotna has just 37 students, but has received more than $1 million in federal money in the past two years, according to the Freedom From Religion Foundation (search).

The college is affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church of Alaska.

“This is just promoting religion,” Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Wisconsin-based foundation, said Tuesday. The group’s lawsuit was filed Thursday in Wisconsin.

College President Keith Hamilton said Tuesday the college, which offers a two-year degree, undergoes a rigorous process before receiving the money.

“Throughout this granting process ACC has acted with integrity and honesty and has spent the money in the manner that has been approved by the Department of Education,” said a statement issued Tuesday by the college.

Hamilton said the college helps students make the transition from village life to larger schools; he said half of the students next year will be matriculating at Kenai Peninsula College.

Cut me a fucking break. We have a school that helps native Alaskan kids make the transition from village life to life outside the village and all these anti-religious assclowns care about is that it’s promoting Christianity. They’re not even anti-religious. They’re anti-Christian. You never hear of these groups speaking out against Judaism, or Islam, or Wicca, or worshipping a head of lettuce named Ralph. It’s always those damned Christians. You know the ones. The ones that come into your house and drag you out into the streets and make you attend a Christian service against your will. God forbid that a Christian organization actually provides a useful service. This is not a government endorsement of a particular religion. This is the government trying to help out a struggling school that provides a useful service for its students. And why isn’t anyone calling the Freedom From Religion Foundation racist for trying to deny funds of a school that is made up of Alaskan natives. I guess they’re thinking is “Well since they’re Christian we’ll just lump them in with the white folk” or “It’s more important to eradicate religion than to have children learn.” Remember folks it’s freedom OF religion. If you don’t like the religion I practice then you don’t have to participate. Religious discrimination. The last tolerated hate crime in America.

Hate The Pope

Published on April 19, 2005 by Trench Reynolds in Religion. 0 Comments Tags: , .

As we all know the Roman Catholic Church named a new Pope today, Pope Benedict XVI. And I just have one question to ask. What is all with the hate? All I hear is…*ahem* (getting into my whiny hippy voice) I was hoping for a Pope that would allow gay marriages and premarital sex and allow priests to marry and allow women to be priests and allow birth control and abortions and wah wah wah wah wah. And this mostly comes from people who aren’t even Catholic. What did you expect people? It’s the freakin’ Catholic Church. If you’re not Catholic then why the fuck do you even care? You know why you care? Because you hate authority. You hate anyone that wants you to have some kind of morality. Since the Pope isn’t saying do whatever the hell you want and everything will be fine you’re pissed. GOD forbid you should actually have some kind of morality or responsibility in your life.

Halloween Sunday

Published on October 16, 2004 by Trench Reynolds in Religion. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Halloween on Sunday troubles some Southerners:

Before I get to the heart of the article I just wanted to point out one thing. The headline says “southerners” yet at the very end of the article they quote a police lieutenant from Michigan. I guess they mean south of Canada.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand.

Ah yes. It’s that time of year. The leaves are changing colors. There’s a chill in the air. And all the religious nuts have their holy underwear in a bunch over Halloween. Let’s read some quotes…

“It’s a day for the good Lord, not for the devil,” said Barbara Braswell, who plans to send her 4-year-old granddaughter Maliyah out trick-or-treating in a princess costume on Saturday instead.

“You just don’t do it on Sunday,” said Sandra Hulsey of Greenville, Georgia. “That’s Christ’s day. You go to church on Sunday, you don’t go out and celebrate the devil. That’ll confuse a child.”

Come on people. Get over yourselves already. It’s not “the devils day”. If there was any evil connotations to Halloween it’s long been forgotten. It’s a time for kids to get candy. That’s it. Anyone who uses Halloween as an evil holiday is usually a bunch of mutants who think they’re badass or something. Don’t rob your kids of a childhood just because you’re an overzealous wingnut. I’m sure the stories will get more interesting as we get closer to Halloween.

The ACLU hates children

Published on August 18, 2004 by Trench Reynolds in Religion. 0 Comments Tags: , .

ACLU, Children Services Deadlock Over Concert:

So the ACLU in their infinite wisdom would rather see foster kids not placed in homes than see a state-run agency sponsor a proven gospel program to help foster kids be placed in homes because they claim it would be a government sponsoring of a religion. It’s really sad to see an organization that hates God so much that they’d rather see children homeless. Just pathetic.

Link via Tongue Tied

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