Not Even Free Gas Can Get Folks to Church

No kidding. A church in Peterborough offered people free gas in an attempt to get people to come to their church. Six people came, despite the offer extending to the first 100. I am thinking that this is a good thing. Even in a recession, you cannot lure folks in with free gas. Love it. I am thinking that they really need to sweeten the offer. Check it out.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100328/national/oddity_church_free_gas

Things Are Heating Up in Quebec

A coworker of mine told me about this. Quebec public daycares are banning all religion within their centres. Love it. Quite frankly, I am shocked that it is even on the table because they are feeding from the public taxpaying trough and it should not be there in the first place. Here it is;

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/03/10/mont-daycare-religion.html?ref=rss

A New One To Add To My Personal Lexicon

Love this, and I feel that this reflects the religious mind very well. It is called Puffery. This is

"statements based on grandiose and exaggerated statements and opinions, not on fact."

Love it.

Further Abuse for the Victims of the Catholic Church

A friend of mine just sent me this article on Facebook. It is shocking, and speaks for itself. In fact, I find it downright infuriating. Here it is;

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7048747.ece

I Just Learned About Tiktaalik

This handsome gentlemen was found in the bowels of the Canadian Artic. His fossil confirmed what Darwin thought- that ocean animals adapted to find their way to the land. Here is a link if anyone is interested in taking a look at him;

http://tiktaalik.uchicago.edu/

Timeline With The Judas Cradle

To do this series, I am going to present key findings in the history of the Inquisition followed by a torture device that they used against accused heretics.

To backtrack, before the atrocities began in Europe, this was a key happening in the history of the Inquisition. It begins with declaring all non Christian behaviour illegal.

Theodosius becomes the eastern emperor in AD 379 and rapidly settles the religious splits within the empire by declaring pagan worship and Christian heresies (such asArianism) to be illegal. A law of 380 orders all citizens to subscribe to the Catholic doctrines agreed under the chairmanship of Constantine the Great at the Council ofNicaeain 325.

Read more:http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?gtrack=pthc&ParagraphID=dfi#ixzz0hEMdF3ep

And, here is one of the instruments that the love of Jesus created- The Judas Cradle.

Judas Cradle (Torture)

The Judas Cradle, a terrible medieval torture where the victim would be placed on top of a pyramid-like seat. The victim's feet were tied to each other in a way that moving one leg would force the other to move as well - increasing pain.

The triangular-shaped end of the judas cradle was inserted in the victim's anus or vagina. This torture could last, depending on some factors discussed below, anywhere from a few hours to complete days.

Death Factors

The time it took someone to die varied enormously from individual to individual. Torturers would sometimes add weight to the victim's legs as to increase pain and hurry the victim's death. Other torturers would place oil on the device which increased pain considerably.

This device was rarely, if at all, washed. If the victim did not die quickly enough, or their painful execution was interrupted, they would invariantly die from an infection.

The victim was sometimes rocked or made fall repeatedly onto the "pyramid". This was done so torturers could acquire vital information from the victim. If he or she refused to talk, the torturer would either add more weight to the victim or make him or her fall repeatedly on the device.

Other information

The Judas cradle was called the culla di Giuda in Italian, the Judaswiege in German and The Wake in French.

The victim was usually naked when subject to the Judas Craddle. This was to increase humiliation.

To prolonge the victim's life and cause more pain, torturers would sometimes rise the victim with ropes for the night and continue the torture during the morning.

A common variant of the Judas Cradle was the Impalement Torture - equally painful.

http://www.medievality.com/judas-craddle.html

Quote Of The Day

I have been thinking alot about a medieval history course I took when I was 19. It was one of the most shocking experiences of my youth, and it really propelled me towards my atheism. I have decided to revisit this, and I am going to post a series about the Inquisition. There are so many Christians out there who no knowledge of the depths of the Christian evil that proliferated during this time. Time to go back, and I will use this quote to begin the journey. More to follow.

"The Christian resolve to find the world evil and ugly, has made the world evil and ugly."
- Friedrich Nietzsche