A Zimbabwean tribe who assert their identity as a lost tribe of Israelites have recently had their claims validated through DNA testing.  The Lembas of Zimbabwe and South Africa have a number of observances and practices similar to Judaism.  They eschew pork and bloody meat, practice ritual circumcision, and scribe the star of David on their tombs.

The DNA tests confirm the Lemba’s claims that a small group of settlers married African women some 2500 years ago (Lemba women do not have Jewish DNA)  The Lemba are just one of several Jewish ‘tribes’ discovered via DNA testing.

The Lemba also claim to own a relic linked to the Ark of the Covenant.

See also:

‘Lost Tribe’ returns to Israel, about the return of India’s Bnei Manashe

Ethiopian Jews: trapped in-between

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Protesting Church abuses

Scientology’s abusive treatment of its most dedicated adherents is once again exploding into the spotlight.  The Sunday New York Times profiles Christie King Collbran and her husband, Chris Collbran, former members of Scientology’s infamous “Sea Org.”  The Collbrans, like so many before them, allege human trafficking, violent abuse, coercion, and worse.  The Church responds, as usual, with tours of lofty, empty buildings, unverifiable claims of growing membership, and claims that the Collbrans, like every defector before them, were “expelled” for holding Scientology back.

Coming next: allegations of journalistic malfeasance, veiled threats, photos of the Collbran’s home, and offers of their “confidential” confessional files.

Also: just days before Australia’s Parliament votes on an inquiry into the practices of Scientology in that country, the program “Four Corners” will feature even more allegations of abuse and illegal treatment.

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Watch in disgust as one of Scientology’s clueless “volunteer minsters” in Haiti boasts about stealing water-filled radiation shields from a radiology room to distribute as drinking water:

Edit: when my tipster wrote pointing this out, this was the Minister’s response:

Re: Video
Fuck you, asshole. Were you there? No. Do you know what I am talking about? No. So SHUT THE FUCK UP!

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Apologies for the late edition- the Scientology story got a lot of response and time got away from me.

In this edition:

Factoidz has a great piece on false memory syndrome.

An arson suspect is accused of owning a book on atheism (oh no!)

It’s like a Muslim version of that “celebrate” joke.

The Vatican was probably due for a gay prostitution scandal.  Too bad it’s right after a particularly disturbing abortion scandal.

Scientology hires reporters to “investigate” a critical newspaper.  We would be pretty surprised if it didn’t backfire.

Hijabs don’t meet Hollister stores’ “look” policy, First Amendment keeps not giving a crap.

Campus atheists propose “porn for bibles” swap.

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This is one of the strangest donation drives I’ve ever seen.  Stephen Baldwin is of course the lesser Baldwin brother, a c-list actor whose very public conversion to evangelical Christianity arguably wasn’t good for his career.  It’s not too strange for his fellow believers to want to elevate this “man of God,” but the way it works is definitely bizarre.  Taking inspiration from the story of Job, the premise is that if enough fellow believers “gift” the actor with donations, God will notice and “restore” him to wealth and stardom.

This strange leap of logic is inspired by a this passage from the Old testament:

“After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.

All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.”

Which doesn’t appear to say “Give Stephen Baldwin cash,” but then, I’m no Christian scholar.

Don’t miss the video, which is dramatic and silly enough even for Scientology:

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What does a disgraced politician do when his conviction for violent assault hampers his re-election bid?  New York State Sen. Hiram Monserrate has apparently decided the best way to draw attention away from one’s own sins is to loudly point fingers at other “sinners.”  By coming out strongly against gay marriage, Monserrate has gained the support of numerous religious-right leaders, who are unconcerned that the man sliced up his own partner with a broken bottle.  Apparently, although moral posturing is a must, actual good behavior is not required.

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Today is the anniversary of the founding of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which was chartered on this day in 1888.

Golden Dawn was a nineteenth century Masonic-styled initiatory group dedicated to “Hermetic” magical practice- that is, occult theurgical magick. The group consisted of two orders, patterned after the Kabbalistic Tree of Life- one outer “occult society” represented by the lower sephiroth, and an inner order of adepts, represented by the upper.

The magick of the Golden Dawn was based on the work of medieval and Elizabethan era kabbalah, ritual magic, and spiritual alchemy, with an emphasis on the Enochian workings of John Dee and Edward Kelly. The initial teachings of the order were based on a document known as the “Cipher Manuscript,” a coded series of lectures on magick, Tarot, and Kabbalistic gematria.

Members of the Golden Dawn included founders Wynn Westcott, MacGregor Mathers, and William Woodman, Poet WB Yeats, actress Florence Farr, author Arthur Machen, as well as prominent occultists Dion Fortune, Aleister Crowley, Arthur Edward Waite, and Israel Regardie.

More on the Golden Dawn

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When representatives of the Secular Coalition for America visited the White House last week, it was a historic moment.  After centuries of being maligned and scorned, non-believers were being treated, god forbid, like real people.  Predictably, this offended the religious right, who view the very existence of atheists as an affront.  Says Bishop Nedd of “In God We Trust”:

“It is one thing for Administration to meet with groups of varying viewpoints, but it is quite another for a senior official to sit down with activists representing some of the most hate-filled, anti-religious groups in the nation”

The Bishop’s personal blog is even less diplomatic, characterizing the atheist/agnostic coalition outright as a “hate group.”

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A psychic is killed for making a bad prediction…apparently should have considered another career?

A Christian makes a convincing case against the Church of Football.

The Church of Scientology, employing their dogma of “Fair Game,” hires some reporters to “investigate” a newspaper known for investigative pieces on Scientology.

Sean Gonsalves at Common Dreams asks when usury stopped being a sin.

An evangelical church’s “pancakes and porn” discussion group is nowhere near as fun as it sounds.

The wife of televangelist faith-healer Benny Hinn files for divorce; followers immediately begin to speculate whether the devil made her do it.

A Baltimore jury hears testimony in the trial of a cult leader who ordered a follower to withhold food and water from a baby who refused to say “amen” after prayers.

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The Bohemian rocket scientist Jack Parsons is the subject of a new play (this weekend only)  from California Institute of Technology’s theater department.  Called Pasadena Babalon, the play explores Parson’s scientific and occult endeavors, as well as his relationships with Aleister Crowley and L Ron Hubbard.

See also: Babalon.

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Graphic-driven education  site Good has a fascinating infographic mapping believers’ income levels to their faiths.   Some of the results are predictable, i.e., lower incomes among evangelicals, but some are surprising.

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The BBC news service today has an interesting overview of Haiti’s “missing” Vodouissants, who are conspicuous in their absence during relief efforts, in part because of overwhelming prejudice against Voodoo from relief agencies largely staffed by Christians.  Among other sad anecdotes, believers tell of being refused aid when signs of their faith are visible:

“Some Christian communities do not want to give food to voodoo followers,” he says.

“As soon as they see people wearing peasant clothes or voodoo handkerchiefs, they put them aside and deny them food.

“This is something I’ve seen.”

 

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I’ve been getting a bit behind lately, but there’s just so much going on I sometimes don’t know what’s going on.

In this week’s issue:

Christian Fight Club says to hell with the meek, have a kidney punch!

A psychologist has lost his right to practice after subjecting clients to exorcisms.

Jonathan-the-media-whore Sharkey is in trouble again.  Do they allow self-promoting press releases from prison?

In Fresno, a college instructor is driving students mad with creationism-infused lessons and other unsubtle proselytizing in class, while a grade school teacher has been suspended after a campaign of harassment from “Christian” students.

The NCAA ponders ban on “eyeblack” messages.

A catholic Archbishop reports a unique solution to poverty at the UN: more people!

Hindu believer Davinder Ghai has won the right for British Hindus and Sikhs to open-pyre funerals.

Paliban Daily explains why Evangelicals should love Twilight

The New York Times questions the lack of coverage on Haitian Voodoo.

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The popular online Catholic Online news site has had several run-ins with Scientology over the past few years. When a recent story criticized Scientology’s efforts (or lack thereof) in Haiti, the church was quick to respond in typical excess, with a slightly hysterical rant by spokesperson Tommy Davis.

Unfortunately, the response didn’t do much to refute any of the actual allegations in the article, and seems to have led to follow-up articles mentioning Scientology’s disdain for other religions, and positive coverage of a press conference held by former Scientologists speaking out about abuse. As per usual, response to the latter contained breathless accusations of religious bigotry (Referring to Jesus and Mohammad as alien ‘implants’ is presumably sacred scripture, but covering comments critical of Scientology is apparently anti-religious bigotry. Go figure), and libelous comments about the former Scientologists.

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Not according to David Barton’s Wallbuilders, anyhow. Prison chaplain Patrick McCollum has a case before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California; as a Pagan, he could not gain a paid position because the California Department of Corrections only offers positions to Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim or Native American applicants.

While this seems like a pretty open-shut First Amendment case, Wallbuilders has filed a brief contending that the First Amendment only protects religions that were recognized as such by the Founding Fathers, and that these, of course, are only a select handful of monotheistic faiths. They go on to argue that “witchcraft and paganism” are not in fact religions at all, and that religions other than Christianity might not be religions, either.

The whole document is a series of brain-benders, tortured logic, and just plain silliness, with self-parody worthy of The Onion. The most unintentionally hilarious argument uses a passage from Madison’s Memorial and Remonstrance to argue that Madison’s use of the singular ‘creator’ excludes any polytheistic beliefs. (Let’s leave aside for the moment those Pagan faiths that are monotheistic)

This is the passage they chose to quote as their example:

“Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable right. It is unalienable, because the opinions of men, depending only on the evidence contemplated by their own minds cannot follow the dictates of other men: It is unalienable also, because what is here a right towards men, is a duty towards the Creator. It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage and such only as he believes to be acceptable to him.”

According to Wallbuilders, this is just so- as long as your conviction doesn’t lean Pagan, Sikh, Buddhist, Shinto, Hindu…

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Today’s New York Times carries the surreal story of a hapless San Francisco author who finds himself the target of unwanted attention- from a religious group who has declared him messiah:

“Devotees of the group Share International believe that the author Raj Patel is Maitreya the World Teacher, a kind of one-size-fits-all messiah for all religions. They say clues from a prophecy dating to 1972 point to Mr. Patel. This has led to an avalanche of unwanted attention, including a flood of e-mail messages, not to mention Web sites and videos touting his sudden status as a deity. People fly across the country to be in his presence.”

Be sure to read the creepy “fan mail” from Mr. patel’s new devotees.

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Who would have thought that sending unprepared, untrained “volunteers” into a disaster zone would be less than successful?  According to a medical volunteer who found himself aboard a Scientology-funded flight, the Volunteer Ministers were utterly unprepared for what awaited them:

“They were completely unprepared for going to a third world country, let alone a disaster zone. One girl was in designer cowboy boots. I asked her if she’d brought any sturdier footwear.

“Oh no, these’ll be fine.”

I asked another guy what he’d packed and he said he hadn’t bothered to bring soap or toilet paper or food, but that he’d just “buy whatever I need at Port-au-Prince airport.” I couldn’t break it to him.”

Scientologists aren’t the only belief-oriented groups causing problems in the region.  Max Beauvoir, a representative of Haiti’s Voodoo believers, alleges that Evangelical Christian charities are controlling aid, often to the detriment of non-Christians in the regions:

“The evangelicals are in control and they take everything for themselves,” he claimed. “They have the advantage that they control the airport where everything is stuck. They take everything they get to their own people and that’s a shame.

“Everyone is suffering the same and has the same needs. We are not asking for anything more than anyone else. We’re just asking for it to be fair.”

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