Atheist moi….?!
Not any more! If this is what it’s really like at church count me IN! (Thanks Mark)
Trick or Treat now on BT Vision
For those of you who haven’t been able to see Trick or Treat series 2 can now catch up with it on BT Vision.
Portraits
Derren’s new Caricature book “Portraits” is now available to pre-order at Amazon.co.uk.
Not only does the book contain a large selection of Derren’s paintings there are also a number of quotes from the subjects themselves including Robbie Williams, David Tennant and rather amazingly the Queen’s office!
The pre-order cost is an absolute bargain at £12. (The cost of the book will be £20)
Pope’s choice for bishop declines.
A Roman Catholic priest has asked Pope Benedict to revoke his appointment as a bishop in Austria, after his promotion led to protests within the Church.
Gerhard Maria Wagner said the “fierce criticism” had persuaded him to ask not to be named auxiliary bishop of Linz. Father Wagner has described Hurricane Katrina as God’s punishment for the sins of New Orleans, and the Harry Potter novels as satanic.
The Catholic news agency Kathpress says the Pope has agreed to the request. Pope Benedict’s promotion of Father Wagner came a week after another PR storm, which erupted after the Pope lifted the excommunication of a bishop who denied the Holocaust.
In a television interview last November, British-born Bishop Richard Williamson disputed that six million Jews had died at the hands of the Nazis, and claimed that none had died in gas chambers.
After coming under pressure from the Vatican, the bishop apologised for shaming the Church, but did not recant his views.
No-confidence vote
The resignation of Father Wagner came on the eve of an emergency meeting of all diocesan bishops in Austria, at which they had pledged to “give our best to overcome the crisis” according to Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn.
The meeting had been called after Austrian Catholics expressed unease over Fr Wagner’s promotion. Correspondents say the priest is notorious for his hard-line views.
He wrote in a parish newsletter that the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 was divine retribution for the city’s tolerance of homosexuals and permissive sexual attitudes.
The priest said he was glad that Katrina destroyed not only nightclubs and brothels in New Orleans, but also five of the city’s abortion clinics.
Last week, 31 of the 39 deans of the Linz diocese backed a declaration of no confidence in Father Wagner.
“Regarding the fierce criticism, I am in prayer and, after consulting the diocesan bishop, I have decided to ask the Holy Father in Rome to take back my promotion as auxiliary bishop,” Father Wagner said in a statement on Sunday.
Linz Bishop Ludwig Schwarz told Austrian ORF television on Sunday evening that he was relieved by Fr Wagner’s request, adding that it had been “in the interest and for the good of the diocese”.
Correspondents say the Catholic Church in Austria has been losing support in recent years after its former head was sacked as a result of a scandal involving gay priests in a teaching college. Austrian Catholics gave only a lukewarm welcome to the Pope when he visited Vienna in 2007.
BBC (Thanks Michelle)
Finally
I have been made a Saint. Took this photo yesterday in Bruges.
It’s a little way down from the Bruges Madonna in the Church of Our Lady. I had come to see the Michelangelo piece – one of the few of his works removed from Italy – and spotted this on the way out. Look, they even got the hair right.
Storm by Tim Minchin
The other day I was telling Derren what an awful sceptic I can be – so he sent me this link and assured me that I was in fact “normal”. I’m not usually a fan of this sort of thing but I find Tim’s little ditties more and more irresistible these days – possibly because a lot of what he has to say is so refreshing.
Darwin optical illusion – late again
Sorry I’m late on this one (blame NTL and their hopeless ability to provide internet in lest than 6 weeks in central London) but here it is. The rather wonderful design by our favourite Quirkology professor Dr Wiseman. Stare at it for 30 secs with your brightness turned up and then look at a blank white wall and blink.
Full blog entry at the Richard Wiseman blog.
Good Samaritans are born not raised, new study suggests
Researchers believe that the ability to understand and share the feelings of others is at least partly innate and built into our bodies at birth.
While upbringing and the environment can modify our behaviour, scientists believe that in extreme cases the gene or lack of it could play a key role in conditions such as autism where the ability to empathise is often non-existent.
The study by a team from the University of Wisconsin and Oregon Health and Science University, showed that friendly and gregarious individuals tended also to have the gene.
Telegraph (Thanks Katherine)
Around the World in 80 Faiths
If you’re in the UK (or like me have worked out how to change proxyies and get in to the iPlayer from abroad) then you must check out the incredible BBC series entitled Around The World In 80 Faiths.
I’ve often questioned why it is regularly stated there are only 5-6 main religions – or at best only 15-20 – when there are clearly a multitude of variations. So this in depth look in to everything from old tribal beliefs of the primal-indigenous, the traditional old world faiths of Christianity, Islam and Judaism to the kooky modern cults of UFO believers and pyramid dwelling cat-embalmers – it’s all here.
Enjoy.
Underwater stones puzzle archeologists
Forty feet below the surface of Lake Michigan in Grand Traverse Bay, a mysterious pattern of stones can be seen rising from an otherwise sandy half-mile of lake floor.
Likely the stones are a natural feature. But the possibility they are not has piqued the interest of archeologists, native tribes and state officials since underwater archeologist Mark Holley found the site in 2007 during a survey of the lake bottom.
The site recently has become something of an Internet sensation, thanks to a blogger who noticed an archeological paper on the topic and described the stones as “underwater Stonehenge.”
Though the stones could signal an ancient shoreline or a glacial formation, their striking geometric alignment raises the possibility of human involvement. The submerged site was tundra when humans of the hunter-gatherer era roamed it 6,000 to 9,000 years ago. Could the stones have come from a massive fishing weir laid across a long-gone river? Could they mark a ceremonial site?
