Top ten religious idiots #5

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That's it for list #5! Look for list #6 soon!

1. Pope Benedict: Ratzo allowed some churches to reinstate the Latin Mass, which includes the bit about the Jews to "be delivered from their darkness" and acknowledge the truth of Christ. Needless to say, the Jews are not amused.
   (Guardian Unlimited; h/t to Fark.com; 8 Jul 07)


2. Father Christian Von Wernich: The trial of this Argentinian Roman Catholic priest began today: He's accused of involvement in murder and torture between 1976 and 1983, under Argentina's US-backed military dictatorship. Von Wernich "is also reported to have attended a number of torture sessions himself and reassured the police that they were doing God's work."
   (BBC News; h/t to Himself [warning: violent imagery]; 6 Jul 07)


3. Stephen Dunne: This would-be lawyer is suing the Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners for violating his constitutional rights: He just missed passing the bar exam because he refused to answer a question about gay marriage, legal in Massachusetts, which he claims violated his religious freedom. I'm surprised the questions on Kitzmiller didn't knock his score even lower.
   (Law.com; h/t to News of the Weird Daily; 6 Jul 07)


4. Jeff Harshbarger: I tend not to report on the idiocy of Pat Robertson for the same reason that The Top Ten Conservative Idiots usually ignores Ann Coulter: It's just too easy. But this little piece of nonsense takes the cake. I just have to quote the lede:

   Jeff Harshbarger was only in the third grade when his parents bought an ouija board. It seemed like a lot of fun until he found out that it was no game.

   At one point Harshbargar was possessed by a demon... perhaps it was the Deacon's Demon Boy?
   (CBN.com; h/t to Fark.com; 6 Jul 07)


5. Rev. Graham Dow: The Bishop of Carlisle asserts that the flooding in Northern England—leaving thousands homeless and three dead—were God's punishment for not only environmental damage and international exploitation but also because we tolerate homosexuality and (gasp!) freedom.
   (Telegraph.co.uk; h/t to Butterflies and Wheels; 4 Jul 07)


6. Bob Riley The governor of Alabama issued a proclamation calling for a week of prayer to end the state's severe drought.
   (The Birmingham News; h/t to News of the Weird Daily; 2 Jul 07)


7. Haredi pirate radio stations: It's about time some Jews make the list. These Israeli ultra-Orthodox underground radio stations have stopped playing 20-year-old Eliyahu Faizkov because he sounds too much like a woman:

   In Jewish law, listening to a singing woman's voice is compared to viewing parts of a woman's body that are normally kept covered.

   And people think the Muslisms invented misogyny.
   (The Jerusalem Post; h/t to Chuck, 28 Jun 07)


8. Pakistani Ulema Council: Sir Salman lives! These leading Pakistani Islamic "scholars"—working for "religious unity"—awarded Osama bin Laden their highest honor, the "Sword of Allah".
   (NEWS.com.au; h/t to Fark.com; 22 Jun 07)


9. Sami ul Haq: I might be able to mine the Sir Salman controversy for a whole list full of religious idiots! ul Haq, a Pakistani MP and leader of the pro-Taliban Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, called for the British government to knight Osama bin Laden. Apostasy and blasphemy are, of course, bigger crimes than mass murder.
   (EARTHtimes.org; h/t to Fark.com; 21 Jun 07)


10. Muslims around the world: Muslims are idiots in general, so it takes a little something extra to get on the list. Muslims worldwide are rioting against the British government knighting Sir Salman Rushdie.
    (Guardian Unlimited, h/t to Butterflies and Wheels; 20 Jun 07)

Statistics:
This list: Religion 10, Nontheism 0
Previous List: Religion 10, Nontheism 0
Total: Religion 50, Nontheism 1