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No Ugly women to succeed Dalai Llama

In what might be seen as a step forward for a version of Buddhism mired in feudalism and arcane religious waffle, the Dalai Llama has announced the being a woman would not necessarily bar anyone from succeeding him:

So the purpose of the incarnation is to serve people about dharma (faith). If the circumstances are such, female form is more useful, then why not

[source]

But lest we think that this purveyor of eternal happiness is hitting on anything profound, he did clarify that statement with the following qualifier:

And I also mentioned in case Dalai Lama’s incarnation one female comes then must be very attractive female. So the very reason, you see more influence to others, an ugly female then may not much effective.

[source]

So a woman can follow him, but she must be attractive. Because Pretty women are effective at what?  Establishing world peace?  Giving old monks erections?

Seriously, I think the Buddha said it best in the Kalama Sutta (that’s KAL AMA not KARMA)

If it looks, smells and feels like horse shit it probably is.

 

Well okay maybe I am shortening it but here check it out yourself.

August 26th, 2010 | Category: Bad Religion | 3 comments

Free E-book – Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today

I am not sure how long this will free deal will last, but if you click the image to the left it will take you to the kindle store where you can download Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today for free.

The book is pitched as a laypersons guide to the history of Epidemiology.  I am reminded somewhat of Germs, Guns and Steel.
I don’t have a Kindle Damn it
Neither do I, so I am reading this on Kindle for PC which you can download for free and which will read not only books from the kindle store but any .mobi files downloaded from the Gutenberg project.
Deal valid as of August 22nd
August 22nd, 2010 | Category: Skepticism & Science | 2 comments

Hillsong’s Connection with Gloria Jeans

Hillsong issued this statement, presumably in response to rumours surrounding the legal battle being fought by Gloria Jeans:

19 April 2010

Hillsong Church does not own or operate Gloria Jeans and has no legal or financial ties to the company.

Gloria Jeans is a privately owned business.

The owners of Gloria Jeans have publically acknowledged that they attend Hillsong Church.

Hillsong Church is not associated or implicated with any pending legal proceedings before the NSW Supreme Court.  Any suggestion otherwise would be highly defamatory.

As far as I can determine they are right, though I do find the wording in sentence three a little curious.  This distancing themselves from Gloria Jeans is really par for the course with Hillsong.  They are only to happy to be in the picture even if its by a loose association, when the going is good, but when the shit hits the fan it’s “we have no legal or financial ties”.

We are talking on an entity the has grown and I suspect continues to work on the bonds of strong christian fellowship(not legal or financial just to be clear), friendship or connection.

So let’s explore that connection.

Lets look at this sentence:

The owners of Gloria Jeans have publically acknowledged that they attend Hillsong Church.

True, Peter Irvine has I think only ever been identified as a Hillsong attendee, perhaps a high profile one owing to his membership on the boards of Gloria Jeans and Mercy Minitries.  Both I might add who have at least had strong working relationships( by which I mean catering in the case of Gloria Jeans and donation  to and promotion of the Mercy Program) with Hillsong.

With Mr Saleh though, I think the sentence above might be stretching the definition of attendee.  Nabi Saleh is an Elder in the church.  Not just an older and respected churchgoer but a member of an advisory council of sorts.  On Hillsong’s SENIOR PASTORS & ELDERSHIP page we have the following listing

The Hillsong Eldership

Brian Houston is Founder and Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church.

George Aghajanian is the General Manager of Hillsong Church. He possesses a wealth of senior management experience in both Australian and international organisations, and brings a strong balance of faith and practical business application to his role.

Nabi Saleh is the Chairman of Gloria Jean’s Coffees Australia and New Zealand. His strong business acumen and Godly wisdom have also enabled him to sit on several boards of directors for many large, non-profit organisations.

Robert Fergusson is a Senior Associate Pastor at Hillsong Church. He is passionate about imparting practical life principles from the Bible, and his primary gifting and function within the church is that of preaching and teaching.

Dr. Gordon Lee is a highly respected General Practitioner, and operates successful medical practices in Sydney. He also pastors the Hillsong Chinese Extension Services.

Leigh Howard-Smith is the Managing Director of several companies in the logistics/transport and plastic manufacturing industries.

Don Cooper-Williams is a Senior Marketing Executive within the IT Industry. With both Godly wisdom and management skills, he is a gifted communicator within the church and the corporate community.

Joel A’Bell, with his wife Julia, have been on staff at Hillsong Church for over 10 years. Recently, he has come alongside Brian & Bobbie to outwork the Hillsong vision across the Hills, City, South West & Brisbane campuses. Joel is a devoted husband, and father to Harmony and Eli.

So to say that Mr Saleh attends Hillsong is a gross understatement don’t you think? But this Eldership is kind of nebulous is it not.  I mean it doesn’t say that Mr Saleh fulfils any role really.

Until of course you look on the corporate governance page where Mr Saleh is listed as a member of both the Audit and Remuneration Committees.

hillsong com

What does it all mean?

There is no financial or legal connection between Hillsong and Gloria Jeans.  The Chairperson of company that hasn’t paid its debts just happens to be on the Hillsong Elders council and is a member of two committees involving finance.  Ultimately it’s Hillsong’s concern – I think it may speak to Mr Saleh’s business acumen and character but I am sure that that could be forgiven/forgotten considering how easily sexual misconduct can be plastered over( referring here to Frank Huston).

August 19th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Category: Bad Religion, Mercy | 5 comments

Gloria Jeans parent company insolvent?

In April I commented on the interesting news that Jireh, parent company of Gloria Jeans Coffee had landed itself in court over unpaid commissions to another company.  Well to give you an update I’ll hand you over to Ruth Pollard of the Sydney Morning Herald:

THE parent company of Gloria Jeans Coffee, co-owned by the Hillsong Church elder Nabi Saleh, is in ”financial dire straits” and should be put into liquidation and an investigation held into its affairs, the NSW Supreme Court has been told.

It is the latest shot fired in the multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the coffee giant’s parent company, Jireh International, by a small US-based coffee supplier, Western Export Services.

On June 11, the court ruled that Jireh must pay the export company millions in commissions and interest after it found Jireh had breached a joint venture agreement. Yesterday the parties were back in court, fighting over the formula used to calculate the total owed to Western Export Services.

Both parties were required to submit evidence to the court on their financial circumstances. ”The defendant is hopelessly insolvent,” said Jim Johnson, counsel for Western Export Services. ”There are public policy issues as to whether this company should be allowed to keep trading.”

[Read More]

What’s this got to do with Atheism or Reason?

Nothing – new readers may not be aware of the 18 months I spent in helping out the victims of the evangelical mental health facility Mercy Ministries.  To catch yourselves up on that story start here.  One of the directors mentioned in the article above Peter Irvine, was also a director of Mercy Ministries and in addition to being forced to pay damages to victims after a ruling by the ACCC it appears that his business activities are about as shady as his so called charitable ones.

So this post is some continued Schadenfreude on my behalf, frankly these bastards look like they are getting what was coming to them.

August 17th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Category: Bad Religion, Mercy, News & Current Events | 10 comments

State school children targeted with unsolicited Christian mail

The Brisbane Times reveals that students at a Brisbane State High school were targeted by an unknown Christian group or person who had obtained the names of students.  Students were sent hand addressed envelopes containing a pamphlet created by an American Evangelical Ministry.  Apparently the teacher was required by law to pass the letters on to the students( not a lawyer, but depending on the age of the student I’d be advising parents).

Students at a Brisbane state high school last month were given evangelical religious pamphlets printed in the United States that arrived at the school in the mail system. The students’ names were hand-written on the envelopes but there was no indication of who had sent them. The students’ teacher passed on the mail, as he was obliged by law to do, but he said he had ‘‘no idea’’ where they had come from. The pamphlet, entitled Changed from the Inside Out, was printed in Illinois and included excerpts from Next Door Savior, a book written by evangelical preacher, Max Lucado.

[Read more…]

I find this story disquieting for a number of reasons and it gives me cause for concern, both as a teacher and a secularist.

How were the children’s names obtained?

There are a couple of possibilities here.  A student may have provided or been coerced into giving  details to a parent or adult with ties to the unknown group/person.  A school chaplain, teacher or support officer with an evangelical bent may have provided names(at this stage it not clear to me if particular students were targeted or if it was a blanket mailing).  In either case boundaries have been crossed.

Who sent them?

The sender deliberately set out not to be caught, providing no indication on who they were (this in itself would have caused me not to deliver them directly).  Was this to ensure that the mail got to it target or to ensure that once the game was up that there could be no consequences?  Deceptive behaviour in the least.

What’s next?

I do wonder what this person/group might do next, determined to circumvent parental wishes and negate the soft protections afforded by  schools.  Could it be baptism without consent? I think the police should be investigating the persons or group involved.

What’ the harm?

One of the comments on the original news site suggests that this is a bit of a storm in a teacup, a beat up.  The pamphlets are jut encouraging students to live oral lives?  What do you think?  Should we let all and sundry have access to the minds of our children?

Perhaps Schools could sell mailing lists in an effort to raise funds (joking).

August 15th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Category: Bad Religion | 9 comments
 
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