A story as old as humans themselves unfolded recently in Jerusalem. Star crossed lovers from incompatible family/religious backgrounds overcome every obstacle to be together until one day the girls Dad has had enough and, obviously, murders his daughter.

What? That’s not how it goes? It may not be Romeo and Juliette, but this is what you can get when religious ideologies trump rational thought.

“When she returned home, Henriette told a family member she was ready to convert to Islam. The family member told Henriette’s father. Upon hearing the news, according to the indictment, Karra went home, picked up a knife, and stabbed his daughter three times, killing her.”

And before you go doing the ‘this isn’t a real christian’ dance, yes, yes he is. Deal with it.

This is a reminder of why unfounded and irrational faith based beliefs are not something to take pride in, but rather to actively work against.

This isnt, by the way, a ‘christian problem’ or an ‘islamic problem’ or an ‘extremeist issue’.

This is an issue of not being able to tell reality from fiction.

This is an issue of people valuing the love and acceptance an imaginary friend over that of their own flesh and blood.

This is an issue of not using critical thinking, skepticism, logic and rationality.

This isn’t the only instance of faith based beliefs bringing harm, or even death. Remember the Mitchells? They are members of a Christian sect called the Followers of Christ Church, which has a history of infant deaths. Adherents reject traditional medical care in favor of prayer, and believe that if a person dies, the death was God’s will. An Oregonian investigation in the late 1990s found that 21 of the 78 children in the church’s graveyard could have been saved by medical intervention. To keep this in some sort of scale Ted Bundy, one of the most prolific mass murders in US history is only responsible for 36 killings.

One of the children that died because “Thoughts and Prayers”  doesn’t fucking work was left in the WOMB for several days. Only after the mother passed the fetus were authorities alerted.

It’s far beyond time that we as human beings stop giving a free pass to faith based idiocy.

Hello again everyone! I’m so sorry for my hiatus from writing here, but my work in pod-casting and public speaking has had me on the ropes for a bit.

In case you don’t follow my twitter @freeligionsays or the facebook page, I have recently connected with David Smalley with the Dogma Debate podcast. David approached me to audition as the “News for the Fourth Listener” voice. After a few test runs, he gave me the gig! So, be sure to pop over to the Dogma Debate page and have a listen!

Also, I will be doing a co-host spot on Dogma Debate the week of August 23rd!