In 2003, the Freethinkers of Tampere created eroakirkosta.fi, a website which allows church members to resign online. The service was made possible by a change in law which allowed members to resign by letter — before this time, one would have to go to the magistrate, on in some cases the church, in order to resign. The historical difficulty in resigning, combined with the extremely high baptism rate, means the church is still full of people in whose lives it plays no part but who continue to fund it.

The good folk behind eroakirkosta.fi have now published an article (in English!) which highlights some of the problems and inequalities behind the state church system, and reports promising developments in the resignation rates. The website seems to have been a great help in resigning; in 2006, as many as 80% of all resignations were submitted through the website, with many quoting the ease of resignation as an important motivator.

The article doesn’t go as far as to suggest ways to revoke the privileged status of the Evangelical Lutheran Church; I would’ve liked to see a short summary of this too, as it is the goal of the Finnish Union of Freethinkers. Anyway, it’s excellent work!

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My added value? The lyrics are here.

Many evolutionists are recognizing the problems with these theories that attempt to explain cells’ irreducible complexity. An infinitely intelligent Designer must have created these cells. That Creator and Designer is Jesus.

Let me paraphrase.

1. I don’t know how a cell has developed to its current form.
2. Therefore, it hasn’t. It was created.
3. Therefore, it was created by the same guy who performed magic tricks about two kiloyears ago around the Mediterranean.

Bloody marvellous.

There are certain situations under which it is preferable not to offer salaam. These include; when a person is relieving himself, when one is having marital relationship, when someone is sleeping or when in the bathroom.

I can think of a number of scenarios where one would need to greet newly arrived people while “having marital relationship”, and I wouldn’t have thought any of them are exactly halal.

An evangelist who tried replicating Jesus’ miracle of walking on water has reportedly drowned off the western coast of Africa.

Pastor Franck Kabele, 35, told his congregation he could repeat the biblical miracle, and he attempted it from a beach in Gabon’s capital of Libreville.

“He told churchgoers he’d had a revelation that if he had enough faith, he could walk on water like Jesus,” an eyewitness told the Glasgow Daily Record.

“He took his congregation to the beach saying he would walk across the Komo estuary, which takes 20 minutes by boat. He walked into the water, which soon passed over his head and he never came back.”

Okay, that’s pretty stupid. But it goes on:

As WND reported in April, a researcher at Florida State University believes he has a natural explanation for the account of Jesus’ miraculous walk on the surface of water – ice.

Professor of Oceanography Doron Nof and the co-authors of his study theorize that a rare combination of optimal water and atmospheric conditions resulted in a unique, localized freezing phenomenon called “springs ice,” according to Physorg.com, which specializes in news about science, technology, physics and space.

I wonder if the Prof. Nof ever thought the story might not be one hundred percent cross your heart and hope to die real? Perhaps the dear professor would next like to undertake some structural integrity calculations of gingerbread houses.

You know how at Christmas when Santa Claus is very busy, he has assistant Santas to help him. In the same way, Jesus will probably be rather busy during the Rapture, what with the sorting of people, so he might need some assistants. For the bloggers covering the event, Wikipedia offers some useful grammatical advice:

So now we know.