Though truth is not self-revealing (as Cartesians and Baconians thought), though certainty may be unattainable, the human situation with respect to knowledge is far from desperate. On the contrary, it is exhilarating: here we are, with the immensely difficult task before us of getting to know the beautiful world we live in, and ourselves; and fallible though we are we nevertheless find that our powers of understanding, surprisingly, are almost adequate for the task – more so than we ever dreamt in our wildest dreams. We really do learn from our mistakes, by trial and error. And at the same time we learn how little we know – as when, in climbing a mountain, every step upwards opens some new vista into the unknown, and new worlds unfold themselves of whose existence we knew nothing when we began our climb.

Thus we can learn, we can grow in knowledge, even if we can never know – that is, know for certain. Since we can learn, there is no reason for despair of reason; and since we can never know, there are no grounds here for smugness, or for conceit over the growth of our knowledge.

It may be said that this new way of knowing is too abstract and too sophisticated to replace the loss of authoritarian religion. This may be true. But we must not underrate the power of the intellect and the intellectuals. It was the intellectuals – the ‘second-hand dealers in ideas,’ as F. A. Hayek calls them – who spread relativism, nihilism, and intellectual despair. There is no reason why some intellectuals – some more enlightened intellectuals – should not eventually succeed in spreading the good news that the nihilist ado was indeed about nothing.

From The Open Society and its Enemies Volume 2. Princeton University Press 1966

It is [Kendall Gibson's] hair — winding locks he considers a measure of his Rastafarian faith — that makes him a threat, according to Virginia Department of Corrections Operating Procedure No. 864.1. The rule took effect on Dec. 15, 1999. Inmates had two choices: cut their hair no longer than their collars and shave their beards, or be placed in administrative segregation.

Paul von Zielbauer: Inmates Are Free to Practice Black Supremacist Religion in New York, a Judge Rules

Mr. [Intelligent Tarref] Allah is a Five Percenter, part of a black militant group that broke from the Nation of Islam in the 1960′s. The New York State prison system has long regarded it as a violence-prone gang, much as the system also regards the Latin Kings, Crips or the Aryan Brotherhood. The name derives from the concept that only 5 percent of the world’s people break free from the worship of a false ”mystery God” and become gods to themselves and their families.

Justin Penrose: Rapist Jamaile Morally in Boiling Oil Jail Attack

A jailed killer poured boiling oil over another inmate because he refused to convert to Islam. Jamaile Morally, 26 – sentenced to life as part of a gang that raped, tortured and murdered a teenage girl and left another for dead – led two other inmates in carrying out the attack.

BBC: Kenya ‘Deports Muslim Hate Cleric Abdullah al-Faisal’

He has served four years in a UK prison after being convicted of soliciting the murder of Jews and Hindus.

Religion Cause: Miranda Rights Waived In Answers About Religious Belief and Prayer

Earlier this week in Berghuis v. Thompkins, (Sup. Ct., June 1, 2010), the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision made it easier for police to obtain a waiver of Miranda rights by suspects being questioned. The majority opinion, written by Justice Kennedy, held that police can continue questioning a suspect until he clearly invokes his right to remain silent. Furthermore, when questioning continues after a Miranda warning has been given and understood, the accused’s later uncoerced statement implies a waiver of his right to remain silent. The uncoerced statement in this case was a response by the accused to questions about his belief in God. Here is Justice Kennedy’s account: About 2 hours and 45 minutes into the interrogation, [Police Detective] Helgert asked Thompkins, “Do you believe in God?” …. Thompkins made eye contact with Helgert and said “Yes,” as his eyes “well[ed] up with tears.” … “Do you pray to God?” Thompkins said “Yes.” … Helgert asked, “Do you pray to God to forgive you for shooting that boy down?” … Thompkins answered “Yes” and looked away…. Thompkins refused to make a written confession, and the interrogation ended about 15 minutes later.

Telegraph, Battle to save tigers intensifies with only 3,200 left on Earth:
The threat is compounded by the market for their body parts, which are deemed to hold medicinal properties in some cultures.

The Guardian, Martin Robbins on Christian and Islamist extremists in Nigeria:
On 29 July, Christian witch-hunters accused of torturing and killing local children attacked and beat campaigners for child protection at a public meeting in Calabar, Nigeria. The same week, hundreds of members of the Islamist group Boko Haram were killed in suicide attacks on police stations across the north of the country.

Gawker, Teabagger Worried His Magic Prayers Made God Kill Sen. Inhofe:
A panicked teabagger called up C-SPAN in tears today, worried that he accidentally killed Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe by praying for Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd to die.

BBC, Zulu king wins South Africa bull-killing case:
A bull-killing ritual can go ahead on Saturday after a court ruled against an animal rights group which tried to have the practice banned in South Africa. ARA claimed that the killing took some 40 minutes and involved dozens of men trampling on the beast as they tried to break its neck.

ESPN, Dominic Raynor: World Cup to be “blessed” with slaughtered cows:
“We must have a cultural ceremony of some sort, where we are going to slaughter a beast,” Trust chairman Zolani Mkiva said. “We sacrifice the cow for this great achievement and we call on our ancestors to bless, to grace, to ensure that all goes well.”

Yahoo! News, 10,000 E. African albinos in hiding after killings:
The mistaken belief that albino body parts have magical powers has driven thousands of Africa’s albinos into hiding, fearful of losing their lives and limbs to unscrupulous dealers who can make up to $75,000 selling a complete dismembered set.

BBC, Albino victim evicted from safe-house:
One year ago, Mariam Staford Bandaba, an albino woman living in Tanzania, was viciously attacked by a machete-wielding gang who tried to kill her and sell her remains for witchcraft. She escaped with her life, but only just. The attackers chopped off one of her hands – the other had to be amputated in hospital, where she spent weeks recovering from her horrific injuries.

LA Times, Churches involved in torture, murder of thousands of African children denounced as witches:
Nwanaokwo Edet was one of an increasing number of children in Africa accused of witchcraft by pastors and then tortured or killed, often by family members. Pastors were involved in half of 200 cases of “witch children” reviewed by the AP, and 13 churches were named in the case files. Some of the churches involved are renegade local branches of international franchises. Their parishioners take literally the Biblical exhortation, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”

Guardian, Stepfather confesses to sticking 42 needles into boy’s body:
The stepfather of a two-year-old boy found with 42 needles in his body has confessed to jabbing them into him as part of a religious ritual, Brazilian police said today. Roberto Carlos Magalhaes claimed that a woman who went into a trance commanded him to stick the needles into the boy’s body, a police inspector, Helder Fernandes Santana, said.

All articles continue at links.  Superstition can be fun, and may be unavoidable.  But superstitions that lead to nonsense and brutality such as the above should have no sympathy from anyone.  It just does not matter if these are ancient traditions, or deeply-held convictions, or bring mental relief to practitioners.  These people should be shunned, at the very least.

The government, which donated £36,500 to the event, has shown no sign of discontinuing the centuries-old tradition. An attempt by the previous government to cut the budget for animal sacrifice provoked street protests. Chandan Dev Chaudhary, a Hindu priest, said he was pleased with the festival’s high turnout and insisted tradition had to be kept. “The goddess needs blood,” he said. “Then that person can make his wishes come true.”

BBC, Taking the Global Pulse of Healthcare:

Rahul Bose, a community worker in West Bengal tells a story [...] “There was this lady who came to my house at eight in the morning,” he says. “She had been bitten by a snake at four in the morning, but since there were no male members in the house, she was not able to leave the house. When I took her to the hospital, the doctors delayed treatment for two hours and so she died in my car.” Cultural attitudes towards women in rural areas, as well as problems of distances from health centres both prove major challenges for improving health.

Robin Hanson, Social Science Cuts Religiosity:

A new NBER paper compares college majors for their effect on student religiosity. Majoring in biological sciences, engineering, or vocational areas all increase religiosity about the same relative to not going to college. Majoring in education encourages religion even more, while majoring in physical science has about the same effect as no college. Majoring in humanities reduces religiosity relative to no college, and majoring in social science reduces it the most.

Jeanna Bryner, Teen Birth Rates Higher in Highly Religious States:

U.S. states whose residents have more conservative religious beliefs on average tend to have higher rates of teenagers giving birth, a new study suggests. The relationship could be due to the fact that communities with such religious beliefs (a literal interpretation of the Bible, for instance) may frown upon contraception, researchers say. If that same culture isn’t successfully discouraging teen sex, the pregnancy and birth rates rise. Mississippi topped the list for conservative religious beliefs and teen birth rates, according to the study results, which will be detailed in a forthcoming issue of the journal Reproductive Health. However, the results don’t say anything about cause and effect, though study researcher Joseph Strayhorn of Drexel University College of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh offers a speculation of the most probable explanation: “We conjecture that religious communities in the U.S. are more successful in discouraging the use of contraception among their teenagers than they are in discouraging sexual intercourse itself.”

Alex DeMetrick, Trial Postponed For Cult Members In Baby’s Death:

Home video of Javon Thompson and his mother Ria Ramkissoon doesn’t hint at the dark future awaiting them, when they became swept up in the religious cult of Queen Antoinettte. Authorities say cult members starved 1-year-old Javon Thompson because the boy did not say “Amen” after meals. His body was packed in a suitcase and taken to Philadelphia, where it was abandoned in a storage room.

Jennifer Viegas, Superstitious Beliefs Cemented Before Birth:

The propensity to believe in paranormal phenomena and superstitions appears to arise in the womb, suggests new research. The findings, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, further indicate that a reduced ability for analytical thinking may correspond with increased intuitive thinking, which has been associated with a belief in extrasensory perception (ESP), ghosts, telepathy and other paranormal phenomena. Author Martin Voracek claims his new study’s determinations “suggest (there are) biologically based, prenatally programmed influences on paranormal and superstitious beliefs.” [...] Prior research had determined that relative finger length, also known as digit ratio, can be a marker for individual differences affected by hormones. Men tend to have ring fingers that are slightly longer than their index fingers. In women, these fingers are usually about the same length, or the index digit is slightly longer. In some cases, however, women exhibit a digit ratio more associated with men, while men may exhibit the ratio associated more with women. The ratio is “a putative marker of prenatal androgen exposure, with paranormal as well as negative and positive superstitious beliefs,” Voracek explained, mentioning that exposure to testosterone and other male sex hormones in the womb are thought to underlie the observed differences. Voracek found that “higher feminized” digit ratio in men correlated with stronger paranormal and superstitious beliefs, “even when controlled for age, education, adult height and weight, and birth length and weight.” “Shorter feminized” digit ratios in women also correlated with a greater likelihood of superstitious beliefs, as did a woman’s lighter weight at birth. For both sexes, shorter body length at birth was associated with later beliefs in superstitions and the paranormal. The findings help to support the conclusions of Kia Aarnio and Marjaana Lindeman, both University of Helsinki psychologists who have extensively studied the propensity for paranormal and superstitious beliefs. They found that women are much more likely to have such beliefs, which the researchers attribute to “higher intuitiveness and lower analytical thinking.”

All articles continue at links. “The way to deal with superstition is not to be polite to it, but to tackle it with all arms, and so rout it, cripple it, and make it forever infamous and ridiculous… Then their folly should be brought out into the light of day, and exhibited there in all its hideousness until they flee from it, hiding their heads in shame… True enough, even a superstitious man has certain inalienable rights. He has a right to harbor and indulge his imbecilities as long as he pleases, provided only he does not try to inflict them upon other men by force… But certainly he has no right to be protected against the free criticism of those who do not hold them… He has no right to preach them without challenge.”- H. L. Mencken, The Baltimore Evening Sun, September 14, 1925.

from Abortion threatens House health care bill:

The issue of abortion threatened to derail House Democrats’ health care bill Friday unless staunchly anti-abortion Democrats and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops succeeded in their effort to get strict abortion limitations into the measure. [...] Now House leaders are not only negotiating with fellow lawmakers, but also with representatives from the bishops’ organization, Democratic sources said.  “It’s come to this,” said one bewildered senior Democratic lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations.  [...] Several Democrats, including Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pennsylvania, said they are in touch with their Catholic bishops back home. Altmire said he must have the approval of his bishop in Pittsburgh before he can vote yes.

Rep. Altmire, if he has been quoted accurately, has disqualified himself from further public service.  Those who elected him did not do so as a proxy for the Roman Catholic Church.  Rep. Altmire is free to consult anyone he wishes in his decision making process.  But to require the approval of representives of a foreign nation before proceeding is counter to the goals and responsibilities of his office.

H. R. 3962 includes the following:

Religious Conscience Exemption. (A) IN GENERAL. — Subsection (a) shall not apply to any individual (and any qualifying child residing with such individual) for any period if such individual has in effect an exemption which certifies that such individual is a member of a recognized religious sect or division thereof described in section 1402(g)(1) and an adherent of established tenets or teachings of such sect or division as described in such section.

It appears to read that a person can exempt themselves from mandatory insurance if that person “is a member of a recognized religious sect or division thereof.”  What, then, is a recognized religious sect?  What religious sects are not recognized?  Any decision by the State to answer these questions will be an establishment of religion, expressly forbidden by the United States Constitution.  I have been unable to locate section 1402(g)(1) referred to here.  And what is it that Religious Conscience Exemption makes a person exempt from? That would be Section 501…

Tax on Individuals Without Acceptable Health Care Coverage. In the case of any individualwho does not meet the requirements of subsection (d) at any time during the taxable year, there is hereby imposed a tax equal to 2.5 percent of the excess of — (1) the taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income for the taxable year, over (2) the amount of gross income specified in section 6012(a)(1) with respect to the taxpayer.

Declare yourself a member of a state-established superstition and you can pay less taxes.  Who wouldn’t?  All it costs is the integrity of the United States Constitution.

H. R. 3962 also includes the following:

Training Models — In carrying out the education and training programs required by this section, the Secretary, in consultation with Indian Tribes, Tribal Organizations, Indian behavioral health experts, and Indian alcohol and substance abuse prevention experts, shall develop and provide community-based training models. Such models shall address — (1) the elevated risk of alcohol and behavioral health problems faced by children of alcoholics; (2) the cultural, spiritual, and multigenerational aspects of behavioral health problem prevention and recovery; and (3) community-based and multidisciplinary strategies, including Systems of Care, for preventing and treating behavioral health problems.

United States tax dollars should not pay for the ‘spiritual’ care of any nation.

A man has been told he can take his employer to tribunal on the grounds he was unfairly dismissed because of his views on climate change. Tim Nicholson, 42, of Oxford, was made redundant in 2008 by Grainger Plc in Didcot, as head of sustainability. He said his beliefs had contributed to his dismissal and in March a judge ruled he could use employment equality laws to claim it was unfair. But the firm appealed against this as it believed his views were political.

[...] His solicitor, Shah Qureshi, said: “Essentially what the judgment says is that a belief in man-made climate change and the alleged resulting moral imperative is capable of being a philosophical belief and is therefore protected by the 2003 religion or belief regulations.” Mr Nicholson was given permission in March to make his claim under the Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003 that covers “any religion, religious belief, or philosophical belief”. But the ruling was challenged by Grainger plc, the UK’s biggest residential landlord, on the grounds that green views were not the same as religious or philosophical beliefs. Mr Nicholson, who said his opinions affect his whole lifestyle, claimed his views had put him at odds with other senior staff at Grainger and been ignored by managers.

Article continues.  Perhaps we should all drop some Deeply Held Beliefs and Sincere Feelings in our daily conversation at work in these difficult economic times.  Then when we’re laid off we can say it was a case of religious discrimination.

• Antiquity: Anonymous authors pen The Bible.  This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1851: Arthur Schopenhauer writes On Women. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1853: Charles Dickens writes The Noble Savage. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1857: Charles Darwin writes The Variation of Plants and Animals under Domestication. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1875: Charles Darwin writes The Origin of Species. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1884: Sigmund Freud writes Über Coca. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1912 (circa): H. P. Lovecraft writes On the Creation of Niggers. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1920: H. L. Mencken writes In Defense of Women. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1925: Adolph Hitler writes Mein Kampf.  This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1926: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle writes The Adventure of the Three Gables. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 12 June 1942 – 1 August 1944: Ann Frank writes The Diary of a Young Girl. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1940 (circa): Rudyard Kipling writes The Burden of Jerusalem. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1941: Ivan Pavlov writes Lectures on Conditioned Reflexes. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1956: Jens Bjerre writes The Last Cannibals.  This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1960: George Lincoln Rockwell writes In Hoc Signo Vinces, including an essay called The Swastika.
• 1964: Roald Dahl writes Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1976: A. K. Chesterton writes Facing the Abyss. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1979: Douglas Adams writes The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1980: John Money writes Love and Love Sickness. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1980: Clark Howard writes Zebra. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1984: Isaac Asimov writes Counting the Eons. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 24 March 2005: What is heretical.com? by $14 Worth of Sex.
• 1987: Graham Smith writes When Jim Crow Met John Bull. This work is quoted at heretical.com.
• 1989: Tales of the Holohoax published [archive.org 22 September 2009]
• 1993: Niggers Over America by R. Crumb published in Zap Comics.
• 14 November 1994: R. Crumb regarding his comic Niggers Over America: “I just had to expose all the myths people have of blacks and Jews in the rawest way possible to tilt the scale toward truth.”
• June 1999: Simon Sheppard and David Hannam distribute about 1,500 copies of Our Politicians Are Traitor Criminals. [heretical.com 4 November 2009]
• 8 June 1999: Simon Sheppard and David Hannam are arrested for the distribution of Our Politicians Are Traitor Criminals.  [heretical.com 4 November 2009]
• 19 July 1999: Simon Sheppard is considered for early release on the condition of electronic tagging.  He is rejected for early release because “‘you have stated that you have no intention of obstaining from your offending behaviour, i.e. racist and sexist.”  [heretical.com 4 November 2009]
• 1 August 1999: Simon Sheppard appeals his rejection for early release.  “I am sorry that you disagree with the decision, but the fact is that, because of your views regarding incitement to racial and sexual hatred, you are viewed as danger to the public and to women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds in particular.”  [heretical.com 4 November 2009]
• 8 August 1999: “My heartfelt thanks to all those who have written to me in prison and who have sent postal orders, which are keeping me in small luxuries like chocolate and a cigar at the end of every day to celebrate its passing. The large number of letters I have received have made a great difference to my morale during this ordeal; and I know the support I have been shown has made an impression on the prison authorities. Following assaults by other prisoners I am now segregated. I am reading prodigiously and managing to remain cheerful and optimistic for the future. – Simon Sheppard” [heretical.com 4 November 2009]
• 2 January 2000: Simon Sheppard (and David Hannam?) are charged with Publishing or Distributing racially inflammatory material, Possession of racially inflammatory material and other charges for the distribution of Our Politicians Are Traitor Criminals.  [heretical.com 4 November 2009]
• 6 January 2000: David Hannam pleads guilty to all charges for the distribution of Our Politicians Are Traitor Criminals.  He is sentenced to three months in jail.  [heretical.com 4 November 2009]
• 14 June 2000: Simon Sheppard is sentenced to nine months imprisonment for the distribution of Our Politicians Are Traitor Criminals.  [heretical.com 4 November 2009]
• January – February 2002: Robert Frenz quoted: “Although listed in the ‘links’ folder, Simon Sheppard deserves another plug. Visit his http://www.heretical.com site. On it you’ll find a reproduction of Lincoln Rockwell’s famous BOAT TICKET which were popular hand-outs during the 1960s.”
• 7 March 2005: Whittle writes Dumb Niggers and Gloating Sheeneys.
• 1 June 2005: Whittle writes Hells Bells.
• 10 July 2005: Whittle writes Make Niggers History.
• 7 September 2005: Whittle writes Diversity = Death.
• 15 January 2006: Whittle writes Three Parasites and a Funeral.
• 10 February 2008: Simon Sheppard was found guilty and sentenced to 9 months imprisonment by Alex Linder.
• 4 June 2008: LA Times reports Whittle and Sheppard straight and true by Guessedworker.
• 28 June 2008: Earliest comment regarding Tales of the Holohoax at archive.org.
• 12 July 2008: Holocaust denier convicted of trying to incite race hate online by Rob Preece.
• 14 July 2008: Sheppard found guilty of eleven counts of ‘race hate.’ Whittle found guilty on five counts relating to internet publishing. Charges include: possession of Tales of the Holohoax on 30 March 2005, possession of Tales of the Holohoax on 12 April 2006, publishing Tales of the Holohoax, publication of Dumb Niggers and Gloating Sheeneys, publication of Hells Bells, publication of Make Niggers History, publication of Diversity = Death, publication of Three Parasites and a Funeral, publication of Niggers Over America, publication of When the Goddamn Jews Take Over America, publication of Boat Ticket #2, publication of The Swastika, publication of Auschwitz Holiday Report, publication of Evil Zionist Kikes, publication of Kike Windchimes, distribution of Don’t Be Sheeple, possession of Don’t Be Sheeple on 4 July 2007, possession of Tales of the Holohoax on 4 July 2007.  No evidence is presented at the trial that any ‘racial hatred’ had resulted from the internet material. No evidence is presented at the trial that anyone had accessed the relevant internet pages other the single police officer who had downloaded the website for the purpose of the prosecution.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 14 July 2008: Fugitives from Injustice by North West Nationalists.
• 16 July 2008: Race-hate pair flee to US for political asylum by Rob Preece.
• 16 July 2008: Race-hate pair flee to US for political asylum by John in Basel.
• 16 July 2008: The ‘Heretical 2′ Claim Political Asylum in the USA by The International Campaign for Real History.
• 20 July 2008: Heretical Two Seek Political Asylum in U.S. by Jeff Davis.
• 20 July 2008: One Law for Them? by Sarah Maid of Albion.
• 21 July 2008: Sheppard has seven charges considered related to printed material. The jury is unable to reach a decision.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 22 July 2008: Britain’s Political Refugees in the USA – The Heretical Two! by North West Nationalists.
• 24 July 2008: Latest News on the British Asylum Seekers in the USA – Heretical Two! by North West Nationalists.
• 24 July 2008: In Other Bizarre British Free-Speech Cases by Brendan Kiley.
• 24 July 2008: Update on Heretical Two! Donations Please by North West Nationalists.
• 25 July 2008: Re: The Heretical Duo & Closing the Border Between the UK and Ireland by North West Nationalists.
• 26-27 July 2008: Sheppard and Whittle leave England.  They fly to Ireland, then the United States.  They surrender to authorities in Los Angeles International Airport as a way of seeking political asylum. [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 31 July 2008: The Heretical 2, Asylum Seekers the Refugee Industry Won’t be Fighting for by Nicholas Stix.
• 28 July 2008: The Heretical Press Website by Arthur Cristian.
• 31 July 2008: Fund Holder for Heretical Two by North West Nationalists.
• July 2008 – June 2009: Sheppard and Whittle are held in Santa Ana Jail by the Department of Homeland Security.  Correspondents were asked not to place return address stickers on envelopes as all letters with labels of any kind were sent back marked unauthorized. Sheppard and Whittle can only send two replies per week and so used heretical.com to thank people who had written messages of support and requested they kept writing. [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 2 August 2008: Update on Heretical Two by BPP WD by John in Basel.
• 2 August 2008: The Heretical Two by ironwand.
• 2 August 2008: The Heretical Two by Jack Black.
• 5 August 2008: Heretical Two – Latest News! by North West Nationalists.
• 6 August 2008: Lady Renouf Speaks About the Heretical Two by  John in Basel.
• 7 August 2008: Heretical Two Appeal Fund by North West Nationalists.
• 11 August 2008: Simon Sheppard & Steve Whittle Seek Asylum Over Thought Offense Charges by jailingopinions.com.
• 11 August 2008: Fund Created for the Heretical Two by Socrates.
• 22 August 2008: Heretical Two – Latest News! by North West Nationalists.
• 23 August 2008: Heretical Two Requests for Political Asylum by hereticaltwo.nfshost.com.
• 9 September 2008: Payment Problem to Heretical Two by John in Basel.
• 12 September 2008: Online race hate pair who fled to US launch appeals by Rob Preece.
• 17 September 2008: Sheppard and Whittle have their first immigration court hearing.  Bruce Leichty is their defense attorney.  The residing judge claims she did not have the power to release Sheppard and Whittle under the defensive procedures adopted by the US authorities. [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 17 September 2008: The Heretical 2, Requests for Asylum and Letters from Santa Ana Jail by Nicholas Stix.
• 29 September 2008: Jailed British “Heretics” Hire Asylum Lawyer by hereticaltwo.nfshost.com.
• 5 October 2008: Dear Mr. Huhne by Kate Dermody.
• 14 October 2008:  Sheppard and Whittle have an ‘asylum-only proceeding.’  Immigration Judge Rose Peters resides.  Sheppard and Whittle attempt release before the ruling, which is denied by the Judge. [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 18 October 2008: Heretical Two Denied Bail Hearing by Alex.
• 21 October 2008: “Heretical Two” Denied Bail by Paul Ballard.
• 24 October 2008: No Remedy for Jailed British ‘Heretics’ by GWR.
• 13 November 2008: Sheppard and Whittle have a ‘calendar meeting’ of the Immigration Court.  Judge Peters set the merits (main) appeal for three afternoons in blocks of four hours from 2 pm on March 10, 12 and 24 of 2009. [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 8 December 2008: Sheppard retried in his absence in Leeds Crown Court, England.  Six charges are considered, one charge is dropped.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 22 December 2008: Sheppard retrial in his absence in Leeds Crown Court, England deferred to 5 January 2009.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 5 January 2009: Sheppard retrial in his absence in Leeds Crown Court, England continued.  Professor Rabkin argues Jews are a religion and not a race.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 6 January 2009: Sheppard retrial in his absence in Leeds Crown Court, England continued.  Jury deliberates.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 8 January 2009: Sheppard retrial in his absence in Leeds Crown Court, England continues.  Sheppard found guilty on three counts relating to Tales of the Holocaust and later in the day by a majority verdict on two charges relating to Don’t be Sheeple.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 8 January 2009: Guilty verdicts in retrial for race hate pair who fled to US by Yorkshire Post.
• 8 January 2009: Two guilty of inciting racial hatred against Jews by The Crown Prosecution Service.
• 9 January 2009: Race-hate pair face jail after mocking Holocaust by Rob Preece.
• 9 January 2009: ‘Forthright’ opinions play down Holocaust by Rob Preece.
• 11 January 2009: Help The Heretical Two by Paul Ballard.
• 24 January 2009: Simon Sheppard & Stephen Whittle, “The Heretical Two” by Andy.
• 21 February 2009: “Holocaust Fundamentalism” and the War on Dissent by Mark Green.
• March 2009: Police Close In on Race Hate Duo by Awaiting a Western Renaissance.
• 10 March 2009: Main Hearing against Sheppard and Whittle in their absence in Leeds Crown Court, England.  Lasts 90 minutes and concerned documentation.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 12 March 2009: Sheppard and Whittle, wearing handcuffs and leg irons, have asylum hearing before Judge Peters.  Sheppard and Whittle present their own case.  The US Government is represented by attorney Miss Myers. Sheppard and Whittle speak of their experiences at the hands of the British police and Crown Prosecution Service.  English counsel Adrian Davies confirms and gives evidence about the relevant provisions of English law (the Public Order Act 1986, as amended) and the English Court’s assertion of jurisdiction over web pages hosted on a server located in Torrance, California.  Court adjourned to 1pm 24 March 2009.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 14 March 2009: Sympathy for the “Heretical Two” by Chip Smith.
• 24 March 2009:  Sheppard and Whittle, wearing handcuffs and leg irons, make closing arguments for asylum before Judge Peters.  US Government attorney Miss Myers makes closing arguments against asylum.  Judge Peters reserves judgment.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 28 March 2009: Police close in on race hate duo by This Is Hull and East Riding.
• 28 March 2009: Holocaust-Denying Brits Languish in Santa Ana Jail, Become Worldwide Far-Right Celebrities by Gustavo Arellano.
• 30 March 2009: Sheppard retrial in his absence in Leeds Crown Court, England continues.  Hearing deferred until 15 May 2009 to await the decision of the American asylum court.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009].  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 31 March 2009: US asylum case of web race-hate pair ‘could drag on’ by Rob Preece.
• 14 March 2009: Sympathy for the “Heretical Two” by Chip Smith updated.
• 29 March 2009: Monday Sentencing for Heretical Two by Mia.
• 5 April 2009: Sheppard and Whittle lose their appeal for asylum.  Sheppard and Whittle given thirty days to appeal.  Sheppard declines opportunity to appeal.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 5 April 2009: “Dear Harold: You were right. Our asylum claim has been denied, as has witholding of removal. We were thinking of appealing and sticking it out, but really this place is replete with people hanging on hoping for a miracle that’s never going to happen, and we don’t want to join them. Our barrister told us when he visited to testify for us that this immigration judge, Rose Peters, has granted asylum to an IRA murderer who had killed two policemen, supposedly on political grounds, so that’s the level of hypocrisy we’re up against. Better we think to go back to England, face the music, and get it over with. The ground for refusing asylum was that our prosecution in the UK did not constitute persecution (i.e. the government attorney and the IJ, both women, agree with it. The government attorney even argued against the First Amendment.) I believe that because this is a subjective assessment it is quite difficult to appeal against, and we could spend years taking it through various courts. Best wishes, Simon Sheppard & Stephen Whittle.” [Nationalists Online]
• 15 April 2009: “Heretical Two” British Dissidents Simon Sheppard And Stephen Whittle Reportedly Denied Political Asylum by White Reference.
• 15 April 2009: Heretical Two Denied Political Asylum in USA by GWR.
• 17 April 2009: Race-hate pair who fled to US refused asylum by Rob Preece.
• 6 May 2009: What the Heretical 2 Case Says about the Federal “Hate Crimes” Bill by Nicholas Stix.
• 18 May 2009: Another Letter from Stephen Whittle of the Heretical 2 by Nicholas Stix.
• June 2009: Refugee Week by Awaiting a Western Renaissance.
• 3 June 2009: Men bedeviled in bid for sanctuary by Dana Parsons.
• 4 June 2009: ‘Heretical Two’ to be Deported from USA by GWR.
• 4 June 2009: Persecution is Complicated: An Update on the “Heretical Two” by Chip Smith.
• 5 June 2009: Race-hate Britons seeking asylum in U.S. to be deported after judge rejects ‘free speech’ plea by Mail Foreign Service.
• 10 June 2009: Race hate pair set to be deported to Britain by Rob Preece.
• 16 June 2009: Sheppard and Whittle deported from the United States.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 17 June 2009: Sheppard and Whittle arrive in London.  They are arrested, taken briefly to Leeds Court, then sent to prison.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 18 June 2009: Heretical Two Appear at Leeds Crown Court by GWR.
• July 2009: Web Racists to Appeal Unsafe Sentence by Awaiting a Western Renaissance.
• 10 July 209: Sheppard and Whittle appear at Leeds Crown Court.  Sheppard is sentenced to four years and ten months.  Sheppard’s sentence is twelve months concurrent on the three counts relating to ‘Tales of the Holohoax’, followed by a consecutive sentence of twelve months in aggregate on the two counts relating to ‘Don’t Be Sheeple’, followed by two years and six months in aggregate on the eleven Internet counts, followed by four months on the Bail Act charge.  Whittle is sentence to two years and four months.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 10 July 2009: Pair jailed for web race crimes by BBC.
• 10 July 2009: The neo-Nazi ‘asylum seekers’ by BBC.
• 10 July 2009: Landmark ruling as internet race-hate fugitives locked up by Olwen Dudgeon.
• 10 July 2009: Key victory for human decency by Yorkshire Post.
• 10 July 2009: Heretical Two Jailed for ‘Race Hate’ Crimes by GWR.
• 10 July 2009: Two jailed for online racial incitement [first listing] [second listing] by Index on Censorship.
• 10 July 2009: A Couple of Whining Bitches by Big Mental Disease.
• 11 July 2009: Cosmodromium Supports Heretical.com by James D. Sass.
• 11 July 2009: Nutzies are Weird by Slackbastard.
• 12 July 2009: Two Writers by Chip Smith.
• 13 July 2009: Sheppard and Whittle imprisoned for free speech in UK by James Edwards.
• 14 July 2009: Court of Appeal (Richards LJ, Jack J and HHJ Baker QC) give leave to appeal against conviction on all the Internet counts but refused leave to appeal with respect to the hard copy counts.  Full appeal to take place in 2009 and to take a day.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 14 July 2009: Quest for justice that goes beyond borders by Denis MacShane.
• 14 July 2009: Jailed race-hate pair win go-ahead for appeal by Rob Preece.
• 25 July 2009: Why does Britain ignore antisemitism? by Denis McShane.
• 29 July 2009: Heretical Two Win the First Round by James Brewster.
• 31 July 2009: Forfeiture hearing against Sheppard and Whittle before Judge Grant at Leeds Crown Court.  Sheppard and Whittle physically attacked on their way to court.  Sheppard fears his jaw is broken.  This is not the case although he still had difficulty eating several days later.  Judge Grant decides every contested point against Sheppard.  Judge Grant orders the forfeiture and destruction of office equipment which Simon had serviced.  An appeal is lodged against forfeiture of the printers, computers and other office equipment.  [heretical.com 22 September 2009]
• 31 July 2009: The Heretical Two by Trevor Blake.
• 1 August 2009: The Heretical Two by Klint Finley.
• 1 August 2009: Heretical Two in Court Again by GWR.
• 20 August 2009 – 13 December 2009: Niggers Over America by R. Crumb exhibited by David Zwerner Gallery in New York City. Sheppard had been found guilty of race hate crimes for publication of Niggers Over America by R. Crumb.
• September 2009: freethehereticaltwo.com by various authors.
• 22 September 2009: Heretical Two Timeline by Trevor Blake.
• 22 September – 5 October 2009 (circa): Message from Simon Sheppard. “I feel fortunate in being in Armley prison for a cause and for standing up for my beliefs, rather than incarcerated for some sordid, drug-induced crime. It is obvious that three-quarters of the people are here due to government incompetence or indifference, either through allowing the import of enormous quantities of heroin or failing to provide employment. The establishment’s love affair with globalization and failure to confront obvious problems of over-population are chiefly at fault. I am doing reasonably well at present though dreading another change of cell-mate. Recently I had three different cell-mates in as many days, and a proportion are complete head cases, making me feel like a resident psychiatrist. I console myself that I am making a sacrifice for my people and although I would obviously rather not be here it is superior to being a a POW in a Japanese wartime camp, or interned for the duration of the World War 2 under Britain’s 18B Regulations. I will come through this ordeal one day. I am still held as a category B ‘remand prisoner’ in Armley Prison, Leeds – pending the appeal to the High Court in late Autumn 2009 on internet publishing charges.”
• 2 October 2009: British “Heretical Two” hire US asylum lawyer by Club of Now.
• 12 October 2009: Me and the H-Bomb Part Two: The Gas Chamber of Samuel Crowell by Chip Smith.
• 17 October 2009: Blogs from all over teh interwebs by Kevin Slaughter.
• 18 October 2009: Amnesty International, Two Flavors by Trevor Blake.
• 28 October 2009: Jack Hunter, Hate is Not a Crime by Trevor Blake.
• 30 October 2009: (circa): Stephen Whittle moved from HMP Leeds to Everthorpe Prison. [heretical.com 30 October 2009]
• 5 November 2009: Simon Sheppard and Stephen Whittle by Threatened Voices.
• 27 December 2009: Prosecution of the Heretical Two by James D. Sass.
• 3 January 2010: Canaries in the Coal Mine by Jack Donovan.
• 24 January 2010: The Heretical Two by eccnineten.
• 29 January 2010: “The appeal against conviction on internet publishing on a foreign website has been lost. Fortunately, the appeal judges ruled the sentences were excessive and reduced Simon Sheppard’s sentence by a year to 3 years and 10 months and Stephen Whittle’s sentence by six months to 1 year and 10 months.” [heretical.com]
• 31 January 2010: Heretical Two Lose Appeal, But With Sentence Reduction by James Fulford.
• 18 May 2010: “At least he’s not in prison for year like the Heretical Two are.” ATBOTL.
• 18 May 2010: “Stephen was released from prison on May 18th to a hostel in Preston, Lancashire subject to restrictions on his movements and political associations.” [heretical.com circa June 2010]
• 10 June 2010: Internet Repression by Eddy Morrison.
• 12 June 2010: Oh Noes!  Wigan Mike Goes to Court Again by Slackbastard.
• 15 June 2010: Simon Sheppard and Steve Whittle, The Heretical Two, H2 by Fragileswan.
• 9 July 2010: “The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, formerly the judicial committee of the House of Lords, has refused the H2 leave to appeal. It is the practice of this Court not to give reasons for refusing leave to appeal, whereas it would be considered an error of law for any other court not to give reasons for its decisions. The H2 are now entitled to petition the European Court of Human Rights for leave to appeal to that court, which they could not do before, as would be petitioners are obliged to exhaust all domestic recourse first. Meanwhile, Steve, who was out on bail at a bail hostel in Blackburn which he found fairly agreeable, has been caught on the internet in breach of bail conditions, and sent to Preston prison. He was found by the police using the internet in Blackburn public library [the UK is no different to China and Burma in treatment of dissidents!!!]. Steve would, as ever, appreciate messages of support to show that the H2 are not forgotten in gaol.” [heretical.com]
• 15 July 2010: “On 15th July 2010 Simon was moved from Armley to a privately run prison.” [heretical.com]

You may have noticed that people who convert to religion after the age of 20 or so are generally more zealous than people who grew up with the same religion.  People who grow up with a religion learn how to cope with its more inconvenient parts by partitioning them off, rationalizing them away, or forgetting about them.  Religious communities actually protect their members from religion in one sense – they develop an unspoken consensus on which parts of their religion members can legitimately ignore.  New converts sometimes try to actually do what their religion tells them to do.  I remember many times growing up when missionaries described the crazy things their new converts in remote areas did on reading the Bible for the first time – they refused to be taught by female missionaries; they insisted on following Old Testament commandments; they decided that everyone in the village had to confess all of their sins against everyone else in the village; they prayed to God and assumed He would do what they asked; they believed the Christian God would cure their diseases.  We would always laugh a little at the naivete of these new converts; I could barely hear the tiny voice in my head saying but they’re just believing that the Bible means what it says…

How do we explain the blindness of people to a religion they grew up with? Cultural immunity. Europe has lived with Christianity for nearly 2000 years. European culture has co-evolved with Christianity. Culturally, memetically, it’s developed a tolerance for Christianity. These new Christian converts, in Uganda, Papua New Guinea, and other remote parts of the world, were being exposed to Christian memes for the first time, and had no immunity to them. [...]

The reason I bring this up is that intelligent people sometimes do things more stupid than stupid people are capable of.  There are a variety of reasons for this; but one has to do with the fact that all cultures have dangerous memes circulating in them, and cultural antibodies to those memes.  The trouble is that these antibodies are not logical.  On the contrary; these antibodies are often highly illogical.  They are the blind spots that let us live with a dangerous meme without being impelled to action by it.  The dangerous effects of these memes are most obvious with religion; but I think there is an element of this in many social norms.  We have a powerful cultural norm in America that says that all people are equal (whatever that means); originally, this powerful and ambiguous belief was counterbalanced by a set of blind spots so large that this belief did not even impel us to free slaves or let women or non-property-owners vote.  We have another cultural norm that says that hard work reliably and exclusively leads to success; and another set of blind spots that prevent this belief from turning us all into Objectivists.

A little reason can be a dangerous thing.  The landscape of rationality is not smooth; there is no guarantee that removing one false belief will improve your reasoning instead of degrading it.  Sometimes, reason lets us see the dangerous aspects of our memes, but not the blind spots that protect us from them.  Sometimes, it lets us see the blind spots, but not the dangerous memes.  Either of these ways, reason can lead an individual to be unbalanced, no longer adapted to their memetic environment, and free to follow previously-dormant memes through to their logical conclusions.    (To paraphrase Steve Weinberg, “For a smart person to do something truly stupid, they need a theory.”  Actually, I could have quoted him directly – “stupid” is just a lighter shade of “evil”.  Communism and fascism both begin by exercising complete control over the memetic environment, in order to create a new man stripped of cultural immunity, who will do whatever they tell him to.)

Article continues.  High recommendations to Less Wrong and Overcoming Bias. – Trevor

James King, Catholic Church Sues City of Phoenix for Right to Ring Church Bells: In June, a Catholic bishop was sentenced to three years of probation and 10 days in jail (suspended) for violating a noise ordinance by ringing church bells in a Phoenix neighborhood. On August 24, city officials warned St. Mark’s Catholic Church, located near Van Buren Street and 30th Street, that it could be prosecuted “if St. Mark did not reduce the amount of times that it rings its carillon to the satisfaction of certain neighbors,” according to a complaint filed by prosecutors. [...] The churches are asking for nominal damages, declaratory judgment under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, and a permanent injunction so they can ring their bells.

What King describes as ‘ringing church bells’ in his article are recordings that are played hourly.  There’s a different mental image invoked by a weathered bell tower and its sonorous chimes peeling down through history on the one hand and a recording on the other.  There’s no definition of what a religion is in US law – that’s what the Second Amendment does for us – so there’s no legal case for preventing hourly blasts of recorded bells because it isn’t a ‘real’ religious practice.  But it does seem reasonable to compel them to pipe down, in the interest of those whose freedom of religion includes a little peace and quiet.  The bishop fighting for the right to make his joyous noise may not know it, but he is laying the groundwork for any other religious group that wants to bomb their neighborhood with their own recordings.  Say, a Muslim call to prayer five times every day over concert-grade loudspeakers.   You don’t get one without the other.  Think of the “ear-splitting” sound of 4,000 mosques doing just that – five times a day – every day – in Cairo.  Or if Cairo is too far away, think of the problems caused by religious loudspeaker use in London.  Is this really a problem that we need to import to the USA?

The calendar and anniversaries and mathematics are human inventions. The small satisfied feeling I get from nice round numbers and overlapping anniversaries is something like a superstition. I act on my superstition by writing a blog post and I don’t expect anyone to act on my superstition, so it seems harmless enough. Compared to how the professionally superstitious responded to Galileo’s telescope and Darwin’s theory, I think I’m doing pretty good. On this anniversary of three nice round numbers, take a moment to consider what science has revealed and what superstition has concealed about the universe.