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| | ''See also:'' [[Atheism and mockery]] and [[Atheists and pork consumption]] and [[Dietary practices of atheists]] | | ''See also:'' [[Atheism and mockery]] and [[Atheists and pork consumption]] and [[Dietary practices of atheists]] |
| | [[File:Pig.jpg|250px|thumbnail|right|A very significant portion of atheists eat [[pork]] - especially [[China and atheism|Chinese atheists]]. See: [[Atheists and pork consumption]] ]] | | [[File:Pig.jpg|250px|thumbnail|right|A very significant portion of atheists eat [[pork]] - especially [[China and atheism|Chinese atheists]]. See: [[Atheists and pork consumption]] ]] |
| − | [[Fox News]] reported: | + | ''Metro'' reported about the [[United Church of Bacon]]: |
| − | {{Cquote|For some eating [[bacon]] is a religious experience. But in [[Las Vegas]], there’s a group dedicated to the worship of the cured pork. | + | {{Cquote|The mocking religion was founded in [[Las Vegas]] by atheist John Whiteside in 2010 as a protest to fight discrimination against atheists. Followers given titles such as ‘Bacon Prophet’, ‘Institutionalized Thought Leader’ and ‘Funkmaster General’. A statement on the United Church of [[Bacon]] website reads: ‘Officiates in the United Church of Bacon can perform legal weddings for those who don’t want [[God]] in their ceremony. |
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| − | Founded in 2010, the United Church of Bacon now claims nearly 10,000 members worldwide and is based on beliefs that include its followers must love the smell of bacon.
| + | ‘We’ll bring creative suggestions to make your wedding even more magical. Or if you already have a plan, we will follow your lead.’ The United Church of Bacon was slammed by religious groups after putting up several billboards around Las Vegas But John said: ‘We enjoy people mocking us. We mock ourselves. This isn’t supposed to offend anyone.’<ref>[https://metro.co.uk/2015/09/13/church-of-bacon-sees-rush-of-new-members-after-free-wedding-offer-5389265/ Church of Bacon sees rush of new members after free wedding offer], ''Metro''</ref>}} |
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| − | “Bacon is a way to bring people together, even if you are religious, there’s no discrimination. You can have a god before bacon,” said church founder and ex-Marine John Whiteside. “I like pigs in a blanket, that’s great, I like donuts and bacon, any type of bacon is great.”
| + | See also: [[Atheism and mockery]] |
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| − | The organization uses bacon's popularity to bring together a “church” of non-believers. But, it was really formed to promote the rights of atheists and religious skeptics. One of its founding members is Whiteside’s longtime friend, Penn Jillette --from the illusionist team Penn and Teller.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/atheists-worship-pork-at-the-self-proclaimed-church-of-bacon Atheists worship pork at the self-proclaimed Church of Bacon]</ref>}}
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| − | Kenneth Weinstein wrote in ''The American Interest'' about [[atheism and mockery]]:
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| − | {{cquote|[[Charlie Hebdo]] has suddenly become the best-known example of a venerable French tradition: vituperative and unrelenting anti-religious satire, a provocative yet regular phenomenon of French public life. And now—not, alas, for the first time in that nation’s history—it has occasioned actual bloodshed.
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| − | Lampooning of the Bible, Christian doctrine, and clergy dates back almost 400 years to the “strong thinkers,” French learned skeptics in the 16th century. The primary target of anti-religious satire was France’s official religion, Catholicism, the Church’s ties to the state, and its control over education. And the ridiculing wit long directed against these targets would eventually play a central and crucial role in reducing the status and influence of religion in the French Republic...
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| − | The method of the forerunners of Charlie Hebdo—unrelenting and vicious satire of religion and clergy — proved so effective that France became a fully secular state, to such an extent that certain of its practices, laicité, would be regarded as unsettlingly alien and intolerant by most Americans.<ref>[http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/01/13/charlie-hebdo-and-frances-irreligious-tradition/ Charlie Hebdo and France’s Irreligious Tradition] by Kenneth R. Weinstein</ref>}}
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| | == Donald Trump on Penn Jillette == | | == Donald Trump on Penn Jillette == |