Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Penn Fraser Jillette the 58 year old American illusionist, comedian, musician, actor known for his advocacy of atheism, scientific skepticism, libertarianism and free-market capitalism has published an article in the New York Times titled ‘Don’t Replace Religion; End It’ in which he states “Religion cannot and should not be replaced by atheism. Religion needs to go away and not be replaced by anything. Atheism is not a religion. It’s the absence of religion, and that’s a wonderful thing. Religion is not morality. Theists ask me, “If there’s no god, what would stop me from raping and killing everyone I want to.” My answer is always: “I, myself, have raped and killed everyone I want to … and the number for both is zero.” Behaving morally because of a hope of reward or a fear of punishment is not morality. Morality is not bribery or threats. Religion is bribery and threats. Humans have morality. We don’t need religion. Atheism is the absence of religion. We don’t really need atheism. We just need to get rid of religion. Religion is faith. Faith is belief without evidence. Belief without evidence cannot be shared. Faith is a feeling. Love is also a feeling, but love makes no universal claims. Love is pure. The lover reports on his or her feelings and needs nothing more. Faith claims knowledge of a world we share but without evidence we can share. Feeling love is beautiful. Feeling the earth is 6,000 years old is stupid. Religion is often just tribalism: pride in a group one was born into, a group that is often believed to have “God” on its side. We don’t need to replace tribalism with anything other than love for all humanity. Let’s do that, okay? Religion also includes fellowship, joy, compassion, service and great music, and those can be replaced by … fellowship, joy, compassion, service and great music. Atheism is the absence of religion. We don’t really need atheism. We just need to get rid of religion.”

Inspired by Penn Jillette, New York times ow.ly/lLxST Image source Facebook ow.ly/lLxQN

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova the 23 year old Russian musician with the feminist punk rock group ‘Pussy Riot’, along with two other group members have lodged appeals against their two year sentence. In an article published in The Independent Shaun Walker states “As lawyers for the jailed members of the punk band Pussy Riot prepare their appeals, the three women are gearing up to face the grim reality of two years in a Russian prison, where they will be able to meet their families and young children just once every six months, and receive phone calls only quarterly. …sentenced to two years in prison …for performing a “punk prayer” in a Moscow cathedral in February. The women say it was a political protest over the Russian Orthodox Church’s support for President Vladimir Putin, but the court ruled that it constituted “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” in a verdict that has caused outrage in Russia and across the world. Lawyer Nikolai Polozov said he expected the court to hear the women’s appeal in September, and if it was unsuccessful, they would be moved from pre-trial detention to a prison camp shortly afterwards. …The women can be dispatched to any prison in Russia, meaning they could end up thousands of miles away from Moscow. Two of the women have young children, but Mr Polozov said this would not be taken into account, and they would be allowed to see them only twice a year.”

Inspired by Shaun Walker ow.ly/djhZX image source Таганский суд ow.ly/djitD

Online campaign to execute Shahin Najafi (June 7th 2012)

Shahin Najafi the 31 year old Iranian musician singer and social activist residing in Germany, has gone into hiding following Iranian clerics placing a $100,000 bounty on his murder. Najafi has been condemned for violating a ‘fatwa’ that calls for the execution of anyone who blasphemes Ali an-Naqi, one of the 12 imams or religious figures revered by Shia Muslims. Najafi released a song “Naqi” that takes its name from Ali an-Naqi, its lyrics oppose the oppression and human rights abuse following the 2009 contested Iranian presidential election. Its lyrics call on Naqi to intervene and save the country. Najafi’s songs generally touch on sensitive issues such as “theocracy, poverty, sexism, censorship, child labor, execution, drug addiction and homophobia”. The Independent reports the “The Iranian religious website, Shia-Online, put a $100,000 bounty on the singer’s head and said he deserved to die for “grossly insulting” Ali an-Naqi. More than 100 people have joined an online “campaign to execute Shahin Najafi”. Mr Najafi is popular within the 120,000-strong Iranian community in Germany. Brought up in a small port in southern Iran, he fled to Germany in 2005 after being threatened, apparently by Iranian intelligence, for staging underground concerts. Tehran has so far made no comment on the fatwas against Mr Najafi.”

Inspired by The Independent ow.ly/bgE2m image source Wikipedia ow.ly/bgDYs

Process is very difficult and he was a trooper (May 27th 2012)

Emma Hack the Australian visual artist who combines canvas and body painting with studio based photography, renowned for her recent work with Australian musician Gotye on the video “Somebody I Used to Know” which also features New Zealand singer Kimbra, has been interviewed by Nicholas Forrest for Artinfo. In the interview Hack states “Natasha Pincus, the director/producer, wanted to create a blend of the bodies into a background to make them appear as if they are in a relationship whilst blended. Then Kimbra leaves the relationship as the paint disappears from her back. …The process is very difficult and he was a trooper — never complained even though in pain. In all, it took 23 hours to create the work on them both. He loves and understands the process, which makes it easy to work with him.  …It differs greatly from the art I create, which is what I want to do, creating in a calm environment with my regular models. The Gotye project is similar to a commercial gig, where I’m working for the good of the client and their needs — but it is a lot more demanding emotionally on me.

Inspired by Artinfo ow.ly/aYig3 image source adelaidenow ow.ly/aYi6u

A visual reflection on his travels in Asia series (October 13th)

Robert Allen Zimmerman the 70 year old US musician and painter known as Bob Dylan, is now reported to have copyright license to the images he has used in the creation of his paintings. Questions have arisen about whether the paintings are based on the singer’s “own experiences and observations, or on photographs that are widely available and were not taken by Mr. Dylan”. Dylan’s gallery Gagosian states that “While the composition of some of Bob Dylan’s paintings are based on a variety of sources, including archival, historic images, the paintings’ vibrancy and freshness come from the colors and textures found in everyday scenes he observed during his travels”. However the Gagosian web site promotion states the paintings are “a visual reflection on his travels in Japan, China, Vietnam, and Korea”.

Inspired by Ann Binlot http://ht.ly/6HMk8 image source Alberto Cabello http://ow.ly/6KMJB