thepete's take: America is a Fearist Country

How does it feel to live in an fearist country?

That's right--whether any citizen of another country wants to say it to your face or not, if you're an American, you believe in fearism.  As Americans, we go on and on about how we need guns to keep us safe from a potentially abusive government, never quite realizing that the US government is supposed to be run for the people, by the people.  So, if it works the way it's supposed to, why are we afraid of our own people abusing us?  And why do we need to cling to our arm-bearing rights  with the ferocity of an actual bear?

Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association, likes to remind us from time to time about how many threats we American citizens face, beyond just an abusive government.  Here is a cutting from a 2014 article I found quoting a speech LaPierre gave:

"We know, in the world that surrounds us, there are terrorists and there are home invaders, drug cartels, carjackers, knockout-gamers, and rapers and haters and campus killers, airport killers, shopping mall killers, and killers who scheme to destroy our country with massive storms of violence against our power grids or vicious waves of chemicals or disease that could collapse our society that sustains us all."

And a LOT of people agree with that guy.  So, guns.  Guns are the answer for many Americans.  Even to many of those who don't want to ever own a gun, it's OK for guns to be generally legal.  Because, you know, the 2nd Amendment, and because of that thought in the back of your head that the 2nd Amendment is there for a reason.  It's because we might need it some day. And what that really means is that you think guns trump everything.  Even the deaths of 49 gay people.  Even the deaths of 20 children.

"Girls were not allowed to converse except from 6 to 9 p.m. each Friday. They were not allowed contact with their families during their first month, or with anyone else for six months. By that time, Roxy said, most girls are 'broken,' having been told that their families have abandoned them, and that the world outside is a sinful, dangerous place where girls who leave are murdered or raped."

"Girls were not allowed to converse except from 6 to 9 p.m. each Friday. They were not allowed contact with their families during their first month, or with anyone else for six months. By that time, Roxy said, most girls are 'broken,' having been told that their families have abandoned them, and that the world outside is a sinful, dangerous place where girls who leave are murdered or raped."

motherjones:

Women isolated from secular society, scarred for life, and beaten for crossing the religious authorities. Kandahar? No, Missouri. And conservatives keep the system running.

America: the land of the free?

or:

Religion: YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG

Then again, is there a right way to do religion?  Not really.  It always relies on the belief in something that is not there, whether it be gods, spirits or magic.  

Imagine a libertarian Christianity, which urged individuals to give away as much of their property as possible to the poor, to forget about the sex lives of their neighbors and focus on their own, to pray more than politic and to forgive more than to judge. Imagine, in other words, Christianity, and remind yourself how alien Christianism is to it.

Imagine a libertarian Christianity, which urged individuals to give away as much of their property as possible to the poor, to forget about the sex lives of their neighbors and focus on their own, to pray more than politic and to forgive more than to judge. Imagine, in other words, Christianity, and remind yourself how alien Christianism is to it.

Andrew Sullivan (via azspot)

SOMEbody hasn’t read the Bible.  Last time I checked, there are plenty of violent messages put forth in that thing.  How about we stop trying to pin our hopes and dreams on heaven or god and start pinning them on ourselves?  What say we ditch these 2000+ year old rule books (and an even younger one, like the Kuran) and just stick to the only rule that matters—the Golden Rule:  

Don’t do unto others something that you would not have done unto yourself.  

You can still adopt the Golden Rule even after you’ve broken it.  Which is great since capitalism pretty much requires someone get the shit-end of the stick.  So, let’s all start stopping the buck with ourselves.

Responsibility, it’s free for the taking.

motherjones:Pat Robertson’s question for the media: “What in Heaven’s name is wrong with you? Are you so anti-American, are you so opposed to this great nation and the freedoms you have that you want to embrace something out of the eighth century, BC?”For the record, the Islamic calendar begins in the year 622, e.g. the seventh century AD.Also, Pat Robertson embraces Jesus, e.g. something out of the first century AD. Which must mean he’s anti-American and a terrible historian.(Via Joe.My.God.)Believe what you want, kids, but please, THINK before you believe!!While Robertson is going on and on about something out of the 700s AD, he not only fails to recognize that his belief system is from the 000s AD (as MoJo notes) but also, he doesn’t think about those Crusades, the Pope begin in the late 1000s AD (guilty of the same sort of thing he criticizes the Muslism extremists for). He also ignores the fact that Islam is actually an off-shoot of Christianity and Judaism! ARG! Why are these loud-mouthed Christian extremists so STUPID or so LYING?!?Seriously, if you’re a Christian, why do you let these assholes speak for you?

666cast episode 56: the UnRapture Episode!

Yep, the Rapture didn’t happen today! Find out why I think it didn’t in episode 56 of the 666cast! 

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO WAS RAPTURED? Please tell me about it here: http://website666.com/ask or call: 704 297 6661 DO IT NOW!

Click here to read the “Farewell to the Rapture” essay I talk about in episode 56 of the 666cast.

And here is the, frankly stupid article from Christian Science Monitor with the “Apocalypse Not” headline I mention. So stupid, it’s “Armageddon” that you’re talking about—it’s a proper noun that refers to a giant-ass war that’s supposed to happen after Jesus returns. “Apocalypse” is a regular old noun that is actually defined as “revelation”. The article is crap, too, as it treats this story with a truly ironic level of glibness considering the news source’s name includes the word “Christian.” Typical idiocy from the mainstream media.

Episode 56 of the 666cast is hosted at Archive.org.

Please subscribe to the feed.

Don’t forget to visit webstore666!

Don’t know what the heck I’m talking about in this episode? Listen to episode 55 for your primer on the Rapture!

Like I needed another reason to be an atheist. If Japan is how god communicates... (UPDATED)

originally reblogged 3/14/11 but updated 3/25/11

friendlyatheist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UmotTE-VlY
(you can add your comments to the post)

Submitted by lorna08

Yeah, in my mind, if a god can’t just come down to Earth and grab coffee with us, I’m not interested in following him.  If a god can only communicate through violence and massive death, then I’m going to run screaming from religion entirely.  Shit, the attitude this young woman has is all the reason I need to stay firmly entrenched in the understanding that there is no God and that religion can be VERY VERY bad.

This woman sure seems to think the Touhoku Earthquake was a good thing. 

This woman makes my stomach sick.  Go watch her video and “thumbs-down” her video. Then leave a comment, whether you’re an atheist or not (especially if you’re not) and tell her why she’s wrong and that the Japan quake is not a good thing.

Fuck God.  Fuck belief.  I like facts. 

“Japan is a good place to start.”  ??? What the FUCK??  What the fuck is that supposed to mean??  Is this another racist Christian who doesn’t believe all humans deserve equal rights?  Christians everywhere better get loud about their feelings if they disagree with this kind of horrible person.  I’m beginning to think there are no moderate Christians around because they’re so moderate.

UPDATED: Turns out this chick was just a useless troll.  Faked the whole thing. What’s wrong with people today? Fucking get a life. Yours will be short enough—why waste it being a douche?

The Unofficial Apple Weblog posts about Logos Bible-study software coming to the Mac--SIGH.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog posts about Logos Bible-study software coming to the Mac--SIGH.

When I saw this post on TUAW, my first instinct was to just blow it off. Then I started reading the comments and realized that I wasn’t alone in finding it odd that software for such a niche was being blogged about.  So, I decided to chime in.  Here’s what I said in a comment:

Meh, I’m with the naysayers, let the Christian blogs cover Christian software. This blog already serves a specific niche. Though to be honest a Christian-themed post makes perfect sense on a fan blog for a company that loves to believe in their own version of reality, instead of *actual* reality.

All right, I’m done being douchey. I hope this post was civil enough for you.

That last part was referencing an earlier commenter who claimed to have had a comment removed. The author of the post explained away the removal of the comment as being a result of its lack of civility. I guess that makes it OK…?

Anyway, so the author of the post replied to my comment with:

Then should we let photography blogs cover the photography apps? Geek blogs cover Terminal tips? Writing sites cover writing apps? Where does it end? Why is Christian software a ‘niche’? Whether you are happy about it or not, there are quite a few Christians around.

Haha, are there? I hadn’t noticed them! (Why do you think I feel compelled to speak out in instances like this one?)  And here’s what I replied with:

@TJLuoma, fair enough, but I don’t think photographers are linked to things like oppression, homophobia, child abuse and religious wars. But putting aside my personal feeling of offense when Christianity is mentioned, religion is a personal thing. Keep it to yourself and everything’s cool.

Besides, photography and technology overlap, thematically. Christianity and technology don’t. At least, not natively. Software being used as a study guide for Christian doctrine is hardly a natural fit. By your logic we should see TUAW cover apps that only plumbers would use. “Do you know how many plumbers there are in the world? And now they are using software compatible with Macs, so that makes it relevant to TUAW!”

I mean, hey, it’s not my blog, AOL can do what they want with it. This is just my ¥2.

Well, I tried to point out why Christian stuff shouldn’t show up on a tech blog, but if you’re willing to not see the difference between being responsible for untold oppression/torture/death and, say, photography, what’s an atheist boy to do?

Clearly, this banana proves the existence of God. >_

I don’t like to reblog if I can help it these days, but this is priceless: Mythbusted: The Holy Bible. ;)

Found via thereisnogod and stevieadrestia:

i could of told you that!

If only this was a real episode of Mythbusters!!  Ah well….

This Week's EFFYOU goes out to Terry Jones and everyone at the Dove World Outreach Center (UPDATED)

effyou.org:

This handsome man is Dr. Terry Jones in a screencap from a propaganda video available for viewing on YouTube and http://doveworld.org. Dr. Terry Jones is the man who runs the Dove World Outreach Center.  They’re the group of Christians who have called this Saturday, the 9th anniversary of the 911 attacks, “International Burn a Koran Day” (that links to the event’s page on Facebook, btw.)

However, these people aren’t just about burning the holy books of religions they don’t agree with (OK, Islam), they’re about rampant paranoia, calling anything they disagree with a threat to America.  That propaganda video on their website suggests abortions, gay marriage and Islam are “very serious issues” that will “shape America’s future in a negative way” and that Islam is “a political force” with “a vision of world domination” (that has no resemblance to Christianity, we have to assume).

Apparently, they don’t think copyright infringement is a problem, though, since they use music from a Hollywood movie (Braveheart, I think?) to add drama to Jones’ words—like they need drama—AMERICA IS UNDER ATTACK! ISN’T THAT DRAMA ENOUGH?

Ahem… 

Terry Jones is so intolerant of Islam that he wrote a book called Islam is of the Devil and even sells T-shirts and coffee mugs with the phrase “Islam is of the Devil” on them so you can proudly display your own intolerance while hanging out with friends or drinking your morning coffee at the office.

It’s a shame that this idiot and his idiot followers don’t get the whole “Golden Rule” thing going—you know, that “Don’t do unto others that which you wouldn’t have done unto you” thing?  I guess it’s OK for them to take away from Muslims the very thing they’re enjoying by preaching hatred of Muslims—aka, the right to practice your religion of choice freely.

Talk about unAmerican.

For being so intolerant of another religion it has set aside the anniversary of a terrible day in American history to pee all over one of the main principles behind America’s very founding, the Dove World Outreach Center and all of its supporters gets this week’s EFFYOU.

Hell, these guys should just get this week’s EFFYOU, they should get the hell out of America. We’re about freedom here—not religious harassment.

PS, as an atheist, I have a WHOLE mess of problems with these guys, but my biggest problem (explained above) happens to have nothing to do with religion—it’s all about tolerance.  Read a more unbridled take on this on Website666.com.

*UPDATED 20100910: OK, well, it looks like Terry Jones has actually seen the light after having chats with the FBI, another pastor, a local Florida imam and even US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.  So, he’s canceled the Koran-burning.  HOWEVER, he’s still an interminable douche who is really just an attention whore with a gas station mustache.  To take this as far as he has shows much more intolerance than any American should be willing to put up with.  It also shows a level of ignorance and pettiness that seems as deep as the Mariana Trench.

So, Terry Jones and any of his followers who have yet to disassociate themselves from this man still get a big EFFYOU from EFFYOU.org.

It’s not like, aside from the Koran-burning, this was a decent guy, or anything.

OH, BTW: The USA is NOT a Christian Nation, According to Thomas Jefferson

Found this via Friendly Atheist who posted the other day about how, in the Treaty of Tripoli, Thomas Jefferson wrote in Article 11:

As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,

So, yeah. Shut up, Glenn.

A Mormon's Take on a Mormon TV Star's Power

stfuglennbeck:

Let’s Be Real…: God, the Gospel, and Glenn Beck

Here is the link to the article to read for yourself, and read some of the feed back.

http://www.russellmoore.com/2010/08/29/god-the-gospel-and-glenn-beck/

I want to hear what you guys think about this article!

I don’t necessarily agree with all of this but I thought it was an interesting read.

By Russell D. Moore

A Mormon television star stands in front of the Lincoln…

When I saw the headline, I assumed this would be a repudiation of this new brand of TV-safe Christianity from someone who was on the inside of “real” Christianity.

However, reading that post was like reading a foreign language. I literally got so lost with some of it that, in the end, all I could be sure about was that he doesn’t approve of he-who-shall-not-be-named’s definition of a “return to God.”  Honestly, it was like reading gibberish.  An example:

There is a liberation theology of the Left, and there is also a liberation theology of the Right, and both are at heart mammon worship. The liberation theology of the Left often wants a Barabbas, to fight off the oppressors as though our ultimate problem were the reign of Rome and not the reign of death. The liberation theology of the Right wants a golden calf, to represent religion and to remind us of all the economic security we had in Egypt. Both want a Caesar or a Pharaoh, not a Messiah.

Whaaaaaa?

Liberation theology? Mammon worship??  Barabbas fighting off oppressors??  I may be an atheist, but I grew up in this “Christian” nation and I don’t remember Barabbas, action star, I remember Barabbas as a bit player who happened to be in custody at the same time as Jesus (hence the whole “Give us Barabbas” thing).  And I thought the whole idea of Christianity was to love God—is that supposed to be “liberation?”  I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a “liberation theology” before.

More from the Mormon post:

Leaders will always be tempted to bypass the problem behind the problems: captivity to sin, bondage to the accusations of the demonic powers, the sentence of death. That’s why so many of our Christian superstars smile at crowds of thousands, reassuring them that they don’t like to talk about sin.

Huuuh?  So, it’s OK for Beck to “know his market” but it’s not OK for these “Christian superstars” to not drop the guilt on followers?  Is Beck’s responsibility to his view any less real than the responsibility of one of these “superstars?”

I know this guy’s blog is there to, quite literally, preach to the choir, but he *might* want to be a bit more inclusive to any new-to/unfamiliar-with-Mormon-Christianity readers that might stumble by (like me).  I almost stopped reading the thing twice because it was like reading a comic book where they don’t explain anywhere what the hero’s superpowers are.

There this thing called a “hyper-link” (or “link” for short) that a blogger can use to reference material elsewhere on the “Internet” so one doesn’t have to upset the flow of the writing with overt explanations for the unintiated.  Perhaps something like linking to Christian definitions of what the hell he’s talking about would have been a nice thing to include.

Ah well.

On a side note, I’m really quite surprised with this Mormon’s attitude about Der Becken’s “business savvy”:

He’s an entrepreneur, he’s brilliant, and, hats off to him, he knows his market.

Really, so you think it’s “brilliant” to exploit the stupidity of your audience and lie to them about history?

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this sentiment coming from the Dean of the School of Theology theological seminary.  Damned Christians spreading falsehoods is part of their job (they really need to face the lack of hard evidence for the existence of God or Jesus).  So, that said, it’s not surprising that he’d take the very attitude that I think he’s critical of other “superstars” taking.  The whole “I’m going to only talk about what you want to hear.”

Which is part of the big problem.  No one wants to face reality, but we all want to be paid attention to.  So, we say what we think you’ll want to hear so you’ll keep listening. 

For instance: “Yay for his business sense!”

Instead of: “This guy is feeding you crap and telling you it’s chocolate.”

All right, so my moratorium on mentioning Glenn Beck’s name didn’t last long :(

Creationwiki.org's definition of "Atheism" is full of shit

OK, so I phrased the headline in that way to be inflammatory, but it *is* what I think.  Earlier tonight I stumbled across the below search result on Google:

Yeeeee-NO.

Atheism is defined by Webster.com as:

a : a disbelief in the existence of deity

b : the doctrine that there is no deity

It’s NOT a “philosophical denial of the existence of God.”  It’s the rational requirement that we see proof of a deity before we believe in one.
It’s so nice when Christians spread lies about us.  Is there an atheist wiki that spreads lies about them?
Hm…

Christians Calling the Kettle Black (the Muslims are Infiltrating?)

Check out the following post from itsjustsummer quoting Pat Robertson and then think of it from an atheist’s perspective:

Pat Robertson: Fueling The Mosque Arson

In an obvious attempt to stir up fear in the Murfreesboro community, Pat Robertson told his audience:

“It isn’t just religion, just isn’t. Mark my words.  If they start bringing thousands of Muslims into that relatively rural area, the next thing you know, they’re going to be taking over the City Council.   Then they’re

going to be having an ordinance that calls for public prayer 5 times a day.  Then they’re going to be having ordinances that there’ll have to be facilities for foot-washing in all the public restrooms, in all the airport facilities, etc, etc.  And, before long they’re going to demand, demand, demand, demand, and, little by little, the citizens of Murfreesboro, or whatever little town it is, are going to be cowed by these people.  Not to mention their ability to bribe folks.  I don’t know whether anybody is getting a pay-off, but it’s entirely possible.”

All this crap makes me want to hug an American Muslim and tell them I’m sorry.  I may not believe in god or religion, but I do believe in the rights for humans to have their own opinion and vision of life.  If that so happens to be you’re Muslim then so be it.  The Pat Robertsons of this nation need to back off and leave these people alone.  Just because a small group contained in a larger group is out to harm the western world, does not mean they speak for that group.  Like wise with Mr. Robertson.  Would he like his religious group defined by Timothy McVeigh?  Thinking not!

Summer makes some great points here—I want to hug “the enemies of America” too.  But what cracks me up is how the media (and pretty much anyone else) fails to call these Christians out for the hypocrites they are—Muslims are going to infiltrate our government and mandate religious practices—ORLY, Pat Robertson?

So, that’s nothing like putting the Ten Commandments in a courthouse or, say, prayer in schools, or (worst of all) teaching creationism in schools?  I believe quite a few of you Christian-types have called for that on more than a few occasions.  OH and don’t forget the mention of God in that pledge we MAKE our kids say in school (as though they’re gonna turn Commie if they don’t) and of course IT’S ON OUR MONEY. 

>_<

Yep, CHRISTIAN infiltration—Christians forcing their beliefs on everyone is FINE, but god (lower case “g”) forbid a mosque get built someplace. THAT’S just the tip of the religiously infiltrating iceberg!!

OH, NO! CHRISTMAS IS UNDER ATTACK BECAUSE OF PEOPLE SAYING HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

You stupid fricken drama queens.  Freedom of religion is fine so long as it’s YOUR RELIGION.  I’m so sick of being forced to be nice to militant Christians.  I’m done respecting beliefs—I respect your right to believe what you want, but WHAT you believe? Yeah, that’s stupid.  Muslims are NOT trying to conquer America anymore than the Mexicans were when you Christian Extremists were last afraid of something for nothing.  You can believe you’re under attack, but I’m not playing along. 

HEY, CHRISTIANS: HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

(PSST! Jesus never existed!)

Well, at least he’s sorry he’s a Christian. ;P (This is a good spoken-word video to watch for anyone.)Found via eddaily who liked my Sugru tests post on my hacks blog:adrifting:Chris Tse, I’m Sorry I’m A Christian (via damonator)And after all that honesty, he’s still a Christian!!>_

friendlyatheist:

daytheist:

(via ziltoidia)

Daytheist: I love this.

Classic

I dunno—I heard from a Muslim friend of mine that this isn’t the case at all.  What I was told is that the first two “movies” are important and need to be respected. Jesus is as important as Mohamed, as is Moses, as they are all viewed as prophets of God’s word. 

Sure, there is no God and all that blahblahblah, but this seems to suggest there are moderate Muslims who look down on the other two faiths.  It’s my impression that they don’t.

Let’s go for the truth here, guys—not more horseshit.  If we get our facts wrong they think they win and all that matters is what they think, since we can’t prove their god doesn’t exist anymore than we can prove any negative.  Stick to stuff that works, the stuff that we “believe” in—the facts.  Don’t quote something you saw on a forum.  That’s as much a good idea as trusting your fate to an invisible, omnipotent being who thinks it’s OK for his followers to diddle little boys.

Just sayin…

I learned a new word today: "arsenokoitai" (Looks a little Japanese, but isn't.)

Thanks to this post on btx91’s Tumblr, I learned a new word today.  That word is “arsenokoitai.”

What does “arsenokoitai” mean? Well, it seems that “arsenokoitai” is the word that comes closest to referring directly to homosexuals.

Yyyyyyeah.

So, for all those anti-gay Christians who think the Bible hates gays, there’s only one point where they are directly referenced as such.  What’s worse is that the word didn’t exist before Paul wrote it in the Bible.

In other words, we can’t be sure that “homosexual” is what Paul meant by the word “arsenokoitai.” 

SIGH.

According to ReligiousTolerance.org, the italicized part of the excerpt below is the part that, in 1611 was translated into English for the King James Version of the Bible:

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind”, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

So, naturally, they were talking about fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, the effeminate, who ELSE could be left out of this list that also includes thieves, the covetous, drunkards, and extortioners?  GAYS of COURSE.  >_<

And hell, when it comes to oppressing, hating and killing people, you don’t need to make sure or anything!

Idiots.

Side note: “arsenokoitai” kind of looks like something in Japanese.  Though, it would have to be spelled “”arusenokoitai” to fit the confines of the Japanese language.  “aru” means “to have.” “Se” has a LOT of meanings—too many to list. “No” is a marker—it turns the word before it into an adjective for what follows. While I couldn’t find a definition for the word “koitai,” I do know that the word “kotai” refers to an individual. I’m nowhere near fluent in Japanese, so I can’t come to any conclusions, but I thought it was interesting how much I could do with it in Japanese by dissecting it.

Is it wrong to bag on believers? Crap on Christians? Malign Muslims? Be Jerky to Jews?

contrararian:

Justice = Love: I’m really sick of fellow agnostics/atheists hating on others because of their religious beliefs.

Justice=Love:

Did you read the title of the post, where I said FELLOWatheists/agnostics? I’m an atheist, and I’ve had a few conversations with other non-believers that have been very anti-religion, and not in a just questioning way. When someone proclaims “I hate Christians,” I take issue with that. Questioning religion is something I do on the daily here, but I’m really not okay with hate being spread against religious people just because some people disagree with religion.

I cannot recall having come across anyone who says they “hate christians”. 

I totally agree doing so is wrong. 

While I’m totally with you in the sentiment of your post, I rather suspect that much of the time religious people just aren’t used to having their beliefs questioned…

I used to agree with this sentiment whole-heartedly, but lately, I’m feeling like climbing on the fence about this.

Ultimately, I feel like we MUST respect each others’ right to think what we want.  However, when actions (or lack of actions) are based on said belief without fact to back them up, I believe those people deserve to be ridiculed and slammed for the irresponsible, irrational people they really are—especially when it means the oppression and/or killing of people or a group of people or the suppression of facts and evidence.

How can we not ridicule stupidity when its effects are felt by so many?  Whether it’s George “The Idiot” W. Bush marching us into two pointless, destructive, costly wars, or Tony “I Love Holes” Hayward for thinking trash shoved in that gusher in the Gulf will stop the oil.  Then there’s Rush Limbaugh who recently said that only an atheist could believe in Climate Change.  Basically, he seems to argue that Global Warming (though he calls it “Manmade Global Warming”) and Climate Change are nothing we need to do anything about because it’s God’s planet—we just adapt to the changes and move on.  Forget the coming famines and droughts and crop-shortages and deaths. Because, I guess, it’s all God’s plan.

Sorry, there is no God. There is no “plan”.  It’s just a bunch of cosmic mishaps that happen to look like a plan.  Pretending there is a plan and a God is ignoring your own responsibility to change things. 

Is Global Warming and Climate Change real?

In the end, I don’t give a crap because I know that if we lived our lives more efficiently, more respectfully, and more rationally, we wouldn’t be facing these problems.

So whether the sea levels are going to rise or not, whether it’s all our fault or not, whether God exists or not, really makes no difference to me because I know we can make a better world not because the situation is dire, or because God will hate us, but because these new directions we need to go in just make sense.

• Cut back on our use of oil and cut down international strife.


• Switch to local farming, away from corporate farming, you improve the quality of your food, your own health, and help your local economy, too.


• Develop and implement efficient alternative energy systems and clean the air we breathe and the water we drink AND pay less for the energy we need to do what we need to do every day.

Oh and guess what, all of those things will cut back on the things the ecofascists are saying cause Global Warming/Climate Change.  Sure, the financial fascists won’t be happy because they’ll have to start earning their living again, instead of just farming out jobs to poor countries and staying rich off the backs of century-old ideas, but hey, dinosaurs go extinct.

And like Rush says, “We have to adapt to it.”

So funny that he uses the right arguments to get to the completely wrong conclusions.

If I weren’t white, I’d say we really need to stop listening to white people.  But hey, one thing we can stop doing?

…listening to stupid people—regardless of what they believe, their actions tell us all we need to know.

Fiction meets fiction: "Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church Headed to Comic-Con"

ComicsAlliance.com recently posted about Fred Phelps and his Christian extremist followers at the Westboro Baptist Church heading to San Diego Comic Con.  This cracks me up to no end. Back in the 90s I used to go to Comic Con regularly, as I am a reformed comic book fanboy, myself.  To me, I see this as just an inflated version of the “Who is better? Superman Vs. Batman?” argument.  Think about it—Jesus is a superhero or a god, like Thor.  He came to Earth, changed some lives, got into a battle of sorts, died and came back—much like when Superman was killed by Doomsday. Hell, Batman almost died at the hands of Bane and he came back, too—then there’s Spidey who would have died had Kraven not wanted him to live with the knowledge that he would be dead at Kravens hand.

But it gets better—here’s an excerpt the ComicsAlliance.com includes in their post that comes from Phelps’ website:

Are you kidding?! If these people would spend even some of the energy that they spend on these comic books, reading the Bible, well no high hopes here. They have turned comic book characters into idols, and worship them they do! Isaiah 2:8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: 9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. It is time to put away the silly vanities and turn to God like you mean it. The destruction of this nation is imminent - so start calling on Batman and Superman now, see if they can pull you from the mess that you have created with all your silly idolatry.

Pretty awesome, huh?  Let’s take that apart:

Are you kidding?!

They do call them “comics” ya know. ;)

If these people would spend even some of the energy that they spend on these comic books, reading the Bible, well no high hopes here.

Uh, I think you forgot to complete that thought. I get what you mean, but you’re not going to get many points with any English majors, English teachers or anyone who understands grammar.  Just sayin’.

So your point was that if these folks would spend more time on the Bible and then less on comic-worship, things would be, I assume, better.  But how better?  How much is enough Bible time?  How much is too much comic time?

They have turned comic book characters into idols, and worship them they do!

Yeah, and comic book characters have NO similarity to characters in the Bible, do they?

>_<

Dude—have you ever considered that super-heroes are homages to figures from the Bible?  In fact, in many ways comic books do what the Bible does in helping readers understand morals and how to do the right thing in life.  Most comic books and the Bible are, technically, on the same side—so it makes no sense for you to get mad because people idolize Superman—Superman is just Moses, dumbass!  Exiled from his homeland, in search of a new homeland, possesses powers and knowledge that can help all of humanity—he’s providing a positive example for people to follow.

HELL-OOOO!???

Isaiah 2:8 Their land also is full of idols;

Who are you referring to??  Are comic book geeks actually mentioned in the Bible? That’s amazing!! How would God know about them 2000 years ago??  OMG! Maybe there IS an All-Knowing God after all!!

;P

they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:

Ewww… I hope they wash after.

But seriously, is this an “anti-pride” thing? We can’t be proud of our work? Oh that’s right—it’s because it’s not “our” work—it’s God’s work because He’s working through us, right?  Huh, well, how come drawing is so hard for me? It takes me hours to draw a handful of comic strip panels, while a buddy of mine is a professional comic book artist and can pencil an entire comic book page in the same amount of time.  Is it because God is working through him? Or is it because he went to college for illustration and has spent the last two decades drawing?

 9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself:

Nani?

What does that even mean?  Who’s the mean man? Todd McFarlane? (I never liked his take on Spider-Man!)  The great man must be Stan Lee (although he’s known more popularly as “Stan ‘The Man’ Lee,” not Stan ‘the great man’ Lee”—you’d think God would know that).

therefore forgive them not.

What the—!?

I thought the Christian god forgave sins!!

RIP-OFF!!

But seriously—Phelps is saying that if you are really into comics you’re going to hell.

I wonder if anime counts. If so, I’m in trouble!!

OH WAIT, there’s no hell—forgot for a sec!  WHEW!

It is time to put away the silly vanities and turn to God like you mean it.

You know, I was almost with you until the “turn to God” part.  Talk about hypocrisy—you tell fanboys to put away the silly vanities like you’re not vain in thinking that the (non-existent) creator of the universe actually gives two craps about you.

If that’s not vanity, I don’t know what is.

The destruction of this nation is imminent - so start calling on Batman and Superman now, see if they can pull you from the mess that you have created with all your silly idolatry.

HA!  I can guarantee that the lessons Batman and Superman teach are going to be a lot more valuable and practical than the lessons God and Jesus teach us.

Of course, you’re right in comparing Batman and Superman to God and Jesus, since all four are fictional characters.  Also, there is the same amount of hard evidence for the existence of Batman, Superman, God and Jesus. 

There are hundreds of thousands of “followers” of Superman around the world. That doesn’t make Superman a real person any more than millions of people “following” Jesus means the Big J really walked the Earth.

I hope when Phelps and his cronies show up at Comic Con someone shoots some video of it—I want to see the hot cosplayer-on-cosplayer action, when people pretending to be something they are not go head-to-head with people believing in someone that doesn’t exist.  It’s gonna be better than Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla!

OK, maybe not.

Thanks be to Adam of boredwithporn.tumblr.com for the heads up on this story. 

friendlyatheist:

LOL god: Santa gives more to rich kids than poor kids.

Substitute Santa with god and the argument still holds.

FA’s got a good point there.  And hey, God is just Santa for adults.