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.

Democracy Now: Conservative Website, Brooklyn Rabbi Blame Earthquake on Declining Morals, Same-Sex Marriage

Democracy Now: Conservative Website, Brooklyn Rabbi Blame Earthquake on Declining Morals, Same-Sex Marriage

The publisher of the conservative website WorldNetDaily has published an editorial blaming Tuesday’s earthquake on the East Coast to what he sees as the nation’s declining morals. Joseph Farah writes, “Washington, D.C., deserves more than the wallop it got today. It needs a much bigger shaking up than it got.” Meanwhile, a Brooklyn rabbi named Yehuda Levin, who has ties with the National Organization for Marriage, recorded a YouTube video blaming the earthquake on the growing acceptance of same-sex marriage.

Yehuda Levin: “The Jerusalem Talmud tells us that one of the reasons that God brings earthquakes to the world is because of the transgression of homosexuality. And the Talmud states, ‘You have shaken your male member in a place where it does not belong. I, too, will shake the Earth.’ So, to those who sent out the email, yes, there’s a direct connection between earthquakes and homosexuality. There was in Haiti, and there is here in New York and Washington, D.C., where they passed homosexual legislation and ordinances.”

Ah, so that explains all the earthquakes in the Castro District of San Francisco and West Hollywood, CA.  OH WAIT, THERE WERE NO EARTHQUAKES IN THOSE AREAS OF HIGH DENSITY GAY COMMUNITIES. >_<

YOUR GOD IS AN IDIOT.

…or, he doesn’t exist AND YOU’RE JUST MAKING THIS SHIT UP, YOU ASSHOLE.

Sorry, I know gay people and they’re really nice, so I don’t understand why you have to make stuff up about how they’re bad.  So, please, just stop.  

14 year-old kid stands up for gay rights—good for him! He draws a brilliant point about his city being the home to the KKK. Guess it makes sense that the school board hates gays.inothernews:dederants:totalfilm:azurefalls:dimitygirl:Fourteen-Year-Old Michigan Student Awesomely Stands Up for Suspended, Gay-Defending TeacherThe world needs more people like this.Read more on the story here: http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=6880&MediaType=1&Category=26PLZ RE-BLOG.If the unscripted words of a 14-year-old boy don’t change your mind about things, then there really is no hope for you.Haha—wait—so I should automatically trust the words of a passionate 14 year-old? Uh, I’m not going to do that. George W. Bush has the education of a 14 year-old and the passion of this kid. Does that make him right? Also, I think it’s much easier for a kid to stand up for something like this because 1) he has less to risk and 2) he isn’t fighting against a lifetime of indoctrination. All that aside, the kid is right. But I came to that conclusion after listening to his words, not his passion or his youth. Azurefalls (quoted above) is right—not only do we need more kids like this, we need more adults like this.Let’s try and work out what the actual threats to our livelihoods and let things like “who you sleep with” and “who you pray to” remain private (or at least personal). We should only go after enemies that have harmed us in some way. In closing, I would like to add that it’s quite sad that the only idealists left in the world seem to be children.

NY Gubernatorial Candidate Carl P. Paladino Attacks Gays in Brooklyn Speech

NY Gubernatorial Candidate Carl P. Paladino Attacks Gays in Brooklyn Speech

Republican candidate for governor of New York, Carl P. Paladino, spoke to a gathering in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that included Orthodox Jewish leaders as reported by the NYT:

“That’s not how God created us,” he said, reading from a prepared address.

“I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don’t want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option — it isn’t.”

And then, to applause at Congregation Shaarei Chaim, he said: “I didn’t march in the gay parade this year — the gay pride parade this year. My opponent did, and that’s not the example we should be showing our children.” Newsday.com reported that Mr. Paladino’s prepared text had included the sentence: “There is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual.” But Mr. Paladino omitted the sentence in his speech.

Ah, well, that’s one Democratic win guaranteed!

Thanks, Carl!

Is it me or isn't it all religion that is the ultimate source of fear and hatred in the world?

OK, maybe not all of it, but certainly most of it.

Honestly? All this hubbub about the gay kids that killed themselves seems way overblown to me. I get that it’s tragic, but why think about it as just some bullies—just some people being dickish when homophobia comes from the idea that there’s something “wrong” with being gay?  It’s not science that tells us being gay is “wrong”—it’s religion.  ONLY religion.

Sure, there will always be bullies, but the less of a support group they have (or say, a Bible Study group) for being bullies, the harder their job will be.

Encourage atheism, because science doesn’t hate you because you’re different.

If you want to burn the Koran, get out of my country.

Saw this on CNN.com yesterday (via Google News, of course—I’d never willingly go to CNN.com):

Really? Is that the ONLY reason having a “Burn a Koran” party would be a bad thing?

Read more of this bullshit from the above article:

The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, plans to mark the anniversary of al Qaeda’s September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington by burning copies of the Muslim holy book. The church insists the event is “neither an act of love nor of hate,” but a warning against what it calls the threats posed by Islam.

Seriously, STFU and GTFO of the USA if you think burning the Koran is something you should do.

This is enough to make me want to just give up.

They’re called “THE DOVE WORLD *OUTREACH* CENTER” and they want to burn Korans.

Dude.

Dove = peace

World = everybody

Outreach = reaching out to people

But they want to burn Korans.

This is a total fucking LogicFAIL

MoralsFAIL

BrainFAIL

StupidWIN

OK, I’m gonna type some amazingly obvious things now:

1) Hey, Koran-burners, how would you feel if I had a “Burn the Bible” party? Whatever happened to that whole “Don’t do unto others…” thing?

2) Hey, Koran-burners: remember that whole “freedom of religion” thing? Yeah, you’re kinda going against it.  You’re showing some serious intolerance that, if shown to you, you probably wouldn’t be too keen on (see point 1).

3) Hey, Koran-burners: Intolerance toward religious views is about as unAmerican as you can get. So, if you want to be so intolerant to Islam as to want to burn it’s holy book, why don’t you go find another country to live in?  Seriously. Leave my country now.  You don’t belong here.

Believe what you want, say what you want, but start harassing all Muslims for something a handful of them did and you’re pissing on the principles our country was founded on.  Anyone who burns the Koran (or any religious item) should NOT be punished by law—they should just be excluded from all of society.

And this is coming from an atheist who feels religion of any kind does more harm than good—but even *I* don’t go around burning Bibles and Korans.

SEE THAT, Anti-Mosque-at-Ground-Zero Protesters? You’re HELPING THE TERRORISTS! (seriously)!

officialssay:

“By preventing this mosque from being built, America is doing us a big favor… It’s providing us with more recruits, donations, and popular support.”

—

Taliban operative Zabihullah, on how the mosque controversy is benefiting the Taliban. 

If we respect people’s freedom (even their freedom to be insensitive to people’s feelings about 911) the terrorists DON’T win. Why do you anti-mosque-types not get this? Maybe you just WANT to hate? That could be…

(Blogged this on my lifestream by accident so here it is where it belongs on Website666.com)

Gay Sex Causes Earthquakes But There is a Cure!

The above screencap comes to us from an article at Ynetnews.com (get it here: http://www.ynetnews.com/…63,00.html ) and reports on Knesset Member Shlomo Benizri who has made a claim that gays caused the recent earthquake in Israel. Here's a bit from the article: ""But I no {sic} of another way to prevent earthquakes; the Gemara mentions a number of causes of earthquakes, one of which is homosexuality, which the Knesset legitimizes," Benizri said.

An earthquake registering 5.3 on the Richter Scale was felt by residents across Israel at 12:36 pm Friday. The trembling lasted for 19 seconds and shook structures in many major towns and cities."

Yep, in today's day and age, in one of America's strongest allies in the world, there are politicians that actually believe a little man-on-man action some how makes the ground angry.

My Atheism *entirely* aside, one can easily make the case that this claim is absurd. If God hated TheGay he'd have sent San Francisco into the sea decades ago and razed West Hollywood to the ground. Then again, Greece did get hit with a quake today. O_O

But seriously, gays=earthquakes?

Well, even if it is true, we shouldn't worry because THERE IS A CURE FOR GAY!



Just last night, after a 3-hour marathon of "America's Funniest Videos" on ABC Family, said family network ran an episode of Pat Robertson's "The 700 Club." If you've never seen it, "The 700 Club" is a religious "show that is one-part "news" show and one part "Regis and Kathy Lee". On the episode last night they ran a story about "recovering gays."

That is to say, former gays and lesbians who are now "healing" themselves and choosing to serve Jesus. Luckily, I hit record on my DVR the moment I realized what they were talking about. That's where the video in this post comes from. Essentially, they claim that "therapy" can bring you back to heterosexuality.

Two words:

Ah-stounding.

Is there really a cure for loving who you love?

For those gays and lesbians who believe they weren't given a choice in the matter, is there any real "heterosexuality" for them to go back to?

Again, my Atheism *entirely* aside, it is a fact that homosexuality exists in humanity and has for more than 2000 years (probably for much longer than that). It's also practiced in animal cultures, like the Bonobos (look 'em up). In the 21s Century, it seems positively ostrich-head-in-the-sand-like to make claims that:

1) Gays cause earthquakes
2) Gays can be cured

I have no problems with religion when they can accept reality--or at the very least when they don't force their views onto people. I believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I'm entitled to mine, too.
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