Proof that atheists are made of steel: Brendan Murphy, Secular Student Alliance Board member and good friend of mine, was hit by a car while biking tonight. You all remember Brendan – he’s the one who photographed me for the Skepticon calendar and taught me how to ride a bike. Thankfully us atheists gain the power of invincibility after we sell our soul to Satan, so Brendan is fine.* He came out with some soreness and an ibuprofen prescription, while the car left with a destroyed windshield and missing side mirror.
Car: 0; Brendan: 1
He may not have gained any battle scars (other than a beaten up bike…), but we can make his life a little more entertaining as he recuperates in front of his computer in a drug-addled state. I’m sure he’d appreciate a comment section full of miscellaneous internet memes and silliness to cheer him up.
*Wearing a helmet also helps.
53 comments
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Azkyroth
December 5, 2011 at 11:50 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Sounds like he made quite an impact.
*hides*
R. Johnston
December 6, 2011 at 12:09 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
You want “a comment section full of miscellaneous internet memes and silliness to cheer him up” and you don’t start the thread with kitten pictures? Shame on you!
There’s no silly internet meme more likely to cheer someone up than pictures of cats doing something adorable.
Euler'sIDCrisis
December 6, 2011 at 12:11 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
http://xkcd.com/880/
IOW, good thing he was wearing a helmet.
Michael
December 6, 2011 at 12:13 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’m sure he had a smashing time!
Andreas
December 6, 2011 at 12:30 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Don’t forget the disclaimer: “Professional atheist, do not try this at home.”
SpitefulFox
December 6, 2011 at 12:40 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Edward Current was wrong! D:
Andrew
December 6, 2011 at 12:41 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Did someone call for silly Internet memes? (Bonus: Contains SCIENCE!)
http://cheezburger.com/humbaba/lolz/View/282662144
benjaminsa
December 6, 2011 at 12:53 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Atheists may beat cars but Red Hartebeests beats everyone.
Feel better soon, I’ve also been hit by a car, they suck.
julian
December 6, 2011 at 1:10 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’m just glad he didn’t go head over heels.
The Mad Dreamer
December 6, 2011 at 1:12 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/6869-snel-hest
Just replace snel hest with snel Brendan.
Snel Brendan + havre + klapp = klad Brendan
Or, to go with the ibuprofen:
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/6872-snel-hest
Snel Brendan + droger = Partybrendan
Betsy
December 6, 2011 at 1:31 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Quality entertainment, here. . .
vltava
December 6, 2011 at 1:38 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Car hits atheist, car breaks. You can’t explain that.
julian
December 6, 2011 at 1:45 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
It’s simple.
Atheists are made of win. Cars are not.
Brendan
December 6, 2011 at 2:07 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
At least I didn’t break a leg!
Brendan
December 6, 2011 at 2:09 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Thanks – how long ago was yours?
Brendan
December 6, 2011 at 2:13 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Scumbag atheist: gets hit by car, doesn’t die.
hoverfrog
December 6, 2011 at 2:14 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
They don’t make cars like they used to. In my day you could run over have a dozen atheists on your way to church with nary a scratch on your bonnet. When you parked up one of the ushers would hose those atheists off, check the radiator and give your windscreen a polish.
Atheists are like raccoons aren’t they?
benjdm
December 6, 2011 at 2:29 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Did the car driver get a ticket? Any details on the accident?
MathMike
December 6, 2011 at 2:35 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Checkmate! Christians!!!!!!!!!
Atilla
December 6, 2011 at 3:30 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
This proves he’s possessed by Satan. That’s the only logical explanation. (If he was a believer, that would be God’s miracle)
csrster
December 6, 2011 at 4:35 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Sounds like nobody up there wasn’t watching over you Brendan. You were saved by a double negative.
benjaminsa
December 6, 2011 at 4:36 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
About two months back. Nothing broken, just bruised. Had to reset my wheel, but besides that the bike was fine, not a bad accident.
DragonbornAtheist
December 6, 2011 at 5:01 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
…. or take an arrow to the knee.
I. Ron Butterfly
December 6, 2011 at 5:01 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Drug-addled on Ibuprofen? Bit of a light weight, eh? ;)
BaisBlackfingers
December 6, 2011 at 5:08 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Really? You wanted to show Lou Ferrigno fighting a bear and you went with The Hulk? Can The Hulk throw a bear into SPACE!?!?
http://youtu.be/GOJoLaxokzM
1983 Hercules. It and its sequel are the greatest bad movies of all time.
bbgunn
December 6, 2011 at 5:36 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
No magic Mormon underwear, I presume? Dinged up. Banged up. Much better than phucked up.
Bean
December 6, 2011 at 5:40 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I was in hospital about a month ago having my jaw broken. Tips for Brendan: take the pills _with food_ before the pain sets in. Then life will be blissful.
Way to beat up a car, dude!
From one rabid secularist to another.
Alyson Miers
December 6, 2011 at 5:52 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
FUCKING COLLISIONS, HOW DO THEY WORK?!
James Sweet
December 6, 2011 at 6:07 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Truly, his Guardian Pirate was watching over him that day.
(Though one has to wonder if said Guardian Pirate was so effective, why didn’t the Pirate stop the accident in the first place?)
PDX_Greg
December 6, 2011 at 6:21 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Obviously another case of a car being driven on blind faith.
Hank Fox
December 6, 2011 at 6:31 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Bystanders swear a long white strand, suspiciously like a noodly appendage, stretched down from the sky and touched him, just before the impact!
Grammar Merchant
December 6, 2011 at 6:34 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Clearly, we can conclude from this that Skydaddy loves atheists, bur really hates cars. Note to all atheists: Start riding bikes! (And yes, wear a helmet. Don’t test Skydaddy too much.)
Parse
December 6, 2011 at 7:17 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Brendan Murphy, atheist. A man barely alive.
“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better… stronger… faster.
Wait, what? *sigh* Gentlemen, we’re going to need a bigger car.”
Prof. Bleen
December 6, 2011 at 7:35 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
but we can make his life a little more entertaining as he recuperates in front of his computer in a drug-addled state.
You mean Washington? Strictly speaking, that would only apply to the part west of the Cascades.
Good on you, Brendan, for not passing on the pain meds. On a rainy morning I crossed the railroad tracks in the industrial part of Ballard at too shallow an angle, slipped and broke my right arm. (Since I was going to the emergency room anyway, I rode the last four miles to the UW one-handed, turned in my Biostat homework, and limped on up to Hall Health.) I declined the pain meds, not knowing that I was still in shock and that shock doesn’t stop pain—it merely postpones it. The next two days were no fun at all.
Get better soon!
jufulu
December 6, 2011 at 9:57 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Sure bike riding is fun until someone breaks an arm, (or a wrist, or a chest). Come to think of it most of my best injuries occurred while commuting on a bike. Good thing I didn’t injure my head.
Oz Tilson
December 6, 2011 at 10:23 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
http://weknowmemes.com/2011/11/good-guy-lucifer-meme/
my fave meme ever
Another Matt
December 6, 2011 at 10:23 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Anytime I hear the word “bike” I think of this:
http://chappie.stanford.edu/content/1999-2000/freshman_issue/simplify/simplify.pdf
lrah
December 6, 2011 at 10:41 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Funnily enough, a very similar thing happened to me once. It didn’t involve a bike, though, and the results weren’t as spectacular – a dented bonnet and mini-crack in the windshield versus a few bruises and an adrenalin high.
Just as anecdotal evidence for the car-proofing properties of atheism. ;)
Hope you feel better soon.
Upright Ape
December 6, 2011 at 1:06 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
The bible says it all.
“And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron” – Judges 1:19
God cannot win a battle against a machine made out of iron. But atheists can.
Lamb
December 6, 2011 at 1:08 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I will pray for you.
not
badandfierce
December 6, 2011 at 1:58 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
When I was hit, I came out of it very well, considering. A broken collarbone isn’t pleasant, but when it’s a person versus a few tons of plastic and metal, I think I came out ahead. My favorite part of the whole ensuing farce was definitely when a friend of mine posted to my facebook, “Did you see what you did to that windshield? It was totally smashed!”
So while I’m not invincible, I think the car as I did each other equal damage. The car just had a lot more hit points. Fortunately, I had a point of leather armor in the form of the bomber jacket I wear for a winter coat.
…Why, do you not account for personal happenstance in terms of D&D stats?
Kate from Iowa
December 6, 2011 at 3:10 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
But since the pot was boiling over, it had to leave before moving him completely out of the way.
Bystanders report seeing a shining colander in the heavens, and a woman later reported seeing the images of a basket of tomatoes, a head of garlic, a bottle of wine and a potted basil plant appear in her dog’s butt.
F
December 6, 2011 at 6:15 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Atheist attacks Christianity, cars. All-out assault by atheists on American way of life.
cmv
December 6, 2011 at 8:44 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Is that an elective procedure?
Good advice on the meds, though.
fastlane
December 7, 2011 at 8:03 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Is it too soon to start the one upmanship? :-)
I’ve been hit by cars 6 times so far on my bicycle. (I’ll save the motorcycle ones in case I need it for later…)
Never broke anything (except various parts of the bicycles) yet, but I did get one ambulance ride out of a hit and run.
Oh yeah, the worst part…three of them were hit and runs. Almost made me consider carrying a 9mm on my bike.
In better news, I’m picking up a brand new recumbent tomorrow so I can really start commuting here in Seattle.
Heal up and get back in the saddle soon!
BrianX
December 7, 2011 at 11:54 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Fucking atheists, how do they work?
Jamie
December 7, 2011 at 3:21 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Atheist falls down, atheist gets up. Never a miscommunication
Allie Clark
December 7, 2011 at 4:00 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
A SmartCar ran into my (atheist) roommate once, and it’s bumper crumpled. She got a light bruise.
Allie Clark
December 7, 2011 at 4:05 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Augh, its*! Its*!
rob
December 8, 2011 at 10:59 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
i liked the video clips of flying bears. however, now i’m left wondering why does Lou Ferrigno hate bears?
coelecanth
December 9, 2011 at 4:21 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Ahhh, now this is a refreshing thread about bicycles. You see, in a bike related forum as soon as you mention helmets you’re going to start a flame war.
I won’t share my war stories because all of my bike related injuries are strictly my own fault.
Glad to hear he’s going to be okay. I’ll add this to the medication advice above: If your pain meds aren’t cutting it, do NOT go to an inner city clinic to get a better prescription. In order to convince the doctor you might end up having to cry and exclaim “I don’t want fucking drugs, I just want to not hurt anymore!” whilst waving your half used packet of Tylenol 3′s around to show you haven’t binged on them.
Also, if you slip on the stairs from a combination of fatigue and drug side effects and slide down to the bottom on your ass waving your freshly bolted together arm in the air to avoid further injury and your wife comes over and yells at you for scaring her remember this: It *will* be a funny story….someday.
Thanh Picardo
December 19, 2011 at 9:09 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
excellent. I really like what you’ve acquired here, really like what you are saying and the way in which you say it. You make it entertaining and you still take care of to keep it wise. I can’t wait to read much more from you. This is really a great site.
Johnette Weyland
January 2, 2012 at 11:11 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
hola dorimar mi ilusion con tigo es que una bella estudiante llege y me vailara en mi cuarto