Somebody’s got to stand up to experts


And Don McLeroy is your man.

It’s nice to know that reality is a personal choice now. I choose to believe that laser beams will zap out of my eyeballs and disintegrate McLeroy if ever I see him.

Comments

  1. Janstince says

    Loved that segment. Colbert really stuck it to him. You could tell by the end that he was beginning to see this and it made him uncomfortable, but in the beginning he seemed to think it would all be okay and his juju fairy would work everything out toward his benefit.

    Been waiting for somebody to take a branding iron to his ass for a while now. At least he’s out of our school system.

  2. dano says

    But there are plenty more to take his place & guide our children to a safe and incredible education without a left wing slant that we all swam before we walked or was it flew before we swam. I always get this mixed up.

  3. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    I know, I know. The sleeping rock dreams of god!
    Therefore… God!

  4. satanaugustine says

    I love it! Making fun of an idiot to his face while pretending to ostensibly support him.

    Favorite line from Colbert, in response to McLeroy’s assertion that it’s not true that the Texas School Board wanted to remove Thomas Jefferson from history books:

    “No, I have personally chosen that it is true.”

  5. andrewkaufman says

    Don McLeroy – a solid 9 Santorums for just bats*it crazy things spewing from his mouth at all times. hearing him talk I could feel my brain wanting to jump out of my head to escape from the auditory assault hat it was being subjected to.

  6. raven says

    But there are plenty more to take his place & guide our children to a safe and incredible education…

    Faulty noneducation you mean.

    Dozens of studies have shown that fundie xians score lower in education and IQ than the general population. It’s why the most backward states are always full of fundie xian idiots.

  7. Rawnaeris says

    Man, I love Colbert.

    And whatisface didn’t even realize that there was something wrong with that interview untill the audience started crcking up.

  8. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    But there are plenty more to take his place & guide our children to a safe and incredible education without a left wing slant

    Ah, you mean education with reality bias. Wouldn’t want your kids to have that. You’d look like a total idiot in their eyes afterwards.

    that we all swam before we walked or was it flew before we swam. I always get this mixed up.

    Apparently what passes for you education didn’t see fit to teach you to write coherent sentences.

  9. dano says

    Ing, I am not a self righteous bigot but I am a follower of Christ and also tend to not call others names. Perhaps some prayer will help you decompress from the world of hurt you are in due to your beliefs or should I say lack there of.

    Why are Atheists always so angry…

  10. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    I don’t know why, I always miss the ‘r’ in your these days.

    Must be lack of proper sleep.

  11. dano says

    Apparently what passes for you education didn’t see fit to teach you to write coherent sentences. and he who casts the first stone…

  12. unclefrogy says

    it amazes me that such irrational fools like that would go on The Colbert Report in the first place.

    uncle frogy

  13. Phalacrocorax, not a particularly smart avian says

    Any suggestions of a site where folks outside of the US might watch this?

    The video seems to be working just fine here in Foreignland.

  14. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    Perhaps some prayer will help you decompress from the world of hurt you are in due to your beliefs or should I say lack there of.

    Prayer, shmayer.

    It’s what losers do to make themselves believe they’re doing something.

    Minecraft is way more effective as relaxation therapy goes.

    And the hurt does not come from the lack of belief, nitwit, it comes from the burning stupid that spews from you.

  15. John Kruger says

    To quote Colbert some more:

    “Reality has a well known liberal bias.”

    Who else is going to stand up to reality!?

  16. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    and he who casts the first stone…

    Are you so stupid as to mistake a tpyo for incoherence ?

    I know I shouldn’t ask, but well.

  17. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    Apparently what passes for you education didn’t see fit to teach you to write coherent sentences. and he who casts the first stone…

    You could at least try to follow some basic rules while you’re mocking someone else’s education. Like capitalization at the beginning of the sentence.

  18. lordshipmayhem says

    This clip is blocked in Canada. I can probably find it, if you tell me where to look. What was the air date, and was this in the first half or second of the episode?

    I’m sick and tired of having these fun Colbert clips posted on FtB blog entries, and having dozens giggle over it, while I’m locked outside and unable to enjoy the fun. Damn DRM.

  19. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    And outgrow is one word. Oh dear, what are they teaching Christians these days?

  20. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    Sorry computer games are not my thing. I out grew them in adolesence.

    Funny you should say that.

    That’s what happened to me with religion.

  21. CompulsoryAccount7746 says

    Matthew LaClair said he got through to McLeroy a little…

    Video: Secular Student Alliance – Communicating with Creationists (8:21)

  22. dano says

    Now, now lets relax before your head explodes from all of that gaming. I enjoy a good laugh just like the next guy.

  23. unclefrogy says

    dano by what criteria would you propose we use to determine what is the reality (history and science) we should be teaching children or put into textbooks?

    uncle frogy

  24. Khantron, the alien that only loves says

    Gaming doesn’t make heads explode. Quit being a liar Dano.

  25. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    How to saddle a T-Rex?

    You never know, it might be useful in the future. The Lord taketh away, the Lord giveth back tame and herbivorous. Stranger things have happened. Like the whole human race arising from the two who apparently shagged like rabbits.

    (sorry, feeling a bit crazy today)

  26. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    Now, now lets relax before your head explodes from all of that gaming.

    If “your head explodes from all that gaming”, you’re doing it wrong.

    Of course it does demand a bit more skills and concentration than prayer – which is not saying much, as prayer demands none.

    But I do enjoy using my brain, even when relaxing.

    To each his own, I guess.

  27. says

    Dano asked…

    Why are Atheists always so angry…

    You know, there just may be a book by someone on this site that answers that question for you…

  28. alkaloid says

    I wouldn’t let an idiot like this choose what a group ate for lunch, much less what ought to be included in textbooks.

  29. says

    Ing, I am not a self righteous bigot but I am a follower of Christ and also tend to not call others names. Perhaps some prayer will help you decompress from the world of hurt you are in due to your beliefs or should I say lack there of.

    Why are Atheists always so angry…

    You are a bigot to gay and atheists. Right now for example, right as you say you don’t call names you say something with the intention of being hurtful. You’re a hypocrite.

  30. says

    Nothing says humble Christian like believing that your inner feelings coupled with selected readings from a 2000-year old book overrides the combined efforts of thousands of people who devoted their lives to studying a subject, collected data, did experiments and thoroughly checked each other’s work.

  31. Khantron, the alien that only loves says

    Dano there is a rabbit hiding under your bed that will kill you if you don’t send me 1000 dollars.

  32. David Marjanović says

    Why are Atheists always so angry…

    If you’re not angry, you haven’t been paying attention. :-)

    it amazes me that such irrational fools like that would go on The Colbert Report in the first place.

    :-| That’s very easy to explain: they’re too irrational to recognize The Colbert Report as satire.

    Sorry computer games are not my thing. I out grew them in adolesence.

    :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

    Sea squirts outgrow having a brain in adolescence.

    (sorry, feeling a bit crazy today)

    :-)

  33. CompulsoryAccount7746 says

    Dano there is a rabbit hiding under your bed that will kill you if you don’t send me 1000 dollars.

    And it’s very good at hiding. If you search for it and only rely on the evidence from your eyes, you won’t find it. But it’s definitely there. :P

  34. dano says

    Ing you are correct you did not call me any names. You get an A for that one & a star..bravo my friend. I am unfamilar with Mr. Craig and would have to read up on him before I can comment….my guess is that you think he is a liar but that is just a guess. I will try to read up on him later this evening. I have to get back to prayer right now as my head feels so bloated from all of these great comments.

  35. 'Tis Himself says

    Dano, when are you going to outgrow religion? When are you going to realize that gods don’t exist and prayer is nothing more than you talking to yourself? Or is reality too frightening for you that you need to cling to delusions?

  36. dano says

    Actually, my 9 year old shot him earlier today with his 22 & we are going to eat him for supper….we love rabbit meat. God bless the NRA!

  37. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    Caine

    For mindless relaxation, I go with Classic Bubbleshooter.

    Angry Birds is one good choice as far as mindless go for me. Or a zombie FPS like Left4Dead. Oddly satisfying for some reason.

    For a bit more challenge, a fun one is World of Goo – physics puzzles with a bit of black humor. Or Braid, a weird artistic 2D platform that plays with manipulating time.

  38. CompulsoryAccount7746 says

    @dano #51:

    I am unfamilar with Mr. Craig and would have to read up on him before I can comment

    Here’s an article to get you started on William Lane Craig…

  39. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    The rabbit also wants you to wear your lucky pants on your head from now on. If you don’t, thunder will strike some random place in a 50 000 square km radius of your location. The question is : do you feel lucky?

  40. Phalacrocorax, not a particularly smart avian says

    my 9 year old shot him earlier today with his 22 & we are going to eat him for supper….we love rabbit meat.

    May I point out that you now have a much more dangerous rabbit ghost to deal with?

  41. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    I have to get back to prayer right now as my head feels so bloated from all of these great comments.

    Doesn’t take much, huh.

    But you’re right. Nothing washes brains squeaky-clean like religion.

  42. says

    Kemist:

    For a bit more challenge, a fun one is World of Goo – physics puzzles with a bit of black humor. Or Braid, a weird artistic 2D platform that plays with manipulating time.

    Oh awesome, I’ve been eyeballing World of Goo for my tablet. I have a lot of word games – Deck of Words, Word to Word, Word Stack, etc. I do have a nice Zombie Slasher…and I also have Newton’s Cradle. I’m easily amused. :D

  43. says

    I have to get back to prayer right now as my head feels so bloated from all of these great comments.

    Ah, I see. Prayer is how you empty your brain.

  44. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    my 9 year old shot him earlier today with his 22 & we are going to eat him for supper….we love rabbit meat.

    You better hope that rabbit resurrects itself before you eat it.

  45. Menyambal: Making sambal isn't exactly dragon magic. says

    dano,

    That vid was pathetic. There was no understanding of atheists and what they truly say, no logic behind the rebuttals, and no Christian love shown in the making of it. There were, however, many spelling and grammatical errors.

    Tell me, dano, why you and your fellow enthusiastic Christians cannot read and write well. I cannot help but laugh at the idea of a group of people with low literacy levels basing their lives on their understanding of literature. (That would be like me making bets on football, or arguing about video games.)

    You really cannot see the errors in the book that you worship, can you? The disjointedness of the Bible is matched by the spastic nature of your “thought” processes.

    You grovel at the feet of your imaginary god, which is really your own fevered imaginings. You seek to elevate yourself from spastic illiteracy to the purpose of the universe. And you do it poorly.

    You drop in here to bolster your flabby self esteem by slinging insults in a most un-Christ-like fashion, but you can’t work up anything beyond the feeblest trolling. You are in the wrong place, and doing the wrong thing, and doing it poorly.

    But since you refrain from calling names, I shall return the courtesy.

  46. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    May I point out that you now have a much more dangerous rabbit ghost to deal with?

    A very dangerous one, as this particular ghost is that of a pissed-off resurected murderous invisible rabbit.

  47. CompulsoryAccount7746 says

    @dano:

    Actually, my 9 year old shot him earlier today with his 22 & we are going to eat him for supper

    If you do eat it, I suggest washing it down with some wine or grape juice.

  48. dano says

    I will read the Craig link later this evening and respond back. For you zombie freaks I can tell you my racing team’s name is “Zombie Crawlers” but I won’t elaborate on that. Big race this weekend so pray I mean think of me on Sunday afternoon behind the wheel of my 550hp machine. Gotta love power!

  49. says

    I have to get back to prayer right now as my head feels so bloated

    Oh, that’s your problem, Sugar. You have water in your skull. There’s supposed to be a brain in there.

  50. Hairy Chris, blah blah blah etc says

    dano

    I only asked about WLC because he is a well known apologist.

    Evangelicals seem to lionise but others think is, well, a dishonest slimy git (on charitable days). It’s always interesting to see what folks think of him, mainly because his supporters tend ignore the self-contradictory statements he comes out with. Odd, that.

  51. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    I have to get back to prayer right now as my head feels so bloated

    There is a fart joke somewhere inhere.

  52. says

    Don McLeroy – a solid 9 Santorums for just bats*it crazy things spewing from his mouth at all times. hearing him talk I could feel my brain wanting to jump out of my head to escape from the auditory assault hat it was being subjected to.

    9 Santorums, that’s really mean. You’re right of course.

    Nothing says humble Christian like believing that your inner feelings coupled with selected readings from a 2000-year old book overrides the combined efforts of thousands of people who devoted their lives to studying a subject, collected data, did experiments and thoroughly checked each other’s work.

    Their point is one all-knowing god always wins. Those brilliant scientists and their discoveries are of course inferior to the magical master of the entire universe, therefore there’s no reason to waste time listening to them.

  53. pj says

    Eat it for supper? Well, bummer for you, the Son of the Rabbit riseth again. On the sixth day!

  54. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    PZ

    Are you guys encouraging the creationist moron? Am I going to have to quarantine another one in the zombie pen?

    Well, we seem to have scared our resident zombies over there for now.

    There is a fart joke somewhere inhere.

    I don’t know why he’d feel bloated now though. There have been a lot of brain farts coming out of him lately. The… hum… pressure should have decreased by now.

  55. CompulsoryAccount7746 says

    @Menyambal #62:

    Tell me, dano, why you and your fellow enthusiastic Christians cannot read and write well. I cannot help but laugh at the idea of a group of people with low literacy levels basing their lives on their understanding of literature.

    If LOLspeak was good enough for Jesus Christ, it’s good enough for me.

  56. newfie says

    Are you guys encouraging the creationist moron? Am I going to have to quarantine another one in the zombie pen?

    *stomps feet* … buuut, PZ… it’s a McLeroy thread

  57. dano says

    (gas release) Thank you I feel much better now but I have not seen any fang polishing. Just a bunch of zombie and game talk. I will read the Craig link. Back in a few hours. Don’t worry PZ I won’t hurt your zombie followers tooooo much with my prayers and chants. Tschuess

  58. Menyambal: Making sambal isn't exactly dragon magic. says

    dano:

    Don’t worry PZ I won’t hurt your zombie followers tooooo much with my prayers and chants.

    I’m sure PZ isn’t worried about that, at all.

    Have your prayers and chants ever affected anything, at all?

    Other than the level of malfunction in your head?

  59. says

    I won’t hurt your zombie followers tooooo much with my prayers and chants.

    Cupcake, you can fart and burp all you want. Won’t have the any effect at all except for marking you as an idiot that no one with a brain wants to be around.

    You’re vulgar, vain, arrogant and mind-numbingly stupid. All you’re doing is taking up space and oxygen.

    I do wish you luck in racing, though. I hope you go to heaven. Bless.

  60. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    (gas release) Thank you I feel much better now

    Does prayer works like gas-X on brain farts ?

    Just a bunch of zombie and game talk.

    You gotta admit it’s funnier than prayer.

    Don’t worry PZ I won’t hurt your zombie followers tooooo much with my prayers and chants.

    You have it backwards. You the jebus-zombie, we’re the zombie hunters. And PZ is not afraid for us. After all we know the rules.

  61. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    Sunday afternoon behind the wheel of my 550hp machine. Gotta love power!

    I is all impressed, peoples. He has a big engine, see.

    Something must compensate for the low brain power, I guess.

  62. Ichthyic says

    Such willful idiocy should be self-terminating.

    sounds like a great idea for my next mad scientist experiment.

    “Self terminating stupidity”

    I wonder if I can make it into an aerosol…

  63. says

    Kemist:

    He has a big engine, see.

    *shrugs* It’s not much when one uses it as a brain substitute. I race, been racing for years. We have many big engines. That happens when one of your hobbies is restoring cars. Lots and lots and lots and lots of people share that hobby. It’s hardly unique.

  64. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    “Self terminating stupidity”

    I wonder if I can make it into an aerosol…

    That would be a weapon of mass destruction, all right.

    Or a great name for a perfume.

  65. Ichthyic says

    God bless the NRA!

    and Ted Nugent.

    everything is possible when you have Ted Nugent on your side!

    Just ask Mitt Romney.

  66. says

    @Dano

    You’re not a follower of Christ, no such entity. You’re a cowardly man who hides behind an imaginary friend to avoid responsibility for your actions. YOU don’t do anything, you just follow Christ. In reality you are doing what YOU want to do and just pretending it’s someone elses responsibility. Atheists scare you because we don’t let you play that game and hold you accountable for what you say and do.

  67. robro says

    OK, I knew I couldn’t sand it but I got to “Their godless culture has taken over mainstream media” and I had to stop. I couldn’t take any more. I’m weak…I know. But I’ve got other things to do rather than watch an idiot of this caliber get stewed by Colbert. “Mainstream media” is not now, nor has it ever been, “left-wing” or even remotely “liberal”. One word: Murdoch$. That’s about as mainstream as you’re going to get, and it’s about as far right as you can get and not grow a mustache. It’s really amusing when you hear Rupert’s mouthpieces puff on their right-wingnut rhetoricrap about the “left-wing, liberal media.” He should be forced to read “The Responsibilities of Intellectuals” and then take a test on it. (I see that the guy’s a dentist. No wonder I felt like the marathon man after listening to him for 10 seconds.)

  68. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    *shrugs* It’s not much when one uses it as a brain substitute. I race, been racing for years. We have many big engines. That happens when one of your hobbies is restoring cars. Lots and lots and lots and lots of people share that hobby. It’s hardly unique.

    The only racing I’ve done is very amateurish beat-up car free-for-all on ice. The race track is a ring of ice made by the slightly crazy owner of a snowmobile trail stop that we unofficially call “La Cabane à Lessard”. The cars in these races are sent to the scrap yard afterwards.

    A John Deere tractor stands by to turn the cars back on their wheels if they overturn. Which happens a lot.

  69. says

    Kemist:

    The only racing I’ve done is very amateurish beat-up car free-for-all on ice.

    That you couldn’t pay me to do. Me no like ice. And I have a deep fondness for my ’71 Elky. :D

  70. Ichthyic says

    ’71 Elky

    I went through a muscle car phase.

    I had a cherry red 68 Firebird 400GT convertible for a few years.

    Had some good times in that car.

    Eventually got tired of having to take it to the shop for repairs every month though.

    oh, and the fact that it got “gallonage” instead of mileage might have had an impact, too.

  71. dano says

    Sitting at violin lessons for my 9yr old so I have some time. Using iPhone so get ready for typos. After shooting practice on Tuesday’s we head right to violin. I have not had time to read Craig link. Mpg is for wimps. I live my life 1/4 mile at a time…diesel’s the man for great movie quotes. Why must hate be directed towards dings all the time. I am certainly no scientist but with a bs in economics from a top 10 Econ school I can hold my own…even on the track. I don’t have to prove god exists anymore than you have to prove he does not to me. If banning me saves everyone here some arguing and by that I mean you’re worried I am proving my point so be it. Xings are here for the long haul. The better question is will the atheists be around in 50yrs???????

  72. Brownian says

    If banning me saves everyone here some arguing and by that I mean you’re worried I am proving my point so be it.

    Who fucking let you have children, you half-brained child? Jesus Christ, your kids have got to be ashamed of you, unless you’ve rendered them just as fucking dumb.

    The better question is will the atheists be around in 50yrs???????

    Is it? Is it really a better question? Why?

    Fucking explain yourself or shut the fuck up, you disgusting little puke.

  73. Ichthyic says

    After shooting practice on Tuesday’s we head right to violin.

    I’ll pass those details on to the hit squad.

    it will save them scouting time.

    wtf?

    WHY ARE YOU SHARING THIS SHIT WITH US?

  74. Ichthyic says

    I am certainly no scientist but with a bs in economics from a top 10 Econ school I can hold my own

    *headdesk*

    yes, because a fucking BS in ECOMONICS certainly qualifies one to comment on science!

  75. says

    dano,

    watched your linked video.

    If that’s the level of thinking you find admirable, you have rocks for brains, rocks which are incapable of rising to the level of imagining hot lava on lava action.

    This is a poorly thought out, poorly spelled logical fallacy fest. You’ve been referred to PZ’s previous post(er)on logical fallacies. How many did you spot in that video? If the answer’s none then you really do need to go away and learn the basics.

    You remind me of this.

    http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1022757_cool_cash_card_confusion

  76. Brownian says

    I for one, welcome the coming religious war between atheists and Christians dano’s hinting to.

    They can have all the technology written about in the Bible; we’ll use everything that didn’t come from divine revelation, or was inspired by Satan.

    Remember dano, there’s no greater armour than faith.

  77. Ichthyic says

    They can have all the technology written about in the Bible; we’ll use everything that didn’t come from divine revelation, or was inspired by Satan.

    *WAAAAHOOOOOO!*

  78. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    I am certainly no scientist but with a bs in economics from a top 10 Econ school I can hold my own…

    You should seriously consider asking for a refund, because there are two very important things that they failed to teach you:

    1) How to express yourself properly in writing in your own mother tongue

    2) That a degree in economics does not qualify you to comment on science

    even on the track.

    Why do you think we care about that ?

    On the intertubes anyone can be whatever one wants. I can be the 23rd in line for the throne of england for all you know.

  79. says

    It’s nice to know that reality is a personal choice now. I choose to believe that laser beams will zap out of my eyeballs and disintegrate McLeroy if ever I see him.

    … me, I must insist on imagining frickin’ laser beams.

    Also, as long as we’re doing this whole religiot ‘reality is howeverinhell I’d like it to be’ thing, I think I’m gonna have to figure out a way to work in some quasi-futuristic costumes, too…

    Seriously, it just amazes me these people go to all this trouble to convince ’emselves their odd little fantasies are real and yet somehow fail to work any metallic go-go boots into the whole deal*.

    I mean, come on. If you’re gonna fantasize, fantasize, already.

    (*/Aaaand this, of course, is the part where one of you points out the sect** that, yes, actually has those in their canon somewhere.)

    (**/Oh, and wait… Let me try to guess, first… Is it the Mormons? I’m betting it’s the Mormons.)

  80. says

    Ichthyic:

    I had a cherry red 68 Firebird 400GT convertible for a few years.

    Nice. The Elky doesn’t do terrible on mileage, but I don’t drive it great distances at all. My all time fave was my ’67 Pontiac LeMans. I’m still sorry I sold that one.

  81. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    Oh, and

    Xings are here for the long haul. The better question is will the atheists be around in 50yrs???????

    FYI, atheists have been around far longer than xians, and will be around long after jebus joins zeus, isis and odin in the religion graveyard that is mythology.

  82. 'Tis Himself says

    I am certainly no scientist but with a bs in economics from a top 10 Econ school I can hold my own

    I’ve got an MA in economics from an Ivy League school and I don’t pretend for a second to be any kind of scientist.

  83. Ichthyic says

    I’ve got an MA in economics from an Ivy League school and I don’t pretend for a second to be any kind of scientist.

    but that’s not even the real idiocy; hell you’ve learned enough science outside of your field to at least understand the questions and process.

    the idiocy would be you claiming that your MA itself qualifies you to speak on science.

    That’s what the current religionaut did.

    turned around, it would be like me claiming my MA in Zoology qualifies me as an economist.

    It’s definitely one of those “a little knowledge…” things in the case of our resident godbotter.

  84. epikt says

    Caine, Fleur du mal says:

    Ichthyic:I had a cherry red 68 Firebird 400GT convertible for a few years.

    Nice. The Elky doesn’t do terrible on mileage, but I don’t drive it great distances at all. My al/l time fave was my ’67 Pontiac LeMans. I’m still sorry I sold that one.

    My sister-in-law’s brothers built up a ’69 Chevelle convertible with a 396 motor. It was utterly useless in the corners, but it was an incredibly effective tire-lathe.

  85. says

    This is a poorly thought out, poorly spelled logical fallacy fest.

    It’s like the spelling errors were chasing the logical fallacies that were chasing the things no atheist ever actually says until the head spins so much that the noggin flies off and bounces in the corner and believer victory can be declared.

  86. 'Tis Himself says

    My sister-in-law’s brothers built up a ’69 Chevelle convertible with a 396 motor. It was utterly useless in the corners, but it was an incredibly effective tire-lathe.

    Muscle cars generally have poor suspension. They’re balls to the wall in a straight line but they can’t turn worth a damn.

  87. Ichthyic says

    It was utterly useless in the corners, but it was an incredibly effective tire-lathe.

    ha!

    +1

    the back end on mine would break loose if i leaned too hard.

  88. cunninglingus says

    It amazes me that people like dano not only have idiotic beliefs, idiotic arguments, and idiotic lifestyles, but that they then feel the need to share such idiocy with the public.

    I’m torn between feeling sympathy, embarrassment, incredulity, and a certain amount of anger at the outright ignorance of such folk. To proudly display such ignorance, with what I can only imagine is total sincerity, takes belief in religion or simply being a total stump. (religiosity and stumpiology is of course one and the same thing)

  89. says

    Xings

    What are xings, Cupcake? Is that your cutesy name for stupids?

    *Yes, I know you meant Xians, however, it’s yet another example of just how abysmal your education was or just what a poor student you happened to be, as you can’t master spelling or simple sentence construction. It makes your attempts at appearing superior even more pathetic.

  90. 'Tis Himself says

    It’s definitely one of those “a little knowledge…” things in the case of our resident godbotter.

    Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many people who think that because they’ve got a liberal arts degree they’re qualified to argue with biologists about evolution or physicists about relativity.

  91. Ichthyic says

    They corner just fine when you customise the suspension. ;D

    huh, I figured it was just because the back end needed more weight, so I always had my girlfriend sit in the back seat…

    ;)

  92. 'Tis Himself says

    I always had my girlfriend sit in the back seat…

    I suppose she didn’t want to ride in the trunk.

  93. rogerfirth says

    I’m sick and tired of having these fun Colbert clips posted on FtB blog entries, and having dozens giggle over it, while I’m locked outside and unable to enjoy the fun. Damn DRM.

    Google free open proxy. I’ve used these many times to watch US streaming video while I’m overseas. What works one day may not work the next.

    Just don’t access anything password protected when using one of these. I have to believe that at least some of these are free/open merely to collect passwords.

  94. 'Tis Himself says

    Did he imply that we were all going to be dead by 50 years?

    Isn’t the Rupture supposed to happen in the next 40 years?

  95. Ichthyic says

    Google free open proxy.

    I’ve tried a lot of these things; always hit or miss.

    This, OTOH, although you have to pay (it’s cheap), gives me speedy reliable access every time. What’s more, it’s private (VPN) and not easily trackable.

    Been using it for Hulu and Netflix; can swap server to europe or UK for BBC stuff.

    https://www.privatetunnel.com/index.php/my-services.html

    Been happy with it so far.

  96. betelgeux says

    Dano–
    Is that YouTube video what you non-cognitive xians consider a brilliant, fatal stab at atheists? If so, you are woefully idiotic and an all-around mental defective.

    Here are some of what atheists think are brilliant displays of rhetoric. Please contrast with your video…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asvg5Kf97Hw

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqaHXKLRKzg

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YltEym9H0x4

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E-_DdX8Ke0

    Atheists have Hitch, Harris, Sagan, Feynman, and Russell…theists have some dope sitting at their laptop making lame videos.

  97. epikt says

    ‘Tis Himself says:

    My sister-in-law’s brothers built up a ’69 Chevelle convertible with a 396 motor. It was utterly useless in the corners, but it was an incredibly effective tire-lathe.

    Muscle cars generally have poor suspension. They’re balls to the wall in a straight line but they can’t turn worth a damn.

    QFT, and having a shoulder-height center of mass doesn’t help, either. I don’t think it bothered the kids who built it, though; the thing made clouds of smoke and loud noises.

  98. No One says

    Dano

    The better question is will the atheists be around in 50yrs???????

    Diagoras of Melos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagoras_of_Melos)was an atheist 500 years before Jesus was declared a god. There will always be candles in the dark. So unless you brilliant MBA’s destroy the ecosystem with your ignorance, greed, denial of reality, yes you’d better hope there are atheists to do the heavy lifting for you while you cocoon yourself in suburbia.

  99. consciousness razor says

    Dude has a serious punctuality problem.

    Well his day job is working in mysterious ways outside of space and time, so that’s just what we should expect to happen.

  100. says

    CR:

    Well his day job is working in mysterious ways outside of space and time

    Oh yes, the mysterious ways. Of course. I’m sure ignoring all the praying and chanting is quite time consuming as well.

  101. otrame says

    Did he imply that we were all going to be dead by 50 years?

    Well, I probably will be…. though maybe not. I’m in my 60s. But I guarantee that when I die, I will do it an atheist.

  102. consciousness razor says

    Oh yes, the mysterious ways. Of course.

    Yeah. I’ve just never been able to figure out if they’re like stairways, walkways, highways, subways, runways, railways, causeways, waterways, stowaways, throwaways, or what. We do know that somehow he works in them, but that’s not as helpful as it might seem. Maybe that’s why they’re mysterious.

  103. cybercmdr says

    Now that I’ve seen Colbert interview this dimnut, I think we should petition him to interview Romney, using the same tactics. THAT would be a hoot.

  104. dano says

    Tis, did I ever say I knew more than a scientist…hmm let’s look back. Answer………………..nope. I am simply a Christian giving my point of view and again you can’t do a thing about it. I would prefer an interesting debate and not just whining.

    Kemist, do you have any facts to back up your claim that Atheists have been around longer than Christians? If yes, I would be interested to read it. I am not saying you don’t have something I just have never seen anything & don’t use the bible. Please use your own facts from your anti-religion book. Oh wait you don’t have one do you….sorry about that one.

    7746, Thank you for the link on Craig. I read the entire story. What I can tell you is that thigs happen for a reason regardless of what you or I think. I was not there when the Israelites killed off the Canaanites just as you were not there when I was in Desert Storm in the early 90’s. Unless you were there you don’t know why I had to make the decisions I had to make based on life & death situations. Don’t condemn the path of a man unless you’ve walked in his shoes. On whether I would kill for God, I can’t even begin to answer that question unless God forbid I was put in that situation and was given all the facts to make the best decision I could. I am sorry I can’t be more specific on that one but I would find most people probably saying something similar if they were asked a similar question whether it was God asking or a man with a gun to your head.

    Tis & Caine, as you know 60’s & 70’s muscle cars had SLP or for those not familiar with the phrase…straight line performance. Carving was the reason the automakers came up with the pony cars. Here is a link to my favorite muscle car builder and engine builder. Don’t look unless 6 figures don’t scare you.

    http://www.nelsonracingengines.com/

  105. says

    Dano, you fuckwit, don’t address me like you know me. Don’t address me at all. I don’t care for fuckwits, let alone the extra stupid ones like you. I’m not the least bit interested in having any sort of conversation with you. All you are to me is an prime example of just how toxic belief in gods happens to be.

    You have deliberately rotted your brain. You should be ashamed.

  106. No One says

    Kemist, do you have any facts to back up your claim that Atheists have been around longer than Christians?

    Post #127. Bask in your wrongness.

  107. No One says

    dano @ 134.

    “Desert Storm”

    Just wondering if you brought back any virgin daughters of the men you might have killed.

  108. dano says

    Caine, temper temper. Why so unwound over a few words. Is it that this Christian is causing you to think too hard?

    No One, that came out as I was typing and that is why I said you may have some info I have not seen. The Wikipedia info is fairly weak and there were gods people prayed to before him as stated in the article but never the less still interesting.

    Ing, I am sorry to hear you are also unraveling.

    My point is that I don’t need to be anyone’s friend and that I am giving one Christian’s opinion. It seems the longer I answer your questions the more angry you get because I will not concede to your no God theory. I have my beliefs and you have your lack of beliefs. I am fine with that but I have to wonder why so many “scholars” get drawn in to a heated debate that ends with such brazen words. I need facts and not words.

    Video for some late night viewing.

  109. Menyambal: Making sambal isn't exactly dragon magic. says

    dano, we slagged your last video, so you post another one? It’s lame, dude.

    We aren’t getting mad for the reasons you think. You really don’t understand much, do you?

    No wonder you are superstitious.

  110. says

    Please use your own facts from your anti-religion book. Oh wait you don’t have one do you

    Correct. We don’t have one, we have millions. I can’t believe dano thinks this is some kind of gotcha. If really you want to know more about pre-Xian atheists, they’re not exactly hard to find.

    Also, I don’t know how dano meant “Xing”, but do note that a Ped Xing is NOT a priest, it’s a pedestrian crossing.

  111. unclefrogy says

    dano said “I am simply a Christian giving my point of view and again you can’t do a thing about it. I would prefer an interesting debate and not just whining.”

    look what do you take people for,? if that statement were true you would be saying something other than the BS I have read so far. What does target practice or violin lessons have to do with anything you know like school books or something.
    I asked you way up there toward the top “dano by what criteria would you propose we use to determine what is the reality (history and science) we should be teaching children or put into textbooks?”

    completely ignored of course. a civil debate my ass!

    So I hope you get one them great finance jobs and can join the ranks of the best and the brightest in the world of investments and banking and use your exceptional skills to ignore the uncomfortable facts and drive the economy into a ditch again.

    uncle frogy

  112. chrisco says

    Makes me sad being from Texas. Dano seems much more intelligent than I; but, i consider him a moron so i wont bother.

  113. some bastard on the net says

    On whether I would kill for God, I can’t even begin to answer that question unless God forbid I was put in that situation and was given all the facts to make the best decision I could.

    I realize they may have changed the wording again since I last read the Bible, but I don’t recall God giving out a whole lot of facts when he told Abraham to off his own son.

    I am sorry I can’t be more specific on that one but I would find most people probably saying something similar if they were asked a similar question whether it was God asking or a man with a gun to your head.

    You just equated your God with an armed lunatic.

    Hooray! You’re learning!

  114. says

    Please use your own facts from your anti-religion book. Oh wait you don’t have one do you….sorry about that one.

    Heh, it always amuses me when christians think all we know has to come from a single book. Then again, I can see how people capable of reading more than one book must seem like an impossibility to people like Dano.

  115. FossilFishy says

    Until now every time someone posted a Comedy Central link an Australian puppy died. Not any longer. This cheat for Firefox works. Hooray.

  116. Lars says

    I think I’ve discussed with this Dano character before, in a creationism debate on Facebook, over the course of several weeks. Or maybe it was his twin brother.

    It is useless. His mind is completely unpenetrable to anything he doesn’t want to hear, or think about.

    Oh well. At least he seems to be happy.

  117. Just_A_Lurker says

    *ignoring dano because I can’t follow his trainwreck sentences*

    bbgunn

    Some trailer park is missing their idiot.

    Classist asshat.

  118. Hairy Chris, blah blah blah etc says

    Posted a shockofgod clip? Instant fail.

    I had a little more hope early on as dano used “moot point” correctly, which is better than usual…

  119. 'Tis Himself says

    dano #134

    Tis, did I ever say I knew more than a scientist…hmm let’s look back. Answer………………..nope. I am simply a Christian giving my point of view and again you can’t do a thing about it. I would prefer an interesting debate and not just whining.

    Actually what you said was “I am certainly no scientist but with a bs in economics from a top 10 Econ school I can hold my own“. I read that as saying since you have a BS in a liberal art from a decent school you can discuss science with real scientists on a more or less equal footing. Perhaps I’m not reading what you intended to write or perhaps you’re just such a sloppy writer that your point is something entirely different but I don’t think my reading is too far-fetched.

    My comment was I have a Masters in economics from Harvard and I recognize that gives me no real knowledge about science. I certainly was not whining.

  120. Anri says

    On whether I would kill for God, I can’t even begin to answer that question unless God forbid I was put in that situation and was given all the facts to make the best decision I could.

    So – wait a sec – you’re saying that if god told you to kill someone, you might disobey him? You wouldn’t accept “I am the lord thy god, who loves you move than you can comprehend – do as I say” as sufficient?
    Surely, if god were to command someone’s death, that would be good enough for you, yes?

    Or do you doubt god’s word?
    Or is it that you doubt your ability to understand god’s word?

    Can you clarify this for us?

  121. says

    Dano instead of wasting your time watching ignorant and prejudiced videos, why don’t you get yourself a good scholarly and non-biased commentary or study bible and read the Bible? All of it. And if you like, you can read the Apocrypha and the Book of Enoch along with a nice commentary explaining why the New Testament quotes them as scripture all over the place but your minister says they aren’t.

    Start at Genesis and end at Revelation, or better yet, read in the order your commentator says they were written. Just make sure you don’t get one of the many apologist books that will look at James and hop into Paul to tell you that James can’t possibly mean what he says because he doesn’t agree with Paul. Or vice versa–if that book was really written by James (it wasn’t), you’d think that Jesus’ younger brother would have a clue about what the big guy had to say, right? Anyhow that’s just one of the thousands of distortions you’ll want to avoid so you can decide for yourself.

  122. says

    Alright. It may have enjoyed some recreational pharmaceuticals this evening/morning, but I’m puzzled by dano. Is dano being deliberately impenetrable?

  123. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    Is dano being deliberately impenetrable?

    Dano is a presuppositional godbot who turned off its brain a while back when it thought it was sufficiently “educated”. So, yes.

  124. Naked Bunny with a Whip says

    Gaming doesn’t make heads explode.

    Nope. But praying can lead you to blowing up others’ heads.

  125. No One says

    dano says:

    Caine, temper temper. Why so unwound over a few words. Is it that this Christian is causing you to think too hard?

    No One, that came out as I was typing and that is why I said you may have some info I have not seen. The Wikipedia info is fairly weak and there were gods people prayed to before him as stated in the article but never the less still interesting.

    You wanted proof you got it. There have always been individuals who question the shamans, despite their en-culturation. Many of them have ended up having the bone pointed at them.

    So why are YOU here? Trying to “convert” us? Doesn’t seem to be working does it? Your arguments are extremely weak and poorly thought out. Or are you here for an ego boost? “Beat up” those silly little lefty atheists?

    “Causing us too think too hard”… What a fucking joke!

  126. coralline says

    Alethea @ 141:

    Also, I don’t know how dano meant “Xing”, but do note that a Ped Xing is NOT a priest, it’s a pedestrian crossing.

    Zing! Sniny!

  127. coralline says

    Is dano being deliberately impenetrable?

    If I grew up around priests, I’d try my damned best to be so too!

  128. dano says

    Uncle froggy, sorry I missed your question above. I was not avoiding it. What is reality? I have no issue with what is science and what is history. I see no issues with teaching children about what happened in the past. I also do not see the need to bring religion into schools unless it is a private school. What I mean by this is that just as Christians believe God created the heavens and earth along with Adam & Eve, Atheists have other beliefs. I am in no way putting done your choice of beliefs just as I hope you would give the same courtesy to me. I am a believer that man and ape evolved from a common ancestor but before you think I have changes sides there is a catch…that common ancestor was created by God.

    My information about where I was last night when I replied is just the way I tend to write in blogs. Like it or not this how I reply. As far as saying I can handle my own, this was meant to let you know I am not some crazy fanatic with only a middle school education. Someone asked why I should be allowed to reply on a science forum. When people start talking about Christians and there beliefs would it not be right to include someone in your discussion or are you so closed minded that you only wish to hear your side of the story. I have never claimed to be a Christian scholar but I am a practicing Christian that has been raised using their guidelines and will continue to do the same with my children. I see no reason to change your beliefs but when I see information written that I disagree with I will reply unless you ban me which only proves my earlier point. I will never call anyone names nor swear but I do understand others will not uphold those same standards and I am fine with it. A disagreement has never been solved by only hearing one side of the argument. Regards

  129. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    A disagreement has never been solved by only hearing one side of the argument.

    But the abject stupidity and presuppostional fuckwittery you present isn’t a side, only dogma. In otherwords, irrational bullshit.

  130. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    Kemist, do you have any facts to back up your claim that Atheists have been around longer than Christians? If yes, I would be interested to read it.

    Early hominids were xians now ?

    There has always been atheists, hidden even among the most religious, people that, while standing there chanting praises to god(s), have that most enlightened thouhgt :

    “This is all bullshit.”

    There were atheists when most people were animists, zeus, horus or odin worshippers.

    There’s even an atheist philosophical tradition in India, that has left writings, which predates xianity by hundreds of years.

    The thing that you have to observe right now is that there aren’t many zeus, horus and odin worshippers left.

    I am not saying you don’t have something I just have never seen anything & don’t use the bible. Please use your own facts from your anti-religion book. Oh wait you don’t have one do you….sorry about that one.

    No need to be sorry, little xian.

    Who needs holy books when one has the totality of nature to study ? When one has at his disposition the most powerful tool ever devised by mankind to gain knowledge ? A tool that produce actual, visible, undeniable results ?

    It’s kinda sad that that you need a book to tell you what to think. I can’t even imagine the crippled thinking that goes with such a constraint.

  131. says

    Alethea H. Claw #141

    Also, I don’t know how dano meant “Xing”, but do note that a Ped Xing is NOT a priest, it’s a pedestrian crossing.

    Are you sure? I mean, I see those signs here and there, and there’s frequently a church nearby.

  132. A. Noyd says

    dano (#165)

    I am in no way putting done your choice of beliefs just as I hope you would give the same courtesy to me.

    Beliefs aren’t like salad toppings. It’s fine to ask people to cut you some slack for picking fried chow mein noodles over croutons. It’s utterly unreasonable to expect us to not put down your choice of beliefs when your beliefs are wrong. Not just something we “disagree with,” but objectively false.

    When people start talking about Christians and there beliefs would it not be right to include someone in your discussion or are you so closed minded that you only wish to hear your side of the story.

    We have plenty of people here who used to be devout Christians–some of them even Christian scholars–before they wised up. They can draw on their past to add a Christian perspective to the discussion here. Someone like you who is still stupid enough to believe in myths isn’t going to add anything because you can’t see through your own shoddy reasoning–you’re far more concerned with protecting your own beliefs than taking a critical eye to them. You can’t even help us examine our own beliefs because you know absolutely nothing of atheist philosophy, instead relying on awful YouTube videos that get everything wrong about what atheists think and why.

  133. Anri says

    Well, dano apparently ignored what I asked him earlier, but I suppose I should stop being suprised by that sort of selective reading.

    In any case:

    When people start talking about Christians and there beliefs would it not be right to include someone in your discussion or are you so closed minded that you only wish to hear your side of the story. I have never claimed to be a Christian scholar but I am a practicing Christian that has been raised using their guidelines and will continue to do the same with my children. I see no reason to change your beliefs but when I see information written that I disagree with I will reply unless you ban me which only proves my earlier point. I will never call anyone names nor swear but I do understand others will not uphold those same standards and I am fine with it. A disagreement has never been solved by only hearing one side of the argument. Regards

    Um, you do know that quite a few of us have been religious of one flavor or another, and to one extent or another, previously, right? Like me, for instance.

    Having read the “Why I am an Atheist” posts (you are reading those, right?), you have gleaned that some of us were actually pretty damn knowledgable about our respective faiths? Deacons, elders, pastors, scholars, we got ’em.

    Lastly, you have figured out that we have all encountered these sorts of people before, right? We’ve all heard – many, many times over – the ‘arguments’ for faith. This isn’t a Chick Tract, where the straw-atheists roll over in sudden shock upon hearing a Psalm or the Sermon on the Mount. You’re free to espouse your beliefs here – but I can assure you, you will get called out if what you say doesn’t make sense.
    (It may end up that you are asked to take the discussion to either The Endless Thread or The Zombie Thread. In this case, especially the latter, you’ll get plenty of attention. This might be good or bad from your perspective, of course.)

  134. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    A disagreement has never been solved by only hearing one side of the argument.

    I know I am late to the party (meatspace obligations), but I have to ask: what arguments, dano? Presuppositionalism is not an argument: If we start with the supposition that all bats are birds, then obviously their feathers are disguised as fur.

  135. dano says

    A Noyd, I understand that your beliefs in a higher being are that you have none. You believe in the here and now and that when you die that is it. I on the other hand believe in a superior being that has guided me through life, teaching me to love thy brother and neighbor. I have a book called a bible that gives me all of the answers I need. I also see great hope for mankind that he will survive no matter what the struggle. I ask you what is wrong with this belief system. Have I caused you harm. I live my life one daya at a time just like you but I also believe that when I die I will leave this world for a place of even more beauty and power. A place where I will be at peace and be able to look back at my life and say I made a difference and not just as a blogger but as a person I have touched many lives and given knowledge to others. Why do you find this so disgusting?

  136. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    chrisco

    Makes me sad being from Texas. Dano seems much more intelligent than I; but, i consider him a moron so i wont bother.

    college education != intelligence.

    As you can plainly see here.

  137. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    I have a book called a bible that gives me all of the answers I need.

    Okay, dano, put that one to the test.

    You have (for an example) chest pains, an ache in you jaw, and shooting pains in your left shoulder and upper left arm. Do you:

    a) start madly leafing through your holy book to find out what is going on and what you do about it?

    or, b) dial 911 and get an ambulance, with advanced life support, on the way?

    Five small children start making fun of a man because he is bald. Do you:

    a) tell them to knock it off?

    or, b) call down the wrath of gods and have some bears come out of the woods to eat them?

    A place where I will be at peace and be able to look back at my life and say I made a difference and not just as a blogger but as a person I have touched many lives and given knowledge to others.

    A blogger. Hmm. I don’t recall the bible saying anything about proselytizing via the internet. So you are doing something the bible neither condones nor condemns. And all you answers come from the bible? So when you asked yourself, “Self, should I start blogging and commenting to spread the word of gods?” where did that answer come from?

  138. sophiagroup says

    … I see that trolling motor is in need of repair.

    /hands the troll an oar…

    there ya go, now that’s a good use of wood.

  139. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    I have a book called a bible that gives me all of the answers I need.

    If that book gives you all the answers you need, you are a mightily incurious person.

    There’s nothing in there that answers any questions I have, and when it has a sort of answer, it is childish, provincial and disappointing. As anyone can expect of the writings of ignorant, provincial iron-age shepherds.

    I have nothing to learn from people who think pi = 3 or that bats are birds.

    I also see great hope for mankind that he will survive no matter what the struggle.

    We too have that hope, no matter what the straw atheist in your head may think.

    The difference is that we know this will come solely through our own work. That means we have our work cut out for us, and that we have no time to waste on wishful thinking.

    I ask you what is wrong with this belief system. Have I caused you harm. I live my life one daya at a time just like you but I also believe that when I die I will leave this world for a place of even more beauty and power.

    Everything is wrong with this. May I remember you that the people who flew planes into buildings thought the exact same thing as you do.

    You cause harm when you let the dictates of your imaginary friend dictate what is moral and what isn’t, and use those guidelines to deny rights to people who don’t share them.

    A place where I will be at peace and be able to look back at my life and say I made a difference and not just as a blogger but as a person I have touched many lives and given knowledge to others.

    Atheists do good despite the fact that they have accepted their mortality. Do you think all of us only comment on blogs ? That we do not have loved ones ?

    You are indeed an arrogant, self-righteous bastard.

    Why do you find this so disgusting?

    Because you do all this so-called good for one reason only : your reward in the sky.

    You’re not giving anything, you’re investing.

    When I took care of my dying friend, I knew there wouldn’t be a reward for that. I did it because I loved her, and because I know that humans have only themselves to count on to make the world a better place.

  140. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    I have a book called a bible that gives me all of the answers I need.

    Oh really?

    So i assume you quit school early and have never read a single thing, watched a single thing nor listened to anyone other than yourself since.

    Sounds about right.

  141. Anri says

    A Noyd, I understand that your beliefs in a higher being are that you have none. You believe in the here and now and that when you die that is it. I on the other hand believe in a superior being that has guided me through life, teaching me to love thy brother and neighbor.

    Unless, of course, they’re gay.
    Or worship another god.
    Or no god at all.
    And never, under any circumstances, should you ever love any human as much as you love god. God says leave ’em, you start packing. God says forget them, you respond ‘forget who?’. God says kill ’em, you grab the sharpest knife you can find.

    I have a book called a bible that gives me all of the answers I need.

    Ok, here’s the question: Your firstborn has a potentially fatal heart defect – according to the bible, what do you do? Please quote chapter and verse.

    I also see great hope for mankind that he will survive no matter what the struggle. I ask you what is wrong with this belief system.

    It states that human beings don’t have to worry, because god will bail them out of any situation they get themselves into. It says that your life, and my life, and the lives of my friends and family aren’t important because only the afterlife really matters. It states that humans are essentially flawed, helpless, evil, and deserving of eternal torment, and that most people will recieve exactly that.

    Have I caused you harm.

    Yes.
    If in no other way than to help give cover to those using religion to destroy the lives of others. By insisting that religion is good, you are working to convince everyone that the terrible things done in the name of religion are acceptable.

    I live my life one daya at a time just like you but I also believe that when I die I will leave this world for a place of even more beauty and power. A place where I will be at peace and be able to look back at my life and say I made a difference and not just as a blogger but as a person I have touched many lives and given knowledge to others. Why do you find this so disgusting?

    May I ask a question or two about your heaven?
    Is heaven a place of perfect joy?
    Will the suffering of the souls eternally tormented in hell cause you sadness in heaven?

  142. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Why do you find this so disgusting?

    I don’t find it disgusting as much as sad. Sad that anyone is so gullible to believe that nonsense. Sad that this gullibility leads you to being an uncritical thinker. Sad that the squishy thinking it takes to accept the bible in all its contradictions and ridiculousness as the final word on everything will ultimately creep into the rest of your thinking processes.

    Sad that there are millions like you who take this uncritical squishy thinking and apply it to things that affect everyone else. Me, my loved ones, people in my state, country, the world.

    Your shitty thinking and those who apply the same shitty thinking you do fuck this world up by applying that same uncritical shitty thinking to things that really make a difference.

    Sad that you people don’t even realize the harm you do by just giving up critical thinking.

    It’s a disease.

  143. dano says

    Kemist, please answer this question:
    1. A man is outside his car and appears to have hitten a light pole. He is bleeding profusely from the head. Do you
    a. Write to your atheist blog friends on what to do?
    b. Call 911 to get help

    What kind of questions are these and better yet why should I care. People make decisions everyday. Now if you asked me a question such as, You are in front of a convenience store & have no money & want a coke. Should you
    A. Rely on the readings of your bible that says one should not steal or
    B. Go ahead and rob the store you are thirsty and they have insuarnce

    The answer for me is A. I would rely on what I learned as a child from my parents, teachers, church and other responsible adults. Why is this simple question so hard for you to understand?

  144. A. Noyd says

    @Dano (#172)
    See, another reason you’re useless in this discussion is you can’t read for comprehension. You’re asking questions that are answered in my post at #169. Your beliefs are not tolerated because they’re objectively false.

  145. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    What kind of questions are these and better yet why should I care. People make decisions everyday.

    But you have made the assertion that all the answers you will ever need are in that book. No quibbling on this, you made the assertion. Where in your book of ancient mythology do you find the answer to your first question? You made the assertion, back it up! (or admit that you are lying)

  146. dano says

    My belief is that when you make a mistake you need to pay the consequences whether that is a fine, prison or hell. I can not control the choices you make in life no more than you can control mine. I live my life the best way I can and hope that others will do the same.

  147. dano says

    Brother, you are twisting my words. When I say all the answers I need are in the bible I am not saying that on page 1,324 the answer to whether I should rob the convenience store is written. Insetad I rely on the life lessons it teaches me. I think you are digging to deep.

  148. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    My belief is that when you make a mistake you need to pay the consequences whether that is a fine, prison or hell. I can not control the choices you make in life no more than you can control mine. I live my life the best way I can and hope that others will do the same.

    You made the assertion that your bible provides you with all the answers you need. Back that up. How many feet before an intersection should you put your turn signal on? How long do you bake a 12 pound turkey? If I wear cotton blend underwear, should I be put to death? Should your theft of a cola beverage from a quicky mart be punished with a fine or should your hand be cut off? If your neighbor worships the wrong gods, or worships the right gods in the wrong way, what does the bible say you should do about it?

    Either point to, citing chapter and verse, the biblical answers to all of these questions or admit that you were lying.

  149. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Kemist, please answer this question:
    1. A man is outside his car and appears to have hitten a light pole. He is bleeding profusely from the head. Do you
    a. Write to your atheist blog friends on what to do?
    b. Call 911 to get help

    Fuck you’re dense.

    These questions are not analogous to brother Obvorbis’ ones (which is who i assume you were actually replying.

    People who rely on reason and science would of course call 911.

    You however claim the Bible has all the answers you need.

    Well does it?

    What kind of questions are these and better yet why should I care. People make decisions everyday. Now if you asked me a question such as, You are in front of a convenience store & have no money & want a coke. Should you
    A. Rely on the readings of your bible that says one should not steal or
    B. Go ahead and rob the store you are thirsty and they have insuarnce

    And those are the only choices?

    The answer for me is A. I would rely on what I learned as a child from my parents, teachers, church and other responsible adults. Why is this simple question so hard for you to understand?

    Ahhh but you didn’t include the option C. Use what I learned as a child from my parents, etc…

    Deceitful little prick.

  150. bjtunwarm says

    @ Dano “teaching me to love thy brother and neighbor”

    and by your behavior in this forum clearly a lesson you have yet to learn Dano.

    Protip: love is not the same word as LUZ

  151. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    Brother, you are twisting my words. When I say all the answers I need are in the bible I am not saying that on page 1,324 the answer to whether I should rob the convenience store is written. Insetad I rely on the life lessons it teaches me.

    Then you admit you were lying. Answers provided by life lessons are not answered in your book, are they? You asserted that all of your answers are in that book. Nice to have you finally admit you are a liar*.

    *I thought that one was in your book.

  152. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    Kemist, please answer this question:
    1. A man is outside his car and appears to have hitten a light pole. He is bleeding profusely from the head. Do you
    a. Write to your atheist blog friends on what to do?
    b. Call 911 to get help

    Please take the time to read before you answer. I believe this is more directed at Brother Og than myself.

    What kind of questions are these and better yet why should I care. People make decisions everyday. Now if you asked me a question such as, You are in front of a convenience store & have no money & want a coke. Should you
    A. Rely on the readings of your bible that says one should not steal or
    B. Go ahead and rob the store you are thirsty and they have insuarnce

    I would do neither since my morality does not depend on a book of fairy tales.

    There are situations I would find it moral to steal despite what your favorite bedtime stories have to say about it.

    If my children were starving for instance.

    The answer for me is A. I would rely on what I learned as a child from my parents, teachers, church and other responsible adults. Why is this simple question so hard for you to understand?

    That’s what is wrong.

    All humans have a moral code, despite what your very xian arrogant self-righteousness makes you think.

    All of them, with or without religion, have prohibitions against killing, stealing, abusing members of their own tribe.

    It’s necessary to have such rules to live in a stable society.

    But what frequently makes human throw away these very basic moral rules are religions.

  153. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Brother, you are twisting my words. When I say all the answers I need are in the bible I am not saying that on page 1,324 the answer to whether I should rob the convenience store is written. Insetad I rely on the life lessons it teaches me. I think you are digging to deep.

    So your interpretation of the bible then. What about the ways others interpret it? What gives you the authority to interpret the word of the Lord? How do you know you are interpreting the life lessons correctly? How do you verify this?

  154. Anri says

    Am I the only one nervous about the fact that dano seems unwilling to answer the simple question: “If god told you to kill someone, should you do it?” or am I being alarmist?

  155. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    What about the ways others interpret it? What gives you the authority to interpret the word of the Lord? How do you know you are interpreting the life lessons correctly? How do you verify this?

    Those answers are also in the bible. And the life lessons learned from the preacher/minister/priest/rabbi/imam . . . .

  156. says

    Dano, I think you are a bot. A literal godbot. I don’t think you have a child or a degree in economics. I am convinced you are not a person at all. I think you are an evolving collection of pre-programmed responses written by a mischievous computer programmer who wanted to discredit Christians. I once put a computer for sale on Craigslist, and I got a lot of responses from computer programs rather than actual people. And you sound just like them.

    Prove me wrong by doing something totally unexpected, like, for instance, using proper grammar and spelling throughout the entirety of your next post.

  157. FilthyHuman says

    @kemist
    #190

    All of them, with or without religion, have prohibitions against killing, stealing, abusing members of their own tribe.

    It’s necessary to have such rules to live in a stable society.

    But what frequently makes human throw away these very basic moral rules are religions.

    I’m going to argue that it wasn’t so much as religion make human throw away basic moral rules than religion was used as part of a group identity.

    And as you stated…
    “All of them, with or without religion, have prohibitions against killing, stealing, abusing members of their own tribe.”
    Those not following their religious dogma? Not part of the tribe.

  158. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Am I the only one nervous about the fact that dano seems unwilling to answer the simple question: “If god told you to kill someone, should you do it?” or am I being alarmist?

    Well the answer is obvious. It’s in the bible. Just check Deut 7:1-4,16,24, Isaiah 14:21, Jeremiah 48:10 among many other places.

  159. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Cursed be he who does the Lords work remissly, cursed he who holds back his sword from blood. Jeremiah 48:10

  160. says

    Look dano, you claim the bible provides all your answers. I understand that you didn’t mean that the bible tells you whether to wear boxers or briefs. But people who claim to believe the bible is inerrant and has all the answers do not agree on these (and many other) points.

    What should we do on Saturday?
    What should we do on Sunday?
    Should we eat shellfish?
    Are there codified laws humans should obey, or should we do what seems best to us at the time based on our inherent morality?
    What is the nature of God?
    Is there one true religion, or is it acceptable for persons to follow other religions so long as they meet some basic standards?
    Was Jesus a God?
    Was Jesus a man who became a God?
    Was Jesus a God who became a man?
    Was Jesus a God who was never a man, but who looked enough like a man so that people were fooled?
    Was Jesus the messiah?
    Is the trinity like water/steam/ice (one thing can appear three ways)?
    Is the trinity like an egg or a family (three distinct and unlike parts = one whole)?
    What roles are acceptable for women in the church?
    Will there be a second coming of Jesus?

    Just for fun you might try asking a few of these questions of people in your church, and then asking your pastor or priest what the “correct” answer is according to your official doctrine. You’ll be in for some surprises, I think.

  161. says

    Dano thinks we all deserve to be tortured for our actions…but he’s not responsible for his opinion because it comes from the book. He also wants us to believe that this view in no way affects his actions or ability to treat us decently…in fact he treats us better than most because he has love for us.

    Like how he’s not bigoted against gays…but teaching tolerance of them to his kids is an imposition.

    Dano your words drip with disrespect and sneering scorn. From the time you entered your nose has been bleeding because you scuffed it on the top of the door frame….yet worst of all you want us to LIKE you for all this and sneer at anyone who doesn’t as being irrationally angry. Yo7u act like swine and insist we treat you like a king

    Fuck. You.

  162. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    Those not following their religious dogma? Not part of the tribe.

    But sometimes that harm does touch members of the tribe.

    Religiosity can drive parents to harm their own offspring.

    Such as when they withhold lifesaving medical treatment.

    Or when they submit their children to exorcisms.

    Or beat them systematically for not other reason than that’s what they think the bible tells them to do.

    Or want they proudly and willingly send them to die in what they perceive a holy war.

    Religion does not only harm outsiders. It does a lot of harm to those who practice them too.

  163. says

    I on the other hand believe in a superior being that has guided me through life, teaching me to love thy brother and neighbor.

    Superior being? Yahweh? El Shaddai? No, no, dimwit. That’s no superior being. You haven’t actually read your big book of sociopathy.

    That god of yours was the least in a pantheon, who was terribly jealous of his daddy and siblings, who were all more powerful than him and he fucked over Adam & Eve because he feared they were intelligent enough to locate the “tree of life” and become gods themselves. (All that is in Genesis. Try reading that fucked up mess you call the bible.)

    Throughout the OT, El Shaddai is being an asshole and calling for the slaughter of these people, those people, all the time. If one of the people he chose as his murderer in chief failed, by showing compassion to even one other, El Shaddai went out of his psychopathic way to ensure the murder of that person and their whole family. El Shaddai repeatedly sold his “chosen people” into slavery and various horrors on a whim.

    Your lovely book of moral guidance is stuffed to the brim with murder, genocide, slavery, rape and thievery. Yeah, that’s loving alright. And no, the devil had nothing to do with it – it’s all that psycho god of yours. The devil had the right idea in defecting.

    The NT isn’t any better. Jesus not only repeatedly states that he holds up every bit of OT law, he had one fuck of a nasty temper himself.

    Out of all the gods people have manufactured, you decided to choose one of the very worst. This doesn’t make you look any less stupid.

    You don’t love your neighbour. You don’t love your “brother”. As usual, “sister” doesn’t even figure into it, as that god and religion of yours fully believes in women as chattel and does not assign them full status as human beings.

    You don’t love anyone except your psychopathic god and those who think and do similarly to yourself.

    You wouldn’t help feed someone without the catch of having to listen to you drone on about your idiot god, you may well snatch the meal out from in front of them if they don’t comply with your idiot god.

    You wouldn’t support free clinics or women’s clinics or Planned Parenthood because that Psycho god of yours wouldn’t like it. Besides, your god doesn’t like uppity women. He has a nasty habit of seeing them raped and killed. It’s your god’s idea of justice.

    You wouldn’t support accessible, affordable birth control and comprehensive sexual education. Oh no. My goodness, people might use their brains and have a good time!

    You wouldn’t (and don’t) support good, quality education with a solid grounding in science with nary a drop of religion in sight. No, no, can’t have those kids developing a personal relationship with reality! Can’t have those kids learning to think!

    You wouldn’t support national healthcare.

    You wouldn’t (and don’t) support the Separation of Church and State, which is what our government is founded upon. You wouldn’t support the privilege being pulled from all religions, religious programs and churches (that means they’d have to pay taxes and stop bilking the poor. Aaaaw.)

    You wouldn’t support GLBT peoples. You wouldn’t support their right to marry. You wouldn’t support their right to adopt children. You wouldn’t support non-discrimination laws.

    You wouldn’t help and comfort the dying. You would hound them on their deathbed because in your arrogance, that’s all you care about.

    The list goes on and on, Dano. You’re a filthy, nasty person, walking around with two fistfuls of ugly. You worship a sociopathic god who you think talks to you. You’d happily start slaughtering people if you thought that’s what El Shaddai wanted. Don’t you even dare to attempt to pass yourself off as a decent human being. You don’t know the meaning of decent.

  164. dano says

    Sally you really need a hobby. Have you thought about being an englush teacher perhaps for a middle school? I mean english.

    I do not need to justify to you that I am interpreting the bible correctly. I only need to justify to myself. Moral compasses are different for everyone otherwise we would not need jails, police, judges, etc. I don’t think that this will ever change but one can only hope (& pray).

  165. newfie says

    Dano your words drip with disrespect and sneering scorn.

    It’s ok though, Ing. Christians like dano get to be the biggest arseholes that they want to be… then they just ask their imaginary friend for forgiveness, and everything is honkey-dory.

  166. David Marjanović says

    The better question is will the atheists be around in 50yrs???????

    Atheists have been around for at least 2500 years now… apart from the mentioned Diagoras of Melos, there’s Cārvāka… so…

    I can be the 23rd in line for the throne of england for all you know.

    According to the pffft! of all knowledge you’re Lord Culloden and you’re five years old.

    ROTFLMAO! Day saved!

    Shit. That last sentence should have been two. Sorry for the run on folks.

    Come on. That was just two lines.

    I was not there when the Israelites killed off the Canaanites

    Of course you weren’t…

    because it never happened.

    Yes, that’s some more reading for you. Take all the time you need.

    Zing! Sniny!

    Seconded.

    I ask you what is wrong with this belief system. Have I caused you harm.

    Wrong question.

    Right question: Does your belief system describe reality accurately?

  167. dano says

    Caine if it makes you feel any better I try to love my neighbor, friend, enemy, sister, mother, brother, father, aunt, uncle, pastor, priest and even Atheists.

    You are correct that in the bible there are stories of killings just as there are stories of men being prosecuted for rape. I appreciate that you have taken the time to read some of it. Again I have never claimed to be a Christian scholar so don’t ask me to find a specific passage. I will leave that up to the people who have studied it as their profesion.

  168. newfie says

    Again I have never claimed to be a Christian scholar so don’t ask me to find a specific passage. I will leave that up to the people who have studied it as their profesion.

    Then listen to one, you might actually learn some facts, history, and critical thinking skills:
    http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/

  169. David Marjanović says

    Have you thought about being an englush teacher perhaps for a middle school? I mean english.

    *blink*

    Do you know your keyboard has “delete” and “backspace” keys?

  170. says

    Sorry where does the bible actually punishs omeone for rape?

    Oh wait you don’t know cause your not a biblical scholar…yet all these atheists who have read the damn book DO know. Its almost like those not retarded by ignorance actually have informed opinions that are the opposite of your own

    Ignorance + strong opinion

    Deeeeeeeeerp!

  171. says

    Ing:

    I note you seem to do this a lot more often to female posters

    Of course. I also noted this in #202. It’s because Dano’s choice of religion conveniently considers women as chattel and worships the patriarchy. Wimmins are not on the planet to use their brains.

  172. dano says

    I have no idea whether someone is a man or woman on here. I might make a guess based on their name but my guess is that based on what I have read it would be wrong. I did not mean any disrespect towards someone because of their sex. I only reply to persons that have posted a comment of interest to me.

  173. theophontes 777 says

    Re: chicken and egg game wrt jeebus and atheists

    Here is an article that would have us believe that: Belief in God is part of human nature – Oxford study

    Humans are naturally predisposed to believe in gods and life after death, according to a major three-year international study.

    What say the horde?

    (I suspect they really mean a form of primal superstition that does not amount to religion, but the term “religion” gets the punters warmed up. The data might be hunk-dory, but their use of this term sucks. )

  174. 'Tis Himself says

    While dano was happy to sneer at me for not thinking I knew as much science as a scientist, he didn’t bother to explain his original remark “I am certainly no scientist but with a bs in economics from a top 10 Econ school I can hold my own” as meaning anything other than he thought he could argue science with scientists.

  175. says

    Deut. 22:28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;
    Deut. 22:29 Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

    Rape a woman, just toss some money to daddy. The woman is forced to marry her rapist. Yeah, that sounds about right. *eyeroll*

  176. newfie says

    What say the horde?

    I’m a human, and I never bought into any of the bullshit. Predisposion is likely correlated with indoctrination and/or ignorance and understanding of natural explainations

  177. dano says

    Ing

    Deuteronomy 22:25-28 ESV “But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense punishable by death.

  178. says

    After taking in a traveling Levite, the host offers his virgin daughter and his guest’s concubine to a mob of perverts (who want to have sex with his guest). The mob refuses the daughter, but accepts the concubine and they “abuse her all night.” The next morning she crawls back to the doorstep and dies. The Levite puts her dead body on an ass and takes her home. Then he chops her body up into twelve pieces and sends them to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Deut. 19:22-30

    To punish his ten concubines for being raped by his son, Absalom (See 2nd Samuel 16:21-22), David refuses to ever again have sex with them and forces them to “keep house” for the rest of their lives. 2nd Samuel 20:3

    I can play scripture pong all day long, fuckwit. I studied the stupid thing for long enough.

  179. says

    Sally you really need a hobby. Have you thought about being an englush teacher perhaps for a middle school? I mean english.

    Nothing here a bot wouldn’t be capable of saying. The refusal to comply with the request also suggests an inability to comply with the request, which suggests that my bot hypothesis is correct.

    Dano, here’s a question for you. If plants evolved sentience and mobility, do you think they would develop something akin to our sense of taste with regards to sunshine? Would they have favorite wavelengths of light? Or perhaps different soil types would please their “palate” in varying fashions. What do you think? This is just something that popped into my head the other night, and it seems like something unlikely to be encountered by a Xian chatbot, so if you could answer it sincerely and in some detail, I’d be convinced that you’re a human.

    Of course, that just means you’re meeting the bare minimum standard of humanity, i.e., fleshy body, breathing, some electrical activity in the cerebral cortex, etc. If it’s true that you’re not a bot, then you’re a horrible failure of a human being.

  180. Sarcosapien says

    Dano, you should have read a little further:

    Deut 22:28-29 If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her..

    What the hell kind of punishment is that?

  181. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    I can not control the choices you make in life no more than you can control mine. I live my life the best way I can and hope that others will do the same.

    The best way you can live your life is to keep your fuckwittery called religion private. Like not posting it in public at atheist blogs. And you do have control over doing that. So, little lie, big lie. We have your number dano666.

  182. says

    Humans are naturally predisposed to believe in gods and life after death, according to a major three-year international study.

    What say the horde?

    It seems consistent with what Pascal Boyer is saying in his new book, Religion Explained, which I am STILL reading! (because I am lazy). Not so much that we’re predisposed to believe in gods/ghosts/an afterlife, but that the concepts of gods/ghosts/afterlife excite our cognitive systems in such a way that they “cling” to our consciousness. He calls them “highly salient” hypotheses about the world–hypotheses which tap into two different types of intuitive reasoning at once. For instance, you’re aware that we have different cognitive systems for dealing with faces and names, right, and that you can get the wires crosses and lose one or the other? So, similar systems deal with things like “animal,” “person,” “object,” etc. Different types of objects activate different types of reasoning–we intuit that objects don’t have goals and aren’t mobile, in general. However, viewing the corpse of a person you knew in life activates both the “person” and “object” models, and this leads to unusual cognitive activity. I haven’t finished it yet, but I’ll be sure to write up my thoughts about it when I do.

    We are finding more and more that human brains are predisposed to certain categories of errors. My hope is that this knowledge will be incorporated into educational systems, as well as training in how to compensate for our inborn cognitive weaknesses, perhaps sometime within my lifetime.

  183. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    dano:

    You’re version of gods appears to you. Gods looks exactly the way you think gods should look. Gods tells you to kill the next 30 people you see. This is a commmand from gods himself.

    If your answer is from the bible, you do it. No questions asked.

    And this is where you get all your answers?

  184. says

    What say the horde?

    Eh, I don’t buy it. People manufactured gods and various superstitious practices to explain shit they didn’t understand. From where I sit, knowledge erases fear of the unknown. The problem is with people who are in fear of learning and those at the top of religious beliefs who are in fear of losing their power over peoples.

  185. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    I do not need to justify to you that I am interpreting the bible correctly. I only need to justify to myself.

    That’s nice and convenient.

  186. says

    Caine why would you study something you obviously find so disgusting?

    Now that’s a dumb question. Lots of atheists were Christians before. Lots of atheists studied the Bible. In fact, lots of atheists became atheists BECAUSE they studied the Bible in depth.

    Not only that, but in a society where fuckwits like yourself are regarded as fine upstanding citizens by the mainstream, we as the minority would be foolish not to familiarize ourselves with your allegedy holy book, since you’re constantly trying to write laws according to your unevidenced beliefs, and, as mentioned in post we are all responding to, inserting your religious beliefs into educational resources which are used for all children, not just those in religious schools.

    You still sound like a bot, by the way.

  187. says

    SallyStrange:

    If plants evolved sentience and mobility, do you think they would develop something akin to our sense of taste with regards to sunshine?

    Sungasms, a la Zhaan.

  188. FilthyHuman says

    @Caine
    #216

    Rape a woman, just toss some money to daddy. The woman is forced to marry her rapist. Yeah, that sounds about right. *eyeroll*

    Well… considering the alternative is to become a beggar and/or starve to death in the street…

    At that time, virginity is prized and men controls all property, so if a woman is raped… well, no one will marry her and she will have no mean to support herself later on in life.

    @Sarcosapien
    #221

    What the hell kind of punishment is that?

    As oppose to getting off scot-free?
    Around that time, the punishment for rape was… well, pretty much non-existence (or light).

    Do remember the context when it was written. Yes, it is still pretty horrible, but compared to social norm at the time, it’s a step in the right direction.

    Put it in another way, if someone propose a law that anyone found to be homosexual is to be jailed, we would find it abhorrent (and said individual to be a cruel bastard). But if the social norm at the time was that being homosexual was to be executed, well, we would say what they individual did was a step in the right direction (we could argue said individual could’ve taken a bigger step).

    Now, if some asshole try than try to use that as justification to go “lenient” on rape… then yes, we should call said asshole, well, asshole.

    Remember, it’s a text written during the bronze age in the middle east.

  189. says

    Caine why would you study something you obviously find so disgusting?

    Any decent, ethical person would find it disgusting, Cupcake. How is it possible you are this stupid and claim to have graduated college with a minor degree? Do you cheat, like your god does, Sugar?

    Back in the day, I was a Jesus freak, fuckwit. I was there for the beginning of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, the tent days. I studied the bible intensively for years. Unlike you, in your stupidity, I actually read and studied the damn thing – more than one version, more than one language. Reading it will fill an actually decent person with revulsion and disgust.

    You aren’t decent. You aren’t ethical. You aren’t moral. Your aren’t loving. You’re nothing but a hate-filled parrot.

  190. says

    Well… considering the alternative is to become a beggar and/or starve to death in the street…

    At that time, virginity is prized and men controls all property, so if a woman is raped… well, no one will marry her and she will have no mean to support herself later on in life.

    Do remember the context when it was written. Yes, it is still pretty horrible, but compared to social norm at the time, it’s a step in the right direction.

    Don’t excuse this crap to me, you fuckwitted apologist. This shit is just that, shit. Other societies at that time did not use or excuse such barbaric behaviour. (Yes, some did, however, that does not excuse your apologetics or acting like the shit in the bible is trufax.)

    Don’t forget the other admonitions – that if a virgin (only a virgin, mind, can’t have tainted heifers) is raped within the city walls and cries out (doesn’t count as rape if she doesn’t cry out), both her and the rapist are to be taken outside the city walls and stoned to death. So yeah, the rapist is punished alright. So is the victim.

    Now I’ll thank you to shut the fuck and go sit in the corner with Dano. I’m in no mood for the slurry of shit leaking out of your brain.

  191. theophontes 777 says

    Re: The linked article.

    Some more here: Oxford University (better article)

    But notice this too:

    funded by the John Templeton Foundation

    The study does seem to involve a fair number of theologians (why? WTF!). Oxford, in its lust for lucre, has lost some of its lustre.

    Xtians on the interwebz are godfapping over the article. You may well run into it as another warped arrow from the theological quiver.

    We are finding more and more that human brains are predisposed to certain categories of errors. -SallyStrange

    This. (A point teh goddists seem to ignore.)

  192. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    I’m going to revisit this

    I do not need to justify to you that I am interpreting the bible correctly. I only need to justify to myself.

    Sums up exactly why your thinking is both intellectually lazy and dangerous at the same time.

  193. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    dano:

    You’re version of gods appears to you. Gods looks exactly the way you think gods should look. Gods tells you to kill the next 30 people you see. This is a commmand from gods himself. What do you do?

    You claim the answer is in the bible. Or were you lying?

  194. theophontes 777 says

    Do remember the context when it was written.

    Sure sign of a goddist: “There is a “context” which makes rape and murder OK.”

    Does the name William Lane Craig mean anything to you?

  195. theophontes 777 says

    @ Caine

    I’ll let you know when I’m surprised.

    Actually, I was a little surprised to discover that. And rather let down. (Though I did notice they where very happy to use the term “religion” inappropriately – especially for people who should know better.)

  196. kemist, Dark Lord of the Sith says

    Caine why would you study something you obviously find so disgusting?

    For about the same reasons somebody would study cancer.

  197. omnicrom says

    Reiterating Brother Ogvorbis’ question:

    God Appears to you and tells you to kill the next 30 people you see. What do you do.

    I’m repeating it here in the hopes it penetrates your skull and sinks into your shrivelled disused brain.

    Also have you caught onto how you’re repeatedly moving the goalposts? That’s the mark of a bad argument, it means you’ve been shut out of the argument and you need to change the rules to try again. It’s what happened when people got on your case for claiming you could argue Science with an economics degree, people were unimpressed with the “Top 10 in the country” thing and attacked you on the merits. You immediately claimed you had never said it.

    Then you said that the Bible has everything you ever needed to know. People attacked you on the merits of the bible and on your very bad language, you backed off and started talking about moral compasses. THEN you said you weren’t a Biblical Scholar which is naturally a foolish thing, if you really believe the secrets of the universe and the method of eternal reward are in the anthology of Myths that is the Bible why in the world aren’t you as knowledgeable about it as possible? And to top it off quite recently when people cited chapter and verse on the hideous misogyny of the Bible you responded with your own chapter and verse.

    Which is it? Black or White? You haven’t left yourself any grey in the world-view you’ve been espousing in the blog so answer the questions that have been put to you: Is the Bible all-encompassing or do you accept that there are other sources where people can learn morality? Do you know the Bible well or don’t you? Would you kill for god or won’t you? Do you want to try and debate the Atheists here on the merits or just complain about how mean they’re being? The reason people have been justifiably hostile towards you is that you have done the same sorry old song and dance of every other insipid godbot who has come to Pharyngula thinking they could convert all the nasty Gnu Atheists.

  198. FilthyHuman says

    @theophontes 777
    #239

    Sure sign of a goddist: ““There is a “context” which makes rape and murder OK.” “

    No OK, but that, at the time period, the rule lessen the damage of rape to victim (at least for that specific rule).

    Does the name “William Lane Craig” mean anything to you?

    No.
    Quick search on Wikipedia fails to inform me how what he said had anything to do with the argument here.

  199. says

    1)Caine,

    Sungasms, a la Zhaan.

    Ah, a fellow Farscape fan.

    2)Dano,

    Urgh. Piss off. You’re an idiot. Everything you’ve said is shit we’ve all heard at least 26 bazillion times before. Also, after you posted Shockofgod videos here, noone is going to take you seriously ever again unless you change your act completely. You should realize that shockofgod is not only a completely ignorant asshat, he’s also a dishonest piece of shit.

  200. FilthyHuman says

    @Ing
    #241

    Perfect moral beings are not eligable for partial credit. It is pass fail.

    True, although I’m arguing it from the perspective that it was a document written by bronze age people.

    Oh and progressive because it previously establishes women as property and nonvirgins are shit and to be shunned or killed. Yeah no credit for slapping a bandaid on it.

    Yes, maybe they could’ve do more. Still, a step is better than no step.

    Of course, in retrospect, probably did more harm than good (as in “Oh look! We’re better now! Let’s just keep it that way!”).

  201. Antiochus Epiphanes says

    Completely OT:

    If plants evolved sentience and mobility, do you think they would develop something akin to our sense of taste with regards to sunshine? Would they have favorite wavelengths of light?

    They can distinguish light of different wavelengths already, and respond to them differently. Sentience isn’t really necessary. This hardly invalidates your point, but I can’t seem to refrain from pedantry regarding botany.

  202. baal says

    I have touched many lives and given knowledge to others. Why do you find this so disgusting?

    Dano-troll, your version of knowledge is delusional. Also, since your an economist, let’s say your client very-big-corp hands you a post card and says that’s all she needs for the latest 10Q filing. Further, some stuff is repeated with some variations and the front and back half were written in different handwriting and don’t agree with each other.

    Would you suggest that this post card is enough to explain all information that’s claimed to be in it?

  203. says

    Sungasms, a la Zhaan.

    I watched some Farscape, but obviously not enough. :D Sungasms! Cool!

    If plants evolved sentience and mobility, do you think they would develop something akin to our sense of taste with regards to sunshine? Would they have favorite wavelengths of light?

    They can distinguish light of different wavelengths already, and respond to them differently. Sentience isn’t really necessary. This hardly invalidates your point, but I can’t seem to refrain from pedantry regarding botany.

    Yeah, I know that. Which inspired the musing. By “something akin to our sense of taste,” I meant, would they develop rituals around tasting this wavelength or that. Would they have clubs where you could go to take in a particularly intoxicating color. Would certain wavelengths become the marker of higher or lower classes? That sort of thing. The things for which sentience would be necessary.

  204. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    SallyStrange:

    Or would certain absorption lines be anathema? Or certain wavelengths ‘dirty’?

  205. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    No, that would be reserved for the individuals who were more fascinated by variations in soil type and consistency than they were by light wavelengths.

    Not to mention what some of those plants are willing to do to attract a bird or a bee.

  206. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    dano:

    You’re version of gods appears to you. Gods looks exactly the way you think gods should look. Gods tells you to kill the next 30 people you see. This is a commmand from gods himself. What do you do?

    You claim the answer is in the bible. Or were you lying?

  207. Antiochus Epiphanes says

    Yeah, I know that. Which inspired the musing. By “something akin to our sense of taste,” I meant, would they develop rituals around tasting this wavelength or that. Would they have clubs where you could go to take in a particularly intoxicating color. Would certain wavelengths become the marker of higher or lower classes? That sort of thing. The things for which sentience would be necessary.

    Oooh. Every city would have a far-red district, where you can get pollinated all night long. A tendency toward hermaphroditism may be enough to prevent government from getting their laws all up inside your carpels*. Undoubtedly, the seed plants would look down on the ferns and fern allies, who themselves would bear pity/comtempt for the non-vascular plants…

    Sorry. The mind boggles at such titillating possibilities.

    *Like, because everyone would have them.

  208. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    The mind boggles at such titillating possibilities.

    And I think the Sin of Onan would be right out the window. Do not cast your seed on the ground? That’s what plants do!

  209. says

    Not to mention what some of those plants are willing to do to attract a bird or a bee.

    I’m sure there would be plenty of slut-shaming directed at those plants with the audacity to wear bright flowers with strong scents. And the Bee Rights Activists would never stop harping about the carnivorous plants. I mean, what about the BeeZ?

  210. Antiochus Epiphanes says

    No, that would be reserved for the individuals who were more fascinated by variations in soil type and consistency than they were by light wavelengths.

    Enter Amorphophallus titanum, a wealthy socialphyte with a light-independent side. The girth and fecundity of hir inflorescence was the envy of the fruiting classes but hir secret predilection for pyroclastic soils verged on the obscene.

  211. Crip Dyke, Right Reverend Feminist FuckToy of Death & Her Handmaiden says

    Khantron:

    Dano there is a rabbit hiding under your bed that will kill you if you don’t send me 1000 dollars.

    Dano:

    my 9 year old shot him earlier today with his 22 & we are going to eat him for supper….we love rabbit meat.

    Phalacrocorax:

    May I point out that you now have a much more dangerous rabbit ghost to deal with?

    And me:
    Strike her down and she will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

    /end scene…

  212. Crip Dyke, Right Reverend Feminist FuckToy of Death & Her Handmaiden says

    “Do not cast your seed on the ground? That’s what plants do!”

    And have done, for millions of years – the pattern just doesn’t end!

    That’s what I call on an’ on an’ onanism.

  213. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    That’s what I call on an’ on an’ onanism.

    Bad pun. No donut.

  214. No One says

    I’m considering making a god puppet. Wouldn’t that be neat? You could stick your hand up it’s ass and get it to say anything.

  215. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Slutty fucking plants.

    Who do they think they are letting those bees dip their hoo-hoos and nay-nays in them.

  216. sophiagroup says

    The orchids are the worst. The shape of some of them, why it’s, it’s filthy!

    That doesn’t look like any ‘lady’s slipper’ I’ve ever seen!

  217. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    The orchids are the worst. The shape of some of them, why it’s, it’s filthy!

    That doesn’t look like any ‘lady’s slipper’ I’ve ever seen!

    I like Georgio O’Keefe’s artwork. I prefer the skulls, but the vaginas orchids are nice, too.

  218. Sarcosapien says

    @Filthy Human #232

    I didn’t say anything about getting off “scot free”. My point was to show how utterly terrible it was to be a rape victim in that context. Further, I produced verses that go on to prove my point in the very next post (#222); women -were- put to death for being raped for the sin of not “crying out”. Again I ask: What the hell kind of punishment is that?

    These are the sorts of questions/verses with which Christians need to be confronted when they claim the usual suspects regarding their deity’s qualities. The stammering will produce a chuckle at least, and a person to truly rethink his or her position as a way toward shedding those barbaric beliefs. I am a (please pardon the pun) testament to that process.

    As a former fundie, I am ashamed that I ascribed to said Bronze Age beliefs and its backwards moral relativism.

  219. says

    Dano, you mean we shouldn’t be angry that someone is screwing up the Texas education system, inserting falsehoods and dropping important truths, or that Texas is targeted because its textbooks are used by a lot of other states, or that the children taught from these textbooks will be learning a false view of the world that may kill their grandchildren???

    For what do you reserve your indignation?

  220. says

    Dano maundered:

    a left wing slant that we all swam before we walked or was it flew before we swam…

    Dano, there’s your problem. Some liar has fed you a straw-man description of evolution that bears no resemblance at all to reality or science. You have no concept of the aeons of time available for it to happen in nor of the millions of hours of research that went into discovering the facts.

    The people who discovered evolution were mostly Christians who believed at first in special creation. (When Darwin had doubts about Christianity, he used to daydream about Roman letters being found that would confirm every detail.) The first thing they discovered was that the Earth is old. Then they sorted out something of which layers of rock were oldest. A big help was the observation that the older rocks were generally on the bottom, although sometimes the layers were turned over. They noted that organisms, when present, changed from age to age and tended towards greater complexity. Finally, they noticed that some species disappeared. It took about a hundred years for geologists to sort out the rock layers in Europe.

    After that, the evidence was totted up that animals in one era and area were replaced by closely related animals in the same area throughout time. It appeared that gradual changes were occurring. The cave organisms (blind shrimp, fish, etc.) in each region were relatives of the organisms that lived on the surface, not perfect cave organisms designed by God.

    Once people realized that the Earth is old, that species change over time, and that some species go extinct, the stage was set for the theory of evolution to be developed.

    Very gradually people began to realize that more are born than can survive and that the very slight statistical pressure of being better suited to current conditions made a difference in the number of offspring left behind. Thus there was a shift in the characteristics of populations. Evolution is a change in gene frequency in a population. It is not a sudden jump in an individual.

    Darwin is the most famous for having worked it out and for spending 20 years gathering evidence and marshalling his arguments. But Alfred Russell Wallace, after spending almost 20 years knocking around the globe collecting specimens, came to the the same conclusion. A Scotsman even tossed it off in an appendix to a book on lumber for naval shipyards twenty years earlier.

    You would do well to take a leaf from Darwin’s book. In _The Origin of Species,_ he devotes a chapter to discussing all the best criticisms he can think of for his theory and working through why they don’t invalidate it. You cannot argue against something without knowing what it is. You cannot defeat evolution by defeating a vicious caricature of it. Please believe me that creationist summaries of evolution are more inaccurate than claiming that Christians worship donkeys on sticks. If I dismissed your religion on that basis you would rightly ignore my dismissal. Please learn what evolution is before you dismiss it.

  221. Crip Dyke, Right Reverend Feminist FuckToy of Death & Her Handmaiden says

    derail:

    I worked at a market research company many years ago. We did a survey on a game. One of the person said of the particular video game in question, “It’s so fun, I can play with myself all day.”

    That completely cracked up the person, someone I supervised, who had to read the responses, so he read it out to the room and that’s when I (instead of saying something about getting back to work or even just quietly tolerating a moment of merriment) spontaneously said, “Now that’s what I call on an’ on an’ onanism,” for the very first time.

    It’s a phrase that’s come in useful every so often since then, but the funniest thing about it in the moment is the guy who originally read the phrase out busted a gut, I started snorting just a little because I amused myself, regardless of how outre it is to laugh at one’s own joke. The boss in her office just off the room we were in started squealing…and the other 5 people just stared at us like we were batshit insane. Which really, really set me off. Then I started laughing out loud and 30 seconds later I couldn’t breathe their expressions were so bewildered while the 2 that got my joke were just about dying. The second funniest 5 minutes in my life was looking back & forth between my boss, the guy who read the original survey response, and everyone else in the room.

    Good times.

    /derail.

  222. Crip Dyke, Right Reverend Feminist FuckToy of Death & Her Handmaiden says

    Markita – #278:

    I didn’t know that they were clones. That’s incredibly interesting to me. I know that they’ve thought about (maybe they’ve actually done it?) dispersing the Wollemi Pine to other suitable places around the world with the right climate and soil. I was thinking that populations might diversify to help preserve the species, but if they are all clones, i guess that they wouldn’t.

    Hmm. Learn something new and all that.

  223. theophontes 777 says

    @ FilthyHuman 244

    at the time period,

    Again! You are doing it again. YHWH is supposed to be the ultimate arbiter of Morality ™ .His plan for humankind is supposed to be for eternity. Why does He keep changing His mind?

    the rule lessen the damage of rape to victim

    Why not have an elebentyth commandment: Thou shalt not rape!
    A Moral god would fix the problem from the outset, not pander to male privilege.

    Wikipedia fails to inform me how what he said had anything to do with the argument here.

    Learn to google… William Lane Craig excuses genocide by examining the fucking “context”:

    “So whom does God wrong in commanding the destruction of the Canaanites? Not the Canaanite adults, for they were corrupt and deserving of judgment. Not the children, for they inherit eternal life. So who is wronged? Ironically, I think the most difficult part of this whole debate is the apparent wrong done to the Israeli [sic] soldiers themselves. Can you imagine what it would be like to have to break into some house and kill a terrified woman and her children? The brutalising effect on these Israeli [sic] soldiers is disturbing.” -William Lane Craig

    The sick fuck is sick. Don’t ply the same bullshit (ir)rationality.