Nevada Tea Party candidate opposes abortion because rape is part of God’s plan


Sharron Angle is the Tea Party candidate running as a Republican in the Nevada senate race. Oh, and she’s a misogynistic godwalloping asshole:

MANDERS: I too am pro-life, but I’m also pro-choice. Do you understand what I say when I mean that?

ANGLE: Well, I’m pro responsible choice. There’s choice to abstain, choice to use contraceptives … there’s all kinds of good choice…

MANDERS: Is there any reason at all for an abortion?

ANGLE: Not in my book.

MANDERS: So, in other words, rape and incest would not be something?

ANGLE: You know, I’m a Christian, and I believe that God has a plan and a purpose for each one of our lives and that he can intercede in all kinds of situations and we need to have a little faith in many things.

I really don’t understand why Christians would want to promote the idea that God is a sadistic dick who’s making you get raped for your own good, but hey, feel free to continue your bad PR. What I do have a problem with is when you illogical fairy tales are going to hurt people and become public policy. The fact that people support this woman is terrifying.

Comments

  1. Luvlymish says

    Your country’s politics scare me…and then I remember how much my country’s politicians seem to be aping all aspects of your country…and I am terrified.

  2. Ntsc says

    Well if the rape was part of god’s plan, wouldn’t it follow that the abortion was too?

  3. John Small Berries says

    I’ve heard the “abortion is wrong because God has a Plan for that baby” argument before, and it strikes me as evidence against the claims of an omnipotent, omniscent God.For it seems to me that an omniscient God, with a great Plan in mind, would know better than to place a fetus in the womb of a woman who would abort it – in the process, proving the all-powerful deity too weak to prevent it and ensure his Plan’s success.

  4. hippiefemme says

    This viewpoint has never made sense to me. Normally I would remark that I can’t imagine that a forgiving deity would want a child to be disdained by his/her mother for being forced to deliver him/her after rape, but then someone could comment that the mother could put the baby up for adoption. Still, this woman obviously can’t imagine the psychological torture of having to carry to term a fetus that would be a daily reminder of a tragic event. Having morning sickness for three months or more because you were raped? Having to take potentially expensive prenatal vitamins and undergo costly medical visits because you were raped? Having to buy a new wardrobe to fit over your growing belly because you were raped? That’s really not the best PR pitch I’ve heard.If “he can intercede in all kinds of situations,” then why can’t that interception be the power of modern medicine and the ability to provide her with a safe abortion and psychological counseling? It reminds me of the two boats and a helicopter story.

  5. says

    Saying that rape is part of God’s plan is one step away from saying the woman should be punished for allowing it to happen.Welcome to Sharia Law America.

  6. Rootboy says

    My mother talks about God’s plan a lot. Anything that happens to you outside your control, good or bad, is “part of God’s plan”. Could be a rape. Anything that you choose to do may or may not be going along with God’s plan. According to Sharron Angle, having an abortion is running away from God’s plan for you.It’s a totally magical, un-falsifiable way of thinking about things that encourages you to just accept whatever happens to you rather than trying to improve things. The God of this worldview is capricious and inscrutable, and we’re supposed to just accept that he knows better than we do and go along with it.

  7. says

    Oh God, I was listening to Christian Talk Radio the other night because it amuses me. There was a lot of, “God tortures you to make you a better person” and shit.One of the ones that disturbed me most was about a woman who had a father that abused her and her mother, and she finally escaped by getting a scholarship and going across the country to college, not seeing him for years. She wrote a book about it. And they interviewed her, and she talked about how she wanted God to help her make things right.And so she met with her father. And things “weren’t perfect,” which she didn’t elaborate on what that means, so I assume it means he hit her–but just a few times–and then told her, “I don’t know why I did those things, I love you.”And that obviously doesn’t make him a textbook case of domestic abuse! That’s certainly nothing he would say just to keep her from running away! He really did love her!But the part that got me, the part that made me want to run my car into something, was when she said, “If I had a chance to do it all over again, and choose my parents, I’d still choose you. You’re who made me who I am today.”And I just saw a red mist.

  8. Holytape says

    I believe that rape is usually a part of Gods plan. Just look at the bible. No where does it say that Mary said yes, before God planted his seed. And in the old testament, nearly every time Israel took over a city the young virgins were carried off as prizes. And Lot, the supposedly righteous man, offered his two daughters to be raped. (There is a second story in the bible, that mirrors the Lot story, but in that version the husband offers up his wife, and she is raped to death.) Luckily, God’s plan is a load of horseshit. And God does not actually exist. As for Angle, the reason why she is anti-abortion is that she can’t figure out how many chickens to give the doctor to pay for it. She also said that she wanted to “phase out social security” , but then she said that she never wanted to get rid of it, but just phase it out. She is a moron. I don’t like Reid, but he comes off looking like the love child of Kennedy and Gandhi standing next to her. A more realistic story of Mary

  9. Baileythebookworm says

    Another huge glaring flaw in that line of thinking is this: if the dick-tastic Christian god can intervene in all kinds of ways…why didn’t he prevent the rape to begin with? What kind of person can believe in a ‘good’ god that would allow a woman (or man) to be the victim of incest or rape in the first place?

  10. pnwgreg says

    God is the worst planner in the history of the universe! Every time God comes up with a plan for somebody, it always involves some kind of untimely death, disablement, or tragedy. And then we are asked to thank God for these “gifts”? God strikes me as the ultimate egotistical narcissistic manipulative heartless sadistic SOB. At least that’s the way God’ is portrayed by his believers.

  11. says

    I never get so angry as I do when I read about American politics. Except then Harper got elected and now I read about American politics when I read about his government. Fuck this shit, I’m moving to Sweden. I *would* move to Oz, except Julia Gillard, the awesome pro-choice atheist is against gay-marriage. *&$@)!*#$*$&#

  12. hippiefemme says

    Your comment reminds me of the skinny jeans defense that acquitted a rapist. The most disturbing part of that article is in the comment section, where people allude to the idea that she was “asking for it” by dressing immodestly.

  13. says

    When I was still a Christian, that’s how I felt about it. An omnipotent god is really not one to be stopped by a medical procedure. But, it’s terribly convenient to live in a world in which everything that happens is on purpose.

  14. says

    And that is the reasoning behind the Burqa. 1 Timothy 2 verses 9 – 12:”9I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. 11A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. “The seeds are already in their book.

  15. MissHoneychurch says

    I’ll just point out that Angle is the candidate who in January was on conservative radio discussing “Second Amendment* remedies” to the current political situation. Check-out this direct quote and the not-so-thinly veiled threat:“You know, our Founding Fathers, they put that second amendment in there for a good reason and that was for the people to protect themselves against a tyrannical government. And in fact, Thomas Jefferson said it’s good for a country to have a revolution every 20 years.“I hope that’s not where we’re going, but, you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying, ‘my goodness what can we do to turn this country around?’ I’ll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out.”So, here’s the person so concerned with protecting life advocating for violent revolution. Even with the most generous reading of the above quote, her ethical position is dubious at best.*For the international readers among us, the second amendment provides for the right to bear arms.

  16. Rhb says

    I always like to think that in those days of poor spelling, no air-conditioning and no deodorants the right was really to bare arms.

  17. James says

    This is scary, but not surprising. I write about this kind of this constantly on my blog Freethinking For Dummies. In fact, I must thank you for inspiring the blog entry I’ll be posting later today.Keep calling these idiots out. We can’t let them slide one inch.

  18. mcbender says

    Is it so horribly wrong that the first thing to go through my mind when reading this is “Fuck the Christians who think like this; maybe actually experiencing rape would get them to reconsider”? I don’t like the idea of wishing rape on anybody, but when people say things like this I come perilously close to doing so…I’ve said before, and I will say again: if a god like this existed, worshipping it would be immoral.

  19. says

    The concept that this espouses is just too bizarre for words. I liken it to the wreck I survived 9 years ago, where the odds of survival were expressed in double digits as “survivors per million wrecks”. Some say I survived for a reason, I say I should be so lucky when I buy a lottery ticket. Seriously, I wouldn’t wish my life since the wreck on any human being.

  20. Jon says

    I’d prefer it if people could stop using the word ‘Christian’ for this sort of thing. This is a narrow & extremist view, held by a very vocal minority.

  21. dk says

    Never assume someone is “too crazy” to be elected in America. Our history books could be full of the stupid, ass-tastic morons that have been elected by the masses, and of the true weaselocity and shit-headery they get up to. Honestly, I think Obama only won because of a secret conspiracy to get the morons out of office…and I thank them for it.For those bashing “Christians,” though I am agnostic, I do NOT think this is the thinking of the average person on the street. I know too many realistic believers who would be the ones holding a rape-victims hand at the clinic to rage at all theists over a moronic minority’s inability to follow the bouncing logic ball.

  22. matt says

    This is the same crazy bitch who said that not only will she never be in favor of legalizing weed, but she wants to bring back prohibition of booze. In Nevada.It doesn’t seem possible that she could be a viable candidate.

  23. matt says

    Oh yeah, she also said that separation of church and state is unconstitutional. Unconstitutional.

  24. says

    I think she is the kind of judgmental person who assumes that if something bad happens to you, you must have deserved it, just a little. Although she’s invoking “God’s plan”, she also talks about “responsibility”, which sounds an awful lot like “if you get knocked up you deserve it” to me. It matches the philosophy of other statements she has made–such as that the unemployed are just “lazy”. see here: http://crooksandliars.com/karo…But yeah, between this and her statements about separation of church and state being out of context, I’d say she’s a real piece of work.http://vixenstrangelymakesunco

  25. says

    I forwarded this to Facebook because I want my friends to see what kind of a nutjob Harry Reid is running against Harry Reid. If Susan Angle is the kind of crazy person the Republicans are running then they deserve to fail. How about running a viable intelligent candidate once in a while?

  26. Aussie Sceptic says

    If god was omnipotent it would impossible for a human action (say abortion) to thwart god’s plan. If god is not omnipotent then god is not god.

  27. skepticalmedia says

    The Tea “Party” (it’s not a recognized political party) movement has been the best thing for the Progressives. The Republicans have nurtured the rise of these wing-nuts and now they are starting to get scared because they are bringing unelectable candidates to the ticket. I’m loving it! The conservatives got into bed with these dopes, they can sleep with ’em.

  28. says

    Sharon Angle doesn’t talk to the media. I know this isn’t the reason why, but still she thinks she can win a seat without talking to the press. She’s completely banking on contributions by Tea Party and ultra-conservative PACs.

  29. says

    Why doesn’t this sky fairy god just create a bunch of non-arsewipe men to go around impregnating women, instead of creating hillbilly idiot rapists? Because quite frankly, he’s an asshole.

  30. A-M says

    Even from a Christian’s point of view this makes no sense. I’m an atheist, but my weirdly religious mother pointed out, how does that woman know which actions are god’s plan, and which aren’t? If you believe god is a higher being, and we mere mortals should just have faith and cannot even begin to understand him (as this woman aparently does), then how can you be special enough to decide one abhorent act is god’s will, and the other isn’t? (I’m not bashing the right to abortion here, I’m just saying it’s not a nice thing to do, even if you are justified in doing so.)From an atheist’s point of view, it’s just the most backward thing I’ve heard all week.

  31. Stephan Goodwin says

    wouldn’t it follow that the abortion was too? Exactly! Why can everything be part of a god’s plan, but not abortion? Assuredly a god could have made abortion impossible, right?

  32. A1 says

    Hi, i’ll say it as i think it works… if some badass B rapes some victim woman V, he gets one child C, the woman gets this child too… what’s wrong with it? B has harmed V psychically, next B has bypassed all of the rituals in which V chooses apropriate mating partner which is enough good for her, so she couldn’t choose with whom she had baby and lately B runs away, that means he will not support and get food for C. There are two options there, first she is alone, she will need to support her child alone or find support, second she has a partner and her partner will need to support a parasitic offspring which hasn’t his genes, it’s working against him. So B has cheated, he could make offspring without much work… that sounds parasitic… What is good on this? V gets a child, so V has reproduced itself, this is positive for here because her genes will get to next generation… and the child which has some predisposition for raping in genes so it will have higher chance to reprodue, so when C or it’s next offspring has a boy again it could rape again and reproduce… It’s of some use for women for spreading it’s genes… Maybe it works better in times of prosperity where is enogh food to live for anyone. In bad times it can force reproduction so someone will reproduce, no matter what existential stress exists. And now my emotional opinion, if this happened to someone who i know, if I could I would have taken some paralyser and castration tools and went on some hunting…

  33. A1 says

    correction… wrong is “he could make offspring without much work…”, it has to be “he has made offspring without much work, any other men are limited by resources that they can get to feed their families”

  34. A1 says

    correction 2.0: men who are cheaters are limited by resources, but they can make offspring out of their family… but there is higher chance that they will be forced to pay aliment, and this phenomenon is less unethical than rape

  35. hippiefemme says

    That would, of course, be preferable, but I was working with the assumption that it happened and now we’re dealing with the aftermath. Yes, I do think that a supposedly loving deity should prevent evil actions in the first place. It’d really save the poor woman a lot of emotional turmoil.

  36. hippiefemme says

    And so we get Boobquake! I’m pleased to know that I can critique religious literature and dogma without being burned at the stake, even if my conservative sociology professor didn’t appreciate my outfit that day.

  37. Ass says

    You are forgetting that reproduction is more than just insemination. Even if you take out all of the emotions and assume that reproduction and having fit offspring are paramount (which is complete and utter bullshit), in the scenario, V would have to use additional resource to bring up child C. B will not provide additional resources for C in the same way as a mate of V’s choosing would have. Also V’s genes are inferior, since B did not select him. Thus C is a disadvantage to V, not only because she has to provide all of the resources for this C, and thus limiting her ability to have more children or maintain herself, but also because her genes are now tied to inferior genes. It might be in V’s best interest to abandon C, in order to invest resources into a future child with a mate of her choosing. So while B might make more children, giving these parameters, less of his children would survive.

  38. Jon says

    Wouldn’t 1 Timothy 2 v12 as above prohibit her from standing for office? She’d be in authority over men.

  39. Jon says

    ‘Tea Party Candidate with a hazy understanding of predestination’.Predestination doesn’t work very well in Christianity. It teaches that your sins are forgiven if you repent. If it’s predestined that somebody doesn’t repent, then they are unsavable, and nobody is unsavable (give me time and I’ll find a biblical verse that says this last point specifically).

  40. says

    I’ve spent my life under the rule of a tyrant. I was tormented at home by my sister and father…and at school by my peers and the teachers, betrayed and lied to by a woman I spent two years of my life loving. It made me who I am. I wouldn’t change any of it, even if I could. Not because I like what I became…but because it gave me something.It gave me a perception beyond the simple scope of what I see with my own eyes, and what I hear with my own two ears.It gave me the truth. Life is pain. From the moment you are born, when the Doctor slaps your ass to jump start your existence, until the day you no longer draw breath. If there is a God, perhaps he does have a divine plan. Perhaps everything does happen for a reason.But his plan would not revolve around this one tiny little rock in the whole of the universe…which has an expanse farther than infinite. If there is a God, he is not loving, or caring, or protecting his “children”. If there is indeed a God, he would be detached, and emotionless. Without feeling, or care.Why, you ask? Perhaps one should look at what feeling does. When you feel…you favor. When you favor…you forsake. Here’s an example…say you play StarCraft. You love to win. You favor one race, and forsake the others. Yet, you are still unfeeling, and uncaring. You send these people to their deaths without worry, or concern. Your only concern is victory. If you started caring about each person, you wouldn’t be able to send them to their deaths.Now for the opposite effect. Let’s say you play The Sims…(regardless of which)…you feel for your Sims. You are their God, and they are your creations. If you begin to favor one family over the others, they will prosper the greatest…but the rest will wane, and suffer as your attention on them is merely so your favored family can succeed.Unusual dichotomy to compare to, but it’s the simplest truth…and if you look around, you will see it in the world around you as well. In Politics and Religion especially, where they favor one, and forsake the rest. If there is an all knowing, all seeing, all powerful, God…he is hateless….but he is also loveless. He feels nothing for anyone.By that definition of what a God would truly be, then it makes sense that rape, and murder, and torture, and evil could easily fall into his plan. But also, by that definition, then abortion is also considered in his plan. If he truly is a God…then he already knows what we’re thinking…and what we’re doing…and what’s happening on this little bauble we’ve come to know as “Earth”.Why does he stop none of it? Because he doesn’t care enough to alter his plans for one insignificant planet. 6.6 billion people in the world…sextillions of tons of stone, and steel used to create the wonders of our world…and none of them…not the people, or the buildings, or the wonders, can be seen from the Moon, much less anywhere else in the Galaxy.We’re not even a spec on the whole of the universe. We’re not so important that a God would need to alter his plans just to satisfy us. This is assuming there is one. Perhaps there is…or perhaps there are many…perhaps there are none. 6.6 billion people can’t prove it, or disprove it. So what do you do? Live life, and don’t bother speculating. You’ll have plenty of time to speculate on death when you ARE dead, and if there really IS nothing…you’ll be dead, so you won’t care anymore. ;)

  41. lomifeh says

    She doesn’t even understand her own religion. Contraceptive use is considered a sin as well. It’s bareback all the way because any kind of birth control interferes with god’s plan as well. It’s more bullshit.

  42. says

    i have never agreed with the he-works-in-mysterious-ways mindset. (though i can understand if something terrible happens it can be a comfort thinking it’s all a plan of some Higher Being). Even when i was a Christian it didn’t make sense. How do we have free will if he’s got a plan for everything?

  43. Twin-Skies says

    Playing on that logic, wouldn’t I also be justified for wanting to beat the rapist half to death because he has a “Backpfeifengesicht,” or a face that just wants to be punched?It always amuses me how adamant these people can be about bullshit logic like this without realizing that it’s equally capable of hitting them too.

  44. says

    I love God. Omnipotent, omnipresent being, just chillin’, knowing everything, but then…”Hey. Hey! You! Asshole! I didn’t plan for you to put on that fucking condom! Yeah well maybe I can see the future but your dick is so small anyway! Take that thing the fuck off! You’re supposed to knock that chick up. I know you’re both only fourteen. I’m just sayin’, it’s trailer trash for you. That’s how I fucking planned it, you condom-wearing piece of feces!”

  45. Ravana says

    Speaking as a Nevadan and as somebody who lives within the area the reach of Manders’ voice… anybody unfamiliar with the man has absolutely no idea how utterly horrific and terrifying it is that he comes off as the sane one in that conversation.

  46. Sncfrk says

    I can’t believe how one sided this whole argument is, and how all of the smart people on this forum can misinterpret such a small quote. Sorry for such a long post in advance, but there are a lot of really confused people here asking a lot of big questions. Thankfully, there are answers!I don’t even know where to start; I’ll begin by saying I think it’s to the fault of many Christians who are misguided in their own beliefs that give us (Christians) a bad rep. Just putting this out there – The Bible NEVER SAYS “everything happens for a reason.” People made that up. It is not true by any Christian standard. Therefore, the fact that everyone here judges all Christians with this philosophy in mind is a really awful thought.As a Christian myself, I’ve been fortunate enough to go to a church that preaches from the Bible and not just common anecdotes that people have put in God’s mouth.Here’s how it really is-God is omnipotent. He does everything for a good reason. That does not mean however that everything that happens – good or bad – is a result of God’s plan.God certainly has a plan – a perfect plan – for everyone. But rather than make us robots forced into loving him, he also gave us the free will to choose to follow Him and His plan, or not to. So, people are free to live life however they want. If a misguided guy wants to rape a woman, then he will. Bad things happen and we don’t have to like it. That doesn’t mean it’s God’s fault or that it was part of his plan in any way, and there ARE consequences that the guy will face even if he “gets away with it.” But bad things happen to all of us, and even if it’s not rape we still have to deal with the outcome. Just because you didn’t ask for a baby, does not mean it’s ok to kill it. I’m not saying it’s fair – it’s not. But responsibility doesn’t only come when we ask for it or are ready for it. That baby’s life is her responsibility at this point, and part of that responsibility can be turning something terrible (like birthing an unexpected child) to something beautiful like a new life being given to a loving but barren couple. I think what a lot of people misunderstand most is that God can make something good out of any situation, even if it started out bad. Another problem is that a lot of people don’t bother asking God for help! They just blame him for their misery and then hate him, when really asking God for strength during a time like that is crucial and what any rape victim should be doing. He wants to help and fix the situation but he’s not going to force his love on anyone. God hates rape more than anyone, so it’s crazy to hear so many Christians saying “well it’s his plan so there must be a good reason.” that’s complete BS. Why do people blame God and not the Devil? Too often is Satan left out of the equation. Either believe in both or neither if we’re going by what the Bible says. Things like rape are a result of Satan poisoning peoples mind. The result of an evil attack to make people like you think it’s God’s fault. Did you ever consider that aspect? Has any other Christian ever told you that? Because it should be every informed Christian’s response. Not, “God must have a good reason…”Again, God doesn’t prevent all bad things from happening because we have the will to do what we want. As a Christian I believe that having a personal relationship with God means I can ask him for help in any situation. I can even pray against bad ones in the future, and expect that he’ll deliver me through those hard times and the present ones. (or heal past ones!) Saying “God works in mysterious ways,” is another common phrase that has no origin found in the Bible. While I absolutely agree that we may not always understand why God does or doesn’t do certain things that would seem logical to us, applying this phrase – relevant or not – to any event is twisted and wrong. -for example-9/11 – “Ma’am I know you loved your working husband but God works in mysterious ways, so we just need to trust that it was meant to be.” …No! Of course that wasn’t God’s plan for those towers to blow up. That was the Devil’s doing. Not God’s. Has God created a lot of good things from that mess? Yea, a countless amount of people of been affected positively by the aftermath in more ways that I can think of. But it I can confidently say it wasn’t God’s plan for the Trade Center to fall just so that some people would start going to church again. To end my attempt at explaining some things in question here, I just want to say that everyone angered by the idea that “everything happens for a reason,” is entirely justified in feeling that frustration. But so am I, because that is not what true Christians believe. So don’t believe people when that is their answer.I hope that at least some people will read this with an open mind to realize that there is, in fact, a great deal of logic to what true Christians believe. Unfortunately it’s often times the most outspoken mis-informed Christians that make the headlines and news articles – not necessarily the right ones. (Lastly,) since I don’t know anything about Miss. Angle as a person or her beliefs, I can’t support her interview or deny it. But judging by her wording in the clip here, I do think it’s possible people may have jumped to conclusions from this, and she may not even believe that everything happens for a reason as you all have assumed.

Leave a Reply