They have a vision. They have a dream. They know what shape they want America to take. And they have formed an “organization inspired by the principles of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and the Evangelical and Christian Reconstruction movements”. And completely oblivious to the irony, with no hint that they understand the associations it will inspire, they have named this organization…the PALIBAN.
2012 is going to be so much fun.
And by “fun”, I mean “loaded with despair and exasperation and disappointment in my fellow citizens.”
(Read their blog and you might suspect a Poe, though. It’s just a little too all that.)
What a perfectly revolting site that was – both creepy and scary, with a touch of spittle-flecked madness. Now, how do I gouge out my mind’s eye?
Happy New Year
Forgot to add, I do hope it is a Poe, but could not stay around long enough to find out – my retch-o-meter was already past rising gorge and moving toward expel.
Ciao
Looks a bit inauthentic. Almost like it’s a put-on…
from their site:
Soulgasm: Christians Gone Wild!
Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol, gave birth to a 7 pound, 4 oz baby boy on Sunday. So, why is he going to Hell? Visit the Paliban Daily blog site for the full story!
———————————————
headlines like these in conjunction with the name “Paliban” make this a pretty unsubtle poe.
The PALIBAN
Please tell me its a Poe….Then again,it is the USA..:-)
And Happy New Year to all Pharyngulites !!!
Its 1230am on January 1 here in Melbourne
Poe, methinks.
Isn’t that the site where the Poe-ish troll we had a while back, Paliban Mom, came from?
That’s so Poe it’s talking to ravens.
Still, I think I will avoid it because I’m still sensitized to Sarah Palin: Even the thought of her makes me squirm.
This is absolutely a joke;
“HOST A BOOK-BURNING!
PRAY IN SCHOOL!”
“Sarah on the Homosexual Question”
“We, the Paliban, know that God demands that we stone homosexuals to death”
Between the Taliban & Nazi references these people have to be kidding.
Satire, for sure.
In their online store they’re selling bumper stickers that say –
“Theocracy Now – Palin 2012”
and
“I can see Russia from my house – McPalin”
Nope – I don’t buy it. This scores as high as Landover Baptists on the Whatthefuck! meter, and I say it’s a poe.
+1 for Poe.
“Theocracy Now”?
I realize it’s difficult to parody the absurdly religious, but check out the “about the Paliban” section:
“While we do not agree with the Taliban’s Jesus-hating religious choice, we do agree with them on an important point: God’s Law is written in the Bible*, and we should follow ALL of it.
ALL of it means ALL, not just the bits we happen to like or find convenient! That means outlawing adultery, divorce, homosexuality, working on the Sabbath, wearing of blended fabrics, and polyculture, among other things!”
Yes, this is most certainly a joke.
This almost seems redundant; Sarah Palin is her own worst lampoon. Kudos to the satirists, though. I especially enjoyed the Operation Rapture page.
“Naturally, she realizes that a frozen wasteland with a short growing season and limited agricultural land will be very attractive to millions once the lower 48 are glowing with radiation, or perhaps overrun with flesh-eating locusts as described in Revelation.”
The style reminds me of Jesus’ General, but not quite as funny. Will have to dig around to be sure.
This has to be a Poe. Check out their merch page. Pink elephants? “I can see Russia from my house!” bumper stickers? Farking brilliant!
This can only be silliness. It’s very funny silliness, though.
It’s also worth noting that they bring up the problem of evil in their about the paliban section and give god credit for genocide
http://www.paliban.org/about.html
Oh c’mon this is so POE, it is a bit too obvious, just the name alone should have given it away. Honestly any serious Christian fundamentalist organization would have not used a twist on the word “Taliban”, that alone is enough to convict this in the court of Poe. Dominionsists never overtly call themselves “Christian Reconstructionist”, they are far more subtle and slick in promoting their views. Also read their blog, they are trying too hard.
I call Shenanigans!
Poe all the way. Even poe-ier than this.
Or, perhaps, viral advertising for some outfit called Cafepress
http://signs.cafepress.com/paliban
Oh My… this site is hysterical!
But wait, I thought “POEing” was banned around here?
With all the loonieness out there, one has a hard time telling what’s a Poe and what isn’t anymore.
Take for example Rapture Ready “Left Behind” fan fiction.
Get a load of the shots they take at various news figures and how they salivate over their anticipated “rapture”. If it was anywhere else, would this not be considered a Poe?
Paliban! I love it. I see the hand of god in it…the same god who created Landover Baptist Church.
I call Poe.
1) The image (top right) of Palin’s eyes: exactly what you would see if she were wearing a burka.
2) The phonetic resemblance between “Taliban” and “Paliban.”
3) The promotion of “Theocracy Now” in the Republican-style political logo at the bottom.
4) The titles in the left stub are quite revealing: “Bastard-Creation Industry on Rise”…
5) “Host a book-burning”? WTF?!
No self-serving, respectable republican, however village-idiotic, could ever miss the irony.
Poe it is. Otherwise, great site. :-)
Poe. Not even subtle.
Yeah, this is looking like a solid spoof right here. Just the left hand column alone is too fucking hilarious to be otherwise.
“Or, perhaps, viral advertising for some outfit called Cafepress”
Hmmm…not a bad call. They do sell lots of Darwin and atheist stuff.
I propose “Poe’s Rule”: Assume every potential Poe is indeed a Poe until proven otherwise.
Well, I’m glad we all agree on the Poe. I did have to laugh at the bottom of the “About us” page – as I recently spent a long time pulling an elaborate Poe in which my well known Atheistic beliefs were suddenly reversed, and I out-christianed everyone in the discussion, eventually getting a bunch of them to agree that, as with the Paliban:
“the only viable option is the fact that every single thing that happens is God’s Will. ”
It’s a nice coincidence that my Poe happened to finish yesterday, and that I saw it echoed in the post today. Evidence of Divine providence I say! praise the lawd.
Oh, there’s no doubt this isn’t on the level. Read some of the links. It’s not even very clever Poe. For instance, under Operation Rapture we have this jewel:
“Governor Palin hasn’t told us all the details, but we know that she and the Assemblies of God want to bring Americans up to Alaska when the Tribulations begin, rendering the continental US uninhabitable.”
No real believer in the Rapture would refer to the time after the Rapture as “the Tribulations.” It’s “the Tribulation” (singular).
Then, there’s “If possible, we expect she will also conduct post-apocalyptic rescue missions.” Palin wouldn’t expect to be here after the Rapture.
This isn’t even very clever satire.
“I propose “Poe’s Rule”: Assume every potential Poe is indeed a Poe until proven otherwise.”
The first time I looked at godhatesfags.com, I was convinced it was a Poe. I had to be told otherwise.
Totally Poe. And if it serves to popularize the term; “Paliban”, it will have performed a valuable service.
The entire gospel story of Jesus is a Poe, perhaps the cleverest Poe of all.
There is no doubt that this is satire so the question of POE is moot. The questions that need answering are – is it good satire worth revisiting from time to time, who are the authors and do they have a decent blog to visit?
One more question, can they do the same for our friends at the DI?
It’s satire. BAD satire.
Isn’t that an oxymoron? By definition a poe must be so subtle as to be indistinguishable from the real thing.
In other words… No True Poe.
I exist in Memphis TN. Several of the folks i showed it to at work said cool, how do you join.
Once upon a late December, If correctly I remember,
Waiting for the year’s last ember soon to stop its cheery glow
Clicking through my browser’s pages, while outside the winter rages,
Hoping that the words of sages from the screen would somehow flow
Though the internet’s where words of wisdom rarely ever flow;
Odds are better it’s a Poe.
But the horrors I envision, with each click and each decision,
As my brain endures collision with both web-page and bordeaux
Have my frontal lobe infected, which I thought had been protected
When Obama was elected, not Wasilla’s queen of snow;
I had hoped we’d seen the last of her, and sent her back to snow,
It must surely be a Poe.
etc.
It’s pretty bad satire, GaryB. It’s not at all sublte. The Onion is subtle. This is not. I got a chuckle from the name, but after that … yeah. Just bad satire.
I vote Poe as well. Just look at some of her MySpace Friends, like Sarah/Satan.
The sad thing is, many of the posters on her forums appear to be buying into this hook, line and sinker.
Cuttlefish, you’re so much fun.
This must be a joke. Most (actually all) of the recons that I know of hated the McCain/Palin ticket, and the GOP.
On top of that the most Reformed Presbys find Palin’s pentacostalism abhorrent. Thus I must conclude that either:
i)The site is a joke.
ii) These people are ignorant and do not represent the reconstructionist movement.
I could be wrong, but I think that the website misunderstands the reconstuctionist position.
The “Theocracy Now” bumper stickers push it over the edge for me, although a lot of it is basically chapter & verse of what the extreme right actually believes. Genuine Palin supporters would probably be confused by the concept of theocracy (even thought they’d like it if they got to pick the sectarian form they prefer) and wouldn’t plaster the slogan on their cars (lest if offend their Jesus fish).
But the term “Paliban” is a keeper.
Just waiting for my teenage daughter to fall pregnant then I’ll join up!
I say Poe,
It’s too logical and leaves out too many of the normal double standards
Shouldn’t think so. I think how Cafepress works is that more or less anyone can sell their T-Shirt designs on an order and print basis there. Very often websites have a cafepress page with their branded stuff.
C’mon. Paliban? Is there any doubt that this is a Poe?
Will you people stop saying “Poe” every time you see some piece of satire or parody. The term has lost all meaning. What isn’t a “Poe”? Would a satirical site need to have a large flashing banner across the top saying “THIS IS A JOKE” for you not to call it a “Poe”? The humor illiteracy on display in these sorts of threads is facepalm inducing.
Take for example Rapture Ready “Left Behind” fan fiction
I’m needing brain bleach just thinking about the slash fic there….
The Onion is subtle.
To paraphrase the late and lamented Brunching Shuttlecocks site “As pure and subtle as a hammer to the forebrain”. Clever is not a synonym for subtle.
Frankly the Onion scares me. So many of their articles have later become reality.
Another vote for Poe.
I just needed to read the article about Bristol Palin’s bastard child going to hell to be convinced.
Well probably, if we are being pedandic, “Poe” shoud be reserved for “parody that could pass for the real thing”.
But if we are being pedantic then “oxymoron” should be reserved for “[apparently contradictory phrases] used intentionally, for rhetorical effect” such that “the contradiction is only apparent, as the combination of terms provides a novel expression of some concept, such as “cruel to be kind” or “team of mavericks””. (from Wikipedia)
Muphry’s law FTW!
David (#20)
That Craigslist ad was hysterical.
Poe, Poe, pitiful me.
We think its a joke, but honestly they aren’t saying anything evangelicals don’t already believe.
Technically, Trip would be going to hell in their minds.
Enough! I have started a Cafepress shop to voice my displeasure with the use of “Poe”: Repeal All Internet Laws!
Definitely satire.
I smell the rightous hand of Landover Baptist Church (or a copy cat) doing the God’s work.
I had orignially thought it was a pretty flat piece of satire. But since it inspired that brilliant Cuttlefish verse, surely it must be evidence of the hand of God.
PZ, did you recently switch to decaf? Happy New Year to all.
I call Poe. They may be many things, but they’re not cretins – there’s no way they wouldn’t have noticed the obvious association if it had been real.
Matt Heath,
Out-pedanted. My hat’s off to you sir!
Well, duh. So is probably all of Landover Baptist. Ebert’s Fallacy, remember?
However, the Paliban are as obviously satire as the Landover Baptist Church is. I’m surprised PZ didn’t notice that right away.
Obvious poe, but very funny. It has Landover Baptist written all over it.
Excellent. I’m sure there are a few that will be very disappointed that it’s just a fabrication.
Hairy New Year all!
No way is this not a Poe. Come on, look at it. “Theocracy now”?
it’s clearly satire. paliban, comeone, who could use that?
I just wish it was good parody and satire, but they just tired to hard and lost all subtly, plus the parody itself is pretty old hat, nothing really new, original, or creative as if someone copied the Landover Baptist Church idea, switched around a few words and stuck Palin’s face on it.
The Craigslist one was much funnier.
Casting my vote for “Flat Satire; Not Poe.”
Too fucken obvious,and as the Rev. said, Paliban Mom introduced it to the hordes awhile ago.
PZ –
Allow me to provide some background.
The Paliban story begins with a small home church, a growing trend in America as we Bible-believing Evangelical Christians (Pew says Evangelicals are now 26.3% of the American adult population, up from only 11% in 1990) grow weary of false teachings of universal love and lies like Joel Osteen’s “prosperity gospel”. We found it disappointing that the Taliban, in Afghanistan, actually FOLLOW the laws presented in their Qur’an, while Americans ignore the Bible in favor of secular laws . . . but we weren’t sure how to market the concept in a way the average high-school-educated American (check the demographics, friend) would immediately grasp.
When Sarah Palin was announced as the VP candidate, we saw our group’s name: Paliban! America’s Taliban. Ironic? Only to those who hate Jesus. We who love Him and follow ALL of His Word don’t see it that way.
The static site was focused on providing valuable information about Sarah Palin’s beliefs, and how she might lead our nation. As you’ll note, everything is documented from hard news sources or videos of her in action. We don’t make things up; we report them and provide a Bible-based viewpoint for discussion. However, the Sarah Palin information is of lesser importance for the time being.
As the election ended, we decided to keep the site going through the blog. Here, we report on news stories of interest to Christians and explain what the Bible says about these events. Stories like the Hellbound Palin bastard. Stories like GW Bush denying the Bible being Truth. Stories like Obama promising to expand Bush’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, and continue unConstitutional warrantless wiretapping.
I hope this helps put the Paliban site into perspective.
Expect an overhaul of the static site in the next few months! I do agree with your many self-congratulatory, God-mocking commenters when they say it looks a bit hokey. It does. Sorry that we’re not CSS experts or graphic designers!
When the overhaul is complete, the static site will provide background on the Christian Reconstruction movement, the ongoing rise of Evangelical Christianity, and biographies of those who make up the foundations of America’s Taliban — the politicians (Palin, Huckabee, Obama), the religious leaders (Gary North, R.J. Rushdoony), the false prophets (Pat Robertson, Joel Osteen), and the associations between them all!
The blog will continue to provide news stories with Biblical perspective, for your ongoing edification.
FYI, commenters – The Theocracy Now! bumper sticker was our biggest seller before the election. Seems some Godly Americans DID want to slap it on their cars, after all.
D@m you, beat me to it :)
horizontal space Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`’Tis some visitor,’ I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door –
Only this, and nothing more.’
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; – vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow – sorrow for the lost Lenore –
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore –
Nameless here for evermore.
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me – filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door –
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; –
This it is, and nothing more,’
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Sir,’ said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you’ – here I opened wide the door; –
Darkness there, and nothing more.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!’
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!’
Merely this and nothing more.
Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,’ said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore –
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; –
‘Tis the wind and nothing more!’
Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door –
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door –
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,’ I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore –
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!’
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.’
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning – little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door –
Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as `Nevermore.’
But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered – not a feather then he fluttered –
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before –
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.’
Then the bird said, `Nevermore.’
Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,’ said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore –
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of “Never-nevermore.”‘
But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore –
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking `Nevermore.’
This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!
Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,’ I cried, `thy God hath lent thee – by these angels he has sent thee
Respite – respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!’
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.’
`Prophet!’ said I, `thing of evil! – prophet still, if bird or devil! –
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted –
On this home by horror haunted – tell me truly, I implore –
Is there – is there balm in Gilead? – tell me – tell me, I implore!’
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.’
`Prophet!’ said I, `thing of evil! – prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us – by that God we both adore –
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore –
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?’
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.’
`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!’ I shrieked upstarting –
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! – quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!’
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.’
And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted – nevermore!
A brother to Landover Baptist.
http://www.landoverbaptist.org/
with palins eyes bordered in the style of wearing an islamic head cover (at the top of the page) that has to be a poe.
with palins eyes bordered in the style of wearing an islamic head cover (at the top of the page) that has to be a poe.
2012 is going to be so much fun.
The movie or the actual year? ;-)
I can’t believe Roland Emmerich is still allowed to make films.
Paliban Mom@70: Se,e that’s almost believable sounding. That really is a Poe. Listing Obama as one of yours was a cute move.
Behold! The direct, end result of a Palin presidency:
@AlanWCam #72–
tl;dr
:-ppp
Poesters all the way.
I especially love they claim Bristol’s baby is destined to hell no matter what.
Yeah, it’s a hoax ran by a single person who promotes the site via deliberately hackneyed comments on the Huffington Post. There’s no reference to this site almost anywhere else and the domain is private and locked down so you can’t find out who’s behind it.
I’d suspect a Poe just based on their name. Anyone who cares enough about politics to form a political activism organization would not be ignorant of the negative associations inherent in “Paliban.”
Poe, tho some of the posters there don’t realize it. On both sides.
I agree with those who think this is parody– it’s more obviously a joke than Objective Ministries(which, by the way, is supporting Palin/Jindal 2012 with the tagline “Elect the Elect”).
Geez, I sure hope no-one’s that irony-challenged IRL. I had visions there for a moment of rabid fundies taking bazookas to Mt. Rushmore (well, at least Jefferson’s face – that no-good author of church-state separation! ;-) a la the Buddhas of Bamiyan.
@ MattHeath –
Oh, but he IS one of ours, you just don’t want to see it. I bet you even think he’s an atheist, like you.
Don’t you read the news? I get mine from CNN, Fox News, WorldNetDaily, Wall Street Journal, Irregular Times, NYTimes, Spiegel Online (international news, not the catalog – http://www.spiegel.de/international/), Newsmax, DiggChrist, and even some from AOHell. No, I don’t sit around reading Rapture Ready or the Landover Baptist web forums and making up funny stories. I read the news.
Who spent his entire campaign convincing everyone what a good Christian he is? Who went to a Church of Christ (a Bible-based church which doesn’t even allow instruments in worship, look up Church of Christ doctrine) for 20 years? Who promised to put even MORE of you atheists’ tax dollars into the pockets of churches through the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives than Bush? Who told the world he’s against gay marriage? Who selected Rick Warren (an outspoken Prop 8 supporter) to provide his invocation at the inauguration? Who voted for the FISA Amendments Act, and has stated that he will continue warrantless wiretapping?
Status QuObama. Democrat in Name Only.
Where’s your change, Matt? Cuz I don’t see it.
Not Poe, just parody. And shame on all those (including PZ) who only SUSPECT that it isn’t genuine (and to those who weren’t even suspicious, I could use your help getting some money out of my Nigerian bank account).
Cuttlefish: “Hoping that the words of sages from the screen would somehow flow
Though the internet’s where words of wisdom rarely ever flow;
Odds are better it’s a Poe.”
…the best thing I’ve read today. It expresses my hopes and disappointments precisely. Thank you.
Re the Poe/satire/hoax debate: Is there a time test? I have to admit it took me about 3 minutes to decide on satire as opposed to real. I’ve seen so much “real” garbage that it is sometimes difficult to discern the difference. So is it only Poe if no one can ever tell the difference or does it count if it fools some people but not all? Or if it fools you for a few minutes?
I read the news.
“All of them” no doubt.
Paliban Mom popped up here a while back, and it didn’t take long looking at the website to decide it’s not *ahem* kosher. The overall tone is more mean-sprited than funny, IMO, but to each their own I suppose.
The clear tip-off for me was some bit about digging rapture-ready tunnels underground in Alaska, and (paraphrased) “looking forward to our mole-like existence.”
That’s completely over the top, and furthermore, wouldn’t a True Believer be Swept Away, and not Left Behind? So why the rapture shelter thing anyway?
Nobody Poes the trouble I see. Nobody Poes but Jebus. Yes, definitely Poe.
Paliban mom not withstanding, this site, like Paliban mom, is a Poe. ‘Tis another Landover Baptist. That was the first thing to come to mind when I saw the site.
The Ten Commandments section is amusing. Here’s the take on the 6th:
“Thou shalt not kill.
The Sixth Commandment, frequently misunderstood, is a reference to murder, not execution. God commands us to execute all sorts of people; adulterers, sodomites, unruly children, and certain victims of rape, for starters!”
If it weren’t true, it would be funnier.
Clearly a Poe.
But it’s funny.
This is a very obvious Poe. They make an Epicurus reference, and they link to a Religious Tolerance article.
One thing that gives it away is that they call themselves Reconstructionists on their About page, yet they believe in the Rapture. Reconstructionists do not actually acknowledge the Rapture, and are postmillenialists. Considering that the Religious Tolerance article they link to mentions their postmillenialism, they aren’t doing a very good job at pretending to be Reconstructionists.
The website isn’t going to fool anyone, but the caricatures are still quite funny.
It’s clearly fake but so is Steven Colbert and I’m told there were actually a few conservatroids dumb enough to think he was cool without getting the joke.
paliban has been mentioned a few times in comments here before. It’s not a Poe, because it’s a blatantly obvious parody, starting with the very name ‘paliban’.
Yuppers, it’s for funnin’.
Professor Myers,
They link to your site in one blog post:
http://paliban.org/blog/blog1.php
This is clearly a Poe.
Looks to me like people are wanting parody to be funny, and pissy that this one isn’t supposed to be.
I read through a bit of the blog. I also have a Christian background. She (he? they? whatever) has a lot of blog posts showing a real Christian viewpoint. And commenters who think it’s for real. But she also is giving links, like someone said up there, to “arm” her readers so they have information.
Maybe she’s not trying to make a joke. Maybe she’s trying to point out what a lot of people don’t want to see, that Christians run the country and are getting stronger, not weaker.
I just wish she were more funny. I just got mad reading most of the stuff, because I know some people really think like that.
Palin’s run for presidency in 2012 corresponds to the apocalypse prophecy of 2012. If you had bothered to watch the History Channel you would know that thousands of independent people thru the ages predicted this would happen.
It’s a Poe. In the merchandise section you can buy a “I can see Russia from my house!” sticker.
Poe or no, it didn’t take very long to find PZ Myers’ name mentioned on this piece of whatever.
Actually, I thought the Sarah Palin picture for “Clear Vision” looked like an optician’s ad.
speaking of 2012…my calander ran out last night!
run!!!!
Oh, C’mon! Not even the crazier Christian Fundamentalists are stupid enough to make a name like PALIBAN!
They hate Islam…despite the staggering amount of similarities between both cults.
Poe? Come on… This is pure parody. You totally bought it, PZ!:)
“Clear vision”?
Do they have Ben Stein as their spokesman?
Everyone is so quick to dismiss this as a poe. Who are you trying to convince? In my little religiously paranoid world, this smacks of what the extremist fundies believe. Maybe it’s so cleaver in it’s satire that it got me too. None-the-less even the thought that someone could comeup with this is scary. I fear that someone will take this a run with it and it will get more play than it deserves.
It may be a Poe now, but what about in 2012? How many of those gullible people will have seen this by then?
I’ve lived in places in the US where this could be everyday conversation. Scary thing is, even if we recognize the satire, most Americans won’t (that whole hook, line & sinker thing that got Bush ‘elected,’ remember?)
The Paliban can and she does it with a smile….
What is a “Poe”?
Ralph, Poe’s Law states that it is impossible to write a parody of religious fundamentalism that someone won’t mistake for real.
Internet Geeks have turned that into a noun, “Poe”, which is their way of saying they think something is a parody. They then repeat it incessantly (read through the comments here and see) to reassure themselves that they MUST be right.
Meanwhile, if a parody is intended to be funny and make a joke at someone’s expense, what is a satire which is intended to show people (like Sarah Palin) for what they really believe? Isn’t that something different?
Check out their merch page.