This is a new argument to me. Representative Emanuel Cleaver (Democrat, Missouri) was discussing the possibility of atheists getting elected to office, and while saying he thinks we’d have a difficult time, he also says we don’t exist.
Actually, I don’t believe that there is such thing as an atheist because no respectable atheist would walk around with something in his pocket that said ‘In God We Trust.’
Oooh, ooh, I can do that, too!
I don’t believe there’s such a thing as a Christian, because no respectable follower of Jesus would have any money at all — he or she would have handed it all over to the poor.
Man, it’s going to be really hard to run for office in this country when we’re not allowed to have any money without being accused of hypocrisy. And couldn’t Rep. Cleaver’s argument be turned around to show that the inclusion of the religious motto is a clear violation of the separation of church and state? I presume he’s behind the campaign to have god references removed from our currency, then.
Yup, that’s my state. He’s not my congressman though, mine’s Todd Akin, who’s on record believing that the heart of liberalism is a hatred of God. Sounds like a winner, eh?
Just checked all my debit and credit cards, as well as my checkbook. No such motto on any of them. Nor on my bank statement. Must be proof Christians don’t exist, or they wouldn’t go around with such things in their pockets.
All the bills I have in my pocket have that phrase crossed out.
I have been told, multiple times, that I cannot be an atheist. The usual reason is that I’m just angry with gods for some reason. This is the first time I’ve heard the money gambit.
Does this mean that, before the mid-1950s when we put “In God We Trust” on our money, we were all atheists?
Recently, I learned that there are no Christians with New Jersey driver’s licenses, because no Christian would carry around in his or her pocket an emblem of the pagan goddesses Liberty and Ceres.
I will be sure to inform my Christian friends.
So if I have money in my pocket I’m not a pure atheist. I’m just another hypocrite like all those other True Believers who fail to toe the line when it comes to the tenets of their faith.
Jesus Fucking Christ, when will the dogma-ridden get it through their heads that we don’t give much credence to that whole dogma thing?
Does this mean that we finally have the endorsement of a national figure that “In God We Trust” on money is a religious statement? NOW will courts listen? (I wish).
Am I the only one with the impression that his speech patterns seem to indicate some sort of glitch? It would explain a couple things, Occam’s razor and all.
Wait a minute… Why would an Atheist refuse to carry something saying ‘In God We Trust’ when it’s not actually endorsing religion? Isn’t ‘In God We Trust’ an example of ceremonial deism that somehow, despite all logic, includes believers in Monotheism, Polytheism and Atheism under the singular ‘God’?
It’s not like ‘ceremonial deism’ is a crock of **** that they only claim to believe in to justify endorsing religion and that people like this know damn well the ‘God’ it mentions is Jesus’ daddy.
Oh good, since dollar isn’t the currency I use I can exist! Phew, I was scared there for a moment that I was just a figment of my own imagination.
In other news : USA is in fact not the only country in the world.
That reminds me: Time to break out my sharpie, again.
Possibly the dumbest thing I have heard this year. I am actually a bit impressed.
Finally, a reason to believe in God!
Also: There are no Christians on Thursdays, as no self respecting Christian would dedicate one out of every seven days to Thor.
Also also: There are no creationists in England, as no self respecting creationist would walk around with pictures of Darwin in their pocket.
…methinks this could go on for a very long time…
There is a tiny hint of a suspicion that a segment of American society respond more enthusiastically to inanity then they do to reasoned argument!
Not saying that they are alone in that trait…Blighty has a political coalition that drips such feculent dumbness, but they are politicians…wait!…what…oh yeah!
Why are politicians so…trite?
Maybe because the audience is so dumb and that they are only aiming to stimulate those with an IQ below 65 on a good day…you know the ones that think politicians have something profound to share.
The Americans got politics all tangled with jeebus drooling, that lowers the IQ by default.
@3; 11,
I haven’t carried my “dollar-sharpie” in a very long time. I think this calls for a good ol’ revival.
Same here. My bank must be godless, oh noes!
I can’t tell you the last time I had actual, real bills in my wallet. Some of us have moved past such silly concepts as “cash”*.
You know, now that I think of it, I was in a church a few months ago for a funeral. OMG, I MUST NOT BE A REALLY REALLY REAL ATHEIST!
*Besides, it’s not like we have a choice whether or not to use money… or is Cleaver suggesting that atheists should be bartering for everything, since apparently the word “God” makes us burst into flames?
Errm, what about Fridays, Freya’s day, or Saturday, Saturn’s day, or Sunday, dedicated to the Sun god, or Monday, named after the moon, or Tuesday, Tyr’s day, or Wednesday, Woden’s day? THEY’RE ALL PAGAN. Therefore, Christians don’t exist.
The stupid…. It gets elected.
We hear that the motto, “In God we Trust”, is not religious. Then they go ahead and use it against us. It IS religion and it MUST be changed!
Most of the time I don’t.
It is a thin piece of colored plastic that says “Visa”.
I assume True Xians don’t use credit or debit cards because they don’t say, In god we trust.
I also assume that True Xians aren’t citizens of the USA because the constitution doesn’t mention god or jesus.
SOMEBODY needs to hand out pink slips in the ole PR office.
Yes folks, Thomas the Tank Engine really exists!
I assume True Xians don’t celebrate Easter either.
Because Easter is named after the Germanic goddess of spring and fertiltiy, Eastre. And the Easter bunny and colored eggs are pagan symbols.
Same for Xmas of course. You don’t think they had reindeer in Israel?
Told Wife about this.
She said that what we really need in the USA is non-demoninational money.
Sounds good.
Cadillac or a candy bar? Use the same non-demoninational bill.
Not what she meant, but still good.
Raven, wtf are you trying to do? You see, Canada’s constitution does mention a god thing, so all those American religious nutjobs will be wanting to move up to Canada. Okay, maybe not. The Provincial health care schemes will put them off, i guess. Phewwww!
Lucky I am an English atheist. We have to walk around with the head of Charles Darwin on some of our money.
The bills in my pocket say “IN GOOD WE TRUST”. I admit I don’t have a metal punch to transform the coins, nor do I always drop them in the charity bin at the register to avoid carrying them.
This argument is as stupid as the one which says that idiot Republicans who oppose science because they don’t believe in evolution should stop using computers and taking medicine because those are products of science. We all use what we find useful. Republican bigots use the parts of the Bible which support their anti-homosexual bigotry while ignoring the parts which call on them to sell all their possessions and follow Jesus, and atheists like me use currency covered with religious graffiti to purchase sharpies and baby basters. Which of us is the bigger hypocrite?
Oops, just saw that this bit of stupidity came from an idiot Democrat. My apologies.
And if we refused to carry cash, we’d be militant extremely anti-religious nuts for such theatrics over a bit of meaningless tripe.
Of course we’re wrong either way, that’s his point.
Glen Davidson
@raven
Sure there were! Joseph and Mary went unto the City of Bethlehem by a sledge drawn by reindeer. There they had no room in the inn and had to go to the stable which held reindeer. Then there were shepherds out on the hills watching their flock of reindeer. And three wise men arrived from the Eastern Lands on reindeer to worship Baby Jesus.
“couldn’t Rep. Cleaver’s argument be turned around to show that the inclusion of the religious motto is a clear violation of the separation of church and state?”
Yes, it absolutely can, and with the amount of times I hear stuff like it, I don’t see why we shouldn’t.
…It could, couldn’t it.
You’re allowed to spell shit out here, you know.
QFT!
Non-demon-inational money? For that you’d need to so far that it could hire the Ghostbusters!!! That would be fun. :-)
As Raven rightly said Eostre is a pagan fertility goddess, so that’s Easter eggs and cute chocolate bunnies out the window.
And no self respecting christian should put up an Xmas tree either cause that’s a throwback to the Norse yule festival.
And since we’re on a roll here, they’d better quit using crosses in their iconography as the Roman Empire kind of got in on that one first, even if they didn’t copyright it.
Just a hunch but I’m pretty sure that Pontius Pilate wasn’t christian… wouldn’t he have been worshipping Jupiter or one of those hellenic gods?
And the eucharist… wouldn’t that have originally been a pagan rite too, albeit with real flesh and blood?
I’m not seeing many genuine Christians suddenly.
So, In God We Trust is a religious motto and is a violation of the separation of church and state.
Then why are do so many people whine and have tantrums when the idea of taking it off the money is brought up?
Nice logic Cleaver. I bet he worships the magic Jeebus man. I noticed Cleaver is a Democrat. I thought only Republicans were this nuts.
It would be nice to get god off our currency because it makes Americans look like superstitious idiots. Perhaps replace in god we trust with in scientific evidence we trust.
According to Cleaver I’m a respectable atheist. I never carry cash. I use a credit card instead and I get one percent back from every purchase. This works if I can pay it off in full every month.
Most of the money in my wallet has Charles Darwin on it.
flapjack:
Jeremiah 10
10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
10:3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
10:4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
10:5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Christmas tress are expressly forbidden, but that doesn’t stop Christians from putting them up and decorating them.
Did I hear this correctly???
Ralph Reed–Mr. Christian Coalition– NOT pumping the idea that a non-believer/atheist wouldn’t stand a chance? Stating that he was optimistic that a non-believer could effectively run–and presumably win– based on unique ability to lead, shared values and qualifications for office?
Did I miss something??
Christians don’t exist:
God was around forever before He created the world.
Forever has not past.
Ergo: God has not created the world yet.
Norman, please coordinate.
Meh.
Some of us only carry plastic, bub.
Furthermore, as surprising as it may sound to you, there is a whole world outside of the US, which doesn’t use US money. Just take a look to the north of you, for instance. These days our monopoly canadian money is sometimes worth more than your bland colorless god-soaked stuff.
Is this comparing Christmas trees with Ents???? And insinuating that Ents are evil??
Tee hee!
My money doesn’t have that!
I have some coins with ‘Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit’ stenciled on the edge, though.
Oh fuck off, Cleaver. None of us are respectable to the likes of you.
#20 raven
But it does! At the bottom it says
Did’ya see that “Lord” part? Proof that the Constitution is a xtian document!
And you guys who write checks can’t be atheists because you date them 2012 (which is dated from the birth of Jesus).
Yes, I have actually seen some idjits make those claims.
Four of the months are named after pagan gods and goddesses.
None are named after anything to do with xianity.
I guess there are no True Xians during January, February, March, May, or June.
What’s really disheartening is this guy is a “Democrat”, a member of the opposition party in Congress, presumably a “liberal” and defender of civil liberties. Yet, he quacks like a Republican. He also looks like a Republican and I bet he votes like a Republican. I’m willing to bet he’s only a “Democrat” because in his district only candidates labeled “Democrat” get elected. So much for the vaunted “two party” system. When both parties are crawling with idiots like this, there is little to hope for.
PZ, your analogy doesn’t work at all – it makes sense.
I don’t believe there’s such a thing as a Christian, because no respectable follower of Jesus would have any money at all — he or she would have handed it all over to the poor.
I’m so stealing this
Dear ignorant politician,
Those who don’t believe in the supernatural do not think that writing and/or images on a coin have any magical powers. Please don’t confuse what we think with what you think.
When I have two quarters what matters to me is that it can buy me a can of Diet Dr. Pepper. It would do the same no matter what the legislators and/or bureaucrats had stamped on those coins.
‘PZ, your analogy doesn’t work at all,- it makes sense’
and we don’t use the s-word around here.
I would imagine there are some folks that don’t use credit or debit cards because they’re part of the Mark of the Beast.
No God on my paper money. Instead the two bills currently in my pocket have pictures of a Scottish binge drinker on one, and a Quebecois Catholic on the other, the latter of which would probably send some Americans screaming for the hills, being a French speaker and Catholic.
Just goes to show the republicans don’t have all the religious nutjobs locked up.
@samihawks, #9
THANK YOU! I was about to say the same thing aboute sham that is “ceremonial deism,” but you beat me to the punch.
This should also make it clear why atheists should not poo-poo (i.e. “We have more important issues to deal with!”) legal efforts to have religious affirmation scrubbed from currancy, the Pledge (not that we need one in the first place), government documents, etc.. Along as they exist, the Christianists can use it can use it as legal and cultural precedent to worm their way further into power as well as you it as.a means to marginalized atheists.
Doesn’t US money have a load of Masonic symbols on it as well? There’s that pyramid with an eye in it, no self respecting Christian would walk around with that in their pocket surely.
As has already been mentioned, the UK £10 note has a picture of Charles Darwin on it which is pretty cool.
On the subject of chocolate eggs and bunnies, we wouldn’t have chocolate as we know it without the Quakers.
Wait, so if I am not an atheist, then… WHAT AM I???!!1111
Well, if you are a moron, sure it does.
Is there any point in reminding him that rationalist atheists are the ones who don’t believe in sorcerous incantations and invocations of invisible magic men in the sky, and that as a result carrying a unit of currency with a bit of theist doggerel scrawled on it, while annoying and a clear violation of the separation of church and state, does not in fact make us spontaneously combust or bind us by geas to believe in the ludicrous?
No? Didn’t think so.
This is a variation on…
“If you know stuff, you are not an atheist because god is necessary for you to know stuff.”
or
“If stuff exists, you are not an atheist because you know god created the stuff.”
I don’t think they really understand that the Constitution makes it perfectly clear that you don’t have to be a Christian to be an American…no matter WHAT is written on the money.
My Mom used to feel that having “In God We Trust” on something as base as money was blasphemous…
Therefore, logically, it should be the Christians who refuse to have that money in their pockets and the atheists who get to keep if because, after all, we blaspheme all the time!
Ahhhhhh! I’m slowly ceasing to exist because I haz monies!!!!!!!!!!
“It was as though the country were saying to its citizens, ‘in nonsense is strength.'”
–Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Breakfast of Champions
So this is the sort of sophisticated theology they teach at St. Paul School of Theology. He looked like he was running on auto-pilot. I mean, it didn’t take any time at all for him to spit out that inane bit of apologetics, so he apparently came up with it ahead of time and still thought it was a good idea. It’s just bizarre.
wiki:
Even though he’s representing a predominantly liberal district (for MO anyway), I’m sure saying anything remotely fair about atheists is off-limits. He had to at least take one little stab before this bullshit:
So who are we telling this to? The people who aren’t in the same pluralistic nation as us? What the fuck kind of useless answer is that?
Americans, French, and nobody else, right?
hypatiasdaughter:
Wait, people still write checks?
AlanMac:
I think it’s a passage about heathen gods, but I’m not an expert in the sofistikated theolololology.
Sheesh, y’all plastic-carrying folks. Icky paper bills still work fine for those of us screwed over by the Big Four card companies, and they don’t have fees or tracking or ID theft and aren’t vulnerable to having payments stopped because yon Big Company doesn’t agree with the politics of whoever you’re donating to or doing business with.
…They do suck for online transactions though. *shoves rolled-up bill into USB slot*
I can’t tell you the last time I had actual, real bills in my wallet. Some of us have moved past such silly concepts as “cash”*.
I had some a few weeks ago because this strange thing happened when I scalped my ticket to the Spurs game not far from AT&T center: Someone paid cash for them. I almost didn’t know what to do with the stuff, and felt stupid having to remember how the bills worked. I deposited the money into the bank account. Now I know how to deal with it all.
Wait, people still write checks?
When you have Enrique the lawn boy doing your yard work when he needs to get high with his friends that weekend, yes, you still write checks. It’s not as traumatizing as dealing with currency.
I am using a lot of cash right now because I find I am more careful about spending bills than using the debit card and my finances are a tad tight atm. (I realize that for some people it works exactly the opposite). I cross off the damned God on every single one of them.
I used to feel childish about it. I don’t any more, not when people like the asshole in the OP (who hasn’t quite figured out that, yes Virginia, there are atheists and we fucking VOTE) keep saying shit like that. So yeah, when a bill leaves my hands it has no gods mentioned on it. Yes, it is childish and yes I am catering to their magic thinking. It’s very satisfying.
I am just waiting for the day when I get one that already has the god scratched out.
Due to an ongoing pissing match that my mortgage holder is inflicting on my credit union, I still write a check every month for my mortgage (actually, one every two weeks). I cannot even use my debit card (on line, they add a $12.95 fee) or credit card (same) to pay it online (well, I could, but there is no way I am adding a 4.6% surcharge every two weeks on a 4% mortgage!). So yes, I do still write checks. And the occasional cheque. No Czechs, though.
Pteryxx@65:
Debit cards? Still not useful online, though.
Lucky I am an English atheist. We have to walk around with the head of Charles Darwin on some of our money. – alexshuffell
True. But if you look on the head side of coins, you will find:
“D.G.” is “Dei Gratia”: By the grace of God.
“F.D.” is “Fidei Defensor”: Defender of the Faith (the title given to Henry VIII by the Pope before they fell out).
So evidently we British atheists don’t exist either.
No Xians in Canada either. I sometimes get coins as change that say “In god we trust” but I politely ask for real money, not any of that strange Yankee stuff. I have no need of that gawd hypothesis.
wtf are you talking about? “check cards” are usable online just fine
Aquaria:
I was joking*. Poorly, it seems.
Anyway, why does almost all of our currency have presidents on it? It’s really not helping with the whole worship of the founding fathers bullshit that’s been going on. I say we should get rid of the unconstitutional “in God we trust” AND put pictures of astronauts on it.
*Well, not about the not having cash part. But really, I understand why many people do still carry cash.
I use mine online all the time, so I’m not really sure what the hell you mean by this.
Plus, there are online services (especially bill pay) that will let you use your checking account instead of a card.
“Oh dear,” says God the atheist, “I hadn’t thought of that,” and promptly disappears in a puff of logic.
Erm, methinks I buggered up the <strike> tags around ‘God’.
Jadehawk@73
This may be something that depends on where you are. When I was in the US, my bank card could be used online (but while not exactly a credit card, it had some VISA symbiosis…) I wasn’t able to use my debit card in Canada online though, at least not the places I wanted to.
Audley: I’m for scientists on bills. I’m thinking that Salk would be a worthy addition. Franklin can stay though.
Daz:
Well, the Abrahamic god is really, really, really insecure (all these demands to be worshipped, etc.), so maybe god doesn’t believe in himself. Which would make ‘God the atheist’ a valid phrase?
Which is, of course, a blatant lie. She reigns by the grace of Parliament. Parliament has instituted the monarchy (Glorious Revolution and all that), and it could abolish it again without further hassle.
…and then revoked by the Pope, and then given anew by Parliament!
Brother Ogvorbis
So if if there were a God and he had a good psychiatrist*, all might be well with the world? It’s a thought…
*Not of the Freudian persuasion. Way too messy. If Jesus is God, and God shagged Mary, his mother… let’s not even go there.
I am open to any proselytization attempts in the form of cash.
@humanape #35:
Disgust toward atheists crosses all party lines. And all races, creeds, classes, and genders.
I carry cash because the bus doesn’t take plastic unless you buy it in weekly packages.
our buses take plastic (student IDs, that is) :-p
I wonder if the magic words being on money are supposed to protect it from being involved with drug dealers, purveyors of alcoholic beverages, those involved in the ‘sin’ of gambling and practitioners of prostitution? If so, it ain’t working.
You don’t have to pay if you’re a student? Lucky! We get a discount, but that’s it.
pretty sure it’s supposed to protect you from communism…
It doesn’t say “in God we trust” on the currency in my country. Do non-Americans exist?
Thread won.
And it does:
“If you pay for MP3s, you’re hanging out with THE MAN!!
If you pirate MP3s, you’re downloading
COMMUNISM”
Andy: nah, I don’t have a debit card. To pay for stuff online, if I have no other option, I use a prepaid credit card with a dollar fee via my credit union. The tiny fee still goes to the big CC company, and they still get to squeeze the merchants, but at least it minimizes the damage. Paypal ain’t happening. Dwolla, I need to give them another call…
Also, our student IDs have attached financial accounts, courtesy of Bank of America. Lovely. *spits*
If I owed Cleaver money, I would make sure to pay him with checks that carried the inscription “There is no god”.
Atheists accept “In God We Trust” on the money because we see it as an unintended truth on behalf of the theistic minters.
Wait–doesn’t pretty much every dollar bill in circulation also have cocaine on it?
All you non-coke addicts don’t exist.
To be perfectly fair, we don’t WANT to walk around with something that says ‘In God We Trust’ in our pockets. That’s why we want the motto to return to E Pluribus Unum, how it was before the Red Scare.
Aquaria #66
Is that the San Antonio Spurs? ‘Cos I’d love a basketball team to support.. I’m a Spurs fan too, but Spurs the football (soccer) team. So if you feel the need to follow the English Premier League you know who your team is.
http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/spurs/index.page
In Spurs We Trust.
I hear a lot of variations of this, many of them said with a smug sort of “gotcha” attitude. I think it’s some kind of mash up of “deep down you really believe in God” and “you aren’t willing to suffer for your faith.”
As Gregory Greenwood pointed out in #57, they apparently think atheists are as superstitious as they are. To a real, self-respecting atheist, the word “God” would be like garlic to a vampire. If not — then not a real atheist. A real atheist would become a martyr.
This line of reasoning implies that they think “In God We Trust” was put on the money specifically for the purpose of getting the atheists out of the country. It would be the equivalent of rubbing all the coins in raw bacon and watching the nation’s Muslims slowly starve and go homeless. But I guess that’s okay, because it’s their house: thus, their rules.
Whenever secularists shake their heads over Michael Newdow and his suit against the national motto, I remember that almost every single damn argument against the patriotism and legitimacy of atheism coming out of the general public will include this trump card. They really, really think it means something monumentally significant about the status of nonbelievers in the US. In which case, given that this view seems to be a majority view, it really does.
Huh?! Ralph Effing Reed gave the reasonable response to the question? How the hell did that happen? He must have hit his head and knocked the crazy out. (Probably only temporarily.)
Dude. We’re atheists, not vampires.
I swear I posted before I read your comment, Sastra.
Is that the San Antonio Spurs? ‘Cos I’d love a basketball team to support.
Right you are. They’re a great team to support, because they’re so down to earth, and they’re consistent winners. For 15 consecutive years, they have made the playoffs, and have won 50 or more games (of 66 a season) for 13 consecutive years. I’ve met a few of them over the years, and they’re just the nicest people you could ever meet; we haven’t put up with egomaniacs and thug types since Rodman left. That just doesn’t fly in a blue-collar town like SA.
Let’s see…
*checks wallet*
Stylised representation of classical architecture…
stylised representation of romanesque architecture…
stylised representation of gothic architecture…
some coins with an eagle on them…vitruvian man…a harp…a dutch queen…some fat bloke’s head…the brandenburg gate…oak leaves…
Whew! Looks like I won’t suddenly disappear in a puff of Idiot Logic!
They’re a great team to support, because they’re so down to earth, and they’re consistent winners.
or you could support the Lakers, who have an even more impressive record, and are probably most responsible for the evolution of the style of play in the NBA over the last 40 years…
Who does the NBA use as a silhouette portrait on their logo?
why, that would be Jerry West.
:)
Dude. We’re atheists, not vampires.
well, I do enjoy sucking the blood from babies from time to time.
what?
If you pirate MP3s, you’re downloading
COMMUNISM”
I always thought pirates flew a black flag though, not red?
;)
… no respectable atheist …
Oxymoron alert: does any atheist exist whom Rep. Cleaver could respect?
or you could support the Lakers, who have an even more impressive record, and are probably most responsible for the evolution of the style of play in the NBA over the last 40 years…
That’s like supporting the Yankees.
I’d rather burn, thanks.
Oh: And the 13 consecutive 50 game seasons–that broke the 80s Fakers record.
I’d tear off my own skin and eat it before being one of their fans.
I just have Korean money in my pocket. On the back, there’s a picture of a telescope pointed at the stars. I guess they actually believe in science in this country.
Naked Bunny with a Whip @ 99;
Are we sure we aren’t Liches? After the confusion over jeebus, it might be best to settle the issue here and now…
French Canadian prime minister, peacekeepers, Scots Canadian prime minister, & kids playing hockey. What does say about my country? Does it exist?
Oh: And the 13 consecutive 50 game seasons–that broke the 80s Fakers record.
I notice you didn’t mention the serious lag in championship banners…
I’d tear off my own skin and eat it before being one of their fans.
lol
spoken like a true irrational b-ball junkie.
:)
lakers championships:
17
Spurs:
4
long way to go…
#63 David, as a Canuck born & bred (my ancestors immigrated to the Maritimes in 1812) and who moved to the US at the age of 45 – I had to train myself to omit the “u’s” (colour & neighbour) from words and to not to spell the word as “cheques”. No one could figure out how to pronounce “cheques” let alone what what a “cheque” was.
And, being in the south, I dropped “pop” and now refer to it as “soda”.
That’s like supporting the Yankees.
that’s actually a pretty apt comparison, now that I think about it.
except the Yankees stayed on the East Coast and the Lakers moved from Minneapolis to the West Coast.
but wrt to influencing the sport, yeah, apt comparison.
hypatiasdaughter
You moved to the US at the age of 45?
Voluntarily?
Were you kidnapped?
So is the absence of a loud “What.The.Fuck!?” from the host (Candy Crowley?) a sign of implied agreement or professional detachment or a producer with a fast ‘mute’ button finger?
How any show that seems to be selling itself as ‘political commentary’ can let something like that just sail by is beyond me. Inanities like this should be immediately dragged out into the daylight and poked at with sticks.
Inanities like this should be immediately dragged out into the daylight and poked at with sticks.
not interesting enough to be poked with a stick.
best just to use fire.
naw, see, where the original presenter’s argument fails is that a lot of us don’t even bother carrying cash around anyway.
electronic exchange ftw, baby!
All the bills I have in my pocket have that phrase crossed out.
uh oh…
;)
Ichthyic #121
uhyup
That would certainly make me stop.
uhyupuhyup
===
But it seriously warms my icy Canadian heart to learn that some Americans are making this gesture.
Not illegal.
Xians take currency with “In god we trust” crossed out all the time. I guess that means they aren’t real xians.
If any xians find some of those crossed out bills, don’t throw them away. Find an atheist and give those bills to them. If you can’t find an atheist, send them to the Freedom from Religion Foundation. LOL.
Not illegal.
pedant.
:P
I exist. CAn’t he see me?
Wait, I must be invisible! :D :D :D
Well, that would make more interesting tv…
“…blah blah blah atheist would walk around with something in his pocket that said ‘In God We Trust.’”
*WHOOSH*
“arrrghhh!”
“Thank you Congressman Cleaver… and Ralph, your take on this?”
“Ummmmmmmm…”
Tell asshat I don’t have any money in my wallet with ‘In God We Trust’ on it. Someone has cleverly crossed out God on every single note.
The Swedish 100-kronor note has an image of Linnaeus on back and front. So no Swede can oppose Linnaeus system of dividing up organisms. Nor can any Swede diss the Lapps, because Linnaeus apparently respected them.
The 20-kr note has an image of woman author Selma Lagerlöf*. So no Swede can be illitterate, or be anti-gay.
Random factoid: Swedish national anthem (dating from Swedish-Norwegian union days) says “Norden” but never says “Sweden”. And it has no religious references.
*Her personal life only became well documented a century after her death, with the release of her private letters. Unlike many other authors of the time (I am thinking Strindberg) she was apparently no douchebag.
What an idiot.
But the whole “In God We Trust, therefore no atheists” idiocy aside, does anyone actually know what he meant with the rest of that word salad? I don’t even think he knows. At first I thought he was saying atheists shouldn’t be tolerated, then I thought he was saying the opposite, but I just don’t know. Maybe it’s intentional, make no sense at all and everyone can just assume you’re agreeing with them! Of course, you run the risk that everyone assumes you’re disagreeing with them…
I hate Andrew Jackson. Does that mean I should stop using twenty dollar bills?
Ah! I didn’t know that we, the people, get to decide what gets printed on the money. Is there somewhere we can submit ideas? A picture of an atom would be great. And how about we go back to using Roman Numerals? They seem to work for movie sequels.
Even worse, our day-of-week names are astrological, and they originated in the Roman Empire. Here’s how it works. List the pre-Copernican “planets” in order from slowest to fastest: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. Assign the first hour of a day to Saturn, the next to Jupiter, and so on down the line. Repeat after the Moon.
When you reach the first hour of the next day, you advance 3 planets, and you get Saturn, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus before it repeats.
These identifications are easier to see in the day names in some of the successors of the Roman Empire.
Another fun thing. When Galileo discovered Jupiter’s four big moons, the astrologer Francesco Sizzi objected that they could not possibly exist. The seven planets correspond to the seven openings in the head: the two eyes, the two ears, the two nostrils, and the mouth. Also to the seven metals: gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, quicksilver. Also to the days of the week. Etc. There was nothing for those moons to correspond to.
This atheist pulls a bill out of his wallet. Let’s see what it says.
On the front we have:
Banque du Canada * Bank of Canada
This note is legal tender / Ce billet a cours legal
Ottawa
Canada
10
Ten * Dix
Dollars
La Bibliotheque du Parlement * The Library of Parliament
Sir John A. MacDonald Prime Minister / Premier Ministre 1867-1873, 1878-1891
Sous-Governeur Deputy Governor
Governor Governeur
Issue of 2005 / Emission de 2005
No god there, how about the back:
10
Canada
(c) Banque du Canada (c) Bank of Canada
Printed in 2005 / Imprime en 2005
BFT1262642
Au service de la paix * In the service of peace
N’Oublions jamais
Lest we forget
And the first verse of “In Flanders Fields”, in both English and French.
Well, the poem mentions crosses but still: No god.