The over-sensitive English libel laws have he effect of suppressing valid and important criticism — sign the petition to have them changed!
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
The over-sensitive English libel laws have he effect of suppressing valid and important criticism — sign the petition to have them changed!
Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland made a few more videos of me babbling before I left, and has posted them to the website. I’m terrible in them — no fault to Michael, I was just worn out and burned out on the last night of my trip. You can poke fun at me if you want.
The interesting thing about them, though, is that they were made in the Oonagh Young gallery in Dublin, which is currently hosting an exhibit of blasphemous art, in blatant defiance of the blasphemy laws. Everything in there is offensive to someone; the exhibits mock religion and religious beliefs with words and pictures.
The Garda aren’t storming the place.
That’s the evil of the blasphemy laws: they make everyone a criminal, and are not being enforced, but they have the potential to be selectively enforced. That’s a very useful tool in the hands of the state; an art gallery exhibit which defies the law can be overlooked, but if someone starts really shaking up the establishment, it will be another convenient truncheon to silence dissent. I personally felt no risk at all in traveling to Ireland, because I’m just an outsider with no power, and can be safely ignored. I’d worry more if I were part of an organization with some political influence that was growing and had some shot at helping to secularize Ireland, because right now critics have the tool to break the back of such organizations with strategically applied accusations of violations of the official blasphemy laws.
It’s a very Christian approach. We’re all sinners, therefore God is justified in any action he takes against us. We’re all blasphemers, and give the state the power to condemn a common behavior, and they can be justified in the arbitrary exercise of the law.
Grassroots action can do wonderful things. Voters in Don McLeroy’s district in Texas are organizing an ad campaign and are looking for contributions to help air radio ads opposing McLeroy’s candidacy: as they say, “The ads will target moderate republicans who realize that to compete globally in the 21st century Texas needs smart students who are well educated, critical thinkers,” which is exactly the right approach to take. We need to mobilize the sensible conservatives and get them to realize that their continued entanglement with raving nutbags has been a formula for short-term electoral success and long-term disaster.
Some guy named Gerard Alexander has an opinion piece in the Washington Post titled “Why are liberals so condescending?” I will say one thing in its favor: it gets to its point quickly and clearly in the first few sentences.
Every political community includes some members who insist that their side has all the answers and that their adversaries are idiots. But American liberals, to a degree far surpassing conservatives, appear committed to the proposition that their views are correct, self-evident, and based on fact and reason, while conservative positions are not just wrong but illegitimate, ideological and unworthy of serious consideration.
Unfortunately, it’s downhill from there. He does demonstrate nicely that many liberals do categorize many conservatives as idiots, but he doesn’t seem capable of addressing the question of why they think that. It’s mostly a lot of waa-waa about the tone and how this attitude is an obstacle to politics.
He doesn’t consider the obvious explanation that many conservatives are amazing idiots pursuing idiotic policies.
Seriously. Sarah Palin.
Conservatives defending Palin’s stupidities. Republican candidates for the presidency who are certain that the earth is only 6000 years old. A Republican party dominated by the religious right.
Years ago, I would have considered Alexander to have a good point: that on some policies, such as economics, conservatives had something to contribute. But then they elected Reagan and Bush and the crowd of clowns in congress, and any claim to being a serious political party went out the window. They are the silly party now, and where they do the most damage is when pompous wankers demand that we treat them seriously simply because they are the conservative party we’ve got. No, we shouldn’t: we should laugh them out of office until they come up with candidates who aren’t stupid shills.
So I’m divided on the poll accompanying the article.
They’re both impossible 12%
Conservatives 22%
Liberals 66%
It’s really just an attempt to tar liberals with another insult — ironic for an article that is so condescendingly disparaging liberal tone — but it’s also true. We are more condescending. Because most conservatives are so deserving of condescension.
Sarah Palin gave a $100K speech to a convention of teabagging wankers, she faced a few pre-screened, prepared questions, and what did she need? She had to have the answers written on her hand ahead of time!
Here’s what gets me the most, though. She didn’t have a cheat sheet of wonky little details, stuff that would be hard to keep straight and important to get exactly right. No, she had to write down the three most important goals for a conservative majority. What, she’s shaky on that?
Energy
Budgetcuts
Tax
Lift Americans
Spirits
Man, next time I go off to give a talk, I’m going to get a sharpie and write “Science. Evolution. Anti-creationism.” on my left hand, in case I get asked what I’m going to talk about. ‘Cause I might forget, you know.
And then I’m going to ask for a few thousand dollars. And the presidency. All right, I’m not going to be greedy — the vice-presidency will do.
Go sign this petition, too: it asks Obama to recognize Darwin Day on 12 February. Who knows, he might be willing!
A Proclamation
Charles Darwin was the first to propose the scientific theory of evolution by natural selection. On Darwin Day, celebrated on the anniversary of Darwin’s birth on February 12, 1809, we celebrate the life and discoveries of Charles Darwin and express gratitude for the enormous benefits that scientific knowledge, acquired through human curiosity and ingenuity, has contributed to the advancement of humanity.
It is sobering to imagine where the human race would be today without advances in science. Science has helped us to live longer by enabling us to find cures for diseases and alleviating pain and suffering. It has allowed us to travel before unimaginable distances, to interact with and understand people of other cultures and recognize what makes us similar as well as what makes us unique. It has allowed us to understand and maneuver in our world and has provided us insight into the complexities of life.
Charles Darwin recognized the importance and power of scientific discovery, and perhaps no one has influenced our understanding about life on earth as much as he. Darwin was an English naturalist, who on his legendary five-year voyage on the HMS Beagle made important observations about the geological and zoological diversity of the lands he visited, which helped spark his theory of evolution by natural selection. Most of what we understand about the diversity of life and the process by which it has adapted and changed has come from his profound insights, and his contribution to the canons of science cannot be overstated.
On this anniversary of Darwin’s birthday, it is important to recognize the contributions he has made to the advancement of science. It is also important that we continue to educate future generations about evolution by natural selection in our science classrooms. We must not water down the significance of Darwin’s theory, nor the breadth of evidence supporting it, and we must at every turn challenge efforts to undermine science so that we can keep alive in our children and grandchildren the wonder of discovery and the eagerness to obtain knowledge.
Now, Therefore, I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim February 12, 2010, as Darwin Day. I call on all Americans to recognize the importance of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution by natural selection, to endeavor to preserve scientific discovery and human curiosity as bedrocks of American society, and to commemorate this day with appropriate events and activities.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day of February, two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.
Bryan Fischer, a host on Christian Hate Radio sponsored by the American Patriarchy Association, recently received mail from a listener appalled at his suggestion that homosexuals ought to be imprisoned. Fischer was quick to reassure his listener that yes, he really does believe that, he will happily repeat the claim multiple times, and that you aren’t a True Christian™ if you don’t agree that homosexuals ought to be treated like murderers or slavers.
Hi!
Thanks for writing me about my comments on my program regarding homosexuality.
It might be worth noting that what I actually suggested is that we impose the same sanctions on those who engage in homosexual behavior as we do on those who engage in intravenous drug abuse, since both pose the same kind of risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. I’d be curious to know what you think should be done with IV drug abusers, because whatever it is, I think the same response should be made to those who engage in homosexual behavior.
If you believe that what drug abusers need is to go into an effective detox program, then we should likewise put active homosexuals through an effective reparative therapy program.
Secondly, I’m afraid you’re simply wrong about the Bible’s perspective on the law and homosexuality.
Paul lists quite explicitly in 1 Timothy 1:8-11 the actions and behaviors that are the proper concern of the law:
“Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine…”
The bottom line here is that, biblically, those “who practice homosexuality” should come under the purview of the law just as much as those who take people captive in order to sell them into slavery.
You express a belief in the Scriptures, and I trust your confidence in Scripture is not selective. If you believe all Scripture is inspired, then you are compelled to accept that legal sanctions may appropriately be applied to those who engage in homosexual behavior.
Thank you for contacting us, and I hope this response will help you think in a thorough and biblical way about this important social issue.
Bryan Fischer
Host, “Focal Point” radio program on AFR Talk, a division of the American Family Association
Well, gosh. His analogy is so powerful that I think we ought to take all the heterosexuals who carry sexually transmitted diseases and subject them to sex aversion therapy (I think it involves a car battery, a couple of cables with clamps, and a porn video) and prolonged jail time. The ones who have the diseases should be made to suffer even more, and while they may be in the minority, the disgust we feel at these infected pariahs should be extended to all who practice the sloppy, fluid sharing, slimy business of male/female sex.
I’ve got some old Biblical misogynist to back me up, too. Paul, in 1 Corinthians, says “It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.” That’s clear: you should be celibate. The only reason to marry is if you can’t contain your own lustful urges, which are wicked, so that you aren’t fornicating. Sex is dirty, so perhaps an even better solution would be to jail everyone who practices it. That will keep them even purer than marriage.
Ouch. I need to stop trying to think like these guys—it hurts my brain. I think I need to lie down for a bit now to recover.
The murderer of Dr George Tiller has been convicted and now faces a life sentence. The Kansas jury didn’t take long at all — it was an open-and-shut case of pre-planned assassination and terrorism.
Thank you, Kansans.
Hey, California, you could learn something from Virginia’s bad example. Let’s all hope the California Supreme Court can do something right.
People of West Central Minnesota who might be reading this: I’ve heard from Roy Zimmerman that we could get him to swing by Morris ’round about 3 April. I’m in the awkward state of being on sabbatical and also doing a lot of traveling, so it’s difficult for me to arrange a performance, but I can take a shot at it. Is there any interest out there? Write to me and I’ll work on it, and maybe draft you to help.
As a member of the global liberal conspiracy, it is my obligation to occasionally toss out something disgustingly prurient to lead you all into the path of corruption. Here is my contribution today.
That’s it; a rather dry entry from the New Oxford American Dictionary. Are you aroused yet? Are you frantically closing the screen because it is so NSFW? Are you becoming a communist or a lesbian or a gay man or a Democrat now?
A moronic mother in Menifee, California discovered a similar entry in her child’s school dictionary and must have felt the first twinges of conversion to a werewolf or liberal or something — she was actually just confused, and was baffled by the unfamiliar situation of encountering a calmly stated fact — and did the usual conservatard squawk of protest to the school district. No big deal; anyone can complain about anything.
Unfortunately, the Menifee Union School District reacted stupidly: they yanked all copies of the dictionary from the shelves of all the schools in the district.
Moronic Menifee mom must feel so proud, I’m sure she’s suffused with a deep sense of accomplishment, and she’s probably scanning all of her children’s books right now for another word she can use to make the administrators dance to her tune. She has become a problem. But she’s a minor one compared to the cowards and idiots running that school district.
Menifee, hang your head in shame. Or better yet, could the sensible parents living in that district charge on down to the offices and fucking howl in protest? Don’t sit back and take it. Don’t shrug your shoulders and move on. Get in the faces of these administrators and make them fear for their jobs.
And that’s true everywhere. NO COMPLACENCY. When some dimwit with a delicate sense of propriety can get offended over a dictionary entry, why aren’t you getting offended at a bureaucracy that is censoring simple, straightforward factual information from your schools?
You don’t want your schools to end up like Texas’. Their school board is right now in the process of banning books from the curriculum willy-nilly. For instance, communism is evil, and that’s all the kiddies need to know about it; any text that might actually inform and explain the historical facts about communism are to be expunged, so they can better produce a generation of graduates who are proudly ignorant about everything they hate.
Stupid mothers are a problem. Craven administrators are a bigger problem. But when you’ve got a curriculum set by odious ideologues like Terri Leo, who would ban an author’s name wholesale because she read a title like Ethical Marxism (no, she hasn’t actually read the book, of course), you’re in a whole wide new world of pain, in which your local school has become a temple to ignorance.
We aren’t going to take it anymore. Howl. Be a proud lesbian Democrat liberal communist socialist (even if you’re a Republican heterosexual shop owner) werewolf and get out there and make noise. When a dumb parent can squeak and make administrators jump, we’re fools not to roar.
