Hey, bigotry lovers!
Are you chafing in today's politically correct world, where you can't thoughtlessly hate whole groups of people?
Good news — there's still one group you can literally lord it over: atheists! (via)
Okay, confession time: your humble typist here does not believe in organized religion, praying to Joe Pesci, nor in the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
So, I was pretty disappointed to see Joe Biden, the master of Democratic nuance, hang non-believers out to dry on Bill Maher's Real Time. Amidst a rather cogent critique of the GOP's hypocritical religiosity, he suddenly decided to fluff up their favorite straw man, the godless liberal:
A non-believer hasn't gotten near American political office since Abe Lincoln ignored the PDB titled, "Booth determined to strike at Ford's Theatre."
Being an atheist used to be a pretty private business, until the fundies began their joy ride through the wall between church and state, and for the most part it still is. How many churches are in your town? And how many atheist meeting centers?
Who exactly is waging the "War on Christians"? Must be gruesome doing triage for that conflict. "What happened, Mrs. Applewhite — that nasty ACLU wouldn't let you run a prayer service during science class? Are you okay?"
The point of Biden's grandstanding is clear: he fancies himself the most electable Democrat, because he will uniquely wrap himself in the shroud of Turin. In fact, he's so holy he wanted to rip out the Adam's apple of a colleague who dared call an old-school religious ritual "quaint."
But, let's play angel's advocate: maybe Biden's not saying that atheists are bad, he's just saying not to disrespect religion.
Right, and GHWB's "Willie Horton" ads weren't intentionally race-baiting. Political campaigns are waged in symbols, and he's invoking the same ones that help the Tom DeLays defile our country. When we hear Biden distinguish between the "good atheists and agnostics" and the so-called liberal elites (and manages to name one of any import), I'll accept that he's not making us his sacrificial lamb. Until then, it's a safe bet that he thinks a halo will be his brass ring.
By the way, former Canadian PM Kim Campbell has said some refreshing truths at Maher's desk over the last couple of years:
Well, I have a message for you, my Christian / Jewish / Muslim / Scientologist friend. We mean no harm to your planet. Truly.
If you think we're dismissive, please be honest about how you feel about atheism. You think it's somewhere between naive and dangerous. Is it so bad if that's how we feel about organized religion?
And we have a lot more to fear from you than you do from us. Not only are there a lot more of you, you guys are a hell of a lot more aggressive.
I've had Mormons walk onto my lawn during a barbecue and stare in my face and try to convert me. I've had to steer around screaming people foisting "You'll Burn in Hell" pamphlets on me. At most every baseball game in the last four years, I've had to endure stadia full of my countrymen chanting the theo-jingoistic "God Bless America." My neighbors have funded $150 million (the Boston Archdiocese's latest settlement estimate) worth of boy rape. Oh, and some religious dudes slammed some airplanes into buildings, as best I recall — and in the "crusade" that followed, Jesus told our leader to attack a completely unrelated country.
So, should I vent in your direction now and again, please don't take it personally. It's just that a bunch of your brethren are fucking up and/or breathing down my neck. I guess it's impolite for me to notice....
But all that said, only a fool would think all or most of you are like that. I don't think you're stupid — plenty of nicer and smarter people than I am are religious, and so are 100% of the people I've ever voted for.
For your part, do you consider us worthy candidates for office or for your sons' and daughters' hands, or are we just reprehensible "elites"?
Ideally, the Democratic party is a big tent where people with and without religious faith can respectfully work together to make this a better country and world.
I want to us to retake the government more than the next guy. I'm not one of these radicals who thinks that every special-interest group needs to be front and center in the platform. I'm not looking for us to go out of our way to scare Ohio soccer moms out of their precious supply of bejesus.
But what profiteth a party if we gain the whole government but lose our soul?
Good news — there's still one group you can literally lord it over: atheists! (via)
Okay, confession time: your humble typist here does not believe in organized religion, praying to Joe Pesci, nor in the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
So, I was pretty disappointed to see Joe Biden, the master of Democratic nuance, hang non-believers out to dry on Bill Maher's Real Time. Amidst a rather cogent critique of the GOP's hypocritical religiosity, he suddenly decided to fluff up their favorite straw man, the godless liberal:
I think the problem with a lot of elites in the Democratic party, quite frankly, is they communicate they don't respect people's faith.Joe, tell me something. Where are these terrible, influential, pagan liberals? Have you ever seen one?
A non-believer hasn't gotten near American political office since Abe Lincoln ignored the PDB titled, "Booth determined to strike at Ford's Theatre."
Being an atheist used to be a pretty private business, until the fundies began their joy ride through the wall between church and state, and for the most part it still is. How many churches are in your town? And how many atheist meeting centers?
Who exactly is waging the "War on Christians"? Must be gruesome doing triage for that conflict. "What happened, Mrs. Applewhite — that nasty ACLU wouldn't let you run a prayer service during science class? Are you okay?"
The point of Biden's grandstanding is clear: he fancies himself the most electable Democrat, because he will uniquely wrap himself in the shroud of Turin. In fact, he's so holy he wanted to rip out the Adam's apple of a colleague who dared call an old-school religious ritual "quaint."
But, let's play angel's advocate: maybe Biden's not saying that atheists are bad, he's just saying not to disrespect religion.
Right, and GHWB's "Willie Horton" ads weren't intentionally race-baiting. Political campaigns are waged in symbols, and he's invoking the same ones that help the Tom DeLays defile our country. When we hear Biden distinguish between the "good atheists and agnostics" and the so-called liberal elites (and manages to name one of any import), I'll accept that he's not making us his sacrificial lamb. Until then, it's a safe bet that he thinks a halo will be his brass ring.
By the way, former Canadian PM Kim Campbell has said some refreshing truths at Maher's desk over the last couple of years:
You know, I don't think in Canada you could be prime minister if you were ever quoted as saying that you thought God wanted you to run, and you thought the jury was still out on evolution.From his other comments, Biden manifestly understands this, which makes his strafing of atheists with friendly fire all the more calculated, cruel, and corrosive.
I think when we face radicals who actually don't accept the rules and don't accept the historical consensus of the separation of church and state, who have no respect for the notion of what science is, all of these kinds of things, it is so mind-boggling that people are kind of paralyzed. They don't know what to do. And so they keep thinking, "Oh, it's just a marginal thing; they aren't really this focused at changing things." And yet they are.
Well, I have a message for you, my Christian / Jewish / Muslim / Scientologist friend. We mean no harm to your planet. Truly.
If you think we're dismissive, please be honest about how you feel about atheism. You think it's somewhere between naive and dangerous. Is it so bad if that's how we feel about organized religion?
And we have a lot more to fear from you than you do from us. Not only are there a lot more of you, you guys are a hell of a lot more aggressive.
I've had Mormons walk onto my lawn during a barbecue and stare in my face and try to convert me. I've had to steer around screaming people foisting "You'll Burn in Hell" pamphlets on me. At most every baseball game in the last four years, I've had to endure stadia full of my countrymen chanting the theo-jingoistic "God Bless America." My neighbors have funded $150 million (the Boston Archdiocese's latest settlement estimate) worth of boy rape. Oh, and some religious dudes slammed some airplanes into buildings, as best I recall — and in the "crusade" that followed, Jesus told our leader to attack a completely unrelated country.
So, should I vent in your direction now and again, please don't take it personally. It's just that a bunch of your brethren are fucking up and/or breathing down my neck. I guess it's impolite for me to notice....
But all that said, only a fool would think all or most of you are like that. I don't think you're stupid — plenty of nicer and smarter people than I am are religious, and so are 100% of the people I've ever voted for.
For your part, do you consider us worthy candidates for office or for your sons' and daughters' hands, or are we just reprehensible "elites"?
Ideally, the Democratic party is a big tent where people with and without religious faith can respectfully work together to make this a better country and world.
I want to us to retake the government more than the next guy. I'm not one of these radicals who thinks that every special-interest group needs to be front and center in the platform. I'm not looking for us to go out of our way to scare Ohio soccer moms out of their precious supply of bejesus.
But what profiteth a party if we gain the whole government but lose our soul?
Labels: atheism, Bill Maher, Democrats, Joe Biden, Real Time, religion, WTF
posted by Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy at 3:28 AM
10 Comments:
yes, church and state must be seperated. however, another annoyance of mine is when people think in order to believe in god you must be religious. i completely believe in a creator, because obviously it makes the most sence, however i don't and have never followed a religion. the two are very seperate things. thinking that believeing in god and being religious are synonomous is like thinking being a human being and attending a university are synonymous. obviously not neccessarily so.
Ideally, the Democratic party is a big tent where people with and without religious faith can respectfully work together to make this a better country and world.
I really respect that quote. I also believe in seperation of church and state, and I myself am a religious person. I belive in the Father above, and In heavan and hell. But I do not belive in discriminating against someone who does not feel the same way. God wouldnt want it like that, thats why I belive he gave us our free will to choose whether or not to believe in him.
Hear, hear! Well said!
I especially appreciate that the moniker 'radical' is put in it's proper place with the rabid religionists, instead of those of us who disagree with the current administration and the frightening role religion has been taking in the manipulation of this country.
Being an atheist, this was a relief to read that other people know what it's like to have the Bible almost shoved down your throat on a daily basis. I attend a liberal arts college and currently am taking a poetry class, which consists mostly of religious works. I remember within the first week of class, our professor asked every one of us, individually, what our denomination was. Knowing that this college used to be affiliated (and still might as well be) with the Episcopalian church, the whole class encountered a majority of Episcopalians, a few Catholics and Presbyterians, then me. I remember literally crickets chirping when I stated what I was. I think the worst part was that the professor emailed me later on that day, asking if I would be able to handle the class content. All I could think was, last time I remember, this was called "Studies in Poetry," an English class - not a religion course. Even though the class is still enjoyable when we debated interpretations, I still felt unaccepted at times. They looked at me oddly when I used the name of 'God' and 'Jesus,' but I was just using them as names.
On a political stance, it does make me cringe everytime Bush ends his speeches (no matter how HORRIBLE or grammatically incorrect they were) with, "God Bless America". Does he really think that makes it better?
I also found it odd that, even in elementary school, when we had to place our little hands across our hearts and say the Pledge of Allegiance, I left out the line "under God". I guess it's sometimes sad when you can't even believe in religion as an ignorant child.
So... yes, church and state should be seperated. That would express the "freedom" that we brag of a whole lot more.
In Jesusistan, the Bible is in, and heathen practices like science are OUT!
The Chimperor will always have in his possession the official Bible of Jesusistan, the "King George Version." Here are some familiar verses, as they appear in the Jesusistan Bible:
-Blessed are the Rich, for they shall inherit your ass.
-It is harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than it is for a poor man to get representation in Congress.
-Love thy neighbor, unless thy neighbor thinks, lives, or acts differently then you do. In that case, smite thy neighbor, for he is truly wicked.
-Let he who is without sin, keep his mouth shut while we bankrupt the country.
So, it's the people who believe that...
1. there's a place where the greatest imaginable suffering goes on, forever and forever without end;
2. atheists (who just have no respect) are all going there one day; and
3. this is a fine and praiseworthy state of affairs
...who are the ones airing the grievance?
Let me make my point again a different way. I'm an atheist. Say a Christian and I go to a hospital together and find a third-degree burn victim. Say the burns cover 80% of his body. Meaning surgery after surgery, and year after year, of excruciating, unimaginable physical pain.
The fire, by the way, was at the asylum where he was being treated for his lifelong and severe clinical depression. Meaning that his life, up to the point of the fire, had been lived from the bottom of a well of inexhaustible despair. From which he, understandably, continues to suffer.
Now, my Christian friend can actually truthfully say to me, "You know, my belief is that you TOTALLY deserve to suffer like this guy. Way, way worse, in fact! Forever!"
It's strange to me that people holding such beliefs feel justified in complaining that atheists are hurting their feelings with their unkindnesses.
If you think about it, atheists show remarkable deference and forbearance just by not slapping the faces of such people whenever they find them out.
I am a teacher in a back asswards area of AZ. I teach from my heart. My students are mostly "white trash." Their parent's religions are mormon, baptist, jw, etc... I am in the bedlam of fundyism. I survive because, while I am an avowed atheist, I respect their archaic beliefs. I don't preach, I teach.
I think of myself as an anthropologist studying ancient belief systems. They think of me as a devil worshipper; which I can't be. I have only had one student in 15 years try to "convert" me; he stopped after I quoted the bible better than him.
It is the nature of an atheist to respect all life, no matter how deplorable the usurper.
I'm sorry to be a disappointment to humanity. An atheist, by nature, must be this way.
Excuse me. There is indeed a war on christians, and it's being led by... me.
Why, you may ask?
Because...
I've linked to you here:
http://atheism.about.com/b/a/257416.htm
i am a female with young not and respects. i have many relationship in my life and all seems to be a loose because all the men who were going out with wanted to make love to me before we can get marry. but as a christian woman, that one is funication at the face of the lord and i do not want that to happen with me. due to these incidents, i then decided to ask for any man out there who is ready to stay with me without sex on till when we get married. so i will love that pleasure to happen to me if the person is so interested in marriage before sex, i will greatly appreciate that.thanks for the gentle eye view.
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