It’s fairly likely that this video will be flagged to death on YouTube

Posted by Greg Laden on September 26, 2010
(14)
More »

It’s PZ Myers, who has been no friend to the crackers, burying two books of holy scripture and planting daffodils on them. Or, at least, I think it’s PZ (I can tell by his nice suit). And it might not be daffodils. Whatever. The point is, if you support the right of a person to make a point by burying the Koran and the Bible (copies they own on their own property we shall assume) then visit this video on YouTube and vote it up.

The original post by PZ is here.

The YouTube link is here.

The original video is below the fold.

I do want to point out that when I suggested that no more churches or mosques or religious sites of any kind should be built in New York many of you jumped on my case since by implication I was seen (incorrectly) as supporting that crazy guy in Florida and Glen Beck. I dare you to say the same things you said to me to PZ, on his site.

Or does the ad hominem flow through your post hoc Nazi veins, analogous strawman????

(14)
More »

Comments

  1. #1 SplendidMonkey
    September 26, 2010

    Those are mums, a nice fall season perenial

  2. #2 Hank Fox
    September 27, 2010

    Yeah, I tried to make that same point, about not favoring the building of another mosque, and people who claimed to be atheists acted like I was some sort of hater of humanity.

    I couldn’t get it across to them that you can oppose Wal-Mart without necessarily wanting to injure the rights of its employees.

  3. #3 Tuco
    September 27, 2010

    Atropa belladonna might have been more apropos. Or maybe Amanita phalloides.

  4. #4 Mike Olson
    September 27, 2010

    A very reasonable man, Voltaire said, “I disagree with everything you have to say, but will fight to the death your right to say it.” There are a great number of provocateurs in the world and their numbers have increased in the last nine years or so. Emotionally yanking someone’s chain is, after all so satisfying. And it certainly aids in creating a more rational and reasonable discourse. I really wish I could attend John Stewart’s Rally for Reason. Name calling and chain yanking have gotten very boring, tiresome and old.

  5. #5 Charles Sullivan
    September 27, 2010

    It’s just a book, and it’s his book.

    I’m getting tired of respecting religion.

  6. #6 Radioactive afikomen
    September 27, 2010

    Interestingly, burial is how any text mentioning the name(s) of God is traditionally disposed of in Judaism. I still remember my parents burying an exceedingly old copy of the Haggadah in the backyard.

  7. #7 Rich Wilson
    September 27, 2010

    Except Voltaire didn’t actually write that. He didn’t write “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” either.

    /Quote Nazi

    http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~susan/cyc/l/liberty.htm

  8. #8 sailor
    September 27, 2010

    Burying books is much better than burning them, the carbon gets released much more slowly. Taking them to the recycling bin might be better still.

  9. #9 Romeo Vitelli
    September 27, 2010

    He wears a suit while gardening? Does Trophy Wife know about this?

  10. #10 beaker
    September 27, 2010

    “I dare you to say the same things you said to me to PZ, on his site.”
    I don’t have to, because PZ Myers did not make the same argument. He never made the argument that religious buildings should not be built in New York. In fact, he argued that we should stand back and allow it, because of free speech rights. He stated that we not only have no legal cause to interfere with the building of it, but that we also have no moral cause to interfere with it.

    The difference between you and him being that PZ Myers is actually consistent when talking about free speech.

  11. #11 Greg Laden
    September 27, 2010

    “In fact, he argued that we should stand back and allow it, because of free speech rights.” I also made that argument.

    “The difference between you and him being that PZ Myers is actually consistent when talking about free speech.”

    No. PZ and I made almost exactly the same exact arguments. Although I admit (as I did before) that my first posting on this was not very clear because it was only a pointer to another blog (D. Brayton’s) talking about it, any one paying modest attention would see that PZ and I do not differ on this at all.

    The difference is that there are those who will read something by certain writers and figure they must also think that, but read the same exact thing by other writers and think they should not think that, because of what they’ve been told to think or what they’ve come to believe that they should think based on some sub-cultural phenomenon. And you, “Beaker” are a classic case.

  12. #12 stripey_cat
    September 27, 2010

    Tuco, I’d have chosen either Aconitum napellus, or almost anything with the specific epithet “foetidus”. Plants that, when you touch them, cover you in either a nasty neurotoxin or stinky stuff.

  13. #13 Mike Olson
    September 27, 2010

    You’re right, he only demonstrated the spirit of it. Thanks for correcting me, now I know who actually said it and why.

  14. #14 Kerrick
    September 27, 2010

    I was also going to add that burial is a perfectly respectful thing to do with a holy book that you have no further use for. What strikes me about this video is that someone thinks this is a way to demonstrate disrespect for religion, and other idiots will probably agree and be offended, when in reality the most interesting thing about it is the demonstration of a rather inefficient, if nicely sentimental, composting technique.