…and this is a 
I swear, they're trying to see how stupid they can get before my head explodes. Read Isaiah 35:8:
And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
Obviously, to any brain-dead literal-minded pismire of an evangelical Christian, that is a reference to I-35, the interstate that cuts through Minnesota and Texas. Obviously. Never mind that unclean PZ Myers has driven on it quite often, or that this is the road with the bridge that collapse, or heck, that it is just a long piece of concrete with trucks blatting out nasty hot gasses all day long.
Good god.
Don't watch this video unless you've got an awesome tolerance for high-density super-concentrated stupid and dancing howling raving demented fuckwits. This is America, land of prophecies, dreams, and visions taken as insight, where imaginary demons and angels are supposedly fighting over a strip of pavement.
Must rest. Intracranial pressure rising…rising…rising…
(via Minnesota Monitor)
Politics
Comments
Posted by: AJ Milne | December 4, 2007 3:04 PM
(Stacks up three shots of Bushmills, drinks them in quick succession, waits five minutes...)
Nope. Still completely incomprehensible.
Anyone got a heavy, rubber mallet I can borrow?
Posted by: Tom Foss | December 4, 2007 3:04 PM
I'm reminded of Gaiman and Pratchett's Good Omens, in which a British highway is shaped like an occult rune, and thus acts as a conduit for all sorts of nasty demonic things, as well as awful traffic.
Posted by: gravitybear | December 4, 2007 3:04 PM
Saw this on Pandagon. Concentrated stupid.
It defies description (at least by me).
Posted by: Kevin L. | December 4, 2007 3:05 PM
I managed to sit through only about a minute of the video before my gag reflex kicked in. Frankly, I think "fuckwits" is being polite.
I'll grant that some may be decent people, but this is unadulterated madness.
Posted by: Moses | December 4, 2007 3:07 PM
I'm... Wow. Just wow. I can't think of what I am because I am beyond the place I'd be if I said I was "stunned into incredulity."
Posted by: Ixu | December 4, 2007 3:11 PM
On fire for God...
Ah...if only.
Posted by: shiftlessbum | December 4, 2007 3:12 PM
Wow. Just.....wow.
"Demented fuckwit" is too mild for these people.
Posted by: carlsonjok | December 4, 2007 3:14 PM
Since I-35 is considered a NAFTA corridor, how much you want to bet that the "unclean that shall not pass over it" include Mexicans?
Posted by: Rachel I. | December 4, 2007 3:16 PM
Fucking bullshit. First 40 days of intimidating, harassing, stalking and threatening people at abortion clinics, now this. Let's go convert people from chemical drugs to God! Because God is way safer than those other drugs! Let's zap people with joybuzzers until they think it's God! And get them to claim he's "cured" them from being themselves! Imbeciles. Deluded, brain-damaged mobs.
Wish my boyfriend were more open to the idea of leaving the country... I'm dead afraid of these loonies.
Posted by: Axel Muller | December 4, 2007 3:18 PM
I really should have taken the warning seriously ...
Posted by: Seraphiel | December 4, 2007 3:21 PM
Okay, what is a "prophetic intercessor" supposed to be?
Posted by: Sastra, OM | December 4, 2007 3:21 PM
Ok. Now they have to set up a control and go evangelize on another major highway. If they don't feel anything Special happening and God seems absent to them, then maybe they're on to something with this I-35 idea.
Posted by: Glenn | December 4, 2007 3:22 PM
Man, US 33 (Indiana to Virgina) must really suck:
"The highways are deserted, no travelers are on the roads. The treaty is broken, its witnesses are despised, no one is respected." -- Isaiah 33:8
Posted by: MReap | December 4, 2007 3:24 PM
Over the years I've driven every inch of I-35 from Duluth to Laredo including all of the "east" and "west" sections in Minneapolis and Dallas. An interesting, if at times terrifying, drive. The largest concentration of X-rated businesses is found between Oklahoma City and San Antonio. Figures.
Posted by: jba | December 4, 2007 3:25 PM
Im at work so cant watch it (not that Im sure I want to) would someone give me the gist of what this is about?
Rachel I: Im trying to convince my girlfriend to expat with me. Its not going very well... probably doesnt help that I want to go so Sweden where the weather is how I like it (and she cant even deal with Boston winters) and ,from everything I have heard, the overall attitude is secular. And there is lots of heavy metal. \m/
Posted by: Beth B. | December 4, 2007 3:26 PM
It's a little disconcerting that there are people who believe they are "moving angels and demons" and "creating a change in the heavenlies" by gathering and being nutty en masse along a particular highway.
Posted by: Virginia | December 4, 2007 3:27 PM
I-35 also goes through Olathe, Kansas, south of K.C., another hotbed of the born again set. So expect them to chime in on this.
In any case, maybe some biblical scholar can enlighten me, but weren't the chapter divisions arbitrarily added by much later editors? So wouldn't the fact that this passage is found in Chapter 35 be, like, a coincidence?
Posted by: jba | December 4, 2007 3:28 PM
Oh. I just followed the link (like a smart person...) I still dont understand, but I get the gist of what its about. Ugh.
Posted by: Sven DiMilo | December 4, 2007 3:30 PM
I...I, uh...I'm just slackjawed.
And I've spent some time on I-35, back & forth between Oklahoma City and Stillwater. It didn't seem any more evil than any other stretch of prairie interstate (though I did once see a tornado just to the west around Edmond, I think tornados are acts of God).
Apparently these people have never experienced 128 around Boston...now there's an evil highway!
Posted by: Jim Thomerson | December 4, 2007 3:33 PM
I wish they would concetrate on getitng the traffic on I-35 thinned out rather than worrying about roadside establishments. Heard somewhere that a truck can go from San Antonio to Dallas on I-35 in the same amount of time it took in 1942. Do you think the more-or less parallel Trans-Texas Corridor will siphon off some of the I-35 evil?
Posted by: Glenn | December 4, 2007 3:33 PM
And why exactly would the reference be to US Highway 35? There's a perfectly good Highway 35 in Israel, wouldn't that make much more sense?
Oh yeah, sense...I forgot. Not really applicable here. Never mind.
Posted by: dannyness | December 4, 2007 3:35 PM
I've driven I-35 my all my unclean life.
Also: Ames, IA, the location of Iowa State University is on I-35.
Posted by: Venger | December 4, 2007 3:35 PM
And to think I thought this video Van Til's Challenge was the most concentrated example of demented fuckwittery I'd seen today.
Anyone wanting to beat their head against a moving goal post for $1000 should take a look. Personally I think it'd be more fun to just list all the logical fallacies on display. I only watched the first 2 or 3 minutes and counted at least 5.
Posted by: zer0 | December 4, 2007 3:36 PM
dot dot dot
Posted by: NC Paul | December 4, 2007 3:36 PM
"Purity siege", eh? Not sinister at all.
P.
Posted by: C. M. Baxter | December 4, 2007 3:36 PM
Cindy Jacobs @ -4:03 in the video. Her expression looks like something between a snarl and a death grimace. I can't help wondering, would she still be that ugly if she were saying something rational? Or is it just me?
Posted by: Dan | December 4, 2007 3:38 PM
Yowza! I think I need a shower to wash the burning stupid off me after watching that.
Posted by: roland | December 4, 2007 3:39 PM
Actually, the most depressing part of all this is that with all the scientists I know scrambling for funding, there's apparently a good living to be made as a "prophetic intercessor." Must've missed that booth on career day.
Posted by: JimC | December 4, 2007 3:39 PM
This has to be a parody correct? If not the fact that people like this get the same vote that you and I get in elections should terrify just about everyone.
Between the DI hacks, these nuts, apologists of every type, what is there to defend about religion really?
Posted by: Susan | December 4, 2007 3:44 PM
*headdesk*
Sigh, I can see I-35 when I go up two flights in my building, so if I see the swarms of proselytizers coming, I'll let y'all know.
Posted by: Tom Foss | December 4, 2007 3:48 PM
"Have you ever felt the spirit of God? Would you like to?" is the worst pick-up line ever.
He felt God "moving inside him," and didn't want to be with men anymore. I guess once you go divine, you never want your own kind. So that's why Mary stayed a virgin.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | December 4, 2007 3:50 PM
I wonder how much they paid that one "saved" homosexual
Posted by: Elin | December 4, 2007 3:50 PM
What a tremendous waste of energy. I can't even laugh at them, it's so sad. And that is Pat Robertson at the beginning of the video, correct? PZ, you really should have put some kind of Pat Robertson warning in your text.
They want a holy nation? Awesome! I hear Antarctica is still pretty much up for grabs.
For the rest of us, I don't think going expat is not the answer. Unless a Handmaid's Tale scenario occurs, there is no way I'm going to hand over our country to these idiots.
Posted by: carlsonjok | December 4, 2007 3:51 PM
You may want to drive it again. There are no such X-rated businesses in Oklahoma, least of all along I-35. However, as one crosses the Red River into Texas, the very first exit dumps you right into the parking lot of an adult book store.
In Oklahoma, we put our Indian casinos along I-35.
Posted by: MReap | December 4, 2007 4:00 PM
Re; #34
Just drove it this summer and will be heading back down in two weeks. I guess you have to know Moore, Norman, etc.. a bit more, umm ,intimately. They're there. But I agree that the heaviest concentration is in Texas, especially DFW. I love the juxtaposition of the porn shop just across the Red River right before the Welcome to Texas center!
Posted by: windy | December 4, 2007 4:01 PM
Wow, a highway with the same number as a psalm about highways - what are the odds??
probably doesnt help that I want to go so Sweden where the weather is how I like it (and she cant even deal with Boston winters)
Winters aren't necessarily worse in Sweden than in Boston, depends where you go. Unless by worse you mean the dark, the dribbling icy water and the lack of proper snow... (Today I saw the first upside-down car of the season, hopefully no one got hurt.)
Posted by: carlsonjok | December 4, 2007 4:12 PM
Mreap,
I live in Norman. The only thing close is a Christie's Toy Box just over the Cleveland County along I-35 and another a mile or so east of the highway near campus. So, I will grant you one. Of course, if you subscribe to the Kenny Chesney song "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" then you may have a point, as there are at least three purveyors of farm implements in the same stretch of road.
Posted by: Sengkelat | December 4, 2007 4:13 PM
I find the converted gay man puzzling. Perhaps he really wanted out of his relationship but didn't know how to break the news? Or maybe the religionists were so disgusting that he's forswearing sex entirely? Or, maybe he's a fake, and he never was gay to begin with?
Actually, my real hope is that he's just playing along, trying to infiltrate the ministry and get proof that they're homophobic...uh...okay, to get into the church leadership and then totally discredit Christianity with a gay sex scandal...err...well, never mind.
Posted by: jdb | December 4, 2007 4:14 PM
I'm pretty sure that the highway to heaven involves Michael Landon and Merlin Olsen. TV wouldn't lie to me.
Posted by: Marvin | December 4, 2007 4:19 PM
Bwaaaaa ha ha ha. Obviously they've confused I-35 with Route 66.
And there's a humongous porn warehouse-- nay,cathedral -- on I35 just outside Waco, which always cracks me up.
Posted by: Kris Verburgh | December 4, 2007 4:29 PM
So, they are worshiping highways now. How more stupid can they become?
Posted by: Stan | December 4, 2007 4:32 PM
carlsonjok,
I also live in Norman and all I can say is that you haven't been paying attention during your drive.
Posted by: Moopheus | December 4, 2007 4:36 PM
But
http://www.nascocorridor.com/
http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/005859.html
etc.
Posted by: Raynfala | December 4, 2007 4:36 PM
From the video:
"...set people on fire..."
No need. Some nice God-fearing folks in Salem beat you to it decades ago.
--Raynfala
Posted by: Sarcastro | December 4, 2007 4:39 PM
Y'know, 35:7 is much more interesting.
I wanna know where these fucking dragons are. Them and the satyrs mentioned in Isaiah 34:14.
Posted by: carlsonjok | December 4, 2007 4:39 PM
Stan,
Surely you don't mean the various gentlemen's clubs? Surely, they don't rise above R-rated?
*dope slaps self*
Posted by: tyaddow | December 4, 2007 4:40 PM
I went to a high "school" filled with these "spirit-filled" type and let me tell you: if you think this video is strange, try (don't) standing in a room full of moaning, fainting, gibberish-speaking god-lunatics that are "on fire" for god.
The memories will haunt you. Anyway, I think the extent of the delusion is apparent in the confidence that these individuals display when talking about their fatuous beliefs. I wish I could say that I would be OK with people believing whatever they want as long as they don't parade it around in public, but I am admittedly uncomfortable with these people working jobs, raising kids, and making decisions that effect others. Furthermore, they clearly have no intention of keeping their infectious insanity to themselves.
This stuff just makes me think that we atheists are not engaging enough people, not taking enough action in the way of helping people exit or avoid this type of nonsense.
Posted by: amanda | December 4, 2007 4:40 PM
W.T.F.??? WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF???
I live in the northeastern corner of the U.S., so I don't see much of this stuff. This is...wow. It's just...there aren't any words for it.
Those people are frightening...
Posted by: danley | December 4, 2007 4:44 PM
Holy fucking christ almighty. The goddamn zombies are loose.
Posted by: firemancarl | December 4, 2007 4:47 PM
This is sooooo awesome! Thank you Lord Jesus for setting these people on fire and giving me job security for years to come!
Posted by: Fred | December 4, 2007 4:53 PM
To make you feel better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY-ZrwFwLQg
(Ant and Dec are twentysomething TV presenters in the UK)
Posted by: Tebo | December 4, 2007 4:56 PM
Holy batshit! My Mother of Gawd!! When will my N & V desist?? Keep those cocksuckers away from me!!!!
Posted by: Bert Chadick | December 4, 2007 5:00 PM
I grew up and was educated in the I-35 corridor, and this CBN clip is representative of the insanity of Texas Evangelicals. Dallas has a rotating mega-church scandal going on 12 months a year, usually involving sex, money or perversion. Many times all three.
Posted by: jcchurch | December 4, 2007 5:03 PM
FIRE! And I was healed!
Posted by: Mena | December 4, 2007 5:07 PM
People get paid to do this stuff? That's wrong on *so* many levels. I guess they had to so somewhere when Highway 666 was renamed. Their work there was done, they fended off the antichrist. Well, something like that...
Posted by: AlanWCan | December 4, 2007 5:13 PM
Oh yeah, that guy's not gay anymore. Right.
Something crazy happening alright.
If god is omnipotent, why does it need these idiots?
What the fuck is this crap doing broadcast as news?
Owwww.
Posted by: lacrimose | December 4, 2007 5:20 PM
@ #46
I think you're right about needing more engaging atheists. These "spirit-filled" meetings remind me of a pep rally. We just need to be a little more peppy. IIRC, there is a letter to put on our sweaters; who's going to bring the pom-poms? Give me an "A"! Rah! Rah! Rah!
Posted by: Kevin Murphy | December 4, 2007 5:25 PM
My word. There sure are a lot of idiots in America.
Posted by: Evan Olcott | December 4, 2007 5:30 PM
Yup, I-35 is blessed, all right:
http://climateprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/bridge-collapse.jpg
Posted by: Matt | December 4, 2007 5:33 PM
I made it 1 minute, 30 seconds before I smashed my mouse button to stop it. How does that compare with everyone else? I needed a new mouse anyway!
Posted by: Joe Bob | December 4, 2007 5:34 PM
Their prayers must be working. I35 runs through Austin where the Texas Education Agency was recentlly purified by the forced resignation of its Science Curriculum Director, who dared publicly express a preference for evolution over creationism. Praise the Lord!
Posted by: Anon | December 4, 2007 5:35 PM
These people seem utterly convinced that they can heal by laying on of hands. Could we maybe lock a herd of them in a gymnasium with the guy from a previous post, the man with the facial tumor? Not let them out until he no longer looks like he has a giant octopus stuck to his face?
Please?
Posted by: Raynfala | December 4, 2007 5:51 PM
@ #60
I made it all the way through. How?
Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big old storm right in the eye and says, "Give me your best shot. I can take it."
Best... movie... evar...
--Raynfala
Posted by: John Marley | December 4, 2007 5:57 PM
Jesus Haploid Christ!
Freedom of speech is one thing, but those prayer siege things must violate some harassment statute.
Posted by: John Marley | December 4, 2007 5:59 PM
That was not real, and I want to talk to the cops.
Posted by: Janine | December 4, 2007 6:05 PM
Because only idiots could stand around, giving constant praise to the big sky daddy.
Liked the guy who was making the claim he healed someone at age 15 by praying with them. Perhaps he should join up with Peter Popoff.
Posted by: CalGeorge | December 4, 2007 6:11 PM
Mass hysteria.
Hitler would have loved these gullible fools.
Pat Robertson is one evil son-of-a-bitch.
Posted by: laura quilter | December 4, 2007 6:15 PM
One, you can't really take the 700 Club's version of events for reality. Two, after filtering for the 700 Club's biases, here's what I've got: Hey let them keep on with their ineffectual prayers. Better than most of the other productively harmful things they could be doing.
Posted by: Pyre | December 4, 2007 6:20 PM
What you folks fail to realize is that God created the Interstate Highway System (see the acronym "IHS" in ancient church symbols) at the beginning of the world, presciently running routes between the future sites of cities yet unbuilt, even including on- and off-ramps for lesser roads that would not be paved for millennia to come. The Indians could not take advantage of the freeways because they never invented the wheel. God provided for our invention of the automobile!
You've already cited all the proof anyone needs, from the Bible itself.
For those who contend otherwise, who insist on human builders -- prove it! Present sworn notarized testimony from every single human being whom you claim played any role in such spurious "construction", along with verifiable contemporary filmed records of their actions to support their perjurious claims. Without such ironbound evidence of every step, every transition, your claim fails, and Divine Creation wins by default.
Now that's a Fair and Balanced™ burden of proof!
Posted by: Fernando Magyar | December 4, 2007 6:20 PM
Isn't there some really high cliff somewhere that these idiots can follow one of their leaders off of like a nice bunch of lemmings?
Posted by: Pyre | December 4, 2007 6:29 PM
"... the acronym 'IHS' ... in ancient church symbols..."
[The second image is from the catacombs.]
Posted by: idlemind | December 4, 2007 6:32 PM
Nothing unusual, here; it's the same sort of thing that passes for "news" on the 700 Club every day.
Posted by: Ayse | December 4, 2007 6:33 PM
Hey. Was that Chewbacca rocking out there about 51 seconds from the end? Damn. This Christian thing is bigger than I thought.
Posted by: Tebo | December 4, 2007 6:38 PM
International House of Suck-Wass??!!
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | December 4, 2007 7:02 PM
I watched it all. You can mail my Purple Heart out to me anytime now.
The only time I got vaguely interested was when he said they were going to "set churches on fire". Although they no doubt meant it in a different manner to which I took it, it still gave me the female equivalent of a boner.
Posted by: leeG | December 4, 2007 7:06 PM
I watched about 30% - that was my limit!
There is simply no lower bound on human intelligence....
Posted by: Brian | December 4, 2007 7:41 PM
I'm having trouble typing because the left side of my body just went numb watching that.
Fucking Jesusland, man.
Posted by: John C. Welch | December 4, 2007 8:01 PM
Oh, that's nothing. YOu want some real, old-fashioned fundie craziness? Here, the Westboro Baptist Church covers "We are the world":
http://my.break.com/content/view.aspx?ContentID=278059
The last part is a slogan for "Say no to fucking your sister"
Posted by: John C. Randolph | December 4, 2007 8:07 PM
Why is smugness so strongly correlated with idiocy?
-jcr
Posted by: John C. Welch | December 4, 2007 8:09 PM
Heh...you should see all the signs in southern Illinois for "Raper RV" and "Raper auto" and all kinds of other things. Funny, there weren't any "Raper sex toys" or "Raper lingerie", or what I was hoping for "Raper home pharmaceuticals"
Posted by: John C. Welch | December 4, 2007 8:14 PM
Why is smugness so strongly correlated with idiocy?
Because you're talking about an institution that requires both to survive. Face it, rational thought and questions aren't big in the religious world.
Posted by: Dave M | December 4, 2007 8:37 PM
Sorry, I think Van Til's Challenge is stupider. This is wacky, but the VTC (see link at comment #23) is purer, more concentrated stupidity, with a side of smugness (it's Kelly Tripplehorn!). It's like it's *designed* (!) to cause particular pain to philosophers. Show it to Wilkins some time if you want to make his head explode.
Posted by: gsb | December 4, 2007 9:11 PM
This must be that "sophisticated" Christian theology that all the faithful believe, the one that the critics say Dawkins is failing to appreciate properly.
Posted by: MonoApe | December 4, 2007 9:18 PM
Jesus H. Christ on a moped ... so many stupid people ... all in one place. I had no idea it was possible.
L. Ron had the right idea - gonna start me a religion and make a million (Dr Evil little finger moment - "no, a billion") out of these eye-wateringly gullible idiots.
Posted by: dangerblond | December 4, 2007 9:33 PM
I could not watch that. Had to stop it. And I have watched a LOT of the crazy shit that ya'll post.
Posted by: Veronique | December 4, 2007 10:00 PM
I laughed all the way through that. How bizarre. I am so pleased that there is a mighty big body of water between Australia and the US.
You poor blighters. I can't blame you for wanting to leave.
It will horrify me after I stop laughing. They are all on high on Gerin Oil and desperately in need of a debrief.
It is so wacky I have difficulty in believing any of those people are real.
Posted by: DLC | December 4, 2007 10:20 PM
I put on welder's goggles and a level 4 biohazard suit before watching, and the stupid burned right through.
I might be more inclined to believe that I-35 was a religious super-string, attracting religious nuts with it's incredible (non-denominational)mass.
On the other hand, I-35 does lead to exits from the United States.
Posted by: JanieBelle | December 4, 2007 10:37 PM
Crap.
My head hurts, I shoulda heeded the warning label.
Posted by: CortxVortx | December 4, 2007 11:08 PM
Comedy gold! Just a few partial quotes:
"We laid hands on him ... felt God moving in him ... he got plugged into church ..."
"Set people on fire ..." (flaming?)
"We expect a movement ..."
And the guy named Rimanuel ...
You can't make this crap up!
-- CV
Posted by: CortxVortx | December 4, 2007 11:17 PM
I've traveled I-35 from Temple TX to Guthrie OK. Some good fossil hunting in the Arbuckle mountains.
When I lived in Waco, we had a church bus (large van) catch fire on I-35. Killed a couple of people. Capricious critter, that God...
-- CV
Posted by: Graculus | December 4, 2007 11:30 PM
The shields are down to 20%! Divert power from warp drives, NOW!
.. wait, is that "Prayer Interseccionist" Lady covered in fresh bird poop? Sure looks like it.
Posted by: MAJeff | December 4, 2007 11:36 PM
I just couldn't make it all the way through. Holy shit, that's some crazy. Used to live in Ames, IA, so very familiar with I-35, particularly the stretch between Ames and Des Moines, where I had to go to the gay bars.
Pure batshit insanity.
Posted by: dwarf zebu | December 4, 2007 11:37 PM
I'm willing to bet a large sum of money that I can't afford to lose that not one single strip club, gay bar or porn shoppe has lost anywhere near enough business to even comment on.
I'm not too worried.
Posted by: Larry | December 4, 2007 11:37 PM
Isn't there a spaceship or something coming for these people? Shouldn't they be laying down in bunks with their tennis shoes and sweat pants on, waiting to be called up to the comet?
Damn, every time I think these christers have finally reached the shallow end, they drain the pool a little more. This really has to be one of the most bizarre things I've seen.
Posted by: Kristine | December 5, 2007 12:07 AM
The strip clubs, porn shops and gay bars should invite these kids in for free. They should hold a "Christian Night Out." We'll see who converts who then.
P.S. My favorite song of all time is Boulevard of Broken Dreams. ;-)
Posted by: Joel | December 5, 2007 12:45 AM
I was wondering exactly what kind of journalism degree and qualifications you need to be a "reporter" for the 700 Club.
So I'm going to guess that next they'll come after my nearby highway: I-69. I mean, how inherently evil is that? And there is an adult bookstore off the exit by my house. Or are they just going to keep rolling their dice to find their next target?
Posted by: BlueIndependent | December 5, 2007 12:49 AM
"Jesus Haploid Christ!
Freedom of speech is one thing, but those prayer siege things must violate some harassment statute."
Whether they violate laws or not is probably not even worth pursuing, because no politician will be caught dead defending a porn shop or gay bar's right to stay open with a public lawsuit that significant sections of the populace will already be prejudiced against. Nobody ever comes to the public defense of such businesses, at least not with the light of the press shining on them. At the very least the gay bar will have enough empowered queens to get in their face and drive them away. The guy that said he was gay and just happened upon one of these mass demonstrations of stupidity, and then "was saved" is (obviously) such bullshit. Next thing he'll tell us is he was able to negotiate with god for his virginity back so he could be pure again.
After seeing things like this, one wonders if TV is truly that evil. At least it pacifies people like pot instead of driving them into the streets drunk with hallucinations like these peoples' religion.
Posted by: Ex Patriot | December 5, 2007 3:26 AM
this was so stupid that it just numbed the brain, shouldn't have watched the whole thing.
Posted by: Logician | December 5, 2007 3:49 AM
Do these filthy idiots have no shame? I was seconds from the mess, I work within a mile of it and I can tell you the bridge fall has had a horrible impact on people here.
They are as disgusting as the scum that protest at veteran's funerals.
I mean, I have been nauseated by religidiots most of my life, but crap like this leaves me breathless. How. Can. They. Be. Human? No decent person would crow over this shocking situation. I've had to take care of people who will never be the same.
It's getting harder and harder to keep from just spitting in people's faces when they drool about the love of christ. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING can justify this. These people need to be sterilized. NOW!
Posted by: negentropyeater | December 5, 2007 4:49 AM
It probably doesn't matter to these wingnuts that in Isaiah 35, the "pathway" being talked about will be erected in an ancient desert area and makes explicit reference to Lebanon.
I guess there's going to be some quite dramatic tectonic plates movements in the next comming years. Or is Lebanon going to invade America and global warming will change the midwest into a desert before the "prophecy" comes to reality ?
Afterall, who knows what is going to happen within the next 100 million years...
Posted by: brightmoon | December 5, 2007 8:22 AM
i liked the kent is a f***tard vid much better
seeing real people do that is frightening
Posted by: AllanW | December 5, 2007 8:44 AM
Come on people, think creatively and rationally! I love that PZ and many other blogs keep us up to date with this stuff and wished it were more widely available. For every individual that watches this piece and thinks it's a good idea, more will watch it and be appalled. These people on the vid are the best advert for rational, secular society I've ever seen. Spread the word :)
Posted by: corsair the rational pirate | December 5, 2007 9:05 AM
What?! 102 comments and no one mentioned the word "pismire" used in the post? I, despite my St. Paul upbringing had to look that one up:
Realy? Who knew?Once again, PZ, I salute your broad depth of knowledge that I do not posses.
Posted by: Graculus | December 5, 2007 9:15 AM
Rural midwestern slang term for a small-minded or petty individual
Erm... I've heard it, and not from anyone from this continent. It's also used in northern UK.
Posted by: bybelknap, FCD | December 5, 2007 9:24 AM
Dear Bride of Shrek,
Should you ever tire of Shrek, would you please consider my humble application to come a'courting? You crack me up.
Posted by: Carlie | December 5, 2007 1:28 PM
Every time I scroll by the headline for this post it makes me think of the Weird Al song "Nature trail to hell".
Yeah, that's my only input.
Posted by: Rey Fox | December 5, 2007 1:51 PM
I watched the video. And I have to say, I've seen stupider*. The thing is, I don't recall any of the interviewees making any explicit reference to the Isiah 35 thing. I think they chose I-35 more out of geographical convenience, and for the fact that it's right in the middle of America (divide and conquer), and the whole Isiah thing is just a convenient marketing hook to hang it all on.
I mean, they must know that going out and trying to fulfill a prophecy makes it not really a prophecy anymore, right? (Don't answer that.)
* That whole "highway = THEway" pun at the end sure slayed me in the spirit, though.
Posted by: Christophe Thill | December 5, 2007 6:52 PM
That insistance on "putting people on fire" and "sweeping the face of the earth" is sure unsettling. Doesn't that sound somewhat terrorist... ?
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | December 5, 2007 8:08 PM
Bybelknap,
Mr Shrek may be green and mean and mighty unclean but he's got the cutest little ears and I do love him so. However, if he should ever kick this mortal coil I shall seek you out. Now, shall we live in my swamp or yours?
Posted by: Graculus | December 5, 2007 8:24 PM
Every time I scroll by the headline for this post it makes me think of the Weird Al song "Nature trail to hell".
Yeah, that's my only input.
And now you've got me thinking of the Arrogant Worms "Mounted Animal Nature Trail".
Thanks. Thanks a lot.
Posted by: not completely useless | December 5, 2007 9:29 PM
Wow ... wow ... wow
From the MN Monitor article:
Everyone knows that the East belongs at the top of a map, not the North. (Or isn't everyone getting the same messages from the Flying Spaghetti Monster that I'm getting?) Aren't these folks going to be surprised when it turns out they've got the wrong highway? The wrong country?
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | December 5, 2007 10:09 PM
Highway 35 here in Australia is a family orientated, Christian highway, not like your heathen, hell-going nasty strip of concrete. It has a couple of caravan sales lots and a lawn bowls club on it ( though I do believe Sat night is "barefoot bowls" night- how very SAUCY)
Posted by: Pyre | December 6, 2007 12:11 AM
How providential is God, that he maketh even the number of a chapter prophetic of modern things bearing that number!
And as we all know, Our President hast oft noted that he beareth the number 43, so let us seek out the 43rd chapter of those books containing one:
Genesis 43:1: And the famine was sore in the land.
2 Kings 21:2 [the 43rd chapter in the two Books of Kings]: And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
Psalms 43:1: Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
Isaiah 43:17: Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
Jeremiah 43: [wherein "all the proud men" refuse to believe Jeremiah's prophecy]
Ezekiel 43:8: [The LORD said] ... they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger.
Hmmmm. It doth not look good for #43, nor those that serve him.
Posted by: Edmonton Girl | December 6, 2007 12:39 AM
bybelknap
+++++++++++
Used to know someone by this name that hung out at the Windsor 401 KOA 20 odd years ago--- ring any bells? Not usually one to ask personal questions but am curious.
Posted by: Carmen Maria O,Brien | December 14, 2007 1:19 PM
This people should be locked up in the nut-house. They are absolutely delusioned.
SPANISH - Esta gente esta completamente loca y deberian estar encerrados en el manicomio. Da miedo saber que estos locos andan sueltos y viven entre nosotros.
Posted by: JAMES JORDAN | December 16, 2007 9:25 AM
This just boggles the mind with incredible insanity !
Insanity Highway! We are reverting back to the Dark Ages.
Religion is the most trenchant insane state of the human
mind. And yet these same brain dead cretins use all the
benefits of Science. I am absolutely certain that Reason
will never prevail in our country when we see this daily
mindless crap from the insane hordes. I wish H L Mencken
were here to witness this mass insanity !
Posted by: Les Lane | December 16, 2007 2:16 PM
Obviously the Bible must refer to I35-E and not I35-W.
Posted by: Tobor Redrum | December 16, 2007 8:03 PM
It looks like these people have managed to concentrate stupidity to near-critical mass.
My head hurts; too much crazy, not enough alcohol.
Gonna go pray to St. Captain Morgan now.
Posted by: ckerst | December 17, 2007 12:24 PM
I find the converted gay man puzzling.... Or, maybe he's a fake, and he never was gay to begin with?
**************************************************
Oh no, that was genuine gay, but at nineteen what do you expect? He is probably still unsure about his name.
Posted by: grinch | December 21, 2007 9:52 PM
Oh yeah, that guy's not gay anymore. Right.
I saw a follow up article on that "converted" guy a little while back. I couldn't find the link just now.
Posted by: grinch | December 21, 2007 9:55 PM
Oh yeah - I just found out about this great site called google.com.
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/dec/14/dallas-gay-man-adversely-affected-christian-purity/