…and this is a 
Ray Comfort answers a question
Category: Kooks
Posted on: June 25, 2008 7:48 AM, by PZ Myers
I had no idea Ray Comfort was running an Agony Aunt column, but here you go. He got a rather snarky question:
There've been several hundred gay marriages enacted in California in the past few days. Maybe a couple of thousand by now, I haven't checked the numbers. And in the non-gay-marrying Midwest, they're fighting floods, while in California it's fair and dry. How is The Golden State managing to escape the wrath of your imaginary friend, I wonder?
Weemaryanne
And then he answered it. Seriously. Isn't it nice how God has arranged that there is pain and suffering in every part of the world, just so His preachers have something to point to and say "Sinners!"?
Maryanne. At present there are 840 wild-fires that are burning at once in California, destroying many homes. The fires were started by lightning strikes. Guess who's in charge of the electrical department? These are from thunder storms that have no rain. Guess who gives the rain? You said "while in California it's fair and dry." We are having the worst drought in our recorded history. Last year 1,155 homes were destroyed.
It's always nice to see these kooks get explicit and credit rain to the actions of a god rather than natural meteorological processes. It's so primitive.
Ah, if only we had stoned those gay people, fire insurance rates in California would be so much lower.
But wait! There's more! Quick, remove those irony meters from the circuit, because Comfort's closing will definitely cause them to blow!
You live in an imaginary world. I suggest you get out more.
Right now, my yard is littered with a couple of tons of twisted, smoking scrap irony.
Comments
Ok, I LOVE the term 'scrap irony'. That is all.
Posted by: LordJiro | June 25, 2008 7:52 AM
...In Ray's world, the banana is God's "punishment" for those who have misplaced their dildos?
Why give that idiot a platform?
C.
Posted by: ChrisKG | June 25, 2008 7:58 AM
"Guess who's in charge of the electrical department?"
I dunno, Enron? I give up. And I'm dying to know what exactly the Midwest did to deserve their punishing flood. God promised in the Bible not to flood the Earth anymore after Noah, so it must have been ba-a-ad.
Posted by: Leukocyte | June 25, 2008 8:03 AM
yes... well... he thinks light is invisible too
http://raycomfortfood.blogspot.com/2008/06/thank-god-for-science.html
all of it.
Posted by: toomanytribbles | June 25, 2008 8:09 AM
Shorter Ray Comfort post:
"Your God doesn't hate gays so much." - Weemaryanne
"OH YES HE DOES!" - Ray Comfort
Posted by: Citizen Z | June 25, 2008 8:13 AM
Bugger it. I'm at work right now and have stuff to do ...
Someone please find out how we pose questions to this charlatan and post the solution here. Then we can inundate him. Let's make Noah's flood seem like a mere tear drop in the ocean.
Posted by: Wallace Turner | June 25, 2008 8:17 AM
I have Ray on my Feedburner. Just when you think he can't say something stupider than his previous post, he comes through with something like the above.
It's like a nice little present of "teh dumb" every morning on my feed stream.
And don't get me started on his commenters.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 25, 2008 8:19 AM
What a little ray of comfort. NOT!
Posted by: Logicel | June 25, 2008 8:19 AM
Hardly on topic, but: Did you see those Einstein and Hawking quotes in the heading of RC's blog? Is that fabricated or what. Does not seem to be reconcilable with what I read about those two. Newton might be a different story.
What an idiot, by the way. (I mean Comfort, not Newton).
Posted by: amph | June 25, 2008 8:19 AM
Wow, for a moment there, I thought it was a former neighbor of mine, a different Ray Comfort. Mine was agin' All Hallow's Eve, since it is clearly a Satanic ritual.
god-botherers always have the same answer for conundra - the mind of god is unknowable/moves in mysterious ways (well, except for teh Gays R Evil, teh abortion is genocide, atheists have no moralsw, yadda yadda yadda, all perfectly clear).
Posted by: True Bob | June 25, 2008 8:20 AM
Wallace, he allows comments but he has rules.
You can not curse (ok fine)
You can not bring up the banana (well not a stated rule but none of my comments on that every get through)
You MUST capitalize god and jesus.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 25, 2008 8:21 AM
We really need to have a "Golden Banana" award for most insipid statement by a Christian evangelist.
Posted by: Cleon | June 25, 2008 8:22 AM
I didn't believe he could be that stupid, toomanytribbles (#4), so I checked out that link. But you're right, he does say light can't be seen at all! WTF?! It's like he has no concept of what light is. I give up, these guys are just too far gone into looney land to ever hope that they'd see reason (or even light).
Posted by: dp | June 25, 2008 8:23 AM
every = ever
Preview for the win
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 25, 2008 8:23 AM
Hehehe,
What a fucktard. I got a good giggle from that.
Someone ask Ray "Why are Provincetown and San Francisco still standing?"
If god is full of wrath, then he's pretty lazy about it.
Posted by: Steve_C | June 25, 2008 8:24 AM
Seems that God is impatient. He could just wait a few short moments in god time for people to buy the farm, and then send them to hell. It also seems he's being greedy with this sadism. Why the need to torture here on earth AND in then in hell.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 25, 2008 8:30 AM
After reading the linked post about god burning down California, I clicked on the "Thank god for Science" post. Seeing the graphic on that one immediately after reading the anti-gay post was quite amusing.
Posted by: MrSquid | June 25, 2008 8:33 AM
Yes Mr. Squid, after seeing the graphic on that post it is blatantly obvious to me that God is gay.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 25, 2008 8:35 AM
I lived in CA for about 18 years... through drought, floods and earthquakes. in 18 years living in the Bay Area (aka the Gay Area) I heard or saw lightning perhaps 10 times in total. The Gay areas of the state are primarily SF-Bay Area and Los Angeles. While they do get fires in those areas it is nothing like the more "biblically" oriented Central Valley and Sierra Nevada, which is where the 840+ lightning fires started.
If Comfort's god is in charge of the electrical department its aim is way off.
-DU-
Posted by: David Utidjian | June 25, 2008 8:35 AM
Simple.
Iowa is halfway between Massachusetts and California.
God started another worldwide flood, set up to hit both MA and CA as quickly as possible, saw a rainbow, remembered his promise to Noah, and called it off.
Or flooding is caused by natural processes (and probably helped along by human activity in the area), but who wants a rational explanation when we could posit an omnipotent being with an extensive interest in the legal status of homosexuals?
Posted by: chancelikely | June 25, 2008 8:46 AM
The "Thank God for Science post ('We can't see light')" is priceless. He gives everyone a chance to make fun of his stupidity. Very decent of him. But then again, I guess he likes being a martyr.
Posted by: amph | June 25, 2008 8:49 AM
If god controls the lightning then why go to the trouble of 1) causing a drought 2) spark up some fires 3) destroying homes of people who aren't doing the sinning? Wouldn't the best and most logical course of action be to send the bolts in the correct place?
I mean, here's an example of an activity ascribed to god which, from a materialist standpoint, looks exactly like materialistic processes with no measurable outside intervention. I'm just gobsmacked that they can be so disconnected from their OWN invented reality.
Posted by: chrisD | June 25, 2008 8:54 AM
I meant to add to the previous post: If only they could apply this non-circumvention of natural processes to evolution, they'd be on to something.
Posted by: chrisD | June 25, 2008 8:56 AM
... and that traffic accident yesterday afternoon that made you late for dinner? Divine retribution. Who's in charge of the steering department, eh?
Remember that poker game last Friday night? Your buddy hits his full house on the river whilst you thought your flush had the nuts? Don't mess with the dealer in sky, guy. Who's in charge of the shuffling department?
Posted by: Larry | June 25, 2008 8:57 AM
"Golden Banana Award" OMG that's the fruitcake that thinks God's special work is the 'designed' banana!!?? HAHAHAHEHEHEHE Ow! My side hurt. Yeah this reminds me when I was debating with this one girl about god. I was being lenient that religion might be beneficial 'referring to social gatherings' and she was like "OH YEAH, LIKE when God makes the RAIN FALL DOWN, everybody benefits!" I couldn't reply either because I was in shock on how stupid that was.
Posted by: Ouchimoo | June 25, 2008 8:57 AM
Great post, Ray. Awesome post. Let the atheits stew on that one for a while! [/sarcasm]
Ray likes to say that God is an angry fella.
Ray also likes to say that the Bible teaches anger is murder, and that it is one of the commandments.
Well, Ray proves God isn't above his commandments, just above the punishment. When God gets angry and commits murder, he's eternally good for his
Sigh.
I wonder why any of us go back there. Comfort will never, ever change his mind.
[sarcasm]
Hey BigDumbChimp = have YOU watched Hells Best Kept Secret today? Terry links to it on his blog, and it will show you how INTELLIGENCE is really SATAN wearing a dress![/sarcasm]
Posted by: theShaggy | June 25, 2008 8:59 AM
Ray would like to buy the world a Coke.
Posted by: Danley | June 25, 2008 9:00 AM
BigDumbChimp,
I've brought up the banana and not had my posts removed. Even in the context of "this is just as stupid as your banana argument"... So, perhaps he just doesn't like you ?
And to everyone else, yes, he says stuff just as dumb as this every day of the week. He even keeps saying stuff about science, even when it's pointed out to him every single time just how wrong and wilfully ignorant he is on pretty much every single scientific statement he's ever made.
I'm ashamed he was born in a country neighbouring my own.
Posted by: Gib | June 25, 2008 9:02 AM
What a glorious a majestic being this God must be to destroy the lives of millions of innocent people to punish the actions of a few. Even better, he leaves those guilty safe and unaffected so that they may see what they have wrought.
I've always said we should run a GODLY justice system. When a murderer is caught, instead of sending him to prison we should murder some bystanders and give him a pension and a new house.
Posted by: AgnosticTheocrat | June 25, 2008 9:03 AM
What do you mean? Ray loves EVERYONE.
I've been purposefully avoiding terri's blog. If it is possible, and I'm not sure it is, he's even more annoying, wrong and stupid than Ray.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 25, 2008 9:06 AM
The Hawking quote is taken out of context. The Einstein quote, I believe is at least slightly accurate, though it looks like an odd mishmash of two different Einstein quotes. The first sentence of it makes no sense, the clauses don't match.
Posted by: Citizen Z | June 25, 2008 9:11 AM
The fires were started by lightning strikes. Guess who's in charge of the electrical department?
Mythologically, doesn't that suggest that the god he's worshipping is actually Zeus or Thor? They're both thunder (lightning) gods. Yahweh, as far as I know, is not particularly. But if lightening is god's wrath (whichever god), what are we to think of the filming of the Passion of Christ in which the actor playing Jesus got struck by lightning not once but twice? Definitely a sign.
Guess who gives the rain?
Now he seems to have switched to the Hopi mythos. I'm pretty sure one of the Hopi deities gives rain when asked nicely.
Posted by: Dianne | June 25, 2008 9:11 AM
Apparently Thor has lots of jotuls to kill around California.
Posted by: Torstein | June 25, 2008 9:11 AM
Same. He swoops in and spews preachy ignorance with even more ignorance than Ray does. One day I'll feel crazy enough to go check his blog, I'm sure it's an insane read.
Posted by: theShaggy | June 25, 2008 9:12 AM
holy early morning repetition, Batman. I need to sleep more.
Posted by: theShaggy | June 25, 2008 9:14 AM
Some of the Hawking quote, from http://www.holysmoke.org/cre014.htm:
So long as the universe had a beginning, we could suppose it had a creator. But if the universe is really completely self-contained, having no boundary or edge, it would have neither beginning nor end: it would simply be. What place, then, for a creator?
Posted by: co | June 25, 2008 9:22 AM
He actually came to my blog once and left a very polite message about looking forward to debating various points.
He hasn't been back, which is good, because I've seen what he means by debate. Spewing scripture is not debate.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 25, 2008 9:22 AM
I had occasion to read/review Ray's recent book Evolution - A Fairy Tale for Grownups. The man actually acknowledges that he's quotemining, defends the practice, and starts digging, using a Question/Answer/Analysis format.
The bulk of the book appears to be either plagiarism (Question #74, plagiarized directly from christiancourier.com) or previously debunked quotemines (Question # 71, where he misquotes a misquote from George Wald from 1954).
Naturally, the degree of "science" in his book is vanishingly small, and by the end he's making his typical "Jesus died for you" pitch.
Why anyone pays attention to this guy is beyond me.
Posted by: Jay | June 25, 2008 9:49 AM
Building in areas that have natural fires is a precise analogue to building one's house on the sand, which Jesus condemned. Not just the structural properties of sand, but that sand is usually in a flood plain. So why hasn't Comfort condemned building one's house in the hills covered with dry brush? There were fires there before people even lived there. So far as building security is concerned, it's much worse than being gay.
And, we only need to point to the Netherlands. Lots of gays, with full protection of law, in a country that lives below sea level protected by (wait for it) dykes! Uh, I meant dikes. And they're doing fine.
Posted by: decrepitoldfool | June 25, 2008 9:49 AM
I have some strange masochistic desire to read it. I 'm not sure why, probably for the yucks or the ammo.
Maybe I should smash my hand with a hammer instead.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 25, 2008 9:51 AM
Wow, in my country of origin they've been marrying gays for years even though it takes little "divine" intervention to inundate the economic center of our country.
I guess that silly god is just taking his time so it will be impossible to know whether the next flood is just nature or Ray's god finally getting down to business. I wonder if Ray also believes psychics are actually the real thing and fears them for their dark powers?
Posted by: Dutch Delight | June 25, 2008 9:52 AM
Isn't Gay marriage also legal here in MA.? I am not seeing floods or fires here....though my girlfriend will not stop playing Winter Nights.
Is God in charge of video games?
Posted by: Lago | June 25, 2008 9:53 AM
Kinda like seeing Expelled. The more I think about it, the less I want to go. But yet, I kind HAVE to on principle (meaning: buying tickets for Get Smart and sneaking in)
Posted by: theShaggy | June 25, 2008 9:57 AM
Yeah, and god has been trying to drown the Dutch for centuries.
Posted by: PZ Myers | June 25, 2008 9:59 AM
Rev. BDC -
Skip the book. Go for the hammer.
Posted by: Jay | June 25, 2008 10:00 AM
PZ: you're just jealous because Ray gets to pick and choose his data. Just think how much easier your life would be if you just ignored the information that didn't match your hypothesis.
Posted by: ellazimm | June 25, 2008 10:01 AM
Love the blog here PZ.
I'm never surprised by this type of tripe.
What does baffle me though, is why don't these people ever claim that thier sky daddy is punishing the nation due to people breaking any or all of thier 10 commandments? Aren't those supposed to be the ultimate rules to live by? Aren't those rules broken more times, by more people in a day then there are gays in the entire world?
I don't think I have ever heard a modern day wackaloon claim that natural disasters are punishment for coveting my hot neighbor.
Posted by: Terry T | June 25, 2008 10:02 AM
None of the scientists quoted by Comfort were or are Christian (at least in Comfort's view). Newton was a "small-u" unitarian. Einstein was Jewish and did not believe in a personal god or an afterlife. Hawking is an atheist, as far as I know. His quote is taken out of context, as mentioned by Citizen Z.
Since all three would be non-believers in Comfort's view, I don't know what the point of the quotations is, except to make Ray himself look brilliant by association.
Posted by: T. Bruce McNeely | June 25, 2008 10:07 AM
Je maintiendrai!
Posted by: Dutch Delight | June 25, 2008 10:09 AM
@ No 20 :
//Iowa is halfway between Massachusetts and California.
God started another worldwide flood, set up to hit both MA and CA as quickly as possible, saw a rainbow, remembered his promise to Noah, and called it off.//
I know that was meant ironically,but I just cant get myself to not point out that this is one truly american god isnt she,doesnt care about the rest of the world,the world is the US...Not even interested in Queensland,although it has been likened to Texas,nope,its the special god of the middle-Americans.
LOL
@ DutchDelight: see above
Posted by: clinteas | June 25, 2008 10:12 AM
That "you live in an imaginary world" line makes me hope I'll some day meet Mr. Comfort so I can laugh uproariously in his face until he becomes confused and frightened enough to back away.
Posted by: OctoberMermaid | June 25, 2008 10:12 AM
@ #17
I read the post "thank god for Science" and had to chuckle as well. Definitely says god is gay. I made a post about it on my blog. It's the link in my sig if anyone is interested.
Posted by: Eric Jones | June 25, 2008 10:18 AM
Which in and of its self is hysterical in its impossibility.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 25, 2008 10:19 AM
The chance cards could all be natural disasters or benefits while the community ones are community things like homosexual marriages or abortion being legalised or banned, or prayer sessions or curses or relic discoveries which then have monetary or brownie-points-for-heaven effects. The taxes would have to be tithes. Free parking could be heaven / nirvana / paradise or a meditation retreat. Go would have to be birth and for born-again or reincarnation events from the cards.
Posted by: SEF | June 25, 2008 10:22 AM
Oh shit! I really thought I'd disconnected all the irony processing bits, but I must of missed one. I started breathing again after only a couple seconds though.
Oh, and I hear the weather in Boston Mass. today is supposed to be 84 and sunny. Guess god's just angry at western gay married folk. Easterners are OK.
Posted by: Dahan | June 25, 2008 10:28 AM
It seems harsh, this patch of land was inhabited by heathens and "converted" by some warlord and religious bigot of a pope from Rome, and Rays god still tries to drown us. What a bastard, there's no way to make this guy happy is there?
Posted by: Dutch Delight | June 25, 2008 10:31 AM
Interesting, isn't it?
The Central Valley of California avoids earthquakes, but we get the fires, the drought, the air pollution (2nd worst in the nation) and the poverty (worst in the nation), while the San Francisco Bay area is one of the nicest places on the planet.
I would love for Mr. Comfort to explain why one of the least religious/most liberal areas on the planet is treated so much better than one of the most religious/conservative areas on the planet.
Posted by: R.C. Moore | June 25, 2008 10:32 AM
Canada has had same-sex marriage for three years now or so, and the only natural disaster hereabouts is the federal government...for a definition of "natural" that includes things like Stephen Harper, of course.
Posted by: Interrobang | June 25, 2008 10:35 AM
Yeah, and god has been trying to drown the Dutch for centuries.
And has failed, failed, FAILED to do so. Are we really supposed to believe in an omnipotent being who can't beat up the Dutch? Come on, even the Russians managed to do it. (EM reference, Americans.)
Posted by: Dianne | June 25, 2008 10:40 AM
Silly me, I thought that there were more large fires now then in the past. That is because humans prevent numerous small fires, allowing potential burning material to build up for the big burns.
Wait, this is proof of the big sky daddy's foresight. BSD knew it would be angry about gay marriage, thus making sure humans would prevent small fire and creating the conditions for large fires. Have to respect a deity that prepares for it's outrage.
Posted by: Janine, Disingenuous Jackass | June 25, 2008 10:42 AM
Well, Ray's got something to say about that topic in a new posting.
He denies that he's saying that god is punishing people that way:
You have a perception that your infuriated colleges seem to lack. Of course I would never say that fires are punishment for gay marriage, or that floods were a punishment for poor folks in the Midwest. How would I know what, where, and how God deals out His judgments in the earth?
If God dealt with us according to our sins, He would have killed me in my youth. And so we have porn pushers, rapists, perverts, pedophiles, Satanists, adulterers, fornicators, and homosexuals happily living in California. They have been for years, so why should a meaningless marriage-ceremony change anything?
BDC is right about the xian commentators there. No matter how stupid Ray is and how completely and detailed things are explained to him, they'll always take his side.
One of the dumbest/weirdest guys over there is a character named Sye TenB. I'll let BDC tell you about him.
Posted by: Reynold Hall | June 25, 2008 10:49 AM
T. Bruce McNeely,
After reading A Briefer History of Time I would guess that Stephen Hawking is at least a deist of the Einstein/Spinoza variety. I don't have it with me to quote accurately, but near the beginning of the book he states a few times that God(he capitalizes it) created the universe. He also has cited the Anthropic Principle in the book and in several talks at universities.
Posted by: schmeer | June 25, 2008 10:50 AM
The universe is only 6000 years old. Have electrons been invented yet?
Posted by: DaveG | June 25, 2008 10:51 AM
This whole "God sends natural disasters to punish sin" idea is really just another version of "God always answers prayers -- though not necessarily the way you expect." It's a natural extension of the faith commitment to spin all results to fit a conclusion. Whatever happens, cherry-pick and use your imagination to figure out a way that makes it a GOOD event, one in line with what you would expect of God.
So there's also irony when the liberal, progressive, moderate Christians condemn this sort of thing (and being nice, reasonable people, they usually do.) God would never harm innocent people to punish gay marriage. Oh, no -- Comfort's really stretching on that one. But that time you prayed that God would cure your mother's cancer and she died anyway? That was God knowing that everyone needed to learn patience, humility, and acceptance. When you look at it after the fact, you see the wisdom, and God behind it all.
So Roy is always going to be able to spin-doctor any result to fit his preconception. It's God's gift to those who rely on God. Faith is always rewarded -- because guess who's really doing the rewarding?
Posted by: Sastra | June 25, 2008 10:51 AM
Yup, same sex marriage is working fine up here. God is however punishing us by giving us the strongest dollar we've had in 30 years or so. Bastard!
Clearly his (brilliant, omniscient) plan is to cause economic hardship in the USA, resulting in a plummeting tourism industry in Canada, since between our stronger dollar and the worsening American economy, nobody is buying our maple sugar candies and stuffed moose in mountie costumes.
Blame Canada!
Posted by: Epinephrine | June 25, 2008 10:51 AM
Ray is also a Liar.
His recent post.
And his post from 4/7/2008
Fucking liar for Christ.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 25, 2008 10:56 AM
One more example of the working of "God": Africa, at least the part I am from, is heavily religious (mostly Christian) going to church daily if not 2-3 times a day (I am not kidding). That part of the world is, unfortunately, very behind and very miserable to live in.
Additional point: the fact that the people are religious doesn't have any connections with morals (sorry but it is true) you hear of stories of theft and taking advantage of others (even killing others as you would kill a fly here) ... then make a trip to the church, of course.
Posted by: AAB | June 25, 2008 10:59 AM
Good catch, Rev.
Why isn't this guy holding court on a street corner near the Port Authority bus terminal? Comfort is a complete idiot, and should be ignored. If only we could.
Posted by: Kseniya | June 25, 2008 11:09 AM
Wait. He does not answer the question. All he says is "YEA?! WELL CALIFORNIA HAS FIRES!!!11"
Then what did the midwest do to piss off God?
The midwest is STILL being owned right now... Even though gays aren't people for their governments. Frankly, the level of atrocities seems higher in the midwest. I mean, floods sucks. Seriously. I think God made a point of that in the bible. At least California's disaster has marshmellow roasting properties. (I'm sure some suicidal guy tried, folks.)
Posted by: Michelle | June 25, 2008 11:09 AM
I'm just curious why anyone (least of all God) needs Ray Comfort's help. I don't think he's smart enough to Poe, but that requires the question "What good does he think he behavior does for the things he believes?", and I can't really see any reasonable answer. Given his disconnect from any sort of logic or sensibility, why does anyone actually think he knows anything of any deity, human, animal, plant, or mineral?
Delusion, he knows. Illogic, he knows. (Maybe he can explain W to us, then). Why things happen...not so much.
Posted by: Hap | June 25, 2008 11:10 AM
Seriously now... have you ever seen the banana clip on youtube? I'm quite sure that Ray is himself another christian evangelic closeted gay men.
"Daaaaad!! Ray Comfort won't come out of closet!!"
Posted by: Ricardo Silvestre | June 25, 2008 11:11 AM
"Midwest, they're fighting floods, while in California it's fair and dry"
Well Cali isn't so well off as you think. Mendocino county had 134 wildfires that started this weekend, and here in Santa Cruz we've had 4 in the past two weeks, dry yes, actually way too dry (fire season hasn't even started yet, thats in August)
Posted by: jj | June 25, 2008 11:13 AM
Since Mr. Comfort pleads cause and effect between Sin and Bad Weather Happening, it should be a snap to correlate personal disasters with personal religious beliefs. There ought to be any number of approaches which would yield statistically significant results.
Pennies From Heaven: find a bunch of people who have been struck by lighting (N > 200 or so) and a matched cohort of unstruck people. Administer a quiz and have a skilled holiness evaluation team picked by Comfort, question each of them about their religious practices and beliefs, double blind with the subjects and the evaluators not knowing what the point of the study is. Compare cohorts.
The Fire This Time: collect a large sample of churches which have burned down (eliminating cases of arson) and match them with a cohort of unburnt churches by neighbourhood type, construction method, age, etc. Chart burnt churches versus denominations in a scatter plot, with the denominations rated by the above holiness evaluation team.
You're welcome -- no trouble at all.
Noni
Posted by: Noni Mausa | June 25, 2008 11:16 AM
Check out the disclaimer on Ray's blog:
"... comments that use cuss words (even "mild" words and abbreviations for cuss words), blasphemy, a lack of civility, or those that fail to give the name "God" or "Jesus" capitals, will be automatically deleted."
Seriously? Deleted for not capitalizing "God"? This is too much like the whole Muhammad cartoon controversy, with fanatical religious types imposing their own rules on others, isn't it? It's your god Ray, not everybody's!
Posted by: Boomer | June 25, 2008 11:17 AM
Oh, Kseniya that's his forte. Do a search for him on YouTube. He loves that format. He even brings a box to stand on so he can scream at you from eye level.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 25, 2008 11:18 AM
"The Gay areas of the state are primarily SF-Bay Area and Los Angeles"
Thats quite an over simplification. I've lived all over the state, and found that gay's don't tend to be anywhere in preticular. Granted in areas like Fresno and Modesto you'll get heckled to shit for being gay, but believe me, they are there.
And "At least California's disaster has marshmellow roasting properties",
I've lived in the Fire areas my entire life (norther and southern CA), and lets not make light of these, I've been evacuated from my home, and seen friends and co-workers house burn down. And when your stuck in your city (like earlier this week when here in Santa Cruz, the only two routes out where closed due to fires) it can be quite a scary situation. 134 fires in Mendocino county alone. If you've ever been close to a large out of control wild fire, then you know how intense that can be.
Posted by: jj | June 25, 2008 11:24 AM
I'm glad you asked, because I just recently figured this out. The two states hit hardest by flooding are Wisconsin and Iowa. Wisconsin law allows liquor stores to be open and sell alcohol on Sundays. Iowa allows supermarkets to sell liquor. Minnesota, which bans alcohol sales on Sundays and only allows alcohol stronger than 3.2 beer to be sold in liquor stores has been spared most of the flooding. Clearly, God disapproves of weakened blue laws.
These floods are a message to sinners and faithful alike, and also to the Minnesota state legislature which has been considering a proposal to allow supermarkets to sell wine.
disclaimer: the above is a joke about Midwestern politics. There's nothing funny about people losing their homes.
Posted by: ndt | June 25, 2008 11:32 AM
Someone please find out how we pose questions to this charlatan and post the solution here. Then we can inundate him.
I do it often. If you have a Google or Blogger account, just go to the site, pick a thread, and use the post a comment feature. The blog is moderated, so no profanity, etc., but most dissenting opinions get through.
Posted by: Tosser | June 25, 2008 11:32 AM
See, God potentiated California to have wildfires (with O2, among other things), because he could foresee gay marriages there in 2008.
It's really a good thing, though, because we need the oxygen to breathe. If God hadn't decided to put oxygen in our air to make fires in response to gay marriage, we'd have suffocated long ago.
Same God who makes everything look evolved, you know. So busy being angry at sexual issues that he can't think straight.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | June 25, 2008 11:39 AM
Wow. Comfort took the bait and then some. His wingbattery does not disappoint.
Posted by: notthedroids | June 25, 2008 11:39 AM
Why is Ray's god such an incompetent? Any god worth the title would not need to come by and tweak the system, i.e. smite folks and such, pre-hellification. But that's only one of a gazillion refutations...
Posted by: True Bob | June 25, 2008 11:45 AM
Yes, we all know that Ray Comfort is a scientifically illiterate putz.
It's fun to make fun of him, and other clowns like Ken Ham and Kent "don't pick up that soap" Hovind.
Could part of this put down phenomenon on Pharyngula be due to the schoolyard embarrasments we dweebs and nerds had to endure in our youth? Or is it just me?
Be that as it may, the question is -
What is it that causes millions of people to buy into their religious bullshit?
And -what can best be done about it?
How about as a start we ask each of our elected representatives exactly how old they think the Earth is, and start a national database?
Just as the religious right makes abortion and gay marriage a litmus test for candidacy, why can't we make rationality a litmus test?
I doubt if the Republicans would go for it, but maybe it could be a plank in the Democratic party platform. And if they don't go for it, maybe it's time for a Rational Party.
Aren't we supposed to be the smart ones?
Posted by: Benjamin Franklin | June 25, 2008 11:46 AM
Ugh. Ray Comfort bores me to tears.
Posted by: Brownian, OM | June 25, 2008 11:52 AM
Nice article in today's Grauniad on Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin.
http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/women/story/0,,2287255,00.html
Posted by: Nick Gotts | June 25, 2008 11:52 AM
I'm always mystified by religionists who claim atheists "live in an imaginary world". Do these fools not see the breathtaking absurdity of this claim? Do they not understand such statements destroy whatever shred of credibility they might possess, that it reduces their argument to an infantile joke?
It's similar to when they condemn atheists to hell, never realizing that for a threat to be effective, the person at whom the threat is directed must believe the threat is real. Otherwise it becomes no different than a child threatening a parent that a monster in the closet is gonna get them.
Once these tactics are used, there is no point in further engagement with the religionist, because he or she truly does suffer from an intellectual impairment so profound it rules out any meaningful dialog.
Posted by: Fergy | June 25, 2008 11:54 AM
"Guess who's in charge of the electrical department?"
Zeus. Am I right? What do I win?
Posted by: Alex | June 25, 2008 12:03 PM
Last year 1,155 homes were destroyed.
And astonishingly, every single one belonged to a homosexual.
Posted by: JC | June 25, 2008 12:06 PM
I've been waiting for some Bibble-thumpin' preacher to say Iowa was hit by floods for its brief time allowing gay marriage when Judge Hanson struck down the ban - one couple got married - and for the liklihood that Iowa may be the third state in the union to allow gay marriage. Our supreme court just might uphold Hanson's ruling, especially since Cali has had the balls to do so.
Posted by: Candy | June 25, 2008 12:06 PM