Pharyngula

Posted by: spinetingler | August 23, 2009 8:58 PM

"They recruit through rape."

Yeah, rape is traditionally the perfect tool to recruit some willing volunteers to your cause.

or not.

Posted by: shane | August 23, 2009 9:03 PM

Interesting that in some countries he has crossed that fine free speech line over into the vilification and incitement to violence speech which may get him arrested. Pity he doesn't sermonize in one of those jurisdictions.

Posted by: Walton | August 23, 2009 9:05 PM

Just more evidence that the world is fundamentally a shit place. I sometimes wonder why any of us even bother trying to make it better.

Posted by: Rob | August 23, 2009 9:10 PM

Praise the sweet baby Jesus, I want him to die.

That, folks, is the basis of fundamentalist Christianity.

"God told me to kill you.™"

Posted by: Uncle Glenny | August 23, 2009 9:11 PM

I'd caught an early video of this guy describing his experience of getting bashed up and arrested but had lost track of him.

I betcha he was all for the border protections that made it possible at the time.

Posted by: 'Tis Himself | August 23, 2009 9:13 PM

You'll know they are Christians by their love.

Posted by: tsg | August 23, 2009 9:18 PM

I mean, look at us. We smash polls repeatedly for fun.

No, we smash polls for rationality and it just happens to be fun.

Posted by: ArthurOne | August 23, 2009 9:20 PM

Apparently this is his Church:

Faithful Word Baptist Church
Pastor Steven L. Anderson
2707 W Southern Ave, Suite #105
Tempe, AZ 85282
Phone: (480) 248-4082
E-mail: Info@faithfulwordbaptist.org

Posted by: kamaka | August 23, 2009 9:22 PM

At this, I am left to wonder: Why would any homosexual person care to be a part of a monotheistic hate-cult? Even a "moderate" ELCU sect that finally, begrudgingly says "OK, we'd rather you didn't commit this sin, but if you have to have to have sex, I guess we'll put up with you as a minister if the congregation is alright with it"?

Posted by: tacitus | August 23, 2009 9:30 PM

Here's the details about his arrest. Seems he got pulled over at a checkpoint and then refused to comply with police orders to pull over and allow his car to be searched.

http://sanderson1611.blogspot.com/2009/08/court-documents-in-pdf-format.html

Posted by: tacitus | August 23, 2009 9:33 PM

Ugh -- looking at the rest of his blog, he's also a New World Order, Alex Jones-type freak too. He has a dangerous mix of irrational beliefs, it seems.

Posted by: Coleslaw | August 23, 2009 9:40 PM

Had a muslim fellow just today telling me the qu'ran is not against women, if people followed the qu'ran, women would be treated like QUEENS.

I'd rather be treated like the Hamptons.

Posted by: Mr, Man | August 23, 2009 9:47 PM

@Coleslaw #23: You WIN

Posted by: Hank Fox | August 23, 2009 9:50 PM

The phrase "black hole Christianity" springs to mind, and I imagine this guy well inside the event horizon.

The most disgusting aspect of this dark little clown's existence is that no prominent religious leader will call him out. For whatever reason, none of them dare criticize each other.

So he can be as hatefully crazy as he wants, potentially inciting his followers to murder and assassination, and he'll continue to get away with it.

And damn, when I think of Obama's little girls, cruising the web and discovering that a PROMINENT CHRISTIAN LEADER is saying this about their dad ... shee-it, Anderson is an obscene little freak.

I know there are at least a few ardent Christians who regularly scan PZ's site. Will any of them speak up? I won't hold my breath.

........

On a side note, I have a problem believing it's entirely legal to pray for the death of the president. I mean, in the real world, that's pretty much the same as saying you want him dead, right? If ANYONE else went out in public and started ranting "I want the president dead!" what would happen?

On another side note, is it okay if one or more of US prays that God gives Pastor Steve Anderson THIS?

Posted by: Hank Fox | August 23, 2009 9:55 PM

Pooh. That was supposed to be the "Scanners head explosion."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY-03vYYAjA

Posted by: Smoggy Batzrubble OM4Jesus | August 23, 2009 9:57 PM

Dear Fil,

Floyd Rubber gets a severe caning tonight as well. He wants to know if you are busy this evening?

Smoggy

Posted by: royaldark | August 23, 2009 10:02 PM

While one part of me wishes vile, despicable speeches like that were illegal, the other, freedom-loving, censorship-hating part of me recognizes that in very few countries can one say something so radical about that country's leader and walk the streets freely. It's his right to say what he wants as long as he doesn't actually tell people to murder abortionists or homosexuals.

Posted by: amphiox | August 23, 2009 10:03 PM

#20 Mylegacy:

Whoa. Not all Americans are like that. In fact, it's still only a minority - a loud, scary, disturbingly influential minority, but a minority nevertheless. A minority which the centrist majority generally still hammers down when they get too loud and scary (which I think was a major contributor to Obama's victory).

Unless you're Poeing me. Man, I hope you're Poeing me.

Posted by: Cuttlefish, OM | August 23, 2009 10:10 PM

The Word Of God, conveniently for those of us who hate,
Will always back our hatred with religion's holy weight.
The good may credit God, of course; sing praises to his name--
The bad, as well, cite scripture, which they loudly will proclaim!
The Word Of God is leather-bound, and sits upon your shelf,
And lets you blame a deity for things you do yourself.
You're good, or bad, or neither; you are moral or you're not;
You think that God contributed? He did precisely squat.
It's you who takes the credit, and it's you who takes the blame;
No God controlled your hatred, so don't try to spread the blame.
So go ahead; pretend that you are acting on God's word;
Both you and we know better; you're a coward and a turd.

http://digitalcuttlefish.blogspot.com/

Posted by: Hank Fox | August 23, 2009 10:11 PM

Faithful Word Baptist Church, Our Pastor:

"Pastor Anderson holds no college degree but has well over 100 chapters of the Bible committed to memory ..."

Gah.

Posted by: Fil | August 23, 2009 10:12 PM

@ Smoggy

Tempting.

I'm sure it would be much more homo-erotic than being thrashed stupid by manic unChristian Brothers with semi erections and red faces (er, they thrashed me with specially made straps that were ordered from the local boot-maker btw, not with their erections, unlike for some other kids). I will never forget the day I ran into one of those "men" later as an adult (at the Pope Show at the MCG. Some old school friends were there to give his oiliness the finger and basically tell the Micks where to shove their religion). Anyway, Brother R looked so much better after I flattened his nose for him. Funny, he didn't turn the other cheek, he just burst into tears and ran.

I'm all better now and just use words, but it was fun landing just that one punch.

Posted by: Jadehawk, OM | August 23, 2009 10:20 PM

"God hates Barack Obama, I hate Barack Obama..."

what a coincidence! God hates all the same people you do!

Posted by: Uncle Glenny | August 23, 2009 10:20 PM

Mylegacy@20

As long as you have your 11 Nuclear Carrier Battle Groups your bevy of illegal, immoral and TOTALLY unnecessary wars, your Industrial Military Complex and your Hateful, Vengeful, Disgusting god you are happy. So be it.

Oh, don't worry. China bought the only producer of the fuel they use, IIRC. (It was in Panama for tax reasons.)

Posted by: Smoggy Batzrubble OM4Jesus | August 23, 2009 10:24 PM

Plaudits Fil,

I'll bet there were plenty who would wish they'd done the same. Reminds me of David Niven's autobiography 'The Moon's a Balloon' and his wish he'd gone and thumped the sadist who brutalized him at school. Of course I'm a Christian and hence non-violent and loving etc. etc., but even I know that turning the other cheek to a Catholic priest is risky, especially if your back is turned.

The evil part of me is perpetually sorry that Dr Melfi didn't sic Tony Soprano onto her rapist. But there y' go.

Smoggy

Posted by: Danno Davis | August 23, 2009 10:29 PM

amphiox:

i'm not at all convinced that they are a minority. but i think some people have lost sight of the fact that something like 46 or 47% of voters voted for mccain and his trophy lunatic. it's reassuring to think that they're fringe--during his campaign barack himself kept harping on about the overall "decency of the american people"--but i just see that shit everywhere.

Posted by: Cheesis K | August 23, 2009 10:31 PM

Camels With Hammers, you are right. I should have left it at intended purposes.

Posted by: salon_1928 | August 23, 2009 10:32 PM

It's so bizarre - I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that people like this exist.

Posted by: Tressa | August 23, 2009 10:34 PM

I always thought that "We've come to wreck everything and ruin your life; god sent us" was just the credo from "Romper Stomper."

Posted by: merkin j pus-tart | August 23, 2009 10:38 PM

If you think he is nuts, you ought to read his wife's blog:
http://www.stevenandersonfamily.blogspot.com/
I remember some time ago she had a rant about some other church member stealing one of her recipes. There are some very odd people out there.

Posted by: Lynna | August 23, 2009 10:42 PM

The Word Of God is leather-bound, and sits upon your shelf, And lets you blame a deity for things you do yourself.

Great lines, Cuttlefish. Now there's something worth committing to memory.

Posted by: Fil | August 23, 2009 10:46 PM

@ Smoggy.

Well I understand the desire for revenge. But it's so much better to let it go and move on. Violence is for TV really and best left there (in fiction though, not the news).

Fun read, that was from Niven. I especially liked his stories of my fellow Tasmanian, Errol Flynn. :-)

Ah yes, the good unChristian Brothers. I well remember getting six of the best on each hand in first form....for having the gall to stay in class during recess so that I could read a book. Can you believe my evil ways? I was not out there being manly and playing handball (true, their favourite game...in lots of ways) I was reading a BOOK! I was about the smallest kid in the class and bullied mercilessly for years in that shit-hole of a "school". I thought, if a religious school was this bad, imagine what a state school must be like? (heaven, as it turned out when I myself started teaching).

What is amazing though, is that once you ditch the religion (which I did at 14 or so) although the Catholic guilt complex may linger, you can end up being so much more tolerant of other cultures and lifestyles (maybe not religion itself though....but it's the ideas I despise, not those suckered into it, unless they are stupidly evil themselves).

Gay men a problem for me, despite my school experiences? Not at all, bring 'em on and lets party. Hell, same for anyone's sexual preferences. My niece (who is a stunner) is a lesbian and is just over from Melbourne with her (equally stunning) lesbian lover. We have a great time and her haircuts are a scream (as is all the metal ware).

What was it Walter Matthou said in Grumpy Old Men? "Mmmm, lesbians, yummy." lol ;-)

Posted by: Valdyr | August 23, 2009 10:49 PM

You know, all this stuff about homosexual recruitment makes me wonder... how did that (untrue) slogan never get turned around on the religious right? After all, no one is born Christian; they must recruit.

Posted by: Crudely Wrott | August 23, 2009 10:51 PM

Trying to "accommodate" or to simply coexist with the likes of the most revered and reverend Anderson is one of the hardest tests of tolerance. I'll wager five quatloos that godless heathens can tolerate him to a larger degree than he and his followers can tolerate us.

Let us watch and find out.

Posted by: Patricia, OM | August 23, 2009 10:52 PM

Can't wait for the flood of fools to show up spouting Anderson is no true christian. They have no such sermons preached in their churchs.

Anderson is a true christian, he's preaching straight out of the holy bable. He stopped one verse short of sending his congregation out on a godly mission to bash the teeth out of gay people and send Obama on the short train to hell. -

Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the Lord your God must be put to death. Deut. 17:12 NLT

Posted by: Jadehawk, OM | August 23, 2009 10:55 PM

Her name was something like Raani Starns?

I think that's the blogging name of the homeschooling mom who hated the LGBT school, and the sister of pastor Anderson. his wife's name is Zsuzsanna; i've never seen that spelling before, so that's why I remembered from that last incident.

Posted by: Janine, OMnivore | August 23, 2009 11:03 PM

Thank you, Jadehawk! It was Raani Starnes.

Posted by: Lynna | August 23, 2009 11:03 PM

Janine @50:

Posted by: Lynna | August 23, 2009 9:55 PM
How can a guy like Pastor Steve Anderson possibly have a congregation?

First, Lynna, I want you to know that this is not meant to be personal and an attack. But I feel the need to appologize, I am sorry....Please stop assuming that all people have similar lines of thought as you. Everyday, all of us see examples of people who cross over the line of humane behavior.

No need to apologize. My fault really for not posting what I was actually thinking. I know all too well how dangerous people like Anderson can be. I live in one of the states where shelves of ammunition in the local gun shops and Wal-Marts were stripped bare as soon as it became apparent that Obama was going to win the election.

What I meant to say was that I see it, I hear it, and I don't want to believe it is possible -- but I know it is not only possible, but living and breathing among us. I've been doing quite a bit of reading on the neurological aspects of belief -- trying to understand, and hoping to see a way out for these people trapped in their hate loops.

Once in awhile a particular flavor of rat-brained insane triggers my "holy fuck, what the hell?" reaction, a reaction that you would think would be worn out by now.

No, they don't think like I do, and that's the point.

Posted by: Janine, OMnivore | August 23, 2009 11:08 PM

Thank you, Lynna.

Posted by: Jadehawk, OM | August 23, 2009 11:11 PM

nevermind, I fail at reading and I accidentally made crazy-lady's point for her :-p

Posted by: MadScientist | August 23, 2009 11:11 PM

"Deranged ignorant lying asshole" comes to mind. I don't remember nuts like him when I lived in Phoenix.

Posted by: raven | August 23, 2009 11:14 PM

This minister could be a schizophrenic. They often gravitate to extreme reliions, sometimes fundie xianity, sometimes New Age, or Eastern.

One of my quite distant relations (thank Cthulhu) is SZ and very smart. He made it half way through med school before dropping out to become the guru of a vaguely Eastern cult. The cult gained quite a following without much effort.

Recently he chucked it all. Because, "I realized my devotees were crazier than I was." Which is saying a lot since he is severely afflicted.

SZ's run around 1% of the population, 3 million in the USA. It is not rare.

Posted by: Mixter | August 23, 2009 11:16 PM

What a pathetic individual.

Mixter

Posted by: Patricia, OM | August 23, 2009 11:19 PM

Now Chimpy, you know those Ramen heathens come with meatballs, strippers and beer volcanos.

Posted by: souper genyus | August 23, 2009 11:20 PM

Barney Frank put it best:

It is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propogated

Posted by: Fil | August 23, 2009 11:30 PM

"...and our modern medical establishment that knows next to nothing about health with my child's lifelong wellbeing."

Said Mrs crazy-ass preacher's wife.

As opposed to biblical health care that knows all about medicine I suppose.

As in, "Lets all pray her better now...oh, she's done stopped breathing".

I mean, wtf? "knows next to nothing about health"???? What planet are these people on? She obviously has not a single clue as to the incredible progress made in medicine since the the medical profession ditched the bible for the scientific method. What an insult to western medicine.

The rest of the paranoid drivel she writes makes less sense than the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers after a night sucking on bongs full of righteous weed.

Posted by: Janine, OMnivore | August 23, 2009 11:37 PM

And I was correct about Raani changing her name to Janine.

Posted by: Crudely Wrott | August 23, 2009 11:47 PM

You paint a vivid scene, Lynna.

Once in awhile a particular flavor of rat-brained insane triggers my "holy fuck, what the hell?" reaction, a reaction that you would think would be worn out by now.

No, they don't think like I do, and that's the point.

Sometimes I get the sensation that the whole planet has moved sideways underneath me. Usually that's when I hear such as Anderson or, say, a close family member put forth a statement that runs counter to all of my experience and insight. Always an unaccountable source is invoked despite lack of any evidence. In such small moments I die just a little bit.

Then I try to remember how the basic nature of the world hasn't changed that much since people first started looking for meaning and substance. No matter how wrongly people have interpreted (and then cleverly marketed) some world view incorporating "outside assistance", a base population of people who are not so easily impressed remains and perpetuates. PZ's blog, and many others, are evidence of the claim that all is not lost.

In spite of such optimism, we are still left with the problem of how to get along with people who are prone to accepting myth over reality. I am lately taken up with how to go about this with some family members. So far the best I can do is to love them. That and doing my best to describe what science is and what it has given us.

But mostly I just love them. Sometimes that's all I've got.

Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | August 23, 2009 11:50 PM

Just for fun I fired up Skype and left a message that I'd taken out a hit order on the Reverend. No intention of delivering on it but I want to see him make a video about it.

Yeah that's great.

sigh

For your next trick call up the some catholic pretending to be a jew saying you want their children's blood.

Posted by: Jadehawk, OM | August 23, 2009 11:54 PM

Just more evidence that the world is fundamentally a shit place. I sometimes wonder why any of us even bother trying to make it better.

because the alternative would make things even worse?

Posted by: ausador | August 24, 2009 12:01 AM

I've decided that I am moving to China, perhaps they need another english language teacher. If not perhaps I can eek out a living with my skills as a licensed electrician. Maybe I will just starve amongst the peasents, I really don't care anymore. To be anywhere other than this God besotted land would be a relief.

Posted by: Crudely Wrott | August 24, 2009 12:15 AM

Withheld, you make my ass tired.

Your simple shit has been run into the ground time after time. While such has made for some great theater it is less than helpful in the real world. The one in which we really live, that is.

You might want to take a bearing on a known landmark and verify your position.

Posted by: Janine, OMnivore | August 24, 2009 12:17 AM

Withheld, one does not deal with a whacked out asshole by stirring up other whacked out asshole.

Posted by: ironflange | August 24, 2009 12:21 AM

We all know damn well that one day, hopefully really soon, this guy is going to be caught with his hands in somebody else's pants.

Posted by: Anti.Theist317 | August 24, 2009 12:25 AM

He is obviously passionate, committed & very serious. I think the modern day cherry picker still irks me more.

Isn't it illegal for preachers to take a political stance? Or am I mistaken? If it is I am receptive to chipping in $100 to following through have something done.

It just seems to deal with 'endorsement'.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/28/AR2008092802365.html

He does not love he hates Obama, he does not want to obey him, he does not respect him and wants him to melt like a snail - is that just first amendment speech? Then he quotes bible verses about killing people. Seems a little questionable?

I am anti-theist and dislike a lot the government does. I am passionate, sometimes I get angry. But to wish sulfuric acid boil away the flesh of a political official or those whose opinions differ(salt on a snail). Well, god damn he accepted the position of an authority, announced with unwavering veracity a truth he believed as an absolute in public to multiple people on more than one occasion. This is a smidgen different - no?

AT

Posted by: Joel Jacobson | August 24, 2009 12:33 AM

"Pastor Anderson holds no college degree but has well over 100 chapters of the Bible committed to memory ..."

Big fuckin' deal. I've committed to memory the lyrics of most of the Andrews Sisters songs in spite of my college degree.

Posted by: Alan Kellogg | August 24, 2009 12:35 AM

#56

I watched the first video you linked to and two things hit me;

1. He was within his rights to act as he did. The Border Patrol was wrong in how they handled the situation, and the state police did wrong in backing them up. I suspect someone with the Border Patrol jumped to a conclusion based on the man's appearance (profiling, it's not just a black thing) and got his buddies to back him up. When challenged regarding their motivation, they lied. The state police got involved on the wrong side because cops are supposed to support cops against civilians.

2. All that aside, his position was untenable. Far better to let the Border Patrol search the car and learn that they were wrong. Accept the insincere apology, drive away, and contact a lawyer regarding the rights violations. Better an eventual cash settlement than getting tased in addition.

What this incident shows us is that Anderson is an obstinate man who knows nothing of the value of compromise. Getting the story from the police and the Border Patrol may show us something very different, but going by his version I have to say nobody comported themselves well in this.

My point in all this? Even the worst people in the world can be right about some things. It does not mean they are right in all things, just in a few. Remember that and your opposition to such liars and frauds will be so much more effective.

Posted by: Helix Rugens | August 24, 2009 12:37 AM

inb4 he gets outed for homosexuality

Posted by: Janine, OMnivore | August 24, 2009 12:44 AM

I would seem that Withheld's action is a meme. Here is a similar statement from Pam's House Blend.

Posted by: Crudely Wrott | August 24, 2009 12:55 AM

But wait! Even at this late hour hope is a constant companion:

SARANAC, Mich. (AP) - A golf course groundskeeper recently stumbled onto something unexpected on the greens: A tooth from a 10,000-year-old mammoth. Groundskeeper Patrick Walker found the 10-pound tooth Tuesday when he was on the greens about 30 miles east of Grand Rapids at Morrison Lake Country Club.

The recent high school graduate told The Grand Rapids Press he knew the tooth exposed by recent rains was from an extinct elephant because he paid attention in his science classes.

Thar be the makins of sweet dreams! Aaaarrrrr, matey.

/end pirate speak, resume going to bed.

Posted by: Pareidolius | August 24, 2009 1:08 AM

Not sure who's worse, the batshit crazy Andersons or the self-righteous, stereotyping Mylegacy. Dude, your rant was almost as long and incoherent as Pastor Steve's insufferable Hell Sermon.

Posted by: Crudely Wrott | August 24, 2009 1:13 AM

Patricia at 113 warns that:

If you are lax with your ass the only remedy is to call upon the astrologers, the Chaldeans and the soothsayers. Daniel, Chapt. 5

I appreciate the warning, dear lady. Too late, alas. I called 'em all with no result. Yet damage has been minimal and my own confidence level has been enhanced to the point that I rather like verses 22 and 23:

And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this, but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy concubines, have drunk wine from them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.

We do find ways to survive, don't we?

*I'll try sleep again but something says it won't be easy*

Posted by: Ben Terry | August 24, 2009 1:33 AM

Ugh, as much as listening to this is awful, its about 7 minutes in when you hear the baby coo and yelp that really brings it home and makes you want to throw up...

Posted by: K.R. | August 24, 2009 1:38 AM

The horrid Raani Starnes isn't his sister in law - she's his honest to god biological sister.

I guess crazy runs in the family.

His wife is just as bad as he is: stevenandersonfamily@blogspot.com

Additionally he's been in the news quite a bit recently. You can find out more by googling "Steven Anderson" and "border patrol." Here's his blog... http://sanderson1611.blogspot.com/

Sorry if I'm repeating anything already posted by the way, I haven't read all the comments yet.

Posted by: strange gods before me | August 24, 2009 1:51 AM

http://sanderson1611.blogspot.com/

That bit about 1611 refers to the publication of King James' Authorized Version of the Bible. Of course. Of course he has to be a King-James-Only nut.

Posted by: K.R. | August 24, 2009 2:03 AM

Must be past my bedtime.

stevenandersonfamily@blogspot.com

That should be: http://www.stevenandersonfamily.blogspot.com

Yow.

Posted by: Citizen of the Cosmos | August 24, 2009 2:12 AM

Walton @5

Just more evidence that the world is fundamentally a shit place. I sometimes wonder why any of us even bother trying to make it better.

It is frustrating that so many are trying so hard to make it worse, and I sometimes wonder if there is anything we can do about that, or if we should just give up. Sometimes I wonder if we should just hurry up and rush into another dark age just so people can see that it's not that good. Maybe then they would appreciate a better society. But I doubt it.

Posted by: XD | August 24, 2009 2:22 AM

Walton #5

Just more evidence that the world is fundamentally a shit place. I sometimes wonder why any of us even bother trying to make it better.

After saying that, Pastor Steve Anderson is doing the same thing. It's just that we have different opinions of what constitutes 'better', and who is and isn't 'shit'. That's why it's important to have well developed ethics, and it's also the reason why strict, dogmatic morality is bad; it stops one from really thinking about what is right and what is wrong.

Posted by: Tabby Lavalamp | August 24, 2009 2:31 AM

Damn, that's what I get for flipping between tabs. Put the close tag in the middle of the quote.

Posted by: scooter | August 24, 2009 3:05 AM

This guy has some serious closet issues. Why does he hate American Ladybugs?

He's right about those homo seckshuls, though. I've gotten several recruiting pitches from them usually after many beers and some of their oral arguments can be very convincing.

This preacher is waaaaay too fixated on salty saline solutions and precious bodily fluids to be totally straight, and what is up with the Jeffrey Dommer crush?
-----------------------------------------
If you think he hates obama, you haven't heard THIS GUY

Posted by: Mrs Tilton | August 24, 2009 3:48 AM

Uncle Al @72,

he got the idea that Germans pee sitting down. According to him, real Christians piss standing up

For starters, roughly half the German population pisses sitting down and has always done so. But then I'd not be surprised to learn that Anderson doesn't think women can be real Christians.

That said, Anderson is not pulling this out of his arse altogether. There are Germans who encourage men to piss sitting down as well. Some people even mount a small sticker or card on the wall next to the toilet showing a red circle-&-slash round a stick-figure pissing while standing. The men-should-piss-sitting meme as well as the reaction against it are sufficiently widespread in Germany that Sitzpinkler has become a recognised slang term for "wimp".

Posted by: Monado | August 24, 2009 3:55 AM

Speaking of deranged politics, someone on BookCrossing posted a link to their blog describing their experience with Canadian healthcare: Healthcare Canadian style.

The original discussion has some more experience notes and links:
Bookcrossing: healthcare thread.

Posted by: XD | August 24, 2009 4:29 AM

Put him on trial for attempted murder - or will he admit that prayer doesn't work.

Talk about double standards!

Posted by: strangebrew | August 24, 2009 4:45 AM

It is not really the batshit stirrers that are a strain on the patience,it is the thought,that in many ways,is even more depressining and actually very much more terrifying,that he,and his rancid spouse/sister/sister in law...as appropriate... are actually quite obviously insane....full pedal to the metal stark staring raving paranoid schizophrenics to the nth degree.

But what is disturbing is the fact they have supporters and congregations that lap up and approve every little drop of oozing poisonous stench that issues from their very sick and warped view of reality.

These folk espousing such thoughts and promoting such rants are not eccentric nutty harmless soothsayers/woo spouters clinging to shirt tails of society,where they are politely ignored and quietly laughed at for their quaint little perverse ways,they are becoming a significant minority.
That is the very real reality,and they are crawling out into the daylight like myopic cockroaches through desparation and fear.

It seems strange to a foreigner that although the American 1st Amendment is supposed to garantee free speech etc etc...
Which beggers the question...'Where is the free speech for Atheist inspired bus signs'? for example...because is is seemingly only true free speech if you tag a imagined uberpappy and state terrorist brat as a prime mover to whatever vileness you intend.

And although it is a tennant of government that the American folk should feel justly proud of... it is seemingly rapidly becomingh a format to broadcast and spread the word of hatred as wide as possible...these folk are not deluded enough to fail to realise what the power of a computer and the internet can provide...so hatred...intolerance...predudice...all manner of personal likes and dislikes can be freely desseminated with no comeback...because the bible says so!

As for the Kook in chief being discussed and his related and sycophantic kooks in tow...

Christians should be...but of course never will be...fully and comprehensibly ashamed of themselves for not exercising a little more backbone and a modicum of taste and fully condemning this outright abomination of their delusion...but I expect no better from them...being brain dead sycophantic jeebus lusters...they have little morality...so it is really a 'right thing to do' to far!

I guess the only reaction is laugh at the crap vomitors openly and constantly...but do not let a media or law enforcement officer hear you laugh at these scum because that is a violation of the the first amendment...apparently!

Posted by: Ichthyic | August 24, 2009 4:59 AM

And to a limited extent it is.

I see after a year of flailing, you've finally at least started to come around.

someday, you'll see that entropy has fuck all to do with why selection works, and maybe, just maybe, you'll then start to explore *gasp* the other mechanisms involved in evolution.

But let's suppose for a moment that I am stupid

For what it's worth, I don't think you're stupid, Stimpy, just deluded and maybe a little nuts.

Posted by: scooter | August 24, 2009 5:16 AM

Does that mean its ok for you to hate me?

Absolutely not fair to hate you, however this thread is about killing homos, and you sir are a proven homosexual, I know where you live, and I've spoken with your wife.

According to Anderson you must DIE!!!

The fact that you are up at this late hour fwapping to 4chan and Pharyngula is evidence enough that you must be exterminated.

Your irrelevant opinions on scincey stuff does not interest me, it's the boy fucking faggotry that people like you practice that disturbs America

Thank you for Posting here.

I hacked this site and I will be informing your neighbors that you are a dangerous pedophlie

Posted by: scooter | August 24, 2009 5:21 AM

Dosera, ease up, get a hold of yourself.

This guy is one of 'them'.

He's not like us

Posted by: Ray Moscow | August 24, 2009 5:28 AM

These "kill the queers" Christians are being entirely biblical. They are not misintepreting anything.

This is one of many reasons why the Bible is an evil book, or rather the cause of much harm and evil, especially if taken literally.

Posted by: tohellwithyourturtle | August 24, 2009 5:32 AM

Sorry for the open italics. Fuckin' typos.

Posted by: scooter | August 24, 2009 5:51 AM

D-er may be a deluded moron, but so far I don't think he deserves the same treatment as that piece of shit Pastor Anderson.

If you were a fly on the wall when I spoke to his wife, you might think differently.

I'm not saying all fags must die like IDer closet case but if the kneepads fit choke on it

Posted by: DingoJack | August 24, 2009 6:01 AM

Intelligent Desighner -
Hating, ridiculing and taunting someone like you is both impolite and cruel.
One should never make fun of those who are worse off than yourself. Those afflicted by mental illness, feeble mindedness or brain injuries.
Or that's what my dear old mother said.
But did she know? [nelson]HA HA![/nelson] :) - DJ

Posted by: tohellwithyourturtle | August 24, 2009 6:25 AM

My bad, Drosera, but can't what I mentioned be stated mathematically? I'm sorry, I'm only mediocre at maths, excepting those that apply to my livelihood.

Posted by: tohellwithyourturtle | August 24, 2009 6:39 AM

BTW, Drosera, I love the botanical name. Nice.

Posted by: Matt Heath | August 24, 2009 7:03 AM

Had a muslim fellow just today telling me the qu'ran is not against women, if people followed the qu'ran, women would be treated like QUEENS.

Posted by: Ray Moscow | August 24, 2009 7:20 AM

In the US, you can say just about anything and get away with it, as long as you cloak it in religion.

Posted by: strangebrew | August 24, 2009 7:42 AM

"Brace yourselves: Glenn Moon is plainly mentally ill, but what are we to make of Pastor Steve Anderson?"

I think it goes a lot deeper then just judging this one lunatic...

What about the congregation he supposedly leads...where are their morality buttons?

Kooks and trash like this do not operate in a vacuum...but rely on a support network and the fall back claim of representing their flock!

His flock obviously support this maniac...maybe approve..maybe even suggest the issues and their take on those issues...

Is he representing his flocks attitude?...or promoting his own attitude?...or a combination of both...?

If the first choice then that is a whole community there guilty as sin of hate crime...presumably because it is a majority view!

If the second point is the way it boogies then what on earth is the community doing to repress his more sadistic side...they are responsible ...no one else...no one else gives him the green light and he cannot spout hatred without their tacit approval...so if it is his own little droppings of pastorial wisdom...are his congregation afraid of him then?

Of course the third choice of insanity seems to be more likely...in which case there is something incredibly evil twisted and rotten at the heart of contempory religion in the US...and the educational failure is more then apparent.
The media and political muscle that support and encourage these paragons of demented thinking is out of all proportion to the christian ethic...what there is of it!
It adds nothing to humanity...in fact it removes more then augments...cannot understand why this behaviour should be suffered in the 21st century.. let alone allowed!

But then again maybe we are aware of that glitch in western society to start with...and choose to ignore it...thus the toxicity is given full range and scope.
It will end in tears...crazy batshit religions always ends in tears...tis a given.

And the tears will be shed by the innocent and never by the perpetrators...that is also a given.

Posted by: strange gods before me | August 24, 2009 8:00 AM

The notion of the "modern day cherry picker" is ahistorical. Fundamentalism and the doctrine of biblical inerrancy are modern phenomena. ...

IMO it is the modern-day literalist/fundamentalist who deserves a heaping helping of smack-down. Passion and committment are not admirable traits in themselves; devoted to hateful and irrational idea, they just help turn idiocy into deadly idiocy.

Well said, moonkitty.

Posted by: Jeff Eyges | August 24, 2009 8:04 AM

@amphiox #35:

Whoa. Not all Americans are like that. In fact, it's still only a minority - a loud, scary, disturbingly influential minority, but a minority nevertheless. A minority which the centrist majority generally still hammers down when they get too loud and scary (which I think was a major contributor to Obama's victory).

I agree with mylegacy. Steve Anderson is merely an extreme example of the sickness that's plagued America since its inception, and it's finally caught up with us. This country is finished. It's too badly broken, and cannot be repaired. The economic quagmire in which we find ourselves is only one aspect, a surface manifestation. We aren't coming back from this - and, due to the interconnected nature of the global economy, as we go down, we'll be taking everyone else with us.

Although, as with everything else, it's a complex phenomenon, the most direct cause has been the behavior of the criminals, lunatics and imbeciles the fundies have spent the past thirty years voting into office. Even now, as we continue to sink, they don't recognize their culpability; they continue to shriek, like parrots, "The liberals! The gaaayyys!"

There might be a chance if we initiated a policy of mandatory testing for intelligence and sanity as a prerequisite for voting - but, of course, it'll never happen. We can't be saved - nor do we deserve to be.

This may be the end of our species. It is certainly the end of our global civilization - and it's the Christians who've caused it. They ended up being far more dangerous than the Islamic fundies have ever been.

Posted by: strange gods before me | August 24, 2009 8:09 AM

Calling for gay people to be killed is soliciting a crime,

It can be, depending on how specific the requests and their likelihood of leading to imminent violence.

and praying for the death of the President is treason.

It certainly is not.

Posted by: Jessie Colt | August 24, 2009 8:13 AM

"On November 12, 2005, Brother Anderson sought counsel from his pastor, Stephen Nichols, about starting a church in Phoenix, AZ. They discussed and prayed about it and decided that Brother Anderson would move to Phoenix immediately to start the church. The next day, on November 13, 2005, Pastor Nichols called him up on the platform of Regency Baptist Church in the Sunday morning service and had the church pray for Brother Anderson as he would be going out to start this new church."

In other words, the guy has been a flake since day one and the church in California couldn't wait to get rid of him and sending him into the desert was the best they could think of.

Posted by: Thorne | August 24, 2009 8:20 AM

@ #166 Rorschach: "Im not sure this guy is insane, he might just be serious.And a potential killer."
Nah, nuts like this aren't killers. They incite others to kill, then denounce them as "not TRUE Christians!"

Some comments made above got me to wondering. This guy obviously believes that prayer works, and that God will answer his prayers. Indeed, since he claims that God speaks to him, it would be reasonable to assume that he believes God will grant his prayers eventually. So, could this be construed as a conspiracy to commit murder? Any lawyers out there who could comment on this?

Posted by: strange gods before me | August 24, 2009 8:24 AM

Also, in America, the far-right churches fight too hard to protect their free speech to let something so silly as hate speech to be punished.

Also, in America, the ACLU fights hard to protect everyone's free speech, and "hate speech" is a foreign concept to our Constitution.

I'd like to keep it that way.

The same First Amendment that lets them say I'm subhuman is what lets me say that they're evil fucks who hate America, and should be publicly shamed and shunned, and that their existence is the fault of the Christian faith.

Posted by: Taylor | August 24, 2009 9:16 AM

Drosera, that is true, how could I have forgotten? I guess I'll put down this rock...until I can find another scripture verse that will allow me to pick it up again and then I'll decide that that verse cancels out the other ones.

Posted by: XD | August 24, 2009 9:36 AM

SimonC

One last question, and I don’t know if you’ve already answered this, have you been tested or diagnosed for clinical depression? It’s a well-meant question. It’s just that your leap to worst-possible-outcome results reminds me of a few friends that I’ve lost to depression. And they were also impossible idealists like yourself, always comparing the world to a glowing wish for it that they all held inside themselves. I hope you aren’t a depressive, but if you are then I also hope you seek help.

However, the more one focuses on the bad, the less one sees the good, which is also plentiful (more plentiful than one might expect). Walton, it's very important that you make time to enjoy activities with friends. If you don't feel you have friends to do things with, join groups where you can meet like minded people. If you find that too difficult, go see a counsellor. You're at Uni, right? All UK Universities have counsellors. Book an appointment and have a chat with him/her (it's free). There is nothing to lose, and if you are developing a depressive illness, it's much better to tackle it sooner rather than later (like any illness, really).

Posted by: astrosmash | August 24, 2009 9:51 AM

UNBE "FUCKIN'" lEIVABLE

Posted by: raven | August 24, 2009 10:25 AM

I'm sorry, but how in the name of all that's sane and wholesome is it even halfway legal for someone to spout that kind of shit in public and get away with it?

Calling for gay people to be killed is soliciting a crime, and praying for the death of the President is treason.

Anderson is just practicing witchcraft. This is begging or soliciting a supernatural entity to do your bidding.

Fundie xians do this a lot. They even have a name for it, Imprecatory Prayer.

Acording to his magic book, witches are to be killed. Dumb Anderson just condemmed his hateful ass to death. The legality is questionable. As long as he is asking an invisible spook to do it, it seems no one gets arrested. The invisible spook never actually seems to do anything except send tornados and hurricanes to fundieland. God hates fundie xians.

Posted by: Jeff Eyges | August 24, 2009 11:16 AM

@raven:

Anderson is just practicing witchcraft. This is begging or soliciting a supernatural entity to do your bidding.

This always gets me. Why does God need them to tell him what to do? You never get a straight answer out of them about this.

Years ago, on the 700 club, there was a missionary couple on (typical day). The husband was talking about his conversion experience, and the wife chimed in with how they'd researched his family history, and had discovered Baptist missionaries out on the Plains, annoying the poor Native Americans, who didn't already have enough problems. They figured these early godbotherers must have "prayed for their future generations"? So - God just granted their request? Like Santa Claus? What if your Christian antecedents didn't think to do the same? You're just shit out of luck, and you go to hell? "Sorry, your great grandfather filed form 5595A, instead of 5595B..."

And, he contradicts himself. Earlier on, he said that God appointed Obama to destroy this nation as punishment for its sins - but he's going to pray for Obama's death? So, he's rebelling against God? Don't you, like, I don't know - go to hell for that?

Posted by: Dahan | August 24, 2009 12:42 PM

What a fucking loon.

It's hard to put into words how proud I am to be an atheist after listening to the hate-filled bilious spittle issuing from that man's mouth.

Posted by: Taylor | August 24, 2009 1:35 PM

I'm inclined to wonder if it would do any good (or at least make us all feel better) if we repeated this thread on Steve Anderson's blog.
http://sanderson1611.blogspot.com/
I'm sure there are plenty of us chomping at the bit to articulate to this monster why we don't much care for him.

Posted by: Gav | August 24, 2009 2:00 PM

Rev BDC @78 ... and bassoons.

Mrs Tilton @139 ... not just Germans. You often see this little sign in the UK, in the loos of long distance coaches. It's there for obvious reasons - as you can imagine (but might prefer not to) it's difficult to maintain a steady aim when the bus is lurching about.

Posted by: RamblinDude | August 24, 2009 2:32 PM

A lot of Christians have this weird schizo thing with the bible. They can’t really make their minds up as if they’re Old-Testament Christians or New. It all depends on what mood they’re in and who delivered the last sermon they heard. That’s why, for all their talk about peace and love of Jesus, their eyes tend to get hard and merciless when there’s talk about an old-testament stoning. It’s one of the lessons you learn early on as a Christian. You don’t feel sorry for the people who drowned in Noah’s flood; you don’t cry for the entire cities full of people who were slaughtered to the last woman and child at the hands of Joshua and the other biblical murderers; you don’t waste your time worrying about the sinners who have died and will spend eternity suffering in hell. It’s not really callousness; it’s just being saved.

Posted by: Timothy (TRiG) | August 24, 2009 3:10 PM

I met this lunatic on Good as You a few days ago. I'm highly amused to learn he's the same guy who did the pissing Germans rant. Complete fruitcake.

But a fruitcake with an audience. That's scary.

I'd like to see him selling pencils from a cup.

TRiG.

Posted by: Priya Lynn | August 24, 2009 3:47 PM

"Intelligent" Designer, in DNA transmission those messages that are degraded are weeded out by natural selection, therefore the information continues to be solid.

Posted by: raven | August 24, 2009 3:51 PM

Yo Intelligent Designer #202. For someone interested in evolution simulations, Tom Schneider has a popular one, open source with a tutorial. He quantitates Shannon information. It increases during evolution. Duh.

Entropy isn't too relevant to heredity. We decrease local entropy by increasing entropy somewhere else in an open system. Human development, human existence, and evolution are decreases in entropy driven by the same source. The sun. Don't fall for the second law of thermodynamics fallacy.

There are any number of computer evolution simulation programs around.

One such is called EV. Using RM + NS, it shows that Shannon information can increase quite rapidly. Anyone can download it from the net.

Tom Schneider and ev:

More on Ev. This paper is open source, available to anyone with an internet connection. Rather than babbling on about “information”, they actually measure Shannon information content before and after. Information increases by evolution.

Nucleic Acids Res. 2000 July 15; 28(14): 2794–2799. PMCID: PMC102656

Copyright © 2000 Oxford University Press Evolution of biological information Thomas D. Schneider National Cancer Institute, Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, Laboratory of Experimental and Computational Biology, PO Box B, Frederick, MD 21702-1201, USA

Received March 7, 2000; Revised May 25, 2000; Accepted May 25, 2000. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.

AbstractHow do genetic systems gain information by evolutionary processes? Answering this question precisely requires a robust, quantitative measure of information. Fortunately, 50 years ago Claude Shannon defined information as a decrease in the uncertainty of a receiver. For molecular systems, uncertainty is closely related to entropy and hence has clear connections to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. These aspects of information theory have allowed the development of a straightforward and practical method of measuring information in genetic control systems. Here this method is used to observe information gain in the binding sites for an artificial ‘protein’ in a computer simulation of evolution. The simulation begins with zero information and, as in naturally occurring genetic systems, the information measured in the fully evolved binding sites is close to that needed to locate the sites in the genome. The transition is rapid, demonstrating that information gain can occur by punctuated equilibrium.

Posted by: truthspeaker | August 24, 2009 4:50 PM

Yes, Intelligent Designer, we know. You're not telling us anything we don't know.

Posted by: agenoria | August 24, 2009 5:54 PM

@Walton #5

I sometimes wonder why we bother too. However, I've just finished reading "Does God Hate Women?" by Ophelia Benson and Jeremy Stangroom. It's far from easy reading, but reinforces Douglas Adams' view that religion must not be ring-fenced, be beyond criticism. And there has been progress over the centuries. PZ can write a blog without risking being stretched on a rack.

Posted by: Krystalline Apostate | August 24, 2009 7:32 PM

ID @ 202:

It is generally during the storage and transmission of information that entropy applies. As entropy increases, the information becomes distorted and looses meaning. Eventually entropy increases to the point where there is no meaning, just nonsense.

Posted by: Cowcakes | August 25, 2009 1:05 AM

How is this bloke allowed to walk around freely, let alone spread his venomous hatred. Listening to him he certainly sounds as if he meets every criteria to be defined as a psychopath. The inmates that are in the asylum have nothing on him.

It would be bad enough with him just ranting but what's really scary is that there are people who follow him.

Posted by: tohellwithyourturtle | August 26, 2009 1:59 AM

Thank you again to Drosera. I asked a question that may seem stupid that is in reality only naive. I appreciate the answer. You've clarified an issue that, frankly, boggled me to an extent: how can one deny evolution results in adaptations that are beneficial...at least in the short term.

The answer, of course, is that they lack anything of substance with which to rebut, but still continue to defend the group that they were indoctrinated into during a vulnerable time; be it youth, imprisonment, whatever. The evidence does not matter to them as it must be skewed in some way to fit the "belief structure" of science, regardless of the fact that that is exactly what they do (skew and distort evidence).

I know, everybody here already knows that, but I arrived at the same conclusion through different means...I didn't assume stupidity because most that believe that way aren't stupid (otherwise why is this ridiculous battle still being waged). They think, due to being memetically programmed, that you are attacking them and their friends PERSONALLY, not that you are attacking the weakness of their beliefs. The solution: I don't know. It's been us vs. them for as long as we have existed on this little insignificant rock.

Posted by: John Morales | August 26, 2009 3:56 AM

Drosera,

Many of us do have the missionary zeal to convert. We want to convert the believers to reality. Don’t we?

I guess so, in general, but this is not really applicable to accommodationists and apatheists — they're more into "live and let live".

Posted by: Feynmaniac | August 26, 2009 4:50 AM

Many of us do have the missionary zeal to convert. We want to convert the believers to reality. Don’t we?

Depends what you mean by "convert the believers to reality". I can only speak for myself, but if you mean I want to convert believers to atheism, then no. I don't suffer the urge to have everyone share my views on religion. If by "convert...to reality" you mean have them actually think about their beliefs rather than blindly accept them then yes, I have a missionary zeal. Too often I see theists who have not critically examined their arguments or the evidence that contradicts their position, be it on the existence of God or on evolution. They often just repeat the things they were taught without much thought (if I only had a nickle for every time I've heard Pascal's wager and the third-law-of-thermodynamics-contradicts-evolution argument). I'd rather have the religious think critically and actually understand what they are arguing against than to have them blindly converted to atheism.

Posted by: Drosera | August 26, 2009 5:10 PM

Feynmaniac, I say amen to that.

People should learn first of all that it is okay to ask questions. Instead, believers learn, through the 'revelations' of their prophets, that it is not okay to ask for evidence. Their god will be angry if you question the words of the prophets. It’s a cheap trick, but very effective. Faith is the biggest obstacle to reason.

As missionaries, we atheists are moreover at a distinct disadvantage. We want to convert by convincing people of our views; we don’t want to use force, lies, fear, or empty promises, like religion has done throughout history. We can neither promise our converts eternal life, nor can we threaten them with punishment in hell if they don’t follow our example. We can’t instil the awe for a Big Brother in the sky who can enter their souls and who keeps account of their sins. There are neither sins nor souls in our world. All we have to offer are honesty and integrity. For many people that is not enough, evidently.

I keep hoping that the example of science will eventually cause religion to wither away, like an obnoxious weed that is cut off of it’s water supply. But we still have a long way to go.

Apologies if this sounds like a sermon. Now back to fundie bashing.

Posted by: John Morales | August 27, 2009 5:23 AM

Drosera, PZ wrote earlier today that, due to a huge surge of spam, the moderation queue is too large for him to wade through to sort out the wheat from the chaff.

PS Great comment @221!

Posted by: aratina cage | August 27, 2009 11:20 AM

Yes, I agree with John Morales, those are great comments by Drosera and Feynmaniac about converting theists. I just want to reiterate based on Drosera's Hard Truth report that Tom Estes is one sick puppy, maybe one step above Fred Phelps but no higher than Jerry Falwell. And also, I really hate Christian love.

Posted by: Drosera | August 28, 2009 4:27 PM

Preacher Tom Estes has a new rant about homosexuals on his blog.

I am not going to cite his bible-inspired madness any more; it's too depressing on every level.

Go to hardtruth_dot_squarespace_dot_com if you have a really strong stomach.

PS URL modified to avoid moderation black hole.