…and this is a 
Sorry, fellow atheists, but if you thought you could just get away with sitting quietly and not making a noise, you're doomed. The situation is worse than simply some silly believers flying into a snit because horribly militant, aggressive, obnoxious atheists put up signs that say something offensive and vile, like "you can be good without god" — you thought if you just avoided confronting people with such criminal sentiments, you'd escape their notice and condemnation.
But soon, they'll be coming for you if you are insufficiently fervent in cheerleading for god. Look at this: a group of atheists attended a city council meeting to protest (politely, of course) prayer before meetings and ten commandments signs, and they were threatened with expulsion for the terrifying t-shirts they were wearing. They bore a slogan that other attendees complained about as "offensive". That slogan was simply One nation, indivisible.
Did you catch that horror? They left out the words "under god" that are supposed to be there, dividing "nation" from "indivisible"! I don't know how Cape Coral City will cope with all these people going around not saying things.
Here's another example of this amazing touchiness. Elizabeth Edwards recently died of cancer, and she left a final statement for her family and friends. It's a nice, brief farewell, and in it she says, "You all know that I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces—my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope."
Did you catch that one, too? I know, you can hardly believe it, and you're probably shocked to your core by her dreadful omission: she didn't mention her faith in Jesus! Holy crap, you mean women are going around dying of cancer without words of praise for their lord and savior on their mind?
Wait, you're thinking, no one could possibly be so insensitive and arrogant that they think they should dictate what a dying person's final thoughts should be — other than us atheists, that is, who are expected to barge into the deathbed scenes and slap the weak-willed fading sap until they renounce their false beliefs in gods.
Oh, hang on…we don't do that, either.
OK then, no one could be that arrogant…except a Christian. Get a napkin ready, just in case you feel an urge to throw up a little when you read how one Christian reacted to Edwards' farewell.
Clearly Elizabeth Edwards wants to put her faith in something, be it hope or strength or anything. But not God. I wonder if it's just bitterness, that's she's been forsaken by more than just her estranged husband — that's she's been forsaken by Him. And imagine if she'd have become First Lady. Americans generally expect outward expressions of faith in our presidents, Christian faith especially, and thus in our First Ladies as well. The Democratic base obviously doesn't care, as we can see in the "wow factor" expressed by the author at the American Prospect. Being anti-religion is cool, so Edwards' non-theological theology gets props from the neo-communists. Still, at her death bed and giving what most folks are calling a final goodbye, Elizabeth Edwards couldn't find it somewhere down deep to ask for His blessings as she prepares for the hereafter? I guess that nihilism I've been discussing reaches up higher into the hard-left precincts than I thought.
"neo-communists"? "nihilists"? "You all know that I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces—my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope" is nihilism now?
Please, people, this is one reason I get rather peeved at all the internal chastising going on within the godless community about who is a dick and who isn't. There are no atheists who can compare in dickishness to your average, pedestrian conservative Christian.
Also, you might want to start working on your deathbed lines now. If they aren't all about Jesus, there's a mob of ghoulish Christian dicks who'll be gnawing on your corpse afterwards.
Comments
Posted by: ljp.claessen
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December 17, 2010 2:16 PM
Fine with me .. they're more than welcome to it.
Posted by: te24hours
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December 17, 2010 2:16 PM
What's so bad about nihilism? Maybe I don't understand nihilism very well. I thought it was simply the notion that nothing exists. Seems like a silly notion, but not an evil one.
I mean, we perceive existance only through life. Once we are not living, then, from a personal perspective, nothing exists. How is that a bad thing?
Posted by: Teh Merkin
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December 17, 2010 2:19 PM
There will be one particular place on my corpse I'd like them to gnaw on.
Posted by: Dude... Real Men Watch Ponies!
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December 17, 2010 2:19 PM
I think I just died a little inside.
Going to start voting Republicans. If we're going to fail, might as well do it in a manner most spectacular.
Posted by: Abdul Alhazred
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December 17, 2010 2:21 PM
Better Christian dicks gnawing on my corpse than Christian corpses ...
:)
Posted by: RichVR
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December 17, 2010 2:22 PM
Hey, it's what they do. They have been gnawing on a 2000 year old corpse and raping children since day one.
Posted by: Janine, The Little Top Of Venom, OM
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December 17, 2010 2:23 PM
Your lack of enthusiasm is disturbing.
Posted by: mikerattlesnake
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December 17, 2010 2:24 PM
The other day I was at the laundromat and the TV was on. Some gossip/entertainment/bullshit show was on talking about how "after the break we'll talk to one of Elizabeth Edwards' friends to find out what she really thought about her husband's affair" (less than a week after she died, btw) in the woman's best cheery, airhead anchor voice. I wanted to puke. As if she somehow became a "celebrity" just because she was involved in politics and ceased being a human being.
These folks, demanding that a dying woman re-enforce their delusion, are even worse.
Posted by: blf
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December 17, 2010 2:24 PM
Shouldn't that be for the L-
wordweirdos? Spectacular failure would be an understatement of xian lying proportions.Posted by: Alley Cat
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December 17, 2010 2:25 PM
Typical xtian decency...
Just curious, was Elizabeth Edwards' cancer Dog's punishment for neo-communism, nihilism or both? You know that is going to come up in their next line...
Posted by: raven
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December 17, 2010 2:26 PM
Yes, there were some xian ghouls fighing over Elizabeth Edward's corpse.
After a lifetime of eating jesus zombie flesh and drinking his blood in their cannibalistic ceremony, they must have developed a taste for dead human flesh.
Let's just hope they are satisfied with naturally deceased humans and don't start hunting down living people for dinner.
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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December 17, 2010 2:27 PM
You aren't kidding. That screed about Elizabeth Edwards was absolutely vile. And here I thought I could be vitriolic...got nothin' compared to a good christian.
Posted by: Glen Davidson
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December 17, 2010 2:28 PM
I can accept that.
Glen Davidson
Posted by: Jolo5309
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December 17, 2010 2:29 PM
My deathbed statement will be "All the good hookers go to heaven, the poor ones go to Persia!" which hopefully will offend people of all religious stripes.
Posted by: Pete Moulton
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December 17, 2010 2:30 PM
"There's a mob of ghoulish Christian dicks who'll be gnawing on your corpse afterwards."
Yeah? Well, fuck 'em.
Posted by: LarianLeQuella
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December 17, 2010 2:30 PM
I've always contended that the worst of humanity is found through religion. Yet one more data point!
Posted by: Dust.....spy
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December 17, 2010 2:30 PM
No, it was Dog's punishment 'cause she was a liberal Democrat.
Posted by: NitricAcid
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December 17, 2010 2:37 PM
Being a chemist, I'll be happy to let the bastards gnaw on my corpse. I'll be toxic for decades.
Posted by: Felix
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December 17, 2010 2:38 PM
Disgusting moronic death cultists.
Posted by: heliobates
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December 17, 2010 2:40 PM
What's so bad about nihilism?
It's the gateway drug to rock music, lewd dancing and infection with teh ghey.
Posted by: alessamendes.0514
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December 17, 2010 2:40 PM
"...this is one reason I get rather peeved at all the internal chastising going on within the godless community about who is a dick and who isn't."
I'm with you, PZ!
Posted by: irenedelse
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December 17, 2010 2:40 PM
Beware, PZ! That same Dr. Donald Douglas who berated Elisabeth Edwards post-mortem for not mentioning Jesus on her dying bed also published a mind-blowingly ridiculous piece about Boing Boing because they blogged about Cthulhu-themed sex toys a few days ago!
Posted by: azumahazuki
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December 17, 2010 2:42 PM
You know, for a long time I thought presuppositionalism was the province exclusively of high-level apologists like Craig and Bahnsen and van Til. But thinking about it, it's THE single basic unit of most religious worldviews.
Reminds me of the facetious 1000 (or however many) Proofs of God (Yahweh, really), one of which reads:
Proof by Post-Death Experience:
"$PERSON was an atheist. She now realizes her mistake."
Do these people have no shame? Or are they so badly trained in logic and philosophy that they don't know they have something to be ashamed of?
Posted by: imherefromtheinternet
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December 17, 2010 2:43 PM
The vast depths of shamelessness and narcissism are hereby declared "plumbed."
Posted by: nonsensemachine
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December 17, 2010 2:44 PM
On my deathbed, I'm going to look up with glazed-over eyes and proclaim, "Oh hey, God, I'm glad you're here. I've got a lot of bones to pick with you, dickhole."
Posted by: Brownian, Most Vicious & Petty of Pharyngulites
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December 17, 2010 2:44 PM
I used to think one could be good without belief in god(s), but I know now to be a truly good person, one must have theists to observe and do the opposite of.
Posted by: Dark Matter
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December 17, 2010 2:47 PM
PZ Meyers wrote:
And so the "new normal" reveals itself...
But we keep laughing and the termites keep
on munchin'...
-------------------------------------
"How shall the new environment be programmed?
It all happened so slowly that most men failed to
realize that anything had happened at all."
SRT , from "THX 1138"
Posted by: mbryson.brown
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December 17, 2010 2:49 PM
Nihilism in this context isn't about nothing existing-- it's moral nihilism, the view that there's no right and wrong, no good and bad. And of course, if she doesn't believe in God, she can't possibly believe in these (her deathbed profession of some values I find very appealing must be just hypocrisy).
When people make a religious issue out of swapping a snowman for Santa Claus as a symbol of the holiday season, we're well down the slippery slope to complete cultural insanity.
Posted by: What a maroon
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December 17, 2010 2:49 PM
They can't have my corpse--I've already promised it to the vultures.
Hmm.... At least, they looked like vultures.
Anyway, Happy Holidays!
Posted by: Sajanas
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December 17, 2010 2:52 PM
Christians have been tearing up and exhibiting the corpses of their most venerated saints for centuries (and even worse, tearing up corpses and selling them as saints). Frankly, trying to put words in the mouth of a corpse is a big step up.
And my heart goes out to Elizabeth Edwards, she faced cancer and death with as much humility and decency as any person can. She deserved much better than her twat of a husband.
Posted by: Alverant
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December 17, 2010 2:53 PM
If it helps, the commenters rip this clown a new one.
#4. Don't. If they're going to win they will have to fight tooth and nail for every millimeter. We must resist them and we will win.
Posted by: Alley Cat
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December 17, 2010 2:54 PM
...or, as wingnuts call them, communists.
The nihilism part is a new addition though, perhaps he deigned to open a dictionary for the occasion.
Posted by: Gus Snarp
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December 17, 2010 2:57 PM
My corpse will be in the hands of the nearest university being cut to pieces by medical students or research scientists and helping to save lives. They can devour their own formaldehyde ridden corpses that are doing nothing but taking up valuable space. They are, however, welcome to let their dogs pee on the tree that will be planted in my honor.
Posted by: heliobates
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December 17, 2010 2:57 PM
Do these people have no shame? Or are they so badly trained in logic and philosophy that they don't know they have something to be ashamed of?
Yes.
Posted by: azumahazuki
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December 17, 2010 2:57 PM
The whole nihilism thing is ridiculous. They constantly commit the false dichotomy of "Either God's behind it all or nothing has any justification." Wouldn't know an emergent system if one came up and bit them on the ass.
As a newly-minted atheist, I was worried about becoming a nihilist...but it didn't happen. In fact, the opposite happened: I "believe in" EVERYTHING, and can understand that things can have purposes without a teleological endpoint in the infinite future or the far past.
These people are suffering from an all-encompassing false dichotomy.
Posted by: hillbl3
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December 17, 2010 2:58 PM
Hey look! He's got another post: On Death and Decency
The guy is a joke, I feel guilty that he's getting this publicity.
Posted by: Janine, The Little Top Of Venom, OM
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December 17, 2010 3:00 PM
If they want my corpse, they will have to pry it from my cold dead hands.
Wait, I think there is a flaw here.
Posted by: Antiochus Epiphanes
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December 17, 2010 3:00 PM
On my deathbed, I'm going to tell people that I hid a lot of money. And then I'm going to die without telling them where.
Posted by: rob
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December 17, 2010 3:01 PM
i am SHOCKED!!1!!! SHOCKED i tell U!@!!!11 AND ofFEndeD!!!
i read about this on teh internet, so now I DEMAND that cape coral city shut down the whole fucking internet. now.
Posted by: Jules, Bride of Death
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December 17, 2010 3:04 PM
It's the same thing as the War on Christmas.
We use an X instead of spelling out Christ, and that means we're being offensive.
We say Happy Holidays instead of masturbating to Oh Holy Night, and it's somehow an expression of hatred.
Atheists, by not believing in gods, commit a massive sin of omission. Apparently that is far worse than any sin of commission committed by one of their own.
Posted by: https://me.yahoo.com/a/c8vgv20epfOnyZYgaPKrcYfDk4TekTh7#ed6d2
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December 17, 2010 3:04 PM
Since when is Edwards the 'hard left'? I am solid leftist and an actual member of the socialist party, those centrist democrats are no leftists.
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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December 17, 2010 3:04 PM
Gus Snarp:
Mine too. We've opted for the 'no funeral, no fuss' option, corpses get sliced and diced, bits go to where they're needed, leftovers cremated. The surviving partner will get some ashes back, that's all. Mine are to be scattered on the hop vines.
Posted by: Rey Fox, Bird Caller Guy
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December 17, 2010 3:06 PM
Great, now I've got the image of detritivorous penes wearing little tiny crosses in my head.
Posted by: iamnothouse.com
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December 17, 2010 3:07 PM
Ugh. The shit just piles on. At my school, I'm being taken to task for the pithy observation that maybe we shouldn't reserve a room in a UNIVERSITY for praying. This room, moreover, is in the library, not some administrative or other building. Especially with exams on, I know a bunch of people who would much rather have the study space.
Posted by: Alley Cat
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December 17, 2010 3:07 PM
So...if my deathbed line is "Jesus, suck my dick" I get rid of both Jebus and the dicks? Cool!
Posted by: Sastra
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December 17, 2010 3:17 PM
The courts have ruled that the words "under God" is not an insertion of religion into the pledge because it's only an expression of ceremonial deism. But when people remove it -- what a surprise. It seems to make a big fat difference to religious people. They don't seem to have gotten the memo from the courts. It's only supposed to be an empty phrase.
The original pledge did not have a pause or comma between the words "nation" and "indivisible." It flowed together into a single idea -- "one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." When the words "under God" were inserted into the pledge in the 50's a lot of people complained about the awkward, stilted way it broke up the cadence of the verse. "One nation ....pause pause pause ... under God .... pause pause pause .... indivisible.... pause pause pause." Compared to before it sounds like shuffling shit.
So when those of us who are in favor of separation of church and state make a point to leave out the unconstitutional religious insertion -- DO NOT KEEP THE PAUSE. There is no reason for it. Hesitating between "nation" and "indivisible" only serves to emphasize that something used to be there but isn't there anymore and there has to be a beat to keep up the rhythm. No there doesn't. "Under God" screws up the beat.
There shouldn't be a comma on the t-shirt, either. Look at the original pledge.
A small point, perhaps, but I won an argument with Michael Newdow over it. He backed down and admitted the phrase "one nation indivisible" should be smooooooth. If you've met Michael, you know he won't concede a point unless he has to. Ta da.
Posted by: Leon
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December 17, 2010 3:17 PM
Or perhaps it's really more of a subconscious thing on their part. Maybe it's not so much the lack of God as a subconscious realization that anyone emphasizing that the USA is indivisible is a threat to their divisive agenda!Posted by: alexcharltonderrida
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December 17, 2010 3:18 PM
This is exactly why atheists don't and shouldn't shut up.
Wow, you can't get much lower than trolling the obituaries. My heart goes out to the friends and family, and I hope they give that deplorable attention whore as much thought as he deserves, and as much as he has ever engaged in.
Posted by: Brownian, Most Vicious & Petty of Pharyngulites
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December 17, 2010 3:23 PM
My last lines? Oh, they'll be appropriately reverent, and suitable as an epitaph.
You can't win, God. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
Posted by: Sastra
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December 17, 2010 3:23 PM
A few years back I wrote a Letter to the Editor of my local paper in which I mentioned something to the effect that "religion is divisive." Some woman wrote a response LTE scolding me for that. Religion was NOT divisive! On the contrary, it brings people together. And if I don't like that, I just pack up and leave!
Posted by: Rey Fox, Bird Caller Guy
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December 17, 2010 3:25 PM
"At my school, I'm being taken to task for the pithy observation that maybe we shouldn't reserve a room in a UNIVERSITY for praying."
You should offer them a closet. Matthew 6:6.
Posted by: Quodlibet
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December 17, 2010 3:26 PM
When I was in grade school, I found myself increasingly uncomfortable with the "under God" clause in the Pledge of Allegiance. (This was one of my first leanings toward atheism.) So I substituted "under the sun" which seemed inclusive in a secular sort of way. I still say it, 50 years later.
However, after reading Sastra's comment above (#46), I know I can make a stronger statement by omitting the phrase and those awkward pauses altogether. Good idea.
And another thing! All those people who want us to adhere so closely to original documents (Constitution, etc.) and follow the original intents of the founders, etc. (as if we can ever really know them) - well, why don't hold the same attitude toward the Pledge? Shouldn't we use the original?
But you know, I don't like the whole idea of a Pledge of Allegiance anyway.
Posted by: Sastra
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December 17, 2010 3:28 PM
Should be:
And if I don't like that, I can just pack up and leave!
Posted by: Leon
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December 17, 2010 3:28 PM
@4:
Don't, please. If you're fed up with inaction by the Democrats (and who isn't?), vote third party. Green, P&F, whatever. If the Democrats start losing votes to parties on their left, they'll have to take notice. And it doesn't take many votes to a minor party to make a splash.
Posted by: Naked Bunny with a Whip
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December 17, 2010 3:30 PM
It's hard to commercialize it with a catchy jingle.
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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December 17, 2010 3:31 PM
Brownian:
By the Power of Grayskull!
Posted by: CJO
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December 17, 2010 3:34 PM
Say what you will about National Socialism, at least it's an ethos!
Posted by: Sastra
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December 17, 2010 3:34 PM
The homeopathic power of Grayskull!
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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December 17, 2010 3:38 PM
Sastra:
+1
Posted by: Gadfly47
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December 17, 2010 3:38 PM
I have this nagging fear that on my deathbed my know-nothing theist relatives will descend on me, like the inquisition, and spoil my final moments with demands that I accept jebus before it is too late. I hope I'll still have enough marbles left to tell them to get bent.
Posted by: Erulóra (formerly KOPD)
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December 17, 2010 3:38 PM
One nation, under Godzilla.
Posted by: Janine, The Little Top Of Venom, OM
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December 17, 2010 3:38 PM
...one nation, under He-Man, indivisible...
Posted by: Janine, The Little Top Of Venom, OM
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December 17, 2010 3:41 PM
KOPD,
Gggrrrrrr...
Posted by: Dust.....spy
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December 17, 2010 3:43 PM
...one nation divided by Faux Newz...
Posted by: Dude... Real Men Watch Ponies!
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December 17, 2010 3:43 PM
One nation, under Thor, kicking ass and taking names.
Posted by: What a maroon
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December 17, 2010 3:47 PM
Speaking of socialism....Xian socialism, that is, but socialism just the same.
Posted by: webriggs
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December 17, 2010 3:47 PM
Yes, but you'll never convince them that they are dickheads, because as someone else posted in a comment thread a few days back, "If you could reason with religious people, there wouldn't be any religious people." They will persist in being dicks and there's not a thing you can tell them. They know, you don't. Belief trumps reason in the vast majority of cases. I used to argue with believers when I was a student, or a young adult, but now I don't even bother. They present a brick wall to rational discourse. You see it here in the comment threads all the time. I've got other things to do with my time besides wasting it trying to have a debate with a moron.
Posted by: Janine, The Little Top Of Venom, OM
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December 17, 2010 3:48 PM
UberFubarius, you must know this joke. Jesus was nailed to a cross. Thor has a hammer. Any questions?
Posted by: Ing: PhD Trollologist
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December 17, 2010 3:48 PM
One nation, under Canada, indivisible...
Posted by: https://me.yahoo.com/a/SaqGVG0xvJEQVwURVamS3DTCdvov0BLhXK1jOsYPPJQ-#b4893
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December 17, 2010 3:49 PM
I leave out the "Under God" every single time.
By the way, Christ in a Candy.
So. Frackin'. Stupid.
People were asking how CNN could get any more insipid. Well, there ya go.
MikeM
Posted by: Brownian, Most Vicious & Petty of Pharyngulites
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December 17, 2010 3:49 PM
Hmm.
I have come here to draw breath and kick ass...and I'm all out of breath.
Posted by: evilDoug
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December 17, 2010 3:51 PM
"My corpse will be in the hands of the nearest university ..."
The University of Calgary used to have a chemistry professor who whould dress up in his fancy Anglican duds and conduct some sort of religious service for the remains of the cadavers used by the med school. Sometime escape seems impossible. Ψ.
Posted by: Ing: PhD Trollologist
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December 17, 2010 3:56 PM
I fully plan that if I ever get famous my last words will be "WITH MY LAST BREATH I DENY JESUS!" just to ensure there's no bullshit deathbed confession.
Posted by: Gadfly47
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December 17, 2010 3:58 PM
#67, I agree. But it is good, every now and then, to remind these god-heads that their inane superstition is not universally accepted.
Posted by: Beatrice, anormalement indécente
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December 17, 2010 3:59 PM
You know what was one of the supposedly awful and radical things Elizabeth Edwards said?
Douglas managed to find that offensive. He is a vile, insensitive asshole.
Posted by: Amenhotepstein
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December 17, 2010 4:00 PM
"...one nation, under God, indivisible..."
Whoops, you just divided it!
Posted by: Leon
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December 17, 2010 4:00 PM
Gadfly, you might get them to shut up if you declare clearly and loudly that you Deny the Holy Spirit, since that's supposed to be the one action that gives you a nonrefundable one-way ticket to Hell.
Posted by: Ing: PhD Trollologist
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December 17, 2010 4:01 PM
@74
And occasionally you convince the nondickheads or the smaller assholes.
Posted by: Janine, The Little Top Of Venom, OM
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December 17, 2010 4:02 PM
Now that I am dead
My agent finally said
He wanted to have lunch with me
Posted by: Aratina Cage
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December 17, 2010 4:03 PM
Just the other day a Christian who is close to me told me how God had been the one that rescued her from a dire situation. I was quick to point out how disrespectful that is to all the real people who had actually helped her, and why wasn't she going around thanking them? Why act like God had anything to do with it. (I left unsaid that she should even be thanking herself for being tenacious enough to press ahead despite the stress, but I probably should have mentioned that, too.) Unfortunately, I don't think it phased her much at all--this time.
I'm not going to sit back and take that crap anymore. It's rude and offensive, and anyone thanking God for work that was clearly the work of other people will get an earful from me.
As for the nut-head complaining about Elizabeth Edwards' final words, that person can take their unclefucking self and go fuck a tree top, sideways, like the good little Christmas angel they are!
Posted by: rob
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December 17, 2010 4:04 PM
nah, Ing, they'll just edit it with the new Tron style CGI so it looks like you really say:
"WITH MY LAST BREATH I DENY JESUS doesn't exist!"
Posted by: First Approximation, L'esprit de l'escalier
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December 17, 2010 4:05 PM
Here's what they will do:
Posted by: Brownian, Most Vicious & Petty of Pharyngulites
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December 17, 2010 4:12 PM
I don't see how anyone can look at that candy and see anything but Gozer the Traveller in Stay Puft Marshmallow Man form.
Do Christians know anything about anything?
Posted by: oihorse
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December 17, 2010 4:12 PM
Indeed. My sentiments exactly.
In fact, it should be put on a cake and mailed to a few accommodationist science bloggers.
Posted by: Janine, The Little Top Of Venom, OM
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December 17, 2010 4:13 PM
WITH MY LAST BREATH I BLAME ZOIDBERG!
Posted by: raven
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December 17, 2010 4:15 PM
I tried to chase down what Elizabeth actually believed without much success.
She seemed to have ended up some sort of Deistic, mainline Protestant.
But it wouldn't matter what she believed anyway. If she wasn't a fundie moron, she was a Deistic Fake Xian of some sort on her way to hell and fair game for the ghouls.
Xians are so cute when they massacre each other in their wars. Which has the added advantage that no xian ghouls go unfed.
Posted by: Anubis Bloodsin the third
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December 17, 2010 4:20 PM
#OP
The sick irony in that statement is plain to see.
Why the fuck this side of sanity would you mention a fucking homophobic, psychopathic, misogynist arsehole of a god for his fucking pompous blessings, seems like she already received enough of his blessing with her presumably god given cancer.
Of course the the only comeback from the xians is to place all blame on the dying and piteously attempt to keep their fictional fairy clear of the mud slinging.
Fucking craven cowards....that is all they are!
Shorter version of the statement.....
'Waaaaaaaaaaaaa, Waaaaaaaaaaaaa, Waaaaaaaaaaaaa!
My sky daddy is not mentioned and I wanna go toilet!'
I am not American, I have no real idea who this lady was or what she believed, but my thoughts go to her family and loved ones, it is they that need strength now, may they find it in calm and steady rationality!
Posted by: JacobCH
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December 17, 2010 4:23 PM
I live in Cape Coral and this...surprises me not at all.
Posted by: Dhorvath, OM
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December 17, 2010 4:23 PM
UberFubarious and Brownian,
Stop it. I was so angling for "I am all out of bubblegum."
___
As for Elizabeth Edwards, good on you. We all die, we don't all die well.
Posted by: Klatu
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December 17, 2010 4:34 PM
yet another indication that you can't be good with god.
I'm so fed up with these nitwits, I need to get this off my chest:
I mean, think about it (you probably all did, but oh well...): where do xian values come from? From god. So god declares what is good/bad and the xians have to obey in order to be "moral".
But how does god decice what's good/bad? Does he declare actions good because they are good or are they good because he declares them so?
1) In the first case, god is not the maker of moral values and therefore not really "God".
2) In the second case, all xian morality is absolutely arbitrary; if god says raping small children is moral, then they must obey (not obeying is synonymous with disagreeing with the fucker).
Xians will say that god would never do such a thing. If so, then eiter case 1) applies or he is intentionally evil (read the bible for examples of that).
Why must they obey? Because xians are not moral to begin with. Ultimately all their values come from selfish desires. All their actions* are motivated by anticipation of reward or fear of punishment. It's blind obedience and mindless conditioning ala Pavlov.
They will say, of course, that they genuinely care about other people. But you know what? I don't wanna hear it! If ramming their bullshit down everyone's throats is the only way to show that, then I want no part in it.
Add to that the disgusting way this religion keeps people under its yoke: xians bascically demonize everyday human activities like masturbation, sex, white lies, etc... stuff you will do anyway even if you think they are bad. Which makes them feel guilty and ashamed of being human beings. And where do they seek help? That's right! Their fucking religion, which in turn makes them feel even more ashamed and guilty, which makes them want to repent even more and so on..
It's a fucking virus of the mind, alright.
And to add insult to injury they have figuratively kidnapped the word morality. Every time there's a discussion about the morality of something every fucking church demands to have a say.
So, not only is their fake morality harmful to society at large in almost all of its manifestations, they also have an obnoxious sense of entitlement about everything. They hinder scientific/societal progress and they prey on the weak (the old, young and uneducated).
For the sake of balance here's a list of positive aspects of christianity:
- one day they will all be gone
-
*yes, all their actions. Either that or they must admit that their morals do no come from god/bible
that felt good...
Posted by: https://me.yahoo.com/a/vM7UePx6gYIABXkdWww4UWymJw--#224be
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December 17, 2010 4:41 PM
I'm a young 69, which means that I grew up without the extra words, and still feel uncomfortable using them regardless of my convictions, which run to the non-believing. My 61YO spouse did grow up with the current pledge, so the misrhythm and exra words have been part of her life a long time. Yet another fence to hurdle.
Posted by: chubflounder
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December 17, 2010 4:45 PM
mebbe she shoulda just said "allahu akbar" and left it at that. not as good as jesus, but at least she believes in SOMETHING, right? like Steve Johnson of the Buffalo Bills:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Steve-Johnson-blames-God-for-his-overtime-drop?urn=nfl-289770
i think real christians need to quit letting God let them down all the time, and not speaking out about it; it sends the wrong message to God.
Posted by: mr.mikenorman
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December 17, 2010 4:52 PM
When I first read that soon after she died, I have to say that it jumped out at me and took me quite by surprise. While I am sure there are probably other references she has made to her faith, this statement has received pretty wide play and it is no wonder that it has caused such a reaction in the fundamentalist world.
She was such a class act during some very difficult times that I have to say I admire her even more now. Thank you, Elizabeth Edwards, for what you said. Whether intentional or not, you have my gratitude.
Posted by: Warm Little Pond
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December 17, 2010 4:59 PM
Ugh, religion makes me queasy. How can people be that close-minded? Have they no soul!? Well, I mean, no, they don't, but, uhh, you know what I mean.
Posted by: ObSciGuy
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December 17, 2010 5:03 PM
New T-shirt slogan:
"Under God".
Dividing "One Nation" from "Indivisible"
Since June 14, 1954.
Posted by: webriggs
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December 17, 2010 5:04 PM
Grayskull? What the fuck? The person who said this...
was none other than the great Obi Wan Kenobi, just before Darth Vader offed him. I'm too old for this, but wasn't Grayskull some second rate animated cartoon character? Certainly not to be confused with the great Alec Guinness, sporting a light sabre.
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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December 17, 2010 5:09 PM
webriggs:
Oh my. So what, we all supposed to go to Star Wars Church and apologize? :eyeroll:
Posted by: Deiloh
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December 17, 2010 5:14 PM
Christian dicks gnawing at my corpse... now there is a visual. I suddenly understand HR Giger so much better.
Excuse me, I have some sketching to do.
Posted by: webriggs
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December 17, 2010 5:21 PM
@97
No, moron, just get the source of the quotes right. I have a thing for getting quotations rightly attributed, but that's a malady that comes with teaching.
I don't have a thing for Star Wars, but a lot of people do. In our national census 15,000 people identified their religion as Jedi. I think they are just as loony as Treckies or fanatical sports fans. YMMV.
Posted by: Brownian, Most Vicious & Petty of Pharyngulites
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December 17, 2010 5:24 PM
Ah, the Euthyphro dilemma: "Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?"
Theology: ensuring the Big Questions™ remain unanswered and theologians thus employed for millennia...
Posted by: ateapotist
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December 17, 2010 5:29 PM
@ JacobCH #88
I've lived in the Fort Myers/Cape Coral area for a long time and, like you, this doesn't surprise me at all. I always thought the Cape had something fishy about it that I just didn't like. Now I know why...
Posted by: buggypig
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December 17, 2010 5:30 PM
Hey, I thought the thread where the children were whining about Star Wars and Star Trek was started a couple of days ago.
Posted by: Hurin, Nattering Nabob of Negativism.
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December 17, 2010 5:34 PM
Douglass whines:
And I think it really summarizes the article, and epitomizes the entitlement mentality you see in a lot of American Christians. They expect our political leaders to express faith in their God. They fight to put their religion in schools and courthouses, and even science classes. Never mind equal protection; that should only apply to them. All those other religions and atheists are just evil people who are trying to threaten the religious freedoms of God-fearing Christians by believing Satan's falsehoods anyway. Never mind that creationism isn't science; they have the God given right to insulate their children from inconvenient knowledge. You can even find an entitled baby of a christian who will flip Elizabeth Edwards doesn't cater her final goodbye to his whims. I wasn't aware that her dying statement required your approval you bigoted asshole.
The Christians are the real group with "special rights" in this country, and the degree of selfish obliviousness that some of them will show when their privileges are denied is revolting.
Posted by: MadScientist
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December 17, 2010 5:37 PM
And what a worthless evil shit of a god that god must be to make people suffer from cancer.
Posted by: kennykjc24
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December 17, 2010 5:38 PM
I really dislike Chris Mooney.
REALLY!
Posted by: Gregory Greenwood
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December 17, 2010 5:47 PM
So, the fundies are horrified by anyone who is not manically fervent enough...
These really are people who believe that a christian version of 1984 would be a perfect utopia. At last, they could prosecute the thought-crimes of those monstrous atheists. We are clearly a terrible threat to society, going about not praising jebus the way we do. Just like we terribly abuse children by not raping them, one supposes...
This must be one of those fundies who doesn't understand what nihlism means. You encounter them from time to time, we have even had a few right here in the cyber-halls of Pharyngula. They labour under the delusion that 'nihlism' and 'atheism' are synonymous. Or, more accurately in this case, that nihlism and anything other than frothing fanaticism* are synonymous. It is just one more example that ignorance and arrogance are common bedfellows.
If anything, religion is far more nihlistic than atheism. Atheism usually (though, of course, not in all instances) goes hand-in-hand with the humanist belief that humanity can improve its surroundings and state of being by the application of its own collective effort and the exercise of human reason. Religions, on the other hand, tend to view humans as nothing more than chattel - the sock-puppet slaves of a capricious and strangely sexually obsessed celestial tyrant. I can think of few visions of human potential more nihlistic than that.
* Xian only, naturally. You see, all other fanaticism is just really, really bad stuff done by nasty brown people in the name of their nasty brown gods, apparently. Just talk to Rush Limbaugh/Bill O'Reilly/Bill Donohue or any Rightwing talking head. They will happily explain it to you at length...
Posted by: Klatu
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December 17, 2010 5:49 PM
@Brownian, #100
Penn & Teller made that point on their Bullshit episode about the Vatican. The only ones who benefit from the religion are actually the clergy. And while I lost almost all respect for Penn when he said he'd kill 1000 monkeys to save one human baby (a violently untenable position, imho), at least they were right on the mark here.
@Hurin, #103
I'm not from the US, but I can smell the crazy even here in Europe.
I just hope the US will get their shit together, and not only for your sake. Your crazy has the obnoxious tendency to become our crazy real quick.
Posted by: Qwerty
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December 17, 2010 5:50 PM
It was a rather pathetic bluff of the Cape Coral city manager who threatened the wearers of the "one nation, indivisible" t-shirts with arrest and expulsion from their council meetings if they didn't change their t-shirts. The city manager, Gary King, claimed the shirts were in violation of a city policy, but the policy was never shown to the Atheists of Florida president John Kieffer who said he'd accept the consequences of expulsion from the meeting. King let him stay.
Christianity, let's bully you into believing.
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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December 17, 2010 5:51 PM
Gregory Greenwood:
QFT
Posted by: marcus
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December 17, 2010 5:59 PM
I don't know if it was you guys signing in as "anonymous" in the comments over there but whoever,well done! He's been called everything from stupid dick to insensitive asshole, (and everything in between) and even by some xians. What a maroon!
Posted by: Brownian, Most Vicious & Petty of Pharyngulites
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December 17, 2010 6:03 PM
Most commenters here aren't the anonymous type. It's nice to know there are others who find Douglas similarly despicable.
Posted by: szwagier.myopenid.com
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December 17, 2010 6:23 PM
Fucking disgusting quote from the christian. What a Naughtie.
Posted by: supertec
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December 17, 2010 6:28 PM
FEC. Fuckin' Evil Cunt.
Or Future England Captain, if you're Mike Atherton.
Posted by: phantomreader42
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December 17, 2010 6:59 PM
Anyone know where I can find a shirt or bumper sticker with "One nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"?
I've been looking for one off and on since the billboard with the first half, but all I find is the first half, and I think the second clause is pretty important.
Posted by: Hurin, Nattering Nabob of Negativism.
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December 17, 2010 7:00 PM
Donald Douglass, the obnoxious christian reprobate seen above, has disabled comments on his blog post.
I guess its not shocking, but he also appears to be a coward.
Posted by: maggie.brazeau
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December 17, 2010 7:03 PM
Not that I love CNN, but to be fair to them, they merely picked up the piece from WUPW here in Toledo - our local Fox affiliate.
Posted by: https://me.yahoo.com/a/cemAX6cih9TgU2BOcZGfj1yv.Ps-#8fef5
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December 17, 2010 7:06 PM
Consider the source. This is Donald Douglas, who complained that a protester's sign meant that Israel should not exist. He said the sign read "Sasquatch Israel." It was actually "Sasquatch Is Real."
Can't get much dumber than that and still remember to breathe.
-- Slaughter
Posted by: rtrtobin
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December 17, 2010 7:10 PM
All I can say is:
THANK HORUS I DON'T LIVE IN THE UNITED CHRISTIAN STATES OF AMERICA.
For the last few years i have been following the rantings and ravings of these brain-poisoned Bible Thumping FundaMENTAList Christians.
I have been to the USA and drove 8,000 miles. I was gald to leave. I found the best part was the Airport on the way out. I have no intentions of ever setting foot in such a country of mad religious bigots again. It would be more dangerous for me as an ATHEIST.
The Unuted Christian States of America is being turned into a Third World Nation by these Bible Thumping assholes. I am growing to hate America more that ever.
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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December 17, 2010 7:20 PM
rtrtobin:
Well, when you take a moment out from your mounting hatred, try to remember that the U.S. isn't wall to wall theists, nor is it wall to wall idiots. Some of us 'mericans are rational and intelligent. We don't care for this sort of crap either, ya know.
Posted by: "Roger"
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December 17, 2010 7:30 PM
What get me is that it's misogynistic pricks like this that say that it's people like us who are socially autistic.
Posted by: David Marjanović
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December 17, 2010 7:32 PM
...la République une et indivisible...
But, really, only dictatures and the USA have a pledge of allegiance. I mean, what a concept. <eyeroll>
Posted by: https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmVT1LBhwmO9ej9LNg7a5e9d-AVJ8ezfmE
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December 17, 2010 7:36 PM
What's so bad about nihilism? Maybe I don't understand nihilism very well.
There are a variety of forms. One form is to argue that there are no morals, or ethics. And another, no meaning. Yet another, nothing at all. And so forth. Nihilism gets a bad rap because Nietsche used it as a straw-man for all the bad things that happen if we drop religion and replace it with nothing. I.e.: "nihilism bad: boo!"
In some views, including mine, nihilism is one of the forms of skepticism; Sextus Empiricus would say that 'I am unconvinced that there are morals' and cast everything in terms of current appearance: "It would seem to me now that I am writing a comment on a blog" - acknowledging that I would have difficulty convincing anyone else that that was, in truth, what I was doing.
Nietsche's straw-man nihilism was a pretty silly version of nihilism and amounted to the usual christian bumfodder, "OH YEAH? If you don't believe in god WHY DON'T YOU JUST KILL YOURSELF?"
This nihilist, btw, responds, "Because it appears to me now that there is pizza."
Posted by: Nerd of Redhead, OM
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December 17, 2010 7:47 PM
Patricia likes a naughty (named Marvin, IIRC). Pick a better word.Posted by: https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmVT1LBhwmO9ej9LNg7a5e9d-AVJ8ezfmE
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December 17, 2010 7:53 PM
The University of Calgary used to have a chemistry professor who whould dress up in his fancy Anglican duds and conduct some sort of religious service for the remains of the cadavers used by the med school.
Didn't Sam Kinison do his closing skit about that in "Breaking all the rules"??
What I'm saying is I wouldn't want anyone in priestly garb to be left with my corpse, if you know what I mean.
Posted by: Stew
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December 17, 2010 7:56 PM
For some real entertainment, go back and read the original post. The commenters on that blog really rip this guy a new one.
Posted by: makyui
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December 17, 2010 8:11 PM
Admittedly, I'm kind of amused that Cape Coral made Pharyngula.
You should've seen when the mayor was trying to justify the Ten Commandments monument by saying it would stimulate the economy. And that it would turn people moral, because apparently you can't be moral without Jesus, or something.
But no, he seriously did say it would stimulate the economy, and I couldn't facepalm hard enough.
Posted by: Marella
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December 17, 2010 8:25 PM
Hmmm, pizzaaaaaa.
Posted by: Randomfactor
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December 17, 2010 8:49 PM
I had a high-school acquaintance who ended the pledge "...with liberty and justice for al-most everybody."
If the nation is truly indivisible, does that make it prime?
Posted by: peggesis
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December 17, 2010 8:55 PM
@maggie.brazeau, #116 above:
You're in Toledo?? So am I. How many Pharyngulites are there here in Toledo?
Posted by: mothra
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December 17, 2010 8:59 PM
In the typical life of an American, you only are 'required' to recite the pledge of allegiance in grade school. Just like religious indoctrination: get 'em young.
When I was in grade school, child that I was, I put my left hand on my heart and recited the pledge- and was sent to the Principles office (I had already fought with teachers over writing left handed). They all finally agreed that it was okay for me to place my left hand on my heart while reciting the pledge. The incident caused be to actually think about the Pledge of Allegiance and I quit saying it.
Posted by: Aliasalpha
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December 17, 2010 9:06 PM
@Caine, Fleur du mal OM
Have you considered pooling your money, buying hawaii and declaring yourselves an independant and atheist state? I'd be tempted to move there if you did...Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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December 17, 2010 9:18 PM
Aliasalpha:
There would be a bit of a problem with that, as I expect most of Hawaii's inhabitants probably wouldn't want to secede from the Union.
Posted by: Ichthyic
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December 17, 2010 9:29 PM
Have you considered pooling your money, buying hawaii and declaring yourselves an independant and atheist state? I'd be tempted to move there if you did...
kindof like these guys?
http://www.christianexodus.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9&Itemid=37
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, OM
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December 17, 2010 9:50 PM
Hawaii is an expensive place to live.
Posted by: Nerd of Redhead, OM
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December 17, 2010 9:57 PM
Dah YooPee is cheap, with an already in place secessionist movement (never mind they receive $4 for every dollar going to Lansing). But, the Apostolic Lutherans are strong up there.Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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December 17, 2010 10:05 PM
Nerd, there have been a bunch of Norf Dakotans joking about secession, because ND isn't broke. Problem is, if it happened, we'd have to leave, as ND is home to a mass amount of religious types and more than a handful of teabaggin' types, and not the fun kind of teabaggin', either.
Posted by: Nij
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December 17, 2010 10:23 PM
My last words won't be anything about my atheism; that will come second-last. I'll be saying goodbye to my family when the time comes, not mucking about with stupid things that don't particularly matter.
Also: seceding from the US? You mean, leaving the world's largest pile of nukes in the hands of millions of apocalyptic nutjobs? Who also have the world's most advanced armed forces? With either the first, second or third largest economy (depending on how you measure it and who you believe)? Somebody didn't think that completely through...
Posted by: Erulóra (formerly KOPD)
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December 17, 2010 10:26 PM
It would really blow most right-wingers minds to learn that the idea for the pledge came from a socialist. And that before 1942 they didn't put their hand over their heart, but did the "Bellamy salute". Yep, that's right. America's children gathering around a flag, doing what looks like a Nazi salute while reciting a nationalistic pledge written by a socialist.Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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December 17, 2010 10:39 PM
KOPD:
Isn't that interesting. Thanks for posting that, I had no idea.
Posted by: Jack Krebs
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December 17, 2010 11:11 PM
Excellent post.
Posted by: Danno Davis
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December 17, 2010 11:59 PM
For the 185th week in a row, I couldn't have said it better myself.
Did that sound Maheresque to anyone else? I realize the title had a little Maherism in it, but I sensed it in the body of the post as well. All in favor of Bill reading this in its entirety on an upcoming episode?
Posted by: Ctenotrish
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December 18, 2010 12:16 AM
Caine, Fleur du mal OM and Gus (and perhaps others, further down (well, up, now, as I post) thread .....)
Yes, most excellent, here too. For myself (someday), for a dying (as we speak, sadly [for us, more than they]) family member. Yes. Useful disposition of the mere shell that is the body, no public displays, by choice of the individual involved ... We grieve, we will mourn the passing, and then we will celebrate the life. Meanwhile, someone, somewhere, will learn some hopefully useful anatomy lessons from our donation, and something good will come from the end of a wonderful life.
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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December 18, 2010 12:35 AM
Ctenotrish:
Exactly. I know how important funerals are to some people, that's not the case with me or mine. I'd much rather have my corpse go to some use and have memories of my life remain with others. I would like more hop vines planted, or a tree. A Weeping Willow, because that's my favourite tree.
My condolences on your family member, it's never easy to face goodbye.
Posted by: Timberwoof
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December 18, 2010 12:55 AM
I just wrote my will.
I'm wearing a heart monitor because I've been experiencing cardiac arrhythmia over the past few days. After a scary half-hour, I decide it was time. I wanted to make sure that if I did kick off, that my stuff would be fairly distributed among my friends and relatives.
Evil spirits? Demons? Gods? No, it's just as-yet unexplained chemical imbalances in the electroconductive inner layer of my heart. It will get better or it won't.
If there must be talk of spirits at my funeral, let it be in the context of Jungian archetypes and not this incorporeal being nonsense. I hope, however, to stick around a while longer. I haven't said all I need to say yet.
Posted by: Tim, not my real name.
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December 18, 2010 1:28 AM
I fucking hated reading this! How are people that are so evil insane tolerated?
Reading this made me question my pacifist lefty-pussy beliefs. Yeah, I wanna get medieval on that ambulatory fertiliser.
But I won't because I am not batshit crazy.
Since the blog closed comments, heres the email for further ripping of a new one. Let me know if this is a no-no.
americanpowerblog at gmail dot com
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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December 18, 2010 1:37 AM
Tim:
I think it's more than enough that people spoke their mind at the blog and other places, like here at Pharyngula.
What's the point to publishing an email address in the hopes that he'll be e-bombed? Proving that you (and others) can be seriously nasty?
No thanks. I'd like to be able to say I did not reach his level of nasty, ever. I'll content myself with speaking publicly about what a loathsome creature Douglas is without crossing that particular line.
Posted by: Cor (formerly evil)
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December 18, 2010 3:34 AM
Douglas is a fake. . . Notice how he made it through the whole post without lapsing into toungues? I know when I get filled with the Holy Spirit, I have to break off from posting to self-flagellate
Shrooom Balkanashkaka! Yob Tvoyu Mat
Sorry. Holy Spirit break. Whew! You know who Elizabeth Edwards is a lot like? Hitler, praise Jesus. Just like Hitler for killing jewish carpenters -- you betcha.
You know who sucked? Everybody who lived before Jesus was born. Seriously, can you believe NONE of them had a personal relationship with our Sovereign Lord Christ Jesus Haploid Diplodicus? Atheists -- which Mrs. Edwards clearly was, from her note -- believe in absolutely nothing. Well, they believe in Satan, but only so they can worship him.
We should invade Iran and pay for it with Tax Cuts.
Yours in Christ Jesus Savior Messiah Praise Amen,
- B. S. Poe
P. S. Brvooooommmm Zalakalashiya shemma Zim bopebop
Posted by: Misfire
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December 18, 2010 4:33 AM
I think I can imagine what it might feel like to be a killer, or a man who beats his dog, an olympic skier; I might be wrong of course, but I feel like I can guess at it.
I really can't imagine what it would be like to be one of these people. Not just the Edwards protester for his coldness, I can't picture what it might feel like to experience the world as they do.
I wonder if we could MRI one of their brains and compare it with a fully-functioning brain, then maybe I could get that part of my brain temporarily shut down and check it out.
Posted by: Kel, The Privileged View From Nowhere
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December 18, 2010 5:43 AM
The only bad thing I can see is when someone hangs all their hope, meaning and morality on some form of cosmic purpose. Of course in that case the death of God would be tragic because it is the death of the self. The suffering is for naught, and the otherwise grand gesture of the Godman broken on the cross is but an empty symbol.And that's why kids should stay away from
drugsreligion. It ruins perfectly good things like existential nihilism by putting humanity where it doesn't belong.Posted by: John Morales
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December 18, 2010 6:02 AM
Nihilism is for those who angst.
Posted by: https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmd0JQT5RGH9tw98hgR4Au80-RC1x_9wWY
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December 18, 2010 6:13 AM
from Fireweaver:
@ KOPD #138: When I was attending a private school in 1960 (8th grade), we students did the Pledge like that. We called it "the Hitler salute". (Some of us thought the headmaster might have been a Nazi, too.)
==
"one nation, under god, with slavery and injustice for all." Point being, if you insist on god, you have to accept the horse shit that follows.
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, OM
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December 18, 2010 6:42 AM
One of the sadder points of Douglas's screed is that he's a professor of political science. He's supposed to know the difference between liberals, centerist Democrats, and Communists. Apparently he doesn't.
Posted by: https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmKzS29qHe78bUKYjj9yjs7yNCAWKXEaTU
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December 18, 2010 7:10 AM
Truly the dick of all dicks for such a stupid comment on Edward's message.
Donald the dick.
I think Woody Allen sums up my response to dick Donald best:
Not only is God dead, but just try to find a plumber on weekends.
Sheesh
Posted by: Ygnir
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December 18, 2010 7:48 AM
Ygnir's last words, should he be pestered by ghouls at his deathbed:
Hello. My name is Ygnir Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die
Posted by: kurtdoles
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December 18, 2010 9:11 AM
Awww, poor baby, folks were posting comments that didn't agree with his Christarded world view, so Douglas went ahead and turned them off. Persecution! Persecution!
Posted by: Rob in Memphis
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December 18, 2010 12:19 PM
Technically he's correct in saying that we expect it because, sadly, saying you embrace Gawd and Jebus is one of the easiest ways to get elected in this country. That doesn't mean all Americans like it or want them to talk about their faith, though. For my part, I wish they'd shut the fuck up about it but maybe that's just me.
Posted by: Ing: PhD Trollologist
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December 18, 2010 1:20 PM
WIth my last breath grab the nearest person by the collar, pull them close and whisper
"I KILLED MUFASA!"
Posted by: Gregory Greenwood
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December 18, 2010 1:46 PM
Ygnir @ 154;
Well, since we are talking about repugnant fundie ghouls, I think that my favoured form of words would be lifted from Mr Campbell himself;
"This is my BOOMSTICK!"
Posted by: Brian Iverson
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December 18, 2010 9:18 PM
"Sorry, fellow atheists, but if you thought you could just get away with sitting quietly and not making a noise, you're doomed."
So getting back to the point of this blog entry, what are the steps we need to be taking? I am asking for ideas. I think responding on this blog with the sarcasm and humorous retorts is great for building support and comradeship. A little Rah Rah is good. But not enough. We need to do more.
A possible small step:
How about developing a list of general and right leaning sites where we - atheists, humanists, agnostics, etc - can express our views and respond to the religious right in front of an audience that is not the atheistic choir.
In a respectful, but not cowering manner, engage in conversations, blogs, letters to the editor, etc. with the goal being responses of more tolerance from believers, sparking some critical thinking or if nothing else, polishing our skills for communicating with believers. But do something every day to communicate logic, critical thinking, skepticism, science, and so on to the general public, to high school students, etc.
Many more steps need to be taken and I know it sounds antithetic to many of you, but unless there is an organized effort to end magical thinking and blind faith it will get worse. Much worse.
Our current freedoms are rather fragile. A few new laws, fewer independent news organizations, a couple of supreme court reversals and we'll have public funding of religious schools, no more WikiLeaks, good-bye healthcare, reduced government funding of colleges that have outspoken critics of religion, reduced corporate ads on disagreeable sites, and so on.
What Republican presidential hopeful doesn't scare the shit out of you? Don't think McCarthyism, think Salem with corporate funding.
Am I just becoming chicken-little? I wish.
Other ideas?
Posted by: Deborah Breeden
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December 19, 2010 7:25 AM
I have to agree with Brian Iverson (#159) - that a much broader base of people need to become informed about what is going on.
Where I live, the police department and school board are party to felony interference with custody crimes ... but when the principal of the school wears Bible verses printed on her T-shirt at school events ... and the Chief of Police brags on line about violating Florida Statutes ...
Apparently, the public school my son attends is allowed the privileged status granted to religious schools, the 'rights' of church goers (no way affiliated with the school, i.e. employee/parent of student, etc.) takes priority over the medical needs of an execptionally gifted Type I Diabetec student.
The crazy part of this campaign of persecution is that I'm not even an atheist ... I'm just not the 'right kind' of 'believer.'
it's beginning to look like history class around my neighborhood ... the whittling away of civil rights ... based on the superstitious fixations of mentally ill church program directors, is quite frightening ... to be frank
Posted by: Ichthyic
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December 21, 2010 12:13 AM
Indeed.
I would be considering leaving there, if I were you.
I doubt you will have much success trying to fight those idiots.