Sherri "the earth is flat" Shepherd advances the atheist cause for us once again by demonstrating just how stupid going to church can make you. This time, it was about history: Jesus came before the Romans and the Greeks, the Greeks threw Christians to the lions, and nothing could have preceded Jesus.
It just goes to show, though, that there is no intelligence minimum for the chattering pundit class.
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I wonder how she manages to function with just a brain stem and no brain?
My brain hurts in sympathy. Of course, any pain in the area of her brain is phantom pain.
That woman is clearly too stupid to fully appreciate just how stupid she truly is.
In some circles, just the fact that she's survived this long without killing herself could be seen as proof that there is a god.
Oh. My. God.
Wow. That was painful.
Surely there must be a petition to have her removed from the airwaves, in case more of her raving stupidity rubs off onto her already imbecilic fan base.
The interesting thing is that probably 40% of the United States' population is just as clueless, just as unaware, and just as adamant in their beliefs.
Let's help evolution along for the sake of humanity, and have many, many smart children!
ugh I can just envision house cows all over the US nodding in agreement with Flat Earth Sherri. How many people watching this vacuous drivel do you think went straight to their computers after this discussion to research the issue for themselves?
Yep.. ZERO
If any aliens in outer space can read this.. I'm ready please come get me.
Oh, if only something predated Christians.
What do you mean that's supposed to be a long 'E'?
It's amazing that brain can generate enough power to keep that mouth moving.
Problem is that if aliens somehow intercepted that broadcast, they would think we are the planet of the idiots.
Arrrggggh! Teh stupid!
It burns!!
Can't they get a female version of those Monty Python guys who hit themselves on the head with two bricks? My brain hurts.
She really needs an evaluation for mental retardation. Anyone, even brought up Christian, should know that Jesus came to save people, which means there must have been people first, which means they can't have been Christians before Christ.
Ye gads.
I think lions predated Christians in Nero's Rome. Or Greece, according to Ms. Shepherd.
I think now would be the time for readers of this site to flood her page with perfunctory vitriol,
"STUPID CUNT"
"FUCKING MORON"
"IGNORANT DIPSHIT"
come to mind.
Indeed, Sherri Shephard is a high-priestess in the Temple of The Burning Stupid.
My dog Romulus has many good qualities but alas has never said anything that was particularly intelligent. To his everlasting credit though, he has never said anything that was incredibly stupid.
Sherri, at least allow that Mary and Joseph predated Christ.
Being a stupid Christian is one thing but not knowing that Adam and Eve were supposed to be the first humans? Holy Shit! Was Jesus before them? Get your mythology strait.
And until you do, have the sense to be embarrassed for yourself.
Teeny ray of hope department: none of the (first* page's worth of) HuffPo commenters agrees with Shepherd.
*That's all I was willing to expose myself to. Somebody tougher will have to see whether she has supporters at ARN, AiG, etc...
I suppose the "logic" is that true religion could not come into being, or change. And given religions' claims, it's not an unreasonable belief.
The only trouble is, all religions, including every last one that is the "true religion," did need to be invented, and thus fails internally (no, I don't want to get into the details and rationalizations), besides failing externally.
Sherri's amazingly ignorant in all areas, it appears, including those untouched by religion. However, she does seem to be especially afflicted by ignorance through her initial glaring error of supposing that religion's claims to "eternal truth" are not lies.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
She doesn't even know her own religion at all. That Old Testament, Adam and Eve, Noah and the Big Boat, Solomon, David and a cast of thousands.
All she is showing is that the median IQ in the USA is 100. There is no doubt which half she is in. She must be kept on to appeal to the IQ 80 demographic.
There is also a chance that she is just plain bughouse crazy. Psychotics often show cognitive defects.
pradeep wrote:
And they'd be right.
Why does Barbara Walters who presumably is not stupid keep her on? Does it really improve the ratings to have the most ignorant women in America on her panel?
Actual conversation I had with a plumber a couple of years ago here in Austin, TX:
Plumber: (seeing my bookcase full of natural history books) Those scientists keep talking about global warming! They're just trying to make money!
Me: What does talking about global warming have to do with making money?
Plumber: They're trying to sell their books on it! Jesus isn't gonna let global warming happen!
Me: It already is happening.
Plumber: (peering at me with suspicious eyes) You're not a scientist, are you?
At that point I decided, for the sake of my malfunctioning toilet, to change the subject.
I just want to add that, in the Texas Methodist church I was raised in, we were taught that God and Jesus are the same thing, and, since God precedes everything else in time, according to the myth-believers, Jesus (as God) did come before the Greeks and Romans and everything else. I don't believe this, of course, but the majority of people in the US probably do.
Actually- what does Shepherd think about all those Jewish people in the Old testament?
She's not the only American idiot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE
sigh. At least I understand now how Bush got re-elected.
HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! It is impossible to be this fucking dumb. Sadly, she probably earns more than your average biology professor.
The privileging of christianity makes americans stupid. Pretty solid hypothesis, I'd say.
Sherri Shepherd has to be a poster child for what the Discovery Institute would love to create with every school child in this country.
I can't think of a strong enough synonym for the stupidity that this woman spews. Absolutely revolting.
Everything but the first one. No need to turn into misogynists over an idiot.
(#8 wins the thread, IMHO.)
If she's not drummed off the show, perhaps we should petition the network to supply captions as needed that say "Warning: She's completely wrong again." Maybe they could be color-coded according to the severity of the error.
Re #23: Yeah, Christians are taught that God and Jesus are the same and have always existed. But she didn't say Jesus predated everything, she said CHRISTIANS predate everything. Which is patently ridiculous even within the mythology.
Ignorance is the problem-- ignorance that doesn't even realize there's something there worth knowing. It's the key attitude for these people: I don't need to know anything, I'm a Christian! You can even half understand it: if 'Jebus saves' is really the most important thing in the universe to know, all these things the rest of us study and learn (even reading the bible and understanding the outlines of ancient history that locate Jesus, put him in an interpretive context that you could use to understand the religion that grew out of his life etc.) is really pointless. Of course you do need to know how to turn a key in your car's ignition, etc. But that's all important just because you can't get through a day without it. Nothing counts but the practical and 'Jesus'. Shepard gets through her days just fine not knowing anything about history, science, or anything else, for that matter. Once upon a time we expected peasants to be like that (though some, heroically, learned much more). Now, it's encouraged (by some): what, me worry? I'm a Xian!
Wow. So the old, not-too-good fundamentalist historical view was:
"God created the Earth 6000 years ago. After Adam & Eve got real busy, and there was a flood with a REALLY big ark, God told everybody to kill each other. Eventually a guy named Jesus came along and said some stuff that you should listen to. Except for the he-who-is-without-sin part."
New (Sherri Shephard) fundamentalist historical view:
"Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."
I looked up here wiki page and she was a comedian before getting a job on the View. So I wonder if she is acting stupid on purpose? You can only imagine the ratings spike they get when she utters something stupid. She could be a classic fall guy type on that show to help boost ratings, maybe? The View is probably tailored to have people on there that appeal to every demographic, and Sherri appeals to the 40% of the people I mentioned before, and probably to a lot of people who just like her because she is sweet, and dumb and being attacked by those "intellectual elites" on that show, such as Whoopi and Barbara.
pradeep,
Nope, she's that stupid. She attributes her getting the position on the show to her fans' prayers, and has previously said she's not sure if the earth is flat and evolution is false...because of her bible. Exhibit A in the case of how Christianity makes you stupid.
Yet another *headdesk* moment.
There have been too many of these lately.
Am now at half a day's worth of Bushmills. Lost count as to what is the actual total that represents some hours ago. Expect my liver will give out before any of this makes sense.
Please, America. Think of my liver.
How...? What about, say, Jews? Dear ghods.
Deang (#21), I live in Austin, and you see why I just replaced my own toilet. Yet another good reason to have some home repair skills...
It's tough during the Joyous Solstice Time to deal with all the warm, fuzzy, red-and-green-velvety stupid all around (oh, and that tradition predated the Coca-Cola version we have today, but with more sex and drunken nakedness).
Ah, Rachel I. . .them wasn't no Jews, them was just Christians waiting to perfect themselves.
I can't believe that any school in this country would allow someone to graduate elementary school with this woman's level of knowledge. It's truly stunning to see her being paid to talk on national TV. I bet her salary could pay for a lot of competent public school teachers.
Once again, "we're not the crazy ones!"
Exhibit A in the case of how Christianity makes you stupid.
This is probably not entirely fair. I'd submit this woman would have been perfectly capable of being a moronic hindu, muslim, or druid, given the chance.
The hell of it is she's got quite a lengthy IMDb page. Apparently brains aren't a requirement for working in television.
I didn't realize Atheists had an entry test either?
Is Shepherd on the show as the religious-right's smartest representative? ;)
Is Shepherd on the show as the religious-right's smartest representative? ;)
It's between her and Elizabeth Hasselbeck. She can give Shepherd a run for her money on the religio-stupid every so often.
but with more sex and drunken nakedness
Not a lot of nakedness around the Winter Solstice in Ye Olde Northern Europe. That's why we get extra drunk.
Great Chtulhu, please eat her last.
I didn't realize Atheists had an entry test either?
You only have to be smart enough to realise that religion is a scam run by the evil to fleece the stupid.
Really, all it takes is one or two IQ points above "food goes in here" to figure that out.
A long time ago I said something really stupid. Oh, yeah. Even dressed it up with a little physical comedy.
Placing my bible on the floor, I clambered up on top of it and announced to a rather shocked visitor, "I stand on the word of God! It's all I need!"
O, the retroactive embarrassment! The color rises up my neck and under my beard, which provides little camouflage for the ruddy rush. (Don't tell anyone else, OK?)
Luckily, I got better, thank dog. Does anybody think that Sherri would listen to my story? For some odd reason, I don't.
She, those other gals on TeeVee with her, the show itself, the promotion of such dreck as quality programming and the captive audience accepting and approving are just too much to bear. Been this way for years.
On the tube now: Discovery Channel, The Universe. It's a rerun, but I like it because I gain real knowledge and the quality of awe that it inspires is many orders of magnitude greater than the awe I once felt congregating at Revival Tabernacle back in the day. Yes, that was the name of that church.
You only have to be smart enough to realise that religion is a scam run by the evil to fleece the stupid.
Really, all it takes is one or two IQ points above "food goes in here" to figure that out.
You're right. Even Homer gets that it's all a scam.
Praise Jebus.
They should slap a sticker over her mouth reading, "Sherri Shepherd contains bullshit ideas. Everything she says is a theory, not a fact, regarding any topic at all. Everything she says should be approached with a very very skeptical mind mind, ridiculed carefully, and uncritically rejected."
Can we have a moment of sympathy rather than just easy mockery?
She has little education and was raised by a cult. A lot of people are extremely hazy on history and the most basic science.
Why someone with such limited equipment is put on a TV show I don't know, but maybe that's why the producers chose her.
Her parents need to be punished for producing such stupidity.
OMGWTFBBQ
There's been some fun playing off of "predated" vs. "pre-dated" here, which is all well and good.
But just for the record, it's generally better form to write "pre-dated" for an event which came before another event. I don't know what the "rules" are for it, I just know that convention (which is what mostly matters) favors "pre-dated," no doubt in part to avoid ambiguity.
I wouldn't want anyone to think that "predated" is really the right word to use here (don't bother to find out if it is considered an "acceptable" variant, convention decides that "pre-dated" is preferred), no matter that it probably caused more interest than confusion.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Amazing, just when I thought they couldn't find anyone more idiotic than Elizabeth Hasselbeck.
Sherri's a big girl (nothing wrong with that) but when she dies, they can give her an enema and bury her in a shoebox...
So, Sherri thinks that Jesus came to Jerusalem before Noah was born?
So, Sherri thinks that Jesus came to Jerusalem before Noah was born?
Not only that, she thinks there was a Noah.
"I'd buy that for a dollar!"
Whoa whoa whoa!!! Some of those comments there blamed the schools. I'm sorry, I have two MAs ... one in history ... but I can't possibly be expected to overcome that level of STOOOOOOPID!
I randomly saw a bit of The View yesterday. This woman asserted that she could not picture voting for anybody who was not "a person of faith". Barbara Walters was trying to push a secular line of logic, Whoopi was baffled, and the other woman was really trying to backpedal away from this line of logic, but nobody really challenged this bigoted notion.
Uh right. Can I nominate her for a fellowship with the Discovery Institute ? Clearly her wisdom and mental ability is on a par with the brilliant minds of the D.I. [/end sarcasm]
This woman asserted that she could not picture voting for anybody who was not "a person of faith".
Most of the nation couldn't picture doing such a thing.
"The Greeks came first"? Is that any better than "Jesus came first"? Stupid bitches. They should invite Ben Stein to their show. Then I would actually watch it.
Please don't take offense, but I find services here at the Church of Atheism a bit dull. The continual chanting of "they are dumb, they are dumb" may induce some sort of religious ecstasy among you of The Elect, but if you are serious about recruitment you might try something less tedious - perhaps a bit of choral singing, or some rolling on the ground and thrashing about.
Just sayin'
You speak too soon. Thursday is Pink Floyd day.
The weird thing about concern trolls is that they never seem to have considered that we've heard the same lame arguments dozens of times already.
Just sayin'
No one here cares what a moron like you says.
"'The Greeks came first'? Is that any better than 'Jesus came first'?"
In context? Yes it is. She means "first" relatively and is speaking in very general terms.
Man, this is up there with the people who think that the Bible was originally written in KJV English.
Actually, I'd be willing to bet she believes that, too.
Well, we all watched it didn't we?
In some cases, several times just to make sure we hadn't misheard it...
Was there anything before Christians? I'm sure the experts at the Creation Museum would know the answer to that. As such I have sent them an email asking for the real answer. I await the reply with heady anticipation and will keep you all informed should we get the final, definitive answer from the folks that really know.
I doubt that a single one of those commenting in this thread makes even half the salary of Sherri Shepherd. We live in an environment where Ms Shepherd is the one most highly adapted to the conditions, not the rest of us (despite our wishful thinking). Most anti-evolutionists look at scientists and see people spending more than a decade to gain the qualifications for their job. They see us struggling with low pay and lack of decent long term career options. And they laugh at us and call us stupid.
Until the conditions exist that would allow scientific reason and careers in this field to be rewarded better than pure moronity it might be better if we didn't act so high and mighty about the matter.
@#72
Or it could be just you're placing way too much emphasis on equating a person's worth to what they earn.
Ummm, CIP, be that as it may...she's gut wrenchingly, unarguably dumb. There seems to be a recurring theme, you see?
Uh... what?
We shouldn't object UNTIL the problem is solved?
Well! That's creative thinking, I'll grant you that much.
Are you really arguing that salary of a TV personality strongly corrolates with their intelligence, education, rationality, the correctness of their statements, or their cultural value? Surely not.
Look. Capitalism is flawed. Huge sums of money get funneled thru the mass media into the pockets of all manner of mediocre talents and celebs. The moronic content of "entertainment" seems to go up every year. Freak shows pay, man, and that's not exactly news. Owners of big tents have known that for centuries.
The only way to reverse the trend (if it's even possible) is to push back against it. The harder the better, if you ask me.
I live in Europe but have read enough about this imbecil to realize my cat is a PHD compared to this idiot. It is apalling that this STUPID STUPID women is able to spew her nonsence over national TV for as some say big dollars, and what is worse I imagine there are enough stupid people out in the audience who actually believe what she says
truth machine, it seems that you are not only factually correct but your choice of tone is completely appropriate here.
(Holy shit it felt weird to type that.)
Carry on.
I feel sorry for her kids, but her too. Can you imagine how small and claustrophobic her world must be?
A trip to a museum of natural history would blow her mind, if she hasn't walled her brain off completely (which sadly seems to be the case).
Kseniya said:
"The only way to reverse the trend (if it's even possible) is to push back against it. The harder the better, if you ask me."
I half agree with you. The point I am trying to make is that we need a carrot incentive to go along with the stick approach that you are advocating. Its all very well (and indeed fun) laughing at this sort of idiocy but the real battle can only be won by creating an environment where the acquisition of education, reason and knowledge are seen as advantageous rather than a hindrance by the majority of the population.
I don't judge a person by their salary (for crying out loud, I'm a molecular geneticist who works on childhood cancer - hardly a steady or financially rewarding career, I can assure you) but lets be honest here, the salary available from any particular profession IS one of the primary factors that encourage many people to choose those careers in the first place. We rationalists rail against cognitive dissonance amongst the religious but lets not lose sight of the fact that we will continue to have a problem to encourage people to chose the path of reason unless we can offer them a better alternative than the current environment provides.
Sigmund is correct.
I quit teaching high school math and science for exactly that reason. The kids saw my expertise and knowledge and the fact that I could afford nothing better than a ten year old car. They saw pro football players making more in one year than I would make in my entire life. Guess what they did after school? It wasn't math homework!
Like it or lump it, our culture places money as the gauge of worth and a drugged out, illiterate gangster in a pro football uniform is worth more than any teacher in America to the general population.
The good news? I now make four times what I did as a teacher. How? I'm an ER nurse in a 3-D world: Drunks, druggies and dumbasses. And there is no end to the supply...
What's the alternative, though? Should we all just quit trying to advocate reason? Should science classes be abolished because the young people of today aren't interested in science and there's no money in it? Without miraculously whipping out giant bundles of cash out of nowhere, we're never going to have that "carrot" of which you speak. The world just doesn't work like that. I see no reason to be optimistic that it ever will, either. Half of me wants it to end, to put a stop to this cancerous culture of hatred and ignorance.
Myself, I'd've loved to be a scientist, but my natural talents just weren't up to it (or perhaps I just failed to study hard enough). So now I'm a self-hating computer programmer. It'll never make me famous, it'll never make me rich, and most importantly of all, it'll never make me happy. I got one shot at life, and I failed. I draw consolation, though, from the fact that nine out of ten of those idiots wanting to be football superstars or star actors will also fail almost as miserably as I have.
She gets to vote and so do her fans.
Remember that and act accordingly.
Nobody in the world could be as stupid as that woman seems and still manage to operate within human society. The Darwin Awards would have claimed her long before adulthood.
This MUST be a wind-up.
Ah. The bronze age burial mounds hereabouts must be another test of faith I've failed, like the fossilized ones in the jurassic beaches.
Ah, now I've read that I'd put money on it being a sick joke. The fact is - even the most demented religious wingnuts at least know the VERY basic things like the shape of the earth and the sequence of Biblical events: the character portrayed by this comedian is clearly a parody of those people.
After all, how could a comedian make a living if they weren't at least vaguely intelligent? Unless she simply got work because people pointed and laughed at her every time she opened her mouth. Seems very unlikely though, dunnit?
@81. Nothing about what you've described of your life or career sounds like a miserable failure to me. There are many things that can make us happy in life, and a perfect job and more money are just two of them. And although neither of us can be a scientist, there are people like Dawkins, Greene, PZ, et al out there giving us more knowledge about life, the universe and everything than even some of the most brilliant minds of just a few generations ago had. Buck up, and be happy.
You're all missing the obvious explanation: Sherri Shepherd is a student of the Hellenized Judaic hermeneutics of Philo of Alexandria. If Jesus is identified with the λόγος, as declared in John 1:1, then clearly Shepherd is correct in declaring that there is nothing earlier than Jesus.
We should all be as familiar with Heraclitean philosophy as Ms. Shepherd.
It's the producers of The View who have no sense of responsibility at all. Why do they hire such a person ? Do they get higher ratings for displaying such ignorance ? I guess unless viewers send emails and complain, nothing will change. Well, I guess people get what they deserve.
The producers are probably laughing at the offended 'intelligensia' right now. Lets just reiterate once again what they respond to; popularity. They have no interest in being challenging, informative, educational. They can only be popular by keeping to a strict regime of unchallenging, comfortable lowest common denominator fare. The only way to change that? Stop buying the newspapers, stop watching that shit. Eventually, when there is no money in it they have to turn to something else.
The wierd thing is that The View requiring another host to replace Rosie O'Donnell actually had a choice between Sherri (Praise Jebus!)Shepherd and Kathy (Suck it Jesus) Griffin. Now one of them is funny, intelligent and has a long string of witheringly witty put-downs. The other knows her place and makes Barbara Walters feel superior.
"STUPID CUNT"
Yeah because what's really important here is to remind her she's stupid and - worse yet - a GIRL! Ewwww.
Try to keep the misogynistic dipshit in the cage, please.
Someone more idiotic than Sherri? Try Chuck Norris who said that he would "Tattoo an American flag with the words, 'In God We Trust,' on the forehead of every atheist.'", if he were Presedent...
I can empathise with someone managing to be this ignorant of reality.
I grew up going to an 7th Day Adv school in rural Aus. We read Bible stories everyday (at least I know its not all boring crap; hooray Sodom & Gomorah, Elijah kicks some ass).
I don't think I new what a Jew was until I was about 15 and watched South Park.
It really wouldn't be surprising to me that a similar amount of people who believe that God created man and woman personally, think Abraham, Adam, David etc. were CHRISTian, and not the least bit Jewish.
Remember, it's religion it doesn't have to make sense (actually, the less it does, the better, I mean if its so unlikely, it must be even more special, because it happened, it says so in the book, says the book)
Christianjb @ #22:
Years ago I saw (I think on Randi's Nova show) a clip of BW on "20-20" interviewing Uri Geller and being awed by his mystical powers. There was also a Nova or Frontline exposing the junk science of those who think extreme autistics can use ouija-board devices to communicate with the help of "guides", which featured a clip of her credulously interviewing the proponents. So I don't presume she is not stupid, although there could be other explanations (maybe she thinks "stupid" sells).
(A better commenter would have found links rather than trying to describe the above.)
This is horrendously sad and pitiful and instead of mocking and ridiculing we should do more to educate.
STUPID PRICK!
Oh... sorry, guys. *blush*
Seriously, though. What a maggot-brained, fascist asshole!
Of course he is! We're working the same side of the street, though on different blocks: I expect to make at best a modest income (regardless of my educational level) in human services, treating the mentally ill. I only object to the notion that mockery has no place, here. "Lord, make my enemies ridiculous," and all that jazz. I'm with Sigmund all the way, otherwise. Mockery is one thing, solving a socioeconomic value system problem of which Shepard is a symptom is quite another - though I would point out that internet fora are far better suited to the former. ;-)
Upon reflection, however, it occurs to me that maybe the system works after all. I'd rather a dim bulb like Shepard be a freak in the freak show than a teacher, a medical researcher, or an ER nurse. As a matter of fact I'd love to see her make a million dollars as the official spokesmumbler for Duct Tape.
(If it's all an act, then I'd say to her, "Sistah, put your formidable powers of comedy to more productive use!" Parody that's indistinguishable from reality is no longer parody, and starts to work against the point of view you wish to promote...)
This ranks right up there with republican politicians saying, "If English was good enough for Jesus, then it's good enough for me"
Or the always popular, "You can't fool me young man, it's turtles all the way down!".
<<...turtles all the way down!>>
Indeed it is. I hope no one is questioning this?
Darn, "The Physicist" popped in (#43) and I missed it.
Hi, Gregg! How'd the Big Debate over at Octagle Poptagon work out for you?
Numad, I see your point. I was afraid that these women were trying to say Adam and Eve were Greeks. (I never watch The View.)
But does anyone else besides me think that Bride of Shrek has a wonderful idea? Send them to the Creation Museum, so Sherri can repeat her "Christians came first" statement on the air! It would be hilarious. (Maybe she'd notice how white most of the biblical characters are.)
To give her credit, is the proposition that the world was only created ~2000 years ago (nothing predates christians) REALLY that much dumber than the proposition that the world was created ~8000 years ago?(Every word of the bible is literally true) She's off alone by herself in denying the entire old testament while embracing the new, but that doesn't have much to do with plausability of the premise, just whether the majority believe in it.
Se-parating pre-fixes with hyphens from the words they are af-fixed to is a very recent af-fliction limited to English. It seems to come from pretending that English had spelling rules: people nowadays often use hyphens in words like "reevaluate" or "coossify" to prevent people from choosing the most common pronunciations of ee and oo.
To return to the subject... let me echo several preceding comments in invoking Morgan's Law: a sufficiently advanced parody is indistinguishable from a genuine moron.
Give me ten minutes... er... three or four years with the turtles (and the procolophonids and the pareiasaurs and the placodonts and the lepidosaurs and the whatnots), and I'll find out.
To borrow a phrase from the wonderful Greg Egan, this woman is straight-up ignorance cult material.
Oh, don't tell me you missed that. He got caught plagiarizing large parts of his first substantive post, and the debate was promptly cut short. At which point he threw a hissy fit, called his opponent a coward, and stormed off, promising a devastating rebuttal which oddly enough never materialized.
As far as I'm concerned, she could've stopped with "I don't think".
David, as opposed to the more traditional use of a diaresis for that puropse: eg. Coöperate Zaïre Zoë.
Yup. It was little more than cut'n'pasted Hugh Ross.
The intellectual equivalent of a Spice Girls tribute band.
Gee, that's pretty insulting to the Spice Girls, doncha think?
Yes.
I've got A Modest Proposal for everyone here.
Think it could be done?
G, very good idea.
Sheesh, Kseniya. You're such a misoandrist.
If there's no BC from whence did that comic strip come?
Who'd have thought they could have topped that blond chick for stupidity and yet ...
But Rey, then she gave us "maggot-brained, fascist asshole", which works perfectly for any situation.
How much money does she make? fuck. FUCK.
It just goes to show, though, that there is no intelligence minimum for the chattering pundit class.
What we sorely need here is a glass floor.
She gets to vote and so do her fans.
Remember that and act accordingly.
Posted by: Ugly American | December 5, 2007 5:13 AM
------------------------------
But the authorities frown on putting poison in the water supply...(rimshot).
She breathes without the assistance of a machine?
Here's how her argument is correct--A Christian God created the world. Who cared how long it took--a few billion years probably. Adam and Eve were Christian because they looked forward to the Christ. Moses and all of the prophets in the Old Testament were Christian. In this sense, nothing predates Christians.
I doubt this is what she meant, but in this sense her statement is accurate.
negentropyeater,
I'm quite serious (unlike Jonathan Swift), think we could get people to sign off on this?
Hey PZ, are you giving to a holiday charity yet? Anybody else? I'd put up $20 to get this woman an education. Goes to a good cause either way.
Of course Jesus came first and the world IS flat. Anything to the contrary is just Iraqi atheist scienterrorism. You people are so gullible.
I think that the educational standards are low enough now, thanks.
Wow, that's really over the top. Is that on the order of "When the Germans bombed Pearly Harbor"? (sorry for the Animal House reference)
Your showing your ignorance of the Christian religion. She didn't say "predated Christ" she said "predated Christians". Based on the bible, which I'm sure few of you have bothered to look at, prophets have been anticipating Christs advent since the time of Adam.
Bob
Of course, TrollBob, nothing pre-dated christians.
Your showing your ignorance of the Christian religion. She didn't say "predated Christ" she said "predated Christians". Based on the bible, which I'm sure few of you have bothered to look at, prophets have been anticipating Christs advent since the time of Adam.
Bob
Oh, please tell me this is satire.
I'm an atheist because of reading the Bible.
Wrong on a few counts, Bob.
1. Adam and his family didn't anticipate Christ's coming, nor did Noah's. None of them said anything (that was recorded in the Bible, anyway) that made any reference to a Messiah.
2. The OT does prophesy the coming of a Messiah...named Immanuel, not Jesus (Isaiah 7:14). Also, the Messiah was to be a direct descendent of the male line of King David--which, if Mary was a virgin, disqualifies Jesus of Nazareth.
3. THERE WERE NO CHRISTIANS BEFORE CHRIST. That should go without saying, but apparently it passed you up. Christianity arose as an offshoot of Judaism. By definition, there were no Christians before Christ. Those prophesying the coming of the Messiah were Jews.
Oh, and that should have been "You're showing", not "Your showing"...just as long as we're on the subject of ignorance.
The views of one christian do not invalidate Jesus Christ or Christianity.
If you're here to make fun, then jack off.
Science can show that miracles are possible and God lives. NASA has found that some electromagnetic fields are alive, and British studies show that ~3% of society is electrosensitive.
nope, not satire. Bob really is crazy.
Psst...TrollBob, your crazy is showing.
G,
we should write a draft proposal (letter to the producers of the show). Mention why we are doing it, and why it could be interesting for them and for Sherri. Then we should get science and history bloggers to get it circulated, ask who would like to sign it, which institutions would like to host, and once we have a shortlist, package it nicely and send it.
If the View and Sherri accept, it'll be easy to get the sponsors to pay for it.
I think if it is well planned and packaged, it could be of interest to all parties involved, institutions, producer and Sherri.
So, yes, I think it can work. I've done many of those in my previous life, it's not that difficult, as long as it's a win for all involved.
negentropyeater,
Great! Now, how do I get in touch with you without either of us divulging our e-mail when there are trolls about?
Bob, Bob, Bob... You do not seem to understand, we make fun of belief everyday. That is part of the fun of this place. You are kind of out of place here. If you do not like it here, may I kindly suggest that you jack off.
Also, none of us here became neither an atheist nor an agnostic because of this silly bit theater. I am sure most look at this as the kind of ignorance that is encouraged by such a narrow view of faith. In other words, for most of the regulars here, Christ and christianity was invalidated long ago.
I have to ask this, non sequitur much? Are you really saying that some electromagnetic fields are sentient?
What we sorely need here is a glass trap floor door.
There. Better? :-)
"If you're here to make fun, then jack off."
I can do both, thank you. The latter will have to wait until I get home, though.
Bob #125 wrote:
This is valuable, because it is quite possible that this is what Sherri Shepard meant to say. It's still wrong, but not quite as stupid as thinking human history began in the year zero. It's a different variety of foolishness.
Bob #129:
Also valuable, since he seems to be demonstrating a conceptual link between Christianity and some kind of vitalism -- and is also directly addressing the question of whether or not science can examine the supernatural. If he's not actually crazy, this might reveal some interesting connections in the religious mindset.
The level of ignorance shown on this page is quite appalling. One would think that persons pretending to be educated adults in the English-speaking world would at least have a basic awareness of the rudiments of Christianity. I refer the reader in need of remedial instruction to the first verse of the book of John: "In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." This is simply the doctrine of the incarnation, that Jesus of Nazareth is, was, and ever shall be, God Himself, coexistent, of one being, with the creator of the universe. The term "Logos" may be read as "word" or "reason" or "expression", to varying effects, but throughout it refers to the person of Jesus of Nazareth, independent of (including the time before) his corporeal birth in history as a human being with a human body.
It seems obvious that Sherri Shephard was attempting to articulate this concept, but lacked the training and facility to do so gracefully in an extemporaneous setting. Clearly Greeks did feed Christians to Lions. As did Romans. Greeks did not suddenly cease to exist when the Roman Empire came to be, and the cultural matrix of early Christianity was thoroughly Greek -- as was it's language and literature -- until the conversion of Constantine, whereafter the Latin influence rapidly waxed ascendant.
Ally
Your level of ignorance is what is actually appalling- or should I say your inherently racist comment that everyone "in the English speaking world" should understand Christianity. Why??? I come from an English speaking country and Chritianity is not the dominant religion. Please explain your link between the English language and Chritianity.
Ally,
A clue: it's all bullshit.
Ally and Bob, you really are taking apologetics to an extreme defending Sherri on this one. Ally, if she had said something like "Christ has always been with us", then what you're saying would make perfect sense. But on the contrary, it seems very clear that she was saying nothing predated Christians. Her record to date suggests her statement didn't have a deeper meaning.
Also, I think you're splitting hairs on the Greeks vs. Romans thing. Yes, there were Greeks all over the Roman Empire, but it was the Roman authorities (though some of them may have been ethnic Greek) who fed Christians to the lions. Again, what she said sounded like she confused the Greeks and Romans. Could be something more going on there, but it doesn't sound like it. Smacks more of a Germans and Pearl Harbor confusion to me.
And I think you're referring to Western Europe, re. Latin influence waxing rapidly ascendant. In Eastern Europe, Greek influence was dominant.
@120--I think you're right. I recall from the longer "Is the earth flat?" clip Sherry saying something along the lines of "I believe god and his son created the world...", Implying that her understanding of the timeline has Jebus there,in all his separable, distinctive,sonofgod not yet incarnate glory, from the get-go. I grilled my fundy nutjob coworker about this and he informed me that the whole Father and Son from the Beginning bit is a fairly common belief in certain Christian sects. It goes against the stodgy episcopalian dogma of my youth, to be sure, but there it is.
I fervently hope that she will eventually say something so stupid that the producers of The View will have to give her the sack, but the composition of the audience, and indeed, the state of the union in general, makes those odds fearsome long. 'Glass Floor' indeed!
Ally, I prefer the bible in the original klingon. Oh, wait I reject the idea of a deity on principle. No need to read John about Logos.
Wait, that is a greek word.
Whew, I sure am glad I chose the moniker I did. Bob above, if you spent any time at all here (or just about any other atheist site), you'd know that very many atheists are very knowledgeable about the babble and many other religions as wel. But then I expect you aren't very curious and won't take any action that might educate you.
Ally, if you'd bothered to read the thread, you would've seen that you added nothing to the discussion.
I'm rather surprised no one pointed out that by the Jewish calendar, we're in the year 5786.
What burns my chaps is that these folks who deride and undermine science and scientists, nonetheless feel free to take advantage of all that science/scientists bring them.
Television where she and those overpaid athletes make all their money would not be possible without the Bible. Wait, no, that's not right. That stuff wouldn't be possible without science.
I really wish that those who put more stock in their sky fairy than in science would at least live like the Amish. I'm sick of them shitting all over the discipline that makes their swanky, modern life possible in the first place.
Yup. Reading rants against science and intellectualism posted on the 'net is... amusing. I might respect a similar rant scribbled with charcoal on a piece of bark and propped up against the front steps of the physics building at MIT, but oddly enough, one never sees that.
OT, the Amish only shun electricity in their homes. They use PCs and cash registers in the shops just fine.
Even Christians must know that Jesus didn't come onto the scene until after the Jews and the Jewish bible (Torah) was written.
I suppose that if Jesus = God, then the faithful could say that Jesus came first. But then she could have said that instead of garbling her basic ancient history and made a fool of herself on tv. Some people just can't be embarrassed at their ignorance.
Remember, statistically, fifty percent of the population is below average. This is proof that the lower fifty percent gets airtime too!
Please, lighten up people. You're taking the frustration you have with the fundies and the creation "museum" types out on this woman - and it's not fair. Being dumb is not a crime.
She hosts "The View" for cripes sake? There's no need to call her an ignorant cunt and try to get her job taken. For what? Being wrong? This woman isn't teaching ID in a classroom, she's not building a creation museum, she's hosting a dopey show.
She deserves ridicule, but not to the harsh degree of profanity laced insults and calls for her to lose her job. Be compassionate with Sherri and save the vitriol for the *real* enemies of reason and science.
Holy mother shit. My eyes and ears just imploded. I have not been with it, never watch the view, but I can't believe they have this person on the show for any reason other than comedy...
yous are all critikul jus cause she is black. she is the prettiest smartest woman i knows.
I'm sorry for this. Please see past her ignorance. There are a lot of people out there, behind every cause, who are ignorant. Read through you newspapers, or flip through your television channels, it is pretty easy to see that the media is pretty dumbed down. A prime example would be Soap Operas, its not adequate to explain it, just observe it. People aren't interested in using their brains to be more than titillated and entertained by sentimentality.
I really don't know how it gets lost in the shuffle, the deeper things within Christianity. There is so much to it that I never see mentioned in the cultural conversation. Its almost like believability is thrown to the wayside for the sake of abridging and streamlining it for the masses.
I have a sleep disorder, where I am haunted by these entities. I love science, but the answer to everything in medicine is more pills. There are significant issues to be dealt with, that aren't even addressed by science. Even religion doesn't touch on many things. I really don't know why the truth is hidden in books, obscured by translation and language.
With religion and science, or even politics and self discovery, or sex or art, or anything, I can't make all the ends meet, I am a limited resource, and its humbling to realize this. It seems apparent enough that there is structure and composure to reality, both revealed within the subjective revelation of my religion, and in what we've found in science via quantifiable analysis. The future will scoff at us like we scoff at the past, unless we take it upon ourselves to drop out of that volley, and in humility watch it go by, examining it as it passes.
Ally,
Are you sure that Logos wasn't a Greek concept that found it's way into early Christianity? Are you sure it wasn't a Gnostic concept? Maybe it's you who need to learn more about it instead of regurgitating what you have heard in the pew.
BTW, I used to go to Bible school (I'm much better now, thank you) with a guy who came from a Jesus only church. He didn't believe in the trinity and Jesus was God and I assume the Holy Spirit too. However, I don't think Sherri was referring to this. She's just butt stupid.
143: Isn't that perilously close to the arian heresy?
And if I may be a bit vulger here, Scarlett Johansen in a skirt, THAT make me long for glass floors. Sherri Sheppard, not so much.
Sherri + Glass Floor + Falling Anvil = Entertainment!
Nah, Danny DeVito in a skirt on a glass floor- THAT would be vulgar!
Yech, the only way to stomach Sherri Shepherd is to compare her with the other clueless and vapid weirdo they had on the View: Star Parker. And she is a lot more militant about denying evolution.
Don;t forget, Elizabeth Hasselbeck is still there as well. She gives idiocy a bad name, too.
Unfotunately, her stupidity was put in better use compare to sharp yet stagnant mind like most of us. don't mid it guys anyway that grape is sour.
Cory,
You make a good point about entertainment and the obscurity of her show. I dunno though; a bald-faced statement that Christians predated everything (where did that come from anyway?) is really out there, and even if it's a show that's supposed to be fluff, it reinforces capital-I Ignorance in whoever watches that stuff. (Of course, the effect may be limited/mitigated by its obscurity, but I still find it hard to leave well enough alone on a statement that out of the park...)
You have my sympathies on the sleep disorder. I don't have one myself, but I do have a hell of a time sleeping if conditions aren't right (generally, too much noise) and I suffer the occasional sleepless night. I've found a couple things that have helped me (ear plugs, sleeping on the fold-out downstairs, and my all-time favorite, booze...sip...)
You comment that medical science's answer to your issues is more pills, and your complaint is probably valid. Medical science has brought us wonderful things, but there are some areas where it's not entirely adequate. (Don't worry, Pharyngula crowd, I'm not about to get all woo here.) You might find some natural alternatives that help a little. Hop tea, for instance, or chamomile. Lavender pillows are supposed to help (a tiny pillow stuffed with lavender stuck under your bed pillow). Herbal remedies might help bring some relief, if nothing else will.
She is truly a cretin. And she is on your national media!!
#155
I was diagnosed with apnea, restless leg syndrome, and mild narcolepsy. Now if I was a sky daddy fearing sheep I would repent for whatever I could've possibly done to make myself sleep like a damn hurricane every night, but I'm not. Those conditions, my rapidly thinning hair, my failing eyes and my terrible back (all at the age of 25 mind you) point me solely to the fact that there is no designer/creator. If there was, he's really damned inept at his job.
Here's to a good night sleep bud.
I wish I could make up crazy shit like that.
"No one here cares what a moron like you says."
truth machine, it seems that you are not only factually correct but your choice of tone is completely appropriate here.
You are such a hypocritical and pompous twit. My choice of tone is -- in my judgment, which I credit far more than yours -- alway completely appropriate.
Being dumb is not a crime.
You should know, since you haven't been arrested for that strawman.
Considering the views of the blogger and most of his followers, the fact that this post is in the "stupidity" category, and the statements PZ made in his post about "Shepherd advances the atheist cause for us once again by demonstrating just how stupid going to church can make you" and "It just goes to show, though, that there is no intelligence minimum for the chattering pundit class", your comments are nearly as idiotic as Shepard's.
Unfotunately, her stupidity was put in better use compare to sharp yet stagnant mind like most of us. don't mid it guys anyway that grape is sour.
Sour grapes? That implies that, while we criticize her religion-addled foolishness, we really envy it. I think not. As for stagnant mind, speak for yourself.
Nah, Danny DeVito in a skirt on a glass floor- THAT would be vulgar!
No, that would be nauseating. The notion of looking up the skirt of the magnificent and talented Scarlett Johansson is properly described as (deliciously) vulgar.
I am a limited resource, and its humbling to realize this. It seems apparent enough that there is structure and composure to reality
Funny how the religious talk about humility while being so arrogant: "it seems apparent enough" to those who hold their own impressions in overly high regard.
It seems obvious that Sherri Shephard was attempting to articulate this concept, but lacked the training and facility to do so gracefully in an extemporaneous setting. Clearly Greeks did feed Christians to Lions.
It seems obvious that you're full of crap.
Your showing your ignorance of the Christian religion.
How so?
She didn't say "predated Christ" she said "predated Christians".
Uh, yes, just like it says in the post title.
Based on the bible, which I'm sure few of you have bothered to look at, prophets have been anticipating Christs advent since the time of Adam.
Even if that were true, it wouldn't be relevant ... unless you're suggesting that all prophets anticipating Christ's advent were Christians, and that Adam was such a Christian prophet.
Bob
Yet another data point illustrating the correlation between religion and stupidity.
Yeah, the claim that people in the Old Testament who believed in the coming of the Messiah could be classed as "Christians" seems like the only way to change this from being unprecedentedly stupid to typically creationist stupid. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, she'd still be an idiot, just a more typical one.
Se-parating pre-fixes with hyphens from the words they are af-fixed to is a very recent af-fliction limited to English. It seems to come from pretending that English had spelling rules: people nowadays often use hyphens in words like "reevaluate" or "coossify" to prevent people from choosing the most common pronunciations of ee and oo.
To return to the subject... let me echo several preceding comments in invoking Morgan's Law: a sufficiently advanced parody is indistinguishable from a genuine moron.
Give me ten minutes... er... three or four years with the turtles (and the procolophonids and the pareiasaurs and the placodonts and the lepidosaurs and the whatnots), and I'll find out.