Talk Radio … the horror, the horror

It's a good thing that Minnesota Atheists are making an effort to get on the radio. Have you ever looked at the Christian talk radio programming in your area? It's like a black hole of rampaging stupid, so awfully banal and inane that it's terrifying. I was just sent the program guide for our major Minneapolis Christian talk station — KKMS, AM980 — and it offers a rather creepy view of their perspective. There are some surprises, though. Guess what venue the big time Intelligent Design creationists use to spread their ideas?

Tuesday
3:00 Hour - "The KKMS Ministry of the Month" - Dr. John MacArthur, Host of the Grace to You Radio Program will tell us about the history of his ministry and how we can be praying for him as we celebrate the KKMS Ministry of the Month.

4:00 Hour - "Understanding the End Times" - R. Paul Stevens, Professor of Martketplace Theology and Leadership at Regent College will walk us through a Bible study he has written that explores the end times and offer some points to consider when studying this topic.

5:00 Hour - "The Creation Museum" - Ken Ham, Founder and President of Answers in Genesis will give us details on how many people have attended the new Creation Museum in Cincinnati, OH so far and how what they've seen and experienced there has impacted them.

Wednesday:
3:00 Hour - "Understanding the Times" - Jan Markell, Founder of Olive Tree Ministries
4:00 Hour - "Great Getaways" - Jeanie Johnston, Heartland Tours and Travel Group Sales Director
5:00 Hour - "12 Great Choices Mom's Make" - Robin Chaddock, Teacher and Author

Thursday:
3:00 Hour - "Responding to Atheists" - Becky Garrison, Senior Contributing Editor for The Wittenburg Door Magazine
5:00 Hour - "Ministering Through Music" - David Olson, Worship Leader for The Gathering at Wooddale Church

Friday:
3:00 Hour - "The Limits of Darwinism" - Dr. Michael Behe, Professor of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University
4:00 Hour - "The KKMS Church of the Week" - Pastor Tim Skramstad, Pastor of Living Word Lutheran Church in Eagan, MN
5:00 Hour - "Movie Reviews" - Linda Thomas, Twin Cities Film Critic

Monday:
3:00 Hour - "The KKMS Church of the Week" - TBA
4:00 Hour - "Terrorism, Christianity and Football" - Jason Elam, Kicker for the Denver Broncos and Steve Yohn, Youth for Christ Videographer
5:00 Hour - "Facts about Intelligent Design" - William A. Dembski, Research Professor in Philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

I'm tempted to listen in on a few of those segments, although honestly, the limited exposure to this kind of crap I've had in the past does not benefit my blood pressure, and it really ought to be the obligation of non-atheist moderate Christians to be putting these kooks' feet to the fire. Not that they will.

By the way, their site has an online poll to see who their listeners would vote for in the presidential election — Huckabee, of course, has an overwhelming lead, while Clinton, of course, is dead last. I urge you all to really screw with their heads and go vote.

If you really want to screw with their heads, though, listen to them or your local Christian talk station and call in … and be polite, rational, and undeluded.


I listened in for a few minutes — and managed to catch the hosts complaining that we were "ruining their poll" and "running up the votes". They also said they thought about mentioning the url to this article, but … you little savages used naughty language. Now go wash your mouths out with soap and sit in the corner until you repent.

More like this

Professor of Martketplace Theology and Leadership at Regent College

Wow, that's a job title! Too bad it's at a fake school.

"Terrorism, Christianity and Football"

What's the connection?
I'd guess, "What activities are wastes of human effort?" (Sorry, football or terror fans!)

By Ryan F Stello (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

"Marketplace Theology". Wow.

No doubt the good perfesser teaches about Supply-Side Jesus.

By minimalist (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

Hillary's in 2nd now! Let's keep it up (yes, even you Barak or John Edwards fans). We want Hillary to be #1 to totally freak them out.

By Scott LaBounty (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

I went to vote for Hillary on their poll and got an error message saying Oops an error has occured and we are working to fix it. I guess the error was that they thought noone would vote for her. That's one way to get the results you want, don't allow votes for those you don't like. I wonder if they learned this from the Repugnicans?

I went to vote for Hillary on their poll and got an error message saying Oops an error has occured and we are working to fix it. I guess the error was that they thought noone would vote for her. That's one way to get the results you want, don't allow votes for those you don't like. I wonder if they learned this from the Repugnicans?

Same happened. Clicked back arrow. Voted again, and it worked. They must have Diebold.

I tried again and this time it worked. But even if only some of the votes aren't counted it will skew the vote in the direction you want.

Ditto on the Clinton voting error. I thought it was kind of funny, but I clicked the back button and voted again, and it seemed to have worked. As of writing this, she's jumped out of the kitchen and into second place.

the big time Intelligent Design creationists

PZ, how many times do they have to tell you that creationism and Intelligent Design are completely different -- creationism involves an appeal to religion, whereas Intelligent Design invol...hey...wait a minute...

Hillary in second now (my fave, Obama, in third). I may have to wash my computer screen now though. It always feels so disgusting after visiting a sight like that.

"...it really ought to be the obligation of non-atheist moderate Christians to be putting these kooks' feet to the fire."

But "moderate Christians" are kooks too -- merely a different flavor of kook (like vanilla as opposed to jalapeno.) The fallback position is got-your-back kook solidarity -- back-to-back kooks.

Sheesh.

By Rin Tin Tin (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

Hillary 7% above the evil one now. Time for you Obama fans to step up.

The company where I work has a company-sponsored program where people can use company facilities to hold meetings of people with similar interests. We have an astronomy club, an adoption support club, a GLBTQ(etc.) club, and others. One noteworthy recent addition is the Freethinker's Club.

Our members inform one another about important church-state issues, scientific advances, and cultural events that are related to our topic. Some of our members call the local Xian radio hosts to point out flaws in their "reasoning." Then the members report back to the membership. Usually, the phrase "made my blood boil" comes out in the report.

Also, at the time I looked, Hillary Clinton was in first place.

By obscurifer (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

3:00 Hour - "The Limits of Darwinism" - Dr. Michael Behe, Professor of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University

WEIRD!

A couple of weeks ago, Infidel Guy asked Behe to debate me on his show, and this was Behes response:

**crickets**

But Behe is available for radio interviews for radical Christian radio programs?

HMMM...

LOL!

It's Hillary by 13% .... way to go! Barack getting close to the huckster.

Try using "Open the Link in a New Window" - that did it for me.

If you go into your cookies, and delete the KKMS cookie labeled "voted" you can vote for new people! Or for Hillary again.

And Michiganders, don't forget to vote for Willard in the open primary today.

If I were to guess, I would hypothesize that deleting the kkms.com cookies from one's browser cookies would allow one to vote as many times as one likes in that poll.

Just a guess, of course.

You posted this an hour ago, and Clinton is now leading with 38%. Pharyngulytes.... ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

Clinton - 39%
Chuckleberry - 18%
Obama - 18%

The site may be experiencing the Pharyngula effect, as it's intermittently unavailable.

That's too funny, but expect them to shut the poll down any minute.

It looks like we had the same idea, MAJeff.

I love the banner offering "affordable biblical healthcare". Well no shit it's affordable. All you have to do is pray. You'd think that that would be free actually. Now if you want to add in a little science in there, it'll cost ya...but it'll work.

My favorite part was an ad at the bottom of the page.

"Medi-Share: Biblical Healthcare Solutions"

Will premiums help cover intercessory prayer?

Perhaps they'll thump me with their bibble until I no longer care about my ailments.

Or, better yet, maybe it covers counseling so I can accept the fact that Jeebus is just "calling me home".

There's no way Behe or Dumbski are going to be live (well, okay, a small possibility perhaps). These will likely be "syndicated" recordings made to fit in the 1 hour slot so they can be broadcast on as many stations as possible.

When I used to live and travel in the U.S. one of the small joys I had was travelling down to the D.C. area (with my boss who was brought up Catholic but lapsed big-time) and listening to AM radio, the 'dial' of which which was full of this kind of "how to live your life" and "Evilution is bad" crap (didn't get too much of that in CT). You never get tired of laughing at the inane comments and positions but much of it was pre-recorded and just played over the air like a sermon for the masses.

You kind of get innoculated to it if you take enough small doses over time ... allows you to see the funny side without feeling the pain.

To quote the immortal Rage Against the Machine:

"Turn it on, turn on the radio.
Nah, f*ck it, turn it off.
Fear is your only god on the radio.
Nah, f*ck it, turn it off."

As bad as their "hosts" listed are, they're not as bad as Michael (Weiner) Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, etc.

Obama is now in 2nd with 20%

Thursday: 3:00 Hour - "Responding to Atheists" - Becky Garrison, Senior Contributing Editor for The Wittenburg Door Magazine http://www.wittenburgdoor.com

This might actually be a worthwhile show to listen to. Back when I was a Christian I used the read the Wittenburg Door (it was just called "The Door" at the time). It actually caused me to pause and think. As far a Christian satire goes, they are one of the few and probably the best. Looking at their website, it almost seems to be a parody site made by atheists.

Now don't write off all Xian radio. After all, that's where I learned, while driving through Kansas trying to keep awake by scaring myself, that Iowa is a liberal state. This fact came to light in a discussion about the REPUBLICAN caucus results.

Vote Edwards to push Chuckabee out of the top 3!

As to deleting the cookies and multiple voting, I'd feel dirty about doing that.

I'd rather screw with their heads by casting just one vote -- one of millions from active, involved, energetic people who are fed up with the lies and the bullshit of the religious parasites, and who are determined to make some changes by advocating good, real, true things.

#34 they're just going to delete the poll anyways when they realize that a Christian fundi isn't winning.

Obama is now in 2nd with 20%

Edwards' turn.

Now don't write off all Xian radio. After all, that's where I learned, while driving through Kansas trying to keep awake by scaring myself, that Iowa is a liberal state. This fact came to light in a discussion about the REPUBLICAN caucus results.

Listening to one of these stations while driving through Wisconsin (a Milwaukee station), I was informed that keeping a gift from a friend who might be Muslim is a gateway for evil spirits to enter my home and steal my soul, as are Dreamcatchers, Buddha statues, Harry Potter books, and the like. I think my gay porn is cool, though.

You have a point, but I'd be more impressed if there were fewer posts and comments here having the same derogatory, adolescent tone as appears on political talk radio. (No tu quoque implied since any critique is true or false anyway, I just mean to criticize the tone I often see here.)

Wow. I'm guessing a maximum of about 100-120 of the votes on that poll are by actual listeners/supporters. We Pharyngulites have probably put in a combined total of over 200 votes for Hilobamwards.

Edwards at 10% and closing on third place... kick huckster out!

Ken Ham, Founder and President of Answers in Genesis will give us details on how many people have attended the new Creation Museum in Cincinnati, OH so far and how what they've seen and experienced there has impacted them.

Ah, I see they've found evidence for the connection I've long hypothesized between creationism and chronic constipation. No big surprise that too much ham is a major contributing factor.

I thought the Creationist Animatronic Hall of Flummox was in Kentucky...

Hillary Clinton(139 votes-39.0%)
Barack Obama(84 votes-23.0%)
Mike Huckabee(51 votes-14.0%)
John Edwards(32 votes-9.0%)
Mitt Romney(13 votes-3.0%)
Fred Thompson(13 votes-3.0%)
John McCain(7 votes-1.0%)
Other(7 votes-1.0%)
No One(6 votes-1.0%)
Rudy Giuliani(1 votes-0.0%)

By Bjørn Østman (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

You have a point, but I'd be more impressed if there were fewer posts and comments here having the same derogatory, adolescent tone as appears on political talk radio. (No tu quoque implied since any critique is true or false anyway, I just mean to criticize the tone I often see here.)

And we almost care.

YES!!!!!!!! Huckabee 4th!

"12 Great Choices Mom's Make"

Great! They don't even understand the simplest use of the plural form in English.

Yes, John Edwards is now in third! OK, folks. Let's go for "no one" next.

Bob

Hillary 38%
Obama 22%
Huck 13%

Huckabee's in forth. Gratz all. Keep it up till they pull it.

My hands cramping from all that... I'm done giving that crappy radio station money by refreshing their advertisements over and over. That was fun though.

ERV: He's scared of you, obviously.

You don't seem to realize that Us Liberal Christians don't get past the call screeners.

Of course, since I'm Catholic, I'm not a Troo Kristian anyway, but....

fusilier
James 2:24

Well, Jason Elam is just a kicker. They usually don't do anything worthwhile.

By firemancarl (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

Well, Jason Elam is just a kicker. They usually don't do anything worthwhile.

I still remember an episode of the show out of Wisconsin Public Radio (some comedy thing with a jazz combo) when, after the Vikings lost in the NFC championship game with their first missed field goal of the season, the host said, "Vikings lose; Cris Carter rejects God."

I laughed my ass off; the theater audience not so much.

PZ is EVIL. Hilary is now in the lead by a large margin. PZ better use his power for good.

I suggest pre-loading with verapamil before listening to Christian talk radio, seeing as how the last thing the world needs is for the great PZ Myers to die of a hypertensive crisis precipitated by outrageous stupidity.

This post brought to you by non-dihydropyridines: I'm in ur cardiac conductile tissue, blockin' ur calcium channels.

I'm setting at work, voting constantly and trying to stifle my almost uncontrollable giggling.

By Mercurious (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

BTW... I wonder if we could get "Other" above the huckster.

By Mercurious (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

I am a compulsive KKMS listener. When pressed as to why (by even my Christian friends who find it way too kooky), I say that I "hold my friends close and my enemies closer." But that's not it. It is bracing, thrilling, and rousing to be filled up with that much hatred. That's what I feel, hatred. But it's OK, because it's evil I'm hating. I'm not talking, "Religious people are wrong and being wrong makes you evil." We're all wrong about tons of shit. I am talking about black, polished, gleaming, all-wheel-drive, pure, industrial strength motherfucking evil. Brainwashing. Damnable lies. Racism. Homophobia. Arrogance like you would not believe. Purpose-driven stupidity to make the head spin. MOTHERFUCKING EVIL. Take every horror movie I've ever seen and distill and concentrate the fear and revulsion they have generated in me, and it is a tiny fraction of what KKMS personalities like Todd Friel, Janet Marckel, and Bradlee Dean and others produce. To imagine that people listen to what they say and nod their heads in agreement is the single most terrifying thought I have about my neighbors.

By Greg Peterson (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

OK, I listen to one (there are many) of our local Christian stations on a regular basis, but only a few minutes at a time. Usually, they are really a hoot! I find it fascinating to see what kind of fantasy land they live in. Most of it doesn't make any sense to me, and there are many times, though, that my blood pressure rises. In an activist role, what kind of legal liabilities are there to mocking a specific station, say on a blog?

By newheathen (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

I am one of those non-atheist, moderate (ok, liberal) Christians. Honestly, we DO try to talk sense to the fundies. They won't listen. If it doesn't line up with their version of the Bible, as directly given them by God, it just doesn't get in.

Well, what do you know, Huckabee, with a paltry 8%, is the most voted for repugnant... ahem... Republican candidate, and he is bested by a large margin by the 3 main Democrat candidates. Who knew the fundies were such bleeding-heart liberals?

By Valhar2000 (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

#60, do they accuse you of being an atheist when you try to talk to them?

By Valhar2000 (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

Other has now passed Huckster, with No One on the fast rise.

By Mercurious (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

When I used to live and travel in the U.S. one of the small joys I had was travelling down to the D.C. area ... and listening to AM radio, the 'dial' of which which was full of this kind of "how to live your life" and "Evilution is bad" crap

Try coming down here to Texas. You don't even have to switch over to AM. Other than NPR, the town I live in doesn't have any decent music stations. Once you get closer to Dallas/Fort Worth, there are a handful of good ones, but the god bothering/country/tejano really clutter up the airwaves (actually, the tejano's not too bad, but what I wouldn't give for a good progressive rock station - man I miss the old HFS from before I moved down here).

how many people have attended the new Creation Museum in Cincinnati, OH

Hey! Imagine! They got the city and state wrong!

I wonder what else they could be wrong about! ;-)

Other than NPR, the town I live in doesn't have any decent music stations.

That should have been, any decent radio stations, since NPR's not really known for its music.

If the election were held today, I would vote for:

Hillary Clinton - 38.0%
Barack Obama - 23.0%
John Edwards - 15.0%
Other - 6.0%
Mike Huckabee - 6.0%
No One - 3.0%
Mitt Romney - 1.0%
Fred Thompson - 1.0%
John McCain - 1.0%
Rudy Giuliani - 0.0%

I picked Clinton because she, more than any ohter, would probably piss-off the fundies.

I guess this is as good a place as any to plug one of the best radio stations in the world: CKUA. Originally the University of Alberta's campus radio station, it's a mostly listener-supported eclectic station that plays a huge variety of genres, depending on the host and the show.

For those of you outside Alberta, you can listen online through streaming audio.

But Kristine, Cincinnati IS in Ohio. I swear, you evilutionists will say anything to try to discredit the Lord God Jesus Yahweh Christ.

Christians love to talk about how control of elite schools give "Darwinists" unprecedented access to push their propaganda. Does anyone honestly think a few days spent learning about evolution in a biology 101 University class can really hope to overcome years of religious indoctrination via these 24/7 all-nonsense all-the-time radio stations? Creationists spout anti-evolution propaganda from their pulpits, from billboards, on radio and television, and now even inside private museums. They are obsessed with evolution and they have utterly saturated their communities, our communities, with this anti-science misinformation. Personally, the depth and prevalence of this problem keeps me from finding the situation remotely humorous. Creationism may be silly, but creationists are scary.

By H. Humbert (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

Wow. The new results for their online poll are hilarious. Dems are now at the top. Huckabee is in single digits. They must be going "wtf?".

That should have been, any decent radio stations, since NPR's not really known for its music.

Back in the 80s and early 90s, one of our Seattle-area stations (call letters concealed to protect the guilty) had an NPR+music format, whose programming was clearly directed by someone who had an unnatural and unhealthy obsession with classical guitar.

I'm convinced that only the knowledge that they'd never, ever get away with it was the only thing keeping them from playing the Ring cycle arranged for guitar orchestra.

I can't vote there and I can't open FSTDT, did we break the Internet? :^O

As for fundie radio, it's everywhere. I tend to drive through some very remote areas in the middle of the continent where you don't bother with FM because there aren't any stations within range. There are usually only a couple (almost always 2) stations on the AM band, one oldies and one religion. It's nice to get near cities like Casper or Rapid City just to get a break from all of that.

I'd rather screw with their heads by casting just one vote -- one of millions from active, involved, energetic people who are fed up with the lies and the bullshit of the religious parasites, and who are determined to make some changes by advocating good, real, true things.

Yeah, if you have to stoop to lying via cookie deletion, you are barely better than they are. After all, you know damn well that they would do that on *official* votes, if they could get by with it, on the theory that Jesus wanted them to corrupt the voting system to get their temporary (until the anti-Christ shows up to lead them to the final war) messiah elected.

BTW, that is the one I don't @#$#$# get. If their Bible is right, 90% of the world will jump up to join the anti-Christ, while he will them turn around and kill everyone that didn't follow him. Well... 90% of the world is either Christian or Muslim, so... who the #$#@$ do they think is going to be following the anti-Christ, and who do they think is going to be the victims of mass murder, the 10% of us that think they are all completely fracking nuts, or all the God believing assholes who, oddly, think they can reach paradise by *siding* with the greatest enemy the world has ever known? I know these people are frelling bad at math, not to mention anything else that requires thinking, but seriously....

If you are going to go screw with their stupid poll* (I noticed no Ron Paul, No Dennis Kucinich as options, which is typical), your referrer will trigger suspicion if you go directly from here. You can turn that off in Firefox though, or copy/paste the link into another tab. But if you're going to vote more than once,** use a free proxy so they don't get a block of votes with the same IP. Here's a nice list. Some work, others don't.
*Not that I'm advocating doing this of course
**Really, purely hypothetical

MAJeff advises how to vote more than once. Please do not do this. Inasmuch as Pharyngula has a world-wide audience, there is no need to cheat. Here is a chance for the world's rational community to pass judgement on the cretins, and in a public forum. I vote Obama.

DR

By Doug Rozell (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

I noticed that the previous two polls they had had 6 and 18 votes. The current poll has nearly 1000 votes.

I have a feeling that when they see their referrer list and the poll results, they will use it as more evidence to themselves of how nasty the evilutionists/atheists are. You know persecuting them, getting rid of god and messing with their polls and such. Not that they could have been reasoned with anyways.

The current stats have Democrats with 76% of the vote.

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POLL - Tell us what you think
If the election were held today, I would vote for:
Hillary Clinton - 40.0%
Barack Obama - 24.0%
John Edwards - 13.0%
No One - 6.0%
Other - 6.0%
Mike Huckabee - 5.0%
Mitt Romney - 1.0%
Fred Thompson - 1.0%
John McCain - 0.0%
Rudy Giuliani - 0.0

By Wicked Lad (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

Gah! My apologies for my carelessness. I didn't mean to paste that whole thing in.

By Wicked Lad (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

Well... 90% of the world is either Christian or Muslim, so...

Isn't that more like 30 to 40 %?

By David Marjanović (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

Hillary Clinton - 41.0%
Barack Obama - 24.0%
John Edwards - 12.0%
No One - 6.0%
Other - 6.0%
Mike Huckabee - 5.0%
Mitt Romney - 1.0%
Fred Thompson - 1.0%
John McCain - 0.0%
Rudy Giuliani - 0.0%

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

If you really want to upset them, cast a vote for Giuliani. They'll think the end of days is nigh.

By HPLC_Sean (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

From what some others were saying, the jig is already up. Direct referrals from Pharyngula were blocked on the poll. When you clicked "back" and then revoted, your browser sent a different referral URL. In the future if you want to stuff ballots anonymously, remember to do the "open in new window" trick - most browsers won't send a referral URL then. They'll probably throw out the results and make a stink about it, but hey, tough titty toenails. ;)

I did my part--Hillary is now up to 42%. Although I'm going to vote for Obama in the real primary, I felt confident in doing my part for the Hillary cause for these jackasses.

From what some others were saying, the jig is already up. Direct referrals from Pharyngula were blocked on the poll.

Hell, the front page is new and the poll is gone.

MAJeff, I still see it there. I couldn't get it to work earlier but after seeing that it was blocked from here I just did a google search for KKMS. They don't want to stop the power of the Google!

well, when I did just kkms.com, no poll.

I kind of want to take one of their "Creation Tours" except that it would require spending time with a bunch of fundie asswipes.

To find the poll, I had to go to the "Jeff and Lee" page. You may have to go to the program guide and then the page for the show at 3pm.

MAJeff, I have been tempted to go on the tour to the Creation museum, but not for $500. Though I have noticed that they had to reduce the price for the trip... maybe not enough people signed up?

You can vote a few times if you have a couple different web browsers. I voted wit6h Firefox then opened up IE and voted again. Gotta love having different web browsers.

Amazing thing, this internet. A friend of mine who does online polls found that 79% of people on the internet are CEO's of major corporations.

By wildcardjack (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

MAJeff, I have been tempted to go on the tour to the Creation museum, but not for $500. Though I have noticed that they had to reduce the price for the trip... maybe not enough people signed up?

Oh, it's the museum? I thought maybe the "real sites of creation" would be on the agenda. If either Jeff or Lee were fuckable, I'd be there.

I must admit, freeping the poll was fun.

Get a the "Redirect Remover" pluging for FireFox. Nobody needs to know where you came from anyway. Get "Cookie Button" to kill cookies from the site. You don't need no stinkin' cookies! Then vote away!

I love the banner offering "affordable biblical healthcare". Well no shit it's affordable. All you have to do is pray. You'd think that that would be free actually.

You'd think, but how else do these mega-church leaders buy their Bentleys? First you tithe, what, 10%? But that probably doesn't cover the health praymiums, so you have to kick in some more. And if you want the precious leader to pray for you or get the whole congregation into it, well that's the Gold package for prayer-based health care.

Hi everyone!

Jeff here from KKMS and I have to hand it to you - you guys have a good size following. I can understand your attitude about Christians in general, I had the same impression at one time.

I do hope you listen and feel free to join the conversation regarding anything we discuss.

Jeff Shell
Talk Show Host
KKMS Live

"I do hope you listen and feel free to join the conversation regarding anything we discuss."

Assuming, of course, that you can get past the phone screener. I've noticed that this is often a major hurdle to overcome with many of these right-of-center talk radio programs; many simply do not like opposing views that can be well defended.

By Engr Tony (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

you guys have a good size following.
I do hope you listen

LMAO!

In the future if you want to stuff ballots anonymously, remember to do the "open in new window" trick - most browsers won't send a referral URL then.

confirmed.

new tab works too.

I can understand your attitude about Christians in general

then you misunderstand what this is all about, Jeff.

it's more about our attitude towards completely ignorant morons that try to spread disinformation and plain old lies than it does about our attitude towards "xians", and your station's happily allowing them a soapbox.

the xian thing is secondary to the moron thing.

clear?

Hillary over Barack? WTF? I thought you people were rational here! :-)
Actually, I prefer Edwards to both, but I'll probably end up throwing my vote to Barack over Hillary in the primary if it looks like Edwards doesn't have a chance.

By Robert Thille (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

"Assuming, of course, that you can get past the phone screener. I've noticed that this is often a major hurdle to overcome with many of these right-of-center talk radio programs; many simply do not like opposing views that can be well defended."

Why not take the tactic from every fundie who ever got elected to public office....lie! Lie like hell about what you want to discuss, then as soon as you get on, give 'em the REAL topic you want to discuss?

It's worked in the past and it's still working now.

Online polls are just as silly as those "Which supervillain are you?" quizzes that the kids are so fond of these days. Do the people who make these actually think that they're telling them something (or something they don't already know)?

You can't "mess them up" because they don't mean anything to begin with.

Why not take the tactic from every fundie who ever got elected to public office....lie! Lie like hell about what you want to discuss, then as soon as you get on, give 'em the REAL topic you want to discuss?"

I would rather not stoop down to their level.

Also, talk radio stations typically have a delay that lasts several seconds, so if the host thought that they are being ambushed by a caller they can easily hit the dump button and your call is gone. Is that really worth all that time sitting on hold?

By Engr Tony (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

Why not take the tactic from every fundie who ever got elected to public office....lie!

Cuz we aspire to be better than that?

:-)

PZ Meyers you wrote -
I was just sent the program guide for our major Minneapolis Christian talk station -- KKMS, AM980 -- and it offers a rather creepy view of their perspective. There are some surprises, though.

You probably meant "it offers an ACCURATE view of their rather creepy perspective."

We allow all points of view to be expressed as long as it is done in a way that the FCC allows.

Jeff Shell
KKMS Live!

I listen to Jeff's show fairly often, and it is comparitively innocuous. Don't get me wrong, there's some nonsense, but the Jeff and Lee show is not one of those I was earlier decrying as evil. Jeff and Lee sound like good old boys, and I find them likeable. This does not for one instant excuse them for not being more discerning and allowing themselves to be in league with the true evil I listed. And Jeff, if you read this, I'd love to talk with you, any time. I have studied to be a Baptist minister, and I worked for Billy Graham. Many of my closest friends are in local ministries. I become an atheist through reason, not anger or disgust. See, I used to be like YOU ARE NOW. But I go better, and so can you.

By Greg Peterson (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

Well, at least Jeff is better than many of the fundies, and comes back.

Still not worth the Creation Trip, though.

I can understand your attitude about Christians in general

Hi, Jeff.

The problem isn't the generalities, it's the specifics. The more we know, the less we like.

I did the "spirited" thing and voted for Obama in their poll.

Hey, ya know, this is a teaching moment. We can show them that unscientific polls are not valid.

Go vote, folks!

"Cuz we aspire to be better than that?"

Sad to say, that attitude is exactly why we're where are today....

Rick - explain please? What exactly are you advocating? Taking the low road because it works?

"Rick - explain please? What exactly are you advocating?"

I think taking a good long look at exactly how the RR has risen to power in this country is 1) a sobering experience, and 2) indicates that taking the 'high road' hasn't really worked up to now.

I just voted at the poll and Hillary was at 43%... too funny.

By mayhempix (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

I admit that deceiving a talk-radio call screener isn't a grave transgression against humanity, but... (Ok, call me idealistic. I'll grow out of it, I suppose.)

Ditto on the voting thing. Huckabilly TM, is down to 4%.

BTW, although I have trademarked it, feel free to use Huckabilly as much as you like. I think it's extremely appropriate.

OEJ

By One Eyed Jack (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

d 2) indicates that taking the 'high road' hasn't really worked up to now.

oh, it's hard to disagree with that, but the moment we all decide to take the low road, there is little point to having a high road to begin with.

win or lose, better to stick with the high road.

didn't you ever see "Slapshot"?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076723/

Yeah, old time hockey!...our line starts?

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

I, too, partook in KKMS's exercise in democracy, and doubtless not in a way that would have pleased KKMS. But Jeff seems a civil enough fellow, so I'll pass this along without my tongue in cheek:

(A) Internet polls are a stupid waste of time, for reasons that I trust are now abundantly clear to you.

(B) Granted, lots of Christians of your sort will tend naturally to support more conservative politicians. Still, I was gobsmacked, on visiting your station's website, at the virtually seamless identification between "Christian" and "Republican". As it happens, I am well placed to point out to you (because I used to be one of them) that there are many, many Christians who find this identification offensive -- and worse, blasphemous. Now, if that is how many of your fellow Christians would feel about your station's pressing God into the service of the Republican Party, imagine how the godless crowd over here feel about it.

Good point, Mrs. T. This is a demonstration of how the relentless lying of the political right has succeeded in persuading the regular-guy conservative that liberals are all godless.

Oh, and fuck you, too, Ann Coulter.

I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that the remedy for a lie is not another lie.

Even at this late hour, I voted for Edwards, he is in third as per usual.

I as at a bar in the north suburbs of Minneapolis Saint Paul last summer and started talking to the guy next to me. He was a marketing director and minister at kkms 990. He bought me a beer when he found out I am both an atheist and a liberal, and then he tried the intelligent design and complexity trick on my. I bantered and parried his every thrust. He kind of gave up and tried to pray Jesus into me. Didn't work.

He gave me his card, I sent him an e-mail and have never heard back from him.

He wasn't a bad guy, just kind of, "Vested."

Hi everyone!

Jeff here from KKMS and I have to hand it to you - you guys have a good size following. I can understand your attitude about Christians in general, I had the same impression at one time.

I do hope you listen and feel free to join the conversation regarding anything we discuss.

Jeff Shell
Talk Show Host
KKMS Live

Posted by: Jeff Schell | January 15, 2008 5:02 PM

It's the Lying for Jesus stuff, Jeff. The lying that clearly was contrary to what we saw and experienced. The hypocrisy inherent in our religious upbringing. The learning, in depth, the origins of Judaism and Christianity while studying for the priesthood and coming to the realization that it's all a pack of lies. Lies that you don't have the guts to face because it will mean ex-communion, cut-off from friends and family, and you left with the realization that your entire spiritual life was based on a delusion.

Bad Edit Monkey, this: The lying that clearly was contrary to what we saw and experienced.

Should be this: The lying that clearly was contrary to what we saw and experienced in the world around us.

Jeff-- We allow all points of view to be expressed as long as it is done in a way that the FCC allows.

Heh reminds me of a funny story. I was a DJ at our college radio station-- not THE college radio station, but the 'alternative' college radio station.

We got a local radical Christian radio station in trouble with the FCC cause they had their transmitter turned up too high. heh Good times.

You mean your poor community is not blessed by the Bible Answer Man? He always fires up my day real good. He's such a patronizing condescending biblio-cliche' machine! Truly miraculous!

By Pattanowski (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

Clinton is now beating Huck by a healthy 14:1 margin. Check the site again tomorrow to see if preempts all scheduled programming in favor of live play-by-play coverage of the Rapture.

Just voted, Huckabee is now down to 3%. Even Edwards has him beat 300%.

Thought I would check in one last time today to see how this thread was progressing and respond to some of what I've read.

I can't deny that some people in the church are hypocrites and do not reflect well God's love. But you can't pin that on Jesus. Those who have an accurate understanding of Christianity are not self-righteous because they are acutely aware of their failings and their need of God's forgiveness.

The online poll thing can sometimes be interesting, depending on the poll, if honest results are provided. But I don't ever consider them to result in anything resembling a scientific finding. I think what you guys did was kind of funny, and you guys too thought it was funny, and so we all got some amusement from that poll.

Finally, regarding the accusation of being a liar or some kind of misinformation organ, this is untrue. It implies we intentionally try to promote something as true when we KNOW it to be false. That is contrary to our beliefs and would disgrace our reputation. You could accuse us of BEING misinformed and wrong and maybe we are.

Our motive for doing what we do, and discussing what we discuss, is out of love and concern for others and in response to what Jesus asked us to do. We are just trying to be obedient out of love for God. So we might be wrong and at the end of our life we just take an eternal dirt nap. But the Bible might be right and we all spend our time in the smoking section or the non-smoking section of eternity. We have only this life time to make that choice and God ratifies whichever choice we make.

Peace out.

Jeff

So we might be wrong and at the end of our life we just take an eternal dirt nap. But the Bible might be right and we all spend our time in the smoking section or the non-smoking section of eternity. We have only this life time to make that choice and God ratifies whichever choice we make.

Nice to know you could make it, Pascal. Good to see you again.

Some of those program titles reminded me that in the Texas Methodist church I was raised in, we'd sometimes hear things like, "If Jesus were alive today, he'd be the quarterback on the football team or a corporate entrepreneur!" as well as stuff like, "God wants us to keep our lawns mowed and our hedges trimmed" (meant literally).

You're on to me MAJeff.

I see from your blog that you enjoy U2. I just saw a screening of U23D at an IMAX theater today. You've got to check it out. It was almost better than being at the concert.

Those who have an accurate understanding of Christianity
But the Bible might be right and we all spend our time in the smoking section or the non-smoking section of eternity.

I didn't even know Pascal was a true Scottsman?

any other bits of BS you can manage to cram into a single post, Jeff?

It implies we intentionally try to promote something as true when we KNOW it to be false. That is contrary to our beliefs and would disgrace our reputation.

oops. How's it feel living in such denial?

btw, jeff, in case you missed it here, or during the Dover trial, or hell, even during the scopes trial, we'd be happy to disabuse you of all those things promoted by Behe and Dembski you SHOULD DAMN WELL KNOW are false, but have chosen to be in denial (or just lie) about instead.

so which is it? ignorant or deliberately lying?

has to be one or the other.

smile all you want and play the innocent... best intentions and all, right?

"peace out"

Ugh.
Another GodFuckers Inc broadcaster!
Gegen die Dummheit kämpfen die Götter selbst vergebens, so why not just give them the attention they deserve, - none!
shonny

Hey Jeff-

Shut up.

By sacredchao (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

He He:)
I like screwing around with these sorts of poll, so I went and voted 'other'.
And then I saw that Hucky had 31% of the vote...Surely the honest Xtians haven't RIGGED the votes????
Over here in the UK we have just had Blair 'come out' as a fundie Catholic,and explain that his faith had no influence on policy decisions. Yeah right. So the stupid is here too. It's depressing.

By Monkey's Uncle (not verified) on 16 Jan 2008 #permalink

Currently on the KKMS site

POLL - Tell us what you think
If the election were held today, I would vote for:
Mike Huckabee - 31.0%
Hillary Clinton - 31.0%
Barack Obama - 19.0%
John Edwards - 8.0%
No One - 3.0%
Other - 3.0%
Mitt Romney - 0.0%
John McCain - 0.0%
Fred Thompson - 0.0%
Rudy Giuliani - 0.0%

I agree with those above that online polls are pretty meaningless. But I do wonder what changed... did they reset the poll, or did they do some other strange thing to it in response to the rampaging hoi Pharynguloi?

Hucklebuck has made a huge comeback. It's a friggin miracle we are witness to. The hand of god has reached down, reset his browser cookies, and voted repeatedly.

By Justa Theory (not verified) on 16 Jan 2008 #permalink

On my previous comment, of course I meant kkms 980. But, since Jeff poked his head in here with this, I have a question regarding this comment:

But the Bible might be right and we all spend our time in the smoking section or the non-smoking section of eternity. We have only this life time to make that choice and God ratifies whichever choice we make.

You say "the Bible" as if there were only one. Have you been to a Bible book shop lately? If I were to look to it for advice on how to live I would first have to figure out which one to use. There are an amazing variety cf Bibles out there with completely differing translations. And that's just in English. So, how do you know which one is the one that God wants us to read, and which ones are apostasy?

Biblical scholars are tying themselves in knots trying to find original scripture but can't find anything verifiable The result is that translation committees have to pick and choose their sources from which to translate. Ostensibly they are guided by voices, but when you gander at all the different choices of bibles, you wonder if the Holy Spirit doesn't speak with a forked tongue.

So, if I were to follow Pascal's Wager and live according to the bible I would then need to play roulette in order to choose the "right" bible. Do you think it is a coincidence that Pascal also invented roulette?

Alister McGrath said that it doesn't really matter which Bible translation to use, because the Word is essentially the same. The problem is that the Word is not essentially the same.

And then there is the problem that the Quran may be right, and we get into more translation issues with that one because again it is an oral tradition that was later inscripturated.

If God wants my attention and has instructions, He really needs to just write the damn things himself and not use people who have a vested interested in presenting his word in a specific way. I mean, he should be able to do that, right?

But the Bible might be right and we all spend our time in the smoking section or the non-smoking section of eternity. We have only this life time to make that choice and God ratifies whichever choice we make.

So let me get this straight -- we have only a few decades to figure out what God wants, or he will punish us for an eternity? Is this the way you would treat your child -- "Billy, you have ten minutes to learn right from wrong, and if you're incorrect, I'm beating you with a baseball bat until you're 45!" Isn't the alleged punishment hugely disproportional to the alleged crime? What kind of sick individual would come up with condemning people to literally endless excruciating torture over actions done for literally an infinitesimal portion of their total existence?

There is no such frequency as 980kHz! At least, not as far as a radio receiver is concerned. All officially-allocated frequencies on both the MW and LW bands are in multiples of 9kHz.

9 + 8 + 0 != 9. Therefore, 980kHz is not even a legal frequency to be transmitting on! Most PLL tuners go up and down in nines, so you can't even find 980kHz on a modern radio. Though you might get a scratchy, distorted version at 981kHz.

(ignore the above if you meant 980 metres, which would be 306kHz on the LW band and is a multiple of 9kHz. Or -- since Americans don't like to do anything the same way as the rest of the world, especially when it comes to measuring units -- it could be 980 feet, which would be 999kHz on the MW band.)

And Tony Blair is not the Prime Minister anymore, having continued in the tradition established by Thatcher and handed the post to his old Chancellor, Gordon Brown. Unfortunately, it doesn't look as if Blair will be going to The Hague to be tried for war crimes anytime soon.

I listened in for a few minutes — and managed to catch the hosts complaining that we were "ruining their poll" and "running up the votes". They also said they thought about mentioning the url to this article, but ... you little savages used naughty language.

The point of a poll is to be voted in. On the Internet, anybody who finds your poll can vote in it.

I say the following as a trained scientist and a lover of languages:

Fuck 'em.

Ostensibly they are guided by voices, but when you gander at all the different choices of bibles, you wonder if the Holy Spirit doesn't speak with a forked tongue.

Forked? Heh. I believe It speaks with a tongue formed by an asymmetrical expansion of forks proliferating around a starting point constrained to be simple.

And then there is the problem that the Quran may be right, and we get into more translation issues with that one because again it is an oral tradition that was later inscripturated.

And then there's the problem that all the Abrahamic religions may be wrong, and the Hindu gods are the real gods - or the Greek or the Norse, or some unnamed god or gods as yet unidentified or unimagined by Man - yet how could we possibly know? Pascal limits himself to two choices, when the number of choices is potentially infinite. In those circumstances, the likelihood that Yahweh is the one true god is vanishingly small, and I'd wager (!) that a better bet would be to remain agnostic until more evidence was available. Perhaps that's what God wants, anyway, but who knows? How can we know? We can't.

Anyways, Pascal has been refuted many times over by folk far more intelligent and educated than I.

(Firefox spell-check note: One of the substitutions suggested for "Abrahamic" was "Vibraharp" - LOL.)

Anyways, Pascal has been refuted many times over by folk far more intelligent and educated than I.

Including that profound philosopher Terry Pratchett:
This is very similar to the suggestion put forward by the Quirmian philosopher Ventre, who said, "Possibly the gods exist, and possibly they do not. So why not believe in them in any case? If it's all true you'll go to a lovely place when you die, and if it isn't then you've lost nothing, right?" When he died he woke up in a circle of gods holding nasty-looking sticks and one of them said, "We're going to show you what we think of Mr Clever Dick in these parts..."

AJS: We use 10kHz spacing here in the Colonies.

#152 - in Europe the spacing between AM stations is 9khz, but in the US it for some long forgotten(?) historical reasons is 10khz. So, 980khz IS a recognised frequency for a US station. Much that it weren't...

By Steve the badger (not verified) on 16 Jan 2008 #permalink

Beaten by a matter of seconds... story of my life!

By Steve the badger (not verified) on 16 Jan 2008 #permalink

Kseniya, the former Colonies (now federated into a Commonwealth) of Australia also use 9kHz spacing for their radio spectrum.

Blake-- IIDB crashed some 'Focus on the Family' poll, they just took the damn thing down. More honest than just making up poll numbers like our new dear friend Jeff just did.

Hey, Jeff-- I got Behe to admit the whole premise of his new book 'Edge of Evolution' was wrong (he stated over and over and OVER that no new protein-protein interactions have evolved, EVER, and I showed him one that evolved in HIV within the past few decades). In his case, he is most certainly not ignorant, as he admitted defeat. The only logical explanation for why he is continuing along his current path is that he is a liar.

Why are you allowing yourself to be an outlet for a liar?

Sorry, should have been more specific. Here in the Americas, we use 10kHz spacing. :-)

Abbie: That is a good question.

Belatedly -- what a wonderful mobilization. I already posted my homage to the Pharyngula community and it's Exarch at inversesquare.wordpress.com, but failed to bow down to the might of the squid in its native habitat.

These comments and rantings remind me of two things-

1. A junior high locker room- "man did you see how we screwed their poll up- we showed them- aren't we just too cool."

2. Your basic writing class on the back of a bathroom stall!

By Too Funny (not verified) on 18 Jan 2008 #permalink

you took a basic writing class from the back of a bathroom stall?

no wonder you label yourself: too funny

btw, freeping (the modern term for it) is a time honored tradition.

Don't you see, fun and goofing off are not allowed. Particularly when making shit out of such serious things as religious belief.

I'm thinking Too Funny is really Joe Blow.

which would indeed be too funny.

It's pretty sad, when you atheists and agnostics have nothing better to do than to get on 980kkms's web-site and take it upon yourself to vote Hillary or Obama. What a pathetic waste of time. Have you ever thought about volunteering at some charity? This would be a better way of feeling good about yourself than voting for communists. How about going to the gym and working out since I'm sure alot of you are overweight and out of shape from sitting at the computer all the time. In fact, this is probably all that a lot you do, for it's appears that some of you appear to be anti-social and mean spirited(no pun intended)

What a pathetic waste of time. Have you ever thought about volunteering at some charity?

amount of time I actually 'wasted' voting on a xian moron website:

2 seconds.

amount of enjoyment I have gotten out of seeing the resulting shitstorm:

2 days so far.

I wonder how much enjoyment I might get for donating 2 seconds of my time to my favorite nonprofit?

... hmm, not much.

I guess I'll have to wait until I actually am doing my regular work for the nonprofit instead.

thanks for playing "whose a moron?" Juddster.

you win.

This would be a better way of feeling good about yourself than voting for communists.

ROFLMAO

you win twice!

congratulations.

This would be a better way of feeling good about yourself than voting for communists.

Somebody's not quite dealing in reality.

Took all of 30 seconds to go and click my vote. It wasn't a waste of time. It pissed off Judd, the little WATB. Mission accomplished.

for shame, Steve, with that 30 seconds you could have saved a starving child in Africa!

:p

This is the one thing about most bloggers. A majority of them are nothing but COWARDS. How easy it is for them to spout off their spew and have the Internet to protect their identity and them physically.

How easy it is for them to spout off their spew and have the Internet to protect their identity and them physically.

seeing the likes of Michael Korn prowling about the interwebs, you can count me among the cowards that utilize handles for just such a purpose.

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/i_get_email_from_michael_kor…

it's one thing I frankly don't criticize anyone for, Bluto.

...now posting idiocy and then running away as if victory was achieved (Juddster).

that I am quite comfortable describing as cowardly.

Jud--
I love random comments like that from anonymous miserable Biblotarians. Cause Im 5'9", 130 lbs, 13% body fat, 36C, 26, 36. I deadlift +200 lbs at the gym. I also do HIV research for a living. And cancer research. Im the chick Behe thought it fit to diss on THIS radio station.

What are your stats Jud? What do you do for a living? Or do you just hang out on the internet insulting people just because they dont believe in your sky daddy?

So, Bluto, you'd do violence against those who don't think your religion is all that it's cracked up to be, who think it's silly?

I deadlift +200 lbs at the gym

*gulp*

Im the chick Behe thought it fit to diss on THIS radio station.

damn! did he really actually start off on that track on yesterday's radio address too?

what a complete fuckwit.

have you published your response as a letter to a journal yet?

Hillary Clinton(139 votes-39.0%)
Barack Obama(84 votes-23.0%)
Mike Huckabee(51 votes-14.0%)
John Edwards(32 votes-9.0%)
Mitt Romney(13 votes-3.0%)
Fred Thompson(13 votes-3.0%)
John McCain(7 votes-1.0%)
Other(7 votes-1.0%)
No One(6 votes-1.0%)
Rudy Giuliani(1 votes-0.0%)

By Bjørn Østman (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

Well... 90% of the world is either Christian or Muslim, so...

Isn't that more like 30 to 40 %?

By David Marjanović (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink

Hillary Clinton - 41.0%
Barack Obama - 24.0%
John Edwards - 12.0%
No One - 6.0%
Other - 6.0%
Mike Huckabee - 5.0%
Mitt Romney - 1.0%
Fred Thompson - 1.0%
John McCain - 0.0%
Rudy Giuliani - 0.0%

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 15 Jan 2008 #permalink