Radio reminder

This morning on Atheists Talk radio (9am Central), Erin Davies discusses her cross-country campaign against homophobia, driving her "Fagbug" Volkswagon Beetle car, and
Hector Avalos discusses his book "The End of Biblical Studies." Tune in!

More like this

It's another weekend of travel for me. Tonight, I'm off to St Olaf, that fine Lutheran institute of higher learning, to rail against the corruption of science by religion. I'll be speaking at 6 at the Lion's Lair, Buntrock Commons, out there in Northfield, MN (wait…"lion's lair"? Do they mean that…
From a Fox News online report: LOS ANGELES -- Jimmy Kimmel is going bicoastal as a TV talk show host. The host of ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" will fill in for a vacationing Regis Philbin on "Live with Regis and Kelly" in New York while still hosting his namesake show from Los Angeles. During the…
Minnesota Atheists' "Atheists Talk" radio show. Sunday, October 12, 2008, 9-10 a.m. Central Time Hector Avalos will discuss "How to Fight Intelligent Design and Win." Also, an interview with Scott Lohman, president of the Humanists of Minnesota. "Atheists Talk" airs live on AM 950 KTNF in the…
You've still got time — I'm in the Ridgedale public library, and Hector Avalos is getting ready to give his talk on "How archaeology killed biblical history"…come join the crowd if you're somewhere in the Twin Cities area. You're too late now! I saw several familiar faces at the talk, and there…

FRST

[I do not like firsting. "First!" comments that lack any content will be deleted.--pzm]

By Cooperators (not verified) on 19 Jul 2008 #permalink

Hector Avalos, you say? I might have to tune in for that.

In other news, I seem to be awake at 3 AM, translating the Courtier's Reply into Latin. I think it starts a little like the following:

Accusaties impudentes Dawkinsi deliberavi, et inopia illa litterarum gravium me exacerbavit. Sermes magnarum singularum Roderigi Hispalis, de coriis conquisitis externisque caligarum Imperatorum non legavit, per speciem, neque consideratiem donat brevem opo summa laude dignum Bellini, De Plumis Illustris Petasae Imperatoris. Scholas totas consecratas ut libos doctos de pulchritude vestimentum Imperatoris scribans habeamus, et acta diurna omnia magna pars de more regio comprehendant. Dawkinsus totum inflate dimittat.

I'm sure I had a good reason when I started.

mmmmm, fagbugs. She should drive in though atlanta 30 years ago. Atlanta calls themselves the city thats to busy to hate(serious slogan), but I'd bet you'd get a lot of haters if the fag bug came by.

Forgot to mention something, I typed in the city that is too busy to hate into my taskbar, and wikipedias article about atlanta was the auto redirect. Atlanta made a large claim, and the fagbug would be an interesting test of it.

The end of biblical studies? Why, however will we finally know if Jesus was being literal or metaphorical (litaphorical? meteral?) when he said 'turn the other cheek for I come not to bring peace but to destroy thy fig trees out of season'?

I'm kidding of course, because really, one must consider that imaginary Hebrew, which is the Hebrew that would have been spoken 2000 years ago if people weren't speaking actual Hebrew, has no word for 'fig' but instead uses the word 'virgin' which, though similar to the Hebrew word 'maid', meaning 'woman who one gladly pays three times as much as one probably should but it's worth it because she discretely treats one's collection of Jugs as if they were National Geographic when she organises one's night table rather than chucking them like one's ex used to', actually means 'conglomeration that sells a random assortment of things and is owned by an either dashing or daffy Englishman--we can't tell which quite yet', and thus it's plainly obvious that Jesus' comment was both a warning to his Apostles about his own upcoming death, instructions for building an ancient form of airline meal service trolley, and a prediction that the chick in the Crying Game would actually turn out to be a guy (that such a statement could be both of three things is only further proof of his Divinity, for non-proper Nouns and Pronouns in Religion are that much more Meaningful when Capitalised.)

Humanity will certainly be the poorer for losing such a rich and productive field of scholarship.

Now, if we could address PZ's "theophobia".

Bigotry is bigotry, even if you don't like the victim of it.

Do you not see that you are pagans? Your gods are not those of rain or sun, but of yourselves. Your gods are money, sex, pornographyy, alcohol.
You turn away from god because you reason he does not exist. You reason he does not hear your prayers does not care about you.
I ask you where did that reason come from? Your mind, your thoughts, your bodies are gifts from God.You use this reason to deny that he exists? What a waste of his gifts.
For those of you hwho are college students and too young to know better, let me caution you that you are playing a game with your souls. Did you ever stop to consider the price of denying God if you are wrong?
Do you think that you will reap any reward in heaven for denying him? For urging PZ to desecrate a Eucharist? There are always consequences for your actions. You
may feel that what you do on the internet you do in your own little world and you are not accountable for it. I assure you
what you do in the dark will be brought to the light. You may not see the consequence now, you may not see it in a few years but ask yourself what
will happen to your soul when you are judged. What consequence will your thoughts and actions today bring you in the future? Even though you may not be in posession of the stolen
Eucharists, you are responsible and guilty of urging their destruction. You are as guilty as the one who threatens to desecrate them. Even if they are returned
you are still guilty of denying God, mocking his Son's sacrifice upon the cross with your sacrilage. It is easy to be so focused on the things of this world
which you worship, I assure you these things are temporary. If there is no God why are you in school? Why aren't you out living like animals, fornicating and drinking
and doing things which provide temporary gratification? Why work towards a degree which is of itself meaningless and temporary. You must put yourself in
a mindset of eternity, not temporary 80-90 year gratification. Your bodies will die away and turn back to dust but what will become of your soul after that?
That is up to you to answer. The words and thoughts and actions you post on this site are indications of the direction you are headed. There is more out there
for you to become, there is more out there that you can become. Free yourselves from this hate, open your eyes to the truth that God does exist and
God wants you to be saved. Come to him and your reward will be greater than the temporary satisfaction that you grant yourselves in this life. You who partatke in
sites like this, in self satisfaction, in sex and pornography drink a water which cannot satisfy. You drink a water that will leave you thirsty yet again,
a water which demands that you have more. Gods reward will satisfy indefinitely, you shall never want. Do not waste your youth hating, do not waste a single
minute on it. Open your hearts and have the courage to see how the world around you is forching you to these false conclusions. You are can be better than this,
you are better than this. Hear and believe.

Tiny Tim, I sure hop that isn't about the cracker thing still, PZ hasn't(to my knowledge) made a single bigoted statement that does not have a twinge of satire.

Btw, PZ...the carnival of the godless is out again. It's getting closer to your turn hosting it, so start scouting for interesting topics, and stop stealing cracker Jesus pieces.

I agree, Mike. Please his holiness that is the flying spaghetti monster, and let these non believers play Russian roulette with their souls.

or...alternatively if you are one of those Christians who can't see this argument as working ad absurdum:

I agree, Mike. Please his holiness that is allah, and let these non believers play Russian roulette with their souls.

Nice going Mike, threaten people to join your cult. Keep it up.

And please keep believing in your god, your motivation for believing seems to be that you'd be a sociopath otherwise, and nobody wants to have that walking in the streets.

By Dutch Delight (not verified) on 20 Jul 2008 #permalink

Mike, stop living in fear and projecting your fear to others. Try living, it is actually fun and satisfying. Taking responsibility for your own actions is the adult thing to do.

Pax Nabisco

Shorter Mike:
"Life is worthless without belief in a magical sky fairy who you will only see after you are dead."

Mike, let the scales fall from your eyes. Believing in fairy tales is a delusion.

For the record, that Mike in #11 is not me. I love pagans, they aren't so hung up on other people's religion or sexuality.

For those streaming from out of Minnesota, you can use the ZIP code 55112.

The thing I liked most about the Fagbug was that when VW found out about it, they gave it a free makeover in rainbow stripes with "Fagbug" in big letters down the side. Sometimes I wonder whether a US company would have done that.

By Dave Godfrey (not verified) on 20 Jul 2008 #permalink

I wonder how long it'll take PZ to stop being 'the cracker guy'

By Brendan S (not verified) on 20 Jul 2008 #permalink

Why aren't you out living like animals, fornicating and drinking and doing things which provide temporary gratification? Why work towards a degree which is of itself meaningless and temporary.

Why not both?

Dear Mike,

Your definition of "gods" is a little loose if you're including those things you listed. By this definition, it's clear that the sound of your voice would be a god, too, since it is obvious from the length of your post that you worship it.

Seriously, you ought to give some thought to your own eternal disposition. Your deity is likely to be none too pleased that you elevate in your mind such trivial things as rivals to it.

Most people here have a much more tightly defined conception of the idea of god, with specific details and attributes, and it is this idea that they do not believe in.

Fornicating and drinking? I'll get right on it!

Hey Mike - I don't actually want to meet you anyway, but I'd really hate to meet you when you were undergoing a crisis of faith. I think that you could actually be dangerous since you certainly strike me as one of the 'why be good without god' idiots.

"Did you ever stop to consider the price of denying God if you are wrong?"

Did you ever stop to consider the price of denying Allah if you are wrong?

Did you ever stop to consider the price of denying Ganesh if you are wrong?

Did you ever stop to consider the price of denying Thor if you are wrong?

Did you ever stop to consider the price of denying Mithras if you are wrong?

Did you ever stop to consider...

Typical moron, this time Mike:

Do you think that you will reap any reward in heaven for denying him?

Why--oh why--don't any of you delusion-riddled theists ever understand that if we don't believe in a deity we can't believe in heaven? So why ask us if we're worried about going there? It's like asking me to wonder about going to Pemberly to meet up with Mr. Darcy--which would be far more attractive to me than hanging out with your megalomaniacal sadist of a deity in the big sky suite.

BTW, if your heaven does exist, and people like you are going to be in it, I'd rather not go. The supposed Satan can't conceive of a punishment worse than spending an eternity with a sanctimonious nitwit like 90% of the Christians who would spend one second worrying about my immortal soul. Get a life, and stop taking some voyeuristic delight in speculating about mine.

Oh, and I don't worship myself. I worship Matsumoto Jun. But then, my idea of heaven is any half-dressed man that beautiful.

"For those of you hwho are college students and too young to know better, let me caution you that you are playing a game with your souls."
I have to, my fingers are shot from playing Guitar Hero.

By Sui Generis (not verified) on 20 Jul 2008 #permalink

Wow! so the secret is out next week PZ on Atheists Talk radio with evo-devo. It doesn't get any better than that.
Aetheist & Proud
Denis Castaing

By Denis Castaing (not verified) on 20 Jul 2008 #permalink

... see how the world around you is forching you...

No Mike, forch you.

By Sui Generis (not verified) on 20 Jul 2008 #permalink

Mikey @ # 11 - there's no evidence for any of the thousands of gods, or for any heavens, or for souls. It's so obvious that I realized this when I was a small boy.

Mike, none of the gods exist outside the mind of man. Think about it. Don't let your mom & pop indoctrinate you with puerile nonsense.

If you think that a god talks to you, I respectfully suggest that you seek psychiatric help.

By Richard Harris (not verified) on 20 Jul 2008 #permalink

Now, if we could address PZ's "theophobia".

Bigotry is bigotry, even if you don't like the victim of it.

Yeah, there's nothing more Nazi than pointing out the myriad ways in which the religious try to impose a theocracy in body and in mind.

Goddamn you PZ, why can't you just turn the other cheek when some poor kid receives death threats, or is beaten to death for being gay, or refuses to obediently recite magic words like the rest of God's children? Sheesh, some people just don't know how to bend over and take what's good for them, like Mike's wonderful and well-meaning advice.

"Your gods are money, sex, pornographyy, alcohol."

...

Add crackers to that list and you've summed up Catholicism.

Mike @ #11:
I drink and fornicate AND I have a college degree. What's your point? Doing one does not negate the worthiness of the other.

By mikecbraun (not verified) on 20 Jul 2008 #permalink

Your gods are money, sex, pornographyy, alcohol.

Double-Y porn is like triple-X, but more "arty" and philosophical (naturally, as it doubles the amount of "why?").

Well thank you for assuming I'm a greedy porn addicted alcoholic sex addict Mike. But, that's ok. I'm here to tell you the good news. The good news about the Olympian Gods. Yes, the Olympian Gods Mike. We don't hear much about them anymore what with this false god of shepherds and fishes hogging the limelight. But the Olympians still love you. They wrested this world from the titans for you. All they ask for is the occasional burned sacrifice. Except of course Lord Hades also demands that your dead come with 2 coins to pay the boatmen his due. But that's such a pittance compared to the tithe the false god yahweh demands.

Your eternal soul could be waiting on the bank of the river styx Mike! But it's not too late. Turn your back on the false god of nomadic desert dwellers. Embrace the gods of those who built western civilization. Who gave us the great philosophers, architecture, and the basis of our mathematics.

By commissarjs (not verified) on 20 Jul 2008 #permalink

Your eternal soul could be waiting on the bank of the river styx Mike! But it's not too late. Turn your back on the false god of nomadic desert dwellers. Embrace the gods thanks