Idiotic Comment of the Day Award!

We’ve been getting a lot of comments lately on many different posts.  I haven’t taken the time to blog for too long.  The wealth of comments, both positive and negative, tell me that it is time to start blogging again.

I enjoy both positive and negative comments.  Positive comments help us all to feel like we’re appreciated and part of the larger atheist community.  Negative comments are great for sparking debate and thought.  But sometimes, negative comments are just plain idiotic.  Here’s one of those:

The comment is a response to the post, “Sorry Children of Texas, You’re Fucked,” from August 8, 2007.  The post is about the appointing of a evangelical creationist to head the Texas BOE.  Tammy Polio says:

I attended a private school in Michigan, received a much better education-oh yes and even learned Darwins theory. Not teaching science as you see it is not the problem with Texas schools you morons. The fact that they do not teach, and spend the whole year teaching kids how to pass tests instead of teaching them to read. I doubt you are a parent but a stupid liberal who never even learned words from the dictionary based on your f-ing language. I have a child in school who has been assisted on assessment tests so our school keeps their exemplary status.I now have to be in the room with him to make sure he is not assisted. The whole system is corrupt and pathetic. Do you really think it is more important that your theories are taught over just the basics? If you have a problem-move. In case you weren’t taught in your public school we still pledge to one country under God. You sound angry. If you want to know the truth God can reveal it. I would know that,because no matter what we are taught it cannot be just because someone is speaking it in front of a class. WE have to embrace because we beleive it to be true.

Let’s look at this one part at a time!

I attended a private school in Michigan, received a much better education-oh yes and even learned Darwins theory.

Okay – good start, Tammy.  Let’s first congratulate you on attending a private school and receiving a much better education.  Better than what?  To what are you referring?  And of course you learned Darwin’s Theory if you attended any sort of accredited school because guess what?  His theories are the basis and springboard for 98% of the study of biology.

Not teaching science as you see it is not the problem with Texas schools you morons. The fact that they do not teach, and spend the whole year teaching kids how to pass tests instead of teaching them to read.

First off, this isn’t about teaching “science as I see it.”  This is about teaching science as 95-99.9% of scientists see it. There simply isn’t any sort of widespread support for Creationism in the scientific community.  This isn’t about idealogy.  It’s about facts and evidence.  Science is, by nature, non-subjective.

Regarding your point here about teaching how to pass tests – we agree on this fact.  George W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” act forces teachers to “teach to the test” as opposed to giving them a valuable real world education.  Most of my friends who are teachers despise this, but it is unfortunately their job now.

I doubt you are a parent but a stupid liberal who never even learned words from the dictionary based on your f-ing language.

Apparently Tammy Polio would like to personally attack me here.  That’s fine.  She’s right about two things in this sentence – I’m not a parent and I’m a liberal.  My 3.5 GPA and graduation with honors isn’t important for understanding how the education system should work in this country.  It doesn’t mean much.  And Tammy would probably discredit it, since I went to a state university and not some fancy private school.  My “f-ing laguange” is a demonstration of emotion.  Sticks and stones, Tammy.

I have a child in school who has been assisted on assessment tests so our school keeps their exemplary status.I now have to be in the room with him to make sure he is not assisted. The whole system is corrupt and pathetic.

Again – I agree.  This is horrible.

Do you really think it is more important that your theories are taught over just the basics?

These theories ARE the basics.  What about the theory of gravity?  Should that not be taught either?  Please read earlier posts on the different semantic understandings of the word “theory.”  The theory of evolution is overwhelmingly supported by scientists worldwide and it is essential that it be taught as “the basics.”

This is where the comment gets kind of psycho-crazy-like with rants in a couple different directions.

If you have a problem-move.

That’s absurd.  I believe in the America that the founding fathers envisioned — one in which religion was not forced on its citizens.  Maybe a brief jog down memory lane will bring up a history lesson from your private school.  You might remember that one of the things that brought us to this country was the desire to live in a country without the establishment of an oppressive religion.  This country is about freedom.  Freedom is NOT “If you have a problem-move.”  That’s the opposite of freedom.

In case you weren’t taught in your public school we still pledge to one country under God.

We did pledge to “one country under God” in schools, but this is unconstitutional.  This type of thing never bothered me though, because most children don’t have enough life experience and smarts to make up their minds about religion yet.  The indoctrination of these children with the idea that this is a “christian country” is wrong, however.  Study the history of the Pledge of Allegiance, Tammy.  Again, I’ve already covered this in earlier posts.

You sound angry. If you want to know the truth God can reveal it.

I was actually starting to think the negative comments on my blog are sounding much angrier than anything I have to say.  And this is an atheist blog, we don’t believe in God here.

I would know that,because no matter what we are taught it cannot be just because someone is speaking it in front of a class. WE have to embrace because we beleive it to be true.

Someone is not just “speaking it in front of a class” to make it true.  The theory of evolution isn’t something someone just made up, Tammy.  It’s the accepted and agreed upon theory for the origin of species according to more than 95% of scientists worldwide.  Why would we give equal time in schools to a theory of Creationism that only a tiny percentage of scientists believe?  Imagine this – imagine no one went to school for 2-3 generations.  After this, when everyone decided to start going to school again, half the population believed that the moon was made of swiss cheese.  Maybe there was support in the holy book for it, I don’t know.  99.9% of scientists dispute it – but since half the population believes it – we now have to teach that the moon “might be” made of swiss cheese.  Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?

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The Ten Commandments: The Work of Hallucinogens?

From MSNBC:

JERUSALEM – When Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai, he may have been high on a hallucinogenic plant, according to a new study by an Israeli psychology professor.

Writing in the British philosophy journal Time and Mind, Benny Shanon of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University said two plants in the Sinai desert contain the same psychoactive molecules as those found in plants from which the powerful Amazonian hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca is prepared.

The thunder, lightning and blaring of a trumpet which the Book of Exodus says emanated from Mount Sinai could just have been the imaginings of a people in an “altered state of awareness,” Shanon hypothesized.

Read the story here.

I think they may want to talk to these people, who claim Moses never existed.

McCain on Religion

PFW:29

Opinion Article: “Atheism denies God to justify degenerate life”

In an opinion article in the mlive blog:

JACKSON — “A true opium of the people is a belief that nothingness after death — the huge solace of thinking that for our betrayals, greed, cowardice, murders, we are not going to be judged.”

Czeslaw Milosz said that when accepting the 1980 Nobel Prize in literature. Based on this, it appears Karl Marx and the Marxist doctrine needs to be revised. It is not religion that is the opiate of the people, but atheism that is the opiate of the morally corrupt.

If you want to live a degenerate life, God becomes your mortal enemy. He represents a lethal danger to your greed, selfishness and sexual immorality. It is in your interest to despise Him and do whatever you can to rid the universe of His presence. The atheist sees it is advantageous to get rid of moral judgment by getting rid of the judge.

The classical author Dostoyevsky said, “Anything is permissible if there is no God.” We are born intuitively knowing there is a God as well as right and wrong. The atheist must lie to himself that there is no God until he believes his own lie.

— Brian Gardner

I encourage my readers to comment on this stupidity on the mlive site.

Man Who Claims He Went to Hell Scams Christians

Bill Wiese is a scam artist. He claims that he went to hell for exactly 23 minutes and now has written a book and spends his life lecturing about his experience in hell.

Here’s a link to the guy’s web site.

My first thought was – “Okay, so this guy had a nightmare and now is getting rich by convincing people it was true?” If that’s the case, I could make a great deal of money lecturing people on the dangers of going to school naked.

But Wiese assures us that it wasn’t a nightmare:

But first I want to address a couple things, questions that might be in your mind. The first question that would be in mine, if I was listening to me, would be, “How do you know it wasn’t just a dream that you had? A Bad dream?” A couple points to make, first of all, I had left my body. I saw my body when I returned, lying on the floor. So I know for sure it was an out of body experience. Some Christians have said, “Oh a Christian can’t leave his body.” But that’s not true, In 2 Corinthians 12:2, when Paul was caught up into the third heaven, He said, “whether in the body, or out of the body I do not know.” So if he didn’t know that must mean it’s possible. And also he said in verse 1 that it was a vision, so I believe this comes under the classification of a vision.

What a fucking lunatic. Here’s some video from FoxNews about the story:

Christianity’s motivation for morality is fear. There is no better example than Bill Wiese. Christians want to be good because of fear that if they don’t they will be put into a burning place to work for eternity. They will define what “hell” would be like in Earthly terms – fire, etc. Yet to describe what “heaven” would be like is supposedly beyond what we can comprehend. What a load of garbage. Your religion is based on fear. That’s weak.

Atheists Don’t Exist?

Real Time: Religion in Politics

God’s Will

marriedtothesea.com

Christian Poster Child Tom Coburn Endorses John McCain

PFW:28

Beliefnet.com reports that Tom Coburn has endorsed Senator John McCain for President. Let’s talk about this endorsement for a second.

Tom Coburn is a U.S. Senator for Oklahoma with some extremely hypocritical views that are closely linked to his never-faltering Christian beliefs. From calling his fellow Oklahoma citizens “crapheads” to radical pro-life views, he’s a few cards short of a deck. For example, Coburn is ‘pro-life’ and goes with the “sanctity of life” right-wing buzzphrase that “all life is sacred” as if liberals hate life. Meanwhile, Coburn advocates the death penalty for abortionists. Pretty funny for a guy who has admitted to have performed abortions. The list goes on.

So congratulations, John McCain, on picking up thie stellar endorsement from a hypocrite. I’m sure it will ring loud and clear with psycho-conservative Christian people everywhere.

Young People Rejecting Christianity; View it as Homophobic

via Alternet.org

A new study published by The Barna Group surveyed a group of 16-29 year olds and found that the age group may be more cynical toward Christianity than people of their age in the previous decade.

The study shows that 16- to 29-year-olds exhibit a greater degree of criticism toward Christianity than did previous generations when they were at the same stage of life. In fact, in just a decade, many of the Barna measures of the Christian image have shifted substantially downward, fueled in part by a growing sense of disengagement and disillusionment among young people. For instance, a decade ago the vast majority of Americans outside the Christian faith, including young people, felt favorably toward Christianity’s role in society. Currently, however, just 16% of non-Christians in their late teens and twenties said they have a “good impression” of Christianity.

Even among young Christians, many of the negative images generated significant traction. Half of young churchgoers said they perceive Christianity to be judgmental, hypocritical, and too political. One-third said it was old-fashioned and out of touch with reality.

I found the following chart very interesting:

What’s also interesting is the fact that many attribute a negative attitude toward Christianity to the religion’s attitude toward homosexuality.

Interestingly, the study discovered a new image that has steadily grown in prominence over the last decade. Today, the most common perception is that present-day Christianity is “anti-homosexual.” Overall, 91% of young non-Christians and 80% of young churchgoers say this phrase describes Christianity. As the research probed this perception, non-Christians and Christians explained that beyond their recognition that Christians oppose homosexuality, they believe that Christians show excessive contempt and unloving attitudes towards gays and lesbians. One of the most frequent criticisms of young Christians was that they believe the church has made homosexuality a “bigger sin” than anything else. Moreover, they claim that the church has not helped them apply the biblical teaching on homosexuality to their friendships with gays and lesbians.

Read about the study here.