Shit that Pissed me Off This Week – 8/17
A bit of a slow week over here at Shit that Pissed Me Off HQ. I should probably get worked into more of a froth about Paul Ryan but the guy just doesn’t interest me. It’s like Mitt Romney was looking for someone with less of a personality than he has.
Yeah, yeah, I know that Ryan wants to get rid of Medicare and all that other garbage but when you look at the guy, don’t you seriously just think that they could put two mannequins on stage at the Republican convention and most of the delegates wouldn’t notice?
Ladies and Gentlemen! The Next President and Vice President of the United States!
I’m not saying the delegates are that stupid (although Michele Bachmann will be there so at least some of them are). I’m just saying these guys could possibly constitute the most boring ticket in the history of Presidential elections (although Kerry/Lieberman is pretty close).
Anyway, on to shit that pissed me off!
Dumb-Ass shoots a security Guard at the Family Research Council
As only too many liberal groups are pointing out in the wake of this attack, I hate everything the Family Research Council stands for but violence is not the answer to the problem. You don’t change minds with a senseless shooting. Nobody looked at this event and thought “hey – I’d better start supporting gay rights because if I don’t, some nutbar might shoot me.” That didn’t happen.
Instead, all sorts of gay advocate groups had to quickly point out that this guy wasn’t with them and they didn’t support what he did. Which should have been bloody obvious.
Turns out it wasn’t, though, because Family Research Council Tony Perkins blamed the Southern Poverty Law Center for the act. Or rather, he said they should be “held responsible.”
Now, I’m guessing Mr. Perkins doesn’t think he should be held responsible when a gay kid gets beaten up in high school, does he? Nor does he think he should be held responsible when people shout hateful things at a gay couple getting married in New York. The double standard is pretty pathetic, don’t you think?
Shit that Pissed me off This Week – 8/10
Creationism Craziness
(Sorry folks – the link is broken)
Not content to simply ignore any research showing that evolution is real, this creationist has studied the bible to determine that – wait for it – plants are not alive!
Among other reasons plants aren’t alive: they don’t have blood and apparently you need blood for a sacrifice to god. Since plants can’t be bled out to show god how awesome he is, they aren’t living creatures.
Try telling that shit to the Whomping Willow, asshole!
If you are reading this right now and thinking anything except “what a complete loon,” please don’t tell me. I want to believe that the only person on Earth who is that messed up is the guy who wrote the original piece.
It’s not a big deal but it’s kind of a big deal
I can’t recall a time where I would have characterized myself as a “writer.” I’ve written things, sure. I blog almost every day. I’ve written lyrics for a lot of silly songs. I’ve even written some plays and comedy sketches that (much to my relief) made people laugh.
But I’m not a writer in the way that some of my friends are writers. I don’t imagine I will ever be that kind of writer. That isn’t what I want to be.
As of now, however, I am a published writer. My essay is included in the anthology publication “Atheist Voices of Minnesota.” It’s an essay about summer camp, Scouting and S’mores. I’m proud of the story I wrote even though all I can see now are better ways to tell it.
I guess I’m a writer after all.
Other essays in the book are by people who would have no difficulty defining themselves as writers. Still others are by people who are just like me. They don’t think of themselves as writers any more than I do.
We all have one thing in common, though. We are all atheists and we all had a story to tell. I hope you’ll enjoy everyone’s stories.
I just received my copy of the book so I’ve not had a chance to read those stories yet. I’m looking forward to seeing what the other writers have to say.
To read more about the stories in the book, read Stephanie Zvan’s nice blog post about it.
If you purchase the book, all the proceeds go to Minnesota Atheists, a 501c3 non-profit.
On Judgement, Good, and Evil
I’m back to answering a series of comments in response to this blog entry.
I have a lot to say about this particular comment because here we are getting to the crux of all I feel is wrong with the Fundamentalist Christian perspective on reality. If there is such a thing as an “all loving” god, I simply can’t see how that is represented in a fundamentalist interpretation of biblical teachings.
So here, then, is my original answer to question #8, which read: If you were to die, and you were before God. And he was getting ready to pass judgement on you, What would be your reaction or thoughts? What plea would you give him so he does not judge you harshly?
Ah…evolution
OK, time to tackle comment #3 in response to this post.
Here, we are talking about Question #4 (If we are ancesoters/descendants of Apes, then why are there no transitional fossils or species to support this theory?)
A question of purpose
My response to comment #2 from a fundamentalist Christian.
On question 2 (If there is NO God, then there is NO meaning or purpose to Life. So without a God, does life have purpose or meaning? Without God, does the Atheist have purpose?)
Six comments? Really?
Almost a month ago, I posted my responses to ten condescending questions some fundamentalist Christian felt all atheists should answer. They were badly crafted and annoyed the hell out of me.
I answered them in a way that I hoped was both honest and amusing. Yesterday, I received six comments from a Fundamentalist Christian (his blog is here).
I wasn’t sure whether to respond to his comments or leave it be. There isn’t much use debating him as his beliefs are so deeply engrained, I can’t hope to make him think about them. As for me, I find his perspective so horrifying, it only makes me dislike fundamentalism all the more.
New Geeks Without God Episode!
We were fortunate that Rebecca Watson made time for us to interview her at CONvergence. Rebecca is a polarizing figure in skeptical circles and that is too bad because whether you agree with her on most issues or not, she is funny and smart. If you actually make the effort to engage her instead of attacking her, you will find good conversations to be had.
Fortunately, we were able to record one of those.
She talks about misogyny on the internet all the time and frankly, that is really important. We offered her the opportunity to talk about other stuff, though, because we figured she could use a break. The result was a fun geeky podcast.
So take a listen if you would! Learn about a great podcast that Rebecca does as well as her favorite sandwich!
Shit that Pissed me Off This Week – 7/27
Some guy kills a bunch of people in a Movie Theatre and Some other guy on Facebook has a Solution
So first off, thanks for taking a horrible tragedy and making it all about your agenda. Well done.
This is not a guns are awesome/guns are awful thing. I’ve talked about that before. This is a “what are you – stupid?” thing.
You don’t know what the fuck you are talking about because the guy released tear gas into the theatre and then opened fire. If you were in that theater with a gun, you would have needed to get a clear shot at the killer so that you wouldn’t kill any of the panicking crowd that is all around him. In a theatre filled with tear gas. Your odds of killing an innocent bystander are probably just as high or higher than your odds of killing the bad guy.
It’s great to think that if you were there, you would have saved more people. We all want to believe that. It’s bullshit. John McLean is a character in a movie.
A guy walks into a packed theatre, fills it with smoke and starts shooting, a bunch of people are going to die. If you were there and you had a gun, you wouldn’t have stopped it from happening. You are not Rambo.
Grail Diary 