Shit That Pissed me Off This Week – 6/7

Baptist Church Plans to Dump the Boy Scouts because They Don’t Hate Gay People

The Boy Scouts expected that they would get some pushback from members of the faith community when they chose to accept openly gay scouts.  Good thing, too.  Because they are getting it.

Baptist ministers are saying that they have no choice.  It is not a hate thing.  It’s a morality thing.  They just can’t support the Boy Scouts now that the organization has embraced a morally improper lifestyle by accepting openly gay scouts.

Look at how immoral this possibly gay boy scout looks!

That isn’t hate.  They feel really badly about the whole thing.  It isn’t their fault.  It’s god’s fault!

I mean, sure, Jesus preached forgiveness and all that bullshit but not if you aren’t willing to deny your own sexuality because god doesn’t love you just the way you are.

Yeah.  Fuck those guys.

A Senator Dies in New Jersey and The Result is Political Bullshit

Let’s set the stage, shall we?

New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat, passed away last week.  He was not planning to run again and the election to fill his seat would have been in 2014.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, has the task of both naming an interim replacement and deciding when the people get to actually elect a new senator to fill the seat.  Because of state law, he had a lot of options.  He could call for it fairly soon or he could have waited until next year’s election.

Of course he’s going to name a Republican to replace a fairly elected Democrat.  Because that is how this game works.

That in itself is bullshit.  I’m sure there are those who might say “hey, Tim, you’re a liberal so you would think completely differently if it were a Democrat appointing an interim Senator to a formerly Republican seat.”

No, actually, I wouldn’t.  As far as I’m concerned, the people elected a Republican and the Governor should respect that, regardless of his own party affiliation.

Now to temper the fact there is going to be a Republican filling a Democratic seat until a special election, Christie opted for an early election.  That should make the Democrats happy, right?

No.  Because he called the special election to be a month prior to the general election.  Where he is up for election.  It is presumed he did this because he doesn’t want to run the risk of losing because a whole bunch of Democrats come out to fill that Senate seat.

It gets way more complicated (and stupid) than that.  I’m not going to go into all of it.

I have no particular love for Christie but the fact is, the game is such that no matter what he decided, everyone would be pissed at him.

And none of it matters because the dude is super popular and he’d have no problem getting re-elected no matter when the special election is held or who he appoints as an interim senator.

In the meantime, another guy is dead and nobody seems nearly as interested in his legacy as they do in the politics surrounding who is going to do his job for the next few months.

One Quarter of Americans say God Influences Sporting Events

I guess that 25% isn’t all that much until you realize that it is such a stupid thing to believe.  And one in four people you run into buy it.

They watch a football game and think that god had something to do with the outcome.  They think that if they pray hard enough, the Yankees will win another world series.

How do they figure it?  Is it by the percentage of religious players on each team?  The amount of time those players spend praying?  The amount of time their fans spend praying?  The percentage of people who support same-sex marriage in their state?

So…god loved the 49ers in the 80’s and 90’s but he hates them now. Is that it?

All available evidence shows that God fucking hates Vikings fans.

Tiger Woods seems like a bit of a douche and yet he keeps winning golf tournaments.

Why is it that the 25% who believe their god would give a damn about what team wins a basketball game never think about such things?

Is it because they aren’t thinking at all?

Pink – Just Give me a Reason

It’s been a while since a song annoyed me but this one drives me up a wall.

I’m not a big fan of love ballads to begin with but this one just plods along and features a story about a broken relationship in which the couple doesn’t even realize why they are broken.

Let’s explore this “broken” relationship.

Dude has been “talking in his sleep.” Uh oh.

While talking in your sleep has little or nothing to do with your waking life, she’s worried.  Possibly a bit insecure.  She just wants him to comfort her.

So what does he do?

He’s a patronizing fuck.

“You’re head is running wild again. ”

Nice job dismissing her feelings by calling her crazy, asshole.

And then, after he’s a patronizing asshole, they sing the chorus about twelve more times.  They are both asking for a reason to love again and yet they can’t solve the problem because they are too busy talking about the problem.

Yeah.  This song can go to hell.

Texas Jury Acquits Man of Murdering a Prostitute who Wouldn’t have Sex With Him

So the guy hires an escort via Craigslist.  First mistake.

He pays her $150 before her services have been rendered.  Second mistake.

She tries to leave with the money without having sex (although it is not clear if her ad specifically indicated she’d have sex with him).  He puts a gun to her throat and fires.

This was not, apparently a mistake.  It was totally legal.  At least that is what a jury decided this week.

What the fuck? Was Henry Fonda on that Jury?

This whole thing looks pretty complicated in that the prostitute in question did appear to be trying to cheat the guy out of $150.  I’m pretty sure that doesn’t justify putting a gun to her throat and shooting her, though.  Except it turns out that it does.

Interesting how people are so concerned about unborn life but once you find your way out of the womb, there are all sorts of perfectly legal (and fucked up) ways to end that life everyone fought so hard to protect.

Girl has a Debate with a Comedian about Rape Jokes and Gets Rape Threats

OK, full disclosure – I believe that the moment you suggest a certain kind of joke is off limits, you imply that other kinds of jokes are more acceptable.  “Comedians shouldn’t do rape jokes” is not a statement with which I agree.

Having said that, I think, rape jokes are risky as hell and you’d better make sure your joke is really funny before you deliver it.  I’ve never written a rape joke for that reason.

I also fully understand the reasons some people are saying that rape jokes should be completely off limits.

I disagree more than I agree but the thing is, I’m not going to threaten someone with rape because I disagree with them on this point. Because assholes do that.  Assholes who think they are funny when they say a woman is too ugly to be raped.

As if her appearance has anything to do with her opinion.  Or her potential to be a victim.

I don’t want to inject myself into the conversation but I wonder if the best response would be “so, since you are an expert on the subject, how many attractive women have you raped?”

GOP Congressman Objects to Humanist Chaplins Because They would Just call dead Soldiers “Worm Food”

So a surprisingly compassionate Representative introduced an amendment that would have allowed for humanist Chaplains in the military to assist those members of the service who are either unaffiliated with a particular religion or atheists/agnostics.  Because contrary to the popular saying, there are, in fact, atheists in foxholes.

His colleague objected by saying that atheists don’t believe in anything (WRONG) and that they would be incapable of compassion because, apparently, the only people capable of compassion are folks that believe in god (not counting the Southern Baptists who are booting the Boy Scouts for showing compassion to openly gay youth – but I digress).  He envisions a Humanist chaplain telling the family of a fallen soldier that their son or daughter is “worm food.”

You fools! You are all maggots feasting on rotting flesh! You are all worms and food for worms feasting on the maggot heap of the world!

Apparently we atheists are only good for telling dying soldiers (or their families) that life is pain and their death has no meaning.

As if this asshole knows anything about compassion or understanding.  He certainly isn’t capable of treating atheists with either.