Generally Strange

Zombrex

Scofflaw wrote:

Another one of those articles that make it so difficult to tell parody from sincerity. I'm pretty sure this one is serious.

cordially,
Scofflaw

Seems like an ad more than anything else.

pdebarra

Wow. Yours for just $65! The sad thing is that it will sell many copies.

Dades

But look - you can also buy The Rise of Atheist America - hurrah!

"Somehow, atheism – just like homosexuality, which used to be considered shameful and something to hide – is now becoming hip, sophisticated, enlightened, even a badge of honor".

Includes 'contributions' from Richard Dawkins (booo) and Chuck Norris (yaaay)...

Wait a minute...

Scofflaw

The Atheist wrote:

But look - you can also buy The Rise of Atheist America - hurrah!

"Somehow, atheism – just like homosexuality, which used to be considered shameful and something to hide – is now becoming hip, sophisticated, enlightened, even a badge of honor".

Includes 'contributions' from Richard Dawkins (booo) and Chuck Norris (yaaay)...

Wait a minute...

Delicious! Some more quotes from the advertorial:

"angry, in-your-face, atheist manifestos"

"This is atheism's moment," brags David Steinberger

"on the fringes of society, mistrusted by the mainstream"

"malevolent kooks"

"arrogant denial of God and condemnation of religious people"

"America was founded by Christians. Its very purpose for being was the furtherance of biblical Christianity"

I love this stuff. Makes me feel really bad-ass.

cordially,
Scofflaw

pH

When good nuns go bad.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7023245.stm

Zombrex

BBC wrote:

So badly did relations deteriorate between the sisters of Santa Clara in Bari that the Mother Superior ended up in hospital with scratches to her face.

Is anyone else aroused ... anyone ... no? ... I'll get my coat ...

Zombrex

The Atheist wrote:

But look - you can also buy The Rise of Atheist America - hurrah!

WND wrote:

"How can this be happening?," you might wonder. "Hasn't America always been a Christian nation?"

No question about it. America was founded by Christians.

Actually that is a big question. America was not founded to be a "Christian Nation", quite the opposite in fact. Most of the founding fathers greatly mistrusted organized religion, and some had serious personal doubts as to whether or not Christianity was actually real at all.

And this is reflected in the US Constitution, the document Americans love to hate, that not only protected all religions from interference from the government, but was set up to protect all citizens and the government from all religions.

robindch

This cautionary tale in from TSG about Gary Aldridge, a christian preacher from Alabama, who took his interests in autoerotic sex and rubber that one sad step too far. From the autopsy report:

The deceased is clothed in a diving wet suit, a face mask which has a single vent for breathing, a rubberized head mask having an opening for the mouth and eyes, a second rubberized suit with suspenders, rubberized male underwear, hands and feet have diving gloves and slippers. There are numerous straps and cords restraining the decedent. There is a leather belt around the midriff. [...]There is a dildo in...

There's more in the report linked to above, but read at your own risk. In short, it seems that he had managed to get himself into not one, but two, wetsuits with a dildo in situ. Wow.

Aldridge is reported to have worked for "Moral Majority" founder and (more conventionally deceased) fundamentalist preacher Jerry Falwell, who also provided Aldridge, and others like Ken Ham, with their religious qualifications.

BTW, in 1999, Alabama outlawed the sale of sex toys, including dildos, and introduced a $10,000 fine and a year in the slammer for anybody caught selling them. Somewhat ironically in the circumstances, one Reverend Dan Ireland sought the original ban on them for "health" reasons.

.

stevejazzx

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1288491,00.html

Imagine that a flame taking on many shapes.....
It obviously gods way of communicating..makes so much sense

Dades

stevejazzx wrote: »

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1288491,00.html

Imagine that a flame taking on many shapes.....
It obviously gods way of communicating..makes so much sense

That's weird - I was at that shindig and I took this picture...

robindch

Not sure if this came up while I was out of town recently, but JK Rowling outed Dumbledore a week or two back:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7053982.stm

Christian writers, presumably with deadlines approaching, were quick to react, with this guy here seriously saying that Rowling is wrong about her own imagination:

http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/2007/10/23/dumbledore-is-not-gay-taking-stories-more-seriously-than-the-author/

Now, aligning a text's interpretations with one's own preconceptions is something that the religious do instinctively. But I've never heard of somebody having the brass cojones to suggest that they know more about the character than the author.

Bizarre.

PDN

robindch wrote: »

Not sure if this came up while I was out of town recently, but JK Rowling outed Dumbledore a week or two back:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7053982.stm

Christian writers, presumably with deadlines approaching, were quick to react, with this guy here seriously saying that Rowling is wrong about her own imagination:

http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/2007/10/23/dumbledore-is-not-gay-taking-stories-more-seriously-than-the-author/

Now, aligning a text's interpretations with one's own preconceptions is something that the religious do instinctively. But I've never heard of somebody having the brass cojones to suggest that they know more about the character than the author.

Bizarre.

Funnily enough I was thinking about this earlier this evening as I was reading Time magazine in the bath (not a pretty mental image). Can a work of art be changed after the event, even by the artist?

For example, what if the penny dropped and Michelangelo had decided, ten years after completing his statue of David, that since it was uncircumcised it must be of a Gentile? "I say chaps, that statue I carved of David - well actually I've changed my mind and decided it isn't David after all. Let's say it's Menelaus!" Would the statue no longer be David?

Not that I care one way or another whether the witches and wizards in Harry Potter are gay witches or straight witches. It's the general concept that interests me.

Dades

That's an interesting question indeed. Can a character be gay, despite no references in the book? I'd be inclined to side with the writer's intent. In the same way that just because someone doesn't outwardly act gay in real life, doesn't mean they aren't.

There's often similar discussion about Pullman's His Dark Materials (see other thread). The question is often asked is did the two (very young) main characters "do it" in book three. He's quoted as saying "I don’t know what they did. I wrote about the kiss – that’s what I knew happened. I don’t know what else they did. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t".

So unlike Rowling, he really leaves it open to the reader which I think is right.

PDN

Imagine that Stephen Spielberg were to say, after the event, that Capt John Miller (the Tom Hanks character) in Saving Private Ryan was really a German double agent.

Would that affect the way we watch the film and the way we interpret the storyline? Or does a film (or book) stand alone and, once released, become an independent entity from the opinions of the author?

Dades

I think in the case of Saving Private Ryan an assertion like that would be so inconsistent with Tom Hanks' character as to make it meaningless. The question is really relevant where an assertion is made by the writer that could easily have been the case within the confines of the published plot/story.

Again, I guess it depends on the writer's intent.

robindch

PDN wrote:

Funnily enough I was thinking about this earlier this evening as I was reading Time magazine in the bath (not a pretty mental image). Can a work of art be changed after the event, even by the artist?

An interesting question, but not one which applies in this case. The beeb article does mention that Rowling was previously aware of Dumbledore's orientation and that it wasn't something which she came up with while on tour.

One can't help but wonder what would have happened if she'd mentioned this, together with her "prolonged argument of tolerance" and her urgings to "question authority", to the christian heartland of Alabama, or Kentucky maybe, instead of to a group of New Yorkers

But, PDN, Time magazine?! Good heavens, man, I'd have thought it a bit infra dig for you! Even in the bathroom. My mind's eye had you working an endless stack of Spectators, with an occasional copy of "The New Yorker" thrown in to cheer up your day!

condra

A British schoolteacher has been arrested in Sudan accused of insulting Islam's Prophet, after she allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7112929.stm

I presume everyone here has seen it on tv or read about it.

Pretty scary stuff.

--NOTE--
Womoma - have merged this with the long running "Generally Strange" thread. If we had new threads for all this stuff we'd be overrun!

pH

"A teddy bear called Mohammed" probably merits its own thread - it's turning into quite a media storm.

Latest BBC Article

What can't be named Muhammad?

British teacher Gillian Gibbons stands accused of insulting Islam's Prophet after allowing her pupils in Sudan to name a teddy bear Muhammad. What are the rules on using the name?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7115821.stm

My favourite bit is the last paragraph:

"People are very forgiving of foreigners, particularly Europeans. Nobody would think she was trying to offend them - they would just think she was ignorant."

Let me tell you I spluttered out my coffee with indignant rage - IGNORANT? IGNORANT? - LET ME TELL YOU WHO I THINK IS BEING IGNORANT HERE!

stevejazzx

robindch wrote: »

Now, aligning a text's interpretations with one's own preconceptions is something that the religious do instinctively. But I've never heard of somebody having the brass cojones to suggest that they know more about the character than the author.

Bizarre.

Did you hear the one about the publisher who decided that the aliethiometer was a compass and then refused to back down even after the author told him he was wrong...and then, then decided that the only publishable name for the book would be the 'golden compass'.
I still can't get over it!

stevejazzx

womoma wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7112929.stm

I presume everyone here has seen it on tv or read about it.

Pretty scary stuff.

--NOTE--
Womoma - have merged this with the long running "Generally Strange" thread. If we had new threads for all this stuff we'd be overrun!

Ok seriously..I am utterly shocked..just flabbergasted (I've never typed that word before) this is pure nuts....it's medieval primitive and disgusting.

Scofflaw

Causes of depression #3: Demons.

cordially,
Scofflaw

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

With sadness I recall a young man that I was acquainted with a few years back. He had a beautiful voice and was an anointed singer of the gospel. Then he became involved with X-rated movies, which led to peeping into bedroom windows. I know this, because it was part of his confession printed in the newspaper, after he was arrested.

rofl

pH

Turns out 15 days in jail isn't a proper punishment for calling a bear mohammed - execution would be the preferred punishment.


"Some reports said protesters had called for her to be shot. Her lawyer said she was later moved for her own safety."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7121025.stm

robindch

Don't forget she didn't actually do the naming herself -- it was one of the kids. Named Mohammad, as it happens.

5uspect

Didn't they have a vote? I remember reading on BBC news that out of a class of 25 or so about 20 voted in favour of Mohammad out of a number of other names picked by the kids.

Is democracy or idolatry more insulting to Islam?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7116401.stm

Dades

5uspect wrote: »

Didn't they have a vote? I remember reading on BBC news that out of a class of 25 or so about 20 voted in favour of Mohammad out of a number of other names picked by the kids.

How indoctrinated is a child to want to name a toy after your holy prophet?

Talk about a lack of imagination.

PDN

Dades wrote: »

How indoctrinated is a child to want to name a toy after your holy prophet?

Talk about a lack of imagination.

So no little baby atheists named Richard then?

5uspect

Dades wrote: »

How indoctrinated is a child to want to name a toy after your holy prophet?

Talk about a lack of imagination.

Well its a popular name. I can't imagine that the kids even considered it as a reference to their prophet. Which is the funny thing really. Usually you'd expect children to get so excited about something so insignificant.

5uspect

PDN wrote: »

So no little baby atheists named Richard then?

Nah, atheists have boring names. Beelzebub for my spawn!

pH

Jesus and Mo and teddy ... I won't embed this one just in case
http://www.jesusandmo.net/2007/11/30/never/

Scofflaw

The " Belief in God versus the Evolutionist's put down" thread, and choosing whether or not to marry someone based on a list of characteristics. Quite depressing.

cordially,
Scofflaw

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

just read that thread now

wow....

that is... a very strange way to look at love.

PDN

So if you 'fell in love' with a racist, or a serial killer, that wouldn't be an obstacle to marriage?

Zombrex

PDN wrote: »

So if you 'fell in love' with a racist, or a serial killer, that wouldn't be an obstacle to marriage?

If I thought the person was a racist I imagine wouldn't fall in love with them (not because I would decide not to, but simply because I don't find that appealing)

On the other hand if my brother was a racist (he isn't I hope), I would still love him as my brother. And because I still loved him I would experience strong torn emotions. I know families that have been ripped apart by issues like that. The ripping only happens in the first place because they all love each other. If they didn't they wouldn't care.

Are you honestly saying you could decide to love someone who was a racist, but you just choose not to for rational reasons?

5uspect

More Creationist nonsense
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/12/slackjawed_creationist_surpris.php
at least this time reason prevails.

Schuhart

Stunningly brilliant video from the British National Party. Christmas is a very British thing.

(Hand up how many wanted those kids taken into care?)

5uspect

Some nonsesne for the New Year:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7163767.stm
I wonder if the Gardai in Dublin will be complaining also?

SubjectSean

Schuhart wrote: »

(Hand up how many wanted those kids taken into care?)

Yes with tunes like that their sense of rhythm is going to be utterly destroyed.

Zombrex

Schuhart wrote: »

Stunningly brilliant video from the British National Party. Christmas is a very British thing.

(Hand up how many wanted those kids taken into care?)

The great thing about Christmas is that its British?

Er, no lads, how about you try that again. Has no one explained to them that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of a Middle Eastern Jew?

Scofflaw

From the Mormons.

cordially,
Scofflaw

stereoroid

Wicknight wrote: »

Er, no lads, how about you try that again. Has no one explained to them that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of a Middle Eastern Jew?

I think they mean the modern version of Christmas... the Saint Nicholas myth (Turkey), or perhaps the modern Santa (Coke commercials in the USA). The Tree, and Carols? Germany, I think, but don't care enough to look up. :rolleyes:

Schuhart

stereoroid wrote: »

I think they mean the modern version of Christmas... the Saint Nicholas myth (Turkey), or perhaps the modern Santa (Coke commercials in the USA). The Tree, and Carols? Germany, I think, but don't care enough to look up. :rolleyes:

That sort of makes sense, but I think the reasoning is too sophisticated for the BNP.

Galvasean

5uspect wrote: »

More Creationist nonsense
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/12/slackjawed_creationist_surpris.php
at least this time reason prevails.

Well he had no case. Thats the equivalent of me applying for a job as a fork-lift driver. "Oh I can only do the bits that don't involve driving the fork-truck".

robindch

Galvasean wrote: »

Thats the equivalent of me applying for a job as a fork-lift driver. "Oh I can only do the bits that don't involve driving the fork-truck".

Off-topic, but this fork-lift video is worth the effort. Gets going a couple of minutes in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsRilfsEQoU

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

lol, i saw that on tv years ago... it's hilarious.

robindch

67 academics in Rome's La Sapienza University sign a statement objecting to Ratzinger's support for Galileo's trial and say that it's inappropriate for him to open the academic year. Elsewhere in the same place, students eat bread (leavened?), pork and wine and unfurl a banner that reads "Knowledge needs neither fathers nor priests":

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7188860.stm

Dades

Apparently, now that date is free he's going to speak at the opening of a new Mosque instead.

Soldie

Apparently they're not exclusive to theists.

Happened across this website the other day and found it rather amusing: http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/

More about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth#The_Flat_Earth_Society

It's a society that, in spite of all evidence suggesting otherwise, suggests that the earth is in fact flat.

Q: "Why do the all the world Governments say the Earth is round?"

A: It's a conspiracy

Q: "What about NASA? Don't they have photos to prove that the Earth is round?"

A: NASA is part of the conspiracy too. The photos are faked.

Etc. Etc.

What I found funny about the site was not only their belief, but their methods of argumentation - it's frightfully similar to that of devout theists.

My apologies if this isn't suitable for this forum, feel free to move it.

Dades

Soldie wrote: »

My apologies if this isn't suitable for this forum, feel free to move it.

Have just moved your post to this ongoing thread - you'll see there are plenty of similar affronts to intelligence here.

5uspect

I'm convinced the flat earthers are only looking for a free ride into orbit...