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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
 Posted - 04/15/2006 : 05:47:36
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I haven't heard much about it from the blow-hards on AM talk radio or Fox News, but it seems pretty clear that the atheists and pagans are waging yet another war on a Christian holiday. At least five times yesterday, people implored me to "have a happy holiday" this weekend. Now, Passover already happened, so it can't have been that they were just trying to be neutral in their religious wishes. Nope. The only thing I can think of is that people are deliberately trying to minimize the importance of Christ's ressurection and, moreover, trying to demote Christians and their holidays to second-class status in this country.
There is a clear War Against Easter this season. I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that some school or something was having a "holiday egg hunt," though I can't exactly provide any proof of that. I'm also sure I saw a Target ad about a sale for "holiday chocolate" and such.
So yeah, I'm going to write a book and get myself a spot on Fox News. If you have any anecdotal/unverifiable proof of this obvious War, please let me know so I can add it to my marketing blitz book.
Thanks!
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GeeMack
SFN Regular
USA
1093 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 06:23:21 [Permalink]
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In another discussion forum which I visit from time to time, a fellow, who occasionally lets it slip that he buys into the Christian myth, closed out his most recent message with this line...
Happy Holidays to all and may God bless each and every one of us that give him thanks.
Apparently he's being secretive about which particular holiday his well wishes apply. And who could blame him? With all the suffering and persecution those Christians already have to endure, there's surely no reason, other than possibly the glory of martyrdom, to bring any more of it upon oneself. I did find it interesting that he only wants his imaginary pal to bless those who give it their gratitude. Probably another dodge to try to avoid more of that incessant persecution from the non-superstitious.  |
| Edited by - GeeMack on 04/15/2006 10:43:45 |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 06:33:56 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Cuneiformist
I haven't heard much about it from the blow-hards on AM talk radio or Fox News, but it seems pretty clear that the atheists and pagans are waging yet another war on a Christian holiday. At least five times yesterday, people implored me to "have a happy holiday" this weekend. Now, Passover already happened, so it can't have been that they were just trying to be neutral in their religious wishes. Nope. The only thing I can think of is that people are deliberately trying to minimize the importance of Christ's ressurection and, moreover, trying to demote Christians and their holidays to second-class status in this country.
There is a clear War Against Easter this season. I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that some school or something was having a "holiday egg hunt," though I can't exactly provide any proof of that. I'm also sure I saw a Target ad about a sale for "holiday chocolate" and such.
So yeah, I'm going to write a book and get myself a spot on Fox News. If you have any anecdotal/unverifiable proof of this obvious War, please let me know so I can add it to my marketing blitz book.
Thanks!
The state ABC store was open today (Saturday) to shamelessly sell spirituous liquors to atheists. Thus on the morrow, in an unspeakably hungover condition, these vile denizens of the sludge layer of society will breath foul humors and puke horribly upon the graven image of Blessed Jesus nailed up to the telephone pole at Calvary.
Howzzat?
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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| Edited by - filthy on 04/15/2006 06:41:02 |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 06:47:09 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by filthy
The state ABC store was open today (Saturday) to shamelessly sell spirituous liquors to atheists. Thus on the morrow, in an unspeakably hungover condition, these vile denizens of the sludge layer of society will breath foul humors and puke horribly upon the graven image of Blessed Jesus nailed up to the telephone pole at Calvary.
Howzzat?
It's funny you mention that, Filthy, because most of the "happy holiday" wishings I got came from when I was working at the liquor store last night. Everyone wanted to know what Pinot Noir went with their lamb! Damned Christian lushes! |
| Edited by - Cuneiformist on 04/15/2006 08:34:54 |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 08:03:05 [Permalink]
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| http://www.waroneaster.org/ |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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pleco
SFN Addict
USA
2998 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 09:46:54 [Permalink]
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| Funny, I just drove by a baptist church having an easter egg hunt...the war must be going badly. |
by Filthy
The neo-con methane machine will soon be running at full fart. |
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 12:42:55 [Permalink]
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http://www.waroneaster.org/
What a bunch of fucking morons. The whole moral high-ground that non-Christians had when the fundy Christians cried "We're being perecetuted, there's a war on Christmas/Easter" was that their evidence was only stuff that promoted tolerance and equality and wasn't actually an attack on their faith. Now there's atheists running around in major cities (because, you know, fundies are such a problem in Philadelphia and LA!) putting anti-Christian flyers on churches and wearing T-shirts that declare that they support an actual war on a Christian holiday. What a way to galvanize and provide (a tiny bit of) reasonable ammo for the religious right.
Yesterday I listened to a radio interview with Christian Rev. William Sloan Coffin that Terry Gross did in 1985. (They replayed it because he just died.) The guy was an anti-Vietnam war activist, human rights activist, and a vocal supporter of gay rights 20 years ago. He promoted religious diversity and tolerance, and said that he knew atheists who were following god "in their own way" by acting in response to the world with love. The guy had absolutely no interest in converting others to his faith. It was some of the most sensible stuff regarding religious tolerance and freedom, and it is pretty much representative (although said in a much more sophisticated way) of the liberal Christian mindset which is still prominent in this country - even if those types of Christians are shrinking in numbers and not getting any media attention. So anyway, another thing Coffin said was that he'd known a lot of activists who had more hate for the enemy than they had love for the victims. I fear that is becoming the case in the opposition to fundamentalists. Liberal Christians and tolerant non-Christians are not speaking out against them enough, and angry atheists are starting to adopt the military rhetoric of the religious right and slipping into the role the religious right created for them. Like I said, fucking morons.
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"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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| Edited by - marfknox on 04/15/2006 12:44:39 |
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 13:08:13 [Permalink]
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Actually, it takes a a great deal of anger to hate reality so much that you spend your time wishing for fairies in the sky.
These people are working on a way to politely educate people and have fun doing it. |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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| Edited by - Gorgo on 04/15/2006 13:26:12 |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 13:56:13 [Permalink]
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| I heard something very funny on the NPR last night. In Fairfax (County, Virginia I believe) they changed the name of the Easter egg roll to the Spring Egg Roll. The commenter then said something to the effect he guessed they didn't want to mention anything about the religious bunny. I just cracked up. |
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trogdor
Skeptic Friend
198 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 14:07:05 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
I heard something very funny on the NPR last night. In Fairfax (County, Virginia I believe) they changed the name of the Easter egg roll to the Spring Egg Roll. The commenter then said something to the effect he guessed they didn't want to mention anything about the religious bunny. I just cracked up.
mmmmmmmmmm... egg rolls |
all eyes were on Ford Prefect. some of them were on stalks.
-Douglas Adams |
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2006 : 00:23:12 [Permalink]
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Gorgo wrote: quote:
Actually, it takes a a great deal of anger to hate reality so much that you spend your time wishing for fairies in the sky.
Oh, yeah, Martin Luther King, he was just full of hate.
And Rev. William Sloan Coffin who just died - you know, the guy who spent most of his life fighting against war and for human rights including gay rights, yeah, just full of hate.
And all those Christians who do humanitarian work in foreign countries, often at the risk of their own safety, and who do so without preaching (like one of my Methodists friends who spent a year in Argentina teaching orphans), just full of hate.
And those Quakers who've been sticking their necks out for peace and civil rights for ages... every one of them is full of hate, right along with those (also Christian) Unitarian Universalists who were conducting gay unions as early as in the 1920's.
Oh, and let me not forget my Catholic mother and her writing club, which is full of Christian, old-school feminist liberals who all raised their children to be open-minded and ethical, who have consistently given to charity, donated their time for the community, and are, of course, brimming with hate.
quote:
These people are working on a way to politely educate people and have fun doing it.
Educate people about what? That atheists identify themselves in opposition to people with religious faith? That atheists can be just as self righteous and preachy about their worldview as fundamentalists? That Christian theology is nothing more than the simplistic version told by ignorant American fundamentalists? That one's personal religious beliefs should be emphasized to the extent of going after one's philosophical opposition?
Who the fuck cares what peoples' personal beliefs are? What matters is action. Fundies are an enemy when they fight and vote for legislation and politicians that/who would conform the laws to their insane worldview. Atheists aren't the only ones fighting against such political actions, so by insulting Christianity as a whole, these morons are insulting our political allies. I'm not saying they are as bad as fundamentalists. But they are morons. |
"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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| Edited by - marfknox on 04/16/2006 00:25:15 |
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2006 : 04:07:05 [Permalink]
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| These people (and I agree) think that it's not a good idea to spread nonsense. They are insulting no one. If they were calling people morons, I would agree that they're acting in an angry, foolish manner. But they're not. If they were asking for laws against religion, I would say that they were acting foolishly. But they're not. They're doing something which will have little impact in the short term, it's true. But they're insulting no one and nothing. |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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R.Wreck
SFN Regular
USA
1191 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2006 : 10:29:34 [Permalink]
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| I think those who do good things would do them with or without religion. And professed religious beliefs have certainly not prevented the Phelps', Falwells, Robertsons, and Bakkers of the world from being complete shitheads. So as far as religion's effect on behavior goes, I think it's a wash. Religion does, however, teach people to believe outlandish things without any supporting evidence. And that is something that we cannot afford given our technology and the affect we have had and will continue to have on the planet. Therefore I am all in favor of anything that attempts to bring people to reality based thought processes. |
The foundation of morality is to . . . give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond the possibliities of knowledge.
T. H. Huxley
The Cattle Prod of Enlightened Compassion
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2006 : 11:52:18 [Permalink]
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Gorgo wrote: quote:
These people (and I agree) think that it's not a good idea to spread nonsense. They are insulting no one. If they were calling people morons, I would agree that they're acting in an angry, foolish manner. But they're not. If they were asking for laws against religion, I would say that they were acting foolishly. But they're not. They're doing something which will have little impact in the short term, it's true. But they're insulting no one and nothing.
I'm not criticizing them for just insulting people, I'm criticizing them for being ignorant of the very thing they are attacking. I think they are blinded by their own desperate desire for certainty in their atheistic worldview, and their hatred for fundamentalist Christianity. And I think they are stupid as activists because their tactics are likely to bring the opposite of the results they desire.
I would never say that religious shouldn't be questioned, criticized, or that atheists shouldn't try to spread ideas and concepts that they find liberating, humanizing, and more true than previous ones. But these morons are blending complex philosophical and theological questions with political and social trends, and that tends to falsely simplify everything and give an equally false impression that there are two distinct ideologies and group identities, when in fact peoples' worldviews are much more of a gradation.
Did you read the flyers? It's not exactly Schopenhauer.
R. Wreck wrote: quote:
Religion does, however, teach people to believe outlandish things without any supporting evidence. And that is something that we cannot afford given our technology and the affect we have had and will continue to have on the planet. Therefore I am all in favor of anything that attempts to bring people to reality based thought processes.
I disagree. Many versions of Judaism and Christianity have advocated science and rationalism to be used as gifts from God. And many non-religious folks have rejected science and believed in vague mystical crap that is just as silly as fundamentalist beliefs.
The mystical beliefs of non-fundamentalists may not supported by evidence, but they are also not disputed by any evidence, and the adherents regard the literal aspects as a way to express and conceptualize what is transcendant and ultimately mysterious. There is a Catholic woman at school I know who is quite intelligent and educated about world religions. Her ethics and beliefs about the natural world are basically humanistic. She has said to me, "I think there is something more and greater than this life. I choose to be Catholic because it makes me happy and makes me feel connected to my family. I think the truth is probably nothing like Christianity, but that's just one way to connect with it."
Religion itself does not inherently cause people to believe outlandish things without evidence.
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"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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| Edited by - marfknox on 04/16/2006 11:52:49 |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13476 Posts |
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