Happy New Year! December 31, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in Blogging.8 comments
I’d planned some additional posts for this week, but after getting stuck along side the highway with my faithful–and stoic–dog for 14 hours and then still having a fight to get the rest of the way home, I’m not really up to much in the way of serious posting.
So I’d like to simply wish everyone the happiest of new years. Almost everyone who posts here (I can’t speak to those who merely read–and there are a number of you) are good friends of mine, and I’m struck tonight with how lucky I am to know you all. This year has been eventful for many of you, and for me. I can’t help but feel that despite my unemployment and exhausting week, 2006 has been the best year of my life, and I have my friends to thank for that.
So, thank you, all who read this blog* for being there, for providing me interesting views and commentary. And for the many of you who have done so much more than that–thank you, thank you, thank you.
*josephnadir, this could even apply to you. If you’d ever like to admit that acknowledging that we are subjective in our understandings is not the same as claiming that no moral standard is more valid than any other, then I’ll be happy to return to reading your comments in 2007.
Poor Dawn Eden December 23, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in Right-wingers, sex, wingnuts.1 comment so far
…I actually mean that. In her Salon interview, I really come away feeling that she’s a pathetic figure, in every sense of the word. She’s obviously bought into the patriarchal expectation for women to the extent that she can’t be happy, and can’t imagine anyone feeling different. So then of course she creates her blog and says that anyone who feels differently from her must be wrong, you know, because she’s so obviously right. Let’s trace the line of her troubles:
See, it’s only wrong when other people do it December 23, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in Religion, wingnuts.2 comments
That tends to be the usual fundie refrain–when other people preach their views, they’re tools of Satan. But when it’s a good fundie doing it, well, it must be God’s will. Take the fundie-popular activity of exploiting their children while stumping for their personal version of God.
Only one woman mumbled a complaint towards us. She suggested I was somehow exploiting my son… because you know us Christians… that’s why we have children… to exploit and get everything we can out of them (yes… I’m rolling my eyes now). I was actually expecting this charge. I had heard someone level this insult to a fellow street preacher when he had gone out with his 12-year-old son to do some evangelism. So it’s not like I was at all shocked by this woman’s harsh words. The fact of the matter is, it’s not anything else but the Gospel itself that she truly hated. The Lord have mercy on her soul.
Nope, I’m afraid it isn’t “the Gospel” she hates. I’m sure Rand would be horribly offended if a Muslim or a Catholic was using their child this way. But it’s okay, because, um, God said it was okay. But of course, that defense only works for God’s chosen. Now if only we could get everyone to agree on who that should be.
The problem isn’t exposing children to your views, it’s that using them to proselytize before they’re old enough to really make choices about religion for themselves is using them to promote your own agenda despite the fact that they’re clearly not old enough to be taking a stand for what you believe in of their own free will. And if it’s wrong for others, folks, it’s wrong for you too.
In honor of the holiday season… December 22, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in Religion, Science, wingnuts.2 comments
I continue to make fun of IDiots who continue to make stupid claims and hope no one notices. Memo to these folks: we notice, and we’re going to continue to call you on it. And what’s great about these people is that they ignore science–since the evidence for change in a population over time (evolution) is overwhelming–so that it’s no trouble for even non-scientists to pick apart their arguments on the basis of their logical flaws and lies alone.
Before I get to making fun of the blogger that Rockstars’ Ramblings affectionately labels “cocksnack,” I also want to make sure you know that the latest Skeptics’ Circle is up, and as always well worth the read.
Now, commence with derision:
Funny, I don’t see anyone wanting to burn the sistine chapel December 21, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in Religion, Science, wingnuts.2 comments
…but the anti-science crowd’s stupidity goes deeper than we thought. In the Dover trail where “intelligent design” was so thoroughly hammered by the facts, things apparently got off to a rough start well before the lawsuit.
There’s something metaphorically perfect about school officials ignoring the rules in order to burn a poster depicting human evolution because it offended them. Despite the Discovery Institute’s whining about being the ones who are silenced, it seems it’s always the creationists who want to silence those who disagree with them.
Connie Morris: nothing but class December 15, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in Religion, Science, wingnuts.2 comments
Morris’ final meeting as a member of the Kansas Board of Education was yesterday, and of course she couldn’t resist blaming everyone else for her failure to get reelected.
Morris might have been well advised to stop abusing taxpayer money and to making the state’s educational standards into an embarrassment. But you’ll never see her admit that: nope, it must be someone else’s fault. Is anyone else seeing a connection between her and Katherine Harris here?
Judge Moore: heapin’ on the crazy December 14, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in bigotry, News and politics, Religion, wingnuts.add a comment
You may Remember Roy Moore as the Alabama Supreme Court’s Chief Justice who decided to defy the Constitution, the laws of his state and even the consensus of his fellow Justices to illegally erect a monument of the Ten Commandments in front of the Courthouse at taxpayer expense.
But this pummeling of the Constitution wasn’t enough for Moore, who is crazier than crazy and who honestly wants a theocracy in the US. Don’t believe me? Well, now he thinks Muslims should not be allowed to serve in congress. His reasoning? Well, it’s because we’re a “Christian nation” of course. Naturally, his whole argument is built on lies, historical inaccuracies, and logical fallacies. But I don’t need to waste time frisking his terrible essay, since Ed Brayton has already swatted it away as though it were a pesky fly.
You don’t have to be a fundie to be a bigot, but it don’t hurt December 12, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in bigotry, Religion, wingnuts.2 comments
While perusing the painfully crazy Rapture Ready site, I came across this helpful bit of misogyny:
Does the Bible actually say that mothers should not work outside of the home?
First, Titus 2:5 does not specifically teach that just mothers are to be “keepers at home,” but it is applied to all young women.
Well, you can probably see where this is going, since the author went out of the way to make sure that whatever he’s about to say applies even if you haven’t let sperm magic make you pregnant. But it gets far, far worse.
Fundie “logic” finally resolved December 12, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in Religion, wingnuts.1 comment so far
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about why the ultra-religious fundie types are so confident in their beliefs, and why they’re so confident about their particular vision, not just their religion of choice, but for every single aspect of it. You rarely see a fundie saying things like “I could be wrong about this interpretation.” In fact, the more minor, petty, and lacking in evidence an idea is, the more desperately fundies will fight to preserve it. While I am not a mathematician, I believe the following formulation expresses the idea: x = 1/y where x is confidence and y is evidence. Put in MS Paint form, we have:
Will of the voters be damned, we’re Republicans! December 12, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in News and politics, Right-wingers, wingnuts.6 comments
The Republican leadership in Kansas’ Johnson County has picked fired AG Phil Kline to serve out the remainder of the term for the vacated seat of County AG. So, Kansas voters overwhelmingly reject the man–including voters in JC–and the Republicans respond by giving him the very job that, at the state level, he was booted from.
This is very good news, as it will serve to remind Kansas voters of why they dumped this idiot and his cronies in the first place. Kline will be as much a disaster as County AG as State AG, but fortunately he’ll be able to do less damage.
Let’s hear it for the far right, who don’t care if they lose! After all, when you’re getting marching orders from God, what does a little thing like Democracy matter?
