Dr George Tiller murdered May 31, 2009
Posted by Evil Bender in constiutional issues, News and politics, reproductive rights.3 comments
As you’ve probably already heard, Doctor George Tiller was shot to death this morning. There had been at least one previous attempt on Tiller’s life, and numerous threats, yet he continued to offer one of the rarest medical services, late-term abortions, at great personal risk. He will be greatly missed.
No doubt those, like Bill O’Reilly, who spew political rhetoric which encourages this sort of terrorism will continue to do so, while officially decrying the terrorists who commit these acts.
Sadly, I think we can expect to see an increase in this sort of violence as the far right, increasingly irrelevant in mainstream American discourse, will continue to implicitly (and in some cases explicitly) endorse terrorism, and some particularly evil or unwell people will act on those endorsements.
A tale of two speeches May 21, 2009
Posted by Evil Bender in Atheism, Religion.4 comments
I present the following as an observation about the differences between us mean atheists and reasonable religious people.
Last week I attended a honors society dinner at my University. The speaker was a nice business and accounting professor who spoke in vague platitudes, as is the near universally-accepted method at events like these. Then, for his last point of the night, he began by saying “I know this is a public University, but…” and I knew we were in trouble. Sure enough, he went on to say that he hoped we didn’t wait for times to get tough before we “darkened the door of a church, temple or mosque.”
Now I expect vague religious sentiments at these sorts of events, and they generally do not bother me. But this was different: he obviously thought he was being inclusive, but not only was he (as is usual in American society) leaving out the godless, he was also being dismissive of anyone whose belief systems don’t involve spending weekends inside buildings having someone who dresses funny tell you how to live your life. He wasn’t just endorsing connection with one’s “spirituality” or vague religiosity: no, he wanted to urge his audience to participate in organized religion.
Imagine the reaction if he’d instead asked his readers to “darken the door” or a CCommunist Party meeting or a gathering of John Birch society loons.
But what struck me most about this speech was that our speaker’s faux-inclusiveness stood in sharp relief against another speech: PZ Myers’ commencement speech to the Keck School of Medicine. Quoth PZ:
Go ahead, be offensive. I’m offensive all the time, and I’ve got reams of hate mail to prove it. I say that women should have the right to decide what to do with their own bodies, and are just as good at science as men, and the angry mail streams in. I say that gay people should have the same rights as straight people, and I have offended a vocal horde right there. I say that all religion is foolish tosh and an affront to reason and the dignity of humankind, and boy, do I get outraged letters. And it’s all good. You don’t have to agree with everything I say, because the role of the public intellectual is to spark the argument and provoke change, not to dictate it. Do it.
PZ has a well-earned reputation of being an outspoken atheist and harsh critic of religion, a role he is exceptionally good at. He’s one of the mean “new atheists,” we’re told on a regular basis, who wants to shove his atheism down others throat. Yet PZ, mean ogre atheist general, encourages those who disagree with him to speak out. He makes no effort at conversion: quote the opposite! He wants a vocal public debate. Such is the sin of the new atheists.
Meanwhile, as PZ is advocating discussion and encouraging dissent, Mr Nice Professor at the honors dinner is blathering about how important it is to participate in organized religion, making no allowances for the non-religious or those whose religious path differs from organized hierarchical models.
Admittedly, this is only one comparison, but it’s part of a larger pattern I see: atheists are told we’re big meanies for expressing our opinions, while religious people routinely proselytize for their worldview, insist that our only hope is to share their belief in superstition, and demean and exclude atheists from the public discourse wherever possible. Not all religious folks do it, but a lot of them do, and religiosity is so culturally ingrained that they don’t even seem to realize they’re doing it.
Which is to say, this sort of interaction is something to keep in mind the next time you see someone ripping atheists for being nasty and mean.
Shorter Eric Hovind May 21, 2009
Posted by Evil Bender in Religion, Science, wingnuts.1 comment so far
- Here I am, stuck at the bottom of this deep hole with only a shovel. Godless scientists claim that I dug my way here, but they can’t explain how that’s possible since I can’t even reach the top of the whole. How could I dig way up there? You tell me!
[h/t PZ]
No wonder wingnuts are opposed to empathy May 21, 2009
Posted by Evil Bender in News and politics, wingnuts.1 comment so far
…they just can’t do it well. Over in California, where an extremist wingnut minority is taking a horrible situation and using it, along with a set of rules designed to cripple government effectiveness, to hold the state hostage.
But of course they feel really bad about it:”I would do a bigger number of layoffs,” [Meg] Whitman told the Roseville Chamber of Commerce last week.
“The most important thing is we have to get a government that the citizens of California can afford,” she said later in an interview with the Sacramento Bee. “And as badly as I feel about the 30,000 or 40,000 people that will lose their jobs, I feel even more badly for the millions of Californians who are paying higher taxes, who are looking at a state that is not working.”
That’s right. Screw 40,000 unemployed people in an economy with no jobs: the important thing is that no one pays higher taxes ever. Maybe we could take a survey and see if those who are being laid off would rather have higher taxes and a job or lower taxes and no job.
[h/t]
Dear Bernard Ayotte, (R-Bigotsville) May 7, 2009
Posted by Evil Bender in bigotry, wingnuts.3 comments
Rep. Bernard Ayotte, a Republican, said he couldn’t support the legislation because it would provide legal protections to people whom he said suffered from hormonal imbalances causing same-sex attractions.
“By all indications, homosexuality in human beings seems to be generated by imbalances in the human body,” he said. “As legislators, it is important that we do not base our statutes on genetic aberrations.”
“All indications,” of course, means “shit he picked up from a guy hot on the trail of Obama’s REAL Indonesian/Kenyan/Muslim/Atheist birth certificate.” But really, someone who isn’t completely stupid should get into Ayotte’s ear and get him to clarity if he thinks homosexuality is a genetic defect or a hormonal imbalance. If he’s going to make embarrassing claims, he could at least keep them straight.
Not that it would do any good, because even if the science actually backed him, what difference would it make? If LGBT folks were genetically and hormonally different, would that make it okay to deny them equal protection under the law? (While I’m typing this, somewhere, a creationist is accusing all evolutionists of being eugenicists, no doubt.)
Also, hasn’t the argument from the far right traditionally been that being gay is a choice? What happened? Was that explanation for bigotry not polling well?
So what is your point, Mr. Ayotte? It couldn’t just be that you’re a bigot cloaking your bigotry in a veneer of pseudo-science, could it?
Ayotte added that his lack of support for the legislation shouldn’t be interpreted as discrimination against gay people.
He doesn’t want to discriminate against gay people, he just thinks they inferior and don’t deserve equal protection under the law. That clears that right up.
Obama keeps some distance from National Day of Prayer…c May 7, 2009
Posted by Evil Bender in Atheism, Religion, wingnuts.5 comments
…cue wingnut freakout (warning: link goes to the Washington Times):
President Obama is distancing himself from the National Day of Prayer by nixing a formal early morning service and not attending a large Catholic prayer breakfast the next morning.
All Mr. Obama will do for the National Day of Prayer, which is Thursday, is sign a proclamation honoring the day, which originated in 1952 when Congress set aside the first Thursday in May for the observance. …
Obama White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that the president is simply reverting back to pre-Bush administration practice.
Good for the President. Naturally, the wingnut freakout fest has already begun. It appears that someone forgot to tell the fine folks at Concerned Women for America that the public didn’t buy their attempts to slander Obama, that he’s far more popular than they are, and that their attempts to smear him just ensure the continued irrelevance of their lying extremist asses.
“For those of us who have our doubts about Obama’s faith, no, we did not expect him to have the service,” said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America. “But as president, he should put his own lack of faith aside and live up to the office.”
Referencing a remark the president made at a recent press conference in Turkey that Americans “do not consider ourselves a Christian nation,” she added: “That was projecting his own beliefs, but not reflecting what the majority of Americans feel. It’s almost like Obama is trying to remake America into his own image. This is not a rejection of Shirley Dobson; it’s a rejection of the concept that America is a spiritual nation and its foundation is Judeo-Christian.”
Free tip for you, Ms Wright: announcing that you’re a wacko conspiracy theorist convinced Obama is some kind of Muslim Atheist Communist Libertarian Vampire is a fine way to make yourself look like an idiot and hurt your cause. On behalf of non-religious folks everywhere who are tired of having your BS shoved down our throats, let me just say: thanks for helping our cause!
Or, more simply put, as John Cole has it: Suck it, wingnuts. Maybe if you promise to hold the event facing Mecca next year, Obama will show up.”
In related news, I received the following email on my university’s listserv yesterday:
Dear colleagues,
Thursday, May 7, is the National Day of Prayer. On behalf of a prayer
group of faculty, staff and students which meets each week over the
lunch hour on Thursdays, I’d like to invite you to join us in a time of
prayer for our campus, city, state, country and world.The theme for this year’s National Day of Prayer is “Prayer …
America’s Hope!” This is based on Psalm 33:22, which says, “May Your
unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in You.”We will meet tomorrow (Thurs.) from 12:00-1:00 p.m. in the chapel (east
of [redacted]). If you can’t be there the entire time, please feel free to
come late/leave early as necessary.We hope you can join us!
Sincerely,
{redacted]
PS: Please feel free to pass this invitation along to others who’d be
interested as well. Thank you!
I can’t decide if this is a deliberate attempt to be non-inclusive, or just completely tone deaf. One thing’s for sure: I’d be more irritated if I wasn’t too busy being amused with the idea that “prayer” is “America’s hope.” Up next: burnt offerings and astrology are America’s hope!
So much for States’ rights, eh, Mr. Steele? May 6, 2009
Posted by Evil Bender in bigotry, wingnuts.2 comments
Here’s a free tip for the embattled supposed leader of the Republicans, Michael Steele: ignoring the supposed importance of “states rights” when the states don’t act the way you want is a good way to confirm to everyone that your party is still a hypocritical, bigoted bunch of losers.
I’m sure you’ll remember your commitment on this issue next time you need something from Governor Perry.
Pat Robertson’s Relationship Advice May 6, 2009
Posted by Evil Bender in Atheism, Religion, wingnuts.add a comment
…dump your supportive long-time boyfriend/fiancee because he’s an atheist:
This would be hilarious if it were not for the poor woman asking for his advice. In my experience, new converts to religions, and evangelical Christianity in particular, often feel the need to demonstrate their devotion by being completely inflexible about their newfound faith. I’ve often seen new believers adopt positions so extreme that they make even fanatical long-time believers nervous. So I have to say that I fear she may listen to the ghoulish Robertson, or feel guilt for not taking his advice.
A wiser man than Robertson might realize that long-term, loving, mutually supportive relationships are rare, and encouraging people to end relationships that make them happy just makes you a colossal Douchebag.
So once again I must say Fuck You, Pat Robertson, and your evil advice, you misery-spreading asshole.
[h/t]
Update: Fixed silly misattribution. D’oh!
Shorter Amity Shlaes May 6, 2009
Posted by Evil Bender in News and politics, wingnuts.3 comments
“Obama Democrats Accent Bullying Over Governing“
- Now that Democrats have won, they’re bigger meanies than ever. LEAVE MICHELE BACHMANN ALONE! The real problem is that voters elected a liberal and now it turns out he’s a liberal, like FDR. Also, buy my book.
———-
Shlaes’ evidence consists of a personal shot at Jindal by an apparently minor blogger, obviously true claims about Bachmann, and people pointing out that Cantor is a lying ass. Also, see the masters at work.
