The Swamp

mister d wrote:Wait ... what??? Your kid goes to church???

Nah, but it was a friend's grandmother's memorial mass. Basically, you pay $250 and it's a normal mass except during the prayer of the faithful when they say to pray for those that we've lost, they just add "and especially ___ ______."

Just as much WTF as I remembered though. The homily was about the virtues of silence and the priest went off on runners who wear ear buds because they fear silence because they know that it will bring them closer to God.

Jerloma wrote:So there's this show on ABC called "What Would You Do?" The premise is that they put people in "real life" situations to see how they react. For instance they have a person at a store clearly stealing something and see if any of the customers will say anything. Shit like that. So people in the secular community are a little bullshit over this one from Friday night with the nice Christian family praying in a restaurant and the angry atheist chick getting all bent out of shape. It's kind of funny though...

They played this game with Muslims a little while back:



People stepped in. Even a military dude. There was one guy who agreed with the guy though.

Jerloma wrote:...the priest went off on runners who wear ear buds because they fear silence because they know that it will bring them closer to God.

Nailed it. Of course, I'm not fond of hearing voices that aren't there any time really.

He was actually really close to the reason so many of us wear them in public.

Johnnie wrote:

Jerloma wrote:So there's this show on ABC called "What Would You Do?" The premise is that they put people in "real life" situations to see how they react. For instance they have a person at a store clearly stealing something and see if any of the customers will say anything. Shit like that. So people in the secular community are a little bullshit over this one from Friday night with the nice Christian family praying in a restaurant and the angry atheist chick getting all bent out of shape. It's kind of funny though...

They played this game with Muslims a little while back:



People stepped in. Even a military dude. There was one guy who agreed with the guy though.

Well, that's the opposite. Muslims, like atheists (although not nearly as much), are a distrusted minority. The same game would be a Muslim coming into the store and telling the redneck to get the fuck out of his country.

Jerloma wrote: Well, that's the opposite. Muslims, like atheists (although not nearly as much), are a distrusted minority. The same game would be a Muslim coming into the store and telling the redneck to get the fuck out of his country.

Which would also never happen. I refuse to watch the clip, as I know it is only going to piss me off (I'm learning!). This pisses me off, as it legitimizes the ridiculous notion that Atheists want to prevent Christians from practicing their religion, and force everyone to practice Atheists' religion. No Atheist would ever give a fuck if a Christian said grace in a restaurant. If a restaurant forced everyone to say grace or else refused to serve them, that is another story. I am so sick of people failing to grasp the logic of simple comparisons.

Last weekend, the KKK held some sort of Confederate flag rally. There was an amazing picture of a Klansman confronted by a black guy, and it appears the Klansman pissed himself. Lots of comments about how the media/Liberals call the KKK dude a bigot and hater, yet they refuse to call the black guy a bigot even though they are doing the same thing. They can't see the difference between fomenting hate, and standing up to hate. The KKK lynched people because of their race. Black people shout down racism, and that makes them equally guilty of racism? Lots of people calling the Black Lives Matter movement racist, too. How did standing up for equal rights become oppression of the majority? Same goes for the "gay agenda" being hateful and bigoted anti-Christian. I've seen articles proclaiming the Gay Pride flag is equally hateful as the Confederate flag, and it is hypocritical to call for the removal of the Confederate flag, but not the Pride flag.

Some guy wrote a book two years ago claiming to disprove evolution. Needless to say, his theory was never submitted for scientific peer review.



In a book review he wrote for the NYT in 1989, Richard Dawkins wrote this...

“It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I’d rather not consider that).”

The dude is now suing Dawkins for 58 million dollars!

… Plaintiff Karl L. Dahlstrom not only does not believe in Evolution, but he is the only individual on earth in the history of man that has scientifically disproven Evolution. This makes Karl L. Dahlstrom the number one candidate for Richard Dawkins attack, even though Karl L. Dahlstrom, i.e., the “somebody”, could not be ignorant, stupid, or insane or wicked as scientifically proven by the book, The Organized Universe by Karl L. Dahlstrom with C. Phillip Clegg. Thus, the allegations or accusations/statement that Karl L. Dahlstrom, i.e. “somebody”, who does not believe in Evolution is ignorant, stupid, or insane or wicked is totally incorrect and false with results being a tort or worse against the Plaintiff Karl L. Dahlstrom. Richard Dawkins has caused millions of persons to be prejudiced and biased against Karl L. Dahlstrom and injured his reputation and subjected him to hatred, contempt, ridicule and financial injury from persons not exposed to the truth about Darwinian Evolution and the position Plaintiff Karl L. Dahlstrom has taken on this issue.

The pope has an approval rating? That makes no sense whatsoever.

P.D.X. wrote:The pope has an approval rating? That makes no sense whatsoever.

Unless it's 100. Most people grant the pope no moral authority so they don't get a say. That leaves about a billion Catholics. According to Catholic dogma, the pope is infallible so any defect in his approval rating would not be because of him being a shitty pope, but because of you being a shitty Catholic.

Christian group is dropping bibles into North Korea via balloon knowing well that owning a bible in North Korea will get you executed.

"In North Korea, even children are aware of the risks of possessing a Bible. Even socks, clothes or food are dangerous. People who pick up a Bible know their choice is very risky, they could probably end up being executed," said the Rev. Eric Foley, CEO of VOM Korea to NK News, explaining the dangers of owning a Bible in the Communist state.

But those poor, godless Korean trash need to be saved!

brian wrote:But those poor, godless Korean trash need to be saved!

In this fantastic book about North Korea, a South Korean born, American raised writer gets a job teaching English at a school in North Korea for the sons of the country's elite. The school was set up by an evangelical organization out of the States and was largely staffed by true believers from around the world.



The Christians in the book come across as being sincere and largely very naive. They know the harsh truths of the country, but believe that they are somehow setting the stage for the birth of a new Christian nation.

Pruitt wrote:
The Christians in the book come across as being sincere and largely very naive. They know the harsh truths of the country, but believe that they are somehow setting the stage for the birth of a new Christian nation.

Very true, but I had the impression the author's personal views made the portrayal of these missionaries exaggerated these characteristics a bit. Especially her closes companion who seemed shocked the author was not a true believer, and cut off their friendship and trust.

Pruitt wrote:The Christians in the book come across as being sincere and largely very naive. They know the harsh truths of the country, but believe that they are somehow setting the stage for the birth of a new Christian nation.

It's not out of the question at all. Christianity in itself is Totalitarian Dictatorship. The Kim Jongs are basically gods unto themselves. Those people are ripe for worship. Look at what Constantine did in Rome.

brian wrote:Detroit is the best.

Yeah but can you name one city in America that wouldn't be having a conniption over this?

Jerloma wrote:

brian wrote:Detroit is the best.

Yeah but can you name one city in America that wouldn't be having a conniption over this?

No, of course not. It's a perfect lesson in teaching (or trying, probably unsuccessfully) Christians what religion freedom truly is. Of course, very few of them get the point as usual.

Star Talk with Neil degrasse Tyson had a Jesuit priest as a guest a couple days ago. NdT interviewed Richard Dawkins and played that interview as taking points for the podcast. It was interesting.

TIL the pope is the first Jesuit pope ever, has a degree in chemistry, and was once a bouncer at a club.

Mormons show off magic stone.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/a ... -of-mormon

The Confession of Arian Foster

Decent read. However...

God wrote:Sorry about your groin, bro

Not many people will even bother to read that but he is one refreshing dude. I think the only other guy I can recall saying he's an atheist in that league is Fouts and I don't even know if that's when he was still playing.

One minor grievance...

I believe in science.

Science is a method used for understanding how nature works. It does not require your belief. It's as nonsensical as saying that you believe in pepperoni.

Jerloma wrote: It's as nonsensical as saying that you believe in pepperoni.

But I DO believe in pepperoni!

This unbelievable if you have 20 minutes to kill.

Jerloma wrote:This unbelievable if you have 20 minutes to kill.

Now there's a church I can get behind.

They'll probably raise 50 million dollars and save the homeless or something.

A_B wrote:They'll probably raise 50 million dollars and save the homeless or something.

If you go to Oliver's church's Web site (http://www.ourladyofperpetualexemption.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), it says if/when the church dissolves it will donate all of its assets to Doctors Without Borders.

In an extraordinary admission of wrongdoing, a priest sought by authorities in New Jersey has acknowledged engaging in a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old boy, but he deflected blame for the incident by saying the teen "wanted" it and had "evil in his mind."

link

Sorry Rass. The Swamp can only work up contempt over child sexual abuse for sandwich mascots and assistant football coaches. The massive international pederasty ring run by that criminal organization that people still willingly give 10% of their income to will get you nothing but sighs and eye rolls.

I was just about to post a defense of both the priest and organized christianity in general but J-Lo covered it. Thanks, J-Lo!

Don't worry, J-Lo; the end is nigh:

God Announces Plans To Slowly Wean Humans Off Religion

THE HEAVENS—Saying that the various belief systems had a “good run” over the last few millennia but that it was probably time for humans to get by on their own, the Lord Our God, He Who Is Seen And Unseen, proclaimed Monday that He would begin slowly weaning humanity off religion.

“Religion was definitely helpful for humans when they first started out, but now it seems like it’s pretty much served its purpose—time to take the training wheels off,” said God, who argued that while the transition from religion might be difficult for a large segment of the population, ultimately humankind would be better off without it in the long run.

“It’s not like I’m going to get rid of religion all in one go or anything; I’ll wind it down gradually over the next 500 years or so. Really, when you take a good look at it, the negatives are starting to outweigh the positives anyway.”

At press time, God was implementing the first stage of His plan by effecting the opposite outcome of every prayer He received.

Glover Quin thinks God wanted Jordy Nelson to tear his ACL.

I hated Jordy got hurt, but in my beliefs, and the way I believe, it was — God meant for Jordy to get hurt,” said Quin, a devoted Christian. “So if he wouldn’t have got hurt today, if he wouldn’t have played in that game, if he wouldn’t have practiced anymore, and the next time he walked on the field would have been opening day, I feel like he would have got hurt opening day.

While I'm not going to defend the twisted logic there, it's pretty consistent with what you'd have to believe if you really believe God gives a shit who wins a football game. If God wants you to get hurt you're gonna get hurt. The head-scratching part is how anyone could believe any of it of course.

That's when you balltap Glover Quin and see if he's self aware enough to know you were implying god wanted him to get balltapped.

Jerloma wrote:Glover Quin thinks God wanted Jordy Nelson to tear his ACL.

I hated Jordy got hurt, but in my beliefs, and the way I believe, it was — God meant for Jordy to get hurt,” said Quin, a devoted Christian. “So if he wouldn’t have got hurt today, if he wouldn’t have played in that game, if he wouldn’t have practiced anymore, and the next time he walked on the field would have been opening day, I feel like he would have got hurt opening day.

God created preseason so he could injure players and give teams time to adjust before Week 1. God wants us to enjoy NFL games, which is why he doesn't injure players during the season.

A truly benevolent God would have torn Terrell Suggs' ACL.

I have some very orthodox Jewish neighbours who give thanks and pray for everything, from waking up in the morning to lying down at night.

I just can't get up the nerve to ask if they give thanks after a satisfying dump.

Pruitt wrote:I have some very orthodox Jewish neighbours who give thanks and pray for everything, from waking up in the morning to lying down at night.

I just can't get up the nerve to ask if they give thanks after a satisfying dump.

I'm not very orthodox, but that's one of the few things in life that warrant sincere thanks, IMO.

This is a good example of how low atheists are still viewed among the general public. There's this big mayoral race going on in Nashville, and one of the candidates started a campaign "accusing" the other one of being an atheist. Now, I understand that you'd have a hard time winning an election anywhere in this country as an atheist, let alone Nashville so this is something that she'd want to respond to. You'd think just clarifying that it's not true would be sufficient though? Wait for it...

“There have been a lot of comments from my opponent and a lot of really not nice things said about me,” Barry said. “So let me just start off with, I’m a Christian."

“My faith is something I will always take with me into the mayor’s office,” she said. “I know this is such a pivotal election for Nashville. We’ve already seen what a Super PAC will do and what a Super PAC is capable of talking about. I would like to reach out to Bordeaux, where a minister recently received an anonymous call saying I want you to make sure you tell your church that Megan is an atheist.

“That’s just hurtful, and I wish we were in a place that this wasn’t the kind of campaign that was going to be run, but I don’t think it is. As we move forward, I need all of you to help me get out the vote.”

What the hell is that shit? This isn't even a devout person and she feels the need to attack atheists, when it's the Christian dude who lied in the first place.

For those of you rolling your eyes, pretend for a second that she was "accused" of being black, or Jewish, or gay, and her response was that they were saying mean and hurtful things about her. What kind of public backlash would ensue? Atheist though? Have at it. It's fucking bullshit.

Jerloma wrote:Glover Quin thinks God wanted Jordy Nelson to tear his ACL.

I hated Jordy got hurt, but in my beliefs, and the way I believe, it was — God meant for Jordy to get hurt,” said Quin, a devoted Christian. “So if he wouldn’t have got hurt today, if he wouldn’t have played in that game, if he wouldn’t have practiced anymore, and the next time he walked on the field would have been opening day, I feel like he would have got hurt opening day.

I guess God didn't want you to bat this ball down, asshole:

He had a huge interception to beat New Orleans last year though so God got him back.