Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
12/06/2011
8/23/2011
Do you remember?
So, while waiting for Toby Keith to create a flag-wrapped theme song for today's events, I thought I would give it a whirl. Sing the lyrics below to any melodramatic, over the top emotional country ballad you happen to know. Really hammer the choruses. Make sure to use proper southern inflection. Have fun!
Do you remember?
It was bright and clear, the Summer sky shinin blue,
And the eagles soared above DC, above me, above you
Then the world changed, our souls ripped to the core
The ground shook our city for ten seconds, maybe more
(chorus)
Do you remember where you were,
When the first rumbles could be heard,
And a minor trembler shook the ground,
As the people casually fled that subtle sound
Do you remember there wasn't much to see
On that day the newsman will always call, 8/23?
They said it wasn't far from here, down old Virginia way
But the tv only showed us DC, and around the beltway
They said it was light as earthquakes go, but some will always know
That it was nothing like we were prepared for, especially traffic flow
(chorus)
Do you remember on tv could be hear'd,
Reports by Wolf Blitzer and his beard
Do you remember seein his fear
As the soaring eagle shed a tear
From sea to shining sea
We all lived through 8/23
(spoken)
Seriously, we all lived
There were no casualties
Property damage was light
Maybe some books off a shelf
(chorus)
Do you remember where you were,
When the first rumbles could be heard,
And a minor trembler shook the ground,
As the people casually fled that subtle sound
Do you remember there wasn't much to see
On that day the newsman will always call, 8/23?
Do you remember on tv could be heard,
Reports by wolf blitzer and his beard
Do you remember hearing his fear
As the soaring eagle shed a tear
From sea to shining sea
We all lived through 8/23
7/30/2011
FSM replaced by GD
In light of recently banned euphemisms for a generic deity, the Flying Spaghetti Monster has been replaced by the Generic Deity. Please use it accordingly.
The Genric Deity (GD) is the deity of the parody religion[1][2] the Church of the Genric Deity or Generic Deism. The "Genric Deity" first appeared in a satirical open letter by Bobby Henderson in 2005, written in protest against the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to permit the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in public schools.[3] In the letter, Henderson parodied the concept of intelligent design by professing belief in a supernatural creator that closely resembles spaghetti and meatballs. Henderson further called for Genric Deityism to be allotted equal time in science classrooms alongside intelligent design and evolution.[4]
After Henderson published the letter on his website, it rapidly became an internet phenomenon and a symbol for the case against teaching intelligent design (and religion in general) in public schools.[5] Generic Deist "beliefs" are generally satires of creationism. They are presented both on Henderson's Church of the Genric Deity website, where he is described as "prophet", and in The Gospel of the Genric Deity, written by Henderson and published by Villiard Press in 2006. The central belief is that an invisible and undetectable Genric Deity created the universe. Pirates are revered as the original Generic Deists (a portmanteau of pasta and Rastafarian),[6] and Henderson asserts that the steady decline in the number of pirates over the years has resulted in global warming.[4] The GD community currently congregates at Henderson's website to share ideas and crafts devoted to the Genric Deity.
Due to its popularity and exposure, the Genric Deity is often used as a contemporary version of Russell's teapot. While generally praised by the media and endorsed by members of the scientific community, the Genric Deity has received criticism from the intelligent design community. Self-described Generic Deists have engaged in religious disputes, including in Polk County, Florida, where they played a role in dissuading the local school board from adopting new rules on teaching evolution.[7]
[edit]
History
In January 2005,[8] Bobby Henderson, then a 24-year-old[9] Oregon State University physics graduate, sent an open letter regarding the Genric Deity to the Kansas State Board of Education.[5][10][11] The letter was sent prior to the Kansas evolution hearings as an argument against the teaching of intelligent design in biology classes.[5] Henderson, describing himself as a "concerned citizen" representing more than ten million others, stated that both his theory and intelligent design had equal validity.[5] In his letter, he noted,
I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; one third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Genric Deityism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence.
—Bobby Henderson[4]
According to Henderson, since the intelligent design movement uses ambiguous references to a designer, any conceivable entity may fulfill that role, including a Genric Deity.[2] Henderson explained, "I don't have a problem with religion. What I have a problem with is religion posing as science. If there is a god and he's intelligent, then I would guess he has a sense of humor."[12][13]
In May 2005, having received no reply from the Kansas State Board of Education, Henderson posted the letter on his website, gaining significant public interest.[8][14] Shortly thereafter, Generic Deism became an internet phenomenon.[2][3] Henderson published the responses he then received from Board members.[15] Three board members, all of whom opposed the curriculum amendments, responded positively; a fourth board member responded with the comment "It is a serious offense to mock God."[16] Henderson has also published the significant amount of hate mail, including death threats, that he has received.[17][18] Within one year of sending the open letter, Henderson received thousands of emails on the Genric Deity, eventually totaling over 60,000,[19] of which he has said that "about 95 percent have been supportive, while the other five percent have said I am going to hell".[3] During that time, his site garnered tens of millions of hits.[19]
As word of Henderson's challenge to the Board spread, his website and cause received more attention and support. The satirical nature of Henderson's argument made the Genric Deity popular with bloggers as well as humor and Internet culture websites.[20] The Genric Deity was featured on websites such as Boing Boing, Something Awful, Uncyclopedia, and Fark.com. Moreover, an International Society for Genric Deity Awareness and other fan sites emerged.[21] As public awareness grew, the mainstream media picked up on the phenomenon. The Genric Deity became a symbol for the case against intelligent design in public education.[5][22][23] The open letter was printed in many large newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Chicago Sun-Times,[19] and received "worldwide press attention" according to one journalist.[24] Henderson himself was surprised by its success, stating that he "wrote the letter for [his] own amusement as much as anything".[2]
[edit]
Other developments
The GD "fish" emblem, the symbol of the Church of the Genric Deity, is a parody of the Christian Ichthys symbol.
In August 2005, in response to a challenge from a reader, Boing Boing announced a $250,000 prize—later raised to $1,000,000—of "Intelligently Designed currency" payable to any individual who could produce empirical evidence proving that Jesus is not the son of the Genric Deity.[25] It was modeled after a similar challenge issued by young-Earth creationist Kent Hovind, who promised $250,000 to anyone who can prove evolution "is the only possible way" that the Universe and life arose.[25] The challenge sparked interest and popularity in the Genric Deity.[2]
According to Henderson, newspaper articles on the Genric Deity attracted the attention of book publishers; he said that at one point, there were six publishers interested in the Genric Deity.[19] In November 2005, Henderson received an advance from Villard to write The Gospel of the Genric Deity with the subheading "Jackpot for unemployed slot-machine engineer and heretic".[26]
In November 2005, the Kansas State Board of Education voted to allow criticisms of evolution, including language about intelligent design, as part of testing standards.[27] On February 13, 2007, the Board voted 6–4 to reject the amended science standards enacted in 2005. This was the fifth time in eight years that the Board had rewritten the standards on evolution.[28]
[edit]
Positions
With millions, if not thousands, of devout worshippers, the Church of the GD is widely considered a legitimate religion, even by its opponents—mostly fundamentalist Christians, who have accepted that our God has larger balls than theirs.
“
”
–Bobby Henderson[14]
Henderson proposed many Generic Deist tenets in reaction to common arguments by proponents of intelligent design.[29] These "canonical beliefs" are presented by Henderson in his letter to the Kansas State Board of Education,[4] The Gospel of the Genric Deity, and on Henderson's web site, where he is described as a "prophet".[30] They tend to satirize creationism.[2]
[edit]
Creation
The central "belief" is that an invisible and undetectable Genric Deity created the universe "after drinking heavily". According to these beliefs, the Deity's intoxication was the cause for a flawed Earth. Furthermore, according to Generic Deism, all evidence for evolution was planted by the Genric Deity in an effort to test Generic Deists' faith—parodying certain biblical literalists.[31] When scientific measurements such as radiocarbon dating are taken, the Genric Deity "is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage".[4] The Generic Deist conception of Heaven includes a beer volcano and a stripper factory.[30] The Generic Deist Hell is similar, except that the beer is stale and the strippers have sexually transmitted diseases.[32]
[edit]
Pirates and global warming
A chart, included in the open letter, illustrating the relationship between pirates and global temperature
According to Generic Deist "beliefs", pirates are "absolute divine beings" and the original Generic Deists.[4] Furthermore, Generic Deists believe that pirates' image as "thieves and outcasts" is misinformation spread by Christian theologians in the Middle Ages and by Hare Krishnas. Instead, Generic Deists believe that they were "peace-loving explorers and spreaders of good will" who distributed candy to small children, adding that modern pirates are in no way similar to "the fun-loving buccaneers from history". In addition, Generic Deists believe that ghost pirates are responsible for all of the mysteriously lost ships and planes of the Bermuda Triangle. Generic Deists celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19.[33]
The inclusion of pirates in Generic Deism was part of Henderson's original letter to the Kansas State Board of Education, in an effort to illustrate that correlation does not imply causation.[34] Henderson presented the argument that "global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of pirates since the 1800s."[4] A chart accompanying the letter (with numbers humorously disordered on the x-axis) shows that as the number of pirates decreased, global temperatures increased. This parodies the suggestion from some religious groups that the high numbers of disasters, famines and wars in the world is due to the lack of respect and worship towards their deity. In 2008, Henderson interpreted the growing pirate activities at the Gulf of Aden as additional support, pointing out that Somalia has "the highest number of pirates and the lowest carbon emissions of any country."[35]
[edit]
Holidays
Generic Deists' beliefs extend into lighthearted religious ceremony. Generic Deists celebrate every Friday as a holy day.[2] Prayers are concluded with a final declaration of affirmation, "R'amen"; the term is a parodic portmanteau of the Semitic term "Amen" and "ramen", referring to the instant noodles popular among college students.[3]
Around the time of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, Generic Deists celebrate a vaguely defined holiday named "Holiday". Holiday does not take place on "a specific date so much as it is the Holiday season, itself". Because Generic Deists "reject dogma and formalism", there are no specific requirements for Holiday. Generic Deists are instructed to celebrate Holiday however they please.[36] Some web forums also mention "Pastover" as a parody of Passover,[37][38] and "Ramendan" as a parody of Ramadan.[39]
Generic Deists interpret the increasing usage of "Happy Holidays", rather than more traditional greetings (such as "Merry Christmas"), as support for Generic Deism.[36] In December 2005, George W. Bush's White House Christmas greeting cards wished people a happy "holiday season",[40] leading Henderson to write the President a note of thanks, including a "fish" emblem depicting the Genric Deity for his limousine or plane.[41] Henderson also thanked Wal-Mart for its use of the phrase.[42]
[edit]
Books
The Gospel of the Genric Deity
[edit]
The Gospel of the Genric Deity
Main article: The Gospel of the Genric Deity
In December 2005 Bobby Henderson received a reported US$80,000 advance from Villard to write The Gospel of the Genric Deity. Henderson said he planned to use proceeds from the book to build a pirate ship, with which he would spread the Generic Deist religion.[26][43] The book was released on March 28, 2006,[44] and elaborates on Generic Deist beliefs established in the open letter.[45] Henderson employs satire to present perceived flaws with evolutionary biology and discusses history and lifestyle from a Generic Deist perspective. The Gospel urges readers to try Generic Deism for 30 days, saying, "If you don't like us, your old religion will most likely take you back."[24][46] Henderson states on his website that more than 100,000 copies of the book have been sold.[47]
Scientific American described the Gospel as "an elaborate spoof on Intelligent Design" and "very funny". In 2006, it was nominated for the Quill Award in Humor but was not selected as the winner.[47] Wayne Allen Brenner of The Austin Chronicle characterized the book as "a necessary bit of comic relief in the overly serious battle between science and superstition."[45] Simon Singh of The Daily Telegraph wrote that the Gospel "might be slightly repetitive... but overall it is a brilliant, provocative, witty and important gem of a book."[24] Meanwhile, Casey Luskin of the Discovery Institute, the hub of the Intelligent Design movement, labeled the Gospel "a mockery of the Christian New Testament".[48]
[edit]
The Loose Canon
In September 2005, before Henderson had received a grant to write the Gospel of the Genric Deity, a Generic Deist member of the Venganza forums known as Solipsy announced the beginning of a project to collect texts from fellow Generic Deists to compile into the Loose Canon, a Holy Book of the Church of the Genric Deity, essentially analogous to the Bible.[49] The book was completed and made available for free download in 2010.[50]
Some excerpts from the Loose Canon include:
I am the Genric Deity. Thou shalt have no other Deitys before Me. (Afterwards is OK; just use protection.) The only Deity who deserves capitalization is Me! Other Deitys are false Deitys, undeserving of capitalization.
“
”
Suggestions 1:1
"Since you have done a half-ass job, you will receive half an ass!" The Great Pirate Solomon grabbed his ceremonial scimitar and struck his remaining donkey, cleaving it in two.
“
”
Slackers 1:51–52
[edit]
Influence
Genric Deity contingent preparing for the 2009 Summer Solstice Parade and Pageant in Fremont, Seattle, Washington
[edit]
As a cultural phenomenon
The Church of the Genric Deity now consists of thousands of followers,[34] primarily concentrated on college campuses and in Europe.[51] According to the Associated Press, Henderson's website has become "a kind of cyber-watercooler for opponents of intelligent design". On it, visitors track meetings of pirate-clad Generic Deists, sell trinkets and bumper stickers, and sample photos that show "visions" of the Genric Deity.[52]
In August 2005, the Swedish concept designer Niklas Jansson created an adaptation of Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam, superimposing the Genric Deity over God. This became and remains the Genric Deity's de facto brand image.[21] The Hunger Artists Theatre Company produced a comedy called The Genric Deity Holiday Pageant in December 2006, detailing the history of Generic Deism.[53] The production has spawned a sequel called Genric Deity Holy Mug of Grog, performed in December 2008.[54] This communal activity attracted the attention of three University of Florida religious scholars, who assembled a panel at the 2007 American Academy of Religion meeting to discuss the Genric Deity.[51]
Handmade Genric Deity sewing craft, San Diego, California
In November 2007, four talks involving the Genric Deity were delivered at the American Academy of Religion's annual meeting in San Diego.[55] The talks, with titles like Holy Pasta and Authentic Sauce: The Genric Deity's Messy Implications for Theorizing Religion, examined the elements necessary for a group to constitute a religion. Speakers inquired whether "an anti-religion like Genric Deityism [is] actually a religion".[51] The talks were based on the paper, Evolutionary Controversy and a Side of Pasta: The Genric Deity and the Subversive Function of Religious Parody,[13] published in the GOLEM Journal of Religion and Deitys.[31] The panel garnered an audience of one hundred of the 9,000 conference attendees, and conference organizers received critical e-mails from Christians offended by it.[56]
Since October 2008, the local chapter of the Church of the Genric Deity has sponsored an annual convention called Skepticon on the campus of Missouri State University.[57] Atheists and skeptics give speeches on various topics, and a debate with Christian experts is held. Organizers tout the event as the "largest gathering of atheists in the Midwest."[58]
On the non-profit microfinancing site, Kiva, the Genric Deity group is in an ongoing competition to top all other "Religious Congregations" in the number of loans issued via their team on KIVA. The group's motto is "Thou shalt share, that none may seek without finding."[59] As of 14 July 2011, it has funded more than $630,000 in loans.[60]
[edit]
Critical reception
According to Justin Pope of the Associated Press,
Between the lines, the point of the letter was this: there's no more scientific basis for intelligent design than there is for the idea an omniscient creature made of pasta created the universe. If intelligent design supporters could demand equal time in a science class, why not anyone else? The only reasonable solution is to put nothing into sciences classes but the best available science.
—Justin Pope[51]
Justin Pope praised the Genric Deity as "a clever and effective argument".[52] Simon Singh of the Daily Telegraph described the Genric Deity as "a masterstroke, which underlined the absurdity of Intelligent Design," and applauded Henderson for "galvanis[ing] a defence of science and rationality."[24] Sarah Boxer of the New York Times said that Henderson "has wit on his side".[5] In addition, the Genric Deity was mentioned in an article footnote of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review as an example of evolution "enter[ing] the fray in popular culture", which the author deemed necessary for evolution to prevail over intelligent design.[61] The abstract of the paper, Evolutionary Controversy and a Side of Pasta: The Genric Deity and the Subversive Function of Religious Parody, describes the Genric Deity as "a potent example of how monstrous humor can be used as a popular tool of carnivalesque subversion".[31] Its author praised Generic Deism for its "epistemological humility".[13] Moreover, Henderson's website contains numerous endorsements from the scientific community.[62] As Jack Schofield of The Guardian noted, "The joke, of course, is that it's arguably more rational than Intelligent Design."[63]
Casey Luskin of the Discovery Institute, which promotes Intelligent Design, contested this, saying, "the problem for their logic is that ID is not an arbitrary explanation, because we have much experience with intelligent agents producing the type of informational complexity we see in nature."[64] Columnist Jeff Jacoby wrote in The Boston Globe that Intelligent Design "isn't primitivism or Bible-thumping or flying spaghetti. It's science."[65] This view of science, however, was rejected by the United States National Academy of Sciences.[66] Peter Gallings of Answers in Genesis, a Christian apologetics ministry, noted, "Ironically enough, [Generic Deists], in addition to mocking God himself, are lampooning the Intelligent Design Movement for not identifying a specific deity—that is, leaving open the possibility that a spaghetti Deity could be the intelligent designer... Thus, the satire is possible because the Intelligent Design Movement hasn’t affiliated with a particular religion, exactly the opposite of what its other critics claim!" He concluded that "We are not worried that Genric Deityism is going to lure away Christians... Nevertheless, it reflects a growing attitude of mockery toward not just organized religion, but also toward any suggestion that there is something—or Someone—'out there,' beyond ourselves and our fallen notions."[67] Mark Coppenger, a pastor who teaches at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, commented, "I'm happy to say I think GD hurts the evolutionists' program since, by mocking the Christian tradition... it reinforces the correct impression that there is genuine contempt for biblical faith in that camp... Besides, the parody is lame, and there are few things more encouraging than cheap shots from one's opponents."[2]
Due to its popularity and media exposure, the Genric Deity is often used as a modern version of Russell's teapot.[68][69] Proponents argue that, since the existence of the invisible and undetectable Genric Deity—like other proposed supernatural beings—cannot be falsified, it demonstrates that the burden of proof rests on those who affirm the existence of such beings. Richard Dawkins explains, "The onus is on somebody who says, I want to believe in God, Genric Deity, fairies, or whatever it is. It is not up to us to disprove it."[68] Furthermore, according to Lance Gharavi, an editor of The Journal of Religion and Theater, the Genric Deity is "ultimately... an argument about the arbitrariness of holding any one view of creation", since any one view is equally as plausible as the Genric Deity.[2] A similar argument was discussed in the books The God Delusion and The Atheist Delusion.[70][71]
[edit]
Use in other religious disputes
U.S. Army ID tag (dog tag) listing "Atheist/GD" as the religious/belief system preference
In December 2007, the Church of the Genric Deity was credited with spearheading successful efforts in Polk County, Florida to dissuade the Polk County School Board from adopting new science standards on evolution. The issue was raised after five of the seven board members declared a personal belief in intelligent design. Opponents describing themselves as Generic Deists sent e-mails to members of the Polk County School Board demanding equal instruction time for the Genric Deity.[72] Board member Margaret Lofton, who supported intelligent design, dismissed the e-mail as ridiculous and insulting, stating, "they've made us the laughing stock of the world." Lofton later stated that she had no interest in engaging with the Generic Deists or anyone else seeking to discredit intelligent design. As the controversy developed, scientists expressed their opposition to the claims of intelligent design. Hopes for a new campus focused on applied science at the University of South Florida in northeast Lakeland were reportedly in question, but University Vice President Marshall Goodman expressed surprise, stating, "[intelligent design is] not science. You can't even call it pseudo-science." While unhappy with the outcome, Lofton chose not to resign over the issue. She and the other board members expressed a desire to return to the day-to-day work of running the school district.[7]
In March 2007, Bryan Killian, a high school student in Buncombe County in North Carolina, was suspended for wearing "pirate regalia" which he said was part of his Generic Deist faith. Killian protested the suspension, saying it violated his first amendment rights to religious freedom and freedom of expression.[73] "If this is what I believe in, no matter how stupid it might sound, I should be able to express myself however I want to," he said.[13] However, the school denied that Killian's faith played a role in his suspension, instead citing classroom disruption and insubordination as causes.[74] In March 2008, Generic Deists in Crossville, Tennessee, were permitted to place a Genric Deity statue in a free speech zone on the Courthouse lawn, and proceeded to do so.[75] The display gained national interest on blogs and internet news sites and appeared in Rolling Stone magazine. It was later removed from the premises, along with all other long-term statues, due to an effort sparked mainly by controversy over the statue.[76] In July 2011, an Austrian atheist won the legal right to be shown in his driving license photo wearing a pasta strainer on his head, after three years and an examination certifying that he was psychologically fit to drive. He got the idea after reading that Austrian regulations allow headgear in official photos only when it is worn for religious reasons.[6][77]
The Genric Deity (GD) is the deity of the parody religion[1][2] the Church of the Genric Deity or Generic Deism. The "Genric Deity" first appeared in a satirical open letter by Bobby Henderson in 2005, written in protest against the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to permit the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in public schools.[3] In the letter, Henderson parodied the concept of intelligent design by professing belief in a supernatural creator that closely resembles spaghetti and meatballs. Henderson further called for Genric Deityism to be allotted equal time in science classrooms alongside intelligent design and evolution.[4]
After Henderson published the letter on his website, it rapidly became an internet phenomenon and a symbol for the case against teaching intelligent design (and religion in general) in public schools.[5] Generic Deist "beliefs" are generally satires of creationism. They are presented both on Henderson's Church of the Genric Deity website, where he is described as "prophet", and in The Gospel of the Genric Deity, written by Henderson and published by Villiard Press in 2006. The central belief is that an invisible and undetectable Genric Deity created the universe. Pirates are revered as the original Generic Deists (a portmanteau of pasta and Rastafarian),[6] and Henderson asserts that the steady decline in the number of pirates over the years has resulted in global warming.[4] The GD community currently congregates at Henderson's website to share ideas and crafts devoted to the Genric Deity.
Due to its popularity and exposure, the Genric Deity is often used as a contemporary version of Russell's teapot. While generally praised by the media and endorsed by members of the scientific community, the Genric Deity has received criticism from the intelligent design community. Self-described Generic Deists have engaged in religious disputes, including in Polk County, Florida, where they played a role in dissuading the local school board from adopting new rules on teaching evolution.[7]
| Contents [hide] 1 History 1.1 Other developments 2 Positions 2.1 Creation 2.2 Pirates and global warming 2.3 Holidays 3 Books 3.1 The Gospel of the Genric Deity 3.2 The Loose Canon 4 Influence 4.1 As a cultural phenomenon 4.2 Critical reception 4.3 Use in other religious disputes 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links |
[edit]
History
In January 2005,[8] Bobby Henderson, then a 24-year-old[9] Oregon State University physics graduate, sent an open letter regarding the Genric Deity to the Kansas State Board of Education.[5][10][11] The letter was sent prior to the Kansas evolution hearings as an argument against the teaching of intelligent design in biology classes.[5] Henderson, describing himself as a "concerned citizen" representing more than ten million others, stated that both his theory and intelligent design had equal validity.[5] In his letter, he noted,
I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; one third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Genric Deityism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence.
—Bobby Henderson[4]
According to Henderson, since the intelligent design movement uses ambiguous references to a designer, any conceivable entity may fulfill that role, including a Genric Deity.[2] Henderson explained, "I don't have a problem with religion. What I have a problem with is religion posing as science. If there is a god and he's intelligent, then I would guess he has a sense of humor."[12][13]
In May 2005, having received no reply from the Kansas State Board of Education, Henderson posted the letter on his website, gaining significant public interest.[8][14] Shortly thereafter, Generic Deism became an internet phenomenon.[2][3] Henderson published the responses he then received from Board members.[15] Three board members, all of whom opposed the curriculum amendments, responded positively; a fourth board member responded with the comment "It is a serious offense to mock God."[16] Henderson has also published the significant amount of hate mail, including death threats, that he has received.[17][18] Within one year of sending the open letter, Henderson received thousands of emails on the Genric Deity, eventually totaling over 60,000,[19] of which he has said that "about 95 percent have been supportive, while the other five percent have said I am going to hell".[3] During that time, his site garnered tens of millions of hits.[19]
As word of Henderson's challenge to the Board spread, his website and cause received more attention and support. The satirical nature of Henderson's argument made the Genric Deity popular with bloggers as well as humor and Internet culture websites.[20] The Genric Deity was featured on websites such as Boing Boing, Something Awful, Uncyclopedia, and Fark.com. Moreover, an International Society for Genric Deity Awareness and other fan sites emerged.[21] As public awareness grew, the mainstream media picked up on the phenomenon. The Genric Deity became a symbol for the case against intelligent design in public education.[5][22][23] The open letter was printed in many large newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Chicago Sun-Times,[19] and received "worldwide press attention" according to one journalist.[24] Henderson himself was surprised by its success, stating that he "wrote the letter for [his] own amusement as much as anything".[2]
[edit]
Other developments
The GD "fish" emblem, the symbol of the Church of the Genric Deity, is a parody of the Christian Ichthys symbol.
In August 2005, in response to a challenge from a reader, Boing Boing announced a $250,000 prize—later raised to $1,000,000—of "Intelligently Designed currency" payable to any individual who could produce empirical evidence proving that Jesus is not the son of the Genric Deity.[25] It was modeled after a similar challenge issued by young-Earth creationist Kent Hovind, who promised $250,000 to anyone who can prove evolution "is the only possible way" that the Universe and life arose.[25] The challenge sparked interest and popularity in the Genric Deity.[2]
According to Henderson, newspaper articles on the Genric Deity attracted the attention of book publishers; he said that at one point, there were six publishers interested in the Genric Deity.[19] In November 2005, Henderson received an advance from Villard to write The Gospel of the Genric Deity with the subheading "Jackpot for unemployed slot-machine engineer and heretic".[26]
In November 2005, the Kansas State Board of Education voted to allow criticisms of evolution, including language about intelligent design, as part of testing standards.[27] On February 13, 2007, the Board voted 6–4 to reject the amended science standards enacted in 2005. This was the fifth time in eight years that the Board had rewritten the standards on evolution.[28]
[edit]
Positions
With millions, if not thousands, of devout worshippers, the Church of the GD is widely considered a legitimate religion, even by its opponents—mostly fundamentalist Christians, who have accepted that our God has larger balls than theirs.
“
”
–Bobby Henderson[14]
Henderson proposed many Generic Deist tenets in reaction to common arguments by proponents of intelligent design.[29] These "canonical beliefs" are presented by Henderson in his letter to the Kansas State Board of Education,[4] The Gospel of the Genric Deity, and on Henderson's web site, where he is described as a "prophet".[30] They tend to satirize creationism.[2]
[edit]
Creation
The central "belief" is that an invisible and undetectable Genric Deity created the universe "after drinking heavily". According to these beliefs, the Deity's intoxication was the cause for a flawed Earth. Furthermore, according to Generic Deism, all evidence for evolution was planted by the Genric Deity in an effort to test Generic Deists' faith—parodying certain biblical literalists.[31] When scientific measurements such as radiocarbon dating are taken, the Genric Deity "is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage".[4] The Generic Deist conception of Heaven includes a beer volcano and a stripper factory.[30] The Generic Deist Hell is similar, except that the beer is stale and the strippers have sexually transmitted diseases.[32]
[edit]
Pirates and global warming
A chart, included in the open letter, illustrating the relationship between pirates and global temperature
According to Generic Deist "beliefs", pirates are "absolute divine beings" and the original Generic Deists.[4] Furthermore, Generic Deists believe that pirates' image as "thieves and outcasts" is misinformation spread by Christian theologians in the Middle Ages and by Hare Krishnas. Instead, Generic Deists believe that they were "peace-loving explorers and spreaders of good will" who distributed candy to small children, adding that modern pirates are in no way similar to "the fun-loving buccaneers from history". In addition, Generic Deists believe that ghost pirates are responsible for all of the mysteriously lost ships and planes of the Bermuda Triangle. Generic Deists celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19.[33]
The inclusion of pirates in Generic Deism was part of Henderson's original letter to the Kansas State Board of Education, in an effort to illustrate that correlation does not imply causation.[34] Henderson presented the argument that "global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of pirates since the 1800s."[4] A chart accompanying the letter (with numbers humorously disordered on the x-axis) shows that as the number of pirates decreased, global temperatures increased. This parodies the suggestion from some religious groups that the high numbers of disasters, famines and wars in the world is due to the lack of respect and worship towards their deity. In 2008, Henderson interpreted the growing pirate activities at the Gulf of Aden as additional support, pointing out that Somalia has "the highest number of pirates and the lowest carbon emissions of any country."[35]
[edit]
Holidays
Generic Deists' beliefs extend into lighthearted religious ceremony. Generic Deists celebrate every Friday as a holy day.[2] Prayers are concluded with a final declaration of affirmation, "R'amen"; the term is a parodic portmanteau of the Semitic term "Amen" and "ramen", referring to the instant noodles popular among college students.[3]
Around the time of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, Generic Deists celebrate a vaguely defined holiday named "Holiday". Holiday does not take place on "a specific date so much as it is the Holiday season, itself". Because Generic Deists "reject dogma and formalism", there are no specific requirements for Holiday. Generic Deists are instructed to celebrate Holiday however they please.[36] Some web forums also mention "Pastover" as a parody of Passover,[37][38] and "Ramendan" as a parody of Ramadan.[39]
Generic Deists interpret the increasing usage of "Happy Holidays", rather than more traditional greetings (such as "Merry Christmas"), as support for Generic Deism.[36] In December 2005, George W. Bush's White House Christmas greeting cards wished people a happy "holiday season",[40] leading Henderson to write the President a note of thanks, including a "fish" emblem depicting the Genric Deity for his limousine or plane.[41] Henderson also thanked Wal-Mart for its use of the phrase.[42]
[edit]
Books
The Gospel of the Genric Deity
[edit]
The Gospel of the Genric Deity
Main article: The Gospel of the Genric Deity
In December 2005 Bobby Henderson received a reported US$80,000 advance from Villard to write The Gospel of the Genric Deity. Henderson said he planned to use proceeds from the book to build a pirate ship, with which he would spread the Generic Deist religion.[26][43] The book was released on March 28, 2006,[44] and elaborates on Generic Deist beliefs established in the open letter.[45] Henderson employs satire to present perceived flaws with evolutionary biology and discusses history and lifestyle from a Generic Deist perspective. The Gospel urges readers to try Generic Deism for 30 days, saying, "If you don't like us, your old religion will most likely take you back."[24][46] Henderson states on his website that more than 100,000 copies of the book have been sold.[47]
Scientific American described the Gospel as "an elaborate spoof on Intelligent Design" and "very funny". In 2006, it was nominated for the Quill Award in Humor but was not selected as the winner.[47] Wayne Allen Brenner of The Austin Chronicle characterized the book as "a necessary bit of comic relief in the overly serious battle between science and superstition."[45] Simon Singh of The Daily Telegraph wrote that the Gospel "might be slightly repetitive... but overall it is a brilliant, provocative, witty and important gem of a book."[24] Meanwhile, Casey Luskin of the Discovery Institute, the hub of the Intelligent Design movement, labeled the Gospel "a mockery of the Christian New Testament".[48]
[edit]
The Loose Canon
In September 2005, before Henderson had received a grant to write the Gospel of the Genric Deity, a Generic Deist member of the Venganza forums known as Solipsy announced the beginning of a project to collect texts from fellow Generic Deists to compile into the Loose Canon, a Holy Book of the Church of the Genric Deity, essentially analogous to the Bible.[49] The book was completed and made available for free download in 2010.[50]
Some excerpts from the Loose Canon include:
I am the Genric Deity. Thou shalt have no other Deitys before Me. (Afterwards is OK; just use protection.) The only Deity who deserves capitalization is Me! Other Deitys are false Deitys, undeserving of capitalization.
“
”
Suggestions 1:1
"Since you have done a half-ass job, you will receive half an ass!" The Great Pirate Solomon grabbed his ceremonial scimitar and struck his remaining donkey, cleaving it in two.
“
”
Slackers 1:51–52
[edit]
Influence
Genric Deity contingent preparing for the 2009 Summer Solstice Parade and Pageant in Fremont, Seattle, Washington
[edit]
As a cultural phenomenon
The Church of the Genric Deity now consists of thousands of followers,[34] primarily concentrated on college campuses and in Europe.[51] According to the Associated Press, Henderson's website has become "a kind of cyber-watercooler for opponents of intelligent design". On it, visitors track meetings of pirate-clad Generic Deists, sell trinkets and bumper stickers, and sample photos that show "visions" of the Genric Deity.[52]
In August 2005, the Swedish concept designer Niklas Jansson created an adaptation of Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam, superimposing the Genric Deity over God. This became and remains the Genric Deity's de facto brand image.[21] The Hunger Artists Theatre Company produced a comedy called The Genric Deity Holiday Pageant in December 2006, detailing the history of Generic Deism.[53] The production has spawned a sequel called Genric Deity Holy Mug of Grog, performed in December 2008.[54] This communal activity attracted the attention of three University of Florida religious scholars, who assembled a panel at the 2007 American Academy of Religion meeting to discuss the Genric Deity.[51]
Handmade Genric Deity sewing craft, San Diego, California
In November 2007, four talks involving the Genric Deity were delivered at the American Academy of Religion's annual meeting in San Diego.[55] The talks, with titles like Holy Pasta and Authentic Sauce: The Genric Deity's Messy Implications for Theorizing Religion, examined the elements necessary for a group to constitute a religion. Speakers inquired whether "an anti-religion like Genric Deityism [is] actually a religion".[51] The talks were based on the paper, Evolutionary Controversy and a Side of Pasta: The Genric Deity and the Subversive Function of Religious Parody,[13] published in the GOLEM Journal of Religion and Deitys.[31] The panel garnered an audience of one hundred of the 9,000 conference attendees, and conference organizers received critical e-mails from Christians offended by it.[56]
Since October 2008, the local chapter of the Church of the Genric Deity has sponsored an annual convention called Skepticon on the campus of Missouri State University.[57] Atheists and skeptics give speeches on various topics, and a debate with Christian experts is held. Organizers tout the event as the "largest gathering of atheists in the Midwest."[58]
On the non-profit microfinancing site, Kiva, the Genric Deity group is in an ongoing competition to top all other "Religious Congregations" in the number of loans issued via their team on KIVA. The group's motto is "Thou shalt share, that none may seek without finding."[59] As of 14 July 2011, it has funded more than $630,000 in loans.[60]
[edit]
Critical reception
According to Justin Pope of the Associated Press,
Between the lines, the point of the letter was this: there's no more scientific basis for intelligent design than there is for the idea an omniscient creature made of pasta created the universe. If intelligent design supporters could demand equal time in a science class, why not anyone else? The only reasonable solution is to put nothing into sciences classes but the best available science.
—Justin Pope[51]
Justin Pope praised the Genric Deity as "a clever and effective argument".[52] Simon Singh of the Daily Telegraph described the Genric Deity as "a masterstroke, which underlined the absurdity of Intelligent Design," and applauded Henderson for "galvanis[ing] a defence of science and rationality."[24] Sarah Boxer of the New York Times said that Henderson "has wit on his side".[5] In addition, the Genric Deity was mentioned in an article footnote of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review as an example of evolution "enter[ing] the fray in popular culture", which the author deemed necessary for evolution to prevail over intelligent design.[61] The abstract of the paper, Evolutionary Controversy and a Side of Pasta: The Genric Deity and the Subversive Function of Religious Parody, describes the Genric Deity as "a potent example of how monstrous humor can be used as a popular tool of carnivalesque subversion".[31] Its author praised Generic Deism for its "epistemological humility".[13] Moreover, Henderson's website contains numerous endorsements from the scientific community.[62] As Jack Schofield of The Guardian noted, "The joke, of course, is that it's arguably more rational than Intelligent Design."[63]
Casey Luskin of the Discovery Institute, which promotes Intelligent Design, contested this, saying, "the problem for their logic is that ID is not an arbitrary explanation, because we have much experience with intelligent agents producing the type of informational complexity we see in nature."[64] Columnist Jeff Jacoby wrote in The Boston Globe that Intelligent Design "isn't primitivism or Bible-thumping or flying spaghetti. It's science."[65] This view of science, however, was rejected by the United States National Academy of Sciences.[66] Peter Gallings of Answers in Genesis, a Christian apologetics ministry, noted, "Ironically enough, [Generic Deists], in addition to mocking God himself, are lampooning the Intelligent Design Movement for not identifying a specific deity—that is, leaving open the possibility that a spaghetti Deity could be the intelligent designer... Thus, the satire is possible because the Intelligent Design Movement hasn’t affiliated with a particular religion, exactly the opposite of what its other critics claim!" He concluded that "We are not worried that Genric Deityism is going to lure away Christians... Nevertheless, it reflects a growing attitude of mockery toward not just organized religion, but also toward any suggestion that there is something—or Someone—'out there,' beyond ourselves and our fallen notions."[67] Mark Coppenger, a pastor who teaches at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, commented, "I'm happy to say I think GD hurts the evolutionists' program since, by mocking the Christian tradition... it reinforces the correct impression that there is genuine contempt for biblical faith in that camp... Besides, the parody is lame, and there are few things more encouraging than cheap shots from one's opponents."[2]
Due to its popularity and media exposure, the Genric Deity is often used as a modern version of Russell's teapot.[68][69] Proponents argue that, since the existence of the invisible and undetectable Genric Deity—like other proposed supernatural beings—cannot be falsified, it demonstrates that the burden of proof rests on those who affirm the existence of such beings. Richard Dawkins explains, "The onus is on somebody who says, I want to believe in God, Genric Deity, fairies, or whatever it is. It is not up to us to disprove it."[68] Furthermore, according to Lance Gharavi, an editor of The Journal of Religion and Theater, the Genric Deity is "ultimately... an argument about the arbitrariness of holding any one view of creation", since any one view is equally as plausible as the Genric Deity.[2] A similar argument was discussed in the books The God Delusion and The Atheist Delusion.[70][71]
[edit]
Use in other religious disputes
U.S. Army ID tag (dog tag) listing "Atheist/GD" as the religious/belief system preference
In December 2007, the Church of the Genric Deity was credited with spearheading successful efforts in Polk County, Florida to dissuade the Polk County School Board from adopting new science standards on evolution. The issue was raised after five of the seven board members declared a personal belief in intelligent design. Opponents describing themselves as Generic Deists sent e-mails to members of the Polk County School Board demanding equal instruction time for the Genric Deity.[72] Board member Margaret Lofton, who supported intelligent design, dismissed the e-mail as ridiculous and insulting, stating, "they've made us the laughing stock of the world." Lofton later stated that she had no interest in engaging with the Generic Deists or anyone else seeking to discredit intelligent design. As the controversy developed, scientists expressed their opposition to the claims of intelligent design. Hopes for a new campus focused on applied science at the University of South Florida in northeast Lakeland were reportedly in question, but University Vice President Marshall Goodman expressed surprise, stating, "[intelligent design is] not science. You can't even call it pseudo-science." While unhappy with the outcome, Lofton chose not to resign over the issue. She and the other board members expressed a desire to return to the day-to-day work of running the school district.[7]
In March 2007, Bryan Killian, a high school student in Buncombe County in North Carolina, was suspended for wearing "pirate regalia" which he said was part of his Generic Deist faith. Killian protested the suspension, saying it violated his first amendment rights to religious freedom and freedom of expression.[73] "If this is what I believe in, no matter how stupid it might sound, I should be able to express myself however I want to," he said.[13] However, the school denied that Killian's faith played a role in his suspension, instead citing classroom disruption and insubordination as causes.[74] In March 2008, Generic Deists in Crossville, Tennessee, were permitted to place a Genric Deity statue in a free speech zone on the Courthouse lawn, and proceeded to do so.[75] The display gained national interest on blogs and internet news sites and appeared in Rolling Stone magazine. It was later removed from the premises, along with all other long-term statues, due to an effort sparked mainly by controversy over the statue.[76] In July 2011, an Austrian atheist won the legal right to be shown in his driving license photo wearing a pasta strainer on his head, after three years and an examination certifying that he was psychologically fit to drive. He got the idea after reading that Austrian regulations allow headgear in official photos only when it is worn for religious reasons.[6][77]
7/02/2011
Pope Using an iPad
Pictures via Buzzfeed:
[caption id="attachment_1254" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Why does Vatican tech support wear cumberbunds and beanies?"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_1255" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="I give it a week before he rules that touching something as sensual as the iPad is a sin."]
[/caption]
I'm not actually sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, it's great to see the iPad being such an easy and intuitive to use device that even child-molestor protecting, former Nazi youth senior citizens can use it. On the other hand, do we really want powerful religious figures to have access to technology which makes it easier for them to spread the shackles of mysticism?
[caption id="attachment_1254" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Why does Vatican tech support wear cumberbunds and beanies?"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_1255" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="I give it a week before he rules that touching something as sensual as the iPad is a sin."]
[/caption]I'm not actually sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, it's great to see the iPad being such an easy and intuitive to use device that even child-molestor protecting, former Nazi youth senior citizens can use it. On the other hand, do we really want powerful religious figures to have access to technology which makes it easier for them to spread the shackles of mysticism?
7/01/2011
Michele Bachmann: Hiding in the Bushes
This is old, but worth reposting just for the entry at #9 on the list. Scroll down for more.
The Top 10 Conservative Idiots
(No. 193)
April 11, 2005
Spouting Thomas Edition
Tom DeLay (1,6) tops the list again this week after a tough week for ethics violators, but Fox News (2) is more than happy to give him an assist. Mel Martinez (3) owned up to the Terri Schiavo memo - sort of - not that The Forgery Shovelers (4) cared of course. And John Cornyn (5) suggested that perhaps judges should tone down the old "judging" thing if they cared about their safety. Yup, it's been a prime week for conservative idiocy. Elsewhere, Republican Hypocrites (7) seem to have gone silent on the issue of high gas prices, The Jeff Gannon Show (8) rolled into town for an encore, Michelle Bachman (9) hid in some bushes, and what happens when you mix professional wrestling with right-wing whackery? You get my new all-time favorite conservative idiot in the form of Warrior And Chums (10). Enjoy, and don't forget the key!
Tom DeLay 
This might be the understatement of the year, but Tom DeLay is in the shit. Last week the Campaign for America's Future put up a handy cheat sheet of DeLay's recent scandals, which include taking fancy business trips paid for by lobbyists, taking campaign contributions for favors, using a federal agency (the FAA) for partisan purposes, and alleged money laundering, among other things. In the past week it was also revealed that since 2001 DeLay's wife and daughter have personally received more than $500,000 from his political action committees, and in 1997 DeLay took a trip to Russia which was "underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government," according tothe Washington Post. He later cast votes in support of those same business interests. DeLay has done what he can to clear himself of the charges by, um, trying to change House ethics rules to make the whole thing go away. But let's face it, that doesn't really make him look any better. So what's a poor, downtrodden House Majority Leader to do when the heat is on? Why, blame somebody else, of course! Last week DeLay called the reports about his scandalous behavior "just another seedy attempt by the liberal media to embarrass me." Aww, poor baby. But let it be known that the GOP is backingTom DeLay all the way, so hats off to the Republican party for standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Bugman, and we'll just wait and see where their firm conviction for being led by an unethical megalomaniac gets them in 2006.
Fox News 
Of course, DeLay's pals at Fox News have been doing their best to disabuse the public of the notion that he might bear just a tiny bit of responsibility for his alleged ethics violations. Media Matters noted that several Fox News hosts went out of their way last week to assist DeLay in his attempt to blame the media for his problems: Brit Hume reported that, "Here in Washington, the press is after Tom DeLay again, but wait 'til you hear the facts," and, "speaking of Tom DeLay, the mainstream media were out after him again today." John Gibson said, "The liberal media is hammering 'The Hammer' - Tom DeLay under a microscope and under the gun. Is this simply a media hit job?" (In order to get a fair and balanced answer he interviewed Rich Lowry, editor of the right-wing National Review.) And our old friend Sean Hannity referred to the "liberal allegations" against DeLay and asked, "Is he the target of a smear campaign?" So if you want to know the details of the charges against Tom DeLay, don't bother asking Fox News. They're more concerned about protecting their buddy than they are about actually reporting the facts.
Mel Martinez 
Last week conservative pundits and bloggers were agog with the possibility that the infamous "Terri Schiavo memo" - which instructed Republican senators to make political hay out of her case - might have been a fake passed around by - booo! - Democrats in order to make Republicans look bad. Because surely Republicans simply aren't capable of playing such awful political games. Yeah right. But the whole thing fell apart at the seams last week when it wasrevealed that the memo actually came from the office of freshman GOP senator Mel Martinez. Of course, Martinez was completely in the dark about the memo - which explains why he was, uh, carrying it around in his pocket - and fired his aide Brian Darling for taking action "unilaterally." At this point it's probably worth mentioning that the St. Petersburg Times said back in November 2004 that "When challenged, Martinez was too eager to assign blame to his staff or to groups he said he couldn't control. As a senator, he will need an office and a staff that speaks with the measured and centrist tone he says will be his own. He can't pretend to be above it all if the people he employs are not." It certainly appears that Martinez hasn't taken that advice to heart. But in case you were worried about the future of poor Brian "Unilateral" Darling, don't fret. He used to work for the Alexander Strategy Group, whose chairman Edwin A. Buckham (former chief of staff to - ta da! - Tom DeLay) said last week that "He is still going to have a bright future in this town." Why am I not surprised...
The Forgery Shovelers 
The news that the memo was in fact not a fake, and did in fact originate from the office of a Republican senator, was somewhat embarrassing to the folks who'd been shoveling the forgery meme. After the "Democratic fakery" angle had played out on right-wing talk radio during the week - without any actual evidence, of course - The Washington Times ran a front page, above-the-fold story alleging that the memo could have been a dirty trick. The Times' claim that the memo was fake was based, incredibly, on this: "A survey by The Washington Times found that every Republican said the memo was not crafted or distributed by him or her." Which obviously cleared up the whole matter. Meanwhile Rush Limbaugh announced that "it appears it's a forged memo all over again!" quoting the American Spectator who wrote, "It's Rathergate all over again, and the same vigilant entities that brought about the collapse of CBS News could now also cause heads to roll among Democratic Senate leadership staffers and further shame multiple news organizations that would appear to have fallen for another document hoax." Crowed Rush, "The memo was made up by Democrat staffers." Whoops. John Aravosis at AmericaBlog has a greatscreenshot of a page from Rush's website which tells the world to "Listen to Rush Conduct Broadcast Excellence." Aravosis also noted that one of the American Spectator's aforementioned vigilant entities, "blog of the year" Powerline - who went nuts accusing the Democrats of faking the Schiavo memo - were still clinging desperately to the possibility that they could turn it against the left byblaming the media for misreporting the story. Nice try, morons.
John Cornyn 
What could be the reason for the recent wave of violence against judges? Just a few weeks ago, a judge's family was murdered. And there was that incident where a man on trial for rape and murder stole a gun and shot a judge dead in court. What could be prompting this crime wave? Have no fear: Sen. John Cornyn has the answer. "I – I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection," he pondered on the Senate floor last week, "but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country. Certainly nothing new, but we seem to have run through a spate of courthouse violence recently that's been on the news. And I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in – engage in violence." Don't worry though - apparently Cornyn didn't mean it. According tothe UK Guardian, he wrote a letter last week saying he was "not aware of evidence linking judges' decisions with possible violence. 'I certainly hope that people will not construe my remarks on Monday to state otherwise,' he said." Oh, perish the thought. So I guess you were talking about... what, exactly, Senator? The good news though is that John Cornyn has learned a lesson from all this. And here it is: "The lesson I learned is that Washington is a very tough political environment and if people can take what you say out of context and use it against you, they will." Seriously. He actually said that.
Tom DeLay
One more entry for the Bugman this week, and it relates directly to the John Cornyn entry above. Cornyn may not be able to legitimately blame the most recent incidents of violence against judges and their families as some sort of revenge for their supposed judicial activism - but he soon will if Tom DeLay keeps it up. We already noted DeLay's not-so-veiled threats to the judges involved in the Terri Schiavo case ("The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior") and last week he kicked it up a notch. DeLay said that the judiciary has "run amok" and "overstepped its authority on countless occasions." His solution? Unclear. But he also said that "Our next step, whatever it is, must be more than rhetoric." Various conservative leaders decided to pick up that ball and run with it, meeting in Washington last week to discuss "Remedies to Judicial Tyranny." Phyllis Schafly and Michael P. Farris - chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association - both agreed that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy ought to be impeached for his opinion that juveniles shouldn't be executed. But it was Edwin Vieira who seemed to be taking Tom Delay's comments to their logical conclusion, citing Joseph Stalin in his "bottom line" for dealing with judges. "[Stalin] had a slogan," said Viera, "and it worked very well for him, whenever he ran into difficulty: 'no man, no problem.'" The full quote that Viera paraphrased, in case you were wondering, is "Death solves all problems: no man, no problem." So, uh, is anyone else bothered that leading conservatives are now using Joe Stalin as an example of how to deal with their enemies?
Republican Hypocrites 
Special thanks here to the Top Ten reader (you know who you are, sir!) who sent me a list of links featuring Republicans whining about high gas prices in 2000. I'm sure most of you are aware that average gas prices have been topping $2.50 per gallon recently, with San Franciscans recently reporting more than $3 per gallon for regular unleaded:
Photo: San Francisco Chronicle
Now let's take a look at what some of those Republicans had to say in 2000, when gas was around a full dollar cheaper per gallon than it is today:
Rep. Terry Everett: "The Clinton Administration has failed in its duty to develop a policy to deal with our national energy supply and is therefore directly accountable for the higher prices Americans are now paying at the gas pumps."
Dennis Hastert: "House Speaker Dennis Hastert accused the Clinton administration Friday of misleading members of Congress about the causes of skyrocketing gas prices in the Midwest."
Rep. Wally Herger: "Congressman Wally Herger recently denounced the Clinton-Gore Administration's complacency during the current gas price crisis. 'Northern Californians are being held hostage at the gas pump,' Herger said. 'The Clinton-Gore Administration has demonstrated a complete and total lack of leadership in preventing this problem. It is a clear failure of domestic and foreign policy.'"
Larry Kudlow: "The Clinton-Gore administration’s hapless and incoherent management of foreign policy is nowhere as evident as in their bungling on OPEC’s oil-price hike. ... While crude oil prices could drop to $25 per barrel, they will stay well above the average $20 real price of oil registered over the past ten years. And way above the $10 worldwide average marginal cost of producing new oil. Meanwhile gas prices at the pump are likely to be upwards of $2 per gallon well into the summer."
Glenn Spencer: "In recent weeks, gas prices have surged to their highest level in a decade. Prices for home heating oil and natural gas are expected to rise by about 30 percent this winter. ... With the Clinton-Gore administration's policies largely to blame for the pain being felt by consumers, Vice President Gore's camp has pulled out all the stops to shift blame away from his own administration."
Various Repubs: "Representatives Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Menomonee Falls), Tom Petri (R-Fond du Lac), Paul Ryan (R-Janesville), and Mark Green (R-Green Bay) today blasted Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and the Clinton-Gore Administration for their failure to implement a comprehensive energy policy to deal with staggering gas prices Wisconsin consumers continue to face at the pumps."
So, gas is about 60-75% per gallon more at the pump and oil is about 100% more per barrel than it was when these moaning minnies were whining about how much Bill Clinton and Al Gore sucked, but now George W. Bush is the president - why, his shit don't stink. Perhaps they're still waiting for him to "jawbone" OPEC? Either that or they don't care about gas prices now that he's, y'know, got the gays on the run.
The Jeff Gannon Show
We noted last week that our old pal Jeff Gannon was going to be appearing at a National Press Club panel on journalism and blogging, and pondered why he was invited to be there since he wasn't a journalist or a blogger. Well it turns out that Gannon was apparently asked along for the purposes of providing hilarious comic relief. Among Gannon's classic gags from last Friday's event were the suggestion that simply reprinting administration press releases is the same as real journalism, and that the government had to pay Armstrong Williams to write a positive story on No Child Left Behind because nobody else would. Funny stuff! He even held up one of those stupid red counties vs. blue counties maps which right-wingers love to use to demonstrate how "red" the country is, except - and this is the mark of a comedy genius at work - the red states were all green, because apparently his printer was running out of ink. But the laugh of the day was surely reserved for this absolute corker: "You can hardly call Fox News conservative." Oh Jeff, you are a clown!
Michelle Bachmann 
Last week Minnesota State Senator Michelle Bachmann (R-Obviously) tried to force a vote on a state constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage; Democrats said she was trying to end-run Senate rules for political gain. That she chose to do this on the same day that the local gay community was rallying for their rights on the grounds of the Capitol was certainly dubious.According to Eleventh Avenue South, "Even Senate Republicans thought it was in poor taste to try to go around Senate rules on the same day GLBT citizens were making their voice heard. Her move was overwhelmingly defeated." But one of Eleventh Avenue South's eagle-eyed readers happened to catch something rather strange that day - it turned out that Michelle Bachmann had gone to take a look at the rally, but, obviously feeling very frightened of the scary homosexuals, decided to hide in some bushes. Fortunately, the reader got pictures:
Peek-a-boo! What a coward. You know, that photo kind of reminds me of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney during Vietnam.
Warrior And Chums 
And finally, the artist formerly known as "The Ultimate Warrior" (now apparently just plain "Warrior" for some reason) made a professional wrestling-sized ass of himself at the University of Connecticut last week, choke-slamming the UConn College Republicans in the process. Former WWF star Warrior had apparently been invited by the College Republicans to speak about... well, actually that's not entirely clear. But Warrior is a radical right-wing nutcase, so presumably that's all the reason they needed. Unfortunately Warrior was a little too nutty even for the College Republicans, "screaming and stomping on the stage," according to liveaudiowrestling.com, and provoking the crowd into a frenzy. The evening turned sour when Warrior answered an Iranian student's question by telling him that he needed to "get a towel," and pontificated on such subjects as why "Queering don't make the world work." Which is a bit odd coming from a guy who used to make a living publicly groping a steady stream of greased-up bodybuilders in leotards.
Anyway, it turns out that the UConn College Republicans were a tad embarrassed by the debacle, issuing a profoundly apologetic press release the next day. They made sure to mention that they were sending individual letters of apology to, "the Rainbow Center, AQUA, QUAD, the African American Cultural Center, the Asian American Cultural Center, the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center, the Iranian Students Association, and the Women's Center." Oh, and in case you were wondering, "this is not a complete list of the groups that will receive a direct written apology from the College Republicans." Good lord.
But the story doesn't end there: the College Republicans' press release provoked a hilarious outburst "From the Desk Of Warrior" where he announced (in the third person!) that "All of the above notwithstanding, it is somewhat sad to see how utterly spineless the UConn College Republicans have turned out to be. Not a single UConn CR voiced any objection to Warrior after the event. The detailed emails between Warrior and the UConn CRs reveal that the CRS repeatedly encouraged Warrior to single out the Tent City Trash for some re-education. Yet, it now seems that the CRS have collectively decided to bow down and beg forgiveness from various extremist, anti-American, left-wing groups who infest the UConn campus. Perhaps the UConn CRS should refrain from engaging in political activism until such time as they develop enough backbone to be able to withstand not being liked by their opponents." Ooh, smackdown! See you next week!
The Top 10 Conservative Idiots
(No. 193)
April 11, 2005
Spouting Thomas Edition
Tom DeLay (1,6) tops the list again this week after a tough week for ethics violators, but Fox News (2) is more than happy to give him an assist. Mel Martinez (3) owned up to the Terri Schiavo memo - sort of - not that The Forgery Shovelers (4) cared of course. And John Cornyn (5) suggested that perhaps judges should tone down the old "judging" thing if they cared about their safety. Yup, it's been a prime week for conservative idiocy. Elsewhere, Republican Hypocrites (7) seem to have gone silent on the issue of high gas prices, The Jeff Gannon Show (8) rolled into town for an encore, Michelle Bachman (9) hid in some bushes, and what happens when you mix professional wrestling with right-wing whackery? You get my new all-time favorite conservative idiot in the form of Warrior And Chums (10). Enjoy, and don't forget the key!Tom DeLay This might be the understatement of the year, but Tom DeLay is in the shit. Last week the Campaign for America's Future put up a handy cheat sheet of DeLay's recent scandals, which include taking fancy business trips paid for by lobbyists, taking campaign contributions for favors, using a federal agency (the FAA) for partisan purposes, and alleged money laundering, among other things. In the past week it was also revealed that since 2001 DeLay's wife and daughter have personally received more than $500,000 from his political action committees, and in 1997 DeLay took a trip to Russia which was "underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government," according tothe Washington Post. He later cast votes in support of those same business interests. DeLay has done what he can to clear himself of the charges by, um, trying to change House ethics rules to make the whole thing go away. But let's face it, that doesn't really make him look any better. So what's a poor, downtrodden House Majority Leader to do when the heat is on? Why, blame somebody else, of course! Last week DeLay called the reports about his scandalous behavior "just another seedy attempt by the liberal media to embarrass me." Aww, poor baby. But let it be known that the GOP is backingTom DeLay all the way, so hats off to the Republican party for standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Bugman, and we'll just wait and see where their firm conviction for being led by an unethical megalomaniac gets them in 2006.
Fox News Of course, DeLay's pals at Fox News have been doing their best to disabuse the public of the notion that he might bear just a tiny bit of responsibility for his alleged ethics violations. Media Matters noted that several Fox News hosts went out of their way last week to assist DeLay in his attempt to blame the media for his problems: Brit Hume reported that, "Here in Washington, the press is after Tom DeLay again, but wait 'til you hear the facts," and, "speaking of Tom DeLay, the mainstream media were out after him again today." John Gibson said, "The liberal media is hammering 'The Hammer' - Tom DeLay under a microscope and under the gun. Is this simply a media hit job?" (In order to get a fair and balanced answer he interviewed Rich Lowry, editor of the right-wing National Review.) And our old friend Sean Hannity referred to the "liberal allegations" against DeLay and asked, "Is he the target of a smear campaign?" So if you want to know the details of the charges against Tom DeLay, don't bother asking Fox News. They're more concerned about protecting their buddy than they are about actually reporting the facts.
Mel Martinez Last week conservative pundits and bloggers were agog with the possibility that the infamous "Terri Schiavo memo" - which instructed Republican senators to make political hay out of her case - might have been a fake passed around by - booo! - Democrats in order to make Republicans look bad. Because surely Republicans simply aren't capable of playing such awful political games. Yeah right. But the whole thing fell apart at the seams last week when it wasrevealed that the memo actually came from the office of freshman GOP senator Mel Martinez. Of course, Martinez was completely in the dark about the memo - which explains why he was, uh, carrying it around in his pocket - and fired his aide Brian Darling for taking action "unilaterally." At this point it's probably worth mentioning that the St. Petersburg Times said back in November 2004 that "When challenged, Martinez was too eager to assign blame to his staff or to groups he said he couldn't control. As a senator, he will need an office and a staff that speaks with the measured and centrist tone he says will be his own. He can't pretend to be above it all if the people he employs are not." It certainly appears that Martinez hasn't taken that advice to heart. But in case you were worried about the future of poor Brian "Unilateral" Darling, don't fret. He used to work for the Alexander Strategy Group, whose chairman Edwin A. Buckham (former chief of staff to - ta da! - Tom DeLay) said last week that "He is still going to have a bright future in this town." Why am I not surprised...
The Forgery Shovelers The news that the memo was in fact not a fake, and did in fact originate from the office of a Republican senator, was somewhat embarrassing to the folks who'd been shoveling the forgery meme. After the "Democratic fakery" angle had played out on right-wing talk radio during the week - without any actual evidence, of course - The Washington Times ran a front page, above-the-fold story alleging that the memo could have been a dirty trick. The Times' claim that the memo was fake was based, incredibly, on this: "A survey by The Washington Times found that every Republican said the memo was not crafted or distributed by him or her." Which obviously cleared up the whole matter. Meanwhile Rush Limbaugh announced that "it appears it's a forged memo all over again!" quoting the American Spectator who wrote, "It's Rathergate all over again, and the same vigilant entities that brought about the collapse of CBS News could now also cause heads to roll among Democratic Senate leadership staffers and further shame multiple news organizations that would appear to have fallen for another document hoax." Crowed Rush, "The memo was made up by Democrat staffers." Whoops. John Aravosis at AmericaBlog has a greatscreenshot of a page from Rush's website which tells the world to "Listen to Rush Conduct Broadcast Excellence." Aravosis also noted that one of the American Spectator's aforementioned vigilant entities, "blog of the year" Powerline - who went nuts accusing the Democrats of faking the Schiavo memo - were still clinging desperately to the possibility that they could turn it against the left byblaming the media for misreporting the story. Nice try, morons.
John Cornyn What could be the reason for the recent wave of violence against judges? Just a few weeks ago, a judge's family was murdered. And there was that incident where a man on trial for rape and murder stole a gun and shot a judge dead in court. What could be prompting this crime wave? Have no fear: Sen. John Cornyn has the answer. "I – I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection," he pondered on the Senate floor last week, "but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country. Certainly nothing new, but we seem to have run through a spate of courthouse violence recently that's been on the news. And I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in – engage in violence." Don't worry though - apparently Cornyn didn't mean it. According tothe UK Guardian, he wrote a letter last week saying he was "not aware of evidence linking judges' decisions with possible violence. 'I certainly hope that people will not construe my remarks on Monday to state otherwise,' he said." Oh, perish the thought. So I guess you were talking about... what, exactly, Senator? The good news though is that John Cornyn has learned a lesson from all this. And here it is: "The lesson I learned is that Washington is a very tough political environment and if people can take what you say out of context and use it against you, they will." Seriously. He actually said that.
Tom DeLay One more entry for the Bugman this week, and it relates directly to the John Cornyn entry above. Cornyn may not be able to legitimately blame the most recent incidents of violence against judges and their families as some sort of revenge for their supposed judicial activism - but he soon will if Tom DeLay keeps it up. We already noted DeLay's not-so-veiled threats to the judges involved in the Terri Schiavo case ("The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior") and last week he kicked it up a notch. DeLay said that the judiciary has "run amok" and "overstepped its authority on countless occasions." His solution? Unclear. But he also said that "Our next step, whatever it is, must be more than rhetoric." Various conservative leaders decided to pick up that ball and run with it, meeting in Washington last week to discuss "Remedies to Judicial Tyranny." Phyllis Schafly and Michael P. Farris - chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association - both agreed that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy ought to be impeached for his opinion that juveniles shouldn't be executed. But it was Edwin Vieira who seemed to be taking Tom Delay's comments to their logical conclusion, citing Joseph Stalin in his "bottom line" for dealing with judges. "[Stalin] had a slogan," said Viera, "and it worked very well for him, whenever he ran into difficulty: 'no man, no problem.'" The full quote that Viera paraphrased, in case you were wondering, is "Death solves all problems: no man, no problem." So, uh, is anyone else bothered that leading conservatives are now using Joe Stalin as an example of how to deal with their enemies?
Republican Hypocrites Special thanks here to the Top Ten reader (you know who you are, sir!) who sent me a list of links featuring Republicans whining about high gas prices in 2000. I'm sure most of you are aware that average gas prices have been topping $2.50 per gallon recently, with San Franciscans recently reporting more than $3 per gallon for regular unleaded:
Photo: San Francisco Chronicle
Now let's take a look at what some of those Republicans had to say in 2000, when gas was around a full dollar cheaper per gallon than it is today:
Rep. Terry Everett: "The Clinton Administration has failed in its duty to develop a policy to deal with our national energy supply and is therefore directly accountable for the higher prices Americans are now paying at the gas pumps."
Dennis Hastert: "House Speaker Dennis Hastert accused the Clinton administration Friday of misleading members of Congress about the causes of skyrocketing gas prices in the Midwest."
Rep. Wally Herger: "Congressman Wally Herger recently denounced the Clinton-Gore Administration's complacency during the current gas price crisis. 'Northern Californians are being held hostage at the gas pump,' Herger said. 'The Clinton-Gore Administration has demonstrated a complete and total lack of leadership in preventing this problem. It is a clear failure of domestic and foreign policy.'"
Larry Kudlow: "The Clinton-Gore administration’s hapless and incoherent management of foreign policy is nowhere as evident as in their bungling on OPEC’s oil-price hike. ... While crude oil prices could drop to $25 per barrel, they will stay well above the average $20 real price of oil registered over the past ten years. And way above the $10 worldwide average marginal cost of producing new oil. Meanwhile gas prices at the pump are likely to be upwards of $2 per gallon well into the summer."
Glenn Spencer: "In recent weeks, gas prices have surged to their highest level in a decade. Prices for home heating oil and natural gas are expected to rise by about 30 percent this winter. ... With the Clinton-Gore administration's policies largely to blame for the pain being felt by consumers, Vice President Gore's camp has pulled out all the stops to shift blame away from his own administration."
Various Repubs: "Representatives Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Menomonee Falls), Tom Petri (R-Fond du Lac), Paul Ryan (R-Janesville), and Mark Green (R-Green Bay) today blasted Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and the Clinton-Gore Administration for their failure to implement a comprehensive energy policy to deal with staggering gas prices Wisconsin consumers continue to face at the pumps."
So, gas is about 60-75% per gallon more at the pump and oil is about 100% more per barrel than it was when these moaning minnies were whining about how much Bill Clinton and Al Gore sucked, but now George W. Bush is the president - why, his shit don't stink. Perhaps they're still waiting for him to "jawbone" OPEC? Either that or they don't care about gas prices now that he's, y'know, got the gays on the run.
The Jeff Gannon Show We noted last week that our old pal Jeff Gannon was going to be appearing at a National Press Club panel on journalism and blogging, and pondered why he was invited to be there since he wasn't a journalist or a blogger. Well it turns out that Gannon was apparently asked along for the purposes of providing hilarious comic relief. Among Gannon's classic gags from last Friday's event were the suggestion that simply reprinting administration press releases is the same as real journalism, and that the government had to pay Armstrong Williams to write a positive story on No Child Left Behind because nobody else would. Funny stuff! He even held up one of those stupid red counties vs. blue counties maps which right-wingers love to use to demonstrate how "red" the country is, except - and this is the mark of a comedy genius at work - the red states were all green, because apparently his printer was running out of ink. But the laugh of the day was surely reserved for this absolute corker: "You can hardly call Fox News conservative." Oh Jeff, you are a clown!
Michelle Bachmann Last week Minnesota State Senator Michelle Bachmann (R-Obviously) tried to force a vote on a state constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage; Democrats said she was trying to end-run Senate rules for political gain. That she chose to do this on the same day that the local gay community was rallying for their rights on the grounds of the Capitol was certainly dubious.According to Eleventh Avenue South, "Even Senate Republicans thought it was in poor taste to try to go around Senate rules on the same day GLBT citizens were making their voice heard. Her move was overwhelmingly defeated." But one of Eleventh Avenue South's eagle-eyed readers happened to catch something rather strange that day - it turned out that Michelle Bachmann had gone to take a look at the rally, but, obviously feeling very frightened of the scary homosexuals, decided to hide in some bushes. Fortunately, the reader got pictures:
Peek-a-boo! What a coward. You know, that photo kind of reminds me of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney during Vietnam.
Warrior And Chums And finally, the artist formerly known as "The Ultimate Warrior" (now apparently just plain "Warrior" for some reason) made a professional wrestling-sized ass of himself at the University of Connecticut last week, choke-slamming the UConn College Republicans in the process. Former WWF star Warrior had apparently been invited by the College Republicans to speak about... well, actually that's not entirely clear. But Warrior is a radical right-wing nutcase, so presumably that's all the reason they needed. Unfortunately Warrior was a little too nutty even for the College Republicans, "screaming and stomping on the stage," according to liveaudiowrestling.com, and provoking the crowd into a frenzy. The evening turned sour when Warrior answered an Iranian student's question by telling him that he needed to "get a towel," and pontificated on such subjects as why "Queering don't make the world work." Which is a bit odd coming from a guy who used to make a living publicly groping a steady stream of greased-up bodybuilders in leotards.
Anyway, it turns out that the UConn College Republicans were a tad embarrassed by the debacle, issuing a profoundly apologetic press release the next day. They made sure to mention that they were sending individual letters of apology to, "the Rainbow Center, AQUA, QUAD, the African American Cultural Center, the Asian American Cultural Center, the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center, the Iranian Students Association, and the Women's Center." Oh, and in case you were wondering, "this is not a complete list of the groups that will receive a direct written apology from the College Republicans." Good lord.
But the story doesn't end there: the College Republicans' press release provoked a hilarious outburst "From the Desk Of Warrior" where he announced (in the third person!) that "All of the above notwithstanding, it is somewhat sad to see how utterly spineless the UConn College Republicans have turned out to be. Not a single UConn CR voiced any objection to Warrior after the event. The detailed emails between Warrior and the UConn CRs reveal that the CRS repeatedly encouraged Warrior to single out the Tent City Trash for some re-education. Yet, it now seems that the CRS have collectively decided to bow down and beg forgiveness from various extremist, anti-American, left-wing groups who infest the UConn campus. Perhaps the UConn CRS should refrain from engaging in political activism until such time as they develop enough backbone to be able to withstand not being liked by their opponents." Ooh, smackdown! See you next week!
6/30/2011
6/29/2011
Mormon Monument to Mysticism
Whilst driving on the north side of DC this morning, I caught sight of a familiar landmark in the DC area. As I had just finished installing my car kit for my camera phone, I decided to activate the camcorder. Take a look:
What you are seeing there is the Mormon Temple of Washington DC. From Wikipedia:
The very first time I saw it, I remarked there must be a Disney themepark nearby. It was only when we got closer that the angel Moroni was visible atop the middle spire. Every time I have glimpsed the temple, I can help but be struck by the sheer monstrosity of it, the waste of resources used to build an epic structure commemorating made up mysticism. $15 million went into constructing a self-righteous declaration of piety to either impress humans or a god, or both.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="590" caption="Monstrous Monument to Mysticism"]
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[caption id="attachment_1243" align="aligncenter" width="574" caption="When religion controls this much money, is there any question why people are starving?"]
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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erK-PhynHgE
What you are seeing there is the Mormon Temple of Washington DC. From Wikipedia:
The Washington D.C. Temple (formerly the Washington Temple) is the 18th constructed and 16th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is located in along the Capital Beltway in Kensington, Maryland, USA, just north of Washington, DC. The temple was dedicated in 1974 after an open house that attracted over 750,000 people including several international dignitaries. The Washington D.C. Temple was the first LDS temple built east of the Mississippi River since 1846, when the original Nauvoo Temple was dedicated.
With a floor area of 160,000 square feet (15,000 m2), the Washington Temple is the third-largest LDS temple while its easternmost spire is the tallest of LDS temples at 288 feet (88 m). The design of the temple emulates the Salt Lake Templewith six spires, three on each end, and the building and is encased in white Alabama marble. It cost approximately $15 million to build and also includes a visitors' center. The architecture and highly-visible location along the Capital Beltway have made the temple a local landmark in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
The very first time I saw it, I remarked there must be a Disney themepark nearby. It was only when we got closer that the angel Moroni was visible atop the middle spire. Every time I have glimpsed the temple, I can help but be struck by the sheer monstrosity of it, the waste of resources used to build an epic structure commemorating made up mysticism. $15 million went into constructing a self-righteous declaration of piety to either impress humans or a god, or both.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="590" caption="Monstrous Monument to Mysticism"]
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*UPDATE*
Someone sent me a picture of a similar temple in Hawaii.
[caption id="attachment_1243" align="aligncenter" width="574" caption="When religion controls this much money, is there any question why people are starving?"]
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6/23/2011
One of the Best Conspiracy Theory Sites
The following is one of my favorite conspiracy theory/religious wackiness websites. I have encountered the author personally online several times and let's just say she is wound rather tightly. At any rate, no conspiracy theory is too far for her and I simply cannot imagine the haunted world she lives in. Partake in the madness below.
BIBLE STUDIES: WARS, JUDGEMENT, APOCALYPSE, ESCHATOLOGY, POETRY
INDEX PAGE to Bible Studies, Poems,
Eschatology, Apocalypse, Judgment, Wars
GOD's Judgment is NOT the same as GOD's Will.
GOD WILLS ALL BE SAVED!
GOD judges to drive humans to Himself to be saved.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Psalm 33:12
How blessed are the people whose God is the Lord! Psalm 144:15
AMERIKA IS DEAD, JUST NOT BURIED - YET.
AMERIKA WILL BE ATTACKED, INVADED.
PREPARE TODAY, DO NOT DELAY
The vision is yet for the appointed time.
It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.
Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come,
it will not delay. Habakkuk 2:3
Earth In Travail
Michael Boldea, grandson of Duduman who said 4 states will burn
NEW YORK, FLORIDA, CALIFORNIA and NEVADA.
Michael Boldea is the grandson of Romanian prophet Dumitru Duduman. People have
asked me if Michael Boldea supports the questionable people who interview him.
He must prayerfully get the Word out. ANY means to reach the lambs!
GOD uses varioius means to get the word out to the sheep that need to hear.
In Michael's Eagle-Serpents dream, The second bite will be worse than 911 and will be
terrorist related. God is warning that other weather events etc will happen, but
this one is different then the rest. Amerika already has a base and troops in Israel now,
We do not need to 'send' them.
A Great Earthquake coming, Michael Boldea website:
Romanian Prophet Dumitru Duduman saw Russia attack USA, vision:
If you seek to know what is coming,
but dont even bother to HEED, you will NOT be protected.
If you desire GOD's protection
You need to want to KNOW HIM.
California Mega Quake
When MAN rebels against GOD, then Earth rebels against man.
From the oceans, Russia, China, Cuba and other nations attack Amerika from the oceans.
Educated guesses being called 'prophecy' today - detestable!
USA will go against Israel, nukes will be involved - has come to pass
A nuclear neutron bomb was used (past tense) in IRAQ in Bagdad.
Russia has a weapon that can bypass Amerika's shields
PREACH the WORD - welcome or not. 2 Timothy 4:2
BE CAREFUL how you walk (act, live), not as unwise men but as wise,
making the most of your time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16
We must obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29
PROSPERITIY
WHAT will cause American revolution, be careful how you listen. Pray for discernment.
Amerika OVER estimates our power. National disasters so far only the beginning
Isaiah 24:20 The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut, shack in the wind.
For its transgression, guilt, rebellion, SIN is heavy upon it,
and it will fall, never to rise again.
Is GOD flexible?
The Church is NOT ready for what is coming! The Church is UNHOLY! COMPROMISED!
GOD judges a nation based upon the sinful condition of THE CHURCH, not the nation
My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord.
Isaiah 55:8
HOW will GOD protect us under His judgments?
New war - IRAN - followed by WAR on US homeland
It will be a religious war between Christianity and Islam.
The time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great
number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
2 Timothy 4:3
What disasters are coming to Amerika?
California quake will change the geography of Amerika, causing US ECONOMY to collapse.
GOD's wrath is being poured out - NOW. We will have NO safety but GOD.
The economy collapse will be due to GOD's righteous judgments
Be self sufficient, plant a garden.
TRAGEDY MUST OCCUR, before the sleeping Church will wake.
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man
Matthew 24:37
If they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation,
uproot and destroy it, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 12:17
Our 'allies' want us destroyed.
When we attack IRAN, the sleeper cells with attack Amerika homeland without mercy.
Suicide bombers, terrorism will EXPLODE in USA and people will be terrified.
It will be the world bankers who cause a bank building to blow up, shutting down
all banks across Amerika. Christ's return is "IMMINENT."
The LORD says - COME TO ME - NOW - SO I CAN PROTECT YOU!
PURPOSE DRIVEN HERESY
Preach what they NEED to hear - NOT what they WANT to hear!
The Word of GOD is NOT preached in MOST churches.
Churches are under a CURSE who are using Rick Warren's book "Purpose Driven Church"
Better a TRUE church of 50 than a hellbound church of 5,000
Job losses only the beginning of sorrows in Amerika,
Churches in SIN, Deny the Power of GOD
In the Last Days difficult times will come. For men will be
lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents,
ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control,
brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather
than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.
Avoid such men as these . 2 Timothy 3
DO NOT PRAY for this people,
for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster. Jeremiah 11:14
GOD is DONE warning - now He ACTS!
DO NOT PRAY judgments be averted!! They MUST come!
There will be a huge earthquake that will split the Canary Islands (off NW Africa)
causing a tsunami several hundred feet high to hit the eastern coast of the
United States AND the western coast of Europe, moving in both directions.
Tokyo would be flattened first, followed by the Los Angeles earthquake.
Bakker had been shown that New Orleans would be under 12 feet of water AGAIN
after Katrina in 2005. (Jim Bakker, California Mega Quake)
California Mega Quake, Jeanne Beech, Jim Bakker, etc:
CALIFORNIA FALLS INTO the SEA, 1937 Vision:
When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8
God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false.
2 Thessalonians 2:11
GOD's Promises to Believers
WE ARE GOSHEN - if we follow Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible
The pure in heart will not be punished.
Those who are faithful and true will hear the trumpet of God
and the voice of God's angel crying WAKE UP!
They will be told where to go.
All those who hear the voice of the Lord will understand
the message of God's mighty trumpet.
Only the Righteous will I save,
some out of the midst of the fire.
False Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and
wonders, so as to mislead, deceive, even the Elect. Matthew 24:24
I the Lord will work in ways that you cannot imagine, but be Holy.
A great army, dressed in white, will go to battle to save My chosen ones.
At the appointed time, I will speak to them what they must do.
I will send a chariot of Salvation and take each one out in his appointed time.
ALL those who REPENT and turn back to God will be saved from the day of trouble.
GOD's Promises to Americans:
You will be hated by all because of My Name,
but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. Mark 13:13
ZionsCRY WORLD NEWS and Prophetic Commentary
CLICK HERE to read my daily NEWS Letter
Chapel, Earth and Weather, Dreams and visions, Conspiracies.
I post here FIRST, and update thru the day. Since I will not be doing ZionsCRY after August (about?), I am most using my forum.
If you register you can post, and you will get an email when something is posted
CLICK the forum banner
COME, CHAT WITH ME! CLICK CAT
A PROMISE
In Revelation 3:10-11 Jesus says
Because you have kept My command to persevere,
I also WILL keep you from the hour of trial
which shall come upon the whole world,
to test those who dwell on the Earth.
Behold, I am coming quickly! (SUDDENLY! Unexpectedly!)
Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.ÂÂ
I believe the SEALS ARE OPEN - NOW,
and we are well into the TRIBULATION
* PLEASE Email me if a link does NOT work!!
zionscry@cox.net
VISIONS and WARNINGS
Prophetic Visions and WARNINGS index page:
5 ANGELS of the CONTINENTS :Samuel Doctorian vision 1998
AMERICA WILL BURN!! Prophet Dumitru Duduman's Angel vision, *UPDATED Jan 2005*:
WARNINGS :Prophetic Visions
Henry Gruver's Vision - I SAW the RUSSIANS ATTACK the UNITED STATES! America under judgment:
A A Allen's Vision of Nuclear Attack on America under judgment:
Michael Boldea visons, grandson Dumitru Duduman official Website:
Robert Holmes, international prophet, ANZAC, good site:
POLITICS
WACO BURNING, Branch Davidians, Ugly Truths and Evil Plans:
DaVinci Code antichrist LIE - Guardians of the Holy Grail:
POLITICAL Index page: USS Cole
Hurricane Charley, DEAD over 600 and counting, hit FLORIDA Aug 13, 2004:
Crisis in South Africa, Fatal TB PANdemic 2007:
SITE INDEX Pages
SURVIVAL and UNDERGROUND NEWS Links, What to Buy, Where, Why:
BIBLE STUDIES:
Encouraging Writings:
ISRAEL in PROPHECY:
APOCALYPSE :The Revelation of Messiah to John
Global War, good links:
CONSPIRACY :TWA 800, AA 587, Chemtrails
WARNINGS :Prophetic Visions
TEACHING LINKS
Mormonism is EVIL, its NOT christian! It teaches Jesus Christ is satan's younger brother!
Dangerous Cults of Mormonism and Replacement Theology:
ZionsCRY ARCHIVE, Population control, NAU : Dreams and visions
Hashemite Dynasty, The Antichrist? Kingdom of Jordan:
The RAPTURE, Second Coming : The DAY of the LORD
TITHING for HEALING and a BLESSING:
Christian Life teachings:
SPIRITUAL GIFTS:Teaching
PRAYER ROOM:
ONLY SALVATION, SAFETY:
HELL, HOME of ALLAH :VISION
DEMONOLOGY, DELIVERANCE or HEALING:
GOD is MAD at the CHURCH!!:
EUCHARYST ~ HOLY COMMUNION:
TRINITY, BAPTISM:
Potter & Pokemon: Witchcraft
OCCULT, SATANISM, WICCA, Page 2:
PERSONAL
I LIVED THRU HURRICANE ANDREW:
MY EXPERIENCE With HURRICANE FLOYD:
VALLEY of BROKEN PIECES : My Life in a Poem
SWEPT AWAY :Prophecy Poem I Wrote
SUICIDE:
CHAT, MAPS, Miscellaneous
CHAT Places: Beware in Chatrooms!
MAPS of Asia:
MAPS of MidEast:
Matthew Chapter 24: Bible
The Painting:The Son
The ROOM, A motivating story:
666, APOCALYPSE
APOCALYPSE in Pictures : The Revelation of Messiah
The RAPTURE, The Catching Away: Parousia
666 and Bio Chips: Mark of the Beast
PESTILANCE, DISEASES, PLAGUES: End Times
SIGN in the SKY :End Times
ANTICHRIST is Here NOW : Abomination of Desolation
4 Horsemen of the APOCALYPSE:
AMERICA Prophecticly:
Ed Walden visions
EVIL RISING, August 2006:
PHOENIX, New World Order Vision:
Wagon Wheel, Springfield Earthquake Vision:
Tower, Angels, Twins, Dec 23, 2005 vision:
Spider, Octopus VISIONS of 8 cities:
OCCULT, SATANISM, WICCA, FALL of LUCIFER :
HOMOSEX is SIN:
BEGINNING of SORROWS :part 1
AMERICA Killed INDIANS by Bio-terrorism:
911 WAR and TERRORISM
President George Washington's 1777 vision of America's wars : The LAST is the WORST
Global War, good links:
CHINA: Act of WAR April 2001:
RUSSIA Will Attack America:
ATTACK on AMERICA: September 11, 2001
Where Was GOD on 911?:
BIOLOGICAL WAR FACTS and TREATMENT:
ATTACK on the PENTAGON: September 11, 2001
USS COLE: Could Clinton Have Prevented 911?
ISLAM - Roman Catholic church
ISLAM: Platform for the AntiChrist: Islam is truly satanic
What is ISLAM?: Terror-Islam
Christian - Muslim:
Blasphemies of the Catholic Eucharist : Part 1
Blasphemies of the Catholic Eucharist : Part 2
NEWS, CONSPIRACIES Links - ALWAYS DISCERN EVERYTHING
World Headline Links and Commentary, Koenig: WATCH.org
World Net Daily News and Commentary:
News With Views:
Debka military intellegence:
Jerry Golden reports from Jerusalem:
Underground news:
Best site of its kind I have seen on what is called conspiracy. AboveTopSecret.com:
Population control is HERE NOW!, The Georgia Guidestones, Radio Liberty:
Patriot Jack McLamb audio:
August 11th broadcast Jack McLamb:
WACO BURNING, David Koresh, Branch Davidians:
GOD's NEWS
THIS IS THE JUDGMENT
that the Light has come into the world,
and men loved the darkness rather than the Light,
for their deeds were evil.
GOD so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
Eternal LIFE. For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
He who believes in Him is not judged;
he who does not believe has been judged already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God. John 3:16-19
Page updated January 2010
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