Saturday, January 11, 2014

Noted in passing


Hail "Baphomet the Sabbatic Goat, an occult symbol since the 19th century,
 adopted by Crowleyans and then LaVeyan Satanists in the 20th [century]..."

The next time someone tells me atheism is not about being anti-religion, or more narrowly just anti-Christian, I think I'll just point to this list of "15 ways atheists can stand up for rationality."  It has nothing to do with rationality, and everything to do with arranging a set of straw men and then knocking them over like dominoes (I know, mixed metaphors and/or logical fallacies, but you get the idea).

There isn't one item on the list that addresses Islam, Judiasm, Hinduism, or any of the major world religions directly; and most address only fundamentalist Protestant American Christians.  But every item is anti-religion, because apparently being anti-religion=being rational.  And every item is about as fundamental to Christianity as that statue of Satan above.

The Satanists in Oklahoma are more fun.


9 comments:

  1. Oh look, a picture of Hitch! Credibility!

    Even at my most militant atheist phase in college, I never minded being graceful and saying grace, behaving properly at an Orthodox church or in a mosque. I objected only--strenuously, vociferously--to government endorsement. That's what even got me first engaged with my government beyond voting.

    I guess the New Atheists would hate me. Fuck those assholes.

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  2. Apparently the very fact of religious belief oppresses non-believers, who must "stand up" for rationality by knocking over a bunch of stupid idea about religion.

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  3. Sounds a lot like if Palin were an atheist.

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  4. Jeffrey Tayler is clearly giving up on his career as a journalist, it's what so many of those who get washed up in their original career choice do, go provide the atheists with their constant need for 2 and 5 minute hates. Tayler's are run of the mill, lazy-assed repitition of fizzled out atheist bromides. I think it's pretty clear that this is a sure sign of a "journalist" with a deadline to meet and nothing to say.

    I think the reason Christianity is the target is that the economic teachings of Jesus are profoundly inconvenient for the affluent, those of Judaism to a great extent as well.

    Most of the whining of atheists seems to be that they are angry that other people don't agree with them, the large majority of people. The overwhelming majority. It's not as if we hadn't heard their arguments before.

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  5. By the way, as someone who has first hand experience taking care of goats, including a breeding buck, I can report that they are the smelliest, most obnoxious and stupidest animals in the barnyard, even stupider than roosters. Any religion that wants to turn one into a god is probably a bunch of city folk who have never been close enough to smell one of them. The does only smelled when they'd been with one and they were generally intelligent, not the bucks. They were as plumb stupid as horny teenage boys.

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  6. Most of the whining of atheists seems to be that they are angry that other people don't agree with them, the large majority of people. The overwhelming majority.


    That's the problem exactly.

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  7. Jeffrey Tayler is clearly giving up on his career as a journalist, it's what so many of those who get washed up in their original career choice do, go provide the atheists with their constant need for 2 and 5 minute hates.

    It's got nearly 600 comments as of nearly midnight tonight. The technical term for these kinds of articles (and the reason Salon keeps running them and Tayler keeps writing them) is: "Click bait."

    You don't need any insight or particular wisdom to create that; just blind, stupid, simple doo-dah luck.

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  8. Not taking the Bible (or other texts based on “revealed truths”) literally leaves it up to the reader to cherry-pick elements for belief. There exists no guide for such cherry-picking, and zero religious sanction for it.

    Well, he sure convinced me. Guess I'll go burn all my Anchor Bibles.

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  9. Well, he sure convinced me. Guess I'll go burn all my Anchor Bibles.

    Yes; how does one argue with such logic?

    No, seriously; how do you inform such ignorance? It's like NTodd said above, arguing with this guy would be like arguing with Sarah Palin.

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