"She had not a thought in her head that was not a slogan, and there was no imbecility, absolutely none, that she was not capable of swallowing if the Party handed it out to her." – George Orwell – 1984
It’s amazing how good quotes, like wine, just get better with time! I wonder if George knew just how close he would get to describing the flock in the 21st century? The thought probably didn’t cross his mind, as I’m sure he had his own group to contend with back in his day.
I was following a thread this evening, reading a discussion between two people regarding evolution. The antagonist (obviously the Christian) was ranting about how Evolution is not a fact, it is only a theory, and theories are not facts. And yes, it was a rant, because he required 5 of the 500-character-limit-reply windows to complete a single rebuttal! When clarification was made that there is a difference between “layman theories” and “scientific theories” the tone turned to indignation and the conversation was over.
Now, to be fair to this poor bastard, I doubt very seriously that the diatribe he was spewing was of his own thought. It was yet another regurgitation of the same sermon that’s been spoon-fed to the flock by people like Hovind, Ham, Comfort and the lot. Discussing matters with this type of believer is the truest definition of sado-masochism. It’s hard to describe whether the pain is worth the pleasure.
There is nothing wrong with using something that someone else said, but the problem is that after they say it, they can’t support it (unless they were fed the response as well). One of the signs to watch out for is when they use another of these spoon-fed statements to support another.
“He’s the immovable mover” – What’s that mean?
“It means He’s the Alpha and the Omega” – ORLY?
And when you keep on them, you’ll sometimes even get “he’s the beginning and the end” like it’s something different than the alpha/omega… LOL
Some of the others that I find humorous (and painful) are:
“you’ll burn in a lake of fire and with the gnashing of teeth” – Sometimes I think I would prefer hell to the void of nothingness that death represents. At least hell would be something. Samuel Clemens said that he didn’t worry about death, because it would be like billions of years before he was born. The difference is that once one’s experienced life, the scenario does change. It’s kind of like sex. You don’t know what you’re missing until you’ve had it!
“Jesus defeated death” – Um, 1) if you feel he’s god, then he couldn’t die, so there was no defeat. 2) if he resurrected, then he had to die, which means he did not defeat death. Face it, he died!
“Jesus paid your debt for you, so you could have eternal life” – Ok, so you’re telling me that I should feel guilty over a presumed design flaw, perpetuated by negligence on the part of the designer by leaving a toy in reach of the child, who then is damned (as well as all descendents) for playing with said toy? All things considered, paying for that debt is the least he could do, right?
“I’ll pray for you” – Two hands working accomplish more than 1,000,000 hands clasped together in prayer, but the two hands won’t fill the coffers like the 1,000,000 hands will.
“The lord works in mysterious ways” – Yep, because if he didn’t, it would likely bust your faith to shreds. After all, what other explanation could there be for bad things happening to ‘good’ people, and good things happening to ‘bad’ people?
“Only good comes from god” – This seems to ignore that, as the creator, ALL things would be the result of him, not just the good stuff.
“All the glory goes to god” – Watch a sporting event, or an awards presentation and you’ll see at least one person praising the almighty in thanks for the blessing bestowed. This seems self-indulgent. By letting you win, does that mean that god took his blessing from your opponent? If god helps the alcoholic stop drinking, is he not also to blame when the person goes back to drinking, because he didn’t help him quite enough?
“Atheists are baby-eaters” – HAHAHAHAHA. Yes, and I prefer mine extra-rare, with a side of mashed-believers, please. Seriously, where the hell do they come up with this shit?
“If it wasn’t for god, there’d be nothing to keep me from killing everyone” – Whoa, tiger! This really says a lot about the character of the person making this claim. First, it seems like the ONLY reason keeping them from doing that is the fear of punishment, which doesn’t seem like a good reason to me. A good reason would be that it is WRONG! Second, what the hell are these people being brain-washed into believing?
“More people have been killed in the name of atheism than religion” – This is just utter nonsense, and a strawman to remove the focus from all the blood that has been (and still is being) spilled in god’s name. Hitler was not an atheist. He’s one of those ‘Not a Real Christian’ people. He was raised Roman Catholic, he wrote about his religious beliefs in Mein Kampf and his diaries, he followed the centuries old anti-Semitism practices (to the extreme) and was NEVER excommunicated from the Catholic church (which means that at least SOME other Christians viewed him as a real Christian). Stalin’s genocide was not really done in the name of his atheistic-communistic belief, as much as it was a control issue. Mao and Pol-Pot I haven’t read up on, but I’d be willing to bet that the lack of belief in god was the reason that all those people died.
I may not believe what you believe, or agree with what you believe, but for your god's sake, at least believe in something for your own sake, and not because of something that someone told you...
