Re: Evidence of God -- RELATIVITY

On 10 Nov 2003 02:07:24 -0800, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Bob Crowley),
Message ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in
alt.atheism;

>stoney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
>> On 7 Nov 2003 18:18:28 -0800, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Bob Crowley),
>> Message ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in
>> alt.atheism;
>> 
>> (snip)
>> 
>> >This is a 21 st century allegory for someone riding a subway train. 
>> >One has to use the vernacular language if one is going to Win Atheists
>> >and Influence Heretics.
>> 
>> You forget most U.S. based atheists (small 'a' unless it's the first
>> word in a sentence) were once theists.  In the main, who were of one or
>> more of the xtian sects.
>> 
>> You also don't consider that, according to all other xtian sects, *you*
>> are a heretic.
>> 
>> What will convince others your deity and sect is correct is concise
>> definitions and objective supporting evidence.  Otherwise, there is no
>> reason to treat your particular fantasy as anything other than it is.
>> Below puts it in a 'nutshell.'
>> 
>> /quote
>> 
>> Kissing Hank's Ass
>> A parable by Rev. Jim Huber. Now available as a pamphlet.
>>  
>> This morning there was a knock at my door. When I
>> answered the door I found a well groomed, nicely
>> dressed couple. The man spoke first:
>> 
>> John: "Hi! I'm John, and this is Mary."
>> Mary: Hi! We're here to invite you to come kiss Hank's ass with us."
>> Me: "Pardon me?! What are you talking about? Who's Hank, and why
>> would I want to kiss His ass?"
>> John: "If you kiss Hank's ass, He'll give you a million dollars; and if
>> you don't, He'll kick the shit out of you."
>> Me: "What? Is this some sort of bizarre mob shake-down?"
>> John: "Hank is a billionaire philanthropists. Hank built this town. Hank
>> owns this town. He can do whatever he wants, and what He wants is to
>> give you a million dollars, but He can't until you kiss his ass."
>> Me: "That doesn't make any sense. Why..."
>> Mary: "Who are you to question Hank's gift? Don't you want a million
>> dollars?
>> Isn't it worth a little kiss on the ass?"
>> Me: "Well maybe, if it's legit, but..."
>> John: "Then come kiss Hank's ass with us."
>> Me: "Do you kiss Hank's ass often?"
>> Mary: "Oh yes, all the time..."
>> Me: "And has He given you a million dollars?"
>> John: "Well no. You don't actually get the money until you leave town."
>> Me: "So why don't you just leave town now?"
>> Mary: "You can't leave until Hank tells you to, or you don't get the
>> money, and He kicks the shit out of you."
>> Me: "Do you know anyone who kissed Hank's ass, left town, and got the
>> million dollars?"
>> John: "My mother kissed Hank's ass for years. She left town last year,
>> and I'm sure she got the money."
>> Me: "Haven't you talked to her since then?"
>> John: "Of course not, Hank doesn't allow it."

(snip)

>> * Older versions say "I'm not really an expert, but I think the theory
>> that the Moon came from the Earth has been discounted. Besides, not
>> knowing where the rock came from doesn't make it cheese." Several people
>> have written to say that the current theory is that the Moon did indeed
>> come from the Earth. I've finally gotten around to making the change.
>> 
>> http://www.jhuger.com/kisshank.mv
>
>Actually the historical precedent is as follows -
>
>"
>Me (Stoney): 'Well, actually I don'thave to kiss Hanks's ass at all!'
>
>John and Mary:  'Huh!  Why not??'
>
>Me (Stoney): 'Because I'm His Son, and He told me to tell you He's
>sick of your game of 'Kiss Ass'.'
>
>John : "Here, I'm not sure a charge of heresy lies against you"
>
>Mary : "Yeah, we crucify people like you.  Wrecks our entire setup,
>see, and we don't want any wise guys around here.  When you got a good
>racket going, you stick to it."
>
>Stoney insists he really is Hank's Son, so in the end Stoney Rascal
>Master gets crucified.
>
>John & Mary: "Wait till we tell Hank about this!  Bloody cheek! 
>Thinking he's going to wreck the whole reason for the town's even
>existing."

(shakes head sadly)

/quote

 What do I dislike about theism?...Let me count the ways...

I dislike the hypocrisy,
the corruption,
the greed
and the lies.
I dislike the veneration of ignorance,
the glorification of idiocy, 
the wild-eyed hatred of progress 
and the fear of education, which send the faithful shrieking,
vampire-like, from the light of knowledge.
I dislike the way in which prejudice 
is passed off as piety.
The way superstition is peddled as wisdom. 
The way intolerance is raised to the lofty heights
of "Truth".
I dislike how hatred is taught as love,
how fear is instilled as kindness,
how slavery is pressed as freedom,
and how contempt for life is dressed up and adored as spirituality. 
I dislike the shackles religions place on the mind,
corrupting, twisting and crushing the spirit
until the believer has been brought down to a suitable state
of worthlessness. 
So lost and self-loathing, so bereft of hope or pride, 
that they can look into the hallucinated face of their imaginary
oppressor 
and feel unbounded love and gratitude for the additional suffering 
it has declined, 
as yet, 
to visit upon them.  
I dislike people's need for a communal delusion, 
like drug addicts who unite just to share the same needle.
I dislike the way reason is reviled as a vice
and reality is decreed to be a matter of convenience.
The way common sense and ordinary human decency 
get re-named "holy law" and advertised as the sole province
of the faithful.
I dislike religions' wholesale theft of any number
of ancient mythologies,
only to turn around and proclaim 
how "unique" their doctrine is.
I dislike how intelligence is held as suspect
and inquiry is reviled as a high crime.
I dislike the pillaging of the impoverished,
the extortion of the gullible,
the manipulation of the ignorant
and the domination of the weak.
I dislike the invention of sins
for the satisfaction of those who desire to punish.
I dislike the demonization of unbelievers,
The ill-concealed hate of proselytizers,
The hysterical rants of holy rollers,
The wigged-out warnings of psychic healers,
The dismantling of public education via religious school vouchers,
The erosion of civil rights by theocratic right-wingers,
The righteous wrath of gun-toting true believers,
The destruction wrought by holy warriors,
The blood-drenched fatwas of ayatollas,
and the apocalyptic prophesies of unmedicated messiahs.
Most of all, though, I dislike the certain knowledge
that religion, 
in one grotesque form or other,
will be with us so long as there is a single dark, cobwebbed corner
of the human imagination 
that a believer can stuff a god into.


 Alikhat
 #757

/end qyite
         

   
             Stoney
"Designated Rascal and Rapscallion
               and
          SCAMPERMEISTER!"

When in doubt, SCAMPER about!
When things are fair, SCAMPER everywhere!
When things are rough, can't SCAMPER enough!
/end humour alert

alt.atheism military veteran #11
{so much for the 'no atheists in foxholes' rubbish}