This is where atheists go one way and Christians go another. I am very willing to acknowledge and honor theists when they do the right thing, but not these guys.
In their recent article about the God Blocker, the Christian Coalition deliberately misquotes me in order to make me look bad. They take my opposition and clearly imply that I support it, in order to spread hate, raise fears and beg for money. They lied. Check it out.
Dave…how did they lie?
Where did they misquote you?
They disingenuously quote mined Dave in the middle of the article while talking about the supporters of the software, saying this –
David Silverman, national spokesperson and vice presdent of American Atheists, told the People’s Word that, “There are some disgusting things in the Bible. They’re talking about smashing babies against the rocks, talking about drinking urine and eating dung. There’s really horrible stuff: the genocide, of course, the hate, it’s all in there. The whole process of killing people because they’re different-’suffer not a witch to live’ – that stuff.” Mr. Silverman, please provide us chapter and verse.
When Dave is clearly opposed to the software, having said this –
“I don’t like it,” David Silverman, national spokesperson and vice president of American Atheists, told the People’s World. “I don’t believe in sheltering kids from information.”
and then this:
Silverman quickly agreed that “there are some disgusting things in the Bible. They’re talking about smashing babies against the rocks, talking about drinking [urine] and eating dung. There’s really horrible stuff: the genocide, of course, the hate, it’s all in there. The whole process of killing people because they’re different – ‘suffer not a witch to live’ – that stuff.”
But “I think kids need to see them,” Silverman continued. “We should not be afraid of information exchange. We should not be afraid of anyone learning anything.” He dismissed the idea that the Bible should be blocked as some sort of pornography, saying, “I wouldn’t put the Bible in the same category as pornography. I would put it in the same category as very bad literature.”
Phreedm, if you read both articles and are earnestly confused about why Dave might be upset by the obvious misrepresentation in the religious post, you are officially too stupid to use the internet.
No, wait, you’re a liar for Jesus as well aren’t you? Some things never change.
trying to have dialogue with phreedm is like trying to talk sense with your average teenager….
its amazing how fat and stupid this country’s become….here’s a fox news article about the Texas Text Book Wars we are all familiar with…..click on “comments” and you will find many posts that are just as idiotic as phreemds….
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/05/20/texas-textbooks-is-america-exceptional/
I think the bible and fox news has really kept that group not only misinformed, but arrogant about it as well….
It’s called context. There’s been a lot of stories in the news lately about the need to consider the context in which statements are made.
phreedm doesn’t understand context.
hahaa!! christians write pretty funny articles XP
… I can’t even finish the article to get to where he quotemined Dave. I barely could read through the second paragraph it’s that bad. Whoever wrote that article is either joking or is that legitimately needing of some serious psychological intervention.
I fucking hate the right wing. You’d think the more moderate of them would ostracize the fringe element, but apparently they’re the ones becoming the fringe element (the fringe now is best left untouched it’s that bad). It’s upsetting, really.
So the CC got rid of the line where they ask Dave to cite chapter and verse on the killing witches commandment? Good for them! They must’ve remembered at the last minute.
Christians really should study that book a little more.
lol…They’re scared! lol
The plea for chapter and verse is still in the story. Obviously they are not too familiar with their book.
Ah I was confused. Posting two versions is…confusing. lol
Say Dave…is AA going to file a lawsuit against this sheriff for promoting his religious views as an employee of the state?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lVn3S_i9us&feature=player_embedded#!
Where did he promote his religious views? He was just doing his job, preventing a riot against the fools with the WBC-like mentality. While he may disagree with the signs and the idiots carrying them, and be glad that he’s getting rid of them, there was no religious view pushed on others.
That, and as all the cops kept saying…. they were on private land, where you cannot hold a public protest. They were inflammatory and a danger to the other visitors. They deserve to leave.
Oh, and we can also see that it was such a poor editing job, that it kept cutting out the parts where the cop was being professional. We all know how to treat edited video tapes now, don’t we?
Jeez Phreedm, I just wasted 4 minutes of my life looking at the video of a cop escorting lawbreaking Christians off private property. He clearly was not doing it to push his religious views, but rather because the Christians were breaking the law and resisting lawful commands.
The separation of church and state DOES go both ways, and if he was harassing Christians because he is an atheist you’d have a good point. … But he was not, and you don’t.
Obviously either you choose to remain blind or you didn’t watch the entire video.
Let’s change it around 180 degrees.
Let’s say it was a Christian concert and 4 atheists were protesting with their signs. The sheriff escorts them off of private property. (Which I don’t disagree with and was never questioned by me).
As the Sheriff is escorting the atheists off of private property, the video catches him stating “There is a God, Jesus Christ is real. Heaven is real.”
Are you telling me that you’d be OK with that?
Apparently it’s OK for a government official to state “there is no God” but not OK to state “there is a God”. (That is unless they are a democrat. Did AA every formally file a complaint against the DNC for their convention in 2008?)
No Dave…the “myth” IS a one way street. (Remember the “Blacksburg, VA prayer vigil vs. the Jacksonville, FL. prayer vigil)
Phreedom, you seem to mistake being contrary with pushing beliefs. They were breaking the law, and making it difficult for the officers. As a method, the sheriff made a SINGLE statement refuting what the people were saying.
That is not pushing it on anyone. That is making a statement, and a singular one, at that.
Ignoring those fact… when EVER have atheists picketed a xian concert?
Not only did they misquote, they also revealed that they do not read their own bible when they asked for chapter and verse. Lying for Jesus is a full-time endeavor for the believing.
Maybe they just skipped the entirety of Exodus, since that’s a nice example of killing children for another’s sins and covering the whole witch killing thing.
>> …that “art” work was a Crucifix with Christ submerged in urine! This was an unacceptable slam on the religion of a majority of the people of the world…
Christianity is not a majority. It is aout a third.
http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html
http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_religious_groups#Largest_religions_or_belief_systems_by_number_of_adherents
>> ….”There are some disgusting things in the Bible. They’re talking about smashing babies against the rocks, talking about drinking urine and eating dung. There’s really horrible stuff: the genocide, of course, the hate, it’s all in there. The whole process of killing people because they’re different-’suffer not a witch to live’ – that stuff.” Mr. Silverman, please provide us chapter and verse…
II Kings 6:28-29
“And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son….”
Ezekiel 4:12
“And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.”
Isaiah 36:12
“Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?”
II Kings 18:27
“But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?”
Exodus 22:18
“Suffer not a witch to live.”
Thank you for posting those Bible quotes that the CC doesn’t believe are in there.
Seems to me that if the CC doesn’t read their Bible enough that they would imply that we’re lying about what’s in that book, we should challenge them publicly to read it.
Usually when I find a Christian who DOES know about those bad parts of the Bible, they usually spend their effort telling me that the Bible isn’t meant to be taken literally.
At that point, I believe half the debate is won by our side. And that’s the outcome that I believe that the majority of Christians want to avoid, which explains why most Christians won’t even begin such a debate.
It’s just easier to shrug and silently walk away from any perceived duty to back up their religion’s wild claims.
It’s the literal word of god when it supports the party’s political agenda. It’s allegorical or taken out of context when it contradicts itself or basic morality. It’s whatever you need it to be to do whatever it is you want to do. It’s a justification for anything. It’s a source of moral relativism.
I used the Christian Coalition’s contact page and sent the following message.
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A recent story from Rev. Austin Miles (http://www.cc.org/blog/breaking_god_now_censored_blogs) has misquoted the position of a spokesman for the American Atheists on the topic of censoring the bible on the internet. While Mr. Silverman is opposed to this censoring software, your writer makes him out to be in favor of it.
“I don’t like it,” David Silverman, national spokesperson and vice president of American Atheists, told the People’s World. “I don’t believe in sheltering kids from information.”
But “I think kids need to see them,” Silverman continued. “We should not be afraid of information exchange. We should not be afraid of anyone learning anything.” He dismissed the idea that the Bible should be blocked as some sort of pornography, saying, “I wouldn’t put the Bible in the same category as pornography. I would put it in the same category as very bad literature.”
From http://www.peoplesworld.org/godblock-inspires-controversy-among-atheists/
Intentionally misrepresenting this man’s stance on this subject is an unethical attempt to associate a leader in a national organization of atheists with a controversial software. This destroys whatever amount of journalistic integrity you hold your writers to and is a clear example of bearing false witness.
A retraction should be published along with an apology to David Silverman for your gross misrepresentation of his ideals.
Great letter! Let’s see if you get a reply.
More like, “Let’s enjoy watching nothing change” =P
I sent them the suggestion the they buy a Bible somewhere, and familiarize themselves with it.
This seems like something we could run with. Even though it was just one blogger, the CC should know better than to allow that blogger to make himself look like he doesn’t read the Bible. It makes it seem like the whole CC means to put that out as their official policy.
I’ve always felt that Christians have the first responsibility to read and know that book. No one pushes it on the masses more than them.
So now the CC needs Bible lessons. I think that’s newsworthy.
But if they refuse to read it, and won’t acknowledge the bad parts, I say we get someone with a good loud speaking voice to read those parts out loud, in a really public place. I bet we’d see some Christian parents covering their childrens’ ears!
It’s not about the book. The book doesn’t make sense to them either. Religion is socially defined, which is why you see xians doing biblically banned things like eating shellfish or setting up gift shops in church. It’s whatever is popular. They look to each other for guidance, not 1,000 pages of bronze-age fables. Religion is a source of moral relativism. They’re in it for the benefits, not to achieve consistency.
Um, let’s not pretend that journalistic accuracy matters to people who have decided to believe the earth is 5,000 years old, against all evidence, based solely on the campfire tales of Bronze-age sheep herders.
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It’s not about accuracy or being right, it’s about being part of an ingroup in opposition to an outgroup.
Serves Silverman right.Dave’s rant was just another jewish attack on christian religion.As for smashing babies,drinking urine,eating dung ever heard of spring break Dave.The bible is better than porn just look at all the insanity,greed,hate,sex,violence in it.
Offtopic
Anna Fermanova [hotie] under house arrest in plano texas for taking night vision scopes to moscow.She is jewish,we could be under assualt by hot looking russian and jewish agents, are we strong enough to withstand these beauties.
I would like to hereby nominate reason for the “Ass Talker of the Year” award.
Seconded.
The motion is passed and i thank the board for this honor.I will try my best not to let you down.
KA
When is state of california going to default.China is starting to downgrade US debt rating,my guess is after election things [economic]get ugly.
*applauds reason for such inspired ass talkery*
Did you know Dave is not Jewish?
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Source: he’s an officer in American Atheists.
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Recommendation: there are meds that can help with the paranoia.
Then why does he call himself a atheist jew.By the way Chris i think Dave is a fine fellow who would make a good president for AA.
I am not so much paranoid as cynical.
OFF TOPIC
Mosque planned near ground zero ? around who is funding the 100 million dollar cost.I grant muslims have property rights like others but this case seems shady
as well as insensitive more like islamic domination of old where they converted churchs into mosques.
Because being jewish isn’t just a religion but a race & an ethnicity as well.
That post wasn’t aimed @ you.
They already paid for in in cash–untracable cash. What’s wrong with this picture?
How come no mention of the recent christians united for israel pow wow in dc.They dangerous fanatics.
Don’t even give these nuts the attention, sincerely recommend they get help and medication, and then move on. To elucidate how nutty he is, think about this: if you didn’t notice already, this guy honestly seems to think Obama is the Antichrist. (“The One”) And if I got this right, he himself is a personal target of The One.
Being skeptical is one thing, but do we really have to reply to every mentally unbalanced person?
Christians spreading lies? What a surprise!
– Human Ape
http://darwin-killed-god.blogspot.com/
Bob…tell me, why do atheists believe that there are no other life forms superior to humans?
you’ll never be able to speak for this atheist, dork……the possibility of other intelligent life in our universe is never in dispute…what is in dispute is an idea that you know the likes and dislikes of a super natural existence….please try to understand at least what the argument is about…..
phreedm, tell me why I should waste my precious time talking to an idiot.
Since I have some time to waste I’ll answer your dumb question.
First of all, atheists don’t believe in anything. Why do you think they’re called atheists? I demand evidence for every concept that I accept. Beliefs are for retarded Christians.
Who said human apes are superior? We have our advantages, like a larger brain (but no larger than a dophin’s). But our closest non-human cousins the chimps, while they have a smaller brain, are many times stronger than human apes. So who’s superior? The chimps who could beat the shit out of a human, or the smart human? I’m voting for the chimp, who by the way, has a superior short-term memory (see my blog).
Can people fly? Live under water? No, of course not. There’s nothing superior about us, expect our intelligence, and I noticed some people, also known as Christians, are dumber than dogs.
People are nothing more than one small twig on the vast tree of life. It’s the retarded Christians, not the atheists, who think human apes are a big fucking deal.
If you have any more dumb questions, ask somebody else.
http://darwin-killed-god.blogspot.com/
Charlie…what upward limitations do you place on other intelligent life and why?
the limitations I have come from my own life experiences and the experiences of all the sciences….I think that if there is other life out there, to include a superior intelligence, it is most likely biological and very similar to our existence….I will change that view when I have a conversation with an intelligence that is not biological….
so for me….there are no ghost, no spirits and especially no personal gods….our intelligence only exist because of a biological process….a biological process that is violent and messy….a biological process that can happen anywhere in our universe…..and probably needs an environment that is similar to ours in order for it to happen….
are you having any conversations with anything not biological? phreedm….does your personal god speak to you….