It's a Scary Place Inside Your Head

terrorism, bigotry, racism, fear,

[disturbing images below the fold]

I have a devised a test so you can tell if you're a wingnut or sane.

Two women wearing headscarves walk into a McDonalds. Do you (a) not even notice them as you has cheeseburger, or do you (b) watch their every move because they might be ISLAMoFACIsTERRORISTS and ISLAMoFACIsTERRORISTS are known for blowing up McDonalds franchises in the greater Pittsburgh area?

Wednesday night, we all went over to our local McDonald's for some food. I didn't have the gumption to really cook anything of substance, and state law requires us to feed the kids. It doesn't say WHAT we have to feed them (yet) but only that they have full bellies.

Sitting there eating, I happened to notice a couple of families who must have been traveling in the dining room. The women were wearing hijabs (the muslim headscarf), and my radar kicked on. I sat through the rest of my meal not paying attention to my family, but watching their moves.

What a scary place inside your head is, bngfan. Really, it's tragic. Racist and rude and tragic. Are you filled with this kind of terror every time you see brown skinned people, or just when you see brown skinned people in scarves?

I would like to point out two things. If you truly feel that this level of terror was appropriate to the situation, then the terrorists really have won. Their goal is, after all, to instill terror, and they seem to have succeeded admirably with you.

Secondly, has it occurred to you at all that those families could well regard us white Americans with the same terror? 'Twasn't the brown skinned desert folk who did this:

or this:

or this:

Those were, by the way, the least disturbing images of our violence that I could find. Yeah, we're so much better.

Nothing at All

death, christian, theism, atheism, atheist, fear,
Death.

It's the main difference between atheists and theists of any stripe, I think. Tell a Christian, for example, that you think death is the end, that there is nothing more, that people just cease to be at that point, and you're likely to end up getting a frothing-at-the-mouth lecture on heaven and hell. In fact, I suspect that there are a certain percentage of theists that don't really believe in supreme beings at all, but they're terrified at the idea of there being nothing after this.

It's almost impossible to express to someone that attached to the idea of an afterlife how not frightening atheists find the end to be. (Christians, btw, demand more heroic measures, and spend far more, in the last month of life than other groups*. I suspect this does not mean they don't believe in heaven, but rather that their belief in heaven is a symptom of their fear of death. I also don't think that atheists fear death less, but rather that people who fear death less are more likely to become atheists.)

Let me put it this way: Once you die, you're done. It's over. There's no more thinking, no more feeling, nothing. I know it's almost impossible to imagine nothing, but do you suppose a rock misses its family? Does your chair bemoan its fate as it gets moved about the room? Once you die, you're meat. Brisket doesn't complain.

I think people conflate the grief they feel at losing someone with what that someone might be feeling. Death is easy for the dead, it's hard on the living. Funerals aren't for dead people, dead people couldn't care less. Funerals are for the living, to help in their grieving. I am mystified at people that plan their own funerals, or demand this location or that song. I've always told my family to do whatever makes them feel better. I'll be dead, I won't be capable of caring. If they want to play country music, dress me up like a 70s disco queen and read the entire bible at the funeral, more power to 'em. I won't be there.

*wish I could find that link.

When I Am King

end the lies, liar, fear, fearmongering, dna, homophobia, homosexual, gay, prop 8, bigotry
You will be first again the wall / With your opinion which is of no consequence at all.

Radiohead, Paranoid Android

Nominate your favorite "voice of fear" to be on the wall at End the Lies. It's fun!

Hordeing Gears

Don't worry, I can spell "hording". "Hordeing" is something else entirely.

A female friend of mine asked me how I can enjoy video games, which rarely involve strong female characters, and when they do, those women are always, always dressed like porn stars.

The truth is, that does bother me. The truth is also that, as a 5'1.5", 100lb female, playing a huge, hypermacho badass with an even bigger gun is crazy fun! I imagine that 15 year old, skinny, nerdy boys feel the same way.

I fear strange men at night. I recognize that any random date (not that I've been on a date in a decade) could be a rapist, or worse. So, it's fun to pretend to be someone that will never have that fear. And to remember that, in my own way, I do have power. I can change the world, even without a chainsaw gun.

Persecuted Christians!

The Atheists are coming! The Atheists are coming! (Apparently, that is the official atheist logo. I had no idea. I like it: it's colorful, textured and vaguely Star Treky. Fishes got nothing on us, baby! And, since I think that is a hydrogen atom- only one electron- we're explosive!)

More from the fundamentalist whackjobs that think US christians are persecuted. Yes, really. No, I did not make this shit up. I don't have to.

Standing with the King by Ron Graham

blahblahblah Noah was supernaturally covered by the Lord (inciting porn imagery) blahblahblah

Certainly we too have this supernatural covering as we face adversities in our walk with Jesus. In “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs” we can read of numerous occasions where Christians were being put through the most horrible of deaths, and eye witnesses exclaimed as they watched the faces of those being put to death “Their faces seemed as angels smiling to the end.” How is that possible? Only through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can we Christians stand in the face of such horrendous tortures and persecutions. Actually, if you were being tortured to death, wouldn't you be happy when it was finally over? This happens to people who have been suffering horribly from terminal cancer or other such lingering, painful diseases. At the end, it doesn't hurt anymore. Good enough reason to smile for me.

Moving on to: If you won't let me do anything to you I want, dictate your life and trash the Constitution, you are persecuting me!

I’m not saying I believe we are going to experience anything like those I’ve mentioned then why bring it up? seriously, stop with the persecution porn but I do believe persecution of the Christian Church is coming. Show your work. It would be quite arrogant of us Christians living here in the U.S. to think we are immune. Comparing the US to places like communist Russia or China or the Middle East is illogical and dirty. We have a Constitution that separates church and state. This protects religion as much as it protects the rest of us. In order for the persecution of Christians to occur, someone would have to legislate away both the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. Good luck with that. What kind of persecutions are coming you might ask? Well, yeah! Well certainly we are already witnessing some of it today. Oh, really?

Watch the news and you’ll see the agenda of the homosexuals hard at work persecuting the Church. Of course it's Teh Gay, the mightiest of all evils. The slacktivist did a wonderful series on how Teh Gay became the greatest of all evils in the fundavelagist community. You should read it. I was surprised at how recently Teh Gay has become the focus of Teh Hate. All homosexuals want is to be left alone. Surprisingly, they don't like being the focus of all that hate any more than I would. (Actually surprisingly, as an atheist, I get a lot less hate.) Homosexuals want civil rights, they want to stop being discriminated against, they want to stop being the victims of violence. What is wrong with that?

Do not post one of those ridiculous screeds about how the bible condemns homosexuality. First of all, this only occurs in Leviticus, which is the book of Jewish law. Leviticus also condemns as "an abomination" the eating of shellfish. Lev 11:9-12 Do Christians not eat shrimp? Of course they eat shrimp. They ignore everything else in Leviticus, but keep the gay-hating. Nice.

Do not post some idiotic rant about how Teh Gay ruins marriages. I have yet to see anyone prove that, and I doubt you will either. Then I will have to engage you in conversation that will make me feel dirty, and I can't afford to keep heating water for shower after shower.

Laws are being formulated and progressed to systematically eliminate God’s Holy Word from all venues in our public arenas. Those are not new laws. Rexamine the Establishment Clause if you need to. That was the original intent of the framers of the Constitution. Besides, no one is taking your bible away from you, so how does not having the 10 commandments in the courthouse persecute christians. You are still welcome to follow and preach your religion all you want. Just not on publicly (owned by everyone, atheists included!) property. Never in the history of the English printed Bible what? What the hell is the reference here? Oh yeah, Aramaic and Hebrew and Greek versions were wrong, because god loves English best. Which is why Jesus was an Aramaic-speaking orthodox Jew! God really does work in mysterious ways. has there been such a determination to remove it and deliver it to its final resting place, a heap of burning Bibles. Again, persecution porn. Has the governemnt of the ever US fired up a heap of bibles? No. Is anyone suggesting it, trying to pass bills to that effect? No.

Around the world today Christians are being persecuted, abused, discriminated against, and martyred for adhering to their faith in Jesus Christ. In countries not the US, some of them, this is true. It's very sad. It's why the Establishment and Free Expression Clauses are so very important.

See, this idiot never thought this through. Clearly. Suppose we do set up a theocracy. Right now, Christianity in general is the dominant religion in the country (76.5% self identify as Christian). What specific type of Christianity is dominant? Catholicism. (24.5% self identify as Catholic, compared to 16.3% Baptist, which I'm guessing is what Graham is.) So, if we were to set up a theocracy, we'd have to go with Catholicism, because they're the most numerous. I guarantee Mr. Graham would jump for joy on hearing the US was a theocracy, and then spit up his skull upon hearing he had been involutarily converted to Catholicism.

That might be worth seeing. Except for being Catholic again. I didn't really like it the first time. Oh well.

Freedom of religion is of the past, intolerance toward Christians is the order of the day. Are we discussing Iran or something? Most country’s governments today are involved in silencing the Christian’s voice in one way or another. I guess it depends upon what you mean by "most". I really couldn't find any good data on this, because a search for "christian persecution" gives me pages and pages of this sort of persecution porn. Living in the US though, I can definitively say that christians in the US are not persecuted. They're just not allowed to persecute me. Which is no fun at all, apparently.

No they won’t admit it. Because it's not true! Conspiracy theory porn. None the less is one word, they are hard at it and won’t be satisfied until their satanic mission is complete. That's right! I refuse to allow you to turn my fine democracy into a theocracy and force convert me to your insanity because I'm a Satan worshipper. You caught me. Damn you, Ron Graham! Who's unamerican again?

God will not be mocked, revenge porn and if this new administration coming soon on the scene believes it can run the United States of America without God Obama is christian, but he clearly believes that god is not part of the equation for running the US, as is clearly stated in the constitution, they certainly have another thing coming, the correct expression is "they have another think coming" and I’m being very serious seriously? when I say this. God is in control not of the US, thank god and with His Church being under such pressure to assimilate into the new culture being promoted nobody is asking you to . . . assimilate? What, atheists are Borg now?He will take drastic measures to free us from such bondage. WHAT FREAKIN' BONDAGE? Does this guy ever actually read the bible? The Israelites were under bondage to the Pharaoh. You're allowed to worship any way you want, as much as you want, with whomever you want. How is that persecution?

Don’t be fooled into believing the lie of our newly elected president that we need change. Economy is in freefall, unemployment up, foreclosures the highest since the Great Depression, people homeless, starving, uninsured, banks and businesses failing right and left-- Yes, we do need change. Absolutely we do.

When he makes that statement he’s talking about changing our current Christian nation into an atheistic, socialistic, humanistic, Satan following nation of fools.

Wow. Ok, let's tackle these one at a time:

(1) socialistic. The current highest tax rate is 36%. Obama wants to make it 39%. At what point in the 3% difference does this become socialism?

(2) humanistic. I'm not sure why this is a dirty word to fundavangelicals. This is the definition of humanism: a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appealing to universal human qualities, particularly rationality. Why is that bad? Ummmm . . . it's not based on god? Dignity and worth are still good whether you got the idea from god or not. Maybe it's the rationality part. After all, if you started thinking, you might think about what Graham says, and then you'd realize how stupid he is, and he would be out of a job. Thinking is not good for Ron Graham.

(3) the juxtaposition of atheist and Satan-following. A Satan worshipping atheist is an oxymoron. You cannot be an atheist and a Satan worshipper. Atheists specifically do not believe in any gods at all. Therefore, we do not believe in Satan. I am no more a Satan worshipper than I am a Santa worshipper, or a Tooth Fairy worshipper.

Christians, hold on to God’s promises. Which you are completely free to do in the US. Be as steadfast as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in their time and don’t let an evil king sway you in your beliefs. Our only King is King Jesus and we adhere to His word for our lives. Obama isn't a king, he's President, well, will be President, and nobody is required to worship the US President. In fact, you are entirely free to make fun of him, hate him, protest against him, or anything else you'd like short of threatening his safety. In fact, Ron Graham takes advantage of this freedom all the time. Pray for our nation and our newly elected Presidential administration, but don’t be lulled to sleep; stay vigilant in your walk with Christ. Ah, prayer as a threat. Lovely.

How do we believers occupy ‘til He comes? By holding fast to our faith in Christ. Never stop studying God’s word. Just as important, and imperative, is our continued witnessing to the lost. Yeesh. You are free to to believe anything you like. Leave me out of it. Even though we are growing closer to the Rapture of His Church, Rapture porn! we are aware that Jesus is still saving lives and He will continue with or without a God fearing U.S. President. Exactly. God doesn't need the US to establish a theocracy, any more than God would need a starship.

That Is the Question

Apparently, fearmongering is the way to go with conservatives/fundamentalists/Republicans. I found McCain/Palin's fearmongering obnoxious and offensive, but, in reviewing conservafundican articles over the last few weeks, I have found one underlying theme: fear. (And racism. And crazy. But today's blog is about fear.)

This brings us to "To Fear or Not to Fear" by Faith Noles.

The week following this 2008 presidential election has left many feeling as if they have just walked through a cold mortuary filled with the post mortem remains of a once beautiful and blessed America. I’ve seen the solemn expressions of prophecy teachers and anointed preachers who have spoken since the election. I’ve seen the down cast faces of faithful believers who have passionately prayed for the healing and redemption of this nation. Many are disheartened and may even feel as if God has not heard their prayers.

This is not the first "America is dead now that you idiots have elected Obama" article since November 5. This handwringing over the US's corpse before Obama has even taken office is silly at first glance. My first thought was, "What kind of power do they imagine the President has?" Then I thought about all the shit Bush has done in the last 8 years- free falling stock market, severely depressed housing market, wire tapping, two wars, etc.- and I realized this wasn't silly. Then I thought, but Obama is going to at least to attempt to undo those things. Then it hit me.

These people think Bush did a good job. Think about that. Economy in the toilet, thousands wounded and dying in Afganistan and Iraq, foreclosures in the millions, people in the US starving, unable to afford medication or heat, and they're afraid this will end.

The worst part is, if the faithful really did pray for redemption and healing, then God did answer their prayers. McCain/Palin would have given us neither of those things. (I doubt they were really praying for redemption and healing, though. More like, "Please god, don't let that MUSLIM!TERRORIST!HE'sBLACK! in office.")

David Wilkerson wrote in his book, God’s Plan To Protect His People In The Coming Depression that “Every serious follower of Christ has to realize America deserves the full fury of God’s wrath”. Not an authority on anything. History is filled with examples of God’s judgment upon wicked nations. With the election of Obama, Christians in America see the ‘writing on the wall’ and know that God’s judgment on America is right at hand. Yeah, God was following the election on CNN. Now he will punish even those who voted for McCain for the election of Obama. Because god doesn't understand how the electoral college works.

This is appalling for two reasons. First, history is not full of examples of God's judgment, it is filled with natural disasters and miscalculations and human error, and above all, tragedy, misfortune and suffering. To attribute this as the just action of god is to ignore the tragedy and suffering. It is also to place oneself above the sufferer. "You deserved what you got, sucker, and it's never going to happen to me. Nyah, nyah, nyah."

This is monstrous.

I do believe that America is about to be judged. However, God wants to remind His children that He is still on the throne. Billy Graham once made the statement “God is unchanging in His love. He loves you. He has a plan for your life. Don’t let the newspaper headlines frighten you. God is still sovereign; He’s still on the throne.” God has not changed. Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Malachi 3:6 “For I am the Lord, I change not.” None of the events of this old sinful world has taken God by surprise.

Yeah, I dunno. Random bible quotes. But think about what Ms. Noles says. Basically, god is going to spank us all while saying, "this hurts me more than it hurts you . . . but yeah, you're all going to die in the plague. it'll be a horrible way to die. but more painful for me."

Yes, he's back: God as abusive parent with serious self esteem issues! Why would anyone want to worship this guy, anyway? He makes Satan sound like the better option, if you have to choose one.

I will spare you the list of random, tangentially related bible quotes. (Just open a bible to a random page and point at random to a verse. Do this 8 times and you'll get the picture.) Then we get this delightful story:

There’s a story about a mother hen who overshadowed her baby chick with her wing during a tall grass fire. Afterwards, the farmer walked over the burnt field to assess the damage of his property. He stood still when he saw something move underneath a hen that had died in the fire. He picked up the charred wing of the mother hen and there laid her baby chick untouched by the scorching flames. . .

. . . but dead of smoke inhalation. No really, think about that. What does that mean in this context? That god- GOD!- is powerless to prevent the coming judgment? That god will die protecting us? My mom will die protecting me? If you're going to use analogies to make your point, make sure they actually do make your point. Otherwise you get this confusing mess.

What a comfort to know that you abide under the shadow of God Almighty! Years ago, during an especially trying time in my life, I prayed “Oh God are You here?” Someone had threatened my life and ridiculed my relationship with God. What? What the hell is she talking about? Did some guy hold a knife to her throat while screaming, "You're stupid to believe in god!" More likely, she got an angry email response to some equally horrible article. While the rest of us have the sense to ignore that sort of thing, this is Ms. Nole's melodramatic overreaction: I thought as James and John did in Luke chapter nine, that God would rain fire on this man, but He didn’t. Seriously? You actually thought god almighty was going to rain fire and brimstone on some random internet troll? *wild, uncontrollable laughter* I couldn’t understand why God just didn’t strike this person dead or at least put him in a coma or something. Ya know, the god of love and mercy and compassion and forgiveness. That guy. Yet, God taught me many things while I walked through that valley. What valley? Why have we moved on to travel plans? God reminded me that He loved us while we were yet unlovable. God was showing mercy to this ungodly man. God didn’t take me out of the trial immediately, but He protected my life and gave me the strength to endure. One terrible, lonely night, I sat at my piano, weeping and asking God for deliverance. With tenderness and compassion, God reached down and wrapped me in His arms Replace the word "god" with any man's name and this gets very interesting and gave me this song:

Really bad song lyrics that make me happy I can't hear the music.

There is no need to fear if you are washed in the blood of the Lamb and abiding with Jesus. Isaiah 41:13 “For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee”. However, for those who refuse to turn from their wicked ways, I think the tagline for the 1986 movie The Fly can apply to you... “Be afraid, be very afraid”. Hebrews 10:31 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”.

Nyah, nyah, nyah! God's gonna get you, god's gonna get you!