A rant, but first, a joke:
Guy #1: What, you got a problem with me cursing?
Guy #2: Nah, nah, it's just that, you know, sayin' "holy fuck" is like talkin 'bout Jesus's mom fuckin' his dad and it's not cool to talk about Jesus's mom fuckin' people.
Guy #1: Dumbass, Jesus's mom didn't fuck anyone. She was a fuckin' virgin. How do I know this and you don't? You're the Christian.
Guy #2: What are you talkin' 'bout? How could Jesus have been born if his mom hadn't screwed his dad? Wait, who was Jesus's dad again?
Guy #1: Dude, are you serious?
One of the hallmarks of public Christianity in America right now is that they don't believe any of the things they say they believe.
They talk about love but they are preoccupied with hating gay people and anyone who isn't a Christian.
They talk about charity and vote for people who demolish social welfare programs as "evil."
They ask, "What Would Jesus Do?" and then venerate wealth and privilege.
They also say "Abortion is murder", but they don't really believe it. How do I know? You can test it for yourself by finding your favorite/nearest "pro-lifer" and asking the following series of questions:
Q: Is abortion murder?
A: Absolutely.
Q: Is it morally permissible to use force to stop a murder from occurring?
A: Yes.
Q: Is it morally permissible to kill someone who is about to commit a murder and there is no other way to stop them?
A: Uhhh [seeing where this is going now], I ... guess so.
Q: Is it morally permissible to shoot an abortion doctor who is walking into a clinic in order to perform abortions?
A: ...
See, they don't really believe that abortion is murder. If they did, they'd be clear that killing abortion doctors was morally acceptable. But they're uncomfortable applying their rhetoric to reality in such a concrete way. What they really believe is that sluts who have sex should be forced to have children and suffer other negative consequences [like cuts in social welfare programs - hey! synergy!], and instrumental to that, doctors who perform abortions should do jail time. But compared to their usual "pro-life" beliefs [murderers should be executed as quickly as possible], it's clear that they don't mean what they say.
Of course, there will be a small percentage who say "yes" to all four questions. If you encounter one of these, and if they own guns, you may someday get to be on TV saying, "Oh yeah, I'm not surprised at all. He always was one of those who you thought would snap."
thanks for this post. a lot of this has been on my mind recently, and as a christian, i find the stated evangelical position on "moral" issues to be lacking in many ways, particularly when held against the backdrop of american evangelical practice. anyways, i recently posted those thoughts here: http://purgatopia.blogs.com/purgatopia/2006/02/an_american_mor.html
thanks again.
d
Posted by: dryle | February 14, 2006 at 01:39 PM
dryle-
Sure.
Basic html:
A link goes like this
[a href="http://xxxxxxxxx.xxx"]a post[/a]
except that instead of [ and ], use . Thanks.
Posted by: Mithras | February 14, 2006 at 02:35 PM
ain't logic a bitch?
Posted by: o m | February 15, 2006 at 04:01 PM
Nice try at logic but this statement is a red herring simply because you forgot there are key differenced between an armed assailant and an abortion doctor. First, using force in order to prevent a murder does NOT always mean killing them, but usually forceable aprehending them. Killing them only insues if you have very little chance of apprehending them and living afterwards...
Next there is a difference between an armed assailant who is willfully attempting to end life out of ill will, an an abortion doctor who thinks he is doing a favor to the woman by riding her of that bothersome life. In this case the doctor has no ill will, even though his actions are wrong. So you would treat this situation obviously alot different. Would you put someone who assisted a suicide to death cuz it was premeditated? Obviously the circumstances are different. Instead you would try to stop the doctor because it is ethically wrong, just as you would try to reason with an abortion doctor or go straight to the law itself that allows this form of murder
There is nothing I hate more that people utilizing sneaky red herrings in order to try make someone look stupid. Try again when you know how to argue properly
Posted by: Shintenzu | September 16, 2007 at 03:08 AM
As to your virgin mary statement... Both of you dont know what you are talking about.
Mary was a virgin WHEN SHE HAD JESUS... she probabaly did not remain a virgin much long afterwards cuz GUESS WHAT..... JESUS HAD BROTHERS... go figure...
Another sad attempt at an arguement that totally failed...
Im completely expecting the "look at how this Christian talks... blah blah blah, Jesus wouldn't talk like that" but nothing annoys me more than when people use faulty logic and false facts to make a Christian look stupid, why not check yourself before talking against a religion you hardly know about.
Posted by: Shintenzu | September 16, 2007 at 03:13 AM
First, using force in order to prevent a murder does NOT always mean killing them, but usually forceable aprehending them. Killing them only insues if you have very little chance of apprehending them and living afterwards...
Deadly force is deadly force whether you kill them or not. Dumbass. And don't use words you can't spell. Ensues.
Next there is a difference between an armed assailant who is willfully attempting to end life out of ill will, an an abortion doctor who thinks he is doing a favor to the woman by riding her of that bothersome life.
Do you know the legal definition of murder? Anyway, you're abandoning your own doctrine. Is it intentionally killing a living person or not? I say no. You make a distinction based on ... euthanasia? WTF? News flash: In states without laws permitting it, yes, it's murder. Dumbass.
Mary was a virgin WHEN SHE HAD JESUS... she probabaly did not remain a virgin much long afterwards cuz GUESS WHAT..... JESUS HAD BROTHERS... go figure...
One, I was quoting a funny OINY post about Jesus's Mommy. Do you read blogs much? There are these things called links ..... Anyway, Jesus had brothers? Where is that in the Bible? And do you know if those brothers had kids? It sure would be neat to be related to the God and stuff. Dumbass.
Posted by: Mithras | September 16, 2007 at 11:52 AM