lexicalunit (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} lexicalunit) wrote,@ 2008-04-04 11:20:00 |
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God Strikes Again
So I found this article on reddit earlier today about a Illinois Democrat ranting about atheism. Go ahead and listen to the mp3 at the bottom of the page to hear the exchange. What you'll hear is people clapping and applauding the legislator. What you'll hear is someone refusing to let Sherman, the man being addressed by this rant, respond to the attack. What you'll hear is Sherman being totally polite and respectful even in the face of extreme prejudice.
In short, what you'll hear is a women so twisted and deformed by religion, that she can't think properly. And atheism is supposed to be the dangerous "philosophy"?
If Davis, the ranting legislator, is going to throw out a straw man argument and say that Sherman is detestable because he's not doing anything to prevent gun violence, then how about I throw out some of my own straw men? Why isn't religion doing anything to stop the rape of young boys by pastors? Why isn't religion doing anything about the spread of AIDS in Africa? Why isn't religion doing anything to prevent the teaching of misinformation in schools? Why isn't religion helping advance the potentially life saving science of stem-cells? Why isn't religion helping to stop the violence in Iraq and the Middle East?
Davis says that kids knowing about atheism is dangerous. This is nothing more than the age old religious adage of "stay stupid forever." The reason it's dangerous for kids to know about atheism is the same reason it was dangerous for slave owners to let their slaves learn to read. Knowledge is power. It's easier to control ignorant people. The irony here is that Davis herself is black and should have learned from her ancestors and her past the lesson that trying to control people in this way is doomed to failure.
So I found this article on reddit earlier today about a Illinois Democrat ranting about atheism. Go ahead and listen to the mp3 at the bottom of the page to hear the exchange. What you'll hear is people clapping and applauding the legislator. What you'll hear is someone refusing to let Sherman, the man being addressed by this rant, respond to the attack. What you'll hear is Sherman being totally polite and respectful even in the face of extreme prejudice.
In short, what you'll hear is a women so twisted and deformed by religion, that she can't think properly. And atheism is supposed to be the dangerous "philosophy"?
If Davis, the ranting legislator, is going to throw out a straw man argument and say that Sherman is detestable because he's not doing anything to prevent gun violence, then how about I throw out some of my own straw men? Why isn't religion doing anything to stop the rape of young boys by pastors? Why isn't religion doing anything about the spread of AIDS in Africa? Why isn't religion doing anything to prevent the teaching of misinformation in schools? Why isn't religion helping advance the potentially life saving science of stem-cells? Why isn't religion helping to stop the violence in Iraq and the Middle East?
Davis says that kids knowing about atheism is dangerous. This is nothing more than the age old religious adage of "stay stupid forever." The reason it's dangerous for kids to know about atheism is the same reason it was dangerous for slave owners to let their slaves learn to read. Knowledge is power. It's easier to control ignorant people. The irony here is that Davis herself is black and should have learned from her ancestors and her past the lesson that trying to control people in this way is doomed to failure.
