If I were God, I'd squash this man like a bug.

[The Mutt]

I don't really find the new Testament to be all that comforting.
God sends his Son to die for our sins. Sort of. It is not really our sins, but a sin commited by our great, great, great great etc grandfather. We are born damned because of sting operation that happened 6000 years ago. So God splits himself like an amoeba and half of him comes down here to show us what God thinks we really deserve; being brutally tortured and murdered. In his mercy.
So god damns us, then forgives us-- an act he could carry out with a snap of his fingers-- but instead he goes through the whole torture thing so we will feel really, really guilty.
God is like the abusive husband who beats the living shit out of his wife and then says, "Aw, baby, look what you made me do. You know I love you, baby, but you just won't listen."
But yes, that is a step above the Old Testy guy who orders his armies to slaughter every man, woman and child in the country over the hill, except for the virgins, that is. Keep them as sex slaves, except for those you offer up as human sacrifice.
(It's in there, trust me.)
Over all, it is just a vile book.

 

[cantdog]

shereads:How we get from the Temptation of Christ and the ultimate act of selflessness, to his use by every shyster with a toll-free number for donations and half of the world's war mongering leaders, is a sad mystery. Is it the failure of the story? Or the way it touches people on a simple level, so that it's hard to let go even when the story is misused?

I registered independent back in the days before they let us register Green in Maine, and I always kinda missed voting in the primaries.

If you see the analogy. I worked with nuns and Friends in the sixties against the Vietnam war. I don't think the story was being misused then, or by MLK, Jr., either. But I didn't get consulted about which Christian was going to hit it big, because they rightfully exclude us atheists from voting on that issue. Today, Wildmon and Falwell are hitting it big, and MLK is shot down dead and Dubya puts flowers on his grave for the fucking cameras.

But there it is. To judge by what we see, most Christians don't want to enslave women, especially the women. Most Christians don't detest lesbian acquaintances and gay co-workers, if they take them as individuals whom they know.

To judge by what else we also see, a lot of them really do detest anybody whose gender relationships aren't square, and a lot of them have deep anxieties about atheists and muslims, and a host of other bugbears. They froth at the mouth and curse them, they attack their property, they injure them in public with impunity.

Many more of them, the milder ones, endorse these excesses by omitting to condemn them. To object that a Christian should hold power in America would be pointless. The point is, which kind of Christian? Dubya's kind, James Watt's kind, Buchanan's kind, this kind deserves contempt and calumny, not power and wealth. As Bill Moyers says, we are in the fight of our lives. Our children's happiness depends on defeating these Christian monsters and all their ilk.

For Christ's sake, as well, if I read my Bible correctly. But certainly for ours and our children's.

 

[shereads]

Cantdog, I feel your pain. I work at a non-profit organization and virtually everyone else who works there is a serious bible thumping born again christian, Since we rely on donations from churches, if it became known that I am an infidel, I would be fired.

I think that woud be illegal. Not that an employer can't always pretend there's another reason, but as long as your personal beliefs/lack of belief doesn't cause you to underperform your job, you can't be fired on religious grounds. i doubt that anyone could be forced to hire an atheist in the position you describe, but the fact that you've been doing the job satisfactorily is proof that firing you would be purely discriminatory and not for-cause.

I know how you feel. The Jobless Economic Recovery Miracle makes unnecessary risks hard to justify. On the other hand, if you decide to come out of the closet you might put your mind at ease by making a couple of calls to the state attorney or a legal firm that specializes in employment law.

Meanwhile - if you ever feel an instinctive twinge of discomfort that maybe your job is in danger because they suspect you're not one of Them, keep careful, redundant records of anything that hints at discriminatory practices. Nothing terrifies an employer like a minority/mistfit who is seen taking notes after controversial meetings or confrontations.

It's how this Scots-Irish gringa with no Spanish (the only non-bilingual employee of a new boss with little English) managed to be the last person standing when the office closed. I even outlasted the boss, after he lost us all our clients. Play your atheist cards right, and they'll have visions of you, their legal representative, and chirping crickets locking up and turning out the lights.



It's a dirty world. I learned to fight their way when I ran out of other choices.

If they knew I wrote "porn" and engaged in bisexual group sex, they would probably stone me to death.

You write dirty stories? You should be fired!

 

[cantdog]

They're trying to fix the labor laws, too, sher, but it's nice that they're there. If you follow my pronouns.

 

[The Mutt]

Not only do I write dirty stories, I write them at work!

Thanks for the advice, sher. But I think the place I work is important, and if the preachers found out that an atheist worked there, they would threaten to cut off the money unless I was let go. I would resign rather than do harm to the place.
It would be the unchristian thing to do.

 

[cantdog]

I edit them at work sometimes. Hey, it gets slow after Easter and before Advent.

 

[cantdog]

About the squash him like a bug thing:

I see the WWJD things and it makes me shake my head. The point ain't what would Jesus do, but what would Jesus have me do, seeing as how I'm just a human. I mean, you give a problem to Jesus, mister, that problem gonna be fixed. Really fixed. Ain't nothing, according to the manual, beyond the scope of the Big Man on the Holy Rood. We ain't gonna be able to fix things with that kinda scope.

Lovely to fantasize squashing like a bug, but along more concrete lines, let's fuck him up the best we can.

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

About the squash him like a bug thing:

I see the WWJD things and it makes me shake my head. The point ain't what would Jesus do, but what would Jesus have me do, seeing as how I'm just a human. I mean, you give a problem to Jesus, mister, that problem gonna be fixed. Really fixed. Ain't nothing, according to the manual, beyond the scope of the Big Man on the Holy Rood. We ain't gonna be able to fix things with that kinda scope.

Lovely to fantasize squashing like a bug, but along more concrete lines, let's fuck him up the best we can.

<Disclaimer: Purely intended for humour. The views expressed are not even that of the body typing it.>

I can spare two minions and a dreadlord to conduct the "long talk".

 

[shereads]

<Disclaimer: Purely intended for humour. The views expressed are not even that of the body typing it.>

I can spare two minions and a dreadlord to conduct the "long talk".

Only two minons? What about useless toadies?

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Only two minons? What about useless toadies?

Nah, the minions are also from my "Reveal Desire" squad to make them loosen up on that account while the dreadlord makes a few permanent scars.

Besides toadies are only good for flawless recreations of old Laurel and Hardy skits.

 

[Guest]

No imps?

 

[The Mutt]

Minnions, imps and toadies
may have their uses, but
to get the proper service
every woman needs a mutt.

 

[Pure]

The Mutt said,

But yes, that is a step above the Old Testy guy who orders his armies to slaughter every man, woman and child in the country over the hill, except for the virgins, that is. Keep them as sex slaves, except for those you offer up as human sacrifice.
(It's in there, trust me.)
Over all, it is just a vile book.

I think the Tanakh (OT) is an admirable book. I think the 'lesson of history' is that the NT, like those who clasp it to their breasts, is the real danger (to the health of others).

 

[The Mutt]

The Mutt said,

But yes, that is a step above the Old Testy guy who orders his armies to slaughter every man, woman and child in the country over the hill, except for the virgins, that is. Keep them as sex slaves, except for those you offer up as human sacrifice.
(It's in there, trust me.)
Over all, it is just a vile book.

I think the Tanakh (OT) is an admirable book. I think the 'lesson of history' is that the NT, like those who clasp it to their breasts, is the real danger (to the health of others).

I agree about the NT, but what is it you find admirable about the OT?

 

[amicus]

With all these biblical scholars, I think I should bow out of this group grope, besides, every time I touch a bible my fingers begin to smoke...is that telling me something?

amivampicus....

 

[shereads]

Thanks for the advice, sher. But I think the place I work is important, and if the preachers found out that an atheist worked there, they would threaten to cut off the money unless I was let go.

What preacher doesn't live for the chance to bring a pornographer to the Lord? They probably fantasize about converting atheists the way other men fantasize about converting lesbians.

Think of the jewelry and flowers and the candlelit dinners in the church social hall.

 

[The Mutt]

What preacher doesn't live for the chance to bring a pornographer to the Lord? They probably fantasize about converting atheists the way other men fantasize about converting lesbians.

Think of the jewelry and flowers and the candlelit dinners in the church social hall.

Sounds like my altar boy years.

(oh my god. I never thought about it. I'm a pornographer!)

 

[Pure]

What is admirable about the OT?

1.A richer, more powerful, complex portrait of God. The Book of Job, for instance, is a masterpiece.

(Oddly, history shows to me that, for 99% of readers of the NT, it's a pretty dangerous book with its talk of the 'all-loving' God who contemplates sending you to hellfire for calling someone a fool. Quakers and Amish, etc. have managed to take from the NT a nonviolent, peaceful, and antiwar message. They are the rare exceptions to the rule.)

2.Characters that are real, full blooded, vivid, fallible (a touch of evil), human. A great leader, for instance, who lusts after another's wife.

(Leaving the Number One Son aside, I see hardly any really interesting characters in the NT, except possibly St. Paul, if you want to study a so called great saint in all his tortured twistedness: thoughts, impulses, and punitive conscience.)

3. Great love poetry (indeed, not a little touch of good porn).

(Can you find a pair of great tits described anywhere in the NT?)

----

I will admit that, on odd numbered days of the month, I find the Buddhist and Taoist scriptures admirable in quite different ways.
Above, I'm simply making a comparison with some other religious books to come out of the Middle East.

 

[cantdog]

With all these biblical scholars, I think I should bow out of this group grope, besides, every time I touch a bible my fingers begin to smoke...is that telling me something?

amivampicus....

If only we all could have so clear a signal in the flesh when something is a danger to us or ours. A campaign stop by Dick Cheney would be remarkable video.

 

[shereads]

If only we all could have so clear a signal in the flesh when something is a danger to us or ours. A campaign stop by Dick Cheney would be remarkable video.

<whispering and looking about nervously for eavesdroppers>

Have you noticed he avoids rooms with mirrors?

 

[amicus]

Youse guys be a kick...if you really wanna share an anti VP and and homeland security blast, read Thebullet, Andrew Wiggins and his ekids story here on Lit...ch. 5 he is an excellent writer, but, a 'faith based' propagandist much to my dismay, as I really enjoy his plot line regardless of his juvenile political views...

good readiing....

...the inevitable amicable amicus...

 

[shereads]

I don't really find the new Testament to be all that comforting.

I don't find the crucifiction comforting either. But as a plotline, it defines courage and self-sacrifice as well as anything I've ever read. Consider it from the perspective of the original readers of the story; crucifiction was fairly common in the territories were the Romans were laying down the law and like most legal systems, theirs probably extended capital punishment to a higher percentage of the poor and powerless.

The earthly reprepsentative of the Ultimate Power subjects himself to the ultimate horror that can be inflicted on the powerless. It's a populist message that's remarkable for a few reasons, not the least of which is how effectively it's been used to promote and protect the concentration of power in the hands of shrewd organizations and individuals.

Remember Brian in the window addressing the gathered masses in M. Python's Life of Brian?

Brian: "You don't need to follow a messiah. You're all individuals."

Crowd in unison: "We're all individuals!"

One voice from the back of the crowd: "Not me."

Brian: "Yes, well not you, of course. But everyone else is an indivudal."

 

[amicus]

Shereads...should be momentarily forgiven for her lapse in just about everthing...

A rational person... seeking enlightenment, even in this modern time, must reject, out of hand, all past endeavors to create an ethical and moral base for human existence.

The only means by which you can begin, is to reject the folklore of 6000 years ago, to question the source of the Epostles, to research the life of christ, to read the books , to comprehend the context...and to finally 'know' that Christianity, and the Gods of the the East, be it Allah or Buddha, are nothing but the products of a creative writer such as yourself...

That being done...you may join me and others...who seek to find and comprehend the universe without a surpreme being in the offing...it is not an easy task...

It is a select community...you should feel honored...

amicus...

 

[shereads]

Shereads...should be momentarily forgiven for her lapse in just about everthing...

A rational person... seeking enlightenment, even in this modern time, must reject, out of hand, all past endeavors to create an ethical and moral base for human existence.

The only means by which you can begin, is to reject the folklore of 6000 years ago, to question the source of the Epostles, to research the life of christ, to read the books , to comprehend the context...and to finally 'know' that Christianity, and the Gods of the the East, be it Allah or Buddha, are nothing but the products of a creative writer such as yourself...

That being done...you may join me and others...who seek to find and comprehend the universe without a surpreme being in the offing...it is not an easy task...

It is a select community...you should feel honored...

amicus...

You're just trying to confuse me.

 

[shereads]

Amicus, on the topic of how many types of cognizant beings exist in the universe - supreme or otherwise - and how they might be bound up with our own consciousness, I'm definitely in the minority: the ones who know that we don't know.