The Damned

…but pretty stupid.

I didn’t vote for Obama and I don’t even like him or agree with what he’s doing, so why would I dislike the Tea Party movement?

Well, for one thing, I’m not a Republican.

In case you didn’t know, Republicans have far less registered voters than Democrats, and in many states, there are more registered as Independent/Unaffiliated than Republican

Looking at registered voters is important, because this is one of the single largest determining factors for whether a person will vote. In 2008, 89.6% of the population (source) who was registered to vote went out and cast a ballot of some kind. Add to this the fact that eleven states have more people registered Independent/Unaffiliated than are registered Republican or Democrat, and you can see that Independents make the different in elections.

For those curious, the national breakdown in 2008 looked like this (source):

43.62% Democrat
30.72% Republican
23.98% Independent/Unaffiliated
1.44% Other*

* (From biggest to smallest: Constitution, Libertarian, Reform, Working Family, and still others, mostly Socialist or Secessionist/Independence parties)

This means both main parties rely heavily upon Independents. After a solid defeat, it’s no surprise that Republicans have been reaching out in a major way to independents. But is it reaching out, or encouraging people to be repelled by Democrats?

The Tea Party is nothing but a rebranding of Republicanism, with a slightly different formula for making campaign promises. Parting from the past eight years of fear mongering via “the terrorists are out to get us” rhetoric, we are seeing a new angle that hasn’t been en vogue since the Cold War: anti-Communism fear mongering.

I’m a Socialish (it’s like a socialist, but not really), and I can assure you: Obama is no comrade of mine.

Perhaps hoping to capitalize on the disenfranchised Libertarian voter, perhaps the result of nothing more than sheer embarrassment over the Bush years, the Tea Party is little more than an attempt to drum up anti-Obama sentiment for Republicans under a different banner. After all, if those Independents aren’t voting for Obama, that must mean they’re voting for the Republican… you wouldn’t throw your vote away on some third party candidate, right?

One can already see the Tea Party is not a cohesive contingent with any sort of codified platform or ideology. There are rifts opening left and right (mostly right), dividing the group into irreconcilable contingencies with only one thing in common: a dislike for Obama.

You can’t organize people whose only common trait is that they aren’t something. As an atheist, I know a thing or two about negative group formation. It’s enough to bring people together, but it’s not enough to keep them together. The endgame strategy behind the Tea Party is clearly to elect a Republican in 2012.

And which Republican? If the Tea Party was rallying behind Ron Paul, I would be happily surprised, but they aren’t. Instead, the emerging figurehead who seems to be most active in the rallies is Sarah Palin, but this only serves to show how little impact the Tea Party itself will have. Palin is not a viable candidate (I bet Republicans will end up with Romney, and that he’ll lose to Obama).

Let’s face it. Any group that not only allows, but encourages Palin to become associated with them is not worth being a part of, and their intelligence has to be called into question. No one should have any respect for that pea-brained quitter.

I’m angry at Obama, too, but I don’t run into the arms of the first pleasant sounding siren who comes along. Anyone promising to lower taxes at a time of record debt is clearly out of touch and certainly not fiscally responsible It’s going to take increased taxes to pay for the Bush years, let alone the Obama years, so the single biggest galvanizing issue that the Tea Party rallies behind is not only economically irresponsible, it cannot be exercised.

There will be taxes, get over it.

Even if some sort of freak accident killed every other candidate and Ron Paul were elected, he would have to raise taxes. Even if he cut every single government program, fired every government employee he legally could, and sold children who were abandoned to the state as sex slaves… he would still have to raise taxes (and unemployment would be unprecedented).

Yeah, it sucks, but we have no one to blame but Republicans, Democrats, and the American morons who elected them. The question is: will people wise up and realize the Tea Party is a Republican front? Will people put their time, energy and money behind real efforts to add political diversity to the two-tone landscape?

Be a Libertarian, be an Anarchist, be a Socialist, be something with an established ideology and its own identity, or even be an Independent, the free agent of politics. Don’t settle for the same old shit in a different box.

Unless you’re a Republican, then don that tri-cornered hat and remember: election day is Wednesday, November 10th. [Shh… don’t tell them…]

No Smoking Triple Fail BP and the Gulf Hell and the Laws of Thermodynamics Reason Twilight is Awful #2045 Awesome Storm Clouds [...]

Author: adavidpirtle
Keywords:
Added: August 15, 2010

This whole NYC mosque situation has put me and like-minded people in a strange position. Sam Harris is against it, Christopher Hitchens is for it and both are very careful not to come off as supporting Islam. President Obama stands up for American values while Newt Gingrich suggests we ought to be more like Saudi Arabia and other Islamo-fascist countries (and by proxy declared the U.S. a Christian nation.) Did the whole world lose their script?

On the one hand, Islam is a cruel, reasonless, oppressive force that keeps a good deal of the world enslaved. I’m not denying that and I’m not disagreeing with Harris’ evaluation of the religion.

But, on the other hand, I insist upon freedom of religion. I always tell people, I’m not interested in shutting down churches, mosques, scientology mind-warping centers, etc. if it means I have to do it via the law (or violence). You can never outlaw an idea. It’s not just morally wrong to do so, but it won’t work. It hasn’t, in the history of the world. Despite the inquisitions there are still atheists and Jews. Despite the best efforts of armies throughout the centuries there remains, in our world, fascist, socialist, capitailist and theocratic governments. And terrorism. You can’t kill an idea, even ones as objectionable as anti-women’s rights, fascism or Islam.

All you can do is coax someone away from religion. The best you can do is expose the religion’s harm and give people the tools to free themselves. If someone has chosen to leave a religion, if the law or the government forces them out of it, or if they’re denied the freedom to practice, say, by having their place of worship shoved out of an area: They’re not free. This sort of action would only embolden their alligance to the religion and justify the fears that America has a vendetta against Islam. That’s no way to free people.

Americans in every religion and from every culture have adjusted their beliefs and their traditions to meld with American culture. When some fear-mongers try to raise the point that “Muslims want to impose Sharia Law on us all,” they’re ignoring the history of America, that is that American ideals and values always trump threats. Not to mention they’re misrepresenting Islam and religion in general. Every religion wants to dominate the world. Why wouldn’t you, if you thought you had some secret supernatural answer to salvation or etenal life or whatever your bag is? However, they realize that’s an impractical idea, except for extremists. Abortion-doctor murderers, Islamic terrorists, people seeking legal exemptions for ‘faith-healing’ they’re the ones we need to stop, because they are the ones who use religion to treat people inhumanely to the point of immediate danger.

A church, a mosque, a cultural center, that’s not a threat. That’s not a victory for al-qaida. That’s the way America expects a religion to act. Calling Islam a cruel faith isn’t enough to deny it’s eligability to build a multi-cultural center on an old Burlington Coat Factory a few blocks from where terrorists attacked. Just like a town in which a man was murdered by bible literalists for being gay isn’t grounds for denying an application to build a church in that town.

Finally, if some terrorists want to consider this a victory, I wouldn’t mind. I know that America is in the right, by not tossing our values out the window and I don’t care how someone else percieves it. Americans know what’s right and as the bright lights of education begin to cover the Mideast, which it inevitably will, it will start to become apparent that by not allowing the events of 9/11 to compromise our values, we have beaten the terrorists.

Author: peaceofminds
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Added: August 14, 2010

Author: jengopockets
Keywords:
Added: August 12, 2010

Well it's Ramadan and, like every year, I'm late on my shopping. ...oh, wait...

Actually, there is some shopping you could do this Ramadan that might make you feel all warm and fuzzy. You see, in the Muslim nation of Pakistan more than 13 million people have lost homes and more in violent flooding brought on by Monsoon rains. 1,500 are reported dead. So, perhaps, you think, the humane thing to do would be to send a few bucks towards international aid workers. Red Cross, UNICEF, Super Friends, etc. But, you have to keep in mind that, in accordance with Islam, if your money reaches victims in, perhaps, the form of food, it may be turned away. You see, it's Ramadan. Ramadan is a 'month' long holiday (It will last from Aug. 11th to Sept. 9th) during which Muslims are not to eat while the sun is up. So, if they receive any food in daylight hours, they'll have to turn it down or, if it's a non perishable, they may save it until the nighttime. During Ramadan, in the evening the family will gather for a feast of sorts, known as Iftar. This year is going to be especially tough on the Muslim families who lost their homes. Their homes are gone. They are trudging through floods, perhaps starving. Some may be seeking food anywhere, but their merciful god insists even in the face of dizzying hunger, that they wait until the sun sets to ingest a single morsel of your donation.

If their religion was right, they'd sooner die with a piece of bread in their hands waiting for the sun to set, than accept the generous offer from the West to save their lives. And it's not like I'm blowing out of proportion how much aid the west is giving Pakistan. For a nuclear armed Muslim country, this flood is a great diplomatic opportunity.

On CNN, they're saying:

The United States will also invest $100 million to expand access to credit for small and medium-sized businesses, and provide $50 million to support investments in innovation and technology projects, she said.

The projects will be funded by the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Act that authorizes $7.5 billion in development aid to Pakistan over the next five years.

And we're not even keeping good track of it.

The United States has not accurately tracked about $6 billion it gave to help the Pakistani government fight terrorism since 2001, according to a report released Tuesday.

I mean, the truth is people are suffering, and they need help. But we're really losing a lot in the way we're doing it. Our donations aren't getting there, if they are they might be turned away (because of religion), and then there's this ugly bitch rearing it's head in this whole mess:

Pakistan floods could give Taliban time to regroup

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The floods ravaging Pakistan are generating fears that Taliban insurgents could regroup amid the chaos and destruction. The country’s already anemic economy is expected to weaken, increasing the poverty that is a factor in the militancy wracking the country.

One of the hardest hit regions is the northwest, the heartland of the Pakistan Taliban and other insurgent groups. Over the last two years, the army has carried out several offensives against militants there. The U.S. has welcomed the efforts — and launched drone strikes of its own — because of the threat the insurgents pose to Western troops across the border in Afghanistan.

Now, thousands of those Pakistani soldiers have been tasked with flood relief and will likely be crucial in rebuilding bridges and roads once the worst floods in Pakistan’s history have receded. Helicopters that once backed up troops in the tribal regions may have to be dispatched for flood relief.

“It’s too much on the plate for the army,” said Ayesha Siddiqa, a military analyst.
Chief army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said 60,000 troops nationwide have been engaged in flood-relief, including many in places insurgents have been active. He said the military could handle the floods and the fighting concurrently.

The insurgents have kept up attacks during the two-week flooding crisis, which has left 1,500 people dead and affected nearly 14 million people.

A suicide bomber killed the head of a U.S.-backed paramilitary police force, while gunmen wounded the sister of one of the northwest’s top political leaders.

Now, here's my favorite part:

On Tuesday, the Pakistani Taliban said the flooding was God’s punishment to Pakistanis for accepting secular leaders and urged Pakistanis to boycott foreign aid.

Yes, the Taliban is taking a page out of Pat Robertson's book (illustrating once again that Robertson is morally equivalent to these guys, although, he's a little less intelligent) and they're actively telling people that God is going to punish them if they accept foreign aid.

I hate to be a cynic, but if I'm going to give money to an organization that can't manage it's money properly, to give to flood victims who won't accept it and there's a roving army of fascist-Islamo terrorists trying to keep it out of victims' hands, claiming the power of God on their side: Then why am I wasting my money? Sure, I want to help, but I think it's more than likely donating money to Pakistan now will result in the funding of discarded food, and the Taliban. And I can't take that chance.

More people have been displaced by this flood than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Yet, religion stands between this nation and recovery.

What if there were no Islam or Christianity or if, instead of 97% of Pakistan being Muslim, only 15% were? What would the relief effort look like then? There'd be no relevant Taliban, since only a very small percentage of people would be Muslim and even smaller percent would be extremist Muslims (probably like, 6 guys). There'd be no Ramadan to stop people from nourishing their disaster torn bodies. With better education, perhaps the Pakistani people would have built sturdier, flood-ready housing, but of course, Islamic fundamentalism severely limits education and even the opportunity for any normal life for these people.

Look, I'm not making the argument against donations, if you think you've found a worthy, legit cause, than absolutely the moral thing to do is, if you can, donate to the rescue of suffering human beings. My argument is what my argument always is:

Just another 'harm of religion.'


P.S.: In retrospect, perhaps the title of this article appears to blame the victim. I assure you, I only meant it as an unrelated reference to this Bob Dylan song.

Author: MichaelZoltan
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Added: August 10, 2010

Author: HallowsEve2010
Keywords:
Added: August 8, 2010

With the development of sciences, the humanity has become more knowledgeable and the process is going on. But religious myths, developed at a time when sciences had not developed in many fields, are in direct confrontation with the scientific knowledge. Today, only 45 percent of Americans believe in truth of evolution. However, Japanese and Europeans have shown a better inclination to scientific evolutionary knowledge with their percentages standing at 78 and 70, respectively.


So much so that the National Science Board, which oversees National Science Foundation in US, has opined that if religious beliefs of people require to discard scientific facts, the board doesn’t think it appropriate to expose the truth.


This is alarming to the scientific community and their work the world over and with some more advancements in the same direction, one day may kill all scientific developments. This is alarming to the people also who, in-spite of their contra-science religious beliefs, are dependent on scientific knowledge for their survival in their present lifestyles, whether it is electricity, medicines, computers, internet, etc or anything else. Thus the faith holders have a dual face on depending on sciences and showing their faith in anti-science religions. This is a clear indicator of where the religions are going to lead us to – a dark age.


Every religion claims to being based on universal knowledge. Yet the religious faith followers have been showing their intolerance to other religions by murderous actions, religious hatred, beheading and bombing people. Comparatively, the Atheists and non-believers rarely condemn individuals rather actions and ideas that deserve to be challenged and they are unanimously condemned by all religious followers. It shows that only the religions are at fault and these are misleading people and are divisive to human society.



Keeping religions immune from criticism, in the name of tolerance to religious faith and hurting feelings of the believers, is both unwarranted and dangerous. Unless we are willing to expose religious irrationalities whenever and wherever these arise, we shall be encouraging irrational orientation of public mind, policy and promote ignorance over education for our next generations.

Author: TheTeachingAtheist
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Added: August 7, 2010

Author: crazyCA12
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Added: August 6, 2010

For a long list of Biblical contradictions please see  http://www.evilbible.com/Biblical%20Contradictions.htm

Also see http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ for an annotated Bible pointing out the errors and contradictions.  Something like 1616 of them in all.