I also think that the slack-jawed Jesus-lovers get the idea that America is a Christian Nation from the biblical tale of God “giving” Palestine (Canaan)to the Hebrews. Throughout history, Christians of all stripes have apparently believed that all kinds of nasty land-grabs, atrocities and genocide are justified by the line “God gave it to us”.

Because, remember, Jesus was white.

And he spoke Jamesian English. Don’t forget that part.

It’s so easy to tell from reading the Bible that these people didn’t get out much…

Not a whole lot different from teary “I want my country back” inbred white people from the back woods who can’t handle somebody with a surplus of melanin being the President of the United States.

Because, remember, Jesus was white.

I usually do leave them up. I just don’t have time to deal with the problem right now, so the cleanest approach was to nuke everything.

I haven’t actually deleted the messages yet. I might restore some or all of them, even if the ban remains in place.

I’m working 60 hours a week right now. I don’t have the patience to babysit a borderline commenter and try to reign them in. Nor can I afford to waste my time intellectually wiping them on the pavement like I do with the other mental midgets who drop in from time to time.

It’s 3:30 AM. I haven’t slept in 20 hours, because I’m now too tired to do so (no, I don’t know how that works, but that’s what happens). When I’m in a better humor, I enjoy smacking them around. Right now, I’m just flushing them down the toilet like the excrement they are.

Be civil. Contribute to the conversation. Disagree all you want, but do so with proof and/or logic.

Well, Sue, there was already a ready-made cataclysm story that they could steal, so why bother? As Parrotlover 77 noted, the original flood myth dates back at least to the Epic of Gilgamesh; and since the EoG is a fully mature story, the various components probably date back even much further. Noah, my ass! The fundies should all be talking about ol’ Ut-Napishtim.

I work at seasteading.org full-time, and seasteading has no intention of changing the American political system, but rather simply leaving it.

High Macha Of Rashpur: Good afternoon. I am the Grand Exalted High Macha of Rashpur, a nonexistent but real-sounding country.

Phil Moscowitz: Uh-huh.

High Macha Of Rashpur: Yes. We’re on a waiting list. As soon as there’s an opening on the map, we’re next.

Fundamentalist policies? Like what? Bush may have thought himself God’s warrior, but you don’t really believe that the military did it for religious reasons, do you? Because then you can’t hold the belief that it was for Haliburton and oil.

Yes, because it is impossible for different interests who want the same outcome to have different motivations.

…gay marriage is easier now than it ever was

I suppose those uppity blacks should have been satisfied in the 60s because life for them was “easier now than it ever was.”

But even today after 250 years of Progress some people in America still aren’t Progressive enough…

It’s pretty amazing that what was acceptible 250 years ago isn’t today. Why, just the other day, I was lamenting on the fact that the damn gubment forces me to have functional plumbing in my house. If I want to poop on the street, then by god, I should be able to poop on the street! It was good enough 250 years ago and it’s good enough now!

They vote badly because they’re badly educated, and you support the civil service and NGOs that perform the right education function.

Private organizations can teach whatever they want to consenting adults. However, it is child abuse to teach kids things that are factually provably wrong. I’m not talking about spirit/souls/prayer or whatever other silly mythology they want to peddle. I’m talking about things that cut against sound, provable, indisputable science. Any school that teaches the earth is 6000 years old — gone. Shut down. Done. The kids deserve better. Parents are abusing their kids with nonsense like that.

Also, too, federal standards would (and do) ensure that education is standardized so that going to one school does not greatly disadvantage a child from entering another school or college.

Who’s to blame for the passage of SB 1070 in Arizona?

Mostly racist assholes. But conservative politicians were/are fanning the flames for their own political advantage.

Who’s to blame for the passage of Prop 8 in California?

Mostly bigoted assholes. But the funny thing is that, this again, was an issue of education. All recent polls show much stronger support for gay marraige. The reason the vote happened the way it did was because of all the fear mongering from conservative organizations. ZOMG A STORM IS COMING! THEY WANT TO TURN MY KIDS GAY IN THE SCHOOLS AND EAT HIM!

Sad Proggies don’t understand libertarian anarchism.

I hear Somalia is nice this time of year.

Gary North would…

Bullshit. If that were the case, Where is his floating paradise? http://seasteading.org/

Why are he and you trying to change a system of governance where most people are generally satisfied overall with the system? That seems counter to your arguments.

And when was the last time public policy was dictated by Creationism?

I’m sure others will have better examples directly relating to Creationism (other than the obvious fact that school boards are setting a lot of policies about theories being theories and ZOMG LOOK OVER THERE), but fundie policies have been pretty devastating.

G.W. saw himself as a holy warrior doing God’s work in the middle east. You can see how well that’s turned out.

Gay marriage is still mostly illegal.

Churches get ridiculous tax breaks.

Abortion, although legal, is pretty damn tough to get done in this country.

A community center being built by a smaller, but pretty popular, religion is pretty damn close to not going to happen because fundies’ racist feeling are hurt by their existence.

Oh. Also, too, HITLER!!11!!!!

Local decisions in Alabama don’t affect California, but the trend is for pro-Darwin folks to alter local policy in Alabama.

Yes. Because we don’t want kids to be indoctrinated into a cult of ignorance, no matter what state they live in. I take it from your tone that you are very much a States’ Rights dude — the more local, the better? I’m not going to argue for or against that in general as I do see merits in both in different situations, but I’m definitely pro-federal and pro-secular when it comes to setting minimum education standards.

…you’d agree that Obama believing that a bearded man rose from the dead 2000 years ago still makes America “Christian”.

Yes.

If you voted for him then that makes you a supporter of this myth, by your logic that is.

Not speaking for Ron, but I don’t care what superstitions my elected officials believe in, as long as it does not negatively affect their governance. Further, I don’t vote for somebody because I 100% agree with them on everything. The alternative, Old Man McCain, was a lot more frightening. Your strawman is weak here.

My guess is you’re probably non-religious (or atheist) and voted for Obama because he’s both a secularist and Progressive, and you’re willing to let his outdated beliefs slide as long as he puts the peasants in their places by outlawing Creationism in public schools everywhere. Am I close?

You do understand that when you assert your thesis to an argument, your evidence should at least try to support it, right?

Obama is not a “secular” in the sense you are using. He’s certainly governing from a more secular perspective compared to Republican alternatives. But, for the love of Buddha (the fat laughing one, not the skinny ones), he ends every single press conference with “…and god bless the USA.” He’s for faith-based initiatives. He has stated on numerous occasions, that he believes in the power of prayer. He is not “a secularist.”

Peasants in their place? What does that even mean in this context?

As for outlawing creationism in public schools. Wow, would be pretty awesome if it were — wait a minute. Didn’t that happen like 60 years ago?

I thought we were fighting to prevent it from reappearing, while also defending the scientific method, sound scientific theories like evolution and gravity, and the rights of science teachers to teach science.

Crazy, I know!!! I’m just a regular Taliban member!

Eric Jacobus – I don’t get what you are arguing. You seem to sound like you are saying that the cause of science is won and is settled, with no serious opposition existing. Sometimes it sounds like you think we are dumb for worrying about creationist resurgence. Sometimes it sounds like you want creationist resurgence.

*sniff sniff* I smell concern troll.

…given that Creationists have no power in realm of public policy…

Seriously? Are you that out of touch? Evolution is barely taught in the schools, and when it is, it is shoved off in a corner and not given the coverage it warrants, given that it is the underpinning of all of biology. Most Americans don’t believe in evolution. Creationists are in Congress. Our last president was a creationist.

…the world has been shifting away from Creationism for 150 years now…

The world has, but not the United States.