pz

Does this little suggestion of yours apply if someone rubs a theist the wrong way, too? I get the impression that this is one of those rules you think everyone else ought to follow.

In case you hadn't noticed, iidb is full of people who are concerned about the ubiquity of religious nonsense in our culture. It's a self-selected population of individuals who will notice and object to the superstitious crap Bush dishes out. This kind of thing is the central issue on this board!

It takes a special kind of obtuse cluelessness to show up here and complain that people shouldn't make such a big fuss about that god-soaked moron running the US, or the blithely oblivious theists who make excuses for him.

Huginn

How do you expect people to follow your advice if you don't explain the reasoning behind it?

pz

Shhhh. Everyone on iidb is supposed to just shut up and quite griping about religious idiots. It disturbs Infinity Lover and Amie.

What shall we talk about instead? Cars? Computer games? Pets? Roller coasters?

I hope that the admins don't mind if we redefine the mission of the secular web to make those two more comfortable.

sullster

I am sure there are crazy fundies who are calling Bush a heretic for saying that a Hindu and a Jew are in heaven. What anguish Bush has caused the fundies with his speech. Just think of it.


Oh, I will bet that Falwell will say that this is more of god's punishment of America for all of its sins. We in the US just keep getting wacked by the big guy.

Radorth

Bush thinks all the astronauts, including a Jew and a Hindu apparently, are "safely home" now.

Then he calls God "Providence" and "the Creator."

Yikes. These fundy presidents today. I tell ya.

Well I suppose he thinks some non-Christians can be saved, as I have argued next door, or he wouldn't say that.

Rad

thebeave

What's this business about the creator naming all the stars? I've never heard that one before. Is that in the bible, or is Bushy pulling stuff out of his ass because he thinks it makes him sound like a hip, spiritual, poetic guy, rather than the bumbly that he is? Is there a list somewhere of all the stars with their names? I ask because there is an interesting galaxy about 3 billion light years away that I'm curious about, and I sure would like to know the names of the billion plus stars contained in it.

Godbert

Interesting question, assuming 24 letters in the alphabet, 10^11 galaxies with 10^11 stars each, each star name would have to be at least 14 letters long (I think) to tell them apart and that number rises considerably if you want pronouncable names. Lucky for us we ended up with "sun" instead of "kfwnitesaczlqt"

Mad Kally

I can't believe a True Christian used the Lord's name in vain.

lisarea

Before Lord God made the sea and the land,
He held all the stars in the palm of his hand
And they ran through his fingers like grains of sand
And one little star fell alone

So the Lord God hunted through the wild night air
For the little dark star on the wind down there
And he stated and promised he'd take special care
So it wouldn't get lost again

That's from the bible, right?

emur

Quite frankly, I think Bush is so despised on this board that he is going to get little slack from most here. Don't worry, America is not going to become a theocracy anytime soon. Other than some fundies, the American people would not tolerate it. I'm more concerned about losing my freedom to big government types who will take them away "for the peoples own good" than I am about a Christian prez inflicting his religion on us all. But that's off topic.

Cricket posted:
First of all, we don't know what religious beliefs or lack thereof the astronauts had. We cannot know what impact Bush's words had unless family members respond. If someone was hurt by them, they should speak out at the proper time. The mainstream press would be sympathetic I'm sure.

As for the hell matter. Many Christians here in America are liberals, and they generally reject the notion of hell. It would depend on what kind of experience the families had with Christianity and how seriously they took it.

Amie posted:
Thank you Amie. I agree. I don't think Bush intended any harm with his words. Unlike his father, at least he has previously acknowledged non-believers as having a place in this country.

ybnormal posted:
While I do not presume to speak for Amie, I can say it doesn't matter to me whether Bush mentioned God or not. Whether a prez is theist or atheist doesn't matter to me. If theist, I would expect him/her to mention God sometimes. If atheist, I would expect him/her never to mention God. It's no biggie to me. Both theist and atheist alike are able to offer comfort to loved ones in the midst of a tragedy.

Mel