Stupid things the religious say

[Cheerful Charlie]

This from a happy clapper woman I once knew:

On the age of the earth, and existence of fossils.

No problem; the earth is only  6000 years old and  is as god created it. He created all fossils when he created everything else. She was a bit vague as to why god did that. I suggested that is was to confuse unbelievers. She thought that was probably the case. 


I've noticed that for some reason, that there are lot of evangelical christians especially who flatly reject  climate change. One would think that reality would be seized by the faithful as proof  that the end of days is approaching. Or at the very least, as evidence of God punishing the wicked atheists and other unbelievers. 

An old argument known as the omphalos argument.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omphalos_hypothesis

...
The idea was named after the title of an 1857 book, Omphalos by Philip Henry Gosse, in which Gosse argued that in order for the world to be "functional", God must have created the Earth with mountains and canyons, trees with growth rings, Adam and Eve with hair, fingernails, and navels[2] (ὀμφαλός omphalos is Greek for "navel"), and that therefore no empirical evidence about the age of the Earth or universe can be taken as reliable.
...

Bad, old arguments never die.  They just keep creaking on and on.

[Old Man Marsh]

Pastor uses death of an atheist mom's baby as sermon illustration

Someone should beat that guy.

[GenesisNemesis]

That Donald Trump was appointed by god to be president.

[Phaedrus]

I'm a prophet, not a serial killer

[grympy]

This from a happy clapper woman I once knew:

On the age of the earth, and existence of fossils.

No problem; the earth is only  6000 years old and  is as god created it. He created all fossils when he created everything else. She was a bit vague as to why god did that. I suggested that is was to confuse unbelievers. She thought that was probably the case. 


I've noticed that for some reason, that there are lot of evangelical christians especially who flatly reject  climate change. One would think that reality would be seized by the faithful as proof  that the end of days is approaching. Or at the very least, as evidence of God punishing the wicked atheists and other unbelievers. 

An old argument known as the omphalos argument.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omphalos_hypothesis

...
The idea was named after the title of an 1857 book, Omphalos by Philip Henry Gosse, in which Gosse argued that in order for the world to be "functional", God must have created the Earth with mountains and canyons, trees with growth rings, Adam and Eve with hair, fingernails, and navels[2] (ὀμφαλός omphalos is Greek for "navel"), and that therefore no empirical evidence about the age of the Earth or universe can be taken as reliable.
...

Bad, old arguments never die.  They just keep creaking on and on.

 
Yeah, Many serious hours have been wasted  on the question of  earth shattering importance; did Adam and Eve have navels? 

Michelangelo thought so. His Adam in the Sistine Chapel has one.

[Phaedrus]

Smartphones cause gay erections

[mordant]

Smartphones cause gay erections

Ah, so you admit it, then?

[Phaedrus]

Tennessee official unleashes homophobic rant at council meeting

[possibletarian]

I think the funniest thing I have heard a religious person say, is when they were talking about the early universe and the big bang they said..

''yer right and what are the odds of planets appearing perfectly round from an explosion''

It was so stupid it stopped me in my tracks..lol.

[mordant]

I think the funniest thing I have heard a religious person say, is when they were talking about the early universe and the big bang they said..

''yer right and what are the odds of planets appearing perfectly round from an explosion''

It was so stupid it stopped me in my tracks..lol.

Coincidence? I think not!

[Dānu]

"Have you found Jesus?"

[grympy]

"Have you found Jesus?"

 I once blotted my copybook at a party: 

A friend's house.  One of his twin daughters had recently become a happy clapper. He was very embarrassed. 

Anyway, said daughter was at the party. She was accompanied by an earnest young man  with a gaze.

I was standing alone, so earnest young man slithered over to  me, gazing intently.   He said, earnestly: "Have you heard the news?"  

To my shame, I replied ,  perhaps  even more earnestly: " I don't know, but if the answer  is Jesus, I'm going to punch you in the  face. "  Earnest  young man slithered away. 

Yes I know, I'm a bad person and deserve a good birching .  

[possibletarian]

My favourite J.W. one.. 'Are you concerned about the state of the world, ?

[RobbyPants]

I would say the most common one I run into is "the Lord works in mysterious ways". That usually signals that the person is done actually thinking about the matter.

Other times is when I see the very two-faced nature of the god Christians believe in and the god they talk about to skeptics. They are not the same god. I've talked to specific people who will use free will to excuse evil in the world and who will also pray for a job after having had a job interview. After that point, that's 100% a human process. Unless they're praying for another applicant to get sick, or something, they're praying for God to weigh in on another human's decision-making process. It's effectively saying "I know free will is important because it explains why God allows rapes to happen, but maybe forget about that for a minute so I can get a favor?"

[grympy]

My favourite J.W. one.. 'Are you concerned about the state of the world, ?

 
I was once stopped in the street  by a young man  "conducting a survey". He had a clipboard.  He started asking questions EG "are you happy". My answer;"yes" . Then the zinger "Wouldn't you like some one to make your decisions for you?"  My answer:  " NO"  . It was then I noticed we were standing outside of Scientology Central in Adelaide. Kept walking.  

That was about 45 years ago, when I  felt obliged to answer a question asked while  I'm walking in public. Today I ignore such people. --I decide  what I want to buy, and when. Same with giving money to charity. *

* I support Doctor's without borders  and The Fred Hollows foundation. 

https://www.hollows.org/au/restore-sight...&gclsrc=ds

[mordant]

My favourite J.W. one.. 'Are you concerned about the state of the world, ?

 
I was once stopped in the street  by a young man  "conducting a survey". He had a clipboard.  He started asking questions EG "are you happy". My answer;"yes" . Then the zinger "Wouldn't you like some one to make your decisions for you?"  My answer:  " NO"  . It was then I noticed we were standing outside of Scientology Central in Adelaide. Kept walking.  

He literally asked you that? Wow. I can't imagine even a lot of fundamentalists answering affirmatively when the question is posed in such stark terms. They may abrogate their intellectual freedom and responsibility to the collective, but they don't see themselves as as doing so; they see it as submission to a trustworthy, caring deity who knows best.

But then again, the survey guy may have been fishing for that every other 200th person who WOULD answer yes to such a question. Those would be prime marks for Scientology.

[grympy]

My favourite J.W. one.. 'Are you concerned about the state of the world, ?

 
I was once stopped in the street  by a young man  "conducting a survey". He had a clipboard.  He started asking questions EG "are you happy". My answer;"yes" . Then the zinger "Wouldn't you like some one to make your decisions for you?"  My answer:  " NO"  . It was then I noticed we were standing outside of Scientology Central in Adelaide. Kept walking.  

He literally asked you that? Wow. I can't imagine even a lot of fundamentalists answering affirmatively when the question is posed in such stark terms. They may abrogate their intellectual freedom and responsibility to the collective, but they don't see themselves as as doing so; they see it as submission to a trustworthy, caring deity who knows best.

But then again, the survey guy may have been fishing for that every other 200th person who WOULD answer yes to such a question. Those would be prime marks for Scientology.

 Yup. Nota question one is likely to forget. 

Oh, I had a go at reading' Dianetics" when it first  came out. Now I don't normally agree with burning books, but I turfed that one. The man was  a pure D, 100% ,24 carat, fucking crook.  

[Cheerful Charlie]

Dianetics is bullshit? Try Elron Hubbards "A History Of Man". More weirdness in 90 pages than any other book on Earth. Hubbard was a kook's kook.

https://vinaire.files.wordpress.com/2013...of_man.pdf
...
A THETAN is somewhat bound-in here on Earth because of the existence of other
system forces. Probably, with a few THETANS active, this planet will be much less calm and
orderly. Probably Homo Sapiens will use electronics some day to re-trap thetans who are
bothering him but if Homo Sapiens has the techniques for getting free himself, some miracle
might avert this. Possibly a handful of thetans will someday become alarmed at the worries and
efforts of Homo Sapiens and try to throw the remaining race into a super-controlled slavery.
All that is speculation but it is not a speculation that life will become much more interesting on
this planet. It is doubtful if the thetans will pull off the ultimate trick—simply knocking out the
atmosphere of the planet— that “clears” everybody after a fashion. There is nothing as wild in
the books of Man as will probably happen here on Earth. And it will happen and be allowed to
happen simply because all this is so incredible that nobody will even think of stopping it until it
is far, far too late. Its incredibility is its best safeguard, so you needn’t bother to convince
anybody who doesn’t want to believe it. It took the medical profession two and a half years to
catch on to prenatals. People getting cleared of bodies don’t need any such time lag. And so,
may I make this simple request—don’t get spectacular until a few of the boys make it. You
don’t want to be lonesome—and you’ll need reinforcements if a war gets declared on thetans
here. The preclear may think he can do it alone if he gets cleared of a body—he’ll need more
help and company than he thinks. So, again, as a final note on this chapter, let’s not go
upsetting governments and putting on a show to “prove” anything to Homo Sapiens for a
while- it’s a horrible temptation to knock off hats at fifty yards and read books a couple of
countries away and get into the rotogravure section and the Hearst Weeklies—but you’ll just
make it tough on somebody else who is trying to get across this bridge. Let sleeping Sapiens
snore in the bulk for yet awhile. Then meet some place and decide what to do about him and his
two penny wars, his insane and his prisons. Tell people who want to invalidate all this, “Your
criticism is very just. It’s only fantasy.” Cure up the lame and halt and the incompetent with
whatever display of technique you need. Protect theta clearing until there are a few.
...

[skyking]

dafuq?

[grympy]

Dianetics is bullshit?  Try Elron Hubbards "A History Of Man".  More weirdness in 90 pages than any other book on Earth.  Hubbard was a kook's kook.

https://vinaire.files.wordpress.com/2013...of_man.pdf
...
A THETAN is somewhat bound-in here on Earth because of the existence of other
system forces. Probably, with a few THETANS active, this planet will be much less calm and
orderly. Probably Homo Sapiens will use electronics some day to re-trap thetans who are
bothering him but if Homo Sapiens has the techniques for getting free himself, some miracle
might avert this. Possibly a handful of thetans will someday become alarmed at the worries and
efforts of Homo Sapiens and try to throw the remaining race into a super-controlled slavery.
All that is speculation but it is not a speculation that life will become much more interesting on
this planet. It is doubtful if the thetans will pull off the ultimate trick—simply knocking out the
atmosphere of the planet— that “clears” everybody after a fashion. There is nothing as wild in
the books of Man as will probably happen here on Earth. And it will happen and be allowed to
happen simply because all this is so incredible that nobody will even think of stopping it until it
is far, far too late. Its incredibility is its best safeguard, so you needn’t bother to convince
anybody who doesn’t want to believe it. It took the medical profession two and a half years to
catch on to prenatals. People getting cleared of bodies don’t need any such time lag. And so,
may I make this simple request—don’t get spectacular until a few of the boys make it. You
don’t want to be lonesome—and you’ll need reinforcements if a war gets declared on thetans
here. The preclear may think he can do it alone if he gets cleared of a body—he’ll need more
help and company than he thinks. So, again, as a final note on this chapter, let’s not go
upsetting governments and putting on a show to “prove” anything to Homo Sapiens for a
while- it’s a horrible temptation to knock off hats at fifty yards and read books a couple of
countries away and get into the rotogravure section and the Hearst Weeklies—but you’ll just
make it tough on somebody else who is trying to get across this bridge. Let sleeping Sapiens
snore in the bulk for yet awhile. Then meet some place and decide what to do about him and his
two penny wars, his insane and his prisons. Tell people who want to invalidate all this, “Your
criticism is very just. It’s only fantasy.” Cure up the lame and halt and the incompetent with
whatever display of technique you need. Protect theta clearing until there are a few.
...

---and who can forget the immortal " Battlefield Earth "? The film with John Travolta  and Forrest Whitaker was certainly memorable. Not every day one comes across stories which blithely speak of genocide as a splendid idea. 

I read a few of his novels. I can remember the title of one, nothing more. (Great title';"Old Doc Methusalah") Hubbard was a hack, on his  best day. 

Doesn't surprise me that there are Hollywood A listers  who are Scientologists.  Narcissism and stupidity  may not be requirements, but they are certainly advantages.

[Cheerful Charlie]

More from that estimable book, "A History Of Man"

....
The Clam
A variety of incidents may intervene between the HELPER and the WEEPER. These
are the evolution chain which includes jellyfish, seaweed and some other forms. It is interesting
that immobile states are most liable to have heavy incidents. It is also interesting that bulbous
seaweed, uprooted and cast shore by storms, gave Man some of his early experiences with
sunlight in the absence of water. A distinct somatic of drying and itching is felt by preclears
when they encounter this incident, a restimulation of the drying outer skin of the dying
seaweed. It is also interesting that bulbous seaweed is an early pattern of Man’s later general
form. Jellyfish incidents are quite remarkable for their occasional aberrative force; the jellyfish
sometimes drifts into a cave or grotto and is pressed against the stone by rising tide and waves,
thus gaining the first facsimiles which later become a shell as in the clam. Here is an example of
the principle of counter-effort moulding the physical shape and necessities of forms.
THE CLAM is a deadly incident but mostly when restimulated on purpose. Although
this area of the track is called the CLAM, it is improbable that the actual animal was a clam such
as our razorbacks. Visios on this seem to indicate that it is a scalloped-lip, white-shelled
creature. The clam was, of course, quite thoroughly fixed to the rocks and the state is very
static. The clam had many troubles. The first of these troubles is the double-hinge problem.
One hinge wishes to stay open, the other tries to close; thus conflict occurs. Here we have two
control centres, both of them more or less equal in power, having no internal communication.
In the jellyfish we have the first third dynamic engrams where the goal is to hold
together at all costs. As soon as the hinges are formed in the clam, we have our first efforts to
be completely contrary and internally at war. The solution occurs when one hinge goes into
apathy and the other assumes complete control.
The hinge epicentres later become the hinges of the human jaw. Should you desire to
confirm this, describe to some uninitiated person the death of a clam without saying what you
are describing. “Can you imagine a clam sitting on the beach, opening and closing its shell very
rapidly?” (Make a motion with your thumb and forefinger of a rapid opening and closing. The
victim may grip his jaws with his hand and feel quite upset. He may even have to have a few
teeth pulled: At the very least he will argue as to whether or not the shell stays open at the end
or closed. And he will, with no hint of the death aspect of it, talk about the “poor clam” and he
will feel quite sad emotionally.
....

Stop laughing damn you! This is science!

Sometimes, on the internet you will see Scientologists referred to as clams. Now you know why. Snap! Snap! Snap! Poor little clams! Do your teeth hurt, dear reader?

[Cheerful Charlie]

dafuq?

This is from Hubbard's book, "A History Of Man" initially released in 1951 as "What to audit" at the beginning of Dianetics which morphed into Scientology.  It is a book that is still in print from Scientology, though beginning Scientologists are discouraged from reading it.  It is one of those books that Scientology would like us "wogs" (Scientologese for non-Scientologists) know about, much less having read and become familiar with.

This is a perfect book to hand to a sucker being sucked into the cult of Scientology.  Yes it is real.  I own a hard bound paper copy of this bizarre little book.  This is not an internet parody.  It's the real Hubbard.

[Cheerful Charlie]

Dianetics is bullshit?  Try Elron Hubbards "A History Of Man".  More weirdness in 90 pages than any other book on Earth.  Hubbard was a kook's kook.

https://vinaire.files.wordpress.com/2013...of_man.pdf
...
Let sleeping Sapiens snore in the bulk for yet awhile. Then meet some place and decide what to do about him and his
two penny wars, his insane and his prisons. Tell people who want to invalidate all this, “Your
criticism is very just. It’s only fantasy.” Cure up the lame and halt and the incompetent with
whatever display of technique you need. Protect theta clearing until there are a few.
...

---and who can forget the immortal " Battlefield Earth "? The film with John Travolta  and Forrest Whitaker was certainly memorable. Not every day one comes across stories which blithely speak of genocide as a splendid idea. 

I read a few of his novels. I can remember the title of one, nothing more. (Great title';"Old Doc Methusalah") Hubbard was a hack, on his  best day. 

Doesn't surprise me that there are Hollywood A listers  who are Scientologists.  Narcissism and stupidity  may not be requirements, but they are certainly advantages.

I am still waiting for Battlefield Earth, Part 2 to hit the silver screen.

Hubbard early on in Scientology set up an effort to specifically rope in various celebrities to act as judas goats to help sucker people into Scientology.  It has to date, been a surprisingly successful plan that has indeed suckered a lot of aspiring actors and actresses into this silly cult.  Once well in, many of these goofs work hard to get other celebrities into Scientology.

One reason I cannot watch any film with Tom Cruise.  He just reminds me of how stupid Scientology is and what a goofball he is which quite spoils any film he is in.  John Revolta is likewise another fool whose very presence in any film ruins it for me.

[Fireball]

Scroll over to about the 6-minute mark to hear where the whole Scientology thing started. Crazy shit.

[airportkid]

... Then the zinger "Wouldn't you like some one to make your decisions for you?"  My answer:  " NO" ...

Tsk.  "You'll have to ask my wife" woulda been more fun