Bad Behavior - An Equal Opportunity Choice

Tuesday, October 7, 2008
First, there's my favorite friend Fred Phelps and his whack-a-loon congregants. Their latest escapade is picketing the funeral of Joe Biden's Mother in Law. From their schedule:

Abington Presbyterian Church - Joe Biden's Mother-in-law 1082 Old York Rd We are going to picket the funeral of a very evil woman named Bonny Jean Jacobs. "Why?" you will ask. Because she is the Mother-in-law of Joseph Biden, Democratic Candidate for Vice President of DOOMED america. That's right, she lived a lot of years with a little influence over that evil bastard, and never by all appearances said one word of correction or warning to him. She is in hell, and Joe will soon follow. However, our words are for the living, not the dead. And here are the words, to wit: Ac 13:50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. They say that behind every "great man" is a "great woman", so there you go. She had the influence over the evil witch married to Joe Biden. The evil witch living with Joe Biden did not do a thing to stop him from passing laws against God's servants, and in fact (like her foremothers before her) probably has egged him on this whole time. She did not stop him from saying blasphemous things about God, time and time again. This woman is responsible for her daughter's conduct. That's all there is to that. Pr 6:24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Lu 17:32 Remember Lot's wife. AMEN!
I sincerely hope that the Patriot Guard Riders or some other group are out in force for this one, and my sympathy goes out to the Jacobs family. A death in the family is always a tough thing, and having to also deal with these utterly incoherent fuckwads is just too much. Fucking Fred Phelps. If anyone's earned a smack in the face with a shovel, it's him.

Second, I want to point out the bad behavior of Bill Maher and Larry Charles. Yes, I know - it pains me, too. But I do try to be consistent, and since I spanked the dumbasses who produced that utter piece of shit Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, I feel compelled to point out that the producers of Religulous are also on thin ethical ice.

I thought Expelled was wrong on many, many levels, including the idea that Intelligent Design is "Science" and that the poor dears who believe in it are persecuted by the oppressive hand of academia.

::gag::

But one of the things that the producers of this POS did that garnered fierce criticism from the atheist and agnostic community was to lie like dogs in order to garner interviews with prominent skeptics and atheists such as Michael Shermer, PZ Meyers and Eugenie Scott. The interviewees were not informed they were being interviewed for a film supporting Intelligent Design, but were instead "tricked" into giving interviews about "evolution and education."

Well. Guess what Bill and Larry did in order to gain access to religious people for their movie? You guessed it. They lied like dogs.

Now, my own personal viewpoint is more closely aligned to Bill Maher's than it is to Ben Stein's, and when I heard this on NPR, I was disappointed. Even though Bill Maher is a militant atheist I did expect better behavior from him than I did from proponents of Intelligent Design. Alas, it was not to be.

Attention Bill: The point you are trying to make with this project is diluted by your bad behavior. If you can't be honest with the participants in your film, you're little better than a pompous, intellectualized Borat, and you've been struck from my celebrity boyfriend list.

Bad behavior - an equal opportunity choice. I'm going back to bed.

14 comments:

The Mechanicky Gal said...

I know Abington Presbyterian Church, it is in my hometown.
Those crackpots can go fuck themselves.
I wonder if my Mom or Dad knows about this? Probably not.....

Cindi in CO said...

I like Bill Maher most of the time, but his attitude towards people of faith kind of pisses me off.

He's a militant Atheist, fine. But he insists that anyone who doesn't feel the way he does on this subject is completely retarded. And that's not fine. He just won't accept or acknowledge
that a person can be open to both faith and science, and he seems to equate all religion with the likes of Fred Phelps.

And that is fucked up.

Nathan said...

Methinks Fred Phelps is going to meet the Secret Service. Somehow, I doubt Fred's Fucktards are going to get anywhere near Biden's family.

Just a guess.

Janiece said...

Cindi, I tend to agree, which is another reason why he's off the celebrity boyfriend list. His attitude seems kind of mean, and I don't think that's necessary. People of good conscience can disagree in a civil manner, especially about private matters.

Nathan, I think you're probably correct.

And the thought puts a song in my heart and a smile on my face.

Ah, schadenfreude, how I love thee.

I wonder if the Secret Service would like to borrow the Shovel of Doom™?

vince said...

The Phelps piece of garbage is fucked-up on so many levels it hurts my brain.

It's people like Phelps that really push my strong support of freedom of speech to the limit. Not so much the writing - to me, it just makes it clear to all just how demented he is, and how warped and twisted his "understanding" of the Bible is - but the protesting. It's people like Phelps that help justify actions taken in advance at both conventions.

If he feels the need to protest against Joe Biden, fine - protest at Biden's government office in Washington or his home state. But his mother's funeral has nothing to do with his policies or actions as a Senator. As with his protests at the funerals of our military dead, this one has nothing to do with the claimed focus of the protest, and has everything to do with getting attention Phelps wouldn't get otherwise.

As for Bill Maher, there are things I really like about him. In some ways, he reminds me of George Carlin in his ability to punch through bullshit. But I can't respect the movie if he's done what you (and others with no axe to grind) have reported.

We have enough whack-a-loons who will twist facts in the face of a "higher truth". If you have a valid position, then present it/defend it openly and honestly. Especially if you're trying to convince others who disagree of the validity of your position. I can respect a person with whom I disagree when they can present their position in a coherent and aboveboard manner.

Janiece said...

Vince, as Cindi mentioned, Phelps is not indicative of Christians in this country.

Thank God.

----------

P.S. Is an agnostic saying "Thank God" blasphemous or just ironic?

Eric said...

Note to self: add to list of things to accomplish--having Fred Phelps picket my funeral.

Oh--speaking of which: any of you folks who happen to outlive me could do me a real favor, maybe? If I kick the bucket at some point, would somebody please write a letter to Phelps and his congregation describing me as a foul-mouthed atheist liberal who occasionally wrote about evolution and gay rights on an internet site that was at least accessible to millions of people (feel free to exaggerate my actual readership, if you want).

I think Jim and John would do a particularly good job, if they're willing and/or available.

I hope this isn't asking too much; I'm not planning on "going anywhere" any time soon, I'm just trying to plan ahead a little in case something happens.

Thank you.

Chris said...

This Phelps is of the lowest order of scumbag on the planet earth. My only hope is that, as he's dying, Satan gives him a glimpse of the eternity he faces-maybe red-hot fire pokers up the ass? Too lenient?

The Mechanicky Gal said...

UPDATE FROM ABINGTON!!

Mom and Dad drove by teh church and there were no protesters. They drove by about 1030 this morning.
LOTS of local and state police. Mom was looking to see Secret Service (her life is a bit limited, what can I say!) but she didn't see them or they were well hidden. She notes that the whole thing is getting to be a bit ugly. That's Mom, Ms. Understatement.

Janiece said...

Eric? I'll totally encourage a Fred Phelps protest at your funeral.

But if he shows up at the wake, he's getting a smack in the face with the Shovel. Wakes are for friends only.

And thanks to Mom, Agent in the Field, for that update. I'm glad those people are being left alone.

Jim Wright said...

I think I'm going to fake my funeral and the accompanying press release, just to get WBC to show up in protest.

Then I'll leap out of the bushes with my aluminum baseball bat...

Hey, it's my funeral, I can do what I want. What are they going to do to me? I'm dead.

And Eric, I'd be happy to pen your eulogy, but I'll more happy to pen Fred's. :)

John the Scientist said...

Given that Bill Maher castigates religious people, his own involvment in rationally-challenged activities is pretty ... what? Obtuse? Hypocritical? Retarded?

Take your pick:

But it turns out that the late-night comic is no icon of rationality himself. In fact, he is a fervent advocate of pseudoscience. The night before his performance on Conan O'Brien, Mr. Maher told David Letterman -- a quintuple bypass survivor -- to stop taking the pills that his doctor had prescribed for him. He proudly stated that he didn't accept Western medicine. On his HBO show in 2005, Mr. Maher said: "I don't believe in vaccination. . . . Another theory that I think is flawed, that we go by the Louis Pasteur [germ] theory." He has told CNN's Larry King that he won't take aspirin because he believes it is lethal and that he doesn't even believe the Salk vaccine eradicated polio.

Uhm, I'm left with the inescapable conclusion that Bill Maher = Jenny McCarthy with verbal acuity. And no boobs.

Janiece said...

John, it does seem like he's gone off the deep end in the last 5 years or so.

But, as you note, stupid is stupid, regardless of how articulate they may be.

The Mechanicky Gal said...

LATE BREAKING REPORT from our Agent in the Field, Mom.
The funeral went off without a hitch, and if there were any protesters, they were either whisked away or shut up as there were no incidents at all.
Perhaps someone told them to knock it off?