Atheist Revolution

Idiot of the Week: Itawamba County School Board

2010-03-13T07:41:00.001-06:00

Another week has flown by, and it is once again time to crown an Idiot of the Week. If you remember that I live in Mississippi, this week's pick probably isn't going to come as much of a surprise: the Itawamba County school board.

As I am sure you have all heard by now, the Itawamba County school board cancelled the high school prom rather than allowing Constance McMillen, a lesbian student, to bring her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo. Not surprisingly, this absurd decision is now making life quite difficult for Ms. McMillen.

After the ACLU intervened on Ms. McMillen's behalf, the school board simply cancelled the prom. Evidently, they thought that the other students would not be able to handle the sight of two lesbians dancing together.

According to the Associated Press, Pastor Bobby Crenshaw of Southside Baptist Church complained that he has seen many website discussing this situation portray the South as "backwards." The Pastor went on to say, "but a lot more people here have biblically based values." Right. Backwards and bigoted.

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Idiot of the Week: WorldNetDaily

2010-03-06T07:44:00.001-06:00

When idiocy is so pervasive and consistent, it may be difficult to spot even some of the most egregious examples. Case in point, "birther" website WorldNetDaily has somehow managed to go under the radar, never previously being honored in this series. That changes today with the selection of WorldNetDaily as Idiot of the Week.

What did they do this week to get my attention? It seems that they are now attempting to promote the idea that President Obama plans to steal the next election, dressed up as one of their "exclusive" stories. While this is nothing new for the website often referred to in the reality-based community as Worldnutdaily, I can't help feeling particularly concerned about the potential for this sort of idiocy to fuel violence.

Not only is WorldNetDaily willing to distort the numbers to support their claim that Obama's approval ratings "continue to plummet," but they seem to be targeting the most paranoid and volatile segments of their audience with this particular type of misinformation. Moreover, if they want to be taken seriously on the subjects of voter fraud and election theft, they need look no further than the Republican Party.

Note. I have received some criticism from readers about some recent Idiot of the Week selections who have appeared to misunderstand the point of this series. It was never my intent to use the term "idiot" solely to refer to blatant stupidity. So yes, I agree with much of the criticism that a few of my selections have been engaging in political strategy. In addition to stupidity, I also consider things like hypocrisy, willingness to ignore reality, and the like. Think of it this way, the winners have done or said things that would make most of our heads hurt when we first hear about it.

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Idiot of the Week: Bishop Council Nedd II

2010-02-27T08:31:00.001-06:00

When I suggested that the Christian extremist infused far right was going to go nuts over the recent announcement that aides of President Obama were meeting with the Secular Coalition for America, I had no idea just how nuts they were going to go! The Raw Story is reporting that some conservatives have decided to label us as "hate groups" so they can go after President Obama and his administration for sponsoring hate.

Not surprisingly, this type of idiocy has a spokesman from a Christian extremist group devoted to promoting faith in America (as if that needed any help). Here is what Bishop Council Nedd II, chairman of In God We Trust had to say about the Secular Coalition meeting:

It is one thing for Administration to meet with groups of varying viewpoints, but it is quite another for a senior official to sit down with activists representing some of the most hate-filled, anti-religious groups in the nation.

Evidently, we are full of hate because we prefer reality over superstition. In a press release issued by his group, Nedd elaborates on his idiocy:

President Obama seems to believe that it is a good idea to have a key senior aide plan political strategy with people who believe faith in God is a disease...Some of the people in this coalition believe the world would be better off with no Christians and no Jews and they aren’t shy about it. The fact that this meeting is happening at all is an affront to the vast majority of people of all faiths who believe in God.

There is a world of difference between believing that Christianity is a mind virus (check) or that the world would be better off without it (check) and wanting to get rid of Christians or Jews. I've never met an atheist who favored exterminating Christians and Jews, as Nedd suggests here. But many of us do think that it is time for this particular mind virus to fade into obscurity.

It sounds to me like our good Bishop has forgotten that he's living in a secular democracy.

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Idiot of the Week (CPAC Edition): Dick Armey

2010-02-20T07:06:00.001-06:00

This seemed like a particularly busy week for idiots. Christian extremist pastor Wiley Drake was back in the news, this time for lifting his request for imprecatory prayers for the death of President Obama. It seems that Wiley has decided that he wants Obama to live long enough to stand trial for treason. As a reminder for my Christian readers, Drake is NOT a fringe figure.

We've also got a group called "Concerned Citizens of Gainesville" engaging in one of the nastiest smear campaigns I've heard of against an openly gay candidate for mayor of Gainesville, FL. And of course, there's always "actor" Stephen Baldwin. But in a week when Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was held, one need not look too hard for award-wining idiocy.

I do not consider all conservatives to be idiots. Some of them have good ideas that could improve our modern political scene. However, the CPAC crowd represents the far-right of the far-right, and once can find countless examples of idiocy on display without looking too hard.

In the end, I opted for Dick Armey, the former Republican House majority leader. Armey stood up before the crowd and proudly claimed that the U.S. has the best health care system in the world. In doing so, he invited his audience to accept blind patriotism over reality. There were many notable examples of idiocy at CPAC, but this one got my attention for the blatant disregard for factual information that is widely available.

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Idiot of the Week: Sean Hannity

2010-02-13T08:00:00.001-06:00

With the snowstorm on the East Coast, this was a week where I knew exactly what type of idiocy I wanted to highlight for this post: climate change denial. However, it was a bit tricky to select the individual who best represented this particular form of idiocy this week. In the end, I settled for Fox "News" pundit, Sean Hannity. While it was very tempting to go with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), I think Hannity is more deserving for reasons I will offer below.

While Sen. McConnell may have been the single-most powerful individual to speak out against climate change this week, Hannity has a different kind of power: the power to shape public opinion. Here's what Hannity had to say:

And tonight’s “Meltdown” is brought to you by the D.C. snow storm, you know, the storm that dumped about two feet of snow on the Washington area over the weekend causing thousands of power outages and keeping many people home from work today. And it’s the most severe winter storm in years, which would seem to contradict Al Gore’s hysterical global warming theories.

I put the video of Hannity making an idiot of himself up at Red State Progressive.

Anybody with a modicum of scientific literacy probably understands that scientific theories of climate change predict that precipitation will increase around the world as temperatures warm. Remember, warmer temperatures mean accelerated evaporation, resulting in more water in the air.

I have to assume that Hannity knows this and is willfully ignoring it in service to his corporate masters. Of course, he also receives bonus idiot points for the smug manner in which he delivers his misinformation.

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Idiot of the Week: Rabbi Yehuda Levin

2010-02-06T06:16:00.001-06:00

When Pat Robertson made the recent statement about the Haitian earthquake being a curse from his god, quite a few people stepped up to condemn him. The secular community led, as is so often the case, but I was happy to see many from Robertson's own religious tradition joining the chorus of condemnation. Yes, many Christians did the right thing here by speaking out against Robertson. Unfortunately, this has not stopped others from coming out and praising Robertson or essentially saying the same thing that made him fodder for so many comedians.

The Christian Newswire brings us the story of the Rabbinical Alliance of America and a statement they released in which they make essentially the same claim Robertson did. In their version, it wasn't Haiti's pact with Pat Robertson's devil that prompted supernatural wrath but homosexuality.

It seems to me that Jewish extremists must have been feeling increasingly jealous of all their attention their Muslim and Christian cousins were receiving and decided it was time to flaunt their own brand of crazy.

After describing efforts to end DADT as "the equivalent of the spiritual rape of our military," the statement issued by the Alliance went on to say:

Thirteen months before 9/11, on the day New York City passed homosexual domestic partnership regulations, I joined a group of Rabbis at a City Hall prayer service, pleading with G-d not to visit disaster on the city of N.Y. We have seen the underground earthquake, tsunami, Katrina, and now Haiti. All this is in sync with a two thousand year old teaching in the Talmud that the practice of homosexuality is a spiritual cause of earthquakes. Once a disaster is unleashed, innocents are also victims just like in Chernobyl.

Congratulations to Rabbi Yehuda Levin, spokesman for the Rabbinical Alliance of America and author of this statement, this week's idiot.

H/Ts to Blag Hag and Unreasonable Faith

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Idiot of the Week: Scientologists

2010-01-30T06:52:00.001-06:00

Scientologists are a bit like Michele Bachmann or Glenn Beck in that I could easily choose to honor them with this award each week and few would argue. It would become boring quickly, but it is hard to imagine anyone arguing that they wouldn't deserve such recognition. But also like Beck or Bachmann, I don't typically have to wait very long for them to do something even more idiotic than their normal behavior.

The Scientologists deserve top honors this week for their work in Haiti. You see, while other organizations are providing food, water, and medical attention, Scientologists are providing little more than their special brand of BS.

According to the AFP,

Amid the mass of aid agencies piling in to help Haiti quake victims is a batch of Church of Scientology "volunteer ministers", claiming to use the power of touch to reconnect nervous systems.

Yes, you read that correctly. They are using a process they describe as "assist" to restore communication to the nervous system through touch.

"When you get a sudden shock to a part of your body the energy gets stuck, so we re-establish communication within the body by touching people through their clothes, and asking people to feel the touch."

My hope for these Scientologists is that they manage to find some way to be useful to those who are providing legitimate care, that they do not get in the way, and that they do not end up making anyone worse. Unfortunately, it appears that they see the Haitian disaster as an opportunity to peddle what can't even be dignified with the label of pseudoscience. And on this, I must recognize their idiocy.

H/T to Dispatches From the Culture Wars

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Idiot of the Week: Jay-Z

2010-01-23T13:38:00.001-06:00

I am feeling more than a little burned out on this Idiot of the Week series. I think it may be that I am finally realizing that idiocy has become the norm and is so pervasive that picking a particularly stellar example each week has become more depressing and less enjoyable than I thought it would be. But the show goes on...at least for now.

Since most of my selections end up being so obvious that you see them coming a mile away, I thought I'd throw you a curve this week and select rapper Jay-Z (the obvious choice this week would be the U.S. Supreme Court). What did Jay-Z do or say to make me select him? Admittedly, it was nothing spectacular, but I found something about his interview with Angie Martinez particularly nauseating.

When asked about claims that he is a "devil worshipper" and part of some secret religious society, Jay-Z replied:

For the record, I of course believe in God, but I believe in one God. If people must know my religious beliefs, I believe in one God. I don’t believe in religion. I don’t believe in Christians or Muslims. I think all that separates people. I think it’s one God. I think it’s all the same God, and I don’t believe in Hell. But as far as God, of course I believe in God. Am I a part of some sect or cult? That sounds stupid to me. It’s like ignorant to even say, and umm… I guess that’ll be the last time I address that. It’s ignorant to me”

I'm not sure what is with all the "of course I believe in God" crap, but it was nice to see a rejection of Christianity. Still, I love how someone who just said that he "of course" believes in a god goes on to call those who have raised questions about his beliefs "ignorant." The god belief itself seems pretty damned ignorant.

Technorati Tags:
religion, Jay-Z

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Idiot of the Week: Pat Robertson (Again)

2010-01-16T10:55:00.001-06:00

I searched for an alternative to Robertson for this week's idiot. I really did. Robertson already won the coveted award once before, and I've already mentioned him this week. Hell, I even have another post about him finished ready to go in the next few days!

I simply couldn't find anyone that could rival the idiocy of suggesting that the Haitian people are suffering at the hands of his god for their "pact" with his "devil." If he had to make such a statement, couldn't he have at least waited until the situation was stable and people weren't still dying in collapsed buildings? Of course not. And that is what makes Pat Robertson our Idiot of the Week...again.

Universal Heretic has made a compelling case that Robertson deserves some sort of lifetime achievement award in the domain of religiously-fueled idiocy. I'd certainly expect that he could hold his own in such a competition.

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Idiot of the Week: Brit Hume

2010-01-09T08:59:00.001-06:00

No surprise this week. Try as I might, I simply couldn't find anything to rival Fox "News" personality Brit Hume's double-dose of idiocy. He started us off with this gem:

The extent to which he can recover seems to me depends on his faith. He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So, my message to Tiger is, 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.'

Then when people became upset over his on-air proselytizing, Hume dug himself into an even deeper hole of idiocy.

Not only does he continue proselytizing and get into some magical thinking about how "we would know it" if Tiger converted, but he also delves into the myth that modern Christians are persecuted in the U.S. Hasn't this been sufficiently discredited by now?

Brit Hume has long been held up by Fox "News" as evidence that they are not 100% biased and have at least one real journalist on the payroll. I think he's demolished that argument quite convincingly.

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Idiot of the Week: Editorial Board of the Natchez Democrat

2010-01-02T06:22:00.001-06:00

2009 was a great year for idiocy. Before we close the door on the past year completely, I want to return for one last bit of idiocy. Unfortunately, this is one that will likely carry us well into 2010 and beyond.

I trust that you have all heard about the recent report from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in which the state of Mississippi was ranked #1 in attendance at religious services, god belief, and frequency of prayer. What you may not have heard about, unless you read Mississippi Atheists, is how the report is being received here in Mississippi.

The Editorial Board of The Natchez Democrat, the major newspaper in the community of Natchez, MS, wrote a seriously idiotic article about the Pew report. After citing many examples of our state's #1 rankings in obesity, heart disease, poverty, and illiteracy, the Board actually suggested that our ranking in religiosity is "perhaps the only list that will ultimately matter."

Rather than using this as an opportunity to speculate that our sky-high illiteracy rates might have something to do with the evangelical fundamentalism which afflicts our state, the Board saw fit simply to celebrate ignorance and superstition. This is an appalling example of idiocy.

Even worse is the fact that The Natchez Democrat was not alone in expressing this perspective (although theirs was the most egregious example I could find). The Editorial Board of the Sun Herald also decided to join the insanity, writing, "And it’s comforting to know that most of us believe in a redeeming faith." They also couldn't resist taking a swipe at "grumpy atheists."

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Idiot of the Year for 2009

2009-12-31T06:36:00.001-06:00

The comments on my post about nominees were quite helpful, although their cumulative effect involved making my head spin with confusion. So many good points, and so many compelling nominees. After much deliberation, I think I have finally settled on a choice. It will not please everyone, and it may be viewed as cheating because my selection did not win an Idiot of the Week award during 2009. Still, he was included in the nominees post so this probably won't come as much of a surprise.

2009's Idiot of the Year award goes to Glenn Beck. I think that many of the other nominees (and Sarah Palin) could beat Beck on a single incident. That is, I'd put statements by Michele Bachmann or a few of the others right up there against anything Beck said and expect them to come away victorious. But I don't think any of the others can match Beck's consistent body of work over the year. Ray Comfort probably comes closest, but he doesn't have anything like Beck's popularity or influence.

In my opinion, 2009 marks the true low point in American political discourse (at least I hope it doesn't get any worse). We have many to thank for that but none quite as compelling as Glenn Beck. He started with the standard liberal-basing of a Limbaugh, added the sheer craziness of a Coulter, and added his own unique blend of paranoid conspiracy theory, mugging for the camera, and fake tears that would make the Orangeman proud. Glenn Beck was the poster child for American idiocy in 2009.

The thing about Beck is that for all his clowning, he has to be taken seriously because he is dangerous in the same way that religion is dangerous. Like religion, Beck feeds on human ignorance and prejudice through over-the-top emotional appeals. He plays on our fears and our innate tendency to connect unrelated events to make sense out of our world. Beck is an extraordinary evangelist for the some of the worst aspects of humanity.

And now for some "honorable" mentions:

Idiot I almost felt sorry for: Carrie Prejean (I said "almost!")

Idiot I most want to see rot in prison: Dick Cheney

Idiot who best demonstrates the need for education: The birthers

Religious idiot of the year: Ray "the banana man" Comfort

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Idiot of the Year Nominees for 2009

2009-12-28T19:38:00.001-06:00

You have gotten used to seeing my Idiot of the Week posts here each Saturday. I thought it would be fun to look through the "winners" and select one for top honors as 2009's idiot of the year. But how do we pick just one from this crowded field?

Even if 2008 can properly be remembered as the year of Sarah Palin, it wasn't like she was any less conspicuous in 2009. Granted, 2008 was when she brought down McCain's presidential campaign, but even that pales in comparison to her resignation speech in 2009. Hell, no less a figure than Keith Olbermann will likely select her as his "wackiest whack job of the year." At least, that is my prediction.

And yet, Palin did not win Idiot of the Week honors in 2009. That should give you a sense of how competitive the field was! After all, this was the year of the "birthers." Who could possibly top Palin? Oh, I don't know, how about Joe the Unlicensed Plumber, Carrie Prejean, or Pastor Wiley Drake? Not impressed yet? Okay, that's fair. I've got two words for you: Michele Bachmann.

If you are not convinced that Bachmann should be taken all that seriously, perhaps you'd feel more comfortable going with a truly powerful politician, someone like two-time Idiot of the Week winner John "the Orangeman" Boehner (see his prior win here). After all, this is the guy who inspired the tanning tax we see in the Senate health care "reform" bill. Or maybe you'd rather go with the sort of idiocy that can only be found in religion. Don't worry, I've got your Pat Robertson, James Dobson, and Bill Donohue right here. And there's always Pat Buchanan is blatant racism is more your thing.

You are starting to see what I mean by describing 2009 as a year full of contenders. Amidst this head-spinning arcade of idiocy, let me toss another name that is sure to get your attention: Ray Comfort. Blew your mind, didn't I? I mean, how can anyone be beat Ray Comfort when it comes to idiocy?

Even though he technically didn't win an Idiot of the Week award, I think that a strong case can be made for Glenn Beck as well. It is difficult to argue that any other single individual did as much as Beck to harm the political discourse in the U.S. during 2009, not that Dick Cheney wasn't out there trying. Just because you and I don't take Beck seriously doesn't mean that millions of Fox "News" viewers don't. And therein lies the problem.

What do you think? Who deserves 2009's Idiot of the Year award?

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Idiot of the Week: Sen. Tom Coburn

2009-12-26T09:33:00.001-06:00

It may be the day after Christmas, but it is still Saturday. And that means that it is time for another edition of the Idiot of the Week series here at Atheist Revolution.

Some choices for idiot of the week are easier than others. Some weeks there are so many possibilities that it makes my head spin. But I have to say that this one was about as easy as they get.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) deserves recognition this week for making the following statement on the floor of the Senate while discussing health care reform:

What the American people ought to pray is that somebody can’t make the vote tonight. That’s what they ought to pray.

Personally, I do not believe that Coburn was calling on Americans to pray for the death of Sen. Byrd or anyone else. That is not why he deserves this award. No, Coburn has earned this award simply by calling for prayer on the floor of the Senate as if it was in any way relevant to the debate over health care reform. As a government official, Sen. Coburn has no business advocating prayer (or any other religious practice) for any reason.

As a postscript to this brief post, do yourself a favor and watch this video of a seriously disturbed teabagger calling in to CSPAN because he thought that his prayers for Sen. Byrd's death (evidently, he thought that this was what Sen. Coburn wanted) had killed Sen. Inhofe instead!

H/T to Pam's House Blend for this one.

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Idiot of the Week: Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)

2009-12-19T06:09:00.001-06:00

Another work week has ended, and Saturday heralds a new Idiot of the Week. There are so many to pick from, but I found that this week's winner really stood out.

I am going with Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) this week. Oh, you remember Sen. DeMint. He's the one who referred to health care reform as Obama's Waterloo last summer and talked about how stopping health care reform would "break him." Now he has himself all mixed up with the teabaggers.

So what has DeMint been up to recently that earned him our award? Not only is he opposing any sort of health care reform, but because he's actually been praying in public, in direct opposition to his bible, for the defeat of health care reform legislation. That's right, Sen. DeMint is praying to his god for help killing health care reform in the Senate!

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Idiot of the Week: Those Who Insist That Christmas is Under Attack

2009-12-12T07:16:00.001-06:00

I felt like doing something a little different for this week's Idiot of the Week post. I've decided that this post will honor those who insist that there is a war being waged by atheists against their cherished holiday in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. Yes, those who take this particular form of right-wing fundraising propaganda as truth are idiots.

I'm no fan of Christmas, and I have not celebrated it since I had any choice in the matter. The gift-giving out of obligation annoys me, and I find the crass commercialism more than a little sad. I despise the music, and while I don't mind the better manners some exhibit this time of year, I cannot help perceiving it as a bit superficial. It does not bother me one bit that most Americans, including most atheists I have encountered, choose to celebrate the holiday. What I do find tiresome is those who act as if I am a lunatic, a grouch, or a spoilsport simply because I'd rather not celebrate their holiday.

Just because I want nothing to do with this holiday does not mean that I don't want others to celebrate it. I really don't care one way or another. And while I certainly wish people would shut up about it in public rather than assuming that everyone else feels exactly the same way they do about it, I'm generally willing to look the other way. What I will not do, however, is look the other way on violations of separation and church and state simply because it happens to be a particular time of year. Yep, I expect Christians to obey the law even in December.

Nobody is trying to get rid of Christmas, and expecting retailers to use culturally inclusive phrasing when they greet customers certainly makes sense. The "war on Christmas" is nothing more than a way for far-right pundits and politicians to fleece particularly gullible Americans out of their money. For those who are unwilling to accept this, "idiot" is an apt label.

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Idiot of the Week: Rick Warren

2009-12-05T07:42:00.001-06:00

I have not written an Idiot of the Week post in awhile, but that doesn't mean that there has not been plenty of idiocy. I'm back this week with another "winner" from a crowded field.

Props to Obama's inauguration speaker, Christian extremist Pastor Rick Warren, for picking up this week's honor. Pastor Warren sparked outrage from almost everyone outside his extremist circle when he refused to condemn Ugandan legislation that would make certain homosexual acts punishable by death. As if that wasn't bad enough, Warren could do worse (and soon did).

According to Think Progress, Warren recently tweeted the following in a desperate attempt to change the subject:

Clearly, Pastor Warren recognizes the difficult spot in which he now finds himself. On one hand, he risks alienating most moderate Christians by refusing to condemn Uganda's human rights abuses. On the other hand, he probably feels that he cannot do so because his Christian extremist supporters would quickly turn on him.

Doing the right thing isn't supposed to be easy, Pastor. Do you hate homosexuals so much that you cannot speak out against those who would simply kill them?

H/T to Pam's House Blend

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Technorati Tags: Rick Warren, gay, Uganda

Idiot of the Week: Catholic Archdiocese of Washington

2009-11-14T07:08:00.002-06:00

This bit of idiocy is perfect for pointing out the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church, and while I expect you've already heard about it, I figured it could use additional publicity.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has provided Washington D.C. with a simple ultimatum: change a proposed same-sex marriage law or the Catholics will stop providing social service programs to the city. I so wish the city would come back with something like, "Drop your social service programs, and we'll revoke your tax exempt status."

The Catholics are upset because the law under consideration would prevent them from discriminating against homosexuals. That's it. They are threatening to drop their social service programs to make it easier for them to discriminate against others. How's that for Christian morality?

Let them drop their programs, and see how much lower their reputation can sink. Right now, their positive contributions in various communities are the only thing preventing them from being shutdown for pedophilia. If they want to throw that away, let them.

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Technorati Tags: Catholic, hypocrisy, morality, social services, pedophilia

Idiot of the Week: John Boehner

2009-11-07T09:00:00.002-06:00

Ah, Saturday at last. Time for another Idiot of the Week award. Let's get to it.

When I first heard that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) was calling for her teabagging supporters to converge on the Capitol to intimidate anyone who might actually support affordable health care, I knew there would be some idiocy on display. Would I have to honor Bachmann yet again in this series? It certainly looked like it. But then someone else would step forward at the last minute to take the prize.

Let me set the stage a bit more. Pictured here to the left is Greenman, a Philadelphia figure made famous by the hillarious TV show, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX). If you haven't been watching it, you are missing out. I am convinced it is the best comedy on TV these days.

The thing about Greenman is that he is supposed to be funny. When someone dons a Greenman costume, they are going to get attention and laughs. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Why the hell am I bringing this up? Good question. I am doing so because I'd like to contrast the image of Greenman with another famous figure, one that is equally hillarious but also pathetic because he isn't meant to be funny. Ladies and gentlemen, I present this week's idiot - Orangeman.

That's right, this Idiot of the Week award goes to Rep. John Boehner (R-OH). What did our winner do to deserve this award? As House Minority Leader, making him a prominent Republican leader in Congress, Rep. Boehner should have known better than to participate in Rep. Bachmann's embarrassing protest. She is well known for her crazy, but Boehner is supposed to be respectable and represent the GOP establishment rather than the fringe. By speaking at her teabagger rally on the Capitol steps, he wholeheartedly embraced her particular brand of crazy and signaled that this is the modern Republican party. Let him be known not just for his bad spray tan or tendency to sob like Glenn Beck but also for willingly associating himself with birther nutjobs comparing health care to Nazi concentration camps.

And yet, this was not enough for Rep. Boehner. During his speech, he proudly displayed a copy of the U.S. Constitution and quoted from it. The problem was, it was not the Constitution he was quoting from but the Declaration of Independence. An honest mistake for you and me, but this is a powerful Congressman who is supposed to know something about our Constitution.

This is the second time Rep. Boehner has been honored here. Something tells me it won't be the last.

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Idiot of the Week: Pastor Jimmy Dillon

2009-10-31T10:41:00.001-05:00

Image by Miala via Flickr

Time for a Halloween edition of the Idiot of the Week series, and what better way to do one but to honor some of the religiously-based anti-Halloween idiocy which rears its head each and every year. In my neck of the woods, this generally comes from the Baptists, so I'd like to honor Trinity Baptist Church (Wichita Falls, TX) Pastor Dillon.

According to this article from their local paper, Pastor Dillon has fond memories of celebrating Halloween as a child but has decided that he should now deprive other Christians of the opportunity to enjoy the holiday.

Dillon preached a sermon Sunday on his convictions that Christians should not participate — or allow their children to participate — in anything remotely connected to Halloween.

It appears that he's convinced himself that it is evil because of...well...he learned something about its history. As seems to be commonplace for Christians who have such a change of heart, Pastor Dillon went overboard with his opposition to Halloween.

Dillon soon became so firmly opposed to the holiday that he not only refused to celebrate it, but also decided never to engage in any of the typical “alternatives,” such as fall festivals.

One has to enjoy the pastor's "reasoning" with regard to Halloween. Because he does not like what the ancient Druids believed about the day, he has determined that no self-respecting Christian should have anything to do with the holiday. That would be a bit like reading the Old Testament, seeing how cruel and bloodthirsty this so-called god was and then rejecting all of Christianity on that basis. Hmmmm...maybe Pastor Dillon has a point after all.

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Idiot of the Week: Bill Donohue (Again)

2009-10-24T07:08:00.002-05:00

The Simpsons via last.fm

Another Saturday means another Idiot of the Week post. And despite several good options this week, I simply have no choice but to come back to a personal favorite...Bill Donohue.

I'll be the first to admit that I have a particularly strong dislike for Bill Donohue and his Catholic League. It is probably because he has appointed himself the defender of that which is utterly indefensible. This is a man who routinely levels accusations of bigotry against those who are only trying to protect innocent children from the clutches of pedophile priests. So yeah, I guess it is safe to say that Donohue really rubs me the wrong way.

So what did Donohue do this week to get on my radar? A new episode of The Simpsons aired last Sunday which contained a great line making fun of a certain absurd ritual propagated by a certain church.

What kind of civilized people eat the body and blood of their savior?

If you saw the episode, like I did, you'll know that it was quite funny in context. And yet, it prompted our idiot extraordinaire to complain.

What kind of uncivilized people work at Fox? Last year, when they poked some gentle fun at the Apostle’s Creed on the Halloween episode, we said nothing. That’s because it didn’t cross the line. This year is different: mocking the heart of any religion always crosses the line, and mocking the Eucharist does it for Catholics. They know this at Fox, which is precisely why they did it.

As PZ Myers (Pharyngula) pointed out, "Silly superstitions will always be a magnet for mockery." This is precisely what Donohue cannot seem to realize. When you believe something stupid and insist on sharing your belief with everyone, mockery is going to be the natural response. Dressing it up in religious garb changes nothing.

H/T to Friendly Atheist

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Idiot of the Week: Dallin H. Oaks

2009-10-17T07:43:00.001-05:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Each Saturday, an example of supreme idiocy is highlighted here at Atheist Revolution's Idiot of the Week series. There were some very deserving candidates nominated at our Atheist Nexus group this week, easily beating out anyone I had in mind.

This week's award goes to LDS apostle Dallin H. Oaks. He compared the backlash his church faced after their support for California's Proposition 8 became widely known to the plight of African Americans during the civil rights movement. Oaks characterized those of us who oppose anti-gay bigotry by the Mormon Church as follows:

...they are like the well-known and widely condemned voter-intimidation of blacks in the South that produced corrective federal civil-rights legislation.

As University of Utah historian Colleen McDannell noted,

By comparing these two things, it diminishes the real violence that African-Americans experienced in the '60s, when they were struggling for equal rights. There is no equivalence between the two.

Oaks also referred to efforts to promote LGBT equality as "alleged civil rights." Best of all, he had this to say:

During my lifetime I have seen a significant deterioration in the respect accorded to religion in our public life, and I believe that the vitality of religious freedom is in danger of being weakened accordingly. Atheists and others would intimidate persons with religious-based points of view from influencing or making the laws of their state or nation.

A classic blame-the-atheists move tipped the scales in his direction and earned Oaks Idiot of the Week honors.

H/T to Poodles for nominating this tool.

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Idiot of the Week: The State of Oklahoma

2009-10-10T05:52:00.001-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Living in Mississippi, it is not often I get to look at something another state is doing and ask, "What the hell is wrong with you people?" But when just such an occasion presents itself, I can't pass it up.

As I suspect you have heard by now, a new law is scheduled to take effect in Oklahoma at the first of next month that will publicize details about women having abortions in the state. According to Think Progress, the information will be collected and then posted on a publicly accessible website. Although no names or addresses will be reported, Think Progress reports that Feminists for Choice is criticizing the legislation on the grounds that it will make it fairly easy to identify the women who are from small communities.

The Center for Reproductive Rights is challenging the law, and I certainly hope they are successful. In the meantime, I have no choice but to honor Oklahoma for this remarkable idiocy.

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Idiot of the Week: Elliott Abrams

2009-10-03T07:09:00.000-05:00

Time for another idiot of the week selection. A new "winner" is announced here each Saturday for the purpose of highlighting an example of extreme idiocy. With birthers, deathers, Glenn Beck, and Michele Bachmann on the prowl, it gets harder and harder to select just one a week.

Since I was accused of picking too obvious a choice last week (and rightly so), I tried to dig a bit deeper into the more obscure choices for this week. This week's nod goes to Elliott Abrams, Bush's Deputy National Security Adviser and Iran-Contra criminal, who appeared on Fox "News" this week to push for a U.S. attack on Iran. That is not enough by itself to make him idiot of the week. For that, you need to consider the following statement from Abrams:

My own view is that most Iranians now — after June, after the stealing of the election — would not rally around the flag. People used to say that — that if there’s an attack on Iran, you know the population is going to get patriotic. But that’s what Americans would do. I don’t know that it’s what Iranians are going to do, considering the way that regime is hated in Iran.

Right, so the Iranian people would welcome us as liberators. Hmmm...why do I feel like I've heard that before? Is Abrams unaware that we are already mired in two wars that aren't going especially well, that our economy is in shambles, or that we'd rather sit idly by calling our president a socialist while our fellow citizens die from lack of affordable health care?

This whole neo-con worldview, which Abrams embodies, has thoroughly failed. We'd be the idiots if we looked there for wisdom.

H/T to Think Progress

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Idiot of the Week: Ray Comfort

2009-09-26T06:58:00.000-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Each Saturday right here at Atheist Revolution, a new idiot receives the prestigious idiot of the week title. And boy, have we had some deserving winners! It is again time for another installment in the Idiot of the Week series, so let's get to it.

This week's idiot is none other than Ray "the banana man" Comfort. Special thanks to Dispatches From the Culture Wars for reporting on Comfort's latest bit of insanity from WorldNutDaily so I didn't have to contribute to their traffic. So what did Comfort do now?

At WorldNutDaily under the headline "Finally exposed: The scientific impossibility of evolution," Comfort dropped this gem:

All you have to do is push them into a corner and say, 'So, you're an atheist?' 'Yep.' 'So you believe that nothing created everything, a scientific impossibility?' And they'll say, 'Well, no.' 'So you believe something created everything?' And they say, 'Well, yeah. Something did, obviously.' 'So you're not an atheist?' 'OK, I'm not an atheist.'

'This something you believe created everything, do you think it was intelligent? I mean, could you create a bird or a flower or a tree or a blade of grass from nothing?' And they'll say, 'No, I can't do that.' 'Well, is this something you believe created everything intelligent?' And they'll say, 'Obviously.' And I'll say, 'Congratulations, you've just become an anti-science, knuckle-dragger in the eyes of our learning institutions, because you believe in intelligent design.'

Ladies and gentleman, Ray Comfort has clearly disproved evolution! Then again, maybe he's just distinguished himself as idiot of the week.

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