Atheist's Guide To The 2012 Elections

[Lil Red]

from the viewpoint of one atheist, Penn Jillette:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJGxVeQw3SE[/media]

[b][color=#ff0000]There is some bad language in the video, so be warned.[/color][/b]

What do you think?

[Jaime]

Well first off let's warn people that there is some language (small amount) issues with this post.

Penn has a series on Youtube called "Penn says" where he just talks into a home camera for 4-15 minutes about whatever is on his mind. He'll take on controversial topics and he surprised me more than once with his views. (I'm pretty sure he's against abortion) The guy is really thoughtful and intelligent imo. I actually sent him a message on Facebook telling him while I disagreed with 90% of what he believed in, I had a ton of respect for his opinion and how he got to that opinion. He responded by saying that he was pretty sure he was wrong in his opinion 90% of the time but he appreciated my respect for him.

I pray for Penn regularly. He's asked for that.

[url="http://youtu.be/ZhG-tkQ_Q2w"]http://youtu.be/ZhG-tkQ_Q2w[/url]

[Jesus_lol]

that video was incredible Red!!! i would advise anyone planning on brushing it off as "liberal atheist complains about god" to watch it all the way through.

[Nihil Obstat]

He does seem to be pretty thoughtful and reasonable. I'd be willing to be that he'd be a fun guy to talk to at a dinner party.
Penn and Teller can be major blowhards sometimes, but I guess that's sort of their schtick.

[Nihil Obstat]

However I'm pretty sure people have been warned before for posting videos with comparable language.

[Lil Red]

sorry about the language everyone... i have an internal philter, so I really don't hear swearing much of the time. thanks to those who gave me the benefit of the doubt.

[Nihil Obstat]

I don't mind personally, to be honest.

[MissyP89]

That was amazing.

[Jaime]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhG-tkQ_Q2w[/media]

he looks reaaaaally scary in this one

[brandelynmarie]

I completely agree with jaime. I have watched Penn & Teller do [s]amazing [/s]phenomonal magic shows for a long time. I have also watched many of Penn's videos. I have always had the upmost respect for the guy (& I kinda mentally philter out the language too, btw). I pray for them, too. I just trust God will take care of them in some way...

[BigJon16]

[quote]

"Mitch Romney is wearing magic underpants..."

[/quote]

[Socrates]

[quote name='Lil Red' timestamp='1323031930' post='2344498']
from the viewpoint of one atheist, Penn Jillette:


[b][color=#ff0000]There is some bad language in the video, so be warned.[/color][/b]

What do you think?
[/quote]
The language wasn't quite as bad as the shear willful ignorance and boring unoriginality of this by-the-books atheist rant. (The whole concept of "Christian" was an invention of the modern anti-abortion movement? Really?)

Yes, I wasted 19 minutes of my life watching that thing, slogging on to the end in by the vain hope that Mr. Jillette would say or do something, if not "amazing!!!" or "incredible" as promised by his fans on here, at least moderately provocative or entertaining. Alas, I was disappointed. I've seen better from 17-year old internet trolls.

Evidently, I must have inadvertently looked away from the screen at the point when he performed whatever sleight-of-hand that created the illusion of substantial thought. Seriously, I'm just not seeing it.

Although, I suppose I must say his magic clairvoyant ability to know the inner motivations and intentions of politicians was indeed astounding. [SPOILER ALERT!] Obama, who, of course, is also "wicked smart," is utterly good, pure and sincere in his intents, despite his religious delusions, whilst right-leaning pols such Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry are pretty much pure evil. Surprise. Surprise. [ /SPOILER]


Besides that, the gist of his speech is:[list]
[*]Religion and the Bible is "bat-sh** crazy!"
[*]And, did I mention, religion is "bat-sh** crazy!!" (Penn repeats this highly intelligent and nuanced point at least 15 times in the video, lest it be lost on ignorant, bat-sh** crazy religious dunces like me.)
[/list]
And, oh yeah, he also tosses out the "optimistic" prediction that Christian religion will be finally killed off by - THE INTERNET! - where everyone can see such hard-hitting refutations of Christian belief as Katy Perry videos and, of course, "YouTube videos like this one."



Having been kept in the dark with a repressive religious education spent studying the works of such unenlightened dolts as St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, John Cardinal Henry Newman, and Pope John Paul II, my mind, of course, has nothing to prepare it to face the intellectual brilliance of a Katy Perry or a Penn Whats-his-face. Where can I sign up for the local atheist club?!

But if you must rot your brain with Youtube video mush, watch a Katy Perry video instead (preferably with the sound muted), as she's at least easier on the eyes than this fat, bloated windbag.


So, yet another liberal atheist entertainer thinks religion is stupid and crazy, and doesn't like Republicans. Mind-blowing.


Seriously, the guy should stick to pulling rabbits out of hats, or whatever it is he's paid to do.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Socrates

[Jesus_lol]

such a windbag.

[dominicansoul]

i'll take you guys word for it, but i refuse to listen to half the team that called Mother Teresa and her Sisters "Mother flooping Teresa" and "shame shames"

[dominicansoul]

the fil.ters don't do my complaint justice...


They used the "F" and "C" words...

iono, guys who refer to holy women that way are coppery possers in my opinion, so... i really don't pay much attention to them.....

Edited December 7, 2011 by dominicansoul

[brandelynmarie]

Coppery posser?

[Basilisa Marie]

[quote name='dominicansoul' timestamp='1323261608' post='2346353']
the fil.ters don't do my complaint justice...


They used the "F" and "C" words...

iono, guys who refer to holy women that way are coppery possers in my opinion, so... i really don't pay much attention to them.....
[/quote]

That's absolutely terrible. There's never any situation that anyone deserves that kind of language, especially when holy women are in question.

Haven't watched the video. Doing so now.

[Basilisa Marie]

Thoughts as I watch this:

I agree with pretty much everything he says in the first ten minutes, at least from a historical/political standpoint.

His points about the subsects of religious groups falling away in American culture is fairly true - I mean, the Catholic subculture (as the immigrant, "ghetto" subculture) has all but disappeared, and has been replaced by Evangelical Catholics. Young Catholics that are out to evangelize with their faith, not like the Protestant evangelical. I'd probably count Phatmass ministries as a machine of this Evangelical Catholicism (I didn't make this up - one of my church history professors came up with it). But I would not agree when he says that individual religious groups are within their "death throws" - rather, many are adapting their techniques and perspective of living in the modern world and trying to understand what that means (again - Evangelical Catholics). Protestant groups, on the other hand, may be reacting differently.

I really don't like his giant treatment of Romney's Mormon beliefs. I though he redeemed himself for a bit, but he just went back to hating on Mormons. Yes, I think their theology is incredibly screwed up...but that's because I'm Catholic and not a Mormon. That doesn't mean I have the right to call them crazy. He basically implies that religious politicians can't really believe what their religion teaches.

Ha. Taking the Bible literally. That makes me laugh and my head hurt. And makes me sad that this guy doesn't talk to people that employ some level of historical analysis when approaching the Bible. I imagine they'd have a good conversation.

But I also just watched jaime's video, and I have a lot of respect for what he says there.

[southern california guy]

[quote name='Lil Red' timestamp='1323031930' post='2344498']
from the viewpoint of one atheist, Penn Jillette:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJGxVeQw3SE[/media]

[b][color=#ff0000]There is some bad language in the video, so be warned.[/color][/b]

What do you think?
[/quote]

It's interesting for a little bit there I thought that he was attempting to defend Mitt Romney. He started out by saying that he likes to imagine that Obama isn't really religious and then he progressed to discussing Mitt Romney and his "Temple underwear".

I guess that it was implied that Romney doesn't really believe in Mormonism but he didn't explicitly say it. If you consider that possibility you're forced to ask why Romney would pretend to believe in LDS theology. Is it because he was born and raised in that culture -- and he feels that even if it is all a bunch of nonsense that it is a system which promotes better behavior, a degree of security for his family, and supportive network of friends and "associates"? Honestly I personally was attracted to if for those reasons. What I found disturbing about Mormonism was the very controlling -- almost cult-like aspect of the religion. Within Mormonism you do what you're told! Especially if you want to get anywhere.... And once you've worked your way up in to one of the higher positions within the "Church" you can tell other people what to do. I didn't like the power trips in that religion. I didn't like other people trying to lord it over me. Crimes like rape are a power trip and not surprisingly there's a lot of rape in Utah. Porn can be a sort of fantasy power trip over women and not surprisingly there is a lot of porn in Utah. More porn is sold per capita in Utah than any other state in the US. So I'm very uncomfortable with Romney being a Mormon. I imagine that he would be an extremely "controlling" President.

So while I agree with Penn that Mormonism is a wack job religion I think that there is more to consider than merely a nutty religious belief. It's interesting how he worked up to mentioning Romney. Does he support him? His arguments at the end of the video only are a criticism of a "true believer" and not somebody who was part of a religion for another reason -- which I think can be equally frightening...

Edited December 11, 2011 by southern california guy