Cheer up, guys. Falwell is dead.
:rolleyes:
Truly, this thread is little more than a creative writing project for Lib.
And a pile-on project for, what, you ten? Come on over to the new GD thread if you want to discuss this seriously.
I’ve already posted there. And no, this is not a pile-on project for me. I’m responding to your posts. And unlike you, I’m attempting to use facts, not fiction.
I suppose it’s possible that Stossel interviewed a pod person.
You know, I think that you’ve indicated the disdain and disregard you feel for atheists quite clearly, in those two sentences. You really don’t understand anyone who doesn’t worship your god at all, do you?
Of course, having read the posts in the two Falwell threads, maybe I’m the one who doesn’t understand atheists. Personally, there aren’t many people whose deaths would cause me to rejoice. While there are certainly people who “need killin’”, I think that any death is a sad thing.
Huh?
OK, now you’re on this kick. It must be his fault because he moved his family to the wrong place. Geez, Liberal, are you really completely incapable of admitting that maybe you were mistaken in your first judgement?
How could anyone be so stupid? Well, from watching the 20/20 interview, I’d say they’re from a fairly large city in the northeast. Their atheism probably wasn’t a problem there, and he may well not have realized how much of a problem it could be. There have been innumerable discussions on this board with Christians from the northeast and upper midwest who wouldn’t believe posters in the Bible Belt region about how bad things can be here.
Like I said, Okies are nice. They’re friendly. I’ve known several transplants from all over the country and around the world, who were amazed at how genuinely, sincerely nice people are here. So assuming he visited in the process of selecting and purchasing his land, that’s probably the impression he had. And it’s a true impression, right up until you cross some invisible line. So he probably figured that his kids would be out of place, just as they would moving anywhere unfamiliar, but would get along and be OK. Which seems to be how it happened for three years.
Even if there were some minor interpersonal issues, he may well not have realized that. It’s not like anyone would tell him “Yo, dude, git yer obnoxious big-city ass outta here”. (Not until he crossed the line, at any rate.) At most, he’d receive the Southern treatment, which (again, as established by many conversations here on the Dope) he probably wouldn’t have even recognized as rude or people being mean or as any sort of social “warning”. And Okies are usually pretty forgiving of that sort of thing anyway.
He probably wasn’t quizzed about his religious status. I said it earlier - these are often people who have NO IDEA that something like atheism really exists, and have no clue what it is even if they’ve heard the word. It’s a boogeyman in the closet, maybe something that perverts in the big cities do, but not anyone they know. And certainly not those nice (for Yankees that don’t know any better) people down the road. The assumption would be that he’s a Christian, just like everyone, because there isn’t really anything else.
Even if he said “we don’t go to church”, they’d assume he was a backslider, or belonged to some odd sect that didn’t have a local church. There’s plenty of old farmers that don’t go to church but for weddings and funerals, so it’s not unheard of. We’ve got Mennonites and Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses and Catholics and Orthodox and sundry other groups that count as more-or-less Christian. The locals might think the poor fools were mistaken in their beliefs, but being tolerant these days, would just shake their heads, sigh, pray for them, and maybe try to get them into church to repent of their mistakes. They might have assumed they were Jewish or Muslim or Buddhist or some odd religion; as long as his kids weren’t dating or trying to convert their kids, they’d probably leave it be.
But atheist? They don’t get that, and all they’ve ever known is that atheists are EVIL. Their preacher told 'em so. The televangelists and revivalists and the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition and all those folks told 'em so. Even the gubmint says so, remember the Godless Commies? And, as seems to have happened here, they probably wouldn’t really believe it until something happened that crossed that line. In this case, refusing to pray with the team. Now they’re not just odd, they’re dangerous because they’re not going along how they should. Next thing you know, they’ll be trying to keep kids from praying at all, they’ll be closing down the churches, they’ll be holding Satanic services and sacrificing babies, they’ll be mutilating pets and livestock, because that’s what those evil Atheists do!
Then it can get damn ugly, real fast, with no warning. And even then, I’d say that this town’s reaction was unusually harsh these days (although fairly mild for what would have happened a few decades back). Maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part, I dunno. Sometimes I lean that way, sometimes the other.
Any rate, that’s how I can easily see that he’d move here without being an idiot, anymore than the people in the town are idiots for their reaction. Ignorance is bliss, right up until the snake bites.
I’ll move to the ghetto now, to make you feel happy. You know integration of neighborhoods in the north started with African American families moving to places where they may not have been wanted. After a while most people figured out they were okay after all. Do you think they shouldn’t have done that?
Maybe he believed all the stories about small towns being the heart of America. Maybe, though he didn’t believe in god, he did believe that Christianity was all about love.
Is your problem that these “good Christians” are being assholes, or that these good Southerners are being assholes? Which of these things do you deny so strongly that you ignore all evidence?
Yes, well said. It always takes two to make a confrontation. There are plenty of fundies among the atheists and well as the theists. We live in a country of toleration of others beliefs and should teach our children to do no less. It is sad to hear the hate displayed against theists and vice versa. We need to grow up and understand others will never completely believe as we do. To learn to embrace the differences and varieties of life. If you are so unsure of your beliefs that you need to constantly defend them it is time to reexamine them until you are sure enough about them to be peaceful with others.
Oh, good. It’s lekatt. I guess he’s here to show Liberal what ignoring facts and arguing solely from preconceived notions really looks like.
No, he’s not here. Lekatt doesn’t post in the Pit unless he makes a mistake.
Sorry
But the cites provided would indicate that the father was just as much a victim of harassment (moreso if ya count that whole police harassment thing) as the father. Therefore blaming the father would be blaming the victim. Not to mention that this idea of manipulation is entirely within your head. You don’t know that the father was manipulating the child at all except for your in depth analysis of the television broadcast. You understand that that isn’t exactly concrete proof, right?
Completely irrelevant to the topic at hand. Shouldn’t be discussed one way or another in this thread. If it bothers you that much, start a separate thread rather than hijack this one.
Cites? You mean his raving lunatic blog, where he fights off the Christian zombies who are trying to eat his brain?
Now, that’s to laugh. It’s hard to hijack a circle jerk. One fantasy’s as good as another.
Liberal, having read this thread beyond your earlier response to me, I can see that it is going to do no good to attempt to discuss this with you rationally. You’ve gone farther than digging in your heels. You’re frothing at the mouth. Your remark about Falwell proved it.
Damn. Just been reading the man’s story in the blog linked in the other thread.
I knew small towns could be bad, but I thought it had gotten better. Guess I was wrong. I’ve heard enough similar stories to believe it happened pretty much like he says, I just thought, or at least hoped, it was mostly a thing of the past.
If Mr. Smalkowski is a bit virulent in his feelings towards this town, and towards Christians in general, I can’t say that I blame him. I would be too, if I’d been treated like that.
But then again, I guess he’s just lying and making the whole thing up. Because, after all, Liberal says so.
Guess I’ve been lucky. Or sheltered, living in the big city and all.
Have you completely lost it, man? Why are you referring to ABC News as a “raving lunatic blog”? I think you’re doing it on purpose now, because earlier in this thread I said “read the article” to which you replied “watch the show”, as if that should cancel out any outside information not contained in the show. It has been quoted repeatedly at you, despite your refusal to read it, and now you’re just outright pretending not to know it exists. Seriously, are you on pain medication or something?
Yes, that’s exactly what he means. Because that is the only cite that has been offered in support of Smalkowski’s version of events in this entire thread. Which is in stark contrast to your multiple cites attesting to Smalkowski being a militant, trouble-making atheist cynically using his daughter to advance his political agenda without regard to the social or emotional consequences such actions would have on the girl. I mean, it’s not like Smalkowski’s story was, say, found credible in a court of law, or anything, right? Certainly, nothing provided in his defence rises to the level of certainty as “seeing the eyes and faces,” or “hearing the inflections,” or, most damning of all, patting his daughter on the back instead of hugging her! Clearly, in the face of the mountain of evidence you have amassed against the man to support your continued attacks on him as a man and as a parent, the fact that your argument has failed to carry the day in this thread can only be attributed to the deep-set, persistent anti-Christian bias so obviously displayed by Smalkowski’s supporters.