# The stupids are eating my soul!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 16, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846 "2005-07-16T23:45:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/1 "2005-07-16T23:45:39Z")
I don’t know how to express what this feels like. How do I properly relate to you what it feels like to have one’s soul eaten by a stupid, but let me tell you it’s NOT FUCKING PLEASANT!!! I can’t rant fast enough to truely express how I feel. Every time I make the mistake of coming to this forum to talk about stuff I inevitably get sucked into some mind-numbing debate full of logical fallacies extolling the virtues of “SCIENCE!!!”\* I especially love it when the intellect devouring demons of the abyss complain about the stupidity of a religious person, and move into tirade about the “facts” regarding the existence of God. Here is the thread in particular that has mired me in the putrescence of the dumb. [Science is screwing up the battle for America’s minds.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=325750) In this thread DSeid shows us a world where there are ignorant hicks who prefer God to Darwin. But not only do they exist but they’re MULTIPLYING AND THE ONLY WAY TO KILL THEM IS BY SHOOTING THEM IN THE HEAD!!! I learned that science has no voice in modern day America. I discovered how ignorant that my thinking a computer in every home and trillions of dollars spent on scientific research somehow equated to scientists “having a voice”. Somehow I harbored the delusion that every time a court or a journalist brought in their “expert scientist” to explain the facts to us, that this was giving scientists a voice. Not according to this [Gallup Poll](http://www.gallup.com/poll/content/login.aspx?ci=14107) > [@](#): > > Only about a third of Americans believe that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is a scientific theory that has been well supported by the evidence, while just as many say that it is just one of many theories and has not been supported by the evidence. The rest say they don’t know enough to say. Forty-five percent of Americans also believe that God created human beings pretty much in their present form about 10,000 years ago. A third of Americans are biblical literalists who believe that the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word. \*\* Now I know that I was dead wrong. For every scientist whose research is quoted in an article in a publication that reaches a million people, there are at least five people refuting it over a frappucino. Oh what a horrible state of affairs we are in! I pine for the days when society was less ignorant, when science ruled the day. Oh to live in such a free reasoning society as Malcolm X and Joseph McCarthy! Hopefully someone will hear my pleas before the stupids finish consuming my soul, in the meantime, I must brush up on my idiot so that I won’t be without the lingua franca in the land of Imbessil. Erek \*Pronounced as a mad scientist would exclaim it, this star denotes a delineation between SCIENCE!!! the religion and science dealing with the study of the material world. \*\* Note to self, I doubt that 1/3 of Americans have even read the bible word for word. ---
**Author:** ![comrade33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@comrade33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/comrade33)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/2 "2005-07-16T23:57:27Z")
i see where you are coming from, but i do also think that we have taken a bit of a step backwards. the judeaic religions (i wish people would stop saying religion when they mean christianity. the religions (why pick just one?) i subscribe to don’t disagree with science at all) have been making a bit of a fuss over the evil god hating scientists and have put the kibosh on and have tried to put the kibosh on a few scientific projects. having said that, you are right. things are not as bad as they seem. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/3 "2005-07-17T00:02:11Z")
Counter rant… Just as bad, is when pinheads try to dictate what sort of science is acceptable (stem cells anyone?) or try to restirict it to the point that ianythng new just can not succeed, based on their failure to read their own book PROPERLY. They try to remove even a chance for a decent death with dignity (sanctity of life my fucking ass). Then they try to force their erroneous bullshit on the schools, an finally try to make it the law of the land. Worst of all they even lie to do it (the “Amurrica was founded on christian principles” line). Afterwards, if their attempt to foist their intolerance on us fails, they accuse the other side of intolerance. Fucking inbred drooling heretics and leeches. I used to be sort of religious. Now I look at the Falwells, Santorums, Robertsons, Phelpses, etc, and I swear I want to puke. They and their kind use religion like a bludgeon to control those they can, and to hate those they can not. They cater to the basest instincts and the lowest common deniminator. Keep religion out of science, out of government, out of hospitals, and out of other peoples bedrooms. In short, stop peddling heretical bullshit and MYOFB. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/4 "2005-07-17T00:52:21Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > I discovered how ignorant that my thinking a computer in every home and trillions of dollars spent on scientific research somehow equated to scientists “having a voice”. Having a computer in every home does nothing for science. That’s just access to technology. If home users choose to use their computers to do good research, then maybe, but that’s just incidental. Do e-mail campaigns to eliminate or modify textbooks to reflect religious beliefs help science? > [@mswas](#): > > For every scientist whose research is quoted in an article in a publication that reaches a million people, there are at least five people refuting it over a frappucino. I don’t think that word means what you think it means. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/5 "2005-07-17T01:14:29Z")
> [@](#): > > The stupids are eating my soul!!! Of course they are after your soul–had they gone for your brain, they’d have starved. While there have been a couple of jabs at some religious beliefs, that thread is targeted toward finding the problems that inhibit general scientific knowledge throughout society and, your strawman or lack of reading comprehension notwithstanding, it was not an attack on religious belief, nor was religion singled out as “the problem.” Perhaps you should bring fewer preconceptions and shoulder chips to such discussions–just to save your soul, of course. ---
**Author:** ![VegemiteMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/df788c/32.png) [@VegemiteMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegemiteMoose)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/6 "2005-07-17T01:56:47Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > I don’t think that word means what you think it means. Well you got me to look it up. [Link](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=refuting) It seems the second use is bang on. Unless I just got wooshed. (Whooshed? Whoshed? Who shed that? I hate when all variants look wrong) Arrgh - I just looked that up too and feel better - [Link the second](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=whooshed) > [@mswas](#): > > I especially love it when the **intellect devouring demons of the abyss** complain about the stupidity of a religious person, and move into tirade about the “facts” regarding the existence of God. Can I please please please use the bolded words as my sig when I sign up? Well, changed to “_An_ intellect devouring \*demon \*of the abyss.” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/7 "2005-07-17T02:08:03Z")
> [@VegemiteMoose](#): > > Well you got me to look it up. [Link](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=refuting) > It seems the second use is bang on. Ah, [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) – the anti-dictionary. A [proper dictionary](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=refute*1+0&dict=A) would never encourage such an error. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![VegemiteMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/df788c/32.png) [@VegemiteMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegemiteMoose)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/8 "2005-07-17T02:22:55Z")
Thanks Larry. I see what you mean. [Better link to “refute”](http://www.abdn.ac.uk/philosophy/guide/glossary.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![VegemiteMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/df788c/32.png) [@VegemiteMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegemiteMoose)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/9 "2005-07-17T02:26:01Z")
By “better link” I mean better than my first link, not better than your link. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/10 "2005-07-17T05:42:06Z")
**mswas** , maybe I’m one of the stupids, but I don’t understand your OP. Are you railing against scientists who poo-poo religion? Are you upset about people worshipping at the altar of science, and looking down on religious people doing the same? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/11 "2005-07-17T15:25:41Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Ah, [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) – the anti-dictionary. > > A [proper dictionary](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=refute*1+0&dict=A) would never encourage such an error. 😃 Tell me about it! I’m no unreconstructed prescriptivist, but to suggest that “refute” is simply a synonym for “deny” is ridiculous. Bryan Garner, in his _Dictionary of Modern American Usage_, agrees: > [@](#): > > **refute** is not synonymous with _rebut_ or _deny_. That is, it doesn’t mean merely “to counter an argument,” but “to disprove beyond doubt; to prove a statement false.” Yet the word is commonly misused for _rebut_… > > Sometimes the word is misused for _reject_. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/12 "2005-07-17T15:58:55Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > **mswas** , maybe I’m one of the stupids, but I don’t understand your OP. Are you railing against scientists who poo-poo religion? Are you upset about people worshipping at the altar of science, and looking down on religious people doing the same? I believe the answer to your question is: [ul] **D. None of the above.** [/ul] ☹ ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/13 "2005-07-17T16:28:28Z")
OK, godboy, where’s YOUR fucking _proof_! Just because the evidence doesn’t square with your fucking adulterated prose book pratters on about, you go around whining most unscientifically. I get it: "god said it, I believe it, that settles it. That is just ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/14 "2005-07-17T16:37:35Z")
OK, on review, that was a little harsh; borne out of frustration. But really, I’m tired of religious people whinging about ID over evolution when they’ve got nothing empirical to back it up. Faith is not a valid argument. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/15 "2005-07-17T16:43:44Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > I don’t know how to express what this feels like. How do I properly relate to you what it feels like to have one’s soul eaten by a stupid, Well, your OP is a good start. It’s always a bad sign when you read an OP two or three times and not only can’t figure out what the poster is angry about, but can’t even figure out what side of the argument he/she is on. I went and read the thread that triggered the OP. Still can’t get enough context to figure it out. So I’d say that if stupidity is not eating my soul, it’s having itself a little nosh. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/16 "2005-07-17T16:44:39Z")
> [@An Arky](#): > > \adulterated prose book \ Actually, I think the Bible is a book of poetry, which people unfortunately take literally. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/17 "2005-07-17T16:49:48Z")
You are stupid mswas. Please shut up. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/18 "2005-07-17T17:23:32Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > The stupids are eating my soul!!! Can I get fries with that? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/19 "2005-07-17T17:40:06Z")
> [@An Arky](#): > > Faith is not a valid argument. Says who? ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846/20 "2005-07-17T17:51:08Z")
Anybody who has faith in the Magic Invisible Sky Panda rather than the Insivible Pink Unicorn, of course. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupids-are-eating-my-soul/312846.md?page=2)