Trade your Bibles for Porn -- "Smut for Smut" Event!!

[LonesomePolecat]

@Diogenes_the_Cynic

They didn’t insult Christians, but I can tell you that provoking Christians in the deep south is not a safe thing to do.

As opposed to provoking Christians in other parts of the country? This is just your anti-Southern bigotry showing again.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

I am from the south, but thanks for playing.

I will, however, readily admit that there are regions besides the south where provoking Christians can be just as dangerous.

[Some_Schmo]

@BigT

That said, if their purpose was to convert Christians, then it was monumentally stupid. Doing something they consider crassly immoral and sacrilegious just confirms the stereotype that atheists are an evil force.

Are people who buy into stereotypes really likely to be swayed by counter-evidence?

(I prejudiced against prejudiced people).

[zoid]

@RitterSport

I know, right? I never have religious people come to my door or hand me pamphlets on the train. I’m really sick to death of all those atheists trying to shove the Origin of Species and the God Delusion in my face. I mean, how many copies could I have? Plus, there’s always a copy of Breaking the Spell in every dang hotel I go to.

Then, let’s not forget all the atheists trying to get evolution taught in the churches. You read about it all the time – a bunch of atheists get elected to some church board, and before you know it, they’re trying to get rid of the creationism curriculum in Sunday school and replace it with the Descent of Man.

And, you never, ever have preachers with their own television show or radio programs – it’s always those dang atheists, asking for money for some secular cause or so they can have a refrigerated dog house or some crap.

Effin evangelical, fundamentalist atheists. Can’t stand 'em.

I never claimed that there were no jerks on the other side of the issue - but thanks for the strawman.

[Syntropy]

@LonesomePolecat

As opposed to provoking Christians in other parts of the country? This is just your anti-Southern bigotry showing again.

Yes, very much opposed to that. No, speaking as a Texan, it isn’t ‘just anti-Southern bigotry.’

[RitterSport]

@zoid

I never claimed that there were no jerks on the other side of the issue - but thanks for the strawman.

Hey, no problem. It’s on the house.

[begbert2]

@zoid

I never claimed that there were no jerks on the other side of the issue - but thanks for the strawman.

I be thinking that the point is that you’re complaining about the fours on one side of the aisle when the other side reaches ten and probably has an average of six.

[GreatStuffMan]

@RitterSport

If it’s trading for the kind of pr0n that it’s the bible, I’m not interested – incest and rape pr0n are not to my liking.

@Superfluous_Parentheses

They’re not giving out hand jobs, just porn.

Err, wrong word. I meant tactical.

[Lestrade]

@LonesomePolecat

*“When in doubt, blaspheme. Fools will always mistake it for wit.” *-- Oscar Wilde

Do you know where he coined that? I can’t find anything similar on google. Also, I’m not sure I understand what he meant. Does it roughly mean, “If you don’t know what to say, say it in an interesting way?”

[Malthus]

@Lestrade

Do you know where he coined that? I can’t find anything similar on google. Also, I’m not sure I understand what he meant. Does it roughly mean, “If you don’t know what to say, say it in an interesting way?”

I assume it means something like ‘upsetting the religious is an easy score, and thus only dumb people think it’s clever’.

Dunno where the quote comes from, though.

[JThunder]

It’s kinda like telling a dirty joke (well, most of them). It’s a way to get laughs without requiring any real creativity or cleverness.

[Malthus]

@JThunder

It’s kinda like telling a dirty joke (well, most of them). It’s a way to get laughs without requiring any real creativity or cleverness.

'Know which social class was most prominent in the Old Testament?

The Aristocrats!’

[Marley23]

@Revenant_Threshold

It’s a stupid idea. Even granting the thought that it has some merit for opening eyes to a sacred cow, surely there are ways to do that that aren’t a) offensive, b) going to actually put people off atheism and atheists, and c) likely as not will be stuck in fundraising and political support leaflets for anyone whose opinion of atheists is already not too good.

If you are polite all the time, people tune you out. So yes, there is value in sometimes using shock tactics and humor to draw people’s attention to an issue. Nobody ever died from being offended. And it’s college, which is a pretty safe place to do stuff like this.

[kanicbird]

Trading the spiritual for the physical is a excellent example of what Atheism offers. It seems perfect that the offer is giving away the Love of God in Jesus for the lust of the flesh, a common theme in scriptures, and one of the items that Satan uses often.

Pitiful ol’ Satan, as predictable as ever, nothing new here, move on. and God will use even this to His glory.

[Czarcasm]

@kanicbird

Trading the spiritual for the physical is a excellent example of what Atheism offers. It seems perfect that the offer is giving away the Love of God in Jesus for the lust of the flesh, a common theme in scriptures, and one of the items that Satan uses often.

Pitiful ol’ Satan, as predictable as ever, nothing new here, move on. and God will use even this to His glory.

I like to think of it as trading fantasy for reality. That way, any time I feel the need for fantasy I can crack open a book and let my imagination fly free without danger of losing my grounding.

[Syntropy]

@kanicbird

Pitiful ol’ Satan, as predictable as ever, nothing new here, move on. and God will use even this to His glory.

No, no. They’re not Satanists. They’re atheists. They don’t believe in god’s alter ego either.

[begbert2]

@Czarcasm

I like to think of it as trading fantasy for reality. That way, any time I feel the need for fantasy I can crack open a book and let my imagination fly free without danger of losing my grounding.

You only wish that the content of skin mags was your reality.

[kidneyfailure]

@kaylasdad99

And was it any good, or just weak-sauce stuff like Oui, Hustler, and Penthouse Letters?

Granted I haven’t seen a copy in quite a while, but since when has Hustler been considered “weaksauce?” IIRC, it was pretty graphic.

[lekatt]

@GreatStuffMan

Am I the only one thinking this is funny as hell?

Regardless of whether this was the most tactile event ever organized in the name of spreading Atheism, it surely did have an effect and sparked some debate. And that in itself is part of the point of the organization, I’m sure. Hence, they succeeded.

I don’t think this act spread any atheism anywhere, it did insult and belittle a lot of people who will never forget how “bad” atheism has become.

I tried to find out if atheist numbers are growing, but the prejudices were too high for me to tell. I know that people who say they are not religious are not necessarily atheists. It seems a very large group of spiritualists who believe in spiritual realms and a higher power are left out, or counted as atheists.

Then there is a new religious movement that is bringing back into the church many of those that previously left due to negative preaching. This movement preaches a positive Christianity with no hell fire and damnation.

It is never right to insult or belittle others about their beliefs, you will be judged as you judge others. The act lowered the status of atheists in the minds of Christians and non-Christians alike. It was a lose-lose situation for all.

[Kimstu]

@lekatt

I tried to find out if atheist numbers are growing, but the prejudices were too high for me to tell.

A fairly recent Pew Report on religious trends looks reasonably unprejudiced, but as you note it’s difficult to distinguish atheists and agnostics (A&A’s) from other nonaffiliated types:

The survey finds that the number of people who say they are unaffiliated with any particular faith today (16.1%) is more than double the number who say they were not affiliated with any particular religion as children. Among Americans ages 18-29, one-in-four say they are not currently affiliated with any particular religion. […]

The Landscape Survey confirms that the United States is on the verge of becoming a minority Protestant country; the number of Americans who report that they are members of Protestant denominations now stands at barely 51%. […]

Like the other major groups, people who are unaffiliated with any particular religion (16.1%) also exhibit remarkable internal diversity. Although one-quarter of this group consists of those who describe themselves as either atheist or agnostic (1.6% and 2.4% of the adult population overall, respectively), the majority of the unaffiliated population (12.1% of the adult population overall) is made up of people who simply describe their religion as “nothing in particular.” This group, in turn, is fairly evenly divided between the “secular unaffiliated,” that is, those who say that religion is not important in their lives (6.3% of the adult population), and the “religious unaffiliated,” that is, those who say that religion is either somewhat important or very important in their lives (5.8% of the overall adult population).

@lekatt

The act lowered the status of atheists in the minds of Christians and non-Christians alike. It was a lose-lose situation for all.

Except that it wasn’t. Sure, some people were offended or disgusted by this stunt, but others thought it was pretty clever, funny, and/or courageous. It must have some “win” aspects for the Atheist Agenda group, or they wouldn’t keep doing it (as I noted above, the event seems to have been initiated back in 2005).