If you don't mind being a bit shocked, take a look at these pictures from the Folsom Street Fair. (Warning: they are graphic.) This is an annual event in San Francisco, held again on Sunday, September 30, in which some of the city's outstanding citizens turned out to display their style and have a little fun. I wonder what the Islamic radicals would make of these picturesque displays. What a great recruiting tool this would be for them! Here is what they term the decadence of the West on full display.
I don't think this is typical of America, and even many Americans would find such scenes revolting. I am quite sure that even the liberal Democratic presidential candidates wouldn't be seen in a place like this. But I also recognize that when you have freedom there is going to be some excess. Even so, freedom does not excuse anyone from moral and social accountability. To criticize the abuses of freedom is not "censorship"; rather, is to exercise one's own freedom to dissent.
So take a look at this advertisement for the Folsom Street Fair. It shows gay activists in a mock reenactment of Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles at the Last Supper. To me this ad reflects anti-Christian bigotry pure and simple. Yet when the Catholic League protested the ad, Miller Brewing Company took its name off the poster but refused to withdraw its sponsorship of the fair. This, I suppose, reflects the growing financial clout of the gay community.
But imagine if a city fair mocked the sensitivities of blacks or Jews or, yes, gays in this way. There would be a national outcry! There would be front page articles. You would have heard about it on the evening news. Miller Brewing Company would run in the opposite direction and issue a strong condemnation. Is this the first you're hearing about the Folsom Street Fair's bigotry against Christians? That's because the slogans of "tolerance" and "sensitivity" don't seem to apply to religious believers.
Outraged? Go ahead and comment, and I'll forward all the reaction to the public relations office at Miller Brewing Company.
Reader Comments ( Page 11 of 12)
151. "Let's just all go along to get along" (My paraphrase)....after all, isn't that what Jesus wanted?
NO!
Sabra at 6:37PM on Oct 3rd 2007
152. And one last remark before I shut up for awhile (Yes, I took about an hour total today [is that too much?] and typed alot of scripture for your behalf and answered some questions) but I just noticed a sentence I have seen maybe 5 xs now but this time it is really giving me a wedgie, of sorts.
Brian, you are very inappropriate. God doesn't "hate alot of people". Where do you get off saying that? He does not "hate alot of people"; a lot of people hate Him, though and I would certainly hope you are honest enough to cop to that. Why are you so angry? (Besides Christians just screwing up the entire universe in your mind. I totally disagree, no surprise. I see Christians as the salt of this earth! I see Christians with backbones that are rare to find today and they settled this country and wrote a Constitution the likes of which have never been seen since [and no it is not screwed up in translation although now the Black Robes legislate the thing instead of just carry it out, i.e. Roe v Wade that allows a mother to kill ANOTHER BODY inside her body. HER "rights" all took place BEFORE that OTHER body got their, whether she likes it or not. One should not be allowed to "terminate life" under any circumstances. One greatest social sin does not correct a previous sin, i.e. rape, incest, etc. Adopt, not abort!)....but I digress.
Brian, God loves you.
Sabra at 7:43PM on Oct 3rd 2007
153. Sabra, or else he's a literary character created in a time when starvation and poor dietary habits resulted in rampant hallucinations that led primitives to believe there were spirits, faeries, monsters, and Gods. And since he's used as agency for individuals to affect the lives of others, particularly those who do not believe in him any more than they believe in Santa Claus or the Easterbunny, then he and those who advocate his existance will always be called into question.
And here is the point. I don't care if it pisses off God one bit. If he exists, then he is not all loving but jealous and murderous. A being that would consign Socrates, Ghandi, and Enstein to hell or oblivion. A creature playing a cat and mouse game as horrible as a parent encouraging their children to butcher each other and interceeding only after death, and only then to administer eternal suffering or else a being expecting eternal praise... as if creating a flawed world is something worth eternal praise. I don't want God to approve of my actions. If he does, great. If he doesn't, oh well. He's the supremeness able to prevent three men from raping me and my sister, and he's the supremeness that had her die and me live. So... quite simply... fuck God. If he exists he's a bastard. If he doesn't then he's an excuse for the most meaningless butchery imaginable.
So, let me present a radical idea for you. Neither of us is right. We are both individuals with points of view who have lived different lives and have different values. You believe in a supernatural diety. I don't. And both of us should understand the views of others and respect our differences.
The alternative is stupidity.
Somber at 8:33PM on Oct 3rd 2007
154. Sabra, you're too much an idiot to bother with answering all your posts. I could try to address all that drivel, but I don't have the time to play with children today. So in summary, I don't believe in any god like you do, so when I say god is hateful, I refer to the writings (OT) about him, and the hateful attitudes of his believers today in general. You're exclusionists, self-righteous hypocritical egotists, and the most BACKWARDS people on earth. Backwards in the real sense of seeing reality in almost exact reverse. (Which you accuse me of, ironically) Youre posts reveal the intellect of a fearful child couched in religious dogma and a puppy-like level of ignorance that should be illegal. And at least puppies can be taught new things. You accuse me of having no idea what I'm up against, and ironically these words were in my mind about YOU, you sad excuse for a sapient being. Homo Sapiens? Not in your case. Homo Ignoramus, more like. Your mind isn't just closed, it's hermetically sealed and welded shut, and then reinforced concrete blast doors were installed over it, and then a bunker was built around it, and then the whole mess was buried in a deep hole and FORGOTTEN. It's like talking to a recording! You can't EVER listen, since all you think about is how wrong WE are and how gloriously RIGHT you are, and you never look at YOURSELF to see if just maybe you might be mistaken in ANYTHING, since you have FAITH, which equals, in your case, appalling ignorance. You hate what I say because deep down in your heart where you still have tiny doubts about your silly backwards childish fairy tales, you're deathly afraid that I might be right, but you push that down, down, down, so you won't have to ever even THINK about it. Because that would mean that you'd have to think about a lot of other things, and you can't stand that, can you? The idea of using your mind instead of just passively accepting what others have told you scares the hell out of you. You LIKE simple black-and-white, don't you? Shaded of gray are too complex, so they can't exist, right? WOW! I have to say, reading your posts is really scary. You're evil, and you have no frikkin idea that you are! The devil is happy with you, if he exists, which of course he doesn't except in weak minds like yours.
You're a full-blown psychotic, and you think I'm the wrong one here! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!! You silly christians! No minds, but huge balls, I give you that.
Brian at 12:29PM on Oct 4th 2007
155. And Somber is dead right about you as well. Dead right. And her last line, "The alternative is stupidity" is something you've already chosen a long time ago, and there's no going back to intelligence now, is there?
What a WASTED life!
Brian at 12:36PM on Oct 4th 2007
156. Sabra, do you even have a sex life? Just curious... I see you as someone with a lot of inhibitions, about as much fun in bed as a rag doll... If you're married, you're the type that has a vanilla sex life with their husband and then after ten years finds out that he's either got a mistress or that he's gay. Boooooooring!
How many spots on your bedroom ceiling? I bet you've counted them.
You need to get laid. But don't ask me.
Brian at 12:41PM on Oct 4th 2007
157. And why don't you quote me a few more verses from the book of ignorance, in an attempt to prove that you're not? LOL...
Brian at 12:43PM on Oct 4th 2007
158. Silver Lining, you're okay. Peace be unto you... LOL.
BTW, I was once a christian. A roman catholic. You'll note that I don't capitalize it. Sunday school, catholic school, the works. I was even an altar boy, but fortunately I wasn't "altered" by the experience. ;-)
Brian at 12:53PM on Oct 4th 2007
159. Brian, God loves you.
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Sabra, you're a patronizing waste of protoplasm.
Brian at 12:55PM on Oct 4th 2007
160. And Somber, I'm so sorry for your experience and for your sister. How horrible! So, so sorry. I wish you all the best in life now, and please keep speaking out. Some of us appreciate a sharp mind.
Brian at 1:09PM on Oct 4th 2007
161. Why are you so angry? (Besides Christians just screwing up the entire universe in your mind. I totally disagree, no surprise. I see Christians as the salt of this earth!
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Christians DO screw up everything, yes. It's in their nature, since their egos are so huge that they think that they have the right to. I would agree that they're the "salt of the earth" but only in the sense that, when you salt the earth, NOTHING GROWS...
Brian at 1:17PM on Oct 4th 2007
162. And to Dinesh, born in India...
With an excellent and spiritual faith like Vedanta available to you there, you chose the stultifying christian faith. What a loser, dude.
Brian at 1:25PM on Oct 4th 2007
163. Some Basic Tenets of the Baha'i Faith
Oneness of God
Oneness of Mankind
Individual Search for Truth Common Foundation of all Religions
Equality of Men and Women Elimination of Prejudice of all Kinds
Universal Education
Universal Auxiliary Language
Harmony of Science and Religion
Universal Peace Upheld by a World Tribunal
Protection of Cultural Diversity
Elimination of Extremes of wealth and Poverty
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Now I'm not if the baha'i faith, but I do notice how their ten "commandments" if you will, seem so much clearer and sensible than the christian ones...
Brian at 1:52PM on Oct 4th 2007
164. Equality of Men and Women Elimination of Prejudice of all Kinds
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Oops, this was two of them, so there's eleven.
Equality of Men and Women
Elimination of Prejudice of all Kinds
Brian at 1:54PM on Oct 4th 2007
165. "Religion is regarded by the common people as true; by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful."
-Seneca
I like your Christ.
I do not like your Christians.
They are so unlike your Christ.
-Gandhi
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours
- Stephen Roberts
"If a Creator God exists, would He or She or It or whatever the appropriate pronoun is, prefer a kind of sodden blockhead who worships while understanding nothing? Or would He prefer His votaries to admire the real universe in all its intricacy? I would suggest that science is, at least in part, informed worship. My deeply held belief is that if a god of anything like the traditional sort exists, then our curiosity and intelligence are provided by such a god. We would be unappreciative of those gifts if we suppressed our passion to explore the universe and ourselves. On the other hand, if such a traditional god does not exist, then our curiosity and our intelligence are the essential tools for managing our survival in an extremely dangerous time. In either case the enterprise of knowledge is consistent surely with science; it should be with religion, and it is essential for the welfare of the human species."
-Carl Sagan
I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own--a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism.
- Albert Einstein
"Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion that has ever infected the world." Voltaire
"I consider Christian theology to be one of the greatest disasters of the human race." Alfred North Whitehead
"We have become so accustomed to the religious lie that surrounds us that we do not notice the atrocity, stupidity and cruelty with which the teaching of the Christian church is permeated." Leo Tolstoy
"I call Christianity the one great curse, the one great intrinsic depravity, and the one great instinct of revenge, for which no means are venomous enough, or secret, subterranean and small enough - I call it the one immortal blemish on the human race." Friedrich Nietzsche
"Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is none more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory in itself than this thing called Christianity. Too absurd for belief, too impossible to convince, and too inconsistent for practice, it renders the heart torpid or produces only atheists or fanatics. As an engine of power, it serves the purpose of despotism, and as a means of wealth, the avarice of priests, but so far as respects the good of man in general it leads to nothing here or hereafter." Thomas Paine
"Christianity persecuted, tortured, and burned. Like a hound it tracked the very scent of heresy. It kindled wars, and nursed furious hatreds and ambitions. . . . Man, far from being freed from his natural passions, was plunged into artificial ones quite as violent and much more disappointing." George Santayana
"The careful student of history will discover that Christianity has been of very little value in advancing civilization, but has done a great deal toward retarding it." Matilda Joslyn Gage
"You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress in humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every step toward the diminution of war, every step toward better treatment of the colored races, or every mitigation of slavery, every moral progress that there has been in the world, has been consistently opposed by the organized churches of the world. I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world." Bertrand Russell
"When the churches literally ruled society, the human drama encompassed: (a) slavery; (b) the cruel subjection of women; (c) the most savage forms of legal punishment; (d) the absurd belief that kings ruled by divine right; (e) the daily imposition of physical abuse; (f) cold heartlessness for the sufferings of the poor; as well as (g) assorted pogroms ('ethnic cleansing' wars) between rival religions, capital punishment for literally hundreds of offenses, and countless other daily imposed moral outrages. . . . It was the free-thinking, challenging work by people of conscience, who almost invariably had to defy the religious and political status quo of their times, that brought us out of such darkness." Steve Allen
"There was a time when I believed in the story and the scheme of salvation, so far as I could understand it, just as I believed there was a Devil. . . . Suddenly the light broke through to me and I knew this God was a lie. . . For indeed it is a silly story, and each generation nowadays swallows it with greater difficulty. . . . Why do people go on pretending about this Christianity?" --H. G. Wells
"Man seeks to escape himself in myth, and does so by any means at his disposal. Drugs, alcohol, or lies. Unable to withdraw into himself, he disguises himself. Lies and inaccuracy give him a few moments of comfort." -- Jean Cocteau
Brian at 2:31PM on Oct 4th 2007