Dobson's Focus on the Family humiliated by 'Pray for Rain' video
By Steve Benen Tuesday Aug 12, 2008 8:30amJames Dobson’s Focus on the Family employs Stuart Shepard to make short, “clever” religious-right videos for the evangelical powerhouse. Shepard creates these videos regularly, and most of them are entirely forgettable.
Last week, however, Focus unveiled a new video, asking politically-conservative Christians to pray for rain on Aug. 28, in order to disrupt Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Shepard called for “abundant rain, torrential rain … flood-advisory rain.” He adds, “I’m talking about umbrella-ain’t-gonna-help-you rain … swamp-the-intersections rain.” Explaining why he wants everyone to pray for rain, Shepard explains, without a hint of humor, “I’m still pro-life, and I’m still in favor or marriage being between one man and one woman. And I would like the next president who will select justices for the next Supreme Court to agree.”
In other words, Obama disagrees with the religious right on culture-war issues, so Focus on the Family wants God to smite Obama with rain. Got it.
This week, some Colorado reporters picked up on this, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann featured Shepard as the “worst person in the world,” and as of yesterday, Focus is a little humiliated. (via my friends at Right Wing Watch)
Focus on the Family Action pulled a video from its Web site today that asked people to pray for “rain of biblical proportions” during Barack Obama’s Aug. 28 appearance at Invesco Field in Denver to accept the Democratic nomination for president.
Stuart Shepard, director of digital media at Focus Action, the political arm of Focus on the Family, said the video he wrote and starred in was meant to be “mildly humorous.”
But complaints from about a dozen Focus members convinced the organization to pull the video, said Tom Minnery, Focus Action vice president of public policy.
“If people took it seriously, we regret it,” Minnery said Monday.
Um, Tom? People took it seriously because Focus took it seriously.
Focus has disabled its own video clip, and has yanked it from online video sites, but as it turns out, someone managed to post an additional copy to YouTube.
Shepard told reporters, “It’s called hyperbole. It is meant to be humorous.”
Watch the clip. I don’t think he was kidding.
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Wow.
How callous. They don't want Sen. Obama to be president so they pray for something that would cause numerous people to suffer huge damages due to flooding in order to prevent something they don't want from happening.
So much for Christian charity from that bunch.
Secondly, much like sporting events, I really don't think God has a favorite political party (although Jesus was a liberal, that much, we know).
you know, torrential rain can be seen as a great thing, too, given how dry it's been here. In my view, either condition will be good for Obama.
So - dry and fair; strong indications of Obama's victory in November. Torrential rain; overwhelmingly positive proof that Obama will be elected...
Considering that conservatives like gold so much, how come the Golden Rule is such a foreign concept to them?
Um, wouldn't God provide the torrential downpour WITHOUT their prayers if he agrees with their viewpoints?
Tim in Japan @ 3:
The only golden rule for them is:He who has the gold makes the rule...
Is Focus on the Family a non-profit, Church-based organization? When will the IRS start punishing these "churches" that dictate to their congregations in political matters?
btw - I'm praying for Dobson to shut the f*ck up.
I find all these supermarket evangelists to be uproarously funny.
I've always wondered...do the students in their sponsored universities actually study or simply pray for good grades?
I especially enjoy the exorcisms on demand in their televised ministries. Does their programming qualify for an Emmy?
When God speaks to them do they refuse the call if he calls collect?
Didn't that idiot governor of Georgia ( the state, not the country) do something similar last year? I think the religious whackos were trying to end the drought, but the same result. Divine providence is not forthcoming, lets hope.
I’m pro-life and pro-choice because I'm pro-freedom. Why can't the gays get married, and be miserably monogomous like the rest of us. I expect the Supreme Court to Protect and Defend the U.S. Constitution, as well as El Presidente, Congress, and the U.S. Military. I'm not a Republican or Democrat. OBAMA08!
Gahhh!
Dobson deserves to burn in Hell, all he brings with him is bad for American republicanism. At this point, I'm willing to agree with the atheists, ban the religious right from public discourse, period.
jimt @ 8:
Yes, he did.
IMHO, praying to Yahweh for rain in this day and age is not the right thing for a leader of a state to do. If some fanatic wants to try, more power to them (they'll fail), but it's a no-no even for a state governor to do it.
They just get weirder every day.
I have long contended these people must be atheists because if they really believed there is a god they would know they are going to hell. They're banking no there not being a god.
I'm LOLing--out loud!
That was the funniest video I have ever seen!
I thought I was going to cry at the very end when he picks ups the umberella and looks to the sky!
He went the full retard" Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder
What the....if you really want to laugh...watch the video and hum "If I Only Had a Brain" in the background.
Good golly miss molly Dr. Dobson! You will not believe what your Shepard has been doing to your Sheep!
If there is a God do you really think that he/she is listening to these yahoos?
Once again there's always the "can't you take a joke" fall back when your serious and hate filled, unchristian, please-the-zealot stuff gets exposed.
I want to hear McCain's statement about this crazy group of people that he and Lieberman have been courting. What does he think of their plan?
They probably should be praying that McCain has at least a hundred people listening to his speech.
My prayers have already been answered. The spell check here at C&L is working again.
Obama should go right back at them and ask again that we ALL pray for rain, soon.
They sure could use it.
Oh, and FOTF needs to lose their tax exempt status pronto. That would be my first act as new president... right after I build the prisons to hold the Bush crime syndicate.
When people start mewling and telling everyone to pray I am always reminded of that scene in the Rocky and Bullwinkle show where the moose attempts to pull a rabbit out of his hat. Every attempt is preceded by "This time for sure!"
Is that what the churchies think when they kneel down to try again? "THIS time gob will surely do what I'm begging for because um....[insert desperate reasoning here]"
Simply put, these religious goons are simply the stupidest people in the world.
My tiny mind is not capable of calculating how cool it would have been for that dumbass to have been hit by lightning while making that video.
"Would it be wrong to ask God for rain on a certain day, when a certain..." KAPOW!
Yes, it would, dumbass.
When an Evangelical uses "pray for rain" as a threat, I'm always reminded of Noah.
"You don't agree with our totally subjective, completely unprovable, highly unsupportable belief system, so we want you dead" is not exactly an uncommon expression of this belief system.
Any religion which tells you what to believe "for your own good" and wants you to die if you don't is not a religion which should be given a public platform, much less a President.
LegallyBlonde @ 17:
My view on a real monotheistic God is that He/She/It views mankind in the same way a human views an ant on his or her porch. Assuming monotheism to be 100% correct, and in several ways, Christianity is in a grey area for monotheism...
it's a damned good idea not to arouse the attention of a being that (again, according to monotheism) created a 45-billion-light-year universe, while we're confined to one tiny planet.
MargeAggedon @ 21:
That sort of attitude was called superstitio in the Old Religion. The Romans didn't look very fondly on that attitude, yet Christianity has been encouraging it from the days of Paul.
How 'bout Dobson prays that SpongeBobsquarepants comes to life and kills all Democrats with an evil starfish?
* Honk If Your Religious Beliefs Make You An Asshole
* Don’t pray in my school, and I won’t think in your church.
* Too Stupid to Understand Science? Try Religion.
* If you think god is your co-pilot, try letting him land the plane.
* "Worship Me or I Will Torture You Forever. Have a Nice Day." God.
* Threatening Children With Hell Is FUN!
* GOD - APPLY DIRECTLY TO FOREHEAD!
More Fun HERE
kit wilson @ 27:
Or howzabout he goes to the sort of deity he seems to serve and makes it official:
Dobson's Focus on Angra Mainyu....
☻Bangkok Bob ☺ @ 28:
Considering everything religion's hurled at you people, have your fun.
....
Just hope civilization doesn't actually implode because 21st Century secularism is immensely dependent on the current model of existence, corporations and all.
The cree-yist-yin right, preying on us again. They have those red letter buybulls in which Jesus' words are rendered in red, so that they can ignore it.
I think that Cafeen Man @ 13 has nailed it. Especially concerning the current administration.
This is the kind of bullshit that would make any normal thinking person run like hell away from religion. What a fucking waste of thought. I'd rather drink hot beer with Lucifer than spend one minute with these hate filled hypocritcal assholes.
I believe in an afterlife, but of course one can never be sure. For me, the only way any of this...the evangelicals, the craziness of our society in general, the overall stupidity of people and their capacity to do evil to one another...any of it makes sense is this.
Should there actually prove to be a God, at least in my faith, the belief is that all our questions will be answered. Upon meeting God, I fully intend to walk up to him...simply put my hands out and say quizzically..."Well...."
And for me...ALLL would make sense if he simply looked at me with a smirk...and said mater of factly...."Just kidding."
The moment that people begin to think that "God is on our side", they make asses of themselves. It's a story as old as literature itself. There was a time, a few decades ago, when Dobson had gained the respect of the psychological/therapy community as he wrote about family functioning and systemic reasoning. Perhaps that was before he realized where the Money is. Now it's quite clear that he's become a run of the mill con artist who filled the void once held by Jimmy Swaggart and other silver-tongued thieves. Ah, but if Dobson disappeared off the face of the earth tomorrow, by flood or accident or any other common earthly event, there'd be hundreds of swindlers fighting and scratching to gain his audience and the millions of dollars that everyday suckers send off in the mail.
Feed 'em fish.
Left&Left @ 32:
Stuff like this effectively cured me of the dark side of Christendom (i.e. taking much of the religion's supernatural doctrines seriously, which does produce Crusades and Inquisitions). I consider myself to be a sane Christian, but Dobson makes me ashamed to call myself that, and more ashamed of my knee-jerk reaction of how to deal with his heresies (bring back the Inquisition with the rack and all those other lovely torture devices.)
Left&Left @ 32:
Hot beer? That's some serious sacrifice or so my husband would say.
Eyeball Kid @ 34:
I agree, at least with things like nationalism or liberalism or even conservatism, there must be a degree of human reasoning in them. Any sort of religion removes that, projects an external force instead, and all Hell breaks loose shortly thereafter (pun not intended.)
Liberal AND Proud @ 33:
"WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE"?
Anyhoo, this might just be a crazy conservative attempt at "mild humor"...
That's what these christofascist asshats do when they get caught in their bigotry. They laugh it off as some kind of joke. Pussies.
I think FoF is right...they should pray for rain as a sign from God...and should the torrential rain they prayed for not come to fruition, then FoF followers should accept the lack of rain as a true sign from GOD that Barak Obama is destined on high to become the next President of the United States. The prudent thing for them to do at that point is to show the biblical grace to shut their smug, sanctimonious mouths, sit the F&%K down, and let the ADULTS run the country for a while.
Left&Left @ 32:
Ayy!! That does it. Drinking hot beer on any occasion is enough of an image to go alcohol free indefinitely. I'm off the brew. At least until summer is over.
The reason for the season is actually to make my sauce taste better.
Damn, that guy just sounds annoying. I'm praying someone smacks the back of his head for sounding so smarmy.
Mick Piobr @ 31:
That's funny... I'm going to have to remember that one.
So if there isn't a rain storm of biblical proportions on 8/28/08 in Denver will they all finally come to their senses and renounce their 1st century death cult?
Of course not. There's too much money at stake.
Yellow Elephant Safari @ 44:
They don't have a 1st Century death cult...
they have a 20th Century death cult. Fundamentalism is the shadow side of modernism.
You'd think that they'd pray for peace. They prolly do. Ain't workin out to well though.
A woman I know considers herself a good christian, even though she married a drug dealer, keeps telling me that she prays for me. This has been going on ever since she accused me of not loving America and of not supporting the troops because I was criticizing Chimpy after his Mission Accomplished carrier landing. I asked her recently if she thinks any better of me and my political viewpoints given the things we've learned about this administration? Much to my dismay she is still a staunch supporter of Chimpy and now McSame and she told me she thinks I have gotten worse in my political extremism.
I laughed at her response and told her, "So much for the power of prayer".
mudshark @ 46:
There's been all of 14 years of global peace in the last 2,000 years. Note the word "global." No matter which form of the Judeochrislamic deity or the Hindu deity or any of the other ones that are served globally is prayed to, there was still all of 14 years of peace from the year 1 AD to today.
Can I pray for a particularly well placed bolt of lighting in said storm?
Diptard Christian Taliban... when will they ever learn
Matt @ 50:
Thanks to the advent of modernism, they cannot learn unless modernism is destroyed.
This sort of religion represents the dark underbelly of modern times. You cannot have modern science without both modern atheism and modern fundamentalism to go along with them. It's a duality that, I think, cannot be satisfactorily resolved.
See, this is just another example of Republican "humor."
"It was just a joke! It's not our fault you didn't get it!"
Right-wing dumbasses. Same idiots who would rather pray to stay healthy than get decent healthcare. Maybe praying will fill up their gas tank too.
These right-wing people give America a bad name for their stupidity.
Sinfonian @ 52:
IMHO, the essence of the Republican joke is the Unitarian church shooting a few weeks back. That is what comes of joking about murder.
That was pathetic.
I've always wondered what the accumulated amount of time used in praying is. If that time was actually used helping people (of all religions) instead leaving it to God to do the work, wouldn't the world be a better place and wouldn't God be really happy?
“If people took it seriously, we regret it,” Minnery said Monday.
This seems to be the latest popular line of defense. From Lieberman's "Just Relax And Enjoy It" to McCain's latest this morning
on NPR explaining the Paris/Brit ad..."I thought it was time for humor. And all I can say to those people is, just relax, shut down the computer, go outside and get a breath of fresh air. Go for a walk."
Gotta love it.
Every time one of these closet case religious idiots makes an ass of himself, I thank god I'm an atheist.
These jerks need to be humiliated at every turn. Zealots that subscribe to this form of intimidation need to be outed at every turn and the pressure should NEVER be turned down. Expose the lies, brainwashing and bigotry...
In a like vein, a new right wing talk radio station launched in Fargo this week complete with cross-shaped print advertising and the name "The Flag", first guest, John McCain... and their tower was struck by lightning making McCain barely audible.
God has spoken.
Now here's a Biblical rain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Sh89VrD2l4
If there were a god, I would pray for her to go away.
I knew about the video last week, so why did it take them so long to learn about it and remove it? Actually they should be ashamed of this foolishness. Such an infantile thing to do. All religious people should give them hell about it.
General_Rennenkampf @ 26:
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is also a definition of insanity. LOL!
Jesus said,"Sell all of your goods and give it to the poor." I hope Jesus doesn't mind waiting. Forever.
the fraud continues by these folks.....maybe they need a 'purity ball' ...
I surely don't intend to offend anyone when I say this but often I think that religion is the greatest excuse in the world. If something bad happens, it's god's way. If something good happens, it's god's way. No rational reasons needed, the excuse for everything that happens is that it's just god's way.
unemployed @ 55:
and unpatriotic.......IMHO
Does anyone need any more proof that religous conservatives are complete and utter nut jobs. I thought the mantally ill were not allowed to vote.
MargeAggedon @ 64:
When I'm around some people who pray out loud...it's kinda like watching The Office...it's embarrassing and funny, but I'm glad I'm not them.
Ya know...I got nothing against prayer really...but it just seems that some "christians" do it in public to show everyone how bloody pious they are.
Joel @ 5:
That's the ONLY rule, period, for everybody. Whaddarya, a naif?
Has it rained in the state of Georgia yet?
Are they still in a drought?
Didn't they pray for rain there?
Radically Moderate @ 68:
They're not 'patriots.' they're theocrats. they want our democracy, pitiful weak, and emaciated as it is (and in no small part due to their efforts) to collapse and be replaced by a regime devoted to glorifying some fukkking, sky-pilot competitor to the FSM...
Do Christians cross-dress?
pissed off patricia @ 63:
My guess is that they use the old technique of sending out the garbage long enough to do damage or so they can get their jollies then take it off a week later because they're "sensitive." Or they are beginning to fear the wrath of God!
I worship the Heavenly Dominatrix
Praise Bob!
You know the reich-wingers are desperate and swinging blindly when they are hoping for riots and interventions from God at the DNC convention.
"mildly humerous", huh...well describing most fanatical religious nutcases...about as "humerous" as a nuclear attack! But that's what passes for effective SPIN in today's media...how long before McSHAME figures out how to use THIS story in a negative ad against Obama...now that will REALLY BE NEWS!!! Thank goodness he can't use the Edwards story...it's that old "fingers pointing back at ya" situation...
ysbaddaden @ 74:
I hope they have the decency to shop at Lane Bryant.
Is it just me, or does submitting to His heavenly will sound S&M homo-erotic?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU3JrXt_cPk
67 pissed off patricia Says: I surely don’t intend to offend anyone when I say this but often I think that religion is the greatest excuse in the world. If something bad happens, it’s god’s way. If something good happens, it’s god’s way. No rational reasons needed, the excuse for everything that happens is that it’s just god’s way.
As a recovering Catholic, I can say that there are countless cases in which god can opt-out of responsibilty for the bad, but take credit for the good. A sunny day is god's will but rain is bad unless there's a drought and then it's god's will again. Unless there's a flood and then it's because the people were wicked or something. Apparently god has a good contract attorney.
The invariable right wing response when it is pointed out that they have been vile and stupid: "It was just a joke."
They didn't think it was a joke before. Now they try to lay the blame on the audience for not "getting" their little joke.
It wasn't a joke. it was vile and stupid and so is Shepard.
INRI i'm nailed right in!
pissed off patricia @ 67:
That's not true... (to paraphrase George Carlin here)... You don't see these Christian athletes credit God if something goes wrong. "God made me drop the ball." or my favorite "Jesus tripped me up behind the line of scrimmage."
79 mudshark Says: ysbaddaden @ 74:
Do Christians cross-dress?
I hope they have the decency to shop at Lane Bryant.
Nope
Trashé Я Us.
edgarallenpoe @ 82:
I love 'fundie' humor. I love applying it to them. So, when a church bus goes off the road, it's always fun to ask if the driver was doing their god's work and shoveling them souls...
BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS.... not bad actually... other than that one FLOOD, most of the bible had rather comfortable rainfall, 7 years void of rain altogether
now LOCUST on the other hand... only showed up ONCE, and they really sucked!!!
NOW GOD COULD REALLY CAUSE A DISASTER....
if he makes a bridge fall in MN during the GOP convention
if he makes Craig's stall door jam in stall 5 at the MN airport at the meat-and-greet
if he allows bomb bomb bomb anywhere near the white house
if he changes the laws and allows W a third term
Wouldn't this be appropriate?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeXimHgkTkI
The Cure - 'Prayers for Rain'
how childish and pathetic
83 Mick Piobr Says: INRI i’m nailed right in!
You'd be surprised how many Christians don't know what INRI means (Iesus Nazarone Rex Iudicai). I did a Easter cartoon that I hoped would be offensive, but everybody was asking me what that sign on the cross meant.
Jesus like to spend his weekends getting hammered then nailed.
ysbaddaden @ 85:
OH, that's right. The have their Trashe R Us Gold cards. Founding members donchaknow.
89 fanatic Says: how childish and pathetic
Who, me?
What's that old saying? You can pray in one hand and shit in the other, let me know which one gets filled faster. Morons
91 mudshark Says: ysbaddaden @ 85:
79 mudshark Says: ysbaddaden @ 74:
Do Christians cross-dress?
I hope they have the decency to shop at Lane Bryant.
Nope
Trashé Я Us.
OH, that’s right. The have their Trashe R Us Gold cards. Founding members donchaknow.
In the Biblical sense?
Often times when someone dies or is killed in an accident, I hear religious people say, it was just god's will. If someone is really ill but recovers they will say god healed the person for a reason. It was god's will.
If a team wins, they thank god, therefore inferring that it was god's will that they win. If the other team wins, then that team thanks god for being on their side. Either way god gets the credit. It's a win-win for god when it comes to sports.
@ ysbaddaden:
As a friend who observes a different tradition once remarked, "My god wields a hammer. Yours got nailed to a cross. Any questions?"
And if it's not God's Will, then maybe it's that damned chain letter from Saul de Groda ...
I still think religion has a function. Think of the 7 Wonders of the World, think of Renaissance and Baroque Art, think of the history of music. Think of J J Bachofen's theory that religious striving can cause social improvements. Think of the wealthier Victorian Women and the social work.
Not religious music per se but I like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xBLYMSgxCE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=act6JIFZG-M
Even if it did rain.. I honestly dont think it would matter, I dont think people would leave. In fact... if I were running Obama's campaign, I'd say something like this rain is a symbol of what America has dealt with for 8 years, and I...... will give the American people shelter from the storm. Corny, I know but hey, it's a thought.
Help!
I was over at Jake Tapper's blog on ABC... and the moderator is culling out pro-Obama comments and leaving pro-McCain comments alone!
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/08/focus-on-the-fa.html?cid...
It is totally fishy. But if I write a well-reasoned, profanity-free defense of Obama... I have discovered that they frequently are deleted at the whim of the moderator...
I have been puzzling lately over the excessively pro-McCain slant of commenters over there... and today... discovered that my comments and other pro-Obama comments just get deleted.
Get over there and give it a try.
I can't wait for "Rev" Dobson to get to heavan and meet God. Then he'll find out how p***** she is.
pissed off patricia @ 95:
And wars.
So.. if it rains, it's proof that prayer works and that God hates Obama.
And if it doesn't rain, will that be proof that the religious right has lost their way and that God does not approve of them?
Actually, the joke is on me. For being stupid enough to even respond.
A picture says more than a thousand words..
http://www.forumammo.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10071/picard-no-facepalm.jpg
So now if it rains on Obama's acceptance speech, Dobson can claim God listened to his prayers even though he asked for forgiveness for his "joke". God still loved him so much He knew what he wanted. And if the weather is good, Dobson can take credit because God accepted his heartfelt contrition.
Now if the Rev. James is blown apart by a lightning bolt, he could be in trouble.
Just another day in the Lying Conniving Empire
Shadowgm Hussein @ 96:
Pink elephant, green elephant... what's the diff?
Yellow Elephant Safari @ 102:
Yep, that too.
If it rains on obama's ego trip why blame Dobson? Don't people say God controls this. Does this mean Dobson is now God......
Gee I thought obama was God and the Messiah, so why would it matter he wouldn't let his power and glory rally be spoiled.
Dr. Toxic @ 6:
Yes, please! Tax the churches! Tax them all!
fundies can't "do" funny. It's not in their DNA...pathetic.
MikeinMD @ 104:
Hmmmm? A lightning bolt? This does raise a good question. If it did rain there probably would be lightning with it. Someone could get killed. Maybe more. Would it be this asshats fault for praying for rain if it did kill someone?
how about praying for peace?
or peace of mind in trying times for all people everywhere?
how about praying for soft, steady rain in the drought-stricken areas on the globe?
perhaps even pray for our next President to be a man who will begin to turn our great ship back to true north?
Actually.. come to think of it, I like this game. Let's play it.
They believe God will help them stop Obama, and they ask for rain?
Why not just ask God to make Obama lose the election?
Heck, why not ask God to wipe out all the liberals at once, while he's at it?
And once he's done that, he can make Huckabee win the thing, through some bizarre series of events.
I mean.. we're talking about God here. The guy (I'm pretty sure their God is a man,) is supposedly omnipotent.
Why ask for small potatoes like rain?!
Pray for Huckabee. And if he wins, I might just have to reconsider my faith (or lack thereof)
If I was lucky enough to be there when Obama gives his speech and it began to rain, if Obama kept talking, I would keep listening.
ysbaddaden @ 98:
Dude, I notice you and I worship at the same CHURCH
I like to think I'm more like this guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOOTKA0aGI0
96 Shadowgm Hussein Says: @ ysbaddaden:
As a friend who observes a different tradition once remarked, “My god wields a hammer. Yours got nailed to a cross. Any questions?”
I'm guessing he's Nordic pantheon worshipper of Thor (his hammer's name is Mjollner.) Tradition has it that although the Viking were converted last it was fairly easy. The missionaries simply took the Mjollner amulets they people wore and reversed in into a Tau cross.
We wouldn't even know of Viking religious beliefs if it weren't for Snorri Snurleson and Saxon Grammaticus who were both monks. The writer of Beowulf was certainly familiar with Christianity.
Interesting thing though, although I think the Bible mentions a wound in the side of Jesus that tradition gives to a centurion named Longinius, it seems to echo a wound Balder got shortly before his death from a mistletoe dart thrown by the one eyed Hod at Loki's instigation (Hod's affliction seems to suggest he's the one-eyed All-Father Odin himself). Mistletoe was a lowly herb that Balder's mother Frigg overlooked when she got all things to promise not to injure her son, like Achilles and his mother the goddess Thetis. She she dipped him in the river Styx and made him invulnerable to injury except where her thumbs held him, at the "Achilles tendon."
Mistletoe became sacred to the Vikings who said the red berries were Balder's blood, and the white berries Frigg's tears at her son's death. Mistletoe was also important to the Celts since it grows on their most sacred tree the Oak. And now is in our Christmas.
Supposedly after Ragnarrok, Balder would return to restart a new creation, like an Asian cyclic eschatology, making himi comparable to Christ in the views of the missionaries.
Radically Moderate @ 16:
Perfect!
Here's another good un
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iszy6_NMOD0
Don't you love how these religious nut-jobs use nature and disasters as their weapon? Katrina? It's New Orleans fault for being lienient on gay issues. 911? It's because of New Yorks tolerance toward gays. Funny how I haven't heard anything about the devastaing floods in the midwest. Could it be That the midwest is somewhat pro-gay? Nah, I don't think so.
Jesus' General has a different idea on this
In the same manner that our entertainment often reflects our beliefs/needs (i.e., we watch crime dramas to see justice done, medical dramas to see people get help, and, now, reality tv to see other people get f**ked over for points) ... so does our religion.
Dobson's crowd looks to God for validation; therefore He must be the same miserable, judgmental, vicious, unforgiving sort they are. With the added benefit of being right, since it's God.
Radically Moderate @ 16:
Good golly miss molly Dr. Dobson! You will not believe what your Shepard has been doing to your Sheep!
Interesting thing about the Good Shepherd.
Not only is it trying to forge a link to King David, who was a shepherd in his youth,
It is also a rip from Osirian worship (after Death he became Lord of the Underworld comparable to the moon [during life the sun] and the stars were his sheep),
But ultimately the Good Shepherd is gonna eat his sheep (eat his meat?) or sell it others to eat.
An Evangelical I know told me how moved she was by all the donations and assistance provided by people after Hurricane Katrina.
"I thank God for all the help those poor people received."
"It was God who sent the Hurricane. He doesn't write checks."
Yellow Elephant Safari @ 102:
Sports, wars... what's the difference? To the religious, dying simply means going to sleep and waking up in paradise. That's why so many of them have such a cavalier attitude about the world and life in general. Why should they care?
Here's what I'm wondering...... If Dobson prays for torrential rain and Obama prays for a beautiful clear evening, whose prayer will be answered??
115 ☻Bangkok Bob ☺ Says
I'm a reverend in that church.
I got it like any other religion.
I paid for it.
So is there a Bangkok Connie?
Heck, I'm not religious at all, but as soon as I saw this video a little voice in my head said, "Fuck you, Stuart Shepard."
Was that Gawd? I don't think so, but in a reality without ultimate points of reference you never can be too sure. Maybe it was Gawd, or maybe it was The Great Spaghetti Monster, but it's a whole lot simpler to conclude that it was just my own natural objection to yet another self-congratulatory asshole KKKristian. I wonder if Stewart Shepard ever ponders that, if the voices in his head are coming from Gawd or just his own demented, twisted self that needs to smoke a big bowl of perspective and get over his painfully distended sense of moral superiority.
Take the plug out of your ass and let out all that precious gas, Stewart. You'll feel smaller, but so much more centered. And yes, you're just a guy with no special connections. That's why I'm willing to bet you any amount of money that no matter how hard you pray, the weather will be normal. Bet me, Stewart, bet me.
125 Amitola Says: Here’s what I’m wondering…… If Dobson prays for torrential rain and Obama prays for a beautiful clear evening, whose prayer will be answered??
Marge: Homer, God isn't some holy concierage, stop asking him for things.
After a tornado hit their town the marquee at the First Church of Springfield read, "God welcomes his victims."
OT. You should have heard the right wing-nuts on C-Span this morning. These people are descending into mania and madness. The shrillness of their arguments is amazing. If any Independants listened to their rhetoic they would stream into the polls to vote for Obama. These people are the most paranoid, unintelligent morons I have ever heard.
After their sanctimonious little "call for prayer" for rain in Denver, wouldn't it be eerily funny if there just happens to be torrential downpours in Minniapolis a week later? If that occurs, I will laugh my silly little ass off!
So really, what is it about these douchebags that makes their businesses' tax exempt?
Actually it was a hurricane.
Interesting, because although they've made a running joke about not naming what state they're in, if they're having hurricanes it have to be coastal (Massachusetts?)
Jeff @ 131:
LOL! NOW ,That would be something. Talk about karma.: )
Fuck the superstitious douche bags at Focus on the Family. May my imaginary friend in the sky destroy their entire organization.
Just kidding. Appreciate my lighthearted joke?
ysbaddaden @ 126:
No, just me, Bangkok Bob, Most Reverent Minister of Reality in Thailand. I wear no Vestments, but we do have ceremonies with pot and
some hallucinogens.
Saint Augustine @ 47:
I know a couple of these type of "savior-type" women as well. It's funny that they both seem to HATE the cops and prison guards who regularly arrest and house their "misunderstood" dealer husbands/boyfriends...
"Stupid is as Stupid Does!" - F. Gump
Why are these types of people always so anxious to silence people they don't agree with? Even if this is a joke-- it's a very strange joke. Only a right-wing nitwit would even think of something like this.
Maybe God can just swoop up ALL the war mongers and give them their own planet where they can destroy everything in sight and each other without anyones interference so the rest of humanity can live in Peace.
on a lighter note...here's something i got from a link from that page...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26168590/
this regards "Unfit for Command" author Richard Corsi's new book, "The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality"
“The goal is to defeat Obama,” Mr. Corsi said in a telephone interview. “I don’t want Obama to be in office.”
and later in the article
He called his reporting on Mr. Obama, which he stands by, “investigative,” not prosecutorial.
an inspiring read, im sure...
earl @ 132:
Dobson cleverly created a separate entity, Focus on the Family Action, to engage in crap like this. It is a 501(c)(4) organization, meaning donations are not tax-exempt, and it may engage in some political activities. For comparison, other 501(c)(4) organizations include the NRA and MoveOn.org.
David Hill @ 141:
I am so proud of the Palm Beach Post. Today they reported on that book and tore it apart lie by lie. This was in the front section of the paper too, not hidden away in the back somewhere.
David Hill @ 141:
To a Republican, saving America means prevailing over "these people".
These religious nut-jobs believe Bush is spreading Christianity! That is their main argument. They want to turn the world Christian. Remember when skank-bag Coulter said it was their job to perfect Jews? I thought America was the country for religiuos freedom. Now thanks to the Neo-cons, our coutry is unreconizable anymore.
Hmm...torrential rain causes property damage, rate increases in insurance, power outtages...so go right ahead and pray, fecked idjits.
pissed off patricia @ 143:
I take it they are not a Murdock Paper.
Bush is going to speak at eleven this morning about what is going on between Georgia and Russia. I'm sure he's going to say Russia must be punished for what they have done. He better watch out and do too much saber rattling, because we aren't exactly in a position of much strength these days.
Come on guys chug some coffee or snort some meth and let's get busy and get a new topic up on this magazine. We don't have a lifetime here.
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