We were all greatly amused at the exchange between deer-in-the-headlights evangelical Todd Friel and Christopher Hitchens. Do you know what would make it even funnier? If Friel tried to twist the outcome by leaving it up to…an internet poll! He couldn’t possibly be goofy enough to do that, could he?
Yes, he could.
If you listened to the Christopher Hitchens:
Was Todd’s approach…76% said: A) Just right.
7% said: B) Terrible.
17% said: C) Could have used more apologetics.
Vote fast, vote soon. This is a Christian radio evangelist’s site, so you just know that as soon as the numbers start going against him, the poll will either disappear or be mysteriously finagled.
Hmmm… it was hard to decide if I wanted ‘terrible’ or ‘more apologetics’.
Settled on terrible, which is already up to 8%!
They’ve only got 371 votes; this should be easy.
Todd Friel. What a tool (for christ of course).
Santimonious ignoramus (his Latin mame).
Just another sign that theists have no idea in how to talk to atheists…
Out of 531 people surveyed:
53% said: A) Just right.
35% said: B) Terrible.
12% said: C) Could have used more apologetics.
Out of 556 people surveyed:
50% said: A) Just right.
38% said: B) Terrible.
12% said: C) Could have used more apologetics.
There missing an option:
4) He was pwned!
I found another poll on that website: “Is waterboarding a sin?”. A majority said it wasn’t. (Here’s the link: http://www.wretchedradio.com/poll_results.cfm?pid=23)
Actually, going through previous vote results on the site is interesting, for example:
Out of 607 people surveyed:
46% said: A) Just right.
43% said: B) Terrible.
11% said: C) Could have used more apologetics.
haha, you can repeatedly vote
As immoral as it is to ruin other people’s internet polls, it’s very funny!
Out of 633 people surveyed:
44% said: A) Just right.
45% said: B) Terrible.
11% said: C) Could have used more apologetics.
Up to 40% Terrible for the wretched moron. Hitchens would have no problem taking on DeCrappa and Friel together. These morons cannot comprehend that they are dealing with idiots like themselves. Nothing blatant fistful reason.
…and “Terrible” hits 50%! Go us! =P
After you do the poll, send in your suggestions for his show here:
“Have an idea for the show? [email protected]”
Be imaginative!
The idiocy of the poll makes me think of the line used by the Head Crusher on the Kids in the Hall skit:
“Where do you idiots come from to get your heads so terribly crushed?”
Your two minutes of amusement: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/be30300653/head-crusher-vs-face-pincher-by-kids-in-the-hall-from-greatest-comedy-sketches
Did you also catch the pole on how Christians should interact with secular culture? Here’s where that one stands:
How should Christians interact with Secular Culture?
Out of 1248 people surveyed:
2% said: A) Embrace it.
30% said: B) Study it so we can relate to unbelievers.
68% said: C) Rebuke it and separate ourselves.
oops…that should have been poll, not pole. Homonym failure.
Ooooh, I can save $937 buying “Slay the Dragon” in bulk!!
I didn’t know stupid was available in bulk.
$937…that is so cool…
I voted early and often!
35% said: A) Just right.
57% said: B) Terrible.
8% said: C) Could have used more apologetics.
here’s another of their polls:
Pres. Obama encourages all religions to work together to help the least of these. Should evangelicals partner with Catholics, Buddhists and Mormons to feed and clothe people?
Out of 1189 people surveyed:
20% said: A) Yes.
80% said: B) No.
Oh, some of the other polls are really bad…
Is water boarding a sin? 52% say no; 22% says it depends on who it is.
How should Christians relate to unbelievers? 68% say “rebuke and separate ourselves”; only 30% say “study it so we can relate” (I wish they’d separate themselves…)
Should evangelicals partner with other faiths to provide charity? 80% say no.
I believe the Genesis 6-day creation account is: 98% say a literal historical account
Should a Christian watch ‘American Idol’? 68% say no. Personally, I agree, but my objection is on the quality of the performance, not the name of the show…
*shudder* How about a new Commandment, PZ? “Thou shalt pharyngulize the Todd Friel polls on wretchedradio.com every day, before thy morning worship at the porcelain altar”?
Am I the only one who noticed how bad the English of that question is?
There was one poll that was encouraging:
Is it time for the National Association of Evangelicals to pack it up?
Out of 762 people surveyed:
83% said: A) Yes.
17% said: B) No.
Alex, perhaps “how badly expressed”, rather than “how bad”, would have better expressed your notation.
Nein! It is our obligation to feed and clothe people in the name of Yahweh! Usurpers! Usurpers! The lepers are ours!
Perhaps.
Oh crap! I just realized I spelled ‘they’re’ as ‘there’ — my spelling is teh suck :(
I love some of the other polls:
Pres. Obama encourages all religions to work together to help the least of these. Should evangelicals partner with Catholics, Buddhists and Mormons to feed and clothe people?
80% No
Gotta love those christian values!!
Who is Todd Friel and why would I wipe him off my shoe if I stepped in him?
@ the time of my vote.
Terrible is up to 74% :-)
where do you guys find all the other polls? I don’t really feel like trawling through the entire site to find them…
More apologetics? That’s how you win arguments, apologetics?
“Gee, you know what this debate on economic recovery needs? More apologetics!”
“My mentor warned me my thesis on homozygous imprinting had plenty of that sciency stuff, but was sorely lacking in apologetics.”
“Say, this moron salad would be perfect with just a tich more apologetics.”
“I’ve got a fever, and the only cure is more apologetics!”
This is why we will never win. Fundies fight the battle by different rules. We can sit and pick ’em off with the most accurately-aimed logic and data, and they will pop back up like Jesus-fearing Weebles.
I think we need a new plan. I don’t know what it’ll be, but it probably needs more apologetics.
I have to say that i do like the “American Gothic redefined” images though, hehe
Jadehawk @31, the right-hand bar on the results page (having voted) shows previous poll results.
@14… i can appreciate that
Hmm, this looks like one of those sites begging to have an autovoter unleashed upon it.
@Jadehawk #33
I agree: the American Gothic images are funny: very 2m4m indeed!
I always found the word “Apologetics” to be quite amusing. The first time I heard of a “Christian Apologist” I thought of someone who goes around saying “I’m terribly sorry about that whole christian thing. We really didn’t mean for it to be so negative. It’s really just too popular for anyone’s good, you’ll have to excuse it for anything unbecoming.”
I want to see more of THOSE kind of Christian apologists out there. Imagine what Hitchens’s reaction would have been to actual apologies in the name of christianity..
Actually, I’m not so sure “Terrible” is the appropriate answer. Todd’s approach was idiotic, sure, but wouldn’t that be “Just right” for an idiot?
thanks John
Naw. Needs more cowbells.
I don’t know. Saying that Friel’s approach was “terrible” implies that he failed because of his method, not because Hitchens’ position is correct or there’s any problem with the Christian viewpoint. Considering that Friel, by doggedly sticking to Ray Comfort’s script, effectively showed how silly and blinkered and close-minded their ideas are, I’d say his approach was “just right”. (But I still voted terrible because it will annoy them.)
Bwahahahahaa!
Out of 2203 people surveyed:
14% said: A) Just right.
82% said: B) Terrible.
4% said: C) Could have used more apologetics.
Check out the Premium Wretched Club Membership at $5.95/month (“One day’s lunch money is all we’re asking….and we’ll provide a huge dinner in return.”).
I wouldn’t join if he paid me $5.95/month.
I’ve no idea how to vote on this one. Really I haven’t. OK so I’ve got a good idea how I might be expected to vote, but I’m still not clear about the whole thing in my own mind.
Why?
Well…
Todd’s approach was “Just right” in that he was wanking for jebus and clearly didn’t know how to deal with somebody who could think their way past his stupid playground game (I reckon my pre-school daughter and her friends could have given his a tough time on that score, it was that lame). So that was fine. Todd made a complete tit of himself and it made me laugh (especially the “just a little fantasy game” bit). I do like a good laugh at the expense of the religious.
His approach was also “Terrible” because wanking for jebus is a fucking stupid thing to do in the first place, and I very much doubt that I need to expand on that particular subject here.
As for “More apologetics” I don’t even understand the term (perhaps I need educating some more? Dunno). Surely the religion freakoids don’t mean that they should be apologising for their fucked in the head, sky fairy who will burn you for eternity if you eat shellfish, but he love you long time really, so give me your dollar! nonsense? Do they? FFS, if you feel the need to apologise for that crap then guess what? Stop fucking doing it in the first place you stupid bastards! (Actually, don’t apologise just stop doing it anyway, go home, put your feet up, watch some crap telly, have a cup of tea, and get on with your lives without this sky fairy nonsense, why don’t you?).
So dear Pharyngula, oops! For once I hadn’t a clue where I wanted to click. So I didn’t click anywhere.
Mea culpa.
We can actually still vote on his previous wretched polls. For instance:
I believe the Genesis 6-day creation account is:
A) Literal, a historical account.
B) It’s a blend – Theistic evolution.
C) Not important to my Christian life.
Todd apparently has a problem writing comprehensible English, let alone apologising for Christianity.
Did anyone else see the frightening ad for one of his books (“Decisions” I think it was called…it was in one of the rotating ads near the top of the page) that promised to “never leave you in the dark” WRT decisions like where to go to college and even what kind of house to buy!!!
I guess once you give your mind up to jebus the world becomes a scary and confusing place and you must be guided by an invisible safety buddy every step of the way.
83% “Terrible”.
Ha ha ha!
Surfed on in, scampered to the voting page while shielding my eyes, registered another “Terrible,” and hightailed it the hell out of there. The moment I got to the site I immediately knew the level of stupid was at least 459,000 parts per million, far in excess of safe levels. I’ve ingested too much this year already to risk lingering in Frielesque places.
The “poll” is now up to 90% “Terrible.” Friel must be really bad.
I noticed the Coast to Coast radio program has a ‘special’ guest on Darwin’s Birthday.
Hosted by George Noory
Guest(s):
Michael Cremo
Tuesday April 21, 2009
It’s the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and renowned expert Michael Cremo will discuss the evidence contradicting the Darwinian theory of human evolution. He’ll also talk about footprints that date back millions of years, and dinosaurs and humans co-existing.
The call in portion of the program is from 3 to 4 am central. Would some of us be able to call in and help this ‘special’ guest remember why he had to ride the short bus to school? I would love to see the IDiot rebuked on national radio.
And now, I remember why I have iMacros.
“Wretched Radio” Has there ever been a more appropriate name for a website?
Jadeawk, 33
What’s really amusing is that the original is of a brother and sister. I guess Todd Friel is promoting legalizing incestuous marriage?
Does anyone else think it’s a crying shame that Friel’s site doesn’t allow comments? That would be fun…
From my last check of that poll, it seemed to be Pharyngulated….
i did a screen capture of the poll for verification when he removes it.
A 11%
B 85%
C 4%
9:55PM Eastern 04/17/09
Ross #38- I was pretty young at the time and had to look it up in a dictionary, but I had a similar thought when I was exploring religion and first found the word “apologetics.”
It still seems apt in a way…they aren’t moral or mature enough to actually apologize for any of the damage their religion causes, but the word “apologetics” still seems to me to be saying something like “Excuse me.” As in “Excuse me, but do you mind if I take a big fat shit all over your brain, and then spend the next hour trying to explain why it was necessary? Thanks.” As if the only use for theology is a long, sorry excuse for believing and encouraging belief in horseshit.
Wait, what do I mean by “As if”?
Also-I love how revealing his site is. Corny graphics, an over-smiling Tony Roberts-looking goofball pimping his modernized brain anesthetic, the re-modeled art that I’m sure he and his followers think is sooooo witty but actually looks like a pro-gay marriage poster from a kitchsy head shop, and of course the name-“Wretched”-a tenuous link to the supposedly persecuted nature of those with the “Truth” while also being so emo-teen angsty. Jesus is just so cool, you know?
I am constantly surprised by just how empty a husk religion is. I’m not expecting facts or reality or anything substantial, but it seems that the people who claim to believe and promote belief are no more sincere or altruistic in their actions than a candy salesman at a fat kids’ summer camp. It’s just more junk food for neglected, weak, unhealthy minds, and deep down they know it. Non-stop forced watching of Disney movies would make a better culture than this crap.
An interesting site – after the initial page and voting on the poll, I clicked on the “Club Home” link to see what else the Wretched One had to say. I was immediately directed to a page that wanted my credit card information, etc.
Needless to say, I felt like I had landed on the sign up page for a porn site but without the previews. At least with porn you can get one minute videos showing you what you’re going to get for you subscription.
Anyone else notice on this buttmunch’s main page the link to “Take a Wretched Vacation with us June 12-14 at the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum!”
That’s right boys and girls, you too can spend 2 wonderful days at the creation museum. But wait! There’s more! In addition to 2 great days at the museum, you get guest lectures by not only this buttmunch, but also Ken Ham! But Wait! There’s even MORE! If you sign up to be a member of this buttmunch’s fan club – you get 10% off your ticket to this 2 day Wretched Vacation! Don’t click yet, cause there’s EVEN MORE!! Register today, and you can get $10.00 the already low price of this Wretched Vacation! Only $79.99 per person!
(autographed photos of you and “Dr.” Ham on matching jesushorses extra)
((this offer not valid with any other offer from this buttmunch to save your immortal soul))
Is there any way to see the results without having to submit a vote? I keep wanting to look at the results but I keep having to submit a vote to see them.
Guys, I need information.
What’s the value of ” zeitgeist ” ?
I began to watch it tonight, but I’m not sure it’s worth the watch .
I would hate to learn wrong things…
Thanks.
[walken]
I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is more apologetics
[/walken]
Damn you bastion of sass. I’m doing the joke again anyway.
If you listened to the Christopher Hitchens:
Was Todd’s approach…
Out of 3391 people surveyed:
9% said: A) Just right.
87% said: B) Terrible.
4% said: C) Could have used more apologetics.
If you listened to the Christopher Hitchens:
Was Todd’s approach…
Out of 3423 people surveyed:
9% Just right.
87% Terrible.
4% Could have used more apologeti
How stupid, it’s like voting for American Idol. Guess he’ll rephrase future questions as Steven Colbert would:
a) god is awesome
b) god is awesomer
c) god is awesomest
Sorry, no wrong answer for the Pharyngulas.
gilles, the value of Zeitgeist is nil.
It’s complete crap. Even the bits that seem to be all about criticising religion and therefore initially tempting… are crap (i.e. mostly factually wrong). The word “horizon” has nothing to do with Horus (if I recall that particular statement correctly), the Zionists and the Illuminati are not controlling the banks, 9/11 was not an inside job, etc. etc.
It’s a big gooey ball of several conspiracy theories with not a leg to stand on rolled into one (in fact, it uses clips from Loose Change and various other conspiracy films). On a level with Loose Change and The Da Vinci Code.
So that first instinct is right, it’s not worth the watch. Unless you want to see it for the educational value — it will make you aware of several mainstream conspiracy theories at once.
Browsing around the Wretched Radio site, I discovered that it was founded and is still partially affiliated with Way of the Master.
Of course it is.
Still there. Terrible is leading at 87, with Just Right a distant second and Apologetics bringing up the rear. The Derby should be so easy to call.
Wretched results for old wretched Todd.
Thanks a lot Catta @67 for the infos.
I left school long ago and I was , slowly , beginning the religious part of it. I prefer not to learn at all than to learn something wrong.
I’ll take your advise and , forget about this film.
Thanks.
Gilles, I completely agree with catta. Zeitgeist is complete and utter crap, or at the very least it is not worth watching. Here is what eskeptic, the online newsletter of The Skeptics Society, said about it (From wiki):
“Perhaps the worst aspect of […] Part I of Peter Joseph’s Internet film, Zeitgeist, is that some of what it asserts is true. Unfortunately, this material is liberally — and sloppily — mixed with material that is only partially true and much that is plainly and simply bogus. […] Zeitgeist is The Da Vinci Code on steroids.”
Don’t buy a word of it.
ouch… 88% after my vote…
@61: Here ya go.
Come on, people, let’s crash his other wretched poll about Genesis.
The part at the start about history seem interesting , but when 9/11 started, I began to have doubts .I’ll try to find historics informations somewhere else then . Thanks Mus @71.
IvanQ @73…
And what should we vote for ?
Not important for my christian life ? I simply don’t trust the bible at all , and there’s no option telling that…
“Take a Wretched Vacation with us June 12-14 at the Answers in Genesis Museum!”
It hurts to laugh that much.
88% for “Terrible”. I clicked back and forth a few times, and think each vote counted.
It does creep me out to allow Javascript at a place like that, but voting requires it. Hmmm. Is it possible that some clever person could set up a script trap for us poll-crashers?
Thanks, Mus — I found the complete review and it’s very much worth the read.
http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/09-02-25.html
Short version: it’s a big fat strawman.
The clever thing about Zeitgeist (and as propaganda goes, I’d say it’s fairly well made) is that the “facts” it presents are fairly obscure to anyone not familiar with religious details and/or history. The danger in this is that while you don’t need to know much about a religion to reject its basic concept, you do need to be careful not to reach for entirely made-up ammunition (claiming that the other side eats babies is what the fundies do).
So beware of Zeitgeist and its “facts”. I’ve noticed it being linked and peddled on many a skeptic form and skeptic/atheist youtube video (“if you’re such critical thinkers, you should watch Zeitgeist”). It’s been around for a while and I suspect it will be around for a bit longer, but it still is, well… crap.
Heh… I voted “just right” just to be honest… wouldn’t want Todd to change anything :).
gilles: The link that I gave submits a vote for C. It should be easy to see how to modify it if you want to vote a different way.
Menyambal: Here ya go. Doesn’t actually require javascript (though you do need it to submit the form the official way). I notice that you have to wait maybe 60 seconds between the first and second votes from the same IP, and there may be some kind of exponential backoff thing going that prevents you from voting more than once every several minutes.
I’ve gotta point out how much I LOVE the “American Gothic Redefined” picture. Apparently he knows as much about art as he does anything else.
It’s well known that Wood was roundly criticized by Iowans themselves for being shown as “pinched, grim-faced, puritanical Bible-thumpers”. Grant was pretty quiet on the topic, but it’s fairly certain he was mocking that segment. The man could paint. It’s hard to believe he “accidently” made them look this way. The two pictured in the painting are Wood’s sister and his dentist. His sister was a hottie who he dowdied up and he aged his dentist to make him appear even more sinister. There’s no question it’s meant as a backhanded slap at the conservative nature of some Iowans at the time.
Yet Friel thinks Wood was actually glamorizing the simple, honest, virtuous people of Iowa then. Oh my! The irony is so sweet!
Out of 4463 people surveyed:
7% said: A) Just right.
89% said: B) Terrible.
3% said: C) Could have used more apologetics.
Despite all, it never fails to gobsmack me for a moment when a Christian thinks he/she pulled one over on or bested an atheist (not to mention one as sharp as Hitchens). I’ve been rereading The Aeneid lately, which reminded me of one of my fundamental points of contention with theists of any stripe: these folks several thousand years ago were *sure* that their polytheistic world was irrefutably true, and right, and the source of all light, goodness, and morality in the world. Now, given that we in this moment are such a flash in the pan in the history of the universe, do you honestly believe that all that came before was conveniently wrong and your Abrahamic religion, no more than a couple thousand years old, is conveniently right? Of course the answer from followers of said Abrahamic religions is an overwhelming yes. (And the same could be said of other theistic religion, but Friel is of the Abrahamic persuasion).
Still, gobsmacked.
So much for having an omniscient assistant.
For evidence that the site is not the divinely inspired, infallible word of god, I give you one of the poll questions:
Me? No I’m not the athiest. I’m not even athier than you.
“Terrible” now up to 90%, but it’s still up there…
Polls as hit creators:
A dead-in-the-water blog like GFer Toad Friel’s will register a lot of hits when thousands of Pharyngulites visit it.
Those hits will boost the site’s ‘popularity’ in the eyes of the advertisers, and hence increase the godtoad’s income.
So is the asshole just sitting there laughing, because money is much more important than dignity for god’s idiots?
#85
Those 5000 one time (!) extra visitors aren’t going to make him a rich man!
I also doubt that ANY of the ‘extra visitors’ are going to click on ANY link on that blog, let alone the money-generating ones.
EW! That website is grim! If the faith-soaked sexuality-hate wasn’t bad enough he had to link to “does Facebook make you dumb” manufactuversory
Poll still running – at > 90% for “Terrible”. I heard the entire broadcast and am unable to understand why the response “Terrible” has such a low result ;-))
HMMMM, still trying to figure out this typePad stuff.
Oh well, if this works, check out the last show:
Teabaggering Pirate Apocalypse
sorry for the off topic
90%-barrier crossed for “Terrible”. Pharyngulization accomplished (almost to a Neurulation level). Of course, some Xians may have judged Friel’s intervention “unsharp”, but then they had the option of “more apologetics”.
It’s 6:00am in Fort Worth. It’s been a really long day, and night, and I’m about to crash out. I went to the poll about an hour ago and it was still up. I couldn’t restrain myself, I voted for “terrible”, mostly because it was. The vote went through. It was at 91% terrible :)
By the way, PZ, you belong on that list of famous athiests. Because of you, I’ve learned to laugh at the cretins instead of being hostile toward them. Well… sometimes anyway. I learned that I don’t have to shut up and let them bamboozle me with bullshit just to maintain my own respectability.
Because of you, I found Richard Dawkins and his books. I bought Climbing Mount Improbable along with The God Delusion and a couple more. Before I read Climbing Mount Improbable, I had a somewhat hazy idea of how evolution worked, but just could not get a clear idea that would dispel every single doubt that had been seeded by my loving, cretin, fundamental, CofC, Texas bred family. Dawkin’s book brought everything into place and put it in focus. The chapters on the eye and the spider web were so brilliantly executed that I had to ask myself why I never saw that in the first place. It was extremely well written and an absolutely fascinating read. Were it not for you, I might have missed that.
This is an awesome blog, and an awesome group of people. While my fellow Texans are saying their prayers, I’m reading Pharyngula. Thank you for all the laughs, all the poll crashing (oh, how I love those stupid polls), all the information, and all the science.
4:45am here in Reno, 91% terrible is the number. It might be too early for the Todd to do anything with the poll, but I have no doubt that it will disappear, or “be finagled”. But that won’t happen until later. Todd needs his rest…keeping that shit eating grin on overdrive must really tucker him out.
Talking about a stupid poll, from the same place.
How should Christians interact with Secular Culture?
Out of 1249 people surveyed:
2% said: A) Embrace it.
30% said: B) Study it so we can relate to unbelievers.
68% said: C) Rebuke it and separate ourselves.
Pfff. He only wants to hear from people who bleat to his tune. He can always cook up the unbeliever’s numbers to make it look like a few baa differently.
“Did Jeezus walk on water barefoot or with sandals?”
Out of 80 million responses:
a) Barefoot: 79999920
b) With sandals: 78
c) Hellbound Pagans: 2
“Apologetics” means “cowbell”, right?
Did I vote wrong … ?
OK – voted anyway. Tally when I voted:
N = 6177
a) just right: 5%
b) terrible: 92%
c) Todd secretly humps Bin Laden: 3%
Admittedly I had to vote twice because I accidentally clicked the “go away” icon and had to vote again to bring up the results.
Poor Sod, … er, I mean Todd might find himself billed for exceeding his bandwidth allowance by his hosting provider on account of all the extra traffic generated by Pharyngula visitors. Over 6500 votes now and still climbing steadily at roughly 300 votes per hour. Capably screwed first by Chis Hitch, now royally by PZ – I might feel sorry for the fool if this wasn’t such an amusing spectacle.
The approach was typical, which is why it was terrible. The guy just couldn’t accept that Hitchens WAS answering his questions as he was asking them. Todd just couldn’t seem to accept that someone could not see things the way he sees them. He seems to be the definition of thick skulled.
Mission: Accomplished, herr Kommissar!
92% Todd Sucked…
Currently 92% Terrible. Good Job.
I do find it remarkably honest that, on the home page, they have an advert stating:
Crap. Blockquote fail. Sorry. Last line should be outside the blockquote.
Voted at the site…came back from a ‘wretched’ experience…had to have a shower to stop scratching…teh filthy over there!
Fun!
Well, hey… Teach the controversy! Free speech! Academic freedom! Insert additional misleading catchphrase here! And why innit on da curriculum? Why are you non-Todd-humps-Bin Laden folk so against our teaching your children this?
Friel is dead center in the moron, toxic Death Cult segment. What does Obama’s economic stimulus plan have to do with xianity? Nothing.
There isn’t a single word in his magic book that says god is a GOP thug.
Not all evangelicals and pentocostals are this stupid or malevolent. They are realizing that one does not have to be hating, lying, poor, and stupid to follow their religion. 30% of them voted for….Obama.
It was a mistake for the evangelicals to align themselves with corrupt politicians who failed and nearly destroyed the USA. There is nothing in their book either that says they have to be unemployed, struggling to pay their mortgage, and burying their dead kids home from the pointless war.
Does anyone know what he means to imply by calling himself “wretched”? Is it some Calvinist “we are all filthy, fallen sinners” bollocks?
He didn’t even have any apologetics, he just read a script (with little understanding of it). At any point he could have stopped and had an interesting on air conversation about any of Hitchens’ answers, but since he did get that he just plowed on through and showed his lack of understanding. That’s a Christian for you.
IvanQ@73 asked us to crash another wretched poll. Let’s see:
It seems to me that the only valid option is missing:
D) Too stupid for words. Something only an absolute moron would believe.
#53: “Wretched Radio” Has there ever been a more appropriate name for a website?
Yes, there has. Witness Moron Life:
http://www.mooreonlife.com/aboutus/meetdave.aspx
(Okay, the pun works better when you are hearing him on the radio.)
I voted for ‘terrible,’ of course, but wish there had been a choice D) Hilarious.
Here’s another poll you may want to crash:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29493093/
It’s a grade on Obama’s first 100 days, and as of right now, the Republicans have flooded it with Fs.
92% Terrible.
Thoroughly pharyngulated.
In GING, Hitchens himself refers to a quote from an early Xian named Tertullian, that summarizes Friel and friends quite nicely:
“I believe it BECAUSE it is absurd”.
# 106 Matt Heath,
yes, that’s it. There was a bit of a commotion a while back (October/November last year) when a UK mother (calling her blog The Virtuous Woman) proudly announced how wretched her little four years old daughter is and how wonderful that she understands this and that she will never be good. Sickening. Welcome to the WOTM/Friel/Comfort school of turning from human to worm and liking it.
@MarcusBioGrad #111: That poll has been botted, or if not it’s generated a spectacular amount of interest, a few thousand Pharynguloids aren’t going to make a dent.
Ooh, lookee! Another wretched poll!
Was the election of Barack Obama:
Out of 1901 people surveyed:
95% said: A) God’s ordained plan?
3% said: B) Thwarting God’s perfect plan?
2% said: C) A shock to God?
<evil laugh>
About “American Gothic”, I will forevermore never be able to look at that picture and NOT see Riff Raff and Magenta from “Rocky Horror Picture Show”.
Further debunkings of Zeitgeist: The Movie can be found here:
http://lippard.blogspot.com/2008/06/zeitgeist-movie.html
druidbros@51
Wait,What??? Charles Darwin’s birthdate is NOT April 21st. You missed it by 9-10 weeks.
Michael Cremo.
Um
my crazy-mutherfucker-meter just exploded.
“Until a man or woman recognizes that they are indeed wretched, they cannot appreciate the cross.”
-From Friel’s website, explaining the name of his radio program. It’s borrowed from the hymn “Amazing Grace.”
This is the servility that Hitchens often references. The hatred of the inborn self is a sinister trope that surfaces in almost any historical context: the zen buddhist concept of “balance,” the Sambia of Papua New Guinea who brutally beat young men cure them of their mother’s “poison” body fluids, the people of Bali who are repulsed by the simple (animal-like) process of eating, the naturopath obsessed with “detoxification.” Christianity has perhaps the most pernicious and developed grasp of this apparently innate hatred of ourselves.
Friel’s approach wasn’t just to ignore Christopher’s arguments and stubbornly move ahead on his planned trajectory; he was aggressive. A classic bully against a man who can’t be bullied. Hitchens once again sharpens his teeth against a brick wall.
I wonder if Friel will email PZ to express his indignation.
Hitchens was also a guest on the Thom Hartmann Show a week or two ago. It’s one of my favorite shows, but Thom has a BIG blind spot when it comes to religion. Instead of asking about the war or waterboarding he chose to use the same lame arguments Hitch has heard millions of times. It was the only time I’ve ever heard Thom get owned, but he thought he won. How can somebody that right on most things be that wrong about religion?
Heh! I ran across an interesting bit on that wretched site’s Frequently Asked Questions. You know how fundamentalists often try to tell atheists exactly what atheists think, believe and are motivated by? And how they fail miserably to get it right, and fail completely to understand that they get it wrong?
FAQ:
Todd Fail:
FAQ:
Todd Fail:
I think the time to stop witnessing is when you cross over that line that you don’t want Scientologists, Moonies, and other nutters crossing when it comes to you. If only the “wretched” would keep their beliefs as private as they’d like other cultists to keep their wacky beliefs.
I am no more interested in Todd Fail’s witnessing than I am in the witnessing of those who swear they’ve been probed by aliens.
Why are those who supposedly subscribe to the “do unto others” philosophy so clueless when it comes to applying it to proselytizing?
Out of 9315 people surveyed:
4% said: A) Just right.
93% said: B) Terrible.
3% said: C) Could have used more apologetics.
a few more have commented by noon
9425 people surveyed:
4% said: A) Just right.
93% said: B) Terrible.
3% said: C) Could have used more apologetics.
outside of that, at least its still up, which is kind of surprising.
No he does not. He wants to testify for me.
__Recent__ updates for how delude Todd really is:
If you listened to the Christopher Hitchens:
Was Todd’s approach…
Out of 9502 people surveyed:
4% said: A) Just right.
93% said: B) Terrible.
3% said: C) Could have used more apologetics.
What happened to
D) Moronic
?
… and I’ve just noticed, along with a number of others, that in answer to ‘is waterboarding a sin’ only 26% said ‘no’. I’m not laughing anymore.
Hitchens is right; religion poisons everything, especially morality.
religion is a tool, and like any tool it can also be used as a weapon.
religion doesn’t poison everything. people poison everything. if it wasn’t religion, it’d be nationalism. or racism. or anything else you can use to manipulate droves of people.
i guess i’m taking the “guns don’t kill people…” argument here. if we magically took all the guns away, there’d still be murders and wars. and if we magically took religion away, there’d still be hate.
In order to supply an honest opinion on the matter, I went back and listened to the entire segment. Hitchens played the host’s stupid game perfectly. By the time the host got to his penultimate question, it was built on top of a shambles; every single supporting assertion had been blown to hell.
So yes, terrible. It would have been terrible even if he’d played the game with a credulous fool, but Hitchens did us all the favor of unraveling Friel’s weak rhetoric from the start.
Where do I go to report silly polls?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/
MSNBC – Should “In god we trust be removed from US currency?”
13 million votes so far, most of them from people who follow the sky daddy.
Simple update: (4/20/09)
Out of 10886 people surveyed:
5% said: A) Just right.
91% said: B) Terrible.
3% said: C) Could have used more apologetics.
You guys are funny. Calling Christians “small minded” and saying Todd has bad grammer, yet all you can do is have little hissy-fits, playing with interent polls and throwing around profanity in your posts like a bunch 12 year-olds. You really don’t get what Todd did do you? He wasn’t interested in proving that God exists (it’s obvious God exists), he presented the Gospel to everyone who listened to the program. To God be the Glory.
To be a bunch of “smart people” like you profess, you have no idea Apologetics comes from the Greek word apologia , meaning “to speak in defense of”. It’s a term used by Plato and Socrates long before Christians used it. Guess you all need to quite playing with internet polls and do a little studying. :-)
Pls stop the knee-jerk reactions and bear up the truth, folks: Hitchens was a joke.
Although Hitchens was a major disappointment – as always – I disagree that he was like a deer in the headlights. He was uncooperative and came with nothing but his lovely vocab, as usual.
This was his chance to sparkle with even just one brilliant, irrefutable argument. Instead, all Hitchens did was sputter irrationally, swear incoherently and plug his book.
Hitchens has a book to sell; that’s ALL he seems to have going for him. Time to ask him to go back to his little typewriter and let the big boys handle things.
Major disappointment.
BTW: That poll showing Todd did a terrible job only shows him that he needs to share his faith even more; i.e., not that he’s a terrible host, only that he didn’t speak enough Christianity with Hitchens. How many of you voted that way?
Silly people.
Stop with the knee-jerk reations and THINK before you do things!
Although Hitchens was a major disappointment – as always – I disagree that he was like a deer in the headlights.
Go back and reread the first sentence of the article. You have failed to comprehend it.
He was uncooperative and came with nothing but his lovely vocab, as usual.
Friel came with a script and Hitchens came with his firm opinions.
I heard Hitchens cooperate fully, answering Friel’s questions forthrightly and without hesitation. The host was just unprepared for someone holding opinions like that Jesus’s “sacrifice”, if it happened, was neither a sacrifice nor an act of kindness.
This was his chance to sparkle with even just one brilliant, irrefutable argument. Instead, all Hitchens did was sputter irrationally, swear incoherently and plug his book.
Take the following exchange:
Sputtering irrationally: No.
Swearing incoherently: No.
Plugging his book: Yes, in passing. One out of three.
Hitchens holds a rational and coherent opinion: that a god does not own its creations, just as a parent does not own their children.
Friel apparently assumed there was only one possible answer to his question, and is flabbergasted when Hitchens answers “no”. Assuming that Hitchens didn’t understand the question, Friel repeats himself, fishing for the answer he expected. He can’t process Hitchens’ position that it doesn’t matter if it’s God, no one can own a person. Does not compute!
Hitchens’ didn’t need sparkling, brilliant, irrefutable arguments. A commonplace analogy like this catches Friel flatfooted and goes unrefuted and unchallenged, because Friel will not deviate from his script to discuss it.
It doesn’t matter if Hitchens acknowledges that God owns him or not. The fact is that God IS God and He owns us all. God doesn’t need Christopher Hitchen’s approval to own him.
Yahweh is an interloper — Kumarbi has a prior claim.
Damn sockpuppets.
Euggalion (#140): The fact is that God IS God and He owns us all.
“Why should he? What gives him this right?”
Note that you haven’t presented any argument that Hitchens is wrong, but only repeated the same unsupported assertion and called your opinion a “fact”.
It’s been a week; the poll hasn’t disappeared and you won in a landslide. Just wanted to point that out.
Clearly bitten by his experience of Pharyngula visitors, Todd’s latest offering…
Doubt he will find anyone but Fundies voting for that one – not unless we all decided to pretend we are foolish just so we can make him look that way!!!
Heh-heh, Peter B., that’s great. More question-begging from those who pretend to know how to think.
Friel’s an ass of the worst kind.
It’s really a one-answer poll.
Doubt he will find anyone but Fundies voting for that one – not unless we all decided to pretend we are foolish just so we can make him look that way!!!
It’s easy enough to vote (B), since “I” refers to the person who authored the statement — Friel.
ns @148, I don’t think so.
Consider
Does God Exist?
A) Yes.
B) I am a fool.
C) You are a fool.
I doubt many voters would select B in this case.