August 8, 2007

Dear Fundamentalists:

I decided to do a short video asking religious Fundamentalists (anyone who thinks that a belief in God, or the ultimate existence of God, is needed to stop them from being evil and wicked. I used the ultimate atheist song in the background:


What else?

I just found out I got Punk'd by an internet site called Net Authority. I noticed I got a few hits on my Judeophobe Watch blog from Net Authority, so I checked out why:

Judeophobe Watch

Added: 08/02/2007 - 19:39:51

This website has been investigated by Net Authority, and has been found to be in violation of the Internet Acceptable Use Policy by posting the following kinds of content:

* Hateful material
* Blasphemy
* Offensive political material

Be cautioned! This website contains strongly offensive material and is not suitable for young children. Click the link below at your own risk:

http://judeophobewatch.blogspot.com/

I checked out Net Authority's Violation Rule page. This rule made me laugh, but it still seemed like a legit Fundy site:

Example #2: Children's Dinosaur Stories. You might think that a site that contains stories about dinosaurs for children would be innocent—but let's stop and think about that for a moment. If you read the bible (you should, it's great!) you know that dinosaurs never actually existed, and that God put those fossils and bones there to test our faith in Him. While the stories themselves may not contain any offensive material, the simple fact that they are about dinosaurs may cause a child to question his faith in the one true God. By blaspheming, this site is in violation of the Internet Acceptable Use Policy and should be added to our database.

I decided to bring this to the attention of Raving Atheist and asked "Is This A Joke?"

A couple of RA members came to my aid, and proved the site is total satire. The guy who runs the site is an atheist. He is demonstrating Poe's Law:

Similar to Murphy's Law, Poe's Law concerns internet debates, particularly regarding religion or politics.

"Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won't mistake for the real thing."


I became familiar with the Poe's Law when someone left a comment on my Youtube video (More Proof Evolution Is Wrong) where I made mocked the video Peanut Butter: The Atheist's Nightmare. I Punk'd quite a few non believers with my video. What goes around, comes around, I guess.

The guy from Net Authority also has a comic strip. Very funny. Check it out.

12 comments:

  1. I haven't seen Net Authority, but I am a fan of his comic strip. It's one of my favourites.

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  2. Enjoyed the video, and it makes a very valid point. Why not narrate it yourself next time? (Or post a copy of the scrolling text.)

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  3. Skepto, I have acute laryngitis. And I think that video gets my point across better in this case.

    Did you watch the video The Bible Unearthed? What did you think? How was the popcorn?

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  4. It took me about two minutes to decide for sure that Net Authority is a joke. Their giving out banners for "violating" sites to use was the clincher.

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  5. Net Authority dinged you- Congrats you're big time. :)

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  6. Hey, thanks for posting the definition of Poe's Law. I've been reading Fundies Say the Darndest Things and every once in a while the comments would call someone a Poe, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the heck that meant, even with the wonders of the Almighty Google.

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  7. Beaj, I've been told by several fundies that rock strata, coal and dinos are all tests of faith.

    I guess I'm burning for eternity.

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  8. Might want to change the tune to the video, "Dust in the Wind," since Kansas--or at least some of its members--was known to be comprised of Christians, the whole "dust" thing referring to numerous verses, including going back to Genesis 2:7 where God formed man from the dust.

    Anyway, as a fundamentalist Christian I can give you an answer to your video questions, not to persuade you, but so you might see how we, or at least I, think. Yes, unbelievers might be as moral or more moral than believers in God now, but from a biblical point of view that morality may not be inherent or something the individual can "take credit for," since unbeknownst to unbelievers (and underbiblically literate believers), people are walking around thinking "hey, I'd never murder, rape, etc" when in reality, God is restraining them from doing so, controlling their hearts.

    I'm not pulling this idea out of thin air, it's in the Bible all over the place. (Out of respect for Jewish readers I'll find something in the Torah and Kethuvim.) O.k., here in Genesis 20, Abimelech in defending himself for taking Sarah from Abraham told God he did so with a blameless heart, and God informs him in 20:6 "...I kept you from sinning against Me. That was why I did not let you touch her..." From Proverbs 21:1, unbeknownst to kings, "Like channeled water is the mind of the king in the LORDS's hand; He directs it to whatever He wishes." So, yeah, unbelievers are to an imperfect extent (like all of us) moral, but that doesn't necessarily mean they can either take credit for it or explain it as physiological.

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  9. Orde, so basically you are saying that morality in hardwired in us. You say God, and I say it is evolution that caused it.
    You are also concluding that religious and non religious people have the same hardwired morality.

    I'm OK with that.

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  10. Beaj, I don't know about the hard-wired part and wasn't commenting about that (as a "fundie," I'm not one of those compromisers who believe in evolution), my point is only that at least this believer recognizes that theists aren't the only ones to exercise morality and that the Bible gives God credit for morality in both believers and unbelievers, who if totally unrestrained would go even more wild in their immorality. You are a very nice atheist, I will run along now...

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  11. I just came across this:

    http://baconeatingatheistjewasshole.blogspot.com/

    Our politics are different, on things like this I come together with you.

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  12. great video! It makes them read and we know they won't be able to resist seeing what you have written even though they have a good idea. They just can't help themselves, like my fundie sister can't stop reading my blogs even though it sends her blood pressure soaring.

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