Hilarious, and good to know he can really laugh at these clowns.

The entertainment value of this hilarious piece is exceeded only by the letters sent to Landover Baptist.org each month. Those are roaringly funny.

I love that he was suppressing a smile as he read the last letter.

I love that he was suppressing a smile as he read the last letter.

Funny. But what you all need to remember is that people who write those types of things are not really christians in the true sense. People who really believe, would not write such vile and immature stuff. I think the world is filled with a lot of angry people looking for a focus for that anger and this guy has attracted those types. Just like that bizarre experience last week that Amy had to endure. I mean, why would anyone in their right mind get that angry over her LAT piece? The outrage that she sparked was completely disproportional to what she wrote.

> what you all need to remember is that
> people who write those types of things
> are not really christians

Fuck that. Fuck it for your arrogance in telling us who a "real Christian" is. And fuck it for your cowardice in denying that many of the people who share your belief are simply odious assholes.

This is America, the land of religious freedom. We're not interested in judging your behavior by your faith. If you say you're a Christian, or Buddhist, or a Scientologist or a Moonie, there's no reason we shouldn't take you at your word, and judge your faith by your behavior.

Thanks for proving my point Crid! Merry Christmas to you too!

Your point was that somehow your beliefs aren't responsible for the conduct of the people who adhere to them; my point is that there's not reason to think they aren't. If Churchyfolk are going to carry and express a typical amount of human evil anyway, why should we be impressed by their avowals of supernatural decency?

That "church bus" guy? He's yers, little sister.

Christianity, definition:
The belief that a cosmic Jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.

You forgot the part about said zombie being a rapist and letting in said snake to fuck over humanity in the firt place Alison.

Seriously though if you think about it dont the Abarmic religions come across as a protection racket?

P(r)ay (to) me or I'll punish you

Crid: Fuck that. Fuck it for your arrogance in telling us who a "real Christian" is. And fuck it for your cowardice in denying that many of the people who share your belief are simply odious assholes.

I fail to see how Crid's statements "proved [sheepmommy's] point." It sounds more like a rhetorical throwing up dust.

Christianity is defined by belief, not by actions, as Allison Dennehy pointed out in her (not entirely accurate) definition of a Christian.

You might dismiss such people as bad Christians, but they're Christians. And it is supreme arrogance to assume that you're worthy to decide that which professed Christians are or aren't. How convenient that only nice people are Christians, and those that call themselves Christians who aren't nice aren't really Christians.

Fred Phelps has pretty much the same attitude. For those who don't know who he is, he founded the Westboro Baptist Church, at the godhatesfags.com website. To hear him tell it, God hates virtually everybody. And whether or not God hates you was determined before you were even born and there's not a thing you can do about it. If God hates you, you're going to die and burn and suffer unspeakable agony in hell for all eternity. No amount of prayers, good deeds, petitions for forgiveness, burnt offerings, etc. will change that. You have only to live your time on earth and then it's all over for you.

Phelps keeps a rather high profile by picketing funerals of gays and other gay related events. He picketed, for instance, the funeral of Sonny Bono and insisted that Bono is in hell for the sin of raising a lesbian daughter, Chastity (later Chaz, transgendered). He has vowed to picket the funeral of Billy Graham for having the temerity to say "There are worse sins [than homosexuality]." He probably first gained his national recognition by picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepard. Although I knew about him before that.

In any case, he would probably see you, sheepmommy, in the same way you see these hatemailers: not a real Christian, because you don't think like he does. Because if you were a Christian, you'd be doing the things he does. You'd be standing at street corners, funerals, etc., carrying signs that say, "God Hates Fags," "Fag Matt in Hell," "AIDS cures Fags," "Two Gay Rights: AIDS and Hell."

And he would say that you will be one of the ones in hell. Some people have tried to speak to them about the severity of their message. For instance, a man drove by, saw their signs and started to say to his daughter, Shirley Phelps Roper, "I don't agree with homosexuality, but..."

"Yes, you do," she interrupted and continued to insist that the man supported homosexuality until he gave up and continued driving on.

So, who's to say that you're accurate about who's really a Christian (despite their own claims) and Fred Phelps is so wrong?

By the way, I especially loved the Church Bus comment and don't blame him for laughing at it. Does this writer not even care about what a traumatic experience that would be for the driver and any passengers? Nice to know his hatred for one atheist surpasses any consideration or compassion he has for a whole bus full of Christians.

I loved it when he took the big breath in that one LOOOONNG sentence. When giving writing advice, I like to tell students to read what they write out loud. That way they can "hear" (well... really hear) how their writing "sounds" (well... really sounds). If you have to take a breath or start to get light headed, then screw the commas and internal punctuation. Break up or trim down the way-too-damn-long sentence.

It's like my old man used to say - being an A@#hole knows no racial, ethnic or religious bounds. There's jag bags everywhere. These happen to be the variant Jageous Christianous.

I remember when Rachel Lucas made the mistake of repeating the old axiom "there are no atheists in foxholes" when a relative had a near fatal accident. Wow! Apparently "some folks" had a google alert for that phrase; because she got hammered for weeks from the "rational set."

So yeah, they're everywhere.

My grandfather died in agony of cancer. On his death bed a priest tried to sneak in to grab him in his weakest, most vulnerable hour. The words that came out of his mouth are not something I choose to print. I am guessing he wouldn't have agreed with the no atheists in foxholes line either.

Oh, and apologies I should have made it clear that the Christianity definition was not mine. I first saw it in The Age, an Australian Victorian newspaper. Since then, have come across it several times online so I am not sure who to credit with authorship.