Guns, race, religion, terror, wingnut thread

[rstrong]

Jesus died on a cross. And so Christians have made the cross their symbol, often with Christ on it. They hang statues of Jesus dead on the cross on their walls. They wear smaller versions around their necks.

I'm still waiting for Elvis fans to adopt the same tradition.

[O Really]

Jesus died on a cross. And so Christians have made the cross their symbol, often with Christ on it. They hang statues of Jesus dead on the cross on their walls. They wear smaller versions around their necks.

I'm still waiting for Elvis fans to adopt the same tradition.

Elvis on the toilet? Probably available at Graceland.

But I've often wondered why, if you're a Christian, isn't the resurrection more important than the crucifixion? Looks like they're celebrating the bad part without the part that would make Jesus different from anybody else who was executed.

[Vrede too]

Not Elvis, but I like this one:

[rstrong]

But I've often wondered why, if you're a Christian, isn't the resurrection more important than the crucifixion? Looks like they're celebrating the bad part without the part that would make Jesus different from anybody else who was executed.

I've read something to the effect that this focus had a lot to do with the early success of the religion. A largely underground religion for the poor, slaves, etc. downtrodden by the established religion. It was a religion for them, with the promise that all their suffering in life would be rewarded after.

Big Republican Christianity with big imposing cathedrals came later, when the Christians were running governments.

It's also worth mentioning that the original ending of the gospel of Mark had the women discovering that Jesus's tomb was empty, before fleeing. The end, roll credits. The "longer ending" with accounts of the resurrected Jesus appears to have been added two or three hundred years later.

[rstrong]

...

Ah, there we go. We still need them as necklaces.

I'm assuming that somewhere, still in the original hotel, or now in a warehouse or private collection, the original toilet is preserved as a holy icon.

Not gonna Google it.

[Vrede too]

I did, but got distracted by:

The 9 Most Famous People To Have Died On The Toilet

And:

Five People Who Died on the Toilet

And:

10 Famous People Who Died on the Toilet

I never did find where the Elvis "Cross" is now, maybe still in the same Graceland bathroom?

[JTA]

But I've often wondered why, if you're a Christian, isn't the resurrection more important than the crucifixion? Looks like they're celebrating the bad part without the part that would make Jesus different from anybody else who was executed.

I've read something to the effect that this focus had a lot to do with the early success of the religion. A largely underground religion for the poor, slaves, etc. downtrodden by the established religion. It was a religion for them, with the promise that all their suffering in life would be rewarded after.

Big Republican Christianity with big imposing cathedrals came later, when the Christians were running governments.

It's also worth mentioning that the original ending of the gospel of Mark had the women discovering that Jesus's tomb was empty, before fleeing. The end, roll credits. The "longer ending" with accounts of the resurrected Jesus appears to have been added two or three hundred years later.

So its like in the movies where the writer leaves the ending kind of open ended for the audience to decide, leaving them wondering. But then some retard comes in later and remakes it and decides to dumb it down for a more modern audience and spells everything out for them, totally ruining the original point and destroying the mystique.

For all we know Jesus could have jumped on his Harley and rode off into the sunset, fighting crime and kicking ass.

[O Really]

[

For all we know Jesus could have jumped on his Harley and rode off into the sunset, fighting crime and kicking ass.

That, or maybe just a victim of the body snatchers. There really could have been body snatchers - people who either wanted to make it look like he arose, or people who don't want anybody to know where his body was. Don't want to give anybody a chance to make him a martyr, I guess. Didn't work, apparently.

[Boatrocker]

But I've often wondered why, if you're a Christian, isn't the resurrection more important than the crucifixion? Looks like they're celebrating the bad part without the part that would make Jesus different from anybody else who was executed.

Christianity is a death cult, of sorts, so it's hardly surprising that the symbolic emphasis is on the crucifixion, even if the message is supposed to be about the resurrection and redemption.

[Boatrocker]

. . . For all we know Jesus could have jumped on his Harley and rode off into the sunset, fighting crime and kicking ass.

Using conspiracy nut logic, you could say there is evidence for the presence of motorcycles in biblical times. Something about the sound of Joshua's Triumph heard throughout the land? Did Joshua get a Brit bike from the Grays?

[Vrede too]

Maybe Jesus didn't really die . . . like Elvis.

[JTA]

Saw this one floating around facebook:

[Vrede too]

Good timing.

New CIA Information on JFK Assassination

... Yet, yesterday, the CIA declassified and released every PDB (President's Daily Brief) produced during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, some 2,500 in all.

... Director Brennan also promised the declassification of the Nixon and Ford briefs in the near future, upon which time, perhaps, we'll gain some insight into what really happened to Elvis.

[O Really]

See, that's an example of the reason why nobody should play the "show them the docs and they'll go away" game. Same thing with Obama's birth certificate. Same thing with Hillary's emails/Benghazi records. For some, there is no evidence that overcomes belief. Sorta religious in that way. No amount of evidence is sufficient to change the minds of the 6,000 year people, for example.

[rstrong]

It gets even weirder than that.

One conspiritard claim is that the Van Allen belts would prevent astronauts from travelling to the moon. When Dr. Van Allan explained otherwise they casually dismiss his information as a lie - even though he's the one who told them about the existence of the Van Allen belts in the first place.

9/11 conspiritards wave about Larry Silverstein's "pull it" comment. In context it's crystal clear that he was talking with fire chiefs about pulling fire crews out of the building. The conspiritards dismiss the conversation as staged - and yet treat one snippet from it as gospel.

[O Really]

More school administrators stepping on their own dicks here... http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/fami ... Q9#image=1

[Boatrocker]

More school administrators stepping on their own dicks here... http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/fami ... Q9#image=1

School administration is a haven for idiots with liberal arts degrees, including masters. My oldest daughter taught elementary school for 12 years and largely confirms that "Those who can, teach. Those who can't, go into administration." I don't get how you can be so afraid of the universe, or simply so anal and OCD about this zero tolerance bullshit, that you insist on doing stupid shit like this, and doubling down on it when the press comes calling. That must be a special kind is stupid.

[Vrede too]

Zero tolerance is not the only fearful, anal, OCD, bullshit, stupid con invention that we double down on after it's a proved failure.

[O Really]

"Zero Tolerance" may have "appeared for the first time in a report in 1994...", but I think it was taken from the earlier "Zero Defects" quality control program run by the Navy and various industries back in late 60's or 70's. But Zero Tolerance pretends that all situations and circumstances are black/white, right/wrong, yes/no. To the extent you can apply it to a given rule or law and can reasonably show non-compliance, it is reasonably workable. For example, you might apply it to your attendance policy and say "we have zero tolerance for being late. If you are late even one second, you will be punished." It's a "workable" policy, even though a bad one, because being late is a clear-cut yes/no issue. The schools, and others, went awry when they created situations that clearly required some judgement and refused to either apply the judgement or do the work necessary to make the policy workable. That's how a reasonable policy like "no weapons in school" turned into a drawing of a gun being a gun - or a poptart being a gun.

[rstrong]

"That's a clock, and I'm the Queen of England."
- Sarah Palin on Ahmed Mohamed's creation

No, Sarah. Had you made that statement as the incident happened, you would merely be a moron, and a racist one at that given the other claims in your rant.

Making it almost a week later, you invoke what the Ken at Popehat calls the Gary Hart Rule: Some behavior does not merely show bad character. It displays a level of stupidity so alarming as to render the bad character secondary. It raises a serious question as to whether emergency personnel should be rushed to the scene to equip the subject with a ventilator in case he forgets to breathe.