I NEED AN ANSWER STAT!!! Right X-tian wing nut job

[Lost-in-FL]

Hey all,
Recieved this email. Something to think about. Eeery!
Sherri

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT DEATH

Death is certain but the Bible speaks about untimely death! Make a personal reflection
about this. Very interesting, read until the end.

It is written in the Bible

Galatians 6:7-8: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption;
but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."


Here are some men and women who mocked God:


JOHN LENNON: Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he
said: "Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about that. I am
certain. Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, today we are more famous than
Him" (1966). Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ,
was shot six times.


TANCREDO NEVES (President of Brazil): During the Presidential campaign, he said if he
got 500,000 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency.
Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.


CAZUZA (Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet): During a show in Canecï¯ (
Rio de Janeiro ), whilst smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the air and
said: "God, that's for you." He died at the age of 32 of AIDS in a horrible manner.


THE MAN WHO BUILT THE TITANIC: After the construction of the Titanic, a reporter
asked him how safe the Titanic would be. With an ironic tone he said: "Not even God can
sink it" The result: I think you all know what happened to the Titanic.


MARILYN MONROE: She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show. He
said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her. After hearing what the Preacher
had to say, she said: "I don't need your Jesus". A week later, she was found dead in her
apartment.


BON SCOTT: The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang: "Don't
stop me, I'm going down all the way, down the highway to hell". On the 19th of February
1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked by his own vomit.


CAMPINAS/SP IN 2005: In Campinas, Brazil a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a
friend. The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the
drunkenness of her friends and she said to the daughter - holding her hand, who was
already seated in the car: "MY DAUGHTER, GO WITH GOD AND MAY HE PROTECT YOU."

She responded: "ONLY IF HE
(GOD) TRAVELS IN THE TRUNK, CAUSE INSIDE HERE IT'S ALREADY FULL". Hours later,
news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident, everyone had died, the
car could not be recognized what type of car it had been, but surprisingly, the trunk was
intact. The police said there was no way the trunk could have remained intact. To their
surprise, inside the trunk was a crate of eggs, none were broken.


Christine Hewitt: A Jamaican Journalist and entertainer, said the Bible
(Word of God) was the worst book ever written, in June 2006 she was found burnt
beyond recognition in her motor vehicle.


Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other name that was given
so much authority as the name of Jesus. Many have died, but only Jesus died and rose
again, and he is still alive.

JESUS!!!


P.S: If it was a joke, you would have sent it to everyone. So are you going to have
courage to send this? I have done my part, Jesus said "If you are embarrassed about
me, I will also be embarrassed about you before my father."


"What benefit does it have, if a man gains the whole world but loses his soul? What can
man give in exchange of his soul?" (Matthew 16:26).

AMEN

[AspenRose]

1. Um, EVERYONE's gonna die.

"It is appointed unto men once to die...."

So what does it matter if they were Christians or not? We're ALL gonna die. Christians, non-Christians.....EVERYONE.

[MadMaddie]

5. That was my thought too...

[donco6]

2. Jesus died at 33.

What the fuck did HE do wrong?

[AspenRose]

7. For real

Clearly this person's never read the book of martyrs. Some horrible deaths in there.....

[tanyev]

38. He pointed out that the political and religious leaders were raging hypocrites.

So they had him killed. I think the fundies would be in for a big surprise if he did come back.

[yurbud]

57. the pharisees listened to back masking on his album

[Thickasabrick]

3. People are nuts. I wonder what they think the little kids who were

blown up in Iraq did to piss off God. How about the infants that die for no reason - wonder what they did?

I really hate these people. The teachings of Jesus are totally lost on them.

[tularetom]

4. Maybe so, but what about all the old christian martyrs and saints

who died horrible ghastly deaths as the result of torture AFTER professing their eternal loyalty to jeebus? I don't really believe that what you believe has anything to do with how you are gonna croak.

[uppityperson]

6. I sit here trying to figure out what to write.

Still sitting. OK, I'll try.


Are you saying that everyone who has sworn, or taken the Lord's name in vain is dead? Or are you saying that people talk about god a lot? I doubt the first, and agree with the second. Who are you to claim that any of these people's deaths were untimely? Isn't this putting YOURself into the place of God? Oooooo. Beware.

ps You would consider me courageous if I were to forward this embarrassing piece of tripe to my friends? Tells me a lot about you.

[Az]

8. Here is a rather large list of people who have denied god

http://www.celebatheists.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

Take a glance through there and you will find a lot of names that are still kicking around despite not paying any attention to the big guy.

[Czolgosz]

53. Yeah, but how many of them will be alive 80 years from now?

[uppityperson]

9. What about all those people who chant "oh god oh god oh god"

during sex? Lightening bolt?

[Cobalt-60]

55. well it depends

If the old boy likes what he sees, they're cool.
If not..1.2 gigawatzzzzzzzz

[Bluzmann57]

10. Obviously whoever sent this email doesn't read the bible

at least not too closely. You see, Jesus did rise from the dead, according to the bible, but then he ascended to heaven, thereby making him dead. So therefore, he does not live, as the emailer stated.
John Lennon spoke facts, was shot by some insane person many years after he made that statement. I imagine the BiSexual Brazilian had unprotected sex, thereby causing AIDS. Marilyn Monroe had some demons, that is well documented. I do not know about Ms. Hewitt, but in Jamaica, there are a lot of political and drug related assassinations, such as Bob Marley. Not saying that's what happened to her, but it seems likely. As for me, I would either send it back to the individual who sent it, or just delete it altogether and move on. These types truly cannot be reached. They are too far gone.

[tularetom]

15. Bob Marley died of cancer in 1981 mon

You're probably thinkin of Peter Tosh who was shot in his own home over a drug deal in 1987. That said I gotta agree that whoever sent this piece of shit is seriously disturbed.

[Bluzmann57]

64. Ok. Thanks for the clarification

I knew there was some Reggae artist who was assassinated over political and/or drug related stuff. But I do remember reading an interview with Donald Kinsey, a Blues artist from Gary, Indiana who toured with Bob Marley stating that he (Kinsey) was getting scared to tour anymore because so many people wanted Marley dead. Kinsey later quit for that reason.

[B3Nut]

98. And Peter Tosh had said in an interview just before that,

"If gunmen come tomorrow to get I, I'm not afraid. Jah will protect I. Bullets can't come through I."

Filed under "Famous Last Words, Etc."

Todd in Beerbratistan

Edit: I kant tipe

[Garbo 2004]

11. What's the question? You're seriously going to waste time responding to this crap? And asking for

rebuttal "STAT?"

A bit like Pavlov's dog, isn't it? Someone sends you an email and they've got you going. Why play their stupid game? If the person who sent this to you was remotely interested in facts they wouldn't be sending this crap around and letting some anonymous spammer do their thinking for them.

[GreenEyedLefty]

12. How do you answer this kind of tripe?

It's as simple as a gentle tap on the "delete" key.

I would be curious, however, as to what Jesus is up to these days, given that he's still alive and all...

[MzNov]

13. You can't possibly answer something like this. Don't upset youself

with the stress and energy it would take to even make the attempt...

crazy wing nuts interpret everything for their own rationalization, no matter what the facts are. They are insecure, pathetic individuals whose opinions you can rarely change.

:grr:

[Contrary1]

14. I personally know a lot of people who never mocked God...

Guess what? They still died.

[karlrschneider]

16. If you got this shit from a friend, well, you need new friends.

Tell them to fuck off.

[Lost-in-FL]

17. This was at my Religion class discussion board

I don't think I am going to pass this class. Unfortunately, it is a Graduation requirement and I cannot stand this, I HATE THIS CLASS!!! I delayed my graduation already a year cause I didn't know if I could take this bullshit class. I really, really need to pass this f'n class. :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

LOOK AT THE CREEPS I HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL WITH!!!

[me b zola]

The best debunking I've seen in this thread is Az's post #8

The idiot who wrote the e-mail is attributing a causal relationship where there is none. Their "logic" could be used to say the same thing about a list of people who died young who embrace christianity.

You are a stronger person than I to have your degree depending upon such a class. I wish you the best of luck, please don't let them get you down.

[Lost-in-FL]

36. Trust me

I let everyone know what I think during class discussion. I go through great lengths to contain myself at times. The professor goes by the syllabus and doesn't waist time with lengthly discussions on religion, the students are the ones wanting to talk about the subject more that the professor. At least that is what it seems. I just need to answer this garbage.

The class is about "Biblical Lessons in living". My school is a religious school, the only one that offers the degree I am trying to get a degree.

BTW Thank you for your kind words!!

[Jo March]

65. Every single Pope that has ever been a Pope has died

How about that?

Or, every Saint from, oh, let's say 1900 and back has died.

Mother Theresa died.

Preachers have died.

Reverends have died.

Priests and ministers have died. Is the person who posted that ridiculous post saying that Jesus and God hated all of those people I just mentioned?

When Billy Graham dies (and he will), will your classmate try to say that it was because he mocked God?

Utter tripe.

I feel for you. I had an ethics class in college and it was taught by a minister. One of his first statements was that most women who are raped were asking for it. :eyes: I lodged an official complaint with the college over that stupid statement.

[CBGLuthier]

18. Yeah and that same so called loving god

Makes children be born with defects beyond belief.


Simple philosophy, there either is no god or there is one and he is a colossal asshole monster.

[AspenRose]

19. Peter and John

(Jesus is talking about Peter): "The truth is, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked and go wherever you wanted to. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will direct you and take you where you don’t want to go." Jesus said this to let him know what kind of death he would die to glorify God. Then Jesus told him, "Follow me." Peter asked Jesus, "What about him, Lord?" (referring to John)

Jesus replied, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You follow me." So the rumour spread among the community of believers that that disciple wouldn’t die. But that isn’t what Jesus said at all. He only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"

John 21 : 18 - 23

And of course, tradition teaches Peter was crucified upside down.

I would say to this person: What is it to YOU how these people died? We're all gonna die. If you consider yourself a Christian, concern yourself with how YOU conduct yourself in the here and now.

What really disturbs me about this email is the gloating tone about how these people died. Is that very Christ-like? Are Christians supposed to be HAPPY to see non-Christians die traumatically? *shaking head*

[TacticalPeek]

20. Bunkshooter.

TO A CONTEMPORARY BUNKSHOOTER

You come along. . . tearing your shirt. . . yelling about
Jesus.
Where do you get that stuff?
What do you know about Jesus?
Jesus had a way of talking soft and outside of a few
bankers and higher-ups among the con men of Jerusalem
everybody liked to have this Jesus around because
he never made any fake passes and everything
he said went and he helped the sick and gave the
people hope.

You come along squirting words at us, shaking your fist
and calling us all damn fools so fierce the froth slobbers
over your lips. . . always blabbing we're all
going to hell straight off and you know all about it.

I've read Jesus' words. I know what he said. You don't
throw any scare into me. I've got your number. I
know how much you know about Jesus.
He never came near clean people or dirty people but
they felt cleaner because he came along. It was your
crowd of bankers and business men and lawyers
hired the sluggers and murderers who put Jesus out
of the running.

I say the same bunch backing you nailed the nails into
the hands of this Jesus of Nazareth. He had lined
up against him the same crooks and strong-arm men
now lined up with you paying your way.

This Jesus was good to look at, smelled good, listened
good. He threw out something fresh and beautiful
from the skin of his body and the touch of his hands
wherever he passed along.
You slimy bunkshooter, you put a smut on every human
blossom in reach of your rotten breath belching
about hell-fire and hiccupping about this Man who
lived a clean life in Galilee.

When are you going to quit making the carpenters build
emergency hospitals for women and girls driven
crazy with wrecked nerves from your gibberish about
Jesus--I put it to you again: Where do you get that
stuff; what do you know about Jesus?

Go ahead and bust all the chairs you want to. Smash
a whole wagon load of furniture at every performance.
Turn sixty somersaults and stand on your
nutty head. If it wasn't for the way you scare the
women and kids I'd feel sorry for you and pass the hat.
I like to watch a good four-flusher work, but not when
he starts people puking and calling for the doctors.
I like a man that's got nerve and can pull off a great
original performance, but you--you're only a bug-
house peddler of second-hand gospel--you're only
shoving out a phoney imitation of the goods this
Jesus wanted free as air and sunlight.

You tell people living in shanties Jesus is going to fix it
up all right with them by giving them mansions in
the skies after they're dead and the worms have
eaten 'em.
You tell $6 a week department store girls all they need
is Jesus; you take a steel trust wop, dead without
having lived, gray and shrunken at forty years of
age, and you tell him to look at Jesus on the cross
and he'll be all right.
You tell poor people they don't need any more money
on pay day and even if it's fierce to be out of a job,
Jesus'll fix that up all right, all right--all they gotta
do is take Jesus the way you say.
I'm telling you Jesus wouldn't stand for the stuff you're
handing out. Jesus played it different. The bankers
and lawyers of Jerusalem got their sluggers and
murderers to go after Jesus just because Jesus
wouldn't play their game. He didn't sit in with
the big thieves.

I don't want a lot of gab from a bunkshooter in my religion.
I won't take my religion from any man who never works
except with his mouth and never cherishes any memory
except the face of the woman on the American
silver dollar.

I ask you to come through and show me where you're
pouring out the blood of your life.

I've been to this suburb of Jerusalem they call Golgotha,
where they nailed Him, and I know if the story is
straight it was real blood ran from His hands and
the nail-holes, and it was real blood spurted in red
drops where the spear of the Roman soldier rammed
in between the ribs of this Jesus of Nazareth.


From Carl Sandburg's "Chicago Poems" (1916)

http://www.crossleft.org/?q=node/1641

[badgerpup]

40. WOW!

:applause::patriot:

Gotta go read me some more Carl Sandburg!

and me a proud pagan....

[Lost-in-FL]

48. Awesome reading!

I read it late but this is a keeper!! Thanks!

[frebrd]

21. LOL! Why answer it? ...

Delete it with the rest of the SPAM!

[liberal N proud]

22. Only the good die young

from a the song by Billy Joel.

[BlueJazz]

23. Answer Him>> Boy!, Your stories sure show what an Asshole Jesus is...nt

[Lost-in-FL]

26. I can't do that!! See post #17

:cry:

[Cabcere]

24. Here's how I responded to my brother when he sent me this:

"Dude, George W. Bush mocks God every day when he claims to be "pro-life" and yet advocates torture and sends our soldiers and Iraqi citizens to their deaths, and he's not dead yet. I'll be waiting."

:shrug:

[AspenRose]

27. Amen.

:applause:

[Lost-in-FL]

28. Great response!!

[Cabcere]

29. Feel free to use it

if you think you could get away with it and/or if you think it might do any good...it sounds like that might not be the case since it's for a class, but you have my blessing all the same. :hi:

[Lost-in-FL]

30. I need to be very careful

Since this is for a class I am taking. Some idiot put this in the class discussion board. See post #17.

[Cabcere]

31. Ahh, I see.

Well then, that might not be the best course of action to take after all. At least you're not alone, though, eh? :hi:

[Lost-in-FL]

Thank you!!

It is going to be a rough trimester (good thing is not a regular semester, that would kill me!!!).

[Cabcere]

33. You're welcome

and yeah, that does sound pretty rough. :( Hang in there! :hug:

[Seen the light]

25. My great-grandfather curses God daily

Or at least he has since my great-grandmother passed away 20 years ago. He's now....92. Why hasn't God struck him down yet?

[Subdivisions]

32. Because he's just too derned cute when he's cursing! God Bless Him!

[1620rock]

35. Well, I liked the scripture quote at the end of that nutty letter..

.."What benefit does it have, if a man gains the whole world but loses his soul? What can
man give in exchange of his soul?" (Matthew 16:26).

Now that says it all for shrub and crash-cart.

[Bill McBlueState]

34. no need to try to "refute" it

Just point out how ridiculous they sound. I would say,

"If you think this is how the world works, you have more serious problems than I'm prepared to help you with."

[Emit]

37. What's the question? n/t

[uppityperson]

39. Who are you to decide whether or not a death is "untimely"? And Jesus is still alive?

Another question, for example: Did your greatgrandmother mock god? Did she die? Was her death timely or untimely?

Here is one who did not mock God: Mother Teresa. How about Pope (whatever)? They both praised God then died. What is eery is that you came up with this relationship, since, as you acknowledge, we ALL die.

[kestrel91316]

41. What's your REAL motive in posting this here???

Inquiring minds want to know............

'Cause, you know, we aren't interested in people proselytizing BY PROXY in these boards.

[xfundy]

42. Amen and GLORY!

I had to read all the way down to finally find someone to pose the obvious question. The msg was a bunch of myths, like "Charles Darwin accepted Jesus on his death bed," "Jesus' image in refrigerator mold healed me," and all the rest of the garbage that spews constantly from those xians who don't mind lying in attempts to coerce others to buy their fairy tales of invisible men who love you unconditionally but will punish you by eternal burning if you don't do exactly what they say.

It's a cookbook!

[spoony]

61. For an "x fundy"

you certainly have a poor grasp of Christian theology!

[Lost-in-FL]

49. Sure... I want to convert DU atheists to X-tianity

:eyes: :sarcasm:

[spoony]

62. Actually, if anything

threads like this just invite the sort of childish anti-theist name-calling that is, true to form, rife in this thread and all like it.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

71. Sigh...

[spoony]

82. A very good job

of illustrating the shallow posts I'm talking about. They do usually include graphics in place of thoughts, and are short because besides impotent images they have no substance to them. Bravo.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

87. Show me some name calling in this thread

Maybe I'm blind (us atheists are always blind to the "truth"), but I don't see any name calling. Point it out.

[regnaD kciN]

43. Let's start with this observation...

It is written in the Bible

Galatians 6 : 7-8: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

Whatever Paul may have been saying in that passage, he was not saying that those who are "un-Godly" would die young. He speaks of wrong choices, and the corruption that results from them. That "corruption" could be interpreted as meaning complete destruction after death. It could, alternately, be read as getting "a quick elevator ride down to the hot place" after one's death. What it does not mean is an early death.

Jesus himself, in the Gospel of Luke, rebuts the notion that one can ascribe the hand of God in an untimely demise, and warns that one should pay attention to one's own spiritual state rather than jumping to conclusions about what happened to others:

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them-- do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did." (Luke 13:1-5, NRSV)

Likewise, the Book of Job warns against assuming that the worldly good and ill that might befall someone should be read as signs of God's favor or anger toward that person.

Having dismissed the author's reading of Scripture, the rest of the argument should be easy to rebut as well. The fact is that there are countless examples of those of a strong Christian faith who met an early or violent death (sometimes, because of that faith), and likewise many examples of those who were either openly atheistic or of "bad character" (I'm not saying the two are connected, but those are simply two categories that the author of the e-mail would likely judge as evil) who lived long lives and died peacefully in their sleep. There is simply no way to put together a list of "non-Christians" and point to their early deaths as meaningful while ignoring, say, the early deaths of Jonathan Daniels or the four Maryknoll workers in El Salvador as contrasted with the long life of Augusto Pinochet (or, if the author considers Pinochet to be a "good Catholic anti-Communist" :eyes: , someone like Chairman Mao).

P.S.: I would note that the author also gets the John Lennon quote wrong, and moves a putative line from an "urban legend" about the Titanic from the mouth of an anonymous deckhand to "the man who built" it, while presenting it as established fact. Given these errors, I see little reason to trust the remaining accounts, either.

[Kazak]

44. Quaint.

I guess this is designed to literally put the "fear of god" into you, eh? :shrug:

[lpbk2713]

45. Falwell & Robertson mock God by their very existence every day.

Their greed and hypocrisy make 'organized' religion look ridiculous.

[noamnety]

46. "chock full of nuts"

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1728.shtml

[Lost-in-FL]

47. Sweet!!!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Name removed]

50. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Czolgosz]

51. I ALSO NEED AN ANSWER STAT! I, too, received an email. Something to think about. Eeery!

Some months back, I lost a tooth. I put it under my pillow, and - in the morning - the tooth fairy had replaced it with a shiny new coin. I lost another tooth yesterday AND IT HAPPENED AGAIN!

This is hard proof of the tooth fairy's existence.

Some months back, my parents and I picked out a Christmas tree. On Christmas Eve, I left out some cookies and milk. On Christmas morning, the cookies were nibbled and the milk was gone AND THERE WERE PRESENTS!

This is hard proof of Santa's existence.

Why would anyone simply make up stories about a tooth fairy or Santa and then manufacture evidence to support those lies? It makes no sense.

[0rganism]

52. so what's the premise here? if you talk shit about God, he's gonna getcha?

The very first example (John Lennon) stands in stark contrast to many of the others listed. Lennon lays some smack on God in 1966, yet he lives until 1980. Why so long? According to this spam, it only took God a year to wax Bon Scott. Was God just too busy to get around to John Lennon until 1980 (maybe as an afterthought to Bon Scott), but he's able to book time on the celebrity death calendar to choke Norma Jeane only a week after she pissed off Billy Graham?

I think your friend Sherri needs to take a trip to Arlington cemetary, where she'll find thousands of crosses representing godfearing Christian humans who died in horrible violent ways, often for No Good Reason. Or, as another poster suggested, post some of the stories of the martyrs. Pre-Constantinean Rome was a pretty tough scene for Christians, and even post-Constantine, there were plenty of devout heretics who met some rather unpleasant ends at the hands of God's designated messengers, so to speak.

Heck, even the alleged Jesus died, about as horribly as anyone could die, whether you believe he lives now or not. That's part of the foundation of the whole freakin' religion -- he was the sacrificial lamb of redemption. I don't think we can realistically attribute the unpleasantness of his untimely death to a lack of religious devotion. :shrug:

[DireStrike]

54. So... god is all about incredibly violent revenge for petty namecalling?

Yeah, sounds worth worshipping to me.

If there were such an evil spirit floating around killing people, the real Christian god wouldn't let him get away with that sort of crap.

Anyways... (If you can't see the images go to the http://www.webpost.net/di/direstrike/">directory: )

[Doremus]

56. I can't speak to the religious aspect,

but at a minimum some of the supposed quotes are outright wrong.

For instance, no one associated with the White Star Line ever claimed the Titanic was unsinkable. It's been awhile since I read up on it, but as I recall the misconception originated with an overzealous reporter and mushroomed from there.

As to John Lennon, Wikipedia has this to say:

"On 4 March 1966, Lennon was interviewed for the London Evening Standard by his friend Maureen Cleave and made an off-the-cuff remark regarding religion.<101>

"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink.... I don't know what will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity. We're more popular than Jesus now. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

The article was printed and nothing came of it — until five months later, when an American teen magazine called Datebook reprinted part of the quote on its front cover.<102>"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon

Lennon wasn't talking about Jesus. He was talking about the state of Christianity in England.


Those are just two examples where the original essay is flawed. I'm sure if you researched the others from an accuracy standpoint, as opposed to a religious debate, that they will be proven inaccurate as well.

[yurbud]

58. a couple of those sound unlikely at best

[frogcycle]

59. never ceases to amaze me

how much chatter can be generated in this community by damned near anything.

This stupid drivelshould never have been given two seconds notice by the recipient, and here it has earned all this attention from people who might otherwise have been writing their congresscritter or otherwise attempting to save 140,000 lives (and yes, I think they are all at risk - if this thing really implodes and they are dispersed among the population rather than in Fort Apache...)

it is just stupid stupid stupid and anyone who lets it influence their beliefs or the way they live is stupid stupid stupid

[Jo March]

68. The OP needs help for a class

And some of us can do more than one thing at a time. :D

[uppityperson]

60. Snopes and about Jesus

Nov 2005, message board
http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=1275

On the Titanic being unsinkable
http://www.snopes.com/history/titanic/unsinkable.asp

And what about that guy named Jesus who said he was God? Didn't he suffer an untimely death?

[Swamp Rat]

63. Check out this blog:

This comes courtesy of a friend who knows I’m not Christian, but still sends crazy emails anyway. I call it And Now They Ded From Coke:

> Subject: FW: what the BIBLE says about death

(snip)

It’s a nice little mix of urban legend, hearsay, threats, and ignorance. What about the millions of religious people who die young and violently? Kurt Vonnegut will be 84 in November, so clearly not everyone who rejects or mocks religion dies immediately. And I need to update my scoring system, don’t I?

I’d also like to point something out:
Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.
John Lennon said that (in context it’s not quite meant the way it’s usually taken) in 1966. He was murdered in 1980, so the Angel Assassination Squad didn’t catch up with him for fourteen years.

Score- Points for:
Vague threats against blasphemers/infidels
Untrue/unprovable/just plain dodgy statements presented as fact
Beginning and ending with bible quotes

(snip)

http://onacrazychain.wordpress.com/2006/08/30/ccce-number-one/#comments

[Marrah_G]

66. Why are you bothering?

Seriously.... why are you bothering to argue with someone who doesn't give a crap what you have to say. You are not going to change thier minds.

Seriously, save yourself some grief and learn to use the delete button in your email. It's not worth the time or energy arguing with people over a stupid email.

[caledesi]

67. This settles everything....

The bible is based on FAITH nor FACT. So, if one believes the bible literally. Amen. Good for you, just don't use the bible as fact to me.

[Katherine Brengle]

69. For every person who dies after mocking God, thousands die who have not.

What a load of highhorse crap.

[mainer]

72. And thousands who mock God live to ripe old ages n/t

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

70. Tancredo Neves never said that. The Campinas thing is made up.

I am Brazilian and the only places I ever heard about those was this e-mail.

The Cazuza thing is probably made up too -- although it's "in character" (he COULD have done just that) it never became news. (He WOULD have been arrested on the spot, you know!)

[Parche]

73. GEORGE WASHINGTON

He said "Death, it is a debt we must ALL pay"

[johnaries]

74. I've been saying WORSE things than those since I was 17,

and I'm still here at 50.

Arrggh! Oh, my heart!

Just kidding :evilgrin:

[DuaneBidoux]

75. Nobody mocked Christianity more than Bertrand Russell, an avowed atheist

He died at 98 peacefully in his sleed.

[moggie]

86. You have a typo

I think you mean that he passed away peacefully in his jeep.

[Vinca]

76. You could respond with a list of the "mockers" who didn't die,

but I suspect that would take months to compile.

[kiki]

77. Here's what you do:

Write an e-mail that simply says "Fuck Jesus" 666 times. Send it to your nutjob correspondent every single day, until you die. See how long it takes.

[Drifter]

78. And for each of these stories ...

there are a thousand stories which reveal the exact opposite.

If this were true, wouldn't Satan worshipers be dropping like flies.
Wouldn't just about everyone be dropping like flies ?

If God were real, there would be no need for Religion.

Cheers
Drifter

[ComerPerro]

79. so God is a jealous, vengeful, serial killer?

[NoGOPZone]

80. Joan of Arc never mocked God

and she was killed before reaching twenty.

[LostInAnomie]

81. What kind of God actively murders people?

Oh, I forgot. The one in the Bible murdered people all the time. How Christian of him.

[Silent3]

83. You might not die for mocking God and the Bible, but...

[EvolveOrConvolve]

88. LOL - Damn I love that image!

It makes me snicker every time.

[struggle4progress]

84. What's the religion class actually supposed to be about?

My advice is to ignore pathetic garbage like this completely, if that is possible.

Choose your "take" for the religion class: you're going to concentrate on the use of certain words, or you're going to concentrate on the development of such-and-such an idea, or you're going to concentrate on certain metaphors. Then stick to your "take" and whenever you have to deal with bogus garbage like this, you change the subject: "I find it very interesting that the author chooses to quote such-and-such, which occurs in the context of a passage that blah-blah-blah (and then off you go on a tangent)." If somebody objects that you have gone off on a tangent, you simply deny that and explain how very important context is to understanding whatever it was that was being spoken of. A little practice -- and you're good to go.

[Goblinmonger]

89. Hmmmmm

I've seen that propoganda-catapulting practice somewhere before. Where was it? Hmmmmm. It'll come back to me.

[Evoman]

90. *giggle*

[struggle4progress]

91. Eh?

[cosmik debris]

92. My first response to GM's statement

Was that it related to the fundie who claimed that Paleontology was nothing more than a paradigm. After all, you seem to be saying that if you ignore facts and constantly repeat your spin, it will have the same validity as the truth.

But on re-reading your statement, it seems more likely that he was referring to the fact that your approach is identical to Karl Rove's media strategy. Congratulations! You're one of them now!

[struggle4progress]

93. I wonder if your lack of imagination is limiting you.

Certain claims are so patently ridiculous that no real response is necessary. In many (though certainly not all) contexts, a simple consistent refusal to award blatant nonsense the dignity of debate is appropriate and effective. If someone were to make to me the claims in the email cited in the OP, I should be strongly inclined to ignore the claims and change the subject -- exactly as I would feel no obligation to argue with someone who insisted that dentists are really Martians who are taking over the world by using tooth-fillings to implant secret receivers in the mouths of unwitting earthlings.

There are, of course, alternatives. One could decide (for example) instead to loudly dispute any and all nonsense others spout. Or one could adopt a technique proposed by Bertrand Russell -- which is to counter with slightly modified nonsense and then argue extensively and inconclusively: thus, confronted with the person warning of Martian dentists, one counters that, no, the dentists are actualkly okay and in fact it is actually Martian opticians that threaten us, by implanting beam-receivers in eyeglass lenses.

Prior posts in this thread suggest that the original poster requires a slightly more careful rhetorical tactic. If the email is associated with a religion class that the OPer must take, and that really requires some sensibility or sensitivity of the OPer, then I merely suggest that the OPer carefully choose a limited approach to the topics under discussion -- the sort of approach that might, for example, be useful for a term paper -- and to begin practicing this approach. Thus, if the OPer is interested in literature, all materials can be approached as literature; if the OPer is interested in psychology, all materials can be approached using psychological tools; &c&c. Such approaches are common enough in academic environments, and it is possible to use techniques like this in good faith without compromising anyone's intellectual integrity. Moreover, this "morphing" of the subject (to something someone else finds more interesting to discuss) is a basic conversational technique, which hurts no one.

[cosmik debris]

94. And I wonder if your vanity is limiting you.

You are very verbose for a person who has nothing to say.

Would you care to explain how your strategy is DIFFERENT from Karl Rove's?

[struggle4progress]

95. Here is a nice 'Greatest Page' thread, in which I have not posted:

< Bob Altemeyer's> The Authoritarians MUST READ!! online book
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=265405&mesg_id=265405

There's a link to various pdf files forming the book, which (you'll be glad to learn) I really had absolutely nothing to do with.

While I did read earlier today and consider it highly informative, you shouldn't judge the book unfavorably simply on account of that.

Since you're interested in Nazi Germany, the Inquisition, and post-9/11 American political discourse, you might find the material fascinating

[cosmik debris]

96. Thank you, You proved my point. n/t

[Evoman]

97. BWAHAHAHA

:rofl:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

85. It's typical Jack Chick wannabe unBiblical fear-mongering

In some passage, which I don't have time to look up, Jesus himself refers to a recent disaster, a collapse of a tower, in which several people were killed, and asks if they were any worse than the average person. I think he gives a couple of other examples, too, the message being that what happens to you in life has little or nothing to do with when and how you do. The good can die young and the bad can die old.