PZ Myers Fails To Realize: It’s The Politics, Stupid

August 22, 2008 at 7:18 pm (Uncategorized)

I hope all that high-blood pressure is working wonders for his health.  He’s got his panties all in a wad over this one:

It’s the usual Democratic strategic inanity of pushing to ape the Republicans instead of even trying to be a party of progressive ideas, so they’re going to promote futile religious bullshit at their convention. This just makes me furious.

So what, are you going to vote for the Replublicans instead?  And how dare those Democrats, who haven’t won any political contest appreciably in over fifteen years, try to edge in on the religious base that tends to lean Republican?  They shouldn’t try to win, that’s madness!  Here’s the offending headline:

DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION TO HIGHLIGHT DIVERSE COMMUNITY OF FAITH LEADERS WORKING TOWARD COMMON GOOD

Wow, I’m angry already!  What is this common good of which they speak?  Let’s read on:

“Senator Obama is a committed Christian, and he believes that people of all faiths have an important place in American life,” said Joshua Dubois, Obama For America Director of Religious Affairs. “He’s proud to work with the Democratic National Convention Committee on a Convention that fully engages people of faith in dialogue, celebration and prayer. We are honored that so many religious leaders are reaching across partisan and ideological lines in this Convention to address the values that matter to Americans.”

“Democrats have been, are and will continue to be people of faith – and this Convention will demonstrate that in an unprecedented way,” said Leah D. Daughtry, CEO of the DNCC. “As Convention CEO and a pastor myself, I am incredibly proud that so many esteemed leaders from the faith community will be with us to celebrate this historic occasion and honor the diverse faith traditions inside the Democratic Party.”

Forgetting for the moment the suspicion that Obama is a closet atheist, it’s somewhat encouraging tho think of the diversity of religious leaders here.  The very notion of being a religious leader implies the stringent belief that your specific faith is the absolute correct one; being willing to work with others with beliefs differing from your own in cooperation for the benefit of one’s country is a bad thing….how?

Besides which, if you think secluar ideals should be respected and upheld in the law at all, Democrats are pretty much your only shot at this point in American politics.  Financial support for faith-based community groups is very, very different from the disgusting brand of pro-abstinence taching Republicans call “sex-ed.”  If the Democrats want to win, they absolutely have to woo believers into voting for them, there’s just no question about that.

PZ quips:

There are more details that follow, with day-by-day announcements of invocations and benedictions and meetings led by people like the vapid Jim Wallis, that I’ve cut off. You don’t want to go, anyway.

Of course you don’t, you’re reading PZ’s retarded blog.  And who the hell is he to call anybody else vapid?

I am particularly annoyed by the claim that “Democrats have been, are and will continue to be people of faith” — which I take as a declaration that I can’t be a Democrat.

Bullshit.  PZ has tons of faith in his lack of faith.  On a broader level, Democrats are a people of faith – in order to have progressive ideals, you absolutely have to have faith in your government to enact social programs rightly and not embezzle tax money, as well as faith in your contemporaries to be good, decent people.  Without faith in others, you end up supporting totalitarian regimes much in the vein of what Republicans seek.

If they actually invited an atheist to join in the “dialogue, celebration and prayer”, he would be obligated to rebuke the assembled crowd. The dialogue would consist of informing them all that the United States has a secular government, the Democrats are obligated to fill the role of a secular party, and there should be no place for superstitious nonsense in the hard work of governing.

God damn, the very notion that PZ puts forth here of some kind of Atheist pastor goes against all of his cawing about Atheism not beling a religion.  At least, he’s got to stop acting like it is one if he wants to maintain ANY credibility here.  Besides which, why fully rebuke a crowd that may very well be chock full of atheists?  Such rebuking is no obligation, just proof that his brand of Atheism promotes intolerance and hatred.

Also, sorry to shit on his self-reighteous parade, but the United States was formed by deists.  Having a government that doesn’t dip its dirty fingers in the honey jar of organized religion DOES NOT mean that it itself is secular.  If it were, Roe v. Wade would have been a non-issue.  Democrats have no such obligation as he claims, either – they have only ever fielded Christian presidential candidates, and none of them have ever discussed being a Democrat in purely secular terms.  I can understand being an idiot, but lying makes PZ a dick.

There is also nothing to celebrate. Our country has been wracked by an assemblage of idiots ruling in the name of greed and god, and the time has come to restore rational Enlightenment values to the United States of America, not return to benighted medievalisms, and that people of faith ought to confine their silly hobbies to the halls of their churches and keep them out of the state.

They’re not idiots – they succeeded in coming to power, something PZ will never, ever do.  Don’t confuse being stupid with being amoral.  They use the name of God because it gives the invoker a lot of power – the confidence of believers, and the moral righteousness to do whatever they want.  I’m only thankful that PZ is forced to confine his silly hobbies to the Internet – thank God he wasn’t invited to speak at the DNC, he’d destroy Obama’s reputations.

As for prayer … what a waste of time and effort and imagination. Take your useless pleading to a nonexistent and unresponsive deity and go hide away in shame and do it in private — it’s the equivalent of masturbation, only it provides an even lesser sense of accomplishment.

Oh, fuck off. PZ obviously has no idea what prayer is for; those who do it don’t necessarily believe that god is listening to every word. So what if it makes them feel better about life, helps them remember the names of members of extemded family, helps them sleep as part of a lifelong bedtime routine, provides words to turn to in moments of stess and confusion, provides a distraction when shit is hitting the fan, provides a stable anchor in these troubled and ever-changing times?  Such things should not be shameful.  What is shameful is forcing shame onto something so human and visceral, something so helpful and ingrained in the human brain.

PZ’s retarded banter only serves as proof of that religious sector in one’s brain – he speaks with the vitriol of a fire-and-brimstone minister.

People of faith are welcome to contribute to politics. In order to do so, however, they will have to get off their knees, unclasp their hands, and do something productive.

So…people of faith are welcome in politics, as long as they hide every shred of evidence of said faith.  Awesome.  Who said this retard got to make up the rules of politics, anyway?  Clasping one’s religious hands can gain the votes of great numbers of the faithful.  That is very, very fucking productive.

And that’s why they haven’t invited any godless rationalists to their party of pandering to fools.

No, they didn’t invite assholes like you because you’ll alienate almost everybody they need in order to win this election.