Bob Hankins #fundie

Bob Hankins #fundie chron.com

Then you have to ask yourself the question, who would oppose a prayer meeting for our nation? The answer of course is Satan and those who are deceived by him, including atheists, gay pastors, the Democratic Party and the Houston Chronicle. If they were having a big homosexual rights rally or a Muslim prayer meeting at Reliant, I bet the Houston Chronicle would not be attacking it.

The article said the American Family Association opposes gay rights and evolution. Evolution is a myth that was believed before modern science discovered DNA and the complex design of the human cell and the solar system. Recent scientific discoveries prove that the universe and life have a complex design and if there is a design, there has to be a designer. Nothing happens by chance, including life and a complex universe. The one good thing about the article is that it clearly shows that the Houston Chronicle is opposed to fundamental Christians practicing their faith and expressing their beliefs in public.

84 comments

old comment by Swede

DNA confirms and strengthens the Theory of Evolution, stupid. The human cell is indeed complex, as is the platypus cell, and the amoeba cell.
The solar system has as much to do with evolution as plumbing is involved in a violin concert.

Citation on scientific discoveries about design.
Evolution is definitely not happening by chance. It's trial and error; that which works stays, that which don't disappears.

Jesus says in the Bible that faith should be expressed in private, only charlatans pray in public. Are you a Christian or a Charlatan, Bobby?

Nobody is opposing a prayer meeting, regardless of religion. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and all that jazz, ya know.
Are you opposing an atheist meeting, or a gay meeting? Or are you opposing their right to exist?

old comment by checkmate

who would oppose a prayer meeting for our nation?

As long as it's not publicly funded or endorsed, fine, go ahead, be my guest. I need a good laugh now and then.

It's really amusing to watch a bunch of grown-ups praying to mythical deities. Don't forget, we laugh at you just like you laugh at people who pray to the sun or the moon.

Just don't ask for public money and please don't try and tell me you need it. Your chrissie friends would tithe down to their panties if necessary, so just go somewhere and pray.

Btw, according to your own description of him, your God doesn't care less if your are on the steps of the Capitol Building or out in the middle of the Mojave Desert when you pray.

So why not do your prayer meeting in the desert?

old comment by Dr. Razark

Exactly. Why should we care, when our governor declares that he can't do the job that he was elected to do, so he'd like everyone to help ask his imaginary friend to do it for him? It always works so well.

"The Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas refers to a designated three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, during which Texas governor Rick Perry asked that Texans pray for 'the healing of our land [Texas]' and for an end to the drought."

Obviously it worked very well:
"The drought became worse after the Days of Prayer. While only 15-17% of the state was undergoing exceptional drought during the Days of Prayer, the percentage grew to 50% a month later, and by late June, more than 70% of the state was experiencing exceptional drought conditions, a level at which it has stayed up to August 4, 2011."

old comment by

The problem is that the meeting was held by a guy who's running for president, and the event is a pathetically transparent campaign kickoff meant to convince fundies that voting for him is voting for God, just as Dubya courted the fundies during his campaign by sending thousands of DVDs out to churches, featuring split screen images of him and Jesus.(((shudder)))

OP does have a point about the fact that the media would have handled a Muslim pray-for-the-nation meeting far more favorably, assuming the event wasn't put on by any Muslim foolish enough to think he could actually run for President in this country. The ignorant fundie mob's reaction to a big Muslim gathering, however, might be another story.

old comment by dionysus

Design, eh? What kind of designer keeps reinventing the wheel? And making less efficient wheels at that? Why are there so many different types of wings, for example and why do the creatures with each type of wing seem to share a common ancestry with others that have the same type of wing? Why don't we see, for example, mammals with insect-like wings? Where are all of the chimeras one would expect from an efficient designer? After all, real designers take existing parts and use them inside other devices, like digital watch technology that can be either in an alarm clock or in a car's dashboard. Why do vertebrates see upside-down and have a blind spot when, according to fundies, octopi were created before the beasts of the land and they have much better designed eyes? Granted, this may not disprove a designer, but it does make the notion of an intelligent designer ludicrous. When intelligent designers find something that works, they keep using it. Your supposedly omniscient designer keeps having to arbitrarily use different strategies and seems to have failed most of the time (99% of all species are extinct). That's a horrible designer.

old comment by checkmate

Recent scientific discoveries prove that the universe and life have a complex design and if there is a design, there has to be a designer.

Ok, let's go totally insane for a moment and assume what you say is true.

If "there has to be a designer", then who says it's the God found in your Bible? Maybe it was one of the Mayan gods or some god nobody has ever heard of. Who says Genesis describes what the "designer" did?

Have you ever considered that our universe just might be one that went wrong somewhere along the way, while the "designer" was just practicing? That would explain all the unintelligent parts of the design.

Even if you were right in saying "there has to be a designer", fundamentalist Christianity could still be a huge load of crap.

So, now back to sanity. No design. No designer.

old comment by Papabear

Until you prove that Satan is real, he must be assumed to be fictional. I am not deceived by fictional characters.

"If they were having a big homosexual rights rally or a Muslim prayer meeting at Reliant, I bet the Houston Chronicle would not be attacking it."

Probably because it would be peaceful and not hateful.

"The article said the American Family Association opposes gay rights and evolution. Evolution is a myth that was believed before modern science discovered DNA and the complex design of the human cell and the solar system."

The ToE has been proven over and over and is supported by mountains of credible evidence.

That bright minds figured out parts of the ToE before modern science supported it has no bearing upon the ToE's validity.

"Recent scientific discoveries prove that the universe and life have a complex design and if there is a design, there has to be a designer."

Please show credible proof to support the existence of a designer.

"Nothing happens by chance, including life and a complex universe."

Please show credible proof that things do not happen by chance. Cite high-quality references and show your work.

"The one good thing about the article is that it clearly shows that the Houston Chronicle is opposed to fundamental Christians practicing their faith and expressing their beliefs in public."

They are probably only against spewing untruth and hate. I can see how you might be confused.

old comment by Pule Thamex

Have you noticed how important prayer is in your day to day life? Ever wondered why your sports team never loses? Ever noticed the expression of beatific gratitude on the faces of former short-leg suffers? Ever notice the number of former demon-infested people nonchalantly going about their business, totally unconcerned by the thought of future satanic possession? What you are seeing is the power of prayer.

If only we could show the starving children in Africa how praying to Bible God will alleviate their hunger. If only torture victims in their prisons and dungeons could be shown the power of prayer, their resulting stoicism would unsettle their torturers.

If only the sports team you support would appreciate the true efficacy of prayer. Now, we know that your sports team does indeed pray to Bible God, but so do the winning teams as well. The point is, sport is obviously a competitive pastime, so too is prayer. You need to come up with a winning strategy in order to get Bible God rooting for your team.

When praying, perhaps a more oleaginous flattery may be offered, perhaps more humble self-abasement is in order, alternatively, perhaps a greater grandiloquent outburst of self-righteousness might be a better ploy, perhaps a florid linguistic style could be utilized, maybe a greater injection of faux olde worlde thees and thous etc could be employed, certainly a more profound expression of intent as regards ones personal bigotry, racism, love of money etc. should be offered.

Hopefully, these helpful hints will assist you in your quest for personal success through prayer.

old comment by Horsefeathers

I'm not opposed to it. In fact, go ahead and pray your little brains out. By the sound of things, that shouldn't take very long.

"If they were having a big homosexual rights rally or a Muslim prayer meeting at Reliant, I bet the Houston Chronicle would not be attacking it."

Muslims don't tend to have "prayer meetings" and a homosexual rights rally would actually be useful.

"The article said the American Family Association opposes gay rights and evolution."

And are they wrong?

No. Then what the hell are you bitching about?

"Evolution is a myth that was believed before modern science discovered DNA and the complex design of the human cell and the solar system."

DNA is one of the best lines of evidence we have that evolution is correct. The "complex design of the human cell" isn't all that "complex" and doesn't require a "designer," if that's what you're getting at and I don't even know where you're going with the solar system bit.

"Recent scientific discoveries prove that the universe and life have a complex design and if there is a design, there has to be a designer."

Define this "design" of yours. Show how you know its designed when you have no other universe to compare it to. Describe this designer of yours.

"Nothing happens by chance, including life and a complex universe."

"Chance" and its cousin "luck" have nothing to do with any of this.

"The one good thing about the article is that it clearly shows that the Houston Chronicle is opposed to fundamental Christians practicing their faith and expressing their beliefs in public."

Sounds like they're against ignorance.

old comment by emau99

Then you have to ask yourself the question, who would oppose a prayer meeting for our nation?

I'd imagine that it's people who abide by the Constitution--you know, the first amendment--and expect their fellow Americans to do likewise.

...if there is a design, there has to be a designer.

...and if complexity is indicative of a designer, then the complexity of the designer is indicative that something else designed it. After all, nothing happens by chance...right Bob?

Welcome to the world of the infinite regression.

...opposed to fundamental Christians practicing their faith and expressing their beliefs in public.

Why on earth would you want to pray in public, Bob? After all, Matthew 6:5 explicitly tells you not to do so.

You are violating both the Constitution and the Bible. Well done, Bob.

old comment by Brendan Rizzo

Is this about the Rick Perry fiasco? If that's the case, then people opposed it because it made the United States the laughingstock of the civilized world... AGAIN! It was also completely unconstitutional because it was sponsored by the government, and it also was basically Rick Perry telling the residents of Texas not to do anything to solve its problems and hope that God intervenes in a miracle. He also hoped that the fundies would conveniently forget that his prayer for rain did nothing, and only made things worse. (Sadly, they probably DID forget all about this.) This sort of thing NEVER happens in Europe. NEVER EVER EVER! *seethes*

Liberals would oppose a hypothetical Muslim prayer meeting at Reliant stadium if it were sponsored by the government. The operative words there are "sponsored by the government". This is why Rick Perry's idea was so reviled, as it goes utterly against the separation of church and state. If a Christian prayer meeting were held by a non-governmental organization, nobody would care, and nobody would oppose it.

As for evolution, what you said about genetics disproving it shows that you know nothing about evolution. The amazing genetic similarities between organisms is among the greatest evidence for evolutionary theory. Only a fool, or a fundamentalist, can deny that.

old comment by J. James

The First Amendment, praise be upon it, pretty much eviscerates the first part for me, but the second part is particularly irksome to me as a biology student and someone who works with animals at a science museum.

The definition of a "Myth" sticks only to Creationism, and indeed all religion. It is supported entirely on faith, despite contradictory evidence(read: reality). "Evolution", is a gloriously inaccurate catch-all phrase that seems to encompass natural selective pressures, artificial selective pressures, mutation, all radiometric dating, genetics, abiogenesis, the fossil record, GEOLOGY, COSMOLOGY etc. But for our purposes, let's just say that he's talking about natural and artificial selection as an explanation for the origin of species. DNA completely and totally corroborates a more-or-less random but relatively steady rate of mutation that leads to changes in genotype, phenotype and selective pressures. Common ancestry is further proven by DNA, and is independently supported by the fossil record.

More damningly, however, is the fact that all of this is completely observable. You can observe speciation in bacteria, drosophila flies, stickleback fish, salamanders, gulls, and even higher animals like domesticated dogs. Speciation is no special or even particularly rare thing, and even if it was, Creationists have provided zero reason why it CAN'T occur and so-called "micro"evolution CAN.

Your position=fail

Q.E.D., motherfucker!

old comment by Anon-e-moose

"Then you have to ask yourself the question, who would oppose a prayer meeting for our nation? The answer of course is Satan and those who are deceived by him, including atheists, gay pastors, the Democratic Party and the Houston Chronicle. If they were having a big homosexual rights rally or a Muslim prayer meeting at Reliant, I bet the Houston Chronicle would not be attacking it."

And then you have to read your own Constitution and your Bible, Mr. Wankins:

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

Matthew 6:6

Then ask yourself the question: what the fuck has the activities of adult, consenting men/women/transgenders in the privacy of their homes got to do with you? Do they campaign to make heterosexuality illegal?

If your answer to that latter question is the only one possible, you've just destroyed your own argument.

Speaking as a straight man, the legalisation of homosexuality in 1967, the popularisation - nay, assimilation - of LGBT culture into everyday life (especially in entertainment media etc); to say nothing of Civil Partnerships becoming legal and commonplace here in the UK has affected my personal lifestyle & way of life as a straight person exactly this much:

Zero.

(emph-ass-is added)

"fundamental Christians practicing their faith and expressing their beliefs in public"

Awwww diddums, so you no longer have the right to persecute those you don't like?! You =

image

'Persecuting' others because something about them bothers you in any way, shape or form is not a human right. Equal human rights under the law - as per the Rule of Law in all decent, democratic societies - is.

Deal with it.

Bob Hankins #fundie chron.com

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