Wingnut uses marital status against gays

You can't make this stuff up. It's one of those "damned if you do, damned if you don't" things. Let's see how this one works.

Michigan Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema regularly votes against allowing gays to marry, allowing them equal rights, etc. Yup, he's a dyed-in-the-wool wingnut -- and the Wingnut Creed requires that they hate gay people.

Ah, but the story doesn't end there. Recently he sponsored a bill to ban domestic partner benefits for all public employees. He actually said this to support his position:

In defending his legislation, Agema wrote in a 2011 statement, "It is not the responsibility of taxpayers to support the roommates and unmarried partners of public employees."

So...we can't marry...and we can't get benefits because we're, ahem, not married. This is how wingnuts roll -- without any logic. I will be so happy when stupid people go out of vogue. It'll happen some day, right?...Right?

Evil pope stays on point

You have to give the pope credit: he never stops beating his drum.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The pope pressed his opposition to gay marriage Friday, denouncing what he described as people manipulating their God-given identities to suit their sexual choices — and destroying the very "essence of the human creature" in the process. 

Way to go, popey guy! Spread the true spirit of Christmas all around. Joy to the world! The article says he "made the comments in his annual Christmas address to the Vatican bureaucracy, one of his most important speeches of the year." Nice. Very nice.

And how's this for an example of colossal dissonance?

"People dispute the idea that they have a nature, given to them by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human being," he said.

I can't believe he said that. That's a great description of how gay people know they're gay. Because they "have a nature, given to them by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human being." We don't even have to change the pope's words. Seriously, who writes this guy's stuff? A gay Vatican priest who hates the pope's hypocrisy?

And now I'll speak directly to the pope. Think of this as my Xmas message to the grand man. "You pig, you." Let me repeat this: "You pig, you." What a disgusting, amoral man. Then again, who better to sit at the head of a worldwide death cult?

Ho, ho, ho. Merry Xmas!

Creationist lunacy

Both PZ and Jerry Coyne focused on one particular intelligent-design fool's remarks today. I want to excerpt something the creationist idiot said. Here's the quote:

Is the process of eating and cellular respiration the result of a mere fluke of evolution? Alternatively, could it be that a common Designer made certain that the process of eating and cellular respiration would function in such a precise and perfect manner? Which answer appears to be the most probable to you?

Yes, indeed. Jeebus sure did make everything convenient for us, didn't he? I mean, if you think about it, he's the one who's responsible for ensuring that children who are buried under an earthquake -- but still alive -- have the awareness to know that rats are eating them as they die. And come to think of it, it must be this Jeebus fellow who made pain so painful. Wow, he was really watching out for us with that one, huh? Thankfully, because of Jeebus' "precise and perfect" ministrations, many people live in intense, unbearable and constant pain throughout their lives. Jeebus must be one swell guy. 

I swear, these creationists haven't got a single brain cell in their heads. They can't think clearly about anything.

Is religion what's wrong with the world?

Religion is humanity's most pressing problem. It is the great evil in our midst, sucking minds and energy into into a meaningless void. Religion is indeed what's wrong with the world. If this sounds simple it's because it is. Here's how it works.

If you don't know the difference between reality and nonsense, you have no common sense. This means you have a complete inability to think things through in a logical manner. You lack judgment and this has dire consequences. You can't tell right from wrong when you don't know what's real. You're impaired.

Letting mush preside in the center of your brain like a creamy chocolate filling is not a sensible way to go through life. How can you see the world clearly if you have to monitor and control your thoughts so they remain consistent with the fairytales you believe? Before you begin the race, you have already given away the car. You can't judge anything. You tossed that all away. To beat the analogy into the ground, if your brain was a car we would be forced to take away your license. I repeat: you are impaired. 

(And of course, you can't tell religious folks about this and expect them to understand what you're saying. They're like Appleby in Catch-22, when he can't see the flies in his eyes because he has flies in his eyes. Oy.)

This is the primary reason for America's current know-nothing, ignorant-git state of affairs. Too many Americans believe in gods, devils, angels, demons and other assorted voodoo -- to the exclusion of believing in each other. We control our lives, not some invisible being in the sky. But religious people will never see the obvious truth. They're happy (joyful, even) to abandon all intellectual integrity in pursuit of absolutely nothing. And the dissonance! Let us consider the dissonance.

There are allegedly intelligent people in this country who call themselves religious. Well, I'm sorry but I can't believe a word they say. If you're smart then you know there's no god. It's far too ridiculous an idea to maintain in your brain if you can actually think.  And smart people are generally good thinkers. This is where the dissonance sets in.

These are the ones who have fallen the farthest. They know there is no god yet they tell themselves (and any damn fool who will listen) that they believe in a god, and fervently no less. But holding two mortally-opposed concepts in one brain creates dissonance, and dealing with dissonance is a frightening, all-consuming task. As a result they become unable to think about anything in a rational manner. Just turn on Fox news if you don't believe me. There you'll see a host of insane, ignorant people of this variety. They literally have no idea which way is up. 

Religion erodes minds. Estimates range, but somewhere between 50% - 80% of Americans believe in angels -- and this in the year 2010! Until this changes, until Americans put their angels away in the toy closet where they belong, we will remain a country where no one makes sense and no one succeeds. (And they'll kill us all in the process.)

PS: I see the pope finally stumbled into a seemingly sensible position on AIDS and condoms. He seems to arrive at "good" positions by railing against them for months or years, and then saying something else only when the world reacts with disgust and horror to what he's already said. Then he takes the next position, saying dreadful things along the way to offend everyone he can. And when he finally arrives at the right position through a process of elimination, everyone cheers and conveniently forgets all that went before. Really, you've got to give the little feller high marks for infallibility. When this guy does infallibility, it can even go in two opposite directions! Wattaguy!

PPS: Oh, wait, he's screwed it up already. AP reports the latest version of the story: "Condom use less evil than spreading HIV." Way to go, popey. Protecting yourself against HIV infection with a condom is evil. You can do it, see, to protect someone, see, but it's evil. Does this guy know how to frame the issues or what? But again, you must commend him on his infallibility. He's confused the world on this issue how many times in just the last week? Yup, infallible. That's our popey.