I remember an ex-Catholic telling this story in the Cozy Cafe in Lawrence Massachusetts:

Once there was a very poor king living in a land somewhere to the east.  The king was very poor because he could not get his surfs to work… because he had nothing to pay them… he had no soldiers for the same reason…. He did have a wise-man the wise-man was family, and family can be worked for no pay.

The wise man said “So you have no money… promise them “salvation”

The king said “What???”

tell them there is a great diety watching their every move.. a vengful diety who will consign them to a firey netherworld if they don’t work… and will grant them admission to a land of plenty if they do….

“BUT” said the king “.... they won’t listen to me for I am not wealthy or powerful king”

“Tell them your riches are with God, and you are content… then act like you are…” responded the wiseman…

So the king did, and the rest is “history”

Not the best rendition of this story…but that is because the Cozy Cafe sold VERY cheap booze!

OMG, this is too funny
Go Boy Go!!!

Homer
Hit
Slide into home….

Thanks

Brookie and Family

Back at ya kath c:

Sorry to be a downer, it’s my Catholic upbringing.
A little penance or a few brewskies and I’ll be right as rain!

BTW, spell check kicks out “brewskies” as “brew skies”
which reminded me of the old Irving Berlin standard:

Brew skies….. smiling at me……..
Nothing but brew skies……. Do I see!

I think they have “brew skies” over Milwaukee.

It also is about misinformation.  People (especially Christians) proceed with false suppositions about the foundations of western culture and tradition.

see:
http://www.myspace.com/1225truth

reply to Broiler:
Why such a pessimist? You sound so down and apocalyptic. My reasonably devout middle-aged mother accidentally converted herself by reading my copy (oops!) of Bertrand Russell’s ‘The History of Western Philosophy’. But then, Mama was always one heck of a lot brighter than her society required her to be as a housewife and devoted mother of five, and all-round ‘nice girl’. As for John Safran, from what i hear about the guy he is not so much political as he is a born stirrer (God bless him!). Very, very smart and funny guy, and not a bad musician either. But i don’t think he’s really out to change things. He’s just out there to have fun.
Keep your chin up, old chook.

Cute, very funny, I agree with the concept.
I don’t think this is a winning tactic.

Harris, Dawkins, Dennett, Henderson and others
make brilliant arguments but for the brainwashed
masses they remain arguments and sides are drawn
and converts are few.

You are working against belief systems passed down
over thousands of years and human nature is to
accept myth as fact at that point and move on
to other issues. Not a good answer but that’s
the truth. I don’t know if there’s time for a
war of beliefs before life on this rock ends.

I’m not saying give up. I don’t think you can
confront middle-aged people never exposed to
free thought and expect that their “auto-immune”
system will stop functioning. It’s great for laughs
but not much more.

There’s gotta be a better way but I’m not sure
there’s time for success with any method.

Wonderful!!!!

Why are these mormans so rude to Safran? Why didn’t mormans ask their god to verify their god’s existence and the bible is not a fiction?

Cus they are just bunch of ostriches.

Dear God,
Hope you got the letter and I pray you can make it better down here. I don’t mean a big reduction in the price of beer, but all the people that you made in your image, see them starving on their feet, cause they don’t get enough to eat, from God. I can’t believe in you.
Dear God,
Sorry to disturb you, but I feel that I should be heard loud and clear. We all need a big reduction in the amount of tears and all the people that you made in your image see them fighting in the street, cause they can’t make opinions meet about God. I can’t believe in you.
Did you make disease and the diamond blue? Did you make mankind after we made you? And the devil too?
Dear God,
Don’t know if you’ve noticed but, your name is on a lot of quotes in this book. Us crazy humans wrote it you should take a look. All the people that you made in your image still believing that junk is true, well I know aint and so do you, dear God. I can’t believe in you. I don’t believe in…
I won’t believe in heaven and hell.
No saints no sinners no devil as well. No pearly gates, no thorny crown. You’re always letting us humans down. The wars you bring, the babes you drown. Those lost at see and never found and it’s the same the whole world round. The hurt I see helps to compound, that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, is just somebody’s unholy hoax. And if you up there, you’ll percieve that my hearts here upon my sleeve. If there’s one thing I don’t believe in, it’s you.
Dear God.

                                - Andy Patridge (XTC)

We should take a leaf out of the missionaries book.  When they first went to Africa they ridiculed the native African religions and used that as a tool to convert people to their religion.

Us athiests do need to ridicule religion (all religions not just christian), so people have a chance to stand back and see how crazy the basic stories are that underlie their particular religion.  Just as crazy as the stories that underlined aboriginal religions, the norse gods, the greek gods, the roman gods etc.  Everyone can see how crazy those stories are now, but can’t relate it to their own religion.

The more humor, the better.

Ah, so the old man doesn’t like it when someone tries to shove their beliefs (or non-belief) down his throat, so he decides to show how full of God’s love he is by hitting them with a rake?

That sets an interesting precident.  Do I get to hit with rakes all the religious solicitors that come by my place?

And this goes double for Jehovah’s Witnesses. They often come here dragging a young child with them. When they do that, I’m polite because I don’t want to distress the kid. Obviously, I think more about their child’s welfare than they do.

I’m even polite when they don’t have a kid with them, but it’s hard. I’m an atheist (shock, horror!) and I’m a lot nicer than any of these guys.

This is just what the world needs: lots more atheist agitprop!!! Act now. Think up a little skit and then JUST DO IT. Organized religions all suck and are totally unbelievable nonsense—let’s make the point.  Get in beleivers faces. Why? Because stupidity is the root of all evil and evil must be confronted. And moreover there’s a ironic pleasure to be had in prosletizing for atheism.

Religious fundamentalist and atheist ARE the same creature. They KNOW.

This makes far more sense than what Sam Harris is doing.  You gotta get your message out there.  I doubt many believers go out of their way to read Sam Harris.  So, Sam is preaching to the choir, in effect.  You gotta fight fire with fire.  Unfortunately, the influence of parents and the church on impressionable young minds is overwhelming.  Couple that with the fact that few people have the courage to embrace and exercise the privilege and responsibility of self-determination, without relying on some imagined, mythical superior being, then, trying to turn more than a few people to atheism is probably a hopeless endeavor.

It’s about time, religion needs to be banned before it distroys the world. If your into BS & tales, read a comic book, if you like your religion, worship and keep it out of politics.

Incidentally, the Mormons don’t go around door to door as much these days.  True, they will come to your house and give you their shrink wrapped presentation (complete with pictures!) but they have learned people aren’t all that in to it.  I’m sure in some states and countries it is more acute than in others, but whatever.  Next time a pair of Mormon missionaries come to your door, just ask them if they’ve seen the films Orgazmo, Angels in America, or Latter Days. If they say yes to one or all, I think you should speak with them.  However, if they’ve actually seen these movies, they probably wouldn’t be coming to your door.

Thank god there are people like John Safran…I mean..uh…Thank…er..um…just thanks for people like John Safran…

This is a pretty fair way to look at things.  I’m glad Sheer is giving us atheists air time so that we can show people we aren’t the devil incarnate or whatever they think

i bought five copies of Richard Dawkins’ ‘The God Delusion’ and waited outside a church on Sunday to give them away to the churchgoers. I was my usual smiling self, a little quirky, but real. The reaction was luke-warm to say the least. Some people are incredibly close-minded. If they think they know, they don’t bother to actually look.
yours,
new fan of John Safran

Oh my goodness, looks to me like John Safran and his “companion” have a bit of a “God” complex buried deep in their “souls” else why this deliberate seeking after “martyrdom” ... hum?

These scenes could have been “Mormon” missionaries or “Jehovah’s Witnesses” because they receive much the same welcome everywhere they go.

Door slamming, name calling ... and the rake? I’ve heard tales of getting run off with buck-shot flying overhead. Such is the life of a proselytizer.

So, if it really bugs you, here’s a few tips. Post a small sign on your gate or door that says “NO MISSIONARIES” or place a large hand written note on the door that says SHHHH! BABY SLEEPING. If Jehovah’s Witnesses bug you just invite them in to meet your “GUARDIAN ANGELS” they’ll never come back!

But if Safron must ... then proselyte away and be exactly what he claims to disdain. Aside from giving us all a good chuckle, he provided us with an excellent demonstration of seeking after “martyrdom” a definite “religious” passion.

And by the way, who gave Safron permission to imply Darwin was the founder of Atheism and The Origin of Species was written as the guide for teaching Atheism?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Darwin a scientist who determined “evolution is transmission with adaptation,” a theory widely accepted today? I don’t think Darwin was ever a religious/non-religious missionary zealot. He was forced to defend his position, but never went proselytizing to convert Believers in God to Atheism.

Maybe Safron has Darwin’s The Origin of Species confused with “Social Darwinism” a sort of religious/social/philosophy that tries to meld the challenge of science with the word of the Bible and the comfortable, and has nothing to do with Darwin other than his name was taken. Besides, do real atheists proselytize? Do they feel the need?

As the the Doctor said the first cosmic law is “Dont lay your trip to heavy on someone else.” Timothy Leary

I am a christian and yet I think this is great! It is not up to any holy roller to invade either the privacy nor some-ones country to ensure that they are following my beliefs. Good on you!

I enjoyed your creative show. I took aim at religion on my website meet-jesus.com. But for things to change in America, we need to use the law. We need to start teaching about evolution early. Its easy to understand. We also know a lot about the chemical origin of life on Earth. Teaching evolution should be required by law. Its the underlying principle for all of biology. Instead schools fire teachers for teaching evolution. Parents complain about teaching evolution to children. And private schools are not required to mention it.

I love this! Payback is a b*tch;0)