Wednesday, November 30, 2011

My Patience Is Wearing Thin

They say opinions are like assholes - everybody has one. Nowhere has that been more obvious to me than with today's letter to the editor from Christie Miller of Tupelo. Since she's seen fit to bare hers to the world, I'd like to present her with mine. Perhaps some would see this as a bit of petulance on my part but I think a large reason why we've gotten into the mess we're in is because we've decided it is impolite to ridicule stupidity. I disagree with that and, as my patience wears ever thinner with these "forced birth" people, I intend to indulge in as much pointed ridicule as I can.

God frowns upon Mississippians, as they voted NO on Amendment 26 that stated life begins at the moment of conception.

How the hell do you know that? Can you see Yahweh's face because even Moses wasn't given that privilege (Exodus 33:20). Or did Yahweh come down and tell you he was pissed? Can you please explain how you know anything about how Yahweh feels at a particular time and who the hell gave you the right to speak for said deity? (Perhaps there is some truth in I Timothy 5:13-14 which advises that it's best to keep women pregnant and busy; otherwise, they run around talking too much and poking their noses in people's business as we see here.)

How could this state, known as the Bible Belt of the South, have been so blinded and misinformed? Many myths and out right lies were circulated by the pro-choice advocates, but one cannot place all blame on these.

The reason so many are blind and misinformed is because they look to the Bible and their preachers as the ultimate source of truth and those are not valid places to look for scientific truth. As long as we've used holy books to determine scientific truth, we've thought that the earth was a flat disc, that a wife's fidelity could be determined by water, that bats were birds, insects have four legs, and that breeds are determined by whatever kind of plants they happen to look at while they mate. When we put aside these silly tales and take up actual scientific inquiry, we learn the causes for disease and how to cure (or better yet prevent) many of them. We learn how the world works and we use these discoveries to improve our lives. We didn't get good vaccines, surgical procedures, or plans for space shuttles from the Bible - we got them from science. So when you are going to the Bible as your source of authority for biology and American law, you've already double-failed.

The Bible, God's Holy Word, utterly dispels all that Planned Parenthood and the pro-choice groups would have one believe. Even nature itself provides common sense in defense of pro-life. It is each individual's responsibility to seek out and separate the truths from the untruths.

Are you still talking about the Bible? What is it going to take for you to extract your head from your rear and learn that ancient holy books are not scientifically accurate? What if we make a rule that those who do not value science no longer get to benefit from it? How about we take away your car, your computer, your cell phone, your easily-accessible food and clean water, your medications, and all the shit that makes your life worthwhile. Why don't we just take all that away from you and you can fall back on your Bible and take its advice instead. I can't wait to see you pack up your gear and trek to the Mississippi River, take a dip in it, and hope that your cancer is somehow cured.

As for what nature says, don't get me started. Some animals eat their young. Some primates kill the children of rival females. Nature is not always the best place to go for our morals as I suspect you well know. After all, we know that many animals are homosexual but you don't go saying that it's ok for humans to be gay because of that, right? 

Ignorance is indeed the enemy, and public perception seems to be guided by those with the least amount of knowledge at the present time.

You're totally right. Our public perception is largely guided by people like you who don't know jack about anything but are happy to spread that ignorance around in large doses. If you had any knowledge on the subject, you'd be making rational arguments from biology and law but you don't have any. All you have is your interpretation of an old book and your concept of a god (who apparently always agrees with you). 

Albert Einstein said, "Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it."

I agree with this too for the most part. And since the government isn't demanding that you abort or use contraceptives, feel free not to do so. As for the rest of us, leave us the hell alone. Our consciences are every bit as important as yours.

Amendment 26 is not a socialistic governmental issue, but instead a life or death morality issue. Having said that, the current socialist White House Administration is very pleased with the citizens of Mississippi: God is not.

And with that last sentence, you just proved that you have no knowledge or insight on anything much that's going on politically. Apparently, all you can give us is whatever drops off the lips of the most ignorant and insane among us. At this point, no reasonable person should take you seriously since you think a center-right administration is somehow "socialist."

"Thus saith the Lord," Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord." Jeremiah 17:5.

Honestly, I don't care about the words of a deity who doesn't understand the world he supposedly made or how anything in it works. His curses don't scare me in the least. But if we want to play the battle of out-of-context verses, I'll offer up this one to you, Ms. Miller:

Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. - I Timothy 2:11-12.

That means you need to hush and quit lecturing men about how they should have voted. You are sinning - a disgrace to your husband and to your god.

Mississippians neglected a perfect God-given right and opportunity to lead this nation in the right direction, and instead chose to wander, just as the Children of Israel in the wilderness for forty years. It has been thirty-eight years since Roe vs. Wade, with forty years fast approaching. With the number forty meaning probation, Mississippians as well as this nation as a whole, should awaken to the truth.

No, Mississippians rejected the temptation to take your particular religious view and make it law. I know this may come as a shock to you but not every Christian interprets the Bible the same way you do and not everyone in Mississippi is a Christian. You have NO right to make your religion my law. You have NO right to determine my medical treatment for me. And you have absolutely NO right to demand that I have kids just because you think they are precious gifts from your god. What makes you think you have the authority to demand this of us?

Oh, I know. Because of your god. Because, sadly, you are playing god. 

Truly, God is long-suffering, but His patience will not last forever.

Truly, I'm not very long-suffering any more. I'm done with patience because people like you interpret silence as consent. I do not consent to your theocratic, pseudoscientific bullshit. I will not allow you to force your religious beliefs on me. And I will not sit idly by and let you lie and threaten Mississippians in the newspaper like a spoiled child because you didn't get your way. I seriously suggest that you go to your room for a time out and read the Bill of Rights. Read the history of America. Read and understand that you have a right to your religion but you've got no authority to make the rest of us believe it or practice it. You aren't a god. You're just a selfish kid who's mad because you didn't get your way and now your screaming, "My daddy's going to get you all!" Guess what? We don't care. We're not interested. Some of us don't see your god as a malevolent tyrant and some of us don't believe in him at all. So quit wasting our time with the foot-stamping. Grow up a little and realize that you don't own the playpen and you're stuck in it with those of us who aren't going to roll over or bow down every time you throw a fit. No, every time you come at us with this kind of nonsense, we are going to point and laugh and call you out for what you are. 

And for those who are extremely pissed off now that I've hit a nerve or two, there's a place for comments just below. Use it. Speak your mind. There's plenty more where this came from.

13 comments:

  1. Two points I think you missed in your rebuttal:

    1. Mississippi is not in and of itself the Bible Belt. It may be the buckle, but let's at least accept that this state is just one among many that has failed to replace the Constitution with the Old Testament. Maybe take a drive east or north? You'll be in Tennessee or Alabama in about an hour. But be warned: There be dragons!

    2. DFF-Ts will promise to stop quoting Timothy if you, fair lady, quit quoting Einstein. At least this DFF-T is being ironic.

    Otherwise, nice work!

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  2. A very concise and much appreciated rebuttal.

    Well done!

    Steve Schlicht
    Biloxi MS

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  3. A fine performance. It's a breath of fresh air to know that, along with another great group I belong to locally, there are people like you -- SANE people -- in this state. I'd love to write with/for you sometime, even.

    Keep up the awesome work.

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  4. What a reminder Ms. Miller's letter serves of how frustrating it was at times to live in MS, being exposed to ignorance like this spewing forth in abundance.

    Good for you for pointing out nonsense. Glad to see there are people of sanity and reason from my home state speaking out. Please keep it up!

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  5. Debbie - I do indeed hate to keep having to quote Timothy and I Corinthians at these ladies...especially since I'm female myself! Having read quite a bit on Bible analysis, I feel pretty sure that the Corinthians verse was, as Bart Ehrman says, a later addition by a scribe. I also believe that Timothy wasn't written by Paul but by some later church father.

    Nevertheless, I keep throwing those out there to remind these women that if they want to be Bible literalists, there is a steep price to pay for it.

    @Alex - email me at tweenkyd@gmail.com and let's talk about it!

    Thanks everyone!

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  6. Nicely said! Thank you!

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  7. Awesome, enjoyed it =)

    Melanie Walls

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  8. As a Christian who is NOT an idiot, I would like to say two things:

    First, well said. It's unfortunate that facts and clever turns of phrase are lost on these people.

    Second, thank God for scientists.

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  9. @Christian Anonymous - Most Christians I know aren't idiots. It just seems that the ones who are factually challenged are louder, more motivated, and more organized than everyone else. It's been great to see liberal and moderate believers stand up against the tide of literalism and anti-science. I'm proud to count you as an ally.

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  10. Guess what else is a God given right? The freedom to choose your own path, based on your own system of beliefs. It wasn't God we approached in that voting booth, it was "Man"'s law. Some of us who practice Christian faith would never willingly surrender to man's law our God Given right to choose, anything! Thank God that Mississippians realized there was so much more at stake than a fertilized egg's rights to live above all others.

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  11. It is so refreshing to see Christians energized like this and pushing back against the idea that a small subset of believers know what God wants and must push it on to every one else.

    If Christianity is going to change around here, you guys will be instrumental in doing it. Don't be afraid to speak out. If a grumpy old atheist can do it, you can too!

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  12. It never fails to amaze me how many people offer the Bible as empirical proof of fact, especially when it is so very obvious that they've never actually read it.

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  13. It's annoying to me when Bible literalists pick and choose in order to justify what they are doing. However, it's devastating to our society when they impose those values and practices on us. Just another reason why I think raising awareness is so important.

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