Dr_Evil_Mouse Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 Hey, they're asking. Focus on the Family survey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 LOL. This made my day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chameleon Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 I gave them some input for sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcO Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 I am also in the process of giving them input.Fuck these people. Fuck them hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmelbatoast Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 "Overall what would you say you're opinion of FotF is?" Answer: About equal with Al Quida. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanada Kev Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 I gave them a piece of my mind. Wonder if i'll be in their prayers tonight to save my soul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Evil_Mouse Posted November 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 No doubt....This is all probably important to do. They never get much dissent from within their own ranks. I just hope they take any they get from this side of things seriously. As Gandhi said, there are no evil people, only people caught up in doing evil things. Miracles happen when they understand that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcO Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 I wished them and their families painful incurable herpes. Does this make me a bad person?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 the key:As Gandhi said, there are no evil people, only people caught up in doing evil things. Miracles happen when they understand that. Making them understand this isn't going to be accomplished by insulting them. If anything at all, that is only going to further their conclusion that you are a lost soul/demonic.Ever talked to any of these kinds of people? It's like talking to a brick wall. They're completely brainwashed and lost. Interventions, I doubt, would even do anything for them.I think the only way to kind of win this war, is to get them while they're young, before they're so set in their ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timouse Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 q: "Is there anything that Focus on the Family should do more of?"a: " yes. focus on YOUR OWN DAMN FAMILY!"thanks dave. this made me feel very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 I'm guessing that some sermon somewhere will incorporate a portion of our comments to underscore the prevelance of evil in society todaypersonally i hope MarcO's herpes wish gets quoted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanada Kev Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 q: "Is there anything that Focus on the Family should do more of?" Reveal their exclusive lists of homosexual massage escorts and meth dealers to ALL of god's children. Jesus would want them to share! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Evil_Mouse Posted November 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Funny thing is, I can't find the results of any of their past surveys anywhere. I think they like to slice and dice the stats according to what impressions they'd like people to get. That's not surprising, but it is a little disappointing. Good point, though, Birdy, about how easily they go on the defensive. The best description I've ever heard applied to these folks is "hypersensitive". How, then, to get them out of their shells? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 i don't know! but i'd say a start would be to talk to them not as if you think they are wrong, but as a (and i know this won't agree with most of you, nor does it me, but cough it up in the name of communication) fellow brother/sister under god, and attempt to show them that there are other ways to find 'the way' through life. that you can still be a good, wholesome, spiritual person without the rigidity of evangelicalism, that their idea of salvation can exists in many forms, that each man, unto himself, will fight his own demons through life, and in the end will face them under his own terms. that their god does not want a race so judgemental and that by being so is only driving them away from their fellow man and would 'god' really want that?to me, this makes way more sense than the punch line "focus on your damn family" or wishing a bout of herpes to them and their own, or comparing their likes to al qaeda. that kind of stuff is really only fuel for their already out of control fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Evil_Mouse Posted November 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 I'd say sometimes a good kick in the butt can't hurt, if it lets them know that people aren't happy with the way they conduct themselves, but of course that has to be done judiciously. They know at some level they live in a democracy (for the time being, as they see it); maybe they can use a jolt from time to time to remember who they (have to) rub elbows with - that majority of the population that doesn't share their views and often resents them for getting them shoved in their face.One of the things that's always astonished me about evangelicals is how they take as one of their theological cornerstones (as Protestants) the idea that they are part of a "priesthood of all believers" - and then they go and set up priests all over again so they can obey them (James Dobson, e.g.). It's as if how Americans seem nostalgic for a monarchy and prop up their presidents as if they were kings (remember Reagan getting heckled when he visited Parliament way back when? They sure don't do that to their presidents down south, like we do to our PMs up here). And so much of the culture seems to lead that way - I remember a brilliant critique of The Lion King that deconstructed it as a prop for (male dominated) inherited monarchies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 I'd agree that swift kicks in the butt do serve a purpose to remind them that there are 'others' out there, but to these born agains, people like you and I are lost souls, just as they once were, who with a little guidance can be saved, just as they were. So to them these little jolts do the exact opposite of what we would intend them to do, but rather just strengthen their ideas of how lost we really are.I've always subscribed to the idea that the best way to defeat your enemy, is to think like him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Evil_Mouse Posted November 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Yes and no - if you conciliate too much (though I expect that's not quite what you're saying), your perspective will get steamrolled. It's important to stand firm with these folks, while still doing what's possible to gain their understanding. Sounds easy, eh? Having been one myself once, I kinda get the angle in, but that just makes breaking those habits that little bit harder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveThe Owl Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Hey, they're asking.Even before reading over the thread, I decided not to answer the survey... I'm afraid of them trying to hunt me down and destroy me like the egg-sucking dog they probably think I am.Seriously, I think there's no point in either trying to gain some sort of "understanding" or to talk "sensibly" with them -- to say nothing of provoking them with sharp (or blunt for that matter) witticisms. It's just best to steer clear and save one's spleen for the real political and cultural confrontations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Evil_Mouse Posted November 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 I dunno, Steve - this seems like one of those confrontations only we can make. Whenever people call "normal" Muslims to task for letting extremists take over their tradition, all I can think is that we sit by and let these characters represent us here and abroad as "the (Christian) West". They need to be challenged, and we're at, or at least near, the front of the line to do so. Just how is another question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveThe Owl Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 They need to be challenged, and we're at, or at least near, the front of the line to do so. I can't debate your wisdom on that point... but one of the prime laws in any engagement is to not allow your opponent to draw -- nay, lure -- you onto their ground. Which I think this "survey" is meant to do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 (edited) Seriously, I think there's no point in either trying to gain some sort of "understanding" or to talk "sensibly" with them -- to say nothing of provoking them with sharp (or blunt for that matter) witticisms. It's just best to steer clear and save one's spleen for the real political and cultural confrontations. i dunno, i'd say it's a pretty real one. real enough for countless people to unite under 'god' to support a crazed man to go to war against the world, to fight an unknown enemy, to commit atrocious war crimes, to turn our society into a bunch of fear-mongering morons who nod our heads yes because we're afraid to say no. all the while, these people never question why, they never wonder if it's wrong. it's right to them, in an entirely new kind of right that most of us can't understand. hence, the brickwall.so in that light i think we really should make an attempt to chat it out with them in terms they can understand, to make them see the other side of the story and let them know it's gonna be OK. Edited November 15, 2006 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 They need to be challenged' date=' and we're at, or at least near, the front of the line to do so.[/quote'] I can't debate your wisdom on that point... but one of the prime laws in any engagement is to not allow your opponent to draw -- nay, lure -- you onto their ground. Which I think this "survey" is meant to do...i think you're right, and i think that they're expecting the response they've been getting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveThe Owl Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Ever talked to any of these kinds of people? It's like talking to a brick wall. They're completely brainwashed and lost. Interventions, I doubt, would even do anything for them.I... er... see your point. Maybe I'm being a little too glib, but the real struggle is to court public opinion, to root out the obvious hypocrisies and expose them to speak for themselves... and just maybe to refute them there. Keep in mind, I'm a church-going kins guy... I just don't like to see an institution I belong to turned on its head for tribalism and hate-mongering... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveThe Owl Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Oy... I think we're getting too fast for each other here... apologies if necessary... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmelbatoast Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 I think I also mentioned something about how on the day of judgement they would burn in the fires of hell forever, or something to that effect. If that isn't engaging them in a dialouge that they'd understand I don't know what is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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