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Below are the 18 most recent journal entries recorded in
The Edifying Spectacle's LiveJournal:
| Friday, March 4th, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 8:24 pm [masktchi] |
Attention South Florida Atheists, Agnostics, Freethinkers, and Humanists Our current members and I of the Broward Atheists Meetup (www.browardatheists.com and in www.meetup.com) welcome all interested in atheism, theism, freethought, agnosticism, humanism, transhumanism, state and church seperation (otherwise known as seperation of sturch), and related topics to our Tuesday meetings after 6:30pm. The www.browardatheists.com website has details on our venue, it is currently a pub, but will change when more members are acquired. We're already bulging at the seams with an average attendance of about twelve. No matter your age, beliefs, or preferences, we'd like to hear your opinion. Even the sternest Christians may come and present their thoughts, because if you really believe we're going to hell, we sure don't want to be wrong about the subject, haha, but most members are pretty confident about their atheism and agnosticism. I mention the invitation only to be open-minded. Anyways, we usually discuss religion, politics, philosophy, etc. but do not feel obligated to have to order anything despite it being a pub. There is no membership fee either, it is an informal event so far seeing how we have too few to be more organized, but we'd like to be! And we'd like to have enough people to start some activism and be as productive as possible. Aside from the weekly Tuesday meetings, there are fun events such as campfires and beach barbeques scheduled. We sure would like to cooperate with other groups and more members to voice the rights and freedoms we and others deserve regardless of our beliefs and with your ideas and help, this can be made possible. The current goal is to eliminate the negative stigma attached to our labels by altruism and stoicism such as scholarships and good deeds. E-mail me with any questions or better yet, any one else you can get in contact with from the website to get a clearer understanding of who and what we are. We turn no one down and encourage debate, skepticism, and reason. The meetings are definitely worthwhile and interesting or else I wouldn't waste the little free time I have as a college student to invite any one else to come join the experience. If you are in the area and find the time inconvenient with your busy schedule, no hard feelings will be had, but at least sign the guestbook so we can know you support us and wish you could come. :-) -Jason | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Friday, September 17th, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1:41 pm [maydayflower] |
Since I'm a proud Christian conservative, I often feel the need to turn people into Christian conservatives just like me. I found this amazingly heart-warming story in my favorite Live Journal community, Bush2004, and I thought I would share it with all of you. A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat and was for distribution of all wealth. She felt deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican which she expressed openly. One day she was challenging her father on his beliefs and his opposition to higher taxes on the rich & the addition of more government welfare programs. Based on the lectures that she had participated in and the occasional chat with a professor she felt that for years her father had obviously harbored an evil, even selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his. The self professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He stopped her and asked her point blank, how she was doing in school. She answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain. That she studied all the time, never had time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend and didn't really have many college friends because of spending all her <> time studying. That she was taking a more difficult curriculum. Her father listened and then asked, "How is your good friend Kwanisha doing?" She replied, "Kwanisha is barely getting by." She continued, "She barely has a 2.0 GPA," adding, "Kwanisha doesn't have the luxury of having her College Tuition paid for by a rich daddy like I do. Kwanish has to WORK much harder for her education, literally. She works a full-time job and never has time to study. She can barely even afford to pay all her bills on time." She continued "I doubt Kwanisha is going to even pass this semester. She will probably get suspended for having such a poor GPA, and have to continue working her low-wage job in order to pay off the remainder of her tuition." Her father then asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your 4.0 GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0." He continued, "That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA." The daughter visibly shocked by her father's suggestion angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I got all your money for mine, I did without and Mary has worked extremely hard for hers, she worked while I didn't have to work at all!" The father slowly smiled, winked and said, "Welcome to the Republican Party" The daughter looked very confused, "Um...okay?" Well, I'll be honest; I like most of this story, but the part about Kwanisha throws me off. Not to mention, I don't like the sound of her name. It sounds deviant. However, I'm glad the overall message of the story is in favor of Republicans like myself. God bless all of your faces. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Monday, September 13th, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 12:43 pm [maydayflower] |
OH heavens, I love new friends, and I have a feeling so do all of you. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sunday, August 29th, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 5:06 pm [maydayflower] |
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| Thursday, August 19th, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 10:04 pm [maydayflower] |
Hello my fellow Christians. I just joined and wanted to share my new color bar with you guys. I hope you like it. :)
Remember, we MUST defend our sacred marriage and other hot-button issues this upcomming election! | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Saturday, June 19th, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 5:56 pm [necrodiac] |
More biblepushing silliness proving we're all condemmed to hell! STEPS IN OVERCOMING MASTURBATION Mark E. Petersen Council of the 12 Apostles Be assured that you can be cured of your difficulty. Many have been, both male and female, and you can be also if you determine that it must be so. This determination is the first step. That is where we begin. You must decide that you will end this practice, and when you make that decision, the problem will be greatly reduced at once. After you have made this decision, then observe the following specific guidelines: A Guide to Self-Control: 1. Never touch the intimate parts of your body except during normal toilet processes. 2. Avoid being alone as much as possible. Find good company and stay in this good company. 3. If you are associated with other persons having this same problem, YOU MUST BREAK OFF THEIR FRIENDSHIP. Never associate with other people having the same weakness. Don't suppose that two of you will quit together, you never will. You must get away from people of that kind. Just to be in their presence will keep your problem foremost in your mind. The problem must be taken OUT OF YOUR MIND for that is where it really exists. Your mind must be on other and more wholesome things. 4. When you bathe, do not admire yourself in a mirror. Never stay in the bath more than five or six minutes -- just long enough to bathe and dry and dress AND THEN GET OUT OF THE BATHROOM into a room where you will have some member of your family present. 5. When in bed, if that is where you have your problem for the most part, dress yourself for the night so securely that you cannot easily touch your vital parts, and so that it would be difficult and time consuming for you to remove those clothes. By the time you started to remove protective clothing you would have sufficiently controlled your thinking that the temptation would leave you. 6. Never read pornographic material. Never read about your problem. Keep it out of mind. Remember -- "First a thought, then an act." Suggestions: 1. Pray daily, ask for the gifts of the Spirit, that which will strengthen you against temptation. Pray fervently and out loud when the temptations are the strongest. 2. When the temptation to masturbate is strong, yell STOP to those thoughts as loudly as you can in your mind and then recite a pre-chosen Scripture or sing an inspirational hymn. It is important to turn your thoughts away from the selfish need to indulge. 3. Set goals of abstinence, begin with a day, then a week, month, year and finally commit to never doing it again. Until you commit yourself to never again you will always be open to temptation. 5. Use principles of developing friendships found in books such as How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. 6. Make a pocket calendar for a month on a small card. Carry it with you, but show it to no one. If you have a lapse of self control, color the day black. Your goal will be to have no black days. The calendar becomes a strong visual reminder of self control and should be looked at when you are tempted to add another black day. Keep your calendar up until you have at least three clear months. 7. In the field of psychotherapy there is a very effective technique called aversion therapy. When we associate or think of something very distasteful with something which has been pleasurable, but undesirable, the distasteful thought and feeling will begin to cancel out that which was pleasurable. If you associate something very distasteful with your loss of self-control it will help you to stop the act. For example, if you are tempted to masturbate, think of having to bathe in a tub of worms, and eat several of them as you do the act. 8. during your toileting and shower activities leave the bathroom door or shower curtain partly open, to discourage being alone in total privacy. Take cool brief showers. 9. Avoid people, situations, pictures or reading materials that might create sexual excitement. 10. In very severe cases it may be necessary to tie a hand to the bed frame with a tie in order that the habit of masturbating in a semi-sleep condition can be broken. This can also be accomplished by wearing several layers of clothing which would be difficult to remove while half asleep. 11. Set up a reward system for your successes. It does not have to be a big reward. A quarter in a receptacle each time you overcome or reach a goal. Spend it on something which delights you and will be a continuing reminder of your progress. 12. Do not let yourself return to any past habit or attitude patterns which were part of your problem. Satan Never Gives Up. Be calmly and confidently on guard. Keep a positive mental attitude. You can win this fight! The joy and strength you will feel when you do will give your whole life a radiant and spiritual glow of satisfaction and fulfillment. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, June 8th, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 4:56 pm [richardevanslee] |
Marital Mayhem! One thing about the Christian conservative zealots: they say nuttier things than you could make up for them.
Gay-marriage foes take case to federal court
Coalition asks US court to halt gay marriages Somewhat pathetically their gay party-mates will be running 350 minutes of television advertising that'll surely influence George Bush. Poor log cabin queers keep telling themselves that he's accepting bad advice from fundagelicals. Actually Bush II is working on the advice of some secular party strategists who had all this worked out last year.
Gay advocates start TV ad campaign Better to support homophobes than vote for John Kerry isn't it you greedy little homos? Current Music: Tina Cousins - Killin time (sash radio edit) (D I G I T A L L Y - I M P O R T E D - EuroDance & HiNR | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Monday, June 7th, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1:34 pm [necrodiac] |
LONDON - Microsoft has made it easy for those lazy students who have to get through Greek mythology. They have trans- lated the first five books of Homer's ancient Greek poem "The Iliad" into the language used when sending instant messages. Book two is compressed into just 24 words of 'messenger speak," losing much of the lyricism of the orig- inal. "Agamemnon hd a dream: Troy not defended. Ordered attack! But Trojans knew they were coming n were prepared. Achilles sat sulking in his tent." The translation was created to publicize Microsoft's messenger product and is obviously not written in Homer's dactylic hexameters. How- ever, it does use 'emoticons' - little faces or images - to emphasize dramatic moments. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Friday, May 28th, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2:56 pm [reversehalo] |
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| Tuesday, May 25th, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 11:25 am [richardevanslee] |
Coors isn't for Queers A long time ago an empty headed woman named Anita Bryant, an ex-Miss America turned Florida Orange Juice spokesperson used her small celebrity to launch a war against early gay civil rights protection provided by Dade Country (Miami) Florida. Screwdrivers weren't served in many gay bars. I don't know how much effect the orange juice boycott had but it did make you feel good to make even a token positive statement in those early days. Coors Brewery was run by one of the most vocally homophobic capitalists of the time.(Still is.) No self-respecting gay bar would serve it. The boycott continues, though I haven't been in a gay bar for along time. Perhaps many uncaring bar owners serve it and their indifferent customers drink it. No longer content to merely finance hate one of the Coors family members is seeking political office:
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| Wednesday, May 19th, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 7:50 am [necromimesis] |
Oddities in the news today. What would you do with fourteen tubs of vaseline, cocaine, porn and a motel room? "nabbed for slathering Vaseline on every single thing in Room 205--mattresses, pillows, sheets, furniture, carpeting, blankets, the TV, etc" And guess what he was wearing when he was arrested? Current Mood:  wtf? | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Monday, May 10th, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 5:30 pm [richardevanslee] |
Go to school: learn how to be a queer! Filthy, hate-mongering Southern Baptist scum up to their old tricks (can you tell this pisses me off?). Clearly they haven't considered that the gay youth here in North Carolina has been "jeered, pushed and pelted with tennis balls and coins since he came out in ninth grade."
Southern Baptists condemn public schools as too gay-friendly | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sunday, April 11th, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 7:42 pm [richardevanslee] |
Lot's godly example Iain Macwhirter takes an entertaining look at the holy bible.
Does this mean that Christians should be offering their virgin daughters to gay men?
The whole article: The Good Book Current Music: Sam Cooke - Rome (Wasn't Built In A Day) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 7:41 pm [richardevanslee] |
American Freethinkers Publisher's blurb:
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| Thursday, April 1st, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 6:18 am [richardevanslee] |
Bullshit Season 2: Penn & Teller take on the Bible So long already faithless, skeptical that I'm normally not interested in proofs that irrational people believe groundless and foolish things. But Penn & Teller's Bullshit was funny. The guy with the magnet helmet alone was worth the time spent watching. Ah, the Feng Shui episode: watching a few expensive frauds contract one another in their presentation of home decoration aligned with the cosmic and spiritual forces. Since I no longer have cable TV I won't get to see season two until it comes out on DVD.
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| Tuesday, March 30th, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 3:06 pm [necrodiac] |
Speaking of crazy castrations.. Utica, NY - Dayle Nisi has a fear of swimming in the nude after being hospitalized after going skinny dipping at a nearby lake. In a fresh water version of Jaws, this time instead of a shark, a giant snapping turtle used part of Nisi's anatomy as a meal. What part? Let's use Dayle Nisi's own words, "...I felt this excruciating pain in my groin and when I got my bearings, I realized a turtle had bitten my testicles and swam away with them. It's not a nice feeling, I'll tell you that." And this just makes me giggle. Sao Paulo, Brazil - What do you do if you are a Siamese twin and your better half really gets on your nerves? Don't try what the late Marco de Solisa did to his late brother Roberto. After a heated argument, Marco pulled out a revolver and shot his brother in the head. They shared portions of the same circulatory system and when Roberto died, Marco soon followed. (That's darwin award worthly.) Current Mood: amused | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 5:36 pm [richardevanslee] |
Crazy self-castrations
Cambodian offers penis to spirits
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| Monday, March 29th, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 4:52 pm [richardevanslee] |
Fellow atheist Bob Smith also had a cup of soda thrown on him when he went to see Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ dressed as Satan.
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cynical
