Protests EVERYWHERE

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Utopian control freaks use whatever tools come to hand to enforce their Utopias, religion included, and atheism is one of them.

Are we allowed to mention Pol pot, Kim Jong Il, Mussolini, Jim Jones, or Than Shwe? Or are they off-limits too, on account of atheism being unimpeachable as long as you censor stuff?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Utopian control freaks use whatever tools come to hand to enforce their Utopias, religion included, and atheism is one of them.

Are we allowed to mention Pol pot, Kim Jong Il, Mussolini, Jim Jones, or Than Shwe? Or are they off-limits too, on account of atheism being unimpeachable as long as you censor stuff?

I have also decided that Andrew Jackson was a fine man, as long as you fuckers don't RUIN IT by bringing up Native Americans.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Utopian control freaks use whatever tools come to hand to enforce their Utopias, religion included, and atheism is one of them.

Are we allowed to mention Pol pot, Kim Jong Il, Mussolini, Jim Jones, or Than Shwe? Or are they off-limits too, on account of atheism being unimpeachable as long as you censor stuff?

I have also decided that Andrew Jackson was a fine man, as long as you fuckers don't RUIN IT by bringing up Native Americans.

I can prove ANY point now, if we're playing by these rules! You are disallowed to consider any inconvenient contradictory facts.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

Utopian control freaks use whatever tools come to hand to enforce their Utopias, religion included, and atheism is one of them.

Are we allowed to mention Pol pot, Kim Jong Il, Mussolini, Jim Jones, or Than Shwe? Or are they off-limits too, on account of atheism being unimpeachable as long as you censor stuff?

I think I've made it clear that my statement is unassailable, morally, logically, and historically. You may choose to disagree, as long as you do so quietly. I don't censor anything, though. I encourage all constructive conversation that contributes to overall acceptance of what I have said.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Utopian control freaks use whatever tools come to hand to enforce their Utopias, religion included, and atheism is one of them.

Are we allowed to mention Pol pot, Kim Jong Il, Mussolini, Jim Jones, or Than Shwe? Or are they off-limits too, on account of atheism being unimpeachable as long as you censor stuff?

I think I've made it clear that my statement is unassailable, morally, logically, and historically. You may choose to disagree, as long as you do so quietly. I don't censor anything, though. I encourage all constructive conversation that contributes to overall acceptance of what I have said.

Personally, I find that claiming documentation supports my case.  Then I don't post any, and 5 pages later say that I have posted documentation ad nauseum, and it just gets ignored.  To remain honest, though, I post one cite that comes from a source that has a financially vested interest in my point of view.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

Utopian control freaks use whatever tools come to hand to enforce their Utopias, religion included, and atheism is one of them.

Are we allowed to mention Pol pot, Kim Jong Il, Mussolini, Jim Jones, or Than Shwe? Or are they off-limits too, on account of atheism being unimpeachable as long as you censor stuff?

I think I've made it clear that my statement is unassailable, morally, logically, and historically. You may choose to disagree, as long as you do so quietly. I don't censor anything, though. I encourage all constructive conversation that contributes to overall acceptance of what I have said.

Personally, I find that claiming documentation supports my case.  Then I don't post any, and 5 pages later say that I have posted documentation ad nauseum, and it just gets ignored.  To remain honest, though, I post one cite that comes from a source that has a financially vested interest in my point of view.

It's dangerous to even use the word "documentation" until it has been safely redefined to mean "the idea that proof must exist somewhere, but is too much work to find."

[Cain]

No, not "herp derp muslims hur hur." Just religion in general. Although I think is closer to the point than I was with the willingness to question or change one's beliefs when presented with conflicting information. Religion isn't the root cause of any of this, but it's a key player in making sure nobody tries to rise above it.

Nice job at completely ignoring the point, that 100 years of covert chicanery designed to promote conflict in the pursuit of cheap oil is the main contributing factor to Middle East violence.

The Muslim Brotherhood wouldn't even exist, if not for the CIA and MI6 mailing them bags of money, arranging safe havens for them in Saudi Arabia etc.  Hell, Saudi Arabia only exists because al-Saud got mercenaries paid for by American oil interests during the Saudi Civil War.  Who funds the Egyptian military?  Who funded SAVAK?  Who supported Saddam to the hilt, while covertly arming the Ayatollahs?  Who unleashed the mujahideen on the world?  Who decided to use radical Islam as a bulwark against Communism and socialism?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Utopian control freaks use whatever tools come to hand to enforce their Utopias, religion included, and atheism is one of them.

Are we allowed to mention Pol pot, Kim Jong Il, Mussolini, Jim Jones, or Than Shwe? Or are they off-limits too, on account of atheism being unimpeachable as long as you censor stuff?

I think I've made it clear that my statement is unassailable, morally, logically, and historically. You may choose to disagree, as long as you do so quietly. I don't censor anything, though. I encourage all constructive conversation that contributes to overall acceptance of what I have said.

Personally, I find that claiming documentation supports my case.  Then I don't post any, and 5 pages later say that I have posted documentation ad nauseum, and it just gets ignored.  To remain honest, though, I post one cite that comes from a source that has a financially vested interest in my point of view.

[Cain]

OMG CRAZY RELIGIONISTS

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/world/middleeast/morsi-spurned-deals-to-the-end-seeing-the-military-as-tamed.html?_r=0

As President Mohamed Morsi huddled in his guard's quarters during his last hours as Egypt's first elected leader, he received a call from an Arab foreign minister with a final offer to end a standoff with the country's top generals, senior advisers with the president said.

The foreign minister said he was acting as an emissary of Washington, the advisers said, and he asked if Mr. Morsi would accept the appointment of a new prime minister and cabinet, one that would take over all legislative powers and replace his chosen provincial governors.

The aides said they already knew what Mr. Morsi's answer would be. He had responded to a similar proposal by pointing at his neck. "This before that," he had told his aides, repeating a vow to die before accepting what he considered a de facto coup and thus a crippling blow to Egyptian democracy.

His top foreign policy adviser, Essam el-Haddad, then left the room to call the United States ambassador, Anne W. Patterson, to say that Mr. Morsi refused. When he returned, he said he had spoken to Susan E. Rice, the national security adviser, and that the military takeover was about to begin, senior aides said.

"Mother just told us that we will stop playing in one hour," an aide texted an associate, playing on a sarcastic Egyptian expression for the country's Western patron, "Mother America."

...

Mr. Morsi's advisers had meetings with Ms. Patterson and her deputy as well as a phone call with Ms. Rice, the national security adviser. Mr. Morsi's advisers argued that ousting the president would be "a long term disaster" for Egypt and the Arab world because people would "lose faith in democracy." They said it would set off an explosion in the streets that they could not control.

And they argued that the United States was implicated: "Nobody who knows Egypt is going to believe a coup could go forward without a green light from the Americans."

BOY IT SURE IS A GOOD THING RELIGION, AND NOT GEOPOLITICAL CHICANERY BY THE USA, IS THE "KEY PLAYER" IN VIOLENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, OR V3X WOULD LOOK REAL FUCKING STUPID RIGHT NOW.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Utopian control freaks use whatever tools come to hand to enforce their Utopias, religion included, and atheism is one of them.

Are we allowed to mention Pol pot, Kim Jong Il, Mussolini, Jim Jones, or Than Shwe? Or are they off-limits too, on account of atheism being unimpeachable as long as you censor stuff?

I think I've made it clear that my statement is unassailable, morally, logically, and historically. You may choose to disagree, as long as you do so quietly. I don't censor anything, though. I encourage all constructive conversation that contributes to overall acceptance of what I have said.

Personally, I find that claiming documentation supports my case.  Then I don't post any, and 5 pages later say that I have posted documentation ad nauseum, and it just gets ignored.  To remain honest, though, I post one cite that comes from a source that has a financially vested interest in my point of view.

It's dangerous to even use the word "documentation" until it has been safely redefined to mean "the idea that proof must exist somewhere, but is too much work to find."

[tyrannosaurus vex]

No, not "herp derp muslims hur hur." Just religion in general. Although I think \:regret\: is closer to the point than I was with the willingness to question or change one's beliefs when presented with conflicting information. Religion isn't the root cause of any of this, but it's a key player in making sure nobody tries to rise above it.

Nice job at completely ignoring the point, that 100 years of covert chicanery designed to promote conflict in the pursuit of cheap oil is the main contributing factor to Middle East violence.

The Muslim Brotherhood wouldn't even exist, if not for the CIA and MI6 mailing them bags of money, arranging safe havens for them in Saudi Arabia etc.  Hell, Saudi Arabia only exists because al-Saud got mercenaries paid for by American oil interests during the Saudi Civil War.  Who funds the Egyptian military?  Who funded SAVAK?  Who supported Saddam to the hilt, while covertly arming the Ayatollahs?  Who unleashed the mujahideen on the world?  Who decided to use radical Islam as a bulwark against Communism and socialism?

Yeah, actually I'm not trying to sidestep your remarks. I'm just having a hard time putting on my serious face today and should probably stay out of threads like this. Having said that, I think we're talking past each other here. You're making a valid point that's on topic for this thread, and I'm trailing off into nowhere and trying to make fun of theists.

[Reginald Ret]

No, not "herp derp muslims hur hur." Just religion in general. Although I think \:regret\: is closer to the point than I was with the willingness to question or change one's beliefs when presented with conflicting information. Religion isn't the root cause of any of this, but it's a key player in making sure nobody tries to rise above it.

Nice job at completely ignoring the point, that 100 years of covert chicanery designed to promote conflict in the pursuit of cheap oil is the main contributing factor to Middle East violence.

The Muslim Brotherhood wouldn't even exist, if not for the CIA and MI6 mailing them bags of money, arranging safe havens for them in Saudi Arabia etc.  Hell, Saudi Arabia only exists because al-Saud got mercenaries paid for by American oil interests during the Saudi Civil War.  Who funds the Egyptian military?  Who funded SAVAK?  Who supported Saddam to the hilt, while covertly arming the Ayatollahs?  Who unleashed the mujahideen on the world?  Who decided to use radical Islam as a bulwark against Communism and socialism?

Yeah, actually I'm not trying to sidestep your remarks. I'm just having a hard time putting on my serious face today and should probably stay out of threads like this. Having said that, I think we're talking past each other here. You're making a valid point that's on topic for this thread, and I'm trailing off into nowhere and trying to make fun of theists.

As I thought, you were trolling.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

I don't think it's specifically religion. Consider Assad in Syria, Saddam in Iraq, the CHP in Turkey... All mostly 'secular' but still pretty terrible leaders. I think it probably has more to do with the cultural artefacts like inequality of the sexes, races and subcultures. If you see women, Kurds, Shiites, Palistinans, conservative religious or liberal secularists as lesser beings, then it's easy to run over them without a second thought. See also the US in dealing with Native Americans, Africans, the Irish, Mexicans, Japanese Americans ad nausea.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

Rubber bullet. They shot it at the kid's face through the mask.

Facebook has lost this photo and I can't find it on my hard drive anywhere. It's a boy, maybe 10 or 11, holding a guy fawkes mask with a hole in it and bleeding from his face. My google-fu is weak. If anyone can help me find it, I would be endlessly grateful.

[Random Probability]

Rubber bullet. They shot it at the kid's face through the mask.

Facebook has lost this photo and I can't find it on my hard drive anywhere. It's a boy, maybe 10 or 11, holding a guy fawkes mask with a hole in it and bleeding from his face. My google-fu is weak. If anyone can help me find it, I would be endlessly grateful.

This one?