W-w-w-whaatt!?!

[YankeyMCC]

Ok there's plenty to bang your head against a wall about in this article but this statement in particular gets me.

http://nytimes.com/2005/08/31/national/31religion.html

"Survey respondents agreed in nearly equal numbers that nonreligious liberals had "too much control" over the Democratic Party (44 percent), and that religious conservatives had too much control over the Republican Party (45 percent)."

I must be insane because I don't understand this perception at all. On what is it based? I wanted to post this in GD or GD:Politics but I decided I must to be out of touch on this point to be able to carry on a calm discussion so I'm venting here and maybe if I get enough enlightenment or courage I'll post in a general discussion forum.

[beam me up scottie]

1. Americans are the stupidest people in the world.

Npr covered this when I was getting ready for work.
Canada is looking better all the time.
:mad:

[salvorhardin]

2. You can always count on the American people

For an opinion completely devoid from reality, hopelessly uninformed and utterly contradictory to any other opinions they express.

[onager]

3. Yes, and I foolishly...

...jumped into a Bleating Room thread on "Ancient Flying Machines" where this is being proven over and over. Did you know that THE TRUTH about ancient alien flying machines in Egypt is being suppressed by archeologists because of "Egyptian ego?"

:rofl:

I'll give you an example of how bad it is (one I might use in that thread, just to piss off the W**-W**'s.)

When I was in Egypt, a well-educated Egyptian who moonlights as a tour guide told me that Americans...and ONLY Americans...are ALWAYS the people who ask him about aliens building the Giza Pyramids. I'm sure Europe must have a few idiots who also believe it, but they must be smart enough to keep their mouths shut.

He said he always tried to patiently explain why this was nonsense: there was an 800-year learning curve between the first pyramid at Sakkara, the ones at Dashur, and finally Giza, etc.

And IT DID NOT MATTER! Even after hearing all that, they still expected him to admit that aliens built the Giza pyramids, and there was the Usual Bizarre Conspiracy to hide THE TRUTH!

Good grief. Like it wasn't bad enough, with G.W. F'ing Bush making me ashamed to be an American...

[salvorhardin]

4. Yes, well, shame on you

For expecting that honestly derived (by hard work and scientific study) knowledge should trump shit that people just made up. Don't you know that all knowledge is relative? Einstein said so. And for my proof, here's a link to something of no relevance whatsoever: http://www.equiworld.net/uk/horsecare/artificialinsemination/artificialinsemination.htm

See!? It's all good. :evilfrown:

[onager]

5. OK, I promise to never use logic again...

Maybe that will work...

[NMMNG]

6. Non-religious liberals have too much control over the Democratic Party?

Now really, how many of us are there when you get right down to it? Statistically in 2004 Atheist comprised about 0.04% of the US population. In the same year "non-religious/secular" individuals made up another 13.2% and agnostics 0.5%. Are we to believe that this minute fraction of the nation actually exerts that much control over the Democratic Party? Keep in mind that only a small number of that 13.74% of the population actually is involved in politics to begin with.


For complete '04 religion statistics for the US look here .

[salvorhardin]

7. What disturbed me about that poster's assertion

...was their conflation of the non-religious/secular with the DLC. While I have serious disagreements with most of the DLC's positions, I don't see this giant boogeyman that others do. Frankly I'm quite puzzled that the DLC, atheism and religious fundamentalism are all seen (in some people's minds) as somehow being the same thing. I'm also dismayed that those same people are unable to see the incongruity in this belief and their reverance for Bill Clinton and Al Gore, both of which were strong proponents of "third way" ideology. Of course, Bill Clinton was also DLC Chair for a while.