Dear Religion, While you were debating which chicken sandwiches were okay to eat...

[onehandle]

...I just landed on Mars.

Your friend,
Science






(Disclaimer: I am not anti-religion, so don't take this that way, I just thought it was funny)

[Egalitarian Thug]

1. Too late...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021083222

K&R

[onehandle]

2. Ah. I missed that. Monday was a busy day. Thanks. nt

[MADem]

3. This kind of shit just makes DU look like a bunch of morons. Not everyone agrees with this crap,

least of all the scientists who managed to put that hunk of robot up on Mars. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/people/cfs/specific/snookk.pdf

One of my role models was my Ph.D. advisor, who guided me through the
process of starting to work here. Another major inspiration is Albert
Einstein, who had a balanced approach to science and spirituality. I am
also very inspired by my religion, the Baha’i Faith: its teachings of harmony
between science and religion have motivated me to do well in my work, and
through my work, to make the world a better place.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/9456287/Nasa-Mars-landing-life-on-Mars-could-be-determined-in-a-decade.html

“Touchdown confirmed,” said a member of mission control at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the room erupted in cheers. “We are wheels down on Mars. Oh, my God.”

You really should just delete this ignorant post. It's simple bigotry and it isn't true. I personally think if people are secure in their viewpoints--be they religious, atheist or agnostic, they have no need to play "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo" with people who do not agree with them. Doing so speaks volumes about the writer's own insecurities with regard to their beliefs.

If someone is trying to shove their beliefs--or lack of same--down someone else's throat, it is just wrong. Live and let live. I don't care if you worship nothing at all or the frigging squirrel on the fencepost behind your house, so long as you treat people decently. That's the benchmark--not "science is BETTER than YOUR STUPID BELIEFS" which is what this post is all about.

And I'll wager a few of those blue shirts in that room don't agree with this stupid post, either. I also think, if you're going to post this kind of trash on DU, the Religion Cage Match forum is a better location for this kind of junk.

[Lex]

4. Religion is not science.

No matter how you slice it.

[MADem]

5. Putting people down -- particularly when there are religious people on that NASA Mars Team-- for

their personally held beliefs is childish. It suggests massive insecurity (and uncertainty, too).

That Mohawk guy on the NASA Mars team that everyone is babbling about is a Shi'a of Persian ancestry, ya know.

He can separate the two--why can't you?

[Lex]

7. The two ARE separate. Religion didn't put the rover on Mars. Period.

Religion did have people squabbling over chicken sandwiches. Period.

[MADem]

9. People did that. People. Persons. Individuals. Some of them have said they are religious, too.

I'll bet none of them, religious or otherwise, gave two shits about chicken sandwiches, either--but nice (albeit desperate) attempt to convolute two distinct events.

You're coming off as terribly insecure, IMO.

[Lex]

15. I'm not the one coming off as terribly insecure.

Who is the one so quick to be offended here? Not I.

[MADem]

16. I am not "offended." I do have a strong sense of fairness, and I perceive this thread to be

a gratuitous and unfair attack on religious people--to include the religious people who put that hunk of machinery on Mars.

You have no capacity to offend me. You are just pixels on the internet!

[Lex]

28. Just look at your responses on this very thread!

LOL. Suuuuure you're not offended. You did give me a good laugh with that one, however.

[MADem]

29. I am not the one making the snarky "suuuuuuuure" comments.

Your attempts to goad and bait are pathetic, frankly.

You're just pixels on a screen. Not very clever ones, either.

I'm into Live and Let Live. You're not. That much, we've established. Beyond that, I really don't care what you think. Your intolerance is noted.

[Lex]

30. Note away, my friend. I do not think you are pathetic

but I also do not think you are honest about being offended, but that's something for you to work out for youself.

Also, I enjoy the thread being knocked up to the top of the board.

[MADem]

32. I'll say it again, I believe in fairness. nt

[yawnmaster]

6. Also, a tree is not a bicycle. eom

[Egalitarian Thug]

8. Live and let live. Fine, let the religionists go first.

I have no problem whatsoever with anything anybody wants to believe in, just leave me and the rest of the world out of it. That means not imposing your bizarre notions on the rest of us through coopting the legal process, stop proselytizing, pay your taxes, and generally keeping your prejudice to yourself.

[MADem]

10. I agree with that entirely--you should keep your prejudices to yourself.

You shouldn't impose your bizarre notions on the rest of us. You should stop proslytizing, you should pay your taxes...all of that makes sense to me.

These are perfectly reasonable statements.

That, after all, is what "Live and Let Live" is all about, is it not?

I don't think it matters if those "religionists" go "first." Saying "I will only stop if they do" is just the other side of an equally nasty coin. There's no justifying hate by saying "He hit me first." That's just not too cool, I don't think.

Everyone needs to cut the shit. Religious, Atheist, Don't Know's, Don't Care's, and Have-No-Fucking-Idea's. IMO.

If everyone "goes" at the same time, there's no issue, now, is there?

Live and let live. It's simple. Don't wait for others to do it before you go along with it--lead the way.

Just. Do. It.

[Egalitarian Thug]

19. You don't seem to have any problem with nasty coming from the fantasy set.

The religionists have been spreading lies, misery, and ignorance for centuries, but now that some people have had enough and the religionists lack the power to enforce their will through their preferred method of violence, you draw a completely false equivalency.

I have yet to read anything from you urging the religionists to alter their behavior, not once, but you're Johnny-on-the-spot on every thread admonishing those of us on the other side to "live and let live". That makes you a hypocrite.

[MADem]

22. I don't think two wrongs make a right.

You certainly do, though, and that speaks volumes.

I'd challenge you to point out where I have defended "religionists" when they were being assholes to people.

When they're minding their own business, though, I say leave them alone and stop picking on them.

Everyone's entitled to a hobby. If they engage in their hobby and don't bother anyone, leave them the hell alone and don't lump them all together. People who make fun of others absent a specific reason, for broad-brushed reasons (I hate you because you believe in an invisible man!! You're BAAAAAD!!!!!), are as despicable as the "religionists" that you are decrying.

If anyone's a hypocrite here, it sure as hell ain't me.

[Egalitarian Thug]

27. No, I do not think it makes it right, I just refuse to continue to acquiesce to their demands of

this unreciprocated tolerance.

I also didn't say you defend them, I pointed out that you do not engage in this type of interaction with those on the other side while you proclaim your neutrality.

I haven't and do not claim neutrality while your position on this issue is blatantly not what you claim.

[MADem]

31. Well, your assertions about me are not accurate.

I believe in fairness, and I believe in "live and let live."

Which religion IN THIS THREAD wronged anyone? The Bahai scientist on the Mars team? The shi'a guy driving the robot, of Iranian descent, with the Mohawk? The guy who said the "G" word?

Why be shitty by eagerly chiming in on a snarky (and most importantly, not even original) post, when no one has affronted you? Pre-emptive strike, just in case? What?

Live and let live. Don't look for affront, because if you look aggressively enough, you're likely to find it.

I absolutely DO call out religious idiots, and I do it on a regular basis.

Fair is fair. Try it sometime.

[Egalitarian Thug]

34. Well for those of us that don't live in your head, it sure as hell looks that way.

Something my Grandfather always told me, "Nobody on earth wakes up in the morning and says to themselves, 'Today I'm going to be an asshole'". It took me awhile to figure it out, too.

[MADem]

35. It's one thing to figure things out, it's another to act on what you've learned. nt

[Egalitarian Thug]

37. LOL! I guess that's the difference here, I know I'm being an asshole about this,

you OTOH, seem to think you're righteously defending good people who are getting a bad rap.


If we ever meet, we'll stick to politics, ideas, and life.

[MADem]

38. I know plenty of decent people who are religious. I judge people by their deeds, see?

It's a better way of approaching life than assuming that because someone likes something I don't like, that makes them bad, stupid, evil, or what-have-you.

It's also a bit more of an open-minded approach, and certainly more mature.

[DavidDvorkin]

11. Saying "Oh, my God" doesn't mean you're religious.

[redqueen]

13. dammit

[DavidDvorkin]

14. :)

[MADem]

18. See post seventeen. nt

[redqueen]

12. Just saying, "Oh my God" doesn't mean the person saying it is religious. nt

[MADem]

17. Well, it suggests a cultural, if not personal, relationship to a deity, like it or not. nt

[DavidDvorkin]

20. No, it suggests that we use language common in our culture

It says nothing about a relationship to a deity.

[MADem]

21. I don't agree with your interpretation. nt

[DavidDvorkin]

23. I'm an atheist who uses such language fairly often

It implies nothing about me.

I'm not interpreting anything. You are reaching absurdly.

[MADem]

24. Ah, well I daresay some atheists might look askance at your sincerity!

Do forgive me for not taking you at YOUR WORD, then.

Clearly, your word is not always without ambiguity--as you yourself have acknowleged, here.

If anyone's "reaching absurdly," here, it's not me. I'm pretty plain-spoken. I don't usually say things I don't mean.

[DavidDvorkin]

25. You are descending further into absurdity.

[MADem]

33. I don't think so. nt

[virgogal]

26. That IS funny----thanks for the chuckle.

[fascisthunter]

36. hahaha.... well done!