How *Dare* the Comedian Make Fun of Atheists!

Well the fact that he’s pulling facts out of his ass and just called all atheists smug assholes pisses me off. The fact he’s ripping on Atheists doesn’t matter, say what you like. Even his facts about how many died in the religious crusades are made up.
I don’t think we’re counting all the people that have died because the pope feels condoms spread disease.

Disgusting. That 300,000,000 deaths was absolute bullsh*t, and since when are we the smug ones?

We’re the ones who get pissed off at smug christians always trying to push their sh*t onto us because they feel that we’re the ones who are lost and confused.

THAT MAN NEEDS A HITCHSLAP!

I’m not angry nor defensive. Most comedians aren’t laugh-out-loud funny, nor are they consistent analysts of society the way Carlin was. I worked with a lot of Christians last year–so many that I quit that job and am currently under-employed. I hated working in an overly-religious public school. The school compounded the problem this year by hiring a creationist as a biology teacher. Great–an entire generation will be taught that evolution is an unproven theory (if it’s even mentioned at all). At that job, I was angry and, if they’d known that I am an atheist, I would have been defensive. What this comedian says is so obviously untrue that it is meaningless. Besides, I don’t feel part of a monolithic group of atheists. I don’t like strident atheists (nor strident humans in general). For example, I subscribe to Pharyngula only because I like to “pharyngulate” stupid polls. He’s obnoxious.

Alright here is the thing. I’m mad he pulled some bullshit out his ass to pass as facts okay. That is a stunt that religious people need to stop if they want some respect alright. That being said im not to upset about this. Atheist ,I am an atheist and whereas I try not to do this i often fail, treat most Christians like their stupid. We need to notice the fact that if you insult a group they will fight back. So i wish he wouldn’t pull shit out his ass, and I think we in the atheist community do need to stop treating them like they are all idiots.

I laughed. His delivery was self-deprecating (“I googled it”), and it’s hard to claim that his “smug atheist” stereotype isn’t at least somewhat true.

He sounds confrontational, but I’m pretty confident that he doesn’t actually believe what he’s saying is true. He seems to merely be playing to the audience as many comedians do.

As far as the religious people he cites, Dr King had many atheist/secular cohorts that have simply been forgotten about, Gandhi wanted a violent armed uprising but couldn’t get hold of weapons, and Mother Teresa was just like any other nun.

A massive ‘don’t give a toss’ from me.

Hysterical over-reactions to ‘humour’ is for religious nutters, not atheists. We’re better than that.

Besides, we have the better jokes.

Angry? No, not really. Disappointed more than anything.

It will be interesting to watch the You Tube ratings & Comments for the ratio of positive to negative. The Dane Cook video is running positive by about 9 to 9.5 to 1.

Quite frankly this is much funnier, and it’s coming from what is almost certainly a devout mormon.

The Bret Ernst bit was just lame and not funny. But the Dane Cook video made me laugh. His stuff is pretty clever.

He wasn’t that funny. When I was much younger, I used to travel a lot and many of the hotels I stayed in had a club with a stand-up comedy skit. For the comics that were not very good, they always stuck to one simple formula. Make fun of people not from around there. I would hear stand-up comics while up in the Pacific Northwest make fun of Southerners. I would hear stand-up comics in the South make fun of people from the Pacific Northwest. This guy simply picks on atheists because for his audience, “there are not that many around there”. His implausible fact checking also undermines his delivery.

Thank you for that link, Claudia. I laughed all the way through which was a nice antidote to the other two videos which only depressed me. LOL, I’m retired now so don’t say anything much but I used to say thank the unions (who pressured FDR into passing the 40 hour work week we take for granted and the legislation against child labor) it’s Friday. That irritated both Christers and the anti-union people!

I found both Bret Esner and Dane Cook offensive but you know what, give them thumbs down on their videos and move on. As others have said, they just weren’t funny anyway. Bret was facts wrong and Dane, yes, I’ve been known to say geishundheit (however you spell it). Does using the German language at all make one a Nazi?

Here’s a thought. Don’t say anything at all rather than viewing a sneeze as a chance to promote gawd. I have ripped people a new one for that but only the ones who were asshat enough to demand why I didn’t thank them. (You know, the glare followed by didn’t you hear me? I said bless you?) I also went through a stage where I was responding with “cursed be” instead of thank you just to freak them out. Usually, I just ignore it. No, I don’t feel rude. I feel they are. (Of course, I turn away from people and use a tissue.)

They were both ignorant assholes. (I thought Dane Cook’s obvious relishing of violently cutting down the Atheist tree and turning it into a buybull even worse than Bret’s ignorance.)But here’s the thing — if you don’t like a comedian, just don’t go see him. End of story.

I think he just wasn’t that funny. He went for the safe, easy laughs. “Right wing people are stupid!” “Aren’t gay people weird?” “America is so awesome!” “Atheists are such assholes!”

We are, after all, the single most despised minority in America; even right after 9/11, we were more distrusted than Muslims. Pretty safe bet that you’ll get laughter for attacking us.

The dude just ain’t funny…regardless of it’s content, his delivery and stage personality doesn’t add up to “funny”.

I don’t know, I’m sort of heartened that the support for the hating on atheists was completely anemic. No big cheers, no big laughs, no successful tap into any hateful zeitgeist. I think we win here.

Now, if they wanted to make fun of Dawkins’ professoral lack of humor, then I’d be with them; as much as I admire Dawkins, there is material there to make fun of. But it’s not acceptable to rewrite history…

I actually happen to think Dawkins has great humour … but I can see it would be easy to miss by stand up standards, as it is the downplayed, ironic and typical british kind 🙂

But I am sure a good stand up comedian could make great jokes on his behalf, as he is that typical british professor type.

A comedian making a joke about a segment of society? This is news now?

Interesting exercise, Hemant.

My reaction was a combination of several here. Like Lukas:

I laughed. His delivery was self-deprecating (“I googled it”), and it’s hard to claim that his “smug atheist” stereotype isn’t at least somewhat true.

Yup, me too. I laughed up until the patriotic BS. He’s talented, no question.

If I hadn’t been prepared in advance, I would have gasped in horror at the ludicrous 300 million claim. That’s unacceptable, as folks here are pointing out. Claudia makes the most crucial point:

There is a bit of an unspoken rule about stereotypical humor in comedy. Essentially you can make any joke you like about a group percieved as dominant and powerful (whites, Catholics whatever) but when it comes to minorities who are subject to actual real discrimination you can only safely mess with them if you belong to said minority or if you’re so overtly supportive of them that you are considered an honorary member (Kathy Griffin can say anything she wants about gays, Jeff Foxworthy can’t)

Well put. This is why it’s crucial we keep steady and consistent pressure on extending social justice thinking to atheists. (I read Eugenie Scott just spoke out against this principle, hope I heard wrong).

We shouldn’t feel obliged to be “good sports” and laugh at stereotypes and misinformation that materially contribute to very real oppression of a minority. Even if you yourself are not feeling the oppression, you should recognize that many other atheists, including me, are. We need your solidarity.

(Claudia, I also love your line, “I wonder why people who I say are responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths aren’t nice to me?”)

He isn’t that funny, but he is right about most of what he said.

He probably gets his number from here:
Murder by Cummunism

Which gives as an upper figure of some 259 million murdered by Communist regimes in the 20th century. Communism is an explicitly atheist political ideology. In the former USSR you could not hold public office unless you were a member of the Communist Party, which specifically required you to be an atheist to join.

Was Hitler an atheist? There seems to be some evidence for him making explicit atheist comments but those are questionable. But does it matter? We should apply the test that atheists use for themselves. Did Hitler lack belief? If he did, if he simply used religious propaganda as a means to power and feigned belief so people would follow him. Then I’d say Hitler was clearly an atheist.

Atheists really need to come to terms with the facts. Atheists in positions of power and officially atheist regimes that held power are responsible for the direct murder of 100’s of millions of people.

It won’t do to try to claim that Stalin or Mao weren’t really atheists, that Marxism isn’t really an atheistic political philosophy, or that Nietzsche’s atheistic nihilism didn’t have profound influence on German fascism (even if it was misunderstood). You own this.

Deal with it.

I laughed. Not pee my pants belly laugh, but a good chuckle. He was playing fast and loose with the facts, and playing into some stereo types. Not high crimes in the least.

Now, how do I feel about him in the light of ‘The Cause’. My analytical brain says that any publicity is good publicity. Anything that gets people talking is good. If some theist listens to this guy, takes his ‘facts’ at face value and decides to challenge me on my lack of belief, then I can use a barrage of real facts to educate them. With a smug look on my face, of course.

Ms. Crazy Pants Says:
“Even though communism espouses atheism, atheism does not espouse communism. Communism may lead to atheism, but atheism does not lead to communism.”

That’s not what Marx, Engels and many other prominent Marxists believed. They argued consistently and some would say persuasively, that Atheistic Materialism leads directly to a Marxist understanding of history.

“Atheists do not have a single book that says go out and kill people if they don’t become atheists.”

And yet that is exactly what happened in the 20th century. An explicitly atheist political ideology went out and killed 100’s of millions of people. Anyone who did not believe as they did in the coming Socialist utopia were systematically murdered.

Atheists really need to engage honestly with their history. That you consistently fail to do so will only undermine any message you hope to give. You cannot continue to pretend that because you reside in the US you have no connection to European historical movements.

Yeah, I’m mad. I watched the whole bit and it didn’t make me laugh!

Seriously though, I seen this guy’s act on Comedy Central and turned it. It wasn’t because of his jabs at atheism, I had never even heard that until now. He just isn’t funny. I worked at a comedy club and I can tell ya, this guy’s a hack, he uses material already been done several times over and panders to a lower denominator. I’d rather watch Carrot Top, at least that guy literally creates his own lousy material.

Mr Z says:

He’s not advocating ‘for’ religion but against extremes.

I don’t know about that. He “hates atheists,” and is quick to attack anyone via strawmen who dismisses religious beliefs. Sounds to me like he has picked a very definite side.

I happen to be atheist & a comedian and I found my self laughing at his jokes. Sometimes as a comic we take artistic license when it comes to setting up a punchline. I don’t agree with what the guy was saying but I have to admit that he is funny.

You cannot continue to pretend that because you reside in the US you have no connection to European historical movements.

What an idiotic thing to say. I don’t have any connection to them. I’m not a communist, a Marxist, a socialist, whatever. Communism may include atheism (and sometimes it doesn’t), but atheism does not require communism. Deal with it.

Seriously? Your retort to “atheism doesn’t lead to communism” was to cite the guys who started communism, and to ignore the thousands of other atheists who disagree?

Methinks your critical thinking faculties are a bit rusty.

Oh, and as for blaming an (historically wrong) atheistic Hitler for the Holocaust, here’s a reminder: The majority of the German population – you know, the ones who either stood by and let it happen or took an active part? They weren’t atheists. They were mostly Catholic or Lutheran.

It was somewhat funny, but ruined by him citing false history.

I agree with Tom that the comedian is underestimating the harm done by religion to make it look better. (I’ve noticed others do this, too, by counting only some of the people who were hurt or harmed in the name of religion and leave out many more.)

@Claudia: Thanks for the link. I definitely thought he was much funnier.

I saw this guy in person a year or two ago. I went up and down with his schtick over whether it was funny. He is a really good storyteller type comedian. Less good with the one-liners. He plays up the ‘I’m a dumb Jersey guy’ really well, and my friends from there thought him to be less of a stereotype than I did. They thought he could’ve played it up more.

I liked the atheist joke. Especially since there is a grain of truth to it. Most religious people are nice in person. Many atheists are smug, if not bastards.

He’s definitely out of my comfort zone to listen to, as I don’t get the patriotism he displays, but I think on the whole he does less shocking material than many comics. I often cringe at comedians, but he was not worse than any other.

noen,

Hitler was a theist, Mein Kampf makes it clear he believed in a creator god who was also active. He expressed hatred for atheists while talking about Providence and salvation. He closed down freethinker groups and killed Marxists. He supported faith schools and religious instruction. Deal with it.

Did Stalin, Pol Pot, and Mao’s atheism motivate them to kill? No. Atheism is inconsequential to their actions. We do not own the crimes of other atheists motivated by philosophies and ideology that we do not hold. The only way there could be connection is if a lack of belief in god was also a lack in morals or motivation to kill, but that is an ignorant and moronic claim.

Noen,

They will never agree with you on this point. I have had this argument many times.

They didn’t have a book, but they did have the communist manifesto that specifically called for the elimination of all religion.

Well, he is right in something, I’ve open a book and it turns out Ghandi was racist and Mother Theresa was an *sshole. There.
Is sad when the joke back fires…
Also… “America saves the war”? A couple Russians in the eastern front would like to disagree…

Bret Ernst just wasn’t funny. Dane Cook was more of and advocate for religion and a lot funnier. I can laugh at the foibles of the atheists just as I can laugh at the political party I favor. But the humor has to be sharp. Ernst needs to polish his act, but I wasn’t offended by his effort.

Um, since when was Stalin a good representative of European Marxism, or even early Soviet Marxism for that matter? Stalin represented a counter-revolution, not a continuation of early Bolshevik ideas. He killed the remaining Leninists, revoked the massive social reforms that happened under Lenin (such as huge expansions of women’s rights and gay rights), and was actually the target of an armed rebellion by Leon Trotsky, who had been a key figure of the revolution. Trotsky fled to England upon defeat and his political theories have had far more wide reaching influence than Stalin’s. The term ‘trotsky’ is still used to refer to socialists in Britain. Also, if you want to flush away the Marxists, you don’t really get to claim the civil rights movement, considering that one of its cheif organizers, A. Phillip Randolph, was a radical socialist who co-organized the March on Washington with a former member of the Communist party with financial help from the Socialist Party of Ameria. You also don’t get to claim King, because he had distinctly anti-capitialist views and was discussing a run on the Socialist Party of America’s ticket for president at the time of his death. King also wrote an article entitled ‘The Bravest Man I Know’ about one of the leading members of the Socialist Party of America who stood behind him durign the ‘I have a dream’ speech. The union movement in the US and the organizing of tenant farmers were centered around the American far left. The first nationally recognized black union was founded by a socialist, (Randolph again). Child labour laws were instituted at the behest of the left.

The communist manifesto does not, in fact, “specifically called for the elimination of all religion”. You could try actually reading the communist manifesto before trying to lecture the rest of us (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/) Also, while Marx thought religion was bad, no where did he advocate for it to be legally banned, though he did think that abolishing relious power would help lead to freedom. It is definitely worth noting that both of the governments that Marx said were communisms or taking a good step towards communism were representative, constitutional democracies, not totalitarian states. Here, in fact, is what Marx said about an ‘atheist state’ in “On The Jewish Question”:

“It follows, finally, that man, even if he proclaims himself an atheist through the medium of the state – that is, if he proclaims the state to be atheist – still remains in the grip of religion, precisely because he acknowledges himself only by a roundabout route, only through an intermediary.”

“Man emancipates himself politically from religion by banishing it from the sphere of public law to that of private law. Religion is no longer the spirit of the state, in which man behaves – although in a limited way, in a particular form, and in a particular sphere – as a species-being, in community with other men. Religion has become the spirit of civil society, of the sphere of egoism, of bellum omnium contra omnes. It is no longer the essence of community, but the essence of difference. It has become the expression of man’s separation from his community, from himself and from other men – as it was originally. It is only the abstract avowal of specific perversity, private whimsy, and arbitrariness. ”

Do some basic reading before opening your pie hole.

@noen- Your arguments really accomplish nothing wrg to “atheist regimes”. The forgotten factor in your statement is *motivation*. Wars are not fought between armies, they are fought between societies and society needs motivation to support the war effort. Defending ones homeland is an obvious, and good, one. Otherwise, why would any society support a war? There needs to be some cause to support. In the US civil war, Lincoln never hid the real reason for freeing the slaves. He ONLY did it to motivate the north into supporting an increasingly unpopular war. Atheism cannot provide any motivation for..well..anything. But religion can! “It’s God’s will that you kill the infidel” or “Gott mit uns” on Nazi belt buckles. Believers are usually taught to never question their spiritual leader, regardless of what spews out of their cake-hole. Religion is the biggest motivator of all. The next on the list is fear and THAT is what dictators like Stalin used to motivate people. Religion can often overcome fear by the promise of a great reward. Atheism cannot do that.

MikeTheInfidel Says:
“I would, but they’re both dead and irrelevant.”

Dead yes but hardly irrelevant. Marx was an atheist. His political philosophy was directly based on an atheistic understanding of history. That political philosophy was responsible for the deaths of 100’s of millions.

“There is simply no logical connection between disbelief in a god and action of any kind.”

False. Are your replies here connected to your atheism? If you need a logical demonstration I can provide you with one.

1. People act on their disbeliefs as well as their beliefs.
2. Atheism is either the belief that there is no god or the disbelief in god.
Therefore atheists act on either their belief that there is no god or their disbelief in god.

The definition is meant to be as inclusive as possible of atheism. That people act on their disbeliefs all the time should be self evident. I do not believe that my car can fly. As a result I do not drive it off a cliff expecting it to take to the air.

“The communism of Mao and Stalin were ideologies that did what they did for reasons other than that they were atheistic”

I’m sorry but you are simply flat out wrong here. They said what they were doing was a direct result of what was referred to in Stalinist USSR as “scientific atheism”. THEY SAID what they were doing was because of their atheism.

Both Stalin and Mao were proud atheists and routinely berated Western democracies for their religious belief. Khrushchev mocked religious belief when he claimed that Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space, said:

“I looked and looked but I didn’t see God.”

You know, the same thing you would say.

Atheism played a significant role in both the formation and conduct of Communist regimes. To try to claim otherwise is beyond absurd and borders on the delusional.

“to blame atheism for what they did is as ridiculous as blaming the atrocities on having the letter ‘a’ in your family name.”

I understand that it is part of your dogma that atheism does not exist. That nothing any atheist ever did had anything at all to do with his disbelief. That every atheist is utterly unique and alone without the slightest connection to any other atheists in history. That there can never be any rational argument constructed from atheism that isn’t sweetness and light.

If you believe all that. You are… in a word, insane.

@noen

Hitler was a practising catholic and remained one until his death and his writings and speeches are littered with references to Jesus, God and the divine.

The evidence we have tells us that Hitler really did believe in the christian god and that he wasn’t just feigning “belief so people would follow him”.

Nazi Germany was not an officially atheist regime.It was an officially national-socialist regime. One of the many reasons why Nazi-Germany hated Communism was because of its atheist appearance.

Atheism is not the belief that no gods exist.Its a lack of belief that gods do exist. There is a difference. The atheist position is that no credible evidence for the existence of any gods have ever been produced.

You cannot impose atheism on religious people.All you can do, is scare them into keeping their faith to themselves…which is what happened in the USSR.

We dont know that Stalin was an atheist.All we know is that he appeared to be an atheist because he was a member of the Communist Party which officially required their members to be atheists.

We also know that the various leaders throughout the history of the Soviet Union worked with the Russian Orthodox church to keep the population in check.

Pol Pot was also not an atheist.He was a buddhist.
The fact that he did not believe in the christian god does not, in itself, make him an atheist. Pol Pot believed that he was guided by heaven.Atheists do not believe that they are guided by anything supernatural.

The only one who is coming up with laughably absurd arguments is you.
Try again.

Steve said
“The Nazis didn’t like organized Christian religion because it interfered with their own power, but as long as the priests shut up and served them, they weren’t bothered overly much.”

Sounds like an atheist to me. They may have been sociopaths but they “lacked belief”. Therefore they were atheists.

The Nazis used people and propaganda to further their goal of the naked pursuit of power. They also were slowly replacing Christianity with their own Nazi religion. This is consistent with their belief that religion is for the little people.

Remember, I’m using YOUR definition here. Atheism is by your account a lack of belief. If Hitler “lacked belief” then he was an atheist. Period.

Why do you swallow Nazi propaganda whole?

Dane Cook and “comedian” shouldn’t be used in the same sentence.

You do realize that most of what you’ve written actually supports the idea that Hitler believed in some form of divinity, right Noen?

Just because Hitler thought that his version of religion, Nazism was superior to Christianity, didn’t mean that he didn’t think he was given divine right to rule.

Are you conscious when you right this stuff, man?

You make zero sense. None whatsoever.

No one said the Nazis lacked belief. Even if they didn’t follow exact Christian dogma, that doesn’t make them atheists. Hitler was nominally a Catholic, but also believed some Protestant things. He believed in some divine things, though it probably can’t be clearly defined. In general terms he indeed was a Christian, even though religion wasn’t important to him.
Many of the other key Nazis clearly believed something, even if it was sometimes outright supernatural claptrap (not that Christianity is free of that).

As for my comment that the Nazis were only against organized religion. It’s simply fact and was evident in their actions from the very beginning.

It’s not too different from modern secularism really. Secularism isn’t necessarily atheistic or anti-theistic, but anti-religion. Religion is not the same as faith, let alone spirituality. Many atheists would be perfectly fine with believers if they just kept it to themselves. We may think it’s nonsense, but if you want to spend your time with it, go ahead. It doesn’t hurt me. But religion inevitably tries to exert control over all people, more or less forcefully convert them to their faith and impose faith-based laws regardless of what people actually believe. That’s many atheists’ main problem with religion. Keep it out of politics and don’t force it on society and we’re fine.

His credibility on religion was automatically lost when he made the remark on atheism killing millions in the 20th century. He probably thought Hitler was an atheist too.

Stalin was an atheist, no doubt, but I’d argue that he promoted his own state religion. Just as Hubbard made up Scientology, Stalin made up Stalinism. They had to sing songs for him, pass out books and propoganda materials. He knew just about everything that was going on, just as the gods people believe in know everything, and had nearly absolute power over the minds of the people. Whether or not Stalinism could actually be defined as a religion (even though there are still neo-communists who believe in what he did, believe it or not) doesn’t matter; Stalinism was far, far closer to being a religion than to being anything else.

Stalin and Mao both focused on their communist ideologies and dogma. Atheism was to the side as they happened to not believe in any gods unlike Hitler who happened to be Catholic. The only place where atheism came in was to wipe out any religion so that the leaders could have complete mind control of the population (wouldn’t want them to be mind controlled by a god now, wouldn’t we), but it’s not exactly atheism when you regard a human as a god. (Of course, many people did not subscribe to the state religions the two dictators imposed.)

The three G’s of totalitarianism: Greed, God (or demi-god), and doGma.

I think debating whether or not sociopaths who committed mass atrocities are atheist or religious is a somewhat fruitless argument. There are many Christian and other religious figures in the past that have committed atrocities in the name of religion, as well as these debatable figures who may have done so in the name of atheism, so to me, just because someone claims to be doing it in the name of a religion or non-religion does not mean that that person actually is espousing the views of said religion or lack thereof. These are despicable, evil people, sociopaths, etc. who have existed throughout history and will continue to exist, and will use whatever means available to take power and destroy. Using them as an example for either side just seems ridiculous.

It’s much more telling to examine everyday people and how their views affect the lives of those around them. The recent post about whether or not Christianity’s persecution of homosexuals played a role in the suicides of gay teens and adults around the US? That’s way, way more telling about what views are harmful to society than debating whether Hitler actually believed in Christianity or was an atheist. (Similarly, the Vatican’s relationship with Nazism is far more telling than debating what Hitler believed.)

I’d also like to point out the word game you’ve just played. I said that atheism cannot cause you to act a specific way. You then asked if my responses here are connected to my atheism. And the answer is yes – but causation and connection aren’t the same thing at all. My atheism and my philosophical positions are both caused by something else; the atheism itself is not the cause.

I don’t mind either that he is basking on Atheists, people do it all the time. It is the fact that he makes up facts that pisses me off. He only mentioned the Crusades, instead of all the other slaughters that religion has committed.

Atheism played a significant role in both the formation and conduct of Communist regimes. To try to claim otherwise is beyond absurd and borders on the delusional.

Opposition to capitalism played the largest part in the formation and conduct of communist regimes. It’s already been pointed out that MLK was a proud critic of capitalism. So are you gonna tell us about how he needs to take responsibility for communist atrocities or are you gonna admit that your logic is only applied when it can be used to bash atheists?

Meh. The guy just isn’t funny. He took a couple of okay premises, jumbled an assortment of iffy facts, and delivered them in a wholly uninteresting way.

I find it more intriguing how he would know that his older brother was gay since day one.

For those of us who are unable to SEE the video……

is there a transcript or something?

No more offensive than it is funny or factually accurate.

@AxeGrrl, you really aren’t missing anything. Atheists are smug bastards and we’re responsible for 300 million deaths in the 20th century. It doesn’t look funny written down, but worry not that out loud it’s not particularly funny either.

What did he say? 52,000 died in the Crusades? I think he google’d the wrong shit.

noen,

The definition is meant to be as inclusive as possible of atheism. That people act on their disbeliefs all the time should be self evident. I do not believe that my car can fly. As a result I do not drive it off a cliff expecting it to take to the air.

That is a fine example of your inability to use logic. Not driving off of a cliff isn’t a decision people make who lack a belief in their cars ability to fly. Inaction is not necessarily motivated, what you’re highlighting is not a motivation not to drive off a cliff, but a lack of a motivation to drive off a cliff in comparison with someone who may be motivated to do so. This shows your ignorance of what motivation means, and explains your inability to comprehend the comments you reply to.

I have already suggested that your actual argument is that atheists lack the motivation not to murder people, and that there are plenty of motivations that people in general have to murder. This is clearly delusional on two counts, it is obviously false that atheists lack the motivation not to murder, and it’s extremely clear that some theists murder.

What do you atheism is? It seems as though you have absolutely no understand of it at all.

Smug does not mean wrong.

He was correct about one thing, Matisyahu is awesome.

Stalin ATHEIST 20 million killed
Mao ATHEIST 50 Million killed

okay thats 2 ATHEIST 70 million killed

No no no.. its really helping the image of atheists to have a thread complaininggg about a comedian making a joke about you…

I think it is a valid statement targeting a lot of those “religion is stupid and God is like a spaghetti monster” or w/e that crap is.. I’ve met respectful atheists that say.. hey you know, God could be real and I could be wrong.. but there aren’t many

I don’t say that atheists are definitely right or wrong either.

Stalin said “You know, they are fooling us, there is no God…all this talk about God is sheer nonsense” in E. Yaroslavsky, Landmarks in the Life of Stalin, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow 1940 Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Was_Stalin_an_atheist#ixzz1afXcqR5Q

You know who wasn’t an atheist?  Hitler.  Sure, he didn’t kill as many people as those 2, but had he had the chance, he would’ve.    And remember, it was a pope who called for the Crusades and the Inquisition.  Every group has it assholes, they’re deeds shouldn’t define the whole group.

Neither does it mean correct

People will kill in the name of anything that suits them at the time. Religion was prevalent throughout the ages until recently. Of course killing in the name of god was ultimately used to rally soldiers. Now we kill in the name of greed and the all mighty dollar (who is about to die btw) it was always about greed. replace “god” with “terrorism” or “terrorists” we kill in the name of fear.

umm, he isnt wrong atheists have killed MILLIONS more than all believers in God ever have. just because someone walks into a court room and yells I’m a Lawyer doesnt make him one.. Stalin didnt believe in God and he killed FAR more people that anyone you can name that believed in God.

He wasn’t really that funny, but it is true that most comedians are either atheists or agnostics. Interesting, though, that anti-religious joke go so well when, apparently, the majority of the population is religious. 

Be honest:  You are actually upset that he poked fun at you, but you just can’t come to admit it.  Really, you make his point for him.  You sit on a message board and try and discredit a commedian..lol. 

The priceless part is that you try and hide behind a false outrage at his inaccurate statements.   Really?  You’re upset that that he didn’t do hours of research with “approved” atheist scholars to sort everything out for a 60 second bit?

Again, just be honest about it, because you really do come across as the exact stereotype you are railing against in your post.

I’M A KNOW IT ALL AND THOSE FACTS AREN’T RIGHT!!!!  HOW DARE HE!!!!! *Fun being sucked out of the room sound here*

1. Religion was created to explain what science couldn’t at the time. Case in point, Pacifying the Stupid.

2. Ghandi wasn’t christian, but he relates to him because he’s religious. But Ghandi said he didn’t like christians because they’re nothing like their christ.

3. When Haiti occurred they didn’t want our charity.4. At Larry. Religious extremists caused 9/11.

fuck this guy hes wrong as hell and personally i think who agrees with him can shove it up their ass oh and also religion was created to pacify the stupid and by stupid i mean easily impressed

we can all agree on one thing about the 400 different gods and thousands of religions- they all separate children on the playground- see Peace Walls of Ireland-  
Ganhdi an admitted pedophile- slept naked with 12 year olds- black and white youtube vid- hated blacks called them the “N” word, said they were less than animals, should be kept like animals,  sister agnes borhaeev teresa, allowed the suffering and death of 100 of millions- while she flew around in Keating’s private jet and had sushi with Diana while basking at posh resorts- with 100 of millons in several US  and foreign bank accts, mlk, loved the white women- dude taught about the sky fairy’s- , not a good guy!   AS far as atheist-  einstein, carl sagan, neil degrasse,   warren buffet , gates, george clooney, david gilmour, john lennon, jodie foster, ann sanger,  bruce lee, julianne moore, pitt, jolie, mark zuckerberg, jack nicholson, anyone with a fucckiin brain!  etc…. who cares!  just don’t be a dipshit!  play nice- BTW hitler was catholic as well as most of the popes- and let’s don’t forget the millions moses killed!  God/sky-fairy- Will Kill the Children of Sinners – classic!    Anyone who is captured will be run through with a sword.  Their little children will be dashed to death right before their eyes.  Their homes will be sacked and their wives raped by the attacking hordes….  The attacking armies will shoot down the young people with arrows.  They will have no mercy on helpless babies and will show no compassion for the children.  (Isaiah 13:15-18 NLT)…….. I will inflict you with seven more disasters for your sins.  I will release wild animals that will kill your children and destroy your cattle, so your numbers will dwindle and your roads will be deserted.  (Leviticus 26:21-22 NLT) Kill Old Men and Young Women    “You are my battle-ax and sword,” says the LORD.  “With you I will shatter nations and destroy many kingdoms.  With you I will shatter armies, destroying the horse and rider, the chariot and charioteer.  With you I will shatter men and women, old people and children, young men and maidens.  With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks, farmers and oxen, captains and rulers……..You will be completely wiped out,” says the LORD.  (Jeremiah 51:20-26)Kill Men, Women, and Children    “Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, “Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked.  Show no mercy; have no pity!  Kill them all – old and young, girls and women and little children.  But do not touch anyone with the mark.  Begin your task right here at the Temple.”  So they began by killing the seventy leaders.  “Defile the Temple!” the LORD commanded.  “Fill its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill!  Go!”  So they went throughout the city and did as they were told.”  (Ezekiel 9:5-7 NLT)At midnight the LORD killed all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn son of the captive in the dungeon. Even the firstborn of their livestock were killed.  Pharaoh and his officials and all the people of Egypt woke up during the night, and loud wailing was heard throughout the land of Egypt. There was not a single house where someone had not died.  (Exodus 12:29-30 NLT) 
get back on the porch!