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Remember that AUS doesn't have anything like the 2nd amendment, and guns are fairly restricted. That means the methods of "terror" come from other methods for instance, in this case mass stabbings and so on.

This is a very good point. I'm an American and have obviously grown very accustomed to guns being a thing (especially since I'm from Alabama where guns are quite normal).

You should also note that in nearly every case that said AC mentioned, they were religiously motivated by muslim extremists. That does make it terrorism.

Wow, you have a lot to learn about Muslims. You thinking this way would be the same as Muslims thinking that all Christians are the Westboro Baptists (This is their actual webpage).

No... They are Protestant heathens.

Good question. After an amount of research, it looks like they have a subtle interpretation, which in essence amounts to: keep the stuff we like, don't keep the stuff we don't like. Which is probably fairly common, I guess.

No.

Please read Section III Article 3:

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted.

Jane Fonda did not declare ware on the United States.

The last time that happened was by the Confederacy.

She did not aid any enemy because America has no list of enemies.

The last list was WWII.

Jane Fonda was never charged with anything.

Love her or hate her, she exercised her right to freedom of expression and contributed greatly to the end of the Vietnam war.

Kind of, you know, Westboro Church.

Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is a Baptist church which is known for its hate speech, especially against LGBT people (homophobia), Catholics (anti-Catholicism), Orthodox Christians (anti-Orthodoxy), Muslims (Islamophobia), Jews (antisemitism), American soldiers and politicians.

And the Westboro Baptist Church constantly quotes that passage too.

... Westboro church.

More competition is better

Only if it is free market competition. When you allow government to pick winners, it is no longer Capitalism, but Crony Capitalism — which is to the real thing, like Westborough Church is to Christianity.

Because government officials do not put their own money on the line and a successful businessman must know, how to play politics — to the inevitable detriment of running his business instead...

And, while we are at it, our (taxpayer's) investment in Tesla was even worse than in Solyndra.

Westboro Baptist church is about as offensive as a literal-interpretation-Christian organization can get and they are not anonymous.

FTFY. But I bet they still eat shellfish.

[Obligatory plea for God to damn Westboro Church and I'm glad that asshole Fred Phelps is dead.]

That's what Jesus would say. You are indeed a good Christian (I mean, if by "God" you meant Yahweh).

It doesn't have to be something as dire as whistle blowers.

People who are not trolls may want to be anonymous for reasons, by way of example but not by way of limitation:

1.) There are relatives in the hood
2.) Employees/employers may be in the hood
3.) People want to put information out there and aren't really interested in a dialog
4.) Other.

Look:

Religious freedom may help us understand written trolling:

Westboro Baptist church is about as offensive as a pseudo-Christian organization can get and they are not anonymous.

Still, they are trolls.

Still, they are protected by free speech.

[Obligatory plea for God to damn Westboro Church and I'm glad that asshole Fred Phelps is dead.]

I was scanning for this argument because I am prepared to set your ass straight on some points:

Your interpretation that the 2nd amendment was intended, in part, to help citizens defend itself against the government is whack.

For one, you are supporting the folks who are of the opinion that:

1.) the government (whether police officer or federal agent, soldier or sailor [who have died protecting your gun rights]) have to be killed ...

2.) to the point that something must be done, so they get their guns and then YOU are disgusted when they kill someone of authority. Do you support those killings, like goddam Westboro church?

Who, precisely, gets to decide when it's time to take the government out and who, precisely, gets to decide how much force is necessary?

For another, look at what's happened since the amendment was written:

The US government has enjoyed exponential growth in weaponry sophistication what with smart bombs, night vision, drones, attack ships, fighter jets, napalm, and a holy host of others.

If you seriously entertain killing our armed forces, why in God's name aren't you bitching about, "weapon parity?"

You have to be out of your goddam mind if you think your piddly-ass pea shooters are going to take out a goddam United States Navy aircraft carrier.

Why are you not campaigning for citizens' rights to own grenades, rocket launchers, tanks and fighter jets?

You are not doing that and you are not going to.

And the reason is simply that you are a simple-minded non-fucking thinker who will come up with any excuse to own a fucking gun that you have never used in self-defense, anyway, and would do you zero, zip, nada fucking good in killing off the public's defenders of the goddam Constitution of the United States.

Science, shmience.

Ken Ham is a crackpot, without character, on the order of Fred Phelps.

Your point is that the Bible should be read in context and should not be read literally, and I agree.

The problem is that some believers DO read the Bible literally and use it as justification for many acts which others may find abhorrent.

Such as the Bible phrases the controversial Westboro Church use to justify them hating on others.

Granted Westboro is an extreme case, but then again I have been shocked by the tone and hatred shown by some of the pro-life, anti-gay, anti-Semitic etc. crowd who object on religious grounds.

The post was taken down earlier. But just in case anyone missed it and was curious, here's the list: Westboro Membership List. updated October 22, 2012. Westboro Baptist Church 3701 SW 12th St Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-273-0325 Email: wbclist@speakfree.net Email: info@phelpschartered.com Email: chockenbarger@cox.net http://www.godhatesfags.com/ Phelps Law Firm Phelps Chartered 1414 SW Topeka Boulevard Topeka, KS 66612 PO Box 1886 Topeka, KS 66601 Phone: 785-233-4162 Fax: 785-233-0766 Fax: 785-969-9017 Email: info@phelpschartered.com Email: slpr@cox.net Email: kjhoffice@speakfree.net http://www.phelpschartered.com/ — Abigail Phelps Lawyer Employee at SRS – Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority Born 1968 Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr 3636 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 Email: bgail@speakfree.net Home: 785-273-7262 work: 785-296-7709 — Barak Phelps-Davis Born ~ Mid-1980s/Mid-1990s Son of Rebekah Phelps-Davis — Benaiah Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980s/Mid-1990s Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Benjamin C. Phelps Born 1976 Son of Fred W. Phelps, Jr Wife of Mara Jones-Phelps 3632 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 3636 SW Huntoon St Topeka, KS 66604 Email: idontreadthisemail@godhatesamerica.com Phone: 785-228-9239 Home: 785-233-4162 Phone: 785-228-9239 Phone: 785-273-0277 Phone: 785-273-1080 — Betty Joan Schurle-Phelps Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Born 1952 Wife of Fred W. Phelps, Jr 3600 SW Holly Lane Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-273-0438 Home: 785-272-4135 Work: 785-296-3195 — Brent D. Roper-Phelps Human Resources Lawyer for NAIC Employee at Foot Locker Born 1963 Husband of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper 3640 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 3636 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-273-0277 Phone: 785-273-7262 Phone: 785-273-1080 Phone: 785-273-3726 Home: 785-273-1445 Home: 785-273-0277 Home: 785-272-1619 Home: 785-273-0325 Home: 785-273-0325 Work: 785-233-4162 Work: 785-273-0068 — Caleb Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980s/Mid-1990s Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Charles F. Hockenbarger Born 1974 Son of Karl D. Hockenbarger Husband of Rachel I. Phelps-Hockenbarger 1284 SW Hillsdale Topeka, KS 66604 3220 SW 17th St Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-232-1570 Phone: 785-232-2485 Home: 785-271-1619 Work: 785-273-0325 — Charles William “Bill” Hockenbarger Member of Christian Identity Born 1953 Husband of Mary Hockenbarger 711 NW Page Topeka, KS 66617 3600 SW Holly Ln Topeka, KS 66604 Email: chockenbarger@cox.net Phone: 785-272-8569 Phone: 785-232-2485 Home: 785-246-1567 Work: 785-273-0325 Fax: 785-233-4162 — Chris Davis-Phelps Born 1955 Husband of Rebekah Phelps-Davis 1216 SW Cambridge Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-272-7035 Home: 785-272-7741 — Danielle Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980s/Mid-1990s Daughter of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps 3119 SW Randolph Ave #204 Topeka, KS 66611 Phone: 785-267-3253 — David Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1970s/Mid-1980s Son of Karl D. Hockenbarger — Davis R. Phelps Relative of Chris Davis-Phelps 1216 SW Cambridge Ave Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-272-7741 Phone: 785-272-7035 — Deborah Kay Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1970s/Mid-1980s Wife of Karl D. Hockenbarger 1929 SW Lane Topeka, KS 66604 Home: 913-233-1848 Work: 785-296-3959 — Deborah Phelps-Davis Born ~ Mid-1980s/Mid-1990s Daughter of Rebekah Phelps-Davis — Elisha Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980s/Mid-1990s Daughter of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Elizabeth “Libby” Phelps Born ~ 1982-3-4 Daughter of Fred W. Phelps, Jr 2001 SW 2nd Street Topeka, KS 66606 Home: 785-234-9694 Work: 785-233-0822 — Elizabeth Marie Phelps Born 1962 Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Manager at Sheltered Living, Inc Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr 2001 SW 2nd Street Topeka, KS 66606 Home: 785-234-9694 Work: 785-233-0822 — Fred W. Phelps, Jr Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Staff Attorney for Kansas Department of Corrections Born 1953 Son

Linking to the Heritage Foundation for an article on the plight of the poor is like linking to the Westboro Baptist Church Home Page for an article on LGBT rights.

Agreed. It's more like these guys, except not bat-shit crazy.

Here's the thing - we're all gonna die in the end, so all these fights against proprietary formats won't mean jack.

In that case, so is replying. Yet you seem to care enough about justifying your position (perhaps to yourself) to reply, so don't give me this nihilistic bullshit.

In life we pick the battles we can fight. These are potentially important issues, but basically given you're effectively saying about 90% of people are part of the "problem", I don't give a fuck anymore.

When 90% of the people are part of the problem is when I absolutely do care.

Take another battle I've picked: Religion. There's a small minority which does some really crazy shit. And they get away with it in the name of "religious tolerange", because a majority of the world believes enough crazy shit of their own that it takes a lot to make us as a culture say, no, you can't let your child die because you'd rather fucking pray than get help.

Easily 80-90% of the US population is religious, which makes it a safe bet that you are, too -- probably also Christian, probably believe faith is a virtue. If so, merely by supporting the idea that faith is a virtue, you are encouraging yourself and those around you to turn off their critical thinking and skepticism when the situation calls for it. That kind of thinking leads to atrocities. Never mind that merely by calling yourself "Christian", you lend credibility to these fuckwits.

Am I going to win? Not really. I do hope to reinforce separation of church and state, to promote actual science education instead of "Intelligent Design", and to establish some basic rights the religious would deny, like the right to marry. I'd love to see people tolerate less of the extremists. I really doubt I'm going to see the religious become a minority in my lifetime.

But you know what? I'd like to think that when I'm lying on my deathbed, I lived for things that matter. I'd like to think that I'd still be the kind of person who would be ashamed to think I gave up because it was too hard, or because there were too many people who disagreed with me.

Life shouldn't have to be some damn crusade.

You're right, it shouldn't. But this is the world we live in, and there are some issues which tend towards exactly that -- either you're a good little worker propping up the status quo, or you're actually helping to move things forward.

And life should be meaningful -- and it's up to you to find that meaning. Maybe you honestly don't care, but that's not what I'm hearing. What I'm hearing is that you do care, you're just too lazy to do anything about it anymore.

Yet somehow, you're not too lazy to post, and to try to justify how much you don't care. That says a lot.

What a revealing commment.

You should meet some REAL homophobes. These people give meaning to the silly term you throw around.
http://www.godhatesfags.com/

This is about murdering innocent babies. Our society calls it abortion, but I call it what it is murder. Many Americans think our economy is failing because of the Bush Administration, but they are wrong, it is because of sin.

We are a very sinful nation, therefore God is against us. The only quote I have is from God's word. 2 Chronicles 7:14 say's 'If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land'. We are suppose to be a civilized nation but we are practicing Barbaric behavior called human sacrifice. It is sad that we live in a county were it is perfectly legal to murder an unborn child for convenience, maybe the mother to be says, 'It's not the right time, I must further my career', or a mother may tell her teenage daughter, 'You must get rid of the baby because you are to young. You must finish school'. It is human sacrifice for one's own convenience. President-elect Barack Obama said when he becomes president that he would intervene in the African countries where genocide is taking place. He will not however, intervene in Roe vs. Wade which is genocide that is taking place here in America everyday disguised as planned parenthood

And yet, there's an organization called CAIR whose thinly-veiled purpose is specifically to subvert our American culture in favor of Islam.

OMG they have an "organization"!?!? Next they'll have a committee! Quick, get the guns and the women.... we are screwed.

Seriously though, who cares? I'm pretty sure that we have the right of free assembly in this country and if these jackasses can speak their minds then why can't the Muslims? As long as they aren't physically harming anyone I really don't care what they advocate for. That's the beauty of the United States.

but I don't think they're going to blow my wife and children up if they don't get their way

If there is a group in the United States that starts blowing people up because they don't get their way in politics then we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law and punish them for their crimes. It's not like this would be unique to Islam. This guy comes to mind.

So, yeah, excuse me while I'm alarmed that Muslim extremists are starting to flex their political muscle in the US.

I'm alarmed whenever extremists of any religion or political viewpoint start to flex their political muscle. I'll be watching them closely and advocating for my own political positions but beyond that what else can you do? We have freedom of speech and assembly in this country for a reason.

More importantly, who gives a shit what they think is "unacceptable"? In the Western World its unacceptable for religion to impose its restrictions on free speech. Nobody is forcing them to go look at these pictures.

What's next? Are they gonna complain about the pictures all over the net (and even Wikipedia) of exposed women? My right to say what I want, read what I want and look at what I want trumps your right not to be offended.

And why exactly SHOULD we compromise on one of the most important principles of western democracy? I can think of a lot of stuff on the internet that's offensive and disgusting and I'm not advocating that we take it down. My freedom of speech trumps your right not to be offended.

There's a reason I moved to Canada. Not that it is wildly better or all that different, or even free of major stupidity and scandal, but it seems to be largely (but not completely) free of retarded hatefilled shitbags. And while the gov't has a deeper hand on things here, one would expect boneheaded nanny state nonsense like the legislation in TFA from Canada, not from the USA. OH, how times have changed... The Rethugs want to blow up the planet and make everyone a classic Xian sexless mouthbreathing mallrat and the Dems want the corporations to own every piece of cultural artefacture in perpetuity, and make it all safe for the lowest and stupidest citizens and remove the responsibility that PARENTS SHOULD BE EXERCISING in favour of the nanny state.

As the Dukes of Stratosphear (XTC) crooned:

I'm the Mole in the Ministry
And you'll all bow down to me.
I'm the mole in the potting shed.
I'm the bad thoughts inside your head.
And you won't catch me...

As a little black girl once shouted into a bullhorn on the TV show "Wondershowzen":

RISE UP PEOPLE!!! RISE UP!!!

RS

According to the Prophets of WBC, we UKians are nothing more than a "raunchy little group of pagans".

Raunchy pagan? Moi?!

Ker-ching!

Well, you and I have tangled on this subject before, but I'll only be impressed when you stop the "Islam delenda est" nonsense. Your post about changing your beliefs requiring courage, I think it's very apropos.

Two children of Egyptian descent often come to my house to play with my kids. You know why? Because people are not subjected to bigotry and oppression at my house. Your kid would be equally welcome.

Most of the other kids at school won't play with Muslim kids. It's very much like the way gays were discriminated against in my own childhood.

Sharif and Alaa are well-behaved, all-American kids. They don't deserve to have their religion "destroyed" any more than Christians do. Did I ever tell you my wife's ancestors came to this country because Catholics burned their house down for blasphemy?

"Anger so clouds the mind, that it cannot perceive the truth" --Marcus Porcius Cato (ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam)

You're not coming off as snarky at all and I find the subject fascinating.

I currently am fairly bitter and dismissive towards them. I see them as judgemental hypocrites overly interested in how other people live. I ascribed to them low and bitter motives. In short, I have a fairly low opinion and hostile attitude towards Christians.

In all fairness, the first sentence is probably related to the second. Christians who are "overly interested in how other people live" are easier to notice (and unbiblical) than the ones who are merely going about their business trying to be the best follower of Jesus that they can be. For example everyone has heard of the God hates fags "Christians," but very few have heard of my college math professor who just lived like a Christian and influenced people with his good deeds and humility.

Your statement put things in a new perspective. If Christians truly feel most of the time that they personally don't measure up, it becomes easier to have a more generous attitude. Their attempts to force their rules on me become more understandable. Their hatred of others is more comprehensible considering their self-hatred. Their hypocracy is much easier to stomach since there is no choice, given the unreasonably high standards set.

From my POV, the fact that Christians don't measure up would be *less* of a reason for hatred and *less* of a reason to force rules upon others, but admitting that one is a hypocrite *should not* be tantamount to self-hatred, although it often is. Jesus did not say to "hate your neighbor as you hate yourself," which sadly is what often happens to Christians who fixate on rules and neglect the central message of Christianity, which is mercy.

As Christians, we need to understand that in the Garden of Eden, the tree that God forbade humans to eat from was not the Tree of Knowledge, but rather the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil . I believe that we were not were simply not equipped to judge others, which is why Jesus warned against it and why the primary object of his criticism was against the Pharisees instead of the sinners.

Okay, I guess I'm off on a rant--I better pack it in.

Then please explain this: http://www.godhatesfags.com/main/index.html.

An asshat and his family going to funerals saying whatever it takes to provoke people into violence against him so he can sue and live off the largess.

Oh, did you think that was a real movement, with actual followers? Silly rabbit.

Really? Then please explain this: http://www.godhatesfags.com/main/index.html. I guess it's just a figment of our collective imagination or yet another liberal conspiracy...

In Oklahoma, "God hates you", but in Kansas "God hates fags [and unspecified others]". Now the question is which is more liberal (or more like hell if you prefer) - Oklahoma or Kansas?

Why is it that so many liberals can't seem to avoid making themselves look as foolish as the neocons?

These people are highly fundamentalist, for example, but they are Democrats and thus very far from the current US leadership...

REPENT,SINNERS

I don't get it either, but hey, I'm happily married to a member of the opposite sex.

But the weirdest, strangest, sickest thing of all - far weirder and sicker than any consensual sexual act could ever be - it the need for people to regulate the behaviour of others.

There is no person in this world who is so morally perfect they need to direct their efforts to remediating the perceived sinfulness of other people who are engaging in purely voluntary activities. Jesus says, "cast ye not the first stone", remember?

Incidentally, you seem to be correct when you state that committed, loving, truly homosexual relationships do not breed true. I know 3 families based on same-sex pair-bonding (my church has never had a problem with that sort of thing, so I see happy, well-adjusted gay couples all the time) and none of the children are homosexual so far (all but one are adopted; children nobody else wanted who now have stable, loving homes). The one who is not adopted is quite the ladies' man now that he's an adult... perhaps having two moms gave him some insights.

Wanting to curb promiscuity is somewhat defensible, in this day of incurable STDs. Wanting to oppress non-promiscuous gay folks is just poisonous bigotry and/or the self-hate of repressed homos looking for a violent outlet.

If two people love each other, and some other people want to stop that, who are the evil-doers?

There is no reason to spite them just because they're largely made up of Christians.

Would you feel the same way if the public school wanted it's students to volunteer for the Westboro Baptist Church, the Black Ministerial Alliance, or Focus on the Family instead of the Salvation Army?

I honestly wouldn't have a problem with it in any situation, since I feel that helping people is far more important than being politically correct. I'm a very religious person, however, so I doubt many other slashdotters would agree.

I don't give a rat's ass about being politically correct, I do care about organizations that have anti-gay agendas. Harrassment on the job is not a matter of political correctness and I do care that the Salvation Army tolerates the harrassment of gay employees.

Would you really not have a problem with your child doing volunteer work for Westboro Baptist Church, which also has an anti-gay agenda? http://www.westborobaptistchurch.com/ and http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/dec2005/2005120 4_thank-god-for-ieds-killing-marines.pdf

I do not know very much about Wiccans. From what I do know about Wiccans, I do not believe that Wiccans, unlike certain Christian organizations, believe in the bashing of anybody.

Of course, for some people, even Jack Thompson is going to hell.

Repent

... right up to the point that you find something you need to protest about. At which point, you'll probably discover that:

1) sometimes protest can be the only way to get your message heard, especially if the system you're protesting about doesn't like criticism.

2) not all, or even many, protesters are violent. They're just attempting to get a problem fixed either faster or in the longer term than the four-year cycle of democracy encourages.

3) the point isn't to be a nuisance, it's to draw attention to something you see as an issue.

4) that freedom is sometimes more important than cash, especially the freedom to draw attention to bad government.

5) that giving the government the power to create free speech zones will tend to result in said zones being created at the bottom of the Mariana trench, or some similarly inaccessible location.

6) that a "Free Speech Zone" is technically misnamed - it's actually a declaration that the rest of the area is a "No Free Speech Zone". If they were honest about their naming, I might actually support them in this cos I can see the point of, for example, not allowing protesters within 10 metres of someone under threat of assassination. However, the small size of the Free Speech Zones indicates that the No Free Speech Zones are being made excessively large.

7) "When a representitive of law enforcement makes it clear and in no uncertain terms that the gathering needs to dispurse and the protesters refuse to leave, regardless of the right to free-speech," how the hell are you supposed to exercise that *right* to free speech?

8) those that wish to here the protesters' message will only be able to if they know how to find the obscure area miles away from the action that said protesters are being corralled in. Which, again, rather defeats the point.

9) "These zones are in place for everyone's protection" unless you happen to be a protester with an allergy to razorwire. In which case, sucks to be you, and sucks to be ruled by a governmental system to which criticism can't be effectively applied.

Oh, and it's certainly not just liberals who feel the need to protest and picket.

is there a way to report jihadi websites to authorities? http://www.godhatesfags.com/ because i really want to see this one go boom.

Surely you are aware of the degree to which the Enlightenment project has sought to remove Christianity from public discourse?

Has it occurred to you that maybe it's not a movement but just people coming to the conclusion that christianity's time has come and gone? Maybe they've looked at all the hate, dishonesty, stupidity and pure evil that christianity stands for these days and have had enough? Don't be so quick to look for conspiracies.

My son, who will not say it, is held up for daily ridicule because of his religious convictions--and I have no alternative other than to keep paying for the public education that my children will not get. Surely this isn't fair?

I have no children at all. If I have to pay, so do you.

Yup, wanting to teach pseudo-science in public schools is exactly the same as destroying ancient artifacts of another religion, beating women who refuse to wear full body coverings, murdering gays, rape victims, and non-believers.

The only difference between the two is the amount of power they held in the government. There are plenty of christians who would beat women and murder gays if they could get away with it.

I don't hate Christians, though some of them spread plenty of hate - see godhatesfags.com [warning: potentially offensive], and if your answer is "but that's not a true Christian", I suggest you google for "no true scotsman fallacy", and explain just what does constitute a true Christian.

As for the Bible, well, I do rather dislike it. it's a pretty nasty piece of work, on the whole - and hey, call me crazy, but I tend to be wary of anybody who bases their life and morality around a book which orders them to kill me for not believing as they do.

I'm not denying there's some good stuff in the Bible, and I've no problem with that - in fact, I'll even link to some of it. Heck, the BNP probably have some good stuff amongst all their twisted, hateful policies too. But the fact is the Bible tells you to follow it. All of it. To the letter. And it includes a lot of bad stuff. Put simply, the good stuff does not justify the bad stuff. To say otherwise is to argue that it's okay for me to rape and murder, because I also help old ladies cross the road, and rescue cats from trees.

Funny though. At the start of this you accused me of being afraid of the Bible. I hope I have demonstrated by now that I am very familiar and comfortable with it as a subject. I suspect, however, it is you who is afraid. After all, you dismiss any problems with a wave of the hand and an "Oh, I'm sure there's an answer somewhere. Probably. I hope"

Incidentally, I had a look at the link in your sig. I presume that it being in your sig indicates an endorsement of some kind by yourself. Aside from being generally hostile - and insulting - towards atheists, the first few paragraphs alone describing the book are so staggeringly flawed that I'd be here all day were I to go through them. Just one random example: Massive strawman on the nature of faith. I do not have faith when I turn on a lightswitch, eat cornflakes, drink coffee, or expect the sun to rise tomorrow. I have expectation based on previous experience. Faith would be believing something with no previous experience or evidence - for instance that when the sun rises tomorrow it will be green and square.

Anyway though, this is all way off topic, this is not the place, and I suspect this has run it's course anyway. If you're interested in persuing any of it further, you might want to head on over to www.infidelguy.com - don't let the name put you off, it's not a Christian bashing site - it's a place for people of all (and no) faith to discuss and debate religion in the light of critical analysis.

Just stepping out on a limb here, but:

fatwas on their opponents: Maybe I'm mistaken, but there was a series of pretty big scandals relating to murder of doctors. Far right Christian activists have published lists of addresses and created things like wanted posters. Sounds like a fatwa to me. BBC reference

infidels to brutalize: One very well-known case is that of Matthew Shepard, who was beaten to death, most likely for being gay. While the argument can certainly be made that hatred for homosexuals isn't an entirely Christian phenomenon in this country, it would be absurd to argue that extreme right-wing Christianity doesn't instigate this kind of violence, and stigmatize homosexuality to a very dangerous degree. (Reference: wikipedia article God Hates Fags, a site by the Westboro Baptist Church (while this site seems too absurd to be real, it seems indicative)

suicide bombings: Again, abortion clinics have been bombed by right-wing Christians. Not suicide bombings, but I'm too lazy to search a reference.

I won't argue the rest of the points (though I disagree that all of them are absent here). My point is that you're being a little obstinate and one-sided in your response. We have plenty fo horribly hateful and evil Christians over here. The only reason we might be better off as a whole is because of how amazingly better our conditions are. Maybe the better point is that the vast majority of Christians here (and likely, Muslims there), aren't hateful, evil people. We have plenty of nutjob extremists here, and they are NOT light-years detached from extremists all over the world, regardless of what you may hope. It may not be an everyday occurrence, but zealotry is not the only common bond that I see.

Hmm, apparently god also hates lack of wwws. Working link to crazy murder-advocating fundamentalists

Fundamentalist christians, of course, NEVER condone violence

Yet another reason besides Fred Phelps not to live in KS.

Parody? No, my friend. Landover Baptist is a parody. Betty Bowers is a parody. OBJECTIVE: Christian Ministries is not. Compare their merchandise. Read their articles. Christian Ministries is even trying to shut down Landover Baptist. Trust me, I wish it was a parody but it is not. Christian Ministries is one of the websites that are parodied by Betty Bowers and Landover Baptist. Unfortunately, some of the christian fundamentalist websites are for real. That is why we need parodies, to expose the real ones. Saying "oh, it must be a parody" is easy. Many dangerous things look like parodies. For me every website of scientology, homeopathy or acupuncture and touch healing looks like a parody, but are they? Or maybe you could somehow support your claim?

"So, before you assume that Kansas is full of idiots that don't care...do some research..."

I don't really care how authentic the bible is. If someone picks the bible up. Reads it. Then decided that the things Jesus did are great and that they would like to do great things then I mark that as 1 point for Jesus. If Jesus is able to get people to understand and love one another then I say he's ok in my book.

I even think that other religions that ask for the same love towards our common man that Jesus talks about, are working toward what god intended with Jesus.

Religions that preach hate in the name of god are preaching contradictory to the teachings of Jesus. God Hates Fags... I'm looking at you.

From a historical perspective, learning about how the bible came about is fascinating. From a religious standpoint understanding where the gospel comes from doesn't really matter. Understanding that the bible says you need to love and respect your common man is religiously paramount.

He was tyring to illustrate the absurdity of the original poster's statement (that homosexuality is a choice). You're right, it was a poor example. Let's get back to the original point: do YOU think that gay people have any choice in the matter? Can they simply decide to be attracted to women from now on?

Is it really so hard to uderstand? A homosexual may be unable to decide to be attracted to women but he can decide to stop giving blowjobs to men! A pedophile may be unable to stop being attracted to children but he can stop raping them. A sadistic murderer may be unable to stop thinking about blood but he can stop murdering people if he only understands it is wrong. A wife can be attracted to other men but she can still avoid adultery because she has a free will. You are confusing an attraction with behaviour.

You missed the OP's point. If God felt so strongly about homosexuality, then why didn't he ever SAY so?

He did, countless times. Stop lying. If you bothered to do a minimum research, you would find numerous references. But instead you prefer to shout: "He didn't SAY so! He didn't SAY so!" while other people are providing exact references. He didn't SAY so? Please! Haven't you heard about Sodomy and Gomorrah, for God's sake?! Your argument is just pathetic.

Christ wasn't a gay-basher.

His Father was and as a Holy Trinity they are both One and the same Person.

A marriage is between man and women.

"If a man also lie with mankind, as he If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." Leviticus 20:13 (more references here)