What is with the dishonest Christians? Today I wake up and have to deal with Joshua Ryan Dellinger and then another dishonest Christian who has gone by several names on our site: Voice of Reason, Bryan Cox, and Riverwind. When I say deal I mean "moderating."

Here's where you'll see the first character exposed: http://www.rationalresponders.com/Joshua_Ryan_Dellinger

For the record, Kelly and I have been doing this for a long time, while Joshua Ryan Dellinger didn't say he was a Christian, his argumentation resembles that of a Christian perfectly, and he's become a Christian pawn at the bare minimum.

The second character was exposed in a post by me on this page: http://www.rationalresponders.com/damn_right_im_angry_part_two?page=2

You win Christians... 4 hours of my day was just wasted researching and keeping dishonest people in check, when instead I could've been proactively fighting the concept of religion, instead of the personalities who embrace it. How ironic that your arguments almost beg us to deal with the concepts rather than the personalities. I'll try to find some solace in exposing you to others but it's not as useful to me as the 4 hours you stole... terrorists.

Please check out my podcast at http://mindcore.podbean.com

Lessons from Mental Retardation

I think I have given a general overview of what the vibe was like for me when I first started my work at the Lubbock State School.  I did this job on and off for over a year. In hindsight its my favorite job I have ever held outside of scientific research.  It was always exciting, and I could fill a book with stories about it.  Maybe if someday I actually accomplish something worthwhile I will write a memoir.

The important thing for now though is what I learned from these experiences.

At the time I began my work at the Lubbock State School I was a charismatic Christian.

This caused me to hold certain doctrinal assumptions.

1.) One of which is that there was a soul that was somehow separate from the body, and therefore immune to decay and eternal.

Mental Retardation

My experiences working at the Lubbock State School did much to shape my worldview to this day.

During the two week training class they had us convinced of two things. The first thing is that retarded people were going to kick our asses. This is something that may be hard to imagine, but let me help you out. Retarded people age normally, a 25 your old retarded man is just as big as a 25 year old man. There are just as many 6'4 250 lbs. retarded people as there are 6'4 250 lbs. people in general. Retarded people can get really big, and since their cognitive abilities are hindered, they can be extremely agressive. Imagine a 6'4 250 lbs. 2 year old, it can be a bit of a nightmare. The second thing they convinced us of was that if we did anything about it we would be charged with criminal abuse and neglect charges.

I was scared out of my mind.

The dorms that we worked at in the Lubbock State School were divided by function of the clients. And when I say client or individual it means retarded person. Some dorms were non-ambulatory which means that these were adults who had to be fed and have their diapers changed. I did not work at one of these dorms, at least not usually.

Kelly is now featured on Dailykos: http://kelly-oconnor.dailykos.com/

The subject of Kelly's most recent blog is Marty Fields.  If you're viewing this thread while the post is still hot, google "Marty Fields" to see where the post comes up in google.  When I checked it was 7th, and the first listed refutation.  Marty Fields is posting in the thread as "Pastor McFly."

Today Rook taped with Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists.  He's a guest on their TV show Atheist Viewpoint.  More details will be posted in this thread soon.

Welcome aboard, readers of Bastrop Daily!

As you may know we've been advertising the Rational Response Squad anywhere we can find a good deal, and as the budget permits. This week because we initially hoped to have site upgrades working by today we had a few ads run in print newspapers through google ads. We've found a few surprisingly cheap ads, the ad below ran in the Louisiana Bastrop Daily Enterprise, Church Section. We didn't plan the juxtaposition of ads below but we love it...

Paper: "The popularity of religion as a whole may be in a slight decline here in America, but that certainly doesn't mean the Holy Book's reputation as being a perennial No. 1..."

RRS: "Religion is divisive and dangerous, it's time for us to stand up to it!"

We have been heard!

Support the Rational Response Squad advertising campaign. This ad cost $8 for 6,000 readers.

View a large JPG of the Rational Response Squad ad in the Balstrop Daily Enterprise near a Bible article.

When I was in my early 20s I was in an interesting predicament. I had acquired a job as a tattoo artist, and became bored with the work. Really bored, most people wanted extremely popular tattoos and it gets old really fast.  I was also in the height of my Christian beliefs, and I had intended to start a Christian half-way house for punkrock kids that had been couch surfing or straight up living on the street. I tried to do this in my one-bedroom apartment.

The name of the project was “The House of Calvary,” which was bullshit because it was just my one bedroom apartment with a bunch of kids living in it at any given time. I could tell some stories about all that, and maybe I will so can read about how many blood, sweat and tears I spent trying to do things right by my beliefs.

Let it suffice to say that I took in a lot of homeless kids into my shitty little apartment over the course of a year in order to try to live my beliefs.

I bring this up because two of the people living with me would just not get a job. They would stay at home all day and would not make a move to get going.