And the moral of this story is....

LeftofLarry
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And the moral of this story is....

In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.  The elephant seemed distressed, so Mbembe approached it very carefully.  He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man,and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments.  Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled.  Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly,turned and walked away.  Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Mbemb was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.  Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder.  The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mbembe's  legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly. 

Probably wasn't the same elephant.

 

The moral of this story is...well...unless you are certain 100% based on evidence for your beliefs, don't give in to your faith.  It just might kill you.

A friendly message by Left of Larry. 

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Tomcat
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Haha, I was getting all warm

Haha, I was getting all warm and fuzzy there for a second.  Damn you Larry!


Hambydammit
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ROFL Funny thing, as I was

ROFL

Funny thing, as I was reading that story, my first thought was "Don't animal trainers often train animals to lift one foot in the air?"  Poor shmuck's gonna get himself fucked up...

Just goes to show how differently we can perceive things based on our mindset.  My default position is skepticism, so I'm always looking for the "other" possibilities.  Some people really want to believe things, so they try NOT to see other possibilities.

Really nice illustration.

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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MrRage
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That was a pleasant relief

That was a pleasant relief to all the corn ball Christian stories that get posted around here.


American Atheist
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Best story ever.

Best story ever.


Susan
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What probably happened was

What probably happened was after having Mbembe remove a painful (huge) splinter, the elephant trusted humans.

The next humans encountered captured the elephant and sold him to a zoo, robbing the elephant of his/her freedom forever.

The elephant did, indeed, recognize Mbembe and did a little pay-back.

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V1per41
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I'm sure we are all smart

I'm sure we are all smart enough to tell that this story isn't real, but just in case, here ya go:

 

http://www.snopes.com/critters/malice/elephant.asp 

"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan


MattShizzle
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It's a good fable for

It's a good fable for atheists though!


Hambydammit
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Yeah... but why should

Yeah... but why should theists get all the good parables?

I do remember recently reading a news story about a theist who got eaten by lions because he figured god would protect him when he jumped into the lion cage.

That was in the real news, so shit like that happens.

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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LeftofLarry
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V1per41 wrote: I'm sure we

V1per41 wrote:

I'm sure we are all smart enough to tell that this story isn't real, but just in case, here ya go:

 

http://www.snopes.com/critters/malice/elephant.asp

 

I dont' think anyone here believed this to be true...but thanks for snoping it out for those who, may have perhaps, thought it was real.  It's a good story though. Eye-wink

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SilkyShrew
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hmmm, my first inclination

hmmm, my first inclination is to send this to my sister. LOL ... I get so many feely-good spam from her ...