On the Left it’s PC, on the Right it’s RC. And I can’t find either in the First Amendment.

In response to Rick at Shark and Shepherd stating that the Vatican was

…wrong to say that the freedom of thought and expression cannot imply the right to offend the sensibilities of religious believers.

Dad29 (of Dad29) left a comment saying:

It is very dangerous to regard “freedom of expression” as an absolute right. While I don’t think that S&S goes that far, cialis generic sick the argument is really over ‘religious sensibilities.’ That’s what the Vatican’s statement is all about.

There is NO good reason to offend religious sensibilities, period.

Now let’s replace the phrase “religious sensibilities” with “racial sensibilities” or “gay sensibilities” or “liberal sensibilities.”

How is Dad29’s position any different than any other form of political correctness?

PC is about protecting the feelings of racial and sexual-orientation groups.

RC (religious correctness) is just the same principle extended to members of religious groups.

(With the added issue that pretty much anyone can define their own religion.)

Are “religions” that profess that a comet is coming to pick believers up also exempt from criticism or ridicule?

What about Scientology’s contention that we’re all descended from aliens?

Or will Dad29 and other same-thinking individuals release a list of which religions are privileged and protected and which are not?

A prohibition against speech that merely offends members of any religion is unworkable, unneccessary, and undemocratic.

And lastly, I better NEVER see any of the people arguing that free speech takes a back seat to religious sensibilities EVER attack another group for wanting to censor free speech because it offends that group’s sensibilities.

Hypocrites are the lowest form of life.

And I won’t apologize if that hurt anyone’s sensibilities.

6 comments February 7th, 2006

Sometimes tolerance is another name for doing nothing.

When you elevate tolerance above common sense, viagra generic and you tolerate things that are intolerable.

We tolerate inner-city violence in the name of racial sensitivity.

We tolerate intolerance and violence from Muslims in the name of respect for religion.

We tolerate repression in China in the name of commerce.

In the real world, generic viagra see tolerance sometimes means “to do nothing” in the face of things that really should not be tolerated.

And we all know what Edumund Burke said about good men doing nothing.

Add comment February 6th, 2006

This I Believe

I believe I’ll never get a chance to do “This I Believe“ on NPR.

So, cialis usa treat I believe I’ll just go ahead and do it right here.

I believe in free speech, cialis generic patient free will, shop and free thinking. I believe everything else must be paid for.

I believe in self-reliance. I believe in lending a hand. And I believe there is no contradiction between the two.

I believe in rear wheel drive, manual transmissions, and convertable tops.

I believe the Kiltie in Oconomowoc, WI has the best frozen custard anywhere.

I believe I’ve found the love of my life.

I believe in dogs from the animal shelter.

I believe Nick Cave was right when he sang ” people just ain’t no good.”

I believe its more important to love someone than it is to be loved.

I believe in Macintosh computers.

I believe in wood-burning fireplaces.

I believe in the right to keep and bear arms.

I believe it’s not butter*.

I believe in action movies.

I believe 90% of everything is BS. And the other 10% is questionable.

I believe in TIVO.

I believe fetuses are human beings.

I believe I saw a ghost.

I believe in Door County.

I believe a good education is the key.

I believe I’m done…

…for now.

What I can’t believe is that anyone took the time to read this whole thing.

* Stolen from Patty Larkin’s song Don’t.

2 comments February 5th, 2006

Lee’s Law:

Technology fails as deadlines approach.

If you’re a blogger, cialis generic ed programmer, sildenafil thumb geek, stuff or anyone else who relies on technology to get through your day, think of Lee’s Law as a particularly truthful corollary to Murphy’s Law.

1 comment February 3rd, 2006

By the way, I don’t hate religion

Jenna of Right Off the Shore hates it when I clarify my position on something…

…but, cialis usa sick I refuse to be turned into a caricature.

So I want to take a second to clarify my stance towards religion:

I have no problem with you believing whatever you believe.

I’m fine with including religious perspectives in public discourse.

It is NOT my purpose to prove to you that your religious beliefs are wrong.

I have no interest in attacking your faith.

On the other hand, sildenafil if you insist on pushing the conclusions of your particular creed into my face, or implying that I am a less worthy human being than you, or advocate infringing on what I consider to be my basic rights…I will tear you up.

All good?

3 comments February 2nd, 2006

Let he who does not live in a glass house cast the first stone.

I’d barely recovered from my last religious wrestling match with Rick Esenberg of Shark and Shepherd when he decided to endorse this anti-atheist diatribe by Dale Reich.

I wonder if someone has been slipping something into the holy water at these guys’ churches?

That’s the only thing I can think of that might have inspired such parochial pablum.

For the record, viagra usa stuff I’m not an atheist.

I’m an agnostic.

But I think that still qualifies me to debunk Dale.

Dale challenges atheists to “…embrace the world as you say it is: a purely physical and random place where goodness and evil don’t really exist…”

First news flash: Christians don’t own good and evil. Look up good or evil on Dictionary.com and you’ll notice the entries don’t mention God, there Jesus, patient or Satan once.

Just because I don’t believe in the guy with the pitchfork and the horns doesn’t mean I can’t believe in good and evil.

Dale goes on the to say, “What I meant to say is that God is the basis for good and evil, and once you reject him and his rules, you’re left with nothing but self-serving and self-preservation.”

Or you’re left with the opportunity to determine your own purpose in life rather than finding your life’s meaning in a book that sits on the exact same library shelf as:

The Koran
Bullfinch’s Mythology
The Vedas
The Book of Mormen
And Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard.

(Be careful which one you pick up, by the way. I’d hate for you to get confused about which is Gospel and which is garbage.)

Then Dale asserts, “For them, life should be merely an exercise in seeking personal pleasure, procreating and then dying.”

Thank you for the suggestions, Dale, but I think I’ll do my own thing if you don’t mind.

The whole problem here is that Dale would find life meaningless and immoral without Jesus, so he can’t fathom how the 4.5 BILLION people on Earth who are not Christians can handle it.

(That’s right Dale 77% of the people on the planet do NOT believe in Jesus and they somehow manage to make it through their day.)

Rick is much less contentious than Dale manages to sound, so the only thing I want to point out to him is the danger of tossing out a statement like:

“My sense is that the abandonment of some source of transcendent value tends to result in utilitarianism and utilitarianism tends to result in slaughter.”

I’m sorry, but I’d be willing to bet that religious fanaticism has led to far more slaughter than utilitarianism could ever dream of.

Just off the top of my head I can name:

the Spanish Inquisition
The Crusades
the Salem Witch Trials
Oliver Cromwell
The Troubles in Ireland
Today’s Islamic terrorists
And most cases of “ethnic cleansing“ (including the Holocaust) which are usually at least partially based on religious differences.

No offense guys, but before you decide to devalue everyone who doesn’t share your exact view of the Universe, you might want to reread Jesus’s advice about throwing stones.

For the record, I applaud (and envy) anyone with a settled belief structure. But just because I respect your beliefs, doesn’t mean I’m going to give you a free shot at me because you don’t respect mine.

8 comments February 2nd, 2006