02.21.05
Posted in faith at 10:55 am by
You see, when you all took the ‘bad christian test’ to find out if you were a bad christian or not, I didn’t know that I’d be consigning all of you to a life of reading Worldview Weekend Junkmail. Frankly, I didn’t know either. I’ve decided to blame Jack Heller who frequently writes for the New Pantagruel, who got me started on this whole Worldview Weekend tirade.
No doubt, many of you have been getting these Worldview Weekend (WVW) emails. The latest is a series of emails, at least they promise that it will be, set out to promote the Branson and Memphis WVW conventions slated to take place.
Since the kind folks down at WVW have decided to populate your inboxes with their tripe, I’ve taken it upon myself to do a bit of fisking. So, with no further adieu…I’ll fisk on.
This from the newest portion of quiz WVW has sent out:
1. Humanism is:
A. Acts of compassion toward humanity
B. The state of being a human
C. The belief that man is God
Answer: C
Can anyone confirm that this is actually what humanism is…I truthfully cannot. Of course, had the folks at WVW cited their source, perhaps I could believe them–though I’m inclined, I admit, not to.
2. In the area of biology, Secular Humanism believes in:
A. Creation
B. Evolution
C. Intelligent design
Answer: B
Okay, there are so many methodological problems with this question that I really don’t know where to begin. First, this is clearly a loaded question. The choir (to whom these folks are preaching) already knows the answer to which they SHOULD arrive (in order to be holy, that is.)
Second, the options here aren’t exclusive. I mean, by definition isn’t evolution from non-life to life creation? It’s certainly the creation of something. And, where did intelligent design come from. I really don’t comprehend how the concept of intelligent design could be construed as evidence against evolution. That’s just bad logic.
Oh, and here’s my personal favorite:
4. Multiculturalism is not a study of many cultures but is:
A. A denial and put down of the western culture
B. A true analysis of the western culture
C. A study of the positive influences of Christianity on the western culture
Answer: A
Okay, friends, let’s let that last one sink in for a second. Still thinking? … Yes, I’m sure you are. They just said that multiculturalism is ‘a denial and put down of western culture.’ You’ll have to pardon me here but this example requires the use of the fuck-word.
What the fuck? How white-o-ethno-man-o-centric can you get? Do they seriously want to try to espouse the belief publicly that multiculturalism is ‘prejudiced’ against them? Wow. That’s ignorance and bigotry of truly epic proportions.
I truly would not be surprised if the white klan sheets came out at their little rallies. Which causes me to worry. What if they find me? What if they ride their little horses out to my little house and throw bricks through my window, maybe burn crosses in my lawn?
I guess that’s a chance I’ll have to take. But, in all seriousness, I don’t think that it’s too far off to compare the WVW folks to the Klan. They may not be as violent, perhaps they profess a skin deep accepting of people of color, of women, of anything they’re not farmiliar with. But deep down, where it matters, they’re afraid.
People of color or women are fine, but when it comes to accepting cultures of color, or cultures of the world, or changing the understanding of society to fit a truly male AND female world, these folks want nothing to do with that. They’re afraid.
Romans 8:15 (American Standard Version)
15 For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
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Posted in faith at 10:55 am by
You see, when you all took the ‘bad christian test’ to find out if you were a bad christian or not, I didn’t know that I’d be consigning all of you to a life of reading Worldview Weekend Junkmail. Frankly, I didn’t know either. I’ve decided to blame Jack Heller who frequently writes for the New Pantagruel, who got me started on this whole Worldview Weekend tirade.
No doubt, many of you have been getting these Worldview Weekend (WVW) emails. The latest is a series of emails, at least they promise that it will be, set out to promote the Branson and Memphis WVW conventions slated to take place.
Since the kind folks down at WVW have decided to populate your inboxes with their tripe, I’ve taken it upon myself to do a bit of fisking. So, with no further adieu…I’ll fisk on.
This from the newest portion of quiz WVW has sent out:
1. Humanism is:
A. Acts of compassion toward humanity
B. The state of being a human
C. The belief that man is God
Answer: C
Can anyone confirm that this is actually what humanism is…I truthfully cannot. Of course, had the folks at WVW cited their source, perhaps I could believe them–though I’m inclined, I admit, not to.
2. In the area of biology, Secular Humanism believes in:
A. Creation
B. Evolution
C. Intelligent design
Answer: B
Okay, there are so many methodological problems with this question that I really don’t know where to begin. First, this is clearly a loaded question. The choir (to whom these folks are preaching) already knows the answer to which they SHOULD arrive (in order to be holy, that is.)
Second, the options here aren’t exclusive. I mean, by definition isn’t evolution from non-life to life creation? It’s certainly the creation of something. And, where did intelligent design come from. I really don’t comprehend how the concept of intelligent design could be construed as evidence against evolution. That’s just bad logic.
Oh, and here’s my personal favorite:
4. Multiculturalism is not a study of many cultures but is:
A. A denial and put down of the western culture
B. A true analysis of the western culture
C. A study of the positive influences of Christianity on the western culture
Answer: A
Okay, friends, let’s let that last one sink in for a second. Still thinking? … Yes, I’m sure you are. They just said that multiculturalism is ‘a denial and put down of western culture.’ You’ll have to pardon me here but this example requires the use of the fuck-word.
What the fuck? How white-o-ethno-man-o-centric can you get? Do they seriously want to try to espouse the belief publicly that multiculturalism is ‘prejudiced’ against them? Wow. That’s ignorance and bigotry of truly epic proportions.
I truly would not be surprised if the white klan sheets came out at their little rallies. Which causes me to worry. What if they find me? What if they ride their little horses out to my little house and throw bricks through my window, maybe burn crosses in my lawn?
I guess that’s a chance I’ll have to take. But, in all seriousness, I don’t think that it’s too far off to compare the WVW folks to the Klan. They may not be as violent, perhaps they profess a skin deep accepting of people of color, of women, of anything they’re not farmiliar with. But deep down, where it matters, they’re afraid.
People of color or women are fine, but when it comes to accepting cultures of color, or cultures of the world, or changing the understanding of society to fit a truly male AND female world, these folks want nothing to do with that. They’re afraid.
Romans 8:15 (American Standard Version)
15 For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
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Resident Atheist said,
February 21, 2005 at 12:42 pm
1. The closest match to the humanism question is actually (a). A better way to state it is that the morality of an action is primarily determined by its effects on other people (or sometimes conscious life more generally), rather than its compliance to some written rule or abstract system. This is a response mostly to essentialist schemes of morality, but it also applies to naive Biblical literalists who argue (for example) that “The Bible says we should oppress homosexuals, therefore it’s right to oppress homosexuals.” There’s almost always a strong social justice component to humanist ethics.
In practice, many humanists also dabble in popular science and astronomy, which means they take a very small view of our ultimate place in the universe. (c) is embarrassingly false.
But this is not what humanism is; it’s one aspect of it. Never mind that the first humanists (e.g. Erasmus of Rotterdam) were Christians, too. That’s why there’s a category called secular humanists. A Christian humanist might devote her life to studying the pinnacles of human creativity as a way of connecting herself to God’s creativity; any second-rate designer can create a universe, but how impressive is it to create other designers within that universe?
2. You’re correct that none of the options are mutually exclusive, though Intelligent Design is probably a reference to the vacuous movement led by Phillip Johnson, Dembski and Behe, and Creation is probably supposed to be a synonym for young-earth creationism. Undoubtedly, evolution is similiarly caricatured.
Elise said,
February 21, 2005 at 1:37 pm
Who is that guy and why did they let him write those! I read his questions to my roommate (at a liberal arts college) and we wanted to bash our heads in. It’s actually painful to think someone that unintelligent is allowed to write for such a massive audience!
zalm said,
February 21, 2005 at 2:00 pm
hmmm… they didn’t send me anything. and i’m honestly not quite sure how to feel about that.
Andii Bowsher said,
February 21, 2005 at 2:06 pm
‘Humanism’ is about taking human beings as a major starting point for thinking/acting. I think we could argue that God appears to be a humanist … God loves us and has expended considerable efforts to educate us and bring us salvation. And if it’s good enough for God, it’s good enough for me. I’m happy to be a Christian humanist.
Jason said,
February 21, 2005 at 2:13 pm
Humph-
I have not received any of these humorous attempts at email evangelism… was my score that low? Did my answers follow a logical pattern that betrayed my sense of this randomly ordered existence that I proclaim? This must be another vast conspiracy on the side of evangelicals to exclude us progressives from adding a meaningful word to the rhetoric that passes for Christianity today…
Or maybe I forget to put in my email address… oh well
grace and peace
catholic_girl said,
February 21, 2005 at 7:08 pm
They sent me spam every month or so. When I complained, they sent back a really rude reply saying that I had signed up for it. Ah, Christian love!
Jack Heller said,
February 22, 2005 at 12:14 pm
I would say mea culpa, but I’m really sorry enough for it. I think the Worldview Weekend folks are on to me because I did not get their latest email to my usual email address but to another address I don’t usually publish. I’ll bet they dropped my main address when they found out what I was writing about them. I wonder if this means that I can no longer attend their conferences.
Yep, I’ve even done that once.
My analysis of these latest questions appear in the “Hot Topics” forum of the New Pantagruel: http://www.newpantagruel.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=706
Fr. Gassalasca Jape, S. J. said,
February 22, 2005 at 2:00 pm
Heller, that whoreson dog is responsible for more execrable spam than I knew. How many of us poor souls blandly took that test without knowing the result? I did in fact put my head through a few inches of sheet-rock this AM when I read about this “humanism” scourge on the WW multiple-choice idiocy. I must learn how to operate the blackball function in my Outlook mailer.
Brandon said,
February 22, 2005 at 2:12 pm
But father, if you did that, where would your chuckles come from?
Brandon said,
February 22, 2005 at 2:42 pm
But father, if you did that, where would your chuckles come from?
Just Pat said,
February 23, 2005 at 12:55 am
The test was worth the spam. And, it all goes straight to my junk mail box. But, I still look.
C’mon. It could be worse.
bobstevens said,
February 27, 2005 at 3:23 am
Multiple choice tests are always overly simplistic. Forgive me for saying so, but I think it’s a little large of a step to draw comparisons to the Klan as a result. In my experience comparisons to the Klan, Nazis, or Pharisees should always be avoided in a debate context, even if they’re valid.
That said, if you think these folks are racist, try reading something like this.
Brandon said,
February 27, 2005 at 9:38 am
bob,
I understand your point, I think, and I disagree. Just because the folks you pointed out on your link are ALSO racist doesn’t take away from the fanatical racism and bigotry of worldview weekend.
Probably, continuing this debate without defining some constructs is not going to be fruitful, so for now I’ll leave it there.
Brandon said,
February 28, 2005 at 10:16 am
For the reference of all future commenters on this thread. Posting essays in their entirity about the illegitimacy of interracial marriage is completely unsolicited and will be treated as spam, and deleted. If you have a comment to make, please make it, if you’d like to post a link to a resource, feel free to so do, but don’t post the entirity of a poorly written, lousily argued, and frankly absurd and bigoted essay on my site.
bobstevens said,
March 3, 2005 at 11:12 pm
Now you’ve got me worried… did my link accidentally show up as the whole story, or did someone else post something that’s no longer here? If it was something I did, I wasn’t trying to spam, sorry.
The essay was nonsequitor and a poor comparison… I guess I was just trying to say that I didn’t think the racism displayed by WVW was any more virulent than the racism found in your typical American. Certainly racism of all forms should be opposed… I guess I was just trying to say that there are bigger fish to fry.
ICTHUS said,
April 13, 2005 at 8:19 am
World View Weekend
Ok, So I took Brandon’s world view test and ever since, I’ve been getting updates. Brandon was apologetic and I am ever forgiving.”You see, when you all took the ‘bad christian test’ to find out if you were a bad christian or not, I didn’t know that I’…