Another Victim of Bible Science

Another day, another dead religious-idiot snake handler.  This time, the fellow had a high enough profile to have scored some National Geographic facetime (Why, National Geographic, Why?).  I’ll assume the best and figure that National Geographic was running a high brow bit on the lunatic fringe of religious society and not trying to go head-to-head with a bunch of waterlogged homophobic Duck Hunters on another network.  If I’m wrong, don’t correct me on the assumption.  I’m old and cranky enough already, living in the world of George Jetson with neighbors apparently beamed in from The Flintstones.  For what it’s worth, I’m feeling quite well today, but then I’m a firm believer that laughter is the best medicine, and given the ongoing freak show of the fundamentalists, I’m assured plenty of healthful smiles to keep me fit.

As a matter of curiosity, and with a nod to the photo of the white guy in the masthead above (and the white guy killed today), are there any/many instances of Black preachers dying this way?  I can’t think of any off the top of my head.  Most of the Black people I know, religiously affixed as they are, seem happy enough just bashing homosexuals and have enough common sense, having escaped slavery and all, not to be messing with deadly snakes.  I’ll leave that question to the racial sociology department at JSU or Howard to work out.  I’m always happy to toss out a free doctoral dissertation topic for a young Black college student having trouble finding a topic.

Jeebus’ Law and Order

And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16:17-18)

In spite of many previous snake bites, one of which led to the loss of the finger of the aforementioned God slobberer, as well as previous troubles with law enforcement over the transport and ownership of his deadly vermin, today’s Darwin Award nominee was undeterred.  The courts in the US, particularly those in the former slave states, are apparently reluctant to enforce long standing laws against public displays of deadly snakes in church services, so this is what we get to read about every other year or so.

Ken Ham’s Killing Spree to Continue

The southern court system, in declining to prosecute a previous case of snake bite induced religious death, stated that there would be no deterrent effect for prosecuting this type of crime, so hardened were the biblical felons in their proclivities and so devoted were the practitioners and followers of this particular religious aberration.  There are literally places in the US where you can get charged with child endangerment for leaving your minor child at home alone for ten minutes to run to the grocery store but it’s perfectly ok to drag them into a sermon where a preacher is slinging deadly rattle snakes around.  Holy shit! 

Prosecution being useless as a deterrent has never stopped any of the former slave states from dragging every other poor black man into the court system and prosecuting them for smoking marijuana, though it’s a pretty easy observation that the incarceration of those young Black males is as ineffective a deterrent to marijuana use in Black youth as the prosecution of White Pentecostal snake handlers is presumed to be in deterring other young preachers from committing suicide by snake.  Wonder why the difference?

Bonus Thunderfoot Video

Enjoy.

Shameful Non Self Promotion

Just wanted to take a quick minute to point my readers in the direction of several other bloggers who have also taken the time to comment on the PZ Myers #DickiLeaks rape allegations aimed at Michael Shermer.

I’m pretty sure that Myers will escape any libel charges by hiding behind the skirt of Larry Flynt’s Supreme Court ruling making it nearly impossible for a public person to sue for libel damages.

We’ve reached the point of epistemic closure on the #atheimplus movement when they have to hide behind the skirt of the world’s most notorious pornographer to do their own scatological ramblings.

What Honest Skeptics Think of PZ’s Actions

First off, Mr. Shermer himself.  His not-so-cryptic tweet from yesterday. You’re gonna want to click on that picture to see the Saturday Night Live skit he’s referencing.:

I want to take a minute here and add my opinion on how I think Mr. Shermer should respond going forward.  Ignore and mock the troglodytes at PZ’s house of diminishing returns.  Have his lawyer shoot off an email to National Geographic inquiring as to their standards of operations.

Somebody find that info on Nat Geo contact and tweet it to me.  Don’t make me have to get all #flirty with you.  Need I remind you that there’s limited seating for disciples in the 66 VW microbus?  Don’t let that put any pressure on you.

Thunderf00t, doing yet another masterful takedown in his series on the whacked out women of #Atheismplus.  This one is a real treat.

Al Stefanelli, who chose to distance himself very early on from the flagrantly abusive actions of #AtheismPlus and their American Girlyban terrorist cult:

This is not ‘bringing to light‘ a problem in the skeptic community. It is not an attempt to reveal some sort of dark underbelly of rampant sexual abuse that permeates the skeptic conference circuit. It is yellow journalism, if I even dare to use the word ‘journalism‘ in connection to anything that has come out of Pharyngula for quite some time. Full article here.

Atheist Revolution speculates on PZ Myers motives:

It is difficult for me to imagine that someone without a history of conflict with Shermer would jump the gun like this in a public disclosure that seems calculated to harm his reputation. It is similarly difficult to imagine that PZ would have done this had the accused been someone with whom he had no prior conflict. Full article here.

RDUBWILEY, adds another YouTube video bemoaning the anonymous nature of the PZ’s rape charges against Shermer:

 Here’s blogger/cartoonist (The Pigman) doing what cartoonists do:

Here’s another bit of analysis dripping with enough disgust to make the cut.  (h/t @esaboojam) From the Skeptic Ink Network:

When I first lacerated Myers and Watson and their ilk, people were surprised at my vehemence and wondered whether I was not going too far.  Well, now you see why.  I knew the sort of people they were, and are, and I knew that no compromise was possible.  Full article here.

Mr. Myers just updated his blog post with even more damning “evidence” that Mr. Shermer is a serial rapist.  I won’t link to it because I don’t link to pornography on this blog, but here’s the accusation (another mystery woman – the elevator must be getting pretty crowded by now?):

Michael Shermer helped get me drunker than I normally get, and was a bit flirty.

Seriously?  A bit flirty?  OMG, call the cops.  Oops, I forgot.  The American Girlyban are on record pointing out how the cops don’t help them.  They’ve all but accused the police force of passing them around the precinct re-raping them while uploading it to YouTube.

If the latest anonymous accuser had taken her complaints to the cops, they would have informed her that there is no law against “flirty behavior” and likely would have tossed her ass in the slammer for public intoxication, thus verifying the fact that the cops don’t give a dam about women.

I’m sure my list of those who strongly dissent with Mr. Myers is not comprehensive.  Others may want to add content in the comments section or just forward links to me through my Twitter account @thetimchannel.

Edited to add stuff. Don’t complain. It won’t cost you any more than you’ve already paid.

Enjoy.