Thanks! You really are curating the bravo! channel.

In reply to this comment by Deano:
*promote

OK, I concede that it was in bad taste to use fatwa envy as a rhetorical point in this particular discussion. Fatwa envy occurs more in the form of "You would never dear to say/do/write the same about Muslims". But my point still remains that I can see no reason for the self-victimization of Christians.

Maddow didn't say that they forced anyone to do anything in that setting. It was you who said that they'd had to force anyone in the room to participate in the praying in order for this to be newsworthy. I disagree, and I've stated my reasons for taking issue with the senators adherence to faith.

I do agree, however, that it is disingenuous to present the whole republican side of the debate as a prayer meeting. Either it was done in the interest of comedy, or Maddow is a left-wing hack. I can't really decide which.

>> ^maximillian:
>>
I don't see anyone forcing anything. It's two senators in probably a town hall or perhaps a private place. Again, so what. The people there all seem to be of like faith.
And, yes, there is a general trend today that it's OK to bash Christianity but not other religions. There is a culture today where it is frowned upon to make fun of Muslims because we need to be sensitive to their culture as we fight the war-on-terror. It's a stupid excuse. However, even here on videosift there is a disproportionate amount of Christian bashing compared to other religions (except Scientology).
Also Rachel Maddow says right in the opening that "the other side of the fight" is and then shows them praying. How is this representative of the other side of the fight? Two senators praying? That is disingenuous.


It was you who brought the "forcing" thing up. I just pointed out that senators such as DeMint and Brownback are forcing their faith on others through their support for school prayer, abstinence only education and their opposition to same sex marriage and abortion. That they trust prayer to put a stop to a reform they don't even know the contents of exemplifies this.

While I agree that it's a bit non PC to make fun of Muslims, mainly because some Muslims make death threats when you do so, the real general trend today that it's OK to bash any faith. The reason that Christianity sees more bashing than any other religion is that the western world is predominantly Christian. When a large majority of the US political leadership is Christian it makes even more sense to bash Christianity. Is it really that strange that Christianity is a main receiver of bashing when Christianity is such a large part of our culture (as Christians like to point out as often as they can)?

I think the self-victimization of Christians boils down to fatwa envy. Many Christians are jealous that Muslims get to make death threats to stop people from making fun of their faith while they are (largely) unable to do such a thing.

But, as gwiz pointed out, the real news story here is the total stupidity of trusting prayer to stop a political reform.

^maximillian

Ah, the fatwa envy. Will you say that Maddow would never dear to say the same about Muslims next? How many senators are there that adhere to any other faith than Christianity? Do you seriously believe that a Muslim/Hindu/Buddhist group of senators doing an equivalent thing, if there where such a group, would not be news? How is it that the first amendment is bashing Christianity while at the same time protecting every other religion?

The reason that this is news is partly because of the disregard for the first amendment uttered at this meeting, partly because they seemingly see no hope in stopping the health care reform and partly because the guy they choose to lead the prayer is a highly controversial figure.

By the way, chances are the senators probably are trying to force prayer on someone else through legalizing school prayer or some such thing.

Raise up your glass to good king dotdude! I'm honoured to be your liege, my dude.

*isdupe

*promote

Thanks, appreciated!

In reply to this comment by arvana:
That's some *quality craftsmanship!

Yey, thanks!

In reply to this comment by Fusionaut:
*quality

*dupeof=http://www.videosift.com/video/Dawkins-tells-a-kid-that-there-is-no-santa-claus

*dupeof=http://www.videosift.com/video/Insane-Landing-in-Tegucigalpa-Honduras
Sorry...

Edit:
Damn you "Load more comments"! I thought the comment I posted was lost because it fell just below the fold.

>> ^Lodurr:
Norway is #2 on their Peace Index and listed as 72% atheist. A quick wiki search reveals that "According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005, 32% of Norwegian citizens responded that "they believe there is a god", whereas 47% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 17% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force"," and "Nominal religion in Norway is mostly Protestant (Evangelical-Lutheran) with 78.9% belonging to the state Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway."


Regarding the membership numbers of the state Lutheran Church of Norway (and Sweden if I'm not mistaken): Most Norwegians are registered as members in the state church by default upon birth. I don't know how they can get away with it, but the government uses the excuse that everyone is free to quit their membership at any time. Only about 2% of the 78.9% registered state church members actually go to church.

Edit: ^@crillep:

The same is mostly true for Denmark as well, as I'm sure @gwiz665 can verify.

Feynman with a theme melody! Could it get any better? No: *quality

*dead