Stephen Colbert Wank
Taken from the nicest mousie on Wank Report. Sadly, this is not as hot as the title would suggest.

It all starts when saltyj posts the following to thequestionclub:

"'I love my Church, and I'm a Catholic who was raised by intellectuals, who were very devout. What is worthy of satire is the misuse of religion for destructive or political gains. That's totally different from the Word, the blood, the body, and the Christ. His kingdom is not of this earth.' - Stephen Colbert


Does anyone else think it's super cool that he follows his faith? I totally wanted to marry him after I read this, but...dang. He's already married with 3 kids. And is old enough to be my father. Dang."

The responses at first are mostly positive. Then nightninja76 pipes up.

"No, it's not supercool. Faith is for morons."

And all hell breaks loose.



Some sample comments:

nightninja76: "Faith means believing something without (or in spite of) evidence. That people subscribe to something so ridiculous is intellectually offensive.

You wouldn't assign blind faith to your car salesman, would you? No, you'd want guarantees. If he couldn't deliver on his promises, you would stop giving him your business, right?

Why does Jesus get a free pass? Because he's dead? Bullshit."

Katyowns: "And what about people who've had personal experiences with their God?"
Saltyj: "We're all crazy ppl who sees crazy things and hearing voices in our heads. Yup."
Katyowns: "When did I say that? I have had personal experiences where I know my God was close by. I can't prove it, but I felt it, and I personally know it."
Saltyj: "No, I was agreeing with you. I was being sarcastic. Sorry for the confusion! I've had many personal experiences with God. Conversations, even."

______queenie: "Saying faith is stupid is like saying hope is a waste of time. People like to think that after they've gone through life, they'll be able to go to heaven and be at peace. Having faith can be good for you, being able to pray to a deity can relieve stress, even if you have no proof that someone is listening, it doesn't matter."
witchbabywig: "...hope IS a waste of time."
h3artshap3d_b0x: "So if someone is very ill, it's a waste of time to have hope that they get better? What would you suggest doing?"
witchbabywig: "Yes, it is. It changes nothing. I suggest neutrality and preparation for either outcome."
h3artshap3d_b0x: "Wow. So between the two of you, it really looks like Atheists are pretty stone hearted people."
shippo: "Nah, they're usually pretty cool. Except nightninja76. He seems to be a bit of a nutter."
pester: "Not the most colourful crayon in the box, that one."

snarkivist: "THE ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE DOES NOT INDICATE THE EVIDENCE OF ABSENCE."
nightninja76: "Thanks, Donald Rumsfeld."

h3artshap3d_b0x: "You're young. I used to think the same way. I'm not religious, I wont ever be, but I am agnostic."
bellasmommy: Shh, he's in MENSA. Therefore he > everyone else."
h3artshap3d_b0x: "oic."
nightninja76: "I never claimed that. Why not reason with me instead of speculating falacious straw men to other people?"

In reply to a comment, now sadly deleted:
h3artshap3d_b0x: "People who know would tell you I have thought about God and spirituality to DEATH."

nightninja76: "An agnostic is an athiest [sic] who hasn't thought about it yet."
sesmo: "Nope. An atheist is just a religious person who switched his religion to believing in No God without evidence, instead of believing in one or more god(s) without evidence. An agnostic is someone that realizes that we cannot know. There is no proof showing the existence of god(s), nor is there proof showing the lack of existence of god(s). Therefore, either belief is one held despite lack of evidence."
therikkster: "Sorry, but an Athiest [sic] doesn't have to switch religion; Athiests [sic] who believe in no god, at all, nada. I'm an Athiest [sic, again] but I was never religious."
deviatednorm: "Hey, cute strawman. I totally liked how you added the personal anecdote while missing the crux of sesmo's post."

keithbuff: "Atheism is not a religion. It's like saying 'not collecting coins' is a hobby."



All that and more can be found here: http://community.livejournal.com/thequestionclub/18552182.html

P. S. If this would be more appropriate over at otf_wank, let me know and I'll move it.

ETA: The wank, she has hit Stupid Free (thanks, wankaholic). And oar was kind enough to provide us with extra goodies from the main wank here.