210 Comments

“Can you imagine a city without the organization of church for spiritual and community assistance?”

Oh, I can. It would be grand. Charity would be done by folks who actually do good. Money would be directed to more worthwhile pursuits. There wouldn’t be interference in medical care, public works, and, especially in this case, public safety. We would be able to conduct our business on Sundays without fighting church traffic and the evil eye and waitstaff wouldn’t be bullied and ripped off of tips while being slammed after church.

Can you imagine? What a great day that would be.

Expand full comment

“Can you imagine a city without the organization of church for spiritual and community assistance?”

Yes, since, at least, 1971.

Expand full comment

Ark Disaster being recycled in a real museum. Why not about boats ?

Expand full comment

It could only be used as an example of what not to do.

Expand full comment

𝑊𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠. 𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑖𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒.

And religious asses like Howard-Browne get rewarded for exposing the general population to grievous harm which fails to counterbalance any charitable work he may have done. I have to honestly wonder at this point whether Florida as a state has utterly lost its mind ... other than perhaps Disney and NASA at Cape Canaveral.

I honestly wish I could understand this. I can't.

Expand full comment

Gov DeSantis is STANDING UP to Woke Corporations. That's what the PEOPLE of Florida want and need.

Expand full comment

This message was approved by DeSantis for President. Paid for by Elon Musk.

Expand full comment

I am annoyed by the terms "conspiracy theory" and "conspiracy theorist(s)". As most of us here should know, a theory is a scientifically grounded explanation for a body of observations of the real world, and not just a wild speculation. This is why we can dismiss people who say that evolution is "“…just a theory…”.

These fictions are the products of delusional minds, and, as such, should be called "conspiracy delusions" and their proponents "conspiracy delusionists" or, bore simply, "liars".

Let's keep theories where they belong.

Expand full comment

I prefer to call them "loons".

Expand full comment

F***ing whackjobs works, also.

Expand full comment

I combine yours and wreck's... whack-a-loon.

Expand full comment

Isn't that the old musical about a mystical town in Scotland or someplace?

Expand full comment

Ah, I can hear Robert Goulet singing "Whack-a-Loon" even now.

Expand full comment

The word, "theory" must be among the most misunderstood and abused words in the English language. This is at least in part because the essence of what science is isn't properly taught, especially in schools where the powers that be would rather teach creationism than evolution. What we do about that, I don't know.

Expand full comment

It's my theory that you're right.

Expand full comment

I am also sick to goddamn death of a couple of terms that seem to be everywhere in the media. 1) "Active shooter" As opposed to what? A passive shooter? Just call the damn SOB a shooter, period. 2) "Assault-style rifle." What the hell does that mean, and how does an "assault-style rifle" differ from, like, you know, a plain old assault rifle? Such meaningless phrases and buzzwords serve no purpose but to palliate the horrible realities (a bit), but they take root in our brain dead "news" media and just won't go away.

Expand full comment

Partial birth abortion, late term abortion, unborn baby, pro-life, grown men in dresses (when referring to transgender school children), democrat party, Antifa fascists, Christian morality, Christian values, anything MTG claimed in her projection riddled articles of impeachment, anything she ever says, Boebert’s head jiggle when she’s giving a speech as though she’s a standup comedian but really she’s shitting on minorities with racist dog whistles, everything that comes out the orange meconium’s mouth…

I could go on.

I’ve been watching The Great on streaming and there was a concept they discussed about the first lie wins and I realized that this was how the GOP/right wing/white nationalists have been playing for generations now. Making sure to start the lies so they win the messaging battle early. And it works. It isn’t a new concept, this is just the bumper sticker version of propaganda.

Expand full comment

"𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴" has to be my favorite of those. I mean, do these twits even 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 to themselves? Tell us you haven't done the homework without telling us you haven't done the homework!

Expand full comment

All with a healthy dose of Gish galloping.

Expand full comment

Ah, you probably haven't had much to do with gun nuts and the NRA? 😇 They are very picky about what they call an assault rifle, and they have regiments of lawyers at the ready to make sure of the correct definition. Similarly, they know the difference between a clip and a magazine. As they constantly used to tell me – "words matter".

Expand full comment

Conspiracy hypothesist maybe but that still implies scientific methodology.

Expand full comment

"Why did a Florida county honor Christian conspiracy theorist Rodney Howard-Browne?"

Someone needs a vice president pick?

Expand full comment

I would have thought that for this kind of awards the contributions would be listed for them to boast. The statement is so vague, did they really do something for their community except taking money from their parishioners ?

"actually changes your DNA… to remove the God Factor out of people.”

Good, I don't need a big brother to watch me.

Expand full comment

If God can be thwarted by a vaccine, he's a pretty weak god.

Expand full comment

From NOGODZPEDIA "god can be thwarted by iron chariots".

Expand full comment

Iron-dependent blood-oxygen cycle; planet with an iron core... only a truly stupid creator would make so much of his creation out of something he's so allergic to.

Expand full comment

What was that movie where the aliens who were allergic to water came to earth?

Expand full comment

It's a good thing the aliens didn't try for Kamino.

Expand full comment

There are, of course, even more pathetic things to have as your kryptonite...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTe0MjAZvMU

Expand full comment

At least that was intentionally stupid and not trying to pass itself off as wisdom. 😏

Expand full comment

Slim Whitman has the same effect on me. Must be Martian like Valentine Michael Smith.

Expand full comment

Horse shoe crabs 😁

Expand full comment

'God' is allergic to facts, reason and reality. They really get in the way of what he's trying to accomplish.

Expand full comment

What he’s trying to accomplish? Like existing?

Expand full comment

The ubiquitous, omnipotent, merciful Lord is OFFENDED by your question. How else could everything exist if it weren't for him? Now pray hard for atonement before something bad happens. (This message was brought to you by DeSantis for President. I'm Ron DeSantis and I approved this message with God's help.)

Expand full comment

"God factor?!?" WHAT god factor? Somehow, I doubt such a gene was identified by the Human Genome Project, and it had a born-again Christian as one of its directors, in the person of Francis Collins!

Rather astonishing [as well as sickening!] to see the kinds of leaps people like Howard-Browne will make to try to advance their bullshit.

Expand full comment

A vaccine that removes the "God Factor"... ooohhhhhhh, IF ONLY!

Expand full comment

Embalming fluid.

Expand full comment

Why the honor? Three words: Christian Fucking Privilege.

Expand full comment

OT- Holy shit, I think we've found the one trans woman on Earth who hates herself and her whole demographic even more than 𝘊𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘺𝘯 𝘑𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 does:

https://apnews.com/article/oath-keepers-seditious-conspiracy-sentencing-watkins-harrelson-73dcb93b0bcb6c33c88a812e6d7d811f

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 (defendant Jessica Watkins) 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘯 “𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥” 𝘰𝘯 𝘑𝘢𝘯. 6."

What. The. Actual. 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬.

How the hell do you get so twisted around that you not only join a militia group made up of people who hate you, but also encourage 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 people to join said group... then all march off to attempt a coup on behalf of a man whose lofty accomplishments as President included 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 attempts to take your rights away, and at least once instance of his 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰? These people 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 you. If they'd succeeded, their very next move would've been to kick you to the curb, stomp all over you, and 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 about it.

Now you're a convicted felon, and you'll be damned lucky if they don't send you to a men's prison. Eight and a half years- good luck with that! You did all this, risked this fate, for people who 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. If you wind up in the same cell block as your fellow insurrectionists, do you imagine for one moment they're going to have your back?

Lady, there's stupid, and then there's 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥.

Expand full comment

religious superstition makes you hated yourself for not being "perfect." I know. I survived it. Luckily I found Gay friends and activists that showed me how to love myself as a Gay man..

Expand full comment

Cognitive dissociation is both very real and quite powerful; humans are frighteningly capable of holding diametrically opposed ideas in ways that make no sense at all and are, indeed, quite detrimental to us. Religion takes advantage of that trait all too often by pretending the leadership knows what we need more than we ourselves do and using a breathtaking number of emotionally-charged ways to make sure the majority of us are incapable of breaking out of that.

Sure, this trans woman is without doubt a traitor for participating in the Jan. 6th insurrection, but that doesn't mean she's not a victim, too. What I'm trying to say here is that this person has likely been brainwashed into being a victim for so long that when given the choice she will choose to be victimized again rather than leave; it's likely all she really knows. It's very human, if stupid, to choose the familiar but painful over the better but less familiar option. I've seen this before and it's painful to watch. I just wish I had a solution to it.

Expand full comment

Why be a gay republican ?

Expand full comment

Self-loathing?

Expand full comment

Religion teaches you that you must hate yourself because yu are a sinner. I have known too many who killed themselves over being Gay, because religious superstition told them to. Just one more reason to hate ignorant superstition.

Expand full comment

The irony is that christians have more than enough about them that is hateful without having to drag "sin" into it.

Expand full comment

Better brunches?

Expand full comment

I wouldn't be able to eat with the stench of all this bullshit.

Expand full comment

Also – Interesting how they all become suddenly contrite when faced with a prison sentence. Lots of abject apologies – blah blah blah. Unfortunately they can't compensate for lack of actual thought beforehand. If you can't put in enough effort to assess how you're being manipulated to do something criminal, I doubt you can put in enough to avoid groups that hate you. There are still gay Republicans right? There are still black Republicans. In any large enough group, my rule of thumb says there will be at least a few eejits.

Expand full comment

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are officially changing their name to the Tampa Bay Dumb Fucks to further honor Howard-Browne's contribution to the Stupid, Christian people who rule Hillsborough County, FL.

Expand full comment

Here we have yet another example of there being no situation so bad it cannot be made worse by religion. This country, and the wider world, does not face a single problem that has a religious solution, but fools who cannot think for themselves keep trying.

Expand full comment

and endagering countless others in the process.

Expand full comment

I remember this guy! He’s horrifying of course, but I always found it hilarious that he came from South Africa to Florida as a missionary. Like, okay good luck converting all these Floridians to Christianity. lol

Expand full comment

"Can you imagine a city without the organization of church for spiritual and community assistance?"

I imagine within twenty years, we'd be living in Star Trek.

Expand full comment

We'd be a millennia or more advanced now if it hadn't been for Christianity.

Expand full comment

But without Christianity, there would be no 'end times' to pray for. That would ruin everything.

Expand full comment

Just please don't tell me I have to bunk with William Shatner.

Expand full comment

*Consult the booking list*

You are to bunk with Beverly Crusher and Kathryn Janeway.

Expand full comment

Damn, I was hoping for Wil Wheaton..

Expand full comment

You'll have to beat Stewie to it.

Expand full comment

This award talks about all kinds of religious influence on the city, something that is unconstitutional and should be reprimanded rather than rewarded. But then, I’m not a good Christian evangelical traitor.

Expand full comment

From his CV, I see he is completely uneducated.

Expand full comment

So where’d they get the Dr.s for the titles? What about his wife? We’re just handing out phds to our friends now?

ETA. I looked it up, he got his doctorate of ministry from the school of Bible theology through correspondence courses. So the school is known as a diploma mill. The degree is in pretending. Im sure the correspondence course was entirely graded on the checks he sent in and whether they bounced or not. Pass/fail, amiright.

Expand full comment

Doctorate of Ministry is the equivalent of a Master's of Potions from Hogwarts.

Expand full comment

Just the cleared check part. No Pass/Fail involved.

Expand full comment

Hell, a pretend doctorate is nothing in the scheme of things. We have a self-proclaimed bishop. I'm thinking of calling myself a cardinal – maybe even a Pope.

Expand full comment

Mouse-over text: Your pope name is your first pet and how many hotdogs you can fit in your mouth.

Expand full comment

It would just hold him back.

Expand full comment

I think that is Cepeda's CV.

Expand full comment

He had the only qualification he needed: "pwnt teh libz."

Expand full comment

Yeah, seems about right. I'm just surprised DeSantis wasn't there to jack him off during the ceremony.

Expand full comment

Too busy getting a blowie from the Muskrat.

Expand full comment

Muskrat Love?

Expand full comment

Thanks, Captain. /s

Expand full comment

"Can you imagine a city without the organization of church ..." Yes. Yes. I. Can. And it is WONDERFUL.

Expand full comment

Some days, I almost wish there were a heaven just so I could set up right outside the gates to watch all the people who got rejected. Probably just as well there's not, I don't think there's enough popcorn in the world for that.

Considering Mr. Howard-Browne and his wife, I have to say I'd like to see the IRS take a look at them very closely. I have a sneaking suspicion that they aren't reporting everything the should be, and they've likely got more than they're telling. These two are clearly con artists bent on gaming the system; from what I can tell even their 'doctorates' are from an unaccredited school. Everything about this pair reeks of 'out to cheat the public', and I'd really like to see that brought to light ASAP.

Getting Cepeda out of her elected position would be a nice bonus, too.

Expand full comment

What?!? A devoted Christian...a minister, no less...NOT paying his taxes as he was instructed to do in Romans 13:6-7?

I'm shocked! Shocked, I say!

Expand full comment

That's just static from your rug. You developed a tough enough hide to be immune to christians decades ago.

Expand full comment

My tongue was planted firmly in my cheek when I typed the "shocked" part.

Expand full comment

Just so you keep it out of MY cheek.

Expand full comment

What do you have against "cours de langue" ?

Expand full comment

If Nogodz' tongue is long enough to reach from Washington to Pennsylvania, believe me, I don't want anything to do with it.

Expand full comment