Was your National Day of Prayer as great in the love of the Lord as mine was?
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. — Matthew 6:6
Another great National Day of Prayer has just wrapped up, and I know that I feel myself lifted up on the wings of angels as the prayers from all over the nation sweep through our hearts and take our messages straight to Jesus.…
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26 - Silas Kain
Has anyone noticed that Dave bears a striking resemblance to Anton Szandor LaVey? Somehow, I take strange comfort in that.
27 - Jet in Columbus
You're right Silas, if you take comfort in that, you are strange...
28 - Dave Nalle
I wish I still had the LaVey-style beard. Now my resemblence is more to the Frankenstein monster than LaVey, but if you took LaVey's hat off in the picture Silas linked to and compared it to a profile shot of me when I still had the beard the resemblance would be truly uncanny.
But to balance it out with something more holy, the late great Dr. Tom Philpott fervently maintained that I looked exactly like Father Damien - before being ravaged by leprosy - when I was clean shaven.
Dave
29 - Jet in Columbus
Oh thanks now that picture's going to be stuck in my head the rest of the day.
30 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
LaVey looks more like "The Love Boat" Captain Stubing's evil twin.
31 - Jet in Columbus
Okay now I'm lost, who does that mean that Dave looks like again?
by the way, what were we talking about?
32 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
ok, this might be better, or not: LaVey looks like the evil twin of Murray from the "Mary Tyler Moore Show." Same thing.
33 - MCH
Re comment #19;
"For some o' that ol' time religion, I highly recommend godhatesfags.com, which provides just the sort of manna a lost flock needs in these dark times..."
Although you're pretending to be coy here, some of your past statements reveal that you're actually closer to agreeing with their philosophies on homosexuality than you're letting on; for example, you're "Look out for the Pink Brigade" comment comes to mind, on the topic of gays in the military.
34 - Jet in Columbus
In that case MCH, RJ should beware of surprise attacks from the 39th Army Transvestite paratroop brigade, in stunning makeup, and pink automatic rifles.
35 - Dave Nalle
RJ may be against gay marriage, but that's a mainstream position. It's so far from the far-out evil craziness of Phelps and his fanatics that it's ridiculous to try to use it as the basis for criticizing him. Most people in the country are opposed to gay marriage. I doubt that any of them would condone Phelps' behavior aside from his handful of equally insane followers.
Dave
36 - Sister Ray
Phelps' hatred is baroque: Homosexuality is so evil that someone who serves in the military of a country that tolerates it is also evil and deserves to rot in hell.
If he were a character in a movie, critics would say, "nah, too over-the-top."
37 - MCH
And just for the record, Jet, I'd put the so-called "Pink Brigade" up against his Yellow Brigade any day of the week.
38 - Jet in Columbus
MCH, thank you, I feel very secure now in knowing that.
39 - Jasmine &
Laughing my ass off...I wasn't quite sure what the point of it all was in the first place. I'm still puzzling over the term secular humanist, and the way its spit by preachers like a wad of venom. I bear that label proudly.
40 - Silas Kain
Regardless of what Dave believes or looks like, I continue to adore the man. The Father Damien thing is quite scary, though, as I could not picture St. Dave in a Catholic frock.
Phelps' hatred is baroque: Homosexuality is so evil that someone who serves in the military of a country that tolerates it is also evil and deserves to rot in hell.
Actually Phelps' behavior with ragrd to homosexuality is akin to a man with severely repressed sexual issues. Personally I think his parents forced him to sleep between them in bed during puberty so as to stop him from touching himself. Unless, of course, his parents were present to speak in tongues over the nubile young lad during noctural emissions.
41 - Dave Nalle
The Father Damien thing is quite scary, though, as I could not picture St. Dave in a Catholic frock.
You have to keep in mind that Tom Philpott was easily as crazy as he was brilliant. He worshipped JFK and threatened his neighbors with a gun periodically. One of my favorite profs, nonetheless.
Actually Phelps' behavior with ragrd to homosexuality is akin to a man with severely repressed sexual issues.
Yah. I resisted pointing this out earlier. His bigotry goes so far beyond sanity that I have to think he's a self-hating repressed homosexual deep down inside.
Dave
42 - Jet in Columbus
I don't care what he is, I refuse to teach him our secret handshake!
43 - Jet in Columbus
PS However I will try to get him a date with Spongebob...... maybe he just needs something to do with his hands?
44 - Sister Ray
It's the specific, twisted way Phelps expresses his hatred that makes him interesting. Let's face it, some other people "hate fags," but they don't go flying all over the country to be vicious to funeral attendees about it.
He gets some sick fulfillment out of piling on to people mourning a loved one. That's in addition to his homophobia.
45 - RJ Elliott
Phelps is arguably the most vile human being on the planet who has not actually been convicted of murder or crimes against humanity.
IMO...
46 - MCH
Elliott;
So what did you mean by "Look out for the Pink Brigade"?
47 - Dave Nalle
He meant that a brigade of gay soldiers would be a fearsome fighting force, now go peddle your one-note bigotry somewhere else.
Dave
48 - Bird of Paradise
Dave, The old Punch magazine once depicted a vicar as a guest at breakfast in the home of one of his parishoners. The cartoon caption read, Woman of the House: "And Reverand, Are you enjoying your eggs?" Pastor: "Parts of them are excellent."
That's the sort of tactful response that your satire requires. The National Day of Pryaer commercialism is disgusting and deserves all the lampooning it can get. "National Day of Prayer Kneeling Pads" indeed!
Unfortunately, you broadened your scope to paint and parody Christian believers as simpleton clones of the sort of people that even most Christians despise and abhor.
If this sort of stereotyping had been used in a parody of (for example) African-Americans the result would rightly be condemned as bigotry.
Perhaps you need to rethink your attitudes towards folks like me who you clearly do not seem to either know or understand very well.
49 - Dave Nalle
I may not know YOU specifically, BoP - or your religious beliefs. But I certainly do know the NDP people and their ilk who are using this manufactured event as a means of trying to impose religion on kids through the public schools. If you identify with them and believe that that's a good idea then I guess I do know you and you're as deserving of my scorn as they are.
Dave
50 - MCH
"He meant that a brigade of gay soldiers would be a fearsome fighting force..."
- Dave Nalle
Bullshit, Nalle. His reference to the "Pink Brigade" was gay-bashing, plain and simple. He's had a history of mocking braver men than he (ie, John Kerry and Max Cleland), including gays who've at least had more courage than he by enlisting.
Nice try though, defending your little "Yellow Brigade" buddy.
51 - RJ Elliott
So what did you mean by "Look out for the Pink Brigade"?
[sarcasm]Well, clearly that means I believe all gay people are damned to hell for eternity, and that I strongly support the picketing of military funerals to make that point clear to the American public... [/sarcasm]