February 7, 2007, - 2:19 pm

When Atheists a/k/a Future Muslims Attack

By Debbie Schlussel
Something happened over the last 24 hours. Beginning last night, my inbox became populated with vile hate-mail from atheists. No skin off my back.
But it is entertaining and amusing. It’s hard to believe their letters because they were all attacking me for my appearance on CNN’s “Paula Zahn Now,” a week ago, but coincidentally each letter claims the sender just watched me on CNN. First of all, the video of that segment appears nowhere on the net. Believe me, if it did, I’d link to it. Secondly, since I appeared on the show a week ago, that all these “seminar” e-mailers are now all e-mailing me the same basic hate message, populated with a diversity of obscene insults, it’s easier to believe that they were easily brainwashed into sending me the missives as a result of an atheist blog that just put up an attack on me, yesterday.
I’m surprised these atheists would be so obedient to a higher power that told them to e-mail me since, after all, the one thing they’re supposed to have in common is a lack of belief in a higher power. Well, no-one ever said atheists are consistent or immune from hypocrisy.
I don’t mind receiving the atheist hate mail, since I know that in a few years, many of these same people will either be Muslim extremists (redundant) or helping the country fall further in its fight against the creep of Islamic imposition on America . . . or both.
Look at famous atheists and what happened to them. Adam Gadahn a/k/a Azzam Al-Amriki–now a top Al-Qaeda video “personality”–was raised by his hippie Jewish father and equally bizarre gentile mother as an atheist. And look how he turned out. Ditto for hippie-spawn John Walker Lindh.
Those two people are enemies of America, and many of those who think like them are of equally weak mind. If you don’t believe in anything, you’ll easily fall for virtual nothings. That’s why Europe is so quickly turning Islamist–because atheism dominates and Christianity is rapidly dying there. Over there, the number one cause for which atheists are suddenly finding “god” is Islam.
Over here, as I pointed out on CNN, atheists are on the attack against religion and G-d only when Christians and Jews are involved, not when Muslims and Islam are. A Christian prayer at a public school graduation or football game? Send in the ACLU lawyers. A Muslim prayer at a high school football game in Dearbornistan? Suddenly, when the “Religion of Peace” is involved, atheists boast extreme tolerance and display ultimate deference. No lawsuits. Ever. And the Muslim prayers continue.
So to you hate-filled atheists a/k/a future Muslim extremists (redundant), your e-mails have no effect on me. Ditto for your creative obscenities which don’t impress upon me the civility of the atheo-fascisti set.
But thanks for the material for this post. And nice try, telling me you saw me on CNN, last night. That was a week ago. Last night, was when Sean Hannity deliberately plagiarized my work on Islamic imam Husham Al-Husainy on FOX News. Different network, different show, my name clearly not mentioned (just my work ripped off by Hannity; Thanks, Sean).




Tags: , , , , , , , , ,


259 Responses

The emails you got had nothing to do with ‘obeying a higher power’, and I doubt very much that they were truly hate mail. We just simply disagree with you. My first problem with you appearance had more to do with CNN – there was simply no atheist representation. Not great journalism. I stumbled upon this website and decided FOR MYSELF to tell you how I feel and how disappointed I am in your viewpoint.
Your views on what America is all about are skewed. For instance, you said Freedom of Religion does not include freedom from religion. Thomas Jefferson would vehemently disagree: “[N]o man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.” – Thomas Jefferson.
You also said America is a Xian nation. No. America is not a Xian nation, but a nation full of Xians. America is supposed to be a land of tolerance and acceptance, concepts seemingly foreign to you. We do not selectively attack Xianity. What we stand against is the Xian right attempting to force Xianity (and their brand at that) on the rest of us, including you. We simply wish to be allocated the right to believe what we wish without interference from people pushing their own beliefs on us. We are simply pushing back. No one has ever removed prayer from schools. It was mandatory prayer that was removed. Any child has the right to pray, hold their beliefs, etc., and that INCLUDES children from atheist families. It is simply the Xian right which is perpetrating the discrimination of atheists and that is who we are pushing back against.
You also said one man that went “all the way to the Supreme Court for his child, the child doesn’t know what’s going on, to try to get ‘under god’ taken out of the Pledge of Allegience…” First, how is exposing a child to religion, before they have the capacity to intelligently form their own opinions better than teaching free thinking? Second, why do you think that an atheist would not be offended by pledging allegiance to something that they do not believe in? Quid pro quo. While there are people with different belief systems that are intolerant to other religions (Xians are no different in this regard), there is nothing wrong with standing up for ones beliefs when they are being institutionally and societally trampled.
The only voice of reason was that of Stephen Smith. Even though he and I will never agree on matters of religion, we can still respect each other’s beliefs, and that’s what this is all about.

Randola on February 7, 2007 at 2:59 pm

Debbie, what happened was this story got picked up on Digg. Here’s the Digg story: http://digg.com/politics/CNN_Anti_Atheist_Hit_Piece_write_them_to_protest_unanswered_hate_speech
The thing is, Digg’s audience is largely:
In their 20’s
Secular/Atheist
Liberal/Left leaning
And, as an Atheist, I’d say I have to agree, we’re entitled, just as everyone else is, to make as much noise about what we believe in that we want. If you don’t want to listen, don’t, but telling us to shut up is wrong.

ConservativesLovePuns(descent) on February 7, 2007 at 3:02 pm

A simple search on Youtube for “Paula Zhan atheists” yielded this clip, Debbie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPHnXrU5JzU
So apparently we cannot trust you to put even the slightest bit of work into verifying the most arbitrary facts.
I’m looking forward to Zhan’s next panel discussion (composed entirely of white Christians and Muslims) that talks about how Jews and women need to shut up and stop imposing their values and beliefs on the rest of us.
A SIMPLE SEARCH OF MY NAME DOES NOT YIELD THE VIDEO. MY NAME IS NOT IN THE KEY WORDS, SO BASICALLY YOU ARE SAYING I CANNOT BE TRUSTED TO FIND A VIDEO OF ME THAT IS NOT UNDER MY NAME. THANKS FOR CONFIRMING THAT MANY ATHEISTS ARE ALSO IDIOTS, IN ADDITION TO BEING FUTURE MUSLIM EXTREMISTS. THE ONLY REASON THESE PEOPLE ARE E-MAILING IS BECAUSE A PROMINENT ATHEIST WEBSITE TOLD THEM TO. THE VIDEO WAS POSTED ON 2/4/07. THAT I’M JUST GETTING THE E-MAILS LAST NIGHT AND TODAY AFTER AN ATHEIST BLOG POSTED ABOUT IT, TELLS ME THE REAL STORY. ESPECIALLY SINCE EVERY SINGLE E-MAIL SAYS THE SAME THING. MONKEYS DOING WHAT THEY’RE TOLD AND PARROTS PARROTING WHAT THEY’RE ASKED TO REPEAT DOESN’T MAKE THEM SMART OR TRUTHFUL.
DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL

OneLess on February 7, 2007 at 3:05 pm

The USA was founded on Christian principles (argue with history if you want but that won’t change facts), and it’s population is 85% Christian. That is what you call a Christian nation. You can pretend it’s not, and you can call it something else, but that does not change the fact that it is a Christian nation.
It’s interesting to note that the athiests here are complaining that religion is being shoved down their throats, and at the same time telling us that if we don’t want to listen to them we don’t have to and that we shouldn’t try to shut them up. Which is it? Are you allowed to talk about your religion (athiesm) because it’s not Christianity, but we’re not allowed to talk about ours? Typical of the left.

Stealthkix on February 7, 2007 at 3:53 pm

How ironic! Atheists claiming they only think for themselves following like sheep when someone tells them to bombard you.
You are right, Debbie. That atheist is an idiot. And, what a whiner.

Jeff_W on February 7, 2007 at 4:01 pm

Uh, Jeff, please point to me where anyone specifically asks to have Schlussel “bombarded”. Not in the digg article or the comments does anyone mention that Debbie has a website, or it’s URL, nor do they mention her email. If people are upset with her, they’ve taken the time to google her and find this information on their own.

ConservativesLovePuns(descent) on February 7, 2007 at 4:05 pm

You’re a pot calling the kettle black, Debbie. You say “A SIMPLE SEARCH OF MY NAME DOES NOT YIELD THE VIDEO. MY NAME IS NOT IN THE KEY WORDS, SO BASICALLY YOU ARE SAYING I CANNOT BE TRUSTED TO FIND A VIDEO OF ME.” Please stop shouting, by the way. Seems your monkeying around has found the all caps key. It’s not that you cannot be trusted to find a video of yourself but that you can’t be bothered to look very hard (and less than narcissistically) and then blame everyone else for your misgivings (of which there seem to be many). The video is all over the net. Plain and simple, even for you.
If my tone with you has seemed to change, it has. You are hateful, spiteful and a liar. How does being an atheist turn one into a Muslim? Besides, I have known people of Xian, Jewish and Muslim faiths and found them to be gracious people. What makes a person turn into the likes of you has nothing to do with religion. When I saw that video on YouTube I was genuinely angered, but after reading this vicious diatribe I was disgusted.
You are not the least bit interested in understanding anyone else that has a differing opinion and immediately label them. Ad hominem attacks like that are typical of those whose positions are untenable and indefensible.
By the way, OneLess, America would only be a Xian nation if it were institutionalized (ie, the word ‘Christianity’ were in the constitution). It is not. Typical of the right to be incomprehensible and thoughtless.

Randola on February 7, 2007 at 4:09 pm

“The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity.” – John Adams, Signer of The Constitution
“The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus by the Supreme Being in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.” -Thomas Jefferson
“It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what one does not believe. It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so express it, that mental lying has produced in society. When man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.” -Thomas Paine, patriot: “Give me Liberty or Give me Death”.
“The Christian God is a being of terrific character – cruel, vindictive, capricious, and unjust.” Thomas Jefferson
“[T]he government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion[…]” – Thomas Jefferson
“During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution.” – James Madison
“If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practiced it on one another. The first Protestants of the Church of England blamed persecution in the Romish church, but practiced it upon the Puritans. These found it wrong in the Bishops, but fell into the same practice themselves both here [England] and in New England.” – Ben Franklin
Of course you don’t want to argue history or the facts; by their own words the fathers of our nation make lie to your claim that this is a Christian Nation.
This nation was founded on the timeless noble principles of Justice and Freedom, independent of this feeble passing fad of Christianity.
You tell us to shut up? I say clearly with all my heart: NO! This is my country, and I’m going to fight for it!

William F on February 7, 2007 at 4:33 pm

Randola,
I think the reason why Debbie uses all caps is to distinguish her words from that of the poster she’s addressing.

Norman Blitzer on February 7, 2007 at 4:33 pm

Randola, it was me. Not OneLess. He’s on your side.
First, she always responds to comments in capitals do make it easy to differentiate between her text and the commenter’s text. It’s only shouting when you’re in an AOL chat room full of teenagers.
Second, I never said it was founded with the intent of being a Christian nation. I said it was founded on Christian principles, meaning the inspiration for creating this country was from a Christian perspective as opposed to any other religious perspective, atheism included. They didn’t come here to get away from religion, they came here to get away from an oppressive church/government that wouldn’t let them worship the way they felt they need to. The fact that it is 85% Christian makes it an overwhelmingly Christian nation. You’re trying to ignore what it is and call it something different. You live in a Christian nation. You don’t have to be a Christian, but whenever you see another person in this country, they most likely are a Christian. They celebrate Christmas. They even call it Christmas. (gasp) They might not go to church, they might not even think about God much, but you can be almost certain they are Christian. That is because they live in a Christian nation. Maybe you would be happier in Europe.

Stealthkix on February 7, 2007 at 4:39 pm

Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
-Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782
——————————————————————————–
But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
-Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782
——————————————————————————–
Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear.
-Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787

Patriot8 on February 7, 2007 at 4:53 pm

Ooops my bad, Stealthkix. Actually, the first amendment was in response (at least in part) to the mandatory attendance of weekly Anglican services in Britain. The American Revolution was about Freedom, not just Xian freedom. It cannot be conditional. I don’t ignore that the demographics are such that the population of the US is overwhelmingly Xian, but does that mean that the majority is given carte blanche to ride roughshod over the rights of minorities? The Founding Fathers would be appalled as I am at Debbie’s diatribe. Does the consitution mean nothing more than toilet paper to the right?
And as an atheist I celebrate Christmas, though not in the way Xians do. We have a tree and exchange presents (no carols – Christmas music drives me nuts (not a philosophical thing, just that they are so bad). I even call it Chrismas (Xmas is just typing shorthand for me).
My biggest problem is that Debbie is not the least bit interested in what anyone else has to say unless they agree with her. She and her ilk foment resentment and are part of the problem and not the solution. For every atheist-turned-Muslim I can find her 50 theist-turned-mass murderer without any problem. Atheism isn’t about being immoral or amoral. Far from it. Anyone that thinks otherwise should read up on secular humanism. This is a common misconception. Go to any prison and try to find an atheist inmate. The percentage of atheist prisoners is much lower than atheists in the general population. If atheists are so immoral this would not be the case.
It’s almost certain that you (and Debbie) know and respect people that are atheists. You just don’t know that they are because they are not vocal. I wasn’t until a while ago. It was the Kitzmiller trial that was the last straw for me.
By the way, to suggest to someone to move somewhere else because they might be , Stealthkix, is the most unAmerican thing I’ve ever heard someone say.

Randola on February 7, 2007 at 5:01 pm

You make salient points, Randola, although your word choice is revealing and unappealing. When I think of a child being “exposed” to something, I think of lead paint or bitter cold or pornography. *Introducing* a child to religion is completely different.
I agree with Debbie, that those who purport to believe in no faith are liable to believe in a faith (Islam) that is completely hostile to Christianity (and to atheism!). They are even more likely to sympathize with Islam or, at minimum, grant it a validity to which it is in no way entitled.
Those who ignore that we are “a Christian nation” do so at our nation’s, if not their own, peril. Christianity (Judeo-Christianity) is our unique inheritance, and is the source: of law, literature, psychology. Almost any field in the humanties taught at any secular university is indebted to the Holy Bible, and not the other way around. (Stealthkix already started this point.)
Despite a neutral, personal disbelief in God or non-observance of religion, many atheists abdicate their political will to those who actively oppose religion, i.e., *anti-theists*. (Like liberals who time and again are duped by Communists or Muslim radicals, atheists are, imho, duped by anti-theists.) Christopher Hitchens, for one, is honest enough to identify as an anti-theist.
Those of us who believe God has a place in the public sphere have let anti-theists set the tone and temper of this debate by hiding behind the label “atheist.” Our bad. We need to do better.
***
“Xian” btw is a city in China:
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9806/25/clinton.china.01/

Jeremiah on February 7, 2007 at 5:11 pm

What’s the Kitzmiller trial?

Jeremiah on February 7, 2007 at 5:13 pm

What in God’s name possesses someone to use the meaningless term, “Xian”? Oh wait .. I answered my own question …Of course, nothing in GOD’s name would move someone to use that sort of vulgarity.
Oh well. Randola, for reasons having, I’m sure, to do with the terminally unique choice of the name Randola, obviously prefers other sorts of meaningless uniqueness’ too .. amply evidenced in her soulless choice to embrace the dumb religion of atheism.

Daisytoo on February 7, 2007 at 5:14 pm

The use of the term Xian is simply a short form for Christianity, Daisytoo, not meaning any disrespect. It has a historical basis as well, it’s etiology Greek. Use of the term God, god, or whatever is not offensive to me. You are entitled to your beliefs, as I am mine. Your insinuations demonstrate your low level of intelligence and morality and as such you are dismissed.
Atheism is not a religion. It’s meaning is ‘without belief’. Take it as you will.
And Jeremiah, our society owes a great deal to Greek and Roman influences, so what’s your point?

Randola on February 7, 2007 at 5:24 pm

By being unable to accept that you live in a Christian society, you seem unhappy with the way things are. To suggest that someone unhappy with the US move to where they might be happier is in no way unAmerican. I encourage barbara streisand to move to the UK like she has threatened to do for years whenever her party loses.
Debbie does tend to be aggresive with her opinions, but it’s her blog and she’s allowed to. She’s over the top at times, but who isn’t?
As far as the Christian majority “riding roughshod over the rights of minorities”, what exactly are you talking about? Who’s not allowing you to be an atheist? It’s actually the other way around, and it’s most apparent at Christmas time. It’s become practically illegal to say the word “Christmas” in a public school, although there’s no problem mentioning any other religion. You can’t call the Christmas Break what it is, you have to call it “Winter Break” or whatever. Even though it’s purpose is to not staff the school at a time when most students won’t be there anyway because of Christmas. Not calling it what it is seems to be the atheist way.

Stealthkix on February 7, 2007 at 5:25 pm

I never thought there would be a situation where Steven A Smith would be voice of reason. I can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said multiple times so I will state simply that I feel sorry for you Debbie. I don’t know how you deluded yourself to reach the conclusions you have, but you have none the less.

ChubbyRain on February 7, 2007 at 5:25 pm

If you think Atheists would likely believe in a religion like Islam, you obviously do not understand what Atheism is. Atheists feel Islam is just as ridiculous Christianity and has the same amount of validity, which is none.
Truthfully there isn’t really that much difference between Christianity and Islam once you get rid of the Sharia law that was institued outside of the Koran. In fact all religions have some form of the Ten Commandments.
So, in suggesting that Atheists are likely to believe in Islam you are proving your complete lack of Atheism. Atheists don’t mark any real difference between any religion, they are all man-made concoctions with no proof.

ChubbyRain on February 7, 2007 at 5:34 pm

Debbie, it’s very foolish to think people write you before we are “told to” and parrot others “talking points”. We are independently minded persons who think some of your comments and opinions are offensive and appalling according to our own barometers of what is socially just and fair. I don’t know anything about you and I’ve never seen or heard you before that clip from CNN. But based on what I say, I think you are a very mixed up person. I hope you learn and grow in a compassionate person, because I know it must be painful to be where you are at right now.

wabisabi on February 7, 2007 at 5:35 pm

I actually agree with you Stealthkix. The whole PC thing has gotten away from itself. You can’t say anything controversial without fear of legal reprisal anymore. I have never had any problem with calling it Christmas.
You are right, it’s her blog. However, that does not mean that other voices cannot be raised in protest, especially when I vehemently disagree. But I think over the top does not begin to describe this blurb. It’s unsubstantiated garbage, just like what she said on CNN. By the way, the whole Xmas thing is not due solely to atheists. There are other religions that have felt offended. To ascribe this as a solely atheist push is incorrect and somewhat disingenuous. But you tell me how an atheist is to handle something like the Pledge when he/she has no belief in the existence of god? It’s tortuous, like telling someone to go into a roundhouse and stand in a corner.
My apologies for my comment on the unAmerican thing, but this is my first exposure to Debbie and her ‘views’ have greatly upset me. I do not feel persecuted where I am, but I don’t expect that to stay that way.

Randola on February 7, 2007 at 5:37 pm

This post is literally the dumbest thing I have read on the internet. Do they have some sort of affirmative action thing going on at CNN for the mentally challenged or what?
It is sure good for a laugh though. I can’t stop chuckling as I read this train wreck. Bravo!

lemmiwinks on February 7, 2007 at 5:40 pm

Jesus, I just read that article above. You are one sick, uneducated lady. I guess that’s because Christians are taught not to question things, so your brain turns to mush. Why you think atheists are so weak minded is beyond my comprehension. Learn about secular societies like Japan–the world’s second biggest economy. It’s orders of magnitude safer than America. It’s technologically advanced. They have national health care. It’s a truly spectacular soceity. American on the other hand, has more people in prison, more people on drugs, more people in therapy, more people in povery, more people without insurance, more people who simply kill each other than any other industralized nation on this blue planet. Compare those stats with secular nations like Japan, or Denmark, or Holland. You’re just uneducated, bible belt white trash.

wabisabi on February 7, 2007 at 5:42 pm

American is heading to be a Hispanic nation, so it will be your turn to SHUT UP soon. 🙂

wabisabi on February 7, 2007 at 5:43 pm

This country was NOT founded in the Christian religion…it was formed out of Judeo-Christian VALUES. (Save the millions and billions of death quotes from better men than all of us for someone who buys the emotional arguments.)
Atheists shmatheists… Can an Atheist be conservative? How about a “Liberal”? I guess if we don’t worship at the altar of the UN, believe in the dogma of “Global Warming”, or the apostles of Rainforests aren’t really jungles, or practice the creed of”Meat is Murder”, then all those who choose…a novel thought eh…choose to believe in an intangible such as a divinity which dwarfs eternity are all “backwards”, non-progressive et al etc.??
Freedom of Religion is guaranteed, not FreeDumb from it. Are American-Indians classified in the same class as a White Christian? How about a Black Jew? Why or why not?
Who said the following, “Can’t we all get along?” “…nothing to fear but fear itself.”? Values…values…values…
Your pain is weakness leaving your body.

SickBoy on February 7, 2007 at 5:47 pm

SickBoy, I have no idea what that rant meant.

ChubbyRain on February 7, 2007 at 5:55 pm

The Greeks and Romans were enormously religious peoples. Hesiod and Homer came before Plato and Aristotle. Oedipus’s faulty free will was redeemed by his piety. Shall I go on?
My points:
* Any society that diminishes religion’s importance diminishes itself to the point of moral castration. (Robert Bork is somehwat more polite, terming America’s situaiton in Slouching Towards Gomorrah as one of “dwindling moral capital.”)
* [So-called] atheist Marxism’s attempt to eradicate religion from the public sphere reproduces it in force. This is true in theory (the Catechism) as well as in practice (USSR).
***
As for wabi’s point about industrial Japan being so great: its population is in decline, it is a diminishing nation. Man does not live by Sony Walkman alone:
http://jeremayakovka.typepad.com/jeremayakovka/2007/01/turning_japanes.html
As for Chubby’s point about atheists steering clear of Islam: of course an intelligent atheist will balk at Islam *as a matter of personal creed*, but that same intelligence should also find common cause with devout non-Muslims — all of whom are in Islam’s convert-subtmit-or-die crosshairs. Only a fool would believe that atheism alone will prevail over the Islamist threat.

Jeremiah on February 7, 2007 at 6:05 pm

>As for wabi’s point about industrial Japan being so great: its population is in decline,
Is that bad news? Italy’s population is also in decline. I think it’s great news. We have enough people on this planet. Japan can import labor from countries like Brazil killing two birds with one stone: giving jobs to labors from less wealthy countries, and colleting taxes from them to pay for Japan’s social security.
The earth can’t afford to have global population grow unchecked. There’s nothing to say that a fast growing population is a health nation. In fact all evidence points to the opposite conclusion. Wealth countries with educated women have a lower birth rate than very poor countries with uneducated women.
If everyone living today had the same standard of living as Americans enjoy, we’d need 6 more earth’s worth of resources to support them.
Recommended reading for analysis on global population trends: “The Future of Life” by Edward O. Wilson

wabisabi on February 7, 2007 at 6:17 pm

I think the more likely cuplrit for your sudden “fame” is a posting on Deadspin.com.
http://deadspin.com/sports/espn/stephen-a-smith-voice-of-reason-in-a-world-of-insanity-234596.php

Hourman on February 7, 2007 at 6:19 pm

>think the more likely cuplrit for your sudden “fame” is a posting on Deadspin.com.
it’s also on onegoodmove, there is where I found it.

wabisabi on February 7, 2007 at 6:31 pm

wabi, you’re an idiot and an enemy of the West.
Shrinking populations in industrialized, traditionally Christian nations has nothing to do with halting global population growth, but everything to do with guaranteeing that free civliization as we know it will be wiped off the face of the earth by the next century.
Shrinking populations justify calls for more immigration, chiefly from groups that are strongly anti-assimilationist (Muslims, Mexicans).
If you really believed in retarding population growth, you’d target, for starters, a) Muslim nations abroad and b) immigrant populations here — IN ITALY, for example — that breed in order to take over the society. (Anyone interested in the subject can read about this in Oriana Fallaci’s The Force of Reason.)

Jeremiah on February 7, 2007 at 6:36 pm

Come on everybody! We all know that this country worships the one thing only – the almighty dollar.

LoveAManInAUniform on February 7, 2007 at 6:37 pm

Ms. Schlussel–
The only kind of ‘Jew’ who could say the bigoted idiocy you thought was so insightful on “Paula Zhan Now” (and what you have displayed in this post) is one that either has no knowledge or appreciation of her peoples heritage.
Perhaps you were more interested in planning your bat mitzvah than actually learning about Judaism. To remedy this fact, I encourage you to speak with your rabbi, maybe ask him to discuss ’empathy’ with you. Until then, dont shame us all by prefacing your hateful views with “Im Jewish…”

Abigail on February 7, 2007 at 6:39 pm

Dear Debbie,
I am an atheist, (a quiet one), and a great
supporter of yours. I do not feel threatened in the
least by Christians or Jews. I do however, feel
threatened and fearful of Islamic Fundamentalists
and supposedly moderate Muslims, (are there any?) ,
around the world and in the U.S.. I believe they
wish to destroy my way of life.
Please keep up the great work!
Brian

surrounded on February 7, 2007 at 6:39 pm

i’m with you brain,beleive(or dont)whatever you want,leave me alone and i will do the same,but islam wont leave us alone,so if we want to keep our country then we have to do away with islam,just like we did with nazi’s.japans religion used to be they were gunna rule the world too,and we had to beat the hell out of them to stop them.

Patriot8 on February 7, 2007 at 6:52 pm

Wow, I didn’t think it could get worse… but obviously, I was wrong!
I think Debbie just likes to pick a fight, obviously while her head is shoved up her own ass, so it’s easier to see her opponent that way. It’s her blog, she’s allowed to… and she allows comments, so lucky us who respond!
Debbie: I too saw you on CNN last night, on the web; yes, the clips from cnn did make youtube (doesn’t everything? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPHnXrU5JzU but others have linked that for you )
Second, atheists aren’t e-mailing you en-mass on the calling of a “higher power,” they’re e-mailing you cuz they’re a group of pissed off people. I’m surprised you aren’t used to that by now. Nobody told us to e-mail you/post here, the original blog actually said to bombard CNN, but many of us thought to give you a piece of our minds too since we’re concerned that our voice wasn’t heard over your own loud clucking. But, obviously, you aren’t interested in anyone’s idea who contradicts your own. Seriously, I think you should be checked for NPD (http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis/p20-pe07.html).
And how in the world do you associate Atheism with Islam? Based on one instance you can site of an atheist turned Muslim? Lots of people in this world change religion or turn to a belief that there is no god. You’ve obviously got a bias against Islam by your implication that Muslim is equivalent to extremist. I won’t account that bias to your being a Jew because, well, I know a few Muslims and Jews who get along with each other just fine. You just think that way because you’re a narrow-minded bitch, and you seem to be proud of it.
You put all the people you hate in this world (Atheists, Jews, Europeans) in the same basket, as if they’re all in it together against you and the rest of America. News flash: atheists aren’t anti-american, and they’re definitely not pro-islam. There are plenty of good hearted, humanitarian atheists in this world (look up secular humanism, it’s actually a very good thing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanism). Atheists are often just average Americans who believe there is no god. Deal with it without putting them down as a group. (Good thing we don’t judge all Jews based on what we know about you.)
Randola, well said. (And all caps is universally perceived as shouting online, and there are many different ways for the author of a page to distinguish their own words (color, italic, font) aside from all caps.) And wabisabi, good point bringing up Japan as an atheist nation. (Explaining who Jesus was and the resurrection to Japanese kids… they get the point; Jesus was a zombie)
I don’t ignore that the country is majority christian, but it’s also on average $10k in credit card debt, majority white, and heck, even majority female by a small percentage. Does this mean we need to cater to the needs of only the majority?
Even if the country is majority christian, there’s this thing that’s supposed to be separation of church and state. “In god we trust” and “one nation under god” didn’t appear until the U.S. was fighting those “godless commies.” It was all about politics; not about god.

new.atheist on February 7, 2007 at 7:03 pm

Your claims that atheists are becoiming Muslims in record numbers have no basis in reality at all. There are no statistics out there that show that atheists are converting to Islam at a rate higher than theists (of any religion). You are talking completely and utterly out of your ass.
Its interesting though to witness your disdain for Islam. I am an “atheist” and I share this disdain. The Muslim God is an illogical tyrant and the Muslim holy book, the Koran, is full of hate, contradictions and absurdities. I share your sentiments about Islam. There is good reason to disdain Islam. What you feel to realize, however, is that the same thing can be said about both Christianity and Judaism. Both of those religions also contain much hate (the Bible verses Christians love to ignore or lamely explain away) and the deity of Judaism and Christianity is an absolute tyrant who is set to torture all those who do not buy is illogical book for all eternit. Its there in the Bible.
The differance is that Christianity and the “Christian world” has been whitewashed with good doses of reason and reationality. We had an enlightenment, we have seperation of church and state, we have many things that encourage Christians to ignore their Bible. At one time Christianity was almost just like Islam is today. It was completely a terroristic religion. Women were burned as witches, men and women where tortured and killed as heritics and nations were conqered and “Christianized” by the sword.
Christianity had roughly a 700 year head start on Islam. Subtract 700 years from today and that is right around the time of the Inquisitions and Crusades.
Educate yourself you fool.

LeeRoyDiggler on February 7, 2007 at 7:16 pm

I would question your reference to “hate” mail, because most of the anger expressed above seems to be yours in a veiled attempt at using sarcasm and accusations that assume things about atheism you know nothing about. And your attempts at relating atheism to too extreme samples of less than stellar human beings lacks credibility, and the same examples of Christians can be made. Sadly you lack the intelligence to gain knowledge about atheism, and because of this you assume superiority with your god and religion. I would never assume something about you on the generalization of your Christianity, however you have generalized about Atheists. Yet I smile, because your lack of intelligence is transparent in your comments above, and even many in your community will probably be embarrassed by your ignorant and superior attitude. This by the way is not hate mail, quite the opposite, because I believe in addressing your lack of knowledge and your silliness. I am sorry for you. Read and learn, have a will of your own, and good luck with your bigoted attitude. I hope you find some inner peace.

happyatheist66 on February 7, 2007 at 7:17 pm

How could I not be pissed-off after having to endure that hate-fest of Karen Hunter and Debbie Schlussel repeatedly demanding that atheists need to ‘shut up!’. And now I come here and find that the mindless pejoritives and seemingly endless ad hominem atttacks from this women continue.
————————————————–
As for the facts of history:
————————————————–
“… the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion”
-Treaty of Tripoli, Article 11, written during the administration of George Washington, signed by President John Adams, and ratified unanimously by the United States Senate.
Does it get any clearer than that? *unanimous*
————————————————–
————————————————–
Secularists (which include Jews, Christians, and Muslims as well as atheists) struggle to preserve the constitutionally protected rights of *all* Americans to freely express their beliefs through whatever rituals they choose without government interference supporting or hindering any one practice over another.
Your choice to participate (or not participate) in rituals related to your own belief-system are your own business. If your children want to pray in school or practice any other ritual there, they are free to do so, but it is a wholly different matter to have a teacher officially instructing a child in a particular kind of ritual and/or faith-based belief system and/or political party message. I sincerely hope that you can see the difference.
——————————————————
I would no more want a teacher telling your child that Jesus is not Christ, than I want a teacher telling my child that he is.
——————————————————

iQGuy on February 7, 2007 at 7:28 pm

Debbie,
In your essay, you say “If you don’t believe in anything, you’ll fall for virtually nothing.” Which tells me you’re something of an idiot. What you meant to say is “If you believe in nothing, you’ll fall for anything.” Take a second to reread what you actually wrote. You’re saying that people who “don’t believe in anything,” i.e. atheists, are going to “fall for virtually nothing,” meaning atheists are likely to be convinced by very little or “virtually nothing.” This actually makes a lot of sense because atheists frequently come to their conclusions about the absurdity of belief in a supernatural being through the questioning of organized religion. That ability to ask questions, and demand reason and logic behind the answers, is the very thing that keeps atheists from falling for any stupid thing that they’re told. By the way, do you own a sense of irony? That a Jewish woman would agree that a minority group ought to “shut up” about their rights as citizens under the Constitution is disgusting and ridiculous. You have no sense of history (American or Jewish) and, as such, you are doomed to stupidity until you educate yourself.

hettie on February 7, 2007 at 7:36 pm

Most of these posts are dripping with hate. All of them seem to be thinly veiled efforts to display how superior the intellect of the writer is.
I especially like it when they accuse others of knowing nothing about atheism. Please forward the rule book!
Most of you really are ripe for the picking by an Islamic Fundamentalist recruiter. Soft minded pseudo-rebels from suburbia.
Brain (atheist)

surrounded on February 7, 2007 at 7:36 pm

I am quite interested in seeing these “statistics” stating that atheists are converting to Islam in record numbers. As a researcher focused on the psychological study of religion , I can refute this claim, as I do remain current on relevant literature. I have yet to see a study of this kind published anywhere, and given the scope of a project such as this, I sincerely doubt that any “data” supporting this claim comes from a reputable, confirmable, and empirical source.
Just to clarify, atheism is not a doctrine… it is not an agenda. It is simply the non-belief in god and (typically)other supernatural phenomena. The statement that this country was founded based upon “Christian principles” needs to do some reading in the areas of philosophy and morality. It is just as simple and accurate to say that our nation was founded on Confucian values, or Jewish values, because all of these value systems have common features. Our founding fathers were largely a secular group, as is evidenced in their writing and in their urgent desire for the separation of church and state.
This myopic, revisionist history that Schlussel presents is a sad excuse for journalism. Also, please note that while 85% of the country may state they are Christian (I am unaware of the most recent statistics, however I suspect that is an extremely high estimate), the number of individuals who actually practice their religion and truly believe it’s doctrine is much smaller, around 44%.

KaralynS on February 7, 2007 at 7:48 pm

Debbie, I emailed you yesterday after seeing your disgraceful performance on Youtube. You sound a bit paranoid, but as a Jew and an Atheist you showed you are completely clueless and a Dhimmi for Jesus.
I got your email from your contact info at the top of the page. Nobody made me do it. I did it because you need to be told. I even wrote a blog post and pretty much dedicated it to you.
http://baconeatingatheistjew.blogspot.com/

Bacon Eating Atheist Jew on February 7, 2007 at 8:58 pm

WELL DEBBIEÖyou certainly attracted the ìtumbleweedî with this post!
ATHEISTSĂ–just look at these FLAT-SOULS quoting Thomas Jefferson. As a Canadien, I donĂ­t really know much about himĂ–but wasnĂ­t he some debauched ex-President?
Disregarding ThomasĂ­s obvious insignificanceĂ–I mean what does he have to say that compares with the magnitude or eloquence of anything Jesus, the Christ, said.
ManĂ–I look at atheists and I am just laughing.
Long before YOU atheists rejected usĂ–we rejected you!
MAKE NO MISTAKE atheistsĂ–Catholics and other Christians, and Jews for that matter, want nothing to do with your aimless, wandering and worthless lives ~
And donít criticize usÖbecause from the beginning, you have failed to understand us, or our motivationsñ

The Canadien on February 7, 2007 at 9:26 pm

I’m gonna call them “xtheists” for now on. Heh heh, two can play that game!
From iQGuy:
————————————————–
As for the facts of history:
————————————————–
“… the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion”
-Treaty of Tripoli, Article 11, written during the administration of George Washington, signed by President John Adams, and ratified unanimously by the United States Senate.
Does it get any clearer than that? *unanimous*
**********************************************
You guys are such out and out liars. You twist words and leave out a huge deal of quotes that support the religious views of the founding fathers.
First of all, the Treaty of Tripoli said “the government” was not founded on the Christian religion. They did NOT state this wasn’t a country founded on Christian principles.
———————————————
You want to quote John Adams? How about:
“The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were. . . . the general principles of Christianity. . . . I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God; and that those principles of liberty are as unalterable as human nature.”
John Adams, Works, Vol. X, pp. 45-46, to Thomas Jefferson on June 28, 1813.
——————————————–
Notice, unlike you xtheists, aka liars and phonies, *I* provided the reference.
I am not going to get in a war of quotes as I know you guys are totally insane and it would never stop, and I never want to force my Christianity on anyone. But, you xtheists at least should attempt to be honest about your religion.
Rock on, Debbie. Every single thing you said about these people is true and they have proven it with this silly attempt to hassle you for your views. These xtheists proclaim they are so “free” and “open minded”…HA! They are the biggest sheep who will fall for anything.

The_Man on February 7, 2007 at 9:35 pm

Hey Canadien, I’m Canadian too. Jews rejected Jesus, how do you feel about that. In fact Jesus never existed and you are living a lie.
You can laugh all you want. But I don’t go around denying reality.
There is absolutely no proof God exists or has ever existed. None.
40 historians were alive when Jesus supposedly lived and not one world was mentioned about him from 0-40 AD. Not one.
Paul made the whole thing up, and you are living a big fat lie. You reject reality, you might as well reject me too:)

Bacon Eating Atheist Jew on February 7, 2007 at 9:38 pm

And now CNN has invited Richard Dawkins to appear Thursday, February 8 at 8 p.m. Do yourself a favor Ms. Schlussel and watch and learn. If you can open your mind a moment you may learn something.

happyatheist66 on February 7, 2007 at 9:40 pm

BTW, one more word from me on the Treaty of Tripoli. Anyone interested in it and it’s ramifications, just do a Google on it and MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND!
I’m not going to attempt to lie like the xtheists, read for yourself and you will see it’s not a cut and dried issue like the lying “iQGuy” and the other xtheists are trying to say.
Then, judge who is trying to force their views on you.

The_Man on February 7, 2007 at 9:49 pm

To the Canadien,
I agree with most of what you say, except for your comment that Thomas Jefferson was “insignificant”.
Are you kidding?
The Declaration of Independence is hardly insignificant.

CarpeDiem on February 7, 2007 at 9:52 pm

“There is absolutely no proof God exists or has ever existed. None.”
Conversely, there is absolutely no proof that God does NOT exist. Hence, this is a matter of belief.
Of course one can ask questions.
“Though there is as yet no accepted theory for that minuscule split second before quarks and electrons came into existence, there are constraints on how the universe must have started. To produce a universe resembling one in which we can live, the Big Bang had to be finely tuned. How finely? Theories vary. According to one, if the initial conditions of the universe were chosen randomly, there would only be one chance in 10^120 (that’s one with 120 zeros after it) that the universe would be livable. Cosmologist Roger Penrose has it vastly more unlikely: The exponent he suggests is 10^123. By any such estimate, the chance that a livable universe like ours would be created is far less than the chance of randomly picking a particular single atom out of all the atoms in the universe-Can you accept odds like that as a coincidence? It would seem more likely that something in yet-unknown physics determines that the universe had to start in the way it did. Such new physics would likely include a quantum theory of gravity. It may well be the long-sought “theory of everything” – the ToE – uniting Nature’s four fundamental forces into a single theory. All physical phenomena (all phenomena?) should then be explainable in principle.”
“With another perspective on whether a ToE would explain all we see. Stephen Hawking poses a relevant question:
‘Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?'”
From Quantum Enigma by Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner

WillPower on February 7, 2007 at 10:20 pm

Leave a Reply

* denotes required field