Posted by drwinn on: 04.12.2006 /
Metaphor is a wonderful way of presenting material to muse about. Scripture is full of such. The ancient Hebrews were a pictorial people. Satire (a literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or witis) is a delightful way of poking fun at that which at times can be ridiculously incongruous. Take a peak at Landover Baptist Church and tell us what you think.
Atheist, do you have a site that is comparable to this?
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Comment by: TXatheist
1 04/12/06 12:41 PM | Comment Link |I thought this was our type of website. It doesn’t put religion in a positive light. I can’t think of a website run by atheists that mocks atheists.
Comment by: Ir
2 04/12/06 12:47 PM | Comment Link |My impression is that Landover Baptist is a site which mocks Christians/Christianity run by people who aren’t Christians.
So…the atheist equivalent would be a site mocking atheists run by Christians.
Well, I daresay there are plenty of misinformed comments about atheists/atheism on Christian sites. I daresay many of them aren’t intentionally mocking but just ignorant. Maybe there are some deliberately mocking ones out there.
Comment by: Ir
3 04/12/06 12:47 PM | Comment Link |Here’s my impression: Landover Baptist is a site which mocks Christians/Christianity run by people who aren’t Christians.
So…the atheist equivalent would be a site mocking atheists run by Christians.
Well, I daresay there are plenty of misinformed comments about atheists/atheism on Christian sites. I daresay many of them aren’t intentionally mocking but just ignorant. Maybe there are some deliberately mocking ones out there.
Comment by: Ir
4 04/12/06 12:51 PM | Comment Link |Even if it’s malicious mocking, I have to admit this title made me laugh:
The Bible Doesn’t Mention Any “Ice Age,” So Shut Up About It!
Comment by: TXatheist
5 04/12/06 1:08 PM | Comment Link |Ir,
I’ll say there are plenty of sights that mock atheists. If I hear the Psalm that states the fool says there is no god one more time I’ll have heard it for the billionth time. Yes, I was warned and yes I still disbelieve:)
Comment by: Ir
6 04/12/06 1:25 PM | Comment Link |Good point, TX.
Like this one in fact:
quoted from http://www.FoolsHeart.com
Comment by: Lisa Wellington
7 04/12/06 1:28 PM | Comment Link |This appears to actually be a Christian site making fun of christians, like Dr. Winn says.
I looked under the “Beliefs” heading on left sidebar.
It said,
About Us
We are a Bible believing, Fundamentalist, Independent Baptist Church. We are 157,000 members strong. Our Church Campus is located in Freehold, Iowa..
Comment by: Ir
8 04/12/06 1:35 PM | Comment Link |Lisa, I think that’s a joke…what church has that many members?
Comment by: NCxian
9 04/12/06 1:40 PM | Comment Link |I’ve been visiting the Landover Baptist site for years. Sometimes it is funny, sometimes it has more of a bite, but is always thought-provoking. One of the more interesting “stories” I recall is about the Landover Baptist Hell House. It was cruel, just like real “hell houses” that some churches put on as an “alternative” to Halloween. Have you all seen those? I think if you search Hell House at Landover Baptist you can find the story. It’s clever.
I have always thought the “About Us” was part of the satire.
Comment by: Rick
10 04/12/06 1:47 PM | Comment Link |Ir, not only its impossible for a church to have 157,000 members - there is no such place called Freehold, Iowa :) A while ago, before 2003 that is, this site was a great parody against fundamentalism, but soon the word got out that it is a parody site. Check out their Term of Conditions carefully. There is a small line in there which gives everything away.
Comment by: TXatheist
11 04/12/06 1:50 PM | Comment Link |Ir,
Do ever feel betrayed by being misled with false information? That you have a human responsibility to correct a lie that is being perpetuated as truth? I think the Psalmist was full of it.
Comment by: Lisa Wellington
12 04/12/06 1:56 PM | Comment Link |Excuse me while I get the hook removed from my mouth…
(I figured the 157K referred to a national affiliation or something.)
Comment by: Rick
13 04/12/06 2:20 PM | Comment Link |Lisa:
157,000 would be more like International, or perhaps Inter-galactic ;) Please read my post above. There is no such place called Freehold in Iowa…hehehhe
Comment by: Lisa Wellington
14 04/12/06 3:20 PM | Comment Link |Ya, whatever. I’m a sucka.
Comment by: Eliza
15 04/12/06 3:20 PM | Comment Link |Shut up about the ice age, haha - and how about those luxury leather recliners for “platinum tithers” in the first few rows?
Pastor Mike had mentioned the Wittenburg Door magazine, which has articles this month titled”Schism Splits Fundamentalist Druids” and “Penguins Confess: Film Funded by Focus on the Family”. Good old google turned up the Ship of Fools magazine as “christian satire”. Neither looks quite as funny as the Landover Baptist Church site…oh, well!
Not links, just the web addresses:
http://www.wittenburgdoor.com/home.html
http://ship-of-fools.com/
Comment by: Esther
16 04/12/06 3:36 PM | Comment Link |Has anyone of you watched the video by clicking the “60 second sermon” on the web?
You can see the “creator” of this web - Chris Harper.
Was it him in the wide shot, too?
Comment by: Ir
17 04/12/06 4:01 PM | Comment Link |It’s ok Lisa - I’ve seen the site before many times. If it’s your first time looking at a parody like that you don’t necessarily know where to find the small print which says it’s a parody.
I’ve had to look quite hard at some sites to see whether they’re parodies or not. Sometimes even after careful looking I can’t tell whether a site is for real or a parody (which is a little scary).
Comment by: Ir
18 04/12/06 4:29 PM | Comment Link |TX, I like to help when I can - and I have gone to the point of getting into trouble for saying when I think something is wrong or unjust - so it’s not as if I avoid getting involved. On the other hand there are many things that I am convinced I have no power to change. I believe in choosing my battles and limiting the ones I choose to the list of battles which I have any chance of making any headway in.
Comment by: Jim Henderson
19 04/12/06 5:30 PM | Comment Link |So why aren’t there sites like this where atheists go to laugh at some of the stupid things they have believed about themselves?
Comment by: TXatheist
20 04/12/06 6:35 PM | Comment Link |Jim,
Like Piltdown man? Nebraska man? We condemn people who try to advance their career on a fraud. I don’t even know if those scientists were atheists, just con men. Atheists don’t do stupid things:)
Comment by: Justin
21 04/12/06 6:53 PM | Comment Link |Hey team,
Landover Baptist is run by Chris Harper, who is not a Christian and indeed has given speeches at Atheist rallies (as the character Pastor Deacon Fred). (More info on wikipedia)
Comment by: Ir
22 04/12/06 6:59 PM | Comment Link |But Jim, Landover Baptist is not a site where Christians go to laugh at themselves. It’s a non-Christian site that mocks Christians.
I’m all for people laughing at themselves. I’d much rather they laugh at themselves (or with others) than at others. But Landover Baptist is an example of people laughing at others, not with others or at themselves.
Comment by: Jim Henderson
23 04/12/06 7:17 PM | Comment Link |ever?
Comment by: TXatheist
24 04/12/06 7:55 PM | Comment Link |JIm,
I am a jokester at heart. Atheists do stupid things like any normal person. You know I’d love to get to Seattle sometime and just talk with you for hours over a cup of coffee. You seem so cool and nice but sometimes the things I say shock you it seems and that really, really surprises me.
Comment by: Jim Henderson
25 04/12/06 9:49 PM | Comment Link |wrong guess TX
Comment by: drwinn
26 04/12/06 11:25 PM | Comment Link |TX,
It’s really difficult to hear a person’s tone of voice and see facial clues in writing even with smilie faces.
BTW: Jim is a “cool” guy but he would be drinking “iced tea” in a coffee city.
Comment by: Ellen
27 04/13/06 1:13 AM | Comment Link |I would like to see someone give an example of stupid or silly things that atheists do or say (beyond one particular person’s mistakes).
Maybe that obnoxious Darwin Fish bumper sticker I see so often? That’s all I can think of though.
Comment by: TXatheist
28 04/13/06 3:04 AM | Comment Link |Ellen,
You mean the erroneous one that has the darwin fish being eaten by the fish and the fish has the word “truth” in it? I have yet to see a darwin sticker/emblem on my normal daily commute but I see the fish one on maybe 5-10% of the vehicles.
http://valiante.plugnpay.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/scstore/p-100-CP.html?L+scstore+hqvj3838ffcbe5cb+1144935833
http://valiante.plugnpay.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/scstore/p-109-CP.html?L+scstore+hqvj3838ffcbe5cb+1144936078
Comment by: TXatheist
29 04/13/06 3:07 AM | Comment Link |Jim/Winn,
My point is the wow after one of my comments sounded almost as if you couldn’t believe my comment to some extent. Sorry, but I ain’t shooting to miss the target. I am shooting straight with you. The reference to grabbing a cup of coffee was nothing more than a attempt as a general courtesy. You don’t want it or wrong guess, that’s fine. Now to the ridiculous theory(grr) of CS Lewis the pandering author.
Comment by: Ellen
30 04/13/06 2:31 PM | Comment Link |TX,
Here in Ohio I see the Darwin fish pretty regularly, and their breeding grounds seem to be UU church parking lots. Usually no accessory fishes, just the single mudskipper. I have seen that “Reality Bites” fish once on the road in a poor white part of town.
The reason I don’t like them is that they don’t communicate anything except “ha ha we’re right and you’re wrong.” A far cry from “atheists are your friends and neighbors.”
I see the Bad Religion band sticker from time to time too (just a cross inside the “NO” circle and slash, i.e. “No Smoking” or “No Ghosts”). That doesn’t bother me one bit though, because it doesn’t set up false dichotomies of science vs. religion. (IMO, it’s not science that discredits religion, it’s religion that discredits itself.) If somebody just wants to flaunt their disgust with Christianity, that’s their prerogative.
A substantial plurality of Americans believe in both evolution and Jesus, as did Darwin for so much of his life. Darwin remained personally respectful of his Christian friends until the day he died. I think he is unfairly slandered by the “mocking mudskipper.”
Comment by: Ellen
31 04/13/06 5:44 PM | Comment Link |hey TX,
Here in Ohio I see the Darwin fish pretty regularly, and their breeding grounds seem to be UU church parking lots. Usually no accessory fishes, just the single mudskipper. I have seen that “Reality Bites” fish once on the road in a poor white part of town.
The reason I don’t like them is that they don’t communicate anything except “ha ha we’re right and you’re wrong.” A far cry from “atheists are your friends and neighbors.”
I see the Bad Religion band sticker from time to time too (just a cross inside the “NO” circle and slash, i.e. “No Smoking” or “No Ghosts”). That doesn’t bother me one bit though, because it doesn’t set up false dichotomies of science vs. religion. (IMO, it’s not science that discredits religion, it’s religion that discredits itself.) If somebody just wants to flaunt their disgust with Christianity, that’s their prerogative.
A substantial plurality of Americans believe in both evolution and Jesus, as did Darwin for so much of his life. Darwin remained personally respectful of his Christian friends until the day he died. I think he is unfairly slandered by the “mocking mudskipper.”
Comment by: Ellen
32 04/13/06 10:18 PM | Comment Link |apologies for the double post :( it seems like the website was holding my first post in a cache overnight. i just thought it had been lost.
Comment by: Peter in Pennsylvania
33 04/15/06 6:29 AM | Comment Link |I don’t like any of the fish myself. I don’t like the Xian fish, because if I put it on my car and make a stupid move while driving, you’ll think all Xians are bad drivers. Plus I don’t think that me having a fish on my car is going to make somebody believe like I do.
I don’t like the Darwin ones because they specifically mock a Christian symbol. Using a sticker on your car to tell me that you think I’m a moron is, shall we say, not a great way to stimulate dialog…
Just like putting a sticker on my car that says something like “Know Jesus Know Peace, No Jesus No Peace” is just plain silly.
But the Lakeside site is hysterically funny, I admit. The guy has to have spent a great deal of time in the church to be that spot on with his satire.
Comment by: Adamina
34 07/28/07 9:33 AM | Comment Link |I was very upset when I first read the site for your fake church and the view of wiccans. It may be a joke to you but when you are beaten, and no one will talk to you because of what you believe in then maybe you wont find it so funny. I know you have a right to free speech but please let people know before the come across your landover baptist church unawares. It was hurtfull to see some things written that have been said to me
Blessed Be,
Adamina