Landover Baptist Church

Comment by: Ir

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: TXatheist

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: Lisa Wellington

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: NCxian

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: TXatheist

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: Rick

Lisa:

(I figured the 157K referred to a national affiliation or something.)

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: Eliza

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: Ir

Ya, whatever. I’m a sucka.

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: Jim Henderson

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: Justin

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: Jim Henderson

Atheists don’t do stupid things:)

ever?

Comment by: Jim Henderson

wrong guess TX

Comment by: Ellen

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

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

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: Peter in Pennsylvania

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.