Stop me if you’re shocked: as far as the Christies are concerned, the Raving Atheist has decided to shut his yammering trap:
In honor of Ashli and my friends in the Blogosphere who share her ideals, I will never write another bad word about Jesus or Christianity on The Raving Atheist.
Instead, he will limit his raving to attacks on women’s rights.
As you might recall, Amanda wrote an Alternet article exposing Crisis Pregnancy Centers as disingenuous and bordering on fraudulent. This came on the heels of a Planned Parenthood email campaign that recounted an Indiana horror story about their dishonest tactics.
Well, guess who volunteers for a CPC? That’s right, the Raving Theist. So upset was he over this Indiana story (which he couldn’t disprove) that he tried to recruit pro-choicers to go volunteer at a CPC. He would even pay them $20 an hour to do it. In his post about his newfound Christian love, he recounts this offer made via email to Atheist Mommy:
Doesn’t matter that you’re pro-choice, although that would make it more interesting. I volunteer at a CPC which is basically Catholic, and they don’t care who helps them out. And you wouldn’t be counseling women, just distributing clothes and toys to pregnant women or mothers who made the choice not to abort. Most of the clients are women who want the baby but are being pressured to abort by a boyfriend or parent. You could try it for a few days and give it up if you thought the center was being deceptive or unfair, something I’ve never experienced where I am. If you agree to do it, I’ll have a friend find the best center in your area and call them to make sure they’re right for you.
On a quick pass, maybe that sounds reasonable to you. But let’s review the offer more closely.
Atheist Mommy asked him why she would only be allowed to hand out supplies, to which he replied:
Because it’s enough, and I think being exposed to the other volunteers would give you a different perspective on what it is like to be pro-life. And you would give them a different idea about atheists.
Uh-huh. I’m sure it would be enough for the Theist, who would keep her away from the counselors and their false rhetoric. Feel free to listen to a counselor fib away to an undercover leftie and you’ll appreciate his desire to confine her to the toy closet.
Of course, he would also want Atheist Mommy to go to a clinic “his friend” chose as “the best,” and said friend would be sure to call ahead for her sake — oh, and maybe accidentally whoops-did-i-say-that let them know a spy’s entering their midst and to be on their best behavior for good press.
That’s about as rigged as an experiment can get, and yet he presents this as a fair way to dispel the stories of CPC misconduct.
This Atheist posts on a Catholic’s blog. He has what is possibly the least coherent defense of anti-choice politics I’ve ever read, and he works at a Catholic CPC.
He implies putting an end to ranting about Christianity represents some fundamental shift in his politics, but clearly he’s just putting the second-to-last nail in his atheist coffin. The last one will come down when he narrowly avoids choking to death on a CornNut, and will claim the hand of God saved his pathetic ass.
I, for one, will be glad to be rid of him. As a general rule, atheists suck much less than this twit.
Ha! This made my day.
I’m not surprised that pig is moving closer and closer every day. You can’t get trounced by pro-choice atheists over and over and over again in arguments without sucking it up and realizing you actually do believe in magic and souls and all that crap.
Raviing Atheist has always been kind of an idiot, even beyond his rather poorly thought out pro-life stances.
The fact that he’s been extremely nasty to most religious people over the years doesn’t exactly make me buy into his “people are meeeeeaaaan to me” whine here.
I’d kind of assume the not saying mean things about Christianity is a joke, especially given that refuting Christianity is pretty much the basis of his atheism. It’s a bit hard to tell, though.
How dare he encroach on your invented right to terminate a foetus! I suggest hauling him off to a liberal reindoctrination center where they can make a plaint, effete male out of him.
Make that “pliant.”
I don’t read RA, so I don’t know who this Ashli is, but maybe he’s trying to get her to date him, hence the up-shutting in “her honor.”
Robert, here’s some advice, “baby” is more effective than “fetus,” and especially, “foetus”–that sounds kinda, well, British, which in turn brings up implications of being all, the thing is, swishy. I certainly wouldn’t say effete, but um, swishy. There aren’t a whole lot of British cowboys, it sounds a little vegetarian, know what I’m sayin’? “Innocent unborn baby” is better, and clearly “kill” is better than “terminate,” nobody goes to the woods to bang drums and scream, “I’m going to terminate you!” (BTW, ZippyLala is gender neuter, so you can take my advice without getting all effete and pliant. Can’t help ya with the swishiness, tho).
Swishy? How are we ever going to achieve the perfect radical feminist, anarcho-syndicate society with heteronormative bigots like you weighing us down with your atavistic thinking?
On the other hand, I thought that “plaint” was pretty good.
Well, Robert, we were taken aback by your use of the word “effete”. Personally I’d suggest declaring all fetuses to be Islamist on the basis of some forged evidence and then we can terminate as many as we like.
You don’t terminate fetuses. You terminate pregnancies. Often, abortions are performed on pregnant women who already have dead fetuses, so the fetus would be what you call “pre-terminated by god”. And yet a termination is still required. So what’s being terminated? You got it—pregnancy.
Turns out there’s a woman involved. Who knew? All this time I thought pro-choicers just killed fetuses for fun.
[...] My Raving Atheist post got picked up by Amanda and PZ Myers, who thoroughly smote the fool for his god-loving, woman-hating ways. [...]
I couldn’t have said it better myself, Marc. If RA is this determined to be irrational, he might as well just convert and get it over with already. His anti-choice stance is bad enough, but his declaration that he will no longer speak out against or criticize the religion that has been the cause of so much harm, not just to women, but to human beings in general, is really the last straw.
Even if one is against abortion, a rational person could recognize that the religion that wants to keep people ignorant of contraception and punish them for having sex is going to lead not just to more abortions and more broken families, but to more harm and suffering to everyone in the long run. Evidently RA does not care about this, and that is truly abhorrent.
Fortunately, there are very many rational, pro-choice atheists out there who are worth reading instead. Who still links to RA at this point, and are those people aware of this new stance of his? Maybe it’s about time we cut him loose.
You don’t terminate fetuses. You terminate pregnancies.
If the foetus is alive, then you terminate the foetus along with the pregnancy.
Robert O’Brien wasn’t happy enough trolling Pandagon, he had to come here, too. Way to crash the party, spliff.
Erm, that’s actually “anarcho-syndicalist,” seeing as it’s an adjective modifying “society” and all, and if there were such a thing as an “anarcho-syndicate” it would tend to be a noun, and there you go using “foetus” again!!! Seriously, put down your copy of Doug Giles’ “My Personal Plaint: How Do I Successfully Project the Image of an Intellectual, Non-Effete, Never, Ever, Ever Pliant, I’ll-Mess-You-Up-Before-I’ll-Even-Look-At-You Manly Man Without the Inevitable Chorus of Jeers and Derisive Laughter?” and listen to me, I’m here to help.
Except if you’re the guy who’s the resident Feministe House Troll, in which case you’re beyond help. Still, I tried.
Erm, that’s actually “anarcho-syndicalist”…
You are correct. However, as long as you are being a pedant, you would do well to note I used the correct form on my blog more than once.
Except if you’re the guy who’s the resident Feministe House Troll, in which case you’re beyond help. Still, I tried.
Haven’t posted there.
Way to crash the party, spliff.
You’d think he could have at least worn pants.
You know, I would run right over to your blog, but I’m afraid of being taken to the anarcho-syndicalist re-education center (or the liberal re-indoctrication center, I hear they’re around the corner from each other, the ideologies being so similar, in the sense of fundamentally incompatible, and all). I’m sure there are many, many words (big ones, too! insert ultra feminine smiley face here–the kind of smiley face god intended) you’ve managed to use correctly, and if your mom or real/imaginary girlfriend is doing the editing for you, why, they’re lucky just to be around you, and it doesn’t make you any less of a man. Remember that always.
…and if your mom or real/imaginary girlfriend is doing the editing for you, why, they’re lucky just to be around you, and it doesn’t make you any less of a man. Remember that always.
No doubt! But the more likely scenario is that I’d be doing the editing for my mom or my ex-gf.
Are you lonely, Robert? You seem lonely.
Gosh, I wish I were an atheist. That way I could be as hateful as all of you are.
Are you lonely, Robert? You seem lonely.
Not since I moved back to California. Your concern is appreciated, though.
GOSH, Jason, that condescending tone is soooo thoughtful and not at all hateful. You reeeallly turned the other cheek there.
And speaking of hate, Robert, can I ask you why you’re only willing to spew hate towards people like Amanda on your blog but not to her face? Is it b/c you’re scared of girls? Because I know you don’t think much of them, so that must mean you aren’t so hot on yourself, either.
And speaking of hate, Robert, can I ask you why you’re only willing to spew hate towards people like Amanda on your blog but not to her face?
I have no plans of traveling to Austin, but if Amanda is ever in California, she is welcome to look me up and I will criticize her in person.
That was a weird dodge. The blogosphere is right here, dude. Why did you tuck your tail on Pandagon but not on your own blog? Seriously, were you scared she could piledrive you into the ground? If so, that was a wise fear, dude. But anytime you talk shit behind any person’s back but won’t take it to their mug when you have the chance, well, that makes you a wuss.
That was a weird dodge. The blogosphere is right here, dude. Why did you tuck your tail on Pandagon but not on your own blog? Seriously, were you scared she could piledrive you into the ground? If so, that was a wise fear, dude. But anytime you talk shit behind any person’s back but won’t take it to their mug when you have the chance, well, that makes you a wuss.
If you are referring to my post criticizing her for ranting about Stephen Hawking, I sent a trackback to Pandagon for that post. She chose not to post it. Moreover, when I later commented on Pandagon Amanda ended up banning me. So, your criticism is totally without merit.
Yeah, I banned Robert for being by far the most boring troll I’ve ever seen.
Exactly. Robert, dude, it’s perfectly acceptable to reject a trackback when the writer simply insults you. I wouldn’t ever expect Dawn Eden to accept one of mine.
But what’s interesting is that, when in full view of an actual audience like Amanda’s, you weren’t willing to state your true opinions about her to her face. You chickened out, and thus bored everyone to tears. I think it’s because you knew you couldn’t hang.
I find plenty of merit in these observations. Sorry, man.
Exactly. Robert, dude, it’s perfectly acceptable to reject a trackback when the writer simply insults you. I wouldn’t ever expect Dawn Eden to accept one of mine.
Did I suggest otherwise?
But what’s interesting is that, when in full view of an actual audience like Amanda’s, you weren’t willing to state your true opinions about her to her face. You chickened out, and thus bored everyone to tears. I think it’s because you knew you couldn’t hang.
I find plenty of merit in these observations. Sorry, man.
You can think what you want, but I have no doubt that Amanda would have summarily banned me if I had truly laid into her.
Says the guy who loves Enya.
Says the guy who loves Enya.
I enjoy Enya, among other artists. Since when is she opprobrium?
Collective Soul? I’m supposed to take political and moral advice from a guy who likes, and is proud to admit he likes, Collective Soul?
Oh, holy christ: Phil Collins? Bon Jovi???
Collective Soul? Haven’t studies demonstrated a strong correlation between having a small penis and enjoying Collective Soul?
Collective Soul? Haven’t studies demonstrated a strong correlation between having a small penis and enjoying Collective Soul?
My good Amanda, if you and McBoing are going to share a brain, then at least get one that works.
Go back and check his email handle. He all but admits it.
He’s armed with a dictionary and a thesaurus! Watch it! Three syllable words! Watch it! He’s bringing out the big guns! Take cover!
I read Robert’s piece on Hawking, and I suspect Amanda’s WordPress setup rejected the trackback automatically for lacking any intelligent content whatsoever.
I know I’m a few years late responding to this post, but in case anyone is still reading, the raving atheist is still up to his same old BS, and sending his prolife friends to my personal blog about my abortion. Dawn Eden cross posted his whining about me.