Citsonga

I guess it's the 1980s all over again. Texas Pastor Says Concert By 'Devil-Worshipping' Band GHOST 'Is Not Healthy For Our Community' http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/texas-pastor-says-concert-by-devil-worshipping-band-ghost-is-not-healthy-for-our-community/

No, his given name was Barack. Barry was simply a nickname he went by when he was younger. We should not be swallowing wingnut conspiracy theories based on nothing better than the dropping of a nickname. https://www.newsweek.com/when-barry-became-barack-84255?amp=1

I'm sorry to hear about the difficult time you're having, Dexter. As others have mentioned, it is actually pretty normal to be so frustrated early on after coming to the realization that the worldview your life was built on is a lie. Many of us went through similar feelings and we can attest that in time it does get better. Eventually the triggers should get weaker. In the meantime, you're welcome to continue venting here and you're sure to get support from people who understand. I wish you the best as you move forward....

The slave issue may or may not bother her. What would probably really be a shock to her is the Jefferson Bible, in which Thomas Jefferson pasted together his own version of the Gospels, leaving out ALL of the miracles. Gasp! In reality, though, there's not much chance of getting through to people who think like Deborah. They rewrite history to serve their agenda and nothing will change their minds, no matter how much you point out the Establishment Clause, the Separation of Church & State, or the fact that many of the founding fathers were actually deists rather than Christians.

Except it doesn't matter to creationists. They'll point to the human intelligence involved in the experiment and argue that it proves intelligent design. That's how creationists operate. They have an agenda that doesn't rely on playing fairly with the facts.

I have no doubt how creationists would respond. They'd say something like, "Look, it took a living, intelligent being in a lab to create this. That proves intelligent design!"

Hey, the Hell's Angels are still angels. 😁

Interesting, especially given that you've been somewhat of an angel to a lot of people here. 😉

Interesting. I figured your name was Josh and you're a fan of the metal band Pantera.

I should've added that Eric Reaves, who's been drawing Hi & Lois for several years now (including the above comic), was my high school art teacher one year.

I feel bad for the poor employees just doing their jobs and saying, "Happy Holidays," only to have some overzealous wingnut blow a gasket at them.

He may be unheard of in NZ, but practically everyone in the US is at least familiar with his song Margaritaville.

As Weezer said, there is a wide range of Mennonites, although I should point out that the Amish technically are not Mennonites (they both fall under Anabaptist theology, though, so they are closely related). I suspect that the question was meant more in regard to the Old Order Mennonites, which are nearly as conservative as the Amish. Some of my wife's extended family are very conservative Mennonites. However, though my father-in-law is an ordained Mennonite minister, he's a bit more liberal than the others, so my wife didn't grow up ultra-conservative. I was not raised as any version of Mennonite myself, although as a teenager I did go weekly to a youth group at a Mennonite church. Other than the church name saying Mennonite, though, you wouldn't be able to distinguish it from mainline protestant church youth groups. They were definitely nowhere near what most people think of as Mennonite. Due to my wife, I did later regularly go to another Mennonite church, which wasn't as modern as the youth group I went to, but they weren't ultra-conservative, either. That's the only church I ever officially became a member of, although I was never committed to any particular denomination and merely referred to myself as Christian.

I'm not personally bothered by any of the greetings unless they're said with an attitude. Getting all worked up over someone simply trying to be nice is quite ridiculous. Despite what many Christians claim, most of the atheists I know don't get offended by a polite "Merry Christmas." The one's I've seen make a stink are Christians throwing a fit over a polite all-inclusive "Happy Holidays." Many Christians have a tendency to project their own attitudes onto others.