Am I immoral?

[C.S.Strowbridge]

Hmmm...so now its OK to kill people simply because they believe something different than you.

No, but it's ok to laugh when others do it. The way i see it, it's one extremists, intollerant groups killing another. If only both sides were equally armed we could get some real progress.

[C.S.Strowbridge]

But its OK to feel good about people getting killed because they deserved it.

YES! Of course it's ok to feel good when people who deserve to die actually die. What the hell do you think 'deserve' means?[/b]

[Lagmonster]

Hell, Amish people are fundamentalists, but they don't hijack horses at pitchfork-point and run them into the side of barns.

I would pay money to see that!

I wouldn't pay money to see it, but I'd pay money to make a film copy of it that I could sell.

[Raziel]

Really, what CAN we do other than laugh? Lament every single person who dies, whether they had it coming or not? I don't know about any of you but I'd probably just give up and become a hermit so I wouldn't have to hear about it anymore.

I think it'd be a cool idea to pit fundies from different faiths against each other in gladatorial combat. It'd make for sweet pay-per-view AND it'd thin out the fundie population. How can you go wrong?

[C.S.Strowbridge]

Hell, Amish people are fundamentalists, but they don't hijack horses at pitchfork-point and run them into the side of barns.

I would pay money to see that!

I wouldn't pay money to see it, but I'd pay money to make a film copy of it that I could sell.

It would be great. Grab a few friends, and more than few beers, and spend countless hours watching the Amish on horseback slam into barns at top speeds.

Dammit, we've got to organize this. If we can't convince real Amish, will get some fake ones.

[Lagmonster]

It would be great. Grab a few friends, and more than few beers, and spend countless hours watching the Amish on horseback slam into barns at top speeds. Dammit, we've got to organize this. If we can't convince real Amish, will get some fake ones.

Okay, but you'll have to give them a good reason for it. I don't think they'll fall for the 'if you do it, when you get to heaven you'll get 72 virgins' scam.

[Andrew J.]

You are a sick, twisted human being.

But so am I.

Seriously, it's fine with me. Who am I to argue with the great Strowbridge?

[beyond hope]

This has inspired me: when the Jehovah's Witnesses turn up at my door the next time, I'm answering it wearing a black hood

[Wicked Pilot]

This has inspired me: when the Jehovah's Witnesses turn up at my door the next time, I'm answering it wearing a black hood

You're more likely to scare them off wearing a Smurf costume.

[Nick]

This has inspired me: when the Jehovah's Witnesses turn up at my door the next time, I'm answering it wearing a black hood

You're more likely to scare them off wearing a Smurf costume.

The best way I know of to freak out a JW (it takes a bit of time, but its worth it, and, most importantly, ties them up and prevents them from harassing people who might fall for their shit):

1. When they knock on the door, answer it
2. Don't let them in (don't want them to get too comfortable). Just lean in the doorway and talk to them
3. Ask them all the curly questions you can think of. If they ever make a valid point ignore it, and move on to something else (they aren't going to play fair, so why should you? We aren't interested in the moral high ground here - we're interested in messing with the head of a JW).
4. Even JW's aren't completely useless - eventually they will realise you aren't listening to them and won't bother coming back.

Essentially, you're setting out to convert them. It isn't going to work, but the more time you spend talking, the less you have to listen to them prattle on. If they're weren't busy trying to convert you they might be off trying to convert some poor bastard who doesn't know enough to steer clear of JW's and all their bollocks.

An important point:
JW's are full of shit, but even they can occasionally make a seemingly good point. Any time they say something that seems remotely plausible, ignore it and go on to something else. Don't ever let them create a basis for seeming to make sense - the odds are good that they are much more experienced at this than you are. No matter how good an individual point appears in isolation, the entire package is still shit.

[Nick]

http://www.bworld.com.ph/current/TheNat ... tory5.html

Looks like these JW's may not have been explicitly asking for it after all (they might have been - the story isn't completely clear). Still, there remains a certain charming irony to the idea of one bunch of religious nutjobs killing off another bunch of religious nutjobs.

Dent (before you start crowing): You were correct that we were talking about a hypothetical situation, without checking how well it matched reality. This has now been remedied. Pretty much everything else you said remains utter crap.

EDIT:
http://www.bworld.com.ph/current/TheNat ... tory1.html
Then again, maybe they were asking for it. . . given the JW propensity for proselytising, I don't think they could have helped themselves. This story certainly lends itself to that interpretation.

[Nick]

Dent: It took me about 5 minutes with Google ("phillippines execution jehovah witness") and some within site navigation to find these stories. If you were so concerned about people going off half-cocked why didn't you provide this information yourself?

Current situation:
http://www.inq7.net/brk/2002/aug/23/brkpol_6-1.htm

The beheadings, and more background:
http://www.inq7.net/nat/2002/aug/23/nat_2-1.htm

I can't say I'm particularly unhappy to see two fewer JW's in the world but, assuming they weren't preaching (as the second story claims), it appears they may have been unfortunate rather than terminally stupid.

As with any death, if you're going to feel sympathy for anyone, feel it for the people who cared about the men who died. If you find you don't really care, then I wouldn't worry about that either - it's hard to really care about the deaths of people with no personal conenction to you. If you cared (at a personal level, rather than abstractly) about each and every unfortunate death in this world, you'd quickly go insane.

A friend of mine has a T-shirt. On the front, it has the question "How many people died on September 11, 2001?". I don't remember everything on the back, but the top line is something like "24,000 children died of starvation". Makes you think about the impact of the selective lens of the media, doesn't it?

[Lagmonster]

I think it'd be a cool idea to pit fundies from different faiths against each other in gladatorial combat. It'd make for sweet pay-per-view AND it'd thin out the fundie population. How can you go wrong?

With a nod to Williams, that's the ticket! Fly Falwell and his pals over to Afghanistan and have World Wide Fundamentalist Wrestling!!!

Let's get READY TO RUMBLE!

Announcer: And Falwell comes out with some harsh words for Osama.
Falwell: Fornicate you, mother-fornicator!
Osama: (Call to Jihad) Ayiyiyiyiyiyiy!!!
Announcer: And Falwell smacks down Osama with a lead plated bible. Man, that's gotta hurt! And now Osama is choking Falwell with his khalat! But wait! Falwell calls on the power of the Lord to smite the sinner! And now Osama is asking Allah to bring down fire on the unbeliever! They're both standing in the middle of the ring while nothing happens! Nothing at all! Is this riveting, or what??? Ooh! And what's this! From ringside here comes the Amish Mangler! He's charged into the ring with a metal chair! What's this? Now he's being pacifistic and humble while Osama and Falwell beat the crap out of him! Ladies and gentlemen, it doesn't get any better than this!