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Watching this reminds me of the first line of H.L. Mencken’s creed: “I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind - that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking>”
Study the great atheist of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The Great Purge 1.2 Million Dead
Great Leap Forward 30 million dead
Cambodia
North Korea
ect.
The Socialists that prescribe to the atheist ideology have got all the religions beat.
Why is it atheists and Christians have to fight over who has the bigger body count? Shouldn’t it be enough that innocent people have died in the name of doing good (and yes, all those events you named represent some crazy person or people fighting for what they believe to be right)?
By the way, socialism has little or nothing to do with atheism; just because some socialists were atheists, it doesn’t mean that the nonbelief in God caused their actions.
I did not realize christians and atheist were forwarding this argument.
And yes, I believe philosophically, that the removal of consequence and accountability causes the death of tens of millions of lives.
I did not realize that those who do not believe in religion can have no sense of consequence and accountability.
And yes, i do know that there is a nuturing Creator. But that knowledge doesn’t blind me to the fact that I would trust my life and kids with many people who do not believe in religion over countless numbers who consider themselves believers– based on their ethics, behavior, judgement, sense of accountability, etc, etc.
” I did not realize that those who do not believe in religion can have no sense of consequence and accountability.”
That would be a huge generalization and I am not making that.
Consider my post again. Think of it philosophically, not ideologically.
As an atheist, I am accountable to my family. They bare the consequence of my actions.
Now consider a self centered and ambitious atheist that has removed themselves from the realm of consequence.
Stalin.
Mao.
Kim Jong-il.
ect…
This is awesome! Someone’s gotta post that clip, Q:”What did Bush not do?” A:”He didn’t follow the word.” Most persuasive. I’n not only won over, but also I’m inspired and got a new slogan: Yup, it’s gotta be Huck!
Oh my Gawd!
What a bunch of crap!
I wish these people knew how uneducated they sound.
OMG. I live in the US and stuff like this makes me really disappointed in the human state.
In this day and age it is amazing people can be so far off on the real world, its REALLY scary of you think about it.
To think that the Republican party thought it was a good idea to combine the religious right and wall street under the same banner. These people don’t even know basic facts about the country or the candidates.
Where the heck are these people getting their information? Obama isn’t muslim, they’re confusing him with that representative from Minnesota.
The kind of Theocracy they want is no better than the kind Islamic Fundamentalists want to establish. America is a PLURALIST DEMOCRACY that is home to people of many faiths and nationalities. It really irks me when people want to impose their own particular cultural exclusivity on this country.
Also somebody pointed this out to me:
Article VI of the US Constitution:
“The Senators and Representatives … shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
I wonder if there is a similar provision for the Presidency.
No wonder the rest of the world thinks we’re idiots!
I was laughing, until I saw that little girl talk. It really makes me sad/angry that people would indoctrinate their kids like that…
This episode really burned a big memory in my brian. It will be very hard to forget this one.
This kind of lifestyle is extreme but somewhat typical of very small towns that are isolated from larger cities and the rest of the country and world. These smaller towns just dont get outside information from the world. They dont read the New Your Times or look at information online. You could easily assume that the young girl in this case learns news from her mom who gets her news from her grandmother who gets her information from a friend who reads *some* things.
As a result, obviously, they are moving through the world at a much slower pace. If they are unaware of current events, new technologies, contemporary cultrual practices and differences, they will not have much to put together into anything new. Same ‘ol, same ‘ol.
Frankly I am disappointed in this interview. Why choose such a small town? Why choose such a place? Was it because there was a cross on the outside?
Was the goal of this perspective to paint a picture of Southern small towns as hicks? Hicks for Huck? Seriously, this is so isolated and polarized to the far right religious voter that it doesn’t even make sense to show that it was from Tennessee let alone a southern state. It could be any state people like this exist everywhere. Look in NYC I am sure you will find a couple of uneducated wackos.
It was a crappy interview and the interviewer clearly had an agenda and I am disappointed that people like this were showcased.
I feel this episode transcends most discussions of politics into more of a beautiful expose of rural American life, the kind you would find in a picture book on your coffee table in the city.
The interviewer could’ve asked the same question anywhere and had any answer under the sun. The intriguing part is how opinions and answers take shape in a more insular part of our American society. Whether we’re wired or not though, the majority of us choose the news we WANT to hear; seeking diverse viewpoints to turn over in our own minds is too hard and takes too much time. These good folk in Tennessee are just a more poignant example of what goes on nationwide…shaping the facts as we’d like them to be.
By the way, this video is part of a larger roadtrip through the South, gauging political opinions and deeper views behind them. So you’re wrong about my motivations, etc. - I also have an interview with some Nashville Republicans who are wealthy and educated — and also for Huckabee.
I don’t mind telling you this was not a crappy interview. I’m more an observer and documenter, though of course I’m asking questions and probing. Would you rather pretend people like this don’t exist? Many people (on the youtube thread) are shocked at seeing this - esp. in NYC or other urban areas it’s easy to be completely unaware of rural, fundamentalist Christian America.
And as I tell other people - you want to see something different? You get a camera, hop in a car, and go film it. Nothing is stopping you.
It is less of an interview and more of an opportunity to allow these people to show what they are like or rather what they are expected to be like.
I guess it was just a bit stinging in the sense that these rather homely individuals are on the “big screen” and they are so vulnerable to attacks.
Is it wrong to have theology? Is it wrong to mix political views and religious views? Is it wrong for a leader, in any situation, to have religious views?
Look at me back peddle…
Well I am looking forward to the next ep.
Scott, not it is not wrong to have theology and it isn’t wrong to mix political and religious views if you choose to. However, pandering to gossip and lies and basing your opinions on those lies is wrong. I am not voting for Senator Obama, but please, the man is a Christian, and took his oath on the Bible. He does say the Pledge of Allegiance and does honor the flag! I don’t know of many political leaders who have not had religious views. However, personally, I am tired of the leader of the US shoving religious views at me. We are a free nation, free to choose. Let me do so, please.
I think you missed the point, Scott. These are not isolated hicks. This is what a third of Americans believe. Maybe down to 20 percent in NYC, but that’smillions, not “a couple.”
Chuck demonstrates nicely that they have been spoon-fed crap about Obama being some kind of radical Muslim, and they have lapped it up.
Their world-view is based on misinformation and propaganda and if you tried to explain that to them, you might just get beat up.
All I can say is, I hope they are indeed content to pray and wait for the Lord to do His will. Us commies will get out and organize and kick their sorry butts.
BTW, this ep kinda got lost between the day before and the day after. Pity.
Good point I suppose I did miss the point. I guess someone just pissed in my corn flakes and I took it out on the RB comments!
You bring up an interesting point - are our views typically just recycled from someone else’s?
For instance these people are clearly regurgitating what their pastoral church members have taught them about religion and in a weird mix politics too. Now does the same hold for our views on politics?
everybody cribs from somebody. But we have a duty to check our facts, not just accept the word of “my friend who keeps up with stuff.” Otherwise we believe crap like the BS Obama rumors.
what a medieval country you have, Americans!!
the sad side, is the rest of the world always is suffering the consequences of your stupid and sanguinary ideologies.
Obama, please,
protect the rest of the world of America!
I grew up in a small town and there were certainly a lot of conservative people there but I don’t recall ever meeting anyone who was as as conservative and religious as these people are. I think these people must be very extreme even for a small town in Tennessee.
There’s one child who got left behind!
I know some of the you on this site are ridiculing these people because
they want a theocracy (which of course is not right). However, I believe
more and more Americans want a nanny state. Where the government is taking
care of everyone needs. That is silly also.
like who?
Any politician that believes Hate Crime is a legitimate policy of prosecution in a free society.
Any politician that believe Affirmative Action is not racist and sexist and has a legitimate place in a free market.
Any politician that wants to extend native constitutional rights to non citizens that would also include, but not limited to, social security, extended education funds, or any social program.
Oh, so you want a society with Jesus compassion, just not secular compassion.
You make a great analogy.
Religious compassion can be defined in general terms and can be understood/communicated universally.
Secular compassion can not.
Secular humanism seems to me to be a small club of arrogant pseudo intellectuals that complain of intolerance as they castigate people with faith as being ignorant.
you have GOT to be kidding me!
If this happens in a country on the good side of the digital divide, where you have all the resources (internet, cellphones, digital tv, iptv) to be informed, I can’t imagine whats going on in developing countries.
I live in Colombia (south america), and this kind of videos makes people from the us look like idiots…
remember her?
I keep getting quicktime errors when attempting to view the HD version of the show.
The worst thing about people like this is that no amount of reasoned argument will ever persuade them they are wrong. They are unable to separate what they believe to be true from their identity as individuals, so challenging their beliefs challenges who they are.
Loaded question: should people that make their decisions without thinking really be allowed to vote? :)
Not only are these women completely false in their statements of Obama but if they really want to get into the word and let the word guide them…then I think they should take all of the word to heart. 2 timothy says women should remain silent in matters of the church. So how is that women a preacher?
Love the whiskey from down there. It’s the brand Jesus drinks.
I love the simplicity of the production. This is great documentary making: the producer has made his point with an absolute minimum of padding. What is so brilliant is that he never need make his point explicitly; his subjects are doing that for him. The fact that all these comments have understood his point proves this was a valid piece of film-making with an important message not spoon-fed to its audience.
I do feel sorry for America, both those of you who have been brought up to believe in miracles, judgement day and that a president should take his orders from an imaginary being; and those of you who have to live with the deluded and indoctrinated masses. It’s like going back in history to see how it must have been to worship a pharaoh as a living god.
The opinion about “Izrel” just boggled my mind though - there I was thinking that for Christians the New Testament had done away with that business of the promised land. Yeah, why bother trying to bring about peace? Let’s just ignore it and wait until the second coming! Ha! This is what the most powerful mind-virus known to man can do to ordinary human beings, folks. I hesitate to put it down to plain stupidity, I fear it’s poor education and religion getting there first. Know your memeplex, people, understand it and then get as far away from it as possible!
Imagine if I went to a peace rally and all I represented in my “documentary” was the obvious looney’s to support my bias that the anti-war crowd are just bi polar women that are off their meds.
I have sympathy for these people. They were honest about their beliefs and represented them the best they could. Do you honestly think they were told their views will be edited and posted on the web to discredit an apposing ideology based on how ignorant they will be represented?
Do you make fun native peoples? American Indians? African Tribal Leaders? South Americans?
They don’t need your pity, But I assure you this. They would extend their blessings on to you.
Please feel free to continue to feel sorry for us Americans as we enjoy a standard of living solely based on tolerance, and constitutional protections guaranteeing that arrogant suedo intellectualism will never squelch our right to worship, speak, and act as an individual.
Their beliefs are gibberish John.
They were barely articulate, unable to form complete sentences or express coherent thoughts. They obviously believe whatever they choose, regardless of the facts, for plainly emotional reasons. Theirs is a fantasy world driven by magical thinking. They have been rendered mentally ill by the environment they live in.
I find it interesting that you don’t rail against those who truly are exploiting these people, which is their “own” party, the Republicans. Do you think any of those elitist businessmen or Wall Street connected big-money politicians actually who run the party do anything but laugh at such people?
Faith is magical thinking, agreed.
Magical thinking equating mental illness?
Do you extend this to Human Global warming Alarmists?
Why not mention that every Democratic presidential nominee campaigned for the last year in southern black Christian churches. In the churches!
Your logic is irrational and ideological.
You are emotive in your thinking. If it were not, you would have realized immediately the amount of religious pandering that the DNC does in the open without recourse.
You obviously see them only in a prism of bigotry.
“They are Christian, Republican, Conservative and they deserve to be ridiculed because they are different than I.”
No, you can’t make fun of minorities. But hillbillies are fair game. There’s not a clause in the EEOC about making fun of people who are just downright ignorant. Unfortunately, stupidity is sometimes a genetic affliction. These women definitely got it from someplace. I will continue to poke fun at, and ridicule people who do nothing but drag the collective IQ of humanity towards the sewer of theocracy.
Why don’t you understand the arrogance, intollerance that your statement represents?
Wow. It’s so EASY to do this kind of piece.
Find participants that support your bias and represent them as the mainstream ideology.
Nice.
How about some nice balance and post the video of self identified liberals supporting their candidate solely on the basis of sex, race and hatred for a current president that cannot serve the office again?
I don’t think a liberal could ever screw up a government and country quite so much as this president has. No, it takes a village idiot conservative corporate cronyist-anarchist to truly fuck up this bad.
You realize your reply comes no where near addressing my argument?
This level of deliberate ignorance isn’t just frightening it should be punishable.
Religion is for people too stupid to think for themselves.
I heard one of the ladies say that, if the government was only run their way, “everything would be all rot.”
Boy, she got that right.
Of course, the real irony is that this religious extremist view is coming from someone in Lynchburg, TN, home of Jack Daniels.
There is one basic fact that should settle all this nonsense about what book senators and representative and senators use to get sworn in.
THERE IS NO BOOK! They all stand in their respective chambers, raise their right hands and take the Oath of Office. Later, many have a private ceremony for family, friends and the home-town newspapers, and replay the oath. They can use the f-ing telephone book and no one needs to know.
Here is an extra 96 comments on this topic from the community over on Bannination:
http://www.bannination.com/comments/5024788
And as of now, there are around 50 comments on the YouTube episode:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpJfWOWkB2Q
Over on Crooks and Liars, there are 371 comments:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/02/18/why-we-do-what-we-do/#comments
18 comments over on Digg:
http://digg.com/political_opinion/More_Republican_Sheep_on_Video
*sigh* I live in Mississippi and I am surrounded by these people.
This is the Republican base. These are the people who took Bush from 50% approvals to 28% because he isn’t a big enough freak for them.
Beautifully said! These are the Republican base.
I love this video. This is pure Americana. No phony staging,, and other than the one insertion of “False” and a couple of “??” - it was well done. I’d be terribly dissapointed to learn that these were actors.
Like it or not - this IS part of our America.
Wilful
Talk about brainwashed kids, people unable to think for themselves and disseminating misinformation. What a shining example of what I fear is common in America today. How do we educate them? Politics is too confusing for them, life is too confusing, I suppose, so they turn to a belief system that requires no analysis, no questioning, just faith - ah, how easy and reassuring - God will solve all problems - how antiquated, how horrifying!
Morons. These creatures should be swinging from trees. When are americans going to grasp the reality that making decisions based on lies and poorly considered but comfortable opinions hurt this country deeply. Obama has been a christian as long as any of these talking monkeys except maybe that senile dim-witted old hag.