Sorry, Oskar. I probably shouldn't have written that.

But that was my point. It's not different, it's more of the same kind of illogical stuff.

That was why I questioned whether this helps the situation.

No apology needed. I didn't take it personally.

IMO, it highlights the stupidity of it all. Their displays. Any displays. Sometimes you have to hold up a mirror so that people see how their actions appear to others.

I might normally agree with that, roseanne ~ but there are far too many people who don't give a flying fig how something/anything they do looks to or affects anyone else ~ they do what they want just because they can ~ using the trolls online for example, their words and actions are solidly and purely based in riling up others ~

Sooz

But they won't see their reflection in that mirror. They'll just see it as an insult to their beliefs.

They may John, but like with little children we must keep hammering the point home until they get it or until they quit pitching hissy-fits over every imaginary slight to their beliefs.

I get what you're saying, but laying off won't work either. They will just consider it a "win" for their group and press onward to make Christianity the national religion. They must be pushed back every time they want exclusivity. What the Pastafarians are saying is that as long as you can foist your (what we consider) fairy-tale beliefs on us, we can foist our pretend beliefs on you.

If they're atheists, how can they believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster?!

I agree with the premise that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is meant to ridicule the belief in deities.

I'll bet if they had put up a serious poster that points out why we shouldn't believe in God, it would have been left alone.

By the way, one doesn't have free speech on college campuses -- or at least here in the United States. Here in Orange County, California, we had the gay pride festivals held on a college campus, and the university had the right to restrict the anti-gay protesters from stepping foot on the campus.

The problem is that the ones that do this stuff are not going to "get it". Reason and logic doesn't seem to work with these people.

And let's remember that not all Christians think this way. Many believe in 'separation of church and state'.

As I said, maybe the work of 'Pastafarians' will end up with some positive changes across the country, perhaps even the world.

I just question a method that says; let us do the same stupid things, things we actually oppose.

I'd like to see more specific laws that prevent people from injecting their religion in public areas. Where these laws exists, they should be enforced.

i am not sure it would have gone so well if it were the other way around.

I thought this fit well with this thread:

The problem with being sure that God is on your side is that you can't change your mind, because God sure isn't going to change His. -Roger Ebert, film-critic (b. 1942)