Chat Transcript Between Michele Bachmann and God

(Via Funny or Die.)

Christian vs. Non-Christian: Who Gets Into Heaven?

I have a lot of time for John Shore.  If you're unfamiliar with him, he has been called "America’s leading non-douchey Christian" by Dan Savage (of Savage Love and the It Gets Better Project).

As a liberal who grew up in a liberal Christian household, and as a straight, married, father who writes, raises a ruckus about things that matter, and as staunch ally to the LGBTQ community, I identify greatly with John Shore. He's great.

He is one of the great many wonderful Christians who seem to really 'get' what Christianity is, and should be, about. And it is because of folks like John Shore, that I don't appreciate gross generalizations about Christians. And it is because of folks like John Shore that I choose to spend more time trying to find and relate to Christians who care about equality and progress. We can get a whole hell of a lot more done by building bridges with likeminded folks from other belief systems. At the end of the day, we want to accomplish a lot of the same things: decrease suffering, promote equality and compassion, etc.

I feel strange writing about Shore for the first time, and then launching into a video, when he has a wealth of wonderful writing available (in book form, and online), but I recently ran across this and thought it was wonderful. It was posted by John Shore (although I can't be entirely sure that he wrote the dialog, I am sure he endorses it).

The next time you run into a Christian who says that only Christians can get into heaven, you could do worse than to employ the logic of the little dude here on the right:

Chatbots Talk To Each Other, Get Passive Aggressive, Discuss Religion

If you're not familiar with chatbots, Wikipedia describes them as "computer programs designed to simulate an intelligent conversation with one or more human users via auditory or textual methods, primarily for engaging in small talk. The primary aim of such simulation has been to fool the user into thinking that the program's output has been produced by a human (the Turing test)."

There have been practical uses for chatbots, including Web sites that offer online help, personalized service, or which seek to acquire information from customers.

If you've ever had a run-in with a chatbot, it's quite possible you had a surreal experience. It's also quite possible that you screwed with the chatbot to see what kind of wacky conversations might ensue.

The Creative Machines Lab at Cornell University recently decided to pit two chatbots against each other to see what would happen. The results are pretty interesting.

Below is one example of what came about after these chatbots began conversing. It was not long until they both exhibited passive aggression, and began discussing God and unicorns.

Good times.

'They're Out There, Man' - 'UFO Guy' Remixed

Melodysheep, the moniker behind the Symphony of Science videos, is stepping into conspiracy territory with his latest, 'They're Out There, Man! UFO Guy Remixed,' a mash-up of awesome UFO/alien imagery and a 'man on the street' interview with a guy who may or may not have done drugs in the past.

From the video's description:

"I don't believe in UFOs, but this guy makes me want to. Apparently confusing Area 51 with Air Force 1, a man in a Chicago airport details his plans to visit aliens in Arizona and beyond."

It's great stuff:

Michele Bachmann Preaching and Loving White People

On Friday, August 5th, Michele Bachmann showed up at the Spirit Midwest Christian Music Festival in Des Moines, IA.

Since there were microphones there, Michele Bachmann spoke to the crowd and glorified Jesus. She also asked the audience, "Who loves white people?." This might have been very unfortunate, had there not been a band on the bill that day called The White People Soul Band.

So, we'll give Michele Bachmann a pass on that, although it was certainly something a presidential candidate might not want to say in public on a microphone.

Bachmann continues to lay down some remarkable evangelical preaching.

One can only hope that, if elected, her State of the Union addresses would not resemble the following:

4-Year Old Preacher-Man

Kanon Tipton first took the microphone at 21 months. He's now 4, and he's still preaching. Says his father, Pastor Damon Tipton, "I do feel like the hand of God is on him in a special way."

It's certainly is something.

Kanon appeared on the Today show last Tuesday:

The Batshit Files: News Roundup | 8.26.11

As we prepare for the impending winds and rain of Hurricane Irene, large swaths of the US are experiencing unseasonable, record-breaking crazy:

• Pat Robertson says the quake-induced crack in the Washington Monument is a sign from God. (Right Wing Watch)

• Rabbi Yehuda Levin blames the earthquake on gay marriage (it's always the gays, isn't it!) (Huffington Post)

• Cindy and Mike Jacobs: The earthquake was a sign from God and that it is a sign that Christians need to teach people about Jesus. (Right Wing Watch)

• Rick Perry compares homosexuality to alcoholism. (Think Progress)

• The 24-year-old man being held in last year’s firebombing of an Oregon mosque ranted about Muslims and referred to himself as a “Christian warrior,” according to documents released. (Sierra Vista Herald)

• Mission America's Linda Harvey: 'There's no proof' that LGBT people exist! (Right Wing Watch)

• Bryan Fischer has single-handedly disproved Darwin with a one-page blog post. (AFA)

• Bryan Fischer WILL NOT STOP his quest to have dominion over the bears! (AFA)

• Santorum: Gays can't marry, because a tree is not a car. (Towleroad)

• A list of 159 priests alleged to have abused children has been released by the Boston Archdiocese. (A little too late?) (Boston Globe)

• Rick Perry has joined Bachmann, Romney, and Santorum, in signing the uber-hateful anti-gay marriage pledge. (Towleroad)

• Joseph Farah, editor of World Nut Daily, has posted an editorial stating that marriage equality will "plunge" America into "the moral abyss of chaos and barbarism." (Right Wing Watch)

• Indiana state Rep. Phil Hinkle (R) admitted that he paid a young man $80 to have a good time, but insisted he isn’t gay and doesn’t know why he did it. (IndyStar)

• Peter LaBarbera says News Corp is pro-gay because it is "based in New York City, which is a gay Mecca." (OneNewsNow)

• In an extraordinary burst of hyperbole, homophobia, and Islamaphobia, NOM says gays have issued a‘fatwa,’ and are waging ‘jihad’ against Christians. (Think Progress)

• Renew America wonders if Obama is a demon. Really. (Renew America)