Doug Berger – Page 33

December 20, 2013April 18, 2020

Getting On The Duck Dynasty Bandwagon Says More About You

The media, both broadcast and social, was a buzz when Phil Robertson who stars on the ‘reality’ TV show Duck Dynasty said some nasty things about gays and African-Americans in a magazine interview. Needless to say my Facebook feed lit up with my conservative friends coming to Phil’s defense and standing with him. Not a peep was said about what he said they only complained about Robertson being suspended from the show. The lack of comments about what Robertson said says a lot about conservatives.

First off I want to head off the casual argument I’ve seen where people try to deny Robertson said anything bad or that he was misquoted.

December 13, 2013April 18, 2020

Symbolic Deference To Religion Is A Problem In The US

cover to The IHEU Freedom of Thought Report 2013

This week the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) released a report titled ‘The IHEU Freedom of Thought Report 2013’ which focused specifically on discrimination against Humanists, atheists and the non-religious in every country in the world. While the worse result of being a freethinker could be death, there was some kind of discrimination in most countries including the United States.

December 4, 2013April 18, 2020

I really wish saying ‘Happy Holidays’ would in fact make Christianity disappear.

This about sums up my views on the so-called ‘War on Christmas’

November 15, 2013April 18, 2020

Atheists Don’t Be Upset When You Act Like A Church And The Religious Call You A Church

The Associated Press had a wire story on November 10th about the rising popularity of an atheist gathering called the Sunday Assembly. The AP report referred to it as a “mega-church”. A collective panic in the atheist movement screeched about how it wasn’t a church and how dare anyone call it that. However, If you look like a church, act like a church, and meet on a Sunday then don’t get upset when the religious majority think you are a church. This is a prime example of why using warmed over religious terms or activities and in the case of the Sunday Assembly, avoiding talking about atheism can cause confusion and hurt the atheist movement in the long term.

From the AP report:

November 7, 2013April 18, 2020

When A Write-In Wins A Contested Election There Is More To The Story

John Harrington won election as a write-in

One problem with our overcomplicated and biased election system here in the US is the rare occurrence of a write-in candidate winning a contested seat. It happened on November 5th when John Harrington won the 5th Ward seat on the Findlay Ohio City Council. The news isn’t that a write-in won but about the battle between establishment Republicans and Tea Party Republicans in a civil war for the soul of the party.

Findlay Ohio rarely elected a democrat for any office the exception being maverick John Sausser. He was the Mayor in the late 60’s and early 70s and returned to council in 2001. He was more of what we now call a Blue Dog type of Democrat. He hated most taxes for example. For the most part Findlay and Hancock county is deep red Republican.