Dark Helmet 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2013 @ 08:55am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What's good for the goose...

    "The Catholic Church NEVER allowed same-sex marriages."

    Bzzzzt, wrong again.

    http://www.themonastery.org/blog/2011/06/did-the-early-church-perform-same-sex-weddings/

    "God is eternal; homosexuality will perish."

    Nobody cares about your bigot God and, if homosexuality is going to perish, it's sure taking its sweet time....

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2013 @ 08:49am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What's good for the goose...

    "Complete BS. The state was attempting to FORCE HOMOSEXUALITY on the Church by demanding that either they service homosexual couples or close their operation altogether."

    Where did they say they had to close the organization? Unless I missed something, you showed evidence that they'd remove federal funding if they didn't operate in a secular fashion. How the fuck is that not appropriate? The State cannot publicly fund religious institutions or practices? What the shit are you talking about?

    "Deny it all you want, the facts speak for themselves: this constitutes a direct violation of the Church's 1A rights."

    I must have missed where the First Amendment, which specifically prohibits federal funding for church organizations, required federal funding for church organizations.

    "Actually, less than 1% of all priests in the US were ever accused of any form of sexual abuse, much less proven it in court."

    Are you REALLY claiming there wasn't a systemic cover up of Church crimes against children? The problem, OF COURSE, isn't just the pedophile priests, but every single person in the Church that knew about the crimes and did nothing about them. This should be obvious....

    "BTW, is it just a coincidence that most acts of pedophilia are homosexual in origin?"

    Oh, no, it's not a coincidence, it's flatout NOT TRUE. Depending on what numbers you include, the most liberal percentage of pedophiles that are homosexual in nature is 40%, and the low estimates are 9%. Way to be completely wrong...again.

    http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Mental_Health_Letter/2010/July/pessimism-about-pedophilia

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2013 @ 08:39am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What's good for the goose...

    "Actually, they're defending the longstanding definition of what constitutes for marriage."

    That longstanding definition of marriage you keep referring to is neither long nor standing.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_same-sex_unions

    Try again.

    "I've already proven how certain states used the redefinition to violate the Catholic Church's religious freedom by mandating that their adoption agencies either cater to homosexual couples, which blatantly contradicts their faith, or else they wouldn't be allowed to, so they were forced to close."

    Bullshit. You've proven that the Catholic Church has to abide by secular law or they don't get federal funding. The church has no claim to the freedom (i.e. right) to own and operate adoption centers. The violation of freedom would be for the Catholic Church to get public money, including from non-Catholics, when they don't abide by the public's laws. If the Church wants to operate adoption centers within the oversight of the State, fine, but don't expect to be religious AND get secular money. It don't work that way.

    "This was a direct attack caused by the homosexual movement, the same people who claim that they're "not bothering anyone.""

    No, this was an attack from those of us that believe in the longstanding tradition in this country of the separation of church and state. You seem to gloss over the fact that Catholic Church groups getting federal money but not operating within federal procedures. That would be the violation of EVERY OTHER religion's freedom, but you don't seem to care. You must be Catholic....

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2013 @ 07:06am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What's good for the goose...

    "In 2011, Catholic Charities affiliates in Illinois closed down instead of complying with a new requirement that they can no longer receive state money if they refuse to place children with persons in same-sex relationships as foster or adoptive parents. "In the name of tolerance, we're not being tolerated," said Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, a civil and canon lawyer who fought for Catholic Charities to retain religious freedom in Illinois."

    Speaks for itself, really."

    First thing's first: adoptions aren't a ward of any religion. They are necessarily regulated by the state. Our state is a secular state. If a religiously affiliated adoption service can't abide by the laws of our land, they don't get money from the state (they probably shouldn't anyway). This is really simple: Catholic institutions offering Catholic-bent services don't get public money because the state isn't fucking Catholic, Christian, or even religious. This is a stupid, STUPID argument.

    Second, pick a better source to quote. Bishop Paprocki is the same clown that claimed the source of the lawsuits against the Church for they SYSTEMIC pedophilia was "the devil". He refused to take responsibility for the Church's crimes and cried Satan when the Church had to pay for them. I almost wish there was a Hell for His Worship to go to.

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2013 @ 06:56am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What's good for the goose...

    "Once again, I'm not the one who's trying to change the law, so I don't need to prove anything."

    Excuse me, but precisely what law is anyone trying to change? We're arguing over the interpretation of laws, not any changes. In fact, the only ones trying to change laws in any serious way are religious factions attempting to outlaw gay marriage at the constitutional level, which is INSANE.

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2013 @ 06:53am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What's good for the goose...

    "So what are you saying, that you're upset because I stand for traditional moral values? You fail to mention that the ones doing all the forcing on the rest of society are the gay activists."

    Ahem, I'm not sure if anyone is still paying attention to this thread, but it's worth noting that the "tradition" argument is complete bullshit. The Catholic Church, hallmark of Christian theology for the majority of Christianity's existence, originally ALLOWED same-sex marriage, as well as married priests, female priests, and a host of other things today's religious would rail against.

    Find another argument, because the tradition one isn't very good. Homosexuality has been around since long before your religion and it will exist long after your religion disappears, because it is a biological reality....

  • On the post: Staffers For Rep. Mike Rogers Apparently Claim They Could Sue Me For Defamation

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2013 @ 02:26pm

    Re: Suggested response:

    Nah, why tip them off to all the fun we're about to have?

  • On the post: Former NSA Lawyers Attack Senator Wyden For Hinting At NSA Surveillance Excesses That Are Now Confirmed

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2013 @ 08:16am

    Re: 9/11

    Take your insane fund-raising campaign of lies somewhere else, psychopath....

  • On the post: Former NSA Lawyers Attack Senator Wyden For Hinting At NSA Surveillance Excesses That Are Now Confirmed

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2013 @ 07:32am

    Stupid lawyer....

    "This tactic has been criticized by people close to the intelligence community. Joel F. Brenner, a former NSA senior counsel, called it a "low dishonorable act" in a recent post at the blog Lawfare. Brenner objected to Wyden "putting Clapper in the impossible position of answering a question that he could not address truthfully and fully without breaking his oath not to divulge classified information."

    What Wyden did was use the rules of the game to checkmate Clapper, except clapper then violated the rules of the game by pretending his king-piece didn't exist. The entire POINT of these rules is to keep everyone on the level. No you can't reveal classified shit, and no you can't lie to Congress. When you get cornered like that, something has to give. All this indicates is that I imagine Wyden is exceptionally good at chess.

    Well, I suppose it also indicates that NSA lawyers like to upend the playing board when they lose, too....

  • On the post: Worst Woman In The World Burns Dog Alive, Is Caught After Bragging About It On Facebook

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2013 @ 03:46am

    Re: Re: Re: Don't feed the troll

    OOTB: "Hey, guys! Burning a dog alive? Not that bad! Besides, it was probably Google's fault!"

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2013 @ 12:03pm

    Re: Re: Re: yet the censorship continues at Techdirt

    Methinks your guys' sarcasm detectors might be malfunctioning....

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2013 @ 10:44am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What's good for the goose...

    But homosexuality, by definition, is NEVER adopted by all. That's the entire point of it being a naturally occurring minority population.

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2013 @ 09:27am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What's good for the goose...

    Yup, that's religious protesters having their speech infringed upon. Those attacking them should be ashamed of themselves. I'm happy there wasn't any police action that I saw....

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2013 @ 09:11am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What's good for the goose...

    "The very fact that they attempt to indoctrinate children into thinking homosexuality is normal proves my point."

    And the fact that you refuse to understand that homosexuality is a naturally occurring event, MAKING it normal, proves mine about you.

    "Who is the state to take taxpayer money and use it to push something that goes against many people's beliefs?"

    Uh, you do realize they do this ALL THE TIME, right? How many people disagree with socialized medicine? They're still implimenting it with your tax money. Get serious.

    "Quite honest of you to expose your own bigotry against religious people, calling them "poorly evolved primates,"

    Way to miss the point, friend. We're ALL poorly evolved primates. I was describing humanity, not just the religious.

    "Christians are being persecuted around the world simply for their beliefs, yet I don't hear a peep about it in the mainstream. (Do we get to lobby for special rights on account of our suffering?)"

    We're talking about American government, not the world. Describe how Christians are "suffering" in the same way as homosexuals and I'll defend the hell out of you from that suffering. And, no, being told your beliefs are silly is not the same as having your life, livelihood, or rights threatened.

    "The risks of sexually transmitted diseases are much greater within the LGBT community."

    Patently false. The demographic with the lowest risk of STD infection are lesbians. The highest risk is homosexual men. Straight couples are right in the middle. If you can't see what the major factor in STD infection rates are from that evidence, you need remedial logic. Either way, it ain't the homosexuality aspect.

    " Also, just because animals do something doesn't suddenly make it OK if we, being CIVILIZED creatures, do likewise. e.g."

    No, it just makes it NATURAL. Something that occurs naturally and doesn't harm in and of itself simply CANNOT be perverse. Also, as a theist, you must believe that God created all things that are natural. Why are you railing against God's creations?

    "All you're showing is that your opposition is against Christianity."

    100% correct. I find your beliefs to be distasteful. That said, I'll defend your rights to believe what you like and practice any religion you like to my death. That's the secular humanist way. It also SHOULD be the way of the religious. Sadly, that often seems to be not the case.

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2013 @ 07:59am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What's good for the goose...

    "I couldn't help but notice how you omit the fact that homosexuals aren't being punished for any thought crimes"

    Right, because gays haven't been persecuted just for their being gay. What the fuck are you talking about?

    "yet if someone protests at a gay pride parade by holding up a sign with a quote from scripture on it, the police might come over and attempt to take it away, perhaps even charge with a 'hate crime.'"

    Citation needed. As someone who has attended gay pride parades and has seen protesters, I've never seen this. Nor have I ever heard of it happening, so please cite an instance. If you do cite an instance, I'll criticize the police action. Free speech should be protected for all, even when I disagree with the speakers. Doesn't mean they aren't bigots, just means they're allowed their bigotry.

    "Homosexuals like to preach tolerance while themselves being intolerant of anyone with a dissenting opinion of their lifestyle."

    You like to claim that you aren't a bigot and then you make sweeping generalizations about an entire group. Hypocritical irony at is finest....

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2013 @ 07:56am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What's good for the goose...

    "The homosexual movement has nothing to do with 'treating them equally' and everything to do with shoving the lifestyle in everyone's face, including children in schools."

    If by shoving the lifestyle into everyone's face you mean convincing society to welcome homosexuals as full and complete members of society with equal rights, then yes, that's true. As they should be.

    "Also, the state altering the definition of marriage is in no way an equal rights issue."

    Excuse me, but we live in a secular society. Ergo, the state cannot rule with a nod to ANY religion. Therefore, if the state is going to be involved in marriage at all, and by regulating licenses and benefits for married couples they are, then they MUST do so in a secular way. That means God doesn't enter into the equation. Ergo, marriage is open to all. It's really just that simple. Private religions don't have to do so, since the state can't infringe upon their separation either, but from the state's perspective, homosexuals are simply citizens and ought be afforded all of a citizen's rights.

    "Nobody is allowed to disagree with their lifestyle without being labeled a bigot or homophobe (which BTW is a nonsensical term: a phobia is a fear)."

    Sure you can, but you have to do it scientifically. If your statement is, "God does not agree with homosexual's lifestlye", or "Homosexual sex is a sin", that is an obviously bigoted statement that doesn't even jive with general religious thought as is. An example I gave in another thread:

    "For this belief to make even a lick of sense, you have to dismiss the science. Follow along the religious thought here if you did accept scientific evidence:

    1. God created all beings in their total
    2. Some beings (not just humans) are inherently homosexual, meaning they were created that way, or else developed that way long before any choice in sexual preference could be made (i.e. some scientific thought suggests that homosexuality develops between the ages of 3-5)
    3. The religions of man say God says some of these inherently gay beings are not sins in and of themselves, but their natural inclinations are.
    4. Conclusion #1: God created some beings flawed at their most basic level and commands them not to be who he created them to be.
    5. Conclusion #2: If #1 is true, God is MASSIVELY capricious and cruel on a level shared by young children frying ants with a magnifying glass or torturing animals. This is a SHITTY God.

    Or, you can take the coward's way out, throw away the scientific evidence on sexuality, and wave your hands around about faith and sin and choice and blah, blah, blah, all while the rest of the sane world passes you by.

    Either way, things don't look too good for religion on the question of homosexuality. There's a good reason for this: religion is made by scared, poorly evolved primates that are subject to their own prejudices, fears, and fallacies. The problem is they seem to think they have the divine on their side, which is a kind of hubris normally reserved for sociopaths...."

    "If anything, they are treated as exceptional, special-class, protected citizens, and all for what? Their perverse sexual preference?"

    This is an INSANE thought. Homosexuals are still a minority that suffers. Not as much as in the past, but they are SPECIFICALLY a disadvantaged minority because of the way the majority treats them. To insinuate otherwise is done absolutely without merit.

    In addition, homosexuality cannot be perverse when it exists naturally. And it does. This is inarguable. It is a naturally occurring thing, not only in our species, but in other animals as well. It has not been shown in any way to be harmful in and of itself. Ergo, it cannot be perverse.

    Your statement, on the other hand, CAN be described as bigoted. Calling something perverse just because you don't like it? Perhaps your time would be better spent with the WBC cretins....

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2013 @ 06:19am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How about these 'gems'?

    "Blame God for everything, or deny He exists."

    Here's the wonderful thing about being a deist: I don't do either, so I guess I'm not harming myself.

    I don't disbelieve in a creative force and I don't believe any creative force that might exist has any impact or interest in our lives or his/her/its creation. You know, because there's no evidence that that's the case. In one fell swoop, I've solved most of the ontological problems of existence without having to buy into any of the nonsense of prayer and mythos around certain personalities.

    Ah, neat and tidy little boxes. How I love thee....

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2013 @ 03:55am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How about these 'gems'?

    "With regards to slavery in the Old Testament, 'slavery' was not the same thing per se as the 'racial slavery' we're more familiar with. Back in old times, some people willfully sold themselves into slavery, often to pay off debts and whatnot."

    Given how much you spoke of context, this is an incredibly silly argument to make. When the bible discusses and advocates the enslavement of others, it does so in the same language as it discusses the Jews' enslavement in Egypt. We're not talking about willful bondage, though that obviously is a core religious concept. We're talking about the active enslavement of a previously free people. Don't dodge the facts.

    "As for your Exodus quote where God was telling Moses how He wanted to kill the idol worshippers, He had a reason. The Levites were told to wait while Moses went up to the mountain but grew impatient and Aaron couldn't control them. They decided to create their own false deity -- a golden calf, and that made God angry."

    And that's apparently reason enough to commit mass murder? Wonderful God you have there. I notice further down you mention how people will use ANY justification for war and murder, even crazy bullshit justifications. How can you POSSIBLY not believe that the murder of the Levites wasn't one of these cases?

    The good news is, you'd be correct that it WASN'T a bullshit excuse, because it never happened. Or, rather, the entire Exodus story of the Jews escape from Egypt never happened. This has been proven by Israeli archaeology teams years ago.

    http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Evidence_for_the_Exodus

    And let's not forget why we don't see many Amalekites these days, who were murdered for the same made-up Exodus story....or not, their murder might have been simply made up as well, another pretend victory.

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2013 @ 03:42am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: What's good for the goose...

    "Funny you should mention that as that pretty much sums up the strategy of the homosexual movement. "Agree with us or else you're a attach label and we'll try to punish you (read: thought crimes)."

    Oh, come on now. You can't be both arguing for religion AND arguing against thought crimes. Religion is the mother of all punishing thought crime. It was mentioned higher up in the thread: adultery isn't when you bang your neighbor's wife, it's when you THINK about banging your neighbor's wife.

    Pick a lane, TRM. Either we can punish thought crimes or we can't....

  • On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

    Dark Helmet ( profile ), 25 Jul, 2013 @ 09:54am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How about these 'gems'?

    Forget slavery. How about rape and genocide? Both not only described in the bible, but commanded by God....

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