h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

And now a reading of the previous minutes, in order to help bring new members, and some of our older absent members (let's hope CD4 exorcises his computer gremlins soon ), quickly up to speed:

Ongoing projects are still ongoing: the Hall of Records, the joke collection, the lyric collection. Show your support by making a contribution, would ya? Links are, of course, available on the FFFF page.

We seem to have acquired a new hobby, namely that of unearthing hilarious websites that purport to be deeply religious. And, I seem to have acquired another hobby, that of flaming websites that aren't so hilarious. I suppose it gives us all something to do, since there seems to be a lull in the debates now. No worries, though... sooner or later, another one of our articles will be approved, and the firestorm will begin anew.

That pretty much sums up the recent antics... I now open the floor for new antics.

I will say just one thing. If there are any jokes in my 'FTOYWTRIAJ' article that people don't like (be they deemed inappropriate or just blatantly unfunny), then please let me know, and if the consensus seems to agree I will remove them.

For instance, I am still unsure about the 'Iraqi TV Guide' one - although I think it's damn funny, it isn't entirely in the theme of religion - plus it's very non-PC.

Sorry, another shameless

Well, so many thing are non-PC these days. But I'm sure someone will find a way to find offence .

Oh, and btw, can you give Forum numero eight a name that includes FFFF - just in case we get on the Front Page - we're not antichrists. me thinks .

DHMO? I was part of that once, it was a big joke, pretty funny too. We got out Chemistry teacher thinking that there was some hugely dangerous chemical out there called DiHydrogen Monoxide out there, and it really needed to be banned. I guess that goes to show the education level of the teachers in my corner of the planet.

That DDS calculator thing is the most brainless website I've looked at since, erm, since the last one that was posted up here...

'Oral sex is so evil it is illegal in Georgia and Virginia'. *That* evil, my goodness. Burn a rag in here...

On the whole, though, I didn't really get it - is it supposed to be another bad joke, or are they serious? What do people think?

Well, try this one from the above DDS site @ http://DavidDSavior.tripod.com/April00/bunny.html about that old devil worshipper the Easter Bunny. I don't know whether they're serious or not but they're making me laugh anyway...

Do we have idiots like this in England? Or is it just an American madness?

Idiots are abound. There are more idiots now than there ever have been.

blah, blah, blah, bookmark, blah blah blah.

I really can't take any Christian site seriously anymore. They just seem so inane... Like something an intelligent person might write as satire (at least a mildly intelligent person). That's what I've seen so far. There are some out there that go beyond that.

-jb

It seems to me that these sites are jokes. But they are bad ones (even though they are funny) because they never say that they are. If these people want to point out the ridiculousness of these beliefs, they should say what their purpose was in the end. It doesn't hurt anyone if an atheist falls for these joke sites, he will just laugh at the idiocy. But, a young empressionable chrisitan who falls for this can be dangerous indeed.

It's been argued (by people other than me) that satire should not be explained inside it's context; outside is ok. If you buy a MAD magazine, you know it's satire. It doesn't say it on every page, nor should it.

These sites do seem extreme. Perhaps the intent is to incite rage among the anti-xtian populace... or vice-versa. Maybe the point is that they are trying to get xtians to come to the site, and get [the xtians] to wonder whether they're following the right belief. It's questionable logic; it won't always work.

-jb

I don't think whoever made these sites to say it's a joke at the beginning, but somewhere at the end. Like a link where people can "find more about the organization" or something that says that it's all a fraud.

If they're trying to get christians to question their faith, I think they're going about it the wrong way. I think some of them might think that maybe they haven't been leading the 'christian life' because they aren't that extreme. Most fanatical christians aren't that bright you know.

Well aware.

That's why I said it was a mistaken assumption to think that tactic would work... at least I think I said something like that.

-jb

Yeah, you said that.

Ah, good. I have 4 windows open, typing something on each one. Gets a little confusing.

-jb

Mr. Cynic: As I've said before, the forum names are disregarded when they appear on the home page. It seems to use the name of the parent page, and, more specifically, the original parent page name. That's why, on occasion, I've followed a "busiest forum" link to someone's homepage, and since people constantly rearrange their homepages, the title was completely different from what I clicked on.

The FFFF has only had two names... the one it currently has, and the rather inane one I gave it just so it would have a title while we gathered unbelievers. That original title was "The Anti-Christ's Support Network." It put a lot of people off from joining at first, and the discussions about the name change weren't really so much about what we would call ourselves as to what our purpose should be (but of course, the name we chose would reflect that). We have outgrown that juvenile name (but I must admit, I found it humorous at the time ), but unfortunately, through a bug in the H2G2 programming, that name still pops up when we get busy. I think I might have to bother somebody at the towers to get this rectified, because it put people off from joining at first, so I'm sure it puts people off when we show up on the homepage.

Greetings All! and damned concerned, if not just damned.

I'm really _not_ sure if all these *hilarious* fundie sites that we've seen are joking. Or maybe they're just hiding. eg The BCC site looks to be a lonely hearts scene for closet National Front. The Xtian teens site looks to be some redneck kiddie ejaculating racist crap behind the comfortable walls of a large scary freak organisation.

I dunno, what happened to the good old days when you could turn the sprinklers on as they came to the door then threaten them with hungry lions, this internet thingy, I mean you can't paint bomb the billboard can you? You just have to clean it up again....grumble mutter something about 'violence' seeyas Ado!

The way I see it, the handy thing about the internet is that we have the luxury of laughing at these idiots, or preferably just ignoring them. Let them promote their obscure nonsense - as long as they're not actively *doing* anything to interfere with the lives of the rest of us, I don't really see how they can harm anybody with it. Censoring or condemning them would only give them the pleasure and (supposed) vindication of feeling persecuted. The majority of people, in my opinion, are sane and rational enough to see through this rubbish, whether it's serious or not...

It's damn good for a laugh now and then...

Agreed...

I am heartened that my first impression of the AFP site seems to be the correct one. The point is folks, we are just way out of these guy's leage when it comes to intellectual, biting, irreverant humour. Where these guys are rank amatures at poking fun at religion, we are polished professionals! Perhaps we could collaborate on a Guide Entry titled: "How to properly create a lighthearted anti-religious website" or something along those lines.
Any takers?

On another note, it looks like I hooked a christian in a forum connected to the Satanism Entry. Anyone want to jump in on this?

http://www.h2g2.com/forumframe.cgi?forum=29394&thread=48126

-- ZenMondo