Watch the video if you dare.
I'm thinking that Young Earth Creationism and Christian fundamentalism aren't going to resonate too well with the average person in Times Square. This kind of publicity could really backfire by drawing attention to the large number of atheists in America.
Would this sort of thing ever have happened without Dawkins, Hitchens, Dennet, Harris and all those other obnoxious and disrespectful atheists who started making such a fuss just a few years ago? I think we're finally making progress and it's mostly due to them.
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So far we've had:
A New Atheism
Ken Ham Strikes Back
Next up would be: Return of the....?
Silly you. The next post will be "The Phantom Menace." It will feature Denyse O'Leary as Jar Jar Binks and Jerry Coyne as Yoda.Would you like to play Anakin Skywalker?
Times Square isn't exactly where New York's intelligentsia goes to meet and greet. There is, however, a copious tourist population there, straight from America's Heartland.
Oh man, you could make so many hilarious references here.
Who'll be Han Solo, Jabba the hutt and the Emperor? Will we get to see Grand master Dawkins and Darth Pope throw chairs at each other in the senate?
...a 16 second video on an electronic billboard in Times Square.
I think that a fair reading of the bible might show that flashing lights in the sky are a sign of the end times.
Since the vague wording of the bible has been open to interpretation lo these many generations, I interpret that to mean the end times of adults clinging to infantile beliefs.
(but like all end times scenarios, we never seem to reach the actual end.)
"This kind of publicity could really backfire by drawing attention to the large number of atheists in America. "
Exactly what I thought on hearing about this.
Great response from M J Sheppard at the Friendly Atheist:
To all our creationist friends: So this is where all your "reasearch" money goes.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/10/10/id-like-to-see-this-billboard-in-times-square/
The Star Wars comparison has already been done, by Casey Luskin, who compares himself to Luke Skywalker, and Eugenie Scott of the NCSE to Darth Vader.
In reading the passage below, remember this is the Casey Luskin who in 2008 primly exulted, "I absolutely refuse to respond in kind as I do not make personal attacks against other people. That is my personal ethic..."
Casey Luskin, letter to Jonathan Wells, 2000: "[NCSE Director Eugenie] Scott definitely speaks "scientese". She presents herself as a scientist, which she once was, who is trying to do the right thing for science. She is very charismatic, funny, and very good at getting people behind what she's saying. It's no wonder she's the director of the NCSE. In the past I've compared Eugenie C. Scott to Darth Vader because she is full of internal contradictions, knows in her heart she's lying, powerful, persuasive, and most importantly, she travels around representing the dominating power (the Empire) and fighting the good guys. All in the name of ...well, I'm not exactly sure what her motivation is yet. It's certainly not truth.
(On the other hand, there is the rebellion against the Empire. Small, understaffed, often outgunned and outmanned, but not outsmarted. However, the rebellion has the people of the galaxy behind them, and most importantly, the Force. Of course not all of us in the rebellion believe in the "force" (the analogy is God), but what unites the rebellion is the common belief in the problems with the current establishment, and the desire to replace it with something better. When we introduced ourselves in the class, I should have said I was Luke Skywalker, but I suppose I was under the control of her powers at the time so I just said I was Casey, an earth sciences major.)
...I think we need to do all day workshops at many universities around the country to show people what ID really is, to stop the lies of Scott, if ID is going to work. Otherwise she's going to go around the country spreading this garbage, and scientists who don't know better will undoubtedly buy it." [A Letter from Casey Luskin to Jonathan Wells. About 2000 [?]. Cited by Mr. Christopher here. Luskin admits the letter was his at Research Blogging.org (2008, archived).
This is the same Casey Luskin who, whenever we catch him lying and call him out on it (which is twice a week), will say that he's being personally attacked, and he doesn't believe in personal attacks.
It would be outrageous to say that Barry Arrington is Jabba the Hut, and Denyse O'Leary is the small rat-like animal that snickers evilly at his side.
Because Casey Luskin, above, compares Eugenie Scott to Darth Vader, we shouldn't engage in such invidious comparisons ourselves. That would be completely inappropriate, and lowering ourselves to Luskin's level.
It would be wrong, for example, to say that Casey Luskin himself could only be Jar Jar Binks. That would be an invidious comparison; we don't do that.
It would be wholly inappropriate to say that Zack Kopplin is Luke Skywalker, that Nick Matzke is Han Solo, and Jerry Coyne is Chewbacca.
We would not suggest that Prof. Moran is Obi-wan Kenobi, and Ian Musgrave is Qui-Gonn Jinn.
It is unacceptable to say that ERV is Princess Leia, and PZ Myers is R2 D2, and Dawkins is C-3PO.
It would be invidious and unfair to say that Dembski is Count Dooku, Michael Egnor is Darth Maul, Behe is Grand Moff Tarkin, and Klinghoffer is Watto. No one is Darth Vader.
We would not compare the commenters at Uncommon Descent to Jawas.
And we really wouldn't say that Senator Palpatine would be...
Stephen Meyer. Because everybody thought he was nice.
Didn't see that one coming, didja...
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