Doug Phillips & Co. Epic History Fails

[Witsec1]

I thought I would start a thread to collect examples of Doug Phillips' and other fundies' pseudo-intellectualbrilliance epic fails.

We could start with using the Titanic disaster as a model for how patriarchy protects women and children. As has already been noted here and elsewhere, less than half of the women in steerage survived. 55 men in first class pushed their way into lifeboats and survived; 55 children in third class perished. So we see how well that noble sentiment works in practice.

Source: http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/titanic.html

But there's another fact about the Titanic disaster that makes it such a great metaphor for all the mixture of patriarchy and unrestrained capitalism that is Vision Forum. J. Bruce Ismay, the shipping executive who ordered the number of lifeboats reduced from 48 to 16, was aboard the Titanic on its maiden voyage. He boarded the second-to-last lifeboat, and survived, leaving behind hundreds of passengers to drown in the wreckage of his pride and stupidity.

[Deleted12]

Great example!

How about the part where the founding fathers really meant to base this country off of the Bible, but they figured that that was SO OBVIOUS they didn't need to put it in any of our founding documents?

[Witsec1]

Great example!

How about the part where the founding fathers really meant to base this country off of the Bible, but they figured that that was SO OBVIOUS they didn't need to put it in any of our founding documents?

Totally! Or the part where the Constitutional Convention was adjourned for prayer - except it never was!

[Aurora]

Ooh, I love this thread! :)

"In the 18th century, many began to worship the mind. The religion of that day was rationalism."

No. Rationalism is not a religion, Doug, and the mind was not worshipped. A lot of progress in science and philosophy does not equal "worship of the mind". From Doug's rant against Earth Day, 2011. I think Doug may be trying, awkwardly, to make reference to the Enlightenment.

[Brainsample]

Great example!

How about the part where the founding fathers really meant to base this country off of the Bible, but they figured that that was SO OBVIOUS they didn't need to put it in any of our founding documents?

Hmmm. Why did they run people off to Rhode Island then. Rhode Island was admitted as a State, no? That's where they sent all of those evil feminists.

Yeah. And that evil Thomas Jefferson! He was one of those evil deist Episcopalians who aren't really spiritually alive. And what of all of those evil Unitarians in Boston? Gasp! And then, the Quakers and their evil inner light. And those evil Moravians! Oh, the horror! I don't think they hang in well with Madison either.

They didn't want to set up a theocracy. It's not in there because the founding fathers didn't want a theocracy. Hmmmm.

[Corntree]

Doug Phillips, Esq. and Co. have informed me that "race-based chattel slavery" is ultimately Darwinian in nature. I have to wonder how that's possible when race-based slavery existed before Darwin OR the theory of evolution did. (Though I wouldn't put it past that sneaky bastard Darwin to do a little time traveling.)

Incidentally, I would say Mr. Phillips is at his wackiest when discussing Darwin. Here he is on the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species: "This Tuesday, November 24th, atheists, agnostics, and proponents of abortion, eugenics, feminism, and Marxism around the world will be celebrating the highest holy day of the modern evolutionary faith. And they have been waiting 150 years for the celebration! It was on this day in 1859 that Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species—and the world was never the same." (Emphasis mine. And here's the link: http://www.visionforum.com/news/blogs/doug/2009/11/5842/) From the same entry: "Christians look to Jerusalem, Muslims to Mecca, but for throngs of the evolutionary faithful, it is Galapagos which is the spiritual center of their man-centered faith."

Well, I know I celebrated - how about you guys? I couldn't make the pilgrimage to Galapagos, but I aborted a few babies in Darwin's name and went to a nursing home to tell all the old people how worthless they are to society. Then - with one hand on a copy of On the Origin of Species and the other hand on The Communist Manifesto - I swore to never swear to anything and always put myself and my own pleasure first. After that, I had a big orgy with the other members of the free love commune I live in.

[Sola]

Doug Phillips, Esq. and Co. have informed me that "race-based chattel slavery" is ultimately Darwinian in nature. I have to wonder how that's possible when race-based slavery existed before Darwin OR the theory of evolution did. (Though I wouldn't put it past that sneaky bastard Darwin to do a little time traveling.)

Incidentally, I would say Mr. Phillips is at his wackiest when discussing Darwin. Here he is on the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species: "This Tuesday, November 24th, atheists, agnostics, and proponents of abortion, eugenics, feminism, and Marxism around the world will be celebrating the highest holy day of the modern evolutionary faith. And they have been waiting 150 years for the celebration! It was on this day in 1859 that Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species—and the world was never the same." (Emphasis mine. And here's the link: http://www.visionforum.com/news/blogs/doug/2009/11/5842/) From the same entry: "Christians look to Jerusalem, Muslims to Mecca, but for throngs of the evolutionary faithful, it is Galapagos which is the spiritual center of their man-centered faith."

Well, I know I celebrated - how about you guys? I couldn't make the pilgrimage to Galapagos, but I aborted a few babies in Darwin's name and went to a nursing home to tell all the old people how worthless they are to society. Then - with one hand on a copy of On the Origin of Species and the other hand on The Communist Manifesto - I swore to never swear to anything and always put myself and my own pleasure first. After that, I had a big orgy with the other members of the free love commune I live in.

^ This has got to be the most epic first post ever on FJ!

[Effie]

Haha agreed! Glad that you have found us heathens, Corntree.

[Triplet3]

Incidentally, I would say Mr. Phillips is at his wackiest when discussing Darwin. Here he is on the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species: "This Tuesday, November 24th, atheists, agnostics, and proponents of abortion, eugenics, feminism, and Marxism around the world will be celebrating the highest holy day of the modern evolutionary faith. And they have been waiting 150 years for the celebration! It was on this day in 1859 that Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species—and the world was never the same." (Emphasis mine. And here's the link: http://www.visionforum.com/news/blogs/doug/2009/11/5842/) From the same entry: "Christians look to Jerusalem, Muslims to Mecca, but for throngs of the evolutionary faithful, it is Galapagos which is the spiritual center of their man-centered faith."

How anyone, anywhere, can claim that this man (or any other people with that belief) is an intellectual, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. I mean...words fail me. He displays such fundamental, breath-taking ignorance and misunderstanding of science (not to mention faith!) in this one passage, I truly don't understand how anyone can take him seriously. Intellectual?! Excuse me while I laugh myself sick.

[Witsec1]

Welcome, Corntree! I'm honored to have you join us!

And don't forget the other Doug (Wilson, that is) who believes slavery was a jolly party, with balloons and free pony rides:

Wilson’s and Wilkins’ booklet, published by Wilson’s “Canon Press†in Moscow, argues that southern slavery was not only sanctioned by the Bible but, thanks to the patriarchal kindness of their wise evangelical masters, a positive, happy, and pleasant experience for the majority of southern blacks. Wilson and Wilkins are quite specific about the many benefits of slavery for African-Americans, and they conclude that southern slaves genuinely appreciated those benefits and supported the system that provided them. As such, they claim that “slavery produced in the South a genuine affection between the races that we believe we can say has never existed in any nation before the War [the Civil War] or since.†(p. 38). Their praise of the institution is almost unbounded in places. “There has never been,†they argue, “a multi-racial society that has existed with such mutual intimacy and harmony in the history of the world.†(p. 24). They repeatedly deride the consensus view of slavery that has emerged over the last fifty years of academic scholarship as “abolitionist propaganda†and “civil rights propaganda.†Most of the modern problems confronting the United States, they feel, are the logical result of the theological heresies implicit in the abolitionist movement and its unfortunate victory over the South in the Civil War.

[Kitty]

Holy fuck. More of that "benefits of slavery" bullshit? It's STILL going around? Holy shit.

There is nothing "beneficial" about slavery. I've seen pictures of the shacks that slaves were quartered in. They were makeshift cabins. They were given scraps and leftovers to eat. Their clothes were awful. And I'm sorry, what's "beneficial" about being forced to work out in the fields all day no absolutely no pay or recognition whatsoever?

And yeah, slavery produced so much affection, that's why we had the Jim Crow laws. Southerners just loved black people so much, even after the evil abolitionists set them free.

I was going to go to breakfast, but now I want to puke. On Doug Wilson.

[BoomerLynn]

Welcome, Corntree! I'm honored to have you join us!

And don't forget the other Doug (Wilson, that is) who believes slavery was a jolly party, with balloons and free pony rides:

Well....I guess that means the 2 years I spent researching a writing a paper on the numerous people who risked their lives trying to escape slavery was a total waste of my time. After all, they LIKED being slaves! What a bunch of crap. Many of these people were so desperate to escape their situations they risked their lives to do so. Death, to some, was a better alternative to the lives they led. They were going to get out, or die trying. The paper was 4000 word essay on the Underground Railroad, btw.

[formergothardite]

I would like to see Knight explain that little bit of wisdom away as Doug just being innocent and naive. I don't know how anyone who isn't a flaming racists can look at slavery and think it was a grand old time.

[Witsec1]

Well that was Doug Wilson with the slavery. But plenty of people look up Wilson as an intellectual giant.

[Witsec1]

Though I should add, I believe that both Dougs agree that the Confederacy is a good example of a Christian nation. And I believe it was a Phillips sprog that had himself photographed in front of a statue of the founder of the Ku Klux Klan, with a shit-eating grin on his face.

[formergothardite]

Well that was Doug Wilson with the slavery. But plenty of people look up Wilson as an intellectual giant.

Too many crazy people named Doug! Does Dougie associate with Doug Wilson? Because imo, anyone who hooks up with people like that are guilty by association.

And yes, the Confederacy was such a Christian nation. Jesus really loved stuff like that.

[formergothardite]

I just checked, and Doug really does use the word "celebrate" when discussing the sinking of the Titanic. The only time he uses the word memorial is when discussing the men who died. The women and children, their deaths can be celebrated.

[Sobeknofret]

Let's not forget Lady Lydia the reigning Queen of Revisionist History, and the glowing (and totally fictional) portrait that she paints of a slave woman, having been at home all day teaching her many children and placidly sewing, cooking the nourishing evening meal in her cozy and beautiful cabin with all her happy and carefree children playing around her feet, waiting for her husband to return home from his work in the fields.

I think I might throw-up just thinking about it.

ETA: Let's not forget "Princess Adelina," the fictional Christian princess of Thuringia promoted as reality.

[JesusFightClub]

I have a chest infection, I am coughing blood, and I hate both Dougs right now with the fire of a thousand suns.

On the only topic I am qualified to talk about. Marxism. It is not even vaguely like Dougie portrays it. We don't have set high days and holidays, and that is just the opening to his cesspit of ignorance about the subject. Has he ever talked to an actual living Marxist of any stripe? It's a shorthand for a political belief. Not a religion.

[O Latin]

How anyone, anywhere, can claim that this man (or any other people with that belief) is an intellectual, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. I mean...words fail me. He displays such fundamental, breath-taking ignorance and misunderstanding of science (not to mention faith!) in this one passage, I truly don't understand how anyone can take him seriously. Intellectual?! Excuse me while I laugh myself sick.

I understand how he manages to come across as intellectual to some. I've met a lot of people who wouldn't even be able to read this paragraph because they've never heard of Mecca, Darwin, or On the Origin of Species and they don't know what an agnostic is or what eugenics means. The fact that he actually knows what all of these things are (no matter how he misinterprets and misconstrues them) makes him seem "intellectual" to a lot of people.

[emmiedahl]

Logic FAIL on the Darwin thing. Darwin was a minister. He totally developed his theory while in firm possession of a Christian world-view. Here are the four main points of Darwin's theory:

1. More organisms are born than survive.

2. All organisms are not the same. They have different combinations of characteristics.

3. Organisms with characteristics that help them survive are more likely to survive long enough to reproduce and pass on these favorable characteristics.

4. Over time, these favorable characteristics become more predominant in the population.

That, my friends, is Darwin's theory of natural selection. Why can this not be taught in schools? Because Christians know that if their kids ever hear this theory without the strawman (Darwin is the antiChrist!), then the kids will believe it. We can see all of these things happening around us within our lifetimes.

[Letgo]

I understand how he manages to come across as intellectual to some.

I would have to agree. I know more than a few people who have not read a book since high school. These people are not fundies and most are not Christian. They laugh about not reading; some are even proud of it. They don't get why I love to read. I can't understand why anyone who is able would not want to read. They are sometimes amazed at what I know-and we are talking about basic things such as the three branches of government, when WWII or the Civil War occurred, who fought on which side, etc. They would not know who or what Galapagos was, the significance of Mecca, or the name of the late dictator of Libya. They don't read newspapers or watch the news on television because they have no interest. To these people Doug would be very smart and impressive. Fortunately, the people I know who would feel this way do not have a clue about VF. The point is, you don't have to actually be an intellectual to be perceived as one.

[thoughtful]

Well, I know I celebrated - how about you guys? I couldn't make the pilgrimage to Galapagos, but I aborted a few babies in Darwin's name and went to a nursing home to tell all the old people how worthless they are to society. Then - with one hand on a copy of On the Origin of Species and the other hand on The Communist Manifesto - I swore to never swear to anything and always put myself and my own pleasure first. After that, I had a big orgy with the other members of the free love commune I live in.

I watched the scene with Katherine Hepburn rattling on about the birds eating the baby turtles, from Suddenly, Last Summer.

Of course, she and her late son chalked all of that cruelty up to God, not evolution, so it might have been sacrilege on my part. :lol:

[wildflower]

Adding another quality Vision Forum historical selection, this time from Germany!

visionforum.com/browse/product/princess-adelina-an-ancient-christian-tale/

[attachment=0]theprincessadelina.jpg[/attachment]

[Corntree]

Doug Wilson's perception of slavery is disturbing. I didn't know there were fundies who felt that way, though I do know they all hate Lincoln and always refer to the Civil War as the War of Northern Aggression. I saw a discussion a while back about slavery in the Bible. The people involved agreed that an indentured servitude type of slavery is proscribed as a way of paying off debts, etc. and God never said it was wrong. I honestly respected them for owning up to that, as most Christians seem to pretend there is no slavery in the Bible, 'cause God is love and all. However, seeing as how these people believe the Bible is the ultimate authority, I find it strange that they aren't pushing for the return of indentured servitude in our fine Christian country. God wants you to have temporary slaves, guys. Will you disobey the will of the Lord? I mean, these people take a word like "quiverful" and run with it as far as they can go. WHAT ABOUT THE SLAVES??? Of course, as I said in my last post, they believe race-based slavery is obviously evil and Darwinian in nature. I guess all that stuff in the Old Testament about the Jews being special and all the other tribes sucking was a mistake.

Also, I am so, so glad I found this website. I thought I was the only wacko non-fundie who regularly reads fundie blogs. Turns out, I've been reading fundie stuff for years in anticipation of the fine day I found this site. Only God could have made that happen. I have found my people.