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Open Forum Friday: It’s really, really open
This Week’s Topic
I am enjoying a week off of work on my Staycation, and I’m afraid I don’t have anything prepared. So when I say this is an open forum, I mean it’s open.
So, uh, what do you want to talk about?
Open Forum Friday Ground Rules
- Anything goes, as long as you do not become verbally abusive, or start trolling. Getting off topic is one thing, but doing so to provoke an irrational or emotional response is another.
- We’ll provide a topic to begin with, but if you have something else to say, please say it. We’re all ears.
- Theists and Non-theists alike are welcome.
- If you’re trying to reply to someone, use the ol’ Twitter standard, and start your comment with an “@” in front of their username. If you are addressing the general public, no need.
- This blog is not a democracy. Please observe the comments policy when posting. I (and other FFW Admins) reserve the right to disemvowel and ban those who we deem are trolling.
Disclaimer: The views expressed by an individual contributor to this blog are not necessarily shared by all members of FreeThought Fort Wayne. That is what makes this organization so interesting. Commenters on the FreeThought Fort Wayne blog are expected to abide by our comment policy. About the author: Andy Welfle is a marketing professional in a non-profit arts organization by day, and a net junkie, an Apple fanboy, and a freethinker by night. Follow him on twitter: twitter.com/awelfle. | Read more from this author
The Open Forum Friday: It’s really, really open by Andy Welfle, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
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11 comments for “Open Forum Friday: It’s really, really open”
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Leininger’s latest “opinion news feature” on the News-Sentinel page 1 yesterday?
http://bit.ly/4qcZwy
(Why do they keep putting his opinion stuff on the front page, anyway? It’s kind of an affront to real news, anway.)
The peice is nice and Christian Dominionist-flavored with the typical ant-gay bigotry and such. We have a secular government but let’s vote like a theocracy/the Declaration of Independence says all our freedoms come from God/Second president said we had to be religious (founder quote cherry-picking) & etc.
And apparently I can’t reliably type my email address from my iPod Touch. :/
Yeah. Kevin Leininger is one of the biggest reasons I don’t subscribe to the News-Sentinel. And I used to work there! I predict an upcoming letter to the editor from one of our regular commenters. (coughcoughlittlejohncoughcough)
And for every pro-religious quote he can pull out from our founding fathers, I bet I could find two pro-secular quotes…
Yikes, Kevin quoting D’Arcy is a match made in crazy. I hope there are no doubters or homosexuals in either of their families for their own sanity. I can be grateful that even in my overly religious family it isn’t anywhere near that bad.
I never found the time to point out a bizare article I saw from Kevin earlier. Mr. Leninger takes the award for the worst blend of topics ever. Ohio man does good deed by buying a house and reassembling it with a creationism seminar. See:
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091003/NEWS/910030344
Not to mention that Kevin hit about all the usual creationist fallacies with the “Creation museum guy” for the Concordia seminar. (I thought seminaries were supposed to be sophisticated. Oh yeah Missouri Synod- the split with crazy happened in 73 over whether a person could literally be swallowed by a fish and survive.
Wow that op-ed is so bad I couldn’t even read it all. Not just the subject matter either. It’s just written horribly.
Well, before bed, a comic distraction with some relevance, yet does not reference any of this real-world tomfoolery:
http://www.lutherlevy.com/?page_id=152
The new craze sweeping the nation: Christian Side Hugs. Because, you know, regular hugs are too erotic. Here’s a video of a rap performance played on The Young Turks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0daJoMRm1×4
I urge you all to kvetch your heads off to the N-S editors about how poorly Leininger writes his columns on these social order issues. His logical fallacies are appalling. If AP Style offends him, or strikes him as P.C., he ignores it. Maybe if you say you’re young people who won’t subscribe because of Leininger, that will make a difference. The editors tip toe around him like he’s Bob Woodward or someone. He does have a readership, but they’re aging. YOUR demographic is the one FWN wants to attract. And while you’re in the business, complain that the quality of journalism could improve overall.
I like eggnog. There’s never been a topic for me to bring that up.
Just wanted to put that out there
In case anyone is interested, there’s a new article by Michael Shermer at the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-shermer/theism-v-atheism-im-a-rea_b_372260.html
Alas, the N-S limits me to one letter a month. Don’t think KL’s stuff doesn’t drive me nuts, though.
I grudgingly admire the N-S’s willingness to be the batshit crazy right-wing paper, and frankly, I wish the JG would do the same thing on the left. Instead, the morning paper publishes what are know in the biz as “on-the-other-hand” editorials that advocate nothing.
But I really don’t know why KL’s column goes on page 1A. Many readers aren’t sophisticated enough to understand the difference between a column and an objective news story. They could at least put him on the editorial page.