As I remember, everyone in the audience laughed because they knew EXACTLY what the comedian was talking about.  I find it odd that you are shocked, just shocked, to see the same sentiment in a presidential candidate.

Yeah, I don’t have much time to spend beyond making comments, but go ahead if you have nothing better to do.

Yeah, I don’t mind being called out on my careless use of English.

We would be here all day with that.

Yes it is. Of course, it doesn’t make it useless or an intrinsically bad influence on people, but it does offer room for something better.

Yeah, I don’t mind being called out on my careless use of English.

I would point out that you missed a hyphen but it is quite clear that the lack of a hyphen is the smallest problem with the above.

You have misspellings, incorrect grammar and related in your posts. Want to continue to go there Xel?

1. I wasn’t implying so much that god is abusive (though seeing some things in the world, I certainly could, but that’s a discussion for another time) as much as belief in a god is a deeply emotional link, like love of a parent, where the minute a believer feels their faith is questioned, or the benevolence of their deity attacked, it causes a knee-jerk defensive reaction. People will resist believing anything bad spoken about their mother, and likewise anything bad spoken about their god.

2. Religious faith is irrational. Non-belief is only irrational if it becomes a positive belief in the nonexistence of a god. Then I admit it must be irrational because it expresses a positive certainty that you cannot have. A lack of belief in god is like a lack of belief in fairies, that is, utterly irrelevant to the person it’s applied to in the absence of people who hold the positive belief. There is a difference between the two. We’ve discussed this before and if you really want to we can go over it again. We don’t agree. We will likely NEVER agree on this point, and many others pertaining to religion. I think we’re just going to have to be content with the occasional philosophical debate and with you not thinking me an amoral heathen and me not thinking you an irrational zealot

Boy howdy are you and Steck touchy. I simply state that I think it goes against Huck’s run for the White House to state somehting so illogical as if it is impressive. I have no problem with praise of god - it’s the fact that the beliefs behind said praising are used with such selectivity that I must object.

"In fact, I’d say that non belief is partly irrational."

I would point out that you missed a hyphen but it is quite clear that the lack of a hyphen is the smallest problem with the above.

It doesn’t even matter all that much, as long as the real meaning is what Michael said; thanking his god for all the good things. It doesn’t change the way most Christians do things, I don’t see it as the slightest bit dangerous. I don’t see it as the slightest bit true either, but no harm no foul, no use messing around with beliefs that need not affect you personally.

But you see clearly that Xel does take offense. When someone says ‘praise the Lord’ Xel gets upset. That’s anti-religious bigotry.

If their faith were attached to rationality they wouldn’t have it or it would be a very different kind of faith. This is a deeply emotional one, the kind that allows children to still bristle in defense of their mothers even if their mothers are abusive.

That’s a ludicrous statement. You imply that God is abusive. That’s one. Two is: actually it’s very rational. It’s faith mixed with reason. That you don’t understand that doesn’t make it ‘irrational.’ In fact, I’d say that non belief is partly irrational.

It won’t work, you KNOW it won’t work. Everything good is Gods merit and everything bad is humans fault. No it does not make sense, but it’s something so deeply ingrained in the psyche of almost every Christian that you are likely to get belligerent reactions every time you question it, and you’re not likely to change any minds. If their faith were attached to rationality they wouldn’t have it or it would be a very different kind of faith. This is a deeply emotional one, the kind that allows children to still bristle in defense of their mothers even if their mothers are abusive. Friendly theological discussions are fine, and openly challenging religious bigotry against all things secular is necessary, but you’ll get nowhere with this.

It doesn’t even matter all that much, as long as the real meaning is what Michael said; thanking his god for all the good things. It doesn’t change the way most Christians do things, I don’t see it as the slightest bit dangerous. I don’t see it as the slightest bit true either, but no harm no foul, no use messing around with beliefs that need not affect you personally.

It’s quite different if Huckabee is trying to insinuate that his god is purposefully trying to get him to win, thereby trying to give himself the ultimate celebrity endorsement. President by divine right is way overboard. I suppose only he can know what he really meant by it. If you trust Huckabee you’ll think he was being humble, if you don’t that he was being manipulative.