My fellow Telician Mike Gene found a wonderful article by "Carolyn Baker, Ph.D." that just begs to receive the Henry Rollins Award for Supreme Threatiness. The fun already starts with the title: Christian Fascism: The Jesus Gestapo of St. Orwell.

I don't know which part I find the most hilarious: The mental image of a "Jesus Gestapo" or the fact that George Orwell, whose novels still stand as some of the best literary critiques of totalitarianism, is somehow seen as a bad guy. Maybe the latter has something to do with the fact that Carolyn Baker's article is published at something called "Political Affairs Magazine – Marxist Thought Online", and that although she agrees that all totalitarian regimes – whether nazist or communist – are equally bad, some totalitarian regimes are more equally bad than others.

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The British Centre for Science Education, which I mentioned in my previous post, is a self-described "pressure group", targeting UK science education. They used to go by the name "Black Shadow", but presumably thought that changing their name and dialling down the overt advocacy of Humanism would help them gain political influence. However, their old website is still up, and it displays some high-quality threatiness. It starts with their slogan – "Beware the Black Shadow of CREATIONISM: One Dark Age was enough!" – but it's nothing compared to this banner:

Or what about this touching scene, from their "Join the Fight" page?

Remember, these are people who are being taken seriously by UK politicians, who have endorsed them in a Motion in the House of Commons. Guess threatiness sells over there.

For their great efforts in warning us that a new Dark Age is coming and that "fundies" are going to put a gun to our head, the brave people at the BCSE win the Henry Rollins Award.

Update, Oktober 29: The "gun" image has now been removed from Black Shadow's homepage. The "What did you do in the Great War against the Fundies?" image is still there, though.

Sometimes, when browsing the blogosphere, you come across statements so hysterical and divorced from anything mildly resembling reality that you can do nothing but collapse over your keyboard with laughter. I've decided to honor these fine pieces of punditry with a prestigious award, named after Henry Rollins, a very angry man convinced that "the new Dark Ages are upon us!"

Over at Pharyngula, PZ Myers is railing against a church in Memphis building a Statue of Liberty with a cross in her hand, saying: "Can we please take our country back from the christianists soon?" I wonder how "taking the country back" will change anything regarding the statue, since building monuments on your private property will presumably still be legal in a country controlled by PZ and his friends? However, the Henry Rollins Award doesn't go to PZ, but to this comment in the thread:

Man, I am just…so…tired of being outraged and disappointed by the religious bigotry of subhuman America. All I can say is that I am preparing for the civil war that will invariably come when these intolerant freaks get enough power.

When they come to take my hindu neighbor to their camps, I will stand and fight even though I am not Hindu…

I am sure this guy will be a useful ally in the coming civil war, boldly opposing the enemy with outrage and disappointment. And if "subhuman America" is going to put Hindus in death camps, it will be over his dead body!