Why does he hate the discoball :(

Awesome.

I mean, oh.  Um.  What a terrible pity and shame. 

I bow before Teh Great Cat. 

I really do, I promise.

I’m not real familiar with Mr. Timberlake’s work, except for ‘Dick in a Box.’  That one is pretty good.

Eh, forgot the link:  Dick in a Box

I think a dick counts as an outtard, so at least that’s safe.

This is clearly some sort of inside joke.  Not being a fan of Timberlake, disco, cats, or consecrated snacks…

Every disco ball is sacred!

Was that disco ball consecrated with the holy flow of BeeGees, Communards, The Madonna, or the sacraments of house and techno?  Was there measurable XY precipitation?  Was anyone below it compelled to scream “Lobster!” and gyrate wildly from a prostrate position below it during The Litany of the Schneider?

If not, it’s just a shiny orb.

PZ Myers has the right to make fun of anyone he wants and, let’s face it, the “cracker theft” is low hanging fruit. It’s right and proper that less crazy people come to his defense… but I’m under no illusions here; crazy fundamentalists are *crazy*, and crazy people do crazy things.

Before I throw sticks at the gorillas in a cage I’m gonna make sure the cage is locked. The last I looked the fundamentalists are loose and among us - Myers shouldn’t be surprised. It’s not as dangerous as insulting the Prophet in Mecca, but it’s in the same family.

Of course, one should be able to “insult” anyone and anything without fear. Too bad that isn’t the way it is.

If Timberlake was wearing a white suit, this would be an abomination that would lead to an immediate and deafening howl of outrage similar to that which issued forth when the nonbelievers shut down Studio 54.  When that Temple is restored, the Resurrection of Disco will be complete and the End Times will be near.  I have heard it proclaimed in song that Ivan and G.I. Joe will make a special guest appearance at the festivities.

sfgary: That was really the whole point of this affair. Had PZ been mild in his criticism, he wouldn’t have gotten the dangerously asymmetrical response. Had the Catholic league responded to his rudeness (Remember, he didn’t steal a cracker, it was provided to him by a reader) with politeness, I’d say PZ was being a jerk. Had the responses been rude in return, then I would have shrugged and though “Well, what do you expect”.

The attempt to get him fired and the death threats seriously crossed a line, and illustrates the dangerous nature of the Catholic League, and the Catholic Church’s official silence regarding their activities on their behalf. The demands that he desecrate a Koran (Which he did, along with a copy of “The God Delusion”) gives a good example of the triumphalism and bigotry of a number of this group.

By comparison, the complete lack of response from the Muslim community is… refreshing on many levels.

I’m not one for being rude for the sake of being rude, but in this instance, it was illuminating. Actually makes me appreciate the Chocolate Jesus artist all the more.

desecrate a Koran…  By comparison, the complete lack of response from the Muslim community is… refreshing on many levels.

Well, there’s a potential hitch—was it a Quran in English?  Because that doesn’t technically count.

Muslims do.  A Quran in English is no more sacred than the phone book.  That’s kind of the nice thing about Muslims—they make a certain degree of sense.  Even the nuttiest ones have a sense of internal logic that makes any fundamentalist Christian look like a raving schizo (well, like even more of a raving schizo).

American Muslims, a bona fide oppressed minority, have no need to play this game, and so they didn’t.

Which probably gets to the heart of why Muslims, worldwide, are able to stay pretty internally consistent with their fundamentalism and what’ll bring them over the edge.  They have way too much at stake and too many other fish to fry to get bent out of shape about something so unworthy of their time.

That and I really want to believe that Muslims on the whole just plain know more about their own religious beliefs than Christians tend to.  I’m not sure it’s true, but I sure want it to be…

That and I really want to believe that Muslims on the whole just plain know more about their own religious beliefs than Christians tend to.  I’m not sure it’s true, but I sure want it to be…

When you’re committed to praying 5 times a day, alone, rather than once a week in a community, I’d imagine you’re more likely to care about why you’re doing it.

Alright, this was brilliant.

And Amanda, please make your next book the Holy Scripture of Discoballtarianism.  Ideally, if it has pocket parts like law books, you could make a killing off of the residuals.  Religion was the first and best product endorser; George Lucas did nothing with Star Wars’ licensing that the medieval Popes had not done more effectively.  I mean, the kickbacks from the little mirror manufacturers alone!  Think marble.  Think Zurich.

Then get your friends to donate to the Discoball League for Civil Rights, wherein you could raise unholy hell whenever someone speaks ill of Donna Summer or throws a set of rollerskates into the trash.  Then come the franchises - Ecumenical Matriarch-Diva, Archroller, etc.

I mean, does a woman need cash, come back?

Opoponox: Have you been in a coma for the last fifteen years or so?  While American Muslims have responded to repeated provocations with admirable restraint, some sectors of the Muslim world have not.  American Catholics have a long way to go to compete in the overreaction department.

Mummy, why is the bad man wearing clown shoes?

Akheloios, those aren’t clown shoes.  Justin Timberlake is a Leningrad Cowboy.

I’d also add that it’s a real shame that the Great Cat will be feasting on his innards for the rest of eternity.

I don’t know about “The Great Cat” but I could easily imagine The Great Kat eating someone’s innards.

That and I really want to believe that Muslims on the whole just plain know more about their own religious beliefs than Christians tend to.

There’s no reason to think that. Many of them know little more than “don’t eat pork or drink beer, and say these words this way this many times a day.” A lot of them even think they aren’t allowed to marry Christians or Jews.