There's no point in dealing with the stubbornly irrational.

Don't give a damn about the picture itself. Confronting untrue and irrational beliefs? Isn't that why this group exists?

@Ctp_pineapple: Thanks for fixing those links -- I didn't realize the forum app would truncate them.

I was never really outraged by the artwork at all. I think it's just a poorly sketched piece that may as well have been done on a bathroom wall. What pissed me off was his response to being corrected. He is defiantly ignorant. In spite of myself (and I'm sure dozens of others) specifically pointing out the flaws in his argument, he continues to perpetuate that. It would have been one thing if he did this piece, someone says "hey, you know that's not really accurate OR polite," and then he says "oh, my bad," or even "yes, I realize this, but I'm simply expressing a viewpoint".  Instead, in his response to me he told me to go stand in traffic. (total serious there -- I've got the email in my inbox still)

I agree that everyone is entitled to free speech, but the free speech has no "no-talkbacks" clause in it -- if you say something offensive, expect people to get pissed off.

I think that most atheists don't find it outrageous so much as just stupid.  As already mentioned it indicates a great misunderstanding of atheism and the world as a whole.  To think that without god the world is an empty room with blank walls is sort of ignoring all of reality.

Well, I have to give the Christians some credit.  Solitary confinement is pretty much one of the worst things you can do to a human being.

In the 1940s, Rene Spitz conducted a study of a foundling homes, in which poor infants whose mothers could not care for them were put into solitary confinement.  They received no human warmth, but were fed with the best nutritional food, kept at an ideal temperature, and the facilities were highly sanitary.  Thirty four of ninety babies died.

In reviewing data from other homes, he found even higher incidence of 'unexplained' infant mortality.

(Spitz, "Hospitalism," 53-54;  Spitz and Wolf, "Anaclitic Depression," 331.

Among primates, rodents, and birds, we've seen exactly the same thing.  Animals who are deprived of social contact and affection die at astonishingly high rates, and suffer moderate to severe health problems that cannot be attributed to any other variable.  In prisons and detention camps, inmates show signs of mental deterioration after as little as 36 hours of solitary.

Of course, there are problems with the concept of heaven, too.  We know that there are enormous problems with people who have to do the same thing for weeks or months at a time.  Imagine fifty billion years of the same old songs, day in and day out!  The insanity might not set in as quickly, but it would set in, nonetheless.

Yep.  Going to hell is going to get all the folks that the Tower of Babel missed.

Oh man.  I'm a big fan of well-done art, but this is not art.  It's some dude's interpretation of hell.  This is a standard motif in both art and in sermons - to characterize hell as something other than a pit of fire. 

And as far as sacrilegious art goes, I love some of it.  I thought Piss Christ was brilliant.  There's a fine line between art and self-importance though, and many people cross that line. 

LOL!

This picture is doing everything I thought it would...it's great!

By implication, and by contrast, I'm forced to imagine what he believes his "reward" is for going face down in his Cheerios one day. And that just makes me LOL. I figure he's motivated by the idea that getting extra syrup in his chocolate milk for finishing his book report before bedtime is a microcosm of life itself.

I'm not outraged at this piece of 'art', in fact, I think it suits the whole christian art world, from the bland and uninspiring novels of the 'left behind' series to the monotonous drone of the infinitely repetative 'christian pop' music where every song sounds just like every other song in the genre. It has no wit, a weak punchline and is making me yawn like there's no tomorrow.

Its obvious, little though has been put into this work and little time. what, did it take all of 2 minutes in photoshop to create this? the most surprising thing about this piece is that it has gained any attention at all.

if you are going to make a picture or what have you to take the piss/ make a joke about or show your views of a group you are opposed to, them at least put some effort into it.

*here comes the shameless plug:*

below is my depiction of theistic religion and theism in general<click for larger view>

the picture itself is poster size ( 33"x23" ) and took me roughly 4 days of moderate work on it to finish due to size and only having 3 pencils

Me too, even if it does depict theists as self-righteous bigots and atheists as black stick figures. It's really the best thing that guy has ever done. I mean, have you seen his other stuff? And his favorites? Total furry.

I'm more offended by the kids views of Global Warming than his "art"work.

But it's what plants CRAVE! Sorry. . .

No, the issue isn't whether CO2 is a greenhouse gas or not (everyone who knows anything about the science knows that it does), but whether the CO2 output of mankind is significant enough compared to other sources to be a cause of global warming (everyone who knows anything about the science knows is occuring).

It's a known fact that as temperature increases CO2 levels increase and vice versa. So a large enough temperature increase can cause the whole thing to feedback on itself and make it even warmer and warmer and more carbon dioxide-y.

At this point it's kind of pointless to argue what the first cause was because it doesn't matter. We've got to find a way to get rid of the excess CO2 before they both get completely out of control and doom us all.