Keiffe and Sons Addendum

J.W. Horne a middle American. That explains a lot about his character. The Bakersfield Californian ran a story about the aftermath of Horne and Keiffe's non-religious tirade. Keiffe admits the apology was forced upon him by headquarters and he stands by Horne's message.

“I don’t regret the sentiment at all,” said Kieffe, who bought the 48-year-old dealership from his father in 1974. “It’s what we believe.”

Horne's response to all the controversy?

“... Isn’t it just too bad that so many people got their feelings hurt over one little ole sixty second radio commercial,” Horne wrote Thursday. “... The backlash from some of those self-styled unbelievers is the point I was making about why some people should be told to sit down and shut up."

A Belief in God is a Belief in Lucifer

I agree with Rick Wingrove from The Assertive Atheist, there is no money in being an atheist. I say it's all in the sheepish religions that horde money better than anyone on Earth. Well, religion and the oil companies. The only difference is oil companies gouge the wallet and religion gouges the brain, wallet and your entire life. But, that's not what I want to focus on at the moment. I want to talk about the other Christian god. Do not be mistaken, I know the Christians meld three things and call it one (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) which on paper and in practice doesn't make much sense, but we'll just play along with their game.

So who is the other Christian god? Surely there can't be any other god besides god himself!

Blasphemer! Away! Off with his head!

Let's define god or the qualities of being a god.

Definitions of god on the Web:

- the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in ...
- deity: any supernatural being worshipped as controlling some part of the world or some aspect of life or who is the personification of a force
- a man of such superior qualities that he seems like a deity to other people; "he was a god among men"
- idol: a material effigy that is worshipped; "thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image"; "money was his god"

Source: Google

The "personification of a force" phrase really describes religion. The Hindus have different gods representing forces (i.e Shiva - destroyer) much like the Ancient Greek gods. As for all Christian sects and the Muslim faith, there are only two sides - like the sides of a coin - good and evil.

I'll have Wingrove explain further:

Excerpt from: The Other Xian God
"I am talking about an entity with powers apparently as strong and far-reaching as godhisownself. An entity who has the same ability to extract souls as "god". An entity who has the ability to micromanage and meddle in the lives of 6 billion individuals on this planet - same as "god". And I'm talking about an entity who, by all accounts, has a great deal more success in luring converts than "god". That's right, I am talking about Satan - by all evidence, equal in kind and equal in power to godhisownself." - Rick Wingrove

Good = God, Yahweh, Allah
Evil = Satan, Lucifer, Devil

Ladies and Gentlemen let's get ready to rumble! In this corner weighing in at infinity and living for all eternity, the man who created man and the cosmos, I give you God! In this corner also weighing in at infinity and living for all eternity, the dark lord of the underworld [aka Hell], I give you Satan!

Sure you can debate that Satan isn't a god, because God created the fallen angel, but even god couldn't contain his perfect creation; the angel Lucifer. He has the same power of suggestion as god does and he has his agenda to damn sould as god strives to save souls. The Earth is just one huge board game between the two oposing forces. Unfortunately, they're not playing Risk, but a really screwed up game of Life. Wingrove made a good point about the denial of this other god in their faith. It's because the devil is the antagonist of the black and white, good vs evil dichotomy. No one wants to recognize the antagonist as an equal to the protagonist. Good triumps evil. There are no shades of gray in religion. There are only blinders and what is absolutely right through mythological doctrine and what is absolutely wrong through mythological doctrine.

Without god there would be no devil. Therefore, a belief in god is a belief in lucifer. You cannot take one away from the equation, because they exclusively work together in the world of religion. Make a prayer to god and thank him for lucifer your other christian god.

Dirty Little Catholics

Reuters reports that the Vatican will excommunicate women priests. I say good! Why would women want to be part of your penis waging, boy-loving men only club? Those women better wake up and smell the coffee and leave the faith all together. The Catholic doctrine is a sexist piece of work. How can anyone follow a faith when it doesn't adhere to future generations? If god is all knowing and eternal he should know about the ever changing society within these two millennial. In fact, the men who wrote the bible were all sexist! How were women portrayed in the Bible? Well, let's see they were prostitutes, beggars, lepers... oh, yeah and rape victims who were raped in the name of faith!

The report explains more on the Vatican's decision. The Vatican says, "[The Church] cannot change the rules banning women from the priesthood because Christ chose only men as his apostles. Church law states that only a baptized male can be made a priest." Now ain't that a good piece of PR. I see this as a battlefield situation. Command [in this case the bible and old Vatican law] says you need to kill the hostages to save the world, but the private [present day followers of the Catholic faith] make their own judgements. The leader, decided to take commands word for it, but the private thinks otherwise and there should be another way. The leader takes matters into his own hands and shoots himself in the foot and gets his private killed by the ricochet. Talk about depressing! The Vatican knows that these times are different from back then, but they refuse to buckle and change law. WHY? I remember back in the day learning about Catholicism where the first and second Vatican council decided not to do mass exclusively in Latin and that the priest should look at the congregation. What about another Vatican council? In fact, I think it's a good move on the Catholic faith, because it means more people will leave the faith. I'm all about leaving religion behind.

My Father

When I speak of my father, I don't mean some imaginary being who keeps tabs and surveillance on me 24/7. I am talking about my real father. My Earthly, tangible and living father. He was born and raised Roman Catholic in the Philippines.

Before I became religion-free, I constantly asked my father about our religion. The one thing I noticed was his cohesion with science and religion. He is no scientist, but there are some things he melds with science and religion. For example, I asked him about Genesis and the origin of the universe; did he believe the world was created in seven days? The simple answer would be no. The more complex answer he would give me is this:

The world was created in seven days, but God's perception of days is much different from ours. We live within a 24 hour clock. God is eternal and therefore a day may be millions if not billions of years to God.

I showed him videos of the Creationist museum in the United States. He was pissed. He told me that those Christians are nutcases and they have no idea when they are talking about. I agreed with him. It's too bad he's stuck with the same belief's as them.

Another question I would ask him was, does he believe in Adam and Eve? The simple answer is Yes. The more complex answer is this:

God created man and woman. When he damned them to live on Earth their genes were not as simple as you or I have in our blood. Instead the were blessed with complex genes that allowed humanity to flourish from just one man and one woman. [ I don't get how vindictive God can be to damn two people and have the future generations to suffer for their loss]

I tended to agree with him in his mythological logic. However looking back at it now, I find no basis to believe any of it.

My father is a person who lives an old-world mentality. He harbours when he has learned in the past and refuses to accept future views.

My father is homophobic. I've realized that my father is an extremely homophobic person. When Toronto was passing legislature to allow gay marriage he would often yell at the television about how it was wrong to be gay. His response about gays are the same as every homophobic, "As long as they don't bother me, I don't give a fuck what they do." I never understood why he would be so against something that is obviously natural. I guess it's because he's a baby boomer. In those years it was impossible for those to be freely gay in public. For those who chanced being openly gay were condemned by society. My view is a lot different from his. I honestly don't find anything wrong with gay marriage and the gay community. I never really believed in forcing upon something that isn't possible. You can't "ungay" [if that isn't a word, then I made it up] a person. From my observations as a child growing up with a gay aunt and with gay friends I firmly believe people are born gay. It is definitely not a choice. Any hormonal analysis will prove my point.

My father is militant against other religions. Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Mormons and Baptists are on his hit-list. More recently he has been very ignorant towards my brother-in-laws Gnostic family. If any people from those religious beliefs say anything that goes against his faith (i.e. virgin birth analysis, holy communion, etc) he will hold a personal grudge. I remember on several accounts my father would constantly tell me how one person blasphemed the Catholic doctrine. Often he would tell me how he would like to slap those people across the head. I often wonder what would happen if I told him I was Religion-free and don't believe in god and Jesus. I would be disowned and he would never talk to me. I often worry that I will never come to terms with him, because he would be dead and the moment of reconciliation will never come. I will never change my belief in a no god philosophy. I have followed the path of believing in a God and it's brought me nothing but headache and false hopes. He will never understand what I am going through and don't expect him to, but I will hold off telling him the truth; as he is already living his life through a lie.

Keiffe and Sons' Advert

So I'm browsing The Consumerist- let's face it, we're all consumers - and I come across an article about a California based Ford dealership (Kieffe and Sons) that is spreading religious bigoted propaganda over the airwaves on public radio. If you want to listen to the radio advert click here to visit The Consumerist article.

What got secular individuals riled up is the basis that the radio advert blatantly picks out and insults non-believers. Oh and possibly because it has absolutely nothing to do with selling Ford Automobiles!
I live in Canada. We have our own problems between the religious reich and secular individuals, but not to the point where zealots blatantly use their religion to sell products. Actually, thinking about it makes me laugh. Imagine the possible scenarios:

IKEA: "We here at IKEA believe in quality products at a cheap price. By Thor's Hammer we will crush the competition. Come in for our complimentary Loki Dogs! They're Caaa-razy!"

Bad Boy Furniture: "Come in and take a look at our selections on the floors. We have love seats, sofas, bed springs and more. Whoooo's better than Badboy? Noooobody... who doesn't believe in Yahweh!"

Futureshop: Customer: Hello, I'm here to purchase a stereo system.
Rep: Oh what did you have in mind?
Customer: Something small with big sound.
Rep: I have just the thing for you; compact and sleek!
Customer: Oh awesome. Let's give it a test drive.
Rep: Noo problem, let me pop in one of my Gregorian Chant cds and we're on our way.
Customer: Gregor.. who?
[Gregorian Chant music plays and light from above shines on the customer and rep]
Customer: [looks up into the light] I'm a Buddhist you know.
[Rep gives customer a knuckle sandwich]
Fin

Yes, I know those scenarios are a tad campy, but I'm trying to prove a point. Religion, no matter what context you put it in is just horrendously ignorant. In the case of Kiffe and Sons, the advertiser really pulled out the metaphorical big-guns. There is an update to this story, which isn't a pretty one either, but you can click here and view it on the consumerist site. They totally knew what they were doing. There is no doubt in my mind about that. Sure, Rick Keiffe apologised, but he is one of the many Christians who thought 'everyone' would approve their one sided message. It was when he got the calls that he began to question, "Humm, maybe that was a bad move. Well, hell! I'll just blame it on the advertiser and no one will be none the wiser. Yessir!"

The advertiser got wind of the situation, oh and he is pissed-off at the non-believers. There is no way of confirming whether this blog going on a tirade about non-believers, gays and the Japanese is authentic, because this is the Internet. There are numerous possibilities:
A: This could be some simple prank by a fellow religion-free non-believer. Who used the name J.W. Horne [J Whore. We can all speculate what the J stands for.].
B: It's the handy work of a Christian brethren who is defending the advertiser.
C: It's real and J.W. Horne breaks the rules of Internet anonymity, nub!

What does Mr. Horne have to say for himself? Well, nothing constructive to say the least. Let me break the unedited tirade blog post piece by piece with my own comments [everyone loves these]:

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Kieffe and Sons ford radio ad

"For those of you out there in never never land or la la land or maybe underground and under the radar who are so called non believers, I am the man who wrote and recorded the Kieffe and sons spot."

Excellent start, Horne. Way to get people educated in your knowledge of imaginary places.

"In fact I write and produce all of the Kieffe and Sons ford spots. I have had the pleasure of serving the advertising for the dealership for many years."

After that stupid stunt who knows if you'll have a job left. Wait, you live in America. WWJD?

"I am a believer and I am pretty sure that most everyone at Kieffe and Sons ford are also believers. I wrote and produced the spot that so many of you "unbelievers" find offensive."

*sigh* Did anyone ever tell you the phrase "If you assume, you make an ASS out of U and ME"? In any case, it's not the fact that you decided to speak for everyone you assumed was religious in Kieffe and sons, but it's the fact you assumed everyone listening to the advert was a Christian like you. WRONG!

"Frankly I don't give a flip whether you are an atheist or just plain doubter. I wrote and recorded the truth. There is a great silent majority of Americans that are believers."

The truth? Oh yeah you did make your bigotry blatant and of course you are just trying to represent the rest of the 'vocal'- I stress vocal- Christian majority. That word 'silent' shouldn't even be in that sentence.

"The difference between them and you is this.[;] Believers do not have to justify their existence. The only ones in this country that respond to an honest ad are the ones who seem to despise honesty."

Yeah it takes others like ourselves to justify your existence, but your loud mouths prevent us from ignoring your existence. "God crated man in his own image" as unshakable truth? Want to know how honest that ad was? fuck-everyone-up-the-ass-who-isn't-christian honest. You say that 86% of people in America say they believe in god, but how accurate is that poll? Was it as simple as saying "Do you believe in the christian god?" or as vague as saying "Do you believe in god? Yes or no?"

"The truth is this.[:] This country was founded on the belief in God. All you have to do is read the constitution and see for yourself."

Well, I did and you might not like what I found:

Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

I even did a search for the word God, His Holiness, The Almighty and Allah, but couldn't find it in the U.S. Constitution. This is one of the many arguments that christians use in America. We always seem to hand their ass on a plate with this one.

"Now does that mean that everyone here must believe? NO absolutely not. The great thing about the constitution is that it allows for each American citizen to believe as the wish and speak and do what they want so long as it is within the law. I support that. I support everyones right to think and do and live as they wish. I do not condem any American that disagrees with me. You all can stand up and shout, burn flags, gather on a corner and cuss the government, males can marry males, females can marry females you can all buy one of those imports and send the money to Japan if you want, but you do not have the right to force your philosophy on to others."

Do I really need to say anything about this paragraph? Mr. Horne just shot himself in the foot and is trying his hardest to convince you it's not bleeding.
Me: Are you sure you're alright? It's gushing all over the place.
Horne: Sure, sure! I'm fine and dandy! In any case, it's supposed to do that.

"I think that it is time for you to understand this very simple little fact. You are in the minority and as loud as you yell and protest, you will always be in the minority."

Oh you are so wrong. We are the elephant in the room. We are here to rock the boat. We are the 'other' in the consensus stats. We are that little annoying tab holders on bread bags; perceived as useless, but realise it serves a purpose. We will rise like the new day sun!

"If you don't like the radio spot then don't listen to it"

Kinda hard to do that when it's a 30 second spot, it comes up randomly and the person listening to it is driving to work with a cigarette in one hand, and a mobile at the ear. I don't condone - I'm just saying. Oh I see your plan! Hit the subconscious and no one will be the wiser.

"but if you were careful enough to listen to the entire spot you would have heard me say that to the good people at Kieffe and Sons ford "everyone one is welcome at the dealership whether you are a believer or not, you are still welcome."

So when you insult us and say,"we at Kieffe & Sons Ford wonder why we don't just tell the other 14% to sit down and shut up. I guess maybe I just offended 14% of the people who are listening to this message." you still expect us to welcome your hospitality? What if I said, "Screw God and Jesus and the Holy Trinity! They are nothing, but attention whore mongers... Would you like to stay over for a drink?"

"You would also have heard me say that you may get God taken out of the class room and the pledge and even off our money, but you will not get God out of this dealership."

Well, that's good to hear. Manual labour will do that man some good. What's he making on minimum wage by the way?

"We do business according to the rules of the good book..If you are offended by that, then you are offended by the truth."
Rules:
Preheat oven to 335F
Butter baking sheet with brush
place condemned souls on sheet
cook for eternity

Serves: 1 devil

Heck yeah I'm offended! No left-overs to bring home!



"So each of you who find some offense to the radio ad and you want to be up in arms over it, you have the right to think what you wish but you do not have the right to take my copyrighted material and destort it for your personal gain. If you are offended, well like I said in the commercial.. thats tough."

No, no, no Horne it is we who say tough to you and your simple mind. It is a shame you had to speak your contradictory and broken 'truths'. Going 'up in arms' about something is a religious thing. Us Religion-Free people won't participate in your my god is better than your god bout, because we have nothing to bring to the table... Well, that doesn't make sense! How does bringing an invisible person to the table constitute to something?

Want to know the truth? Whom ever brings shit to the table and expects everyone to enjoy the bouquet is indeed ignorant.

Catholics Go Home

My mother and father are non-practising Catholic or in other words, they pray to God when they want good fortune. The house we live in was owned by a Catholic family, but that's another story I will get into in later entries. Right now I just need to tell you what I found in the mail: A copy of The Catholic Register! I sure as heck know that it's not my mother's or father's, so I'm going to assume the subscriptions belongs to the previous owners of the house. Woot! Free subscription! Well, with my new found non-religious mind-set, I didn't initially want to throw it out. I stood there holding the copy in my hands and I thought I'd give it a go, read some articles and see what I could pull out as total Bullshit. I found one and it won't be too pretty once I tear into it.

Article 1:
Headline: Aliens our "Extraterrestrial brothers"?
Subheading: Vatican astronomer ponders alien life and faith

I read this article with mental laughter and physical strain as my brows pursed upwards in a WTF? fashion. Apparently my former Catholic leaders have finally found reason to believe that there may be life on other planets. [Well, fuck me with a broom-stick Jesus, because this is absolute news to me. I am absolutely flabbergasted! Pray, tell more.] A Jesuit Father, Jose Funes, the director of the Vatican Observatory says, "Christians should consider alien life as an 'extraterrestrial brother' an part of God's creation." He goes on to say that aliens on other planets are just as possible, because, our planet contains various animals. "These potential life forms" the article goes on to say, "could include those that have no need of oxygen or hydrogen." [*gasp* I, for one call bullshit! You're telling me god tried several gaseous elements on Adam and Oxygen just stuck? whodathunkit?]

Now here's the kicker! "This is not" Funes says, "in contrast with the faith, because we cannot place limits on the creative freedom of God." Full-stop! Holy Shit! What the EFF! Yes it is! He goes on to back-up his claim with a quote from St. Francis, "If we consider earthly creatures as 'brothers' and 'sisters', why can't we also speak of an 'extraterrestrial brother'?" Yeah, sure you do that, but I'd like to point out that you fucked yourself with two contradictory statements to your doctrine. First and foremost the Bible states that man was created in god's own in image. So these aliens would have to be human to make your statements right. If the aliens turned out to look like gods inbred aunt... I'd be very cautious if I were you. And that quote from St. Francis is questionable. Googling that very quote, brought a tonne of articles ridiculing your so-called E.T. religious epiphany and none leading to a devout St. Francis of Assisi page or a book.

One thing that caught my attention was this quote, "As an astronomer, I can say that from the observation of starts and galaxies there emerges a clear evolutionary process." The article continues, "He said that in his opinion the big-bang theory remains the best explanations of the origin of the universe from a scientific point of view. Above all it's a reasonable explanation"... Wow, just wow, who would have thought a man of cloth would say things an be content with where he stands. I guess the Vatican pays more than any observatory.

At the end of the article I had to agree with one point he made, "The Bible is not fundamentally a work of science." Say it brother... I mean father! "It is a letter of love that God has written to His people, in a language that was used 2,000-3,000 years ago. Obviously, at that time a concept like the big band was totally extraneous." Yeah... You got me up to and until you said 'Bible' and 'not work of science'. If the Bible is a love letter to humanity with no mention about these extraterrestrials... Then that means... God is a two timing whore!

The Point of No Return

In my whole 23 (soon to be 24) years being alive and living within this social world, I have never experienced anything of such caliber than this very instant. I have literally reached the point of no return. I ask the question: If I had the option to go back would I want to? The answer is N-O!

This decision didn't come to me abruptly. Instead it has been a long grueling process that I am glad that I'm over with and content with my unbreakable decision. I can live with this new and content frame of mind. I have broken free from these shackles that have chained me to a mythological wall of lies. I will never look back on it, never associate myself with it and most definitely not expose future kin to it as well. The mind is much clear and enjoying life is only the beginning.

Religion is no more in my life. I have banished belief in a corrupt system. I am a free-thinker. I am independent. The truth is all I seek.