Did you know some people are destined for "the dark side?"

[trotsky]

It's true, just ask religious terrorist Eric Rudolph's mother!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/08/22/rudolph.mother/index.html

"I think each man is destined in life to fulfill whatever he's called to do, and some people, unfortunately, are on the dark side," Pat Rudolph, 77, said in an exclusive interview from Florida that aired Monday on CNN, her first television appearance.

This particular aspect of religion sickens me more than almost anything else. A total abdication of any responsibility for one's actions - "It's in God's hands" or "it was fate" or whatever crapload they're shoveling.

[Beetwasher]

1. Yes, My Apprentice

Feel the power of the dark side.

[WhollyHeretic]

2. The way these people choose to worship a "god" who they believe

does all these horrible things will never cease to amaze me.

[YankeyMCC]

3. Well with Caller ID now

there's really no excuse. When I see "Dark Side" on that little LED I just don't pick up.


Well alright once...actually what they were selling was pretty interesting...but some jebus guy kept trying to call while I was on the line he just got real annoying.

[salvorhardin]

4. Little trick I learned

Unplug the phone. The Dark Side calls get through, and the Jebus freak ones don't. :-)

[shrike]

5. Vonnegut is not a particularly religious man

at least not that I know of. But his book, Slaughterhouse Five, (one of my favorites) deals with free will vs. fate, among many other things.

I remember the aliens -- who visit Billy Pilgrim -- and their puzzlement with the human idea of free will. No one else in the universe but Earthlings, they say, believes in free will.

It can also be a philosophical point, I suppose; how much free will do we have; are some "born" to be bad? I've even heard some scientists theorize that some are "born" to their fate via the bad luck of genes. Though I suppose all that is far afield from what Ms. Rudolph is talking about.

The woman must live with the fact every day that she produced such a monster. I suppose people do (and say) such things to get them through the night.

[Beetwasher]

6. Unfortunately For Her, She Probably Deserves Her Sleepless Nights

Definitely? I wouldn't say that, but the facts are, scumbags like Rudolph are, 9 times out of 10, the result of their upbringing and therefore it is very much ALSO the fault of the parents (IMO). Usually they are either abused and/or molested to some degree.

[shrike]

9. I try not to be too judgemental of people

whose children go wrong, but yes, you are probably right -- she is more than likely responsible for at least some of her son's moral development.

OTOH, I've seen more than a few people whose kids inexplicably spin off into the wrong orbit. It's a complicated situation: sometimes they get in with the "wrong" crowd, sometimes drugs addle their brain, sometimes they have a mental disorder that rages out of control.

Then again, I can probably save my sympathies for someone more worthy than Mrs. Rudolph. Who knows, she may even share some of her son's opinions.

[phantom power]

7. Nice to see Calvinism is alive and well...

here in these modern United States :eyes:

[WMliberal]

8. ah the party of personal responsibility...

:eyes:

[BiggJawn]

10. Yes, I was Born.... Born... Born....

Born to be Alive!

We were born to be, alive
We were born to be, alive

Born, born to be alive (born to be alive)
You see we're born, born, born, born to be alive

People ask me why I never find a place to stop and settle
Down down down
But I never wanted all the things that people need to find their
Lives lives lives

You see we're born, born, born to be alive (born too be alive)
You see we're born, born, born

It's good to be alive, to be alive, to be alive
It's good to be alive, to be alive, to be alive
It's good to be alive

Times was on my side when I runnin'in the street it was the
By by by
A suitcase and an old guitar and something new to occupy my
Mind mind mind

You see we're born, born, born to be alive (born to be alive)
You see we're born, born, born
You see we're born, born, born to be alive (born to be alive)
You see we're born, born, born
You see we're born, born, born to be alive (born to be alive)
You see we're born, born, born, Born to be alive
You see we're born, born, born to be alive (born too be alive)
You see we're born, born, born, born to be alive.

[trotsky]

11. I think you may have been born to be a nut, BiggJawn.

;-)