500+ MEMES, STARTING MY PATREON, AND STILL DUNKING ON CALVINISM

I’ve been making memes for around one-and-a-half years, and am up to 500+ to date. The vast majority of them focus on the flaws of Calvinistic theology & interpretation and the attitude of its followers.

Recently some have encouraged me to start a Patreon where meme-enjoyers can support my humorous visual demolishing of bad theology, suggesting meme ideas and discussion. If you want to consider that, you can find it at: https://www.patreon.com/scottmemer

AND REMINDER: All my memes remain 100% free to save, share and use! No crediting me as creator required either (none of my memes have watermarks or signatures.) See them all at:

https://scottthong.wordpress.com/2020/10/27/my-soteriological-memes/

My Sayings

Pessimists are the only people who are happy to be disappointed.

——-

‘Hitler’s London Fallacy’ (a variant of Genetic Fallacy)

“Do you think London is the capital of the UK?”

“Yes.”

“Thats what Hitler thought too. So you agree with the Nazis?!!”

This demonstrates how ridiculous it is to toss out every point made by a less than savoury, trustworthy source. Even a broken clock can be right twice a day.

Every claim has to be judged independently.

——-

“False teaching is whatever I do not believe.”

This is my motto.

At first glance it sounds very arrogant and closed minded. But think it over and you will realize that it is perfectly reasonable, commendable, and EVERYONE holds this view.

THAT’S RACIST! Book on Indiegogo

If anyone still visits my blog, I’d just like to promote my currently ongoing book project on Indiegogo!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/that-s-racist/x/8059238

Scott’s PENDATANG Demotivational Poster on Youtube

Found on Youtube, Sam Hui – 天才與白痴@Geniuses & Retards(Eng Subs):

But wait, what was that I saw at 1 minute 28 seconds?

That looks familiar…

Is it?

Why yes, yes it is:

On a related note, I also found my following Mahathir poster circulated via email together with a bunch of other comics, ‘shops and demotivational posters, but with my blog address removed from the corner.

I’ve stopped doing the Malaysian Politics Motivational Posters for a long time now, but it looks like some of them take on a memetic life of their own.

Guest Comic for Manly Guys Doing Manly Things

I have a total lack of artistic manual dexterity. Hence my comics are all ‘shops.

This was long ago guest comiced at Manly Guys Doing Manly Things:

Yeah, I like complex and convoluted calculations.

Personal Standards of Proof

From my experience debating in the posts and comments of the Internet, I’ve come to realize something: Each person has his or her own metric by which they weight evidence and arguments, and their own level of skepticism that needs to be overcome before they are convinced of a point.

I’ve always leaned towards objectivity and neutrality when it comes to debates. Not so far as to venture into relative truth territory – “Oh sure that may be true for you, but not for me” – as I believe that there is always an absolute trtuh. Whether we can conclusively determine what the absolute truth is, is another matter.

That last point brings me back to Personal Standards of Proof. To better understand what I’m getting at, let’s begin with the concept of reasonable doubt – ‘the level of certainty a juror must have to find a defendant guilty of a crime’.

For example: Zed was found at the crime scene covered in the victim’s blood, with his hand clutching the victim’s guts, and with sixteen separate witnesses to the crime – ten of them with cellphone cameras capturing the murder in real time. I as a juror would find this evidence that Zed committed a murder, beyond reasonable doubt.

Conrasting example: Wilma is accused of having bludgeoned to death the media tycoon Sir Ramsey. However, she did not know the man, had no motive to kill him, is half the former amateur wrestler Ramsey’s size, and her World of Warcraft account is shown to have been logged in and active at the time the murder was committed. Hence I as a juror would have plenty reasonable doubt that she did in fact commit the murder.

Similar to the above, but applied to areas beyond criminal persecutions, differing Personal Standards of Proof cause each person to come to different conclusions.

For example: A slew of IPCC reports might be enough ‘proof’ to convince John that global warming is a dire threat caused primarily by human emissions of CO2. Meanwhile, a slew of exposés of the shoddy science underlying those same reports might be enough ‘proof’ to convince Suzy that global warming is an overblown, dishonest scare.

Another example: A series of unlikely events occurs that seem to be in direct answer to a religious prayer. To Michael, this is proof enough that God is real and answers prayers. Whereas to Betty, this can be dismissed as pure coincidence, albeit with a cumulatively low random probability.

In short: What may be conclusive and inassailable to me, may not be as watertight and bulletproof to you. And what may constitute ‘good enough’ to you, may fall short to me.

From all of this, I’ve settled into a position where I present my points, arguments and citations to support my position. I will also rebutt and undermine those raised by my opponents. If I feel that they are not seeing a certain item clearly or that their interpretation is inaccurate, I will point it out to them.

But at the end of the day, I accept that neither of us will likely change our minds – despite all the ‘proof’ that was flung about. Hence I can let the debate trail off without thinking that my opponent is an utterly biased imbecile. Oh, he or she may very well actually be one, just that I don’t automatically assume so just because we come to different conclusions.

So back to “Oh sure that may be true for you, but not for me”. Although there is an absolute, undeniable truth, that saying is actually quite applicable real life – because a very convincing argument to John may be a shoddy argument to Suzy. Based on the same set of incomplete, imperfectly proven data available, they each will come to their own different conclusions.

Putting 1st Peter 3:15 Into Practice

15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. – 1st Peter 3:15-17

I’ve actually been mulling this for some time, and again in the past day or so. My wife tried to influence me on this issue quite a while ago as well, asking me what purpose and reason my demotivational poster mocking Elton John’s homosexuality served. Recent events have served to help me finally make the decision to take this step.

I’m referring to blogging and commenting with gentleness and respect. At the very least, I’ll stop the snarking and mockery aimed at irreligiousity for a start.

I’ve procrastinated taking this step for a long time simply because… I’ll be honest… I enjoyed being snarky, sarcastic and being a standard GIFTed Netizen (anonymity notwithstanding). And seriously, at this point I still really don’t want to end up like a goody-goody Mother Teresa/Ned Flanders Lite type. *Shudder*

I’ve often said that I’ll accept and admit it if an argument or reasoning wins me over, and this is now the fourth such major concession I can recall (preceded by: an apology to Yuki regarding insinuating at a gay pastor’s partner, re-opening to the validity of macro-evolution due to DNA evidence, and accepting that religious morality undergoes human interpretation which makes it relative in practice).

In any case, it’s a light cross to carry compared to, say, getting beheaded in Nigeria or Ivory Coast for refusing to renounce Jesus – but to me, it’s a pretty significant sacrifice.

Did comments from Ron, Sheila and others stir a sense of guilt, shame and regret in me? I’ll have to swallow my pride and admit so, mostly from Ron since he’s been around longest. At the very least, they pushed me closer to the edge of decision. I also found getting neutral and non-combative replies from Ron to be refreshing and welcome. My thanks to them for being God’s way of making me see the light.

Do I hope that through my small sacrifice and somewhat trivial change, I might influence them towards Christ? Yes, of course – at the very least, I do not want to learn at the final judgment that my attitude was what stood in the way of their accepting eternal life. With that perspective, it’s actually an incredibly small price to pay for a potentially infinite gain.

The taking up of replying to comments by Zack and Simon also helped. wits0 and hutchrun too, as well as the other(s) who occasionally stop by with ever-changing nicks. Not feeling the need to join in every discussion – in fact, actively keeping out of some debates – allowed me to step back and observe instead of leaping into the fray with guns blazing. It de-personalized the comment threads and gave me the opportunity to reflect. Thanks to you and everyone else who has contributed to this blog.

And of course, I thank my Lord Jesus Christ for helping me go through with this decision. May He give me the discipline and will to see it through. Amen.

So here’s to swallowing my pride and – finally – acting like the better Christian that I’ve known I should be.

Old habits are hard to break, so if anyone catches me falling back into them, here’s my explicit permission to call me out on it.

I’ll still be defending my beliefs in the meantime, of course – just that I’ll try not to fall into outright mockery and insult mode, beginning with non-religious atheism and hopefully growing from there. Even if commenters make it oh so easy, and so, so richly deserve it.

Whoops… See how easy it is? This will take some practice to determine just where the boundaries are.

Sigh, turn the other cheek and all…

PS. This update will be added to all posts regarding irreligious atheism.

349 Spams in One Night

I clear out all my spam almost daily, and did so yesterday.

So that means that 349 spam comments were caught by Akismet in one night instead of the usual five to ten!

What gives? And yes, I scanned through all of them – not one legitimate comment among them.

PS. As I am posting this, the spam has grown to 356 357 359 363 + 54 +20.

The previous line was from 13 May.

By 16 May, 678 more spams.

By 18 May, 519 more spams.

By 14 June, 3780 more spams (189 pages of comments in Admin)

Crazy!

My Obsessive-Compulsive List of My Obsessive-Compulsive Lists

Triggered by a comment by Wakefield.

I guess I just have a thing for near-obsessively collecting every update I find on certain topics.

Let’s see…

Currently very regularly updated posts (in fact I actively go hunting for new material):

Who is Violent – Left or Right?
Palin Derangement Syndrome: A Collection
Ann Coulter’s Most Piercing and Snarky Quotes of 2010 & 2011
Interlok: Chock Full of Insults Against Chinese Too (and Lots of Unsavoury Material)
Funny, Cool and Other Left 4 Dead 2 Stories

Less regular now that the season is past, but I’ve determined to update them when there’s new material:

Who Do These Convicted Felons Support?
Obama’s Approval Rating Hits Negative 22!!!
The Obamessiah
Presidential Double Standards: Bush and Obama Given Different Treatment on Same Issues
Great Work Obama! More and More Americans Becoming Conservatives
Why Do Liberal Men Hate Attractive Conservative Women?
What Kind of Christian is Obama?
Climategates List
Left 4 Dead Comics Collection
12 Days of Christmas Spoofs And Christmas Joke Songs
Intriguing Questions About the Bible
Bible Passages That Oppose Homosexuality – Including the Words of Jesus and God Himself
Nostalgic Christmas Cartoons With a Christian Message

I gave up a while ago on these after updating for who knows how long:

What’s So Bad About Socialism-Style Free Healthcare?
Obamedia Loves Obama… And I Mean Red Hot, Steaming Wet Lurve!!!
Israel Kicking Hamas Butt Videos & Pics (and Hamas Using Human Shields)
The Real Story Behind Israel’s Attack on the ‘Unarmed Aid Convoy’
Pro-Hamas is Pro-Peace? (The Violence of Hamas-Supporting Protestors Worldwide)
The Big List of Terms For Moonbats
Global Warming is Unfactual
American Stock Exchange ‘Celebrates’ Obama With Record CRASHES – Repeatedly!
BP Oil Leak Conspiracy Theory
Youth Engagement Summit (YES) to Base Their CHANGE on Obama’s Massive Failures

Editorial cartoon collections that also became too obsessive:

Global Warming Editorial Cartoons
Global Warming Editorial Cartoons Pt 2
Global Warming Editorial Cartoons Pt 3
Pro General Petraeus, Anti Betray Us Editorial Cartoons
Obama and the Surge
Barack Obama’s Bitter Remark Editorial Cartoons
Pro General Petraeus, Anti Betray Us Editorial Cartoons
Obama’s Unsavoury Bunch Cartoons
Reverend Jeremiah Wright – Obama’s ‘God D**n America’ Pastor Editorial Cartoons
Will the Real Hillary Clinton Please Stand Up?

Some one shots:

Plants vs Zombies Survival: Endless – Scott’s Setup (usually the top most visited post every day, total 81,000 hits at present)
Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize – Reactions Collection
President Barack Obama – Four More Years! (Plus Cartoons)
Is Palin Disliked or Popular Among Conservatives?
Palin vs Biden: Vice Presidential Debate (With Cartoons)
No Longer Great Britain
Obama vs Palin – These Cartoons Say It All
Obama’s 57 States: A Muslim Freudian Slip?
Christianity vs Islam – Who Started This Whole Mess?
Don’t Fark With the Jews! – A Brief History of How Israel Kicks Butt
How Palestinian Freedom Fighters Protect Innocent Bystanders
Flip Flop Obama in Action – Video and Transcripts
Barack Obama Facts
Dick Cheney Facts
Chuck Norris Facts
Olympic Tae Kwon Do: Cuba’s Ángel Matos Kicks Ref in Face, Banned For Life – Pics and Videos
Christianity – The Faith of Famously Intellectual, Logical, Reasonable Thinkers
Physicists Believe in God (Or At Least a Creator or Designer): A Collection of Quotes
Christian Testimonies of Incredible Forgiveness
Great Work Obama! More and More Americans Becoming Conservatives
How They Got Banned From Little Green Footballs
An Inconvenient Truth 2: Suggested Film Titles
How Obama is a Genocidal Anti-Black Racist
Obama As A Monkey Is Racism, So Shut the F*ck Up Bush Chimp and Condi House N*gga
Bali 2007 U.N. Climate Change Conference – Roundup of Idiocy
Live Earth? More Like Live Trash!
Gratuitous Space Battles Quick Tips
The Most Embarassing Ways to Die in Alien Swarm

The Most Embarassing Ways to Die in Alien Swarm

Some posts which comprise mainly of snark and embedded links:

Anything Goes – Modern Moonbats Version
Adolf Hitler and Me – Barack Obama
The Words of the Teleprompter Messiah

And a whole slew of Palin-praising cartoons that I withdrew after a copyright request from one of the cartoonists’ representative.

That’s what 1597 posts (including this one) over 4 years and 8 months will get ya.

I also keep a running tab on several topics that are not condensed into one post – mainly on local Malaysian political idiocies, i.e. UMNOpocrisy.

Admittedly, it’s easier than original posting, gets lots of trackback hits, and gets cited on blogs and message boards more than standalone posts (especially true recently of this post).

PS. As I prepare to publish this, I fear the avalanche of pingbacks from this post to all the posts listed above! Sure enough, 63 pingbacks appeared in my Comments, with 16 of these held for moderation as suspected spam!

Conservative Blogs I Frequent

Out of all the blogs and sites available out there, I’ve been regularly following these few:

Moonbattery – Daily updates on the most evil, conniving, and downright idiotic things liberals across the world have been up to. Daily Open Threads encourage reader news tips (which I contribute to as well). Occassional posts celebrating countermoonbattery pushback against the Left. Almost every post will have an image or video. Strong Christian worldview.

Gateway Pundit – The usual Conservative issues. Close ties with St Louis Tea Party means coverage of Tea Party protests you won’t find elsewhere. Often adds reminders linking back to earlier posts related to current issues, such as in order to point out a liberal breaking his word or the many times Democrats have assailed industry. About eevry post will have an image. Strong Christian worldview.

The Jawa Report – Heavy coverage on terrorism, including relatively unknown and localized cases. Strong campaigning to flag pro-terrorist videos and sites hosted in the USA for removal. Lots of highly amusing taunting and mocking of loser terrorist-wannabes. Anything remotely Star Wars related gets a post for teh lols. The usual coverage of other Conservative and Libertarian interests. Varied worldviews from multiple contributors.

Ace of Spades HQ – The usual coverage of Conservative and Libertarian interests, most posts are sparse on images and videos. Semi-regular long posts where Ace puts mocking skillz to good use. Slightly heavier economics angle than others. The Net’s latest selection of fun, cool and memetic offerings from daily and weekend Open Threads, heavy on images and videos. Varied worldviews from multiple contributors.

Michelle Malkin – Showcases her weekly published columns, with selection of posts on the usual Conservative interests (currently handled by guest blogger Doug Ross). Being a good-looking Filipino American woman, the amount of racist and sexist bile thrown at her is more than enough to fill the occassional Hate Mail post. Each post in the sidebar has a thumbnail image, but not every post itself will have an image. Strong Christian worldview, and a mother.

Ann Coulter – The completely politically-incorrect queen of snarky sarcasm! (Seriously, some of her sarcasm will fly over your head unless you have some familiarity with the issues and persons she’s talking about.) Site showcases her weekly published columns. Sidebar has short news bites, links or tweets accompanied by her snarky remarks on whatever news catches her interest, usually on Conservative matters. Background in Law means the occassional insight into legal aspects of an issue. Almost purely text site. Strong Christian worldview.