Afternoon InquisitionRandom AsidesReligionSkepticism

AI: Deja New, Tighty Whities, and Granny Panties

Well, it’s Thursday afternoon, and you all know what that means. Yep, it’s the time of week when we all exchange underwear.

So to the lucky person who drew my name, here are my boxer briefs. Don’t worry. They’re clean . . . . -ish.

And while we’re sorting out the Thursday Afternoon FUNdergarment Swap, you all can show your brilliance by toying with the following:

In regard to fundamentalist religious sects and anti-vax, is one more dangerous to humanity than the other and why? Is this a loaded topic? False dichotomy? True lobotomy? Will you answer it anyway? (My boss is watching.) We never did form a Conga line, did we? Should we do it now? After the underwear exchange? Sheesh, I think I need a checkup.

Sam Ogden

Sam Ogden is a writer, beach bum, and songwriter living in Houston, Texas, but he may be found scratching himself at many points across the globe. Follow him on Twitter @SamOgden

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23 Comments

  1. .
    Fundamentalists are inherently more dangerous since they promote blind faith over evidence. Anti-vaxxers at least attempt to follow evidence, albeit very poorly, and still see the value of evidence. A fundamentalist will believe in spite of evidence and sees this as a virtue.

  2. Historically religion wins of course because it has had more time to do the damage it has done, however the effects of the anti-vaxers misinformation have yet to culminate fully. I believe that the snowball has formed and will become a huge boulder if we continue to let the anti-vaxers preach their sermon without a fight.

    In my personal opinion both present a general problem of believing something based on bad science or no science at all, therefore the general issue to me is education and critical thinking of course.

    Which is more dangerous NOW? I’m not sure if it’s quantifiable. But both at their core are the effects of not thinking critically and basing a very important choice on misinformation.

  3. Both are serious threats, but I have to give the nod to religion. The anti-vax community is a threat to the health of all people in my less-than-humble opinion, but religion is so much the greater evil. It taints literally every aspect of the lives of its adherants in ways that anti-vaccine propaganda simply cannot match up to.

  4. Related, is it easier to convince a religionist that god doesn’t exist or an anti-vaxer that vaccines are not harmful and don’t cause autism? Both give me a headache thinking about it.

  5. Anti-vaxxers are out to kill our kids with their own ignorance.

    Fundamentalists are out to kill all of us with their own ignorance.

    Fundies win.

  6. A couple of years in the World’s Largest Military will convince you that religious fundamentalism is the biggest threat we face. That’s CHRISTIAN fundamentalism… the Muslim extremists can’t even begin to dream of the sort of power that American fundamentalist Christians are closing in on.

  7. I have to go with the (now0 majority – Religious fundamentalism is the winner. And by that, I mean most dangerous.

  8. Fundamentalists are philosophical zombies who want to suck out your brains, while the anti vax crowd only wants you to put your hands in front of your eyes so you’ll achieve the same perspective as they have.

  9. Anti-vax is most likely a passing fad, like phrenology or pyramid power. Fundies have staying power. So while the AV’s might do the most short term damage, all it takes is one good crusade or jihad to blow them away, and Fundies have caused lots of wars, inquisitions, witch hunts over the centuries, not to mention retarding the progress of science and medicine, redistributing wealth from poor people to the pockets of charlatans and demagogues, and supporting repressive power structures. Fundies also have potential if not actual control of nuclear weapons. (Argument from personal incredulity:) I can’t imagine even the worst anti-vaxer intentionally annihilating humanity.

    1. Err, edit please! By “blow them away”, I meant Fundies blowing away the AVers in the awfulness scoring contest, not literally. They are as often allies as enemies.

  10. I think you’re comparing apples to Batman. One is a specific belief about an isolates aspect of life while the other is a whole approach to life.

    More meaningful comparisons would be religion/Marxism or anti-vax/raw foodism.

  11. Religion wins.

    The anti-vacs will self correct all by itself. If they are ever really successful, one good old fashioned 19’th century style plague of killing people will have all but the “true believers” quickly going back to vaccinations.

    1. That is to say, there are some very similar (disingenuous) thought processes going on in both movements. You really have to have a certain personality type to buy into that kind of ignorant bullshit. Fundies & anti-vaxers are simply part of the morass of idiocy.

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