Dad responds to permission slip for religious school event... hilarity ensues....

[scheming daemons]

David Thorne is my new hero.

[etherealtruth]

1. this guy is absolutley hilarious

If you get a chance check out his website ... I laugh until tears stream down my face while reading some of his exchanges

[Wait Wut]

3. I feel like I have seen light for the first time.

I found the missing link.

http://www.27bslash6.com/index.html

[etherealtruth]

5. My absolute favorite is his interaction with his co-worker Simon

http://happyplace.someecards.com/workplace/david-thorne-makes-co-workers-life-a-living-hell/

[The Blue Flower]

13. Here it is on the website: LOL!!!

http://www.27bslash6.com/p2p2.html

I wish I had his gift to get annoying people to tell me never to email them again.

[geardaddy]

19. hahahaha!

That is hilarious!

[Veilex]

23. Oh goodness...

this guy is hilarious! Bookmarked for future extensive reading

Thanks!

[freshwest]

37. Thanks for the link!

[calimary]

121. OMG!!! CLASSIC!!!!

I love this guy! Laughed out loud a LOT while reading through it! HILARIOUS!!!!!!!

[Jenoch]

16. Simon appears to be a wuss,

but Thorne is an asshole. If my co-worker had trashed my iPhone I would respond with sugar in his gas tank.

[paulkienitz]

101. it's astonishing he wasn't fired

[Submariner]

40. He changed my title on my business cards from "Graphic Designer" to "Horse Whisperer"

almost fell off my chair laughing at that one.

[etherealtruth]

42. That was the one that got me

I honestly had to wipe tears off my cheeks when I first read that one

[treestar]

57. I remember that now

Once spent a lot of time reading that site!

[etherealtruth]

59. Relive Simon and David regarding timesheets

http://www.27bslash6.com/timesheets.html

The plank of wood employee of the month almost pushed me over the edge

[treestar]

60. the monkey part

this guy is so funny!

[Electric Monk]

7. Nice Brazil reference, almost.

the actual quote is "27b *stroke* 6"

not slash.

I guess the other domain was already taken though by some rock band using that name.

[Wait Wut]

11. Oh, great.

Now I have to watch a movie just to get the reference. I'd better like it.

[Electric Monk]

12. imdb gives it an 8.0 rating, and rottentomatoes gives it a score of 98%

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1003033-brazil/

Brazil, Terry Gilliam's visionary Orwellian fantasy, is an audacious dark comedy, filled with strange, imaginative visuals.

[Wait Wut]

21. Oh! I remember that one!

I never saw it, but it was in my list of movies to watch. Unfortunately, that list of movies is in my head and the older I get the shorter the list gets.

Thanks for reminding me!

[progressoid]

4. His books are great too!

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/internet-is-a-playground-david-thorne/1100085041?ean=9781585428816

[etherealtruth]

6. i have got to read his books

this guy is so ridiculously funny

[central scrutinizer]

10. most of the content of the books is at the link above

nfm

[LiberalElite]

68. here's a little snip from something else he wrote -

Thankyou for contacting me.
I am currently away on leave, traveling through time and will be returning last week.

[etherealtruth]

93. He is so outrageously obnoxious and funny!

[Wait Wut]

2. But...

...did the kid go to the play?

[Exposethefrauds]

8. Good way to deal with those pesky fundies!

[paulkienitz]

43. I dunno, he is basically just being a dick

which doesn't do a very good job of modeling a nonreligious adherence to ethics.

[greiner3]

72. So how best would you like to be talked to?

[davidthegnome]

75. Or the person responding to it...

Does not appreciate his kind of humor. Obviously, it's satire. Obviously (to me, anyway) this man was trying to be funny - and I thought he succeeded remarkably well. You know, I laughed so hard I had to show this to my dad - and he said pretty much the same thing you did. He just grimaced through the whole reading.

How can you NOT laugh at that?

[Exposethefrauds]

90. I want to know if he got his Toyota. If an adherent gets an email from God is that the same thing

as god talking to you via a burning bush?

They did not have computers back in olden days so I guess burning bushes were a good form of communication for god a few thousand years ago. Luckily we humans finally invented computers so god does not have to set fire to shrubbery to speak to his/her/its followers.

[paulkienitz]

98. sure, it's funny

but it's still dickery.

[cbayer]

9. Editing because this had already been pointed out

[Xyzse]

14. Sounds like fun

[LoisB]

15. This was definitely laugh-out-loud hilarious.

[MohRokTah]

17. That was freaking awesome!

I have a new hero.

[bpj62]

18. LOL

this is the funniest thing I have read in a long time. Did he get the car?

[Nye Bevan]

20. Surely crucifixion is bad enough.

Having a vaguely anthropomorphic rabbit break a giant egg on your head simply adds insult to injury.

[vlakitti]

28. YAY!!!

[Aquavit]

122. eh, could be worse....

I mean, one could get stabbed.

With crucifixion, at least you're getting out into the open air...

[russspeakeasy]

22. 30 minutes out of my life !!!!!

10 to read the post and 20 minutes laughing !!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the post..

[malaise]

24. I haven't laughed that loud in ages

I cracked up until I am now aching with laughter.

Freaking hilarious!!

[dilby]

25. So why does this guy send his kid to a religious school?

I am having a hard time understanding why this guy would waste his time and money with a religious private school for his offspring.

[Arugula Latte]

30. He doesn't. It's a public school.

See the email where the dad tells the "School Chaplain" that he is required by law to go by the title "Christian Volunteer" (the religious guy clearly has resisted this title change).

On edit, this is on David Thorne's website:

While preaching is not allowed in Australian public schools, it is apparently fine to replace school counsellors with 'Christian Volunteers' such as Darryl. A few years ago, the government realised that they could hand over school counselling roles to a willing Christian church without having to pay for the privilege. Now almost half of Australian public schools have a Christian volunteer as a full time member of the school community with parents having no direct control of how much their children are exposed to. Although usually an advocate of people being entitled to their opinions, sexual preferences and beliefs, I seem to have developed some form of mental glitch that makes me want to punch Daryl's fat head.

[FSogol]

32. Its a public school, but a Christian volunteer is soliciting "field trips" to his Church. n/t

[SoCalNative]

34. He doesn't

it's a public school.

[Lee-Lee]

45. a public school has a "school chaplin? nt

[etherealtruth]

47. He's Australian

[AtheistCrusader]

84. No, it has a christian volunteer masquerading as a school chaplain, despite being told to knock it

off.

[PosterChild]

36. Definitely NOT a religious school...

... a religious school would not require a permission slip or hold the program off of the school grounds. Nor would they be required by law to rename the "school Chaplin" "Christian Volunteer". This is a Public school playing fast and loose with the law.

[Violet_Crumble]

92. There's a school chaplain program in Australia...

It's wrong, and needs to be gotten rid of...

The National Schools Chaplaincy Program (NSCP) was announced in October 2006 by the Howard government. It provided $90 million of Commonwealth funding over three years for school chaplains which was subsequently increased to $165 million. The Rudd government announced that it would honour these funding commitments and that the program would be reviewed and expanded to include secular counsellors, but only if a suitable religious chaplain could not be found by the schools. As it currently stands the Commonwealth is committed to funding religious chaplains in around 2600 schools across Australia.

This program should be opposed as direct government funding of religion bad public policy. Taxpayers' money spent in education should employ the best people available to help students, not just the religious.The preferencing of the religious, over the non-religious, for no reason other than their religiousness, is unacceptable in Government policy, particularly at a Commonwealth level. At the very least all schools should to given the choice employ non-religious counsellors or welfare workers under this program, not just those that cannot find a chaplain.

The NSCP breaches the spirit of the Australian Constitution. It undermines the separation of church and state. It is at odds with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Declaration on Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief (1981) ("the Religion Declaration&quot which are incorporated into Australian Law through the operation of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986.

http://www.stopthenscp.org/

And in the Budget of a few weeks ago brought to us by a hard-line conservative government, they've cut funding for any secular counsellors...

Budget 2014: Funding for secular counsellors cut in school chaplaincy program

A school group says the scrapping of funding for non-religious counsellors under the National School Chaplaincy Program is doing students a disservice.

Labor allowed secular student welfare workers to be funded under the scheme but the Federal Government has reversed the decision in the federal budget and will only pay for chaplains.

Kylie Catto from the West Australian Council of State School Organisations is unhappy with the move.

"State schools provide for a very diverse population of students, the current program gives them the option of having a school chaplain or a student welfare worker, we think that works well, giving schools the choice and we believe removing the choice is inappropriate," Ms Catto said.

She says it is particularly disappointing given schools are under increasing pressure to provide pastoral care.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-15/cut-to-secular-advisors-program-in-federal-budget/5455176

btw, David Thorne's really fucking funny. If anyone hasn't read more of his stuff, they should go and do it coz it's hilarious...

[LiberalEsto]

26. K&R

[Dems2002]

27. Not that funny

I think a public school trip to see a play about Easter and the resurrection is ridiculous. However, what I got from this was an atheist giving a Christian a great story to tell at Church about what an ass this guy is.

Had he chosen to organize a protest to this field trip I would have supported him. But his emails were mean and mocking and basically supported everything negative that Christians like to believe about Atheists.

[Ino]

49. A protest??

Wouldn't he look ridiculous protesting a children's play when it's off school property and all attendees have signed permission slips? You'd be all for that?! LOL.

I don't think he was mean. Mocking, yes. Sarcastic, yes. Funny, yes... unless you're a Christian. Mean, no. He used no bad language. He didn't even sound angry.

I doubt the "Christian Volunteer" will be relating this humiliating exchange to anyone.

He did not demonstrate EVERYTHING negative that Christians like to believe about atheists. There are far, far more worse things they believe than that atheists often mock them.

Thanks for being so concerned though.

[Dems2002]

52. I consider mockery to be dismissive and rude

Of course he will be relating this exchange. It didn't humiliate him at all. The parent behaved like a superior jerk. If the Christian volunteer is a decent guy, he'll probably ask others at his church to pray for this parent and particularly the man's child who has been denied any exposure to the word of God.

In terms of protest, the question would be to at least file a public information request to determine if any school funds and/or staff time were expended on behalf of this 'field trip.'

As a school sponsored activity it could be viewed as discriminatory because while non-Christian students are allowed to decline, if the school is 90% Christian, that obviously 'others' these students in a manner that has been deemed unacceptable.

[blackspade]

61. Denied the Word of God?!

Too funny...

[valerief]

63. Agreed!!!!

[Dems2002]

117. Point?

I don't see the point of this.

[Dems2002]

116. Why be rude?

I'm simply explaining how an evangelical christian would view such a situation.

[Moonwalk]

62. And our Christian Volunteer didn't act like a superior jerk? Arranging this field trip...

...in the first place to give kids "spirituality, morality, etc." is being a superior jerk. It's saying, "I know what your kids need to be better human beings--that they're not getting from their parents." That's a jerk. These kids aren't his, they don't even belong to his church, but there he is, using his position to get those kids into his church to show them a play he says isn't indoctrination. That's a jerk.

And him saying, "I'll pray for you"--that's not a superior jerk?

Take a look at it from the other side. The superior jerk started the ball rolling. He's the one saying to a kid's parent that the kid is not going to moral or good or balanced or know beauty, etc. if the parent continues to forgo teaching him what ONLY the christian church can teach him.

What a jerk.

[Dems2002]

118. He's arrogant as well

He is definitely arrogant and disingenuous as well. (Accidentally checking the box? Yeah right.) I didn't and don't mind a parent calling him out. I just didn't find the manner to be at all funny or helpful. I honestly would have preferred righteous indignation and anger.

[Ino]

67. Oh, a decent guy would pray for the parent

...and the poor child who has been denied the word of a superior being? What a sanctimonious little act that would be!

Sounds like something a superior jerk would do. There are many other instances of smug self-righteousness and outright lies that the so-called "School Chaplain" (a FALSE TITLE) wrote.

Some things deserve to be mocked & dismissed. I'm beyond caring if you think it's rude. After 12 years of catholic schools, going to mass 6 times a week, etc. etc., I've earned the right to say what I want about religion and those who push it.

And for the life-long non-religionists... well, laughing at the whole spectacle is like chuckling at a clown act. The fact that the clowns take it and themselves so seriously makes it all even more hilarious.

[Dems2002]

119. Whatever

I'm just dismissing the notion that the parent succeeded at anything. You have two people who consider themselves superior to each other for different reasons. Neither mind was at all changed and if anything both felt vindicated and reinforced in their belief systems afterwards.

[Ino]

124. The parent succeeded in having some fun at the religious recruiter's expense...

...and giving a lot of other people belly laughs. I doubt he was trying for anything more than that. I find it funny that you are taking this sooooo seriously. They were vindicated and reinforced in their belief systems? Protests and righteous indignation would end up that way as well, without being amusing to anyone.

[jtuck004]

70. Bet he goes to hell for that. n/t

[dhill926]

76. jesus effing christ….

you kidding me???

[rustydog]

126. Parody site...humor

you bit the hook big time!

[bluestateguy]

29. Why did he send his child to a religious school?

nt

[Arugula Latte]

31. He doesn't. It's a public school.

Toward the end the dad tells the guy he is supposed to go by the title "Christian Volunteer" because it's a public school. They're in Australia, BTW.

[Playinghardball]

33. ROTFLMAFPIMP

[Hekate]

38. Wonderful! British/Canadian spelling system makes me relieved it's not us again!

I think this Dad and I would get along just fine.

[cp]

41. One of the funniest things I've read in ages

[Myrina]

44. funny but after the 2nd email I'd have been pissed off

He didn't need to go to quite such extreme assholy-sarcasm to make the point that he didn't want his kid to take part.

[Captain Stern]

74. Exactly

The Dad is a witty guy. I laughed at what he wrote, but I know when enough is enough. The chaplain guy pretty much said "if you don't want your child to attend, check the box", then 'witty dad' kept dragging it out. While I was reading this, I went from "you tell them, dad!" to "get a life, loser".

[roguevalley]

79. I agree. by the second or third exchange I heard my asshole uncle's

voice slamming away. I didn't find this funny.

[abakan]

107. Thank You!

I was trying to think of who this guy reminds me of....My Asshole Uncle! I bet they both enjoy pulling wings off of butterflies.

[roguevalley]

123. mine does.

[Logical]

80. Temper issues? nt

[Heidi]

83. The "chaplain" did not need to go to the extreme of ticking the box

giving the kid permission to attend the event.

[Cosmocat]

95. I get the point about the dad being an ass in this

but, your point is what jumped out at me.

That the box was accidentally checked and he noticed only after printing them all off (and that he didn't notice and REPRINT THEM without the check in that box) is bold faced bullshit.

He interacted well pretty much in the e-mail exchange, but frankly from the point of writing that was accidental he deserved the rest of it.

[Heidi]

96. I agree with the "bold faced bullshit" assessment.

The school chaplain/Christian volunteer could have saved himself a lot of back and forth (and some ugly PR) if he'd simply had the permission forms reprinted as soon as he noticed the error. If my kid brought home a pre-checked permission slip from school, I would be none too pleased--though I doubt I would have the presence of mind to react as consistently and persistently annoyingly as David Thorne did.

[toby jo]

46. omg, scheming, where in god's green hell did you find it?

Wow, our boy slammed that one home. And the priest can't figure it out and keeps weighing in...

[SheilaT]

48. That is hilarious.

What's so offensive about the field trip to see a play about the Resurrection is that those parents who want their kids exposed to this sort of thing are already attending some sort of church. Once again, it's all about the religious a-holes wanting to force their belief system on everyone else.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

50. Just look at how things were light hearted until the Christian claimed to be morally superior.

[WillyT]

51. Link ??? - Pretty Please...

Trying to print it out, and the image don't wanna play.



Thanks!



BTW... Whatever happened to DU's Print-Friendy feature ???

[rurallib]

53. wonder if he ever got his Toyota

I mean with the prayers and all

[Blue_In_AK]

54. That is very, very funny.

[RainDog]

55. LOL - thank you for posting this n/t

[asjr]

56. Only good laugh I have had today--and it is major funny.

[Luminous Animal]

58. Missing Missy is still my favorite

http://www.27bslash6.com/missy.html

[Unknown Beatle]

86. That was hilarious!

This had me in stitches.

I knew someone who had a basset hound that had its hind legs removed after an accident and it had to walk around with one of those little buggies with wheels. If it had been my dog I would have asked for all its legs to be removed and replaced with wheels and had a remote control installed. I could charge neighbourhood kids for rides and enter it in races. If I did the same with a horse I could drive it to work. I would call it Steven.

I'm still cracking up just reading it again. ROFLMAO!

[Luminous Animal]

88. I've read it dozens of times and a still laugh out loud when I get to the end.

[central scrutinizer]

115. That one induced tears running down my face

I couldn't stop laughing long enough to take a breath

[The Wizard]

64. I'm so confused

I thought when they moved the stone from the cave opening Jesus came out, saw his shadow, and we had six more weeks of winter.

[Divernan]

65. "Darryl. The kind of friend Jesus would have."

From Thorne's website:

Darryl. The kind of friend Jesus would have.
While preaching is not allowed in Australian public schools, it is apparently fine to replace school counsellors with 'Christian Volunteers' such as Darryl.
A few years ago, the government realised that they could hand over school counselling roles to a willing Christian church without having to pay for the privilege. Now almost half of Australian public schools have a Christian volunteer as a full time member of the school community with parents having no direct control of how much their children are exposed to.
Although usually an advocate of people being entitled to their opinions, sexual preferences and beliefs, I seem to have developed some form of mental glitch that makes me want to punch Daryl's fat head.

[McCamy Taylor]

66. I need my inhaler. I'm dying laughing here.

[3catwoman3]

69. Now THAT...

...is a creative dad.

[Initech]

71. "Levitating rabbit about to drop an egg on Jesus"

[davidthegnome]

73. Damn, I needed that.

I don't think I've laughed so hard in months. Anyone else in the house is probably wondering if I've finally lost my marbles. But I laughed so hard I cried a little. That was absolutely fantastic. I wonder if the Father is a professional writer? He has a style that reminds me a little bit of Dean Koontz.

[Luminous Animal]

78. He's a graphic designer and has written two books.

http://www.27bslash6.com/illgohomethen.html

There's a lot more interactions with co-workers, neighbors, clients, etc. at the link. He's been making me laugh for years.

[davidthegnome]

82. He's hilarious.

Thanks for the link - I'm still laughing.

[abakan]

106. I laughed at the permission slip

But following the links provided was not funny or fun. I find this guy to be an asshole that feels entitled to constantly harass anyone who has the misfortune to be in his sphere. He is a bully disguised as a witty and enjoyable writer and while he may be both of those things, he gets his enjoyment at the expense of someone else. To put it bluntly, this is a mean man doing mean things in order to amuse himself, no matter the cost to others.

[MisterP]

77. I've seen root canals funnier than this, no kidding

it's a lot like saying Uwe Boll or George Lucas are the best directors because they made fun of Bush once

[Logical]

81. Ahhhhh......grumpy? nt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

85. DUzy!

[smallcat88]

87. lol

That's the first time I've been able to type lol and mean it literally! I actually laughed till I cried. Thanks for posting!

[SunSeeker]

89. Holy crap, that had me in stitches!

I laughed so hard I cried.

[stonecutter357]

91. K&R

[B Calm]

94. +1

[TxDemChem]

97. Lol I've been cracking up in my office

Hilarious! This made my day.

[maced666]

99. what a jerk!

Began reading, father was the hero you pull for like in a movie.
After awhile it was more like dude - who is the problem here, them or you?
It's a case of he could have reached terms agreeable to him but he wanted to be a comedian instead.
Guess he was not too concerned about the play to begin with.
At which point jerk is the term to describe him.
It's like his heart was in the right place, argument well spoken, he was given an out and decided no, I want to be an ass now.
Success.

[scheming daemons]

102. It's humor. Snark. Sarcasm.

Relax.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

104. It was a "school chaplain" trying to indocrinate his son into

religion, the belief in a deity. The man had every right to fuck with that chaplain.

[winter is coming]

100. Meh. Loved the first response to ribbons, but after that, Dad turned into a jerk. n/t

[LiberalLovinLug]

103. LOL

Made my morning! thanks.

[mehrrh]

105. this debate is hilarious

I am laughing out loud.
Thanks for this tale, whether or not it is true, it certainly demonstrates the need for one religion to proselytize, even as it claims it is just "fun" for children who "enjoy" participating.

[sufrommich]

108. Hey,has anyone googled the Mary Richardson Memorial Hall

at Grange Uniting Church in Austrailia? Because it doesn't seem to really exist. This is a comedy routine that's being confused with reality.

[scheming daemons]

111. It exists. Link

http://grange.unitingchurchsa.org.au/

[sufrommich]

112. Yes,I saw that the church exists.

http://grange.unitingchurchsa.org.au/?s=Mary+Richardson+Memorial+Hall&x=-719&y=-468

The hall is non existent.

[scheming daemons]

125. not true either

The hall exists. It is part of the church and they are in Port Adelaide, Australia.

[Whimsey]

127. I found one.

I googled. there is a Memorial Hall at the Pratt Institute named in honor of Mary Richardson back in the twenties in Australia. That is consistent with the email exchange.

[Arkana]

109. I was going to say "he took it too far"

but then I noticed it was David Thorne. Guy is a notoriously hilarious prankster.

[bullsnarfle]

110. This should've come with a warning...

"DO NOT DRINK COFFEE WHILE READING".

Now there is perfectly good coffee spewing out of my nose and all over my paperwork....

[blogslut]

113. I love David Thorne

While I'm sure there's a grain of real life occurrence in each of his comedic bits, I'm pretty sure the majority of them are fantastical.

[PatrynXX]

114. Mr Robinson is

an interesting wise ass but fine. pre ticking didn't help.

now hopefully we'll learn from this sill lesson in bigotry and move on. one bigot meets another bigot and well of course it's bound to get silly .

except for that one time live on air always wondered what would happen if Ann Coulter and George Carlin got stuck in an elevator who would kill the other first. Fairly sure the "Born Again" Christian would

oh Jesus here. he'd like people to know he's a Liberal.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

120. WIN!!!!!!

[Vinca]

128. I just had to let you know . . .

my husband has been recovering from a serious medical event and this made him laugh harder than I've ever seen. Thanks.