by Dongtini — Episode 118
December 1, 2014 in Podcast by dongtini
On this episode: Stephy loves Andrew WK’s philosophies but they really piss Simone off, Thanksgiving can suck it, we’re concerned about Richard Simmons, we had to bleep out a famous person’s name after our shit-talking wasn’t cleared by our lawyers, Birdsworth the cat: 1 – Turkingtons: 0, Simone’s Facebook fast, and math is hard.
Listen now or right click to download and listen later!
Dongtini – Episode 118
Simone’s Cat Conversations: Birdsworth and Marnie discuss their medication.
Closing song: Patsy Cline — “Stand By Your Man”
Who is the bleeped arsehole Simone? WHO?
It’s happening again, Dongtini is driving me mad. First it was the Perry Como Seattle song, then it was the mass repetition of the theme from “Who’s the Boss?” and now.. it’s the bleeped arsehole.
And before anyone tries it, I’ve just registered “Bleeped Arsehole” as a band name.
PS: I was happy to donate, will donate again, thanks for the shoutout.. can’t tell you how much I love your podcast!
Thank you so much!!
I haven’t read the latest Andrew WK insult to atheists but I’m still pretty pissed off about the praying grandma one and this new one sounds a lot similar. He has the posture of someone looking to make peace but he really just ends up being a dick.
I can’t speak for everyone obviously but when some “spiritual” guy smugly explains to us how we Atheists lack the humility to understand the vastness and wonder of the world that is deeply insulting. I imagine it’s very similar to the way you feel Stephanie when the occasional dickish Atheist tells you that you suck at using logic.
He was asked a simple question by someone going through a real painful time and he could have just said “Yeah maybe prayer is stupid but wouldn’t it be far more stupid to start a big family fight now that your brother needs you guys most? Is the fact that some family members are praying going to be worse for your brother than having your grandma in tears and everyone mad at each other at his bedside?” or encouraged him to be the bigger man and find a safe outlet for his frustration in order to keep the peace, something like that, then fine – that’s peacemongering! But noooo, he had to go on off with a whole condescending sermon about how Atheists are shallow and immature and of the opinion they understand everything and can control everything which was not based on anything in that short letter. It was a total tangent and it had very little to do with this guy and his family and way more to do with WK feeling superior to everyone else with his highly evolved sense of spirituality. Seriously, fuck that guy!
I think it’s an assumption that he is feeling superior with is highly evolved sense of spirituality. I think there’s room to see how both sides are operating from their story and speaking from their particular hurts. I feel really uncomfortable with the “fuck that guy” sentiment about either Andrew or the person asking the question.
I think he wasn’t consciously feeling superior much in the way men don’t understand their gender privilege. Being part of the group he was addressing, it definitely felt condescending. I’m sure it wasn’t his intention, but it really felt like he was explaining traits and viewpoints that we couldn’t possibly understand while packing it up in a way that doesn’t work for us, then walking away like “My work here is done”. It was truly maddening and insulting and really didn’t address either question and instead veered off into what felt like an excuse to explain spirituality to cold-hearted atheists who couldn’t possibly understand these concepts. It felt very patronising.
I feel that the guy who wrote in came off as very smug and condescending as well. And I can see how Andrew did after you guys explained how. I don’t think either side wins if the posture is “fuck that guy” instead of trying to understand how each side is speaking out of their story of pain and hurt. I’m so discouraged right now that I am not sure I’ll be able to keep talking about this, I am just a crying mess about this subject lately. Feels hopeless that there will ever be understanding and bridge-building. Does anyone else feel that way?
(I just talked to Eugene at length about my difficulties with the “fuck that guy” thing because I want to say the same thing so often, but I think what I mean is “fuck their lack of curiosity about another viewpoint.” But I feel that the remedy for that is more curiosity. I don’t want to bust on Eugene for saying it, I just wonder if what we really mean underneath it is “fuck your lack of empathy,” which both sides seem to feel about the other side – that there is a lack of empathy. I guess my question is, how do we foster empathy and curiosity? And I’m at my wits’ end trying to do that with SCCL for the past 6 years and so I’m in a raw place with all this. Ahh!)
Both guys who wrote in were definitely condescending too, but Andrew WK is the authority figure in this situation so it has a very different vibe and responsibility. Those guys were speaking for themselves, AWK is speaking TO all of us who may have similar feelings to the question askers who were not very kind. “Fuck that guy” might not be the solution, but I know you come from a place where feelings were shut down so I know you don’t want that to happen to others. If talking directly with someone, saying “fuck you” is pointless, but I think it’s reasonable when the person is not participating as an expression of frustration which is a perfectly valid response to how this made some of us feel.
Okay, I’m just crying.
Not you guys’ fault, I just feel so stuck, like “what’s the solution?” Ahh! I’m just raw lately because I’m probably going to have to shut down SCCL because of this stuff.
Simone! You wouldn’t happen to be visiting Kauai on your Hawaii trip would you? I have a DongTiki for you.
Stephy! Check your DongMail! Also, I am working on a Madonna and DongChild painting for you today
Thoroughly enjoyed listening to your podcasts…I’m based in the UK here.
They’ve helped me get through this month and the Christmas period!
I’m from an evangelical background. I’ve been disillusioned by it all for a while
but somehow it’s hard to extricate myself from Christendom!
Thank you, John! Sorry, your comment got lost amidst a shitload of spam! Glad we’ve helped you through Christmas! It sucks for us too! Good luck with extricating from Christendom, if that’s what you think you need! You’ve got my support.