Y.P.R.: Unacceptable Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about Ann Coulter. In particular, I’ve been thinking a lot about her vagina.

What a damn fool thing to say! If you can't put together a reasonable argument against Ann Coulter's shrill and xenophobic nonsense without talking about her Adam's apple or her vagina, you need to keep quiet -- cause you're making us all look bad.

that doctor story stood out to me because of the Tattoo thing. I have alot of body Art, and personally I agree that if they dont like the doctor or his policies, they can go somewhere else. BUT, I think that her insurence company should immediatly remove him from their list of doctors since he has an obvious bias toward patients. No tattoos today, no blacks and muslims tommorrow. Then lets see how his policies change after he looses insurence companies references. Hope his faith will attract other judgemental wack jobs like himself.

next time somebody says "Well, I'm a Christian" I'll point to that article about the doctor and say "when you say that, this is what I hear". Son of bitch must have his license to practice stripped off him.

What sucks about being an atheist is that I can't use my religion to justify my hatred of people. That doctor is so lucky he believes in his silly superstition.

Can anyone find the dedicated physician's email address? I'd love an opportunity to shove some christian compassion into his inbox.

I'd really like what part of Christ's teachings inspired Dr. Merrill to turn away sick infants because of the mere appearance of it's parents--parents who were fully insured and able to pay. Since so much of Christ's teachings involve being humble and caring for the poor and wretched, I'd say Dr. Merrill doesn't know jack about the New Testament.

It may not be what Jesus would have done but if you pay attention, you recognize it as modern day Christian Charity. Something tells me he's misconstrued "Suffer the little children."

"I guess this means the Edwards campaign won't be asking for my blogging help."

Probably for the same reason that I continue to hide behind a stupid fake handle. Sometimes (though not usually) paranoia is justified.

I'd be happy to send them an anonymous letter of recommendation if you're looking for a job.

This doctor story is misrepresented and bastardized for the sake of this site's Christian-bashing agenda. It's far from the truth to say I support any Christian agenda, but the way this headline is presented is outrageously biased.

The story doesn't prove any of the points that you would like to prove about Christianity. The relationship between the refusal of service and the doctor's Christianity is 1) passing, and 2) whatever relation there is doesn't reflect upon Christianity as a whole.

Reading the whole story through suggests that the doctor is overly fastidious and eccentric (no chewing gum, for instance) and his bizarre rules stem from the fact that he's a little bit crazy, not from a Christian agenda.

I see what you mean when you say Christianity is paralyzing the intellectual climate in our country, but there is no need to cherry pick and misrepresent stories to try to prove your point

Hi Empire, you should stop being a Christian apologist to the point of misleading people here, which is your own accusation here. Norm did not as you say, "bastardised" or "cherry pick and misrepresent stories to try to prove your point." < <

Here's the proof.

1] Norm presented the title as it appeared in the MSNBC sister network.

"Christian pediatrician denies child service because parents are tattooed."

http://www.kget.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=f290458b-dd7d-4a20-ac99-525e48365b08

2] Norm's comment on the article was taken verbatim from the first 2 paragraphs of this article.

3] The first 2 paragpahs are amptly supported by the rest of the article.

"... She said Dr. Gary Merrill wouldn’t treat her daughter for an ear infection because Tasha, the mother, has tattoos.

The writing is on the wall—literally: “This is a private office. Appearance and behavior standards apply.”

For Dr. Gary Merrill of Christian Medical Services, that means no tattoos, body piercings, and a host of other requirements—all standards Merrill has set based upon his Christian faith.

... He said if they don’t like his beliefs, they can find another doctor."

========

Empire, I believe that the article here does not support your claims, which are clearly along the lines of a Christian apologist.

Try to justify your objectivity with the facts in the matter. Thank you.

If you have a problem with this article, kindly email the writer or do your own investigation.

Rather than just denouncing or insulting the people here for Christian bashing because they put up this news article from MSNBC.

"I guess this means the Edwards campaign won't be asking for my blogging help."

I guess this means the Edwards campaign can stop asking for my money.

just wanted to say about that photo of obama they used for the cartoon- he looks like the spitting image of a morroccan heroin addict of my aquaintance (ahem). he doesnt' look that dessicated in any other photos i've seen. is it some kind of photoshopping? maybe it was taken on a real bad day.

Are these the same values that bomb and harass and shoot people at/from clinics that perform abortions?

I can't imagine refusing to treat a sick kiddlet because I didn't like it's parents.

In deed these 'values' are part and parcel to the same values that condone bombings, harassment, and shootings at clinics.

Values that allow the holder to pick and choose which people are worthy of human consideration which are not, based on a self affirming judgement thinly disguised as a moral or spiritual value.

It would seem that the good doctor's 'values' allow him to break solemn vows such as the oath he took as a young doctor.

The child has no tattoos, religion or ideology, it has an ear infection. What sort of ugly ass religion could blind someone, a baby doctor, to the needs and pain of the child?

It boogles the mind, just how mean spirited and twisted this is.

The story doesn't prove any of the points that you would like to prove about Christianity. The relationship between the refusal of service and the doctor's Christianity is 1) passing, and 2) whatever relation there is doesn't reflect upon Christianity as a whole. -- Empire

So when Andrea Yeats -- or some other Christian -- murders their own children, they didn't do it because of their religion, but because they were nuts. And when a priest molest children, it has nothing to do with his position as a priest, or as a Christian. And whenever some Christian commits a crime, they aren't representative of anything at all -- or even, they aren't Christians at all anymore, because by committing a bad act, they automatically stop being Christians. Or something. Nice bit of logic, that...

The question is why did he behave the way he did. I think we have to take him at his word that he was applying values he derived from Christianity. It was religion not some other motivation that was responsible for his actions.

Wow Norm, thanks--I never would have seen that if you hadn't posted it. "Small Change" (the album that "The One That Got Away" first appeared on) is, to me, one of the greatest records ever made. Haven't heard it in years, but I still remember his version of "Waltzing Matilda" and the haunting title track (from which the opening sax wail in the video is from). And, of course, the unforgettable "The Piano Has Been Drinking" (I've sung that one a fair few times at the end of a long night out). Waits is one of the great lyricists of the 20th century--Bukowski at a piano, smoking an Old Gold.

second the motion on waits.i'm not as familiar with his work as it sounds like daily rev is, but over the years i've been mightily impressed with everything i've heard from him, and this inspires me to get off my butt and do some digging. the clip was really lovely- thanks, norm- but regarding the animation technology: i don't know, maybe this is common stuff now, but have you folks seen the movie "waking life"? it combines this type of animation with a lot of philosophical/metaphysical speculation that i think any 1gmoover would find entertaining, if not convincing, and it has a killer soundtrack i think any tom waits fan would appreciate.

Regarding the horrid Dr. Gary Merrill, apart from him taking his dislike of the parents out on the child, all we need are some Pictish people to go in there and get refused service. Then we have discrimination against a minority group and he's properly out of business.