Xmas GLOCK 19

Earlier today, TTAG published a post (With Apologies to Eric Clapton) Miculek is God. As a reader pointed out, that was a highly insensitive thing to do on Christmas morning. Believe it or not, the post was written a few days ago and kept getting pushed forward. No matter. He’s right. I was wrong. I apologize for the piece. As for my GF’s satirical post – also sent into the memory hole – let’s just say I’ve promised not to write articles about machine guns for her blog. We now return you to your regularly scheduled TTAG, while I savor a slice of humble pie after acting like a turkey.

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118 COMMENTS

  4. Everyone makes mistakes, and I understand not everyone is the same religion and such, as if having faith was easy, everyone would have it.

    Having said that , it bothers me that it’s acceptable now to have so many bash and insult and try to break down all the religious parts of this Christmas season but I know that is not what you were trying to do, it seems like an innocent mistake, I for one accept your apology and say think nothing more of it.

    Merry Christmas to all those here who believe that Christ belongs in Christmas and may The Lord bless you all and keep you and all your families safe and sound.

    • To quote an acquaintance, “Merry Christmas and to the atheists in the bunch, have a pretty good Thursday.”

  5. Yeah, I checked all of my feelings.. I couldn’t find any hurt ones here. I guess I’m just insensitive too..

  6. Memory hole? Seriously? Thats not anything to joke about. Many of us own guns specifically to fight against that kind of thinking. What is up with TTAG lately?

    • Memory hole is a term that’s been used here since, well, ever. I think you’re taking this whole thing a little too seriously.

      And I’m sad I missed the two posts before they were pulled. I’m nearly impossible to offend, so they wouldn’t have bothered me, while on the other hand, I hate not knowing things, so not getting to see them rustles my jimmies.

      • Memory hole is a term from the book 1984 to refer to the polices of a future ultra-totaltarian government that edits the news on a regular basis. That a supposedly freedom loving site like TTAG would joke about it when they edit their feed to comply to the wishes of a totalitarian religion I find pretty offensive. Its seems TTAG doesn’t understand that people who support 2A usually support all the others as well.

        • I know precisely where it came from. I think everyone at TTAG understands perfectly well that “people who support 2A usually support all the others as well.” I think you’re dramatically overthinking this whole situation, as if you’re desirous of a reason to be offended. Some people (one or more, I don’t know) took issue with the post, and RF, deciding that discretion is the better part of valor, took it down. He’s not kowtowing to a “totalitarian religion,” he’s choosing not to directly offend some of those who choose to visit his site. In doing so, he apparently directly offended you, but if he had to offend someone, I think he chose correctly. Cheers.

        • I personally try to use as much 1984 vocabulary as I can to point out our culture’s continued slide into Orwell’s crimethink dystopia.

          For example, after Rolling Stone’s recent disaster of a story on UVA, I’ve decided to start referring to the mainstream media as the Ministry of Truth.

        • …. to comply to the wishes of a totalitarian religion

          The founding fathers numbered 55….. and 51 were Christian.
          Strange how this country managed to be a force of good for the past 200+ years while being populated by so many “totalitarians”.

          The totalitarians you should be concerned about most will come from the adherents of the religion of secularism..

          http://www.jewishjournal.com/dennis_prager/article/secularism_great_for_government_destructive_to_everything_else

        • “The founding fathers numbered 55….. and 51 were Christian.”

          My dyin’ ass. They were deists at most generous, insofar as it sold the concept of “inalienable rights” and some things science had yet to explain at the time.

          http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/04/35-founding-father-quotes-conservative-christians-will-hate/

          http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html

          Jefferson, Adams, Monroe, Franklin, Washington, the list goes on. They were educated men who knew that organized religion was a danger to a free state, and that it had no business dictating what was happening in the wider realm. They allowed that all can believe as they wish, as long as it does not piss on another man’s Wheaties.

        • A quote from your second link sums it up:

          However, a little research into American history will show that this statement is a lie. Those people who spread this lie are known as Christian Revisionists. They are attempting to rewrite history, in much the same way as holocaust deniers are. The men responsible for building the foundation of the United States were men of The Enlightenment, not men of Christianity. They were Deists who did not believe the bible was true. They were Freethinkers who relied on their reason, not their faith.

          The left isn’t the only bunch who attempt to rewrite history.

    • Come on, Michael, pull your head out.

      How do you know if an article is offensive to you, until you have read it (or at least part of it)? I mean, if this was Mother Jones, or something similar, a reasonable person could default to “Offensive until proven otherwise”, but on a pro-gun blog, usually the author gets the benefit of the doubt.

    • Your spelling of disgusting reminds me of a good joke with he punch line “I’m f&^@#&g dis custard”! You made me laugh today….Thank you.

  8. while it is nice to see a website apologize i don’t know if this was necessary, why not let God decide if he is insulted by something? and in that case, you would not be apologizing to a fellow man but God himself… in any case, your sensitivity is appreciated and to the person who complained… for God’s sake, lighten up Man!

  9. “As for my GF’s satirical post – also sent into the memory hole – let’s just say I’ve promised not to write articles about machine guns for her blog.”

    Dang. Musta missed it…

    Drat.

  11. A hyper-sensitive religious person getting their panties in a twist over absolutely nothing?

    The hell you say!

    • Spot on. Hey ya’ll, remember, nobody has the right not to be offended. We’re all on the same team. Get over it.

  12. Missed both posts. I believe in Jesus but Jerry IS a gun god…the baddest old or young guy around. Relax…

  13. I took time out of my busy day to post a comment that was then lost to a memory hole in an effort to be PC and not offend anybody. Ice Holes.

    • Speaking for those of us living above the arctic circle I take offense at your use of the term “ice holes” in a pejorative fashion. My ice hole is quite nice and your should have some consideration that we may not be able to do better.

      Merry Christmas everyone.

  15. The real sin is that RF apologized. The three most boring and annoying people on earth are recently sober drunks, recently quit smokers and newly minted born again christians. They just can’t shut up about it.

    • This is like editing out a cartoon of the Aloha Snakbar! pedo founder of Islam, out of fear offending those other whack-a-doodles. This is art and reporting, both are meant to offend the delicate sensibilities of the readily-wounded…

      • No, it’s nothing like that. However your leftist professors from college are happy that you spouted off with such nonsense.

        • So, we have an item that is in not in the least bit a direct attack on anyone’s religion, merely a bit of humor being twisted into being offensive by some people who take their magical sky-daddy a little too seriously.

          Said extremists then whine and complain that it is offensive to their delicate sensibilities, and the item which statistically offends almost no one is removed. Meanwhile, the rest of us suffer loss of freedom of speech.

          Do tell how this is different then removing a Muslim cartoon. Because it’s your idea of a deity?

          BTW- I’m “Liberal” in the same sense as The Founders – who almost to a man wanted nothing to do with religion, and found it as abhorrent as government. Sure, they believed in a “creator” to explain that which science hadn’t yet and couch ‘natural rights’ in terms the average man could grasp, but this was never founded as a Christian nation. It was founded in response to that which government and organized religion do.

          You get to believe what you want, until it actually impacts my life. Believe in some deity? Peachy. But don’t expect me or mine to fall in line. Don’t want an abortion? No one forces you to have one, but you don’t get to remove the right for the rest. Don’t like the music or the TV show? Change the effen channel. Homosexuals have the same human right to lose half their belongings based on a bad decision as the rest of us. I don’t complain about people saying “Merry Christmas” (or the Merry Christmas post), and you don’t get to complain when someone makes a completely irrelevant vague joke that you twist into offending your religion.

    • Thank you again as many people have no concept of Common Courtesy or even actual manners – normally because their parents had no manners and therefore were raised with no manners..

      I was fortunate that both my parents were raised impeccably with excellent manners and a concept of courtesy etc that was transmitted clearly and intentionally to me as I grew up; therefore, I have a very good sense of manners and courtesy. But many, and I mean MANY people, have no such sense, and they therefore do not display them in public nor have the ideas about them, and often laugh or criticize those they see using their manners and courtesies.

      Thanks RF!

    • Self-censorship caving to the ridiculous religious views of a tiny minority, is not courteous to the rest of us.

      In fact, it’s a bit disrespectful to everyone else. Just like all humor, if it offends them, they can leave the room, change the channel, or not read the article. The rest of us should not be deprived because of some religious fanatics. (And anyone who is really offended by calling Miculek a “God”, is definitively off the deep end…)

      • Or you could take a massive chill pill and accept a good natured and sincere apology. It’s like Aaron Rodgers said when Green Bay started off 1 and 2: Relax.

        • Or those who would be ‘offended’ could take a massive chill pill, and let the rest of us enjoy the article. No one is forcing them to read it.

          Believe as you wish. I don’t care, as long as it doesn’t steal anything from my life. I have no right to expect articles that mention religion are censored, in return, I get the same right extended for those articles which may offend someone’s religious sensibilities.

          Fair is fair. This is no different than retracting and apologizing for cartoons depicting Mohammed.

        • Fair is fair. This is no different than retracting and apologizing for cartoons depicting Mohammed.

          This, precisely.

          When did TTAG start getting this silly? And my evaluation of Accur81 (which was fairly high) just dropped about three notches.

        • SteveInColo, I dunno, I only drop him one notch. Then give him credit for the rest of his posts, which levels him out…

          A81 has always been one of the sane LE voices around here, so despite the fact I disagree with him on this topic, were I in SoCal, I’d still gladly invite him over for BBQ and an adult libation.

          We all have our ‘thing’, that which we do which pisses people off. (Dog knows I do.) The question (to me anyway) is whether on the whole, someone is a decent human being. Regardless of his position on this, he’s never been an El Mac…

    • It’s entirely about you caving to the whiny minority. It’s been a common figure of speech for decades and it’s silly to delete an entire post because some religious nutjobs have to take every single written / spoken word literally.

    • PC = when someone shuts up to placate people I don’t agree with
      Common Courtesy= when someone shuts up to placate me

  19. Hmmm… the post didn’t bother me, but the retraction did.

    I’ll just say it here: in the absence of Bob Munden and Calamity Jane, there’s likely no real competition for J.M.

    • agreed, J.M. may not be a “god” in the literal sense of the word, but his reputation is god-like, and he has the skills to back it up. All the way.

  20. RF, I find the retraction and apology appropriate, though I would have preferred to read the posts first….. It happens to us all occasionally, that our everyday free-range iconoclasm crashes headlong into a religious holiday or bit of tragic news, therefore rendering an innocuous riff inappropriate.

    Who, however, would be offended if we said that Miculek, like Clapton, has clearly earned a place in our Hombres’ Pantheon, though sadly the nickname “slow hand” is already taken.

  22. Well, it seems that samson is the self anointed arbiter of what constitutes proper behavior and speech. It makes me happy, samson, that someone here was raised in such a proper and exemplary manner and can provide guidance for the rest of us ill-mannered, coarse cretins. Having said all of that I would probably place a small wager that you, samson, were and still are a bed wetter who still lives in his parents basement with your collection of cabbage patch dolls.

  23. English is a strange language. Men get HERnias, women get MENopause and FUNdamentalists are no fun at all.

    • We drive on parkways, and park on driveways.
      Panties is plural, yet brassier is singular.
      When we send something by boat, it’s cargo, when its in a truck, its a shipment.
      Your nose can run, and your feet can smell.
      And “phonetic” isn’t spelled how it sounds….

  24. I appreciate the retraction seeing as it is Christmas and all. I usually take the religious elements of jokes in the spirit that I assume they were intended, not malicious but coincidental. Like drunken priests and lubing guns with pig lard to scare of Muslims. It’s part of society today.

    I think the big issue was the absolution in the statement, “Jerry Miculek is God”.

    Saying “Jerry Miculek is a god” or “Jerry Miculek is a/the Gun God” wouldn’t really have rustled anyone’s feathers much. Because in a way he is, he’s a shooter that stands above all others and is to a certain degree “worshipped”.

    The first statement implies that he is in fact God, as in Allah, Yahweh and His other names in respective languages.

    Doing it on Christmas, while coincidental, just seemed as though you were making a stab at Christianity seeing that you yourself are Jewish.

    Sorry for writing a short novel, just wanted to clear up my understanding of it.

  25. So there was this blog post the other day about James Yeager and his community versus culture rant. I went off like a roman candle about the fact that Yeager comes across as an overbearing jerk, that the tone of the message matters, and that all of us who are pro 2A look bad as a result.

    TTAG, in this instance, is the anti-Yeager. A little thoughtful humility goes a long way. This is the kind of thing which stands in stark contrast to the noise and fury signifying nothing so often spouted by Watts, Sharpton, Jackson, and the rest. This is actual consideration for the feelings of others instead of the exploitation of such feelings.

    Bravo TTAG, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

  26. What the hell? Please tell me I missed something…. is this retraction and apology actually about the statement “Jerry Miculek is God”? Jesus Christ, those of you who are actually offended by this are idiots. I know it’s Christmas, but how the hell is this worth getting angry about? Ok, taken literally, it’s a simple statement that isn’t true, and RF knows it isn’t true (he doesn’t actually believe that). Why the fvck is this worth getting angry about? Is it also worth being offended if I say, “Glocks are the most beautiful handgun on the market”?

    My God… And Robert? Your apology is a tad sickening. I would fully support you if you were apologizing for something valid, like, if you had written a tirade about a particular TTaG user because you were pissed about something unrelated. But that’s not the case. Some idiots were offended by a mild hyperbole that most of us literally wouldn’t even notice. And you apologize? No. If you start censoring yourself based on what may or may not offend those two stupid to walk and breathe at the same time, you’ll quickly find you can’t say anything worth saying. Leave that shit to the liberals.

  27. As a Christian, I wasn’t bothered by the title of the post. I thought it was an amusing reference to the level of praise heaped on Clapton during his heyday. I took it at its intent, likening one super talented man to another super talented man, not as a literal interpretation that RF or anyone else actually thinks JM is God/Yahweh, or that they were intentionally trying to diminish the true God.
    Keep up the great work, TTAG. Wishing everyone a happy 2015, and Merry Christmas (to those that observe it), and to those that observed Hanukkah, I hope you had a wonderful holiday.

  29. RF, though a Christian, I was not offended by the “God” reference or its timing. But you are a kind gentleman for acknowledging and apologizing for the offense the other reader took at it.

  30. And once again, the mentally unstable religious wackos demand that there can be no discussion of guns without thumping some Bibles. It’s a shame that you caved, Rob.

  32. Aw c’mon…seriously?

    Compared to what happens daily in this country by the ‘progressive’ left…which is done as a deliberate, calculated insult and attack against Christians, that wasn’t even worth a mention…I think you’re being trolled again (probably by a lefty pretending to be a Christian). I have a hard time believing any Christian is that humorless, when so much worse is going on that deserves a response.

    You seem to be a target for concern trolls.

    • “I have a hard time believing any Christian is that humorless…”

      Really? In a world where people try to organize boycotts because a store clerk says “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”, I think you’re greatly underestimating the human capacity for taking offense.

  33. Wait a second there. Are you trying to tell me that Jerry Miculek isn’t god?

    Oh, man, you have just challenged my entire belief system. Now I’ll have to go back to worshiping Annie Oakley.

  35. Seriously? Someone reminds RF that Christmas is a RELIGIOUS holiday and that the timing of the article, while coincidental, is probably not the best and everyone dismisses that person or persons as a nut Job? Take a chill pill already. I was surprised how many anti-religion comments this retraction generated. It’s one thing to be atheist or not support a specific religion, but it’s another to actively dismiss believers as beneath humanity as many posts seem to indicate. Just as bad as the anti-gunners. I had the opportunity to read that post and thought nothing of it, but in retrospect can understand the poor timing.

    • Sorry, pal, but Christmas hasn’t been a religious holiday in about 100 years. Sure, it started out that way (like many secular traditions), but that’s not what it’s about anymore except to a handful of religious extremists. It’s like claiming that Halloween is about warding off the evil spirits – sure, that’s how it started, but it hasn’t been about that for a very, very long time.

      • Half a dozen other “pagan” religions that predate Christianity by hundreds to thousands of years feature a son of god, born to a virgin, on Dec, 25th, in a manger, often with three wise men guided by a star. They also all sacrificed their lives for the sins of the world.

        It’s a rather rote tale if you’ve studied ancient religions. The earliest of the “gospels” were written 70+ years after the Jesus fellow supposedly died. Interesting that after all the dramatic fights with Temple Elders, miracles, and drawing crowds of thousands, no contemporary historian ever wrote a word about him…

      • Sorry, pal, but the Second Amendment hasn’t been about personal freedom in about 100 years. Sure, it started out that way (like many Constitutional Amendments), but that’s not what it’s about anymore except to a handful of right-wing extremists. It’s like claiming that the First Amendment is about keeping government in check – sure, that’s how it started, but it hasn’t been about that for a very, very long time.

        Odd, isn’t it, when we simply dismiss other people’s viewpoints. Just because we personally view them as outdated or unnecessary in “modern” life doesn’t mean we are correct to do so.

        • That’s a cute work of fiction, but it’s completely fictional. Look, I’m sorry that you’re unbalanced and actually believe that an invisible man can exist and that this invisible man can also shoot lasers from his eyes and farts bolts of lightning. I really, truly am sorry that you’re messed up enough to believe that. However, going off on others for pointing out how ludicrous it is instead of seeking therapy is not the way to react.

  36. I am sure that Eric Clapton was not too offended. I am sure that Jesus is a bigger person than Mohammed and can take human fragility and error much more in stride.

  37. If you get butt hurt when people joke about the flying spaghetti monster that rules your life… you’re taking him too seriously, he’s imaginary after all.

    It’s dis-cognitive right, so you know you’re probably wrong about the existence of “god” deep down.

    • Yule Tide. Yep. It was an old English 12-day holiday, geol, before Christianity spread through England and the Saxon lands. Håkon I of Norway extended Jul from the Norse three days to 12 to blend the two holidays together, as Christians had co-opted the holiday hundreds of years earlier, farther south. He then, in following years, introduced the gospel in Norway. But the pagans were definitely there first.

  39. The day TTAG starts pulling articles to please fundamentalist Christians is the day I stop reading it. Thanks for the memories!

  40. Why do people get so butthurt of nothing?! You can have a god without guns and vice versa.

    Shut up about your shit, Christians. IDGAF about your beliefs, stop giving them to me and I’ll stop telling you you’re wrong.

  41. No harm, no foul. Except to those of us who don’t believe in fairy tales and who do believe in Free Speech, and are offended that a deity is presented for someone’s indignation. What the hell are you doing apologizing for just saying what you were thinking? When anyone reads your posts, they assume responsibility to acknowledge, accept and to grant you those rights and not to infringe on your them in any respect. Yes, we are all human but it seems these nuts will soon demand everyone to put a disclaimer on everything these days – this started with movie previews (“suitable for XX ages”), then for movie content (“contains mild cursing, brief partial nudity, legal and illegal drug and tobacco use, sexual situations …”).

    This is not any different than bowing down to MDA cronies complaining and trying to control human nature, the behavior of strangers and the Freedom we are guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and Constitutional Amendments – you know, all those things that are quickly being eroded because a few misinformed crybabies are yelling louder than we are. Please don’t allow yourself to be distracted from the real issues and consider taking such critical views as part of the business you are in and just another front in our battle to regain our Rights – deny them the battle and you will win every time. Being ignored is the ultimate price they will pay – but not if you are an apologist. Tel them to take their complaint to someone who cares. Church & State being separated is a great principle that works for just about anything I can think of and I’m sick of any law based on religious principles – like “Sunday Laws”. What are you going to do when the bible-thumpers tell you that you can no longer go shooting or hunting on The Sabbath? In Europe, stores are closed on Sundays because of a law that the Vatican promoted. They are trying to do it here too. It is long overdue that we band together and overwhelm the MDAs & other gun-grabbers with our version of the Squeaky Wheel. Our numbers are much better, but they grab the headlines because the media sucks it up – and we let it happen. We need “Equal Time” in every circumstance of firearms being in the media to make sure they get their facts right without coming across as “Nutty NRAers”.

    Facts trump wishful thinking and emotionally-driven bad decisions.

      • I humbly accept the medal! I have not read responses to my comment other than this one, so I may be in for a surprise later, but I’d prefer the medal be in the format of a semi-auto .300 Win Mag NEMO Omen.

  42. Apology? Well.. great, I guess? I just figured us of the christian faith have a more thick skin and can appreciate the thing called. Humor. We accept the saints (if you’re catholic) and we accept Jesus Christ if you’re the other guys…. But we’re all the same. Well, Not those Other-Other guys who just need to be put down. But that’s a whole ‘nother thread. Good Tidings to all and a Merry Christmas!

    • Glad I could find this:

      I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said, “Stop! Don’t do it!”

      “Why shouldn’t I?” he said. I said, “Well, there’s so much to live for!”

      He said, “Like what?” I said, “Well, are you religious or atheist?”

      He said, “Religious.” I said, “Me too! Are your Christian or Buddhist?”

      He said, “Christian.” I said, “Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?”

      He said, “Protestant.” I said, Me too! Are your Episcopalian or Baptist?

      He said, “Baptist!” I said, “Wow! Me too! Are your Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?

      He said, Baptist Church of God!” I said, “Me too! Are your Original Baptist Church of God or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?”

      He said, “Reformed Baptist Church of God!” I said, “Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?”

      He said, “Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915!” I said, “Die, heretic scum!” and pushed him off.

      • I’m sorry to say that this is the first time I’ve read that one, but man, it made me LOL. Like so much humor, it’s the sad roots in the truth make the absurdity so funny.

    • Those other guys who need to be put down?

      Who are you thinking about specifically? I am hoping fundamentalists but I bet you are thinking muslims. Maybe it is my depression clouding my senses again, I don’t know.

  43. I guess I’m missing the offensiveness to the articles being removed? RF wasn’t being forced to remove anything, it’s his website. He chose himself to remove something just to take a humble approach. Seems like a classy move from this guy’s view.

  45. After perusing the removed articles; the god one, the fundies are being too sensitive. It is referencing a historical event, not making implications. Any anger you feel is akin to the blind hatried of the antis towards even the very concept of a gun; evil and blasphemous in all cases, context irrelevant.

    In regards to Yoko Ono’s post, it is not satire, it is just painfully unfunny. I think it is literally negative funny. I hope you see that and if you did and were only doing it to make the lady happy, fine but at least be honest. (If it was because you thought it was funny/of even the tiniest smidgen of value; well I am truly sad for the future of this fantastic site. Seriously, a deep part of me is cringing at how unfunny that “satire” is.

    Please keep Yoko off this site, that’s my Christmas wish.

  46. You guys do know what you call Christmas/Xmas is actually a pagan holiday that the church couldn’t get rid off so they just said that was when Jesus was born? So the whole “liberals trying to remove religion from Christmas” is stupid. Since Christmas has nothing to do with Jesus.

    Jesus wasn’t born in December. Here is a good read about that: http://www.cgg.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.sr/CT/ARTB/k/568/When-Was-Jesus-Born.htm

    What could actually be found offensive is simply that you called Jerry “CIWS” Miculek God. Not a God but God. Most religious people would find that offensive/blasphemous. Personally I don’t care.

  47. It is your show and the apology does not offend me. Unfortunately it is probably more ridiculous than it is for someone to be offended by what you originally wrote.

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