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RE: Trevor Noah is a name you don't know. For now.
March 31, 2015 at 10:48 pm
Meh on the tweets. Jon Stewart hasn't exactly had great things to say about atheists.
I watched some of his comedy routines. I think he's fine on the comedic front. Whether or not he can be sufficiently political to keep my viewership is another issue altogether.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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RE: Trevor Noah is a name you don't know. For now.
March 31, 2015 at 11:00 pm
Oh, man, those tweets are the kind of stupidity I'd expect out of the shit 'n runners we get here. I had reservations about this choice before I read that, and now I just don't know what to think. I sure hope the comedy part of his brain works a lot better than the religious one.
We'll see, though. I thought the show was dead after Kilborn left and the decision to pick some obscure dude from MTV was a dumb choice. So, who knows how this'll play out.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: Trevor Noah is a name you don't know. For now.
April 1, 2015 at 3:35 am
Maybe they were jokes that didn't work. Maybe I'm.just judging him.too harshly based on a handful of tweets because what he posted is dumb internet troll level stupid and I'm afraid that he won't make the effort to think clearly about other issues that are not immediately in line with his beliefs.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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RE: Trevor Noah is a name you don't know. For now.
April 1, 2015 at 10:00 am
Yeah I'm hesitant to judge anyone based on some tweets from 2011. Twitter hadn't really exploded yet, and who knows what a not-yet-popular comedian thought he was using Twitter for.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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RE: Trevor Noah is a name you don't know. For now.
April 1, 2015 at 10:16 am
Some of those tweets people are upset about are just ridiculously mild. We have to get over this ultra-sensitive PC culture we have. I mean, for fuck's sake. He's trying to be a comedian, and they aren't even close to pushing the boundaries of good taste. I even thought they were pretty funny.
My reservations about him stem from his weak joke delivery. Although, nearly every person they bring on new starts out that way. It must be a nerves thing or something.
I was just kind of hoping Jason Jones would take over...
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: Trevor Noah is a name you don't know. For now.
April 1, 2015 at 12:10 pm
(March 31, 2015 at 10:48 pm)SteelCurtain Wrote: Whether or not he can be sufficiently political to keep my viewership is another issue altogether.
I've heard some people on facebook expressing skepticism about him being politically savvy enough about American politics to really hold his own. On the one hand I can see their point, on the other I'm not convinced it's a big enough deal simply because he's from another country. John Oliver is British and he does a bang-up job shitting on American politics - he does at least as good, if not better, than other satirists who are home-grown.
I don't know for how long Oliver followed American politics before landing his TDS job or whether it was all OTJ training.
Trevor Noah, if not sufficiently versed in American political satire, will be thrown in the deep end and he'll either sink or swim. The question is, if he learned to swim, will he do it fast enough to keep JS's audience? 
(April 1, 2015 at 10:16 am)Faith No More Wrote: My reservations about him stem from his weak joke delivery. Although, nearly every person they bring on new starts out that way. It must be a nerves thing or something.
That's my main contention about him. I'm just not sure he's funny in the context of TDS yet. His stand up may be good, but will that translate?
And FFS, if you're going to make jokes about atheists, at least make them funny ones. Colbert has done atheist jokes that, while I could explain in 30 seconds why it was incorrect/a strawman, were still funny jokes. TN's tweets border on me wondering if he's a Poe, if he's trolling, or if he's yet another theist kicking the same dead horse all the others have kicked.
I have also seen on my fb today a guy accusing people who don't think TN is funny, or question his knowledge of American politics and satire as being racists. 
Teenaged X-Files obsession + Bermuda Triangle episode + Self-led school research project = Atheist.
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Trevor Noah is a name you don't know. For now.
April 1, 2015 at 12:31 pm
I think a major reason why they chose him is because of what he's been through in his childhood in apartheid South Africa, and how that gives him perspective on whats happening in America right now. His mom is black and his dad is white, in a time where his very existence was illegal.
Also, you don't have to be an atheist to be critical of religious extremism. Jon isn't.
Biggest issues right now in America:
1) Income Inequality - check
2) Climate Change - check (assumed)
3) Racial Unrest - check
4) LGBT Rights - check
5) 2016 election - As an immigrant, he'll have an outsider's perspective, which I think will be gold.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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RE: Trevor Noah is a name you don't know. For now.
April 1, 2015 at 12:44 pm
Quote:Maybe they were jokes that didn't work.
I thought the one about hitting the jewish kid with a german car was pretty funny. But then, I have no patience for this PC bullshit.
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RE: Trevor Noah is a name you don't know. For now.
April 1, 2015 at 12:57 pm
(This post was last modified: April 1, 2015 at 12:59 pm by Faith No More.)
(April 1, 2015 at 12:44 pm)Minimalist Wrote: I thought the one about hitting the jewish kid with a german car was pretty funny. But then, I have no patience for this PC bullshit.
It was pretty funny. People just have such thin skin that they think everyone should walk on eggshells for them.
Personally, I thought the one about it being so hot in South Africa that even white people were being denied service was the funniest.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: Trevor Noah is a name you don't know. For now.
April 1, 2015 at 2:39 pm
(April 1, 2015 at 10:16 am)Faith No More Wrote: Some of those tweets people are upset about are just ridiculously mild. We have to get over this ultra-sensitive PC culture we have. I mean, for fuck's sake. He's trying to be a comedian, and they aren't even close to pushing the boundaries of good taste. I even thought they were pretty funny.
My reservations about him stem from his weak joke delivery. Although, nearly every person they bring on new starts out that way. It must be a nerves thing or something.
I was just kind of hoping Jason Jones would take over...
I'm not upset that he attacked atheists. I find the quality lacking and was worried that he's not bright enough for tds
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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