UPDATE: Apparently Comfort’s account is still hacked, and an atheist is posting the tw**ts there. He’s doing a good job of imitating Comfort, but making his statements just a bit too bizarre to be real–even for Ray. The commenters below make a good case that Comfort hasn’t regained control of his site yet.
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Ray Comfort screwed up (not for the first time) and let his Twi**er account lapse for just a few minutes. That was long enough for an atheist to seize his name. As TheBlaze reports:
Comfort told TheBlaze on Friday that his official Twitter account, which has more than 31,000 followers, ”was seized upon by an atheist.”
The non-believer was able to secure Comfort’s Twitter handle (@RayComfort) after one of his staff members accidentally changed his username. Just moments after the error occurred, someone else registered the @RayComfort, making it impossible for Comfort’s team to get it back.
As a result, the Christian leader has been forced to change his Twitter handle to @RayComfortLW. But that’s not the most intriguing part of the story. The individual who ended up with Comfort’s Twitter handle is now using it to push back against the evangelist’s beliefs and contentions — and the person has even given Comfort some demands.
“The atheist who took my Twitter name, then gave me an ultimatum. He said that he would return it if I made a public statement,” Comfort told TheBlaze. “He tweeted that I must say that I would ‘no longer denigrate, blame and demonize skeptics and nonbelievers, including agnostics and atheists.’”
Here’s one of the atheist’s tw**ts as Ray:
Ray wasn’t having it, and complained to Twitter. In the meantime the atheist hijacker published several other good posts under Ray’s name, which you can see on TheBlaze site (the story is more involved and funny than I can recount here).
Right now it appears as if Ray got his account back, for his recent tw**ts are coming from the asylum again. He also can’t spell:
h/t: Michael
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why do you write twitter like it’s a curse word
Our congenial host has a number of…”personal preferences” about various communications technologies, including that microbl*gging platform.
I don’t care much for Twitter either. I generally call the messages (and the people who send them) “twits” instead of “tweets” and “tweeters”.
Why quote “The Blaze”? Isn’t that Glenn Beck’s operation?
While I think that Ray Comfort is a lying douchebag who would say anything to make people believe his crap, I don’t like the idea of stealing somebody’s account. While this may have been done legally, it’s still immoral.
Yeah, I feel the same way. Let’s take the high road, atheists and secularists.
Heck, forget the high road – just think strategically. Using his account to send anti-fundie or pro-nonbeliever messages is not going to sway any of Comfort’s followers. Its going to make them hate you more and listen to you less. If the goal is outreach and communication, this sort of activity takes us two steps back.
Agreed.
I’m good with all kinds of ridicule and mockery, but hijacking an account or creating an impostor account is not good.
I’m with this sentiment.
This is cheap (and unethical) and will backfire.
Not behind this at all ..
And let’s face it .. Ray doesn’t NEED any help to make his views look ridiculous!
He’s the master at that himself .. let him speak!
Fifthed.
Sixthed… which is surprisingly tricky to pronounce.
Seventhed.
As if “stealing” someone’s twitter’s handle wasn’t enough, this little prick had the gall to demand that Ray Comfort stop bad-mouthing skeptics and nonbelievers if he wants it back.
Well, speak for yourself! I am a non-believer and Ray is free to badmouth me as much as he wants, so long as he doesn’t stray into libel. If Ray spouts his usual nonsense or falsehood, by all means, refute or ignore him – or better, mock him.
This sort of underhanded tactic to censor an opponent’s opinions pisses me off to no end.
Imagine if a theist dares pull the same antic on Prof. Ceiling Cat or Prof. Dawkins, we would be crying foul.
P.S. Prof. Coyne, I hope I had toned down my epithet enough to stay within your commenting policy
I agree. This is really weak and it’s extremely hypocritical of anyone cheering or enjoying it because I’m sure if the roles were reversed and a believer had done the same to say Richard Dawkins, we would have had post after post of outrage at their moral inferiority and hold it up as a proof of their opposition to free-speech and so on.
Agreed. Stealing someone’s online identity to pise as them is a pretty slimy thing to do.
‘Pose’, not ‘pise’.
LOL that tweet about moving to America to be closer to god – WTF?! Is he one of those Jesus constitution guys?
Also, isn’t god everywhere, including your heart? That would make moving somewhere to be closer to him kind of silly.
Yeah, didn’t god abandon us for letting gays into the army, or letting them marry, or not stoning women for having kids out of wedlock, or, or, something?
Didn’t you know that god is a real ‘merican who gave us the constitution via divine osmosis?
I think he means that Americans include the richest bunch of suckers on the planet, and flattery really pays if you have the stomach for it.
Now Ray confuses me. If god is omnipresent, how does one get closer to him by changing location or does he mean he is presence is felt more in some places than others?
When your god is the almighty dollar…wait they have dollars in Australia. Reminds me of the old joke, if god is omnipresent then he’s in bed with my wife. I’m not worried though he’s omnipotent.
I’m very sorry he’s from New Zealand, they also have dollars. Once again apologies for the mistake.
Everyone from NZ is probably sorry he’s from NZ too. 🙂
The government of New Zealand has officially apologised for Ray Comfort, much like the government of Canada apologised for Bryan Adams.
I thought that was Celine Dion.
I’m pretty sure it was Justin Bieber.
Nickelback?
Boy, we Canadians have a lot to apologize for musically.
Yeah but we gave a lot to comedy: Leslie Nielson, Bob & Doug McKenzie, a lot of the cast of SNL in various years, Lorne Michaels as the head SNL guy, Rob Ford (okay I couldn’t resist a Ford dig).
Celine Dion apologised for Bryan Adams? Weird.
And Lehigh University has essentially apologized for Michael Behe.
[New Zealand speaking:] We’d be a lot more sorry if he was still here! 🙂
You gave us Mary. She appears to be pretty nice and decent, so thanks for that.
Haha, crap, no you didn’t, that was Tasmania….my bad. 🙂
I suck at royalty trivia.
Karl Urban, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Split Enz, Minties, Keas (which sound like they’re laughing the word “kea” to me). 😀
The kiwi bird and the maori peeps.
That’s pretty much my accumulated knowledge of NZ so far. 🙂
It just dawned upon me what kea’s are. duh!
🙂
Don’t forget Dame Ngaio Marsh.
🙂
I keep forgetting that in god we trust especially if it is in dollars
Well, from my experience, if you can feel god’s presence in church, then god feels like boredom.
It sure does and the only remedy is sleep
For me in feels like someone is slowly squeezing your head in a vice while a high whine becomes louder.
An apt description
He doesn’t get closer to God. But he gets closer to a large amount of gullible people he can cream money off by chatting absolute nonsense….
Hilarious.
I don’t think that Ray got his account back at all — if you read the recent tweets, they’re pretty darned funny. For example:
“Far from kangaroos disproving the flood I believe they prove the flood. Before which they were everywhere.”
“You must stand your ground with atheists, if this requires you to follow them first, so be it. Purchase one of my books to see how best done”
“I don’t like your tone sir. If you purchased more of my books you’d see the great work we say we’re doing ”
“Yes Israel need help with defence. Please also ask your followers to support our Ark building project.”
“I agree Rick the main point is the giving. The reasoning can & will follow.”
Of course, I may just be a victim of Poe’s Law…
And two more favourites:
“You really should read a few if my books. I write them to help people like you understand the ununderstandable.”
and
“Spreading the word is one of the better things to spread.”
Peraonally, I prefer to spread a little rasberry jam on a crumpet.
opps, that should be personally…
For a second I couldn’t decide between perineally or peritoneally, which are probably unhygienic for all involved.
I always like a lovely bit of crumpet, too.
He should also ask for Comfort to release uncut footage of the interviews in his latest film.
I don’t like the idea of expropriating Ray’s account either, but I must admit that sounds like an excellent idea.
Anybody else think that maybe Comfort himself arranged this? With all this “war on Christmas” crap going on (and there was another flap when a minister in California found bibles for sale at a Costco labeled “fiction”) there’s a sizable persecution complex going on.
The indignant comments at The Blaze (I had to wash my hands after visiting a site run by Glenn Beck) were only mildly entertaining, and there’s no way I’m ever going to register on a site run by him just to post a reply.
Wouldn’t that be a bit too dastardly for comfort?
Hanlon’s razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
The deed may not have been Comfort’s idea, but it does sound like some sort of inside job.
“. . . one of his staff members accidentally changed his username. Just moments after the error occurred, someone else registered the @RayComfort,”
Seems just a little too convenient to me.
Just to be clear, the account is definitely still “pwned” (as the kids say). That is, unless Comfort’s outfit has a website at “livingwaiters.com” and is located at “28 Church Road, Parody, CA”, as per the heading on the Twitter account.
Is America closer to god then? And where was Ray before?
Sent from my iPhone
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New Ray is much funnier than Old Ray
For someone like Comfort there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
Comfort should have changed his handle to @BananaMan. He’d be more recognizable and more followers that way.
Thee USA is nearer heaven? Ha! Somebody stitch my sides up!