This article is VERY interesting!
I completely agree with the author. The founding fathers did indeed intend that religion and government should be separate.
Fanatics like Santorum and the Religious Right would tell you differently, they are wrong! Several states have passed laws SNEAKING religion into schools etc. Even religious people NEED to stand up and say THIS IS WRONG.
It's chilling what is happening with the religious right. It needs to be STOPPED.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Religious Materials in Schools?
In Asheville NC, the Buncombe School board is considering allowing religious organizations to FREELY distribute religious materials to students on school property and DURING school hours. IMHO this is grossly inappropriate. There is no reason why a religious organization should be able to distribute their propaganda to students in PUBLIC schools.
If parents want their children reading religious texts or materials, they can get them from a myriad of religious groups ON THEIR OWN TIME. The tax-payers don't need to be funding the equivalent of state funded religious education. I am not only taking this from the atheist standpoint but from anyone whose religious beliefs contradict evangelical christian dogma.
Think about this: You are Muslim, your child goes to school and comes home with a Bible and several pamphlets outlining how Christianity is right and ALL other religious beliefs are incorrect and false. How do you react to this? What conversations do you now have to have with your child because of materials that your child should never have received at school?
You are Mormon, you child comes home with anti-Mormon pro evangelical literature outlining how your belief structure and dogma are a cult. What do you do? How do you fell?
You are Jewish, your child comes home with a pamphlet outlining how the Jews are evil and killed the christian savior. How do you reconcile this with your child?
You are black/Hispanic/Asian, your child comes home with some "christian:" propaganda from let's say the KKK. How do you deal with this garbage?
You are christian, your child comes home with a Book of Mormon or Q'uran? How do you explain to your child what you believe without promoting hate and dissension?
As you can see this is NOT a good thing. I didn't even go into atheist or pagan beliefs that would be dramatically impinged on by putting this propaganda and fantasy material in a place where it should NOT be.
If you live in NC, you should be outraged and calling on whatever political powers you can to try and stop this idiotic school board from doing this to not only your children, but every ones children.
Religious beliefs are fine if that's what you choose to do. They do NOT and cannot belong in the public school system. Anything short of a non-religious, non-bias education is a disservice to your children and will only contribute to the continued disintegration of our society.
I say stop it now!
If parents want their children reading religious texts or materials, they can get them from a myriad of religious groups ON THEIR OWN TIME. The tax-payers don't need to be funding the equivalent of state funded religious education. I am not only taking this from the atheist standpoint but from anyone whose religious beliefs contradict evangelical christian dogma.
Think about this: You are Muslim, your child goes to school and comes home with a Bible and several pamphlets outlining how Christianity is right and ALL other religious beliefs are incorrect and false. How do you react to this? What conversations do you now have to have with your child because of materials that your child should never have received at school?
You are Mormon, you child comes home with anti-Mormon pro evangelical literature outlining how your belief structure and dogma are a cult. What do you do? How do you fell?
You are Jewish, your child comes home with a pamphlet outlining how the Jews are evil and killed the christian savior. How do you reconcile this with your child?
You are black/Hispanic/Asian, your child comes home with some "christian:" propaganda from let's say the KKK. How do you deal with this garbage?
You are christian, your child comes home with a Book of Mormon or Q'uran? How do you explain to your child what you believe without promoting hate and dissension?
As you can see this is NOT a good thing. I didn't even go into atheist or pagan beliefs that would be dramatically impinged on by putting this propaganda and fantasy material in a place where it should NOT be.
If you live in NC, you should be outraged and calling on whatever political powers you can to try and stop this idiotic school board from doing this to not only your children, but every ones children.
Religious beliefs are fine if that's what you choose to do. They do NOT and cannot belong in the public school system. Anything short of a non-religious, non-bias education is a disservice to your children and will only contribute to the continued disintegration of our society.
I say stop it now!
Monday, April 23, 2012
Are Christians Cannibals?
I ask the question: Are Christians cannibals?
I ask this question not to be 'snarky' or to poke fun at anyone. I ask out of sincere curiosity. Why do I ask? It's simple it appears to me that the Bible endorses it.
Read the bible passage below, it's taken from KJV of the bible.
"And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straightness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:"
Deuteronomy 28:53
To me that says CANNIBAL!
If I am wrong, please tell me how I am...
Would love to read a Christians explanation of this....
I ask this question not to be 'snarky' or to poke fun at anyone. I ask out of sincere curiosity. Why do I ask? It's simple it appears to me that the Bible endorses it.
Read the bible passage below, it's taken from KJV of the bible.
"And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straightness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:"
Deuteronomy 28:53
To me that says CANNIBAL!
If I am wrong, please tell me how I am...
Would love to read a Christians explanation of this....
Friday, April 20, 2012
Quotes from LDS General Conference
Yes, I know I'm a bit late on this. It's mostly due to me NOT watching General Conference but waiting for it to be done so I can go over some of the 'nitty gritty'.
These are quotes that were posted at http://www.graceforgrace.com/ . She is a Mormon apologetic and posts her thoughts etc. I wanted to go over her 'favorite quotes' and give my feedback...
I am only going to go over the quotes she posted that I found either humor or reprehension in:
Russel Nelson, an apostle, discussed in part the absurdity of the Big Bang Theory and made a great comparison. He said “Could an explosion in a book factory create a dictionary?” A ridiculous comparison. It's much like the "Watch in a bag" argument. If you can prove that the universe was created through intelligent design, PROVE IT. Don't give me stupid arguments because YOU don't understand it, PROVE your argument. Making blatant anti-science comments like this from the pulpit is just plain ridiculous! I wonder, does he even understand science? Has he opened a book since the 1960's? I doubt it.
Todd Christofferson, and apostle said something that I’ve said a few times on this site that we’ve had discussions on regarding when a prophet is speaking as a prophet vs. as a man. He discussed an example of how Brigham Young one morning said a lot of opinionated things to a group of LDS Saints and later in a church meeting he got up and said “this morning you heard what Brigham Young had to say…now you will hear what the Lord has to say”. The quote I liked from Christofferson was “Not necessarily every statement by a prophet is revelation.” Ahh yes, the standard 'mormon disclaimer'. They TALK to god and purport to bring messages FROM god, but ONLY when it suits them and you cannot refute what they are saying.
President Thomas Monson discussed how most of the things we worry about in life are of little importance compared to the big questions we ask during trials in our lives. He also discussed making the most of our lives and not aimlessly going through life. The quote I like from him was something to this effect: “we enter mortality not to drift through the waters of life. We have the power to reason, think and achieve…” So WHY do you as an institution dissuade your members from THINKING when it involves the absolute FRAUD that Mormonism is? Why do you do that? Because you Don't want them thinking you want them donating and working.....
L Tom Perry gave a talk on the Book of Mormon. The quote I thought was great was this “Are you a Mormon? If not, you should be!” Need more 'revenue generators' do you?
These are quotes that were posted at http://www.graceforgrace.com/ . She is a Mormon apologetic and posts her thoughts etc. I wanted to go over her 'favorite quotes' and give my feedback...
I am only going to go over the quotes she posted that I found either humor or reprehension in:
Russel Nelson, an apostle, discussed in part the absurdity of the Big Bang Theory and made a great comparison. He said “Could an explosion in a book factory create a dictionary?” A ridiculous comparison. It's much like the "Watch in a bag" argument. If you can prove that the universe was created through intelligent design, PROVE IT. Don't give me stupid arguments because YOU don't understand it, PROVE your argument. Making blatant anti-science comments like this from the pulpit is just plain ridiculous! I wonder, does he even understand science? Has he opened a book since the 1960's? I doubt it.
Todd Christofferson, and apostle said something that I’ve said a few times on this site that we’ve had discussions on regarding when a prophet is speaking as a prophet vs. as a man. He discussed an example of how Brigham Young one morning said a lot of opinionated things to a group of LDS Saints and later in a church meeting he got up and said “this morning you heard what Brigham Young had to say…now you will hear what the Lord has to say”. The quote I liked from Christofferson was “Not necessarily every statement by a prophet is revelation.” Ahh yes, the standard 'mormon disclaimer'. They TALK to god and purport to bring messages FROM god, but ONLY when it suits them and you cannot refute what they are saying.
President Thomas Monson discussed how most of the things we worry about in life are of little importance compared to the big questions we ask during trials in our lives. He also discussed making the most of our lives and not aimlessly going through life. The quote I like from him was something to this effect: “we enter mortality not to drift through the waters of life. We have the power to reason, think and achieve…” So WHY do you as an institution dissuade your members from THINKING when it involves the absolute FRAUD that Mormonism is? Why do you do that? Because you Don't want them thinking you want them donating and working.....
L Tom Perry gave a talk on the Book of Mormon. The quote I thought was great was this “Are you a Mormon? If not, you should be!” Need more 'revenue generators' do you?
Thursday, April 19, 2012
America, a Nation of Heretics?
I recently read a review by author Ross Douthat regarding his new book "Bad Religion: How we became a nation of heretics"
The interview was an interesting read, I do take issue with a few of his points as he is obviously pushing to get back to a more "institutional religion" for Americans.
You can read the entire interview here:
"Institutional religion in the United States — institutional Christianity in particular — is much, much weaker today than it was 40 years ago. But religion itself is as strong as ever. ... But the eclipse of institutional faith, and the eclipse of what I would say was a kind of a Christian center that the country used to have, has created a landscape where religion divides us much more than it used to." Exactly, that is why religion especially institutional religion is NOT a good thing.
Overall, not a bad interview, I don't buy his conclusions. I do find his arguments interesting.
Is America falling apart? No, I don't think it is.
Do we need more institutional Christianity. NO. We need, free thinking people that decide for themselves what is good and believable. We do NOT need someone telling us what to believe.
The interview was an interesting read, I do take issue with a few of his points as he is obviously pushing to get back to a more "institutional religion" for Americans.
You can read the entire interview here:
"Institutional religion in the United States — institutional Christianity in particular — is much, much weaker today than it was 40 years ago. But religion itself is as strong as ever. ... But the eclipse of institutional faith, and the eclipse of what I would say was a kind of a Christian center that the country used to have, has created a landscape where religion divides us much more than it used to." Exactly, that is why religion especially institutional religion is NOT a good thing.
Overall, not a bad interview, I don't buy his conclusions. I do find his arguments interesting.
Is America falling apart? No, I don't think it is.
Do we need more institutional Christianity. NO. We need, free thinking people that decide for themselves what is good and believable. We do NOT need someone telling us what to believe.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Year of the Bible?
The State House of Representatives in PA have declared 2012 "The Year of the Bible" and according to the resolution are officially encouraging the citizens of PA to follow the teachings and guideance of the Bible.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is suing to have this overturned and REMOVED.
Good Job Guys! Get that overturned, the Government has NO business telling anyone what god to worship or what religious book to read!
Right wing religious nut jobs are going to ruin our great country if we don't curb this unabashed assault on our freedoms.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is suing to have this overturned and REMOVED.
Good Job Guys! Get that overturned, the Government has NO business telling anyone what god to worship or what religious book to read!
Right wing religious nut jobs are going to ruin our great country if we don't curb this unabashed assault on our freedoms.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
War on Religious freedom?
Interesting story in the Turkish Press.
It's amazing to me how the Christian Right can run round screaming at the top of their lungs that THEIR religious freedoms are being attacked and eroded when it is THEY who are focusing on forcing their beliefs down the throats of everyone who is within ear shot of their voices.
"We're starting to see our religious freedom taken away. Our Christian faith is being stepped on. Like kids in the schools -- they can't talk about God," Seriously? What about those of us that don't want to hear about your fantasy world in school? What about those folks in the world that don't believe the same as you? Don't they have the RIGHT to NOT hear about your gods in school?
"There's something wrong in America." Yes, I will tell you what is wrong in America... YOU!
"Christians are persecuted in many other countries and I think this is the next one," Really? YOU are persecuted? YOU? Have you listed to Faux News recently? All you folks do is BASH anyone that doesn't believe the way you believe. Typical Christian behavior... "We are UNDER ATTACK," even though it's YOU doing the attacking..
"They say it's the separation of church and state, but it's a falsehood," Dean said. No, buddy you are the falsehood. The separation of Church and State was designed to give you not only freedom OF religion conversely also freedom FROM religion.
The first amendment -- which prohibits the "establishment of religion" -- was written because the founders were concerned that government would interfere with religious practices, he insisted. So Wrong again. Read the freakin' amendment will ya!
The Supreme Court, however, has interpreted the clause to mean that the government cannot promote religion. As did former president Thomas Jefferson, main author of the Declaration of Independence, who wrote that the establishment clause sought to create a "wall of separation between church and state." Yes! Exactly Right. Thank you Supremes!
Yet many evangelicals and conservatives like Dean read the constitution and Declaration of Independence differently, finding proof that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. Sorry, kids. The good ole USA was founded as a SECULAR NATION. Again, read it.
"It's very hard to walk around any city in the United States and feel that religious people as a group or individually are suspect to mass persecution," Green said. Exactly! Ask an atheist or a Muslim who is being persecuted and you will get a VERY different answer.
If only we could see the USA for what it is. A secular nation that ALLOWS EVERYONE to practice or not, the religion or lack thereof of their choice. Sadly, I don't see this happening. Too bad we don't have an atheist running for president. If we did, I would definitely be voting for him/ her.
How do you feel about this?
Are you a Christian Crazy that supports this crap?
Are you a logical, intelligent human being that doesn't?
Where do you fall?
It's amazing to me how the Christian Right can run round screaming at the top of their lungs that THEIR religious freedoms are being attacked and eroded when it is THEY who are focusing on forcing their beliefs down the throats of everyone who is within ear shot of their voices.
"We're starting to see our religious freedom taken away. Our Christian faith is being stepped on. Like kids in the schools -- they can't talk about God," Seriously? What about those of us that don't want to hear about your fantasy world in school? What about those folks in the world that don't believe the same as you? Don't they have the RIGHT to NOT hear about your gods in school?
"There's something wrong in America." Yes, I will tell you what is wrong in America... YOU!
"Christians are persecuted in many other countries and I think this is the next one," Really? YOU are persecuted? YOU? Have you listed to Faux News recently? All you folks do is BASH anyone that doesn't believe the way you believe. Typical Christian behavior... "We are UNDER ATTACK," even though it's YOU doing the attacking..
"They say it's the separation of church and state, but it's a falsehood," Dean said. No, buddy you are the falsehood. The separation of Church and State was designed to give you not only freedom OF religion conversely also freedom FROM religion.
The first amendment -- which prohibits the "establishment of religion" -- was written because the founders were concerned that government would interfere with religious practices, he insisted. So Wrong again. Read the freakin' amendment will ya!
The Supreme Court, however, has interpreted the clause to mean that the government cannot promote religion. As did former president Thomas Jefferson, main author of the Declaration of Independence, who wrote that the establishment clause sought to create a "wall of separation between church and state." Yes! Exactly Right. Thank you Supremes!
Yet many evangelicals and conservatives like Dean read the constitution and Declaration of Independence differently, finding proof that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. Sorry, kids. The good ole USA was founded as a SECULAR NATION. Again, read it.
"It's very hard to walk around any city in the United States and feel that religious people as a group or individually are suspect to mass persecution," Green said. Exactly! Ask an atheist or a Muslim who is being persecuted and you will get a VERY different answer.
If only we could see the USA for what it is. A secular nation that ALLOWS EVERYONE to practice or not, the religion or lack thereof of their choice. Sadly, I don't see this happening. Too bad we don't have an atheist running for president. If we did, I would definitely be voting for him/ her.
How do you feel about this?
Are you a Christian Crazy that supports this crap?
Are you a logical, intelligent human being that doesn't?
Where do you fall?
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Santorum Drops out!
Just announced, Santorum has withdrawn from the Presidential race!
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Paul "PZ" Myers in Utah!!
This past Saturday 4/7/12 "PZ" Spoke at the University of Utah on Science and Atheism. It was a very interesting and enlightening speech.
He talked about the three core values of Atheism: truth, autonomy and community. All of which I espouse to follow.
It's funny though that he speaks about these three core values which I find many if not all, of my Atheist friends out there adhere to are the same values that the insane Christians shout from the rooftops that we are against.
Who is the liar and bigot now?
While the Atheist works to understand the world, the universe and our existence. The religious individual buries their head in the 'sand' and refuses to acknowledge anything other than what their 'holy book' tells them to believe.
Sad really.
Very, very sad.
Here are some comments from the religious, love your neighbor folks regarding "PZ" and Atheists in general, taken from the SL Trib.
Rocky Morrison : Below is a list of Myer's Scientific Achievements in the past Ten Years...
Rocky Morrison
And he says that Science is the Atheists weapon.
Yeah, and Officially Atheistic Governments have used it pretty effectively to kill MILLIONS...100 Million in the past century alone...more than in all the wars in history
(The Black Book of Communism...Harvard University Press...and spare me the jive about Atheism not having anything to do with communism: Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky were all committed atheists who wanted to eliminate religion. And the later two put in place the machinery to attempt it. See Solzhenitsyns Three Volume series The Gulag Archipelago and he talks about the millions who were in the Gulags for no other reason than that they were Christians.)
Pretty telling isn't it? Religious folks using their standard rant of Atheists are evil etc.
Sooo very tired of their bigotry and stupidity.
Stand up and let your voice be heard, if you are a closet Atheist, come out and be a part of us, we need you.
He talked about the three core values of Atheism: truth, autonomy and community. All of which I espouse to follow.
It's funny though that he speaks about these three core values which I find many if not all, of my Atheist friends out there adhere to are the same values that the insane Christians shout from the rooftops that we are against.
Who is the liar and bigot now?
While the Atheist works to understand the world, the universe and our existence. The religious individual buries their head in the 'sand' and refuses to acknowledge anything other than what their 'holy book' tells them to believe.
Sad really.
Very, very sad.
Here are some comments from the religious, love your neighbor folks regarding "PZ" and Atheists in general, taken from the SL Trib.
Rocky Morrison : Below is a list of Myer's Scientific Achievements in the past Ten Years...
Rocky Morrison
And he says that Science is the Atheists weapon.
Yeah, and Officially Atheistic Governments have used it pretty effectively to kill MILLIONS...100 Million in the past century alone...more than in all the wars in history
(The Black Book of Communism...Harvard University Press...and spare me the jive about Atheism not having anything to do with communism: Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky were all committed atheists who wanted to eliminate religion. And the later two put in place the machinery to attempt it. See Solzhenitsyns Three Volume series The Gulag Archipelago and he talks about the millions who were in the Gulags for no other reason than that they were Christians.)
Pretty telling isn't it? Religious folks using their standard rant of Atheists are evil etc.
Sooo very tired of their bigotry and stupidity.
Stand up and let your voice be heard, if you are a closet Atheist, come out and be a part of us, we need you.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
How many people did god kill?
I got to thinking about this and decided to go through and take as close a number as I could, using ONLY the scriptural references where a specific number is listed.
Let's see the total killed in the name of god and mind you, with gods approval.
After this, stop and think for a second. Do you want to be part of a faith that worships a mass murderer?
Without further ado, let's get the totals started:
EX 32:27-29 With the Lord's approval, the Israelites slay 3000 men
NU 16:35 A fire from the Lord consumes 250 men
NU 16:49 A plague from the Lord kills 14,700 people
JS 8:22-25 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly smites the people of Ai, killing 12,000 men and women, so that there were none who escaped
JG 1:4 With the Lord's support, Judah defeats 10,000 Canaanites at Bezek
JG 3:29 The Israelites kill about 10,000 Moabites
JG 3:31 (A restatement.) Shamgar killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad
JG 15:15 Samson slays 1000 men with the jawbone of an ass
JG 20:43-48 The Israelites smite 25,000+ "men of valor" from amongst the Benjamites, "men and beasts and all that they found," and set their towns on fire
1SA 4:10 The Philistines slay 30,000 Israelite foot soldiers
1SA 18:27 David murders 200 Philistines, then cuts off their foreskins
2SA 8:5 David slew 22,000 Syrians
2SA 8:13 David slew 18,000 Edomites in the valley of salt and made the rest slaves
2SA 10:18 David slew 47,000+ Syrians
2SA 24:15 The Lord sends a pestilence on Israel that kills 70,000 men
1KI 20:29-30 The Israelites smite 100,000 Syrian soldiers in one day. A wall falls on 27,000 remaining Syrians
2KI 1:10-12 Fire from heaven comes down and consumes fifty men
2KI 14:5, 7 Amaziah kills his servants and then 10,000 Edomites
2KI 19:35 An angel of the Lord kills 185,000 men
2CH 13:17 500,000 Israelites are slaughtered
The death toll attributed to god, and mind you this in ONLY where a specific number is listed is: 1,085,900 people murdered in gods name. This does of course NOT include the killing of all the first Born's multiple times in the bible, the 'great flood' where more than likely MILLIONS more were killed. This is ONLY the atrocities committed where a specific number was listed.
This is just plain sick!
Over ONE MILLION murdered in gods name and this person is whom thousands choose to worship every day and encourage you to worship?
Not me.
I can't do it. I cannot bring myself to worship a MURDERER.
Let's see the total killed in the name of god and mind you, with gods approval.
After this, stop and think for a second. Do you want to be part of a faith that worships a mass murderer?
Without further ado, let's get the totals started:
EX 32:27-29 With the Lord's approval, the Israelites slay 3000 men
NU 16:35 A fire from the Lord consumes 250 men
NU 16:49 A plague from the Lord kills 14,700 people
JS 8:22-25 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly smites the people of Ai, killing 12,000 men and women, so that there were none who escaped
JG 1:4 With the Lord's support, Judah defeats 10,000 Canaanites at Bezek
JG 3:29 The Israelites kill about 10,000 Moabites
JG 3:31 (A restatement.) Shamgar killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad
JG 15:15 Samson slays 1000 men with the jawbone of an ass
JG 20:43-48 The Israelites smite 25,000+ "men of valor" from amongst the Benjamites, "men and beasts and all that they found," and set their towns on fire
1SA 4:10 The Philistines slay 30,000 Israelite foot soldiers
1SA 18:27 David murders 200 Philistines, then cuts off their foreskins
2SA 8:5 David slew 22,000 Syrians
2SA 8:13 David slew 18,000 Edomites in the valley of salt and made the rest slaves
2SA 10:18 David slew 47,000+ Syrians
2SA 24:15 The Lord sends a pestilence on Israel that kills 70,000 men
1KI 20:29-30 The Israelites smite 100,000 Syrian soldiers in one day. A wall falls on 27,000 remaining Syrians
2KI 1:10-12 Fire from heaven comes down and consumes fifty men
2KI 14:5, 7 Amaziah kills his servants and then 10,000 Edomites
2KI 19:35 An angel of the Lord kills 185,000 men
2CH 13:17 500,000 Israelites are slaughtered
The death toll attributed to god, and mind you this in ONLY where a specific number is listed is: 1,085,900 people murdered in gods name. This does of course NOT include the killing of all the first Born's multiple times in the bible, the 'great flood' where more than likely MILLIONS more were killed. This is ONLY the atrocities committed where a specific number was listed.
This is just plain sick!
Over ONE MILLION murdered in gods name and this person is whom thousands choose to worship every day and encourage you to worship?
Not me.
I can't do it. I cannot bring myself to worship a MURDERER.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Is a belief in god important?
A philosopher John Gray doesn't think so. His position is that a belief in the existence of god is not necessary for either religious folks or atheists. He points to the fact that many religious groups, both poly theistic and mono theistic believe that it's more about the ritual and meditation than the actual belief in the existence of a creator or supreme being.
What it all comes down to in a genuine hope that there is something after this life. Am I hopeful that there is something after this? Not really, I feel like if I spend my time hoping that something good happens after I die that I waste my time HERE doing things to make my LIFE more fulfilling and happy. Rather than focus on what might be or 'could be'. I want to focus on what IS.
I was recently told that my disbelief in god is stemming from my anger towards god for some slight. This is wholly incorrect; I am not angry with god. It would be impossible for me to be angry with something that I don't believe exists. It would be much like being angry with the Easter Bunny for not giving me a chocolate rabbit and discounting it's existence because of it. That is just silly. I know that there isn't a giant bunny rabbit that delivers candy once a year, much like I know that there isn't a fat guy dressed in red that delivers presents to good children once a year. I'm not angry at him either. I just know that he isn't real, he is a story told to children to make their holidays more entertaining.
Then there is the crux of most believers arguments. Salvation. They want to believe in god because they want to be saved. It is natural to want to be spared the 'slings and arrows' of damnation or to be saved from pain and misery. Everyone wants to be comfortable and have a nice life. The believer focuses on the "all good, all knowing god" who according to their belief structure will 'save' them if they are good enough and follow all the rules. The fallacy to this belief is this: Even IF there is an all good, all knowing god, just because you do follow all the rules and do everything your beliefs tell you should, this could still be your fate: "Even if god is all powerful and all knowing, and powerful enough to save all the souls of the devout believer and of course is loving enough to do it, god still may NOT do it."
I choose to not believe and work to better my world as I can while I am in it. Spending time focusing on something that may or may not be there with no evidence that it does is not how I choose to live. I choose to live now.
What it all comes down to in a genuine hope that there is something after this life. Am I hopeful that there is something after this? Not really, I feel like if I spend my time hoping that something good happens after I die that I waste my time HERE doing things to make my LIFE more fulfilling and happy. Rather than focus on what might be or 'could be'. I want to focus on what IS.
I was recently told that my disbelief in god is stemming from my anger towards god for some slight. This is wholly incorrect; I am not angry with god. It would be impossible for me to be angry with something that I don't believe exists. It would be much like being angry with the Easter Bunny for not giving me a chocolate rabbit and discounting it's existence because of it. That is just silly. I know that there isn't a giant bunny rabbit that delivers candy once a year, much like I know that there isn't a fat guy dressed in red that delivers presents to good children once a year. I'm not angry at him either. I just know that he isn't real, he is a story told to children to make their holidays more entertaining.
Then there is the crux of most believers arguments. Salvation. They want to believe in god because they want to be saved. It is natural to want to be spared the 'slings and arrows' of damnation or to be saved from pain and misery. Everyone wants to be comfortable and have a nice life. The believer focuses on the "all good, all knowing god" who according to their belief structure will 'save' them if they are good enough and follow all the rules. The fallacy to this belief is this: Even IF there is an all good, all knowing god, just because you do follow all the rules and do everything your beliefs tell you should, this could still be your fate: "Even if god is all powerful and all knowing, and powerful enough to save all the souls of the devout believer and of course is loving enough to do it, god still may NOT do it."
I choose to not believe and work to better my world as I can while I am in it. Spending time focusing on something that may or may not be there with no evidence that it does is not how I choose to live. I choose to live now.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
What exactly is God? Cruel or Kind?
Studying the bible, I have come to the conclusion that not even the authors of the book let alone god knew what he/she/it were.
On one hand, god is described and kind and caring and then described as vengeful and mean. Either god has a major personality disorder or the authors just wanted to put THEIR version of god out there and hoped that someone would buy their version.
Here are the scriptures that I use to make this hypothesis:
"I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy." (JER 13:14) "Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not, but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling."
"The Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy." (JAS 5:11)
"For his mercy endureth forever." (1CH 16:34)
"The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works." (PSA 145:9)
"God is love." (1JO 4:16)
So, which is it?
Is god insane?
Is god love?
Or, were the authors of the bible just so short sighted that they didn't bother to coordinate their thoughts before putting pen to parchment?
On one hand, god is described and kind and caring and then described as vengeful and mean. Either god has a major personality disorder or the authors just wanted to put THEIR version of god out there and hoped that someone would buy their version.
Here are the scriptures that I use to make this hypothesis:
"I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy." (JER 13:14) "Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not, but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling."
"The Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy." (JAS 5:11)
"For his mercy endureth forever." (1CH 16:34)
"The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works." (PSA 145:9)
"God is love." (1JO 4:16)
So, which is it?
Is god insane?
Is god love?
Or, were the authors of the bible just so short sighted that they didn't bother to coordinate their thoughts before putting pen to parchment?
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