Jesus Christ, It’s a Venn Diagram!

I found this surfing the web, and it answered a question that has been plaguing me on a daily basis for decades: “What do zombies, Dracula and Frankenstein have in common?” Turns out, Jesus has got them all beat…

How to Hate Your Body

Thanks to the magic of Lego, the Old Testament message of bodily self-loathing can be enjoyed in all of its glory. It starts here. Click the arrows on the top right to learn even more valuable lessons about the filth that is you!

Crutch Evolution

As far back as I can remember, the Christian communities I have been a part of have always been sensitive to the charge that their religious beliefs are a crutch for the emotionally weak. Even before I had heard a non-Christian make this assertion, I heard it introduced and rebutted in a Christian setting on numerous occasions. I have always wondered if the Christian hypersensitivity to, and fixation on, this charge was indicative of a truth within it. However, I eventually decided that all humans need crutches, so it seemed like a meaningless claim. Also, I know from my own observations and discussions with Christians that, as individuals, they believe for different reasons. Or maybe a better way to put it would be to say that they are drawn to, or kept in, Christianity by different approaches to the religion that focus on different aspects. For some, it is obvious that the emotional fix they get from worshiping and singing is something they are addicted to and could not live without. For others, who might even look down on those who make “spiritual love” to Jesus in church, it is the unassailable logic of the NT story and the Bible’s explanation for how the world and humans function that appeals to them. Essentially, people find in religion what they are looking for in the first place.

Richard Norman examines the “‘belief-lite’ version of religion”

Beyond belief:
Some sophisticated arguments for God have been made in response to the New Atheists. Richard Norman puts the ‘New Believers’ to the test.

When I read the following passage from this article, I immediately thought about my fellow MKs:

Most people give their allegiance to a particular religion not because they judge that its doctrines are uniquely true, but because it is the religion in which they find their cultural roots. It defines their identity. And it does so through a particular set of practices and rituals, and a particular set of metaphors, and a particular set of stories. And it is this above all, I think, that explains why, for all the intellectual implausibility of the traditional doctrines, intelligent and sensitive people continue to identify themselves as Christians or Muslims or whatever.

Evolution never happened

I posted this on a comment thread a few posts back, but I realized that it needs its own post if it will ever get a chance to be heard:

- Rant Alert -

With the entire fossil record and a mountain of evidence before us in the 21st century, I don’t see how any intelligent, educated person can deny that evolution happened

Angry at God

Believers have asked me before if I am angry at God. “No,” I said, “not any angrier than I am at Santa for not existing and not bringing me presents.” The belief that God is real is so ingrained in the minds of some believers that they can’t imagine a world without him. Either you’re on God’s side or you’re against him. Or you’re just plain lost.

Evolution & Creationism at War in the Mind of a Scientist

“A mind like that…is a disgrace to the human species.” I agree.

Purity Cards

I recently found these small, sparkle-silver plastic cards with the slightly raised (low-relief), black and red font — not to mention the heart-shaped bullet points (red for Christ’s love, lust’s first blood, or the blood of sacrifice He spilt for you, you wicked, wanton sinner?!). I am of the opinion that if people were to actually believe and follow the regulations argued for in these cards they would be the most miserable human beings in existence. Christians sure know how to have fun! Some of the more puritanical evangelicals also believe some really weird stuff about what sex does to people. Take a look at some the assumptions behind the statements on these cards:

Okay, I admit it: these cards were in my house when I was growing up.

Is Bad Christianity Automatically Not Christianity?

Here is an interesting story from the Associated Press about a movement of several churches in Nigeria who are accusing little children of witchcraft: African Children Denounced As “Witches” By Christian Pastors.

The article interested me, because I have noticed the following heavily-relied-upon strategy of Christians whenever you point to the negative results of their belief system: they reply with, “Well, that person isn’t a true Christian,” or, “Well, that’s not what I think the Bible teaches.”

Bill O’Reilly’s Arrogant Ignorance & the Many Faces of Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins has been doing the media rounds to promote his new book The Greatest Show on Earth. Below, you will see his appearance on Bill O’Reilly’s show on the FoxNews propaganda channel. O’Reilly makes use of the standard argument fallacies we all know (i.e. the Bandwagon fallacy, the God of the Gaps argument, etc.) Although Dawkins has encountered these arguments on more occasions than he can probably count, his constantly morphing facial expressions seem to indicate that he cannot believe he is STILL hearing the same arguments. I feel his pain.

Sarah Silverman Preaches Christian Charity

Empathy, a perspective

Empathy is basically defined as being able to see life from someone else’s perspective. On an individual level, empathy is present when one person learns to let go of ideas about what’s “positive” for another person, and allows for self-direction by the other person.

For instance, in substance abuse counseling, I think my clients have to want to make a change, to stop shooting heroin for instance, to start working toward that goal.

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
2. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
3. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Psalm 14:1-3

Because I don’t believe in God, I am a fool, corrupt, filthy, and no good, eh?

What if You’re Wrong?

I’m fairly certain I understand what the Liberty University student was really trying to ask Richard Dawkins when she said, “What if you’re wrong?” Here’s that link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mmskXXetcg. I may be wrong, of course, but as a former fundamentalist, that question is just code for, “You’d better repent and get some faith because you’re going to hell.” Dawkins’s answer was actually pretty debilitating to Christians.

“Why Do You Need to Prove God Doesn’t Exist?”

“I’m just exposing your flawed reasoning.”