The God Fighter Game

Merry Mythmas!

The Flying Spaghetti Monster

This is my favorite religion, because unlike others, it exposes its arbitrary nature - on purpose.

All religions are arbitrary, lack evidence and make dangerous claims, but this one does it to mock religion.

Enjoy!  Here's the link just in case your browser does not support iFrames: http://vimeo.com/31543194

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/31543194?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/31543194">Spaghetti, Wenches & Metaphysics: Episode 1—The FSM</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user8922858">Matt Tillman</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

This is What Christians Think Justice Is

Christians never seem to consider how this works.  I'm glad that DarkMatter2525 created this video.

Family Guy: Christianity

Here are some great perspective videos on Christianity from Family Guy!

Make Religion History

Here's a great idea!

Atheist Billboards

What would it take to get some of these in my area?

A Tribute to Christopher Hitchens

For those who don't know, Christopher Hitchens has passed away due to cancer.  Below is a YouTube video tribute to him uploaded by "djarm67".  Thank you djarm67.

Atheism Guide to the 2012 Election

Atheist Humor

More Results of Religion

The War Prayer

It's is quite disturbing how this is still the case today.  Everyone prays to their god to help them in war.  However, since there is no god... we invoke nothing.

Mark Twain translates the prayers of preachers during that time - and during our time.  War is always wrong, but Mark Twain makes it very clear as to why.

What do Atheists do in a Crisis?

This is an interesting video.  Three religious people attacking one Atheist.  It looks to me that the Atheist is being quite reasonable, but the Christians are trying to include feelings where there should exist only fact.  They asked the Atheist a simple question, and then picked a fight and are totally off-topic.

Dear Believer

Another link to a very moving article:

Dear Believer

Where was God on 9/11?

The First Southern Baptist Church of Chino Valley, AZ, has attempted to explain where God was during 9/11.  I contend that God was the same place he always was... nowhere.  As God doesn't exist, he can't, of course, be blamed for doing nothing, as that is what things that don't exist do.

The clergy at the FSBC feel differently.  I will include a link, and my analysis so if you think I misunderstood the message the church was trying to portray, you can correct me.

Why Atheism

This article is just a link to a very good paper written by Mark Thomas.  To read the paper, please click the link below:

Why Atheism?

The God Who Wasn't There

God isn't real.  Here's more proof:

Intelligent Design

This video link was found on RichardDawkins.net.

Where is the need?

Christians claim that everyone needs God in their lives.  Everyone.

So - where is that need demonstrated?  Here are some common arguments for the need of God - and my rebuttals:

Anything But That

During several in-person and e-mail debates I've had with Christians, one popular theme has emerged: It is impossible to relate God and science.  What a cop-out.

To say that every single avenue of discussion may be explored, except for one, is intellectual cowardice.  Here's how the Christians tried to justify their view:

Why I am intolerant.

I am intolerant of all religions.  All religions are backwards, primitive superstitions which force people to suspend thought in order to accept them.  Had religion been squashed in the first century A.D., we would be exploring the galaxy by now - I'm sure of it.

However, don't be so quick to judge me as being an intolerant, and thus wicked or evil person, before you look at yourself.  Christianity is intolerant as well.  But they are intolerant because some money-grubbing preacher said to be.  This is straight from the mouth of a Christian:

Christians - you are probably doomed anyway.

Christians like to pretend that Jesus is absolutely the most kind, wonderful person who ever existed.  Christians teach that you can be forgiven of any sin, including internet porn, murder, child abuse, rape and even speaking out against Jesus.  However, the one part of the Bible most Christians ignore is probably the most frightening part... the unforgivable sin.

That's right, there is a sin which can not be forgiven.  This transgression is a keystone of Christianity and is the easiest to do.  This sin is as easy to do as it is easy to not believe in the tooth fairy.  Its even easier than it is to accidentally cuss when you break your toe walking through your house in the dark and kick the coffee table.

A bit of funny... and reality.

The following images are funny, only because of how much truth they hold.

Prayer Makes The World Go Backwards

Another reason to dislike religion is the emphasis on prayer.  Prayer is supposed to solve everything.  When there's a natural disaster, people will sit around and uselessly spend hours in prayer.  I guess it makes them feel like they are actually doing something, when really all they are doing is getting sore knees and another layer of fat.

If prayer worked, this song would make no sense:

This song makes sense because prayer is a useless, wasteful endeavor.  All it does is allow lazy people to stay lazy.  This is why prayer is so popular.  A Christian or other religious person can dismiss any blame for sitting on their butts because they can say, "Hey - I did do something!  I prayed!" while the world burns.

God is... Good?

Christians all over the United States will repeat maniacally that "God is Good".  I believe this to be due to the fact that most Christians are afraid to shatter their cute, little image of a loving, caring father figure.  Let's consider the ways in which God is certainly not good.

First, prayer.  If a child learns about God in the United States, Christian churches glow with pride for another lost soul saved.  Christians also say that God will now watch out for that child and all that happens in the Child's future will work out for the will of God.

Most Churches Aren't Helping

Small-town churches where the ability of the pastor to communicate (or read) are in question certainly aren't helping convince anyone that God is real.  For instance, the First Southern Baptist Church of Chino Valley, AZ is a prime example.  On its website, the Pastor has the opportunity to add something profound to try to reach out to his fellow Chino Valley citizens.  Instead, he posted the following:

Argument Against Atheism

Robert T. Lee, the author of tencommandments.org describes his position against Atheists like this (and I include some of his quoted text to show how he justifies his position):

•  atheism is properly defined as a denial of the existence of God in the midst of full knowledge that the true God does indeed exist
• Atheism knows God exists; it is quite familiar with that fact, but it says "under no circumstance or situation will I admit to God's existence."
• Atheism clearly perceives the fingerprints of God on all of creation, but refuses to admit He is the Creator.
• Atheism perceives the divine authorship of the TEN COMMANDMENTS, but refuses to admit that God is their Author.
• Atheism is the ultimate of satanism.

And it doesn't get any better.

Robert T. Lee continues to express lies about Atheism.  I can only assume that he is intelligent enough to make a website and convinced in his own beliefs enough that he has actually done some research.  I further concede that he believes he is doing good in the world by sharing his position on Atheism.  However, he is also a terrible liar.  Funny - he seems to ignore the commandment not to lie.

As an Atheist, and someone who is actually telling the truth, I can tell you this:

• Atheism (non-theism) denies the very existence of any supernatural forces.  This includes any and all gods, fairies, magic and anything else supernatural.
• Atheism, as stated before, does not believe in any gods.
• Again - Atheism is the conscious knowledge and position that there are no gods.
• NO fingerprints of any supernatural critters... no gods.
• NO divinity, because no god.
• No Satan, because no supernatural forces.  Satan is just as make-believe as angels, God, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.

Mr. Lee then goes on to quote what he seems to consider a very damning article regarding Atheists (which it turns out he wrote himself titled "ATHEISTS, AGNOSTICS AND NON BELIEVERS ARE THE TRUE CRIMINALS OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY".  Really?  Criminals?  Because we often, based on our non-belief, commit crimes of... uh... what exactly?  Here's how Mr. Lee justifies his side:

• Atheists say that the Ten Commandments aren't real, since God isn't real.
• Since God didn't write them, Atheists believe that a human wrote them.
• Atheists believe that they should put their terminally ill parents to death. [This is, however, libelous as it is untrue.]
• Again he states that Atheists are the true criminals of the world, and should be treated as such.
• He then lists some probably fictitious crimes, and blames them on Atheism, with no proof.

I think I've said enough on this matter.  Robert T. Lee may be mentally unsound, but he is definitely morally unsound.  I invite him to respond to this post and argue his position, or to contact me via email.  Robert T. Lee has been informed via the email listed at his website that I intend to post rebuttals to his claims so that the people may know the truth.

The Laws of Man

While it is completely true that men often make terrible, useless or backwards laws, the website tencommandments.org expresses the opinion that man can not make any laws whatsoever which would be beneficial.  Here's a quote:

MAN CANNOT MAKE A LAW

It appears as if it is the mark of nobility, decorousness and civicness for a people, society or nation to make laws by which to govern themselves. But a proper assessment of such an undertaking reveals just the opposite: it is the mark of heathenism. Contrary to what is generally thought, no nation or people should be in the business of endeavoring to govern themselves.

Pat Roberson: Moral Dilemma

I find myself in a moral dilemma, half agreeing with Pat Roberson, and half disagreeing.  I just found this news post and wanted to make my comment on it, and wanted to see what my readers had to say about it.

Pat Robertson is being critisized for his position that a particular man should divorce his wife, who is suffering from the dementia caused by Alzheimer's Disease.  Pat Robertson says:

“His wife as he knows her is gone,” the caller said, and the friend is “bitter at God for allowing his wife to be in that condition, and now he’s started seeing another woman.”

Doomsday Profit

The end of the world is big business in the United States.  A quick Google search revealed lots of links one could use to order doomsday survival gear such as this site, this one, and this one, just to name a few.  I'm not saying that it's a bad idea to be prepared.  I keep jumper cables, a quart of oil and a first aid kit in my vehicle, just in case.  However, no invisible god-fairy told me to do it - I have done it of my own free will for the sake of common sense.

Freak Of The Week: Leonard

This Freak of the Week needs to be given some "props" for his chutzpah.  Leonard, I believe, is a morally good person (based completely on what I read in his posts).  I also believe that Leonard should be forgiven his deceit only because he has gone to great lengths to first deceive himself.

Leonard, in his October 21, 2007 blog post, attempts to equip Christians with the intellectual artillery they will need to effectively argue against Atheists.

In this blog post, I will talk about several of Leonard's posts to justify his position as the Freak of the Week.

Freak Of The Week: Frank Walton

Okay - I admit it, there are freakier people out there, but Mr. Walton gets an honorable mention this week.

On his blog, Mr. Walton makes some very harsh comments regarding people he knows nothing about.  Now, before someone starts telling me stories about pots and kettles, I'm only talking about what Mr. Walton wrote, not his personal thoughts which he didn't write.  For instance, Mr. Walton wrote the following:

Atheism Can Be Fun

I haven't participated in one of these events - yet, but it looks like they had a great time.  See the video yourself below.

First Cause

COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT, a.k.a. FIRST CAUSE ARGUMENT
(1) If I say something must have a cause, it has a cause.
(2) I say the universe must have a cause.
(3) Therefore, the universe has a cause.
(4) Therefore, God exists.

Church Signs

So... we should stop praying to Santa Claus?

Atheism: Freedom of Thought

Pansy: The Symbol of Freethought

From Wikipedia: Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas. The cognitive application of freethought is known as 'freethinking,' and practitioners of freethought are known as 'freethinkers.'

Freethinkers, such as Atheists, have a freedom that those who profess to be "born-again Christians" do not have.  We have the ability to change our minds without fear and without guilt.  We would change our minds about evolution if a single fossil were found in the wrong period.  For instance, if rabbits were found in the Precambrian period.

Development of Morality

Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987), a psychologist, had a great theory that I believe fits right in to how the Christian church affects its members, and how Atheists fit outside of this box.

Kohlberg theorized that the development of morality came in stages, and thus, stages could be stifled or stopped, but not skipped.

The first stage is the stage of very young children and is called preconventional.  Morality for them is defined as obedience to authority.  If a child is obedient to its parents, the child believes that it is demonstrating moral behavior.  In a Christian church, young children are told to, and thus expected to, memorize Bible verses, stay quiet, pray when it is appropriate and to pay attention (or at least to be quiet when the child must attend service with his or her parents).  The authority figures are adults whom the child has been told (possibly even threatened) to obey.  Thus, a child will develop the idea very early on that performing meaningless rites, learning ancient stories and being able to regurgitate them on command are all moral actions because they are doing what their authority figure told them to do.  This is why churches push Vacation Bible School so hard.  Lazy parents get to drop their kids off at a free babysitter, and churches get to train children that being Christian is moral.

The second stage is called conventional.  This is the stage that most professing Christians are stuck at.  At this stage, the individual denotes morality with the idea that a person in higher authority must therefore be a very moral person and their word should be trusted.  The moral person will follow the authority figure because the authority figure must be trusted to know the difference between right and wrong.  This is how the idea of being buddy-buddy with God came to pass, and how the idea of 72 virgins for Mohammedans who blow themselves up came to be.  At this stage, unless the authority figure shows themselves to be completely worthless of respect due to a catastrophic moral failure, every word they utter will be completely believed.

The last stage, which most Christians do not fully reach, is called the postconventional stage.  At this stage, morality is based on higher principles than just because an authority figure said it.  Authority is questioned and scrutinized against other factors weighing on the particular situation.  Cause and effect become more important than tradition or dogma.  It is at this stage that Atheists emerge.  Atheists don't care what Christians or any other religion say is right or wrong until we have considered the facts and the big picture.

This is why Atheists reject the Christian god.  Richard Dawkins explains why Atheists reject the Abrahamic god:

The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.

Macro and Micro Evolution

This post is a direct response to the challenge and lies presented by Colleen @ ID .  As far as Blogspot has granted me the tools, I have strived to produce an APA-formatted research paper.  Obviously I have left out the double-spacing, running head and title page, but the references are sound.  So, let's begin.

Colleen @ ID 's comment was that there is no correlation between micro-evolution and macro-evolution.  Her argument is that micro-evolution does not lead to macro-evolution, so my point regarding Darwin and the human eye was moot.

I am fairly certain that Colleen @ ID  will be happy when I admit that she is abosolutely correct.  However, it is likely that Colleen @ ID  will be dismayed when I explain why she is correct.

Christian Fundamentalism

Christians are difficult to communicate with regarding their religion in general, because most Christians who will communicate with you are fundamentalists.

Christian fundamentalists are the ones who believe that the earth is less that 10,000 years old, was created in six literal days and is ruled by an invisible, unknowable, untouchable sky-god who takes an interest in our daily lives, answers prayers and smites entire cities due to one mean comment made by a lesbian comedian.

Family Day At The Beach

This picture was picked up by a fellow blogger at lolgod.blogspot.com who collects humerous religious pictures, mainly to poke fun at religion.  However, upon seeing this picture my reaction was not one of amusement, but of sick disgust.

This is what I don't want the United States to turn out like.  This is what the dominionists and many churches would like to see in the future.  Sure, right now women have a lot of freedom in the Christian church, but when Christians take over politics completely, what kind of changes could they make which would shorten the path to women being subjected to abuse and objectification like they were in the Bible?

There are two reasons why this woman has to wear her burka at the beach.  1 - Allah (another imaginary god) said it must be so and 2 - Her husband (it can only be her husband holding her so close) is penis-centered and uses his religion to control his wife.

I feel bad for the woman.  I feel bad she was born into such a totalitarian belief system.  I feel bad for future generations of American girls if more people like me don't take a stand against religion.

Freak Of The Week: Brother D

The freak of this week is called Brother D, and his blog is located here.

This blog is a typical example of a doomsday blog, trying to scare everyone into thinking his way based on his (I assume) unsound belief system which has nothing to do with fact, evidence or rational thought.  For those who don't want to delve into the mind of Brother D, I'll provide a short synopsis of his blog.

The mind of the religious is muddled to different degrees.  However, this mind is obviously muddled more than most.

On this day...

On this day, religion reared its ugly head once again.  The World Trade Center was attacked in order to kill everyone inside and cause mass panic and destruction.  All of the major US news stations repeated the same message over and over again, that we were attacked because of our way of life.  They said we were attacked because the enemy was jealous.

We were attacked because of our Christian population.  Its not their fault, as Mohammedans are just as guilty of believing in an imaginary god as the Christians are - but this attack was motivated by religion.

Double Standard

I wish I had made this, but I'm just not this talented.  So, I'll just show it here.  What an honest video.

The Center for Arizona Policy

Another group which is causing trouble and trying to turn the United States into a Christian-ran theocracy is called The Center for Arizona Policy.  They claim that their purpose is to protect and forward legal policies and decisions that protect the family, religious freedom, parental rights and the sanctity of life.  What their real agenda is, is obvious: to use the legal system to force government and institutions to support Christianity above all else.

Lies About Evolution

This post is a direct rebuttal against the claims made by Christwire.org.

The first challenge this website offers is this:  If evolution is true, and mankind evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?  On the surface, this seems like a sound argument, but that's only if you don't invest any thought into it and if you don't know anything at all about evolution.  So, here is a short lesson on how evolution works.

God Eaters

Christians turn a really big blind eye to their own religion when it comes to this one:  Communion.

Admittedly, Catholics are many times more myopic about their religion, but Protestants aren't immune from criticism here either.  This ceremony is sick, twisted and its real meaning is ignored by the "faithful".  Let's start with why Christians do it.

Religious Extremism

Christians all over the globe are denouncing "religious extremism" in all of its forms.  But what, exactly, is an extreme form of Christianity.

I think everyone can agree that any religion that advocates murder, incest, rape or other vicious crimes is extreme, but what does the Bible say?

First, the Bible says that homosexuals, children who cheek their parents, anyone who works on the Sabbath and many, many more must be put to death.  When did this stop being enforced?  Christian apologists will say that Christ came and changed all of that.  But the Bible says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  So, if God changed his mind, then the result of changing his mind must have been more perfect than the original, which means that god messed up the first time.  Another case of "God said, "Oops!" (see the post on this blog by the same name).

Braaaaaaains!

The human brain is so complex that science is nowhere near untangling its mysteries.  It is likely we know more about space than we know about the brain.  Here are some things science has discovered, though:

• The brain is where thought takes place.
• The brain is where memories are located.
• The brain is capable of storing more information than the world's largest computer, is faster than the world's largest computer and more capable of drawing from different sources to reach conclusions.
• The brain is the most powerful computer that has ever existed, and likely will ever exist.

Christians attribute this powerful brain of ours to God.  They say that God created Adam and Eve and endowed them with this amazing organ so they could control the world, dominate it and make decisions on their own.

Morality of Christianity

Christians shudder in fear when they consider what the United States would be like if they became the obvious minority, of if they were the very last Christian in the USA.

Most Christians are fed the belief that there would be chaos in the streets.  They are taught that since Atheists have no God to guide them, they have no morals.  The Christians generally believe that Atheists are akin to Satanists and view personal gain at the expense of others to be admirable and even essential.  Most Christians are also taught that if Christianity fails, the world will see "Hell on Earth", people murdering others without punishment, wanton raping in the streets and cannibalism.

Secular USA

I've heard it so many times, I'm beginning to be able to finish peoples' sentences for them once they begin.  Somehow, these sneaky preachers, in an attempt to justify their own personal beliefs have managed to start a modern-day lie, right in the face of provable historical fact.  The lie says, "The United States is a Christian country" or "the forefathers established the United States to be a Christian country" or something similar.  Again - these statements regarding the USA being Christian are a lie.

Who's Yo Daddy

According to the Christian church, Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecies of the Bible up to this date concerning the Messiah.  For instance, for Jesus to be the Messiah, he would have to be born in the city of Bethlehem [Micah 5:2].  The Bible also says that Jesus must be of the line of King David [Jeremiah 23:5].

The Bible says a lot more, but if one of these isn't true, then the rest can be written-off as pure coincidence.  For Jesus to be the Messiah, all of the pieces must be in place.  Either that or the prophecy is wrong.  If that's the case, then the whole Bible is wrong and the discussion can be stopped here - checkmate.

Christian Wars - Atheist Wars

When Christians and Atheists duel in intellectual battle, one theme always arises: How much damage each side has done in the name of their beliefs.

Atheists like to talk about the damage done in the name of God, namely the Crusades, the Inquisition and various smaller atrocities such as the murder of gays and abortion doctors.  Christians usually bring up Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin.  Now it's time to set the record straight.

Joseph Stalin was most likely an Atheist.  However, he did not commit the atrocities because he was an Atheist, so there is no direct correlation to be drawn from this conclusion.

Darwin and the Human Eye

Christians love to tout this line from Darwin's On The Origin of Species:

Organs of extreme Perfection and Complication.   To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.

Ann Coulter - Easy Target

I know I'm risking criticism for "picking on such an easy target", but Ann Coulter needs another moment in the box of shame.  This woman has the gall to call herself an educated person.  This woman is off the charts when it comes to red-faced-rant-batsh*t crazy.  Chekc out the video for yourself and tell me I'm wrong.

Woo!  Mean and nasty.  Here she goes again.

Enjoy!  Oh and by the way, she also says, in her books, that Liberals are Godless (ahem... this reminds me of a story of kettles and pots), claims to be the good-guy(gal) and believes that she is doing good in the world.

Sorry, Ann - but you're nuts.

Oh - and she says she giggles at the thought of Atheists burning in Hell.  Let me know if Ann Coulter does not represent you.  Maybe we can find some common ground.

Proving a Negative

Christians, as a whole, seem to believe that since scientists can not prove the nonexistence of God, then the only other option is that God must exist.  They try to shift the burden of proof from themselves to the rest of humanity.

There are two things going on here.

1. Nobody can prove that something does not exist.
2. The default conclusion is not that because something can not be proven that it must be true.  It is also not natural that just because someone believes in this mysterious, invisible, undetectable thing that their beliefs must therefore be respected.

Hellfire and Brimstone

Preachers and priests (I'll just refer to them as priests for the rest of this entry) have found the cash-cow of Christianity in the form of Hell.  There's no better way to keep those pews full and nothing takes less work for a lazy priest than scaring the "hell" out of his congregation.  The congregation becomes as sheep - instinctively following the priest on whatever whim grabs him in the moment, because without the priest, they would surely suffer for all eternity in a fiery torment which was created and set aside just for doubters like them.

The point of this blog entry, is that Hell is just as imaginary and just as baloney as everything else the priest is describing.  I'll break it down from a Christian perspective:

Luke 16:14-31 details a story of a man lamed Lazarus, and an unnamed rich man.  The Lazarus in this story is likely not supposed to be the Lazarus who was resurrected.  Instead, this is just some other guy named Lazarus.

In this story, the rich man goes to hell, and Lazarus goes to Heaven.  Lazarus receives a message from the rich man, who begs for just a drop of water on his tongue.  So the question is:  Is this a story about eternal suffering?  To answer that question, let's look at the story.  Lazarus, supposedly is a good man, honorable, worthy of heaven.  The rich man is... what?  He is not described as being evil.  Neither is he described as being an unrepentant sinner.  He's just rich.

Jesus is known for delivering parables to try to teach lessons to his followers, and that's just what this story is - a parable.  This is not a story of eternal torment in Hell for those who don't go to Heaven.

The lake of fire, as described in Revelation is a description of destruction, not violent torment.  The gnashing of teeth is the weeping before the destruction.  The worm which never dies describes the trash heap outside of Jerusalem where fires burned up the trash.  Living people were never thrown into the trash heap to be burned - ever.

So, the whole idea of a place/dimension of torture is silly.  There is no Biblical evidence of such a place.

The next question is, then, why do priests constantly scream about Hell and suffering on the pulpit?  MONEY!  What better way to get you to follow of the rules, like tithing (cha-ching!), bringing your friends and family and making them tithe (cha-ching!) and giving more till it hurts?  That's right - Hell is all about money.

Now that you know, every time you hear a priest talk about Hell, and then pass around the offering plate, the preacher is only after your wallet.

Defend The Faith

Ephesians 6: 10-18, in the Bible, describes the Armor of God.  It involves a sword, a shield, a girdle (likely a belt), a breastplate and shoes of some sort.  One has to ask, though, why God needs you to be armed to the teeth?

Modern theologians explain that this is because Satan and the wicked ways of mankind are out to get us.  We must protect ourselves from evil things like temptation, false belief and Teletubbies.  However, just considering this brings up another question:  Why do Christians get so defensive when you question their faith?

"Gods are fragile things; they may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense." 
-- Chapman Cohen

This quote really sums it up.  Christians have to become apologists with even more vigor than skeptics or Atheists, because their beliefs are harder to defend.  I say they are impossible to defend.

The typical tactic for a Christian who has had his or her religion challenged is to try to calmly explain that the questioner just doesn't understand.  When the questioner invalidates that statement, the apologist has a series of arguments in their arsenal, all of which are equally worthless, but together form a confusing brier patch that not every Atheist is willing to trudge through.  For instance, when the power of prayer was offered as a subject of debate, one reader responded:

"The problem is your just taking snipits out of the Bible without understanding the whole context."

Really?  I thought that is what Christians do all day long?  They preach that the Bible is a whole and complete book.  They claim that the Bible is factual, including historical events (which will be discussed in a later blog post).  They also claim that each individual part is as truthful as the whole... until you show them three verses, which all say the same thing, but question their faith.

Here's another quote from the apologist:

"As far as moving mountains go. Is it likely to happen-no. Is it possible yes."

The Bible says that if you have the faith the size of a tiny, little mustard seed, you can move a mountain.  You will tell the mountain to move from here to there and it will - period.  There are no caveats listed at all.  The apologist admits that the Bible is true, by saying it could happen, but also admits that it's not likely to ever happen.

That's exactly the point.  Christians say they believe it, but admit that it is false - yet they keep believing it it!  They defend a faith which I'm sure at least most of them, deep down inside, know to be completely wrong.

Pray about it.

One universal beliefs of all sects of Christianity (except maybe Christian Scientists, which I don't really understand) is the belief in prayer.  Christians believe that prayer can cause or inspire miracles to happen, from the mundane to anything at all - the sky's the limit.

I contend that prayer is useless, boring and gives people false hope.  As evidence, I submit the following Bible verses (since the Bible is where the whole idea of prayer comes form anyway).


 In Matthew 7:7 Jesus says:

Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Did you notice the subtle caveat in this scripture?  No?  Read it again.  Still can't find it?  Me neither.  This scripture says that if you pray, you're going to have your prayer answered - period.

How about this scripture:


In Matthew 17:20 Jesus says:

For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

Nothing will be impossible - nothing.  Not even moving a mountain - literally.  The Bible doesn't say it will be like moving a mountain - it says you will command the mountain to move and it will move.

Prayer has never been answered.  The Godless Geeks put it this way in their list of proofs of God's existence:

ARGUMENT FROM MIRACLES (I)
(1) My aunt had cancer.
(2) The doctors gave her all these horrible treatments.
(3) My aunt prayed to God and now she doesn't have cancer.
(4) Therefore, God exists.

Christians tout this kind of "answered prayer" all the time.  But, nobody seems to give credit to the doctor who attended school, studied, learned and applied the right kind of medicine to give the aunt the best chance she could have.  No, it was God.  So why even give her the medicine?  Some will say "the medicine is God's way of curing her".  What a cop-out!

Three times this week people have offered to pray for me.  In retaliation, I offer to think for them.

Prayers are never answered because God does not exist.

Concerned Women For America

Afghan Burka

The title is the official title of a group of women who have banded together to take on "important" issues in the United States today.  Unfortunately, all of the issues are based on fundamentalist Christian values, are oppressive, backwards and mean.  Here are some examples:

• CWFA actively fights against gay rights of any form.
• CWFA actively fights against any sex education which is not 100% abstinence-based.
• CWFA supports the Boy Scouts' ban against admitting gays.
• CWFA targets politicians who disagree with their agenda and openly label them as "anti-religionists".
• CWFA donates millions of dollars every year to support other Religious-Right groups.
• CWFA donates money and/or lawyers to fight for those accused of breaking laws, if the law the individual broke is one the CWFA agrees should be broken.
• CWFA blames Feminism for destroying the family structure and breaking up families.

Witnessing To An Atheist

According to this website, in order to get an Atheist to see the light is to threaten him or her with God's wrath.  This author actually has the guts (and the ignorance) to blame floods, hurricanes, cancer and a myriad of other misfortunes on God warning us.  Warning us of what?  Of something much, much worse... [insert creepy orchestra music here].

The author indirectly tries to scare us about Hell.  Yes, Hell, where the loving God sends you for all eternity if you even look cross-eyed at him.  Oh, but he loves you and even though he caused you to be sinful (he did design you exactly as he wanted you, didn't he?) he is going to punish you FOR ALL ETERNITY when you fail.

This website gets more wrong then it gets right.  The website describes evolution as a mathematical formula.  The formula they use is CHANCE x TIME = EVOLUTION.  This is categorically false.  There is no chance involved in evolution.  Natural selection is called that for a reason, otherwise it might be called "chance selection" or "natural oops".  I believe that this website falls in to the "misleading and ignorant" category, but might fit just as well in to the "dishonest" category if the author(s) was doing it on purpose.  This is the reason the Godless Geeks made their list of "Hundreds of Proofs of God's Existence".  (Note: this is a tongue-in-cheek list - not to be taken seriously, but I'm sure you've heard many of these before.)

God said, "Oops!"

In order for this whole Christian thing to work, God must be perfect. God must be all-present, all-knowing, and infallible. If it were proven that God was able to make mistakes, even one, then the whole of Christianity would come crashing down. Questions would start to be asked and people would lose faith. The pastors, whose jobs rely on Christians believing and tithing would be at risk. No way they could let that cat out of the bag.

Unfortunately, the Bible itself reveals God to be just another bumbling guy, just like Thor or Zeus.

Pat Robertson - The 700 Club

I think we can all agree that the Taliban of Afghanistan are some extremely vile people.  They are so fundamental that they will do anything to anyone who disagrees with them, including stoning them to death without the slightest hint of remorse.

It has been coined (and I wish I had done it first), but we have a real American Taliban in our midst.  His name is Pat Robertson.  Here are some examples of his own words to prove the point:

The Constitution of the United States, for instance, is a marvelous document for self-government by the Christian people. But the minute you turn the document into the hands of non-Christian people and atheistic people they can use it to destroy the very foundation of our society. And that's what's been happening.

The Constitution was not written for Christians.  The Constitution explicitly states, as does other documents such as the Treaty of Tripoli, that the United States is not based on any religion, and this includes Christianity.  Pat Robertson is either a liar or isn't as smart as he pretends to be.  Here's some more:

The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians.

Really?  I believe there are many women who want their rights, who want to be treated fairly and not as less worthy who are not lesbians, do not kill their children, practice no witchcraft, have not significantly damaged capitalism or left their husbands.  The Taliban are penis-centered, and I think Pat Robertson is too.  Here's some more:




The fact that his sick person continues to receive money from well-wishers and so-called Christians astounds me.  This guy is a jerk, but.... He follows the Bible more closely than most other Christians.  God used to do this stuff to commit genocide, punish his followers for flirting with someone elses' god or just because they were ignoring him

Christian Women

I'm sorry, ladies, but either you are unaware of what Paul says, you have your man whooped, or you are in denial... or you are whooped.  There's no classy, sophisticated way to put that.

In Genesis 19, Lot offers his two virgin daughters to a mob to rape as they saw fit, all to protect his two male guests.  Yes, they turned out to be angels, but the fact that God thought that this man was "worthy" shows where God's morals are.

Atheism is not a religion.

This seems to go without saying, but it has been brought up twice already this week.  The person sending the email tries to convince me that Atheism is really no different from Christianity in that they both hold ideas about the universe and how to live.

Now it is time to set the record straight.  Atheism is so far from religion that anyone who makes this comment is truly ignorant of the facts.  The following are reasons why Atheism is different from religion, in this case, Christianity.

• Christianity claims to get all of its moral values from a book of scripture (which they actually don't).  Atheism has no such book.
• Christianity believes in the immortal soul.  Atheism does not.
• Christianity teaches of a supernatural sky-god who takes an interest in our daily lives and thoughts.  Atheists don't believe in any supernatural power, ghosts or other non-material manifestations of intelligence.
• Christians range from casual to fundamental, the latter of which will not change their minds about their beliefs no matter what evidence they are faced with.  Atheists generally believe whatever the latest and greatest science says, and will change our minds in the face of new evidence.
• Christians fill every gap in science with their god.  Atheists look for gaps in science as an exciting new gap to be filled by science.
• Many Christians threaten people with an everlasting torment where the smoke of their torment will rise to the heavens and the worm never dies.  Atheists have no such place.
• Christians perform a type of apple-polishing by giving to non-profit organizations (their Bible says they must, so they're trying to stay on God's good side).  Atheists have no God, so when we do the same thing it is only out of the kindness of our hearts and the charity of our character.
• Christians have killed people who are opposed to their beliefs (abortion doctors, Mohammedans, etc.), while Atheists don't do the same.
• Christians are taught to accept the status-quo, including being poor and teaching their children that it is okay to be poor and raise their families in squallier, while non-lazy Atheists strive for a better life for themselves and their children.
• Christians have fought wars over their beliefs.  Atheists have not.
• Christians demonstrate that they have an overblown sense of entitlement.  You can not criticize Christian values or beliefs in a crowd of strangers and expect not to be confronted, sometimes violently.  Atheists are fair game.
• Christians can spend an enormous amount of time on their knees telepathically trying to communicate with their god.  Atheists are only on their knees when they get racked by a softball during a game, when they're looking for the Clorox under the sink, when they're cleaning behind the toilet and similar activities.

So, as you can see, just from these few examples, Atheists don't do anything that would mark them as performing any acts like a religion.  So calling Atheism a religion is just silly.

To begin...

This week, so far, I have been accused of being hate-filled, of worshiping Satan and of being ignorant of the truth of Jesus Christ.  I would say that the way I have been treated by Christians is confusing, but that wouldn't be true... I expected to be mistreated.  I also expected red-faced rants, like when I told this person I was glad that they didn't follow the teaching of every scripture in the Bible, as this world has enough evil.

"Talk about evil. If you don't obey ALMIGHT GOD CREATOR of man and the universe you serve the devil It doesn't get any mork wicked and evil than that. My JESUS is a HOLY GOD Pure gracious and merciful. His death on the cross for all my sins will definately not be in vain. Pastor Irwin Issadore Keller jewish beliver for over 30 year. Ordained to marry and bury. Called by GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF !"

I attempted to start a dialogue in regards to this, but, as you can see by the email reply, this person's communication ability is not where it needs to be in order to carry on an actual conversation.  It is a pity, too.

I hesitate to draw a conclusion from this rant, but I feel that my readers would like to understand my position and thought process, so here goes:  This person, Mr. Issadore, has been deeply insulted and feels the need to lash out at me, apparently to defend God.  It is interesting, though, as this person obviously does not believe that God is capable of defending himself.  Mr. Issadore's use of the CAPSLOCK button calls into question his ability to effectively communicate, and one wonders how such a person could be a real Pastor.  I can only imagine how much he yells and rants on the pulpit.  Perhaps this is why he has turned to Craigslist in order to find new converts.

Alas - this is all the time I have for now.  I will do my best to update this blog at least twice a week.  Thanks for reading!