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!