I Think I Finally Get It

If you're an atheist, you probably hear this a lot: You hate God. It's not that you don't believe in God, it's that you totally hate him. Probably because your relationship with your father was bad. But you totally believe in him.

This argument is, of course, wildly frustrating. You're inside your own brain. You know what you think and believe and for someone else to tell you different is, at best, rude. Plus, how do you argue with someone who thinks they know you better than you know you? There's really nowhere to go with that.

I love music. I have always loved music. When I was five, my favorite record* was by the Tijuana Brass. I would play it endlessly and dance to it. (I was never into kids' music at all.) I played clarinet for six years. The last two years, I was playing several hours a day (up to six on weekends) and earned a scholarship to study music. Nerve damage to my right hand ended that dream, but music is still as important to me as food.

That's not true. I have chosen to spend money on music instead of food. Music is more important to me than food.

Anyway, last week, my brother-in-law (hereinafter "BIL") was at the house at the height of my husband's mixing marathon (he sent the album for mastering Wednesday). We don't have soundproofing, so you can hear the music fairly clearly on the first floor. My BIL asked me if that drove me crazy, because it would drive him crazy to hear that all the time.

I was flabbergasted.

The Awkward Out (album name) has been the background to everything I have done in the last year: cleaning, bathing, gaming, watching TV, if my husband was awake and not in the room with me, that's what I was listening to. And I love it. I've been bereft since the album went for mastering and my husband, burnt out after two weeks of 16 hour days, hasn't been writing/recording.

It turns out that my BIL doesn't like music. He doesn't like any music at all. Music is as irrelevant to him as God is to me.

That seriously freaks me out. I don't understand it. At first, I thought my BIL just doesn't like Skull Has a Secret's (band name) style of music. I don't judge anyone's taste in music. I like some weird stuff myself, so I'm not judgey about anyone else's taste.

No, he just doesn't like music. I find this very hard to comprehend. So I think I get where believers are coming from in refusing to believe I don't believe in God.

However, no matter how bizarre a statement I may find "I don't like music" to be, I trust that my BIL knows how he feels on this subject. I don't argue with him when he says he likes to watch Nascar. That's five hours of left turn, but if he says he likes it, he does. And if he says he doesn't like music, he doesn't.

And when I say I don't believe in God, I don't. Trust me on this one.



*Yes, I am totally that old.

Great, God Just Glorified Himself All Over My Rug

God won't give you more than you can handle.

People used to spout that at me and I would seethe- at the age of 6. The implication is, of course, that if you fail to handle something, it's because you're lazy, not because it's too much for you. After all, god wouldn't do that to you. God is love. And killing Egyptians.

That is, of course, bullshit. Things happen because they do. Or because we cause them to. Or because somebody else caused them to.

This explanation, however, raises the level of horrifying:

God knows exactly how much I can handle, but oftentimes He chooses to display His glory by placing me in situations far above my ability to handle them so that He can come in and show Himself. Sometimes, He has to bring me to a point where I realize that I just can't do it on my own. It is when I confess, "I need you, Lord!" that He is glorified and freely pours out His grace.

I have taught a child to swim. At first, I supported her in water up to my waist for my own convenience, and well above her head, by holding her up with my hands on her stomach, so she could learn the movements of swimming without having to be able to float. Then we moved to the very shallow end of the pool and learned how to float. I chose the shallow end so that if she sank, she could just put her feet down and have her head above the water. Then we combined the floating and the swimming, with me intervening immediately as soon as I felt she might possibly be starting to have trouble. (Cuz drowning other people's children just isn't cool.)

The point is, were I god, according to this person's logic, I would have thrown this child into the deep end and only saved her if she clearly articulated that I was far better at swimming than her and she really needed help.

So, how many of you would pat me on the back and call me a responsible adult if I did that? And how many of you would hold my head under the water until I stopped arguing about it? Yeah, I'd do that, too.

But I should totally get down on my knees and thank the lord for allowing me to drown until I specifically told him how fantastic he is.

I'm Filled with Squishy Organs (Atheist Bashing)

That's me: big, hairy and poorly dressed. Oh, and rampaging.

I hate this kind of casual smack at atheists. I really do. It just makes me tired. And it so common.

Don’t be afraid to be pious.

We lose nothing in being devout and we gain ineffable benefits.

Do not be afraid to bend yourself down before God especially and also to the angels and saints our intercessors and patrons and be simply pious. Man was made to be pious. This is the essence of religion, without which we are empty shells: to give due reverence to God. The sin of our first parents came from trying to be the opposite of pious: self-sufficient self-gods. That was defiance of due piety. But people can drift into the same emptiness of life by neglect of piety and devotion, neglect of fostering the habits of devotion.

Consider the benefits of devotion for a moment, and then consider the downside of being – not impious, in the sense of being wicked – but slothful and haphazard and lukewarm.

[emphasis mine]

I am an atheist and I am not an empty shell. I am not empty at all.

I am an atheist and I am not slothful, haphazard or lukewarm.

I am an atheist and I am human, too.

I am an atheist and I am not less than you, John Zuhlsdorf.

I am an atheist and I have feelings and they can be hurt.

I am an atheist and if you prick me, I will bleed.

I am an atheist and you hate me.

I am an atheist and you've never met me.

I am an atheist and I'm done apologizing.

I am an atheist and I'm done asking.

I am an atheist and I will make you listen.

I am an atheist and I've come here to demand your respect.

I am an atheist and I'm not leaving until I've got it.

#ThankingGod

I have got to stop clicking on twitter's trending topics. I just have to stop, if only for the sake of my blood pressure. But, in the waning moments before my heart explodes, I give you #ThankingGod:

Thanking God for another day!! BE GREAT TODAY PEOPLE!!!!

I'm thanking God for letting me wake up to see another beautiful day :)

Thanking God For Waking Me Up To See Another Day!!!!

Yes, there is no explanation for the world continuing to turn and the sun continuing to shine. Oh, look, it's another minute of existence- Thank you God! Honestly, some people have unbelievably low standards.

Thanking God for everything.

Ebola, AIDS, tornadoes, hurricanes, nuclear power reactor meltdowns, WWII, atomic weapons, cancer, child molestation, you know, everything.

Thanking God that Thanking God is trending again!!!

How meta.

Ha! I was just "thanking God" for my (awesome) job too. Literally.

I have literally no idea what literally means in that sentence.

Thanking God, for sight. #GodBlessTheBlind

Wow, nothing like combining your Pharisee-esque public devotion to god with outrageous ablism. Fantastic!

Thanking God for sendin this phone so fast! #TEAMBLACKBERRY

Oh, so that's what God was doing instead of protecting people from tornadoes. Okay, then.

God is Thanking God that most people who believe in him don't read the bible

lulz!

I just gave a homeless man my last. Then cried thanking God that I have a full tank of gas. God is so good

So, first we have a Christian thanking god that she isn't blind, now we have a Christian thanking god she isn't homeless like that guy she just ran into. Wow.

Thanking God, for unbelievers, cuz it strengthens me to be able to change their destiny.

And if you fail or just don't reach in time, we burn forever in hell! But that's okay, at least we strengthened you! Don't mind us, we'll just be screaming our lungs out for the next eternity for your sake.

Honestly.

Now That's Just Mean!

I never stopped to consider this question:

The reason, according to Genesis, that humans have pain and suffering is that Yhwh cursed all humanity because the first two humans made a rather understandable mistake. Now, of course, I have considered how absurdly, breathtakingly cruel it would be to punish all humanity for the mistakes of two humans, but I never considered why we are still being punished. After all, Jesus died for our sins, right? That definitely includes Original Sin. So why do we still live under the curse of original sin?

My answer is that there is no god, no Adam and Eve, no original Sin and no curse. Bad stuff happens because it does. People grow old and die because entropy always wins.

Christians, however, have to come up with some other reason, and it is as breathtakingly cruel as the curse itself:

We know that the curse is the result of man's sin. And why then are we, who are forgiven of sin, still living the curse?

Because the curse is a constant reminder that we are in desperate need of salvation. It was designed with a purpose--put there for our good—so that we might understand our need for a saviour.

Wow. That's . . . indescribable. Imagine that your great great great great great great great great grandfather murdered someone, was tried, convicted and spent the remainder of life in prison. Would you find it fair for you to be in prison for his crime? Of course not. Your grandparents weren't alive when the crime was committed, why should you be punished for it? Your grandfather already paid his debt to society, why should you have to do it again?

What if the answer to that question was "yes, the bet is paid, but we're going to imprison every member of your family forever to show everyone else that we take murder very seriously"?

Apparently, if you're Christian, you think that's love.

Words Have Meanings: Unique

This is the most joyous creature on earth. Starting now, I am the founder of a religion that promises each truly true believer their own sloth.

Unique: Characteristic of a particular category, condition, or locality: a problem unique to coastal areas.

In fairness, the above is the third definition of unique, because that is the way it is being used in the post I am snarking on. I am all about the fairness.

As used above, "unique" denotes something that can only be applied to the thing in question. Hurricanes are problems unique to coastal regions. Hurricanes don't form over land, so you won't see hurricanes in Indiana or Iowa, for example. (Um, Germany?, for the Europeans.) This is important, because if you say certain characteristics are unique to a specific group or place, you can't use characteristics that can apply to anyone or anywhere. If you do, I can only assume that either you don't know what "unique" means, or that you have a rather odd view of other groups. I'm going with the latter.

The Unique Characteristics of a Godly Woman:

Here are some characteristics of a godly woman--check off the ones that describe you:

• Gracious

I'm an atheist and I'm gracious! [checks definition of "gracious"] Well, at least some of the time. We'll give that one a half check.

• Virtuous

No. I'm not that, not by the stretch of anyone's imagination.

• Sober

Yes, actually. Drinking alcohol while taking Vicodin is a good way to end up with liver failure.

• Chaste

BWAHAHAHAHA- um, no.

• Prudent

I am probably the most practical person you know. In fact, that is why I did not major in philosophy. I love philosophy, but I am simply too practical to really engage a discussion of whether or not the real world is the really real world.

• Discreet

Well, it's not like I have sex in public, except that one time, in the park . . . okay, no.

• Peaceable

Fuck yeah! Seriously, I think pacifism is the solution to a lot of humanity's problems. I'm just too practical to think it's a workable solution.

• Patient

That I most definitely am.

• Kind

Yes. I am kind.

• Faithful

To what? God? No. My friends, my beliefs, my principals, few as they are? Yes.

• Joyful

Overall, yes.

• Good

Now I'm getting all kinds of offended. Only Christian women are good? How rude!

• Merciful

I haven't set anyone on fire yet. Considering the provocations, that's damn merciful.

• Pleasant

That's really a question for people who interact with me.

• Ready

O.o

• Honorable

Yes. I'm not sure the writer would accept my personal sense of honor as such, but she didn't define "honor" for me, so I'm giving this one a check.

• Benevolent

You know, that's an odd word to describe a person with. Usually you see "benevolent" used to describe dictators or gods.

• Keeper at Home

Typing this at work, so, no.

• In Subjection

To what?

• Quiet Spirit

If my spirit were any louder, you'd all be deaf.

• Modest

What definition? How she is no doubt defining "modesty", purely on the basis of skirt lengths and such, no, but what about the real definition of "modest"? I had a heck of a time saying "yes" to any of this stuff, and it's all positive, or meant to be, so . . . another half check.

• Obedient

To what? The laws of the US? Yes.

• Loves husband and children

Who the fuck doesn't love at least their children? That's got to be the most insulting thing I've ever read. Only Christian women love their husbands and children? Fuck you!

• Teaching the younger women

Doing so right now, asshat. As we speak. So, ha!

There Is No Why

As soon as I saw what Stephen Hawking had to say about Heaven, I knew my reader would explode with articles denouncing, and completely misunderstanding, his words. For some reason, a large portion of Christians seem to think Hawking is the High Priest of Atheism and they must! denounce! him!

My reader did not disappoint. I could blog about nothing but theistic reactions to Hawking's thoughts from now until doomsday (December, 2012). I'll spare you the stoopid (see how nice I am?) and give you this one representative reaction:

I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack, but I missed something here. Hawking was asked about the value of knowing WHY we are here, and responded above about societies, survival, Darwin, yada yada. But what I'd like to know if, as he says, our very existence is "pure chance", WHY ARE WE HERE? Why should I care to seek the "greatest value of our action"? Why should my personal goals include the consideration of "our" anyway? And what if I belong to a society that isn't fittest? Wouldn't natural selection wipe out my goals, my greatest value of action anyway? I'm not being facetious here, either. If anyone out there wants to take a stab at WHY, from a Darwinian and atheistic point of view we're here, I'd like to know. It's only fair. I asked believers why doesn't God heal amputees. It's the nonbelievers turn.

Here's the answer: There is no why. That's it, really. There is no reason, no grand design, no plan, nothing. We are because we could be, and all things that could happen do happen at least once.

I know, right? It's so fucking mindblowing that we are not the center of the universe. We're just a speck of dust in the vastness of infinity and in the grand scheme of things, we matter not at all, except to ourselves. We could disappear off the face of the Earth right now and the vast majority of the universe wouldn't notice a thing.

It's okay. Just breathe. You'll be alright, I promise. I didn't say you didn't matter to anyone at all. I'm sure you do. And that's why you should seek out the "greatest value of [your] actions". Because to other humans, it does matter, and each other is all we have. There is no god to save us, no Armageddon to wipe the slate clean, so salvation and no glory. If you want good, you'll have to make it happen. Just you. And me.

We'll be okay. We always have been. You see, it's been this way the whole time. There was never a time when it wasn't just you and me. You may not have known it, but this is the way it always was and you got along just fine.

So take a deep breath and carry on with whatever it is you do.

Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

At 6:01 on Saturday, May 21, my husband turned to me and said, "Well, we'll be seeing a lot of new atheists soon."

He's wrong. He's not totally wrong. I think the children of those who believed Camping and watched their parents lose everything to a rapture that never happened may end up questioning their faith, but the adults? No. For one thing, they're too invested in their belief. Once you've sold your home, quit your job and put down your dog for your beliefs, you're not backing down. For another, the Bible provides the perfect out for these people: Deuteronomy 18:20-22.

“But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 18:21 Now if you say to yourselves, ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ – 18:22 whenever a prophet speaks in my name and the prediction is not fulfilled, then I have not spoken it; the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him.”

So, let me get this straight, predictions that do come true are from Yhwh, predictions that do not come true are not from Yhwh. Heads, I win, tails, you lose.

It's almost like the writer of Deuteronomy knew these sorts of things would happen- over and over again. Funny, that.

So don't expect that Camping's devotees will lose their faith along with their homes and jobs. They might, might mind you, stop listening to Camping, but their belief in god will remain unaffected.

I Are Smart- and Edumacated!

Sir Isaac Newton: I don't think he lived anytime recently. Or he was the bassist for a hair metal band.

I'd like to start this off with some facts. You may have heard of them, facts. They are things about which one cannot have an opinion. You may not like the facts, but they are as they are, how you feel about them doesn't change them.

Generally speaking, the more fundamentalist one is, the less educated one is and vice versa. It's a direct correlation: christian fundamentalism=low levels of education. This is no doubt the result of a complex interaction between the traits that create fundamentalism and the traits that prevent secondary education. Is this true for every fundamentalist? Of course not. Nothing ever holds true for every single individual. Well, okay, nobody can breathe in a vacuum. Other than that, of course there will be exceptions. However, it is not out of line to assume that a fundamentalist is poorly educated.

Generally speaking, as far as I can tell, there is some sort of correlation between being a christian fundamentalist and having a lower IQ. (That same research shows that the really smart people choose Shintoism, in case you were wondering.) Again, does this mean fundamentalist christianity causes IQ loss? No. It means that if you unquestioningly accept the literal truth of a book that starts with a talking, legged snake, you might not have the necessary reasoning capacity to see why that's a problem. It also does not mean that being a fundamentalist christian automatically means you have a low IQ. Again, on average. Some people fall outside of average.

So, why do I bring this up? Well, for one thing, if you're considering entering the wonderful wide world of Ponzi schemes, you need to know your target audience . . . no, wait, the Rapture Ready folks are all kinds of offended I think they're kind of gullible*.

Hi all. After reading some of the negative e mails posted in the interesting e mails section , I seem to see a common theme among those who are critical of christians, and what we believe. They seem to always assume that we are uneducated, easily manipulated people. This is a myth that we christians need to try and dispel.

Well, you could start by not saying jackass stupid shit about global warming and homosexuals. How about that?

Sir Isaac Newton, one of the most brilliant minds ever, was a pre trib , prophecy believing christian.

No, Newton would not have hung out at Rapture Ready. He lived in a slightly different time than we do now. Not that I think he really was a pretrib Christian. This pretrib stuff is relatively recent.

I met 4 people at an event this week, all avid christians, all with PHDs.

Pics or it didn't happen! Really, what was the event? Church? Doctors' Night at the local church? I can't even imagine what "avid" means in that context.

Although I myself am no genius, and I don't want to sound arrogant, let me state some of my accomplishments.

I don't mean to sound racist, but . . .

I have a BS in accounting, am an instrument rated pilot, an advanced open water diver, I had two scholarships in college, one academic, the other athletic (golf) and years later still carry a zero handicap.

What does your golf handicap have to do with your intelligence or understanding of science?

I became a christian after reading Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth, which led to a life long study of Bible prophecy. The liberal media seems to always portray christians as uneducated kooks. The bible states clearly that in the last days, the wise would be called fools, and fools would think themselves wise.

Oh, well if the Bible says it . . . the Bible says bats are birds.

The idea that you can dispel a myth from the mind of a fool is a lovely notion but the fact that they knowingly choose to do that which is not convenient tells us they already know it's a myth before they speak it.

Wut? Okay, I'll try again. We'll remove everything before the "but"

The idea that you can dispel a myth from the mind of a fool is a lovely notion but the fact that they knowingly choose to do that which is not convenient tells us they already know it's a myth before they speak it.

The fact that they knowingly choose to do that which is not convenient?

Okay, we'll remove the "not convenient" and replace it with "inconvenient", maybe that will help.

The idea that you can dispel a myth from the mind of a fool is a lovely notion but the fact that they knowingly choose to do that which is not convenient inconvenient tells us they already know it's a myth before they speak it.

Nope. There is no way to make heads or tails of that.

There are a great many very accomplished true believers. In the end, the world will mock us because it hates us. There are probably many true believers out there who were never able to go to school and are dirt poor, but none-the-less are significant in God's eyes, and probably in the eyes of anyone they offer assistance to during the course of their lives. We Children of God are very very fortunate, no matter how the world treats us.

I would imagine, being a case in point, that there were just as many, if not more, dirt poor nonbelievers without access to education.

I used to scuba dive when I was younger and single. Besides a few cold murky lakes and underwater caves, I've dived in the Mediterranean, all around the Island of Okinawa Japan, Guam, and the waters off of Florida.

Again, I fail to see what your leisure time activities have to do with your intelligence, though I am jealous of your travels.

I passed the MENSA entrance test when I was 16. Technically that makes me a 'genius'.

Personally, I think it just means Im good at taking tests. That skill does occasionally come in handy though.

Okay, I'll give you high scores for intelligence, though not for passing the MENSA test. A good many people don't seem to realize that intelligence tests aren't the best measure of intelligence.

these same people that mock Christians, media, movie "stars" and "movers and shakers" are heavily into Scientology. I mean, come on!

This "religion" was started by a guy who said he was going to start his own religion. And died in prison for his stupid worldly crimes. And the rules and regulations would rival the most superstitious of any pagan/space cult belief.

And don't even get me started on atheists! They think that they are their own god and they put their faith in people. People they know are weak and going to fail them, a lot. People whose moral center depends on that person's "moral standards" are. Which changes with the wind or flavor of the month.

All I am saying is, who is the ignorant one?!!!

Yes, last month I was totally into setting puppies on fire, this month I'm vegan. C'mon now.

Related to the OP there is the myth that Christians are weak and need a crutch to get through this life. When I hear this I just mention that Chuck Norris and Albert Pujols are Christians. Pretty much blows that theory out of the water.

Um, you do know those "facts" about Chuck Norris aren't actually true, right?**

I am a Christian and a lawyer

[insert lawyer joke here]

so I am no dummy, but that does not contribute in any way towards my salvation. Intelligence is just a gift from God much like any other talent, and as the others pointed out, it is no guarantee of wisdom or maturity. To me, atheists come across as whiny, boastful, and obnoxious, and they really don't tend to "play well with others."

If the Father has bestowed some talent upon you, then you ought to use it to glorify Him and not your own ego or theory of the universe.

But what if my talent is being whiny, boastful and obnoxious?

Also, sometimes I think that people who are atheists have just consistently gotten the dirty end of the stick all through life and never had anyone who really cared for them. So, I guess it is all the harder for them to understand how great the love of the Father is for them. Maybe that is why they are so unduly negative about everything. Just a guess.

Or maybe, just maybe, people aren't too friendly and perky after you call them whiny, boastful and obnoxious. Just a thought.

I have a BS Physics and am working on my MS Geophysics. Everything I studied in physics only supported or furthered my faith. I will admit, however, that I did have a crisis of faith when I started my geo courses. However, after some careful study of Genesis, I don't really see conflict between the Bible and geology either.

Translation: I had some cognitive dissonance and I couldn't handle it, so I changed how I interpreted the Bible until it went away.

I know for certain that a few of our physics faculty are Christians, as well a large portion of our science students.

You mean like most of the US? Shocking!

To assume that Christians are all stupid and uneducated is just stupid and uneducated.

Yes, however, see facts above.

Anyway, I've found that those who are atheists (or even just non-believers in general) are the same type of people who believe in spending borrowed money to get out of debt. Not exactly smart.

I . . . wut?

The OP noted that people bash Christians by saying that we are uneducated, easily manipulated people. Perhaps I'm reading too much into this (or simply substituting my own understanding of certain kinds of bashers), but I equate this with saying that Christians are of low intelligence, so hopelessly stupid that we just don't "get it" that Christianity is all a baseless pack of fables and lies.

When they say such things, they are actually insulting not Christians but all uneducated, easily manipulated people and/or people of low intelligence (not just those who are Christian). It's obvious that the bashers have an underlying hatred of Christianity, an a priori belief that Christianity is bad, or at least worthless. So, by associating those of lesser intelligence with Christianity they are really revealing that they are contemptuous of people who are not educated and/or not very intelligent.

Actually, that's not what I, or anyone I've seen make this argument in good faith, means. What we mean is simpler than that. I don't hate people who are less intelligent. I am not contemptuous of them, either. However, what I'd like to ask this person is, when you choose a doctor, are you hoping for the doctor who got straight As in medical school, or the person who skated by with the lowest possible score zie could graduate with?

Is this because you are contemptuous of people who are less intelligent? No, it's because you are putting your life in their hands and you want to put your life in the most qualified hands possible. Well, the same goes with choosing whom to believe about religion. Do I trust the person who can't tell the Colbert Report is satire or Steven Hawking? Does that mean I hate people who can't understand irony and satire? No. I'm still not going to spend my time fearing hell on their say so.

*I think I could sell them 4 armed sweaters on the basis of the fact that you get twice as many arms for 200% the price!

**My favorite: When Chuck Norris jumps into a lake, he doesn't get wet, the water gets Norrised.

Rank Cruelty

He is laughing at your pain.

I worked for about a year in Morristown, NJ. They have a seeing eye dog training facility* in Morristown (or they used to), so I saw a lot of people training seeing eye dogs and a lot people being trained in using a seeing eye dog.

I was sitting on a bench in the park in the center of town during lunch, enjoying a truly spectacular spring day, when I woman with a seeing eye dog stopped in front of me. The trainer ran up to her (they would follow behind a little once the person was a little more familiar with the dog) and asked her what was wrong and she told him she was a little overwhelmed, just let her rest for a minute. I later learned that she was fairly new to being blind and hadn't gotten her confidence back about being out in the world.

Anyway, a woman walks up to her and starts petting the dog (do NOT pet the service dog) and babbling on about her uncle who was blind and never left the house and what a burden he was on the family and how nice that this woman was brave and outside. Yeah, srsly.

She left, and I said, "I'd much rather be blind than be that stupid," and the woman laughed. We chatted for a while and then she had to get back to learning to use a seeing eye dog and I had to get back to work. I really hope everything worked out for her.

I think of this woman, in our society today, when we don't abandon the blind or assume sinfulness led to their condition, when they have programs to read the internet to them, books on tapes and seeing eye dogs, being so nervous about the world when I read this:

"In regard to the man born blind (John 9), the question was asked of Jesus, “Who’s sin was it, this man’s or his parents’, that he was afflicted with blindness?” Jesus said it was neither. In other words, the question was a false dilemma. And those who asked it were trying to reduce to two options something that had more than two. There was another option. Jesus said, “It wasn’t because of his sin or his parents’ sin. This person was born blind so that the power of God and the grace of God may be made manifest.” That person was suffering not from persecution. His suffering was used by God to bring honor and glory to Christ.

I mention this instance because it is a clear biblical case in which suffering has theological value – not merit, but value – insofar that it is useful to the purposes of God.

That is so cruel. There is no glory there, only the sort of rank cruelty that is the privilege of the able. Only a person who has never suffered so could say something like that.

Think of this man, 2,000 years ago, born blind. Think of his life. There were no accommodations, no Americans with Disabilities Act, no organizations to help the disabled, no seeing eye dogs or canes. He was pretty much at the mercy of his family and a primitive, superstitious world. A primitive, superstitious world that viewed his disability as clear evidence of sin.

Imagine that you had the power to set things on fire with your mind. Imagine further that you proved it by setting a complete stranger on fire. And then, as they screamed in agony, you said, "Hey, this is all to make me look good, stop complaining." According to Jesus, that's exactly what he did.

That isn't glory, that is cruelty on a breathtaking scale. And these people celebrate it.

*At first I assumed there was some sort of wide scale industrial accident leading to a much higher than normal incidence of blindness, but I never go for the obvious answer first.

The Land Record for Atheist Blameshift Goes To . . .

Arielle Butler (@ARIELLElaflare)
5/2/11 12:05 AM
al-qaeda and the taliban were atheist groups, they did not even practice islamic religion, they used that as a cover up

Look, my guess is that Ms. Butler is a muslim and rather understandably doesn't want even more antimuslim sentiment dredged up by bin Laden's death. I sympathize, and I sincerely hope that does not happen. I also sympathize with the fact that for the average muslim, just living their life and trying to get by, bin Laden, et al. are really embarrassing and not what you want people thinking of when they think of muslims.

I get that.

However, blaming the atheists is not the solution to that problem. We are not religion's whipping boy, Ms. Butler. You know what an atheist group is? A group of people who don't believe in any gods. After that, we're out of guaranteed shared traits and run the gamut from conservatism to socialism, pacifism to NRA member, veganism to ranch owner, etc.

We are not here to provide you, and everyone else, with a convenient target for hatred, no matter what American Christians may have told you.

It is good to know that Christians aren't the only ones with a No True Scotsman fetish, though. Thanks for that. Now leave us out of it.

I Think I May Be God's Favorite Little Light and Other News

We'll start with the other news because what can follow the discovery that I may potentially be God's favorite little light?

When it comes to adolescents genuinely committing to their faith, a study found that their social environment determines how strong their faith level will be.

...

According to the study, titled “Seven Anchors of Religious Commitment,” parents, religious leaders, a faith community, rituals and traditions, faith tradition or denomination, God and sacred texts are crucial to a young person's faith.

Emily Layton, who conducted the analysis as part of her M.S. thesis for the study, explained to The Christian Post, “Relationships were extremely important – relationships with parents, with church leaders and relationships with people in their faith community. That was interesting to me, the relationships with other adults in their faith community as well as other younger teens.”

Shock, shocked I am! Religion is a function of society? The more religious the people around you, the more normalized ritual is in your community, the more likely you are to believe and believe strongly? It's almost like religious belief is like every other sort of belief: a function of it being so pervasive and normal that you never really think about it.

Well then.

Anyway, in the wake of the horse killing homophobes, somebody in real life* told me that the perpetrators could not have been Christian. For the record, I did not say that the perpetrators were Christian, I said that many of the people who spew homophobic hatred are. She not only strawmanned my argument, she whipped out a No True Scotsman so fast I got whiplash. I, of course, argued against the No True Scotsman and was told to read Isaiah and see if anyone who could do such a thing- kill horses, not spread hatred, I don't think she was really opposed to that- could possibly be the light of God, i.e., a Christian.

It's a damn good thing she used the phrase "light of God" because Isaiah is a big book, and what she was referencing, I think, is in chapter 58.

They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
³ ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
⁴ Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
⁵ Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?

So . . . I'm a socialist, which makes me obviously against worker exploitation, and I'm not in favor violence . . .

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice

I am so against injustice!

and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

I am so trying to break every yoke! It's the whole point of my blog.

⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

I do that (and then end up being the hungry, but whatever) and I rarely don't have someone sleeping on the couch in the basement.

when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

I've never actually seen a naked person in public, but if I did, you'd better believe I rush to cover that up.

⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;

Metaphorical healing, perhaps . . . wait! Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is totally making me better mentally.

then your righteousness^[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

If anyone can make an argument that "righteousness" and "rear guard" actually mean "Jägermonster", I will worship the Christian god with a fervor previously unseen in all 2,000 years of Christianity.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

oppression like American business and landowners being free to legally discriminate against gays? Malicious talk like telling people the gays are coming for your children? Like that?

DO THESE PEOPLE EVER READ THEIR OWN DAMN BOOK?

¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

How do they syncretize this with going galt? am I insane or are they?

then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

Which would doubtless make it hard to sleep, but seriously folks, by this measure, I'm the greatest fucking christian of all time and god's favorite little light. (Or the greatest Jew of all time, given that Isaiah is Old Testament.)

*Remember the lady who told the bus driver that god gave him his house? It was her. I wasn't talking to her, I was talking to another woman and she jumped right in to fallacy me into sputtering. She's fun like that.

Go Ahead and Have The Baby- but Don't Bring It to Church or Anything

The Fetus Fetishists (I'd call them prolifers, but, um, they're not) are forever telling women to have every baby they get pregnant with, no matter what. Not just telling, either, but passing every law they can mange to ensure that all pregnancies result in babies. Are you too poor to support a baby? Too bad, have it. Are you in an abusive relationship? Too bad, baby time. Are you too sick to have a baby? Die giving birth, bitch. Does the baby have a disability incompatible with life, or that would result in a need for medical interventions you can't afford? Deal with it. Is it the result of a rape? Won't that be fun, raising your rapist's baby.

The thing is, and the reason I won't call them prolife, is that once the baby stops being a fetus and is out in the world crying and making trouble and needing food and stuff, they don't want to be bothered, as evidenced by this screed:

Your precious sweet baby was the focus of attention today. I guess you
didn't notice. There you were, Dad, Mom, and sweet baby sitting in the front row.

The way she says and repeats "precious" makes me think she was replacing a word she wouldn't be allowed to use on that forum. Seriously, replace "precious" with "fucking" and watch the tone change not one bit.

It was time for the service to begin. Pastor introduced the very special guest speaker. He was a Jewish man who had studied for the Priesthood before becoming a Christian. He traveled three thousand miles to be with us on Palm Sunday. Later in the evening we would have the opportunity to sit down to a Seder dinner, with him teaching the meaning of the meal.

As he began to speak, you could tell, this was going to be an interesting and powerful message. He barely got started when your baby began making noise. True, precious baby wasn't crying; no, she was only talking, loudly.

So . . . doing what babies do, in other words.

Some minutes into the guest speaker's message, baby talks more and more. Interrupting and causing the speaker to lose his train of thought.

You know what? If you can't give your speech except in complete silence, don't give speeches. You aren't good at it. This is a baby being a baby. Calm the fuck down.

By now, I'm having a difficult time listening to the speaker, my thoughts are
directed to precious baby and Mom and Dad. Frustration sets in, and so now I'm thinking thoughts that are far away from Whom I came to hear about. Jesus. I'm thinking, please take your child out of here. You are being rude Mom and Dad, you are being rude to everyone in the room, but especially to the guest speaker.

You had a baby! And brought it into public! It's rude! Yes, I want you to have 12 babies each, which I am trying to ensure by making birth control and abortion illegal, but I don't want to actually see or hear those babies.

I can see that your own attention is on baby, not on the message. You are sitting in the front row, dealing with a noisy baby, not hearing the speaker, and subjecting us all to this.

Subjecting us all to a baby.

I began squirming in my seat, I'm unable to concentrate on the speaker. By now the speaker is having even more trouble concentrating on his message. Finally, the speaker can't take it anymore and asks you to leave, you force him to, in front of everyone.

The speaker's quite the rude little bastard, isn't he? Would you go back to that church? "Choose life!- and once you do, I will publicly humiliate you for that life being lively."

Everyone's attention is on you and only you. We watch you gather your things and walk to the back of the building and we hear the door close behind you. You chose not to go to the crying room. The special room built and equipped just for you, so that you can watch a live feed while attending to your precious noisy baby. You chose to show your displeasure by leaving the church entirely.

Shocking.

It is now halfway thru the hour. The speaker is standing up front feeling horrible. We his audience, are feeling very sorry for him. And embarrassed.

Sorry for him, huh? Well, he is bad at public speaking. I guess that is a bit embarrassing.

You Mom and Dad, deprived one hundred people of a powerful Palm Sunday message because you chose to sit in the front row with your precious noisy baby. Your noisy baby is simply impossible to ignore.

Darn right. That's why some of us choose not to have babies, you see.

I really thought this crowd would castigate the poster for such an antibaby message, but they don't.

Reality check: I come from a large Italian family, as does my husband. Between our two families, there are always babies and small children. We include them in everything: weddings, funerals, birthdays, whatever. If we're getting together, there will be babies. And you know what? Babies cry, toddlers talk loudly and run around and that's okay. We're not totally out of control at restaurants, but we've enjoyed weddings in which the background music was a wailing baby and nobody cared. That's what babies do. At one funeral, an 18 month old showed off her jumping skills during the eulogy. Whatever, the dead person loved children, what better way to celebrate their life than to let a toddler jump a bit?

So that's where I'm coming from. I'm atheist, prochoice and happily childless and entirely probaby and pro children being children. The uberright, christian fetus fetishists, not so much.

My aunt accused me of being a "Bridezilla" because I refused to allow the pastor's toddler to attend. I had seen too many weddings with a crying infant/toddler.

We had the wedding at 7 PM... and I just knew "But she's such a perfect little angel' would start acting up. She was 18 months.

We had a lovely wedding, small and quiet.

Children: not for weddings.

Sometimes parents just think that their kids are just too cute to be aggravating, but we all know better don't we? This was uncalled for and I agree with you. I feel absolutely terrible for the speaker and for the congregation. If the parents walked out of the church instead of going to the crying room, that was their selfish decision. What they did was not the way of God's children. This was a sad chain of events in which many people suffered. Sad! :-(

Selfish! So selfish! You must have your babies- and be exiled to the crying room. But babies, have them, just not around us, we don't really like them.

I have a very selfish SIL who refused to miss one moment of my daughter's wedding, even though she had a fussy, crying baby. I was never irritated with the baby because she was doing what babies are supposed to do. But I was highly annoyed with the baby's mother who always puts herself and her own interests first. My only daughter was having her only wedding and the gorom, an only son, was having his only wedding. Unfortunately, we missed much of the ceremony due to my SIL's selfishness. I will never understand why people refuse to be more thoughtful. Parents shouldn't have to be told that their sweet, precious babies are creating a disturbance and a distraction when they are making noise in situations like this. I'm sorry that, due to their own self centeredness, the parents were offended and I'm sorry that the speaker and the audience were all so distracted.

Only one wedding and a baby cried! Oh noes! At the Wedding O' the Century last year, the ringbearer was 2 years old. He made it all the way to the special vows and then threw down the pillow with the rings on it and declared, "I'm bored. I want SpongeBob!"

We could have gasped in horror. The bride could have cried over her wedding being ruined, and then it would have been. Instead, she laughed, picked up the pillow and told him to see if he could find a frog in the rocks (it was an outdoor wedding). It was a cute moment and so much more memorable than a "perfect" wedding- just like every other "perfect" wedding I have seen and can't remember one thing about.

One person does point out that Jesus had something to say about children:

There's no denying that these parents should have taken their baby out of the sanctuary. However, I don't believe that Jesus, who gently admonished that we suffer little children unto him, would have handled the situation in the same way.

But no, this doesn't mean that Jesus wanted children around, he was just getting rid of some overenthusiastic baby lover as quickly as possible. (What kind of freak likes a baby once it's born?)

If this is the scripture that you're referring to Matthew 19:13 & Matthew 19:14 I understand this to mean that parents wanted Jesus to pray for their children and so he did.

I love this:

Still there are some parents who think it is a good thing to have their kids with them through the service to the detriment of others because their kids often get bored and will do what kids know best and that is to make nosie to entertain themselves. Some even break free and run around the pews. It is these serial offenders that get me upset. Fortunately the new minister isn't a softy buy speaks to the parents(privately) and asks them to go with their children to the child care area next time. In the end if they ignore the minister's request they are asked to not come into the service at all but stay outside in a area outside where the sermon is broadcast on speakers.

It's parenthood as a contagion. Stay outside and listen to the broadcast, you parent, you.

Prolife: It has nothing to do with loving babies. Nothing at all.