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.

Nothing Is True, Everything Is Permitted*

Vox Nova is the Catholic Slacktivist. The contributor(s) are unashamedly liberal, deeply concerned for the poor and the suffering, welcome nonCatholics with open arms and preach understanding and tolerance over bigotry and hatred. You can imagine how that goes over in the Catholic blogosphere. You can also imagine that I like Vox Nova very much.

So it's not this post I am snarking on, I happen to agree that atheists have morals like everyone else, it's the inevitable "atheists so do not have morals and Hitler was an atheist and that proves my point!" (I have no idea why, but Vox Nova comments always set the land record for fastest unrelated idea to Godwinning.)

David, you are correct that many atheists do live moral lives, however my point was that there is nothing in atheist belief, or non-belief if you will that compels them to do so.

Doesn't that make us better than Christians? Think about this for a second. Chris here is living his life to attain heaven and avoid hell. At best, that's enlightened self interest. If I believed in hell and someone had a good argument that wearing hats made out of green jello was the only guaranteed way to avoid hell, you'd better believe my head would be covered in green jello at all times. Really, Chris' behavior is just like a person who stops at every stop light, even at 4am when no one else is around and you're waiting for nothing. You wait to avoid the possibility of getting a ticket. Chris behaves to avoid hell.

I, on the other hand, have no hell to avoid and no heaven to attain. I act morally because . . . well, it really doesn't occur to me to do otherwise. I bleed for the poor, the downtrodden, the abused and rejected because I know how that feels and "good" isn't in it. I help where I can because I have benefited from help, and to inspire others to help because the world needs more of that. But I'm not expecting anything out of it.

So who's the better person, Chris?

No one can judge one a “bad atheist” in the same way they can identify one as a bad Christian for example.

Ummm . . . I'm not really sure what that means, to be honest. A bad person is a bad person, Christian, atheist or otherwise. If he means a substandard atheist, I guess that would be an atheist who worships occasionally.

There are standards and norms by which one can judge one’s life to be a sound example of following Christ or not, but to one who denies God, there is really no such set of norms on which to judge them, at least not on moral grounds. They can easily change the rules of morality, as Stalin, Hitler and notable others have done to justify their barbarity in the name of a subjectively defined good; a master race, proletarian rights, etc.

Chris, anyone can change the rules to suit themselves. Neither belief in god nor god hisownself stops Christians from doing so. You want some "notable others" to add to your Godwin? How about every Catholic priest who molested children? You can't diddle children without changing your morals to suit yourself. (Hopefully.) How about every pastor who embezzled from their church? How about those Crusaders who spread war and death and torture across the Middle East to spread the word of a god who said that the meek shall inherit the Earth?

How about them, Chris?

*That quote is apocraphally attributed to Hassan i-Sabbah, and is quite a bit more difficult and thought provoking than a first look reveals.

**It's Simile Monday here in Hell! Feel free to add your own.

Death, I Do Hope It's Cooler Than I Think

Unrelated, but really cool. And really real.

My own personal feeling on death is that you die, and that's it. It's an end. There's no afterlife, no haunting people, no heaven, no hell. I don't fear this, because there's to fear in this idea. Does anyone think a rock is afraid of it's fate? Because if I'm right, you have as much awareness as a rock after you die.

I am aware that I may be somewhat influenced by my own chronic pain in this belief. I've been in pain for so long I can't remember not being in pain. Actually, I can't imagine not being in pain. If I woke up tomorrow not in pain, not any, not at all, I'd probably be so freaked out I'd start screaming and need a serious amount of Ativan to stop.

So it's probably not possible for me to picture eternity with any happiness, but that's not what makes me think death is an end. I think death is an end because there's no evidence otherwise. There's no scientific, verifiable, falsifiable evidence of continuation of consciousness after physical death. There's lots of stories about it. Every culture has or had at least one. But preponderance of fanciful tales is not truth. There's innumerable tales about vampiric and werewolfian creatures, too, and I don't often run into people trying to get me to join their vampire worshipping club.

I have been accused of believing death is an end because I want to. Because of my physical pain. Because I don't want to believe in hell, therefore I reject any afterlife at all. That's not true.

I'd like to believe in an afterlife. It would be nice to think that all the people I love, all the people I admire, all the good people in the world get to hang out in paradise forever. That would be awesome, for a while anyone. I think boredom would set in fairly quickly, but that's just me.

I'd like to be wrong about this. I'd like to die and find myself at the Pearly Gates, and there's the Slacktivist (I think he's older than me, so I'm not wishing him dead before his time) and we meet and have a good laugh about my atheism being proven wrong so dramatically. And then we go play Dance Central with Moses and Socrates.

That'd be cool. But just because something would be cool doesn't make it true. Nor does wanting something to be true make it true.

This Definition of "Enemy" Concerns Me

Love your enemies- or eat them. Up to you.

Enemy: one that is antagonistic to another; especially : one seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound an opponent

It's more than that, though, isn't it? I mean, do you, personally, feel that you have enemies? Other than abstractions, like misogyny or ablism or religion, who has enemies? I don't have enemies. I have people I dislike and people who dislike me, but I'm not even sure I actually hate anyone. Sure, there are people I wouldn't piss on if they were on fire, but hatred, enemies? No. No, I don't.

Perhaps I am unusual. Perhaps the rest of world is beset with hatred and enemies and I am the exception. Perhaps this actually makes sense:

I am sure that if you are a Christian you have either read or heard the verses above. If you are like me you might have said to yourself, “That’s really nice and all, but I could never dream of doing that!” I really need to understand in a very practical way how something even if it is in God’s word makes sense, or I find myself unable to follow it. I never even tried to love my enemies, what I did or thought I was doing is to not have any enemies. But before we can say we do or don’t have an enemy, we need to define what an enemy is.

. . .

So what is an enemy according to the Bible? Someone who persecutes you, hates you or despitefully uses you. What this statement is trying to say is that it ranges from someone who may be constantly trying to kill you to someone who simply treats you badly one time. Who treats you badly? Well a whole lot of people. The person who cuts you off while driving. The person who cuts in front of you in line. The cashier with a bad attitude. Your boss. The friend, relative or even spouse who does not have time for you and puts others before your needs. All of these are your enemies if only for a short time!

A cashier having a bad day is my enemy? My husband, when he is absorbed in recording, is my enemy? Anyone anywhere not putting my needs first is my enemy? Srsly?

That has to be the most disturbing reading of "love your enemy" I've ever seen. Leave it to a fundy to turn a Bible verse I heartily approve of into a reason to be very afraid.

This person's world is filled with endless amounts of enemies: people having bad days, people who aren't paying attention, busy people, depressed people, generally uninterested people. The majority of people he meets are enemies by that definition. It doesn't even matter how he recommends you treat your enemies, not when virtually every person he meets is a new enemy.

Actually, it does get worse. His reasoning for treating his enemies well is just as disturbing as his definition of "enemy".

The way to love your enemies is to view it as a challenge understanding there is a reward at the end. Why do people climb a mountain when it is so so hard to do. For the challenge and the reward. Now I personally don’t think in the case of the mountain that the reward justifies the action, but you can see my point. God wants what's best for us in the long term, just like our parents would. God can only reward us if we go through something. He cannot reward us just because we say we would do something like love our enemies. We have to actually do it.

You treat people well because it is the right thing to do, not because you believe you'll get a cookie at the end. That's just appalling. It's also theologically bizarre when you consider that he believes that mere belief in Jesus earns one a spot in Heaven. What, exactly, is better than Heaven? What possible reward could God provide that would make Heaven any better?

The worst part is, I'm the immoral godless one and I am left very afraid of the godly among us.

Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

A short story inspired by John Loftus' post, What Must Be the Case if Christianity Is True

4) That the highest created being, known as Satan or the Devil, led an angelic rebellion against an omnipotent omniscient omnibenelovent omnipresent God, and expected to win--which makes Satan out to be pure evil and dumber than a box of rocks.

Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, a conversation between Satan and Satan's second in command, Bob.

Bob: So, we're rebelling against God?

Satan: Yes.

Bob: Why? He's omnibenevolent. You can't get nicer than that.

Satan: Apparently, I'm wicked jealous of the humans.

Bob: Those things that feel pain, get sick and die? We're angels, why are we jealous of humans?

Satan: Two words- free will.

Bob: Well, if we're deciding to rebel, we must have that, too.

Satan: Better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven.

Bob: Have you seen Hell?!

Satan: I admit, the decor is a little heavy on the burning lakes of fire and, well, burning lakes of fire, but we could always redecorate.

Bob: I don't think new wallpaper is going to fix that. Anyway, how can we rebel? God isn't just omnibenelovent, he's also omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent.

Satan: Hmmm . . . if he's omnipresent, doesn't that mean he rules Hell, too?

Bob: Yes.

Satan: Omniscient means he's hearing this conversation right now.

Bob: Uh-huh

Satan: Omnipotent means I can't win, right?

Bob: I don't know, you got anything better than all powerful?

Satan: This probably isn't a good idea.

Bob: Nope. So, how much apologizing do you think it's going to take to fix this one?

Satan: We may as well just keep rebelling, I don't think Hallmark makes that card.

Bob: *sigh* I'll go get some wallpaper samples, sir.

Satan: See if they have anything in tone-on-tone stripes. Those are classy!

Bob: Right away, sir.

What's the Difference between My Philosophy and Yours?

My best guess as to what happens when we die is nothing. Neural function ceases, without neural function one cannot thing or feel or be, so . . . nothing. This doesn't scare me, because if I'm gone, just absolutely gone, I can't very well be afraid or lonely or in pain, anymore than my desk is ever afraid or lonely or in pain.

This is, of course, just an educated guess. The evidence seems to point that way, but I won't find out until I get there.

Oddly, there doesn't seem to be much difference between my beliefs on what happens when you're dead and the Christian belief. (Stick with me.)

Anyhow, I was wondering...many of us still have concerns for family and friends who are unsaved. I've read more than one post on this site where people have hoped that Christ will be patient and that we'll have more time before His return in hopes that some loved ones may still yet be saved....

When we get to heaven will we miss them or grieve for them? The Bible tells us that there will be no more saddness or tears...it seems hard for my tiny little human mind to envision people NOT being sad for a daughter, wife, husband, mom etc etc who will spend eternity in the other place...

You know what? That's an excellent question. And a really annoying way of expressing "I don't know*". Really, how is heaven heavenly if you spend all your time being sad about your loved ones in hell? Talk about survivor's guilt!

I feel the same way. I do believe that we will remember them no more. Like you said it is very hard for us to comprehend that while we are still here on earth. I will let someone with more biblical knowledge then myself apply scripture to your question. I can only pray that those that I love who have already passed away DID accept His free gift to us. I have my doubts as to my dad's salvation and also my maternal grandparents as well as a favorite aunt.

Remember them no more? So, your heaven is like my nothing much? Also, what kind of person seriously considers that their "favorite" aunt is being eternally tortured right this minute with such sanguinity?

Answer: Many people say that the first thing they want to do when they arrive in heaven is see all their friends and loved ones who have passed on before them. In eternity, there will be plenty of time to see, know, and spend time with our friends and family members. However, that will not be our primary focus in heaven. We will be far more occupied with worshipping God and enjoying the wonders of heaven. Our reunions with loved ones are more likely to be filled with recounting the grace and glory of God in our lives, His wondrous love, and His mighty works. We will rejoice all the more because we can praise and worship the Lord in the company of other believers, especially those we loved on earth.

Doesn't answer the question and doesn't sound like fun. "Recounting the grace and glory of god in our lives"? I'd rather set my gums on fire.

The bolded part is the crux of the matter. God says that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. We aren't capable of understanding and rationalizing everything about God. I have a hard time rationalizing God Himself, I have a hard time rationalizing Jesus performing the miracles He did, I can't rationalize living with a sinless and inccoruptable body forever...............in fact, alot of my "understanding" is based 100% on faith because for the things I can't "wrap my head around", my faith is my eyes and my "reasoning". Alot of times we just have to step out in faith and leave it at that.

I'll take "Ineffable for $200, Alex."

I think heaven will be such a joyful place that, the pain of knowing others who didn't make it will be grounded out.... I thank God that all my family are saved, but I do have alot of friends who are not yet saved at this point, and it does concern me, but when the rapture takes place will our joy in the presence of the Lord be robbed because they chose not to follow God?... I doubt it.

So that's what that third prong is for! Effectively, either you're as brain dead in heaven as you are in my scenario, or you're a selfish, selfish fuck who's so happy about winning you don't care what the penalty for losing is.

*My mother asked me last week what IDK means. Without thinking, I replied, "I don't know" and the conversation devolved into an Abbot and Costello routine from there.

Heaven?

The Bible makes precious little mention of Hell, so I decided to see what, exactly, the Bible says about Heaven.

In the Old Testament, Heaven is referenced often: as a place above Earth where rain comes from and Yhwh lives. There is not, however, any real description of Heaven, nor any intimation of people other than Yhwh living there. Well, stars and clouds clearly live there, but not people.

By the New Testament, we have a "kingdom of Heaven" and dead people going there, but nothing to tell me what it might be like there, which is a rather important thing to leave out, considering what I am expected to do to get to Heaven.

There's a bit of this:

Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed
good seed in his field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and
sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26When the wheat sprouted and formed
heads, then the weeds also appeared.

So, Heaven's got bad stuff in it?

31He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed,
which a man took and planted in his field. 32Though it is the smallest of all
your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a
tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches."

It started small, but got bigger?

33He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that
a woman took and mixed into a large amount[b]
of flour until it worked all through the dough."

What?

45"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.

Oh, c'mon!

47"Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the
lake and caught all kinds of fish.

So, back to there's stuff in Heaven you may not like?

18"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be[a]bound
in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[b]
loosed in heaven.

So, fantastic, there's war and suffering in Heaven? I hope you're not expecting a great deal of effort on my part to get there. I can experience all that has been loosed on Earth with no effort at all.

1"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the
morning to hire men to work in his vineyard.

I'm starting to get the impression that whoever wrote this had no idea how to describe Heaven and went for the Emperor's New Clothes style of description: You must be stupid if you don't know what landowners and yeast have to do with Heaven.

I will leave you with this:

35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

So, not so much on the "eternal" part of eternal life? Fuck it, I ain't hating gays for this.

Pimping Dead People for Jesus

jesus, heaven, hell, michael jackson, farrah fawcett, ed mcmahon
I've seen this sort of thing more than a few times in the last week, and I think it's disgusting.

I don't know where Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon will be spending eternity.

In heaven??? Or hell???

Wherever they are...I'm sure that they are crying out for you to get reconciled with Jesus.

If you don't KNOW that your eternity is secure in heaven then you can be certain that it's not!

Jesus said we can know that we are heaven bound.Not wish or hope, but literally know.

The Holy Spirit confirms and convinces us.

Where will YOU spend eternity?*

I shouldn't have to tell anyone this, but Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon all have families and others who loved them. Those people are hurting right now, and it is incredibly disrespectful and disgusting to pimp the recently deceased for Jesus.

Plus, can you imagine reading the above about your not-even-cold-yet loved one? Are they in heaven, are they in hell- who knows? If I believed in such things, I would be enraged and hurt to see someone speculating that my loved one might be burning in hell for all eternity.

Just another case of "Jesus makes me immune to normal rules of civility", I guess.


*click the link for a look at the posters psychotic unusual use of font sizes.

Right Over the Edge

hell, heaven, obama, evil, god, pride, stupid, pilgrims progress
Either Pearlysnot has been reading a lot of Pilgrim's Progress lately, or she's gone right over the edge. I'm voting against Pilgrim's Progress.

Hell Called Today. He Said He Wants Back In.

First of all, the picture she used is disturbingly muscley and well, naked. I'm the last person to complain about nudity, especially male nudity, but that picture is squicky.

Our government leaders, run amok of the will of the people, have taxed, bailed, and stimulated the Hell out of America. This would be a good thing right? We don't want hell in the US, do we? And is hell like hell as in a place bad people go, or is hell being used as another name for Satan? I'm not sure how a metaphorical place could be removed, or how it could use a telephone.

Hell called today. and in other news, shame just text messaged me. apparently, pearlysnot won't take its calls anymore. He said he wants back in. He’ll promise anything to be reinstated; anything, that is, but the removal of his earthly influence. but we got rid of hell with the taxing, bailing and stimulating. shouldn't we be doing more of it?

In the last few months, Hell’s presence has been drastically reduced to the ornate, echoing hallways, conference rooms, and judicial chambers of our state and country capitols. wait a minute, are those places not in the US? because the metaphorical place/supreme evil being was just kicked out of the US. so, is it/he in the US or not? i'm confused. Certain politicians and special interest groups, promoting personal agenda over representation of the public, yes, creating jobs and feeding people is not what's best for our society. it's a terrible idea. have welcomed Hell with open arms IS IT KICKED OUT OR IS IT HERE?!, lighting the fire and keeping the coals of Corruption ever glowing. sigh

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac caught up with the Present and in an exercise of misguided Democracy, the desperate people of this country mistook Ambition for Salvation, electing the former to the highest seat in the land. what? Hell applauded. from within the US, outside the US, or in my arms? Ambition was cool, calm, and collected. ambition is bad? since when? that's decidedly unamerican, my dear. socialist, even. perhaps even facist. Ambition promised the people much - at the very least a renewed America. Being ambiguous acquaintances by day and close confidants by night, Ambition and Hell flew under the radar and went to town doing what they do best, reveling in the chaos and havoc wreaked upon an unsuspecting and emotionally vulnerable people. a metaphorical place and an indefinite noun went clubbing? when will the madness end?

But the hardened citizens of America, descendants of Pilgrims and Pioneers, yes, those brave souls who civilized the Native Americans, um, yeah. Anyway, I'm not a descendant of a Pilgrim or a Pioneer. Lots of USians aren't. posterity of Trial and Tribulation is she just randomly throwing nouns at a board now?, cinched up their belts, brandished their tea bags BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA quite the reinterpretation of how the west was won, that., and said Enough! without a comma or quotes? Exercising true Democracy in a restorative attempt, America reared up in protest, the whole continent, or just the descendents of pilgrims and pioneers? standing united against Folly and Imprudence is every single indefinite noun going to show up at some point?, Ambition and Hell. Hell was properly exposed oh my! and driven back but i thought we already taxed, bailed and stimulated hell out?!, tenuously confined to his partner’s presidential palace. Obama lives in the White House, which is not a palace, and i'm fairly certain the White House is IN THE UNITED STATES. one last time: IS. HELL. GONE. OR. NOT.

While Hell is being steadily eviscerated from the fed-up hearts of the American laymen ouch, Ambition and his congressional minions yet retain a powerful, positional? influence over the slowly-awakening America.

Hell called today. He said he wants back in. oh, for the love of . . . is hell gone or not? But until his membership is reinstated in the hearts of the American citizenry, what? Hell is content to work his mischief through his companions, Ambition and Corruption. and folly and imprudence? trial and tribulation? pilgrims and pioneers? oh, that hurt just to type it.

When push comes to shove, that's a thought which faction will reign supreme? i can't tell. there's so many factions at this point, who could tell? Humility and Industry or Ambition and Corruption? please just stop. Which will you choose to be your Master? i'm going with Irony. And where is Heaven in all this? we haven't even established where hell is! Where are the heavenly hosts of Guardian Angels? and out of left field- comes pearlysnot!

They are mobilizing right alongside Humility and Industry, of course. headdesk Can you feel them? They care. HE This is either god, jesus or joseph smith. possibly bringham young. i can't tell. cares. But HE won’t help us if we forget and deny HIM. if good things happen, that's god. (or jesus or smith or young.) bad things are all our fault.

HE knows Ambition. HE knows Corruption. HE knows you. The question is, what is your Name?

Mine is Urgency. funny, i would have though Bombast. Possibly Supercilious. Maybe Vainglory.

~Pearl

Fun with Fundys

atheism, atheist, death, heaven, hell, religion, christian, christianity,
Remember my death ticker post? (It's okay if you don't, I won't cry for long.) I just got the bestest anonymous comment evah!

Since it was a short post, I'll reprint it here:

Seriously, this is awesome! Awesomely awesome!This is the first thing that comes up on the webpage (I have a discreet Google search. Feel free to use it.)

150,000 People Will Die Today The counter to the side to the right are rapidly rising numbers in BRIGHT RED is ticking off the number of people who have died since you opened this webpage. So far? 14.5. The vast majority of those people are entering Hell. Yes! You're all going to hell- unless you believe exactly what I do! I know the secret, and the rest of you will burn! Only I know the answer- follow me without thinking or suffer for all eternity! Christ commanded his followers to share the Gospel with those who are perishing so get thee to a nursing home, then, because as of today, I'm okay... who have you shared with today? 26.3

The counter comes from Living Waters, your evangelism resource- a subsidiary of Ray Comfort, professional Liar for Christ(tm). 47.1 I'm letting the counter run to see if it stops at 150,000.
63.4

So, 13 days later this is the anonymous* comment I get:

I ask simply not wanting an answer from you. But that you would look honestly at you answer the question for yourself. Do you fear death?

No, I don't fear death. First of all, there's nothing you can do about it. Everybody dies. Why get all obsessed about it? (I naturally tend toward Zen.) Secondly, I believe that when I die, nothing happens. The instant I die I will no longer be capable of thinking, feeling or anything else, so I won't know the difference.

I had my appendix removed when I was 17. On the way to the surgery, I was losing my mind I was so frightened. I kept trying to crawl off the gurney while crying and trying to convince anyone I saw that I didn't need surgery. Seven seconds after they gave me the anesthesia, I passed out. When I woke up it was all over. I went from going into surgery to waking up with it all over with. I felt really stupid about being that scared. (In my defense, at that point my temperature was 104.5.) (As a side note, my heart stopped 4 times during that surgery, once for 45 seconds, but that's an entirely different story.)

To me, that's what death seems like. Something everyone is so frightened of, but once it happens, it's done and there's nothing to be scared of any more.

This is the basis of the atheist credo: stop worrying about tomorrow and live today. It truly makes me sad to watch people so focused on an afterlife that isn't going to happen that they don't bother to live the life they do have. Life is beautiful. It is filled with beauty and wonder and happiness and love- but only for those with the courage to go find those things and grab them with both hands.

*When is a screen name not anonymous enough? Honestly, people, that's just silly-unless you think my parents named me "Personal Failure".

Lady Liberty is Made of Win

atheism, atheist, witness, witnessing, evangelical, evangelism, evangelist, religion, christian, fundamentalism, fundamentalist, fundy, bible, jesus, heaven, hell,

Lady Liberty winz the interwebs!

Monday Madness!

What is it about Monday that makes the crazies crazier? *checks wikipedia* Aha! Monday means "day of the moon". Got it! (I sincerely hope the fundies don't read this site, because then we will have to endure some ridiculous movement to change the names of the days of the week to nonpagan words. (Christday, Jesusday, Godday, Bibleday, Goodnewsday, Raptureday and Heavenday, no doubt.)

Today's Israel Watch (God's Prophetic Clock!) by Jim Fletcher just ratchets up the crazy!

He Knows You

If you’ll be kind enough to indulge me, I want to continue this week with the theme from last week. God will provide blahblahblah The subject I’d originally chosen can wait awhile. The feedback I got convinces me more than ever that we need to encourage each other. True, but I have yet to feel encouraged.

Like you, I continue to hear stories that are beyond sad. Me, too. I’m not going to dwell on stories like this, but you know how it is. Economic gloominess, outrageously exemplified by our incoming “leader,” why the quotes? The President is, by definition, the leader of the US. Barack Obama (“the economy is going to get worse.” Merry Christmas! Truth is bad? Should he lie and tell us it will all be puppies and sunshine come January? Sheesh.) has gripped folks like that horrible movie I saw last year, “The Mist.” I like Stephen King. Stop the hating.

However — for the Christian, there is always a however Worship the Lord or burn in hell, however . . . nope, no however there. I think he's trying to say that Christians have forever. — we will once again this week explore God’s provisions for His people. I have always felt there is a direct correlation between Bible prophecy, and the lives of individuals around the world. Be prepared to show your work.

I almost feel like this is the jump-off point. Ummm . . . that's not puppies and sunshine. That sounds like a call to suicide. There's a hotline (1-800-273-TALK) for that. That my whole life has built to this moment, in which predictive prophecy what other kind of prophecy is there? the definition of prophecy is the foretelling or prediction of what is to come. Could we please stop being redundant? is coming so sharply into focus that it doubles as a personal faith-builder. Oh, my.

If I can’t rely on my portfolio, or the government, or other human inventions…who can I turn to? I'm still all about the Suicide Hotline. There is a woman who saved my friend's life, through the simple kindness of listening to a stranger cry. I hope she knows she helped more than one person that night. His children will celebrate another Christmas with him this year through her grace alone. I will turn to the God who has supernaturally proven Himself to me through His provision for the Jews. Huh?

Go with me now to a place you’ve heard about all your life. Disneyland?

In Bethlehem today, and in the surrounding Judean countryside, the air is clean. So the Israelis are doing more for the environment than we are. Good for them. Dianna and I were there last year, on our own little pilgrimage to Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity. Actually, I do want to see Israel. It's a place of such history. Driving over and around the hills that become progressively more bare as one heads south, toward the desert, we noticed just how much the whole place still looks like it did on that special night 2,000 years ago. How would you know? Shepherds still tend flocks, Arab men travel on donkeys, and sheep and cattle graze on the hills. Other than the Arab men on donkeys, I can see all that in Ireland, to name just one place. Tell me what's special.

Unlike liberal Christians those nonhomophobic bastards will rot in hell! and atheists like Richard Dawkins and me! (what does he do for Christmas?)

STOP. Just stop it. I'm betting Mr. Dawkins does what I do for Christmas: hang lights and wreaths, cook lots of food, and put up a PAGAN Christmas tree. He probably exchanges gifts and enjoys the time with his family. We don't believe in god, it doesn't make us less than human.

, I believe Jesus was actually born in this place, that he grew up, began ministry, then fulfilled the prophecies by dying and being resurrected in Jerusalem. There was an actual, historical figure. Oh, I'll buy that. There is too much evidence that some person existed named Jesus too deny that he was an historical figure. I just don't believe he was the son of god. Explain to me again why god had to sacrifice god to god to change a rule god made? And also explain to me why dying, when you know damn well you won't be dead for long, is such a sacrifice? The soldier who jumps on a grenade to save the rest of his squad sacrifices more.

Bethlehem today, controlled by the Palestinian Authority, is still small and compact. Palestinian merchants virtually beg tourists to shop. Capitalism! Manger Square — a large plaza area — was not overly crowded.
Stooping to enter the small door in the Church of the Nativity, Dianna and I emerged into a huge room, sandwiched between rafters and floor mosaics that date from Byzantine times. There were quite a few scenes reminiscent of, say, a Catholic church yeah, because the Catholic church was the original church. In fact, there was no other church for what? oh yeah, 1000 years.: candles, icons, elaborate alcoves of rich artifacts. rich artifacts? gold statues, perhaps? 2,000 year old urns? what?

Descending into a cramped space underneath the floor basement? catacombs?, we were surprised to find ourselves at the traditional place of Jesus’ birth. We quickly had our picture taken while an annoyed fellow tourist waited her turn.
At least for me, I think it’s important to know that these places actually exist. They are tangible. yeah, and I can check out all the places in a Ludlow novel as well, it doesn't make the book fact.

Upon returning to the King David Hotel I don't know why, but I find that hilarious! Last in the line of King David . . . Hotel! later that evening, we made plans to visit the Garden Tomb and Calvary the next day, which we did. Could we just move directly to your description of the Garden Tomb and Calvary? I don't need a minute by minute description of your travel plans. That put an exclamation point on our visits to these holy sites. !

My point? The Bible is not a collection of myths. Oh, yes it is. Find me some manna out in the desert, buddy. It is a vibrant, full-color description of real people and places. There is a 6 page description of the Tabernacle and how it was to be built, right down to the exact embroidery on the priests' robes. It's like a cross between Extreme Home Makeover and What Not to Wear. It describes the place where Jesus was born, died, and rose again. The complete story, that gives breath to our faith. sentence fragment.

It is this whole story that we all need now, more than ever. The comments that I hear from readers confirm this in a big way. Just this morning, I heard that a friend died of cancer; she was only diagnosed just before Thanksgiving! This is, sadly, a terrible time for many people. Sad, but how does one person dying of cancer relate to the current troubles in our country? Unless this is a call for Obama to move quickly on health care reform.

But folks, this is where the rubber meets the road. hee hee We have heard about our faith, and heard about the last days all our lives. We have hoped for it, this great desire for the end of world can only be described as disturbing in the extreme. Don't enjoy life, just wait for it to be over. but let’s be honest: it still seemed far away, didn’t it? hopefully. If you can do nothing else positive this season, run your finger over the Holy Land maps in the back of your Bible. or donate to charity, volunteer at a soup kitchen, smile at a stranger You might not get there in this life, but you can know that they are there. who? Jesus was born there, walked there, died there, and rose to life there. He is alive now. He promised that He would hold us close (Matthew 11:28). He promised us that He had already overcome this sorry world (John 16:33).

The actual quote is but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. note the conspicuous absence of "sorry". You know what drives me crazy about these people? When you keep your eyes to heaven, you ignore the earth. There is so much each and every one of us can and should do to improve our world. You don't have to be MLK or Ghandi or Mother Theresa. You can recycle, put a dollar in the Salvation Army thingy or just refuse to participate in hatred and bigotry. These rapture freaks aren't doing any of that. They're so focused on the end of the world, they're ignoring the suffering now. It's shameful.

You can depend on that. Yeah, I'll depend on me and go from there. Whatever your problems, I urge you to simply tell Jesus about them. "My daddy is raping me, Jesus" see how little that accomplishes? It really is as simple as our old Sunday school faith, the faith of a child. We are all children, whether we pretend to be tough or not. No, we're not children. We're adults. It's not about pretending to be tough. It's about the incredible changes the brain undergoes as we age. Biology! We are children of the Most High God, and His tenderness is available to you this Christmas season. Wheeee.

My prayer is that you will be blessed and comforted quit with the praying and go do something!

The God Train

subtitle: the trouble with metaphors.

It's surprising how often writers get into trouble with metaphors. In essence, a metaphor is a technique in writing where you describe one thing as being equal to a second thing in some essential way. I like the metaphor of bigotry being a double-edged sword: whenever you swing it, you damage yourself as much as your target. That is a metaphor that works. It describes exactly how I feel about bigotry, without implying anything unintended or unfortunate.

The metaphor of the following article, Crossing Paths with God by Dan Ecklund, is not so successful.

When a car tries to race a train to the crossing, and it ties for first place, it usually ends up as a loser. The odds the train will swerve to avoid the collision are zero, and the likelihood of the car winning the match up is slim. Most collisions usually leave the car and driver so mangled that the identity of both can’t be easily recognized. The power, speed, and weight to the train are taken out on a thin metal frame and glass. Millions are spent on warning lights and crossing arms, yet the warnings go unheeded on a daily basis as drivers try to shave a few seconds off their travel time.

I like this first paragraph. ". . . ties for first place" is understated, "The odds the train will swerve to avoid collision are zero . . ." is amusing and the rest is quite evokative. It's practially poetic, and it describes an event I've seen play out numerous times, though never ending with tragedy. I was hopeful that this article would be better than than any other I have seen on RaptureReady.

Alas, such was not to be.

In the lives in the life of blahblahblah, not the lives. this use of the plural implies that every person has multiple lives. for a hindu, this would be appropriate, not so much for a christian. of every person, we if you start with "in the lives of every person", you can't move to "we". either start with "in all of our lives" or end with "all of us". continue to try to beat the odds with God.

And that's where the metaphor falls apart. He just compared God, loving omnipotent, omniscient creator of all (hey, i don't believe that, but Mr. Ecklund does) with a train. He then compares meeting your maker with a train collision. I'm an atheist, and I find that metaphor unfortunate. Beyond the "impersonal and ultimately avoidable display of certain principles of physics" aspect to it, there is the implication that one could surviving "beating the odds with god". It is theoretically possible to survive a collision with a train. It's probably even happened. Could one possibly come out on top of a meeting with god. Really?

If you were to poll the average person living in America, you’d find the majority would list themselves as Christians. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2001 79.8% of USians self identified as christian. Numerous polls have ranked people who confess belief in God between 90 and 96 percent. Which polls? The US Census Bureau puts the number of atheists/agnostics at 15% in 2001. Admittedly, agnostics do believe in god, but I can't tell where he is getting that figure from. (Notice that I told you exactly where I got my figures from.) I also have to wonder if he is including Jews and Muslims in this statement. Yet despite the belief in a God, the population is divided in a moral standard that should accompany Him. More like completely fragmented. That 79.8% who self identify as christian, are divided into 18 different groups, not including the "other" percentage. People say things like “My god would never create Hell.” ”My god has told me He’s fine with my lifestyle.” “My god told me (insert sin here) is ok.” Who says these things? I looked at the tenents of every one of the 18 listed christian denominations and they all believe in hell and sin. In general, when people say "god told me", what comes next involves hatred or violence. One must concluded one of two things as truth, either one god has a personality disorder, or some of us have a different God. 18+ different christian denominations, plus judaism in its variations, islam in its variations, hinduism, buddhism, etc.? Yeah, well, duh!

Christians in Chaos BWA HA HA HA HA HA I don't know what it is about the word "chaos", but it comes with a villain laugh attached to it for me. Obviously, I can't discuss chaos BWA HA HA HA HA HA theory.

Statistics don't lie- but statisticans often do.

Even though most Christians will claim we serve the same God really, do they? i have no idea. i'm guessing this guy doesn't either., it becomes evident that we do not. is this some sort of polytheistic revelation? Mr. Ecklund is not a monotheist? (Oddly, neither christianity nor judaism require monotheism, which is the belief that there is only one god. Both religions only require that you don't worship any other gods, which is monolatrism. Hmmm) It’s shown by the design a person puts on their personal god of chose choice?, taken from the Christian God. ok, i have no idea what this sentence even means. Does he mean that all gods are only copies of the christian god? kinda sticky considering that Jesus was a jew. Barna the Barna Group is, according to their website, my partner for information, strategy, execution and transformation. Whatever that means. surveys support this view. Here’s a list of division within “confessing Christianity” the only reference to confessing christianity that i could find was in reference to a christian resistance organization in nazi germany. on key issues that are found within scripture.

One third of born again adults (33%) say that abortion is a morally acceptable behavior, compared with 45% of all adults, 4% of evangelicals, and 71% of atheists and agnostics. (2004) I'm a little surprised that so many "born again" adults feel that way, but the rest of the numbers don't surprise me.

Half of born again Christians (46%) agree that Satan is "not a living being but is a symbol of evil." (2007) Where does satan appear in the bible? Not in the old testament at all. In fact, most of what you think of as religious fact concerning satan is taken from "Paradise Lost" by John Milton. Are epic 17th Century British poems scripture?

46% of born again Christians deny Satan's existence see above, i guess.
26% of born again agree that "while he lived on earth, Jesus committed sins, like other people he was rude to his mother once, which in Leviticus is supposed to be punished with death.
36% of born again said they believe in moral absolutes
37% of born again believe that if a person is good enough they can earn a place in Heaven. (2007) only 37%? That explains a lot of behavior on the part of fundagelicals.

Focus on the last two of the 2007 polls first. 36% of born again believers say they believe in moral absolutes. That means for 64% of believers there are no moral grounds that can’t be adjusted. I found this very surprising until I thought about the problem with polls: the questions. (among other things) I cannot believe that 64% of any group believes that there are no, none, nada, zip moral absolutes. For example, unless you're polling NAMBLA, where would you find any group of people 64% of which think that "raping kids of bad" is in any way adjustable?

Let me put it another way. If you asked 100 random people "is killing someone bad?", I guarantee you that at least 95% of those people would say, "yes, killing people is bad." However, if you asked those same 100 people "could you think of a situation in which killing someone would be justified?", I guarantee you that at least 80% of them would say "well, yeah, if it were to save my life . . . "

See what I'm getting at? It's all in how you ask the question. I'd have to see the questions Barna asked, exactly as they were asked, to get a sense of what this means.

That in itself explains the division within Christianity. Not really. If want to, read about what caused Protestantism, the first break in christianity. It didn't have to do with biblical inerrancy. If God’s Law, written in stone, is not an absolute, then the person can decided what is morally acceptable to them. Does this guy not speak English natively? "then a person can decide" plus, if god's law is "written in stone" then it is necessarily absolute, that is the meaning of the phrase. If it is not absolute, then it is not written in stone. I would imagine Mr. Ecklund is referring to the ten commandments, and the various branches of christianity can't even agree what they are exactly. This is of key importance. If something is absolute truth, it must come from outside of mankind, as it’s obvious we change what’s right and wrong to fit our desires no, not obvious to me. you'll have to show you're work on this one. People don't change their minds on what is right and wrong to fit the situation. Well, normal people don't. What normal people do is excuse their own behavior based on "special circumstances. For example, cheating on my husband is wrong. I could decide that due to the circumstances in our relationship, however, that I am justified in doing so. I would still assert that cheating is wrong. (no, I don't cheat on my husband.). It is no different that saying we can decided if we can beat the train to the crossing, despite the arms being down and the lights are flashing. No, actually that's totally different. In every way. Saying that there are situations in which killing another human being is justified- war, self defense, defense of another-- is not the same as deciding that physics doesn't apply to me. May as well try to flap my arms and fly away. Which is in no way morally reprehensible.

Recently, some Texas Catholics went into an uproar. Two bishops wrote a letter on the churches standing on abortion. The bishops wrote that it was immoral to support the act, which had been the churches belief for the last 50 years. Upon some of the church members hearing the letter read during church, they left the service. Some of those who left that were interviewed on TV, and they demanded the churches be taxed for taking political sides. The former patrons had decided the issue of “life” was not a moral one, but a political choice, and the church itself had no right to tell them what to do. Actually, that is not what happened. He is referring to two separate occurrences. During the election, the Catholic Church announced that good catholics would vote for McCain because of Obama's stance on abortion. (Killing people during a war? Just fine!). After the election, the Catholic Church announced that anyone who voted for Obama must receive confession prior to receiving the eucharist again. That is seriously blurring the line between church and state, and Ratzinger (or whatever he calls himself these days) does not want to go there.

Moving on.