Let us pray
“Let us pray.” “Let us remember that we are in the presence of God.” “Let us remember that we are in the presence of our God.” “Let us be in an attitude of prayer.” “Please center yourself.” I hear these phrases all the time as the leader seeks to gain control over his or her group. I do fully understand the need to bring people to focus on what is happening; to bring the group to quiet so the prayer can be made. More importantly and objectionably, I understand that the leader is invoking each person’s sense of God and his/her commitment to God to gain their attention and respect. In a way, instead of relying on his/her own earned respect, the leader is invoking the person’s already-held...
Faith is not a Reliable Reasoning Process
Fundamentally, faith is not a reliable reasoning process. Belief without evidence isn’t wise. Try to get beyond what you’ve always known to be true and begin to ask questions to validate or invalidate those beliefs. Ask yourself how you know something to be true. How do you know the sun will come up in the morning? How do you know the earth is round? How do you know your spouse or child loves you? Make a list. Do you apply the criteria on your list to things you believe to be true about God? Ask yourself how you know whether or not something works? How do you know that communication takes place over the telephone? How do you know your car engine works? How do you know if a medication is effective? Make a list. Do you apply the criteria on your list to...
Why becoming a terrorist is a bad idea
Becoming a terrorist is a bad idea. If you are considering how great it would be or how thrilling it would be to kill other people for any religious cause, please read on. Becoming a terrorist is a bad idea because it is a lose, lose, lose proposition. That is to say, if you kill someone else, they lose. As a terrorist, many people are determined to kill you. There is a very high probability that sooner or later, they will kill you. So you lose too. Even if you are not killed, you will be on the run and will never be able to relax and enjoy life, so you still lose. The losses go far beyond these obvious things. Of comfort to the terrorist or would-be terrorist, is the idea that dying a martyr is somehow a positive thing. It’s not. You would be dead. There...
Iron Chariots
I have recently enjoyed viewing some of Matt Dillahunty’s videos. I explored a little deeper and thought I would share what I found. Matt hosts The Atheist Experience, a cable channel TV show in Austin, Texas. He fields call-in questions and articulately answers them. You should definitely check this out! Matt is also the founder of IronChariots.org. This is one of the best collections of apologetics and counter-apologetics that I have ever seen. On whichever side of the debate you may be, you can see if your reasons hold up to the counter arguments. Here is an example of how well organized Iron Chariots is: You can find out more about Matt Dillahunty...
Shocking Bible Verses
7 Shocking Bible Verses You Probably Won’t Hear In Church God-commissioned bear attacks, praise of infanticide, and cannibalism? Yep, all in there. Re-posted from BuzzFeed. Jessica MisenerBuzzFeed Staff Most people know “Love is patient, love is kind” and “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” But here are some, uh, less celebrated verses from the Bible (and how some people have tried to defend them): 1. Basically: “Murdering babies is a good time.” Historical context: The writer has been exiled from Babylon. The Hebrew here is mournful; this psalm is often set to music. What more conservative readers might say: It’s a metaphor wherein the babies are “the sadness of the Babylonian exile” who should be “dashed against the rock of faith,” or “dashing your...
Funny Bible Verses
Deuteronomy 22:4 Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass Deuteronomy 22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God. (Ooo…sorry, ladies. Shouldn’t have worn those jeans you abominations!) Deuteronomy 22:28 “If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife.” (Rape victim marries the assailant…no comment) Deuteronomy 21:10-13 When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God delivereth them...
Why I Do Not Hate Muslims
By Eric Allen Bell Re-posted from original source: http://www.globalone.tv/profiles/blogs/why-i-do-not-hate-muslims-by-eric-allen-bell Posted by Eric Allen Bell on September 25, 2014 at 7:41pm View Blog The mandate of Islam is to force the world to submit to Islam. Our leaders tell us that Islam means peace. But lying about something does not make it so. Islam means submission. Islam opposes free speech, free thought and human rights. Sharia Law is the codification of the Quran. The Quran is the holy book in Islam. Sharia mandates the stoning of women for adultery or being raped, it requires the amputation of limbs for theft, the hanging of homosexuals and death to anyone who dares to leave Islam. Islam is the religion of approximately 1.5...
Transubstantiation
“Jesus didn’t want us to be cannibals so he gave us this gift, this gift of transubstantiation.” –Catholic School religion teacher, teaching 12th graders, Fall 2014 Think about it. For further study: the-militant-atheist.org Psychology Today ...
Persecuted Christians
I recently heard a respected priest speak from the pulpit about persecuted Christians being slaughtered in the Middle East, particularly in northern Iraq right now. He prayed that the people would “hold onto their Christian teachings.” The word slaughter, in this case, means the killing of great numbers of human beings, and from what I hear on the news, it is being done in the most awful ways. People have been killing one another for their religious beliefs for a very long time. The end result of this senselessness is, quite obviously, that there are a lot of dead people. Lives are ruined, families are destroyed, society is harmed, the human race is diminished. Our response? “Hold onto your Christian teachings?!” Can we do better than...
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