One of the most annoying and persistent accusations made against atheists is that we have a set of beliefs. Let me try, probably in vain, to disabuse believers of their ignorance on this. They utterly fail to understand what we think. It's as if they close their eyes and stop their ears and shout while we try to explain it. Randal Rauser claims he's trying to understand us. Is he? There is a distinction to be made. Can he make it? Let's see.
It's not often that one book can change the course of someone's life, but it does happen. That's what a reviewer recently said of a book. Which one? What else did he say? Here, read it for yourself:
The Southern Baptist Convention, under the leadership of Rev. Fred Luter Jr.
just voted to officially condemn the policy of the Boy Scouts of America, which now allows the participation of gay Scouts. They will seek the removal of executive and board members of the Boy Scouts who tried to allow gay members without first consulting religious groups. They affirm support for churches which decide to drop ties with the Boy Scouts..
The irony in all of this? The Southern Baptist denomination formed as a pro-slavery breakaway from American Baptists, in 1845. In 2012, they tried to atone for their racist past by
electing Fred Luter - a black man - as their leader. And now, under his leadership, they vote overwhelmingly to support bigotry against gays. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up!
Written by J. M. Green
Lately, I've noticed a number of instances of Christian schools (Protestant and Catholic)
firing teachers who become pregnant out of wedlock. The schools are the sort that like to micromanage the personal lives of their teachers, as well as their students, and often require teachers to refrain from ‘ungodly’ activities such as pre-marital sex, pornography, and homosexuality. Quite possibly masturbation or reading 50 Shades of Grey might also be firing offenses.
In
the case of Cathy Samford, she was engaged to be married and offered to move up the wedding date, so as to remedy her pregnant-out-of-wedlock status, but that simply wasn't good enough the squeaky-clean Pharisees at the Heritage Christian Academy in Rockwall, Texas.
According to Headmaster Dr. Ron Taylor,
"It's not that she's pregnant. The issue here is being an unmarried mother. Everything that we stand for says that we want our teachers, who we consider to be in the ministry, to model what a Christian man or woman should be."
Apparently, what the model Christian man would do is kick the pregnant Ms. Samford - along with her two dependent children from a previous marriage – out on the streets, leaving her with no job or medical care – WWJD – right?
You can now listen to the audio of our debate in Randal's home church. It was our third and last one. There is a twist though. Just listen to the introduction to hear what it is. Hint: the Q&A was different.
Enjoy. The video of it will be available soon.
{
Note: Occasionally I’ll receive a spam email from the far right. The email below really drives home the ideology of the
Tea Party as it confronts a changing America. Yet the
IRS is being attacked for not giving immediate tax exempt charitable (non-political) status to
Tea Parties with the mindset of the member below! Harry}
Written by a USMC Vet
(
Spammer's Comment: The saddest, albeit possibly most accurate, short message you will read. I'm afraid this guy might be right on target! I can't argue with any of it. Passing it along as it was received.)
He wrote:
The American Dream ended (on November 6th) in Ohio. The second term of
Barack Obama will be the final nail in the coffin for the legacy of the white
Christian males who discovered, explored, pioneered, settled and developed
The greatest Republic in the history of mankind.
Christian apologists claim that the detail of the universe proves the creation of a master designer: God. However, as you can plainly see in this video,
a man made dumb frequency generator can create many different detailed intricate designs. Enjoy!
When I was in Canada recently, Randal Rauser and I were discussing what indicators we look for to know our books are doing well. One such indicator is whether they can be found in an airport bookstore. The reason is because these stores have limited space, so books must sell well to be put on the shelves. And since people usually do more reading when flying, a book in one of these stores will sell more often. So after publishing a book or two I began looking for my books in these stores. But I never found one. I even stopped looking. Well, I received a message from a friend on Facebook, and guess what? I've now arrived. It's there. My book WIBA was found in not just any airport either. It was found in a bookstore at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. I was furthermore flattered by what this person said of it:
I have difficulty applying the word "fact" to morals. Morality is clearly not a fact in the same sense that a rock is a fact. A fact is something that exists for everyone. If, for instance, some people with good vision can see a rock directly in front of them and others with good vision cannot see it, then whatever is in front of them is not a fact. If morality is a fact then where does it exist? Presumably the theist will say it exists in the mind of God, their God. But clearly God does not abide by the same standard of morality he demands of human beings. For instance, God can kill people, whereas if we did, it would be murder. God can send people to hell, whereas if any judge punished any criminal for any crime like this, it wouldn't be considered just. God can sit by and do nothing while people drown, but if we did the same thing it would be considered criminal, especially if all we had to do was press a button to save them. So we have two moralities, one for God and one for everyone else. Is morality a fact if there can be two of them?
When I said earlier that the Canadian debate tour with Randal Rauser was very successful, here's some proof. Just look at the ranking of my book, WIBA, as of today:
I have found Randal Rauser to be a gracious man who is fun to be around. He's a great guy, and extremely intelligent, although I think he's defending the indefensible. In our personal conversations he shows no signs of doubt. Nonetheless, I should say something about his views. He's less wrong than most other evangelicals and that's a good thing. He seems to be almost exactly where I was in about the year 1994. In some ways I hope he succeeds in helping other evangelicals understand that evolution is a fact, that at best the doctrine of Hell means the unsaved will be annihilated (describing himself even as a "hopeful universalist"), that the early Genesis creation accounts are myths, and that believers can accept some measure of higher criticism of the Old Testament. Again, this represents the same views I held on my road to unbelief. Rauser thinks that if evangelicals can be taught these same views from the get-go they won't so easily be led away from their faith later in life, especially when going to college. Okay. My prediction is that he's pushing evangelicals one step closer to unbelief. Since I think that's true, as a pragmatist, I hope his type of progressive evangelicalism becomes predominate among evangelicals, even though I think it doesn't go far enough. He's one step closer to the truth, and I welcome it.
It’s not uncommon to hear American evangelical Christians complaining bitterly that they are being persecuted. The circle-the-wagons, us-against-the-world mentality is a tool which religious leaders have frequently used to rally the faithful and whip up a frenzy of righteous indignation, so it’s not surprising that the sheep have bought into this oft-repeated lie. This mindset is bolstered by the biblical admonitions of Jesus and Paul that true believers will suffer persecution, and of course confirmation bias kicks in to prove them right.
The real mind game consists in the fact that these ‘beleaguered’ believers manage to convince themselves of this, while simultaneously persecuting those who
they despise. They complain about people being intolerant of Christian beliefs, all the while, preaching and railing against other religions, gays and lesbians, and of course, those damned atheists and humanists. They warn about the dangers of Islam, and Sharia law, while attempting to force their particular religion and god into government, the judicial system, and schools, every chance they get.
Essentially, the fuzziness of the fundamentalist Christian mind allows them to simultaneously play the roles of both victim and oppressor.
“Do you want to buy this cute little bear? Or how about this pretend green phone? Do you have a son? If so, he would love it!” That’s what the bearded guy next to me said. We were driving around Marbach Avenue trying to find some poor sap to buy a bunch of cheap, useless products we were peddling from a no-name, door-to-door sales company that (of course) was doomed before it began. I was the tag-along new recruit. We had no lives and this job hammered home that fact all too well. It was my first or second week of school. I still think back at how even what few products we had were too shitty to sell.
Matthew Hagee is the Executive Pastor of 19,000 member Cornerstone Church. He is also a skilled practitioner of Christian mind games.
Here is a one-minute video clip in which a viewer asks Hagee a question about praying for healing. Watch his answer, and then we’ll dissect the mind games which he employs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8gJTCbVv2GA
Let’s continue our look at
how Christians react to disaster situations. God’s failure to intervene when his followers (and even many non-religious) are begging him to presents a problem to the believer: How do they manage to account for an absent God, while avoiding cognitive dissonance? The religious mind has come up with an ingenious solution:
Take what humans do to help those in need, and attribute those actions to God.
In effect, they are mentally Photoshopping God into a situation where he never was.
In the most recent June/July issue of Free Inquiry magazine, Robert Price congratulates Baker Books for publishing our book, saying, "It represents a departure from the traditional evangelical Christian resistance to let readers, hearers, and students encounter alternative viewpoints except through the filter of apologetical distortions by 'our side.'" He suggests the change is perhaps because "the internet has made everything instantly accessible...and virtually unavoidable." This is welcomed no matter what the reason. He goes on to "heartily" recommend the book "as the basis for small group dialogues," but along the way also says some good things and bad things about it.
Yesterday, as the devastating tornado ripped a path of destruction through Moore, Oklahoma, I watched the storm play out through the Facebook status updates of a friend who lived in the area. This friend is a Christian, and her response is similar to that of many believers in the face of such an event. Earlier in the day she posted:
“Praying the storms won’t hit.”
Then, as it became evident that this prayer was unanswered,
“Hang on, my friends.”
Followed by a Bible verse:
"Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7”
Next status:
“We are in a safe shelter. Praying for all those in the path in the storm. Jesus, protect us!”
Then:
“Lord, we beg your mercies upon us. Praying for the two schools that were hit. Please keep the children & teachers safe.”
Is this the best that Christians can say? This review is mind-boggling, but somewhat positive.
Enjoy. There is way too much ignorance here to bother responding.
Have at it in the comments below.
After forty-four years of studying the Bible and Judeo-Christian theology, I am totally convinced (as I visit our local mall and other public places) that 98% of the people I pass could not only have done a better job, but would have been far more compassionate to humanity than either of the Biblical deities (God and Jesus)!
It's a book I wrote a blurb for and recommend highly. Here is their interview:
He said some really nice things about my book, The Outsider Test for Faith.
Here's the money quote: 
I wrote a three part review of it, which can be read beginning with this first post. Now it's available at an affordable price. GET THAT BOOK NOW! Don't delay. It is without a doubt the best book on slavery and the Bible out there, and probably the best atheist book published in the last ten years or more, depending on your interests.
The Southern Baptist Convention, under the leadership of Rev. Fred Luter Jr. just voted to officially condemn the policy of the Boy Scouts of America, which now allows the participation of gay Scouts. They will seek the removal of executive and board members of the Boy Scouts who tried to allow gay members without first consulting religious groups. They affirm support for churches which decide to drop ties with the Boy Scouts..
Lately, I've noticed a number of instances of Christian schools (Protestant and Catholic) firing teachers who become pregnant out of wedlock. The schools are the sort that like to micromanage the personal lives of their teachers, as well as their students, and often require teachers to refrain from ‘ungodly’ activities such as pre-marital sex, pornography, and homosexuality. Quite possibly masturbation or reading 50 Shades of Grey might also be firing offenses.
Here is my 20 minute statement on "Why I Am An Atheist." It took me over forty years to write it since it's based on all that I've learned in that time. See what you think. I'll be traveling home tomorrow.
In light of an imminent Supreme Court decision on two cases involving gay marriage issues, the influential The Des Moines Register today published what may be an academic landmark statement, at least in our state of Iowa. 
Puppy's mouth taped shut dies in closet: John Scott Mill arrested
Do it now while you're thinking about it.
