Christian Hate Speech
Woven throughout the bible are strands of unabashed intolerance and hate. Yet we are so conditioned to accept it we rarely notice it as such. For example, a verse spouted from church pulpits and broadcast over television and radio everyday is this:
“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.”
And Christian listeners everywhere smile smugly and nod in agreement over this hateful notion that is both irresponsible and erroneous.
Imagine if we just changed a few words and broadcast this message: “Christians are fools, they are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.” Or what if we said, “African Americans are fools, they are corrupt...” or maybe, “...there are no women that doeth good.” Oh, the outcry that would ensue! But unbelievers remain fair game for the “godly” to demonize with their hate-filled scriptures.
Ps 14:1
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
29 comments:
It sounds to me as though you've become quite intolerant of Christian intolerance.
I love self-refuting ideas.
I also struggle with being tolerant of christians' intolerance. Just how long are we supposed to be silent about the injustice and horrors done in god's name?
But I know what my parents would say. They would say that anyone who refuses the wonderful gift of salvation is deliberately choosing hell over heaven, which is the ultimate tomfoolery. Ergo, even if we are decent and loving people, we are not PERFECT so we deserve to rot in the enternal fires of hell. That's what sets we non-christians apart from African Americans or Jews - they did not choose to be their ethnicity but atheists CHOSE to be non-christians.
I do kinda get this. It's a good thing my son is pretty perfect and agrees with me religiously and philosophically. Because if he did not believe in my way, I would have to kill him (as a loving parent, I could not let him get away with not being perfect, right?)
And if you think this is sick, how much more sick is it that a supposedly loving god, who created his dear children, allows the MAJORITY of them to burn in hell. And this is AFTER spending a lifetime on earth being persecuted by christians!
I love self-refuting ideas too.
1. Adam and Eve could not have existed an been created 6000 years ago. Even most christians no longer argue this.
2. If that story is a myth, then Eve did not eat the forbidden fruit.
3. If Eve did not eat the forbidden fruit, then mankind is not fallen. The entire bible depends upon this premise.
4. If mankind is not fallen, there was no need for Jesus to be tortured and die on the cross to save us.
5. Therefore, christianity is built on a foundation of sand. Unfortunately for believers, the sands have shifted and the weak premise has been exposed.
Therefore, christianity is self-refuting.
Who doesn't struggle with intolerance?
I am simply pointing out that if one gripes bout another person's intolerance, they are not being too tolerant.
The bible. Here's some other "references that reference" the bible (if you add up all the "begats" in the old testament, it's about 4,000 years from the time of Jesus.
http://www.creationmuseum.org/plan-your-visit/exhibits
http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1606/
http://www.independencebaptist.org/6,000%20year%20old%20earth/6,000_year_old_earth.htm
http://www.realtruth.org/articles/090203-006-science.html
And if the bible is wrong about this, it is not perfect, nor is it all-knowing; and it is not the word of "god". (This is a little beside the point, but did you notice inconsistencies in the creation story such as the plants being created before the sun, when plants require the sun (photosynthesis) for life? And how it took him days to make the earth, but apparently only a few minutes to make the rest of the universe? All over the bible there is evidence that the writers only had the knowledge that people had thousands of years ago. The rest of it, as we humans tend to do, were filled in with stories and myths passed down through generations and then finally written down).
I don't believe it was 6000 years ago . . . so, none of the rest of what you say there follows.
The Bible never asserts that history is only 6000 years old. I would like chapter, verse and book.
Actually, if you don't believe the earth is 6000 years old, you don't believe the bible. It is very precise about the "begats". I remember my father, when I was a child, marvelling at the perfection of the bible; how it was able to trace all the generations perfectly for 6000 years!!! If the old testament stories are not meant to be taken literally, then why did the writers go to such enormous effort to back up this claim with pages and pages of geneology?
I get that you are not a bible literalist. But if you don't believe the creation story, then, as I pointed out, there is no need for salvation and christianity is unnecessary. Do you, or do you not, believe that Eve ate the forbidden fruit?
They are not inconsistencies . . . if there is a being that can call into being something out of nothing as Gen. 1:1 claims then surely he can cause plants to live without sunlight.
Would you mind showing by adding up the bagats how you get to 6000 years?
Excuse me . . . that was supposed to be begats, not bagats. :)
I couldn't but greater minds than mine can and have. You just have to read the old testament and you can trace the geneology from Adam to Jesus, thus "proving" that the earth is approx 6000 years old.
I thought I posted these already, but in case I didn't here they are.
http://www.independencebaptist.org/6,000%20year%20old%20earth/6,000_year_old_earth.htm
http://www.realtruth.org/articles/090203-006-science.html
http://www.creationmuseum.org/plan-your-visit/exhibits
http://www.escapeallthesethings.com/6000-year-timeline.htm
Fundamentalist christians believe the earth is 6000 years old, or close to that.
My question to you remains. How can you see how the bible is wrong with respect to its painstaking geneology, found all over the OT, but still believe in the literal and instantaneous creation of adam and eve?
RE intolerance. If I gripe about someone else's intolerance, that makes ME intolerant???
So, if I complain that Al Quada hates America, and wants to kill us, if I have a problem with this, I guess I'm being intolerant. And if the bible repeatly downgrades women, as it does throughout, I should not complain or point out the injustice of it because that would make me intolerant. I think MLK should have kept his mouth shut. That guy was an intolerant complainer, don't you agree? They got to sit at the back of the bus - what more could they want? Jee whiz, look at the bright side for pete's sake.
Genesis 1:1 is true and can be proven using the cosmological and ontological.
If I can make a reasonable argument that Gen. 1:1 is true then all the rest of the Bible can be true as well.
I don't believe the Bible is 6000 years old and don't understand how you get there. Can you explain it to me as you understand it? Walk me through the "begats" please and show me how you get to 6000 years.
I don't think the genealogy teaches that the earth is only 6000 years old. All the genealogy is designed to do is show who begat who, not teach how old the earth is . . .
Janet . . . you make my point well. I would never argue that all forms of intolerance are wrong. In fact I would say tolerance of all things is an impossibility. The problem becomes one of ethics at this point. Why is your intolerance okay, but mine is not?
Janet, Thanks for your excellent points on intolerance.
To be clear, we are all intolerant of things. Must of us are intolerant of someone stealing from us or abusing our child. I am intolerant of “godly” people saying my unbelieving child is a “fool” who does no good. I am all for free speech but it is past time to start calling that what it is-hate speech.
Who has called your child a fool?
Have you really had an experience where a believer called a child of yours a fool?
Did you not read the original post?
I did . . . I am just curious if you are using another hypothetical situation to argue your point, or if your child has really been called a fool to his face by a Christian.
There is nothing “hypothetical” about Christians citing their holy book to call unbelievers “fools” that are “corrupt”. It happens all the time. It makes no difference whether he hears that over the radio, television, from a pulpit, or face to face. It is actually far worse when it is spoken to large groups of people because it falsely poisons their attitudes about him.
What's hypothetical is the example you used of your child. Has this happened to your child?????
Haven't we gotten way off point here? The bible calls non-believers fools. If John's son is not a believer, he is called a fool by God. So what difference is it if a christian has called him a fool or not?
"Legal and social discrimination against atheists in some places may lead some to deny or conceal their atheism due to fears of persecution. A 2006 study by researchers at the University of Minnesota involving a poll of 2,000 households in the United States found atheists to be the most distrusted of minorities, more so than Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians, and other groups. Many of the respondents associated atheism with immorality, including criminal behaviour, extreme materialism, and elitism."
-Wikipedia, Demographics of Atheism, Discrimination
I wonder why?
Psa 14:1 the foolish man has said in his heart, God will not do anything. They are unclean, they have done evil works; there is not one who does good. (BBE)
The wording of this particular verse is seen clearer in this version. The force of the context is that people who do evil things and think they will get away with it are foolish and have wicked intent.
Prejudice against a religious belief is wrong (unless that belief encourages circumcise your female children or another ancient practice was burning your child in the arms of Molech)this rightly needs challenging.
Nevertheless, the law none contradiction says we cant all be right; this includes Atheism.
In regards to the comment "even if we are decent and loving people, we are not PERFECT so we deserve to rot in the eternal fires of hell." It does kind of depend on what standard you are using. If you compare yourself to Hitler you would look good but if you compare yourself to Ghandi you might look somewhat tarnished. Now it just might be possible that a Holy God might be so far beyond our comprehension in purity, love & justice that even our ultimate best falls far short.
Atheists' group, church battling with bus signs
Associated Press
11:14 PM CDT, March 11, 2009
MADISON, Wis. - An atheists' group and a church are taking their rivalry on the road, using ad space on Madison Transit buses to display their competing messages.
The Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation is spending $2,100 on six signs appearing for up to two months inside 50 buses. Each sign has a quotation questioning religion or giving reasons for not believing.
A quote from the late actress Butterfly McQueen, who appeared in the movie "Gone With the Wind," says, "As my ancestors are free from slavery, I am free from the slavery of religion."
In response to the ads, Pilgrims Covenant Church in Monroe said this week it purchased space on the outside of 11 Metro Transit buses for an ad quoting Psalm 14, verse 1: "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God."
Post a Comment