thought of the day.410

Evidence that Jesus is a Myth, Part 1: The Elijah/Elisha Connection
(Revised 3/21/10)

Two thousand years ago, people worshiped Osiris, Glycon, Simon, Apollonius of Tyana, Pythagoras, Orpheus, Dionysus, Zalmoxis, Kore, Samothrace, Attis, Adonis, Horus, Mithras and others. Just like Jesus, these gods’ claims to fame included being born of a virgin, walking on water, healing lepers, raising the dead, turning water into wine, and dying and rising again. However, my argument is not that Jesus was copied from “pagan” religions (though these certainly had an influence) but was largely created from the stories of the Old Testament itself, and in particular, the escapades of the god-like characters, Elijah and Elisha.

Elijah is such an important character that he is mentioned 75 times in the Old Testament and 29 times in the New. God promises to send Elijah as a savior (Ml 4:5), an angel says that John the Baptist would have “Elijah’s spirit and power” (Luke 1:17) while Jesus suggests John the Baptist “is Elijah” (Mt 11:14). Jesus says Elijah (as John the Baptist) was mistreated just as he would be mistreated (Mt 17:11-12), speaks about Elijah coming to get everything ready for him (Mt 17:11-12) and compares himself to Elijah and Elisha (Lk 4:25-27). Elijah even makes an appearance and converses with Jesus (Lk 9:30-31). Some people think Jesus is actually Elijah (Mt 16:14) and as Jesus dies, others think he is calling Elijah and that Elijah may come take him down from the cross (Mk 15:35-36). Even the names mean the same thing — Elisha being “God (Jehovah) is salvation” and Jesus, “Jehovah saves” while Elijah is “my God is Jehovah.”

The New Testament accounts are obviously not word for word copies of these earlier stories, but there are over 50 themes common to both Elijah/Elisha and Jesus. When considered collectively, the following comparisons along with parts 2, 3 and 4, are convincing evidence that the Jesus of the bible was not a historical person, but a literary Frankenstein, cobbled together from dozens of pre-existing myths.

1. MIRACLE BABY
> A woman was miraculously impregnated with a son through Elisha (2K 4:8-17)
> A woman was miraculously impregnated with a son promised to be “like the prophet Elijah” and told what to name him— John (the Baptist) (Lk 1:5-17)
> A woman was miraculously impregnated with a son and told what to name him—Jesus (Lk 1:26-31)

2. FASHIONISTA
> Elijah (Elisha’s predecessor) wore animal skins tied with a leather belt (2K 1:8)
> John the Baptist (Jesus’ predecessor) wore animal skins tied with a leather belt (Mk 1:6)

3. PASSING THE MANTEL
> Elijah passed the mantel to Elisha to carry on God’s work (2K 2:9-16)
> John the Baptist* passed the mantel to Jesus to carry on God’s work (Lk 3:1-22)
*Elijah (Mt 11:14)

4. BEHEADING
> The king wanted to behead Elisha (2K 6:31)
> The king beheaded John the Baptist (Mt 14:10)

5. SAVIOR
> Elijah is sent to save people from God’s wrath (Ml 4:5-6)
> Jesus is sent to save people from God’s wrath (Mk 16:16)

6. GIFTS
> Elisha was given precious gifts (2K 8:8-9)
> Jesus was given precious gifts (Mt 2:9-11)

7. HUNTED
> A wicked king ordered an extensive search for Elijah in order to kill him (1K 18:1-10)
> A wicked king ordered an extensive search for Jesus in order to kill him (Mt 2:3-20)

8. SENT INTO HIDING
> Elijah was commanded by God to travel to another place and hide (1K 17:2-3)
> Joseph was commanded by God to travel to another place and hide Jesus (Mk 1:1)

9. HOLY RIVER
> Elisha received the spirit at the Jordan (2K 2:9)
> Jesus received the spirit at the Jordan (Mk 1:1)

10. FORTY DAYS & FORTY NIGHTS
> Elijah went 40 days & nights in the wilderness without food (1K 19:4)
> Jesus went 40 days & nights in the wilderness without food (Mt 4)

11. MINISTERING ANGELS
> An angel helped Elijah before his wilderness trip (1K 19:5-9)
> Angels helped Jesus after his wilderness trip (Mk 1:12-13)

12. GROUPIES
> Elisha had a group of followers (2K 6)
> Jesus had a group of followers (Mk 13)

13. THE CALLING
> Elisha was busy working when called to stop and follow Elijah (1K 19:19-21)
> Simon, Andrew, James and John were busy working when called to stop and follow Jesus (Mk 1:16-20)

14. GOODBYES
> Elisha said he would follow Elijah after saying goodbye to his parents (plow in story) (1K 19:20)
> A man said he would follow Jesus after saying goodbye to his family (plow in story) (Lk 9:61-62)

15. PROPHET
> Elijah was called a “prophet” (1K 1:3)
> Jesus was called a “prophet” (Lk 7:17)

16. MASTER
> A group of men called Elijah, Elisha’s “master” (2K 2:3-5)
> A group of men called Jesus, “master” (Mk 13)

17. SERVANT
> Elijah is called God’s “servant” (2K 9:36)
> Jesus is called God’s “Servant” (Acts 3:26)

18. YES MAN
> Elijah did as God commanded (2K 1:4)
> Jesus did as God commanded (Jn 4:34)

19. GOD’S SPOKESMAN
> Elijah spoke for God (1K 17:1)
> Jesus spoke for God (Mt 7:21-23)

20. TRAVELING MAN
> Elijah traveled throughout Judea, Samaria, Galilee and Syria going town to town doing God’s work (1K, 2K)
> Jesus traveled throughout Judea, Samaria, Galilee and Syria going town to town doing God’s work (Lk, Mk, Mt, Jn)

21. DRINK OF WATER
> Upon entering a town, Elijah had a woman get him a glass of water, worked a miracle of abundance and the woman called him a prophet (1K 17:10)
> Upon entering a town, Jesus had a woman get him a glass of water, promised a miracle of abundance and the woman called him a prophet (Jn 4:5)

22. CROSSING THE WATER
> Elijah walked across divided water (2K 2:8)
> Elisha walked across divided water (2K 2:14)
> Jesus walked across the top of water (Mk 6:45)

23. SEEING IS BELIEVING
> Elisha made the blind see (2K 6:20)
> Jesus made the blind see (Mk 8: 21-26)

24. HEALING THE LEPER
> Elisha healed a man with leprosy (2K 5)
> Jesus healed a man with leprosy (Mk 1:41)

25. FEEDING THE MULTITUDE
> A servant expressed doubt but Elisha used loaves of barley bread to feed a multitude and had left overs (2K 4:42-44)
> A disciple expressed doubt but Jesus used loaves of barley bread to feed a multitude and had left overs (Jn 6:1-13)

26. VINEYARD MAYHEM
> Elisha says a king will be killed as punishment for wanting to take over a vineyard after the owner was murdered (1K 21:1-19)
> Jesus says tenants will be killed as punishment for wanting to take over a vineyard and murdering the owner’s son (Lk 20:9-18)

27. ARMY OFFICER
> Elisha helped an army officer (2K 5:1-15)
> Jesus helped an army officer (Mt 8:5-6)

28. SUPERNATURAL KNOWLEDGE
> Elijah knew details of a person’s private life (2K 6:12)
> Jesus knew details of a person’s private life (Jn 4:17-18)

29. SUPERNATURAL SIGHT
> Elisha could see a man in another place (2K 5:26)
> Jesus could see a man in another place (Jn 1:48-49)

30. IMMINENT SEIZURE
> Elisha knew he was about to be seized (2K 6:30-32)
> Jesus knew he was about to be seized (Jn 6:15)

31. COMMANDER OF THE ELEMENTS
> Elijah controlled the weather (1K 17:1)
> Jesus controlled the weather (Mk 4:39)

32. AUDIENCE OF THOUSANDS
> All of Israel gathered to hear Elijah (1K 18:19-21)
> 5,000 gathered to hear Jesus (Mk 6:30-44)

33. JARS OF WATER
> Elijah instructed people to fill 4 jars with water as part of a miracle (1K 18:33)
> Jesus instructed people to fill 6 jars with water as part of a miracle (Jn 2:7)

34. LEGACY OF THE 12 TRIBES
> Elijah used 12 stones to rebuild the altar (1K 18:32)
> Elisha used 12 teams of oxen to plow (1K 19:19)
> Jesus used 12 disciples to build the Church (Mt 10:1)

35. FAMILY MATTERS
> Elijah will be sent to unite the family (Ml 4:5-6)
> Jesus came to divide the family (Mt 7:36)

36. AT THE FOOT OF THE MASTER
> A distraught woman held Elisha’s feet (2K 4:27)
> A distraught woman held Jesus’ feet (Lk 7:36)

37. SIGN OF SUBJECTION
> A man bowed down before Elijah (1K 18:7)
> 50 men bowed down before Elisha (2K 2:15)
> A man knelt down before Jesus (Jn 9:38)

38. HEARTLESS DISCIPLES
> Elisha’s servant wanted to push away a mother distraught over her dead child but Elisha worked a miracle (2K 4:27)
> Jesus’ disciples wanted to send away a mother distraught over her suffering child but Jesus worked a miracle (Mt 15:21-28)

39. MAGIC MOUNTAIN
> Elijah experienced a supernatural change after he and a servant climbed a mountain (cloud in story) (1K 18:42-46)
> Jesus experienced a supernatural change after he and 3 disciples climbed a mountain (cloud in story and Elijah appears) (Mt 17:1-13)

40. WORDS FROM ON HIGH
> Elijah climbed a mountain where God spoke (1K 19:9)
> Jesus climbed a mountain where God spoke (Mt 17:5)

41. FINANCIAL WIZARD
> Elisha worked a financial miracle (2K 4:1-5)
> Jesus worked a financial miracle (Mt 17: 24)

42. SAVIOR OF THE PARTY
> Elisha transformed food for a group of people (2K 4:38-41)
> Jesus transformed water for a group of people (Jn 2:6)

43. GO IN PEACE
> Elisha said “Go in peace” (2K 5:19)
> Jesus said “Go in peace” (Lk 7:50)

44. PROPHET OF DOOM
> Elijah saw the future and told of coming horrors (2K 8:12)
> Jesus saw the future and told of coming horrors (Lk 21:10-33)

45. CURSE OF DEATH
> Elisha’s curse caused death (2K 2:24)
> Jesus’ curse caused death (Mk 11:21)

46. RAISING THE DEAD I (The Widow’s Son)
> Elijah raised a widow’s dead son, gave him to his mother & was called a prophet (1K 17:21)
> Jesus raised a widow’s dead son, gave him to his mother & was called a prophet (Lk 7:11-16)

47. RAISING THE DEAD II (The Child)
> Elisha raised a dead child in a home (2K 4:27-37)
> Jesus raised a dead child in a home (Mk 5:22-43)

48. RAISING THE DEAD III (The Man in the Tomb)
> Elisha’s bones raised a dead man in a tomb (2 K:21)
> Jesus raised a dead man in a tomb (Jn 11)

49. FIRE FROM HEAVEN
> Elijah called down fire from heaven to kill people (2K 1:10)
> Jesus’ disciples asked to call down fire from heaven to kill people (Lk 9:54)

50. DUPLICITOUS UNDERLING
> Elisha’s duplicitous servant asked for 3,000 silver coins & suffering followed (2K 5)
> Jesus’ duplicitous disciple accepted 30 silver coins & suffering followed (Mt 26:14)

51. TROUBLEMAKER
> Elijah was considered “the worst troublemaker in Israel” (1K 18:17)
> Jesus was considered the worst troublemaker in Israel (implied) (Jn 2:13-18, 19:6)

52. WANTED MAN
> The Jewish people wanted Elijah killed (1K 19:10)
> The Jewish people wanted Jesus killed (Mt 27:20)

53. HEAVEN BOUND
> It was revealed Elijah would soon ascend to heaven (2K 2: 1-12)
> Jesus revealed he would soon ascend to heaven (Jn 20:17)

54. ANGUISHED PRAYER
> Afraid for his life, Elijah went off by himself, sat and prayed for God to take his life and was then strengthened by an angel (1K 19:3-6)
> Afraid for his life, Jesus went off by himself, knelt and prayed for God not to take his life (but that his will be done) and was then strengthened by an angel (Lk 22:39-43)

55. PLEDGE OF LOYALTY
> As Elijah’s “death” approached, Elisha swore he wouldn’t leave him—twice (2K 2:4-6)
> As Jesus’ death approached, Peter swore he wouldn’t leave him—twice (Mk 14:4-29-31)

56. MOCKED
> Elisha was made fun of (2K 2:23)
> Jesus was made fun of (Mk 15:20)

57. DEATH CRY
> As Elijah “died,” Elisha cried out, “My father, my father!” (2K:2:12)
> As Elisha died, the king cried out “My father, my father!” (2K 13:14)
> As Jesus died, he cried out, “My God, my God...” (Mt 27:46)

58. TORN CLOTH
> Upon Elijah’s death, Elisha tore his cloak in two (2K 12)
> Upon Jesus’ death, the Temple’s curtain tore in two (Mt 27:51)

59. UP, UP AND AWAY!
> Elijah was visibly taken up to heaven (2K 2:11)
> Jesus was visibly taken up to heaven (Lk 24:51)

more to come...

IN CONCLUSION
The True Believer may rationalize all of this away, but there’s no disputing that there is clearly little about Jesus that is unique. Further study of comparative religions reveals Christianity took all of its ideas—from the virgin birth to Jesus’ prophesied thousand year reign—from “pagan” religions. In fact, Christianity IS a pagan religion. It simply has outlasted most of its competition, aided by two millennia of persecuting them.

Further evidences that Jesus is a myth can be found in Part 2: Likely OT Sources, Part 3: Indisputable OT Sources and Part 4: Extra-Biblical Sources.

thought of the day.409

Toxic Power of Christianity

“Sadly I can not express my true religious beliefs on Facebook as I would lose 75% of my clients, [it] makes me a coward, but I do have to feed my family. So, I will live behind your strength, just know you are soooo not alone....Peace Brother.....”

~ A friend

thought of the day.408

Reason is a “Whore”?

"Reason should be destroyed in all Christians."
— Martin Luther

"Whoever wants to be a Christian should tear the eyes out of his reason."
— Martin Luther

"Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but more frequently than not struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God."
— Martin Luther

"Reason is the Devil's greatest whore; by nature and manner of being she is a noxious whore; she is a prostitute, the Devil's appointed whore; whore eaten by scab and leprosy who ought to be trodden under foot and destroyed, she and her wisdom ... Throw dung in her face to make her ugly. She is and she ought to be drowned in baptism... She would deserve, the wretch, to be banished to the filthiest place in the house, to the closets."
— Martin Luther, Erlangen Edition v. 16, pp. 142-148

"Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed. Faith must trample underfoot all reason, sense, and understanding, and whatever it sees must be put out of sight and ... know nothing but the word of God."
— Martin Luther

thought of the day.407

Lying for Jesus

"And often it is necessary to deceive, and to do the greatest benefits by means of this device, whereas he who has gone by a straight course has done great mischief to the person whom he has not deceived."
~John Chrysostom, "Treatise on the Priesthood, Book 1,"

"To be right in everything, we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it"

~ Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises

"What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good and for the Christian church … a lie out of necessity, a useful lie, a helpful lie, such lies would not be against God, he would accept them."

~Martin Luther

thought of the day.406

Perhaps the most noble, and at the same time, most empty sentence ever penned...

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The grand words of the Declaration of Independence must have stung black men and women of all colors as it took nearly a century for blacks to be considered “equal” enough to abolish slavery and a half century more before women were considered “equal” enough to vote.

thought of the day.405

“I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.”

~ Susan B. Anthony

thought of the day.404

The Myth of One Man, One Woman

Christians who like to thump the bible as proof that their God designed marriage to be between one man and one woman either don’t know their holy book very well or are simply being less than truthful. Abraham had multiple wives, a concubine and a slave girl. Rehoboam had 18 wives and 60 concubines. Jacob had two wives and two concubines. Abijah had 14 wives. Gideon had many wives and a concubine as did Jesus’ ancestor, David, who received some of his wives in a tawdry trafficking act as the Christian God gave him Saul’s wives — and yes, that’s wives with an s. And who could forget Solomon who enjoyed the company of 700 wives and 300 concubines.

The Christian God actually sanctioned the practice of taking multiple wives...“if a man takes a second wife, he must continue to give his first wife the same amount of food and clothes. If he doesn’t he must set her free.” How divine of him to command their feeding or release!

Instead of condemning the practice of taking multiple wives, the Christian God simply commanded sons not to “disgrace” their father by having intercourse with their mother ”or any of his other wives.” Yes, that’s wives with an s again.

Perhaps the most tender command concerning the sanctity of marriage is found in Deuteronomy: “When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.” Lucky girl!

2S 12:7-8, Gn 25:6 1 Ch 1:322 Ch 11:21 Gn 32:222 Ch 13:21 Ex 21:10-11Jg 8:30-311 Ch 3:1-9 Lv 18:7-81K 11:3 Dt 21:10-14 KJV

Thought of the day.403

Religion was born of morality as the gods were born of man.

thought of the day.402

“We” are clearly more than our bodies. If we lose our limbs for instance, “we” are not diminished in any mental capacity. So it is natural to think “we” (our mind) is in control of our body. “We” decide this or that and the body obeys the command. It is sobering to realize it is just the opposite. The non-thinking body actually controls us (the mind). For example, when we made breakfast this morning it was not because our mind “told” our body to do so but because our body (low blood sugar) “told” our mind to do so. “We” (our mind) simply thought we were calling the shots. If we are cold or hot it is our body that demands to be warmed or cooled before our mind is conscious of it. Even during the process of reasoning, brain functions precede “our” formulating a thought. It seems the body is the master and “we” the slave.

thought of the day.401

“If anyone can show me, and prove to me, that I am wrong in thought or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which never yet hurt anybody. It is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance which does harm.”

~ Marcus Aurelius

thought of the day.400

Tertullian, said it is “shameful” to reason that the Son of God was born, “monstrously absurd” to think he died and “manifestly impossible” to believe he rose again... Yet he “happily” acted the fool and swallowed it all — hook, line and sinker. Such reasoning prowess!... How did this esteemed Church Father manage to dress himself?

“I find no other means to prove myself to be impudent with success, and happily a fool, than by my contempt of shame, - as, for instance, I maintain that the Son of God was born. Why am I not ashamed of maintaining such a thing? Why, but because it is itself a shameful thing. I maintain that the Son of God died. Well, that is wholly credible, because it is monstrously absurd. I maintain that after having been buried he rose again; and that I take to be mainly true, because it was manifestly impossible.”

~ Tertullian

thought of the day.399

“You must be the change you seek in the world.”

~ Mohandas K. Gandhi

thought of the day.398

Certainty is born of small minds.

thought of the day.397

Studying my bible this morning I come across a gem in Mark that made me laugh. Seems a cloud suddenly appears which covers the disciples with a shadow. Then a voice comes out of the cloud, “This is my own dear Son — listen to him!” Sorry, but that is just so Monty Python. I’m afraid to keep reading. The next chapter will surely tell of a giant boot coming out of the cloud to squish the disobedient.

thought of the day.396

“The four Gospels that eventually made it into the New Testament...are all anonymous, written in the third person about Jesus and his companions. None of them contains a first-person narrative ("One day, when Jesus and I went into Capernaum..."), or claims to be written by an eyewitness or companion of an eyewitness. Why then do we call them Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Because sometime in the second century, when proto-orthodox Christians recognized the need for apostolic authorities, they attributed these books to apostles (Matthew and John) and close companions of apostles (Mark, the secretary of Peter; and Luke, the traveling companion of Paul). Most scholars today have abandoned these identifications, and recognize that the books were written by otherwise unknown but relatively well-educated Greek-speaking (and writing) Christians during the second half of the first century.”

~ Bart Ehrman "Lost Christianities"

thought of the day.395

“One of the most frightening things in the Western world, and in this country in particular, is the number of people who believe in things that are scientifically false. If someone tells me that the earth is less than 10,000 years old, in my opinion he should see a psychiatrist.”

~ Francis Crick, Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology, 1962

thought of the day.394

3 Problems with Jesus’ Sacrifice

1. HELL
According to Christian doctrine, Jesus died to save humanity from hell. Of course he created hell, so to praise him for this is like praising a fireman for saving children from a house he set ablaze.

2. DEATH
An all-knowing and all-powerful eternal being cannot die, has nothing to fear and knows his “death” is not really death at all. To say “Jesus died for our sins” is quite misleading.

3. SACRIFICE
What exactly did Jesus sacrifice? Not his life and certainly not his comfort — he moved from the outhouse of earth to the penthouse of heaven. It wasn’t even an extraordinary act. What good parent would not do the same for their child? What good spouse would not do the same for their partner? What good friend and neighbor would not do the same to save his friends and neighbors from eternal suffering?

Jesus is not only a myth but a rather poor one at that.

thought of the day.393

HATE AND IGNORANCE ALERT

Paraphrasing: “Homosexual behavior should be made illegal. Employers should be able to refuse to hire homosexuals. The military should refuse to allow homosexuals to serve their country. All homosexuals must undergo therapy to change their sexual preference or be imprisoned until they do so.”

~ Christian talk show host, Bryan Fisher, Focal Point, February, 2010

thought of the day.392

“Elements that were common in Pagan mystery religions include much of the religious content of Christianity. All elements of Jesus' life such as the events around his birth and death and ministry were also said of other god-men of the time. Peripheral elements such as there being twelve disciples were similarly present in other more ancient religions and sometimes with an astonishing amount of duplication. First century critics of Christianity voiced these accusations that Christianity was nothing but another copy of common religions, they are not new accusations.

All the actual sayings and teachings of Jesus were also not new, and much of the time speeches attributed to Jesus are more like collections of Jewish and Pagan sayings. Even distinctive texts like the Sermon on the Mount are not unique. If we remove all the content that Jesus could not have heard and repeated himself, there is nothing else left. If we remove the supernatural elements of Christianity that are copies of already existing thought and religion, there is nothing left which is unique! Even much of the sayings of subsequent Christians is not unique; Jesus appears to not have taught anyone anything that was not already present in the common culture of the time. This shows us that not only did Christianity follow on, as expected, from previous thought in history but that we do not even need to believe in God or supernatural events in order to account for the history of Christianity. Stephen Hodge very usefully lists many of the similarities found in the Dead Sea Scrolls to the teachings and organisation of Jewish Christianity. He also concludes that these Jewish documents make the teachings and appearance of Jewish Christianity less revolutionary.”

~ Vexen Crabtree, "History of literalism"

thought of the day.391

One of the many poorly conceived thoughts found in the bible concerns the commanding of respect for parents. Respect can’t be commanded, only earned. Commanding respect for an abusive parent is immoral and destructive.

thought of the day.390

'If God does not exist, everything is permitted' so say many Christians. Really? Maybe they know themselves and are admitting that without the fear of divine punishment or hope of divine reward they would be immoral, law-breaking hooligans. Does that mean all the atheists who manage to be good neighbors and citizens are just better people?

thought of the day.389

Jesus was not a flesh and blood person but a creation of writers. Almost every single aspect of the Jesus character’s story is found in the Old Testament, from the birth announcement heralded by angels to the grand exit into the clouds. We see the inspiration for the stories of gifts of gold and myrrh, slaughter of innocents, walking on water, calming the wind, transforming food, healing the blind, raising the dead, feeding the multitude, curing the leper, helping the officers, betrayal, zombies! and on and on.

thought of the day.388

Ricky Gervais speaking about his godless movie, The Invention of Lying:

"One reviewer said that ‘I don’t know why Ricky Gervais feels the need to shove his atheism down our throat’. I thought, woah, well this is one film that dares to presume the lack of God, whereas every other film I’ve ever seen presumes a God. There are door-to-door Bible salesmen. It’s taught in schools as fact. Children are indoctrinated with it from the age of four. And I’m the one shoving the ideas! Surely, we can have a discussion about it?

It seems a little bit unfair. And I don’t think it is atheist propaganda, in a world where no one has ever had the ability to lie, as an atheist, to suggest I believe that religion was started by man. And I put that in a film. I’d be a hypocrite to say anything else."

thought of the day.387

Good to remember how little we really know.

thought of the day.386

"There is an anaesthetic of familiarity, a sedative of ordinariness which dulls the senses and hides the wonder of existence. For those of us not gifted in poetry, it is at least worth while from time to time making an effort to shake off the anaesthetic. What is the best way of countering the sluggish habitutation brought about by our gradual crawl from babyhood? We can't actually fly to another planet. But we can recapture that sense of having just tumbled out to life on a new world by looking at our own world in unfamiliar ways."

~ Richard Dawkins (Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder)

thought of the day.385

All natural occurrences—from an earthquake to an exploding star in a distant galaxy— are completely meaningless. All human actions in and of themselves are also meaningless. Only when we give something meaning does it have one.

thought of the day.384

So many gods...

Abassi, Abeona, Abgal, Abuk, Abundantia, Ac Yanto, Acan, Acat, Achelois, Achelous, Acolmiztli, Acolnahuacatl, Adamanthea, Adeona, Adimurti, Adityas, Adonis, Adrammelech, Adrasteia, Adroa, Adroanzi, Aegea, Aengus, Aeolus, Aequitas, Aether, Aethon, Aetna, Africus, Agastya, Age, Aghora, Aglaea, Agni... See More, Agoue, Agrotora, Agwe, Ah Bolom Tzacab, Ah Cancum, Ah Chun Caan, Ah Chuy Kak, Ah Ciliz, Ah Cun Can, Ah Cuxtal, Ah Hulneb, Ah Kin, Ah Kumix Uinicob, Ah Mun, Ah Muzencab, Ah Peku, Ah Puch, Ah Tabai, Ah Uincir Dz'acab, Ah Uuc Ticab, Aha Njoku, Ahau-Kin, Ahmakiq, Ahulane, Ahura Mazda, Aida-Wedo, Ailuros, Aine, Airmid, Aita, Aizan, Aizen-Myoo, Aja, Aja, Ajbit, Aji-Suki-Taka-Hi-Kone, Ajok, Aker, Akhushtal, Akkan, Alaghom Naom, Alauwaimis, Alcyone, Alecto, Alectrona, Alemonia, Allah, Alom, Alpan, Alpheus, Ama-arhus, Amaethon, Ama-No-Minaka-Nushi, Amaterasu, Amathaunta, Amatsu Mikaboshi, Amatsu-Kami, Ama-Tsu-Mara, Amaunet, Ambika, Ame-No-Mi-Kumari, Ame-No-Wakahiko, Ament, Amida, Amimitl, Ammavaru, Ammon, Am-No-Tanabata-Hime, Amphitrite, Amun, Amun-Re, Amurru, An, Anala, Ananke, Anansi, Anantesa, Anatu, Andhrimnir, Andjety, Angerona, Angita, Angitia, Angrboda, Anhur, Ani, Anila, Ankt, Anna Perenna, Annamurti, Annapurna, Anouke, Ansa, Anteros, Antevorte, Anti, Antu, Anu, Anubis, Anuket, Anumati, Anunitu, Anuradha, Apa, Apam Napat, Apep, Apet, Aphrodite, Apis, Aplu, Apo, Apocatequil, Apollo, Apsaras, Apsu, Apu Illapu, Apu Punchau, Aquilo, Aradia, Aranyani, Arazu, Ardhanari, Ardhanarisvara, Ardra, Arebati, Arensnuphis, Ares, Arianrhod, Artemis, Artume, Arundhati, Aruru, Aryman, Asa, Asclepius, Ashnan, Aslesa, Astamatara, Astraea, Astrild, Asuras, Asvayujau, Asvins, Aten, Athena, Aticandika, Atl, Atla, Atlas, Atlaua, Atri, Atum, Audhumla, Aurora, Auster, Avatars of Vishnu, Aya, Ayyappan, Azaca, Ba, Ba, Ba Xian, Baal, Baba, Babbar, Babi, Bacabs, Bacchus, Backlum Chaam, Badb, Baku, Bala, Balakrsna, Balam, Balarama, Balder, Bali, Balor, Banba, Banebdjetet, Banga, Banka-Mundi, Baron Cimetiere, Baron Samedi, Baron-La-Croix, Bastet, Bat, Belatu-Cadros, Belenus, Belet-Ili, Beletseri, Belisama, Bellona, Benten, Benzai-Ten, Bes, Beset, Beyla, Bhadra, Bhaga, Bharani, Bharat Mata, Bharati, Bhavani, Bhumidevi, Bhumiya, Bhutamata, Bhuvanesvari, Bile, Bimbogami, Binzuru-Sonja, Bishamon, Bitol, Bixia Yuanjin, Boann, Bolontiku, Bomazi, Bona Dea, Boreas, Borghild, Bosatsu, Bragi, Brahma, Brahmani, Bran, Branwen, Bres, Brigit, Brigitte, Brihaspati, Brono, Bubona, Buddha, Budha, Budhi Pallien, Buku, Buluc Chabtan, Bumba, Buto, Butsu, Bylgia, Cabaguil, Caca, Cailleach, Cailleach Beara, Cai-shen, Cakulha, Calliope, Camaxtli, Camazotz, Camenae, Candelifera, Cao Guo-jiu, Caprakan, Cardea, Caridwen, Carmenta, Carna, Carrefour, Catequil, Cauac, Cautha, Cavillaca, Centeotl, Centzonuitznaua, Ceres, Cernunnos, Cghene, Chac, Chac Uayab Xoc, Chaitanya, Chalchiuhtlatonal, Chalchiuhtlicue, Chalchiutotolin, Chalmecacihuilt, Chalmecatl, Chama, Chamer, Chandanayika, Chandika, Chandra, Chantico, Chaob, Chaos, Charun, Chasca, Chasca Coyllur, Cheng-huang, Chenti-cheti, Chenti-irti, Cherti, Chibirias, Chiccan, Chicomecoatl, Chicomexochtli, Chiconahui, Chien-shin, Chimata-no-kami, Chinnamastaka, Chitra, Chitragupta, Chiuta, Chloris, Chnum, Chons, Chontamenti, Chu Jiang, Chuku, Chup-Kamui, Cihuacoatl, Cinxia, Cit Bolon Tum, Citlalatonac, Citlalicue, Ciucoatl, Cizin, Clementia, Clio, Cloacina, Coatlicue, Cochimetl, Cocomama, Coelus, Coeus, Colel Cab, Colop U Uichkin, Comus, Conditor, Coniraya, Consus, Convector, Copacati, Copia, Coyolxauhqui, Coyopa, Cronus, Cuba, Culsu, Cum Hau, Cunina, Cupid, Da, Dagda, Dagon, Dagur, Daibosatsu, Daikoku, Dainichi, Damballah-Wedo, Damgalnunna, Danu, Danu, Dea Tacita, Decima, Dedun, Dei Lucrii, Demeter, Deng, Devaki, Devapurohita, Devera, Deverra, Devi, Dewi, Dhanapati, Dhanistha, Dhanvantari, Dhara, Dharma, Dharti Mata, Dha-shi-zhi, Dhatar, Dhatri, Dhisana, Dhruva, Diana, Di-cang, Di-guan, Dionysus, Dirae, Dis Pater, Disciplina, Discordia, Disen, Dius Fidus, Djeheuty, Domfe, Dongo, Dong-yue da-di, Dosojin, Dou-mu, Dozoku-shin, Dua, Duamutef, Dumuzi, Durgha, Dyaus Pita, Dyavaprthivi, Dylan, Dziva, Ea, Ebeh, Ebisu, Edinkira, Egestes, Egungun-oya, Ehecatl, Eir, Eirene, Ekchuah, Ekibiogami, Ekkeko, Elli, Ellil, Emma-o, Empanda, Endovelicus, Enekpe, En-kai, Enmesarra, Ennead, Ennugi, Enyo, Eos, Epimethus, Epona, Erato, Erebus, Ereshkigal, Erinyes, Eris, Er-lang, Eros, Erra, Erzulie, Erzulie Dantor, Eseasar, Eshu, Eurus, Euterpe, Evan, Eventus Bonus, Fabulinus, Fama, Fan-kui, Faro, Fauna, Faunus, Faustitas, Favonius, Febris, Februus, Fei Lian, Felicitas, Feng Bo, Feng Po-po, Fenrir, Feronia, Feronia, Fides, Flora, Flying Spaghetti Monster, Fontus, Fornax, Forseti, Fortuna, Freya, Freyr, Frigg, Fudo, Fufluns, Fujin, Fukurokuju, Fulgora, Funadama, Furies, Furies, Furina, Futsu-Nushi-no-Kami, Fu-xing, Gaea, Gama, Gamab, Gandharvas, Ganesha, Ganga, Gao Yao, Gbadu, Geb, Gefion, Gekka-o, Gerd, Ghanan, Gibil, Girru, God, Goibhnu, Gong De Tian, Gong Gong, Gou Mang, Graces, Grand Bois, Grand Maitre, Gratiae, Guan-di, Gucumatz, Guede, Gui Xian, Gula, Gun, Gun, Gunab, Gwydion, Hacha'kyum, Hachiman, Hades, Hah, Han, Han Xian-zi, Haniyasu-hiko, Haniyasu-hime, Hanuman, Hapi, Harihara, Har-nedj-itef, Har-pa-khered, Hathor, Hatmehit, Hauhet, Haya-Ji, He Bo, He Xian-gu, Hebe, Hecate, Hedetet, Heh, Heimdall, Heitsi, Heket, Hel, Helios, Hemen, Hemera, Hemsut, Heng O, Hephaestus, Hera, Heracles, Hermes, Hermod, Hesat, Hesperos, Hestia, Hez-ur, Hike, Hippona, Hiranyagarbha, Hiruko, Hod, Holler, Honos, Horta, Horus, Hoso-no-Kami, Hotei, Hou Ji, Hou Tu, How-chu, How-too, Hu Jing-de, Huaca, Huang Fei-hu, Huang-lao, Huang-lao-jun, Huehueteotl, Huitzilopochtli, Huixtocihuatl, Humbaba, Hun Came, Hun Hunahpu, Hunab Ku, Hurakan, Huve, Hygieia, Hyperion, Hypnos, Ida, Ida-Ten, Idun, Ihu, Ihy, Ika-Zuchi-no-Kami, Iki-Ryo, Illapa, Imana, Imiut, Imra, Imset, Inanna, Inari, Indivia, Indra, Indrani, Inmutef, Inti, Ipet, Irkalla, Isara, Ishkhara, Ishkur, Ishtar, Isis, Isora, Itzamna, Itzananohk`u, Itzlacoliuhque, Itzli, Itzpapalotl, Ix, Ix Chebel Yax, Ixchel, Ixtab, Ixtlilton, Ixzaluoh, Izanagi, Izanami, Jaganmatri, Janus, Ji Nu, Jian Lao, Jin Jia, Jinushigami, Jizo, Joh, Jok, Jord, Jormungand, Jove, Juichimen, Juno, Jupiter, Jurojin, Justitia, Juturna, Juventas, Kaang, Ka-Ata-Killa, Kagutsuchi, Kaka-Guie, Kaksisa, Kali, Kalki, Kalunga, Kama, Kamado-gami, Kami-kaze, Kaminari, Kan, Kanayama-hiko, Kanayama-hime, Kan-u-Uayeyab, Kan-xib-yui, Kari, Kartikeya, Karttikeya, Kauket, Kawa-no-Kami, Kebechet, Kebechsenef, Kemwer, Kenro-Ji-Jin, Khem, Khentamenti, Khentimentiu, Khepri, Khnum, Khonvoum, Ki, Kianto, K'in, Kinich Ahau, Kishi-Bojin, Kishijoten, Kishimo-jin, Kojin, Kombu, Kon, Ko-no-Hana, Koshin, Koya-no-Myoin, Krishna, Kubera, Kui-xing, Kuk, Kukulcan, Kukunochi-no-Kami, Kulitta, Kulla, Kuni-Toko-tachi, Kura-Okami, Kurma, Kusag, Kvasir, Kwan Yin, La Sirene, Lactans, Laga, Lahar, Lakshmi, Lamastu, Lan Cai-he, Lao-jun, Laran, Larenta, Lares, Lasa, Latona, Laverna, Legba, Legba, Lei-gong, Lei-zi, Leto, Li Tie-guai, Liber, Libera, Liberalitas, Libertas, Libitina, Lima, Ling-bao tian-zong, Lisa, Liu Bei, Lleu, Loco, Lofn, Loki, Long-wang, Losna, Lu Ban, Lu Dong-bin, Lucifer, Lucina, Lugh, Luna, Lu-xing, Ma Wang, Maahes, Ma'at, Macuilxochitl, Magna Mater, Magni, Mahes, Maia, Maiesta, Maitreya, Malinalxochi, Mama, Mama Allpa, Mama Cocha, Mama Oello, Mama Pacha, Mama Quilla, Mami Wata, Ma-mian, Mamitu, Mammetu, Manannan mac Lir, Manasa-Devi, Manco Capac, Mani, Mania, Mania, Mantus, Marassa, Marduk, Marinette, Marisha-Ten, Mars, Martu, Maruts, Massim-Biambe, Matarisvan, Matsya, Matuta, Mawaya-no-kami, Mawu, Mbaba Mwana Waresa, Mbomba, Meditrina, Mefitis, Mehturt, Mellona, Melpomene, Mena, Mendes, Menhit, Menrva, Mens, Men-shen, Menthu, Mercury, Meret, Meretseger, Mesenet, Meskhenet, Messor, Metis, Metztli, Mextli, Mictlantecutli, Miming, Mimir, Min, Minerva, Minga Bengale, Miro...

“To me, it seems easy to account for these ideas concerning gods and devils. They are a perfectly natural production. Man has created them all, and under the same circumstances would create them again. Man has not only created all these gods, but he has created them out of the materials by which he has been surrounded. Generally he has modeled them after himself, and has given them hands, heads, feet, eyes, ears. and organs of speech. Each nation made its gods and devils speak its language not only, but put in their mouths the same mistakes in history, geography, astronomy, and in all matters of fact, generally made by the people. No god was ever in advance of the nation that created him. The negroes represented their deities with black skins and curly hair. The Mongolian gave to his a yellow complexion and dark almond-shaped eyes. The Jews were not allowed to paint theirs, or we should have seen Jehovah with a full beard, an oval face, and an aquiline nose. Zeus was a perfect Greek, and Jove looked as though a member of the Roman senate. The gods of Egypt had the patient face and placid look of the loving people who made them. The gods of northern countries were represented warmly clad in robes of fur; those of the tropics were naked. The gods of India were often mounted upon elephants; those of some islanders were great swimmers, and the deities of the Arctic zone were passionately fond of whale's blubber. Nearly all people have carved or painted representations of their gods, and these representations were, by the lower classes, generally treated as the real gods, and to these images and idols they addressed prayers and offered sacrifice.”

~ Complete Lectures of Col. R. G. Ingersol

thought of the day.383

“The age of science is the age of uncertainty. No more eternal answers console the human heart. No more changeless doctrines pacify the human mind. Religious dogma has been replaced by the humility of testing. Mythical fantasy has yielded to the stingy help of public experience.

The age of science is the age of courage. Bravery is not possible when all is predictable. Only the danger of surprise gives persons the dignity of true freedom. The hero of modern times is no fanatic believer. He is the person of patience who is strong enough to live with uncertainty. He is the person of integrity who is honest enough to wait for what he cannot totally explain.”

~Sherwin Wine

thought of the day.382

“What makes America great IS our tolerance for the dissent, a concept "true believers" have difficulty with since religion deals with doctrine while a democracy deals with a wide variety of opinions meant to be dealt with on a secular basis under the COTUS that makes no mention of GOD anywhere in it. This was meant to be a religious neutral country, contrary to the way a large group of southern angry white christofascist would have it.

I am not impressed with flag waving and chest thumping, that’s not patriotism, it's a joke. Knowing the constitution and the bill of rights and truly understanding what makes America the exceptional place it is, and living the ideals of our founding fathers, that’s patriotism. And finally courage is going against the prevailing power and standing up for a belief, courage is the lone guy standing in front of the tank in Tiananmen square not the loud mouth bullies waving flags and telling everyone they don't agree with to shut up. If that's what you think patriotism is then keep on dialing in GOP AM Hate radio and drink your koolaid - you're beyond help.”

~ Mark Doyle (my new friend on facebook)

thought of the day.381

Dust in the wind. Fleeting shadows. Carpe diem!

thought of the day.380

Empathy and Veracity. If only these were our gods.

thought of the day.379

I understand that it may offer some comfort to the grieving, but seems to me, to say one has “gone home” cheapens death. Death—as far as we can tell—is final. People do not go frolic in a happy place, thrilled to be “home” at last. Nor do they suffer unimaginable torment in a hell hole. Death, as an integral part of life, should be seen for what it is, clearly and if not unflinchingly, at least honestly.

thought of the day.378

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

thought of theday.377

“Preachers and televangelists, mullahs and imams, often seem almost to gloat over natural disasters — presenting them as payback for human transgressions, or for ‘making a pact with the devil’. Earthquakes and tsunamis are caused not by ‘sin’ but by tectonic plate movements, and tectonic plates, like everything else in the physical world, are supremely indifferent to human affairs and sadly indifferent to human suffering.”

~ Michael Shermer

thought of the day.376

Not in a second. Not in a minute. Not a moment ago. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Not today. Life exists only now. In this moment.

thought of the day.375

“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

~ Etienne de Grelle

thought of the day.374

I frequently listen to Christian talk radio when in the car to keep abreast of what the enemies of reason are up to. I almost always feel the need of a long, hot shower after being sullied by so many half-truths, whole-lies and often unabashed hate speech (today’s target was homosexuals). Nothing justifies ignorance like the bible.

thought of the day.373

If I somehow cured cancer, wiped out world hunger and put an end to all wars I would still consider my greatest personal achievement that of breaking free from Christianity. That my own herculean effort contributed to 2 of my 3 children abandoning their Christianity with great ease makes it all the sweeter.

thought of the day.372

“Ethics cannot be based upon our obligations toward [people], but they are complete and natural only when we feel this Reverence for Life and the desire to have compassion for and to help all creatures insofar as it is in our power. I think that this ethic will become more and more recognized because of its great naturalness and because it is the foundation of a true humanism toward which we must strive if our culture is to become truly ethical.”

~Albert Schweitzer

thought of the day.371

It never fails to astound and sadden me how Christianity corrupts the believer’s sense of common decency. Christians will defend any and all acts of their God, from infanticide to genocide to ecocide to eternal torture.

thought of the day.370

Loving? Not so much.

The number one most often quoted biblical verse is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Yet rarely are the two preceding verses mentioned. Seems few Christians want to talk about how their “loving” God sent poisonous snakes to kill his people (Nu 21:4-9). Some love.

thought of the day.369

The Test of Faith

Genesis
God said wives were to be
A. equal to husbands
B. subject to husbands

Lot offered up his daughters to be
A. baptized
B. gang-raped

God
A. loved all the children in Sodom and Gomorrah
B. burned all the children in Sodom and Gomorrah

Gn 3:16, 19:6-8, 19:24

Exodus
God is a
A. God of peace
B. man of war

God says daughters
A. are to be cherished
B. may be sold as slaves

Moses commanded his followers to
A. care for family, friends and neighbors
B. kill family, friends and neighbors

Ex 15:3, 21:7, 32:27-29

Deuteronomy
God says a man may take a girl to be his wife
A. if she is willing
B. after killing her family and taking her prisoner

A virgin who is raped
A. shall be comforted by the priests
B. must marry her rapist and never get divorced

A husband encouraged to worship a different deity by his wife is to
A. share the Good News with her
B. kill her

Dt 21:10-14, 22:28-29, 13:6-10

Leviticus
Children who curse a parent must be
A. corrected with love
B. killed with stones

God says children
A. are precious jewels
B. may be enslaved for life

God says everyone “unconditionally dedicated” to him
A. is blessed
B. must be killed

Lv 20:9, 25:44-46, 27:28-29

Judges
God made people
A. love one other
B. kill one other

Jepthah thanked God for victory by
A. baptising his daughter
B. sacrificing his daughter

The Israelites found wives by
A. praying to God
B. capturing girls after killing their families

Judges 7:22, 11:30-40, 21:8-12

Micah
God commands his people to
A. forgive and love others
B. punish and crush others

God
A. guards his people from enemies
B. abandons his people to enemies

God brings
A. enlightenment and mercy
B. ruin, destruction and hunger

Micah 4:15, 5:3, 6:13-16

Amos
God brought his people
A. food
B. famine

God sent his people
A. rain to nourish their crops
B. wind to dry up their crops

God sent his people a
A. miracle cure
B. killer plague

Amos 4:6-12


1 Kings
On his death bed, David called for
A. forgiveness and mercy
B. revenge and murder

Solomon became king after
A. serving people
B. murdering people

God promised Jeroboam he would
A. never punish sons for a father’s sins
B. kill all his male descendants

1 Kings 2:1-9, 2:13-46, 14:9-11

1 Samuel
God
A. keeps his promises
B. breaks his promises

The “spirit of God” made Samuel
A. kind and peaceful
B. furious and threatening

God told his people to
A. love their neighbors
B. kill men, women, children and babies

1Samuel 2:30-36, 11:6-7, 15:1-3, 27:8

Second Samuel
Jerusalem became known as a holy city after David
A. prayed God’s blessings upon it
B. slaughtered its inhabitants

When a man tried to keep the Covenant Box from falling, God
A. blessed him
B. killed him

God punished David for adultery and murder by
A. having him relinquish the throne
B. having his wives raped for all to see

2 Samuel 5:6-10, 6:1-8, 12:5-15

Lamentations
Who invited enemies to murder beloved children?
A. Satan
B. God

Who angrily pursues people and kills without mercy?
A. Satan
B. God

Who brought such starvation that mothers ate children?
A. Satan
B. God

Lm 2:22, 3:43, 4:10

2 Chronicles
God helped
A. heal 500,000 Israelites
B. slaughter 500,000 Israelites

God and his army
A. fought for truth and justice
B. attacked shepherds and stole their sheep

God had the king of Babylonia
A. build schools and hospitals
B. murder men and women, young and old

2 Ch 13:13-18, 14:12-15, 36:17

Jeremiah
God said he’d make people eat their
A. words
B. children

God
A. loves children
B. starves children to death

God said he’d
A. love people unconditionally
B. kill people mercilessly

Jeremiah 19:8-9, 11:22, 13:14

2 Kings
God sent bears to
A. lay down in the manger
B. tear children to pieces

God sent an angel upon 185,000 soldiers to
A. fill them with his holy spirit
B. kill them all

Jesus’ own ancestor, Manasseh,
A. spread the good news about Christ
B. sacrificed his son as a burnt offering

2 Kings 2:24, 19:35, 21:6

Ezekiel
God said he would make parents eat
A. stale bread
B. their children

God punished people by letting them sacrifice their
A. best goats
B. first-born sons

God said he would send
A. angels to protect children
B. armies to burn children alive

Ezekiel 5:9-10, 20:25-26, 23:25

Hosea
God told his people he would
A. surround them with love
B. attack them like a lion and tear them to pieces

God told his people he would
A. nurture their beloved children
B. kill their beloved children

God’s punishments include
A. 40 days of fasting
B. having babies heads smashed and pregnant women ripped open

Hosea 5:14, 9:15-16, 13:16

Isaiah
Horrible, painful diseases are something
A. Satan sent to cause great suffering
B. God sent to cause great suffering

God sent armies of men to
A. feed the hungry
B. bash babies and rape wives in front of their husbands

God says the world will know he is LORD by making people
A. love each other
B. kill each other

Isaiah 10:16, 13:14-18, 50:26

Psalms
Serve God with fear or
A. you’ll be unhappy
B. you’ll suddenly die

The righteous are joyful to
A. do what is right
B. wade through the blood of the wicked

Happy are those that take babies and
A. teach them the ways of the LORD
B. smash their heads against rocks

Psalm 2:11, 58:10, 137:9

Joshua
Upon entering the city of Jericho, God’s people
A. preached about God’s mercy
B. slaughtered everyone

God made the sun stand still while his people
A. distributed food and clothing
B. slaughtered people

Needing a place to live, God’s people
A. searched for uninhabited land
B. attacked a city, killed its people, and claimed it for themselves

Joshua 6:20-21, 10:12-14, 19:47


Proverbs
He that loves his children
A. nurtures them like a garden
B. beats them with a rod

To deliver a child’s soul from hell
A. pray for them
B. beat them with a rod

A child learns wisdom by being
A. taught well
B. beaten with a rod

Proverbs 13:24, 23:14, 29:15

Numbers
When people complained about being hungry, God sent
A. bread to nourish them
B. poisonous snakes to kill them

God was pleased when Phinehas saw a foreign woman and
A. shared the Bible with her
B. drove a spear through her

Moses had his men take thousands of moms and kids and
A. baptize them
B. butcher them

Numbers 21:4-6, 25:1-13, 31:1-18

Job
Satan killed all of Job’s sheep and shepherds after
A. God forbid such wickedness
B. God allowed such wickedness

Satan killed all of Job’s children after
A. God forbid such wickedness
B. God allowed such wickedness

Satan caused Job great physical suffering after
A. God forbid such wickedness
B. God allowed such wickedness

Job 1:16, 18, 2:1-10


NEW TESTAMENT

Acts
Believers helped spread Christianity by
A. writing books
B. burning books

An angel of the Lord
A. showered Herod with God’s grace
B. killed Herod with flesh-eating worms

Ananias and his wife Sapphira were
A. loved by the Lord
B. killed by the Lord

Acts 19:19-20, 12:21-23, 5:1-11


1 Timothy
Women in church are
A. equal to men
B. not allowed to teach men

Women in church
A. are free to speak
B. must keep quiet

Slaves of Christian masters must be
A. set free for it’s a sin to own a human
B. especially obedient

1 Timothy 2:8-15, 6:1-2


Matthew
Jesus said he came to bring
A. peace
B. a sword

Jesus called a mother and daughter
A. God’s children
B. dogs

Jesus said to fear
A. nothing—for he will protect you
B. God—for he can burn you in hell

Matthew 10:34, 15:21-28, 10:28

Revelation
Jesus promised to throw Jezebel
A. a party
B. on a bed and make her suffer terribly

Jesus’ angels will
A. bless all of mankind
B. kill a third of mankind

Jesus will rule the world with
A. love and wisdom
B. an iron rod

Rev 2:22-23, 9:15, 19:12-16

Mark
Jesus reminded people about the command to
A. love and protect children
B. kill children who curse their parents

Jesus referred to a mother and her sick child as
A. his precious sheep
B. dogs

Fathers who leave their children for Jesus’ sake will be
A. cursed for abandoning their families
B. rewarded with 100 times more children

Mk 7:10, 24-28, 10:29-30

Luke
Jesus told his friends not to fear people, but
A. fear only fear itself
B. fear God, who after killing, may throw them into hell

Jesus came to bring the world
A. peace and harmony
B. division and family strife

When Jesus comes again it will be like
A. heaven on earth
B. when God slaughtered everyone in Sodom

Lk 12:4-5, 12:49-53, 17:22-30

more to come...

thought of the day.368

Ahhh, such sweet Christian love...right out of the "Good" book:

"Whoever does not love the LORD — a curse on him!"

~ 1 Corinthians 16:22

Paul curses unbelievers in this life and Jesus promises eternal torment for them in the next. Lovely gentlemen those two.

thought of the day.367

We’ve come a long way, baby!

On this date in 1527, Felix Manz was drowned under sentence of the Zurich city council for believing in baptism for cognizant adults rather than infant baptism.

thought of the day.366

Mark Twain, describing the Christian Bible in Letters from the Earth, 1909:

“Also it has another name – The Word of God. For the Christian thinks every word of it was dictated by God. It is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies… But you notice that when the Lord God of Heaven and Earth, adored Father of Man, goes to war, there is no limit. He is totally without mercy – he, who is called the Fountain of Mercy. He slays, slays, slays! All the men, all the beasts, all the boys, all the babies; also all the women and all the girls, except those that have not been deflowered. He makes no distinction between innocent and guilty… What the insane Father required was blood and misery; he was indifferent as to who furnished it.”

thought of the day.365

“I will seek elegance rather than luxury, refinement rather than fashion. I will seek to be worthy more than respectable, wealthy and not rich. I will study hard, think quietly, talk gently, and act frankly. I will listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with an open heart. I will bear all things cheerfully, do all ...things bravely await occasions and hurry never.”

~ William Ellery Channing

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“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

thought of the day.363

2009 was a very good year. :) May 2010 be even better....

thought of the day.362

To believe God answers prayer is to believe one shares in omnipotence — perhaps the grandest of all delusions.

thought of the day.361

The journey is the destination. Enjoy the route.

thought of the day.360

We can’t answer the question of whether or not a god exists, but we can answer the question of whether or not there is any evidence of one. That answer is a shout from the rooftops, NO!

thought of the day.359

“I absolutely believe what Ellie [Arroway, the atheist astronomer in the movie "Contact"] believes--that there is no direct evidence, so how could you ask me to believe in God when there's absolutely no evidence that I can see? I do believe in the beauty and the awe-inspiring mystery of the science that's out there that we haven't discovered yet, that there are scientific explanations for phenomena that we call mystical because we don't know any better.”

~ Jodie Foster

thought of the day.358

Beware of Cynicism

"Cynicism and doubt are not the same experience. Cynicism is a state of disbelief, an active act of not believing. Doubt raises questions, but it is not closed-minded. Cynicism shuts off possibilities; doubt leaves room for hope. Cynicism leads to pessimism; doubt leaves room for optimism. Cynicism contracts; doubt expands. Doubt confronts the world full throttle and dares faith: Go ahead, show me! Cynicism turns its back and slowly wanders away."

~ Arthur P. Ciaramicoli and Katherine Ketcham, The Power of Empathy

thought of the day.357

New Testament “events” not substantiated by any historian. Hmmmm.

1. SLAUGHTER OF INNOCENTS Mt 2:16
How is it that all the young boys throughout a region can be pried from their hysterical parent’s arms and murdered on orders from a king and yet no historian makes note of it?
Perhaps because it was a myth just like Jesus.

2. LIGHTS OUT Mk 15:33
How is it that a country can suddenly be blanketed in darkness for three hours in the middle of the day and yet no historian makes note of it?
Perhaps because it was a myth just like Jesus.

3. ZOMBIES Mt 27:51
How is it that the earth can shake and hordes off rotten bodies can crawl out of their graves and walk throughout a bustling city like Jerusalem and yet no historian makes note of it?
Perhaps because it was a myth just like Jesus.

4. MIRACLES GALORE
How is it that a man can perform miracle after miracle for some three years including flying into the clouds (and continuing through the Milky Way one assumes) for all to see and yet no historian makes note of it?

How is it that all these things and more could happen and yet not one historian alive at the time Jesus supposedly lived records his existence? Not one.
Perhaps because all these events were but myths just like Jesus.

thought of the day.356

A collection of comments (sure to grow) taken from conversations I have had with Christians about the bible. Though I strive to keep my comments focused on the bible itself, I find believers often shift the focus from the bible to me and my shortcomings.

Apparently, the reason that I criticize the immorality of the biblical God is not because it is justified but because...

I AM ANGRY
“It is clear ... you are in active and often angry rebellion against God”
“Why so angry at God?”
“Rage if you must, just please take it somewhere else”

I AM BITTER
“you are a bitter person”

I HAVEN’T READ THE BIBLE
“You don’t know scripture”

I HAVE NO MORALS
“folks of your ilk are always looking for an moral out, but always have strength enough to lift your fingers and point to those like me who actually have moral convictions.”

I AM A FUNDAMENTALIST
“Atheists are just like fundamentalists...taking scripture out of context and translating verbatim.”
“I think if you stop behaving like a fundamentalist...”
“You obviously come from a very fundamentalist background.“

I NEED TO BE PRAYED FOR
“Ill pray for you John!”
“I’ll light a candle for you too John at mass on Sunday.”
“I'm STILL praying for you John.”

I TEAR PEOPLE DOWN
“...you John tried to tear those people down. You diminished their faith to rape and your ignorance of scripture. You tried to tear me down but you lost. You lost big and for that I am so sorry such scripture inspired you to tear someone down... God is Good!”

I AM A FOOL
"Only a fool says there is no God"

I AM HELL BOUND
“At the judgement, there will be weeping and nashing of teeth and men crying out that they did this and they did that in His name." His reply will be, "Depart from me, for I never knew you". Enough said. Ask yourself, "what if I'm wrong". It's better to bet on a God that can love Mary Magdalene, than one who puts a woman in a sack (Allah) or one who doesn't exist. When you're waiting to die, who are you going to turn to? There are no Atheists in Hell.”

I AM OUT OF MY PLACE
“you all are doing an excellent job putting John in his place.”

I AM GUILT RIDDEN
“ you must feel guilty for being blessed with such an artistic ability.”

I AM NOT NICE
“It's so much easier to be nice. Try it sometime.”

I WAS NEVER A REAL CHRISTIAN

I MAKE PEOPLE LOOK LIKE IDIOTS
“You sure do know how to make a person with faith look like an idiot. Thanks John.”

I FEEL THE NEED TO PUT PEOPLE DOWN
“I never put you down for your "lack" of faith in God though you sure felt it nexcessary to do that to me.”

I RUIN PEOPLE’S DAYS
“No more comments please, you have totally ruined my day.”

I AM AN IDOLATOR
“John, I would suggest you are an idolator and your idol, the thing you place your faith, hope, and trust in, is science.”

thought of the day.355

Any being that would create a place of eternal torture is a demon not a god and worthy of condemnation not praise.

thought of the day.354

A beautiful garden requires both sowing and weeding.

thought of the day.353

Religion vs. Spirituality

"Religion involves creeds and catechisms. Spirituality involves feelings and experiences that transcend mere words. Religion is imitative and comes from without; spirituality comes from within; spirituality comes from "my strength, hope and experience." Religion is "left-brain"-it is rooted in words, sacred texts, and culture. Spirituality is "right-brain"; it transcends the boundaries of body, language, reason, and culture...Most religious beliefs involve dogma. Spiritual trust involves metaphor. So what is the difference between dogma and metaphor? Metaphors are open-ended and playful; dogma is rigid and serious. Metaphors mean "analogous to" and "as if"; dogma conveys "so I've been told" and "it's right there in the Bible..." Metaphors allow the truth of our dreams to become clearer with every retelling. In contrast, dogma may insist that heretics be executed....Dogma retards science;metaphors advance science."

~ George E. Vaillant, MD, Aging Well, 2002 pg 260

thought of the day.352

“The belief that there is only one truth and that oneself is in possession of it seems to me the deepest root of all evil that is in the world.”

~ Max Born

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“Why go to the Bible [about woman suffrage]? What question was ever settled by the Bible? What question of theology or any other department?

The human mind is greater than any book. The mind sits in judgment on every book. If there be truth in the book, we take it; if error, we discard it. Why refer this to the Bible? In this country, the Bible has been used to support slavery and capital punishment; while in the old countries, it has been quoted to sustain all manner of tyranny and persecution. All reforms are anti-Bible.”

~ William Lloyd Garrison, Oct. 18, 1854.

thought of the day.350

The sound of a soft rain, the feel of a cozy sweatshirt on a cold morning, the smell of coffee, the sight of ten times ten thousand things around me that are so rarely ever seen. Mindfulness.

thought of the day.349

“Reason can wrestle terror, and overthrow it at last.”

~Euripedes

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“Prayers are to men as dolls are to children. They are not without use and comfort, but it is not easy to take them very seriously.”

~ Samuel Butler, "Unprofessional Sermons," 1912

thought of the day.347

Gentleness is stronger than fury.

thought of the day.346

God is pretend. Love is divine.

thought of the day.345

Which 5 people would you invite to dinner?

My youngest son, Nicholas, was asked that as part of an assignment in class a couple days ago. I have always enjoyed reading which people are chosen and why. The persons picked are always important to the person picking. Jesus, a famous athlete, celebrity, scientist, family member, etc. But Nic chose people he felt didn’t get the appreciation and love they deserved when alive and wanted them to know how much people cared about them after they had died. It wasn’t about him at all. Damn. I was impressed.

thought of the day.344

One of my fundamentalist christian friends just updated me on his truly remarkable children. What excellent citizens, athletes and students these kids are! Yet I couldn’t help but think how sad it was that their brightness is dimmed by the horrible shadow of hell. How sad to go through life thinking all one’s wrong-believing friends and neighbors are destined for a very uncomfortable eternity. What a crime.

thought of the day.343

On Humanism

Old: God created the world and humanity.
New: The world and humanity evolved.

Old: Hell is a place of eternal torment for the wicked.
New: Suffering is the natural result of breaking the laws of right living.

Old: Heaven is the place where good people go when they die.
New: Doing right brings its own satisfaction.

Old: The chief end of humanity is to glorify God.
New: The chief end of humanity is to improve ourselves, as individuals and as the human race.

Old: Religion has to do with the supernatural.
New: Religion has to do with the natural; the so-called supernatural is only the not-yet-understood natural.

Old: Humankind is inherently evil and a worm of the dust.
New: Humankind is inherently good and has infinite possibilities.

Old: Humankind should submit to the will of God.
New: Humankind should not submit to injustice or suffering without protest and should endeavor to remove its causes.

Old: Salvation comes from outside humanity.
New: Improvement comes from within. No person or god can save another person.

Old: The ideas of sin, salvation, redemption, prayer, and worship are important.
New: These ideas are unimportant.

Old: The truth is to be found in one religion only.
New: There are truths in all religions and outside of religion.

~ Charles Francis Potter, Originally published in 1930, Language updated in 1994

thought of the day.342

While conversing with a Christian today I was offered this gem that is often used as a last resort:

“...When I die, if I am wrong about my God, I have nothing to lose. When you die and if you are wrong about there not being a God, you have everything to lose."

My response: What if you are wrong about the particular god you worship? What if there is in fact a god but his name is Allah and you get tortured in Muslim hell? Or what if there is a god but She doesn’t care for religious types and rewards only atheists with heavenly bliss?

If there is no god — no afterlife — it means the christian has spent their one and only life living a grand delusion. They have spent precious time and resources on believing and perpetuating a falsehood — a big fat juicy lie. Now that seems to me to be quite a loss indeed.

thought of the day.341

The difference between Science and Creationism

Scientists search for a deeper understanding of reality by:
1. collecting data
2. drawing conclusions

Creationists believe they already possess the Truth (Bible) and so:
1. start with the conclusion
2. collect data to support it

Science continually expands our knowledge while Creationism retards it and is yet another example of the harm done by religion.

thought of the day.340

Just wanted to share something a buddy of mine wrote about his dog, Scout. Strange, but I felt I was actually a better person for simply having read it. By the way, Goetz designs as well as he writes.

If you've got a minute, a toast to a friend...

Almost 16 years ago, in the spring of 1994, I decided it was a good
time to get a dog. I had just bought my first house and was starting
to admit to myself that among the reasons I had bought the house on
Coolair Drive was to have a place to keep my dog. The only thing
missing was a dog. So on a sunny afternoon in May, I aimed my car in
the direction of the Animal Adoption Center on Garland Road and set
out to find that dog. That's where I met my gal Scout.

Instantly, and for the next 15-odd years of my life, that sweet
patchwork quilt of a dog became the most loyal friend I have ever
known. Whether we were claiming the Pedernales River for a day -- not
a soul in sight for miles, except for an occasional herd of cattle
taking a drink from the river at sundown -- or hiking the trails of
Dinosaur Valley, Scout was with me literally every step of the way. We
took road trips, we camped, we hiked, we terrorized armadillos, we
chased jackrabbits and bobcats (Scout carried a "souvenir" on her ear
as the result of one particularly ill-fated but memorable encounter
with the latter), we drank beer on the patio, we crashed buddies'
bars, we made friends, we met girls, we mowed the lawn, we smoked
brisket, we stared at the stars in the back yard, we hosted parties
and we pissed off the neighbors. From the death of my father to the
birth of my daughter, Scout was a constant, comforting, irreplaceable
fixture in virtually every aspect of my life.

But Norbuck Park was the best. For 14 straight years, Norbuck was the
place where Scout and I would escape the world, if only for an hour or
so, but damn near every single day, rain or shine. A 40-acre oasis
comprised of trails and woods and cedar trees and pecan groves in the
middle of East Dallas, Norbuck was Heaven on Earth and the Greatest
Secret in Dallas. We'd run those trails every morning like a couple of
goofy giddy school kids, competing to see who could outsmart and
outrun the other and make it to the pecan grove on the north end
first. It was the place where we both spent some of the finest hours
of our lives. It was where our Wild Things were.

I had to put my dog Scout to sleep last week. She had become a ghost
of her old self over the past many months and finally let me know, in
no uncertain terms, that she had had enough. There's no doubt that
sentiment as sappy as this, spent on a dog no less, must seem entirely
silly to most, but for those of you who have been blessed to share
such a large portion of your life with a friend as steadfast and
virtuous as my dog Scout, you know exactly where I'm coming from.
Hell, that's what dogs do to us... they make us far sappier than we
ever plan on being. Scout was a damn good friend and a damn fine dog
-- as fine as they come -- and worthy of as dignified a salutation as
I could muster for all the joy she brought to me and those who knew her.

It's been about a year and a half since Scout was able to run the
Norbuck trails with me, but I will always remember our adventures
there like they happened yesterday -- especially on those crisp autumn
mornings when the sky was impossibly blue, the trees impossibly
brilliant and the promise of the day impossibly boundless. And I can
still hear the silent conversation that took place five thousand times
between she and me on those shady trails...

"Hey buddy, I'm going to run up this trail a little ways. You cool
with that?"

"That's cool, buddy. You run on up ahead. But don't stray too far."

"I won't. I'll be just a little ways ahead of you."

"I know you will. I'll see you soon, sweet girl."

~ Pierce Goetz

thought of the day.339

“I consider religion the enemy of science because it short-circuits critical thought and gives believers an escape hatch to superstition. As long as religion teaches that the answers to real world issues can be found in revelation and authority and the interpretation of holy texts, belief is inimical to scientific thinking.”

~PZ Myers

thought of the day.338

“Organized religion came of age...to fill many roles, not the least of which was the justification of power for the ruling elite. The ‘divine right of kings’ is not the invention of early-modern European monarchs. In fact, every chiefdom and state society known to archaeologists from around the world, including those in the Middle East, near East, Far East, North and South America, and the Polynesian Pacific islands, jutified political power through divine sanction, in which the chief, pharaoh, king, queen, monarch, emperor, sovereign, or ruler of whatever title claimed a relationship to God or the gods, who allegedly anointed them with the power to act on behalf of the divinity.”

Michael Shermer, The Science of Good and Evil, pg.33-34

thought of the day.337

"Tell me a creation story more wondrous than that of a living cell forged from the residue of exploding stars. Tell me a story of transformation more magical than that of a fish hauling out onto land and becoming amphibian, or a reptile taking to the air and becoming bird, or a mammal slipping back into the sea and becoming whale. Surely this science-based culture of all cultures can find meaning and cause for celebration in its very own cosmic creation story."

-- Connie Barlow

thought of the day.336

In the long run—the real long run—our actions make no difference at all. In the short run, they make all the difference.

thought of the day.335

“Since there is no place large enough to contain so much happiness, you shrug, you raise your hands, and it flows out of you into everything you touch. You are not responsible. You take no credit, as the night sky takes no credit for the moon, but continues to hold it, and share it, and in that way, be known.”

-Naomi Shihab

thought of the day. 334

Conversing with a fundamentalist Christian friend the other day I was struck by his statement that if it wasn’t for his God calling him to be other-centered, he would be very self-centered. But isn’t it far better, far more authentic, to be other-centered because one genuinely cares about others—has true empathy for others—than to be motivated by a “divine calling?”




“The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. ... For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstition.”

~ Albert Einstein

thought of the day.333

Beautiful thoughts about struggle and joy by my insightful sister,
Sandy Fish.

‘till you find your dream’….
10.4.09

Oh my our lives are hard and we can wonder, ‘what have I done to deserve such a fate’…’why me?’ ‘the only luck I have is bad luck, or I’d have no luck at all’….and again and again, thumping our chests with our question and crying out in our psyches, ‘why ME?!’…..

Spend a day at the grocery store and you’ll get your answer. There could be a chorus from every single customer, ‘help! Why me!‘ ‘Why us?!’ That’s more like it, Why US?….struggle, bad legs, humped backs, big bodies, frail ones, toothless, broken inside and out….single, married big large small tiny…..

Standing at the cookie demo cart for four hours I get to watch this human spectacle of us….I watch as the grocery shelves are scoured by these creatures who after a few hours all look like either descendants of birds or monkeys… foraging for food….we have to…we have to go and get food no matter how depressed or heartbroke or body bent we are….

I watch.

I cry. I do…I hold back tears at the bravery of most people. Their struggles are too much for me….at once I am grateful for my own struggles, they are what I barely handle….but these….I can almost smell the sofa on some of the pale soft bodies who have dragged themselves to the store to get food….and when I call out for them to try a cookie or ask how they are….they smile, they do, they smile! In spite of the flat tire, the broken tooth, the traffic ticket, the stolen purse, the transmission and the goddam computer crashing, they smile and say they are fine. A woman is hunched over making her way….so many seem to lumber or limp and in others you see the stress of it all on their faces as they frown at the different eggs or butter they must choose in spite of the divorce, the death, the disappointments, the disappointments, disappointments…..

This is our lot. I see that. We dress up our broken beleaguered bodies, pull a red sweater, clean and fresh, over the hump….place a bright pin on our collar buttoned up on the aging neck that has seen deaths by now of loved ones, the teens in new sneakers or shiny belts dressing up the aches, fears, manic gladnesses that turn at a text into sadnesses….the eyes twinkle after they bite a cookie, they raise it up, ‘these are good!’….there are sweet moments.

It is mostly struggle. That is our plight. It just simply is. And why have we been fed some notion of attaining comfort? That, that is some attainable goal? That, there is some comfy destiny some reach. I don’t believe it! It’s a lie! It is! I watch. I watch and watch and watch….. I see the huge burdens, physical or emotional….I see it…I smell it, I feel it….and I am impressed.

And I want to know, not how to attain comfort or riches-- things that are but a glamour…a glimmer of glamour of smoke and mirrors, illusion….but to know the struggle….to embrace that fact with maybe a wince but not a whine, not a why me, not a poor me…..but Me! We! I am here because I am struggling, therefore I know- I Am. No, no, not I THINK Therefore I am, I STRUGGLE Therefore I Am; I am, I am very much alive and there, aha, it is, the twinkle, the smile, the grandness of all who can do it….and say, “I’m Fine”….

The glory that we are not shiny photos in magazines, not popping out in high def luxury….not cruising in cars with painted smiles 24/7 being what is called prettiness….that is not alive and as far as I can tell and see when I watch for hours all of us….being alive is the goal…….living

The disappointments come from the lie. To try to believe a lie is to be weighted in a constant inert fog of disappointment….

There is substance in….working in the cold or lugging heavy things up and down hills in the heat; to have sore feet and not enough money, to feel lonely or inadequate or crowded and nervous, sick or sore, exhausted, frustrated. It brings, I suppose most would say, a ridiculous, smile to me….yet it is the finest sweetest lightest kind of joy…..because to feel these things, to be involved in the battle against the elements whether outside of us or inside of us or on our very bodies….is to share the burden of our humanness… and shared burdens are lighter….there now… that’s true… and so my struggle becomes my comfort giving me the knowledge that ‘I am’, one of us, which brings a joy that makes me smile and say, ‘I’m Fine!”

~ Sandy Fish

thought of the day.332

(From the Religious Tolerance web site)

How and why do people become Atheists?
A series of personal stories and journeys

A very common belief expressed by many conservative Christians is that many, perhaps most, Atheists are deceitful liars. They suggest that Atheists really do believe in the existence of God. However, Atheists deny this because if they admitted that he existed, they would have to come to terms with God's demands in their life concerning morality and ethics, salvation, heaven and hell, beliefs in the cardinal doctrines of Christianity, etc.

From the personal experiences I have had with the Atheist in our virtual office and with other Atheists, I suspect that this is a false understanding of why people become Atheists. That suspicion was confirmed by reading an Internet forum provided by Amazon.com. The personal stories of many Atheists indicate that people are forced to become Atheists because they become convinced -- often reluctantly -- that either:

An all-powerful, all knowing, all-present, creator God does not exist, or

The probability of the existence of such a God is extremely small.

They are often compelled to become Atheists because their personal ethics demand that they be true to themselves. They have no other option.

On 2007-SEP-09, Karen Terrell posted a new discussion to an Amazon.com religion forum called "Dear atheists." She wrote to the Atheists of the world:

"There are times when I actually feel more comfortable talking with you guys than with others on this Forum. I enjoy the intelligence and wit that you express. And I'd really like to hear how you came to be atheists. Were you brought up in atheistic homes? Or did you experience some epiphany that brought you to atheism? Or did you see a whole lot of hypocrisy amongst God-believers that just turned you off? Or did atheism come to you as a result of reasoning and education? Did any of you start off as Christians / Pagans / Muslims / Buddhists and then have some experience that took away your belief in a god?"

She appears to imply that Buddhists have a belief in God. Actually, most Buddhists have no concept of a deity.

Fourteen out of sixteen readers reacted positively to Karen's posting. The forum received 200 responses in its first 35 days. Some are shown below.

Two things struck me about the individual postings. There was an almost complete lack of spelling and grammatical errors. More important, there was a high level of respect for each other's postings that I have never observed before on a religious forum. Everyone was quite respectful of each other's opinions and beliefs.

Personal stories of conversion to Atheism:

"Ariex:" My childhood family life was disorganized, with only minimal contact with religion. In my teens, I found myself drawn to the "clean cut" among my schoolmates, and I began to be curious about Christianity. When I became engaged to a Christian girl, I took the leap and became a Christian, enthusiastically attending church. A couple of years after marriage I began to seriously study the Bible, beginning with a thorough reading from cover to cover, and immediately found problems. I sought answers from clergy, who pointed me to various apologetic works. These actually set off "alarm bells" in my head as I recognized things that seemed contrived and artificial, designed to save the reliability of the Bible, but I began to feel as if they were directed at people who were gullible and would believe anything. I kept at it, but the problems kept cropping up and the answers kept looking lame. Finally I started reading critical Biblical scholarship and found that there were answers, just not the ones I was hoping to find. I kept on studying and finally recognized the probability that gods were mythology, the product of ancient minds trying to explain their own existence and purpose. My search for "truth" began in 1964, and continues to this day.

James Longmire: I grew up in a nominally Baptist family. We did not go to church, or discuss religious matters. We did go thru some of the motions, including Sunday school, at least until I was expelled at the age of 8 ;o)

I can't recall ever believing in God, altho' I'm sure I must have at one time. I certainly remember believing in Santa! (but not the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy, LOL)

Religion was never an issue where I grew up (Nova Scotia, mostly) and those who were overly vocal about their beliefs were looked upon as being slightly daft. Quite different from the US Bible Belt, I guess...

I was a bit of an evangelical atheist for a while, but eventually came to realize that such an approach was not only pointless, but was in fact, presumptuous. Who am I to tell people what to believe?

As I am a skeptic by nature, and a materialist philosophically, I regard all claims of the supernatural to be without merit. Still, I may very well be wrong, tho' I've yet to encounter either evidence for the supernatural, or even a compelling argument for its' existence.

So, I experienced no trauma, nor do I feel a sense of 'betrayal', as ... many other atheists seem to. The concept of the supernatural just never made sense to me. I know that 'absence of evidence, is not evidence of absence', but I also know that evidence cannot be found for the non-existent...

I believe in tolerance of other's beliefs, but not respect. Respect must be earned.

John E. Evans: I was a Christian from the time I was 5 until about 4 years ago. That is when I turned 40 and was compelled to know God as much as humanly possible. I wanted to love God more than any human that had walked the earth. I began a quest for truth that started with an in-depth study of the bible which I continue today, consultation with theologians, intensive book reading of almost a book a week for the past 4 years, interviewing church leaders, attending laity classes at SMU and much personal thinking.

I loved Jesus and God with all my heart. I never questioned heaven. I prayed almost every day. We were even one of those families that prayed before dinner in restaurants. I felt sorry for atheists and could not comprehend why they did not believe.

But early in my journey, as I was trying to wrap my mind around God, I decided that if God was anything, God was truth. So I made truth my god and decided to follow it wherever it led. I NEVER would have guessed it would have led me to atheism but it has. It was not pleasant letting go of the idea of God. It was scary and dark and lonely at first.

But I discovered a new way of seeing that makes far more sense and is actually far more interesting than my old way. Like opening a dirty window and feeling a spring breeze and morning light illuminate a dark musty room, I feel more alive than I ever did while accepting the Christian worldview. I feel like I am making steady progress toward a better understanding of reality and that is incredibly exciting and fulfilling.

Conley Thorn: I was born into a Baptist family in the hills of West Virginia. They were solidly religious, and my mother regularly read me stories from a large illustrated Bible. Later we moved to a small city in southern Virginia where I attended a rural public school. I was a sincere believer until about my 15th birthday, leader of a youth Baptist training class, etc. I had met two women missionaries and corresponded with them briefly after they returned to the Sudan. For three years I was privileged to attend a week-long summer church camp, the third year at Massanetta Springs, VA. On the first evening there, everyone assembled at an outdoor amphitheater for vespers. When the service ended it was beginning to get dark and red streaks were visible in the sky through the pines. I sat on the hillside, glorying in "God's universe" until everyone else had gone to their cabins. My "heart" seemed filled with glory, and I was certain I was communing with God. The following morning, in a Bible class, a lovely young lady asked the instructor a question regarding free will and predestination. His reply was to the effect that that was one of the thorniest problems in the Christian tradition. "A problem?" I thought--"in my religion?" It was almost a shock to me. I'd never before questioned any item of belief, nor heard anyone else do so. I began to wrestle with the seeming contradiction that had been posed. It was the first time I had realized that I could think critically about such things--probably the first time I realized I had the capacity to do so. Once begun, I continued the process fervently and fearlessly. I was agnostic within a month, though there were many more years of thought and study before I considered myself an atheist. But my apostasy resulted purely from intellection, not from any anger or disappointment with family, church or "God." I have always felt very fortunate that I had those years of experience in religion, and in Bible classes. It's a rich heritage that I would not want to have missed.

"LawStudent2187:" For me, there was nothing dramatic that led me to atheism. I'm a confirmed catholic, but I never really felt what others apparently do while I was going through the rituals. When I went to college and started spending more time critically thinking, I started to reevaluate the wisdom of the religious teachings I'd been exposed to. I too acknowledge the possibility there's a god, but I know of no good reason to believe in one.

"Zoltan:" It was easy, quick and painless, really. The Easter Bunny turned out to be a lie, Santa Claus turned out to be a lie, along with a whole lot of other things that adults tell kids. Stories about God always sounded suspect to me, if a little bit scary sometimes. When the things adults told me about God didn't pan out, he entered the same category as the bunny and the fat guy. I think I was about eight when I figured this out. Later, as an adult, I began to explore theism and religious belief. Everything I have encountered reinforces my childhood notion that all of theism is a sham.

"Ponger:" ... I don't blindly disbelieve. I look at how religion came to be and see a rational progression that has nothing to do with any real evidence of a god. And I understand that our the emotions and ego allow us to believe in anything from Astrology to Tarot cards to created a reality we can feel more comfortable in. So when I factor all this stuff in the evidenced gives me 99.99% confidence we created God in our own image. I am surprised most people don't see it this way. But I have been lucky to have a good life and don't need to find fulfillment by being made in God's image. ...

J. Stewart: I was raised in a very strict Christian home. My six siblings and I were home-schooled all of our lives; we never owned a television or a computer. There was no explanation, meaning or purpose outside of the Bible and we studied it for hours every day. My father is an international evangelist. As far as I know, I am the only atheist in my family.

I believe that my de-conversion occurred because I searched for answers; over a period of roughly ten years, I came to regard religion as being intelligently designed. I envy those who never truly believed. The trauma associated with my de-conversion is greater than anything I have ever experienced, but I survived and I suspect that this is more than can be said for many others. The freedom of being able to think for myself without the constraints of a totalitarian deity was worth the price.

Thomas A. Lewis: I was born-again at 12, home schooled for seventh grade with the usual creationist, "Christian history" propaganda (and sincerely believed it,) and baptized at 15.

That all started to unravel at about age 19 when I started to realize the psychological functionalism inherent in afterlife beliefs. At that point, religion became quite clearly false to me but I still held to a generic theism/deism. After that it was simply an intellectual journey. Sometime around my sophomore year in college I wanted to become a "better Christian" (I still called myself and believed the basic tenets of Christianity at this time even though in retrospect it is more accurately called "generic theism/deism.") and so I began studying my religion.

After about two years and 100 books ranging and hailing from both sides of creation/evolution, psychology of religion, history of religion, etc I was pretty sure that atheism was correct.

I still have an open mind and would accept a god (gods) if I found that plausible, for to me it is a simple question of correctness. However, I find that highly unlikely because a thoroughgoing naturalism seems to be the standard of reality.
bullet "Old man:" I came from a non-religious family. I envied my friends who believed in god and went to Sunday school. I read the Bible off and on throughout my life and I found nothing in it that wasn't in any other history book, fiction mythology book.

What convinced me was when I studied anthropology/evolution/mythology and found that religious mythology to be no different than any other mythology and today's science fiction stories.

Eric Pyle: My experience parallels that of old (but wise) man's. Like him, I felt no religious pressure from my family. Like him, I occasionally envied those who had faith. In my case, this wasn't true in childhood, but in my teens when I started to look around. The beauties of Dante, Milton, Bach, the cathedrals of Europe, these really appealed to me, and their aesthetics lured me to learn as much as I could about Christianity.

But as he wrote before, when you study history, anthropology, etc, you realize that every culture in history has had a religion. They have had as much reason to believe theirs as we have to believe one from ancient Palestine. They were as sincere and as intelligent as we are.

In the zillion years of human history, am I supposed to believe that only our supernatural unprovable beliefs are true? Though many generations have believed they were in "end times", in our case it's really true? That the theology of the trinity makes more sense than Hinduism or Jainism? Nope, can't believe that. I still love the art, though."

Daniel Burdette: My parents weren't the most religious people. My dad was an agnostic, and my mom always said she believed in God, but they were the types to just make the customary Easter & Christmas appearances at church. For some reason, they felt that we (my sisters and I) needed to go to Sunday school every week though.

So, early on, I was learning religious stuff pretty much every week. I don't know how critically I thought about it (being maybe 6 or 7 when I started), but I definitely remember it never seeming real to me.

I was very much an imaginative kid, always drawing pictures of monsters and dragons, and whatever else I could come up with, and while I knew the difference between reality and fiction, even the stuff I made up seemed more "real" than what they taught me every week at Sunday school. One day, in probably 3rd or 4th grade, our teacher was talking about how old the earth was, and he said something about it being only thousands of years old (I forget his exact number). Being a young boy, I had a fairly vested interest in dinosaurs, and his statement alarmed me.

I asked "But what about the dinosaurs? If Earth isn't millions of years old, when did the dinosaurs live?". His answer? "They didn't, their bones are just a trick of Satan". And with that, I was gone forever.

I still had to attend, per my parents wishes, until I finally negotiated my way out of it at age 12, but mentally, I was never back in that room after that. I *knew* that dinosaurs were real, and not the trick of some evil dude who I never really believed existed.

From there, I eventually looked into several other things (wiccan nonsense that was all the rage among loners in high school, LaVeyan Satanism, because it seemed "cool", etc), and found all of them lacking as well.

Beyond that, I never really thought seriously about it again. I'll debate religious beliefs, think about religious concepts, philosophy, etc...but nothing I've ever read, watched, or experienced has given me any reason to think that belief in a higher power is anything more than wishful thinking.

David Lister: ... I was raised in a nominally Christian family, although neither of my parents were churchgoers. As a teen, I was a member of a Presbyterian youth group, primarily for the exposure to social activities. A friend and I often attended churches of other denominations out of curiosity. It was through this habit that I was able to observe everything from the majesty of a Catholic midnight mass to the passion of a large evangelical service, a Billy Graham crusade held at the Seattle Domed Stadium, and the anti-music, anti-dancing, anti-everything teaching of a particular branch of Christian fundamentalism. While in the army, stationed in Italy, I briefly studied Mormon theology with the Mormon missionaries that were living nearby.

In other words, from a very early age, I've always been a religious seeker, but not for the typical reasons. I was more interested in understanding why people believed what they believed, and less interested in picking a belief system that I could then ascribe to.

For much of my adult life I was an agnostic, and I argued that atheism was as foolish as theism. Eventually, however, I came to understand that in reality I was an atheist. I think Richard Dawkins did it for me, when I read his quote (I think it was his and I'm paraphrasing here) that most people are atheists about all gods but one, but that atheists simply take it one god farther.

A light bulb went off in my head, and I realized that since I believed in no theology, I was without theology--therefore an atheist, by very definition of the word. It became revelation (if I can use that term) to me that to be an atheist one need not deny the possibility of a creator (proving a negative is, after all, impossible), but that he/she merely must choose to live without theology and to assume God's nonexistence, based on the lack of evidence to the contrary.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/atheist11.htm

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“I maintain that thoughtful Atheism affords greater possibility for human happiness than any system yet based on, or possible to be founded on, Theism, and that the lives of true Atheists must be more virtuous--because more human--than those of the believers in Deity, . .

Atheism, properly understood, is no mere disbelief; is in no wise a cold, barren negative; it is, on the contrary, a hearty, fruitful affirmation of all truth, and involves the positive assertion of action of highest humanity.”

~ Charles Bradlaugh, "A Plea for Atheism," Humanity's Gain from Unbelief (1929)

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“The freethinker has the same right to discredit the beliefs of Christians that the Orthodox Christians enjoy in destroying reverence, respect, and confidence in Mohammedanism, Mormonism, Christian Science, or Atheism.”

~ Theodore Schroeder, Constitutional Free Speech Defined and Defended in an Unfinished Argument in a Case of Blasphemy (1919).

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“Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness.”

~ James Thurber

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“I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind--that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.

I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious. . .

I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.

I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech . . .

I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.

I believe in the reality of progress.

But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.“

~ H. L. Mencken’s Creed, cited by George Seldes in Great Thoughts

thought of the day.327

Nothing is certain but everything is not equally uncertain. All ideas should be put on a scale of probability which will show that though it is uncertain the sun will “rise” tomorrow, it is exceedingly more certain than the idea that Santa lives at the North Pole or that “God” exists.

thought of the day.326

Justice not vengeance. Compassion not righteousness. Reason not Faith.

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“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.”

~ Henry Miller

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“If ignorance of nature gave birth to gods, knowledge of nature is made for their destruction.”

~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Necessity of Atheism, 1811