thought of the day.474

The Tea Party’s general thrust is complaints against the Federal government; the 99% folks seem to be focusing on corporations, particularly the financial sector. In some regards, I think they are both right. But it is not because they are people’s enemies; if so then Pogo’s line is true: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Corporations and government are not aliens; they are lines of work we are all involved in. However, because we are fallible beings with positive and negative traits, they can become dysfunctional cultures and, I think, they are more dysfunctional than in times past.

We are indeed individuals with individual consciousnesses who make individual decisions, but we also congregate into social groupings and each one develops a culture to which we contribute and which also shapes us. The family is a culture, the place you work and what you do is a culture, your place of worship is a culture, your neighborhood is a culture, if you do a hobby that you do with others – well, that is a culture. Cultures have rules and beliefs and ways of doing things. Each city, each rural area, each state, has a culture right up to our national culture. You can pick out general traits of each culture. We hardly give them a second thought.

We have become quite aware of dysfunctional family cultures: the ones plagued by substance abuse, the ones plagued by physical and/or psychological abuse, the broken homes, the stressed out close to the breaking point. Any individual culture can become dysfunctional, from the smallest to the largest. Blaming does a lot more harm than good; blaming itself, I think, is dysfunctional. But probably we all do it from time to time. I know I do. The thing is to not attack the institution; the thing is to find and attack the dysfunction.

Franklin Budd Siegle

thought of the day.473

“The Bible claims that Jesus Christ was his own father, his own son, and a metaphysically nondescript substance called the Holy Spirit, all at the same time and in the same respect. This is like saying I'm a human being, a school bus, and a mango all at the same time and in the same respect. This is metaphysically impossible.”

_Michael Disunequality Joneas (internet forum post)

thought of the day.472

Would you want to spend your weekend hanging out with someone who tortured animals in his basement? Spend a year living with a guy who tortured women in his basement? Yet Christians look forward to spending eternity with someone who promises to torture countless humans in his basement—forever.

thought of th day.471

What can we atheists offer to the world in joyful appreciation? A huge question, an important question.

We cannot offer Santa Claus for adults; we can’t compete with supernatural grace that freely promises heaven. But we can offer…

* Clear, clean, logical minds uncorrupted by promises of the improbable and impossible; we embrace facts.
* Logical consistency of our thinking makes us skeptics of snake oil salesmen (natural and supernatural).
* Without fear of a supernatural punisher, we go wherever the microscope and telescope lead us.
* Scientific advances far beyond outdated popular beliefs and prejudices result.
* So we have cars, microwaves, computers, hybrid foods to feed the hungry, condoms to limit their number, etc.
* We recognize that quality of life is more valuable than mere quantity of life.
* We care for others compassionately, because our logical minds tell us this improves this planetary life for us all.
* We support individual freedom and personal responsibility for everyone.
* Believers in fairy tales don’t need to fear us; we respect fellow humans above ideology.
* We enjoy reasonable amounts of learning, sex, love, eating, etc., etc. without guilt or fear.
* We offer a wisely selfish morality that uses anything from tradition or science to improve our planet.
* So we help our neighbors get more out of life even when the press is not looking; this helps our planet.
* We atheists guarantee that anyone embracing atheism will never suffer for a moment after death.
* After death atheists get exactly the same amount of happiness as any believer; we guarantee it!

~Jim gressinger

thought of the day.470

“First of all, what the fuck is objective morality? Second, if it comes from SOMEONE else (god) it is still subjective. We just do what the subject commands: Cant see much objectivity there.

Third of all, what's wrong with subjective morals? We all have them. Atheists can affirm that they do at least, and they are moral people.”

~Someone’s response to a debate on YouTube

thought of the day.469

I wonder how many Christians pray to their God to douse the flames of hell and how many are just glad they’re not going to burn?

thought of the day.468

On the virgin birth of Jesus, in Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah used the word almah to describe the mother of a child Christianity says was the messiah. But almah means "young woman" in Hebrew, not virgin. (The word for virgin in Hebrew is betulah.) Although some biblical scholars have made note of this, they fail to go on and develop the enormous implications of the matter. The notion of a virgin birth first appears in Matthew 1:18, 22-23, where Matthew says the virgin birth was a fulfillment of a prophecy by Isaiah in 7:14. But not only didn't Isaiah, as we have seen, use the word virgin, which all by itself refutes Matthew's virgin birth of Jesus, but the very context in which Isaiah was speaking absolutely precludes the notion of such a prophecy by Isaiah. I elaborate in my book, Isaiah told Ahaz, the king of Judea, that by the time the child of the young woman, a boy, was old enough to know right from wrong, Ahaz's enemies, the kings of Israel and Syria (Pekah and Rezin) would be dead. And the two kings died around 731-732 B.C. So the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in 7:14 took place close to 800 years before Jesus was even born, conclusively negating Matthew's averment that Isaiah's prophecy pertained to the virgin birth of Jesus.

~Vincent Bugliosi

thought of the day.467

In my many conversations with Christians the notion that “humanity is wicked” has been asserted on numerous occasions. This of course jives with the biblical account of the Fall of Man and the reason we are all sinners worthy of eternal torture in Hell.

To be human is to be kind and cruel, open-minded and closed, full of love and hate, goodwill and ill and countless other things. To say humans are wicked and leave it at that is absurd, devalues humanity and is one of the many reasons I despise Christianity.

thought of the day

"Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount - a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application."

~ Barack Obama

From the GOSPEL OF THOMAS
“Jesus at five years clears pools of water. On the Sabbath makes 12 clay sparrows. Jesus claps his hands and the sparrows fly away. Annas's son disturbs the pool and Jesus causes him to wither up. A child bumps into Jesus--angers him---and drops dead. The complaining parents are blinded. First day at school Jesus knows his letters from Alpha to Omega. Teacher asks Joseph to take Jesus away--saying: I sought a disciple and found a master. " Jesus curses associates and then heals them, Playing with children on housetop) one falls off and dies. Jesus makes him come alive. Young man cuts foot with axe. Jesus restores foot. Sows grain and at once reaps one hundred measures. Father cuts a beam too short. Jesus lengthens it. Another takes him to school he preaches a sermon. James is gathering twigs--viper bites him. Jesus breathes on wound--James is cured--the viper bursts. Raises dead workman. Story of teaching in the temple at twelve. Flee with Jesus to Egypt. Ate grain from a field--which perpetually yielded miraculous harvest. Lived one year with a widow. Cast dead fish in water--they became alive. They return to Palestine---Jesus was seven. Puts many garments in black dye. Pulls out each a different color. Changes children into pigs. Children enter a furnace---come out goats--Jesus changes them back into children. Jesus slides on a sunbeam. Hangs a pitcher on a sunbeam. Makes a lion bring back a boy. Cures man who swallowed a viper.”

Isn’t the Apocrypha clear evidence (to Protestants and unbelievers anyway) how easy it was to deceive people with utter nonsense?

thought of the day.464

"The list of things about which we strictly have to be agnostic doesn't stop at tooth fairies and celestial teapots. It is infinite. If you want to believe in a particular one of them -- teapots, unicorns, or tooth fairies, Thor or Yahweh -- the onus is on you to say why you believe in it. The onus is not on the rest of us to say why we do not. We who are atheists are also a-fairyists, a-teapotists, and a-unicornists, but we don't have to bother saying so."

~ Richard Dawkins

thought of the day.463

“Where knowledge ends, religion begins.”

~Benjamin Disraeli

thought of the day.462

Faith is a virtue in religion, a vice in science.

thought of the day.461

Science helps us assess which answers are better than others — at least for now.

thought of the day.460

PZ's food for thought

Category: Culture Wars • Policy and Politics
Posted on: February 1, 2011 3:04 PM, by Josh Rosenau

PZ has decided he hasn't peeved enough people, and made a list of atheist arguments he dislikes. And he's right. For instance, he's down on:

Dictionary Atheists. Boy, I really do hate these guys. You've got a discussion going, talking about why you're an atheist, or what atheism should mean to the community, or some such topic that is dealing with our ideas and society, and some smug wanker comes along and announces that "Atheism means you lack a belief in gods. Nothing more. Quit trying to add meaning to the term." As if atheism can only be some platonic ideal floating in virtual space with no connections to anything else; as if atheists are people who have attained a zen-like ideal, their minds a void, containing nothing but atheism, which itself is nothing. Dumbasses.

…there is more to my atheism than simple denial of one claim; it's actually based on a scientific attitude that values evidence and reason, that rejects claims resting solely on authority, and that encourages deeper exploration of the world. My atheism is not solely a negative claim about gods, but on a whole set of positive values that I will emphasize when talking about atheism. That denial of god thing? It's a consequence, not a cause.

Now I don't claim that my values are part of the definition of atheism … nor do I consider them universal to atheism. …

nobody becomes an atheist because of an absence of values, and no one becomes an atheist because the dictionary tells them they are. I think we also do a disservice to the movement when we pretend it's solely a mob of individuals who lack a belief, rather than an organization with positive goals and values.

I don't disagree. Where this could get problematic is if atheism became a label for a movement uncoupled from the dictionary definition. Or if an atheist movement driven by a set of additional values excluded other people who share those additional values just because those other people didn't agree about the god thing. To me, this raises questions about whether we need an atheist movement per se (beyond a movement to defend the rights and concerns specific to dictionary atheists, naturally), or atheists would be better served by joining or forming coalitions with non-atheists who share the same values and goals. But that's a different discussion.

PZ's other pet peeve arguments:

Babies are all atheists or I'm an atheist by default, because I was raised without religion. Nope. Uh-uh. Same problem as the Dictionary Atheist — it implies atheism is simply an intellectual vacuum. … If babies are atheists, then so are trees and rocks — which is true by the dictionary definition, but also illustrates how ridiculously useless that definition is.

Babies might also have an in-built predisposition to accept the existence of caring intelligences greater than themselves, so they might all lean towards generic theism, anyway. Mommy is God, after all. …

The "I believe in no gods/I lack belief in gods" debate. I have heard this so often, the hair-splitting grammatical distinctions some atheists think so seriously important in defining themselves. All you're doing is defining yourselves as anal retentive freaks, people! Get over it. …

I don't care. Tell me what virtues you bring, what experiences brought you here, why your values matter to society. The fine-grained shuffling about to define yourself so precisely is simply narcissistic masturbation.

Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings. The second sentence is false. Religion does not turn you into a terrorist. The overwhelming majority of religious people have similar values to yours; my church-going grandmother would have been just as horrified at people using their faith to justify murdering people as the most hardened atheist, and there have been atheist individuals who also think they are justified in killing people for the cause. So stop saying this!…

"I just believe in one less god than you do".

The theist you're arguing with did not go through a process where he analyzed his beliefs logically, and excluded 99% of all gods by reason and their lack of evidence; in fact, he probably never in his life seriously considered any of those other faiths (he is 99% Dictionary Atheist, in other words). He came to his personal faith by way of a series of personal, positive (to him!) predispositions, not by progressive exclusion of other ideas, and he's simply not going to see the relevance of your argument. Would you be swayed if someone pointed out that you disbelieve astrology, homeopathy, tarot, witchcraft, and palmistry, and he has simply gone one step further than you, and also disbelieves in evolution?

Similarly, you did not go through a list of religions, analysing each one, and ticking them off as unbelievable. I certainly didn't. Instead, you come to the table with an implicit set of criteria, like evidence and plausibility and experimental support, and also a mistrust of unfounded authority or claims that are too good to be true, and they incline you to accept naturalism, for instance, as a better explanation of the world. Turning it into a quantitative debate about how many gods we accept, instead of a substantial debate about the actual philosophical underpinnings of our ideas, is kind of lame, I think.

This all makes sense to me, and it's nice to see atheists critiquing their own bad arguments.

thought of the day. 459

“Discovery and invention are often greeted as unwelcome intruders because they inaugurate new truth through new explanations of causality. A new truth may be seen as a new threat. Those threatened by new truth may ignore the truth, hide the truth, distort the truth, destroy the truth, or reject the truth to gain some perceived or real advantage. Those who attack, however, the most confirmed and verified truths, may not always do so out of fear. Their assault upon truth may be motivated by high ideals and a zeal for the preservation of some — as they perceive it — greater truth.”

~ Jay Stuart Snelson

thought of the day.458

“The fundamental defect of Christian ethics consists in the fact that it labels certain classes of acts 'sins' and others 'virtue' on grounds that have nothing to do with their social consequences.”

~ Bertrand Russell

thought of the day.457

Before Jesus was given precious gifts, was hunted by a wicked king, received the Holy Spirit at the Jordan River, spent 40 days in the wilderness, traveled from town to town, had a group of followers, could see the future, knew the thoughts of others, healed a leper, made the blind see, raised the dead, helped an army officer, fed a multitude with only a few loaves of bread (and had left overs), spoke to an audience of thousands, was bowed down to and called “master”, walked across water, controlled the weather, spoke to God on top of a mountain, did as God commanded, was considered the “worst trouble maker in Israel”, was made fun of, was wanted dead by the Jewish people, went off by himself to pray and was strengthened by an angel, had a follower repeatedly promise he would not abandon him, said “go in peace”, and was seen going up to heaven, someone else did these things. And that someone (or ones) were the Old Testament characters, Elijah and Elisha, which were the mythical characters that the New Testament Jesus was built upon.

thought of the day.456

Santa is God to children as God is Santa to adults.

We communicate with both Santa and God, sending Santa literal letters and God mental ones. We visit Santa at the mall and God at the church and present offerings of milk and cookies to Santa and cold hard cash to God. We sing songs and read stories about their supernatural powers, both seeing our each and every deed. They both sit as cosmic judges, showering the good with toys and blessings, while punishing the bad with a lump of coal — or burning them like one. Both hail from faraway places, Santa residing in a secret place atop the world and God above the clouds. Santa writes people’s names in his big book as does God. Both have seemingly existed forever and though both are ancient, will likely never die. Both Santa and God are creators and distributors of gifts, Santa employing elves to assist him and God, angels. Hell, they even both have white beards!

thought of the day.

Geiger: Does a moral hierarchy exist on religions today? Are some a greater force for good in the world than others or are they essentially moral equivalents? As your book subtitle read, 'God poisions everything.'

Hitchens: Well, should I start with the ‘poisons everything?’ Perhaps I should. Ok, I’ll ask for trouble if I put on a provocative subtitle, but I mean by it, not of course it poisons Chinese food or tantric sex or Niagara falls or something but it does attack us in our deepest integrity. It says we wouldn’t know right from wrong if it wasn’t for divine permission. It immediately makes us, essentially, slaves. And it has to be opposed for that reason. And such a radical frontal attack on human dignity, it seems to me, that it does leach into everything. And it has the effect of making good people say and do wicked things. For example, a morally normal person when presented with a new baby would not set about its genitals with a sharp stone or a knife. He would have to think God needed that. No, it wouldn’t occur to him otherwise. It make intelligent people say stupid things, commits them to saying stupid things such as they are objects of a divine design. As well as being stupid, very conceited by the way. They claim believers to be so modest. That’s what I mean by the poison. And because of that, I do tend to think it applies in general. My younger daughter goes to a Quaker school in Washington, the same one as the president’s children. ... There was a time when the Quakers ran the most sadistic prisons in North America and were fond of excommunicating people for the smallest things such as supporting the American Revolution, for example. If they’d been more powerful, they might have been worse. ... any surrender of reason in favour of faith contains the same danger it seems to me. Fluctuates over time. Before, I’ve been asked in the 1930s what I thought was the most dangerous religion I almost certainly would have said Roman Catholicism because of its then pretty much undisguised alliance with the Fascist parties in Europe, for which it has not yet succeeded in apologizing enough, in my opinion. But has, least admitted it was true. It was very dangerous then. I now think obviously, or rather self-evidently, Wahabbi fundamentalist Islam and its equivalents in messianic Shiism , the Shia equivalent of that Sunni theory, practice, are as dangerous especially because they could get a hold of weapons, or a weapon of mass destruction. So we would find out, with a little speculation, we used to have after lights out when we were young, what would really happen if a really wicked person got a hold of a nuclear bomb and now we’re going to find out. When the messianic meets the apocalyptic, watch out.

thought of the day.454

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 a character created largely from 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 60 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

Old story: A woman with an old husband was miraculously impregnated with a son by Elisha (2K 4:8-17)

New story.1: A woman with an old husband was miraculously impregnated with a son (John the Baptist) promised to be “like the prophet Elijah” (Lk 1:5-17)

New story.2: A virgin was miraculously impregnated with a son (Jesus) (Lk 1:26-31)


2. FASHIONISTA

Old story: Elisha’s predecessor, Elijah, wore animal skins tied with a leather belt (2K 1:8)

New story: Jesus’ predecessor, John the Baptist, wore animal skins tied with a leather belt (Mk 1:6)


3. PASSING THE MANTEL

Old story: Elijah passed the mantel to Elisha to carry on God’s work (2K 2:9-16)

New story: John the Baptist* passed the mantel to Jesus to carry on God’s work (Lk 3:1-22)

*Elijah (Mt 11:14)


4. BEHEADING

Old story: The king wanted to behead Elisha (2K 6:31)

New story: The king beheaded John the Baptist (Mt 14:10)


5. SENT SAVIOR

Old story: Elijah is to be “sent” to save people from God’s wrath (Ml 4:5-6)

New story: Jesus was “sent” to save people from God’s wrath (Mk 9:37, 16:16)


6. PRECIOUS GIFTS

Old story: Elisha was given precious gifts because of his remarkable power (2K 8:8-9)

New story: Jesus was given precious gifts because of his remarkable power (Mt 2:9-11)


7. HUNTED

Old story: A wicked king ordered an extensive search for Elijah to kill him (1K 18:1-10)

New story: A wicked king ordered an extensive search for Jesus to kill him (Mt 2:3-20)


8. SENT INTO HIDING

Old story: Elijah was commanded by God to travel afar and hide (1K 17:2-3)

New story: Joseph was commanded by God to travel afar and hide Jesus (Mk 1:1)


9. HOLY RIVER

Old story: Elisha received the spirit at the Jordan (2K 2:9)

New story: Jesus received the spirit at the Jordan (Mk 1:1)


10. FORTY DAYS & FORTY NIGHTS

Old story: Elijah went 40 days and nights in the wilderness without food (1K 19:4)

New story: Jesus went 40 days and nights in the wilderness without food (Mt 4)


11. MINISTERING ANGELS

Old story: An angel helped Elijah before his wilderness trip (1K 19:5-9)

New story: Angels helped Jesus after his wilderness trip (Mk 1:12-13)


12. GROUPIES

Old story: Elisha had a group of followers (2K 6)

New story: Jesus had a group of followers (Mk 13)


13. THE CALLING

Old story: Elisha was busy working when called to stop and follow Elijah (1K 19:19-21)

New story: Several men were busy working when called to stop and follow Jesus (Mk 1:16-20)


14. GOODBYES

Old story: Elisha said he would follow Elijah after saying goodbye to his parents (plow in story) (1K 19:20)

New story: A man said he would follow Jesus after saying goodbye to his family (plow in story) (Lk 9:61-62)


15. PROPHET

Old story: Elijah was called a “prophet” (1K 17:1)

New story: Jesus was called a “prophet” (Lk 7:16)


16. MASTER

Old story: A group of men called Elijah, Elisha’s “master” (2K 2:3-5)

New story: A group of men called Jesus, “master” (Mk 13)


17. SERVANT

Old story: Elijah is called God’s “servant” (2K 9:36)

New story: Jesus is called God’s “Servant” (Acts 3:26)


18. YES MAN

Old story: Elijah did as God commanded (2K 1:4)

New story: Jesus did as God commanded (Jn 4:34)


19. GOD’S SPOKESMAN

Old story: Elijah spoke for God (1K 17:1)

New story: Jesus spoke for God (Mt 7:21-23)


20. TRAVELING MAN

Old story: Elijah traveled town to town doing God’s work (1K, 2K)

New story: Jesus traveled town to town doing God’s work (Lk, Mk, Mt, Jn)


21. DRINK OF WATER

Old story: Upon entering a distant town, Elijah asked a woman to “bring me a drink of water”, worked a miracle of abundance and the woman called him a prophet (1K 17:10)

New story: Upon entering a distant town, Jesus told a woman to “give me a drink of water”, promised a miracle of abundance and the woman called him a prophet (Jn 4:5)


22. CROSSING THE WATER

Old story.1: Elijah walked across divided water (2K 2:8)

Old story.2: Elisha walked across divided water (2K 2:14)

New story: Jesus walked across the top of water (Mk 6:45)


23. SEEING IS BELIEVING

Old story: Elisha made the blind see (2K 6:20)

New story: Jesus made the blind see (Mk 8: 21-26)


24. HEALING THE LEPER

Old story: Elisha healed a man with leprosy (2K 5)

New story: Jesus healed a man with leprosy (Mk 1:41)


25. FEEDING THE MULTITUDE

Old story: Elisha used loaves of barley bread (brought to him by another) to feed a multitude and had left overs (2K 4:42-44)

New story: Jesus used loaves of barley bread (brought to him by another) to feed a multitude and had left overs (Jn 6:1-13)


26. VINEYARD MAYHEM

Old story: 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)

New story: 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)

Note: The words in the new story, “come let us kill him” echo the words of Joseph’s brothers as they plot to kill Joseph: “Come, let us kill him”.


27. ARMY OFFICER

Old story: An army officer approached Elisha for a supernatural healing (2K 5:1-15)

New story: An army officer approached Jesus for a supernatural healing (Mt 8:5-13)


28. SUPERNATURAL KNOWLEDGE

Old story: Elijah knew details of a person’s private life (2K 6:12)

New story: Jesus knew details of a person’s private life (Jn 4:17-18)


29. SUPERNATURAL SIGHT

Old story: Elisha could see a man in another place (2K 5:26)

New story: Jesus could see a man in another place (Jn 1:48-49)


30. IMMINENT SEIZURE

Old story: Elisha knew he was about to be seized (2K 6:30-32)

New story: Jesus knew he was about to be seized (Jn 6:15)


31. COMMANDER OF THE ELEMENTS

Old story: Elijah controlled the weather (1K 17:1)

New story: Jesus controlled the weather (Mk 4:39)


32. AUDIENCE OF THOUSANDS

Old story: All of Israel gathered to hear Elijah (1K 18:19-21)

New story: 5,000 gathered to hear Jesus (Mk 6:30-44)


33. JARS OF WATER

Old story: Elijah instructed people to fill 4 jars with water as part of a miracle (1K 18:33)

New story: Jesus instructed people to fill 6 jars with water as part of a miracle (Jn 2:7)


34. MAGIC NUMBER

Old story.1: Elijah used 12 stones to rebuild the altar (1K 18:32)

Old story.2: Elisha used 12 teams of oxen to plow (1K 19:19)

New story: Jesus used 12 disciples to build the Church (Mt 10:1)


35. FAMILY MATTERS

Old story: Elijah will be sent to unite the family (Ml 4:5-6)

New story: Jesus was sent to divide the family (Mt 7:36)


36. AT THE FOOT OF THE MASTER

Old story: A distraught woman held Elisha’s feet (2K 4:27)

New story: A distraught woman held Jesus’ feet (Lk 7:36)


37. SIGN OF SUBJECTION

Old story.1: A man bowed down before Elijah (1K 18:7)

Old story.2: 50 men bowed down before Elisha (2K 2:15)

New story: A man knelt down before Jesus (Jn 9:38)


38. HEARTLESS DISCIPLES

Old story: Elisha’s servant wanted to push away a mother distraught over her dead child but Elisha worked a miracle (2K 4:27)

New story: 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

Old story: Elijah experienced a supernatural change after he and a servant climbed a mountain (cloud in story) (1K 18:42-46)

New story: 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

Old story: Elijah climbed a mountain where God spoke (1K 19:9)

New story: Jesus climbed a mountain where God spoke (Mt 17:5)


41. FINANCIAL WIZARD

Old story: Elisha worked a financial miracle (2K 4:1-5)

New story: Jesus worked a financial miracle (Mt 17: 24)


42. SAVIOR OF THE PARTY

Old story: Elisha transformed food for a group of people (2K 4:38-41)

New story: Jesus transformed water for a group of people (Jn 2:6)


43. GO IN PEACE

Old story: Elisha said “Go in peace.” (2K 5:19)

New story: Jesus said “Go in peace.” (Lk 7:50)


44. PROPHET OF DOOM

Old story: Elijah saw the future and told of coming horrors (2K 8:12)

New story: Jesus saw the future and told of coming horrors (Lk 21:10-33)


45. CURSE OF DEATH

Old story: Elisha’s curse caused death (2K 2:24)

New story: Jesus’ curse caused death (Mk 11:21)


46. RAISING THE DEAD I (The Widow’s Son)

Old story: Elijah raised the dead son of a widow (who meets him at the city gate), gave him to his mother & was called a prophet (1K 17:21)

New story: Jesus raised the dead son of a widow (who meets him at the city gate), gave him to his mother & was called a prophet (Lk 7:11-16)

The Greek for "and he gave him to his mother" is exactly the same in both accounts "kai edoken auton te metri autou".


48. RAISING THE DEAD II (The Child)

Old story: Elisha raised a dead child in a home (2K 4:27-37)

New story: Jesus raised a dead child in a home (Mk 5:22-43)

Note: Jairus means "he awakens" which indicates the name of the father was chosen by the author to fit the story’s theme.


49. RAISING THE DEAD III (The Man in the Tomb)

Old story: Elisha’s bones raised a dead man in a tomb (2 K:21)

New story: Jesus raised a dead man in a tomb (Jn 11)


50. FIRE FROM HEAVEN

Old story: Elijah called down fire from heaven to kill people (2K 1:10)

New story: Jesus’ disciples asked to call down fire from heaven to kill people (Lk 9:54)


51. DUPLICITOUS UNDERLING

Old story: Elisha’s duplicitous servant asked for 3,000 silver coins & suffering followed (2K 5)

New story: Jesus’ duplicitous disciple accepted 30 silver coins & suffering followed (Mt 26:14)


52. TROUBLEMAKER

Old story: Elijah was considered “the worst troublemaker in Israel” (1K 18:17)

New story: Jesus was considered the worst troublemaker in Israel (implied) (Jn 2:13-18, 19:6)


53. WANTED MAN

Old story: The Jewish people wanted Elijah killed (1K 19:10)

New story: The Jewish people wanted Jesus killed (Mt 27:20)


54. HEAVEN BOUND

Old story: It was revealed Elijah would soon ascend to heaven (2K 2: 1-12)

New story: Jesus revealed he would soon ascend to heaven (Jn 20:17)


55. ANGUISHED PRAYER

Old story: Afraid for his life, Elijah went off by himself, sat and prayed for God to take his life and was strengthened by an angel (1K 19:3-6)

New story: 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 strengthened by an angel (Lk 22:39-43)


56. DOUBLE PLEDGE OF LOYALTY

Old story: As Elijah’s “death” approached, Elisha swore (twice) he wouldn’t leave him (2K 2:4-6)

New story: As Jesus’ death approached, Peter swore (twice) he wouldn’t leave him (Mk 14:4-29-31)


57. MOCKED

Old story: Elisha was made fun of (2K 2:23)

New story: Jesus was made fun of (Mk 15:20)


58. DEATH CRY

Old story.1: As Elijah “died,” Elisha cried out, “My father, my father!” (2K:2:12)

Old story.2: As Elisha died, the king cried out “My father, my father!” (2K 13:14)

New story: As Jesus died, he cried out, “My God, my God...” (Mt 27:46)


59. TORN CLOTH

Old story: Upon Elijah’s death, Elisha tore his cloak in two (2K 12)

New story: Upon Jesus’ death, the Temple’s curtain tore in two (Mt 27:51)


60. UP, UP AND AWAY!

Old story: Elijah was visibly taken up to heaven (2K 2:11)

New story: 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.453

Did a teacher named Jesus walk the streets of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago? Almost certainly. There were countless roaming teachers/healers/religious leaders and the odds are that at least a few of these were named Jesus.

But did the Jesus revealed in the bible exist? Certainly not. The Jesus of the bible who was born of a virgin, worked miracles, threatened unbelievers with lakes of fire, rose from the dead and floated into the sky toward a throne waiting in some heavenly realm beyond the last planet on the left was a mythological character created almost entirely from stories found throughout the Old Testament.

thought of the day.452

Religion won’t die until our fear of death does.

thought of the day.451

Quick thoughts on Atheism, Agnosticism and Theism

These observations presuppose the idea that for a proposition to be reasonable, it must be supported by evidence.

ATHEISM
To me, there are two main types of atheism — Reasonable and Unreasonable.
An Unreasonable Atheist would state there is — without doubt — no god. This is an unreasonable position because no evidence can support it.
A Reasonable Atheist does not claim to know there are no gods, but believes there are none due to the lack of evidence for one.

AGNOSTICISM
The Agnostic says she cannot know whether or not there is a god. Of course no one can. But agnosticism seems to be an intellectual cop-out. This person would likely not claim to be “agnostic” about countless other unknowable things like the idea that invisible pink monkeys orbit the Earth and yet makes an exception for the idea of god.

THEISM
The Theist believes there is a god based on evidence not strong enough to transform “believing” into “knowing” rendering the Theist position inherently unreasonable; and the theist who claims to know there is a god is as unreasonable as the atheist who, with the same certainty, claims there is none.

thought of the day.450

If prayer worked, we wouldn’t need doctors.

thought of the day.449

“While the Hebrew, Christian, and Muslim scriptures contain some excellent moral teachings, they are not original with those writings. For example, the Golden Rule taught by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount goes back thousands of years earlier and can be found in the writings of many ancient sages such as Confucius and Isocrates, and in the Hindu Mahabharata.

Ethics and morality come from humanity, not God. They are rules of behavior needed for a functioning society. Even many animals have a primitive morality, such as altruism.

Those nations without dominant God-belief have far less murder than the God-smitten Unites States and are healthier in many other respects.

Not only can we be good without God, we can be better without God.”

~ Victor Stenger

thought of the day.448

If the idea of the “supernatural” is valid then so is the idea of the “superdupernatural” which is infinitely more super than the “supernatural” but of course not as super as the “superdupersupremenatural”.

thought of the day.447

Allan says God is love. Betty says God hates fags. Colleen says she knows God is real because he healed her dog. Diane says her God is the one true God. Ernie says God is emptiness. Francis says God is merciful but throws unbelievers in hell. Gary says there are many Gods. Hester says God answers prayers. Irene says God is pure energy. Jason says God sits on a throne. Kathy says God only saves Catholics. Lori says God made the first people out of clay. Marcus says God determines who wins football games. Nick says God is female. Oscar says God is nature. Pat says God has no interest in human affairs. Quince says God is Allah. Rick says God is cosmic consciousness. Sue says God has a plan for her life. Tracy says God doesn’t hear the prayers of Jews. Urich says God talks to him and wants him to run for political office. Vincent says God wants his wife to obey him. Walter (the pastor) says God loves a generous giver. Zachary says God loves America best.

What do you say God is?

thought of the day.446

Don’t look at the glass as half full nor half empty but as it is.

thought of the day.445

Honesty demands we accept or reject propositions based on evidence or lack thereof not on whether they make us comfortable or uncomfortable.

thought of the day.444

a cycling truth:

From pain, joy.

thought of the day.443

Thought this was pretty cool:

"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithlessand therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments."

— Oriah Mountain Dreamer

What exactly do Christians worship when they worship Jesus?

Jesus is worshiped for the same reason people have worshiped all gods—there is a benefit to it. In the case of Jesus, the ultimate benefit is eternal bliss and the ultimate penalty for failing to do so is eternal torment. But these are “reasons” for worshiping Jesus, not Jesus himself. What I want to know is what exactly are Christians worshiping when worshiping Jesus?

Let’s assume for the sake of the argument here that Jesus actually lived and was who he said he was. It seems we have his body, his mind, his message, his actions and his essence or being (God) to consider.

I would assume Christians don’t worship his human body which was hardly extraordinary. Perhaps they worship his resurrected body but it seems strange to worship a body, even one that can float into the sky, fly through space and alight on some distant throne.

Do they worship his mind — his message? Though some of his ideas were certainly excellent, nothing he uttered was original and certainly nothing was extraordinary. In fact, he was not even as enlightened as his contemporaries who argued against the evil of slavery while he remained silent leading to countless humans being bought and sold like animals with the approval of the church. His promise to torture people forever beyond the grave seems a bit lacking in the areas of compassion and empathy and led to the mental anguish of countless others. These two examples alone are reason enough not to praise such a mind and even if we found no fault with the message, surely Christians aren’t worshiping a message.

Is it perhaps his actions that are praise-worthy? Miracles and such? But then one is hardly worshiping “Jesus” but merely long ago “actions”.

Is it that worshiping Jesus is worshiping “God”? If we assume that “God” is the character revealed in the bible then shouldn’t we ask ourselves if we really want to worship a being who committed, commanded and condoned mass killings of men, women and children and myriad other distasteful things along with his more pleasant ones? Even if we justify such wickedness, these are “actions” not God himself leaving us with nothing to hang our hat on.

thought of the day.442

“You” will never “be” dead because “you” ceases to exist with your last breath and the non-existent can’t “be” anything.

thought of the day.441

A government’s endorsement of religion is incompatible with the idea of freedom of — and freedom from — religion. Those who support having “God” in a pledge, on currency, or spoken of in prayers associated with civic, state, or national gatherings, are actually enemies of religious liberty.

thought of the day.440

The problem has never been gays serving openly in the military. The problem is the knuckleheads that have a problem with it.

thought of the day.439

Just as youth is wasted on the young, omnipotence has clearly been wasted on the big guy in the sky. Omni-impotent seems a better description.

thought of the day.438

There is no single chosen one or chosen group. We are all chosen ones. “Chosen” by chance and all those before us who managed to survive long enough to reproduce.

thought of the day.437

Not only do we share a common ancestor with chimpanzees, but also reptiles, amphibians, fish, fungi, and bacteria with which we share over 200 genes. All made of the elements created by our even more distant ancestors—the stars.

thought of the day.436

It would seem silly to ask what the meaning of an atom, an ant, or a tree is, so isn’t it just as nonsensical to wonder what the meaning of life is? Aren’t we just atoms in the shape of humans instead of ants? Though certainly an awesome collection of atoms capable of making our own meaning.

thought of the day. 435

The Logical Impossibility of Godhood
“Can a god build a wall so strong that god cannot tear its wall down?
If yes, then it failed. If no, then it failed. Either way, it is logically impossible for omnipotence to exist. This is why I believe an omnipotent god to be impossible. I also don't believe any being not capable of anything (omnipotence) can be considered a god.

“The Epicurean Paradox (or the Logical Problem of Evil).
The Epicurean Paradox is as follows:
A god either wants to eliminate bad things and cannot, or can but does not want to, or neither wishes to nor can, or both wants to and can.
If it wants to and cannot, it is weak -- and this does not apply to a god.
If it can but does not want to, then it is spiteful -- which is equally foreign to a god's nature.
If it neither wants to nor can, it is both weak and spiteful and so not a god.
If it wants to and can, which is the only thing fitting for a god, where then do bad things come from? Or why does it not eliminate them?

“These are two of my problems with god belief.
A god can't be weak because weakness means fallibility and a god must be infallible because a god must be all-knowing. A being can't be considered a god without that being having ultimate knowledge. A god can't be spiteful because spite requires two mental positions of an individual: 1. The individual must have a limited vision, a god cannot have a limited vision because it must be all knowing, and 2. It must have limited power. A god cannot have limited power because a god must be omnipotent. Any being not possessed of ultimate power cannot be called a god.

“This is why when the religious try to convert me they fail at the starting gate: The logical impossibilities are fundamental problems inherent to the idea of god. Their theology doesn't matter in the least because it is built on a logical impossibility. The lame confrontation of the problem of evil that a god "moves in mysterious ways" is equally irrelevant because that doesn't confront the logical impossibility of the god in the first place. Omnipotence is inherently impossible. Omnipotence is necessary for godhood. Godhood is impossible. It doesn't matter what any religious book says or what the chemical reactions in the brain make one feel when one is in ecstasy or meditation, a god is a logical impossibility.”

~ Jonathan McGaha

thought of the day.434

There’s no past and no future — only an ongoing present.

thought of the day.433

The Good News isn’t that Jesus died to save us from hell; the Good News is that there is no hell.

thought of the day.432

Calling Jesus a Savior is like calling a fireman a hero for saving kids from a house he set ablaze.

thought of the day.431

“Being more consciously attentive to our moment-to-moment experience enhances our ability to see the world accurately...if we are being attentive to ourselves moving through the countless small happenings that comprise our daily lives, then we will tend to be more productive; we will tend to listen more carefully and understand more fully; we will have fewer accidents along the way; and we will be more present and available in our relationships with others.”

~Duane Elgin, Voluntary Simplicity

thought of the day.430

“To live sustainably, we must live efficiently--not misdirecting or squandering the earth's precious resources. To live efficiently, we must live peacefully for military expenditures represent an enormous diversion of resources from meeting basic human needs. To live peacefully, we must live with a reasonable degree of equity or fairness for it is unrealistic to think that, in a communications-rich world, a billion or more persons will accept living in absolute poverty while another billion live in conspicuous excess. Only with greater fairness in the consumption of the world's resources can we live peacefully, and thereby live sustainably, as a human family. Without a revolution in fairness, the world will find itself in chronic conflict with wars over dwindling resources and this, in turn, will make it impossible to achieve the level of cooperation necessary to solve problems such as pollution and population.”

~ Duane Elgin, Voluntary Simplicity

thought of the day.429

We’re all born atheists so to be “born again” is to come full circle.

thought of the day.428

Rather than responding to theistic terminology, it seems better that atheists consider themselves naturalists and theists, a-naturalists.

thought of the day.427

An atheist may want to believe God exists but doesn’t based on the lack of evidence whereas a Christian may doubt the existence of God but believes anyway—just in case.

thought of the day.426

The Magic Blue Monkey

Would you believe me if I told you there was a Magic Blue Monkey that made the world, loves us and has a plan for us to come join him on his magic planet when we die?

I suspect not. And you would be completely justified in your refusal to believe my proposition. In fact, you would be less than rational if you did so....

What if I were to say the evidence of the Blue Monkey’s existence is all around us and explain that he shaped the first man and woman and all the animals out of dirt about 5,000 years ago and furthermore, I, and countless others have for 2,000 years, personally experienced the presence of the Blue Monkey?

Still not buying my story? Good. You shouldn’t. I have offered no evidence to back it up and science contradicts several of my assertions with compelling evidence.

What if I were to say, we have a book that explains all this. It is a special book. A divine book. A book inspired by the Blue Monkey himself? It is full of wisdom and tells—with eye witness accuracy — the historical account of the Blue Monkey’s precious child coming to earth in the form of a man to die for us so that the Blue Monkey would not have to throw us all into his chamber of horrors. Isn’t that wonderful?! Isn’t that loving?! All you have to do is “believe”.

Still not convinced? But why? I have given all kinds of evidence and besides, what do you have to lose? If you do believe and there is no Blue Monkey and torture pit then when you die you’ll have nothing to worry about. If I’m right though, won’t you be glad you believed?! Of course you will! You would be foolish not too. Yes, it will demand many hours of your time and yes, we give 10% of all our money to the Blue Monkey Brotherhood but the sacrifice of time and money is so worth it.

Boy, still not willing to accept the Blue monkey into your heart and make him Lord and Savior of your life? You are being close-minded. You must open your mind and your heart. The Blue Monkey loves you so much and wants to have a personal relationship with you. I promise you, he will change your life!

I have provided multiple reasons for you to believe and yet you don’t. You know, you actually have just as much faith as we believers do. You cannot possibly know that the Blue Monkey does not exist for you are not all-knowing. You have faith that he doesn’t. Seems we are both believers but I have the benefit of a Blue Monkey that loves me, has a plan for my life, will cuddle me forever when I die and you my friend, will become a human candle.

Well, it’s not really my job to convince you but simply share the good news. The Holy Monkey Spirit must come upon you. I will pray every day that it does.

thought of the day.425

“Pretending to be someone or something else is just another alienating message to your soul, your psyche, your essence. Every time you deny who you are becomes a little death. I say, choose life and suffer the consequences.”

~ Dean Wrzeszcz

thought of the day.424

Christians praise a God who had a plan for every child throughout the Bible. The children of Noah’s time? Drown them. The children of Sodom and Gomorrah? Burn them. The first-born of Egypt? Kill them. The children of the Anakim? Annihilate them. The children of the Amorites? Erase them. The children of the Amalekites, Canaanites, Hittites? Butcher. Butcher. Butcher. The children of the Perizzites, Hivites, Horites, Jebusites, Zamzumim? Destroy without mercy. Disobedient children? Stone them. Innocent children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of wrong doers? Curse them.

Gn 7:21-23, Ex 19:24, Dt 7:16, Dt 2:20-22, Js 11:21, Dt 20:17, Dt 25:19, Dt 12:29

thought of the day.423

Evidence Christianity Warps Common Sense/ Child Slavery

Christians worship a God who thought so little of children that he allowed them to be enslaved for life. Need some extra cash? Sell your daughter to the horniest/highest bidder!

Leviticus 25:44-46, Deuteronomy 20: 10-14, Exodus 21:20-21, Ex 12:29, Tit 2:9, Eph 6:5, Ex 21:4, Col 3:22

thought of the day.422

Evidence that Christianity Warps Common Sense / Religious Terrorism

Christians praise a God who demanded a man bash in the skull of his beloved wife and turn the smiling face of his brother, child and neighbor into an unrecognizable hunk of bloody flesh for merely suggesting worshiping another god. Note: For large scale religious terrorism, God prefers the sharp edge of swords over stones.

Dt 13:6-15, 18:20

thought of the day.421

Evidence that Christianity Warps Common Sense / Violence Against Women

Christians praise a God who promised to have pregnant women ripped open with swords; made rape victims marry their rapists; demanded hordes of men stone women unable to prove their virginity and allowed men to beat women to death without punishment as long as the women suffered a day or two before expiring.

Dt 22:20-21, Dt 22:28, Ho 13:16, Ex 21:20

thought of the day.421

Evidence that Christianity Warps Common Sense / Animal Sacrifice

It was asked, “Could a being create the fifty billion galaxies, each with two hundred billion stars, then rejoice in the smell of burning goat flesh?” Christians certainly think so. They praise a God so pleased by the smell of burning flesh that he demanded a daily sniff for all time. Ah, but don’t dare offer an animal whose testicles have been “crushed, cut, bruised, or torn off” — this God demands his genitalia intact.

Lv 4:27-31, Lv 1:14-17, 1K 8:62-63, Lv 22:24, Lv 4:4-12, Lv 1:5-9, Lv 7:31-35

thought of the day.420

Evidence that Christianity Warps Common Sense / Disease

Christians praise a God who promised to torture children with horrible diseases and cause flesh, eyes and tongues to rot away.

Dt 28:56, 2 S 24:1-16,Zec 14:12, Nu 25:7-9, Lv 26:15-16, Is 10:16, Zec 14:15, Ex 9:10

thought of the day.419

Evidence that Christianity Warps Common Sense / Cannibalism

Christians praise a God who’s idea of a good punishment is to starve people to the point that parents eat their children, children eat their parents, and mothers eat their newborns — afterbirth and all.

Ez 5:9-10, Dt 28:56-57

thought of the day. 418

Evidence that Christianity Warps Common Sense / Killing Children

Christians praise a God whose “holy” book demands that parents stone, burn and stab their children to death. Any wonder why there’s more child abuse in Fundamentalist Christian homes than atheist’s?

Dt 21:18, Lv 21:9, Zech 13:3

thought of the day.417

Evidence that Christianity Warps Common Sense / Human Sacrifice

Christians praise a god who ordered a child sacrifice, accepted a child sacrifice, used child sacrifice as punishment, collected a “tax“ of virgins who are either sacrificed or enslaved and made human sacrifice a law.

Gn 22:2,12, Jg 11:30-39, Ez 20:26, Nu 31:25-41, Lv 27:28-29

thought of the day.416

Wanting to keep abreast of the latest nonsense spewed by the enemy, I tuned my car radio to one of the conservative Christian radio stations. Thoughts on forgiveness were being delivered by a Dorothy Bennett who apparently has been enlightening her listeners for three decades now. During Ms. Bennett’s “Daily Devotional” she mentioned spousal and child abuse. What wisdom had she garnered from a lifetime in the ministry? What insights had she gained from speaking with her LORD? Reading her holy book? Christian Conferences? In a nutshell...abused wives should forgive their husbands and ask God to do the same. Likewise for abused children. No suggestion that the behavior should cease. No suggestion that justice be sought. Just a message of submission, forgiveness and obedience. Just poison.

thought of the day.415

Following the Argument Wherever it Leads

Excerpt from a tribute about Antony Flew, 1923–2010

“As a species our hunger for answers is insatiable. So desperate are we to understand the universe around us that for untold centuries we have refused to accept any “gap” in that understanding. Unexplained phenomena are the spawning grounds for ghost stories, sea monsters, grassy knolls, and a Divine Mind.

Antony Flew understood this as well as anyone. He devoted a lifetime of vigorous intellectual argument against presuming God. Today we are asked to accept that he has changed his mind. With asterisks in hand, we accept.

Could we make a cogent argument “pointing to” his age and capacity as factors that might mitigate a change of this magnitude? We could. Are there uncertainties that could warrant a tenable challenge to the motives of those individuals surrounding Flew, with regard to his “conversion” and the curiously construction and authorship of the book? There are. Should the publishers bear any responsibility for preventing misperceptions concerning the disclosure of would-be ghostwriters? They should.

There is little hope of ever reconciling the Antony Flew of 87 years with the Antony Flew of 27 years. Did he change his mind, or did his mind change him?

History will record Antony Flew as a deist; Annis Flew confirmed that for us all. History, I fear, becomes an unwitting conspirator, forever defiled.

With so many varied aspects to this story, it is easy to forget that which matters most. Antony Garrard Newton Flew, philosopher, professor, author, atheist pioneer, and devoted husband, is now gone. For more than 60 years this thinker, this man of great intellect, marched to a different drum and followed the argument. We owe him much.

The last of the old guard, Professor Flew’s festschrift deserves to be written with admiration and respect for a distinguished philosopher. As Annis said to me, her accent reminiscent of British Royalty and her voice never wavering, “I am so very proud to have known him.”

~ Kenneth Grubbs

thought of the day.414

Christians I have spoken with have suggested atheism leads to Stalinesque mass murder. That it requires belief in God to be good. But unlike Christianity whose scriptures reveal a God who commits, condones, or commands ecocide, genocide, infanticide, murder, rape, slavery, destruction of property, torture, and so on, atheism is simply the lack of belief in such a wicked character. Seems praising such a character as holy and perfect is much more likely to lead to similar acts.

thought of the day.413

“There is not sufficient love and goodness in the world to permit us to give some of it away to imaginary beings.”

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

thought of the day.412

While conversing about the believer’s trauma of abandoning the practice of praying to a deity, my friend Stephen Marley noted the benefits of a “Transition from begging for guidance or favors from a mythological hero to an act of pure introspection and a positive appreciation for the realities of life.” This seems far healthier, more honest and nobler than fooling ourselves into thinking we have the ear of an invisible King of the Universe anxious to use his omnipotence to answer our petitions.

thought of the day.411

Cool thoughts from my forum and fb friend, David L. Allen:

“I took me awhile, but I have come to a place where I feel the presence of a non-supernatural god-type non-being sense of oneness. Ain't that a mouthful?

I can tell you about it, but you can only get there on your own. No one can convince another of what to believe. Right? You either believe something or you don't. The only way to really believe something is to arrive at the conclusion on your own.

Here is my summary of 5 Things. After this list, read on if you want to know how I got there.

1. Everything in the Universe is integrally connected through particle physics and, therefore, is one. The Universe is God. It is both the Creator and the Creation.

2. Our consciousness, as thinking beings, is part of this oneness and compassion is its highest achievement. Our consciousness is the mind of God.

3. Morality is the direct result of the application of compassion. Our compassion is the origin of the Golden Rule.

4. As everything is connected, when I look out at Nature, I see an extension of myself. Every thing in the Universe is worthy of our compassion.

5. By extension, when I take care of others, I am taking care of myself, quite literally, and God (the integrated Universe) is taking care of me.



I believe that everything is physically connected through physics. That is, quantum physics.

On an ordinary level, Newtonian physics, every thing, living and non-living, is treated as a separate object. When the force of one object hits another object, it causes the other object to move, like a billiard ball.

That's our everyday perceived reality. You are an object. I am an object. If I run into you, it will likely hurt both of us.

Instead of thinking of the Universe as a place with a bunch of things floating in it (like a bowl of soup, the Milky Way galaxy would be like a potato in it), I think of the Universe as soap bubble. With the soup, I can take a potato out and look at it. It is a separate thing from the soup, even if it is an important ingredient in making a good soup.

On a soap bubble, we can also see things floating around: rainbow-colored swirls. However, you can not take a swirl off of the bubble and examine it. The whole bubble would collapse. It looks separate. it even seems to move independently, but it is completely integrated. It is all made from the same stuff. Unlike a potato in a bowl of soup, the idea that the swirl is a separate thing is an illusion.

Likewise, all the things in the Universe are completely integrated. Every thing is made of the same stuff.

I am not a human being in the Universe. I *am* the Universe. So, are you. So is this rock and that horse. I can not be taken out of the Universe to be examined by a supernatural being.

In my ordinary reality, I feel pretty lucky to be one of the clumps of particles that reside around here that can think. In fact, I feel a responsibility to take care of the rest our Universe. As a thinking being, I know that animals can suffer and that our well-being relies on the health of other living and non-living things, most of which are incapable of defending themselves. And I don't want others to suffer, because I know that it really sucks to suffer. That is compassion.

The conclusion is that if we are all integrally connected by physics and we are psychologically connected by compassion, then every good thing I do for others, I do for myself. And the Universe. And when my friend does a good thing for a dying child in Haiti, he has done that for me. And the Universe.”

~ David L. Allen

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