Other Friends
Bill Clinton at the Democratic National Convention
People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than the example of our power.—Bill Clinton
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Categories: Other Friends
Kucinich Roars
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Categories: Other Friends
Links With Your Coffee - Wednesday
- Yes it is too so a question for science
- YouTube - Naomi Klein on Obama
- The Satirical Political Report - An Offbeat Look at the Hot-Button Issues of the Day » Hillary Tries to Turn ‘PUMAs’ Into ‘NIKEs’
- Israel settlement surge draws Rice criticism | Reuters
- 'Perfect Pitch' In Humans Far More Prevalent Than Expected
- 14% of doctors believe insurer interference contributed to the death or serious injury of a patient | Corrente
- Uninsured pay $30 billion for health care: study | Top News | Reuters
- Just think: it's important - National - smh.com.au
- iChatImage891131384.jpg 800×406 pixels
Categories: Other Friends
Clinton: Barack Obama Is My Candidate
"No Way, No How, No McCain"
Hillary was excellent. She played all the right notes, and played well, in the right order. She was right to spend a lot of time dwelling on her campaign, which so many people worked on and fought for. She knows very well that her supporters' emotional investment isn't something she can lightly hand over to someone else.But she also hit McCain hard and gave the best pro-Obama argument of the convention. Yes, even better than Michelle's message.
People should compare this speech with the "dream will never die" speech by Kennedy at the 1980 convention, or the fight by Reagan people in the '76 GOP convention. HRC could have taken that route but she did just the opposite.— dende blogger
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Categories: Other Friends
18-year-old tells of relationship with pastor when he was 15 to 17
An 18-year-old man testified yesterday in Forsyth Superior Court that he regularly had sex with his pastor over a three-year period, from when he was 15 to 17.
The man is the first of two people expected to testify this week that they had sex with Rodney Keith Boothe, 40, a former pastor at Greater Church of Deliverance on North Cherry Street, which also is known as Christ Cathedral Church of Deliverance. Boothe faces 42 sex-related charges.
The second person expected to testify is a 15-year-old boy whose family took in Boothe's family for a week in 2006 when the Boothes were kicked out of their home for not paying rent. The 15-year-old is expected to testify that the sex acts happened when he was 13 and 14.
The 18-year-old first met Boothe at a church in Wilmington, where the boy was living with a family member.
He moved in 2005 to Virginia, where he stayed with his grandmother. By then, Boothe had moved to the church in Winston-Salem and agreed to take him in. The boy was 15 at the time.
He said that at first he did not want Boothe to touch him.
"I didn't like it, but I just thought that if I kept on going it would stop," he said.
He said he later fell in love with Boothe. He would ask Boothe whether they were a couple. Boothe had a wife, two daughters and a son.
"When he said no, that kind of hurt because I felt in that situation that I was just being used for sex," the 18-year-old said.
The 42 charges that Boothe faces are: 12 counts of statutory sex offense with a child who is 13, 14 or 15; one count of attempted statutory sex offense; 14 counts of sexual activity by a substitute parent; one count of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor; 10 counts of indecent liberties with a child; and four counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
The 18-year-old said that many of the sexual conversations he had with Boothe were through cell-phone text messages. An aunt called Winston-Salem police after reading the text messages stored in the boy's phone. Boothe was arrested and has been in jail since June, 2007.
Prosecutors Kia Chavious and Pansy Glanton showed jurors those sexually explicit text messages yesterday, along with lewd picture messages that prosecutors say they believe that the two men exchanged.
When questioned by Paul James, who is Boothe's attorney, the 18-year-old said he agreed to stay with Boothe even though Boothe had touched him during a visit.
The trial is expected to continue into next week.
STORY LINK
Related link: Preacher arrested
The man is the first of two people expected to testify this week that they had sex with Rodney Keith Boothe, 40, a former pastor at Greater Church of Deliverance on North Cherry Street, which also is known as Christ Cathedral Church of Deliverance. Boothe faces 42 sex-related charges.
The second person expected to testify is a 15-year-old boy whose family took in Boothe's family for a week in 2006 when the Boothes were kicked out of their home for not paying rent. The 15-year-old is expected to testify that the sex acts happened when he was 13 and 14.
The 18-year-old first met Boothe at a church in Wilmington, where the boy was living with a family member.
He moved in 2005 to Virginia, where he stayed with his grandmother. By then, Boothe had moved to the church in Winston-Salem and agreed to take him in. The boy was 15 at the time.
He said that at first he did not want Boothe to touch him.
"I didn't like it, but I just thought that if I kept on going it would stop," he said.
He said he later fell in love with Boothe. He would ask Boothe whether they were a couple. Boothe had a wife, two daughters and a son.
"When he said no, that kind of hurt because I felt in that situation that I was just being used for sex," the 18-year-old said.
The 42 charges that Boothe faces are: 12 counts of statutory sex offense with a child who is 13, 14 or 15; one count of attempted statutory sex offense; 14 counts of sexual activity by a substitute parent; one count of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor; 10 counts of indecent liberties with a child; and four counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
The 18-year-old said that many of the sexual conversations he had with Boothe were through cell-phone text messages. An aunt called Winston-Salem police after reading the text messages stored in the boy's phone. Boothe was arrested and has been in jail since June, 2007.
Prosecutors Kia Chavious and Pansy Glanton showed jurors those sexually explicit text messages yesterday, along with lewd picture messages that prosecutors say they believe that the two men exchanged.
When questioned by Paul James, who is Boothe's attorney, the 18-year-old said he agreed to stay with Boothe even though Boothe had touched him during a visit.
The trial is expected to continue into next week.
STORY LINK
Related link: Preacher arrested
Categories: Other Friends
Only God Knows
By Neal
I recall many years ago about a family in the church I was attending had lost their child. He wandered off and was found face down in the mud.
I recall listening in on the conversation with one of the church leaders and the pastor. I then heard the one comment I can't stand to this day — "Only God Knows..."
What? Really? Huh? So why isn't he telling then?
Does not the Bible say that if we ask we shall receive? Does not Jesus tell us we will receive wisdom and understanding just for the asking? Doesn't the Holy Spirit live in Christians and guide them and provide them wisdom?
So why is it after 2,000 years of Christianity and all the millions who have studied it and that in this "enlightened" age, this is still an answer to most tough questions?
What really baffles me is that many church leaders, prophets and other supposed "spirit filled" religious leaders will make some prediction about the end times or make some other prophecy and end up totally wrong. And when you ask why? You get "Well, only God knows."
Sorry I don't buy that. If a person is filled with the spirit of God or the Holy Spirit then their prophecies and predictions would come from God. So either they are not filled with the spirit as they claim or God is totally wrong and doesn't know his own stuff.
Perhaps our religious leaders are just to lazy to really dig for answers?
Well, I guess only God knows...
I recall many years ago about a family in the church I was attending had lost their child. He wandered off and was found face down in the mud.
I recall listening in on the conversation with one of the church leaders and the pastor. I then heard the one comment I can't stand to this day — "Only God Knows..."
What? Really? Huh? So why isn't he telling then?
Does not the Bible say that if we ask we shall receive? Does not Jesus tell us we will receive wisdom and understanding just for the asking? Doesn't the Holy Spirit live in Christians and guide them and provide them wisdom?
So why is it after 2,000 years of Christianity and all the millions who have studied it and that in this "enlightened" age, this is still an answer to most tough questions?
What really baffles me is that many church leaders, prophets and other supposed "spirit filled" religious leaders will make some prediction about the end times or make some other prophecy and end up totally wrong. And when you ask why? You get "Well, only God knows."
Sorry I don't buy that. If a person is filled with the spirit of God or the Holy Spirit then their prophecies and predictions would come from God. So either they are not filled with the spirit as they claim or God is totally wrong and doesn't know his own stuff.
Perhaps our religious leaders are just to lazy to really dig for answers?
Well, I guess only God knows...
Categories: Other Friends
Bill Maher
Bill Maher's thoughts on the convention.
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Categories: Other Friends
Michelle Obama's Speech
Categories: Other Friends
A Sunday Sermon // Hearing God's Voice
By Mc Pickard
Now that you've gone to service, said your prayers and gave God a few Franklins - it's time for a sermon from the other side of the aisle.
The other day, I was at the K-Mart in Oconomowoc, on a little visual research expedition. As I was strolling through the book section, How to Hear from God: Learn His Voice and Make Right Decisions by that church lady from the 700 Club caught my attention. I quickly scanned the back. The book promises to teach you how to hear God's voice in every daily action so you can do "His Divine Will." All for $19.31!
For whatever reason, this goofiness interests me. I did a quick Google and this subject is almost a genre unto itself.
The believer is duped into thinking that a non-stop circle jerk of sanctimonious, self-affirming, ego-stroking is somehow a Bat-Phone to God. This site not only features a downloadable lecture, but "4 Main Keys" to secure direct communication with God. This belief is predicated on one of the later prophets in the book of Habakkuk. A lesser known book of the OT, yet it does contain plenty of violence of that capricious blood thirsty God we've come to love and adore. The Wiki entry states that this book is "The starting point of the concept of faith" which later NT writers grounded their emotional rhetoric and appeals of faith against the Greek tradition of materialist based reason. Paul for example.
As an aside, I did this drawing to illustrate the relationship between my own inner voice, Satan, and God. I measured the decibel levels of each.
What did you expect? Data? Verification?
Anyway, the author states that after praying, fasting, studying the Bible for one year, his previous roadblock of not hearing God's voice had been removed. He claims that "God set me aside" on this year long exercise. If your paying attention, this was before he could not hear Gods voice. Yet, somehow this born-again, Bible-believing Christian receives a directive to do so?
Unfortunately, the author gives no concrete way to confirm that in fact the voices in your head are not yours. Also, he gives no qualitative way to distinguish if the voice in your head is Satan and not God. You think that would be important, the Devil is known to be a trickster. Each step is self-brainwashing. In Key #4 you are to journal, but to "write in faith for long periods of time" and before you do, you should have adequately "submitted to solid, spiritual leadership." The shorthand, if you already believe, you already believe.
Books like this merely reaffirm the self-delusion that one can have a personal relationship with an immaterial, invisible entity that resides somewhere out there and beyond human comprehension. The believer is duped into thinking that a non-stop circle jerk of sanctimonious, self-affirming, ego-stroking is somehow a Bat Phone to God – piece-mailing advice at every trivial decision.
This variety of religious instruction does have consequences. From mothers who drown their children, to anti-abortionists who murder doctors and bomb clinics - we find that God has also a penchant for violence when he's not busy deciding plaids or stripes.
In my deconversion, hearing God's voice was an issue. I never heard God, only the familiar intonation of my own inner-voice. I never wanted to pretend or lie that this was anything but the case. In discussion with my Christian friends, they tell me they do, in fact, hear God's voice.
I have to stop and question the sanity of my friends. Can I blame them? They are victims. We have a history and a society of these flim-flammers, speaking from alleged authority, that this self-induced schizophrenia is real and not imaginary.
Now that you've gone to service, said your prayers and gave God a few Franklins - it's time for a sermon from the other side of the aisle.
The other day, I was at the K-Mart in Oconomowoc, on a little visual research expedition. As I was strolling through the book section, How to Hear from God: Learn His Voice and Make Right Decisions by that church lady from the 700 Club caught my attention. I quickly scanned the back. The book promises to teach you how to hear God's voice in every daily action so you can do "His Divine Will." All for $19.31!
For whatever reason, this goofiness interests me. I did a quick Google and this subject is almost a genre unto itself.
The believer is duped into thinking that a non-stop circle jerk of sanctimonious, self-affirming, ego-stroking is somehow a Bat-Phone to God. This site not only features a downloadable lecture, but "4 Main Keys" to secure direct communication with God. This belief is predicated on one of the later prophets in the book of Habakkuk. A lesser known book of the OT, yet it does contain plenty of violence of that capricious blood thirsty God we've come to love and adore. The Wiki entry states that this book is "The starting point of the concept of faith" which later NT writers grounded their emotional rhetoric and appeals of faith against the Greek tradition of materialist based reason. Paul for example.
As an aside, I did this drawing to illustrate the relationship between my own inner voice, Satan, and God. I measured the decibel levels of each.
What did you expect? Data? Verification?
Anyway, the author states that after praying, fasting, studying the Bible for one year, his previous roadblock of not hearing God's voice had been removed. He claims that "God set me aside" on this year long exercise. If your paying attention, this was before he could not hear Gods voice. Yet, somehow this born-again, Bible-believing Christian receives a directive to do so?
Unfortunately, the author gives no concrete way to confirm that in fact the voices in your head are not yours. Also, he gives no qualitative way to distinguish if the voice in your head is Satan and not God. You think that would be important, the Devil is known to be a trickster. Each step is self-brainwashing. In Key #4 you are to journal, but to "write in faith for long periods of time" and before you do, you should have adequately "submitted to solid, spiritual leadership." The shorthand, if you already believe, you already believe.
Books like this merely reaffirm the self-delusion that one can have a personal relationship with an immaterial, invisible entity that resides somewhere out there and beyond human comprehension. The believer is duped into thinking that a non-stop circle jerk of sanctimonious, self-affirming, ego-stroking is somehow a Bat Phone to God – piece-mailing advice at every trivial decision.
This variety of religious instruction does have consequences. From mothers who drown their children, to anti-abortionists who murder doctors and bomb clinics - we find that God has also a penchant for violence when he's not busy deciding plaids or stripes.
In my deconversion, hearing God's voice was an issue. I never heard God, only the familiar intonation of my own inner-voice. I never wanted to pretend or lie that this was anything but the case. In discussion with my Christian friends, they tell me they do, in fact, hear God's voice.
I have to stop and question the sanity of my friends. Can I blame them? They are victims. We have a history and a society of these flim-flammers, speaking from alleged authority, that this self-induced schizophrenia is real and not imaginary.
Categories: Other Friends
Factual scientific data vs. "faith" and "magic"
Sent in by Brian
I was raised in a very Christian home, and went to church my whole life. I never had a reason to believe otherwise - there is a God, he is all powerful, and you DO NOT question it. I can remember a few times kind of wondering "Is this for real?", and then praying for some kind of sign - which of course I never got. After I did not receive confirmation of his existence, I immediately prayed and asked for forgiveness for my lack of faith. Who was I to question God?
When you start thinking about the whole question in a logical manner, it is very hard to remain faithful. There are simply too many facts against religion.Well at the age of 24, I started listening to some very intelligent people. I would debate with them about the existence of God, but the entire time, I would feel like I was losing the debate. I would throw out fake "Facts" to back up the existence of God, and bring up faith.. They would be visibly frustrated by my lack of understanding.
Little did they know, but they were chipping away just a little of my Christian foundation with every debate. They made a lot of sense. I would leave questioning things, and feeling a lot of doubt.
This is when I decided to seek the truth. I decided that I would invest in books on both sides of the argument. I would read a book on evolution, and then read a book by a creationist. I would read a book by Dawkins, and then read a "Scientific proof of God" book. I did this for months.
I quickly started to realize that the atheist books were full of factual scientific data, and the theist books were full of "faith" and "magic". I have a very logic-oriented brain, so faith and magic just don't hold up. The Christian books quickly turned in to comedy. As I was reading, I would have to stop and read aloud the particularly absurd passages to my wife. She would laugh at them as well (even though she was still holding on to her Catholic beliefs at the time). Needless to say, I quickly became an atheist. After hours of discussion on the subject, my wife followed shortly thereafter.
When you start thinking about the whole question in a logical manner, it is very hard to remain faithful. There are simply too many facts against religion.
I can understand where religion came from. Our ancestors looked around our world in amazement, and could not understand ANYTHING. They had no idea what that huge ball of fire in the sky was, they had no idea what made plants grow, and water falling from the sky was a "miracle". They had to explain it somehow, so our ancestors created gods. Each civilization created their own gods, and thought the other civilizations were crazy heathens. Sound familiar?
Since your religion is based SOLELY on the bible, doesn't this make you question your own beliefs? Well now that we understand our universe, there is no longer a need for religion. We KNOW what the sun is, we understand the life cycle of plants, we know what causes rain, etc. The things that were previously classified as miracles now have scientific explanations. So why hold on to religion?
If you are a Christian, ask yourself these questions:
- Is the Bible the word of God?
- If it is the word of God, would it not be "perfect"?
- If it is perfect, every part of it should be correct, right?
If you answered yes to all of these questions, read on. If you answered no, then you are already slipping down the slope to atheism, but read on anyways.
So if the bible is infallible, how do you explain the following biblical "mistakes":
- According to the bible, the world was covered by a great flood, which killed all living creatures. Noah took 2 of each animal on to a ship, rode out the storm, and then dropped them of in the middle east.
If this is true, how to you explain life on Australia (since it was never connected to the rest of the land masses)? How did the animals make it from the middle east to Australia? Did they swim across the ocean? How can you explain the unique animals that only exist in Australia (Evolution took different paths on this segregated land mass)?How do you explain the fact that there is not geological proof of such a massive flood (which would be very obvious to archaeologists). And to point out the most ridiculous part of this story - there are millions of species of animals. How did Noah fit all of those on to a single boat, and keep them from killing each other?
- According to the bible, the universe revolves around the sun.
Do you think this is true?
- According to the bible, the earth is only a few thousand years old.
How can you explain the overwhelming evidence of millions of years of existence? How can you explain dinosaurs?
- According to the bible, god created man and woman and all of the animals.
How do you explain finding the bones of our ancestors which show the evolution of humans? If God created man and woman in his image, wouldn't all of our ancestors look exactly like us?? Why are all animals and humans still changing and evolving? How do you explain absolute PROOF of microevolution?
- The bible condones slavery, misogyny, ritualistic sacrifice, and human atrocities.
Was this written by a loving God, or mortal men?
- The bible refers to the earth as flat, and a non-moving entity.
Do YOU think the earth is flat, and that the universe revolves around it?
- The bible describes the hydrological cycle in terms of magic and fountains from heaven - showing a clear lack of knowledge of where rain, snow and hail originate.
Do you think that rain comes from a fountain from heaven?
- The bible is full of mathematical inaccuracies.
Don't you think God could figure out Pi, handle basic addition, and measure properly?
- The bible makes numerous prophetical statements that never came true.
Again, is this written by an infallible God, or a mortal man?
- EVERY major story in the Christian Bible can be traced back to earlier pagan religions. Stories such as: Born in a manger, virgin birth, born under the north star, visited by kings, brought 3 gifts, water in to wine, fish and bread to feed thousands, crucified on a cross, rose again after 3 days, etc, etc, etc - these can all be linked to religions that existed LONG before Christianity. Just look up Mithras for a quick comparison.
So, if you acknowledge that the above references show biblical inaccuracies, then you are admitting that the bible is not "perfect". Therefore it cannot be the word of God. Since your religion is based SOLELY on the bible, doesn't this make you question your own beliefs?
You have two paths that you can take here:
1. Open your mind, and find out for yourself what you REALLY believe (not what you were told to believe).
- OR -
2. Be a good Christian and close your eyes, stick your fingers in your ears, and sing "Jesus loves me" as loud as you can.
If you choose path number 1, congratulations! In your search of truth, please try to disregard magic, faith, mysterious ways, and the like. Use your logical brain! Trust me, it is better on this side. It is like a huge blanket of guilt and dread is lifted off of your shoulders.
If you chose path #2, enjoy your life of ignorant bliss.
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not all-powerful.
Is he able to prevent evil, but not willing?
Then he is malicious.
Is he both able and willing?
Then why is there evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?
I was raised in a very Christian home, and went to church my whole life. I never had a reason to believe otherwise - there is a God, he is all powerful, and you DO NOT question it. I can remember a few times kind of wondering "Is this for real?", and then praying for some kind of sign - which of course I never got. After I did not receive confirmation of his existence, I immediately prayed and asked for forgiveness for my lack of faith. Who was I to question God?
When you start thinking about the whole question in a logical manner, it is very hard to remain faithful. There are simply too many facts against religion.Well at the age of 24, I started listening to some very intelligent people. I would debate with them about the existence of God, but the entire time, I would feel like I was losing the debate. I would throw out fake "Facts" to back up the existence of God, and bring up faith.. They would be visibly frustrated by my lack of understanding.
Little did they know, but they were chipping away just a little of my Christian foundation with every debate. They made a lot of sense. I would leave questioning things, and feeling a lot of doubt.
This is when I decided to seek the truth. I decided that I would invest in books on both sides of the argument. I would read a book on evolution, and then read a book by a creationist. I would read a book by Dawkins, and then read a "Scientific proof of God" book. I did this for months.
I quickly started to realize that the atheist books were full of factual scientific data, and the theist books were full of "faith" and "magic". I have a very logic-oriented brain, so faith and magic just don't hold up. The Christian books quickly turned in to comedy. As I was reading, I would have to stop and read aloud the particularly absurd passages to my wife. She would laugh at them as well (even though she was still holding on to her Catholic beliefs at the time). Needless to say, I quickly became an atheist. After hours of discussion on the subject, my wife followed shortly thereafter.
When you start thinking about the whole question in a logical manner, it is very hard to remain faithful. There are simply too many facts against religion.
I can understand where religion came from. Our ancestors looked around our world in amazement, and could not understand ANYTHING. They had no idea what that huge ball of fire in the sky was, they had no idea what made plants grow, and water falling from the sky was a "miracle". They had to explain it somehow, so our ancestors created gods. Each civilization created their own gods, and thought the other civilizations were crazy heathens. Sound familiar?
Since your religion is based SOLELY on the bible, doesn't this make you question your own beliefs? Well now that we understand our universe, there is no longer a need for religion. We KNOW what the sun is, we understand the life cycle of plants, we know what causes rain, etc. The things that were previously classified as miracles now have scientific explanations. So why hold on to religion?
If you are a Christian, ask yourself these questions:
- Is the Bible the word of God?
- If it is the word of God, would it not be "perfect"?
- If it is perfect, every part of it should be correct, right?
If you answered yes to all of these questions, read on. If you answered no, then you are already slipping down the slope to atheism, but read on anyways.
So if the bible is infallible, how do you explain the following biblical "mistakes":
- According to the bible, the world was covered by a great flood, which killed all living creatures. Noah took 2 of each animal on to a ship, rode out the storm, and then dropped them of in the middle east.
If this is true, how to you explain life on Australia (since it was never connected to the rest of the land masses)? How did the animals make it from the middle east to Australia? Did they swim across the ocean? How can you explain the unique animals that only exist in Australia (Evolution took different paths on this segregated land mass)?How do you explain the fact that there is not geological proof of such a massive flood (which would be very obvious to archaeologists). And to point out the most ridiculous part of this story - there are millions of species of animals. How did Noah fit all of those on to a single boat, and keep them from killing each other?
- According to the bible, the universe revolves around the sun.
Do you think this is true?
- According to the bible, the earth is only a few thousand years old.
How can you explain the overwhelming evidence of millions of years of existence? How can you explain dinosaurs?
- According to the bible, god created man and woman and all of the animals.
How do you explain finding the bones of our ancestors which show the evolution of humans? If God created man and woman in his image, wouldn't all of our ancestors look exactly like us?? Why are all animals and humans still changing and evolving? How do you explain absolute PROOF of microevolution?
- The bible condones slavery, misogyny, ritualistic sacrifice, and human atrocities.
Was this written by a loving God, or mortal men?
- The bible refers to the earth as flat, and a non-moving entity.
Do YOU think the earth is flat, and that the universe revolves around it?
- The bible describes the hydrological cycle in terms of magic and fountains from heaven - showing a clear lack of knowledge of where rain, snow and hail originate.
Do you think that rain comes from a fountain from heaven?
- The bible is full of mathematical inaccuracies.
Don't you think God could figure out Pi, handle basic addition, and measure properly?
- The bible makes numerous prophetical statements that never came true.
Again, is this written by an infallible God, or a mortal man?
- EVERY major story in the Christian Bible can be traced back to earlier pagan religions. Stories such as: Born in a manger, virgin birth, born under the north star, visited by kings, brought 3 gifts, water in to wine, fish and bread to feed thousands, crucified on a cross, rose again after 3 days, etc, etc, etc - these can all be linked to religions that existed LONG before Christianity. Just look up Mithras for a quick comparison.
So, if you acknowledge that the above references show biblical inaccuracies, then you are admitting that the bible is not "perfect". Therefore it cannot be the word of God. Since your religion is based SOLELY on the bible, doesn't this make you question your own beliefs?
You have two paths that you can take here:
1. Open your mind, and find out for yourself what you REALLY believe (not what you were told to believe).
- OR -
2. Be a good Christian and close your eyes, stick your fingers in your ears, and sing "Jesus loves me" as loud as you can.
If you choose path number 1, congratulations! In your search of truth, please try to disregard magic, faith, mysterious ways, and the like. Use your logical brain! Trust me, it is better on this side. It is like a huge blanket of guilt and dread is lifted off of your shoulders.
If you chose path #2, enjoy your life of ignorant bliss.
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not all-powerful.
Is he able to prevent evil, but not willing?
Then he is malicious.
Is he both able and willing?
Then why is there evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?
Categories: Other Friends
Fox News
And the crowd chants fuck fox news.
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Categories: Other Friends
Links With Your Coffee - Monday
- OBAMA’S CONVENTION ACCEPTANCE SPEECH: AN ADVANCE COPY (Or Not)I favor engagement – not war or isolation -- with Iran. Only war could possibly stop them from building nuclear weapons if they choose to. This would be a disastrous course of action. Even a cold war with Iran would fail. We couldn’t stop friends like Pakistan and India, so what gives us the confidence that our hostility will change their minds?
My administration is not going to war with Iran. It is better to establish a relationship with them. It would be even more important if they develop nuclear weapons.
Some argue that we must use force and eliminate Iran’s growing nuclear capabilities to support and protect Israel. I ask you: Since when has Israel ever needed defending? The certain knowledge that Israel would use its A bomb against Iran is deterrent enough. Deterrence worked between the former Soviet Union and us during the Cold War, and it seems to be working between Pakistan and India. Let’s leave Iran to decide its own fate.
- Electric cars, Tesla, Volt | SalonI was excited to hear that Chevy plans to debut an electric car in 2010. But then a discussion with a friend got me thinking: If the electricity used to charge up an electric car is created by burning fossil fuels, is it better to stick with a gas-powered car with good fuel economy?
It's true that most electric cars get their electricity from the grid, which, in many states, is made up mostly of electricity from coal-fired power plants. In areas where the power comes mostly from hydro, wind or solar, your electric car would be virtually emissions-free. (Any electric-car owner can achieve this by installing a solar carport at home.)
- World's oldest joke traced back to 1900 BC - Yahoo! News
- Decoding the Kindle » Usefulness of Kindle NowNow Praised
- Gmail Account Hacking Tool | Hacking Truths
- denialism blog : Mike Leavitt to patients: "F*** you"
- Small Packages Trick People to Eat More - Yahoo! News
- Bad Science » Part two of my Radio 4 show on the placebo effect
Categories: Other Friends
I found "me," and I was "born again"
Sent in by Awlheart
I was always a very religious person. I was born into a Sicilian-Catholic family. I went to Catholic school and was the kid that always had questions on religion because so much of it didn't make sense. But I was brainwashed very well and bought into it 100%.
Then the teen years hit. I met this wonderful Southern Baptist boy at 15. He brought me to his church. I loved it, but now more questions came up. How come his church puts down what my church believes in? Why do we have different beliefs? So I begin bible study with a friend who is Evangelical Christian. She teaches me so much and shows me all the great things God does and all the things I need to do to go to heaven. All these years of being a Catholic I thought I was going to heaven if I was good, then I learn it has nothing to do with being good, it has to do with saying a prayer that I swear to believe in Jesus as my savior.
So I head on down to my Catholic Church with bible in hand and full of knowledge of the bible. I talk to a priest at my church. I show him all this evidence, and ask tons of questions on why are these beliefs so different. I want to go to heaven, not hell, and I had to be sure I was making the right choice. After all I have to say to this priest he just has one thing to tell me, "If you believe in the bible, you can't be a Catholic. It's a choice you have to make." A choice I have to make?!?!?! Isn't there someone who can tell me "THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH." (There were tons of different denominations that told me they were the true believers as I set on my path to find the right church.)
I became Southern Baptist till I later found out after being married to a Calvary Chapel Christian that having a denomination is a bad thing, that those are religions, not God! So I end up in a non-denominational church. Whew! I was safe now! I'm for sure going to heaven! Unfortunately my parents acted as though I was this criminal who sold my soul to, well, I'm not sure what they thought but they acted like I was a triator. Of course the people in the church told me that sometimes becoming a true Christian means sacrifices like losing one's family. Well, I didn't lose them, but they were hurt which really didn't feel good to me. But I was learning what God wanted and he was my father too!!! Which father do I listen to?!?!? Ugh!!! The bible is clear that both fathers are important, but the god the father rules over my father so he is the one I should please.
From Calvary Chapel to Harvest. You know Harvest? It's Greg Laurie's Church. He's the Calvary Chapel run-away because he had better ideas I guess. All was going great. I broght my daughter safely in the right church. Oh, don't get me wrong, she was baptized Catholic because I had to please my parents and I had to be sure she was safely going to heaven no matter who was right or wrong.
Then one day something happened to me. I was now 28. Big trouble ahead. I realized I'm a lesbian. That's another story in itself! But it took me 10 years to come out as a lesbian due to my fear of the lord, losing my family and going to hell.
Now my relationship with God gets weird. How can I love a woman when God doesn't want me to love a woman? How can I stay in a marriage and cause my husband to suffer when I was unable to have sex with him. It literally made me sick to my stomach! God insisted that I submit to my husband, but submitting made me ill! So he suffered too. I ended up divorced of course.
Harvest was too Evangelical for me and I left the church. Oh, I was still a very strong Christian, but now I conveniently realized the bible was just being interpreted wrong because it doesn't talk about loving lesbian relationships, only about sex. So I chose to believe that God loved lesbians and I can be a Christian and a lesbian. After all, if God is a loving god, what is wrong with love?
At this point in life I was with a woman who is very Pagan oriented. Pagan? Wait, I heard of them in the bible! Weren't they the bad people? That's a religion?!?! You mean I left one out?!?! So into Wicca classes I go. Oh my f*cking god, this is like Catholic Church only with tons of gods AND goddesses! It was at this point my mind said, something is just way wrong here. People make up this crap! ALL OF IT! There is no god or goddess! There is us, humans, and the earth.
My personal studies turned to where religions come from. I learned it's all made up. It's all stories told so many times from thousands of years before a so-called savior called Jesus. These are all the same stories with different names. Religions evolved from ideas!!! Everyone conveniently made them fit their own lives. I went through a lot of heartaches losing my god. I felt very alone for a while. Mainly because after having the thought that someone was always with me, always listening to me, no matter what the world had in store for me, I thought he was there. Now I had no one but me when things went bad. It was scary! I lost my imaginary friend I called Jesus!!!
BUT, guess what!?! I found ME! I was "born again" into knowing that I have control over me and my life and no one else does. Not any god and not any human. I had this new saying I love, "If it's going to be, it's up to me!" I found out I am a god and goddess. I am able to help others, save others and do good in this world. I get to make decisions by using my very own conscience. I get to be proud of the good I do and know I did it because I chose to do it.
My mission in life is to help wake up everyone to the dangers of theocracy and how it enslaves them. I think just about everyone who knows me knows I'm a Lesbian and an Atheist and I'm very proud of me! It was a long ride but I made it here safely! Thank me!
I was Born from a human, became a Born Again Christian, "Came out" as a lesbian then as an Atheist and now I'm Born Again Me!
I was always a very religious person. I was born into a Sicilian-Catholic family. I went to Catholic school and was the kid that always had questions on religion because so much of it didn't make sense. But I was brainwashed very well and bought into it 100%.
Then the teen years hit. I met this wonderful Southern Baptist boy at 15. He brought me to his church. I loved it, but now more questions came up. How come his church puts down what my church believes in? Why do we have different beliefs? So I begin bible study with a friend who is Evangelical Christian. She teaches me so much and shows me all the great things God does and all the things I need to do to go to heaven. All these years of being a Catholic I thought I was going to heaven if I was good, then I learn it has nothing to do with being good, it has to do with saying a prayer that I swear to believe in Jesus as my savior.
So I head on down to my Catholic Church with bible in hand and full of knowledge of the bible. I talk to a priest at my church. I show him all this evidence, and ask tons of questions on why are these beliefs so different. I want to go to heaven, not hell, and I had to be sure I was making the right choice. After all I have to say to this priest he just has one thing to tell me, "If you believe in the bible, you can't be a Catholic. It's a choice you have to make." A choice I have to make?!?!?! Isn't there someone who can tell me "THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH." (There were tons of different denominations that told me they were the true believers as I set on my path to find the right church.)
I became Southern Baptist till I later found out after being married to a Calvary Chapel Christian that having a denomination is a bad thing, that those are religions, not God! So I end up in a non-denominational church. Whew! I was safe now! I'm for sure going to heaven! Unfortunately my parents acted as though I was this criminal who sold my soul to, well, I'm not sure what they thought but they acted like I was a triator. Of course the people in the church told me that sometimes becoming a true Christian means sacrifices like losing one's family. Well, I didn't lose them, but they were hurt which really didn't feel good to me. But I was learning what God wanted and he was my father too!!! Which father do I listen to?!?!? Ugh!!! The bible is clear that both fathers are important, but the god the father rules over my father so he is the one I should please.
From Calvary Chapel to Harvest. You know Harvest? It's Greg Laurie's Church. He's the Calvary Chapel run-away because he had better ideas I guess. All was going great. I broght my daughter safely in the right church. Oh, don't get me wrong, she was baptized Catholic because I had to please my parents and I had to be sure she was safely going to heaven no matter who was right or wrong.
Then one day something happened to me. I was now 28. Big trouble ahead. I realized I'm a lesbian. That's another story in itself! But it took me 10 years to come out as a lesbian due to my fear of the lord, losing my family and going to hell.
Now my relationship with God gets weird. How can I love a woman when God doesn't want me to love a woman? How can I stay in a marriage and cause my husband to suffer when I was unable to have sex with him. It literally made me sick to my stomach! God insisted that I submit to my husband, but submitting made me ill! So he suffered too. I ended up divorced of course.
Harvest was too Evangelical for me and I left the church. Oh, I was still a very strong Christian, but now I conveniently realized the bible was just being interpreted wrong because it doesn't talk about loving lesbian relationships, only about sex. So I chose to believe that God loved lesbians and I can be a Christian and a lesbian. After all, if God is a loving god, what is wrong with love?
At this point in life I was with a woman who is very Pagan oriented. Pagan? Wait, I heard of them in the bible! Weren't they the bad people? That's a religion?!?! You mean I left one out?!?! So into Wicca classes I go. Oh my f*cking god, this is like Catholic Church only with tons of gods AND goddesses! It was at this point my mind said, something is just way wrong here. People make up this crap! ALL OF IT! There is no god or goddess! There is us, humans, and the earth.
My personal studies turned to where religions come from. I learned it's all made up. It's all stories told so many times from thousands of years before a so-called savior called Jesus. These are all the same stories with different names. Religions evolved from ideas!!! Everyone conveniently made them fit their own lives. I went through a lot of heartaches losing my god. I felt very alone for a while. Mainly because after having the thought that someone was always with me, always listening to me, no matter what the world had in store for me, I thought he was there. Now I had no one but me when things went bad. It was scary! I lost my imaginary friend I called Jesus!!!
BUT, guess what!?! I found ME! I was "born again" into knowing that I have control over me and my life and no one else does. Not any god and not any human. I had this new saying I love, "If it's going to be, it's up to me!" I found out I am a god and goddess. I am able to help others, save others and do good in this world. I get to make decisions by using my very own conscience. I get to be proud of the good I do and know I did it because I chose to do it.
My mission in life is to help wake up everyone to the dangers of theocracy and how it enslaves them. I think just about everyone who knows me knows I'm a Lesbian and an Atheist and I'm very proud of me! It was a long ride but I made it here safely! Thank me!
I was Born from a human, became a Born Again Christian, "Came out" as a lesbian then as an Atheist and now I'm Born Again Me!
Categories: Other Friends
The Sunday Funnies
And this week's winner is?
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This Week w/George Stephanopoulos
Categories: Other Friends
All the Rage
By Astreja
As much as I enjoy the dialogue at Ex-Christian.net, I've noticed something that's a bit worrisome. I have become a BibleBotherer-Seeking Missile with an extremely short fuse.
My own experiences with Christianity are somewhat milder than the norm. Although nominally a liberal Protestant in childhood, I didn't get the fear of Hell beat into me by parental units, teachers, friends or neighbours. I didn't invest decades of precious life time in the Christian cult, although I did later deconvert from another belief system and can identify with the pain of going from belief to non-belief.
So what's with the intense, blood-boiling fury that I've been feeling lately?
One possible explanation: Uninvited proselytizing and evangelizing is abuse, psychological torment, and what I'm feeling is natural -- Counter-aggression in the face of a perceived attack.
At this point, I would expect one of our Christian visitors to say "Attack? But we're only trying to heeeelp..."
This is the usual rationale for invading our space. But let's take a closer look at the nature of this so-called help, using recent examples from Ex-C itself:
"Why do you have so many hatreds in your life? Why are there so many broken relationships in your life? Why won't you accept reconciliation with certain people in your life?"
"There is nothing that I can say or do to convince you that Jesus died on the cross for you..."
"A so-called Atheist reading the Bible is like a english-only literate person reading chinese."
"Mother, father sister, brother, freind, spouse they will all forsake you. God is the only one who truly loves and adores you."
"It is truely sad when I see the lack of truth in some of these comments."
"Friends eternity is forever, and much too long to be wrong."
"Sorry your feelings were hurt. Hope you can explain it on judgement day."
"As long as you and the others continue to do what you know is wrong, you prove that the world would be a better place without you."
"Well fuck you all, God loves you and he will forgive and take care of every last one of you for ever and ever, wether you like it or not... and if you dumb stupid apes are tou blind and stupid to see this, then I don't know how to help any of you."
Do you see what's going on here, folks?
These are all manifestations of emotional abuse and are perceived as attacks upon one's person. Our visitors' evangelizing is triggering the adrenaline rush of a fight-or-flight reaction.
(cracks knuckles) And they wonder why I'm not glad to see them...
As much as I enjoy the dialogue at Ex-Christian.net, I've noticed something that's a bit worrisome. I have become a BibleBotherer-Seeking Missile with an extremely short fuse.
My own experiences with Christianity are somewhat milder than the norm. Although nominally a liberal Protestant in childhood, I didn't get the fear of Hell beat into me by parental units, teachers, friends or neighbours. I didn't invest decades of precious life time in the Christian cult, although I did later deconvert from another belief system and can identify with the pain of going from belief to non-belief.
So what's with the intense, blood-boiling fury that I've been feeling lately?
One possible explanation: Uninvited proselytizing and evangelizing is abuse, psychological torment, and what I'm feeling is natural -- Counter-aggression in the face of a perceived attack.
At this point, I would expect one of our Christian visitors to say "Attack? But we're only trying to heeeelp..."
This is the usual rationale for invading our space. But let's take a closer look at the nature of this so-called help, using recent examples from Ex-C itself:
"Why do you have so many hatreds in your life? Why are there so many broken relationships in your life? Why won't you accept reconciliation with certain people in your life?"
"There is nothing that I can say or do to convince you that Jesus died on the cross for you..."
"A so-called Atheist reading the Bible is like a english-only literate person reading chinese."
"Mother, father sister, brother, freind, spouse they will all forsake you. God is the only one who truly loves and adores you."
"It is truely sad when I see the lack of truth in some of these comments."
"Friends eternity is forever, and much too long to be wrong."
"Sorry your feelings were hurt. Hope you can explain it on judgement day."
"As long as you and the others continue to do what you know is wrong, you prove that the world would be a better place without you."
"Well fuck you all, God loves you and he will forgive and take care of every last one of you for ever and ever, wether you like it or not... and if you dumb stupid apes are tou blind and stupid to see this, then I don't know how to help any of you."
Do you see what's going on here, folks?
- Unfounded accusations, usually accompanied by mind-reading
- Guilt trips
- Insults
- Attempts to cause us to doubt the fidelity of the real people we know and love
- Unwarranted criticisms
- Threats
- And completely off-the-wall rants.
These are all manifestations of emotional abuse and are perceived as attacks upon one's person. Our visitors' evangelizing is triggering the adrenaline rush of a fight-or-flight reaction.
(cracks knuckles) And they wonder why I'm not glad to see them...
Categories: Other Friends
Are you truly rational?
Question:Hello! I am a 25-year-old Christian. Let me start off by saying that I am not here to get into a debate with anyone nor to change anyone's mind about Christ or bash anyone for not believing in Christ. I saw a video on youtube that made me think. I was listening to a debate with Matt Slim & Kelly today & came across a video from another atheist titled "Rational Responders oopsie". Of course it caught my attention & I watched it. Anyway, he talks about a video that was uploaded by the Rational Responders. The man with whom he was talking about is David Mills & he uses the Bible to pick up dog feces. I watched the video for myself & saw that indeed it was uploaded by Rational Responders. My question is this........how can you claim to be rational when you upload videos such as this & make fun of Christian beliefs & make fun of Jesus? I understand that you don't believe in God & we live in a country that has a freedom of religion, which I am grateful for. I just don't get it! I have an atheist friend who never bashes or makes fun of people if they believe in God nor does he make fun of religion or Jesus. He just believes what he believes, that is rational in my opinion. I must add that I DO NOT agree with the radical Christians who protest at a soldier's funeral or hold signs that say "God hates fags"! I don't agree with those people & I stay very, very far away from those types of people. They are TOXIC! The video, among other things I've seen from you all, made me cry. I would never make fun of you for not believing in Christ or bash you for what you believe in so why do you do it to Christians like me? Why do you make fun of Jesus & religion? You are NOT rational at all! All you are is a bully! I would also like to add that the picture of the World Trade Centers with the caption "Imagine no Religion" should not be applied into Christianity religion. My God has NEVER told me to kill thousands of people for not believing the same thing I believe. That is putting Christians like me into the same category as the terrorists. I am NOT a terrorist. I'm sure you'll have an answer for me on this question & I look forward to reading it. Thank you for your time. Atheist Answer
Thankyou for sharing your feelings, Monica. I'm sorry you were so upset. Among the most imporatnt things about the actions and media you describe is the very fact that you and other regular everyday religious people take them so personally. Sadly, although you would not make fun of atheism there are many Christians who would gladly denounce it, ridicule it and tear it to pieces. Some of us feel the need to respond in kind. It's unfortunate.
For the benefit of others, this is David Mills' video. It was his way of taking up the Blasphemy Challenge.
In brief, the Challenge is an invitation to publicly deny the Holy Spirit, precisely because the Bible says that doing so prevents one from ever being forgiven (Mark 3:29). It's a commitment to disbelief in response to those who say that everyone's a believer underneath, or that we should worship God just in case he exists. It's also an ongoing opportunity for atheists to declare themselves and show their numbers in the face of the majority religion of the Western world.
David Mills went past declarations and desecrated a Bible to show that it holds no special value to him. All the things he said and did were calculated to put him beyond "saving". That's how confident he is that the Christian God does not exist. It's not intended as an insult to Christians, but to Christianity itself. To individual Christians it is simply an emphatic statement of disagreement.
This brings us back to you, Monica.
- Were you upset because Mills somehow did God or Jesus an injury by soiling their supposed words? What possible harm could a mortal do to those two?
- Were you upset because Mills damned himself? If so, that's considerate of you, but Mills is quite confident that he cannot be damned in this way. He's an adult and he can make his own decisions.
- Were you upset because you have learned to revere physical Bibles as they contain the word of God? Whatever is written in a book, Monica, it's still just a book. The words transcend the paper. That's why burning books never accomplishes anything.
- Were you upset because Mills attacked your beliefs directly? Then keep in mind that he did not attack you. His ultimate message to Christians themselves was simply, "I think you are wrong." Not stupid, not bad, not dangerous, just wrong. Anyone can be wrong; this is not an insult at all. (I will admit, as he would, that he was very rude about saying it.)
It's the same idea with the ">Imagine No Religion poster. Religion is the target, not religious people. Nobody expects the general populace to suddenly turn extremist en masse and join Al Qaeda or the Westboro Baptist Church.
The poster makes two points:
- Some atrocities are committed explicitly in the name of religion. Whether by Muslim terrorists now or Japanese generals in WWII (under the banner of their god-emperor Hirohito) or Catholic and Protestant soldiers in the Thirty Years War or by island tribes millenia ago, religion has many deaths to answer for. While of course atrocities are also committed for other causes unrelated to religion, lack of religion by itself is not motivation to do any such thing.
- Those who fly planes into buildings and ruin soldiers' funerals are working from exactly the same basic texts as other religious people. Only the interpretations are different. While not everyone chooses the interpretations which lead to violence and bigotry, they are always available. Those who defend their religions as valid, justified and in need of protection sadly make it easier for the extremists within those religions to do the same with their own versions.
You have every right to be offended by whatever strikes you that way, but there's no reason to be personally insulted. It's not our intention to upset you, either; that achieves nothing. We're just trying to make points forcefully and encourage people to think.
Bookmark/Search this post with: | | | | | | |Categories: Other Friends, Rational Response Squad
Links With Your Coffee - Sunday
- A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash - NYTimes.comDavid Campbell switched on the overhead projector and wrote “Evolution” in the rectangle of light on the screen.
He scanned the faces of the sophomores in his Biology I class. Many of them, he knew from years of teaching high school in this Jacksonville suburb, had been raised to take the biblical creation story as fact. His gaze rested for a moment on Bryce Haas, a football player who attended the 6 a.m. prayer meetings of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in the school gymnasium.
“If I do this wrong,” Mr. Campbell remembers thinking on that humid spring morning, “I’ll lose him.”
- Economist.com
- Writer who photographed HP Lovecraft's headstone ordered to delete her photo, heaped with abuse - Boing Boing
- Marvellous magazine ads of 1904 - Boing Boing
- Hope (tip to pedantsareus)
- O'BIDEN: Nader Hits the "MasterCard VP" Choice
I think Hillary would have been a better choice, no surprise there, but I think the Biden choice was better than Bayh or Kaine. I had forgotten why I dismissed Biden early on, this article reminded me. I think Obama-Biden will win in November, but it will be way too close for comfort.
Categories: Other Friends
A Bit of Biden
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Categories: Other Friends
 11 Nov 2005.thumbnail.jpg "DC Atheist in Foxholes event")
