Matthew 10:34:
34.Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
If there is one prophecy in the bible that has come true, it is the one mentioned in Matthew 10:34. Since it's ascendancy to power Christianity has left a path of destruction littered with rivers of blood of all those that dared to oppose their beliefs, but do not think for a moment that this is unique to Christianity. Since the biblical deity called on Moses to lead his chosen people out of captivity from Egypt and once he purged his people from the undesirables which he did throughout a 40 year sojourn in the O.T. he supposedly commanded them to conquer the lands across the Red Sea or sea of Reeds since now scholars have said that the latter is a more correct translation and that the former was a mistake.
God chose Israel as his people according to Leviticus 20:26 and as is common with most cultures this theme of exclusivity has caused much bloodshed and strife. To the day Israel continues to bully the Palestinians out of their land, and what do you think is their justification for claiming that land? You guessed it, God gave it to them as an inheritance (Exodus 3:17)! This has been the main cause of religious strife in the middle east for the last two thousand plus years. Religious beliefs have been the cause of unwarranted strife and dissensions ever since man could remember. The Old Testament god was also behind all of the massacres of those inhabitants of those lands which he had promised to his people. They claimed at the edge of the sword what was not rightfully theirs because of a belief that a deity had given it to them.
This was also the beginning of religious intolerance as is stated all throughout the Old Testament. In the ten commandments the very first commandment is according to Exodus 20:3 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' and to reinforce this one of the first things that the Hebrews had to do when they inherited these lands that God supposedly promised them was to:' destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:14.For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God'(Exodus 34:13,14). This O.T. god according to the scriptures had chosen the Hebrew people out of all of the races upon the face of the Earth to represent him initially. It was their job as the chosen people to keep his commandments and literally cleanse the Earth of all infidels and those that opposed the Lord.
In those days there was no salvation for the rest of us it was exclusively for the Hebrews if they remained faithful to God, there was no chance given to these other foreign nations to accept and worship this so called god of gods. By not being Hebrew they were by default condemned as enemies of God and his people, this is evident as well in the story of the Exodus when it clearly says that Pharaoh could not accept the God of the Hebrews even after all he had seen because according to Exodus 11:10 it states that he did so so that he could shew his many signs and wonders before him. This evil deity of the O.T. was cruel to the utmost and as evil or even worse than any human dictator could ever hope to be.
There is an interesting tale in the book of Matthew where a Canaanite woman begged Jesus to heal her daughter who was vexed with demons and it's funny but he told her he came for the house of Israel. That is was not right to cast the bread of his children to the dogs (gentiles/ non-Jews), in essence he called all others including us (you and I dogs) if you don't believe me read it for yourself in Matthew 15:24-28. We are essentially eating from the crumbs of Gods table lol what an insult! Romans 11:11 states that through the stumbling of the Jews the gentiles have obtained salvation to make them (the Jews) jealous.
Once the Christian church obtained this so called promise of salvation they did as the Jews before them and began to build an empire based on those promises. It turned from a cultural to a religious war. This was because they hinged themselves on the O.T. verses that referred to God being a jealous god and how it was now through the new covenant a mandate to make Christianity the one and only true religion in the world. Religion has been the cause of division, dissension, war, and an innumerable number of atrocities in the name of God. But in the end it was all about political power and control, which led to the crusades and subsequent inquisitions.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Jesus is coming soon!
One of the things I find most perplexing is that although it has been a little over two thousand years, the church continues to wait for the physical return of Jesus Christ! A literal reading of some of the so called sayings attributed to Christ should be sufficient enough to dispel this myth, but history has shown that it is not enough. There are several reasons that I think are directly responsible for the longevity of Christianity as a religion, and don't worry none of them are supernatural.
The main reason I think it has lasted this long is because of its acceptance by the roman emperor Constantine in the year 312 during the battle of Milvian bridge where he claimed to have had a supernatural vision upon looking up to the sky before the battle. He claims to have seen the symbol of the cross and ordered his troops to adorn their shields with the symbol, his subsequent victory he later attributed to the Christian deity. The following year he announced the edict of Milan which basically allowed for religious tolerance of all faiths. It wasn't till February 12 in the year 380 AD that the edict of Thessalonica was announced by Gratian Theodosious 1 and Valentinian 2 that Christianity became the official religion of the state of Rome.
This in my opinion is what gave Christianity it's impetus to move forward as a major religion with the power and force of the state of Rome behind it. By the merging of church and state Rome quickly became a theocracy with the church pulling the strings and the state serving as its enforcers. Through this union the church was able to crush all competing religions and establish itself as the one and only true religion and its deity as the one and only true God.
It is shocking to me even to this day that after all these years you still have Christian sects coming out of the woodwork all claiming to be a return to the original teachings of the early church! Even more shocking is that many of them have been so bold to even predict the date upon which Jesus would return! Even though this in and of itself is contrary to the scriptures which they all profess to read and believe in. Let us take a look at what the scriptures have to say about the return of Christ. As usual I will be quoting from the KJV although many say it is not the most accurate translation out there when it comes to this issue they all pretty much say the same thing.
According to Mark 13:32 it states 32.'But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.' This very same sentiment is expressed in the N.T. in several other places but here is where the story goes awry, this is where Jesus puts his big foot in his mouth after giving a laundry list of signs of his return. The last of those things on the list are found in Mark 13:26,27 26'.And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.27.And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.'
Finally the good lord Christ shoves his foot even further in his mouth by announcing also in Mark 13:30 30.'Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.' And just to make sure that they knew he was talking about them in that generation he gave them this reassurance: Matthew 16:28 28.'Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.'
According to the scriptures Jesus said that no man knows the hour of his return, he clearly stated on more than one occasion that it would happen during the generation in which he lived and died. Yet two thousand plus years later you still have people trying to predict the date of his return and still eagerly awaiting for his return. I think that the bible speaks for itself in the above cited quote and others, and has proven that those prophecies have been shown to be utter failures. If Jesus existed (I personally don't think he did) then he was not the son of God and unfortunately for you Christians that await his return he is not coming back. The early chuch preached the coming of the Lord and they all lived and died and he never returned as will all future generations that await his return. I hate to be the bearer of bad new but Jesus is not coming soon!!
The main reason I think it has lasted this long is because of its acceptance by the roman emperor Constantine in the year 312 during the battle of Milvian bridge where he claimed to have had a supernatural vision upon looking up to the sky before the battle. He claims to have seen the symbol of the cross and ordered his troops to adorn their shields with the symbol, his subsequent victory he later attributed to the Christian deity. The following year he announced the edict of Milan which basically allowed for religious tolerance of all faiths. It wasn't till February 12 in the year 380 AD that the edict of Thessalonica was announced by Gratian Theodosious 1 and Valentinian 2 that Christianity became the official religion of the state of Rome.
This in my opinion is what gave Christianity it's impetus to move forward as a major religion with the power and force of the state of Rome behind it. By the merging of church and state Rome quickly became a theocracy with the church pulling the strings and the state serving as its enforcers. Through this union the church was able to crush all competing religions and establish itself as the one and only true religion and its deity as the one and only true God.
It is shocking to me even to this day that after all these years you still have Christian sects coming out of the woodwork all claiming to be a return to the original teachings of the early church! Even more shocking is that many of them have been so bold to even predict the date upon which Jesus would return! Even though this in and of itself is contrary to the scriptures which they all profess to read and believe in. Let us take a look at what the scriptures have to say about the return of Christ. As usual I will be quoting from the KJV although many say it is not the most accurate translation out there when it comes to this issue they all pretty much say the same thing.
According to Mark 13:32 it states 32.'But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.' This very same sentiment is expressed in the N.T. in several other places but here is where the story goes awry, this is where Jesus puts his big foot in his mouth after giving a laundry list of signs of his return. The last of those things on the list are found in Mark 13:26,27 26'.And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.27.And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.'
Finally the good lord Christ shoves his foot even further in his mouth by announcing also in Mark 13:30 30.'Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.' And just to make sure that they knew he was talking about them in that generation he gave them this reassurance: Matthew 16:28 28.'Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.'
According to the scriptures Jesus said that no man knows the hour of his return, he clearly stated on more than one occasion that it would happen during the generation in which he lived and died. Yet two thousand plus years later you still have people trying to predict the date of his return and still eagerly awaiting for his return. I think that the bible speaks for itself in the above cited quote and others, and has proven that those prophecies have been shown to be utter failures. If Jesus existed (I personally don't think he did) then he was not the son of God and unfortunately for you Christians that await his return he is not coming back. The early chuch preached the coming of the Lord and they all lived and died and he never returned as will all future generations that await his return. I hate to be the bearer of bad new but Jesus is not coming soon!!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
A stupid plan by a stupid God!
I was sitting around yesterday thinking about the word of God as usual, looking for flaws in the flood story, once again I have come up with one that demonstrates once again what an inept creator the biblical god is. So before I begin let me set it up for my readers so that you can see the big picture and understand in greater detail my critique of these passages of scripture. According to the story regarding the fall of man Adam and Eve having sinned against God brought upon themselves and the rest of mankind a curse. This curse involved pretty much everything negative you could think of that could befall mankind, death, birth pangs for women, and sin and all that that entails and its many consequences.
Now lets move ahead to a question that has been nagging at me for quite some time now: What was the purpose of the global flood that is described in Genesis chapter 6? Lets take a look at what the verses 7 and 8 have to say regarding the matter: '7.And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.8.But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.' So according to this text God intended to destroy mankind as we know it and not just mankind but also every living creature that he had created. Now this does not sound like the acts of a just God, since in my opinion the animals had nothing to do with the fall of mankind. Sure, the devil under the guise of a serpent led Adam and Eve to temptation through the means of guile and deception but the snake had no part in that. Whether he possessed an actual snake or transformed himself into a snake is irrelevant and another issue entirely.
The thing I find curious about this passage is particularly verse 8 where it says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. So, since God thought Noah was cool he still carried out his plan to cleanse the Earth but decided to spare Noah and his family. If you look at sin through the analogy of a disease for instance, you will see that there is no logic in what this biblical idiot did in the first place. It's like saying I will destroy the aids virus from the face of the Earth but I like this particular strain of it and so I will spare them from destruction. If God wanted to start with a clean slate he should have taken out Noah and his family as well and create man from scratch all over again minus the tree in the garden and the ability to sin. By sparing Noah and his family they became carriers of the sin virus through their being descendants of Adam and Eve. God of course being omniscient (all knowing) should have foreseen the folly of this plan.
What this demonstrates is that the biblical God is not omniscient and he seems pretty human to me, since it was a person and not a god that wrote these myths down and based on this and many other passages of scripture I don't think that there was any inspiration from this fictional god to do so. In essence what the biblical god did was a useless waste of time and lives if this tale were true. Here is another aspect of this tale that not too many people talk about, theists differentiate themselves from animals and consider themselves a special creation with a spirit and a soul, if this is the case then how did the animals also inherit the consequences of sin as well? Particularly; death, decay, diseases, etc. All of creation somehow incurred the consequences of sin whether they were conscious creatures or not, because two creatures with the ability to choose chose to disobey Gods commandments. Basing myself on these brief observations I would say that God is as just as your church inquisitor who tortured and maimed many to force them to accept their fairy tales and then killed the body to liberate the soul from hell.
Evolution on the other hand is a better explanation for why we die, suffer, get sick, etc. It puts all living organisms on the same playing field. There is no need to explain the actions of a fictional deity, all processes of life are just the natural progression of life. Theism, especially the various aspects of creationism or ID don't stand a chance against science and evolutionary theory.
Now lets move ahead to a question that has been nagging at me for quite some time now: What was the purpose of the global flood that is described in Genesis chapter 6? Lets take a look at what the verses 7 and 8 have to say regarding the matter: '7.And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.8.But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.' So according to this text God intended to destroy mankind as we know it and not just mankind but also every living creature that he had created. Now this does not sound like the acts of a just God, since in my opinion the animals had nothing to do with the fall of mankind. Sure, the devil under the guise of a serpent led Adam and Eve to temptation through the means of guile and deception but the snake had no part in that. Whether he possessed an actual snake or transformed himself into a snake is irrelevant and another issue entirely.
The thing I find curious about this passage is particularly verse 8 where it says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. So, since God thought Noah was cool he still carried out his plan to cleanse the Earth but decided to spare Noah and his family. If you look at sin through the analogy of a disease for instance, you will see that there is no logic in what this biblical idiot did in the first place. It's like saying I will destroy the aids virus from the face of the Earth but I like this particular strain of it and so I will spare them from destruction. If God wanted to start with a clean slate he should have taken out Noah and his family as well and create man from scratch all over again minus the tree in the garden and the ability to sin. By sparing Noah and his family they became carriers of the sin virus through their being descendants of Adam and Eve. God of course being omniscient (all knowing) should have foreseen the folly of this plan.
What this demonstrates is that the biblical God is not omniscient and he seems pretty human to me, since it was a person and not a god that wrote these myths down and based on this and many other passages of scripture I don't think that there was any inspiration from this fictional god to do so. In essence what the biblical god did was a useless waste of time and lives if this tale were true. Here is another aspect of this tale that not too many people talk about, theists differentiate themselves from animals and consider themselves a special creation with a spirit and a soul, if this is the case then how did the animals also inherit the consequences of sin as well? Particularly; death, decay, diseases, etc. All of creation somehow incurred the consequences of sin whether they were conscious creatures or not, because two creatures with the ability to choose chose to disobey Gods commandments. Basing myself on these brief observations I would say that God is as just as your church inquisitor who tortured and maimed many to force them to accept their fairy tales and then killed the body to liberate the soul from hell.
Evolution on the other hand is a better explanation for why we die, suffer, get sick, etc. It puts all living organisms on the same playing field. There is no need to explain the actions of a fictional deity, all processes of life are just the natural progression of life. Theism, especially the various aspects of creationism or ID don't stand a chance against science and evolutionary theory.
Monday, July 26, 2010
The sign of the times
One of the things you have to give Christians credit for is their persistence, because it was that same persistence that has led to its being the number one religion in the world today. Even today they maintain that same level of persistence to the point of absurdity when faced with contradictory ideas, facts, and logical argumentation contrary to their beliefs. Christianity should get the academy award for lying for the past two thousand plus years and that would even extend to about six thousand if you add the lies perpetuated in the Old Testament as fact. The sheer number of Christian sects are not only a testament to the contradictory beliefs among Christians themselves but also a testament to the lies and manipulation of their belief system to try to accommodate modern day scientific discoveries to the contrary.
The most persistent of these liars are the fundamentalists, they don't care what evidence you can provide to the contrary they stick to the literal interpretation of the scriptures. They don't care how ridiculous or absurd a literal interpretation of the entire bible is; they cling to faith as if it were a lifeline that kept them from falling into the abyss of mount Everest. The Catholics in my opinion are in fact the wiliest of the lot, if you were to search for answers to what most consider contradictions in the scriptures you would see that their theology has found many unique ways to answer for these contradictions. Some are not contradictions but rather incorrect interpretation of the text itself according to your catholic theologian, or they attribute these contradictions to allegories or metaphors which in the telling are meant to convey a deeper meaning or truth. Moral or spiritual lessons are conveyed through the telling of mythical tales (lies) believed to be factual by the fundamentalist.
Matthew 24:6-14 gives a list of events that Jesus said his follower should look out for just before the end shall come. In short the list is as follows: wars, famine, pestilence, earthquakes in divers places, and false prophets shall abound as well. Assuming these were the words of Jesus which I personally highly doubt it (since I don't believe Jesus ever existed in the first place) nothing that has been mentioned in this list has not happened throughout our history and even before man ever evolved on this planet. Natural disasters have existed on this planet for all 4.5 billion years of this earths existence. This planet has been bombarded by meteors, had many earthquakes, tornadoes, typhoons, monsoons, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and whatever other natural disasters you can think of. The fictional Jesus is not saying nothing new here.
Since the dawn of mans existence there have always been wars and with the advancement of societies those wars have increased as greedy and corrupt rulers fight for territory, power, and the expansion of their kingdoms. There were false prophets before Jesus supposedly came on the scene, there are plenty of ancient religions based on myths that contained so called god men who came to Earth to rescue this poor degenerate humanity of ours. Famine is nothing new it is still a problem today in some countries more than others, pestilence was always a problem until the invention of antibiotics and the advancement of medicine. From 1347-1350 AD it is estimated that the black plague that swept through Europe managed to wipe out 1/3 of the population, by definition this indeed was a pestilence of biblical proportion. You can read all about it here: http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bdeath/bdeath.html
And finally, the last thing Jesus supposedly said would mark the end of times was: Matthew 24:14.'And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.' Christians can argue that the gospel has not reached every nation and all peoples yet and that is what is delaying the coming of the Lord. But seriously, how ludicrous is that? There have been nations that have heard that gospel and just outright refuse to accept it, not to mention those little known tribes that inhabit the Amazon and other dark regions of the world. The so called sign of the times are evidence of nothing my dear fundie and the idea of a dead man who resurrected and rose to heaven to come back at some undetermined time in our history is nothing short of insane.
The most persistent of these liars are the fundamentalists, they don't care what evidence you can provide to the contrary they stick to the literal interpretation of the scriptures. They don't care how ridiculous or absurd a literal interpretation of the entire bible is; they cling to faith as if it were a lifeline that kept them from falling into the abyss of mount Everest. The Catholics in my opinion are in fact the wiliest of the lot, if you were to search for answers to what most consider contradictions in the scriptures you would see that their theology has found many unique ways to answer for these contradictions. Some are not contradictions but rather incorrect interpretation of the text itself according to your catholic theologian, or they attribute these contradictions to allegories or metaphors which in the telling are meant to convey a deeper meaning or truth. Moral or spiritual lessons are conveyed through the telling of mythical tales (lies) believed to be factual by the fundamentalist.
Matthew 24:6-14 gives a list of events that Jesus said his follower should look out for just before the end shall come. In short the list is as follows: wars, famine, pestilence, earthquakes in divers places, and false prophets shall abound as well. Assuming these were the words of Jesus which I personally highly doubt it (since I don't believe Jesus ever existed in the first place) nothing that has been mentioned in this list has not happened throughout our history and even before man ever evolved on this planet. Natural disasters have existed on this planet for all 4.5 billion years of this earths existence. This planet has been bombarded by meteors, had many earthquakes, tornadoes, typhoons, monsoons, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and whatever other natural disasters you can think of. The fictional Jesus is not saying nothing new here.
Since the dawn of mans existence there have always been wars and with the advancement of societies those wars have increased as greedy and corrupt rulers fight for territory, power, and the expansion of their kingdoms. There were false prophets before Jesus supposedly came on the scene, there are plenty of ancient religions based on myths that contained so called god men who came to Earth to rescue this poor degenerate humanity of ours. Famine is nothing new it is still a problem today in some countries more than others, pestilence was always a problem until the invention of antibiotics and the advancement of medicine. From 1347-1350 AD it is estimated that the black plague that swept through Europe managed to wipe out 1/3 of the population, by definition this indeed was a pestilence of biblical proportion. You can read all about it here: http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bdeath/bdeath.html
And finally, the last thing Jesus supposedly said would mark the end of times was: Matthew 24:14.'And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.' Christians can argue that the gospel has not reached every nation and all peoples yet and that is what is delaying the coming of the Lord. But seriously, how ludicrous is that? There have been nations that have heard that gospel and just outright refuse to accept it, not to mention those little known tribes that inhabit the Amazon and other dark regions of the world. The so called sign of the times are evidence of nothing my dear fundie and the idea of a dead man who resurrected and rose to heaven to come back at some undetermined time in our history is nothing short of insane.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
God created in the image of man
Genesis 1:26,27
26.And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27.So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
According to the Christian bible man is God's crowning achievement in all of creation, he is given power over everything on the face of the Earth and best of all unlike all other creatures created he is created in the "image of God" himself! For once I can partially agree with that assessment basing myself on a comparison of God and man as seen from the eyes of a casual observer. The Old Testament God is the most evil, cruelest and vicious animal to ever exist, but it is not his fault since in my opinion God did not create man but rather man created god in his own image. As a species we share so many common traits with this fictional depiction of man that believers like to call God, like most men this deity loves attention. Nothing gets him off more than to see humanity (that is if he existed) constantly humbling themselves to him and blowing smoke up his ass about what a great God he is.
Every negative aspect of mankind's characteristic traits are possessed in even greater degree in the deity they have created and foolishly worship till this day! They really go out of their way to prove to everyone in the world that God is love, but also a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24), usually they leave that last part out. It's a message of love based on fear. You are to worship this deity and keep him in your heart at all times, you are to live only for him and proclaim to the world what a great god he is. Of course you can't, and if you know what is best for you shouldn't criticize his actions. By his actions God is basically saying do as I say but not as I do! If he were a human father I would be completely ashamed of him.
The bible teaches that it is okay to kill, steal, plunder, lie, cheat, humiliate women, enslave your fellow man as long as God gives you the order to do so. If you don't believe me why don't you take some time to read the bible in its entirety, it is chock full of all the evil that man has done to man in the name of this non-existent deity. Mankind has been abusing each other since their first appearance was made on this planet around 200,000 years ago. All religion that exalts mankind as the apple of some deities eyes are built upon false hopes and aspirations of power.
Of all the species that inhabit this planet with us mankind is the worst, most evil, most destructive, and megalomaniacal to ever walk the face of the Earth. We have in the name of religion and politics, or to stroke our own egos killed millions maybe billions of our own species. We have destroyed entire ecosystems forcing other species dependent on them to go extinct. We have created weapons of war and mass destruction that thanks to the nuclear age have given us the capacity to destroy this planet in its entirety many times over. God is a reflection, or as I stated earlier created in the image of man, the bible is full of threats directed at those that don't buy into the bullshit that we are fed on a daily basis by the religious.
Religion and religious beliefs are the bane of mans existence and if it were possible should be eradicated and ripped out from its roots, but unfortunately I am of the opinion that that will never happen. Not because God would not allow it, but because as long as there are people that insist on being gullible, that can't think for themselves, and are driven by superstitions, religion will always be a force to reckon with and hold a major position on this planet. It sickens me to hear Christians justify the most cruel acts perpetrated by their deity in the most stupid and inane ways. They claim that he is God he created us and he could do with us what he wants, that is like me telling my child: "I brought you into this world and I can take you out!" Christians misuse logic to try and vindicate the most evil deeds that the bible claims their deity has committed.
The bible is just the beginning, his followers have done just as bad as he had done during the establishment of the church. The Catholic church established itself on this planet in the name of God with rivers of blood, they plundered and pillaged all those that opposed their beliefs. They did exactly what they learned from their wonderful loving deity. They separated man into two categories; believers and all the rest, and if you were not a believer you were subject to termination. The biblical god is a pussy cat compared to his followers. Christians tortured and maimed their fellow man, destroyed whole cultures and other competing religions to establish themselves as the one and only true religion. In God we see the worst of mankind in action and he is simply a mirror image of ourselves.
26.And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27.So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
According to the Christian bible man is God's crowning achievement in all of creation, he is given power over everything on the face of the Earth and best of all unlike all other creatures created he is created in the "image of God" himself! For once I can partially agree with that assessment basing myself on a comparison of God and man as seen from the eyes of a casual observer. The Old Testament God is the most evil, cruelest and vicious animal to ever exist, but it is not his fault since in my opinion God did not create man but rather man created god in his own image. As a species we share so many common traits with this fictional depiction of man that believers like to call God, like most men this deity loves attention. Nothing gets him off more than to see humanity (that is if he existed) constantly humbling themselves to him and blowing smoke up his ass about what a great God he is.
Every negative aspect of mankind's characteristic traits are possessed in even greater degree in the deity they have created and foolishly worship till this day! They really go out of their way to prove to everyone in the world that God is love, but also a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24), usually they leave that last part out. It's a message of love based on fear. You are to worship this deity and keep him in your heart at all times, you are to live only for him and proclaim to the world what a great god he is. Of course you can't, and if you know what is best for you shouldn't criticize his actions. By his actions God is basically saying do as I say but not as I do! If he were a human father I would be completely ashamed of him.
The bible teaches that it is okay to kill, steal, plunder, lie, cheat, humiliate women, enslave your fellow man as long as God gives you the order to do so. If you don't believe me why don't you take some time to read the bible in its entirety, it is chock full of all the evil that man has done to man in the name of this non-existent deity. Mankind has been abusing each other since their first appearance was made on this planet around 200,000 years ago. All religion that exalts mankind as the apple of some deities eyes are built upon false hopes and aspirations of power.
Of all the species that inhabit this planet with us mankind is the worst, most evil, most destructive, and megalomaniacal to ever walk the face of the Earth. We have in the name of religion and politics, or to stroke our own egos killed millions maybe billions of our own species. We have destroyed entire ecosystems forcing other species dependent on them to go extinct. We have created weapons of war and mass destruction that thanks to the nuclear age have given us the capacity to destroy this planet in its entirety many times over. God is a reflection, or as I stated earlier created in the image of man, the bible is full of threats directed at those that don't buy into the bullshit that we are fed on a daily basis by the religious.
Religion and religious beliefs are the bane of mans existence and if it were possible should be eradicated and ripped out from its roots, but unfortunately I am of the opinion that that will never happen. Not because God would not allow it, but because as long as there are people that insist on being gullible, that can't think for themselves, and are driven by superstitions, religion will always be a force to reckon with and hold a major position on this planet. It sickens me to hear Christians justify the most cruel acts perpetrated by their deity in the most stupid and inane ways. They claim that he is God he created us and he could do with us what he wants, that is like me telling my child: "I brought you into this world and I can take you out!" Christians misuse logic to try and vindicate the most evil deeds that the bible claims their deity has committed.
The bible is just the beginning, his followers have done just as bad as he had done during the establishment of the church. The Catholic church established itself on this planet in the name of God with rivers of blood, they plundered and pillaged all those that opposed their beliefs. They did exactly what they learned from their wonderful loving deity. They separated man into two categories; believers and all the rest, and if you were not a believer you were subject to termination. The biblical god is a pussy cat compared to his followers. Christians tortured and maimed their fellow man, destroyed whole cultures and other competing religions to establish themselves as the one and only true religion. In God we see the worst of mankind in action and he is simply a mirror image of ourselves.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The Lord rested!
Genesis 2: 1-2
1.Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2.And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
This has got to be one of the craziest text in all of scriptures! We are told all throughout the bible how God is omnipotent, everlasting, etc. How he created the heavens and the Earth ex nihilo (out of nothing) simply with his spoken word in literally six days and that on the seventh day he rested. What does the sabbath actually commemorate according to the scriptures? Genesis 2:3 states that the sabbath is to commemorate the seventh day that followed the six days of creation because on the seventh day God rested and so he sanctified it as a holy day (holiday). Exodus 31:17 reinforces this initial reason why the Hebrews were obligated to keep the sabbath.
It's also funny how some modern apologists try to state that the days of creation were not literally six days, but rather an undetermined amount of time. This was done to try and bring the bible in line with those later discoveries regarding evolution and the age of the Earth. Christians tend to change the meaning of their interpretations of scripture whenever science makes their bible look like what it is; a book of myths. What they once considered literal becomes allegorical or metaphorical, they always find ways to twist it so that it stays in tune with modern day discoveries.
Exodus 31:17 states that after having created the heavens and the Earth in six days the Lord rested on the seventh and was "refreshed". Did he get tired of talking? The bible states in Genesis 1 that he spoke everything into existence, it wasn't like he was down here on his hands and knees planting the garden of Eden. He did a little labor when he made a mud pie out of Adam and later took a rib and made Eve but for the most part it was all done with the spoken word.
Considering that God is omnipotent; to state that he rested makes no sense whatsoever. He supposedly never sleeps nor eats since he is not human and does not possess a physical body, but for some reason he must of broke quite a sweat creating the universe and everything in it. This is just one of the many retarded contradictions of the bible. Here is my theory on this matter, since the bibles myths were created to explain things that were once unknown or in this case a tradition I think that the Hebrews worked six day weeks and took the seventh day off.
This biblical story helps to explain the how this tradition came about no matter how silly it sounds to the rational mindset. By attributing it to God and making it a commandment everyone was obligated to follow it or face the penalty of death. At the same time this story explains the origins of the six day work week. There you have it; a mythological tale to explain one of a societies traditions.
1.Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2.And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
This has got to be one of the craziest text in all of scriptures! We are told all throughout the bible how God is omnipotent, everlasting, etc. How he created the heavens and the Earth ex nihilo (out of nothing) simply with his spoken word in literally six days and that on the seventh day he rested. What does the sabbath actually commemorate according to the scriptures? Genesis 2:3 states that the sabbath is to commemorate the seventh day that followed the six days of creation because on the seventh day God rested and so he sanctified it as a holy day (holiday). Exodus 31:17 reinforces this initial reason why the Hebrews were obligated to keep the sabbath.
It's also funny how some modern apologists try to state that the days of creation were not literally six days, but rather an undetermined amount of time. This was done to try and bring the bible in line with those later discoveries regarding evolution and the age of the Earth. Christians tend to change the meaning of their interpretations of scripture whenever science makes their bible look like what it is; a book of myths. What they once considered literal becomes allegorical or metaphorical, they always find ways to twist it so that it stays in tune with modern day discoveries.
Exodus 31:17 states that after having created the heavens and the Earth in six days the Lord rested on the seventh and was "refreshed". Did he get tired of talking? The bible states in Genesis 1 that he spoke everything into existence, it wasn't like he was down here on his hands and knees planting the garden of Eden. He did a little labor when he made a mud pie out of Adam and later took a rib and made Eve but for the most part it was all done with the spoken word.
Considering that God is omnipotent; to state that he rested makes no sense whatsoever. He supposedly never sleeps nor eats since he is not human and does not possess a physical body, but for some reason he must of broke quite a sweat creating the universe and everything in it. This is just one of the many retarded contradictions of the bible. Here is my theory on this matter, since the bibles myths were created to explain things that were once unknown or in this case a tradition I think that the Hebrews worked six day weeks and took the seventh day off.
This biblical story helps to explain the how this tradition came about no matter how silly it sounds to the rational mindset. By attributing it to God and making it a commandment everyone was obligated to follow it or face the penalty of death. At the same time this story explains the origins of the six day work week. There you have it; a mythological tale to explain one of a societies traditions.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Biblical suppression of the intellect
1 Corinthians 13: 9-12 KJV
9.For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10.But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11.When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12.For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
The above passage cited is one of my most hated passages in the entire N.T. for the simple fact that in my opinion it is an admission and acceptance of ignorance. I remember whenever I had some profound questions regarding certain scriptures in the bible that had no apparent response, my pastor would point me to this idiotic text as a reply to those things he had no answer for. I was told to be careful about the questions I asked because either I could inadvertently blaspheme against the holy ghost ( the unpardonable sin according to Matthew 12:31) or Satan can use those doubts to lead me astray.
This stupid text was used to solidify the belief that there were just some questions that you shouldn't ask, and that no matter how hard you tried they were beyond your comprehension as a man. Theists look at this as a form of humility, but I see it for what it is; voluntary ignorance induced by the fear of the unknown. There is nothing humble about being intellectually dishonest with oneself, by accepting those things you can't explain by faith and not even attempting to find answers. It is a complete surrender of your self, your intellect, who you are, and of your will to learn and grow in knowledge. The above text basically tells you that right now you may not see things clearly nor understand certain things, but when you get past this life and into your next life in the Lord you will know all things "even as also I am known".All the so called "mysteries" of the gospel will suddenly become clear to you, all your questions will miraculously be answered.
Christians willfully give up this life for the promises of a future life where there will be no pain, death, disease, nor any other negative aspects that are present in this life. They, like the Muslims prefer to sacrifice this life and the joys and pleasures that it brings for those of a future based on ancient myths composed two thousand years ago, by mostly anonymous authors who to this day scholars have been unable to identify. Even if they could identify the authors that still does not take away from the fact that theists are being led astray by primitive and mythological thinking. I have stated many times that a revelation is only a revelation to the one who claims to have received it, but that to the rest of us it is nothing more than hearsay.
Theists put their trust on the words of some unknown authors and even the words in scripture that have been attributed to Christ are nothing more than hearsay. Considering that the earliest gospel written was Mark and it is believed to have been written between 65-70 A.D. approximately 35 years after the alleged death of Christ, most scholars lean towards the latter date due to the mentioning of the destruction of the second temple built by Herod the Great which happened around 70 A.D. The Romans under the rule of Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in order to put down the great Jewish revolt which had been going on for approximately 4 years. You can read more about this here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Temple
The search for knowledge should not stop because you think there is no solution, a real researcher would shake heaven and earth till he found an answer. If he never found an answer he would die of old age in his quest, but others in future generations would continue the search and carry on from where he left off. Science in general is a work in progress, there are questions which may not be answered in our lifetime, but that does not mean that they may not find the solution in the future. Intellectual freedom allows us to search uninhibited by age old superstitions and unreasonable fear of the wrath of gods or goddesses.
9.For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10.But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11.When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12.For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
The above passage cited is one of my most hated passages in the entire N.T. for the simple fact that in my opinion it is an admission and acceptance of ignorance. I remember whenever I had some profound questions regarding certain scriptures in the bible that had no apparent response, my pastor would point me to this idiotic text as a reply to those things he had no answer for. I was told to be careful about the questions I asked because either I could inadvertently blaspheme against the holy ghost ( the unpardonable sin according to Matthew 12:31) or Satan can use those doubts to lead me astray.
This stupid text was used to solidify the belief that there were just some questions that you shouldn't ask, and that no matter how hard you tried they were beyond your comprehension as a man. Theists look at this as a form of humility, but I see it for what it is; voluntary ignorance induced by the fear of the unknown. There is nothing humble about being intellectually dishonest with oneself, by accepting those things you can't explain by faith and not even attempting to find answers. It is a complete surrender of your self, your intellect, who you are, and of your will to learn and grow in knowledge. The above text basically tells you that right now you may not see things clearly nor understand certain things, but when you get past this life and into your next life in the Lord you will know all things "even as also I am known".All the so called "mysteries" of the gospel will suddenly become clear to you, all your questions will miraculously be answered.
Christians willfully give up this life for the promises of a future life where there will be no pain, death, disease, nor any other negative aspects that are present in this life. They, like the Muslims prefer to sacrifice this life and the joys and pleasures that it brings for those of a future based on ancient myths composed two thousand years ago, by mostly anonymous authors who to this day scholars have been unable to identify. Even if they could identify the authors that still does not take away from the fact that theists are being led astray by primitive and mythological thinking. I have stated many times that a revelation is only a revelation to the one who claims to have received it, but that to the rest of us it is nothing more than hearsay.
Theists put their trust on the words of some unknown authors and even the words in scripture that have been attributed to Christ are nothing more than hearsay. Considering that the earliest gospel written was Mark and it is believed to have been written between 65-70 A.D. approximately 35 years after the alleged death of Christ, most scholars lean towards the latter date due to the mentioning of the destruction of the second temple built by Herod the Great which happened around 70 A.D. The Romans under the rule of Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in order to put down the great Jewish revolt which had been going on for approximately 4 years. You can read more about this here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Temple
The search for knowledge should not stop because you think there is no solution, a real researcher would shake heaven and earth till he found an answer. If he never found an answer he would die of old age in his quest, but others in future generations would continue the search and carry on from where he left off. Science in general is a work in progress, there are questions which may not be answered in our lifetime, but that does not mean that they may not find the solution in the future. Intellectual freedom allows us to search uninhibited by age old superstitions and unreasonable fear of the wrath of gods or goddesses.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
I take no sides
To all those that have subscribed to my blog and support my opinions and views I would like to thank you all, you are the reason I am motivated to express my ideas with my fellow atheists and even believers. From time to time I post on other peoples blogs and when I see them under attack and I feel I can lend a hand with rational arguments I feel inclined to participate in the discussion at hand.
On the other hand if I feel that you are wrong about a subject of discussion; it does not matter whether you are an atheist or a believer, I will do my best to help you see the error by posting what I know to be factual. This is not just about atheists versus theists, at least I do not see it that way. This is more about what is known to be right and what is known to be wrong, it is about statements of known facts when possible and when not about speculation as to what is right and what is wrong. It is not my intention to anger my fellow atheists or make them look silly I just look at it as another opportunity for me to share with them what knowledge I may have on the subject.
If everyone agreed with what you said whether you were right or wrong then the truth of the matter is that you would never learn anything. I do not care about sides and I don't mind when someone disagrees with my findings, but if you disagree all I ask is that you provide proof of the points of discussion upon which you disagree on. And I am humble enough to accept when I am wrong given that the evidence provided is adequate enough to persuade me of that fact.
My blog as I stated is not for me but rather it is an outlet in which I can express my view regarding religious beliefs, particularly about Christianity. Through this blog I share and learn from my fellow atheists and I also am able to learn more from those theists that follow my blog or drop by from time to time to refute my ideas. We are all mature adults and should conduct ourselves as such, we can disagree without insults and demeaning remarks about each other. This is not personal it is rather a search for truth.
On the other hand if I feel that you are wrong about a subject of discussion; it does not matter whether you are an atheist or a believer, I will do my best to help you see the error by posting what I know to be factual. This is not just about atheists versus theists, at least I do not see it that way. This is more about what is known to be right and what is known to be wrong, it is about statements of known facts when possible and when not about speculation as to what is right and what is wrong. It is not my intention to anger my fellow atheists or make them look silly I just look at it as another opportunity for me to share with them what knowledge I may have on the subject.
If everyone agreed with what you said whether you were right or wrong then the truth of the matter is that you would never learn anything. I do not care about sides and I don't mind when someone disagrees with my findings, but if you disagree all I ask is that you provide proof of the points of discussion upon which you disagree on. And I am humble enough to accept when I am wrong given that the evidence provided is adequate enough to persuade me of that fact.
My blog as I stated is not for me but rather it is an outlet in which I can express my view regarding religious beliefs, particularly about Christianity. Through this blog I share and learn from my fellow atheists and I also am able to learn more from those theists that follow my blog or drop by from time to time to refute my ideas. We are all mature adults and should conduct ourselves as such, we can disagree without insults and demeaning remarks about each other. This is not personal it is rather a search for truth.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Church suppression and control
One of the most ridiculous arguments I have heard for the existence of Christ on debate forums and other places is that if he did not exist and his story was not true, then why did so many people die as martyrs for their beliefs? It sickens me when I see books written by christians where they put their martyrs on a pedestal for choosing death over denying the truth of scripture. They love to talk about how hard it was for the early church, how they were oppressed by everyone, and how they have suffered for their beliefs in order to bring this "gospel of truth" to the world. They attribute the spreading of the gospel to its God and the fulfillment of prophecy that it should be preached throughout the entire world etc.
If martyrdom were a criteria to establish truth then atheism, free thought, secularism would then have to be the exception to the rule. History is full of many brave men and women who dared to stand up to the church. We have our own martyrs too who gave their lives so that we as a people could be able to think for ourselves and make our own decisions as to what we deemed true or false. Many were stoned, burned at the stake, tortured, murdered for the right to live free and be able to express your own thoughts and beliefs without fear of retribution.
You would think that for a religious group that has suffered so much throughout history that they would learn from it and not oppress or enslave anyone, but the reality is that nothing could be further from the truth. Once Constantine made Christianity acceptable in the Roman empire and later he himself converted to Christianity, they sought retribution with a vengeance. With the help of the government body of Rome they were able to decimate all other religions and sects that did not agree with their beliefs or any ideologies that went against their teachings. Christianity was quickly able to establish a real theocracy where the rule of law went hand in hand with the law of their god; church and state were in bed together and it was for the long haul. You could read about the history of the Catholic church on their website but take anything the church tells you with a grain of salt. http://www.ourcatholicfaith.org/thechurch.html
They were the legislators and they used the state to be the enforcers of the laws that they enacted. Anyone who dared say anything against the church and its doctrines was subject to a one sided trial where the accused was already guilty before his case was even heard. After the trial came the wonderful instruments of torture that the church had developed to force the accused to confess Jesus as Lord and repent of their sins, and once they managed to save his/her soul they then proceeded to destroy his/her sinful and corrupt body so that they could not sin anymore. The usual method of execution was burning at the stake, sometimes it was hanging, at other times it was beheading. All these acts were done in the name of a loving god.
The Catholic church was hard at work falsifying historical documents to seem to be in accord with their biblical stories, they went out of their way to propagate the myth. Why wouldn't they? Not only was this myth making them rich it was keeping the majority of the populace under the control of the church, people were literally afraid to speak anything against the church. They had citizens spying on their fellow citizens to help them root out dissenters and non believers for a price, and they also at times made false accusations against the rich. The reason for that was because when you were accused of being an infidel, blasphemer, or dissenter by the church one of the many bonuses was that you would at the same time forfeit your right to any property owned or money earned. Guess who automatically by default took control of all of your assets; you guessed it, the church.
The early church had translated the bible into Latin and they suppressed anyone who would try to translate the bible into any other common language, they claim to have done this so that the church was the one and only authority regarding the scriptures and their interpretation. Tyndale dared to make the first English language translation of the bible that came directly from the Hebrew and Greek texts. Tyndale paid for this act with his life: 'In 1536 the crown authorities strangled Tyndale to death and subsequently burned his body.' You can read more about this here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyndale_Bible
Christians who dared not believe what they were told by the church were considered dissenters and blasphemers. In those early days of the church any defiance of church doctrine was swiftly dealt with and the offender was usually executed fellow christian or not.
If martyrdom were a criteria to establish truth then atheism, free thought, secularism would then have to be the exception to the rule. History is full of many brave men and women who dared to stand up to the church. We have our own martyrs too who gave their lives so that we as a people could be able to think for ourselves and make our own decisions as to what we deemed true or false. Many were stoned, burned at the stake, tortured, murdered for the right to live free and be able to express your own thoughts and beliefs without fear of retribution.
You would think that for a religious group that has suffered so much throughout history that they would learn from it and not oppress or enslave anyone, but the reality is that nothing could be further from the truth. Once Constantine made Christianity acceptable in the Roman empire and later he himself converted to Christianity, they sought retribution with a vengeance. With the help of the government body of Rome they were able to decimate all other religions and sects that did not agree with their beliefs or any ideologies that went against their teachings. Christianity was quickly able to establish a real theocracy where the rule of law went hand in hand with the law of their god; church and state were in bed together and it was for the long haul. You could read about the history of the Catholic church on their website but take anything the church tells you with a grain of salt. http://www.ourcatholicfaith.org/thechurch.html
They were the legislators and they used the state to be the enforcers of the laws that they enacted. Anyone who dared say anything against the church and its doctrines was subject to a one sided trial where the accused was already guilty before his case was even heard. After the trial came the wonderful instruments of torture that the church had developed to force the accused to confess Jesus as Lord and repent of their sins, and once they managed to save his/her soul they then proceeded to destroy his/her sinful and corrupt body so that they could not sin anymore. The usual method of execution was burning at the stake, sometimes it was hanging, at other times it was beheading. All these acts were done in the name of a loving god.
The Catholic church was hard at work falsifying historical documents to seem to be in accord with their biblical stories, they went out of their way to propagate the myth. Why wouldn't they? Not only was this myth making them rich it was keeping the majority of the populace under the control of the church, people were literally afraid to speak anything against the church. They had citizens spying on their fellow citizens to help them root out dissenters and non believers for a price, and they also at times made false accusations against the rich. The reason for that was because when you were accused of being an infidel, blasphemer, or dissenter by the church one of the many bonuses was that you would at the same time forfeit your right to any property owned or money earned. Guess who automatically by default took control of all of your assets; you guessed it, the church.
The early church had translated the bible into Latin and they suppressed anyone who would try to translate the bible into any other common language, they claim to have done this so that the church was the one and only authority regarding the scriptures and their interpretation. Tyndale dared to make the first English language translation of the bible that came directly from the Hebrew and Greek texts. Tyndale paid for this act with his life: 'In 1536 the crown authorities strangled Tyndale to death and subsequently burned his body.' You can read more about this here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyndale_Bible
Christians who dared not believe what they were told by the church were considered dissenters and blasphemers. In those early days of the church any defiance of church doctrine was swiftly dealt with and the offender was usually executed fellow christian or not.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Relgious Delusions
A delusion is a belief that is clearly false and that indicates an abnormality in the affected person's content of thought. The false belief is not accounted for by the person's cultural or religious background or his or her level of intelligence. The key feature of a delusion is the degree to which the person is convinced that the belief is true. A person with a delusion will hold firmly to the belief regardless of evidence to the contrary. http://www.minddisorders.com/Br-Del/Delusions.html
Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires.
Sigmund Freud
When people think about the accusation that religious beliefs are a delusion they immediately think about Richard Dawkins because of his book 'The God Delusion', but the reality is that for many years psychiatrists and psychologists have been studying this phenomenon and have come to similar conclusions. Above is an article that tries to explain the various types of delusions and are not specifically tied to religious and or cultural beliefs, but it makes a strong emphasis on the delusion being based on how strongly a person may hold to an unreasonable belief despite the evidence to the contrary. This is relative to my blog and I would personally although I am not an expert in the field of psychology or psychiatry like to state that a lot of the symptoms that have been attributed to mental disorders such as schizophrenia and other delusions are relative to those seen in most religious believers.
Christians for instance hold to the belief that a man who died a little over two thousand years ago, and according to their legends rose from the dead and dwelt on earth for another forty days before he miraculously floated up into the heavens and disappeared into the clouds; will one day make his triumphant return to earth to claim his chosen people and take them to his heavenly realm to live with him forever and ever. Looking at this belief from the perspective of logical reasoning it is very hard not to conclude that this belief is in and of itself a delusion. The first thing we know for sure is that death is imminent and all living things to our knowledge decay and die with the passage of time, this being the case it would be unreasonable to believe that anyone who has been dead for more than two thousand years will come back to life or in the case of Jesus return in a new and glorified body.
The second problem I see with this belief is that according to the known laws of gravity the whole idea of man flying or floating with no means of propulsion or machinery is utterly impossible. The only place we see men fly is in comic books and movies and made up stories of gods and goddesses who have control over all of the forces of nature etc. Another problem is that when Jesus floated up into the clouds and broke through the earths atmosphere at a snails pace which is impossible how was he able to breath at such high altitudes and then to continue to live at virtually zero gravity when he entered into outer space? I know, christians will all say that since he created heaven and Earth that he can break all the known laws of nature. But in order to accept this belief you would have to subscribe to yet another delusion and that is that there is a God or supreme being somewhere above us who watches everything and is in control of everything all at once.
It is interesting but I also found a study online conducted by psychiatrists regarding the use of religious beliefs as a coping mechanism, it is very interesting and at the same time not very hard to verify. Many have accused believers as using religion as a crutch to deal with the many hardships of life and the reality and harshness of this world we live in. This study concludes that this may be the case and others have made the tie into religious beliefs and schizophrenia: for those interested in digging into this topic a little deeper feel free to read the study at http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/52/5/660
When you remove yourself from the delusion as I and many others have done and you can look at it from the perspective of an outsider looking in, you can see the obvious: that religious beliefs are nothing more than wishful thinking based on mans desires that have been transferred into the realm of myths. When you can see religion for what it is; a lie then you can start to free yourself from the shackles of this age old delusion and live free and without fear.
Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires.
Sigmund Freud
When people think about the accusation that religious beliefs are a delusion they immediately think about Richard Dawkins because of his book 'The God Delusion', but the reality is that for many years psychiatrists and psychologists have been studying this phenomenon and have come to similar conclusions. Above is an article that tries to explain the various types of delusions and are not specifically tied to religious and or cultural beliefs, but it makes a strong emphasis on the delusion being based on how strongly a person may hold to an unreasonable belief despite the evidence to the contrary. This is relative to my blog and I would personally although I am not an expert in the field of psychology or psychiatry like to state that a lot of the symptoms that have been attributed to mental disorders such as schizophrenia and other delusions are relative to those seen in most religious believers.
Christians for instance hold to the belief that a man who died a little over two thousand years ago, and according to their legends rose from the dead and dwelt on earth for another forty days before he miraculously floated up into the heavens and disappeared into the clouds; will one day make his triumphant return to earth to claim his chosen people and take them to his heavenly realm to live with him forever and ever. Looking at this belief from the perspective of logical reasoning it is very hard not to conclude that this belief is in and of itself a delusion. The first thing we know for sure is that death is imminent and all living things to our knowledge decay and die with the passage of time, this being the case it would be unreasonable to believe that anyone who has been dead for more than two thousand years will come back to life or in the case of Jesus return in a new and glorified body.
The second problem I see with this belief is that according to the known laws of gravity the whole idea of man flying or floating with no means of propulsion or machinery is utterly impossible. The only place we see men fly is in comic books and movies and made up stories of gods and goddesses who have control over all of the forces of nature etc. Another problem is that when Jesus floated up into the clouds and broke through the earths atmosphere at a snails pace which is impossible how was he able to breath at such high altitudes and then to continue to live at virtually zero gravity when he entered into outer space? I know, christians will all say that since he created heaven and Earth that he can break all the known laws of nature. But in order to accept this belief you would have to subscribe to yet another delusion and that is that there is a God or supreme being somewhere above us who watches everything and is in control of everything all at once.
It is interesting but I also found a study online conducted by psychiatrists regarding the use of religious beliefs as a coping mechanism, it is very interesting and at the same time not very hard to verify. Many have accused believers as using religion as a crutch to deal with the many hardships of life and the reality and harshness of this world we live in. This study concludes that this may be the case and others have made the tie into religious beliefs and schizophrenia: for those interested in digging into this topic a little deeper feel free to read the study at http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/52/5/660
When you remove yourself from the delusion as I and many others have done and you can look at it from the perspective of an outsider looking in, you can see the obvious: that religious beliefs are nothing more than wishful thinking based on mans desires that have been transferred into the realm of myths. When you can see religion for what it is; a lie then you can start to free yourself from the shackles of this age old delusion and live free and without fear.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Samson fights the Philistines
14.And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
15.And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
16.And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
17.And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.
Judges 15: 14-17
Of all of the ridiculous tales of the bible, this is the one that I find to be at the top of the heap of stupidity. According to this tale Samson who is very reminiscent of the Greek Hercules who did super human feats and in the end attained godhood himself. The strongman of the bible is Samson and according to the scriptures he was chosen by God as a deliverer of the Israelites from under the dominance of the Philistines. The story that led to this fight in and of itself is beyond reason and is the dumbest tale I have ever heard that has been claimed as a true story. It states that Samson went back to claim his wife back but that his father in law would not allow it since he despised her previously. So he offered that Samson should take his younger daughter as a wife and in a fit of rage he went and took some 300 foxes and bound them together tail to tail and put firebrands between each set of tails and set them loose in the corn fields of the Philistines, as a result he managed to burn and utterly destroy those corn fields.
When the Philistines became aware of what had happened they then inquired of the Israelites as to who had caused it and they all said it was Samson, so they instructed them to go to Samson and bind him and bring him to the Philistines. According to the tale Samson agrees to be bound on the condition that the Israelites don't try to attack him themselves to which they agreed. We are now caught up and at where the tale continues in the preceding verses illustrated above at the beginning of this post. According to this tale the spirit of the Lord came upon him and he broke the ropes that bound him and picked up the jawbone of an ass and in the end slew 1.000 men!
I was curious as to why he called that place Ramathlehi so I did some digging and this is what I found in Eastons bible dictionary: 'Elevation of Lehi, or the jawbone height; i.e., the Ramah of Lehi (Judges 15:15-17). The phrase "in the jaw," ver. 19, Authorized Version, is in the margin, also in the Revised Version, "in Lehi." Here Samson slew a thousand Philistines with a jawbone.' Evidently it's a reference to Ramath (the city) Lehi (the town) I may or may not be mistaken on this. But the point is that the things that the bible does not take into consideration is that the Philistines were known to be fierce, strong, and taller than most, not to mention that they used armor in battle. Yet despite all of this we are to believe that one man took out an entire army of 1,000 men with a jawbone of an ass!!
I said it in my youtube post regarding this matter that it takes an ass to believe this story, and many christians take this story to be literally true. The sheer impossibility of the act alone should be sufficient enough to convince anyone that this tale cannot be true nor literal but rather some more myth making which the christians and the Hebrews have shown that they are adept at doing.
15.And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
16.And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
17.And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.
Judges 15: 14-17
Of all of the ridiculous tales of the bible, this is the one that I find to be at the top of the heap of stupidity. According to this tale Samson who is very reminiscent of the Greek Hercules who did super human feats and in the end attained godhood himself. The strongman of the bible is Samson and according to the scriptures he was chosen by God as a deliverer of the Israelites from under the dominance of the Philistines. The story that led to this fight in and of itself is beyond reason and is the dumbest tale I have ever heard that has been claimed as a true story. It states that Samson went back to claim his wife back but that his father in law would not allow it since he despised her previously. So he offered that Samson should take his younger daughter as a wife and in a fit of rage he went and took some 300 foxes and bound them together tail to tail and put firebrands between each set of tails and set them loose in the corn fields of the Philistines, as a result he managed to burn and utterly destroy those corn fields.
When the Philistines became aware of what had happened they then inquired of the Israelites as to who had caused it and they all said it was Samson, so they instructed them to go to Samson and bind him and bring him to the Philistines. According to the tale Samson agrees to be bound on the condition that the Israelites don't try to attack him themselves to which they agreed. We are now caught up and at where the tale continues in the preceding verses illustrated above at the beginning of this post. According to this tale the spirit of the Lord came upon him and he broke the ropes that bound him and picked up the jawbone of an ass and in the end slew 1.000 men!
I was curious as to why he called that place Ramathlehi so I did some digging and this is what I found in Eastons bible dictionary: 'Elevation of Lehi, or the jawbone height; i.e., the Ramah of Lehi (Judges 15:15-17). The phrase "in the jaw," ver. 19, Authorized Version, is in the margin, also in the Revised Version, "in Lehi." Here Samson slew a thousand Philistines with a jawbone.' Evidently it's a reference to Ramath (the city) Lehi (the town) I may or may not be mistaken on this. But the point is that the things that the bible does not take into consideration is that the Philistines were known to be fierce, strong, and taller than most, not to mention that they used armor in battle. Yet despite all of this we are to believe that one man took out an entire army of 1,000 men with a jawbone of an ass!!
I said it in my youtube post regarding this matter that it takes an ass to believe this story, and many christians take this story to be literally true. The sheer impossibility of the act alone should be sufficient enough to convince anyone that this tale cannot be true nor literal but rather some more myth making which the christians and the Hebrews have shown that they are adept at doing.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Theists misuse of logic
To explain the unknown by the known is a logical procedure; to explain the known by the unknown is a form of theological lunacy.
David Brooks, The Necessity of Atheism
It has always been my contention that theists have it all wrong, in fact their method of using or rather misusing the principles of logic goes against the principles of logic itself. The first mistake that theologians make is that they start from the premise that the biblical God exists, although, they have no way of proving this premise from an objective and logical manner. All of their so called evidence for the existence of their deity is based on so called biblical revelation and faith on that revelation, they don't deal in terms of what ifs or maybes but rather in terms of absolutes. It is also my contention that faith itself is not and cannot be a valid method of discovery or investigation and therefore anything that is claimed as truth from the perspective of faith falls flat before it can even be discussed.
The first and most challenging obstacle that a theist faces is that of proving the existence of God. As most know that have been studying this field for some time this is a task which is utterly impossible. The study of god is beyond the reach of science and can only be done in a subjective manner, there are no known methods of discovery that can prove god in an objective manner. The appeal to prophecies is also not a valid method of discovery either, since most prophecies are vague and can be manipulated to suit pretty much any situation that has similar characteristics described by the so called prophecy. Proving God is the biggest and most difficult task before the theist and I am of the opinion that it just simply cannot be done. Luckily for us atheist basing ourselves on the principles of logic the onus for proving the existence of God is not our responsibility, but rather the onus for such a monumental task lies squarely on the shoulders of theists.
From a logical perspective my argument is that if you can't conclusively prove the existence of your biblical God then everything else collapses. The existence of God is the foundation of the entire belief system, without it there is no belief system. The best a theist can do is speculate from the scriptures everything and anything to do with their god, nothing is conclusive and is entirely subjective. Faith is often referred to as blind because it is basically putting your trust in a belief system without requiring any proof of the veracity of the claims being made by the religion you choose to follow. There is no reason in faith; just hope and conjecture. A conjecture is a proposition that is not proven but appears correct and has not been unproven. My emphasis on this definition from wikipedia is on appears correct, in my view it only appears correct through the eyes of faith.
Contrasts the methodology of faith with the scientific method for example and you will see that the theists have it all ass backwards. Let me highlight portions of the scientific method from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_scientific_method 'Scientific researchers propose hypotheses as explanations of phenomena, and design experimental studies to test these hypotheses. These steps must be repeatable in order to dependably predict any future results.Among other facets shared by the various fields of inquiry is the conviction that the process must be objective to reduce biased interpretations of the results. Another basic expectation is to document, archive and share all data and methodology so they are available for careful scrutiny by other scientists, thereby allowing other researchers the opportunity to verify results by attempting to reproduce them.'
Do you notice the difference yet? We atheist and those of a secular mindset start with an hypotheses of how we think this or that works or exist etc. then we design experiments to prove or disprove our hypotheses, and our work must be repeatable by our peers or anyone else who may be interested in trying to confirm or refute our findings. Religionists start with what they believe to be an absolute truth: that God exist, then they set out to prove it using biblical interpretation, exegesis etc. They claim absolute truths without first providing the evidence for it. That is the beauty of science we don't claim absolutes and are always open to theories that may prove our former beliefs wrong. There is nothing logical about christianity and their beliefs only speculation based on faith and ancient texts whose authors are for the most part unknown, whose text have been reworked so many times and are full of contradictions and possible interpolations.
David Brooks, The Necessity of Atheism
It has always been my contention that theists have it all wrong, in fact their method of using or rather misusing the principles of logic goes against the principles of logic itself. The first mistake that theologians make is that they start from the premise that the biblical God exists, although, they have no way of proving this premise from an objective and logical manner. All of their so called evidence for the existence of their deity is based on so called biblical revelation and faith on that revelation, they don't deal in terms of what ifs or maybes but rather in terms of absolutes. It is also my contention that faith itself is not and cannot be a valid method of discovery or investigation and therefore anything that is claimed as truth from the perspective of faith falls flat before it can even be discussed.
The first and most challenging obstacle that a theist faces is that of proving the existence of God. As most know that have been studying this field for some time this is a task which is utterly impossible. The study of god is beyond the reach of science and can only be done in a subjective manner, there are no known methods of discovery that can prove god in an objective manner. The appeal to prophecies is also not a valid method of discovery either, since most prophecies are vague and can be manipulated to suit pretty much any situation that has similar characteristics described by the so called prophecy. Proving God is the biggest and most difficult task before the theist and I am of the opinion that it just simply cannot be done. Luckily for us atheist basing ourselves on the principles of logic the onus for proving the existence of God is not our responsibility, but rather the onus for such a monumental task lies squarely on the shoulders of theists.
From a logical perspective my argument is that if you can't conclusively prove the existence of your biblical God then everything else collapses. The existence of God is the foundation of the entire belief system, without it there is no belief system. The best a theist can do is speculate from the scriptures everything and anything to do with their god, nothing is conclusive and is entirely subjective. Faith is often referred to as blind because it is basically putting your trust in a belief system without requiring any proof of the veracity of the claims being made by the religion you choose to follow. There is no reason in faith; just hope and conjecture. A conjecture is a proposition that is not proven but appears correct and has not been unproven. My emphasis on this definition from wikipedia is on appears correct, in my view it only appears correct through the eyes of faith.
Contrasts the methodology of faith with the scientific method for example and you will see that the theists have it all ass backwards. Let me highlight portions of the scientific method from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_scientific_method 'Scientific researchers propose hypotheses as explanations of phenomena, and design experimental studies to test these hypotheses. These steps must be repeatable in order to dependably predict any future results.Among other facets shared by the various fields of inquiry is the conviction that the process must be objective to reduce biased interpretations of the results. Another basic expectation is to document, archive and share all data and methodology so they are available for careful scrutiny by other scientists, thereby allowing other researchers the opportunity to verify results by attempting to reproduce them.'
Do you notice the difference yet? We atheist and those of a secular mindset start with an hypotheses of how we think this or that works or exist etc. then we design experiments to prove or disprove our hypotheses, and our work must be repeatable by our peers or anyone else who may be interested in trying to confirm or refute our findings. Religionists start with what they believe to be an absolute truth: that God exist, then they set out to prove it using biblical interpretation, exegesis etc. They claim absolute truths without first providing the evidence for it. That is the beauty of science we don't claim absolutes and are always open to theories that may prove our former beliefs wrong. There is nothing logical about christianity and their beliefs only speculation based on faith and ancient texts whose authors are for the most part unknown, whose text have been reworked so many times and are full of contradictions and possible interpolations.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Demons or horrifying sleep disorders?
Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Many of you who have been following my blogs and learning about me might already know that about 15 years ago I became an atheist, but for the four years prior to that time I was a Pentecostal evangelist. I had my own ministry where I and a partner would preach on the street corners every Saturday and Sunday and oftentimes I was invited as a result of that to preach in many of the local churches where I resided. My specialty as an evangelist is what is known as a deliverance ministry, and basically what that meant was that I was good at exorcising demons from those that were believed to be possessed by them. I did not use and fancy books or incantations just simply the "word of God" and the power of the "Holy spirit" which at the time I believed resided within me and fully worked through me.
During those days I had read over 60 books on demonology, and had searched the scriptures diligently for what I termed were power verses that affirmed my power through Christ over demons. Demons were very real to me in those days and because of some of the experiences I had there was no one who could convince me otherwise. I used to have this experience sometimes when I slept at night where I would feel as if someone sat on my chest and had put put their hand over my mouth to keep me from screaming. When this first began to happen I was told by the elders of the church that these were demon attacks in retaliation for all the souls that were being saved as a result of my ministry. I took this explanation hook line and sinker and began to pray fervently whenever this occurred and to my surprise it would work the force that seemingly held me paralyzed in my bed unable to scream for help and unable to move would go away immediately.
After I left the church four years later one of the first things that I set out to do was to try and find a logical explanation for those experiences I had had and was continuing to have even after I left! Another aspect of these experiences I forgot to mention was that I would hear also either a growl or even a voice insulting me and it seemed like it was coming from something whispering in my ear right next to me. These were very frightening occurrences and so I decided to dig a little deeper to find out if these kinds of things happened anywhere else or had been recorded in some form in history. To my surprise my search was not in vain I was astounded to find out that what was described in ancient times as incubus and succubus spirits and the symptoms recorded in history to an attack by these spirits were very similar to what I was experiencing. You can read a little about them on Wiki here is a link to get you started: http://www.ask.com/wiki/Incubus
Incubus (male) and succubus (female) were believed to be spirits or even demons if you will that sought to have intercourse with mankind and were even believed to have the ability to impregnate women who would later give birth to a half human half spiritual being called a cambion. I personally experienced all of the symptoms described in the legends regarding a succubus. I had an erotic dream that felt very real and resulted in my having an orgasm as I slept, I have had the experience of feeling an invisible force laying on my body in the night and I was powerless to do anything physically to break free, and I had auditory experiences where sometimes it spoke to me. So after I found out all of this information I took my research to the secular realm and began looking into sleep disorders, and once again to my surprise I found one that actually explained the very so called supernatural experiences I thought I was having.
The condition is called sleep paralysis or the more severe form of the same disorder is called in some circles hallucinatory sleep paralysis, if you are interested you can read a little about it in wiki at: http://www.ask.com/wiki/Sleep_paralysis The symptoms described in the latter of the disorders were the exact same ones that I had been experiencing. This research led me later to discount the existence of Satan, demons, or malevolent forces as nothing more than like God a creation of the fertile imagination of mankind to explain those things which they could not explain.
I think if I was living in the dark ages and this thing got out I would be tried and tortured by the lovers of Jesus and "truth", and finally; burned at the stake. Many were murdered courtesy of the church during the witch hunts not just in Salem,Massachusetts but all over Europe as well.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Many of you who have been following my blogs and learning about me might already know that about 15 years ago I became an atheist, but for the four years prior to that time I was a Pentecostal evangelist. I had my own ministry where I and a partner would preach on the street corners every Saturday and Sunday and oftentimes I was invited as a result of that to preach in many of the local churches where I resided. My specialty as an evangelist is what is known as a deliverance ministry, and basically what that meant was that I was good at exorcising demons from those that were believed to be possessed by them. I did not use and fancy books or incantations just simply the "word of God" and the power of the "Holy spirit" which at the time I believed resided within me and fully worked through me.
During those days I had read over 60 books on demonology, and had searched the scriptures diligently for what I termed were power verses that affirmed my power through Christ over demons. Demons were very real to me in those days and because of some of the experiences I had there was no one who could convince me otherwise. I used to have this experience sometimes when I slept at night where I would feel as if someone sat on my chest and had put put their hand over my mouth to keep me from screaming. When this first began to happen I was told by the elders of the church that these were demon attacks in retaliation for all the souls that were being saved as a result of my ministry. I took this explanation hook line and sinker and began to pray fervently whenever this occurred and to my surprise it would work the force that seemingly held me paralyzed in my bed unable to scream for help and unable to move would go away immediately.
After I left the church four years later one of the first things that I set out to do was to try and find a logical explanation for those experiences I had had and was continuing to have even after I left! Another aspect of these experiences I forgot to mention was that I would hear also either a growl or even a voice insulting me and it seemed like it was coming from something whispering in my ear right next to me. These were very frightening occurrences and so I decided to dig a little deeper to find out if these kinds of things happened anywhere else or had been recorded in some form in history. To my surprise my search was not in vain I was astounded to find out that what was described in ancient times as incubus and succubus spirits and the symptoms recorded in history to an attack by these spirits were very similar to what I was experiencing. You can read a little about them on Wiki here is a link to get you started: http://www.ask.com/wiki/Incubus
Incubus (male) and succubus (female) were believed to be spirits or even demons if you will that sought to have intercourse with mankind and were even believed to have the ability to impregnate women who would later give birth to a half human half spiritual being called a cambion. I personally experienced all of the symptoms described in the legends regarding a succubus. I had an erotic dream that felt very real and resulted in my having an orgasm as I slept, I have had the experience of feeling an invisible force laying on my body in the night and I was powerless to do anything physically to break free, and I had auditory experiences where sometimes it spoke to me. So after I found out all of this information I took my research to the secular realm and began looking into sleep disorders, and once again to my surprise I found one that actually explained the very so called supernatural experiences I thought I was having.
The condition is called sleep paralysis or the more severe form of the same disorder is called in some circles hallucinatory sleep paralysis, if you are interested you can read a little about it in wiki at: http://www.ask.com/wiki/Sleep_paralysis The symptoms described in the latter of the disorders were the exact same ones that I had been experiencing. This research led me later to discount the existence of Satan, demons, or malevolent forces as nothing more than like God a creation of the fertile imagination of mankind to explain those things which they could not explain.
I think if I was living in the dark ages and this thing got out I would be tried and tortured by the lovers of Jesus and "truth", and finally; burned at the stake. Many were murdered courtesy of the church during the witch hunts not just in Salem,Massachusetts but all over Europe as well.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
The tower of Babel-ing bullshit!
One of the many ridiculous stories in the bible that always manages to get a hell of a hearty laugh out of me is that of 'The tower of Babel'. Before I begin taking this story apart at the seams I would like to take a moment to define the word babel; according to the Columbia encyclopedia: Babel (bā'bəl) [Heb.,=confused. The definition is a little more extensive but it's all relative to the tale of the tower of babel as described in the bible. This story can be found in the book of Genesis chapter 11 and right from the outset we have our very first inconsistency with current knowledge.
Chapter 11:1 reads as follows; 'And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.' According to this story it is the origin of how different languages and cultures began. Considering that this story is supposed to have taken place less than six thousand years ago, we all know how stupid and ridiculous this claim is. According to an article on wikipedia basing themselves on the chronology of the scriptures from the beginning of creation to the building of the tower it was believed to have been built between 2247 BC and 952 BC. If you are interested in researching this even further the article can be found at http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_was_the_tower_of_Babel_built
You don't have to search far to dispute this first claim but according to http://linguistlist.org/ask-ling/oldest.cfm 'In 3200 BC, there were many, many languages spoken besides Sumerian and Egyptian, but they weren't fortunate enough to have a writing system.' Right away as you can see it refutes the claim that the origins of language and culture began at some fictional tower as described in the bible narrative. Once again the biblical authors get caught in yet one of many lies and forged history to try to put their culture and religion at the forefront of modern society.
This narrative is very short; basically man came together and decided that they wanted to build a tower that would reach unto the heavens, with the intent to make a name for themselves so that if they were scattered throughout the earth, at least there would be a monument to them and they would not be forgotten. That is the story in a nutshell and the thought of building a tower that would reach unto the heavens is beyond insane so we wont dwell on that part of the story.
There is one more problem I found in it that actually brings the idea of God being omnipresent (everywhere at the same time) to question. Lets look at two verses from the narrative: Genesis 11:5,7: '5.And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 7.Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.' When the Lord found out about what man was planning to do he decided to go down and have a look for himself, and then after having done that, apparently he went back up and decided to conspire with whoever "us" was to confuse their languages with the ultimate goal being that they would stop building the tower. If God is present everywhere at all times then why o' why dear theologian would he have to get off of his precious throne to come verify what was going on?
As a result of mans arrogance God decided to scatter them all over the Earth 9.Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. Before writing this I read an apologetics article trying to say that this story was not about the origin of languages and that when it said "all the earth" it was not referring to the entire world. They go back to Genesis 10:5 ' From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.' Not knowing that all they are doing is showing an obvious instance when the bible once again contradicts itself. You can read this bullshit article here: http://bibleapologetics.wordpress.com/the-tower-of-babel-13/ there is nothing like a good dose of bible apologetics for getting your mood up and giving you a good hearty laugh from time to time.
Chapter 11:1 reads as follows; 'And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.' According to this story it is the origin of how different languages and cultures began. Considering that this story is supposed to have taken place less than six thousand years ago, we all know how stupid and ridiculous this claim is. According to an article on wikipedia basing themselves on the chronology of the scriptures from the beginning of creation to the building of the tower it was believed to have been built between 2247 BC and 952 BC. If you are interested in researching this even further the article can be found at http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_was_the_tower_of_Babel_built
You don't have to search far to dispute this first claim but according to http://linguistlist.org/ask-ling/oldest.cfm 'In 3200 BC, there were many, many languages spoken besides Sumerian and Egyptian, but they weren't fortunate enough to have a writing system.' Right away as you can see it refutes the claim that the origins of language and culture began at some fictional tower as described in the bible narrative. Once again the biblical authors get caught in yet one of many lies and forged history to try to put their culture and religion at the forefront of modern society.
This narrative is very short; basically man came together and decided that they wanted to build a tower that would reach unto the heavens, with the intent to make a name for themselves so that if they were scattered throughout the earth, at least there would be a monument to them and they would not be forgotten. That is the story in a nutshell and the thought of building a tower that would reach unto the heavens is beyond insane so we wont dwell on that part of the story.
There is one more problem I found in it that actually brings the idea of God being omnipresent (everywhere at the same time) to question. Lets look at two verses from the narrative: Genesis 11:5,7: '5.And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 7.Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.' When the Lord found out about what man was planning to do he decided to go down and have a look for himself, and then after having done that, apparently he went back up and decided to conspire with whoever "us" was to confuse their languages with the ultimate goal being that they would stop building the tower. If God is present everywhere at all times then why o' why dear theologian would he have to get off of his precious throne to come verify what was going on?
As a result of mans arrogance God decided to scatter them all over the Earth 9.Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. Before writing this I read an apologetics article trying to say that this story was not about the origin of languages and that when it said "all the earth" it was not referring to the entire world. They go back to Genesis 10:5 ' From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.' Not knowing that all they are doing is showing an obvious instance when the bible once again contradicts itself. You can read this bullshit article here: http://bibleapologetics.wordpress.com/the-tower-of-babel-13/ there is nothing like a good dose of bible apologetics for getting your mood up and giving you a good hearty laugh from time to time.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Noahs Ark absurd beyond reason!
One of the biblical tales that I have found throughout my years of research that holds a couple of blatant contradictions is the story of the world flood as narrated in Genesis chapter 6. Although the bible itself claims that this in fact was a worldwide flood that God carried out with the intent of destroying all life on Earth besides that of Noah and his immediate family a total of 8 persons, many have begun to state that this in fact might not have been a worldwide flood but rather a local flood. Just by making such a statement they outright contradict what their holy books states in Genesis 6:17 'And, behold, I, even I, bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die.' In my opinion nothing could be stated more clearly. Modern theologians unwittingly sacrifice their so called truths for interpretation by trying to constantly stay in step with the modern world.
Now, just as I illustrated with the creation story many don't know that there are in fact two flood stories and they are actually fused together into one narrative. This also lends credence to the theory that there were in fact as many as four authors behind the writing of the Torah, and that it in fact was not written by Moses as many Jews and Christians tend to believe. Contrary to what many may think flood myths are nothing new but rather they have been a part of world folklore and myths for thousands of years, I have been doing research on this as well and have found a great site that covers alot of information regarding this matter. Here is the link for those interested in researching this further: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html
Now let's get into the biblical contradictions regarding the great flood that God supposedly brought down on mankind. The most blatant of them is the number of animals that were actually required by Noah to collect and bring into the ark. Genesis 6:19 clearly states; 'And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.' The first thing you should notice from this passage is that God does not make any distinction of clean and unclean animals and he particularly states that they should be two of every living creature.
Now let's take a look at God's instructions to Noah in Genesis 7:2 ; 'Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. In both tales they refer in subsequent verses to all animals that walk, crawl, or fly but in one tale there is no differentiation of clean and unclean beasts. In fact another point to take into consideration is that this part of the story makes no sense because the ten commandments and all the other commandments found in Leviticus were not yet given to the Hebrews. In fact this entire tale is supposed to be taking place before Moses led the Hebrews out of captivity from Egypt. According to the exodus tale Moses received the commandments from God while they sojourned in the Sinai desert. This alone is evidence that this tale could in fact have been written either later than the exodus narrative and thus makes this tale a complete fiction. or it was written as is and was later edited with the clean and unclean animals at a later date. Either way this small piece of evidence flushes the veracity of this tale right down the toilet. This being the case how is Noah supposed to know which animals were clean and which were unclean.
One cannot even imagine how many species of animals, birds, insects and other crawling things existed on the Earth when this supposed tale took place, and even worse one cannot fathom an ark full of every living creature, Noah and his family, and the food that they had to collect for both all the animals and themselves as stated in Genesis 6:21 'And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee and for them.' So according to this text the ark had a food pantry, but what about the animals that ate other animals? What of the birds that feasted on insects, or larger insects that fed on smaller insects? How did all these people and animals go to the bathroom? Are we to believe that they were divinely constipated for the entire year that they were in the ark? Or did they just shit in the ark and Noah and family spent a year of constant toil cleaning up animal feces of every species that ever walked the Earth? What about some of the prehistoric creatures? Were there dinosaurs in the ark and teradactyls too? All of these points just go to show how ridiculously stupid and inane these tales are, and even more so how stupid a belief of them is. In order to be a successful Christian you must suspend all logic, reason, and critical thinking and just accept all of this nonsense as fact.
Now, just as I illustrated with the creation story many don't know that there are in fact two flood stories and they are actually fused together into one narrative. This also lends credence to the theory that there were in fact as many as four authors behind the writing of the Torah, and that it in fact was not written by Moses as many Jews and Christians tend to believe. Contrary to what many may think flood myths are nothing new but rather they have been a part of world folklore and myths for thousands of years, I have been doing research on this as well and have found a great site that covers alot of information regarding this matter. Here is the link for those interested in researching this further: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html
Now let's get into the biblical contradictions regarding the great flood that God supposedly brought down on mankind. The most blatant of them is the number of animals that were actually required by Noah to collect and bring into the ark. Genesis 6:19 clearly states; 'And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.' The first thing you should notice from this passage is that God does not make any distinction of clean and unclean animals and he particularly states that they should be two of every living creature.
Now let's take a look at God's instructions to Noah in Genesis 7:2 ; 'Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. In both tales they refer in subsequent verses to all animals that walk, crawl, or fly but in one tale there is no differentiation of clean and unclean beasts. In fact another point to take into consideration is that this part of the story makes no sense because the ten commandments and all the other commandments found in Leviticus were not yet given to the Hebrews. In fact this entire tale is supposed to be taking place before Moses led the Hebrews out of captivity from Egypt. According to the exodus tale Moses received the commandments from God while they sojourned in the Sinai desert. This alone is evidence that this tale could in fact have been written either later than the exodus narrative and thus makes this tale a complete fiction. or it was written as is and was later edited with the clean and unclean animals at a later date. Either way this small piece of evidence flushes the veracity of this tale right down the toilet. This being the case how is Noah supposed to know which animals were clean and which were unclean.
One cannot even imagine how many species of animals, birds, insects and other crawling things existed on the Earth when this supposed tale took place, and even worse one cannot fathom an ark full of every living creature, Noah and his family, and the food that they had to collect for both all the animals and themselves as stated in Genesis 6:21 'And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee and for them.' So according to this text the ark had a food pantry, but what about the animals that ate other animals? What of the birds that feasted on insects, or larger insects that fed on smaller insects? How did all these people and animals go to the bathroom? Are we to believe that they were divinely constipated for the entire year that they were in the ark? Or did they just shit in the ark and Noah and family spent a year of constant toil cleaning up animal feces of every species that ever walked the Earth? What about some of the prehistoric creatures? Were there dinosaurs in the ark and teradactyls too? All of these points just go to show how ridiculously stupid and inane these tales are, and even more so how stupid a belief of them is. In order to be a successful Christian you must suspend all logic, reason, and critical thinking and just accept all of this nonsense as fact.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
The Exodus/Historical fiction
This contradiction is not so much a biblical contradiction but rather an historical one. After I left the church I began to research many of its stories using outside or secular sources to try to either prove their historical validity or dismiss them entirely as Jewish fabrications and myths. One of the stories I found most compelling of the entire bible was that of the exodus of the Hebrews from captivity in Egypt. I thought to myself this story has many unique elements that can be analyzed or probed from a secular perspective fairly and should have some external evidence to support its claims.
One of the first questions I asked myself was what was the approximate date of this enormous exodus, and how many people took part in it? Exodus 12:37 says it was about 600 thousand men not including of course women and children and an unidentified mixed multitude that went out with them. Discounting all of the miraculous hoopla that was inserted into the story I decided to try and look at this from a more mundane perspective. My next question was: Who was this Pharoah that followed the Hebrews into the Red sea? And finally what archaeological evidence has been found to support this story? Given the enormous size of those that supposedly trod the desert with Moses leading the pack, and the enormous size of Pharaohs army that supposedly drowned in the sea there should be more than enough evidence discovered by archaeologists.
If you think of this you will want to know that if this did in fact happen, there should have been traces of Pharaohs army in the sea, things such as chariots, weapons, etc. There should have been some trace of the Hebrews encampments and things found in the Sinai desert, according to the scriptures the generation of people that escaped slavery in Egypt eventually all died in the desert. The ones that made it across to this so called land of milk and honey were all of the children of the former generation all grown up. The bible states that they dwelt in the desert for 40 years surely they must have left plenty of evidence behind to validate their story.
Despite all of those things I have just mentioned an article on wikipedia states: 'A century of research by archaeologists and Egyptologists has found nothing which can be directly related to the Exodus narrative of an Egyptian captivity and the escape and travels through the wilderness,[8] and it has become increasingly clear that Iron Age Israel - the kingdoms of Judah and Israel - has its origins in Canaan, not Egypt:[19] the culture of the earliest Israelite settlements is Canaanite, their cult-objects are those of the Canaanite god El, the pottery remains in the local Canaanite tradition, and the alphabet used is early Canaanite.'
Another tell tale sign of the falsity of this story is that there is no record of a Pharaoh and his entire army drowning in any sea of any kind. Biblical scholars have recently stated that the Red sea is actually a mistranslation of the sea of Reeds which is an entirely different site. Not to mention that conveniently the biblical authors made sure to not identify this pharaoh to try to mask the historical integrity of the story. Without the name of this Pharaoh all one could do is try to match and date the biblical narrative with actual historical Egyptian records but that in and of itself has turned out to be an exercise in futility. Anyone who claims to know who this Pharaoh was is merely speculating, and if he does manage to identify him he also has the enormous task of finding evidence that this Pharaoh died in the sea with approximately over six hundred chariots and his entire army (Exodus 14:7).Regarding the date of the Exodus biblical scholars are all at odds as to the actual dates and have so far not manage to come to a concrete date for the exodus.
One of the first questions I asked myself was what was the approximate date of this enormous exodus, and how many people took part in it? Exodus 12:37 says it was about 600 thousand men not including of course women and children and an unidentified mixed multitude that went out with them. Discounting all of the miraculous hoopla that was inserted into the story I decided to try and look at this from a more mundane perspective. My next question was: Who was this Pharoah that followed the Hebrews into the Red sea? And finally what archaeological evidence has been found to support this story? Given the enormous size of those that supposedly trod the desert with Moses leading the pack, and the enormous size of Pharaohs army that supposedly drowned in the sea there should be more than enough evidence discovered by archaeologists.
If you think of this you will want to know that if this did in fact happen, there should have been traces of Pharaohs army in the sea, things such as chariots, weapons, etc. There should have been some trace of the Hebrews encampments and things found in the Sinai desert, according to the scriptures the generation of people that escaped slavery in Egypt eventually all died in the desert. The ones that made it across to this so called land of milk and honey were all of the children of the former generation all grown up. The bible states that they dwelt in the desert for 40 years surely they must have left plenty of evidence behind to validate their story.
Despite all of those things I have just mentioned an article on wikipedia states: 'A century of research by archaeologists and Egyptologists has found nothing which can be directly related to the Exodus narrative of an Egyptian captivity and the escape and travels through the wilderness,[8] and it has become increasingly clear that Iron Age Israel - the kingdoms of Judah and Israel - has its origins in Canaan, not Egypt:[19] the culture of the earliest Israelite settlements is Canaanite, their cult-objects are those of the Canaanite god El, the pottery remains in the local Canaanite tradition, and the alphabet used is early Canaanite.'
Another tell tale sign of the falsity of this story is that there is no record of a Pharaoh and his entire army drowning in any sea of any kind. Biblical scholars have recently stated that the Red sea is actually a mistranslation of the sea of Reeds which is an entirely different site. Not to mention that conveniently the biblical authors made sure to not identify this pharaoh to try to mask the historical integrity of the story. Without the name of this Pharaoh all one could do is try to match and date the biblical narrative with actual historical Egyptian records but that in and of itself has turned out to be an exercise in futility. Anyone who claims to know who this Pharaoh was is merely speculating, and if he does manage to identify him he also has the enormous task of finding evidence that this Pharaoh died in the sea with approximately over six hundred chariots and his entire army (Exodus 14:7).Regarding the date of the Exodus biblical scholars are all at odds as to the actual dates and have so far not manage to come to a concrete date for the exodus.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Adam and Eve fact or fiction?
One of the contentions I have heard from Christians regarding the tale of Adam and Eve is that it was not meant to be taken literally, some have even gone as far as stating that Adam and Eve never existed. They state that that tale is allegorical and is not supposed to be taken as history. In this post I am going to refute that claim using the bible against itself. In my last post I spoke of the differences in the two tales of creation and stated that this was a bone headed mistake, it is in fact not just a mistake it is an error that one can attribute to bad editing. It is claimed by most biblical scholars that there are possibly four authors who are responsible for the Pentateuch/Torah and it is because of this belief that many of the tales in the bible repeat themselves over and over.
The first clue that Adam and Eve are meant to be taken literally as the first humans to walk this Earth is evident in the following text from Genesis 4:1,2 1.'And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.' Whenever the bible states that someone knew someone it is a reference to sexual intercourse and that is what occurred when Adam knew his wife. As a result of that union she became pregnant and eventually had two sons Cain and Abel as stated in the text. According to the story Cain eventually killed his brother Abel and was cast far away from his parents to the land of Nod where he eventually built a city. Genesis 4:17And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
So naturally if Enoch is considered an historical figure in the bible, then one can safely assume that his parents were also historical figures as well, but this gets even better so read on. The bible does not only prove that Adam and Eve were real people but it also solidifies this claim by giving them a lineage. Genesis 4:25'And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.' So now it is no longer Cain and Abel but rather Cain and Seth. Although the bible never gets into where Cain got his wife from it is interesting to see that it never mentions that Adam and Eve had any daughters either.
This is what I call the nail in the coffin of those that claim that Adam and Eve were not meant to be taken as literal and historical figures. Genesis 5:1-5 1'This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;2Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 3And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:4And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:5And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.'
The bible itself claims that Adam and Eve were historical figures by stating plainly that Adam had children, one of which built a city, he had a lineage, and it even says that he had sons and daughters. If you read the text carefully all of these things become self evident. The entire chapter 5 of Genesis goes on to name the sons of Adam and the sons and daughters of his sons. Based on the bible as evidence then it is safe to conclude that this tale was in fact meant to be taken literally and anyone who claims it wasn't has simply not taken the time to read the bible. Adam is said to have lived 930 years and then died.
The first clue that Adam and Eve are meant to be taken literally as the first humans to walk this Earth is evident in the following text from Genesis 4:1,2 1.'And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.' Whenever the bible states that someone knew someone it is a reference to sexual intercourse and that is what occurred when Adam knew his wife. As a result of that union she became pregnant and eventually had two sons Cain and Abel as stated in the text. According to the story Cain eventually killed his brother Abel and was cast far away from his parents to the land of Nod where he eventually built a city. Genesis 4:17And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
So naturally if Enoch is considered an historical figure in the bible, then one can safely assume that his parents were also historical figures as well, but this gets even better so read on. The bible does not only prove that Adam and Eve were real people but it also solidifies this claim by giving them a lineage. Genesis 4:25'And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.' So now it is no longer Cain and Abel but rather Cain and Seth. Although the bible never gets into where Cain got his wife from it is interesting to see that it never mentions that Adam and Eve had any daughters either.
This is what I call the nail in the coffin of those that claim that Adam and Eve were not meant to be taken as literal and historical figures. Genesis 5:1-5 1'This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;2Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 3And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:4And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:5And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.'
The bible itself claims that Adam and Eve were historical figures by stating plainly that Adam had children, one of which built a city, he had a lineage, and it even says that he had sons and daughters. If you read the text carefully all of these things become self evident. The entire chapter 5 of Genesis goes on to name the sons of Adam and the sons and daughters of his sons. Based on the bible as evidence then it is safe to conclude that this tale was in fact meant to be taken literally and anyone who claims it wasn't has simply not taken the time to read the bible. Adam is said to have lived 930 years and then died.
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