Happy hypocrite day! !

Hypocrite 

: a person who claims or pretends to have certain beliefs about what is right but who behaves in a way that disagrees with those beliefs

 :  a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion

 :  a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings

Today is the day that many of those calling themselves Christians, believers, or followers of Christ break out the finest clothes, suits, and desses to celebrate Christianity's greatest miracle and foundational belief. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! 

Some of these so called believers are more dedicated to their beliefs than others. They are members of an established and recognized Christian church and community, they attend services several times a week, they dedicate their time and money in the form of voluntary offerings and tithes to their churches. Then there are the others who live as if God does not exist yet proclaim that he does and aver that he walks with them and is watching over them. I have found that both of these types of believers are nothing more than hypocrites as the word is defined above. The more dedicated one is to those beliefs the more hypocritical they are in life. 

For instance all believers are cherry pickers. What I mean by that is that theists pick and choose from the scriptures those rules for living that are agreeable to them and those that are not they willingly ignore them. The biggest and most blatant transgressors of this are the gay community. I personally as an atheist and believer in personal freedom do not have anything bad to say against gays. In fact, I support their desire to be recognized by others as a viable alternative lifestyle endowed with all the rights and privileges of every other citizen of this country and even the world. 

But the bible clearly states that God does not view the gay lifestyle as a good thing but rather as a sin. 

 
"'Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.

Leviticus 18:22

"'If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

Leviticus 20:13

26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.
Romans 1:26-28

26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.
1 Timothy 1:26-28

I've used gays as an example because in my eyes their profession of faith is one of the most blatant contradictions amongst the many others. But this applies to all so called believers. In today's world we have people professing to be believers of God and claiming that they  are Christians whose lifestyles and  public life are a clear contradiction to what they claim to believe.

Many drug dealers, prostitutes, gang members, murderers, etc. all claim to be Christian. They pray and rationalize their lifestyles with the mercies of God. I've heard some say that "God knows I have to do what I have to do to live!" Because of God's great mercy in the end he will forgive them for their sinful lifestyle in the end and understand that they did it because they had no other choice in life! These same people wear crosses around their necks and prance around making a mockery of what they profess to believe. Most of them have never read the bible and even if shown the error of their ways they refuse to accept it and continue in their hypocrisy.

The worst of the lot are the more extreme believers on the spectrum of belief: the fundamentalist! This one is trying to live according to his/her interpretation of God's word, but not without first cherry picking out of the texts those things that they agree with . While those things that may condemn their lifestyles are completely ignored. This is for you Christians who judge the world and its inhabitants but are too blind to see your own faults.

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Luke 6:37

If anything, the bible demonstrates clearly that those who choose to follow its precepts are nothing more than hypocrites! It is my opinion that the majority of those professing to be Christians publicly make fools of themselves by living one way and speaking another. 


3We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
1 John 2:3-4

 14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?
  24You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
James 2:14,24

Many believe is sufficient but let's be honest if you are going to proclaim faith in God and in his word the least you could do is read it and try to live your life according to its instruction. Good luck with that! I will continue to live my life as a non-believer and a happy atheist. I don't worry about fictional hells or torments after death. I live in the here and now and enjoy every minute of it. For better or for worse I try to make the most of what I believe to be the one and only life that we have. While you believers continue to waste your life trying to please a fictional being who if we take the scriptures at their word is nothing more than a celestial tyrant that does not deserve worship but rather disdain.

Happy hypocrite day everyone!! 

On losing my faith

For those of you that are not familiar with myself and my blog I invite you to read my deconversion story to better familiarize yourself with my journey from faith to atheism. I for one am content to let theists live and believe as they please for the most part. The only time I have a problem with them is when they try to literally shove their beliefs down my throat through political manipulation and trying to seek legislation on things that affect my life on a personal level. Some examples are the banning of stem cell research, abortion, euthanasia, trying to get creationism taught in our public schools and many other similar issues. For the most part they are not motivated by so called morals but rather by divine commandment. The bible says its wrong for them so then it should be wrong for everyone else.

That being said let's move on to the subject of this post. I often find that talking to theists in general is like talking to a wall. No amount of evidence will suffice, no reason or logic will ever penetrate faith on its own. I remember when I was a believer that there was no way any man would have convinced me of the falsity of my beliefs or even worse that I was deluded in believing the things I did. My faith preceded everything including logic and reason.

When I was a believer I thought that faith was greater than "evidence" in fact, I thought that the fact that I felt the presence of God in the form of his Holy Spirit trumped anything any man could ever show or tell me. I viewed attacks on my faith and beliefs as either directed or inspired by Satan and his cohorts. I thought that the more people attacked my faith the closer I was to my God and the truth and that all of those attacks were nothing more than the Devil trying to derail my spiritual growth

It took a personal experience that got me to begin doubting my faith. I had been invited to a local hospital to pray for a young man who was enduring the final stages of the aids virus and its effects. He was literally knocking on deaths door. My ministry partner had him read Isaiah 53: 5 aloud from the King James bible and after praying for him declared him healed in the name of Jesus! He promised the mans mom that her son was going to undergo a miraculous recovery if she believed it and claimed the miracle in faith. I heard my own voice in my head say "he is not healed." I felt fear at that moment and asked God in my mind if it was him or the enemy telling me this. To make a long story short that young man died a few days later.

At the time I went to visit that young man his mother was not present. I had never met her before but my partner had and he was the one who had the invite to go pray for him. A day or two after that I was invited to a woman's home with a church elder to pray for her since she was elderly and ill. In the middle of the prayer I stopped and told her that her son was going to die and gave her the reason. I believed this was a word from the Lord coming through my mind to her so I was not aware of who her son was. I just felt the need to say what I did. I told her not to blame God but that it was part of his plan to save his soul. After the young man died the church elder ran into me at another church event and ran up to me and said that I was a true prophet of the Lord because exactly what I told that person would happen happened.

Despite all the events that followed that day when we prayed for that young man. I had the first seed of doubt planted in my mind. I began to analyze my faith and beliefs more closely. I read the Bible four times and each time I read it I doubted it more. It took a very long and personal journey and the willingness on my part to embark on that journey no matter where it led for me to abandon my faith. I had to analyze my personal spiritual experience with a critical eye as well. In the end all of my studying and honest reflection led me ultimately to atheism. I did not come to that decision easily. It took me about 6 years to get over all of the effects of my religious beliefs and it was a long and emotionally, mental, and physically draining process.