While I'm on my path of conversion to Orthodoxy from Protestantism, I think I'm going to delve into the subjects of comparative religions as well, and learn as much as I can about those from an objective standpoint. I think it will help me to be an even better critical thinker, be a more well rounded individual, and prepare me for something even greater down the road. Maybe my imaginary friend God has plans for me, who knows?
I visited the Voodoo Spiritual temple in New Orleans last year on a fam trip (I'm a former travel agent) and that was a really eye-opening experience. I'll have to write more about that on a later post. I learned more about voodoo in those few days than I ever could have learned just from a couple of books.
I've also been to the Byodo-In Buddhist Temple on Oahu, and taking my shoes off there and getting to ring the gong was an extremely purifying experience. My husband and I both felt pretty humbled by it. It's hard to imagine that this place is actually in the U.S. I've even been blessed by a Maya Shaman in Mexico. In a cave by a cenote.
I have not been to a Hindu Temple yet, but someday I hope to visit one. There's actually one not far from where I live, so it would be easy. I've been to the Alhambra in Spain too, but have never witnessed a Muslim prayer service, or Jewish service, although I have visited a Jewish Temple a couple of times.
There's tons of other ones I could list, like Mormon, Church of Scientology, the Church of Global Warming (LOL) Santeria, but here's the kicker....like Faith "Fear Factor..."
Do I dare ever bring myself to cross the threshold and enter the doors of the Satanic Church to stare into the inverted star with the goat's head? Just to visit and offer an objective opinion? I will admit the thought of that makes me VERY uncomfortable as a Christian, and why wouldn't it? I mean, if I'm Satan, would I want to go hang out at the crucifix and the holy water? Stand next to a statue of La Virgen del Guadalupe? Be present while the priest hands out Holy Communion to his flock?
Of course, one is always welcome to visit most Christian churches without a problem. You can get in. But even if I wanted to go to Anton Lavey's special sanctuary, I couldn't.
From the Church of Satan website:
Many people write to the Church of Satan who have read some of our literature but want to further their knowledge through personal contact before they decide to affiliate, or through simple curiosity. It has always been our policy NOT to place non-members in contact with members, as an individual’s membership is held in strictest confidence by the Church of Satan. This does not reflect upon the sincerity of the person making the inquiry, but as realists, we acknowledge that Satanism remains a controversial religion and thus our policy is an important matter of security for our members.
We thus do not maintain any structures or offices open to visitation by the public. Non-members may not attend rituals (which are by nature private activities held in the homes of members), regardless of their degree of interest or reason for wishing to participate. There are no exceptions to this policy. The Satanic Bible explains in detail the basics of ritual for those curious about our practices. The documentary “Satanis: The Devil’s Mass” includes footage of several rituals performed by our founder, Anton Szandor LaVey, and is readily available on DVD.
Oh well. It does make me wonder though: if Satanism is so cool, why be so secretive about it? One can't even be curious. You have to be content with watching a DVD or reading some books to learn about Satan. How can my tiny Christian mind wrap around something so vast?
Actually, Satan is around us every day so really the Church of Satan should not be that big of a deal. It's just window dressing and a building, I tell myself. A place where these believers gather, and nothing more.
But no matter how many times I try to tell myself that, over and over, imagining myself there, I feel something tugging at me, pulling me away from those doors. It's like the clackety-clack of the wooden roller coaster: once you start to go up, you cannot go down. At least the way that it feels the safest.
I love the written word when it comes to horror, and some of the best films out there are horror films. People knock them, but they play to that most primal of all human emotions: fear. We're programmed with that whether we like it or not. We all fear something.
There is what I call "sensationalist" fear, and this is the one dimensional fear derived from such movies as "Friday the 13th" or something of that nature: hack-and-slash, killer kills, over and over, again and again, in multiple ways....yawn. A quick fix for the box office, a check-your-brain-at-the-door read, nothing really intellectual or stimulating to be derived from that.
There are also the many books and movies that play to the apocalyptic "end times" crowd. Done well, these are thought-provoking and meaningful. But done wrong, they can cause severe trauma to a young person, and actually bring them away from their religion, and send them hurdling into the unknown, searching for something else. Something that can be...far more dangerous...
clickety-clack...no way back...
I see that empty hole there and I just know there's got to be something more to life than just nothingness at the end that I would share with something so vile. What if the roller coaster falls off its tracks and goes hurdling down into the void and can never come back? I don't want to be on that ride when that happens. That's not sensationalist fear for me. It's real fear.
No, I don't think I'll be contacting the local chapter of the 666 brotherhood anytime soon.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Leveling the Praying Field
I came across a very interesting article in Time Magazine today. The issue is dated 7/23/07. On page 28 there is an article called "How Democrats got Religion" and it's the cover story.
It gives the lowdown on the three big candidates, Clinton, Obama and Edwards, and delves a little into each of their belief systems.
Clinton, of course, is Methodist, and Edwards was raised Southern Baptist, so many of their comments about politics and religion weren't that surprising. The big kicker was Barack Obama though. This article says he was raised secular, and according to him, his decision to go Christian was "a choice and not an epiphany."
Now last year, apparently Obama spoke at the Sojourners/Call to Renewal gathering and challenged Democrats to make it harder for Republicans to paint them as hedonists, so to speak.
This is a direct quote from that article on page 30-31:
"If we scrub language of all religious content, we forfeit the imagery and terminology through which millions of Americans understand both their personal morality and social justice. Secularists are wrong when they tell believers to leave their religion at the door before entering the public square."
I seriously had to re-read that statement about 4 or 5 times to make absolutely certain that I was clear on what it said. Did Barack Obama just endorse religion in the public arena???? Isn't that unconstitutional?
What I want to know is, is the ACLU's phone going to be ringing off the hook? Or will Barack Obama get a pass from the leftist voters on this issue?
From what I've seen on the internet so far, many people are spinning this to make it look like it's not such a bad thing, that Obama really isn't "really speaking for all secularists because they couldn't find that many that agree with him." Why take this approach??? Let's have some balls, people!
Why are Obama's words taken in stride and accepted in the mainstream, and are so much "softer" than other people's? He is plainly endorsing it right here, whether many secularists truly side with him on this issue or not. It's out there in print. He said it in front of a huge group of people.
I'm going to try an illustrate my point.
Let's take Mr. Evangelist Bible Thumper preacher and put him in the middle of the Southern Baptist Convention, and he is surrounded by all his bible thumping friends. He strolls up to the podium and says the following, on camera for everyone to see:
"If we scrub language of all religious content, we forfeit the imagery and terminology through which millions of Americans understand both their personal morality and social justice. Secularists are wrong when they tell believers to leave their religion at the door before entering the public square."
What is your reaction now?
I think all non-believers who are seriously considering voting for Barack Obama really take a look at what this man stands for. I mean, one minute, he's secular, the next, he's Christian. His father was a Muslim, then he was an Atheist. His mother was a religious skeptic. He says so right here in this video:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/faith/
I'd like to hear from everyone on this. Do you think Obama should get a pass for what he said in this article, or should he be held accountable to the 16% of non-believers in this country (and growing) that might be considering voting for him as the next President of the United States?
It gives the lowdown on the three big candidates, Clinton, Obama and Edwards, and delves a little into each of their belief systems.
Clinton, of course, is Methodist, and Edwards was raised Southern Baptist, so many of their comments about politics and religion weren't that surprising. The big kicker was Barack Obama though. This article says he was raised secular, and according to him, his decision to go Christian was "a choice and not an epiphany."
Now last year, apparently Obama spoke at the Sojourners/Call to Renewal gathering and challenged Democrats to make it harder for Republicans to paint them as hedonists, so to speak.
This is a direct quote from that article on page 30-31:
"If we scrub language of all religious content, we forfeit the imagery and terminology through which millions of Americans understand both their personal morality and social justice. Secularists are wrong when they tell believers to leave their religion at the door before entering the public square."
I seriously had to re-read that statement about 4 or 5 times to make absolutely certain that I was clear on what it said. Did Barack Obama just endorse religion in the public arena???? Isn't that unconstitutional?
What I want to know is, is the ACLU's phone going to be ringing off the hook? Or will Barack Obama get a pass from the leftist voters on this issue?
From what I've seen on the internet so far, many people are spinning this to make it look like it's not such a bad thing, that Obama really isn't "really speaking for all secularists because they couldn't find that many that agree with him." Why take this approach??? Let's have some balls, people!
Why are Obama's words taken in stride and accepted in the mainstream, and are so much "softer" than other people's? He is plainly endorsing it right here, whether many secularists truly side with him on this issue or not. It's out there in print. He said it in front of a huge group of people.
I'm going to try an illustrate my point.
Let's take Mr. Evangelist Bible Thumper preacher and put him in the middle of the Southern Baptist Convention, and he is surrounded by all his bible thumping friends. He strolls up to the podium and says the following, on camera for everyone to see:
"If we scrub language of all religious content, we forfeit the imagery and terminology through which millions of Americans understand both their personal morality and social justice. Secularists are wrong when they tell believers to leave their religion at the door before entering the public square."
What is your reaction now?
I think all non-believers who are seriously considering voting for Barack Obama really take a look at what this man stands for. I mean, one minute, he's secular, the next, he's Christian. His father was a Muslim, then he was an Atheist. His mother was a religious skeptic. He says so right here in this video:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/faith/
I'd like to hear from everyone on this. Do you think Obama should get a pass for what he said in this article, or should he be held accountable to the 16% of non-believers in this country (and growing) that might be considering voting for him as the next President of the United States?
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Something I learned today
I was in a discussion with my priest this morning, and he shared something very profound with me. He told me about one of these big conferences that the bishops and metropolitans have every so often, and I cannot remember the name of the bishop he was referring to (yes I am getting old and I'm tired right now lol) If I had it I would post it here. I hate it when I don't have the name of a source right at my fingertips but I just have to put this in here because not only am I sharing my public faith experience but I'm trying to keep a chronological database of sorts of my journey.
Anyway, when asked to give a one sentence definition of the Bible this man didn't say the typical "Word of God" or "History of God's people, broken out into the Old and New Testaments, or even, "Man's search for God." Yawn.
He said, "It is the search of God for man."
To explain this, he pointed to the book of Genesis 3:8-9
"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"
John 19:15-18
"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned out and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!"
Jesus said," Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
The point of this is in the beginning, as man, we hid from God after the fall. After the resurrection, Jesus as God, came looking for us and he found us. Simple and profound, yet very powerful.
"The Orthodox Church is evangelical, but not Protestant. It is orthodox, but not Jewish. It is catholic, but not Roman. It isn't non-denominational - it is pre-denominational. It has believed, taught, preserved, defended and died for the Faith of the Apostles since the Day of Pentecost 2000 years ago." Anon.
Anyway, when asked to give a one sentence definition of the Bible this man didn't say the typical "Word of God" or "History of God's people, broken out into the Old and New Testaments, or even, "Man's search for God." Yawn.
He said, "It is the search of God for man."
To explain this, he pointed to the book of Genesis 3:8-9
"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"
John 19:15-18
"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned out and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!"
Jesus said," Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
The point of this is in the beginning, as man, we hid from God after the fall. After the resurrection, Jesus as God, came looking for us and he found us. Simple and profound, yet very powerful.
"The Orthodox Church is evangelical, but not Protestant. It is orthodox, but not Jewish. It is catholic, but not Roman. It isn't non-denominational - it is pre-denominational. It has believed, taught, preserved, defended and died for the Faith of the Apostles since the Day of Pentecost 2000 years ago." Anon.
Churches that Abuse Part 1
Okay, I promised that I would post something about spiritual abuse, so I'm going to try and illustrate some problems that have arisen within the evangelical movement of Christianity.
As a Christian, I must do this objectively and responsibly, without using smear tactics or ad hominem attacks or going by just assumptions, but I will try to show some of the dangers that have come to light from many of the false teachings we are warned about in the book of Revelation.
1. Televangelism - wikipedia has a great in depth description of the history of televangelism, and there are credible teachers out there, so I am not trying to put down the whole lot. Even though many may not like him, Billy Graham holds a majority of the respect of the modern televangelists. I've been to one of his seminars, and I believe he speaks from the heart. I know nothing of his financial records, however, which I understand has been under some scrutiny in recent years.
I think that it started out as all things do, with good intentions, but the seed of corruption gets planted and it can become a dishonorable practice. The problems with this method of reaching out to the masses in modern times are listed as follows:
(From Wikipedia) 1, Accountability - Many televangelists exist outside of established churches. They have little or no oversight from denominational structures and many are accountable to no-one. In cases where their ministry is run by a board of directors, this is frequently made up of family members and other people who will not challenge the televangelist. Many are not members of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, an independent organisation which promotes high financial standards amongst Christian ministries.
(From wikipedia) 2. Supernatural theology. Most televangelists hold charismatic or Pentecostal viewpoints, believing in spiritual gifts, divine healing, and other miracles. These subjects remain controversial within Christian thinking. In some instances, claims of miracles have been shown to be fraudulent.
(An example of this is Peter Popoff. He was caught in the 80's using an earpiece into which his wife communicated the names from prayer lists, along with their afflictions, addresses, and where they sat in the congregation. He claimed that this was the voice of God speaking to him. I don't know how much more fraudulent you can be than this man. He ripped off millions of dollars from unsuspecting people, all in the name of God. He was convicted of fraud and disappeared for about 20+ years. Now he is back on TV selling the "Miracle Spring Water"
which he claims is "free" but in order to get his "blessing" you have to send in money. Then you're supposed to get what he claims to be Dead Sea Salt, which is nothing more than an iodized salt packet like you'd get at Sonic for yor fries. You sprinkle this salt along with the water in some ritual and poof! you'll be blessed with money.
I watched this man's infomercial, and noted he and his wife's body language, the way they responded to questions, etc. and these people no more know their Scriptures than the man on the moon. They are con artists in the name of the Lord and that is blasphemy. That is dangerous. )
(from wikipedia) 3. Flamboyant lifestyles. Many televangelists have accumulated significant personal wealth from their ministries and own large properties, luxury cars, and even private jets. This is seen by critics to be contradictory to Christian principles. There is also frequently confusion between personal and ministry assets.
(Peter Popoff and Benny Hinn have estimate wealth in the millions)
(From wikipedia) 4. Financial emphasis. Televangelism requires substantial amounts of money to produce programs and purchase airtime on cable and satellite networks. Televangelists devote much time to fundraising activities. Products such as books, CDs, DVDs, and trinkets with supposedly miraculous powers, are aggressively promoted to viewers. Opponents regard such an emphasis as inappropriate and also question whether the money would be better used relieving poverty or employing traditional missionaries.
(See point 2)
(From wikipedia) 5. Personality cult. Traditional Christian teaching emphasises the following of Jesus and not a particular preacher, however televangelism tends to build a personality cult around the televangelist.
(From wikipedia) 6. Health and wealth teaching. Many televangelists preach a prosperity gospel that promises material success to believers, subject to their generous donations to the “work of God”, which inevitably means the televangelist. This is regarded as a serious heresy by other Christians.
(Plus it ruins the lives of many people who deplete their savings based on what someone told them on a television)
(From Wikipedia) 7. False prophecies. Numerous televangelists have issued false prophecies, for example Benny Hinn’s claim that Fidel Castro would die in the 1990s, or Pat Robertson's claim that the War in Iraq would end in 2006. Many other televangelists have made false prophecies of the Second Coming.
("No one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. "Matthew 24:36)
(I'll let this verse speak for itself)
(From Wikipedia) 8 False teaching. Televangelists frequently depart from or add to traditional Christian doctrines.
(From Wikipedia) 9. Entertainment focus. The style of televangelism seems to mirror that of the secular entertainment industry, with emphasis on celebrity, slick production, and aggressive marketing.
(From Wikipedia) 10. Exploitation. Followers of televangelists frequently are poor and uneducated[citation needed], lacking the ability to critically analyse the message they are presented with, which frequently links a blessing from God to making sacrificial donations to the televangelist. This has led to claims of exploitation of the vulnerable.
(From Wikipedia) 11. Crowd manipulation. Allegations have been made that many televangelists use psychological techniques, including mass hypnosis, to produce the desired response from people in what is a charged emotional atmosphere[citation needed].
(From Wikipedia) 12. Disputed success. Televangelists claim to be reaching millions of people worldwide with the gospel and producing numerous converts to Christianity. However, such claims are difficult to verify independently. It has also been questioned whether non-believers actually watch Christian television.
(From Wikipedia) 13. Televangelists often strongly dispute these criticisms and claim they are doing God's work.
As a Christian, I must do this objectively and responsibly, without using smear tactics or ad hominem attacks or going by just assumptions, but I will try to show some of the dangers that have come to light from many of the false teachings we are warned about in the book of Revelation.
1. Televangelism - wikipedia has a great in depth description of the history of televangelism, and there are credible teachers out there, so I am not trying to put down the whole lot. Even though many may not like him, Billy Graham holds a majority of the respect of the modern televangelists. I've been to one of his seminars, and I believe he speaks from the heart. I know nothing of his financial records, however, which I understand has been under some scrutiny in recent years.
I think that it started out as all things do, with good intentions, but the seed of corruption gets planted and it can become a dishonorable practice. The problems with this method of reaching out to the masses in modern times are listed as follows:
(From Wikipedia) 1, Accountability - Many televangelists exist outside of established churches. They have little or no oversight from denominational structures and many are accountable to no-one. In cases where their ministry is run by a board of directors, this is frequently made up of family members and other people who will not challenge the televangelist. Many are not members of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, an independent organisation which promotes high financial standards amongst Christian ministries.
(From wikipedia) 2. Supernatural theology. Most televangelists hold charismatic or Pentecostal viewpoints, believing in spiritual gifts, divine healing, and other miracles. These subjects remain controversial within Christian thinking. In some instances, claims of miracles have been shown to be fraudulent.
(An example of this is Peter Popoff. He was caught in the 80's using an earpiece into which his wife communicated the names from prayer lists, along with their afflictions, addresses, and where they sat in the congregation. He claimed that this was the voice of God speaking to him. I don't know how much more fraudulent you can be than this man. He ripped off millions of dollars from unsuspecting people, all in the name of God. He was convicted of fraud and disappeared for about 20+ years. Now he is back on TV selling the "Miracle Spring Water"
which he claims is "free" but in order to get his "blessing" you have to send in money. Then you're supposed to get what he claims to be Dead Sea Salt, which is nothing more than an iodized salt packet like you'd get at Sonic for yor fries. You sprinkle this salt along with the water in some ritual and poof! you'll be blessed with money.
I watched this man's infomercial, and noted he and his wife's body language, the way they responded to questions, etc. and these people no more know their Scriptures than the man on the moon. They are con artists in the name of the Lord and that is blasphemy. That is dangerous. )
(from wikipedia) 3. Flamboyant lifestyles. Many televangelists have accumulated significant personal wealth from their ministries and own large properties, luxury cars, and even private jets. This is seen by critics to be contradictory to Christian principles. There is also frequently confusion between personal and ministry assets.
(Peter Popoff and Benny Hinn have estimate wealth in the millions)
(From wikipedia) 4. Financial emphasis. Televangelism requires substantial amounts of money to produce programs and purchase airtime on cable and satellite networks. Televangelists devote much time to fundraising activities. Products such as books, CDs, DVDs, and trinkets with supposedly miraculous powers, are aggressively promoted to viewers. Opponents regard such an emphasis as inappropriate and also question whether the money would be better used relieving poverty or employing traditional missionaries.
(See point 2)
(From wikipedia) 5. Personality cult. Traditional Christian teaching emphasises the following of Jesus and not a particular preacher, however televangelism tends to build a personality cult around the televangelist.
(From wikipedia) 6. Health and wealth teaching. Many televangelists preach a prosperity gospel that promises material success to believers, subject to their generous donations to the “work of God”, which inevitably means the televangelist. This is regarded as a serious heresy by other Christians.
(Plus it ruins the lives of many people who deplete their savings based on what someone told them on a television)
(From Wikipedia) 7. False prophecies. Numerous televangelists have issued false prophecies, for example Benny Hinn’s claim that Fidel Castro would die in the 1990s, or Pat Robertson's claim that the War in Iraq would end in 2006. Many other televangelists have made false prophecies of the Second Coming.
("No one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. "Matthew 24:36)
(I'll let this verse speak for itself)
(From Wikipedia) 8 False teaching. Televangelists frequently depart from or add to traditional Christian doctrines.
(From Wikipedia) 9. Entertainment focus. The style of televangelism seems to mirror that of the secular entertainment industry, with emphasis on celebrity, slick production, and aggressive marketing.
(From Wikipedia) 10. Exploitation. Followers of televangelists frequently are poor and uneducated[citation needed], lacking the ability to critically analyse the message they are presented with, which frequently links a blessing from God to making sacrificial donations to the televangelist. This has led to claims of exploitation of the vulnerable.
(From Wikipedia) 11. Crowd manipulation. Allegations have been made that many televangelists use psychological techniques, including mass hypnosis, to produce the desired response from people in what is a charged emotional atmosphere[citation needed].
(From Wikipedia) 12. Disputed success. Televangelists claim to be reaching millions of people worldwide with the gospel and producing numerous converts to Christianity. However, such claims are difficult to verify independently. It has also been questioned whether non-believers actually watch Christian television.
(From Wikipedia) 13. Televangelists often strongly dispute these criticisms and claim they are doing God's work.
Friday, August 24, 2007
El Flamenco y Los Ninos de Espana
I really miss my dancing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_eQKRml7DU
That's my old group in Oklahoma, and Pandora, my former teacher and one of my best friends.
I've had flamenco in my blood since I was itty bitty. My footwork was never the best, but I was smoking on those castanets, and lets not forget those chuekkas from Galicia!
Oh well. :)
I love folk dancing from everywhere though. It's one of the things that gives me my seat in the hall of fame of true nerddom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_eQKRml7DU
That's my old group in Oklahoma, and Pandora, my former teacher and one of my best friends.
I've had flamenco in my blood since I was itty bitty. My footwork was never the best, but I was smoking on those castanets, and lets not forget those chuekkas from Galicia!
Oh well. :)
I love folk dancing from everywhere though. It's one of the things that gives me my seat in the hall of fame of true nerddom.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Rest for the weary....
For the last 2 weeks I finally have been seeking some holistic treatment for the migraines I've been suffering from for the last 16 years. I'm always a late nighter (bad habit from the college days) reading, PC, TV, gaming, etc, and the deprivation of sleep and stress has finally taken its toll on me. So now I have found a drug and pain free method through subluxation treatments along my spine and cranial sacral (sp) massages to help with the pain. Last week I had one (migraine) that lasted 7 days.
I also started using sleep therapy sounds using sleep earbuds in my ipod and that plays into my brain all night.
Nature sounds are the best but there are some other good things out there to try.
I love holistic therapies, yoga and swimming, I also love massages too. Come on, who doesnt? LOL
I've also got to start making out my book reading list for 2008.
I also started using sleep therapy sounds using sleep earbuds in my ipod and that plays into my brain all night.
Nature sounds are the best but there are some other good things out there to try.
I love holistic therapies, yoga and swimming, I also love massages too. Come on, who doesnt? LOL
I've also got to start making out my book reading list for 2008.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
An Articulate Muslim
Please watch the following video by Dr. Zakir Naik. Note his comments on U.S. rape statistics and what he provides as the solution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyboXCIVJY0&mode=related&search=
His website can be found here:
http://drzakirnaik.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyboXCIVJY0&mode=related&search=
His website can be found here:
http://drzakirnaik.com/
Monday, August 20, 2007
Why I believe
By all accounts, given my upbringing, I should be a non-believer. It is amazing to me, as I look back, how I didn't stray. But here I will share my story of faith, how I have remained a believer in God, and why I have decided to leave my Protestant roots and become an Orthodox Christian. I will try to be concise.
As a child, about 4 or 5, I was shuttled to a Baptist Sunday School every week on a bus from my home, alone, without my mother and father, and this was because of their own choice. They chose not to attend church, but instead, to send me there by myself. I don't remember how long this went on but it was difficult. Sure, I had fun watching the teachers put the felt Bible characters on the story board and getting to draw and make things, but I had no family to enjoy the service with like everyone else there. My parent would take me to Long John Silver's or to the ice cream parlor when I got home, but they wouldn't go to church with me. I never could really understand this. I'm sure they had good intentions, but it left me feeling pretty abandoned.
A close relative finally got me into a regular routine at a different Baptist church, and there I began to make friends and feel somewhat connected. But my school life was totally different. Because I could read by age four and could not attend public school yet until age five (this was in the early 70's) I went to religious schools. First, Methodist, for one year then non-denominational for one year, then Lutheran for one year, then another Baptist for one year. My parents weren't too keen on the public school system where I grew up so private school it was. The Baptist school I attended was the absolute worst.
Now I am not knocking Baptists. As I said, the Baptist church I went to on a regular basis was really fun and I enjoyed the youth group, the minister's services, etc. I even wanted to get baptized at age 7. But I was told no. I was told that I was not ready yet. But I felt ready. Being at my regular church was so cool for me. And then come Monday morning I would have to go to that awful Baptist school.
Demerits for my skirt being too short. I was too young to wear makeup, but I could never cut my hair. Couldn't wear pants. Had to memorize x amount of Bible verses every week. I made D's and F's in just about everything, even though I was capable of so much more. Chapel every Friday. Couldn't fall asleep or that would mean a trip to the principal's office. One kid did and he got paddled so bad I will never forget him sitting in the back of the class red eyed and snivveling (sp?) for the rest of the day. Having any kind of sexual questions/thoughts was considered absolutely forbidden, and no way would we talk about it. I tried to make up excuses every day to get out of going to school because I hated it that much.
Then, one day, while my parents were out of town and I was staying with my grandma, I decided that instead of studying for a test I'd just cheat. So I did. And I got caught. But instead of waiting until my parents were home to get approval to punish me, I got paddled on my lunch. I won't describe the event in detail but suffice it to say that it was one of the most humiliating things I have ever experienced. I had to hear the principal's condemnations of me with every whack of that paddle.
Once I did have the nerve to tell my mother (several months later) she listened, and I thought I would get the same thing again from her. But she was really cool about it. She took up for me, and I never went back to that school. I just don't think she realized what an abusive situation it was.
My mother held the values of a Christian, but also leaned toward the secular humanist side on a lot of things. So I was pretty confused. My dad wasn't one to think on a lot of those things so he just didn't discuss it. Why all the religious schools then, you ask? I don't know. I wish I could ask my mom now. But more on that later.
The fanatical evangelists tried to convert my family and tell us we were going to hell unless we repented and asked Jesus for forgiveness and confessed everything publicly. This I had a problem with, because so much in our life is private and we really need to have a PRIVATE relationship with God. So I've never understood this need to make everything public because, when it comes to organized religion, let's face it, people want to make YOUR business THEIR business. THEY know what's best for you; YOU do not. It becomes a gradual loss of critical thinking skills and giving over to mass group peer pressure tactics instead of treating God like the sacred being that He is. So I never bought into that.
I've also never bought into sending your money into some church as a way to buy your forgiveness from God, because that just ain't true. All the guilt tactics, suppressive thought control, you name it, I was part of it. I knew it was wrong, but I was a child, what could I do? If I voiced my opinion, I was told that I didn't know right from wrong, someone else would need to make those choices for me. But God would prevail and all would be made well.
I just didn't get it all. I was confused. I wanted a relationship with God but I didn't understand all these guilt tactics, all the "tent revivals" and "must be in the church 5-6 times a week for anything to make a difference." They didn't want you listening to secular music or take an interest in anything at all outside of the confines of the church. Having friends outside the church was a complete no-no too. So how could this be Christian? "Well, we have to set an example and lead others to Christ. No swearing, no drinking. No outside influences." Well where do I sign up????
On top of this, at this point, I was going to public secular school where I was being exposed to all these "evils." I couldn't communicate with kids my own age BECAUSE I DIDN"T KNOW HOW.
Then my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and I watched her die a slow and painful death. She didn't exactly deny God, but wouldn't put her faith and trust in Him to help her through the tough parts either. I prayed for her continuously. People from the church, well meaning, would come by to visit, but it would always wind up in some sort of anger match with her telling them to get out and leave her alone, that she didn't need their God. This hurt me terribly. Because deep down, despite all the things I'd suffered, I knew God was there. Even though she was dying, and we had no money, and we had nothing, I knew God was there. In her happier moments, she would talk about when she played organ at her own church growing up, and she was a very talented organist.
When she played, I knew God was there. But the bitterness of the disease overwhelmed her spirit a lot of times. I truly believe that because she was so strong willed and determined to do things "her way" with no help from above, that God had to use the cancer to get her attention and say hey wait a minute I am here, you need to take a look at Me. Now why would I say such a thing? Because she wanted to live her life without God's direction. She made many decisions without consulting the Lord first, and many of those decisions had to do with me. I grew up feeling very abandoned intellectually, socially, and emotionally.
But there is good news. She finally accepted the Lord and laid down her gauntlet toward the end and it was a beautiful thing to witness. How do I know that she is in Heaven? Well nobody told me that she is, but I will share another experience I had, and this leads me to believe that there is a God and He is in my life, working for me.
On April 19, 1995, a man named Timothy McVeigh drove a rented Ryder truck with explosives into the building where I worked and murdered 169 people. Yes that is including the unborn child for those of you reading this that don't want to consider a fetus equal to a human life.
I was in the stockroom of the Social Security Administration. Had I been at my desk I would not be writing this right now.
Within maybe 2-3 minutes of that explosion I was standing under an enormous skylight. We're talking hundreds of pounds of glass. I suddenly remembered something over in a corner I needed to get. I went to get that item and that's when the explosion occured. That skylight shattered, killing two of my friends beneath it.
I will not go into gruesome details, but terrible things happened to my co-workers in between the time that bomb went off and those floors pancaked over my office. Many of them did not die instantly. Meanwhile, I was trapped and could not see or hear for several minutes. I had no idea what had just happened; could not grasp the magnitude of it all.
When I was rescued, I crawled out of the space where that skylight had caved in. I had to crawl past the bloody, broken and dead body of my supervisor to get out, someone with whom I had just been chatting 45 minutes prior.
Now why would God do such a horrible thing? Or how could He allow something like this to happen, especially to innocent children?
Timothy McVeigh was an evil man. He was filled with evil and hatred for his country and his government. He premeditated this event. I stared into the man's evil eyes at his trial. He looked back into my eyes. What I saw was an evil man with no remorse.
Satan is the most terrifying creature ever known to man. Satan is the reason bad things happen. It is not God. Many people simply do not understand this.
I had a dream about 2 days after the bombing. In it, my supervisor was standing in my kitchen using my telephone to call her husband to tell her that she was okay. I went into my kitchen and asked "What are you doing in my kitchen?" to which she replied, "Oh, I just needed to use your phone real quick."
"Well, why are you here?" I asked.
"I am here to tell you that I am okay, that everybody is okay. You need to stop worrying about us, because we are all great."
She had a smile on her face. She was wearing blue jeans and a purple sweater and looked like she was ready to go out and work in her garden. That's how happy she looked.
"Do you have a picture I can take back for your mom?" she asks.
Whoa....I'm thinking...
"Yes, she has been asking about you. Wants to know how you've been at work. I said you've been great, but she wants a picture of you. She's so proud of you. She wanted me to tell you that."
So in my dream, I go get a picture out of a hatbox and bring it back, and hand it to my boss.
"Great!" she says. "Now, listen, like I said, don't you worry, and you're going to do great in your job. I have to go now."
Then she gave me a hug, and my front door opened. Light filled my living room. Then, she was gone.
I woke up.
Now some might say this was just some dream, some stupid silly dream that my mind concocted to ease the pain of the event. But my heart tells me differently. That it was a message from God, telling me that my boss was okay, because the last image I had of her was truly horrible, you cannot imagine. And also, it let me know where my mom was. Of course, I always knew. But it comforted me just the same.
Now on to my decision to become an Orthodox Christian. Because of all of the conflict I've been experiencing with Protestantism, I began to look at a way to resolve this conflict, because I knew there just had to be something deeper. I looked at Catholicism, but I always came up with answers that left me uneasy, such as priest celibacy (this does not exist in Orthodoxy although bishops are celibate) the huge emphasis on Mary (Orthodox hold her in high regard but not to such an exalted status like Catholics) papal infallibility (the Pope is an earthly man therefore he is infallible) and purgatory (Orthodox do not believe in purgatory)
From wikipedia:
The Orthodox Church is the historical, unbroken One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ and the Twelve Apostles, having maintained unbroken the link between its clergy and the Apostles by means of Apostolic Succession and Sacred Tradition.
The ecclesial communion which has never fallen into error nor deviated from the beliefs and traditions of the original Christian body, but rather has gone to great lengths to preserve them for future generations. All theological concepts, all explanations and expansions are compared to and validated by the original core beliefs; no deviation is allowed.
The Christian body which most closely adheres to the canons of the first seven ecumenical councils held between the 4th and the 8th centuries.
It has survived Communism, a period of serving under Islam, the Great Schism, countless wars, persecution, yet it thrives today.
With the problems facing our society today, to walk into an Orthodox service and be enveloped by its beauty and mysticism is truly a healing art in and of itself.
In my opinion, many Christians would benefit from going back to their roots and exploring this rich and historic, beautiful tradition that does not engage in hate mongering, finger pointing, or judgmental name calling. Instead, what you see is a wonderful, spiritual, uplifting thing that can only be good and beneficial. God's love is all around us.
I cannot stand to see what has happened to modern Christianity today.
I have been to Russia (1990) and I have been inside some of the most beautiful Orthodox cathedrals: St. Isaacs in St Petersburg, the Lavra Monastery in Kiev, Cathedral of the Assumption in Moscow.
To meet Russians that were suppressed by a Communist regime and were finally allowed to pray again was an awesome experience. It is what planted the seed for me to do what I am doing now. I hope to help bring others to God and to Jesus by telling my story. I am but young in faith though. If God is to use me, He will do it in His way, in His time.
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost"
(Matthew 28:19)
Some interesting articles:
Click here to read an article from an anonymous Orthodox Christian concerning homosexuality:
http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles4/AnonymousStruggle.php
C.S. Lewis, a writer who many considered to be Orthodox, although he was a practicing Anglican:
http://orthodoxwiki.org/C._S._Lewis
Here are some FAQ's about Orthodoxy:
http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/reading/questions.html
As a child, about 4 or 5, I was shuttled to a Baptist Sunday School every week on a bus from my home, alone, without my mother and father, and this was because of their own choice. They chose not to attend church, but instead, to send me there by myself. I don't remember how long this went on but it was difficult. Sure, I had fun watching the teachers put the felt Bible characters on the story board and getting to draw and make things, but I had no family to enjoy the service with like everyone else there. My parent would take me to Long John Silver's or to the ice cream parlor when I got home, but they wouldn't go to church with me. I never could really understand this. I'm sure they had good intentions, but it left me feeling pretty abandoned.
A close relative finally got me into a regular routine at a different Baptist church, and there I began to make friends and feel somewhat connected. But my school life was totally different. Because I could read by age four and could not attend public school yet until age five (this was in the early 70's) I went to religious schools. First, Methodist, for one year then non-denominational for one year, then Lutheran for one year, then another Baptist for one year. My parents weren't too keen on the public school system where I grew up so private school it was. The Baptist school I attended was the absolute worst.
Now I am not knocking Baptists. As I said, the Baptist church I went to on a regular basis was really fun and I enjoyed the youth group, the minister's services, etc. I even wanted to get baptized at age 7. But I was told no. I was told that I was not ready yet. But I felt ready. Being at my regular church was so cool for me. And then come Monday morning I would have to go to that awful Baptist school.
Demerits for my skirt being too short. I was too young to wear makeup, but I could never cut my hair. Couldn't wear pants. Had to memorize x amount of Bible verses every week. I made D's and F's in just about everything, even though I was capable of so much more. Chapel every Friday. Couldn't fall asleep or that would mean a trip to the principal's office. One kid did and he got paddled so bad I will never forget him sitting in the back of the class red eyed and snivveling (sp?) for the rest of the day. Having any kind of sexual questions/thoughts was considered absolutely forbidden, and no way would we talk about it. I tried to make up excuses every day to get out of going to school because I hated it that much.
Then, one day, while my parents were out of town and I was staying with my grandma, I decided that instead of studying for a test I'd just cheat. So I did. And I got caught. But instead of waiting until my parents were home to get approval to punish me, I got paddled on my lunch. I won't describe the event in detail but suffice it to say that it was one of the most humiliating things I have ever experienced. I had to hear the principal's condemnations of me with every whack of that paddle.
Once I did have the nerve to tell my mother (several months later) she listened, and I thought I would get the same thing again from her. But she was really cool about it. She took up for me, and I never went back to that school. I just don't think she realized what an abusive situation it was.
My mother held the values of a Christian, but also leaned toward the secular humanist side on a lot of things. So I was pretty confused. My dad wasn't one to think on a lot of those things so he just didn't discuss it. Why all the religious schools then, you ask? I don't know. I wish I could ask my mom now. But more on that later.
The fanatical evangelists tried to convert my family and tell us we were going to hell unless we repented and asked Jesus for forgiveness and confessed everything publicly. This I had a problem with, because so much in our life is private and we really need to have a PRIVATE relationship with God. So I've never understood this need to make everything public because, when it comes to organized religion, let's face it, people want to make YOUR business THEIR business. THEY know what's best for you; YOU do not. It becomes a gradual loss of critical thinking skills and giving over to mass group peer pressure tactics instead of treating God like the sacred being that He is. So I never bought into that.
I've also never bought into sending your money into some church as a way to buy your forgiveness from God, because that just ain't true. All the guilt tactics, suppressive thought control, you name it, I was part of it. I knew it was wrong, but I was a child, what could I do? If I voiced my opinion, I was told that I didn't know right from wrong, someone else would need to make those choices for me. But God would prevail and all would be made well.
I just didn't get it all. I was confused. I wanted a relationship with God but I didn't understand all these guilt tactics, all the "tent revivals" and "must be in the church 5-6 times a week for anything to make a difference." They didn't want you listening to secular music or take an interest in anything at all outside of the confines of the church. Having friends outside the church was a complete no-no too. So how could this be Christian? "Well, we have to set an example and lead others to Christ. No swearing, no drinking. No outside influences." Well where do I sign up????
On top of this, at this point, I was going to public secular school where I was being exposed to all these "evils." I couldn't communicate with kids my own age BECAUSE I DIDN"T KNOW HOW.
Then my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and I watched her die a slow and painful death. She didn't exactly deny God, but wouldn't put her faith and trust in Him to help her through the tough parts either. I prayed for her continuously. People from the church, well meaning, would come by to visit, but it would always wind up in some sort of anger match with her telling them to get out and leave her alone, that she didn't need their God. This hurt me terribly. Because deep down, despite all the things I'd suffered, I knew God was there. Even though she was dying, and we had no money, and we had nothing, I knew God was there. In her happier moments, she would talk about when she played organ at her own church growing up, and she was a very talented organist.
When she played, I knew God was there. But the bitterness of the disease overwhelmed her spirit a lot of times. I truly believe that because she was so strong willed and determined to do things "her way" with no help from above, that God had to use the cancer to get her attention and say hey wait a minute I am here, you need to take a look at Me. Now why would I say such a thing? Because she wanted to live her life without God's direction. She made many decisions without consulting the Lord first, and many of those decisions had to do with me. I grew up feeling very abandoned intellectually, socially, and emotionally.
But there is good news. She finally accepted the Lord and laid down her gauntlet toward the end and it was a beautiful thing to witness. How do I know that she is in Heaven? Well nobody told me that she is, but I will share another experience I had, and this leads me to believe that there is a God and He is in my life, working for me.
On April 19, 1995, a man named Timothy McVeigh drove a rented Ryder truck with explosives into the building where I worked and murdered 169 people. Yes that is including the unborn child for those of you reading this that don't want to consider a fetus equal to a human life.
I was in the stockroom of the Social Security Administration. Had I been at my desk I would not be writing this right now.
Within maybe 2-3 minutes of that explosion I was standing under an enormous skylight. We're talking hundreds of pounds of glass. I suddenly remembered something over in a corner I needed to get. I went to get that item and that's when the explosion occured. That skylight shattered, killing two of my friends beneath it.
I will not go into gruesome details, but terrible things happened to my co-workers in between the time that bomb went off and those floors pancaked over my office. Many of them did not die instantly. Meanwhile, I was trapped and could not see or hear for several minutes. I had no idea what had just happened; could not grasp the magnitude of it all.
When I was rescued, I crawled out of the space where that skylight had caved in. I had to crawl past the bloody, broken and dead body of my supervisor to get out, someone with whom I had just been chatting 45 minutes prior.
Now why would God do such a horrible thing? Or how could He allow something like this to happen, especially to innocent children?
Timothy McVeigh was an evil man. He was filled with evil and hatred for his country and his government. He premeditated this event. I stared into the man's evil eyes at his trial. He looked back into my eyes. What I saw was an evil man with no remorse.
Satan is the most terrifying creature ever known to man. Satan is the reason bad things happen. It is not God. Many people simply do not understand this.
I had a dream about 2 days after the bombing. In it, my supervisor was standing in my kitchen using my telephone to call her husband to tell her that she was okay. I went into my kitchen and asked "What are you doing in my kitchen?" to which she replied, "Oh, I just needed to use your phone real quick."
"Well, why are you here?" I asked.
"I am here to tell you that I am okay, that everybody is okay. You need to stop worrying about us, because we are all great."
She had a smile on her face. She was wearing blue jeans and a purple sweater and looked like she was ready to go out and work in her garden. That's how happy she looked.
"Do you have a picture I can take back for your mom?" she asks.
Whoa....I'm thinking...
"Yes, she has been asking about you. Wants to know how you've been at work. I said you've been great, but she wants a picture of you. She's so proud of you. She wanted me to tell you that."
So in my dream, I go get a picture out of a hatbox and bring it back, and hand it to my boss.
"Great!" she says. "Now, listen, like I said, don't you worry, and you're going to do great in your job. I have to go now."
Then she gave me a hug, and my front door opened. Light filled my living room. Then, she was gone.
I woke up.
Now some might say this was just some dream, some stupid silly dream that my mind concocted to ease the pain of the event. But my heart tells me differently. That it was a message from God, telling me that my boss was okay, because the last image I had of her was truly horrible, you cannot imagine. And also, it let me know where my mom was. Of course, I always knew. But it comforted me just the same.
Now on to my decision to become an Orthodox Christian. Because of all of the conflict I've been experiencing with Protestantism, I began to look at a way to resolve this conflict, because I knew there just had to be something deeper. I looked at Catholicism, but I always came up with answers that left me uneasy, such as priest celibacy (this does not exist in Orthodoxy although bishops are celibate) the huge emphasis on Mary (Orthodox hold her in high regard but not to such an exalted status like Catholics) papal infallibility (the Pope is an earthly man therefore he is infallible) and purgatory (Orthodox do not believe in purgatory)
From wikipedia:
The Orthodox Church is the historical, unbroken One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ and the Twelve Apostles, having maintained unbroken the link between its clergy and the Apostles by means of Apostolic Succession and Sacred Tradition.
The ecclesial communion which has never fallen into error nor deviated from the beliefs and traditions of the original Christian body, but rather has gone to great lengths to preserve them for future generations. All theological concepts, all explanations and expansions are compared to and validated by the original core beliefs; no deviation is allowed.
The Christian body which most closely adheres to the canons of the first seven ecumenical councils held between the 4th and the 8th centuries.
It has survived Communism, a period of serving under Islam, the Great Schism, countless wars, persecution, yet it thrives today.
With the problems facing our society today, to walk into an Orthodox service and be enveloped by its beauty and mysticism is truly a healing art in and of itself.
In my opinion, many Christians would benefit from going back to their roots and exploring this rich and historic, beautiful tradition that does not engage in hate mongering, finger pointing, or judgmental name calling. Instead, what you see is a wonderful, spiritual, uplifting thing that can only be good and beneficial. God's love is all around us.
I cannot stand to see what has happened to modern Christianity today.
I have been to Russia (1990) and I have been inside some of the most beautiful Orthodox cathedrals: St. Isaacs in St Petersburg, the Lavra Monastery in Kiev, Cathedral of the Assumption in Moscow.
To meet Russians that were suppressed by a Communist regime and were finally allowed to pray again was an awesome experience. It is what planted the seed for me to do what I am doing now. I hope to help bring others to God and to Jesus by telling my story. I am but young in faith though. If God is to use me, He will do it in His way, in His time.
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost"
(Matthew 28:19)
Some interesting articles:
Click here to read an article from an anonymous Orthodox Christian concerning homosexuality:
http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles4/AnonymousStruggle.php
C.S. Lewis, a writer who many considered to be Orthodox, although he was a practicing Anglican:
http://orthodoxwiki.org/C._S._Lewis
Here are some FAQ's about Orthodoxy:
http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/reading/questions.html
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Fall is coming!
I'm so ready for fall and to be rid of this hot weather!
Ready for the Kansas City Renaissance Festival http://www.kcrenfest.com and the Halloween season http://www.kcbeast.com
I'm hoping to have a huge blowout Halloween party at my house. Hey, if Captain Jack Sparrow shows up, I'll be more than fine!
Yes, I dig Halloween, horror movies and cold weekends with good football!
Ready for the Kansas City Renaissance Festival http://www.kcrenfest.com and the Halloween season http://www.kcbeast.com
I'm hoping to have a huge blowout Halloween party at my house. Hey, if Captain Jack Sparrow shows up, I'll be more than fine!
Yes, I dig Halloween, horror movies and cold weekends with good football!
Communion
Well I went to church this morning, and uh...I didn't see any kids thrashing about during Communion demanding that their parents take them home for fear of "eating Jesus."
That opinion is so laughable. It has no basis and proves that many non believers just assume situations occuring during a Christian ceremony to either a) Irresponsibly antagonize their opposition so they can further their anti-Christian agenda or b) get something off their chest so they can feel good about themselves.
Of course in their minds, Christians are pretty much idiots, zombies and Creationist-believing drones who just go on about daily life with this picture of Jesus stamped over their heads screaming, "I'm a Jesus idiot! Please kick me into reality! I need kicking, please!"
We all must be brought to "reality" and made to "think rationally and scientifically." And only the modern day scientists, their theories and their formulas can do that for us. Life is finite. Dull and dreary. Nothing to enjoy there. Once we die, there's no afterlife, no nothing. Sigh.
Why then, do we eat healthy? Exercise? Travel and see new places? Learn languages? Have the curiosity to seek out new things? We are the only species that can make conscious decisions like that. I'd like for someone to 'splain me that. Why do we set goals? If we were just another species that lived here on Earth without a reason, I'd think we wouldn't have modern medicine. Or space travel. Or words to communicate with. And how does this NOT point to a creator???
Funny how many of them will not say these things about Jews or Muslims openly, at least not with the fervor which they accuse Christians. Is it because they are scared of Muslims? Afraid of being labeled anti-Jewish by the Jewish community? Would that be harder for them to do because it might mean they actually have a conscience? Might have to be accountable for their actions?
I've seen some Muslims who have analyzed some videos on youtube about some fake conversions to Christianity, and they know their Quran, front and back. They are very articulate. Debating a Muslim would not be a pretty thing to an atheist I would think. Muslims, Jews and Christians might have a lot of differences but we believe in the same God. A Creator.
That opinion is so laughable. It has no basis and proves that many non believers just assume situations occuring during a Christian ceremony to either a) Irresponsibly antagonize their opposition so they can further their anti-Christian agenda or b) get something off their chest so they can feel good about themselves.
Of course in their minds, Christians are pretty much idiots, zombies and Creationist-believing drones who just go on about daily life with this picture of Jesus stamped over their heads screaming, "I'm a Jesus idiot! Please kick me into reality! I need kicking, please!"
We all must be brought to "reality" and made to "think rationally and scientifically." And only the modern day scientists, their theories and their formulas can do that for us. Life is finite. Dull and dreary. Nothing to enjoy there. Once we die, there's no afterlife, no nothing. Sigh.
Why then, do we eat healthy? Exercise? Travel and see new places? Learn languages? Have the curiosity to seek out new things? We are the only species that can make conscious decisions like that. I'd like for someone to 'splain me that. Why do we set goals? If we were just another species that lived here on Earth without a reason, I'd think we wouldn't have modern medicine. Or space travel. Or words to communicate with. And how does this NOT point to a creator???
Funny how many of them will not say these things about Jews or Muslims openly, at least not with the fervor which they accuse Christians. Is it because they are scared of Muslims? Afraid of being labeled anti-Jewish by the Jewish community? Would that be harder for them to do because it might mean they actually have a conscience? Might have to be accountable for their actions?
I've seen some Muslims who have analyzed some videos on youtube about some fake conversions to Christianity, and they know their Quran, front and back. They are very articulate. Debating a Muslim would not be a pretty thing to an atheist I would think. Muslims, Jews and Christians might have a lot of differences but we believe in the same God. A Creator.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
New snippets of wisdom
Ah yes, more snippets of wisdom from our friendly atheist crowd. Here's an answer a guy gave when asked what would he do if his kid decided to follow God:
Commenter 1
iF you are a free thinker if one of your kids insisted on GOD being the creator would you listen and not try to change thier mind!!?
Commenter 2
"if one of your kids..?"
I would be most perturbed if they were buying into Creationisms, since such a world view requires a complete leave of sensibility, and would seek the appropriate anti-cult psychological counciling (as well as sue whomever had their kid preaching to my kid on the playground)...
2) If they insisted on there being something of a divine, however, I would try my best to steer them towards Deism via the works/writings of Einstein, Hawking, Jefferson and Spinoza; hopefully, they will seek a reverence for the cosmos rather than buying into primitive dogmatism of some culturally-relative mythology.
Sue whomever had their kid preaching to them on the playground. Okay, first of all, isn't this really infringing on a kid's right to choose? And isn't America founded on the right to choose for yourself? Or maybe I'm wrong there?
Commenter 1
iF you are a free thinker if one of your kids insisted on GOD being the creator would you listen and not try to change thier mind!!?
Commenter 2
"if one of your kids..?"
I would be most perturbed if they were buying into Creationisms, since such a world view requires a complete leave of sensibility, and would seek the appropriate anti-cult psychological counciling (as well as sue whomever had their kid preaching to my kid on the playground)...
2) If they insisted on there being something of a divine, however, I would try my best to steer them towards Deism via the works/writings of Einstein, Hawking, Jefferson and Spinoza; hopefully, they will seek a reverence for the cosmos rather than buying into primitive dogmatism of some culturally-relative mythology.
Sue whomever had their kid preaching to them on the playground. Okay, first of all, isn't this really infringing on a kid's right to choose? And isn't America founded on the right to choose for yourself? Or maybe I'm wrong there?
Friday, August 17, 2007
Why do we eat Jesus?
Wow, this is absolutely fascinating. I just got this from a website called http://www.whygodwonthealamputees.com
The subject is "Communion." A family goes to church. Look at this "dialogue."
If you are looking for an easy way to prove to yourself that Jesus is not God, try this simple experiment. Take a small child, perhaps age 4 or 5, to church on Sunday and let the child watch communion. You may experience something like this:
Child: Daddy, what are they doing?
Daddy: Well dear, this part of the service is called communion.
Child: What's communion?
Daddy: Well, it's where... Well, it's... you know, what we do is we eat Jesus' body to... Well, it's complicated. Let me see...
Child: We eat Jesus' BODY???
Daddy: Yes. Well, no, but...
Child: Why do we need to eat Jesus??? I don't want to eat Jesus!!!
Daddy: No, no, no. It's OK honey. It's OK. Be quiet now, don't cry in church. Shhhh. Shush. Now it's OK.
Child: But Daddy, I don't want to eat Jesus!
Daddy: Mom, help me out here.
Mom: Honey, it is a holy sacrament. You see, we eat Jesus' body and we drink his blood because...
Child: I have to drink his blood too??? Mommy, I don't want to drink blood!!!
Mom: Honey, calm down! You don't actually drink his blood.
Child: But that man up there is holding up a cup and he is saying that it is Jesus' blood! Mommy! I want to leave! I am leaving!
Mom, Dad: No honey! Wait! We can't leave now!
Well, I have never been to a communion where I have seen children act like this. Children are inquisitive creatures and I hardly think that one would act like this in a holy service, but would want to know more about why we do it and not be afraid.
This is propaganda plain and simple. The people at this website are simply inserting this dialogue and scenario into this, hopeful that any parents that "are just not sure" about Christ can be duped by his "gotcha!" trick on the uneducated. Then when you look further into his arguments and click on his videos it says "by viewing these videos you will be able to educate yourselves on why the Bible is repulsive, this is the best optical illusion in the world, etc, etc, (Insert video name here, there are many.)
In telling Christians in his videos that they are "smart and intelligent" he is actually using a lot of reverse psychology on them, to lure them into watching his propaganda. Then he inserts the tests and theories and scientific data, then concludes with "God is imaginary. Science proves it. Now if you are an intelligent person, you have begun to see this by now."
Wow! They say. Oh my gosh. No need to look up anything in my Bible anymore. This man has just given me all the rationale I need to start doubting my Lord and Savior. This is EXACTLY the response he wants, and this is what makes this website so dangerous.
I use that word carefully because I'm certain the author wants to be portrayed that way, to scare the majority of people who do not have an understanding about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I'm sure this beefs him up and makes him feel superior intellectually, like he is "standing for something."
Well he forgets the Old Covenant teachings in the Bible. Yes, the Old Testament is violent, and yes there are many, many unpleasant things in it. But this is why God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever shall believeth in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life."
The reason there are so many evil things in the Old Testament is because of two things: Sin and Satan. Satan is usually not referenced much by non believers, simply because they discount Satan as a myth, not to be bothered with. But it leaves a HUGE hole in why they argue against God.
For one thing, the Bible is not one book, but many books, written by many different authors over a period of several hundreds of years. They discount it, yet praise a book written by one secularist or humanist such as Richard Dawkins, David Mills as being "authoritative" and conclusive proof that God does not exist. This to me is limiting and therefore not being indicative of having an "open mind," as many secularists claim to have.
We are separated from God by sin. When Adam and Eve chose to eat from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden, they severed that wonderful perfect gift that God gave us. Therefore, the world became a sinister, evil place. Genesis 4 tells us of the first murder in the Bible. When we sin, we must pay the consequences. In the Old Testament, the penalties for sin was death.
But in the New Testament, all of that changed. The secularists use the Old Testament as the basis for their argument that God is evil and asks the question, "Why would we want to worship such an evil and hateful God?"
This seems like an easy out for them doesn't it? To explain all their theories and take away any sense of accountability for their actions. This is why it is so important for Christians to educate themselves on why we need a relationship with Jesus Christ.
The subject is "Communion." A family goes to church. Look at this "dialogue."
If you are looking for an easy way to prove to yourself that Jesus is not God, try this simple experiment. Take a small child, perhaps age 4 or 5, to church on Sunday and let the child watch communion. You may experience something like this:
Child: Daddy, what are they doing?
Daddy: Well dear, this part of the service is called communion.
Child: What's communion?
Daddy: Well, it's where... Well, it's... you know, what we do is we eat Jesus' body to... Well, it's complicated. Let me see...
Child: We eat Jesus' BODY???
Daddy: Yes. Well, no, but...
Child: Why do we need to eat Jesus??? I don't want to eat Jesus!!!
Daddy: No, no, no. It's OK honey. It's OK. Be quiet now, don't cry in church. Shhhh. Shush. Now it's OK.
Child: But Daddy, I don't want to eat Jesus!
Daddy: Mom, help me out here.
Mom: Honey, it is a holy sacrament. You see, we eat Jesus' body and we drink his blood because...
Child: I have to drink his blood too??? Mommy, I don't want to drink blood!!!
Mom: Honey, calm down! You don't actually drink his blood.
Child: But that man up there is holding up a cup and he is saying that it is Jesus' blood! Mommy! I want to leave! I am leaving!
Mom, Dad: No honey! Wait! We can't leave now!
Well, I have never been to a communion where I have seen children act like this. Children are inquisitive creatures and I hardly think that one would act like this in a holy service, but would want to know more about why we do it and not be afraid.
This is propaganda plain and simple. The people at this website are simply inserting this dialogue and scenario into this, hopeful that any parents that "are just not sure" about Christ can be duped by his "gotcha!" trick on the uneducated. Then when you look further into his arguments and click on his videos it says "by viewing these videos you will be able to educate yourselves on why the Bible is repulsive, this is the best optical illusion in the world, etc, etc, (Insert video name here, there are many.)
In telling Christians in his videos that they are "smart and intelligent" he is actually using a lot of reverse psychology on them, to lure them into watching his propaganda. Then he inserts the tests and theories and scientific data, then concludes with "God is imaginary. Science proves it. Now if you are an intelligent person, you have begun to see this by now."
Wow! They say. Oh my gosh. No need to look up anything in my Bible anymore. This man has just given me all the rationale I need to start doubting my Lord and Savior. This is EXACTLY the response he wants, and this is what makes this website so dangerous.
I use that word carefully because I'm certain the author wants to be portrayed that way, to scare the majority of people who do not have an understanding about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I'm sure this beefs him up and makes him feel superior intellectually, like he is "standing for something."
Well he forgets the Old Covenant teachings in the Bible. Yes, the Old Testament is violent, and yes there are many, many unpleasant things in it. But this is why God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever shall believeth in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life."
The reason there are so many evil things in the Old Testament is because of two things: Sin and Satan. Satan is usually not referenced much by non believers, simply because they discount Satan as a myth, not to be bothered with. But it leaves a HUGE hole in why they argue against God.
For one thing, the Bible is not one book, but many books, written by many different authors over a period of several hundreds of years. They discount it, yet praise a book written by one secularist or humanist such as Richard Dawkins, David Mills as being "authoritative" and conclusive proof that God does not exist. This to me is limiting and therefore not being indicative of having an "open mind," as many secularists claim to have.
We are separated from God by sin. When Adam and Eve chose to eat from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden, they severed that wonderful perfect gift that God gave us. Therefore, the world became a sinister, evil place. Genesis 4 tells us of the first murder in the Bible. When we sin, we must pay the consequences. In the Old Testament, the penalties for sin was death.
But in the New Testament, all of that changed. The secularists use the Old Testament as the basis for their argument that God is evil and asks the question, "Why would we want to worship such an evil and hateful God?"
This seems like an easy out for them doesn't it? To explain all their theories and take away any sense of accountability for their actions. This is why it is so important for Christians to educate themselves on why we need a relationship with Jesus Christ.
World of Warcraft and Xfire videos
Okay, so I found this dude named Oxhorn that has a tauren druid on WoW. He made some absolutely hilarious videos on youtube. Check them out when you have a free moment. (I seem to have lots of them lately.)
Just type in Oxhorn. One is called "Red Snappah." This pokes fun at all the stupid access quests one must do to get into certain areas of the game.
Another one is the "ROFLMAO" video. Highly prized for its unique illustration of internet language used in MMPORGS.
And then there is the "Drunken Kodo Riding." Poor Oxhorn gets busted for riding his mount while intoxicated.
Yep, I need to get a life I know. I know!
MMkay, I'm going to go play in Arathi Basin for awhile. TGIF!!!!
Just type in Oxhorn. One is called "Red Snappah." This pokes fun at all the stupid access quests one must do to get into certain areas of the game.
Another one is the "ROFLMAO" video. Highly prized for its unique illustration of internet language used in MMPORGS.
And then there is the "Drunken Kodo Riding." Poor Oxhorn gets busted for riding his mount while intoxicated.
Yep, I need to get a life I know. I know!
MMkay, I'm going to go play in Arathi Basin for awhile. TGIF!!!!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Richard Dawkins stumped by a Creationist
Okay....here is something VERY interesting.
I just checked out the youtube video by Richard Dawkins entitled "Richard Dawkins describes GOD"
It can be found HERE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wcG3yoSAdk
I was able to post a comment there freely under username sthomas68. No problem. You can read it.
Now look at the youtube video entitled "Richard Dawkins stumped by creationist questions"
It can be found HERE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaKryi3605g
When I tried to post a question there, I got the response that my comment would be posted after it was approved. Now why would this be??? Why are they censoring comments about this particular video?
I tried again, just to make sure that I wasn't just seeing things, but I got the same response.
Take a serious look at each of these two videos and I think you will be able to make an educated answer for yourself.
I just checked out the youtube video by Richard Dawkins entitled "Richard Dawkins describes GOD"
It can be found HERE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wcG3yoSAdk
I was able to post a comment there freely under username sthomas68. No problem. You can read it.
Now look at the youtube video entitled "Richard Dawkins stumped by creationist questions"
It can be found HERE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaKryi3605g
When I tried to post a question there, I got the response that my comment would be posted after it was approved. Now why would this be??? Why are they censoring comments about this particular video?
I tried again, just to make sure that I wasn't just seeing things, but I got the same response.
Take a serious look at each of these two videos and I think you will be able to make an educated answer for yourself.
Monday, August 13, 2007
I find it interesting...
that when I do google searches for "atheists vs muslims" or "atheists vs satanists" or "atheists vs hindus" or "atheists vs buddhists" I find virtually no debates between the two, at least not to the extent like atheism and Christianity. Is this because atheists don't have a problem with these other religions? Are they more tolerant of them? More accepting of their behavior? Do they not feel uncomfortable in their presence like they do around Christians? What IS it? I really want to know!
I want to know how they have arrived at such a level of tolerance for these other practices. When a Hindu says a prayer in the Senate, it doesn't bother them! No need to enforce any kind of ruling on the separation of church and state there. No cause for an uproar. When an elected official takes his oath of office on the Koran, no big deal. Hey, it's his religion, he's entitled to practice as he wishes, right? Leave the man alone for Darwin's sake!
Yet when a moment of silence enters the public school system, all of a sudden, shhh....it's time to feel threatened and say, "You evil and stupid XIANS (or Chians however one prefers) are trying to make us pray. Why....how DARE you do that! We will put on our atheist superhero uniforms, go to the courts and stop you, and make everything secular whether you like it or not! Mwa ahahahaah!" (There! Now we've got you! You and your silly little God and silly little Jesus won't be able to hurt us anymore.)
(Beats Christians back with copies of Atheist Universe and The Origin of Species.)
Just another question I'd like to pose: Who was it that brought down our towers on 9/11?
Were they Hindus? Nope, don't think so.
Were they Buddhists? Don't believe that was the case either.
Were those people self declared Satanists? Um, nope.
Those criminals were radical fundamentalist Muslims, with a hatred for ALL Americans, and they don't discriminate whether we are Christian, atheist, blue, green, whatever.
I just haven't seen much in the way of atheists speaking out against what happened on 9/11.
I got this from an article on barna.org, dated 6/11/07:
Most atheists and agnostics (56%) agree with the idea that radical Christianity is just as threatening in America as is radical Islam.
Here is a link to that article:
http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdateID=272
Why is this???? Please, someone explain this to me in simple terms that a stupid Christian like myself can understand. How is Christianity as or more threatening in America as Islam?
I have a theory on why but I will save it until a later post.
I want to know how they have arrived at such a level of tolerance for these other practices. When a Hindu says a prayer in the Senate, it doesn't bother them! No need to enforce any kind of ruling on the separation of church and state there. No cause for an uproar. When an elected official takes his oath of office on the Koran, no big deal. Hey, it's his religion, he's entitled to practice as he wishes, right? Leave the man alone for Darwin's sake!
Yet when a moment of silence enters the public school system, all of a sudden, shhh....it's time to feel threatened and say, "You evil and stupid XIANS (or Chians however one prefers) are trying to make us pray. Why....how DARE you do that! We will put on our atheist superhero uniforms, go to the courts and stop you, and make everything secular whether you like it or not! Mwa ahahahaah!" (There! Now we've got you! You and your silly little God and silly little Jesus won't be able to hurt us anymore.)
(Beats Christians back with copies of Atheist Universe and The Origin of Species.)
Just another question I'd like to pose: Who was it that brought down our towers on 9/11?
Were they Hindus? Nope, don't think so.
Were they Buddhists? Don't believe that was the case either.
Were those people self declared Satanists? Um, nope.
Those criminals were radical fundamentalist Muslims, with a hatred for ALL Americans, and they don't discriminate whether we are Christian, atheist, blue, green, whatever.
I just haven't seen much in the way of atheists speaking out against what happened on 9/11.
I got this from an article on barna.org, dated 6/11/07:
Most atheists and agnostics (56%) agree with the idea that radical Christianity is just as threatening in America as is radical Islam.
Here is a link to that article:
http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdateID=272
Why is this???? Please, someone explain this to me in simple terms that a stupid Christian like myself can understand. How is Christianity as or more threatening in America as Islam?
I have a theory on why but I will save it until a later post.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Does God Exist?
My heart is heavy over the debate between Christians and atheists in our society. When I see atheists denouncing religion, most of it is blasphemous or hate speech against Christianity. I really see no one stepping up to the plate and saying "I am an Atheist. I denounce ALL Gods....the God of the Bible, Allah, the various Hindu Gods, Mayan Gods, Buddha, etc. etc."
It seems to be ALWAYS Christianity. Is this because these people feel so persecuted and demonized that they must lash out at Christians only and single them out so often for these attacks?
I pose this question purely for arguments sake: Could this be characterized as discrimination against Christians? And, if so, would we have a reason to take them to court and sue for damages? Or would that be considered "absolutely preposterous" and "a waste of time" and "Hell no, I'm not going to use MY tax dollars just so YOU can get some relief and prop up your egos. Get a life!" Hmm. Does any of this sound vaguely familiar?
So what exactly IS an atheist? I pulled this definition from wikipedia:
Atheism, as a philosophical view, is the position that either affirms the nonexistence of gods[1] or rejects theism.[2] When defined more broadly, atheism is the absence of belief in deities,[3] alternatively called nontheism.[
Notice that it says god(s) and deity(s).
Now there are variations on atheism, just as there are branches and variations of Christianity. But the above is the best, well rounded definition I will use for my argument.
The author of the book, Atheist Universe, David Mills, took the blasphemy challenge on youtube recently and posted a video using pages from the Bible to pick up dog feces in his home while his young daughter (presumably) filmed the entire thing. In it he uses the f work against God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I'm sure that in its own context it was intended to be a blasphemous, humorous video, and no doubt many of his friends and followers got a good laugh out of it.
The video can be found here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFve5PaKoco
Here are some examples of actual responses from his camp:
"Hilarious!!!! 5 stars and favorited."
"wonderful. a good example of how the whole ridiculous mess should be treated."
"God created the excretory system....he should deal with it."
"LMFAOhahaha haha h ah ha hha ha omg that was the best video ever. "
"Since God and Jesus don't exist, I see no problem wiping up dog doo with fictional characters.If it upsets you: good. You are deluded."
But on a more serious note, what it really does is put him on a childish, immature and selfish level and even more so, reduces his credibility as an author, public speaker and role model.
He claims to be a proud supporter of the "Rational Response Squad." Well his actions are anything but rational. Here are some responses to support my point:
"Ok... Denouncing a religion is one thing. Im all for it. But totally trashing someone elses beliefs by picking up feces with their bible is fucked up. Its not educational. Its childish taunting and such. This guy David Mills can go fuck himself. Put Nick Gisburne back. He knew how to do it right. PS - it sounded like there was a kid holding that camera. Good language to teach you kids. Maybe you should take a few lessons from the Bible. Forget the fucking unicorns. Teach him some fucking manners. And potty train your dog. "
"First time viewers will be directed to RationalResponse's channel, and will make their opinion of the channel from it. This video will cause an immediate loss of credibility to the channel, and to anyone who is noticed to be a subscriber. This video is in direct conflict to even the name of the channel, much less the goals of the channel. RationalResponse needs to remove this video under their own free will of reason."
"Bet it felt good making this video. Surely it will be praised by the followers of Malcolm X, but it also most certainly will cause theists to become more entrenched in their prejudices, and less likely to listen to, or respect the opinions of others. My response is that this video is not a rational response. "
I could go on and on. I will be posting my own article on "Christian Televangelists" soon and what I think about them, so this is not like I'm just picking on one thing here.
I located an interesting link called "Does God Exist?"
http://www.doesgodexist.org
On this website you will find a link entitled "Why I left Atheism" by John M. Clayton. It's a brilliant read; a firsthand account of one man's journey. No doubt it will be waved off by traditional atheists, however. They don't want to read or see anything like this, yet Christians are forced to endure stories about "Why I'm not a Christian anymore and became an atheist" and so on and so forth.
It seems to be ALWAYS Christianity. Is this because these people feel so persecuted and demonized that they must lash out at Christians only and single them out so often for these attacks?
I pose this question purely for arguments sake: Could this be characterized as discrimination against Christians? And, if so, would we have a reason to take them to court and sue for damages? Or would that be considered "absolutely preposterous" and "a waste of time" and "Hell no, I'm not going to use MY tax dollars just so YOU can get some relief and prop up your egos. Get a life!" Hmm. Does any of this sound vaguely familiar?
So what exactly IS an atheist? I pulled this definition from wikipedia:
Atheism, as a philosophical view, is the position that either affirms the nonexistence of gods[1] or rejects theism.[2] When defined more broadly, atheism is the absence of belief in deities,[3] alternatively called nontheism.[
Notice that it says god(s) and deity(s).
Now there are variations on atheism, just as there are branches and variations of Christianity. But the above is the best, well rounded definition I will use for my argument.
The author of the book, Atheist Universe, David Mills, took the blasphemy challenge on youtube recently and posted a video using pages from the Bible to pick up dog feces in his home while his young daughter (presumably) filmed the entire thing. In it he uses the f work against God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I'm sure that in its own context it was intended to be a blasphemous, humorous video, and no doubt many of his friends and followers got a good laugh out of it.
The video can be found here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFve5PaKoco
Here are some examples of actual responses from his camp:
"Hilarious!!!! 5 stars and favorited."
"wonderful. a good example of how the whole ridiculous mess should be treated."
"God created the excretory system....he should deal with it."
"LMFAOhahaha haha h ah ha hha ha omg that was the best video ever. "
"Since God and Jesus don't exist, I see no problem wiping up dog doo with fictional characters.If it upsets you: good. You are deluded."
But on a more serious note, what it really does is put him on a childish, immature and selfish level and even more so, reduces his credibility as an author, public speaker and role model.
He claims to be a proud supporter of the "Rational Response Squad." Well his actions are anything but rational. Here are some responses to support my point:
"Ok... Denouncing a religion is one thing. Im all for it. But totally trashing someone elses beliefs by picking up feces with their bible is fucked up. Its not educational. Its childish taunting and such. This guy David Mills can go fuck himself. Put Nick Gisburne back. He knew how to do it right. PS - it sounded like there was a kid holding that camera. Good language to teach you kids. Maybe you should take a few lessons from the Bible. Forget the fucking unicorns. Teach him some fucking manners. And potty train your dog. "
"First time viewers will be directed to RationalResponse's channel, and will make their opinion of the channel from it. This video will cause an immediate loss of credibility to the channel, and to anyone who is noticed to be a subscriber. This video is in direct conflict to even the name of the channel, much less the goals of the channel. RationalResponse needs to remove this video under their own free will of reason."
"Bet it felt good making this video. Surely it will be praised by the followers of Malcolm X, but it also most certainly will cause theists to become more entrenched in their prejudices, and less likely to listen to, or respect the opinions of others. My response is that this video is not a rational response. "
I could go on and on. I will be posting my own article on "Christian Televangelists" soon and what I think about them, so this is not like I'm just picking on one thing here.
I located an interesting link called "Does God Exist?"
http://www.doesgodexist.org
On this website you will find a link entitled "Why I left Atheism" by John M. Clayton. It's a brilliant read; a firsthand account of one man's journey. No doubt it will be waved off by traditional atheists, however. They don't want to read or see anything like this, yet Christians are forced to endure stories about "Why I'm not a Christian anymore and became an atheist" and so on and so forth.
Liveaboard diving
My husband and I are going to try the Blackbeard's Cruises http://www.blackbeard-cruises.com/ sometime either late this year or in early 2008. We've heard so many good things about them and they are much less expensive then many of the other liveaboard's currently out on the market. Certainly the price points are a big draw, but one thing that's particulary interesting is that they take you out on a shark feeding dive at one point during the week. You get to be close up to the nurse and reef sharks in a controlled environment while they feed them.
This sounds exhilerating, if not just a little scary. But that's part of the excitement.
We've been certified for a year and a half now. Our first real open water dive was in Lake Mead, NV when the water temp. was 58 degrees! That will shrink everything up in a hurry. Since then, we've done dives in Roatan, Honduras, the Santa Rosa Wall in Cozumel, Playa Maroma, Playa del Carmen, Beaver Lake, Arkansas, and I did a dive off Elbow Beach, Bermuda last year and got to see the shipwreck Pollockshields with one of those cool James Bond scooter things. The picture on my blog is of Elbow Beach. Bermuda is absolutely incredible!
Now I want to do even more wreck diving. The Bermuda IV http://www.bermudaiv.com offers 5 day liveaboard diving and you see nothing but wrecks. Wow! However, this one will require a bit more positive cash flow, so that will have to wait.
A whole new world of underwater adventure awaits us and adds an exciting dimension to our travel lifestyle. I just hope when I'm 75 I can still strap on a tank and weights!
This sounds exhilerating, if not just a little scary. But that's part of the excitement.
We've been certified for a year and a half now. Our first real open water dive was in Lake Mead, NV when the water temp. was 58 degrees! That will shrink everything up in a hurry. Since then, we've done dives in Roatan, Honduras, the Santa Rosa Wall in Cozumel, Playa Maroma, Playa del Carmen, Beaver Lake, Arkansas, and I did a dive off Elbow Beach, Bermuda last year and got to see the shipwreck Pollockshields with one of those cool James Bond scooter things. The picture on my blog is of Elbow Beach. Bermuda is absolutely incredible!
Now I want to do even more wreck diving. The Bermuda IV http://www.bermudaiv.com offers 5 day liveaboard diving and you see nothing but wrecks. Wow! However, this one will require a bit more positive cash flow, so that will have to wait.
A whole new world of underwater adventure awaits us and adds an exciting dimension to our travel lifestyle. I just hope when I'm 75 I can still strap on a tank and weights!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Yep...
These are the newest posts on Mr. Croft's blog:
TXAtheist said:
god or anyone else, please email me and not clog up this blog, thanks. md457@hotmail.com Anyway god I would like to know if you find the word prayer, god, jesus, christ, religion or bible in the Constitution? The fact the Thomas Jefferson elaborates to that extent about the meaning of the Constitution/Bill of Rights is the best reason to think I we understand that it meant separation of church and state. The letter was to the Danbury Baptists.
Saturday, August 11, 2007 10:14:00 PM
It's okay if it's another atheist posting lots of support on the blog over and over but if it's someone that continuously asks lots of questions, trying to understand what it going on, then that's not okay, it's "clogging" up the blog. Time to get out the guns and get rid of them. So much for an open debate eh? That's what's wrong with this country. Too many people on one side wanting to shut up the people on the other side.
No, God is not in the Constitution. It's a secular document. But He is in the Declaration of Independence and State Constitutions, all of which came after the Constitution.
I still, I guess, fail to realize how this infringes upon the moment of silence issue in the classroom and how it is so WRONG to take 60 seconds of your day to reflect upon something positive that may have happened in your life. Maybe you had a fun day at the park over the weekend and want to reflect on that before taking a test, or maybe you just want to think about that fun pizza party you're going to have after school today.
Is it so WRONG to pledge allegiance to a country whose soldiers have paid the price for our freedoms and made it possible for us to even be able to have these discussions?
We've bended for you. We've given in over and over. What more do you want?
In 1991, I went to Russia with a student group right after the Soviet Union collapsed. When we were in Moscow, a group of people came up to us on the Metro and asked us if we were Americans. We said yes. They asked if we were Christians and if they could pray with us. They said they were so happy that they could finally practice their religion and pray without consequences. This to me is true Christianity. These people were humble, giving, and non-judgmental. It is why I was drawn to the origins of my faith in the Orthodox Church and abandoned my Southern Baptist upbringing. I have had several traumatic experiences in my life that have tested my faith in God, but I have always believed, and always will. I really fail to understand how someone could say that God is "pretend" and "just a myth." This is why we will always be on opposite sides I guess.
Does this even have to be about a deity? Or a God? Or prayer? Or is it being twisted to make it seem that way so that a lawsuit can be filed to gain some kind of notoriety in the community?
TXAtheist and Mr. Croft, I know you probably have heard this over and over, but I will say it. I'm going to keep you and your families in my prayers with the hope that someday you will come to know the Lord in all His glory and mercy.
TXAtheist said:
god or anyone else, please email me and not clog up this blog, thanks. md457@hotmail.com Anyway god I would like to know if you find the word prayer, god, jesus, christ, religion or bible in the Constitution? The fact the Thomas Jefferson elaborates to that extent about the meaning of the Constitution/Bill of Rights is the best reason to think I we understand that it meant separation of church and state. The letter was to the Danbury Baptists.
Saturday, August 11, 2007 10:14:00 PM
It's okay if it's another atheist posting lots of support on the blog over and over but if it's someone that continuously asks lots of questions, trying to understand what it going on, then that's not okay, it's "clogging" up the blog. Time to get out the guns and get rid of them. So much for an open debate eh? That's what's wrong with this country. Too many people on one side wanting to shut up the people on the other side.
No, God is not in the Constitution. It's a secular document. But He is in the Declaration of Independence and State Constitutions, all of which came after the Constitution.
I still, I guess, fail to realize how this infringes upon the moment of silence issue in the classroom and how it is so WRONG to take 60 seconds of your day to reflect upon something positive that may have happened in your life. Maybe you had a fun day at the park over the weekend and want to reflect on that before taking a test, or maybe you just want to think about that fun pizza party you're going to have after school today.
Is it so WRONG to pledge allegiance to a country whose soldiers have paid the price for our freedoms and made it possible for us to even be able to have these discussions?
We've bended for you. We've given in over and over. What more do you want?
In 1991, I went to Russia with a student group right after the Soviet Union collapsed. When we were in Moscow, a group of people came up to us on the Metro and asked us if we were Americans. We said yes. They asked if we were Christians and if they could pray with us. They said they were so happy that they could finally practice their religion and pray without consequences. This to me is true Christianity. These people were humble, giving, and non-judgmental. It is why I was drawn to the origins of my faith in the Orthodox Church and abandoned my Southern Baptist upbringing. I have had several traumatic experiences in my life that have tested my faith in God, but I have always believed, and always will. I really fail to understand how someone could say that God is "pretend" and "just a myth." This is why we will always be on opposite sides I guess.
Does this even have to be about a deity? Or a God? Or prayer? Or is it being twisted to make it seem that way so that a lawsuit can be filed to gain some kind of notoriety in the community?
TXAtheist and Mr. Croft, I know you probably have heard this over and over, but I will say it. I'm going to keep you and your families in my prayers with the hope that someday you will come to know the Lord in all His glory and mercy.
World cultures and Bilingualism
I believe that Americans should become multicultural and multilingual, as much as they can afford to do within their communities and school systems. The reason I believe this? Education and awareness. There are so many changes going on in the world around us today, especially within our own borders. Being bilingual has helped me so much, and has even saved my life, literally at one point many years ago.
Traveling to other countries and experiencing the way people communicate, do business, run their families, and conduct everyday life is fascinating. It's not a copout of our national identity to say that you want to understand another country's culture while preserving your own. It's what freedom is all about.
It also helps keep us informed and helps stave off the tendency to sterotype those from other cultures, and not believe everything else that some ideologue wants you to believe. You gain firsthand knowledge for yourself. This is the beginning of true wisdom.
Traveling to other countries and experiencing the way people communicate, do business, run their families, and conduct everyday life is fascinating. It's not a copout of our national identity to say that you want to understand another country's culture while preserving your own. It's what freedom is all about.
It also helps keep us informed and helps stave off the tendency to sterotype those from other cultures, and not believe everything else that some ideologue wants you to believe. You gain firsthand knowledge for yourself. This is the beginning of true wisdom.
The proposed North American Union
I have to read this book, "The Late Great USA," by Jerome Corsi. It details the plans of an upcoming North American Union, and the Amero, a planned currency to replace the U.S. dollar.
I have found some chilling information on humanevents.com about this proposal. Please read the following:
"President Bush is pursuing a globalist agenda to create a North American Union, effectively erasing our borders with both Mexico and Canada. This was the hidden agenda behind the Bush administration's true open borders policy.Secretly, the Bush administration is pursuing a policy to expand NAFTA politically, setting the stage for a North American Union designed to encompass the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. What the Bush administration truly wants is the free, unimpeded movement of people across open borders with Mexico and Canada.President Bush intends to abrogate U.S. sovereignty to the North American Union, a new economic and political entity which the President is quietly forming, much as the European Union has formed."
I also watched a video on youtube called "The Dangers of the North American Union."
This is a very scary issue. If you look at the recent toy and tire recalls, pet food crisis, and health concerns in regards to free trade, they all point to China. By the way, they don't plan to stop importing from China, they plan to INCREASE it. And make it easier to get these goods by way of Mexico. If you go to http://www.kcsmartport.com you can see what I am talking about.
I have found some chilling information on humanevents.com about this proposal. Please read the following:
"President Bush is pursuing a globalist agenda to create a North American Union, effectively erasing our borders with both Mexico and Canada. This was the hidden agenda behind the Bush administration's true open borders policy.Secretly, the Bush administration is pursuing a policy to expand NAFTA politically, setting the stage for a North American Union designed to encompass the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. What the Bush administration truly wants is the free, unimpeded movement of people across open borders with Mexico and Canada.President Bush intends to abrogate U.S. sovereignty to the North American Union, a new economic and political entity which the President is quietly forming, much as the European Union has formed."
I also watched a video on youtube called "The Dangers of the North American Union."
This is a very scary issue. If you look at the recent toy and tire recalls, pet food crisis, and health concerns in regards to free trade, they all point to China. By the way, they don't plan to stop importing from China, they plan to INCREASE it. And make it easier to get these goods by way of Mexico. If you go to http://www.kcsmartport.com you can see what I am talking about.
Our Founding Fathers
I won't bend to the comments of secular humanists when they say things like this:
"You took god and made him a story book character in a horribly written book. It's no worse than the Koran. They aren't supernatural evils beyond allegedly drowning the whole world and stuff but supernatural bunk that contradicts reality as every human being alive today can testify to if you understand science. The community had their chance when they failed to call their senator and House of Rep when this bill was introduced like I did. Pay up as I am willing to pay for this legal battle with your tax dollars since you didn't write your elected official even now about this bad idea."
Aha! Pay up, huh? He says I need to pay? Wait a minute...I thought this was a free society. This proves to me that my question posed to TX Michael Newdow wannabe still goes unanswered: Is this man willing to homeschool his children and teach his own prepared curriculum free from everything he disagrees with, or is he going to continue to antagonize his community and try to force them to bend to the wishes of secular humanism: remove references of God from everything? I'm beginning to think that this isn't really about his kids learning in a God-free zone: It's about settling a score from his past, a score against the Southern Baptists for whatever reason. I've even been invited to take this discussion into private email. I will not do it, because this man wants to remove this discussion off the public forum and coerce me into keeping my opinions to myself. The posts I see after my posts on his blog just prove to me that they are bent on pushing their agenda, thinking merely about themselves and not thinking about their kids' well being.
Christopher Paolini, the author of "The Inheritance" trilogies, is a brilliant kid, right? He was homeschooled. Just an example.
Okay, enough of that. I found some great stuff on our Founding Fathers. Yay!!!!
LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
President Abraham Lincoln reminded the nation of that great truth contained in the Declaration of Independence when he said, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." He reaffirmed faith towards Almighty God as Creator of mankind.
In the Declaration, the Founders established the foundation and the core values on which the Constitution was to operate. The Constitution was never to be interpreted apart from those values expressed in the Declaration. Those expressed values are of God and from God.
The First Amendment was clearly understood and explained by the man who wrote it and the man who first applied it as law. Fisher Ames wrote it. John Jay applied it as law while he was the first Chief Justice of our Supreme Court.
Fisher Ames, the same man who wrote the First Amendment, also wrote that the Bible should always remain the principle text book in America's classrooms.
John Jay, original Chief-Justice U.S. Supreme Court, said it is the duty of all wise, free, and virtuous governments to help and encourage virtue and religion.
97% of the founding fathers were practicing Christians and exercised their faith in public office, at work, at home, and had it taught to their children in their schools.
187 of the first 200 colleges in America were Christian, Bible teaching institutions. Entrance to Harvard required strong knowledge of the Bible.
Noah Webster wrote the dictionary with Bible verses explained so children could understand the words of God and know the truth of Jesus Christ. Webster even wrote a translation of the Bible for the American speaking people.
The Declaration of Independence appeals to God no less than three times. Four to those who can see His Name in the phrase "protection of divine providence". Five to those who can admit the phrase "created equal" means created by God, not evolved from chaos.
Contrary to what is currently taught at most federal and state schools, Samuel Adams pointed out this strong lesson which is contradicted in courts today: "Before the formation of this Constitution...this Declaration of Independence was received and ratified by all the States in the Union and has NEVER been disannuled."
The men who wrote the Declaration of Independence declared within it their undying faith towards God for all generations to see and follow.
"You took god and made him a story book character in a horribly written book. It's no worse than the Koran. They aren't supernatural evils beyond allegedly drowning the whole world and stuff but supernatural bunk that contradicts reality as every human being alive today can testify to if you understand science. The community had their chance when they failed to call their senator and House of Rep when this bill was introduced like I did. Pay up as I am willing to pay for this legal battle with your tax dollars since you didn't write your elected official even now about this bad idea."
Aha! Pay up, huh? He says I need to pay? Wait a minute...I thought this was a free society. This proves to me that my question posed to TX Michael Newdow wannabe still goes unanswered: Is this man willing to homeschool his children and teach his own prepared curriculum free from everything he disagrees with, or is he going to continue to antagonize his community and try to force them to bend to the wishes of secular humanism: remove references of God from everything? I'm beginning to think that this isn't really about his kids learning in a God-free zone: It's about settling a score from his past, a score against the Southern Baptists for whatever reason. I've even been invited to take this discussion into private email. I will not do it, because this man wants to remove this discussion off the public forum and coerce me into keeping my opinions to myself. The posts I see after my posts on his blog just prove to me that they are bent on pushing their agenda, thinking merely about themselves and not thinking about their kids' well being.
Christopher Paolini, the author of "The Inheritance" trilogies, is a brilliant kid, right? He was homeschooled. Just an example.
Okay, enough of that. I found some great stuff on our Founding Fathers. Yay!!!!
LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
President Abraham Lincoln reminded the nation of that great truth contained in the Declaration of Independence when he said, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." He reaffirmed faith towards Almighty God as Creator of mankind.
In the Declaration, the Founders established the foundation and the core values on which the Constitution was to operate. The Constitution was never to be interpreted apart from those values expressed in the Declaration. Those expressed values are of God and from God.
The First Amendment was clearly understood and explained by the man who wrote it and the man who first applied it as law. Fisher Ames wrote it. John Jay applied it as law while he was the first Chief Justice of our Supreme Court.
Fisher Ames, the same man who wrote the First Amendment, also wrote that the Bible should always remain the principle text book in America's classrooms.
John Jay, original Chief-Justice U.S. Supreme Court, said it is the duty of all wise, free, and virtuous governments to help and encourage virtue and religion.
97% of the founding fathers were practicing Christians and exercised their faith in public office, at work, at home, and had it taught to their children in their schools.
187 of the first 200 colleges in America were Christian, Bible teaching institutions. Entrance to Harvard required strong knowledge of the Bible.
Noah Webster wrote the dictionary with Bible verses explained so children could understand the words of God and know the truth of Jesus Christ. Webster even wrote a translation of the Bible for the American speaking people.
The Declaration of Independence appeals to God no less than three times. Four to those who can see His Name in the phrase "protection of divine providence". Five to those who can admit the phrase "created equal" means created by God, not evolved from chaos.
Contrary to what is currently taught at most federal and state schools, Samuel Adams pointed out this strong lesson which is contradicted in courts today: "Before the formation of this Constitution...this Declaration of Independence was received and ratified by all the States in the Union and has NEVER been disannuled."
The men who wrote the Declaration of Independence declared within it their undying faith towards God for all generations to see and follow.
Taurens FTW!!!!
Okay, okay, yes I am a WoW gaming NERD. I have a level 70 Horde Tauren Shaman that I am trying to get epic gear for by doing these lousy bg's on the weekends for honor points and marks of honor. Yes I know it is a complete waste of my time and yes I could be doing a lot more worthwhile things to make my world a better place.
But sometimes, Outland beckons me. To quest, farm endlessly for hours and kill things so I can make money on the auction house while I'm away at war for Thrall. There's something primal in that I guess.
I also enjoy the lively videos that come out on youtube making fun of the game and people like me. There's a great language that comes with being a gamer.
"Pwn that noob with uber l33t hax"
"Omg" "Wtf"
"QQ"
"LFG BRD"
"WTS 20x [Heavy Knothide Leather] PST"
"I need gold for my epic mount"
"I just got ganked"
And my personal favorites, ones that really identify the quality of the gamer's character:
"Get out of this server, you f---tard"
"Your guild is so g--"
"You're a Noob"
The list goes on and on.
But sometimes, Outland beckons me. To quest, farm endlessly for hours and kill things so I can make money on the auction house while I'm away at war for Thrall. There's something primal in that I guess.
I also enjoy the lively videos that come out on youtube making fun of the game and people like me. There's a great language that comes with being a gamer.
"Pwn that noob with uber l33t hax"
"Omg" "Wtf"
"QQ"
"LFG BRD"
"WTS 20x [Heavy Knothide Leather] PST"
"I need gold for my epic mount"
"I just got ganked"
And my personal favorites, ones that really identify the quality of the gamer's character:
"Get out of this server, you f---tard"
"Your guild is so g--"
"You're a Noob"
The list goes on and on.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Cub Scouts
TXAtheist:
My question was not posed in regards to whether or not the parent wishes to be a scout leader, but instead in regards to the sole interest of his child's creative, intuitive and personal development. This is why I believe that Mr. Croft is really hurting his kids. In reading his chronology, nowhere in there did it state that he personally wanted to participate in the cub scouts, but that his son wanted to. I imagine that desire was immediately squashed on the flimsy grounds of, "Well if I can't be a scout leader because I am an Atheist, then you cannot participate either because this family is Atheist, and this is my argument for denying you this opportunity."
I would like to know what harm the cub scouts have done. They teach self-discipline, motivation, outdoor survival skills, group skills, peer interaction, not to mention that they are well respected community organizations. I hardly see how this can harm a child.
Unfortunately, TXAthesit, Mr. Croft's children are going to be exposed to many situations like this as they continue to grow and mature, and to deny them participation in wonderful things such as band, choir, cub scouts, etc. simply because they might sing "God Bless America" or "Silent Night" really REALLY is a selfish, arrogant and frankly, absurd position to take. What will he do down the line, when his kids are exposed to drugs and sexually explicit material? Is he taking a stand against those things? Funny, I didn't see any energy being put into that. Those images are everywhere on the television, movies, games, and I don't see him taking any kind of stand against those things.
Instead, he takes pictures of "In God we Trust" posters and complains about teachers wearing "Abilene Christian University" t shirts. Now if those posters would have advertised about the use of condoms, or if the teacher would have been wearing a t shirt that said something with the n word on it, then that would certainly be offensive, and I can't imagine a sane parent NOT standing up and saying something.
Are these children equipped to say no to drugs and sexual immorality? Or in their anger and frustration down the line, will they be tempted to experiment as a way to "get back at dad" for all the things he denied them growing up?
It is the same with extremely fundamentalist Christian families forcing their kids into church 4-5 times a week, memorizing hundreds of bible verses, to take vows of chastity and to wear rings promising their faithfulness until marriage. This is an absurd idea, and it doesn't work. Those kids rebel, and if Mr. Croft isn't careful, his kids will too.
My question was not posed in regards to whether or not the parent wishes to be a scout leader, but instead in regards to the sole interest of his child's creative, intuitive and personal development. This is why I believe that Mr. Croft is really hurting his kids. In reading his chronology, nowhere in there did it state that he personally wanted to participate in the cub scouts, but that his son wanted to. I imagine that desire was immediately squashed on the flimsy grounds of, "Well if I can't be a scout leader because I am an Atheist, then you cannot participate either because this family is Atheist, and this is my argument for denying you this opportunity."
I would like to know what harm the cub scouts have done. They teach self-discipline, motivation, outdoor survival skills, group skills, peer interaction, not to mention that they are well respected community organizations. I hardly see how this can harm a child.
Unfortunately, TXAthesit, Mr. Croft's children are going to be exposed to many situations like this as they continue to grow and mature, and to deny them participation in wonderful things such as band, choir, cub scouts, etc. simply because they might sing "God Bless America" or "Silent Night" really REALLY is a selfish, arrogant and frankly, absurd position to take. What will he do down the line, when his kids are exposed to drugs and sexually explicit material? Is he taking a stand against those things? Funny, I didn't see any energy being put into that. Those images are everywhere on the television, movies, games, and I don't see him taking any kind of stand against those things.
Instead, he takes pictures of "In God we Trust" posters and complains about teachers wearing "Abilene Christian University" t shirts. Now if those posters would have advertised about the use of condoms, or if the teacher would have been wearing a t shirt that said something with the n word on it, then that would certainly be offensive, and I can't imagine a sane parent NOT standing up and saying something.
Are these children equipped to say no to drugs and sexual immorality? Or in their anger and frustration down the line, will they be tempted to experiment as a way to "get back at dad" for all the things he denied them growing up?
It is the same with extremely fundamentalist Christian families forcing their kids into church 4-5 times a week, memorizing hundreds of bible verses, to take vows of chastity and to wear rings promising their faithfulness until marriage. This is an absurd idea, and it doesn't work. Those kids rebel, and if Mr. Croft isn't careful, his kids will too.
Is there no end?
I have done some more research on our "Croft Crusader," and I came upon his 19 page chronology leading up to the lawsuit he filed against the governor for the "Moment of Silence" issue. It can be found here:
http://www.croftpress.com/david/politics/moment/
Click on the word "chronology." I have no doubt that this man is doing his children more harm than good by going to these extremes to have God removed completely from public schools. He refers to God as "just pretend" and rewards his children with "candy, french fries and a new gamecube" when they experience a temporary win over whether or not a Christian Christmas song should be featured in a school performance.
Wow, here's a concept, Mr. Croft. Let's say that your children, even after years of your anti-Christian brainwashing and interference with other people's belief systems, decide FOR THEMSELVES that they would actually like to attend a church somewhere and get involved in something that does not line up with your secular belief system. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? They may be too old to buy off with candy and a playstation, sir. You might just have to....oh my God....accept it???? Or will you be able to?
http://www.croftpress.com/david/politics/moment/
Click on the word "chronology." I have no doubt that this man is doing his children more harm than good by going to these extremes to have God removed completely from public schools. He refers to God as "just pretend" and rewards his children with "candy, french fries and a new gamecube" when they experience a temporary win over whether or not a Christian Christmas song should be featured in a school performance.
Wow, here's a concept, Mr. Croft. Let's say that your children, even after years of your anti-Christian brainwashing and interference with other people's belief systems, decide FOR THEMSELVES that they would actually like to attend a church somewhere and get involved in something that does not line up with your secular belief system. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? They may be too old to buy off with candy and a playstation, sir. You might just have to....oh my God....accept it???? Or will you be able to?
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Banning the Moment of Silence
"Texas Parents Sue Governor, School District over Moment of Silence"
"Dad Crusades against God"
David Wallace Croft of Carrollton Texas has decided that the moment of silence in schools is too much of an imposition on his lifestyle, and so he wants to make it illegal.
From the Dallas Morning News:
He defines himself as an atheist, an "optihumanist" and a Libertarian. Over the past several years, he has fought any signs of religion at the Carrollton school his three children attend.
Mr. Croft, 39, often stopped by the campus looking for violations. He took photos as evidence of "In God We Trust" posters hanging on the wall and complained about a teacher wearing an Abilene Christian University shirt. (Hmm...did he say he was a Libertarian?)
Libertarian:
(a.) Pertaining to liberty, or to the doctrine of free will, as opposed to the doctrine of necessity.
(n.) One who holds to the doctrine of free will.
The lawsuit says a Rosemeade teacher told Mr. Croft's son that the minute of silence held each morning was specifically for prayer. She then bowed her head, clasped her hands and began to pray. (Insert jaw dropping gasp here! What nerve!)
"Moment of silence bills have been popping up in additional states," Mr. Croft wrote on his blog. "To have millions of public school children waste a minute of education each day for a practice that has no secular purpose seems to me like a great sin."
(And how would Mr. Croft know what a sin is if he is not a believer in a higher power, other than himself of course?)
"Dad Crusades against God"
David Wallace Croft of Carrollton Texas has decided that the moment of silence in schools is too much of an imposition on his lifestyle, and so he wants to make it illegal.
From the Dallas Morning News:
He defines himself as an atheist, an "optihumanist" and a Libertarian. Over the past several years, he has fought any signs of religion at the Carrollton school his three children attend.
Mr. Croft, 39, often stopped by the campus looking for violations. He took photos as evidence of "In God We Trust" posters hanging on the wall and complained about a teacher wearing an Abilene Christian University shirt. (Hmm...did he say he was a Libertarian?)
Libertarian:
(a.) Pertaining to liberty, or to the doctrine of free will, as opposed to the doctrine of necessity.
(n.) One who holds to the doctrine of free will.
The lawsuit says a Rosemeade teacher told Mr. Croft's son that the minute of silence held each morning was specifically for prayer. She then bowed her head, clasped her hands and began to pray. (Insert jaw dropping gasp here! What nerve!)
"Moment of silence bills have been popping up in additional states," Mr. Croft wrote on his blog. "To have millions of public school children waste a minute of education each day for a practice that has no secular purpose seems to me like a great sin."
(And how would Mr. Croft know what a sin is if he is not a believer in a higher power, other than himself of course?)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
