Does Humanity Deserve Love?

It often strikes me as curious, how negatively many believers actually view people and the world once you life the false veil of 'God's love'...

Q: I know you believe God loves us, but why should He? After all, the human race certainly isn't very lovable -- not if you read the headlines or look at the way most people live. If I were God, I think I'd just give up on us. — J.V.

Well JV is certainly quite the optimist... Judging the whole of humanity by the selective headlines aired by the sensationalist media is hardly conducive to reaching an accurate conclusion. The fact that JV thinks humanity deserves to be 'given up on' tells me that he certainly isn't looking at the whole picture.

A: If God looked at us the same way we look at other people, then you'd be right: there's no logical reason why God should love us.

Well isn't that gloomy... Some people do some bad things so no one deserves love? I think that's quite absurd! While it is true that there are those that kill, steal, rape, and take advantage of others, that is far from the total picture. There are those who tirelessly work to bring those people to justice. There are people who consider it their calling to help and feed those in need. There are scientists working on cancer, HIV, pioneering stem cell research and 3D printing use in order to save lives. There are everyday people who just try to brighten the day of another. There are teachers that try to help pupils see and realize their true worth. The notion that the headlines deem that humanity as a lost cause is both shortsighted and absurd. It also highlights the true negativity that is often symbiotically inherent in religion.

But God isn't like we are! He sees all the sin and rebellion in our lives, and yet He still loves us.

* As long as you worship him.

That doesn't mean He isn't concerned about the sins we commit, because He is. But one reason He hates sin is because He knows the damage it causes in our lives. Some of the most sobering words in all the Bible are: "For the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).

Then it strikes me as a particularly unintelligent move for him to have created sin then...

Think of it: if God didn't love us, He wouldn't want us to spend eternity with Him in heaven.

That's actually the wrong question. The real question is that if he wants us to spend eternity with him in heaven, and if he loves us, why doesn't everyone go to heaven?

But He does, and that's why He sent Jesus Christ into the world. By His death on the cross Christ became the final and complete sacrifice for our sins, and by His resurrection from the dead He opened heaven's door to all who come to Him in repentance and faith.

But the death of Jesus and the requirement that you accept a human sacrifice and worship the sacrificial offering  in order to reach heaven are arbitrary and unnecessary. If God loves us and wants us to be in heaven, there is no need to install a pointless test (which itself is pointless if you have an all-knowing deity).

That is, if the motivation is love... But the true motivation of this supposed god is made more clear when you see that heaven is described as eternal worship. Suddenly the test makes sense. The Christian god's motivation for granting entrance to heaven is not love, but conceit. It is not a reward out of love, but merely a job interview for the blindly obedient.

-Brain Hulk

Please share, subscribe, comment and follow us on your favorite social networking sites!
facebook | google+ | twitter

20 Years From Now

So I received another chain email that is big on claims, but not on facts or consistency...

20 years from now, I will be in Heaven --bye !!This was written by a woman born in Egypt as a Muslim.. Make sure you read the paragraph (in red) towards the end.

You can always tell a good chain email by the way they make their big point clear by putting it in bright bold letters...

Joys of Muslim Women
By Nonie Darwish
In the Muslim faith a Muslim man can marry a child as young as 1 year old and have sexual intimacy with this child. Consummating the marriage by 9.

Let me guess... This email is going to define all Muslims by the most extreme, right? I very much agree that the premise presented is pretty sick, but is Christianity much better? The Bible doesn't even really touch on the subject, and historically many Christian countries of the past practiced the custom of child marriages. But then there's also Mary, who was already married and in her very early teens when she supposedly birthed Jesus.

The dowry is given to the family in exchange for the woman (who becomes his slave) and for the purchase of the private parts of the woman, to use her as a toy.

Again, the Bible allows the selling your own daughter into slavery (Exodus 21:7-11), let alone marriage (well, it does include selling daughters as brides too...). And part of 1 Corinthians 7:4 states "The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband." The Bible even commands wives to 'submit to their husbands is several passages.

Even though a woman is abused she can not obtain a divorce.

It's the same in the Bible, but the man can get a divorce if he finds his wife 'displeasing'...

To prove rape, the woman must have (4) male witnesses.

Often after a woman has been raped, she is returned to her family and the family must return the dowry. The family has the right to execute her (an honor killing) to restore the honor of the family. 

If you think that's bad, the Bible commands rape victims to marry their rapist:

If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay her father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.
-Deuteronomy 22:28-28

And so does Christianity...

The Bible also isn't kind to rape victims that don't/can't cry for help, or aren't heard:

If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
-Deuteronomy 22:23-24

Next?

The husband is permitted to have (4 wives) and a temporary wife for an hour (prostitute) at his discretion.

How is this any different than Christianity? The Bible is far different on marriage than many Christians think. The Bible allows multiple wives, concubines, and other combinations that many would frown on today.

The Shariah Muslim law controls the private as well as the public life of the woman.

In the Western World ( Canada , Australia , United States and Britain ) Muslim men are starting to demand Shariah Law so the wife can not obtain a divorce and he can have full and complete control of her. It is amazing and alarming how many of our sisters and daughters attending American, Canadian, Universities and British Universities are now marrying Muslim men and submitting themselves and their children unsuspectingly to the Shariah law.

Again, the Bible also teaches that wives should submit. And a Biblical Cristian theocracy would also not allow women a divorce. That's the great thing about the USA having a separation of church and state. It won't allow these religious 'laws' to trump the law.

By passing this on, enlightened Canadian, Australians, American and British women may avoid becoming a slave under Shariah Law.

Where's the email warning women from being a victim of one of the ultra conservative Christian cults?

Westerners generally assume all religions encourage a respect for the dignity of each individual.. Islamic law (Sharia) teaches that non-Muslims should be subjugated or killed in this world.

In a way, it's a good thing that so many Christians don't actually follow the Bible. Let me show you why:

If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you ... Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die.
-Deuteronomy 13:6-10

Gee, that sounds like the Bible commanding exactly the same thing this email is crying about Islam doing. Awkward...

Peace and prosperity for one's children is not as important as assuring that Islamic law rules everywhere in the Middle East and eventually in the world.

*cough* Crusades, Inquisition, Witch Trials, Nazi Germany *cough*

(In twenty years there will be enough Muslim voters in Canada, Australia , the U.S. And Britain To elect the heads of Government by themselves! Rest assured they will do so...

Ooh, pretty! But seriously, don't make me laugh.

Islam in the USA makes up 0.6% of the population. From 2001 to 2011 the Muslim population only went from 1.5 million to 2.6 million. Meanwhile, the Church of Mormon torpedoed that 1.1 million gain with their own 1.9 million member increase in the same time frame. As any sane person can see, 20 years is far too short a time period to see Muslims become the majority.

Islam in Canada is 2.8%
Islam in Australia is 1.9%
Islam in the UK is 4.6%
(all taken from 2010 pew research study)

You can look at how they have taken over several towns in the USA .. Dearborn Mich. Is one and there are others....) ( Britain has several cities now totally controlled by Muslims)

Islam in Michigan (2000) is 1.2% of the population. And Dearborn is 29.7% Muslim. That's far greater than average, but I still wouldn't call that 'taken over'.

I think everyone in Canada , Australia , the U.S. And Great Britain Should be required to read this, but with the ACLU, there is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on!

Maybe that's because the ACLU isn't in the business of sending around fear-mongering emails that are very short on facts...

It is too bad that so many are disillusioned with life and Christianity to accept Muslims as peaceful.. Some may be but they have an army that is willing to shed blood in the name of Islam..

Just like Christianity of old. Islam is still in those young awkward years in the same way the Christian church put those that dared defy them to the sword. And sadly, that element still exists, albeit much smaller. So why I must denounce those that would kill over something as silly as religion, Christianity is far from free to sit by and act all innocent.

While Canada, Australia, the U.S.A. and Britain are getting rid of Christianity from all public sites and erasing God from the lives of children the Muslims are planning a great jihad on North America, Australia and Britain .

In the USA we have the separation of church and state. While that means no Jesus in public schools, it also means no Allah.

This is your chance to make a difference...! Pass it on to your email list or at least those you think will listen.

Some of those I'm sending it to WILL NOT! Put your head back under the covers AND DO NOTHING!

Pass it on? Sure! But only after adding my corrections...

-Brain Hulk

Please share, subscribe, comment and follow us on your favorite social networking sites!
facebook | google+ | twitter

Atheist to a Christian

Books World ran a story about a new book about an atheist who became a Christian. These books are a dime a dozen, and are often either forgettable, somewhat dishonest or are complete fabrications. But which way does it look like this book will go?

Author Levi Matthew hopes to reach even one atheist who might be curious about Christianity with his new book, "An Atheist to a Christian: One Man's Journey to God"

Um... Most atheists are interested in Christianity, or were Christians. So why does this seem worded as if curious atheists are a rarity?

"I lived the Atheist experience," Matthew says. "Since I was an atheist, I think this book will cause a spark in our society."

I highly doubt it, seeing how many books of this type there are. Likewise, There are also tons of Christian to atheist books. So is Levi afraid of those books causing 'counter-sparks'?

Matthew grew up in an unhappy home, all the while just wanting to be loved like other children. A friend introduced him to God at age 7, but he didn't know much about God and the Bible and he spent his teen years struggling to fit in and believe in God.

I'm sorry to hear Levi didn't have a happy childhood, but from what this preview is saying it sounds like he was an atheist by default (since all are born atheist) and because he never learned religion in his youth. In my opinion this isn't a very impressive position to be starting his conversion story from.

"I can relate to what atheists are thinking," Matthew says. "Atheists are scared that if God does exist, that they will be in Hell."

Apparently he can't relate to what we are thinking, as evidenced by that quote. I don't know one atheist that is worried about going to Hell. In order to worry about Hell, you must believe that it is a real possibility. I, and other atheists, don't. If I'm wrong and there is a God, I don't fear Hell. I'll accept whatever fate befalls me. Actually, believe it or not, the 'what if?' scenario of ending up in Heaven would be more hypothetically frightening if it exists as advertised.

-Brain Hulk

Please share, subscribe, comment and follow us on your favorite social networking sites!
facebook | google+ | twitter

Pastor's Pen: Evidence

lakeexpo.com apparently has a feature called Pastor's Pen. And this time the topic of conversation is atheists and evidence. A pastor talking about evidence seems odd to me, but let's see what pastor Rick Bell has to say...

If you happen to be an atheist and read this, I am not trying to be snarky or proud. And I value you as a person, and really do wish you the best.

And I generally wish believers (and everyone really) the best as well...

But I’m amazed at how you can be so sure that God doesn’t exist.

That's where Bell is a bit confused. We aren't so much convinced that no god's exist so much as we are aware that there is no proof that he does, or good reason to believe that he does. In short, we're
waiting for evidence.

In my interactions with atheists, I have found that their usual battle cry is, “Show me the evidence!”  They claim they cannot believe in God because He doesn’t exist, and if He does, prove it. What usually happens next is a volleyball match of philosophical or scientific arguments that the Christian makes and the atheist refutes.

What's wrong with wanting evidence? Pastor Bell would probably require evidence to believe that Zeus is real, so why is it so abnormal to him that we require evidence for his god?

Many arguments are weak, but no matter what the Christian says, the atheist remains unconvinced, and often takes a position of the “high intellectual” who is dealing with the fool. The Scripture, however, says it’s the other way around: “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God” (Psalm 14:1).

Who's arguments is he claiming are the weak ones? Because in my experience, it's the arguments from believers that are laughably weak. And so what if the Bible calls me a fool? The Qur'an would suggest that pastor Bell is the fool. So is he moved by that book's claim? If not, why should I be moved by his?

I believe that atheism is an issue with the heart. It’s one or both of two things. The first is that one’s heart may be hardened, wanting nothing to do with God or religion. No matter what is said, the door is shut.  

This old chestnut is so wrong it's not even funny... In general, most atheists are very open-minded. We study religions, we were religious, we listen to opposing arguments. If we are wrong we want to know and learn from it. I was a Christian that became an atheist while studying my (former) religion. My non-belief wasn't the product of a hard heart. It was a byproduct of learning so much more than I bargained for.

The second is that the heart leans too much to that which is apparent, logical, and understandable. All the dots have to be connected. There’s little room for mystery.  Everything has to be explained. There’s little room for wonder.

That's ridiculous!  As an atheist I am still full of wonder. The beauty and wonder of nature and the cosmos captivates me. And what's wrong with seeking logical evidenced explanations? If we are supposed to surrender to fantasy and mystery, what about other religions? Is Bell supporting believers of Hinduism now as well?

In life, there must be allowance for what can’t be seen or understood, as well as for logic and reason. To be overbalanced in either direction is to be in trouble.

Which is why we tend to say that we don't believe there is a God, and not that there absolutely can't be a God. Show us the evidence and we'll have what we want and change our mind. Yet so many believers will tell you that they would never even consider being wrong. So which side is the one taking it too far again?

G.K. Chesterton noted in his book, Orthodoxy, that those who ended up in asylums were usually the rationalists and not the poets. The rationalists went mad because they expected chess-board logic in everything, and when life didn’t fit within their logic, the crash came.

I'm not sure I believe those claims what with all those in mental heath facilities that claim to talk to God or that they were doing his will. But what about the fact that the vast majority of US inmates are
Christians? What does that tell us about Christianity?

That’s not everyone’s story, but without faith in God, you are limited to a world system that cannot fulfill your deepest needs.

And those needs are? I'd say that the deepest needs are for happiness and love. Both of which I've obtained as an atheist.

That said, there’s plenty of evidence out there.

Such as?

Creation shouts it.

There's no proof that this 'creation' actually is a creation. And even if it was, it doesn't get us any closer to which god, or if it even was a god that created it. But the simple fact is that if you don't put the cart before the horse,  and don't cherry pick and twist data this cosmos absolutely doesn't suggest a creator!

Design, ethics, the hunger for significance.

How exactly? There are good aspects of this supposed 'design' but  there are also far too many things about it that are of a terrible 'design'. As for the others, how exactly do they attest to there being a God? Simply throwing out ideas with no proof or explanation isn't exactly impressive or persuasive.

The ability to think and reason.

Thanks to the wonderful brain that evolution has given us...

The empty tomb of Jesus Christ.

A claimed empty tomb, actually. Remember the empty tomb only exists in the claims of Christianity. There is no proof that Jesus ever existed. There is no proof he was actually crucified. There is no proof he was put in a tomb, rose from the dead, and that the tomb then layed empty.

And even if there was an empty tomb, that wouldn't be proof that he rose from the dead, or that he was the son of God. It would only be proof that the tomb was empty. There are far less magical ways tombs can end up empty, mind you. I wonder if pastor Bell would be impressed with the proof of the empty tomb of Sid the magic Honey Badger? He did the unthinkable and gave a shit for our sins, was sacrificed, and then rose from the dead. The tomb was empty! Sid be praised!

Atheists have heard plenty of shoddy arguments and rightfully rejected them, but there’s no lack of scholarly, philosophical and scientific works available that provide reasonable warrants to believe in God.

Again, such as?

It’s ultimately not the head that rejects those, but the heart.

Or maybe it's because we've never actually heard these claimed 'reasonable' arguments for belief in God... Could it be that Bell is only impressed by some arguments due to his bias?

The real evidence, however, is in the very people they argue with. I recently said to an atheist, “If there is no God, explain me. As I grew up, I didn’t care about God. I wasn’t a bad guy, but I had no selfless love. It was all about drugs, beer, and women!  How do you explain such a radical conversion, to the point that I would become a missionary to China?

How? Easily. Pastor Bell used belief as the thing to kick start this transformation. But it was only what initiated it, not what actually caused the transformation in full. That 'spark' can be caused by any number of things... love, a close call, a personal inspiration, a dream...

And talk about cliche... He goes with the tired drugs and party picture for non-believers. A picture that I as a non-believer couldn't be further from.

But since pastor Bell wants to ask 'how can you explain me?' How can he explain me? When I was a Christian I was incredibly close-minded. By time I reached middle-school I was quite prejudiced. My opinion of anyone who wasn't white wasn't great. Sometimes when the topic was 'blacks' it could border on racist. I had absolutely no compassion for illegal immigrants either. I talked about
'Mexicans' like I was Fox News.

I was also hateful and bigoted against homosexuals. In the days of my belief there was 'something wrong with those people'. But today I see everyone as the cousins that they are. We're all human, and no one group is somehow superior or better than the other. After I left belief I became a better person, an open-minded person, I discovered the wonder of the natural world, and I even found love. So how does he explain me?

Or how does he explain a believer in a competing religion that would share the exact same story that pastor Bell did? If a Hindu talks about their transformation, would that convince Bell of the truth and power of Krishna?

How do you explain all the answered prayers?

How so? What prayers? More often than not, it's probability. Other times it's cognitive bias. Or there's the dishonest trick that prayers are answered in 'yes', 'no', and 'wait'. A useless tool that defines all prayers into being 'answered'... for every single religion. After-all, those are the only three possible outcomes. I could use that answer to claim prayers to my orange juice were answered. So by all means, please elaborate, or show some actual proof that a prayer actually was answered. Otherwise, I'm simply answering a hypothetical...

And it’s not just me. The testimonies are legion across time and geography.

And what about the legions of Hindus that could also give testimony? A religion that still has many adherents and is  much older than Christianity is. Does that somehow make Hinduism more real than Christianity?

Yes, there are plenty of negative examples as well, but the existence of bad apples doesn’t negate the existence of the good.

Well, at least he got that correct...

The very evidence the atheist looks for is in the entire community of faith that they debate with.

He does realize that we don't just debate Christians, right? So the proof is that Christian's believe without proof... that they 'know' that their God is real. But also that a member of another religion believes in their own god, and 'knows' their god is real and the Christian one isn't. And in the believer in another religion that 'knows' those other two religions are wrong, and so on... I'm sure you get the point.

So what pastor Bell started with was a contention about atheists claiming the need to see evidence. A challenge he met by claiming there was, but never actually provided any of... He then went on to make terrible arguments that don't help his case one iota. Sorry, but you're going to have to color me unimpressed.

-Brain Hulk

Please share, subscribe, comment and follow us on your favorite social networking sites!
facebook | google+ | twitter

Darwin Day = Unconstitutional?

February 12th is the anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. Across the globe many people do celebrate or at least recognize Darwin Day. But for some strange reason Charisma News writer Jennifer Leclair takes issue with Delaware Gov. Jack Markell officially declaring February 12th as Charles Darwin Day. Um... Why?

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell just declared Feb. 12 "Charles Darwin Day" in his state—just because a member of the Delaware Atheist Meetup group asked him to.  

Nevertheless, no one is persecuting Markell for his godless move.

Atheists are citizens too. They are allowed to make requests and voice opinions. It's actually quite a pleasant surprise to see atheists not just brushed aside by a politician without a thought. 

But what about declaring Feb. 12th as Darwin Day is godless? Darwin Day is about Darwin and science, not atheism.

Atheists love Darwin and his theory of evolution, which claims humans evolved from lower life forms. The problem with that theory, of course, is that it defies Scripture.

Actually, the problem is that scripture defies the evidence and reason itself. Yet somehow, people still believe and claim that evolution is the fairytale.

Markell proclaimed that "Darwin's Theory of Evolution is the foundation of modern biology, an essential tool in understanding the development of life on earth."

Can't argue with that. As the old saying goes, "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution."

I respectfully beg to differ.

Then no two ways around it, Jennifer is just plain wrong.

Darwin's theory of evolution has emerged as a deceptive tool in the hands of determined atheists who spend more time trying to prove God doesn't exist than reading His Word with an open heart.

Try again... Atheists tend to like evolution because we often also like science. And evolution is hard, heavily evidenced and proven science.

Also, by my reckoning, far more atheists read the Bible with an open mind than believers do. Doing just that is what made many of us atheists. Furthermore, if we're wrong, we want to know. So we are very open indeed.

Again, no one is persecuting Markell for his godless move. But let former Texas Gov. Rick Perry or Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal pray in the name of Jesus in a public setting and all hell breaks loose.

Why was there a different response? Probably because both situations are wholly dissimilar! Markell declaring Darwin Day, as I said before, is not godless. It's an honoring of a scientist and science. Evolution is not a religion. Evolution is not part or atheism. Atheists greatly tend to accept evolution due to it being a scientific fact, but you can be an atheist and reject evolution, just as millions of Christians accept that evolution did happen. So evolution describing a Darwin Day declaration as 'godless' quite simply makes very little sense.

As for Jindal. If he led a public prayer in the name of Jesus and earned himself criticism, that would be because it was warranted. Public officials are not supposed to promote any one religion (it doesn't matter which religion) in that manner. Doing so risks a violation of the US Constitution's Establishment Clause. So one was a promotion of a religion, and one wasn't. That's all the difference in the world. Maybe Jennifer is too paranoid to realize it, but that's the truth.

I may not live in Delaware, but I intend to recognize Darwin Day this year just like I always do, and I hope you will too.

-Brain Hulk

Please share, subscribe, comment and follow us on your favorite social networking sites!
facebook | google+ | twitter

Devil of a Detail

Will the devil leave Christians alone? Well Billy Graham answers this question with a throw-away answer that he doesn't realize contradicts the very claimed nature of his god. But it's not about Billy this time. Rather, it's about how strange the question asked was...

QUESTION: I admit I give in to temptations very easily, and it would be great if God would just make them go away. Will the devil stop bothering me if I become a Christian? — J.E.

Wait, wait, wait... They believe that the devil is bothering them, yet wonder if becoming a Christian will help? It sounds to me like JE already is a Christian! Many religions have a concept of an evil force or being, but they/it often goes by a different name. I've only really heard 'devil' used as a proper name by a few groups. Christians and Satanists (sometimes Muslims too, but more in a figurative way).

So if JE already believes in the devil we must ask, are they a Satanist? This isn't likely since a Satanist worships Satan and probably wouldn't think he's actively messing with them. That leaves us with the presumption that JE already is a Christian. Maybe a lax one that doesn't give it much thought, but Christian none-the-less. With that assumed, it clear that the question asked wasn't a sensical one and that belief would not aid them any.

-Brain Hulk

Please share, subscribe, comment and follow us on your favorite social networking sites!
facebook | google+ | twitter

Children and Church

Should young children be taken to church? Billy Graham certainly thinks so...

Q: Our two children are too young to come to church with us, but at what age should we begin taking them? They stay in our church’s nursery right now, but we want them to learn about God once they’re older. — Mrs. B.C.

Personally, I think the time to take kids to church is when they want to go to church. I'm strongly against indoctrination of any sort. Children should make up their own minds on such subjects. They shouldn't be brainwashed into believing that their parent's beliefs are the indisputable truth.

A: Not all churches are able to have a nursery, I realize, but I’m thankful yours does. Hopefully it includes a program of simple Bible stories, prayers and songs designed for young children. This will help prepare them for church later on.

In any case, I encourage parents to bring their children to church whenever possible, even as babies or toddlers. No, they won’t understand everything that happens; in fact, they may understand very little. But over time they’ll understand one thing: Church is very important to you. And some day they’ll realize that the reason church is important to you is because God is important to you — and should be important to them, too.

Here's the thing... How do you think Billy would answer this question if it was sent to him by a Muslim parent? Somehow I don't see him encouraging the Muslim version of BC to take their children to mosk on a regular basis while making sure they know how important Muhammad and Allah is to them.

And that little aspect should tell you need to know about Billy's advice. If he would give such different advice just because the religion is different, that exposes a clear double-standard. Something that shows that Billy's advice to BC is actually bad advice by his own inadvertent admission.

-Brain Hulk

Please share, subscribe, comment and follow us on your favorite social networking sites!
facebook | google+ | twitter