Random Bits of Nerdiness

This was a shorter weekend for me, plus I didn't really see many stories I felt like writing about, so lets do something a little different today and talk about a few bits and pieces of things from this weekend and recent weeks...

Sunday was the day that my wife and I went to see the movie we have been anticipating since the first Avengers movie. Thor: The Dark World and Guardians of the Galaxy were great, and filled the gap nicely until The Avengers: Age of Ultron. This movie had a lot to live up to after the first Avengers, so I went in hopeful that it was going to be good, but worried that it might not live up to the hype.

Let me just say that I had no reason to be worried at all. This movie was awesome! The action was great, the comedy was perfect, James Spader as Ultron was amazing, Paul Bettany as the Vision was so much more awesome than I ever could have imagined. While this movie delivered on the action and comedy, it also developed in ways I didn't expect. Hawkeye is much more pivotal this time around, we learn things about each of the characters, and there is even deeper meaning that is explored beneath all the fighting, explosions and jokes.

I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone, but there is one thing that I couldn't help but notice. If you haven't watched to movie yet and don't want to hear even the slightest spoiler, stop reading now and skip to the next paragraph. To me, there are clear comparisons between the god of the Bible and Ultron. Ultron is created for the purpose of rotecting humanity. But he views humanity as humanities greatest threat. So he wants the human race to fundamentally change of face annihilation. Something he plans to bring about by way of a global catastrophe. Of course he never really intends to give them any realistic chance to change. Noah is even referenced in case anyone missed the parallels. And just like the god of the Bible, Ultron sincerely believes that everything he is doing is just and good. But to any rational mind observing from the outside, it's obvious that he is simply mad and warped. Intentional or not, I felt like that was a great Easter egg.

Okay, with that out of the way, let's move on... Fueled by the awesomeness that was Age of Ultron, we decided to stay in nerd mode and stop at a local toy store to see if they had this collectable figure that i had been searching for. As luck would have it, they had it and I purchased it to add to my collection. The figure? The new Marvel Legends figure of Spider-Man 2099.

Who the hell is Miguel O'Shea?!

In an earlier blog, I talked about comics and how this future Spider-Man has become a favorite of mine. But when I was looking at the packaging when I got home, I noticed this description on the back... "With ninja-like stealth, Miguel O'Shea fights against a dark future in the year 2099!" Wait, wait wait... Miguel O'Shea? The character's name is Miguel O'Hara. O'Hara, not O'Shea! How did that error make it past quality control? Are they all printed like this? Has the packaging since been corrected? Whatever the case, Hasbro just plain goofed!

And while we're on the topic of Spider-Man 2099, the last issue (2015 #11) featured confirmation of something that I have suspected, and makes me relate with the character even more. Miguel O'Hara is an atheist! He is directly asked if he believes in God and says no. And in his internal speech he goes on to say again that he doesn't believe. This is important because likeable atheist characters are in short supply throughout the various entertainment mediums, especially heroes.

And finally, lets conclude this randomness with a return to nature... My four Ginkgo tree seedlings are still doing quite well. A re-potting this spring found that they had a very healthy root system.

Also, last Summer I built and installed a bee house in my garden to attract and help increase the numbers of  (indigenous to my area) Mason Bees. Far too late in the season to actually get anyone to move in, but it got me ready for this year. Well, watering the plants Saturday I saw my first Mason Bee enter the house! And Sunday I saw it leave and return again. Monday saw confirmation in the form of a mud plug on the hole. That means shes layed at least a few eggs chambers in that hole. So here's hoping that it'll stocking more holes with eggs that will translate into an increase in local pollinators.

Okay, I think that bit of random nerdiness may be it for me this week, so until next time, never stop thinking!

-Brain Hulk

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Billy Graham: Perfect God?

Q: Can God make mistakes? I suppose you'll say He can't, but why not? I wonder about this when I see how messed up the world is. Maybe God didn't quite get it right when He created the earth. -- S.C.L.

There isn't a God that created the Earth to begin with. But it is clear that if there was, he's either not very caring, or is grossly incompetent.

A: No, God doesn't make mistakes or do anything wrong because He is absolutely perfect, holy and just.

So Billy thinks that the world is perfect then? Because by definition, if God is perfect then he can only create a perfect creation...

Nor does He ever lie or give us false promises, because "I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right" (Isaiah 45:19).

But what about those times that he did?

"but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die"
-Genesis 2:17

God is supposed to be all-knowing. Adam and Eve don't die the very day they ate from the tree. So God lied to them.

"I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed"
-Genesis 26:4 (also referenced elsewhere)

This is a false promise on God's part. There are an estimated 13-14 million Jews in the world (who the verse was talking about). Yet there are up to 400 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy. And the observable universe contains a conservatively estimated 100 octillion stars. To put that info perspective Earth contains up to 14,000,000 Jews. Yet the universe contains at least 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars. That's quite a big margin of error. Sounds like a false promise to me.

"and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind"
-Revelation 6:13

Another false promise. This one is because it proves that the people writing the Bible had no idea what stars where, or where they are (and obviously, how many there are). So this one is false because it's not even possible.

Why, then, is the world so imperfect, and even evil? Is God responsible for this (as you suggest)? No!

Actually, yes... Yes he is!

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
-Isaiah 45:7

Seeing how even the Bible claims that God created evil, I feel pretty safe in saying he's responsible for evil. He could have just not created it, but nope...

When God created the world it was absolutely perfect. But something terrible happened -- and that "something" is what the Bible calls sin. The world was no longer perfect; evil and death had invaded God's perfect world, and they have been with us ever since. Never forget: Sin isn't just some little thing we do wrong; sin is ultimately rebellion against God.

There's two problems here. For starter, 'sin' is all part of God creating evil. Secondly, this comes back to the claim of God being perfect. If he's perfect, he can only create a perfect creation. If his creation can go wrong, it wasn't fully perfect. If the creation wasn't perfect God can't be perfect. So is this really the road Billy want's to be heading down?

But listen, part of God's perfection is that His love is perfect!

As long as you meet the conditions of his 'love'...

That's why He didn't destroy the world or abandon it.

Except for that one time he supposedly did. I'd count killing almost the entire planet with a global flood as destroying the world. In fact, Genesis 9:11 even confirms that God considered the flood to be 'destroying the Earth'.

Instead, He has done everything possible to bring us back to Himself by coming into the world in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Well, not everything. He could scientifically prove his existence, or at least in a way that was accurately and historically documented.

By His death and resurrection, Christ conquered evil and sin and death, and some day His victory will be complete and all evil will be destroyed.

Because the all-powerful God of the universe just didn't feel like doing away with it himself without attaching some arbitrary condition/act to it?

Is your hope in Christ? Or have you given in to despair and hopelessness? 

Why is this phrased as if it's a question of either or? Research has shown that in the USA, the areas with the most financial despair also tend to have the most faith. 

If so, I invite you to see God as He really is

Non-existent?

-- perfect not only in His justice and holiness

Has Billy even read the Bible?

, but perfect also in His love.

*Some conditions may apply.

-Brain Hulk

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Billy Graham: Relationship With God

Q: I hear people talk about having a personal relationship with God, but I don't understand what they mean. I believe in God, but I can't say I feel like I'm particularly friendly with Him. -- Mrs. M.D.

Confirmation bias, wishful thinking, and possibly a bit of delusion mixed in for good measure? What people mean when they say that they have a relationship with God varies. Some just feel a warm fuzzy feeling, while some think God is talking to them. But to be clear, none of them are an actual relationship in the literal sense.

A: Not only is it possible to have a close personal relationship with God, but He actually wants it to happen!

Easy! Then he should just reveal himself and make it happen!

Think of it this way. I note from your letter that you're married. How did you get to know your husband? Perhaps you'd heard of him before you actually met, or possibly someone introduced you. But whatever the situation, at first you only knew he existed; you didn't really know him. Then you spent time together and your relationship grew. Eventually, you committed your life to him in marriage, and since then (I trust) your relationship has grown even deeper. Now, you not only believe he exists but you also have a close personal relationship with him.

Pardon, but what the hell doe that have to do with anything?

This is how it is with God. Yes, you believe He exists, and that's good. But it's only the first step. Now, He invites you to discover who He is and how much He loves you through the pages of His Word, the Bible. Then, He invites you to commit your life to Jesus Christ by asking Him to come into your life.

Oh, I get it now! Billy's demonstrating that he has no idea what he's talking about!

You see, as much as he wants it to be the case, the two examples Billy gives aren't at all comparable. In the relationship with her husband, she knew he existed. She met him and interacted with him. She didn't just 'believe in him', she knew he was real. None of this reaches any form of equivalency in regards to God.

You can believe in him, and you can think he is real. But that's where the analogy is forced to end. The problem is that God has not been proven to actually even exist. Believers haven't actually met God, and interacted with him. At best, God is a blind date that is destined to disappoint since the only basis by which we are given to extrapolate his character are stories that claim he is perfect in every single way.

Sorry, but until God reveals that he actually does exist and  removes any doubts that Christianity is just a myth there is not having and actual relationship with God. Because at present, he can't even be considered a pen-pal, since he never actually writes back.

-Brain Hulk

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Billy Graham: Heavenly Devil

Q: My friend told me about a passage in the Bible that says even the devil believes in God. Does this mean even the devil will be saved and go to heaven? I'm not sure I like that idea. -- Mrs. A. McL.

Will he? No. But that's because he doesn't exist. But could he? According to the Bible's screwed up salvation criteria he easily could.

A: The devil and his servants certainly believe God exists because Satan's sole purpose is to oppose God and do everything he can to block God's plans. The Bible says, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that -- and shudder" (James 2:19).

The simple idea that an all-powerful being even needs to worry about any possible opposition is laughable.

But I can assure you that you won't see the devil in heaven!

No Billy, you can't. Christianity's deeply flawed system for salvation really does mean that even Satan could go to Heaven if he wished to meet the asinine entrance criteria.

For one thing, Satan would never want to go there, because heaven stands for everything he hates. 

Fair enough. In the Bible, Satan is against overbearing control, and for people having actual personal freedom. And that really is in direct opposition of what God seems to want.

Satan is for sorrow and death, but in heaven those will be banished.

Wait... But if we go by the Bible, God has killed orders of magnitude more than Satan ever did. Consequentially, God has caused far more sorrow as well. In fact, Satan hardly shows up to do anything 'bad' in the Bible at all. So maybe God's name is Satan. Or at the very least, he's a better devil that the Devil is...

Satan is for sin and evil, but in heaven we will worship God and serve Him alone.

How is Satan for sin when God was the one that created it in the first place. I suppose God is for sin too? And evil? Anyone that bothers to read the whole Bible will know that God comes across far more evil by quite a long stretch.

Satan is for hatred and strife, but in heaven there will only be love and peace.

Is that why God and his book has caused so much hatred and strife through the years? Seriously... The only act in the Bible where Satan actually causes harm to anyone or kills is when he makes a bet with God. And even then he has to get God's permission to screw over Job and his family.

And it was all ultimately pointless. God is supposed to be all-knowing. This means that he already knew Job wouldn't curse him. Thus God allowed Satan to inflict needles suffering on Job and his family for no good reason at all. God is just as much, if not more culpable for that suffering.

If you ask me the question shouldn't be whether Satan could possibly go to Heaven, but does God even deserve to be there?

-Brain Hulk

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Billy Graham: Does God Love (all) Children?

Q: We're devastated, because the doctor has just told us our 3-year-old son is autistic and will never have a normal life. What did we do to deserve this? We'd looked forward so much to having a normal family. God must hate us. — Mrs. D. McL.

Of course God doesn't hate Mrs. D. But not because he's loving, but because he doesn't exist! But I know that the usual theistic response is to blame it all on sin. But tell me this... What could a child do before his birth to warrant them being born with such a life altering disability? And what about children born with lethal conditions?

Lets not forget that time God sent bears to kill kids for making
fun of a bald man...

I find it unlikely to accept that they popped out of their mother one night, became a despotic drug
lord that engaged in a bit of ethnic cleansing, then climbed back into the womb without her ever noticing. There are only two option here. Either their is no god, or there is, but he's a monstrously cruel one.

A: No, God doesn't hate you, nor does He hate your son — not at all. I don't know why He has allowed this to happen to you, but I do know this: God has not abandoned you, and He wants to help you become the best parents you can possibly be to your child. Your son needs you, and you need God.

So special needs child equals closer, more attentive parents? If that's the case shouldn't every child be born with some type of condition so that all parents have this same supposed 'opportunity' to become the best parents they can possibly be?

Hard as it may seem right now, may you come to see your son for what he really is: a gift from God. The Bible's words include every child: "Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him" (Psalm 127:3).

It would be nice to believe it was that cut and dry. But the fact of the matter is that the Bible is far from clear on the topic of every child being a gift. Hell after the Psalms talk so fondly of children, they go on to promote infanticide! Don't believe me? Take a look at these ugly verses:

This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'

-1 Samuel 15:23

Ordering the killing of infants and children is an odd way to show that you think all children are a gift...

The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open.

-Hosea 13:16

Wow, that can only be described as gruesome. Yet more ordering to kill children. And remember kids, God totally hates abortion... Except for when he forcefully demands it of course.

Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

-Psalm 137:9

Ah yes... Kids are gifts, but God manufactures a situation
where he kills a ton to make a point.

Yup, Psalms jumps from all children being gift from God to glorifying those who would smash them to death against rocks... The Bible is certainly one very disturbing book.

But how can the same book really tell two very different narratives? Unlike many Bible contradictions, the context explains this one. But it's a very troubling explanation.

You see, when the Bible says that all children are a gift, what it really means is that all our kids are a gift. It's a case of separating the in-group from everyone else. The in-group could be cultural, national, or religious. In this case, it's a bit of them all.

But what these verses are telling us is that the children of your group/religion are special (Unless they talk back. Then you have to stone them to death. -Leviticus 20:9) , but those that are outside the group aren't. More than that, their murder is sometimes demanded.

Sadly, this isn't the only case of stressing harmony within the group and demonizing those outside, but that's for another time. But this is a very dangerous precedent. This kind of in-group vs out-group thinking (especially as drastically different as it is in the Bible) is a perfect recipe for xenophobia, racism, and other prejudices.

-Brain Hulk

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Billy Graham: Time to Rejoice?

QUESTION: Doesn’t the Bible say somewhere that the angels in heaven rejoice whenever someone turns to God? But why would they do that? Wouldn’t they already know that this person was going to repent? — Mrs. C.L.

It does sound odd. After-all, why would anyone rejoice someone being sentenced to something as terrible as an eternal existence?

ANSWER: You’re probably thinking of what Jesus said in two of His parables, which tell first about a sheep that was lost, and then about a coin that was lost. (You can read them in Luke 15:3-10). In both instances, something very valuable had been lost, and their owners searched diligently until they found it. And when they did, they not only rejoiced, but their friends and neighbors rejoiced also.

And lo, he had lost his car keys and was distressed. But the lord smiled upon him, and he found them next to the mail. Trumpets blared, and all the town rejoiced...

In a far greater way, Jesus said, we are infinitely valuable to God, and when we are lost and separated from Him, He searches for us and does everything He possibly can to rescue us. 

Maybe he should either prove his existence or just forgive those that are good people regardless of belief.

And when we finally realize just how lost we are and turn to Him in repentance and faith, He rejoices – and all heaven with Him. Jesus said, “I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).

Just imagine how much rejoicing there will be if the murdering, psychotic, sadistic, torture freak they call God ever repents!

Why do they rejoice? Not because they’re surprised, but because a great victory has been won! Someone has been snatched from the jaws of Satan and death and hell,

Personally, I wouldn't call the Heaven in the Bible a victory by a long stretch. But how is it a victory over death? You still have to physically die first. And if you count Heaven as victory over death, you're forced to classify Hell in the same category.

so why wouldn’t all heaven rejoice?

Because many of those people aren't deserving of 'eternal reward'. Those supposedly going to Heaven would include murders, rapists, and child molesters.  If you were an angel in Heaven, would you celebrate the man who murdered your parents in front of you before raping and killing you entering Heaven just because they believe in Jesus?

-Brain Hulk

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Billy Graham: Salvation Game

Dear Dr. Graham: Now that I’m older, I think about heaven all the time, but I’m afraid I won’t go there when I die. I know I haven’t been perfect, so maybe God won’t let me in. How can I know? Or do I have to wait until I die? — N.M.

You can't know for sure. After all, there's not even proof that there is a God or Heaven, and that's a pretty big oversight by a supposedly all-knowing deity.

Dear N.M.: Salvation isn’t a game of chance; God doesn’t want us to sit around constantly wondering if we’re going to go to heaven when we die. Instead, He wants us to know — really know — that we will go to be with Him in heaven forever.

Then maybe he should, I don't know... prove that this isn't anything more than a silly old story of wishful thinking.

And we can know, once we understand what God has already done to make our salvation possible.

Okay, great. Lay it on me!

You see, you and I have a problem that can be summed up in one word: sin.

* Also not proven.

God is absolutely holy and perfect, and even one sin...

Because nothing says holy and perfect like murdering the entire world, women and children included...

— just one —would be enough to keep us out of heaven.  

So God isn't in Heaven?

But God loves us in spite of our sin, and because He loves us has provided another way for us to be saved. That way is Jesus Christ. 

Um, wouldn't it be infinitely easier and more moral to just forgive those that deserve it? I can do it. You can do it. Why can't God do it?

He was without sin 

Except that even according to the Bible, he wasn't! See for yourself.

Now God offers us salvation as a free gift — free, because Christ has already paid for it. Accept that gift by turning to Jesus Christ and trusting Him alone for your salvation.

By definition, requiring you to do something to receive this 'gift' means that it can't be a 'free gift'.

When you do, He’ll come to live within you, and someday He’ll take you to heaven. God’s promise is for you: “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Did I miss the part where he proves that you can know that you're going the Heaven or even that there is a Heaven?  Because it looks to me that he only laid out the claim and nothing more.

-Brain Hulk

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