Quote:
"Faith is not a good reason to believe in any one thing. It's a bad reason to believe in everything. Faith is not synonymous with any one idea; it is synonymous with any strongly held idea, true or not. But one thing faith is not synonymous with is a logically justified idea."
There's a huge difference between a theologian and an apologist. An apologist is someone who believes in a specific God and tries to argue for the existence of their God by giving reasons for belief. They fail because there is no justified reason to believe. Where as the theologian is a former apologist who figured out that there is no justified reason to believe, so they stray into this obscure language so that their belief cannot be properly singled out.
Basically, the prophet Elisha ran into a large group of kids. The kids laughed at Elisha and mocked him for being bald. I guess that wasn't common in those times? Elisha cursed them in the name of God, and then of course God couldn't let a member of his click get picked on by some kids so he did what any mob boss would do to discipline young kids... He sends two female bears after the children. The bears rip the kids to shreds and eat them. How many kids were there?... 42 to be exact, at least by the Bible's account. This story can be found in Second Kinds chapter 2.
Since its introduction into the public view, evolutionary science has come under harsh criticism from many fronts. Originally, this was perfectly acceptable. All new theories and scientific disciplines come under fire. Not because they are naturally untrue, but because they must pass a trial by intellectual fire in order to be accepted. The first objections to evolution were based on three fronts...
The ability to tell right from wrong, good from evil, and the proper from the improper is what we refer to as “Moral Judgment.” It’s how we decide what actions should be illegal, what rights should be protected and how we should interact with others around us in our daily lives. As individuals, we exercise our moral judgment every time we speak or act in order to act in terms that are not offensive, obscene or misunderstood.
1. "I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other Gods before me."
This commandment isn't even about morality. It's about conformity. It's a jealous God telling you that you're not allowed to worship any other God. It almost seems as though he admits that other Gods exist. He must be, since the next commandment deals with the same issue, but specifically with non-existent Gods.
Before I begin this rant I’d like to get this one simple thing off my chest. I personally don’t know jack-shit about addictions. I’ve never personally experienced an overwhelming attraction to a controlled substance. The farthest I’ve ever dabbled with drugs is social drinking and the occasional cigar. I’ve never once inhaled a single puff from a marijuana, never shot a single CC of heroine, never snorted a single line of cocaine! And I’m not kidding. When it comes to controlled substances I have very limited personal experience and when it comes to real addiction I got no clue what-so-ever! I don’t even know what the word “addiction” really means.
My theory on the whole Mayan calendar thing is this... Imagine you had to create a calendar and your only device for recording information was stone. What would you do? You'd make sure the calendar lasts a very long time! No one wants to be cutting a new fifty ton stone calendar every year! The Mayan calendar is a lot like the Chinese Zodiac. They are revolving calendars, that way when one year is over the calendar can be reused the next year. It's a common practice in areas where communication is limited to horseback messengers or worse, foot messengers like the Mayans had. So the Mayan calendar recycles itself every so often.
What/Who decides who's a "Real Christian" and who is a "False Christian?" There needs to be a standard, and in my mind the standard must be the Bible! Therefore, those who support Biblical texts are more of a Christian than a moderate. Moderates may seem "nicer" but they ultimately make the Christian theology more convoluted.
I, as an atheist, am in no position to say who is or who is not a Christian. However, as long as Christians claim the Bible as a source then the Bible is in the perfect position to decide.
Theist responses to atheist readings of the Bible's moral law...
Theist #1: "Please do not be one of those that takes the entire Bible literally!"
Why does it seem logical to take the straight-forward verses as trivial or symbolic, while taking the truly unbelievable claims of divinity and miracles as fact?
Imagine you were born about 2,000 years in the future. (Roughly 4,000AD) You’re walking through the wilderness and stumble upon an ancient DVD of the movie “Titanic” by James Cameron. The disc is in disrepair but luckily there’s a multimedia device in the future that can still read it. Even though it’s two thousand years later there are still historical records of the real Titanic and the events that surrounded its destruction. Based on the current historical data of the real Titanic and the scenes depicted in the movie, one might assume the movie to be a good source for accurate historical information regarding the events of the Titanic's maiden voyage.
To say that the Bible is consistent with the world as we see it is true. The Bible is consistent with the universe as we see it from our limited point of view. The Earth is flat in the Bible, and it certainly seems flat when you stand on it. The Sun revolves around the Earth in time with the Moon, and it certainly seems like that when we watch day turn into night.
First things first... Slavery never was, nor will it ever be, good. Not under any circumstances or cultural contexts of any time.
For someone to tell me the Bible does not support male chauvinism and slavery is a ridiculous lie! This guy once told me that the Bible's laws regarding slavery were designed to be beneficial to slaves, especially female slaves! The damned book tells us female slaves are for raping! It tells us that you can sell your daughter into sexual slavery, and that you must sell her as a sex slave to the man who rapes her because he made her unclean! It tells us that female slaves serve for an eternity, while the men get off after 6 years!
The problem is see with religious moderation is it thinks it deserves more respect and leniency because it's "other than extreme.” I see religious moderation as a form of hypocrisy since moderate beliefs require that someone claim a title such as "Christian" and yet refrain from following and believing in key ideas supported by Christian texts in the Bible.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on the Foxhole Atheist Blog do not necessarily represent those of Atheism or all Atheists, seeing as how Atheism has no tenets, dogma or doctrines. So Suck it!
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