Sunday Bible Study; John 12:24 (KJV, Red Letter Edition)

BLASPHEMY | I awoke particularly early this morning, around 3:00 a.m. In spite of not having gone to sleep until around midnight, I was wide awake and not going back to sleep. Since I was visiting a friend who had a small collection of books, it seemed the perfect companion with my coffee would be some good reading.

Over to the bookshelf I went, I wanted to find something more than the collection of religion-themed books. But, for some reason, I was drawn to a generic marketing book titled “The Seed Principle.” There was no author listed and it seemed to be another mass-produced book distributed to keep crutch-goers paying their “tithes” obediently.

(You know, the old “send me money and Gawd's gonna bless you” tactic used by prosperity-pimps like Joel Osteen and Creflo Dollar – not exactly the kind of works I normally read and still, I was compelled.)

Not understanding why I was even considering reading this woo-woo, I asked my Guides and Guardians why I was spending as much as one irreplaceable second of my life reading this, trusting them anyway, knowing they've never failed me before and something good was coming.

That's when it happened. Picture a block of text on the page standing out clearer and more vivid than the rest of the page. In typical fashion of not understanding the gist of the texts they pretended to work with, the pretenders who put together this particular book made the error of using a quote from the bible, seemingly, just because it contained the word “seed” and in spite of having nothing to do with money or prosperity in general. The quote was from The twelfth chapter of John, verse twenty-four.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” Here's the verse itself.

What a wonderful gift, this little line of text. It reveals much. I think, if professional preachers and apologists can use the bible to justify the scam of Christianity, it can also be used to dismantle Christianity, thereby helping at least one more fellow slave escape, hopefully.

Within the referenced verse, we have the words of Jesus himself making a statement which not only seems to be a non-sequitur to the rest of John chapter 12 but also, completely inaccurate.

When a seed is planted, the seed itself does not die. Were a seed to die, there would be no germination. No germination – no plant.

It seems to me, were this Jesus character to be anything more than just another man with anything more than the common knowledge of the era, he would have known this. Personally, with the way this particular chapter flows – as just one example – the whole story strikes me as a reverse-engineered fiction in the first place and Jesus nothing more than a convenient marketing device.

I find it particularly strange how the bible itself lacks any knowledge not available to any human who paid close attention to life. No “god” needed. This one, individual point is enough to demonstrate the bible is not, in fact, “divinely inspired” in any way. Others may try explaining it as "human error" or something "planted by Satan" to distract the faithful. But, before you do, would such an explanation not further demonstrate the bible to be as fallible as fallible can be? "Verily, verily I tell YOU," if we cannot rely upon the words of Jesus himself to be truthful, then WHY continue referring to this book as "infallible? Why?

It is time we humans finally find the courage to stand up in the face of tyrants-in-the-name-of-god once and for all, challenging its so-called infallibility. It is anything but.

And now, I must wonder if those apologists and crusaders will try again to demonstrate the mental acrobatics necessary to explain away this point and continue in their suspension of disbelief - or will I more likely see myself ignored by the devotedly self-deceptive masses, yet again? Bring me your best. I want to understand and invite you to try. If your god is a god and he made the human mind, then surely he would understand why I need evidence and would make it available to people like me.

This post was originally shared on Bubblews.



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I'm Proud to Be a Friend of Jessica Ahlquist - from Yahoo! News

COMMENTARY | To my better Christian friends, what would you think of living in a world filled with others threatening your life for standing by your beliefs? Do you feel those people who would do so should be proud of behaving so evilly? I'd guess not. Would you defend yourself or any other believer thusly attacked? Of course you would.

That's why I'm proud to say Jessica Ahlquist is a friend of mine. In a recent report on TheBlaze.com, she and the Freedom From Religion Foundation have filed a complaint* against a florist for refusing to deliver flowers sent to her by one of her fans. In their defense, they claimed to need police protection for delivering flowers. That police protection wouldn't be from the actions of Ahlquist but from the religious extremists who threaten her, as revealed on the blog for...Go here for the rest.

(*The original version says "lawsuit," which is inaccurate.)

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Was it tebowing which got two basketball players beat up?

So lately, it seems a popular fad is to go “Tebowing” during sporting events. Because, y'know, God® is such a big sports fan... First off, let me say that, personally, I don't give a rat's ass what Tim Tebow – or any other athlete – does on the sidelines. I don't care if they wanna pray, sit there quietly, sacrifice a goat or have an orgy. Believe it or not, there are bigger issues in my world and some football stars personal rituals are no more a part of that world than any of the drama of the Kardashians. I find it all silly.

So, earler today, as reported on FOX News two basketball players were allegedly beaten by players from a rival team for “tebowing.” At least that's what the mother of one of the players says. Of course, since there's a religious connection to all of this, people on the web are going right along and the ensuing commentary is taking it all as if it's a hate crime.

Of course, it had to be for tebowing. Obviously, right? Because – obviously again - HER baby boy would NEVER have talked smacked to an opposing player during the game SHE raised him better than that! OBVIOUSLY. This must be due to those evil atheists and their war on religion. Oh LORDY LORDY! These two poor persecuted souls are beaten up for expressing their faith during a game and not because of anything they might've said to students from a rival school!

I bet the assailants from that other team were baby-eating atheists. I bet, as they lie in wait for these two innocent, virtuous, saintly high-school children they were probably just cleaning the last few scraps of baby meat off of some baby bones while waiting to hurt these two innocent little kids. Right? A mother just knows these sorts of things and besides that's what he told her and would her baby lie?

Nah! Of course not. It has to be because these two were praying. It can't be due to any other sort of behavior on the parts of these two poor innocent waifs who were just going outside where there were no adults present to get a fresh breath of the Lord's air – not smoking a cigarette or pot or anything like that. It has to be due to their tebowing during the game. Sounds legit to me!


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Atheism: Hell is No Longer a Threat

Throughout the history of mankind, we have always wanted to understand the mysteries around us of this beautiful world. Before the rise of science, the human mind defaulted to crediting everything to one sort of god or another. This reliance on some mysterious, supernatural entity was the norm for countless centuries of human history.

As of late though, more and more people are no longer accepting this as an answer. We are turning to various forms of science to understand our world. In the process of learning, we've found evidence of processes far more intriguing than anything religion could explain. (If someone needs support of the rise in the numbers of non-believers, visit this page from NPR, or this NBC affiliate. Here's one more.)

Where we once believed our planet to be the center of the universe, astronomy shows us we're really less than a speck of space dust, compared to the entire cosmos. Where we once held onto the belief that goodness only flows from some spiritual deity, biology now shows the human organism has an innate goodness - and that it is essential to the survival of our species.

Where once, any particular religious leader was the highest authority in any given region of the world, archeology proves mankind has had many competing gods. Even today, among any particular religion's followers, there is division. Christianity is credited with 34,000 denominations throughout history. Islam has 72 sects. Religion has - if nothing else - brought about more division than any other factor in history.

Religion held its power over the individual human mind by the power of fear, more than any other factor. In spite of attempted arguments to the contrary, love existed among all belief systems, so nobody's god can lay claim to it exclusively. No, it was a fear of eternal torment in hell which was used to gain followers. Too often, those who refused still were tortured and/or slaughtered as "heretics" or "infidels" - depending on which religion's terminology a person used.

But the various religious leaders are losing their power to kill non-believers, and they are powerless to stop the trend. Daily, more people around the world are coming to realize slaughtering their own is wrong.

For the most part, Christianity lost its carte blanche pass centuries ago, although there still remain pockets of religious persecution by Christians. Islam is losing its power before our very eyes. Ridiculous "honor killings" are prosecuted as the crimes which they are. This is good.

While each of the world's religious leaders is busy decrying others for not being more like them, we atheists notice you all sound the same to us - divisive, superstitious and lacking a philosophical leg to stand on. The threats of hell from any of you sound like the threats of hell from all of you - and we accept none of it from any of you. We've all come to learn that for all of us to survive, only love will work. As was once so eloquently stated anonymously, "Seeing now that the Bible was so wrong about where we came from, how can we trust it to tell us where we're going?"

Some day, as our future generations look through our history, they'll see that humanity finally woke up to the beautiful reality surrounding us all. They'll see the myths of an afterlife were what kept primitive man back for as long as it did. They'll be able to pinpoint the time wherein we finally realized we're all just people - and tribalism, racism and religions were just myths. They'll see we finally realized we need each other and nobody was terrorized into obeying any superstition.

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How small are we?

My mind is drifting again. It happens more and more as I get older. I'm not high. I'm not drunk. It's drifting all on its own. This happens whether I welcome it or not, so I've learned to just go with it.

I'm another one of those who likes to sit outside and look up at the night sky. I love to look at the stars and try to think about how far away and how very huge they really are. Scientists tell me that many of these stars are sometimes thousands and thousands of times the size of our Sun. And even it could hold a million of our planets within it.

So, how tiny is our world? How tiny are we?

I look up at those stars, so many times larger than our Sun, and even being so unimaginably huge, they're so far away, they appear to be smaller than well-lit specks of dust showing themselves in a sunbeam on a bright morning through a window.

So, how tiny are we?

This perception of something so big, seeming so small, is merely the way it looks from my perspective, sitting on my back porch. Imagining how small we are from a galactic perspective takes us down to smaller than a bacterium, in relation. And here I sit on my back porch.

How tiny are we? How tiny, indeed?

As if considering our size in relation to the galaxy were bad enough, imagine how small our entire world is in comparison to the group of nearby galaxies, then compared to the Universe. In comparison to the whole of the Cosmos, we'd make that aforementioned dust speck seem impossibly colossal in comparison. In relation to the whole of the Universe, our world is smaller than any bacteria. We're smaller than a molecule. We're smaller than an atom. Perhaps, in comparison to our Universe, we might compete with something on the quantum level. But I'd also wager we may yet only be some sort of a particle within that quantum structure– in comparison.

Perhaps, in the much grander scheme of things, the entirety of our known Universe is also but an atom, in some other unimaginably vast plane of existence. We could be a component of a cell in some other living thing, perhaps some part of some giant creature's ass. Perhaps we're just a part of more dark matter itself, a bubble of space gas somewhere, serving no definite purpose at all.

How tiny are we, and yet here I sit considering it. And how very, very vain of us to believe in some creator having made us, just to worship him.

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Responding to Pastor Mark Driscoll; Methinks he doth protest too much

If you're easily offended, go away now. I'm going to speak on a topic which is a bit “adult” in nature, and frankly, I've no time to respond to idiocy. With that being said...

Dear Pastor Mark Driscoll.

I read with some interest the article titled “Christian Right Wing Pastor Mark Driscoll Says Masturbation Is Form Of Homosexuality” by Stephen D. Foster posted on October 19th, 2011. In the article, it's alleged you said that, for men anyway, masturbation is a form of homosexuality.

You're quoted as having said: “First, masturbation can be a form of homosexuality because it is a sexual act that does not involve a woman. If a man were to masturbate while engaged in other forms of sexual intimacy with his wife then he would not be doing so in a homosexual way. However, any man who does so without his wife in the room is bordering on homosexual activity, particularly if he’s watching himself in a mirror and being turned on by his own male body.”

Wow! Just...WOW! Perhaps you sir, are the guy who's masturbating to a mirror, and not fantasizing about some memory of a sexual experience you've had with a woman. If you are, that's okay. Heck guy, a few of my friends are gay and it's really not my business. So, if you are gay, I'm cool with it.

But to make such a sweeping statement about all men, that's just plain, old-fashioned idiotic. Each time I've ever masturbated in my life, it's involved a fantasy of a woman or two. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but an idiotic remark like yours is kind of begging for a response. I know there'll be a few readers who go and scrub their eyes with bleach to get the image out of their head. But, there it is.



I do believe the term is “projection,” when you ascribe to the world around you, those qualities you find within yourself. Again, if you're turned on by your own body, or if you're fantasizing about other men, I'm not judging you. Your sexuality is absolutely none of my business. What does concern me, however, is your teaching illogical, ridiculous garbage like this to other people – especially the youth within your church. How many young people who look up to you as a guide and a role model are now incorrectly confused about their own sexuality, because of your thoughtless words?

I'm shocked that you are so ignorant of life and it's details, you would make such a statement to your followers, just to keep them “guilty” enough, in order to keep the tithes coming in. Is it a degree in theology which gives you such amazing insight? Or, did you just hallucinate the discussion of the topic with the voices in your head?

Or, perhaps, you're hoping to persuade every young male you can that, they too are at least as gay as you for having masturbated? Every male does the deed. Any one of them who states otherwise is lying, and both you and I know that to be true. So I can't help but think you're hoping more young men will be easier to confuse and exploit and you can enjoy a bit of a meat-fest before you're outed by the membership of your church. I'm inclined to believe every single guy in your church wondered the same thing the day you said what you did.

I personally don't believe homosexuality is a “choice” in 100% of the cases. We're wired how we're wired. But perhaps you're hoping to cast a net for new prospects as a gay man, yourself? I can only hope you're not after the underage guys within your congregation. I could care less what you and other consenting adults in your church do. Just leave the kids alone, Mr Driscoll. And I also hope you someday find the courage to be honest about your true nature. Good luck with that.
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Five things you should know about atheists from one non-believer's point-of-view

Over the years I've seen a lot of statements made by the religious of society about atheism. With the advent of social networking bringing people closer together world-wide, now seems a good time to explain a few things about which there are many baseless assumptions. Admittedly, my position on this topic can only be written from my limited, human, individual perspective. Later in life, I may very well find myself to be completely wrong, but I doubt it. I'd love to hear from my readers. Comments are welcome. Attacks will be laughed at.

We atheists are individuals, just like you. We don't all agree. One of the most pervasive assumptions I see made about we non-believers is that we're all Communists or Socialists. While it may be true of some of us, it's also true that there have been a good number of Christian and/or Muslim and/or Jewish and/or Hindu Socialists and/or Communists. A person's political belief system may be tied in with their religious beliefs/non-beliefs somewhat, but it's not always the case. Adolf Hitler embraced Christianity. His Nazi army even had belt-buckles with the slogan “Gott mit uns” emblazoned on them. Would you consider him a good person, based solely upon his religious beliefs?

To expect all individuals within any demographic to be the same is just silly and ignorant. I used to assume that all believers fit into specific categories in other aspects of life too, and fell for the “no true Scotsman” argument like so many others. But fortunately, I came to learn there are good and bad people within any group in life. Assuming that all atheists want a totalitarian government is like saying all white people have blue eyes – it's obviously not true. Like the joke says: “Blanket statements never work.”

Most of us are not anti-church. I love the idea of a stronger community. It just so happens to be what keeps us alive as a species. To know that groups of people, otherwise unrelated, get together and share time with one another – well – that's just wonderful! I also like the good things people do for one another within churches. I even have a favorite church myself!

They saved my life once, and they didn't use guilt or brainwashing or threats of fire and brimstone for eternity to do it, either. I've seen – first hand - the good things people can do for one another and churches do serve a purpose of being a “central clearinghouse” for such activities. They can, anyway. Unfortunately far too many churches express a doctrine of fear, ignorance and hate. It's those things which we non-believers (and a good number of believers) can't stand. I also do not think religious people are necessarily stupid. I just believe they're mistaken.

We do good too. I've seen the accusation that atheists are not charitable. That's simply not true. Just to name a couple of charities based on something other than a hope for reward in the after-life, we have this list from a friend. Just because we don't share the same dogma doesn't mean we don't feel empathy. Love is just as biological as the need for food.

Most of us recognize there are still a lot of mysteries about the universe. Here's where I'm most likely to catch crap from my fellow non-believers. I believe in the existence of life on other planets. I also believe there are certain forms of energy which we as humans do not quite understand yet, and they warrant study. No, I don't believe there is any sort of invisible sky-pimp ready to pop people into a place of eternal torment for not sprinkling goat blood in the middle of the temple floor. But I do believe that ancient peoples would sometimes use the term "God" or “the spirit realm” as an analogy to try and answer some of the other mysteries of life within their very limited scope of knowledge.

If you doubt whether we humans have any sort of as-yet-to-be-understood qualities try this. The next time you're sitting behind a stranger (at the library or a restaurant or wherever) stare at the back of their head. Keep staring. Focus on them. Shortly, you'll see them start scratching the back of their head, they'll begin looking around and eventually, they turn to make eye-contact with you. As a control, only do this with someone sitting by themselves, as to eliminate the possibility of a companion telling them “Hey, that fat guy sitting behind you is staring at you.”

We also have yet to fully understand intuition, and then there's that ability we all have to “sense” whether someone can be trusted, after nothing more than the first handshake and eye contact. Do I think this is anything “metaphysical?” No. Do I think it's anything “spiritual,” (as in the religious use of the word)? No. I do, however believe there are many, many wonderful and amazing things about being a living creature we have yet to understand fully. That's the beautiful thing about science, though. We welcome mysteries as something to be solved. As we learn more and realize we were wrong previously, the knowledge base is updated.

Most of us know more about your religion(s) than most of you do. I'm not saying this as any sort of in-your-face type of insult. There's a study supporting my claim. Last September 28, 2010, the Pew Research Center reported that out of all categories of belief systems, atheists and agnostics got more correct answers out of the 32 questions posed in a survey about religion. It makes sense, actually. If more people would just stop listening to what folks tell them about their religion and actually read their religious texts they'd likely see the documents as the invention of primitive, Iron Age nomads that they are. Then, we can get on with the business of treating each other properly. I know it was a thorough, cover-to-cover reading of the King James bible which finally helped me to choose to not believe in anything not verifiable.