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I agree with some of the things you state. For instance, the newspaper said people go to hell if they don't accept Jesus. The Bible doesn't say that. However, you don't really understand why Christ came to earth to die for mankind. So you make fun of that which you are ignorant of. Nice.
NO, this is not true at all. We understand the claim of how and why Jesus was necessary very well.
It's just that we don't buy any of it.
God, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God, created a beautiful garden and all the creatures in it, including Adam and Eve, and the serpent, with His own hand. Then one day while God was walking in another part of the garden, Adam, Eve and the serpent conspired to FAIL HIM by lying (the serpent) and by eating of the forbidden fruit (Adam and Eve). When (omniscient and omnipresent) God discovers this failure of His creations to abide by his orders, he condemns both sides AND THEIR PROGENY IN PERPETUITY and casts them out of the garden. But God eventually relents in his banishment of humankind from his good graces for doing precisely as He intended that they would do and by being exactly as He intended them to be when He created them, and He eventually offers Humankind a chance at redemption. A redemption that can only be satisfied through a blood sacrifice. Something much greater then an animal blood sacrifice. His OWN blood needs to be sacrifices. WHY? GOD'S GAME... GOD'S RULES! So God contrives a plan by which He will to come to earth as a human being in order to die in agony and thereby sacrifice His own Holy Blood and so to wash away the sin of the offence that was all part of God's plan from before the creation of the universe. But this redemption is only to be for those who believe on faith that is what occurred. WHAT! These are the actions of a bonafide psychotic lunatic. And what kind of omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God FAILS to get the results He intends to get, is unaware of what is occurring, and then becomes angry when He becomes aware of it. Or perhaps the entire thing was all a part of God's plan from the beginning, as it would surely have to be for an omniscient Being. In that case Satan is really only God in a Satan mask; an alter ego for God to be able carry out His own intentions. God is a mean little boy tormenting ants. But you see, believing that ANY OF THIS has any possible correlation to actual fact is itself a form of psychosis. I managed to move beyond this sort of make believe before I even reached my teens, for Pete's sake!
But even Jesus would tell the state to render unto God what is God's.
I must have missed the verse where He told the Roman Empire to render unto God what is God's.
I do remember reading about how annoyed He became with the conservative religious leaders of His day - so much so that His despise for them led to His death.
Lovely post Shirina. I laughed quite hard till it got serious - the hypocrisy or irony meaty bit. I just think the editor was having a laugh, is a bit of a sap, or one sneaked under the radar. It's beautiful when you get mad.
I think your point is well taken. In my experience, small town "letter to the editor" sections are usually willing to print whatever random bloviations that citizens come up with, and the craziness or irrationality isn't limited to religious ideations. I am not sure I've seen much evidence of filters on what gets printed. Many such readers expect anything they mail in to be printed, or it's some kind of conspiracy afoot. Some send in a letter on an almost weekly basis, which everyone then skips reading. Apparently people who write letters to the editor haven't discovered Facebook or internet forums or reddit yet.
So yes, the editor my have sneaked one in under the radar, but I wouldn't assume s/he has an agenda or cares or is even competent.
As everyone who reads my posts know, nothing brings out my "militant" atheism more than when some Christian or another tries to tell atheists to essentially "sit down and shut up."
Whether it's when an atheist group puts up a sign, a billboard, or springs for a message hung on the side of a bus ... or even if it's simply calling the Bible "garbage" on a forum post, I'm really sick and tired of certain Christians blowing a gasket whenever we exercise our right to free speech in this country that "supposedly" gives us that right.
Yet when I opened yesterday's newspaper -- which is ostensibly a secular newspaper reporting secular news like every other newspaper, what I read nearly caused my eyes to melt out of my head like those poor saps at the end of the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie:
People Need to Accept Jesus
Editor,
God said in John 8:12 "I am the light of the world." People don't seem to understand that God sent his son to us not to condemn us but to save us. We are no different than those in early Bible times. I know there are a lot of people out there still living in sin by the way the world is run. God revealed to me, tell my people that Jesus shed his blood for our sins.
There is a hell. If we don't accept Jesus there is where we'll be. I hope this will change a lot of people's lives. I shed a few tears while I wrote this.
-- Winnie Hook, Knox
Yeah, Winnie, I shed a few tears, too. Namely because you had the arrogance to threaten the readership of this paper with hell if we all didn't convert to your immoral religion. Thanks for that. It's always nice to begin one's morning with a fresh cup of coffee, a warm piece of toast with melted butter, and a threat of eternal torture if we don't heed your ridiculous warnings by joining your ancient messianic doomsday cult with a proverbial gun to our heads.
Bugger off!
What's even "nicer," I must say, is why the hell a secular newspaper is publishing something like this. Were there no better letters to the editor to publish yesterday? Was a lot of mewling proselytizing, threats, and whining about sin the best you had to offer?
I'm giving serious thought to writing my own letter telling everyone how they should accept Allah and see if this paper has the stones -- and the American spirit -- to actually publish it. Not that they should be publishing something like this in the first place.
There's just something not right about a secular paper publishing a letter that is pure proselytizing religious chest-beating. It has no business in a goddamn NEWSPAPER.
Yet I ask in the thread title ... is this irony or hypocrisy because, even though a letter like this ought not to have been published in a secular newspaper, there it is. Which, of course, should give all of the "boohoo, everyone is out to silence religion" whiners like Jeffbase a moment of pause.
If their allegations are true, then why is this letter in yesterday's newspaper? Hmm, it sure does seem like religion is bleating its message loud and clear to me, Jeff. I don't see a big blank space that says, "Message about religion deleted due to atheist attack." And this isn't even a religious publication. Plus, this isn't the first time. I see people chest-beating about religion ALL ... THE ... TIME with more than a few attacks on atheists (with several of the articles taking, shall we say, great liberties with the morality of atheists.)
Is it hypocrisy that people like Jeff are constantly complaining about religion being silenced and yet religion seems to be everywhere you look?
Or is it just irony that atheists are always being told to essentially "shut up" because we're just too loud; we're drowning out the message of religion which just isn't getting the air time that it used to? (If you look really closely ... no, closer, no real close. No, you'll have to put your nose right up against your monitor. If you do that, you might see me rolling my eyes).
Meanwhile, there's this weird god-guy who thought I would be pleased that he murdered his son so he could forgive me for sins that he preordained that I would commit. I dunno. Sounds like a scam to me. Wait, what? All I have to do is pay 10% of my income, can he have my credit card number and check routing info? I knew it! The next thing you know, this god-guy organization will say that I'll have to hate gays, will demand that I help censor Harry Potter from public libraries, and always vote for the most right-wing, pro-business, pro-rich, war-mongering, immigrant-hating Republican in every election. Wait ... really ...?
Our local paper occassionaly gets a letter like that printed and then the next few issues gets people responding, usually in a mocking way. And we are supposedly in one of the most religious corners of a conservative province. I suggest that every time someone writes a letter like this that a Muslim corrects them on who is the true God and how they should be praying to Allah instead.
These letters are more amusing then offending. The letter writer must be willing to take the critisism if they are publishing in the public space though.
No it's hypocrisy that you talk about freedom of speech yet you are groaning that your extremely sensitive eyes (gasp) had to view religious content in a newspaper where probably the majority of readership had no problem with it.
Get real, most people in American do not believe like you. Here's some recent proof for you:
That's a strong statement that most Americans don't appreciate atheists at all. People respect those who cheat on their spouses more than atheists according to this poll! Being an evangelical Christian is also listed as one of the top characteristics desired. But in your world, everyone should do without just to appease the lone atheist who can't stand anything to do with our faith. Really sad.
That is because those "good ole Christians" are the ones having the majority of extra marital affairs. It would reason that one would vote for someone like themselves.
It is sad though, that people like yourself can't differentiate politics and religion. You would vote someone who would burn the country down, because he says he is Christian, instead of the heathen atheist. It just goes to show how little you guys can think for yourselves. Also, how little you actually care about your fellow countrymen who have views different from yours.
As everyone who reads my posts know, nothing brings out my "militant" atheism more than when some Christian or another tries to tell atheists to essentially "sit down and shut up."
Whether it's when an atheist group puts up a sign, a billboard, or springs for a message hung on the side of a bus ... or even if it's simply calling the Bible "garbage" on a forum post, I'm really sick and tired of certain Christians blowing a gasket whenever we exercise our right to free speech in this country that "supposedly" gives us that right.
Yet when I opened yesterday's newspaper -- which is ostensibly a secular newspaper reporting secular news like every other newspaper, what I read nearly caused my eyes to melt out of my head like those poor saps at the end of the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie:
People Need to Accept Jesus
Editor,
God said in John 8:12 "I am the light of the world." People don't seem to understand that God sent his son to us not to condemn us but to save us. We are no different than those in early Bible times. I know there are a lot of people out there still living in sin by the way the world is run. God revealed to me, tell my people that Jesus shed his blood for our sins.
There is a hell. If we don't accept Jesus there is where we'll be. I hope this will change a lot of people's lives. I shed a few tears while I wrote this.
-- Winnie Hook, Knox
Yeah, Winnie, I shed a few tears, too. Namely because you had the arrogance to threaten the readership of this paper with hell if we all didn't convert to your immoral religion. Thanks for that. It's always nice to begin one's morning with a fresh cup of coffee, a warm piece of toast with melted butter, and a threat of eternal torture if we don't heed your ridiculous warnings by joining your ancient messianic doomsday cult with a proverbial gun to our heads.
Bugger off!
What's even "nicer," I must say, is why the hell a secular newspaper is publishing something like this. Were there no better letters to the editor to publish yesterday? Was a lot of mewling proselytizing, threats, and whining about sin the best you had to offer?
I'm giving serious thought to writing my own letter telling everyone how they should accept Allah and see if this paper has the stones -- and the American spirit -- to actually publish it. Not that they should be publishing something like this in the first place.
There's just something not right about a secular paper publishing a letter that is pure proselytizing religious chest-beating. It has no business in a goddamn NEWSPAPER.
Yet I ask in the thread title ... is this irony or hypocrisy because, even though a letter like this ought not to have been published in a secular newspaper, there it is. Which, of course, should give all of the "boohoo, everyone is out to silence religion" whiners like Jeffbase a moment of pause.
If their allegations are true, then why is this letter in yesterday's newspaper? Hmm, it sure does seem like religion is bleating its message loud and clear to me, Jeff. I don't see a big blank space that says, "Message about religion deleted due to atheist attack." And this isn't even a religious publication. Plus, this isn't the first time. I see people chest-beating about religion ALL ... THE ... TIME with more than a few attacks on atheists (with several of the articles taking, shall we say, great liberties with the morality of atheists.)
Is it hypocrisy that people like Jeff are constantly complaining about religion being silenced and yet religion seems to be everywhere you look?
Or is it just irony that atheists are always being told to essentially "shut up" because we're just too loud; we're drowning out the message of religion which just isn't getting the air time that it used to? (If you look really closely ... no, closer, no real close. No, you'll have to put your nose right up against your monitor. If you do that, you might see me rolling my eyes).
Meanwhile, there's this weird god-guy who thought I would be pleased that he murdered his son so he could forgive me for sins that he preordained that I would commit. I dunno. Sounds like a scam to me. Wait, what? All I have to do is pay 10% of my income, can he have my credit card number and check routing info? I knew it! The next thing you know, this god-guy organization will say that I'll have to hate gays, will demand that I help censor Harry Potter from public libraries, and always vote for the most right-wing, pro-business, pro-rich, war-mongering, immigrant-hating Republican in every election. Wait ... really ...?
if you're are this wordy in the world I understand. I am not sure who isn't allowed to talk.
But to me this is just the same ol' rant. Some liberal doesn't get that any father just might sacrifice his son for the greater cause. We do it eve time we go to war. Every time a cop gets killed by a criminal.
I just can't figure why some think their side has the real truth when really militants and fubdies are the exact same personality defect. both are selfish and immature.
love thy enemy ... because the enemy is you. It doesn't matter what the fundy-milli thinks, that is what he meant. for the love of no god sake.
BTW, the gravity Wave is the second piece of "evidence" that the quote "I and the father are one" is true. It's in the bible, go learn your place. And I don't even believe in their Omni dude or literal bible.
But even Jesus would tell the state to render unto God what is God's.
Which still means a firm separation of church and state.
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