She was not at all what so many of us have been programmed to think she is.
One of the biggest complaints I hear from theists is that I’m intolerant of their religion. Quite often, these people act as if it’s a personal attack on them specifically. I am indeed intolerant of religion, but it isn’t my fault that these people can’t understand that there’s a difference between hating an idea and hating the people who believe in that idea….
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]]>“Jesus is often presented as a passive figure, but author and religious scholar Reza Aslansuggests he was actually much more radical in his new book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Aslan describes Jesus as a complex figure: a political revolutionary, a man of peace who urged his disciples to arm themselves and a faith healer who want his identity kept secret. Watch as he discusses the personality of Christ with John Cleary.”
Not getting enough with that short video I went on to search for more and found this…
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An interview with J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., MD the author of the book Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith.
J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., MD, is a Trustee of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science and a staff psychiatrist for Counseling and Psychological Services at the University of Virginia Student Health Center, as well as the University of Virginia’s Institute for Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy. Thomson also has his own private practice, and is a forensic psychiatrist for Region Ten Community Services.
The article referred to by Andy Thomson regarding morality and babies can be found here: The Moral Life of Babies – NYTimes.com
]]>Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.
via FreeThoughtPedia.
]]>Rachel Maddow has given us a good great video look at some of the personalities Rick Perry is aligning himself with:
Here are some of my own observations:
— The evangelical Mike Bickle has proclaimed that Oprah Is a Forerunner Of The Antichrist, one of the principal “pastors” of the “Harlot Babylon,” which he says is the precursor to the coming of the Antichrist. And not wanting to leave it at that Bickle jumps into the anti-gay barrel too by saying marriage equality Is "Rooted In The Depths Of Hell" (Gay Marriage Is From Hell).
— The racist and anti-gay gasbag Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association wants to exclude Muslims from military service, says the 1st Amendment only applies to Christians (excluding muslims & Jews and I would think Agnostics & atheists too), wants to ban the building of any mosques in the USA, believes that Hitler formed the Nazi party in a ‘Gay Bar" with other homosexual thugs, and that ‘Gay rights and religious liberties cannot coexist, and that Native Americans deserved to be killed and forced out of their lands during American expansion because they didn’t all convert to Christianity and until they do can’t be considered full-fledged American citizens, and I am sure there is more.
— C. Peter Wagner of Global Harvest Ministries believes that the nation of Japan is controlled by a demon spirit (The Sun Goddess) because the Emperor had sexual intercourse with her and sex with demons brought down the Japanese stock market (C. Peter Wagner: Japan Is Cursed Because The Emperor Had Sex With A Demon), hmmmnnn, yeah that makes a lot of good economic sense. He also believes that "Catholic saints bring honor to the spirits of darkness" and he has promoted the burning of Catholic statues of saints as well as the sacred objects of Mormons and Native Americans too.
— The ‘Christian Zionist‘ anti-Catholic bigot John Hagee has a good part of his career proclaiming that the Catholic Church is the "whore of Babylon." Of Jews who Hagee has called "poisoned" and "spiritually blind " he has said: "It was the disobedience and rebellion of the Jews, God’s chosen people, to their covenantal responsibility to serve only the one true God, Jehovah, that gave rise to the opposition and persecution that they experienced beginning in Canaan and continuing to this very day… Their own rebellion had birthed the seed of antisemitism that would arise and bring destruction to them for centuries to come…. it rises from the judgment of God upon his rebellious chosen people." Lurking prominently behind his supposed pro-israel Zionism are his beliefs that Hitler was sent by God to force Jews to return to the Holy Land (God Sent Hitler) and that if Israel will just bomb Iran we can get on with the war of the Tribulations and get on with the end times. Yeah! I can’t wait!!
— A kook I never even heard of before until I started looking into all this named John Benefiel claims that Homosexuality Is An Illuminati Conspiracy. It’s not enough that he believes in the modern day mythical creation of Dan Brown and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Illuminati he is sure (I guess he has evidence) that these so-called Illuminati have "stated it as their goal…to limit the world population to no more than 500 million." Benefiel has also told us that The Statue Of Liberty Is A ‘Demonic Idol‘ too. A ‘Demonic Idol,’ geez,…I mean just where do these guys come up with this crap?
In addition to having to deal with and answer questions on the absurd idea that we can solve our most difficult national problems through prayer one has to ask does Rick Perry have a wacko Pastor Problem too?
I think he does.
Can you imagine a President of the United States that calls on kooks like these for spiritual counsel?
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The story of how NonStampCollector created this video can be found in the notes attached to Noah’s Ark (part 2 of 2) and are well worth reading.
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