Ten Commandments

Lets look at the ten commandments.

Ten commandmentsFour of them are about not worshipping other deities or how to worship god.
No other gods, graven images, taking gods name in vain and obey the sabbath.
-Praying to saints and others flirts with breaking the first commandment.
-Graven images, walk into any christian church and what do you see? Because according to christian doctrine, jesus and god are one in the same.
-And the sabbath, well, that opens a whole bunch of issues.

Does this sound right?
Are jews and christians so likely to run off and flirt with foreign gods?
Is it a sign of a jealous and insecure god?
Or is it a means for people to maintain control over other people?

Praying to the virgin Mary, various saints, or anyone or anything other than god is breaking a commandment.  That commandment is very specific and does not have any room for interpretation.

Graven images. Sistine Chapel with its famous painting that includes god breaks this commandment. As does every representation of Jesus, as previously explained. As does every picture, painting, statue (big or small), pendant anything with the likeness of Jesus is breaking a commandment.

The commandment about killing or murder is misunderstood at worst and misinterpreted at best. The original intent was for the Israelites. There is some degree of misunderstanding on this fact. And according to hebrew scholars, thou shall not kill (murder) is incomplete. It actually states a Jew shall not kill a fellow Jew. Believe it or not Islam has a very similar decree, but it too has been corrupted. It is not a blanket statement against the taking of a human life, in its original writing. According to the original intent, a Jew could kill a non-Jew with no fear of breaking the commandment. But as much in the bible it has been interpreted and adapted to suite the purposes of following generations.

The Sabbath. This is a tough one. Later interpretations of scripture has pardoned christians from the restrictions of the Sabbath in order to make the religion more palatable to converts. But it is still one of the commandments, it is there plain as day. And if this is "the word of god" as is so ardently claimed, can man undo that word? If you are logically consistent you cannot. But logic and consistency are not hallmarks of any religion. Over the past 2,000 years a whole library of excuses and reasons have been written to explain away inconsistencies in christianity. And the Sabbath is a big one.

The point is christians make a big deal out of the ten commandments, they want them everywhere. They believe they are the cornerstone of morality and goodness of this nation. They couldn't be more wrong. It is just like virtually everything else with christianity, it is how it is perceived rather than the actual substance that matters more. It is an illusion nothing more. If they were honest they would admit this, but that would cause the rest of the house of cards to crumble.

Offending Islam

This may be made easier to call it what doesn't offend Islam. 

Being a very vocal minority they seem to have an exaggerated sense of 

They seem to believe a society they find themselves in bear the responsibility to change so to not offend them. This is backwards. But there is also more than a little hysterical behavior on the part of people here in the U.S.  But there is some basis for it. Look at parts of France where Muslims have all but taken over parts of cities. The police do not even go there. They are enclaves of sharia law. 

So in order to offend as many followers of Islam, I bring you the following. 

Mohammed was a pedophile. 

In all likelihood Mohammed had sex with animals as well as men and little boys. 

In the truest spirit of Old Testament teachings he subjugated women. 

Mohammed did not fly off into the sky. 

Islam is no better and no worse than any of the other monotheistic religions, Christianity and Judaism. The so called prophets are not super natural, they never spoke to Yahweh, Allah or God. And despite what the believers of those three faiths believe, it is all the same being they worship! But because they believe their faith is the one true faith, they will never accept that fact. And that is ignorant. 

Muslims can pray how ever and wherever they chose. I will defend that. But the second they begin to impose restrictions on those who don't believe as they do, all bets are off. 

They can eat what ever they like. But tell me I have to give up ham or bacon, and we will have a rather large problem. If they are offended by the mere sight of it in a store, too bad. Open your own store! Get together and open a market to cater to your taste or beliefs. But walking into a supermarket and being offended by pork, that is childish. And by childish I mean it in the worst manner possible. A little spoiled, bad tempered child throwing a hissy fit. 

The Oxford publishing in England has edited a children's book to remove any mention of the word pork or any derivative like sausage. Is this wrong? I think it is. Is it silly? Yes. 

If someone is offended by the mere mention of anything regarding a pig, they have the problem. 

What harm does the mere mention of a pig, pork or sausage have on a Muslim? Nothing. 

So this whole Islam issue is going to lead to even larger issues for all religions. The fact that borderline fundamentalist Christians are leading this charge is a bit amusing. Islam and Christianity believe in the same God, and also share many of the same basic tenants, whether they like it or not, it is true. The fact radical Islam is more aggressive is almost irrelevant. 

Fundamentalist Islam and Christianity share more in common than many people realize. Their views on women, political and social objectives, expanding the influence of their respective beliefs and non believers are very similar. Though I will admit Islam does does have a bit more militant action lately. 

So in reality Christianity and Islam aren't really all that different. And the differences are more superficial sort of like the differences between sects of Christianity, small doctrinal differences but basically the same. They worship the same deity. Calling them a different name doesn't change the fact they both worship the Abrahamic god. 

God

Yahweh

Allah

Same deity

Abraham

Moses

Elijah

Elisha

Jonah

Zachariah

Just to name a few. All prophets shared by Islam and Christianity. But according to followers of both religions there are "differences". Spelling of a name, differences in the narratives do not make a bit of difference. All of the scriptures are creations of men. Created to further an agenda, control the population and are in no way "the word" of a deity. That is the plain and simple truth. 

The reasons given for the silence of the deity are the worst examples of rationalization. You simply have to look at history to see that. How the accepted view of the world has changed over the past few thousand years. But excuses are made, poor excuses at best to explain it away. 

Willful ignorance

Having a discussion with a creationist is a useless endeavor.

There I have said it. Nothing anyone could say will dissuade them of their beliefs. Even if proof positive of evolution is shown to them it will not matter. They will say it is not real, it is a fabrication, it has been misrepresented or misinterpreted some how.

Ray Comfort

Dr. Richard Kent

I will be posting here since I have been causing some upset on Facebook with my family. While they do not share my beliefs, they don't begrudge me for mine. But asked that I take my opinions elsewhere.

Similarities?

Islam has been a staple of the news cycle for quite a while now.
Whether it is the killings in Europe of the satire magazine editorial group, ISIS, or the general paranoia that Islam is "taking over". It has been a fear-fest and makes for a boon for all news outlets. But some of the loudest voices here in the US are conservatives, which I find a bit amusing. Let me explain.

Whether christians or muslims want to admit it, they do worship the same god. It is just a matter of semantics really. Both religions cite old testament prophets as being the ancestors of their religions, it is just who they see as being their own prophet being the main divergence. 

Conservatives are not given to seeing rights for women as being important or needed really. They view women's rights, particularly reproductive rights, as being too important to be left up to the individual woman. They claim some sort of biblical basis for this ideology. Yet the bible is very non specific on many issues, yet with so many words it is possible to shoe horn something to fit any shoe. Yet many conservatives remain quiet on this subject when their political or religious leaders make blatantly sexist or idiotic remarks regarding "the place" of women. 

Take this catholic bishop from Ireland, Kevin Doran. This is his opinion of what a woman who is raped should do if she becomes pregnant.

“Well, the child is still a human being”, he responded. “That’s the issue - you don't destroy a life in order to get back at the mother's rapist."

Todd Akins saying in the case of legitimate rape the woman's body will block pregnancy.

John Foster saying rape is not an excuse for abortion.

The list goes on, and on, and on ad-naeusum 
Yet it does not stop these conservatives from saying idiotic and blatantly erroneous statements. Why, because their followers believe what these people say. I have no idea. I have theories, but most involve a lack of independent or critical thinking capacity and/or a blind acceptance of biblical scripture. Both of which are a real problem in a modern society. 

But I find it interesting that conservatives view islam as being the new communism. Yet the similarities in the real world of ideology are very similar. Both down grade the importance or women, a hysterical distrust of homosexuals and a rabid distrust of those who do not share their views. Granted that last is a hinderance to them seeing eye to eye. 

Conservatives view god and country as being of utmost importance. And that may have been just fine in the 1940's or 50's, but the world is changing. It is not practical to have such a narrow world view anymore. Nationalism is becoming an anachronism. The world is truly becoming smaller, and like it or not every country does rely on many other countries to survive. And as far as religion, my views on that subject are no secret. Fundamentalism is a cancer on humanity. Be it islamic, christian or any other religion. It stifles thought processes, narrows views, discriminates against people and cultures and is just plain wrong.

So is there a true difference in how fundamentalist christians and islam behave? In a general view, not really. They advocate much the same bigotry, they share a narrow world view and force a fictional world view on others.

Freedom from Atheists Foundation (FFAF)

The FFAF is a web page as well as a Facebook page.

This is the mission statement from the web page

MISSION STATEMENT:  The Freedom From Atheism Foundation (FFAF) has an international mission to provide awareness of and resistance to militant state atheism, support victims of intolerant and hostile atheists, defend and protect religious freedom, and educate people on the illogical nature of atheism using science, logic and reason. 

This is more than a bit amusing in modern times, being the 21st century. The militant state atheism they write so much about is the USSR and China. The League of Militant Atheists is what they point to the most. Here is the dirty little secret of religious persecution in the USSR. They wanted to get rid of religion because the State was the religion. They didn't want people believing in anything besides the State. It is a rather large oversimplification but it is true. So to say that the Soviets were atheists is true, but with a rather large caveat.

Who are these "victims" they defend? Are they the people trying to get the 10 commandments removed from courthouses? Or those making a fuss over Xmas display on state funded land? I do think things have gotten a little out of control, on both sides of this issue. But why do they need another defender? Can you guess how much the christian churches in the US alone are worth? The mormon church raises 7 billion dollars a year, and the catholic church… In the US it has a cumulative worth more than the top five corporation COMBINED! Besides financial, there is the political backing. I think they have all the defense it requires.

The FFAF is just a mouth piece outlet for some disgruntled hacks.

Atheists are what??

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League (more on this bunch later) is saying that "atheists are unhappy, die early and disproportionately insane."

This mouth piece is full of crap. There is no data what so ever to back this claim, none at all. He is talking like some sort of authority when he is just making noises.

In my personal experience, the non-believers I have known are not anything like what Donohue is talking about. That is not to say it is true for everyone. Religious or not what he describes I would bet fall evenly across both groups. But I have never known anyone who was unhappy, insane or kicked the bucket early because of non-belief! The other side of the coin is I have known a fair number of people who were devout who were miserable, waiting to be taken by the rapture and just not pleasant people to be around. This is a behavior that is fostered by religion, and that is a fact! These devoutly deluded poor people are going through the motions of living. But they go to church, give money and support the church, and that is all that matters to the church.

Another quote from Donohue, "[Atheists] believe that freedom is license to do whatever you want… They don’t want to be told anything, which is why they die prematurely, they’re unhappy. That’s why we have a disproportionate number of agnostics and atheists in the asylum. All of this is true."

What the F%$k is this? This is crap, as I wrote earlier there is zero statistics to back this up. But he doesn't need numbers or facts, his followers are apt to follow what people like Donohue say with very little to no question. They are called a flock for a very good reason, they are sheep. They follow and do as they are told, believe what they are told to believe and do not question. 

Bill Donohue is full of $&#@!

Here are some bits of information about him to put his words into perspective. 

in 2009 when the Ryan Report was released in Ireland on the sexual abuse by priests, here is what he had to say.

-He told Larry King that since most of the boys who were molested were over 12 years old it is not pedophilia but homosexual priests as the problem.

-Most of the accounts were from before 1970 when corporal punishment was common. So sexual abuse is corporal punishment by his standard?

-Since only a "small percentage" of priests were involved in sexual abuse of children making the claim that priests beat and raped children was wild and irresponsible, but he went on to say the accusations cheapened rape.

I would go on, but I think the point is made. He is schooled as a sociologist and he has a mission to deflect blame from the catholic church. You can go here and read more about this hack. 

But this is the month when christians ramp up the pouting, alleged persecution and how they are losing control. It is December, time of the Winter Solstice. It is NOT the month when Jesus was born! There is overwhelming proof that he was not born in December. But I digress.

Donohue is a shill, a hack, a rather large sphincter spouting the catholic propaganda. 

Even when there is overwhelming evidence pointing to truth, catholics are far to comfortable ignoring it. It is a sad state but the result of indoctrination and spiritual brainwashing. 

Why are atheists viewed negatively?

Before I continue I want to make a definition clear. Ignorant. It means not knowing something. For instance I am completely ignorant of how to write code for a computer. It doesn't make me stupid, it just means I don't know.

I think the main reason people have a negative idea about atheism is a basic human response to things they are not familiar with. Here is my best personal example of this. I was at a World War 2 event in Reading a few years ago and there was a rather sudden down pour of rain. Many people gathered under a pavilion. There was an older woman having trouble getting under a rope barrier, so I went out and helped her. I was wearing the shirt I got at the Reason Rally by the way. The front of the shirt is about the rally, but the back lists the groups that sponsored it, many atheist groups. So she is under the pavilion and thanking me and saying what a gentleman I am. But I turned around to make space for her to stand and she saw the back of the shirt. Her reaction was comical, you would have thought my shirt had a picture of hitler with "he had the right idea" written on it or something. She backed away from me like I was going to attack, bumping into people as she did. 

It is a sad state of affairs when people have this sort of reaction. I am not a big proponent of polls because there are too many ways to skew them, wording and how the data is collated being the two biggest. But polls regularly state that atheists are one of the least trusted groups. Why is that? How many atheists does the average person know, atheists who are open about it? Not many is my guess. There is a knee jerk reaction particularly among the religious people, and people from certain geographic locations in the country. Are they taught this? Is it discussed in churches or bible studies? 
I think it is simply a fear of the unknown and people perceived as being different. These very same people probably have other dislikes for other religions or cultures too. But it comes down to a belief that their religion makes them superior to others, even of others of different yet similar denominations. It is an argument of semantics really. But I believe it is a fair bit of ignorance. 

The woman I helped was so happy with me at first, so gracious when I was just another "good" person. In her mind people are probably just like her. But when she found out otherwise everything flipped. This is a bad thing. Nothing good comes from this sort of xenophobic reactions. Are there bad atheists, sure. Are there bad deeply religious people, sure. There are good and bad people everywhere. Those sorts of behaviors are spread across the whole spectrum of human society. Many people fear or distrust those who are different than themselves. They are raised thinking their religion, race or whatever is who they can trust, who they can rely on, that they are righteous. And the "others" that don't share their beliefs and have their own agendas are wrong and not to be trusted. I don't know the proper terms for this, but it is a very common human response. And it is a problem.

People think the past is so much better than today, people were better, life was better, whatever. That is a load of crap. 
Was society less violent 50 or 100 years ago? 
Was there a better standard of living? Were people healthier? 
No on all counts. 
What has changed is information. Back then news was more or less regional. Big stories might make it out of a region but most news did not. If you lived in Kansas, it is unlikely you would know about a triple murder in Florida unless it was picked up in your region or you knew someone in that region. Also news was on tv for 1-2 hours per day and newspapers were usually once a day sometimes two. But today news from all over the country is flooding in because it is 24/7. And they need news to fill those minutes. So it isn't that society has become more violent really, statistics say otherwise, it is that we hear about much more from around the country. We are certainly healthier and standard of living, that is relative. So the fondness for the past is a ruse. Every generation says it was better when they were younger. It is certainly different, and changing faster all the time. But it is a matter of perception. 

And perception is where I want to end this. Atheists are perceived by some as being evil, immoral or just bad people because they don't have god in their lives. Or my all time favorite, satanic. A rational thought shows this to be false, misleading and an attempt by the believer to shore up their own beliefs. If having non believers in the world is enough to shake their faith, it isn't the atheist that has the problem. There are more non judeo-chrisitans in the world, like Hindus. They live in a society much older than the west, and what about the eastern faiths like shinto and buddhism? By sheer numbers judeo-chrisitians are out numbered. Doesnt that say anything? And those populations are growing, and by all accounts christianity is shrinking.  
So I guess if everything is taken into account, privileged belief, ignorance of other and non belief, and xenophobia are a real problem. When people can stop dividing themselves along arbitrary lines like religion, race, sexual orientation or political affiliation the world will be a much better place.