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Archive for February, 2009
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February 27, 2009Even the church bells can “imagine there is no heaven”.
February 27, 2009
Controversy is growing in England over the decision to play John Lennon’s “Imagine” on the church bells of Liverpool Cathedral church. Church officials have decided to play the song during the North West’s Futuresonic festival.
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…
Lennon described his signature song as “anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional and anti-capitalistic.”
I can’t think of a more appropriate instrument to play this classic song than the bells of a cathedral. Maybe John Lennon is more popular than Jesus after all.
“Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first – rock and roll or Christianity.”
John Lennon
October 1940 – December 1980
But don’t worry about Lennon’s eternal fate. The Roman Catholic Church has recently forgiven him for making this statement
Baptism drownings and electrocution.
February 27, 2009
Baptism (a word derived from Greek baptizo: “immersing”) is an important act in a Christian’s life. With the use of water, one is ceremonially cleansed of sins, united with god as a full member his family and called “saved” or “born again”.
Logic would tell you that god would never allow harm to fall upon someone during this sacred ceremony. But you would be wrong.
A total of eight people have recently drowned in three separate baptism ceremonies in Africa. Not just one freak occurrence, but three separate instances.
Read more here:
- Four Teenagers drown during baptism in Busembatia.
- Four drown during baptism in two separate ceremonies.
One could argue that these deaths occurred because the baptisms were done in unsafe waters or with poor supervision. But you can’t argue that god allowed it to happen.
And let’s not forget the story of the pastor in Texas who was electrocuted and killed during a baptism ceremony in 2005. Part of god’s plan? If Christians can’t even feel safe during sacred religious ceremonies, why the incessant need to pray for god’s protection?
I have a close friend that sends out a weekly “prayer shield” email. In it he lists every issue going on with his family so people will pray for their protection. Apparently the all-powerful god will only protect you if you remember to ask him, or have a bunch of people petition him.
Aliens can go to Heaven too!
February 25, 2009
In my last post about NASA’s Kepler mission, I asked a question to Christians:
“If there is life on other planets, what would that do to your religious faith? Would you still believe? Was Jesus crucified for the sins of people on these planets too, or did god send them one of his other sons? Maybe these planets are sinless and don’t need to be saved. Either way, I’d be curious to hear your thoughts.”
I randomly stumbled onto this article that may have answered my question. According to the Vatican’s chief astronomer, Jesuit Father Jose Funes:
“God became man in Jesus in order to save us. So if there are also other intelligent beings, it’s not a given that they need redemption. They might have remained in full friendship with their creator”.
Father Funes also says that Christians should consider alien beings our “extraterrestrial brothers” and a part of God’s creation. And if needed, God’s mercy would be offered to aliens just as it was to humans.
Thank you Father Funes for clearing that up for me. It’s good to know that the existence of aliens does not conflict with the bible. And god would be willing to send Jesus to every planet in need of a savior for their sins. Sucks to be Jesus.
[ reddit ]
Our galaxy may be full of “Earths”.
February 25, 2009
NASA is preparing to search for Earth-like planets in our section of the Milky Way. The effort is being named the Kepler mission. The space photometer will measure brightness of stars for over 3.5 years to detect planets orbiting the stars. There may be up to 100 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way according to the new book “The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets.” Other scientists suggest there could be hundreds, even thousands, of intelligent civilizations in the Milky Way.
NASA will be launching the spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida next week.
Do you believe there are other “Earths” in our galaxy, or in one of the hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe? Answering no to that question would require a huge leap of faith.
My next question is to Christians or other religious believers. If there is life on other planets, what would that do to your religious faith? Would you still believe? Was Jesus crucified for the sins of people on these planets too, or did god send them one of his other sons? Maybe these planets are sinless and don’t need to be saved. Either way, I’d be curious to hear your thoughts.
Click below to read more about the Kepler mission:
Celebrating my first Ash Wednesday with a clean forehead.
February 25, 2009
I’ve spent many years having someone smear a cross onto my forehead for Ash Wednesday. Today I celebrate my first Ash Wednesday with a clean forehead.
I’m not sure why there is a special day to remind Christians that they will die one day. Christians spend more than enough time dwelling on death without the yearly reminder.
Ash Wednesday is a very strange ritual that precedes the 40 days of Lent. Now that Mardi Gras is over and everyone has had the chance to drink excessively and fornicate freely … it’s time to get serious.
For Christian readers, what will you be giving up for Lent? I will be giving up prayer for the 40 days. I’ve wasted countless hours in prayer that should have been spent being productive. I can only assume that will please god.
All sarcasm aside, I wish my Christian friends and family the best on this self-denying holiday. It is healthy for us to deny ourselves from gluttony once and a while. I hope everyone enjoyed the pre-Lenten pancake dinner. Now onto Fish Fry Fridays.
[ reddit ]
Conflicting bible teaching of the week:
February 23, 2009Jesus teaches:
“But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ (vain, empty, worthless) is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell“ (Matthew 5:22).
Jesus says:
“You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?” (Matthew 23:17)
“You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?” (Luke 11:40)
Believe without seeing?
February 23, 2009
This is the fourth chapter in the series My List: Believe the Bible? Read why I started this list in About Me.
The disciple Thomas is the famous doubting follower of Jesus. He would not believe without seeing the risen Jesus. Of course Jesus showed up to prove he had risen from the dead so that Thomas would believe. Today Christians are left to believe without seeing, and “happy are those” who do it.
Thomas followed Jesus through his entire ministry and witnessed countless miracles. He still would not believe Jesus had risen from the dead? This only confirms that none of Jesus’ miracles actually happened. Either that or Thomas was an idiot.
The Israelites didn’t fare much better than Thomas. God sent a plague to Egypt and killed all of their firstborn sons so his chosen people could go free. Then god parted the sea, rained bread from heaven, and sprung water from rocks. The Israelites still didn’t believe and built a golden calf to worship instead. The chosen people were geniuses.
Saul (before becoming the apostle Paul) was a hater and persecutor of Christians. But god still appeared to him on the road to Damascus to prove his existence and call him into his ministry. With that logic, god should be appearing to me any day now.
If I witnessed any of the miracles in the Old or New Testament I would certainly believe in god. Either these people were completely ignorant or the miracles from god never took place.
Why doesn’t god show himself to us the way he did in the bible? The prophet Elijah was allowed to set up a head to head matchup with Baal to prove Baal was a false god. On Elijah’s command, the Lord does his bidding by reigning fire down on the altar to prove he exists. God then sentenced the prophets of Baal to be captured and slaughtered. (1 Kings 18:18-40) I dare a Christian to try this today. If these are appropriate actions to prove God’s validity, why doesn’t he show up like he did for Elijah?
My question to Christians:
You cannot hear god. You cannot feel god. You cannot see god. He does not answer your prayers. He will not protect you from evil. Why must you happily believe anyway? Only to prevent god from throwing you into an eternal lake of fire. That is not believing without seeing. That is fearing without seeing.
The moral foundation of the Christian church.
February 21, 2009The following video on the Roman Catholic Inquisitions paints a graphic picture of the “moral” foundation of the Christian church.
If the bible is the foundation of morality, how could 605 years of unspeakable atrocities occur at the hands of the Christian church? Please explain it to me. And don’t tell me the devil made them do it.
[ reddit ]
Very gradual change we can believe in.
February 21, 2009
This poster is a great commemorative to the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin.
This is what inherently separates science from religion. Religion requires the constant laws and promises from god. Science is gradually evolving as we discover more evidence of how our world formed. I find it ridiculous when modern day christians try to rationalize science to fit with the bible. If Christians are being truly honest, it is impossible.
There has been countless attempts to rationalize science with the 7 days of creation. They are silly at best. Unless Adam and Eve were monkeys, evolution and the bible can’t possibly work together. Unless fossil carbon dating is bunk science, then the world was not created in 7 days. I could go on, but I’ll save it for a future post. I just thought I’d share this cool poster. Happy 200th Darwin.
