This morning on BBC Radio 4′s ”Though for the day”, the Right Reverend James Jones claimed “Evil triumphs when the imagination is inebriated with evil”.
So as a logician I would like to know what exactly “evil” is. Can it be measured (like energy)? Or detected by our (5) senses? Does it conform to the known laws (models) of physics?
For something so darn vague it is amazing how much we use it day to day. We blame so much on it, and justify so much in its name.
But in a strange dichotomy, if you pay close attention the the professions (medicine, law, engineering, etc) you will find scant mention of this concept – it does not help in the treatment of criminals or the mentally ill it does not explain earthquakes or building collapses – it seems has no use in the real world, but is used by politicians and preachers like a moral blank-cheque.
I therefore suggest that the concept of evil is a relic from a mystical past in which gods were invoked to explain thunder and demons to explain crop failure.
Surely all talk of someone being ‘evil’ or an act being ‘evil’ has no place in our secular world?
Patrician Atheist Here.
"The beauty of religious mania is that it has the power to explain everything. Once God (or Satan) is accepted as the first cause of everything which happens in the mortal world, nothing is left to chance...logic can be happily tossed out the window." ..........Stephen King
This quote is an apt representation of Christianity and a fantastic commentary on the way the religion and its followers work, especially (though of course not exclusively) those from the more conservative and fundamentalist denominations. It also illustrates why God needs the second major deity of Christianity – Satan – to survive.
The very foundation of Christianity, no matter the denomination, is the belief there is an ongoing conflict between good and evil that we, as fallen creatures, are ignorant and helpless pawns in. And with this horrid idea comes an inherent belief in absolutes and encouragement of viewing the world we live in through a black and white lens. This superstitious worldview has two opposing teams with no room in the middle because they are so hopelessly opposed and their conflict so all-encompassing that if you are not abiding by the will of God you are automatically an unwitting tool of Satan and/or his agents. Quite frankly the Christian mindset is you are either with me or against me – and good is what they represent so you must be evil – in their troubled minds anyway.
Of course, what is good and what is evil in the eyes of the alleged infallible deity of Christianity is still open to the interpretation of fallible men. If you follow what Christianity says, according to the Christian judging you, you are following God's will and guidance and are righteous; if not you are being manipulated by Satan, get a trip to Hell and are clearly a fool - after all, the biggest lie about Satan is that he doesn't exist, which is correct when you replace the word lie with the word truth.
This world view is not only black and white but extremely destructive to logic, the progress, worth and image of humanity and our understanding of the natural, or real world, we live in. It also conveniently reduces opponents of Christianity to immediate enemies who are tactless pawns of Satan and can be immediately dismissed. Because Christians are in such good company, right?
Sure, not all Christians view the world like this – like the salad bar Christians who simply take elements of the faith they like – but there are certainly vocal groups of Christians that do. And to any Christian who would claim that this view is virtually non-existent in Christianity, you are fooling yourself. While no one can put a number on how many Christians view the world in such extremes and persist under this fantasy, it is clearly prevalent in fundamentalist and more conservative Christian sects.
And to those Christians who do persist under this delusion, an atheist or other religious skeptic cannot object to Christianity on the basis of his or her intellect, study and/or observations. The Christian under this pretense can simply not believe that another individual can be so rash to question them and their god on their own. They have such a lowly opinion of humanity and its capabilities that Satan must undoubtedly have a hand in it. You know, the guy who effectively shows Christianity to be polytheism by having two primary deities - God & Satan - of at least equal power who like to screw with humanity at every possible opportunity. And these deities are like two parents fighting in front of their children and forcing them to pick sides.
As a result, this vile polarized view of our reality is also extremely effective at trivializing truth and stifling any productive debate about their religion and its ridiculous positions on science, society, law and everything else. Atheists and other religious skeptics can hit an entrenched Christian upholding this extremist two-shaded world outlook with all the facts and evidence they have against Christianity and its positions. It won't matter; they will be unmoved in their faith to God. Satan and your silly facts can't trick them; their religion already beat you to it. Reason, logic, intellectual honesty and a genuine search for the truth all take a back seat to their categorically absurd religious truth, which feeds them the easy answers they crave and suckle on.
Christians (unlike atheists and other religious skeptics) are tools, but not like they think. They are not the tools of God, but of a faith and a superstition that has kept a sizable portion of mankind in bondage to their fabricated tyrant deity for the better part of two millennia. A tradition of servitude to their thug god that Christians unwittingly and willingly continue to defend tooth and nail. And how has this been accomplished? By playing humans – who they believe to be fallen creatures – against humanity through the false concept of Satan – the supreme enemy and cheerleader for evil.
And to be sure, God needs Satan, an enemy who is at least equal in power, to survive. Because without this nemesis the Christian system loses its overall meaning and all-encompassing purpose – to fight evil. It is as simple as that. And if not, why has God not destroyed Satan to save humanity and reign supreme? Because Satan is just as strong, and without him Christians may actually have to listen to their religion's opponents and give weight to arguments challenging their faith, not to mention admit that there is great truth in the grey area in between their black and white reality. That is something that can most definitely not occur as it would ultimately unweave the thread of lies that Christianity is founded upon.
In the end, the irony about this video is that Christians who watch it and buy into this extremist black and white, you are either with me or against me worldview will think Satan or one of his agents is responsible for this video because I, as a human and supposed fallen creature, am being influenced by Satan to persecute them and their religious faith. And because of this, everything I say – no matter how sensible, cutting and poignant – can be instantly ignored and the Christian can continue persisting in his or her self-sustaining world of delusion. Luckily this video is not meant for them, but rationalists.
This is a look at Christianity and this worldview from the outside. Because such Christians are being duped and trying to take the rest of humanity down with them with their over simplistic, intellectually dishonest and lazy perception of the world around them that spits in the face of truth and all legitimate efforts to find it. Christians need Satan more than they know, because without this antagonist the Christian system begins to fall apart. Of course, they already know this and think they also know exactly who is responsible for this video.
Patrician Atheist,
See Ya Around.
Mark 16:1 : 1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body.
Luke 24:1 : 1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. (Which women?: 23:55 : 55The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.)
John 20:1 : 1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
So, which was it? Mary? Mary Magdalene and the other Mary? Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome?
Whom did the visitors see at the tomb?
Mark 16:5 : 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
Luke 24:4 : 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.
Retrospectively written accounts, particularly fictitious accounts so clearly modified to fit the author's theological purpose, do not constitute "historical" proof that Scriptures have been fulfilled.
Yes, it’s (again) that time of year when we who don’t-make-claims-to-know-that-there’s-an-invisible-man-in-the-sky-who-wants-to-hurt-us-forever-after-we-die because we don’t-make-claims-to-know-that-there’s-an-invisible-man-in-the-sky-who-wants-to-hurt-us-forever-after-we-die make noises about having our voices deliberately excluded from the Thought for the Day segment of the Today programme on Radio 4.
*sigh*
The Telegraph has an article describing how the BBC Trust, the governing body of the corporation that decides the rules and procedures to be followed by the BBC, is deliberating whether to include non-religious voices in the segment.
From the article at The Telegraph:
Mark Damazer, the channel’s controller, has said that the slot on the flagship programme could “take in a wider range of voices”.
Secularists claim the item discriminates against non-believers and have complained to the Trust, the governing arm of the corporation, which will deliver its response in the Autumn.
Mr Damazer said: “There may well be quite a strong argument for including secularists and humanists” but, he added, “it’s absolutely not a cut and dried issue”.
Responding to listener complaints on Radio 4′s Feedback programme, he said: “You should know that the BBC Trust … is currently considering this question and they will come to some kind of conclusion later on this year.”
The two minute slot should give a voice to a wide range of religions and a voices to those from around the UK rather than “metropolitan figures sitting in a studio in Broadcasting House or the news centre in west London”, he said.
“It is I think satisfyingly diverse [but] that does not mean that it should never change its remit or the criteria for selection and I think it is worth looking at,” he added.
Of course, it’s the usual suspects that want to exclude non-believers from voicing opinions on moral and ethical concerns.
However, faith leaders have criticised the move saying that in an increasingly secular climate, it was “vitally important” that religion retains its voice.
Steve Clifford, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance said: “The Today programme has no problem running slots for business and sport, so why shouldn’t it have a slot dedicated to religion? It strikes me that the secularists predominate in the other 2 hours and 55 [sic - TftD is 2'45"] minutes, so is it really asking too much for religion to just have a small chunk of dedicated time?”
What Clifford is doing here is conflating ‘secular’ with “excluding religion” rather than “not biased in favour of religion”.
The “other” 2 hours and
actually doesn’t exclude dealing with topics related to religion (it often does – e.g. ) but Clifford wants to play the persecution card to gain sympathy for those of his cadre, or at least calibre.55 57.25 minutes
What this actually means is that, in context, the time available for purely secular voices is 2 hours and 57.25 minutes: the time available for religious voices is 3 hours.
While that 2’45″ per (week)day may seem like a small amount, it does add up. But it’s the primary function of TftD that is in question, and that function is to present opinion on whatever the moral or ethical dilemma de jour is.
However, this is only ever religious opinion. Because, as we are so often told, only the religious can hold valid opinions on morality and ethics.
If I were to be charitable, this could probably be considered a case of innocently ignorant anti-non-theist bigotry. But I can’t be, because time and time and time again, non-religious voices have been deliberately excluded from TftD.
And I believe we will again. Sorry, but I don’t have enough faith in the upper echelons of the BBC to be fair and equitable to all, and not just those who claim to know things that they do not know.
I’d be more than happy to be proven wrong though.
Meanwhile, if you want to find out what TftD bobbleheads are actually saying (without all the mumbo jumbo) you can find fairly accurate translations for us unsaved heathens at Platitude of the Day.
For an example of the “wisdom” of the religious when considering moral or ethical issues, see this TftD from yesterday’s Today programme when Alan Billings held court:
Christians are taught by St Paul to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Over these last few days, you would need a heart of flint not to have wept with the relatives of those waiting at RAF Lyneham to receive the bodies of their loved ones repatriated from Afghanistan.
I have been especially moved by the sadness of the parents. In the most intense way we see in them what the vocation of parenthood entails. You bring children into the world. You love and protect them. You are proud of their achievements and distressed at their setbacks. You learn about what we might call the burden of love: how vulnerable you are to what happens to them. Then your vocation changes gear. Your eighteen year lease is up, and you watch them grow up and grow away. They make their own way in the world, and you must watch now from a distance.
Down the centuries parents have often been drawn to Mary, the mother of Jesus, since her life exemplifies this pattern. She gives birth to her son. She raises him. But then, in his relatively short adult life, her vocation is one of watching – with growing anxiety. Finally she receives his body at the foot of the cross.
Some years ago I remember visiting an exhibition at the National Gallery called Seeing Salvation. The Director had brought together a wonderful collection of Christian art and artefacts from the earliest centuries to the present. I recall seeing a woman standing in front of a pieta – an image of Mary holding in her lap the dead body of her son, cradling him as she had once cradled his living body as a small child. The woman stood before the pieta, crying quietly. Was she religious? Or was she a mother who had also known in its sharpest form the burden of love?
But should the human cost of the Afghan conflict, made so visible in the raw emotions of the relatives, be made so public? During the Vietnam War, the American government sought to prevent photographs of the returning flag-draped coffins from appearing in newspapers and on television. One can understand why. All modern wars are fought in the head as much as on the battlefield and this, it was felt, would be bad for morale and so an aid to the enemy. The Taleban also understands the power of images, using them whenever they can to undermine our resolve.
Even so, we should not seek to hide the cost of this conflict. Preventing Taleban control of Afghanistan and ridding the country of the terrorist training camps that threatened us, may have made the war a sad necessity and the lesser of evils. But, the sorrow of the relatives serves to remind us that war remains an evil nonetheless.
For those of us who don’t wear JesusGogglesâ„¢, this is what he said filtered into the language of the non-theologically biased:
War is a messy business. No, honestly it is! People get killed. When we see the grieving families of dead service personnel, we immediately think of Mary, the mother of the visible bit of the Invisible Magic Friend. Even at a time when we should pause to salute the bravery of those who have given their lives, or deplore the waste of those who have died so young, or question the wisdom of a protracted campaign in a region that is notoriously difficult to control, the important thing is to be distracted by religion, the right religion, my religion. And there’s been some fantastic paintings of Mary.
As a Reverend Canon Doctor and an Anglican Priest, let me just assure you that it’s all in a good cause. That Taliban lot are a bunch of religious nutters. They think their Invisible Magic Friend has told them how to live their lives and because their Invisible Magic Friend is all good, all knowing and all powerful, everyone has to live their lives the way they tell them to. I mean, you can’t get much more loopy than that, can you? That’s what happens when people with dangerous delusions are given exclusive privileges and legitimised by the state. It’s not even the right religion. My Invisible Magic Friend assures me that their Invisible Magic Friend is just a figment of their imagination and they should stop paying any attention to him.
Actually, as an alternative, if they just recorded Platitude for the Day and broadcast that just after the existing TftD, I’d be content with that.
Well, this is interesting.
Well, not really, but I don’t often get Ray ‘Tampon-Case’ Comfort style/quality email trying to get me to think that I’m scum and need a zombie to apologise to for it.
If you’re interested, the email I got is below the fold, but this was my rather brief response:
Sorry, but nothing here cuts it. Here’s a list you can use to help you in your attempt to make me believe you.
http://www.nullifidian.net/2007/10/01/go-on-then-convince-me-of-your-religion/
I’m still going to mark this mail as spam though, hilarious as it is.
Thanks for the chuckle.
null
The email I received (emphasis as original) is below. However, I’ve removed the To and CC fields as these poor people have already been subjected to this nonsense, but I have no qualms about spam enabling fundies. Hey, they emailed me.
From Mel Chizedek <mel_kizadeck@bellsouth.net>.
Hello,
Thank you for not deleting this email right away. While you and I may not know each other, what I want to tell you is important enough for me to want to contact you. But don’t worry, I obtained your email address off of the internet [sic] and will not contact you again unless you reply.
I assure you that this is not a solicitation or a scam of any kind. I do not want to sell you anything or sign you up for anything. My hope is that you will continue to read the email. My hope is that, in the end, you will see this letter as so much more than “spam.”
The reason for the email is so that you can hear about the good news of the Gospel. Now, you might be saying to yourself, “I already know Jesus Christ and am sure of my salvationâ€. I THOUGHT I WAS SURE TOO. It can’t hurt to examine your faith and see where you stand. The cost of being wrong is too great.
The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 that “it’s appointed for every man once to die, and then judgment.†What that means is that everyone dies once and is then judged before Almighty God. So, if you are standing before God on Judgment [sic] Day, are you going to heaven or hell? Have you been a good person? You might think so but, unfortunately though, we aren’t going to be judged by any human standard of goodness. There is only one standard by which we can all be judged and that standard is God’s Law, also known as the Ten Commandments. The Bible says in Romans 2:15 that God “has written the law upon the heart of every man in the form of our conscience†so that when we die and face him, we will have no excuse.
So let’s go through them real quick. Have you ever broken the 9th commandment by lying? Of course you have. A person who does that is called a liar. Have you ever broken the 8th commandment and stolen anything (regardless of value)? A person who does that is called a thief. Let’s look at the 7th commandment against adultery: Jesus says that whoever looks upon another person with lust has committed adultery in their heart. Have you ever looked with lust? Yes. What about the 6th commandment against murder? Jesus also says that whoever hates a person, without cause, has committed murder in his heart. Have you ever hated anyone? If you’re like most people, at this point you are a lying, thieving, murdering adulterer at heart standing before a just and holy God.
At this point, you might be saying to yourself, I don’t believe in God, Heaven, or Hell. I say that it doesn’t matter what you believe. Let’s say that someone held you up at gunpoint, would you laugh at him and say “I don’t believe in guns!”? Of course not! That’s because your disbelief doesn’t negate reality and believe me, GOD IS REAL. Or are you willing to bet your eternal life on it?
Or, you might be saying to yourself, “I don’t believe that God would judge us so harshly. My god is a god of love and forgiveness and would never send anyone to Hellâ€. You are right. Your god would not send anyone to Hell because he doesn’t exist! What you’ve just done is broken the 2nd commandment against idolatry. When you create a god in your mind to suit yourself, you are turning your back on the real God. Have you ever broken the 3rd commandment by using our Creator’s name in vain as a four-letter cuss word? That’s called blasphemy and is very serious in God’s eyes.
So, if you are still reading this then you’ve probably said, “That’s impossible! No one can live up to the standard of the Ten Commandments.†You are right. No one can. Man is not perfect. We were born into sin and have a sinful nature. God is so holy and so perfect that his standard is unattainable to mortal men. You might say, but that’s not fair! What about forgiveness? God is supposed to forgive us of our sins. What about all of the good things that I’ve done in my life?
Well, let’s look at an example. What if you were in a courtroom standing before a judge and you had just been convicted of murder. You did it. You’re guilty and all that’s left is for the judge to render his sentence: $500,000 or death. You can’t just say to the judge “Your honor. I just wanted to say that you are a good man and that I know you will forgive me of my crime. Besides, what about all the other good things I’ve done in my life?†What’s the judge going to say? If he is a good judge then he’s going to send you to the electric chair. He might want to be merciful, but he can’t just set you free, the law demands a penalty. Since God is a good judge and because he is so good and so holy, he has no choice but to send you to Hell. The law demands a penalty and the Bible says in Romans 6:23 that “the wages of sin is DEATHâ€.
But, here’s where your story takes a turn for the good. You are about to be lead away in shackles when all of a sudden, someone comes into the courtroom and pays your $500,000 fine. The judge then sees that the requirement of the law has been fulfilled. And since you’ve met the requirements, you are now free to go! That’s what Jesus Christ did for all of us when he died on the cross 2000 years ago. Jesus Christ came to earth, God in human form, born of a virgin, lived a perfect and blameless life, was crucified on the cross, and then rose from the dead three days later as a payment for our sins. All we have to do is accept the payment and we are free from eternal damnation!
How do we accept the payment? All that is required from us is to ask God for forgiveness, repent (turn away) from our sins, and then trust in the Lord Jesus Christ with all of our hearts (Romans 10:9). When we do that, Jesus Christ washes away all of our sins and we can now stand before God blameless on Judgment Day. Then read your Bible and obey it, join a local church and be baptized. God will make you into a new person with new wants and desires. He doesn’t want to send you to Hell, He loves you. You’ve probably heard John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, will not perish but have eternal life.”
Well, that’s it. Thank you for reading all the way through. I thank you for your time and my prayer is that you will consider all that you’ve read and seek Jesus Christ for eternal life today. Don’t wait for tomorrow because we never know when we will be taken from this earth and now that you’ve read this email you are without excuse when you stand before God.
To Him be the glory,
Mel Kizadeckwww.needgod.com
http://tinyurl.com/newfaith
P.S. If you’re already saved by faith in Christ, would you please forward this email along to others in your address book? Who knows? You might just help bring a friend to Christ.
LOL!
The mail is not usually something that I get particularly excited about, but today was a little different.
Through the magic of a subscription to New Humanist magazine, I’ve finally managed to get my grubby mitts on the first batch of Christina Martin‘s awesome God Trumps to add to my collection of weird and wonderful sets of playing cards.
The first twelve cards (and the case) are included with the current July/August 2009 issue of New Humanist, and the remaining twelve should be enclosed with the September/October issue.
Smashing. Now, if I can just find someone to play with…
Planet Atheism buttons
FAQ (includes joining info)
RSS feed
Email subscription
