Category Archives: Christianity

Christopher Hitchens, “Rick Perry’s God: Does the Texas governor believe his idiotic religious rhetoric, or is he just pandering for votes?”

Posted on by
Reply

. . . religion in politics is more like an insurance policy than a true act of faith. Professing allegiance to it seldom does you any harm, at least in Republican primary season, and can do you some good. It’s a question of prudence . . .  Perry can be reasonably sure that the voting base of the theocratic right has picked up his intended message . . . The risks of hypocrisy seem forever invisible to the politicized Christians, for whom sufficient proof of faith consists of loud and unambiguous declarations. Read more . . . 

Aphorism: On Religious Criminalization, Part Deux

Posted on by
Reply

By Madison S. Hughes (08.30.2011)

On 08.29.2011 I posted I posted a YouTube video on my blog titled, “Janet Porter Prays for Control of Government,” below which I penned the caption, “WOW! How disturbing is this? Religion should be criminalized before we find ourselves back in the Dark Ages.” As one may imagine, some found my caption as disturbing as the video itself. What follows is my response to a comment left by a fellow blogger. “dannyraysongs”responded to my comment as follows:

“I have to say that I’m also very disturbed by your comment Madison. It’s seems apparent here on your blog that you desire to get your message out. Are you really that naive to think that Christians, Jews and/or Muslims don’t desire to have more of their fellow believers in government positions? It seems quite apparent (or at least inferred) in your blog that you would like less devout believers (or atheists) in positions of government. Should we now police what people pray? Who would qualify to be hired as a Prayer Police Officer? I really do appreciate your talent as a writer, but I’m one of those right-wing Christians you obviously feel are so dangerous and deserving of criminal charges.”

I responded as follows:

Continue reading →

Sam Harris, “Whither Eagleman?”

Posted on by
2

. . . Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens, and I have never claimed that we can establish the nonexistence of God. We simply observe, as you do, that the God of Abraham has the same empirical status as Poseidon and that the books attesting to His existence bear every sign of having been cobbled together by ignorant mortals. This is all one needs to judge Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to be incorrigible cults peddling ancient mythology . . . In place of genuine ignorance, humility, and wonder—and even in place of real knowledge—religious people erect false idols and false certainties. Read more . . .  

Aphorism: On Religious Criminalization

Posted on by
1

By Madison S. Hughes (08.29.2011)

On 08.29.2011 I posted I posted a YouTube video on my blog titled, “Janet Porter Prays for Control of Government,” below which I penned the caption, “WOW! How disturbing is this? Religion should be criminalized before we find ourselves back in the Dark Ages.” As one may imagine, some found my caption as disturbing as the video itself. What follows is my response to a comment left by a fellow blogger. “jodaph970”responded to my comment as follows:

“Sure, it’s disturbing, but I also find your comment (“Religion should be criminalized before we find ourselves back in the Dark Ages.”) to be just as disturbing. Embracing a tyrannical dictation of what others should and shouldn’t do is the very antithesis of America.”

I responded as follows:

Continue reading →

Where do Observant Jews and Conservative Christians get their Morals, Theologically Speaking?

Posted on by
Reply

. . . Now, it’s true that the Bible may well be the most cherry-picked, quote-mined text of all time. Given this, . . . Indeed, the more grim, authoritarian theme of the Old Testament appears – to me, at least – to jibe far better with modern day American Conservative values of respect for authority, tradition, corporal punishment, capital punishment, and thoroughly retributive justice . . . What exactly is the Right taking from the New Testament? Read more . . . 

Homer & the Gospel of Mark: Is Mark’s Gospel Based on Homer’s Odyssey?

Posted on by
Reply

 . . . [O]ne recent line of research has involved tracing much in Mark to the influence of the Greek epics of Homer. Dennis MacDonald is the primary proponent of this view, and his argument has been that the gospel of Mark was written as a conscious and deliberate imitation of the stories in the Homeric epics. The goal was to give readers a familiar context to discover the superiority of Christ and Christianity over pagan gods and beliefs . . . MacDonald argues that Mark’s tales about Jesus are explicit imitations of Homeric tales about characters like Odysseus, Circe, Polyphemus, Aeolus, Achilles, and Agamemnon and his wife, Clytemnestra. Read more . . . 

The Most Hated Family in America Documentary

Posted on by
Reply

The Most Hated Family in America is a TV documentary written and presented by the BBC’s Louis Theroux about the family at the heart of the Westboro Baptist Church. At the heart of the documentary is the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), headed by Fred Phelps and based in Topeka, Kansas.

The church bases its work around the belief expressed by its best known slogan and the address of its primary website, “God hates fags,” and expresses the opinion, based on its Biblical interpretation, that nearly every tragedy in the world is God’s punishment for homosexuality – specifically society’s increasing tolerance and acceptance of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. It maintains that God hates homosexuals above all other kinds of “sinners,” and that homosexuality should be a capital crime.

See, ” Louis Theroux: Most Hated Family In America,” via Documentary Heaven.

There is no controversy; creationism doesn’t belong in our public schools.

Posted on by
Reply

The sole purpose of creationism is to defend the biblical book of Genesis. It exists only for religious purposes and it abandons anything that even remotely approaching scientific research. Creationism is an insult to the collective of human intelligence.  Living a life according to myths and fairy tales is nothing short of childish and those who would cause detriment to the proper education of our children amount to little more than the “blind leading the blind” and they should have no place in deciding who is taught anything. Read more . . .