Great New Book

I was at the library today and there on the shelves was a fantastic new autobiography: Still Growing by Kirk Cameron. It looks great, especially the "Teen Atheist" chapter and the reading list. I want everyone here to rush right out and either buy it, or get it from your local library. Now!

How to render any Bible-based argument worthless:

Jeremiah 8:8

How can you say, "We are wise,
for we have the law of the LORD,"
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
has handled it falsely?

Houston, we have a problem....

And the problem is this: Incest, whether your imaginary friend says it is a sin or not, is WRONG. Period. No exceptions. Vera, however, doesn't seem to think so.

"Also, the incest between Adam etc, was not sin. Sin is not imputed where there is no law. Obviously, to get the human race going, there had to be this type of thing. But God destroyed all but eight people to preserve mankind."

Sooooo....per usual, saying that your sky daddy says something is ok automatically makes it so. Also, Vera, if your deity wanted to get the human race going without the vileness of incest all he had to do was just pop into existence enough people that were not related in the first place. But no, if your beliefs are true he purposefully caused incestuous acts to happen, which you are perfectly ok with.

I am in no way implying that Vera would be ok with incest now, but that she could condone it at all just because her deity once thought it was ok, to me at least, is disgusting. But then again, murder and genocide are ok with fundies as long as their sky friend says it's ok.

And by the way, don't ya think that if a god wanted to 'preserve mankind' that he could have come up with a better way of doing it than ....DESTROYING MANKIND????

Jesus Fucking Christ, this kind of reasoning makes me want to vomit.

A few quick links

This doesn't relate directly to Ray, but I found these to be interesting and thought I'd share:

I subscribe to Skeptic magazine and get their eSkeptic newsletter. In this edition there is an article about flagella myths. As many of us know, the bacterial flagellum is often cited by IDers as proof of intelligent design by using the argument of irreducible complexity. This is a short article and not as strong as some others I've seen, but it does help expose how Behe and others are being less than honest in their tactics when they use the bacterial flagellum in their arguements.


In case you have never read it, here is a link to Bertrand Russell's 'Why I Am Not A Christian' essay. Theists reading here may also find this interesting.

And finally, I know a few of us are waiting impatiently for Bill Maher's Religulous to come out in Novemeber, but there are some Catholics that are pretty twisted up about it, as can be seen here on the Catholic Discussion Blog. It's not that they are upset about the movie that I found interesting, it's the arguments they use. And you thought the Rayniacs had some skewed ways of defending their beliefs??? Well they do, but the comments about the movie was where I found the real fun. This is taken from the comments section:

Skeet King of All Says:

Bill Maher was recently in some trouble for his thoughts on religion which he made public on his show. He has always pushed the envelope looking for that hit or miss. He suffers from the sin that sends most people to hell. He does his “research” as he sees fit. He tries to get people to see things his way, and to “open” their eyes. There is no doubt in my mind that Satan has a special place in h**l for people like him. He may not believe in h**l right now, but he will sooner or later.
Aside from getting angery which is only normal, maybe we caould pray a Novena to St. Claire of Assisi that he will have a change of heart, and of course that his movie will bomb.


And there's an example of magical thinking at its finest -- lighting a candle and praying to a dead person for a physical effect in the real world. *sigh*

Deep Theological Questions

He was barricaded in a basement but the screaming horde broke through.

Terry Burton: Up to His Old Tricks? Or Is It a Poe?

Brand New Christian said...

Great Post Ray!

Silly Atheists are their silly ideals. Who needs evidence when you have FAITH!

Plus the evidence is clear! A creation requires a Creator!

Checkmate, Atheists!

Thanks to this blog, i'm no longer an Atheist.

In fact, last night I prayed to Jesus to show me a sign of His glorious existence, and this morning in my cereal bowl, my cheerios moved into the form of the Cross! It was a miracle. I'm telling all my Ahh theist friends about this blog so they can get a fresh sip of cool Truth!

In His Glorious Love,
BNC

Ken Ham Blames Evolution for Big Foot Hoax

I needed a break from Comfort idiocy so I checked out AIG to find this:

"Bigfoot has been found—or so claim two men who say they have found the dead body of a Sasquatch. Although the supposed body has been shown to be nothing more than a rubber suit, these men are likely following the evolutionary indoctrination they receive in school and on TV—and are also following in a long line of supposed apemen “proofs” that were big on show and low on evidence."

Ken, listen here you fucking maroon. Just how in the fuck is it LIKELY that they were following anything other than just being two lunatics like you looking to gain some notoriety.

That is the most idiotic statement. And you know that is likely how? Did the holy spirit infest your pubic hairs and you got a hard on for the first time in your miserable deluded life? Yeah, that is LIKELY, you sexually repressed ugly bastard.

It is likely you say that for one reason, another lame and idiotic and vague negative aspersion against evolution. That is so disengenuous it is fucking hilarious and so transparent that a fucking shit for brains seven year old kid could see right through it. If you are not fucking ashamed for having that shit on your site then you could not be ashamed of anything. It is likely that you are goddamned happy that your pathetic minions will actually believe that kind of horseshit. And it is fucking LIKELY that they will.
I'm trying to be nice to you. I'll start being even nicer when you will start trying to be smarter.

Respectfully submitted, dale

Brilliant, Just Brilliant

From the "Is God Guilty of Murder?" post over at the Dumb Fort:

Jesus Will Save said...

"Jesus will kill us all in the end."



If that doesn't perfectly sum up the way these people think, I don't know what does. Made me chuckle anyway.

Ray has started to increase his traffic again, I think it's time for something new....perhaps we bombard him with comments that all say " Great post, Ray!" ?

My contributions to this blog will now be in picture form.

It just makes my damn brain ache

I no longer comment over at Ray's (and haven't in 32 days now) and it's not that I'm cutting the fundy nut cases any slack, it's just that things like this are so completely beyond stupid that I wonder sometimes if it is even worth wasting time on:

Rebecca in TX in reply to Matt Dillahunty :

Matt,
You have missed some very important characteristics of God. The most important being a perfect, holy, just judge. He does not have the pampering kind of love for us that turns a blind eye from our crimes and lets justice go unsatisfied. And by the way the crimes you have committed against God are the highest worst crimes that can be committed when it is the perfect, holy, creator of the universe that you are committing them against. They are not little offences. They are all out rebellion against God. Your characterization is one of a human parent toward his child. That is simply not the God of the Bible and you are definitely not a child in need of a little discipline. You are an unrepentant sinner, doomed to God's judgment, and in need of a savior. You need one who is willing to step into the courtroom of your judgment and pay the fine for your crimes so that you don't have to. All you have to do Matt is repent, turn from your sins and trust in what Jesus did for you on the cross. In your place He paid the price for those high crimes against God. Your sins will be forgiven and you will be given everlasting life. What an incredibly kind offer given to one who does not deserve it.


All you have to do? Like it's just so simple !! I wonder if Rebecca realizes that 'all she has to do' is to read the Qur’an, repent to Allah and realize Islam is the one true religion and all of her 'high crimes against god' will just magically disappear? I'll bet not because that would would seem absurd to her, as does the line of reasoning that all an atheist has to do is to just believe in Jeebus and just like magic, all is well. To me she may as well be saying 'All you have to do is pray to my magic donkey and realize you have offended his donkeyness and you'll be forgiven of all your sins against the Holy Ass'. Absurdness is absurdness, no matter how you state it.


Then there's this gem from H132:

Matt d.

You blaspheme God by claiming to have been a Christian and then turning to atheism. What a wicked lie!

You were never a Christain any more than your spiritual brother Hitler was a christian. Both of you are children of your father, the devil...

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." John 8:44

A born-again Christian is a new creation; new creations cannot become unnew.

The Gosepl is Good News and is good news for you. Though you've trampled it under foot, I want you to be SAVED because your time is running out.

"For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth He devise means, that His banished be not expelled from Him." (2 Sam. 2:14)

Come back through repentance and faith.

We Christians love you and want you back bud...


First, H132 accuses Matt of lying that he was ever a Christian, then says that 'we want ya back bud'. If he were lying about having ever been a Christian how could he go back to something he never was? I'm not even going there on the Hitler reference.

In a nutshell, pardon the pun, the stupidity is just too damn painful over there and it never ends. I think if we were dealing with people that had an ounce of reasoning in the first place, it would be different, but I think they are beyond being able to have an independent thought.

I would actually go to this church

Hey, at least they have fun songs.

Pet Peeve/ Administrative/ And other Worthless Renderings

In case you didn't notice, I am pissed off. (Changing font)

When my cursor comes to rest on a button, it appears as a cursor instead of that satisfying finger.


I have detected a note of resignation around here just lately. Nothing fatal, but, relegating ourselves to the prospect that these creobots are gaining any traction; forget it. it's ridiculous. The internet is to these fundies as the printing press was to the Catholic Church. They are going down, incrementally, systematically, and sociolologically speaking. They represent the remnants of the bible faith adherrants. The trend is there to see.

Debunking evilution?

Hey guys!

A long time. This post is kind of a test of honesty for the Christians.

My Christian friends,

This is a re-post of something I wrote at Ray's, with a few editions for better clarity. I would like to know what you think of this, and whether this convinces you that Ray and Kirk's "Evolution" is actually dishonest:

How could the WOTM about Evolution be brilliant? You call telling lies and doing ridiculous acts of dishonesty brilliant? What would you think of a video against God where I would go outside and ask unaware teens whether they have proof that God exists? Then I get them to hesitate about what they think that is writen in the Bible, get them to say they are no expert priests, then put them into some fallacious test where they would have to conclude that there is no God. Would that be "Brilliant"? Wouldn't you wonder why did I not interview Ray (for instance), or someone alike? Someone who has supposedly thought about it, rather than any random teen at the street?

Then, suppose I also go and make false statements about the "theory of God's existence"? Imagine that I say that to prove the God of the Christians it is necessary to examine all of the printed copies of the Bible, no matter which version. Then I say: according to the Christians, the Bible is the inerrant word of God. To prove this we should not find a single typo in them, not a single copy of it with misprint, nor anything alike, because it is the work of God, and thus every copy has to be pristine and perfect. Then I show you a few copies, taken from some place where Bibles have to be old, odd printed, and tattered by time and use, let us say these come from a time and place when Bibles were forbidden, and thus printed in basements with poor equipment and low-quality paper, then I claim, you see, all Bibles are like this! Would that be "Brilliant"?

Then I proceed and go searching for someone with mental problems, and take him/her for dinner, and I show that he/she has no manners, and spills everything, or whatever, then claim, well, he/she should be perfectly well behaved, this is what you should expect since the creationists would want you to believe that we were created to the image of God. How come this person has so much trouble with table-manners? Would that be "Brilliant"?

I could continue, but seriously, would you call such a thing brilliant, or preposterous bunch of lies, full of treacherous tactics, and misrepresentations?

Please be honest guys, now compare my imaginary video on "The theory of God's existence" with the Evolution video. Do you see the problem with Ray and Kirk or not?

G.E.

The Terry Burton Phenomenon

What began as a colorful Internet fluke has blossomed into a full-fledged political movement - one that Republicans and Democrats alike are reluctantly having to acknowledge.

The Second Coming

This was intended to have been the next in the "Questions for Christians" series, but my discussion with Patti has led me to phrase it in this manner instead, as Patti has already admitted that, should it be established that Jesus predicted that he would return within his disciples' lifetimes, which did not come to pass, that would call scripture into question. This, then, is a direct response to that.


Matthew 24 states that, as Jesus and the disciples were leaving the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus predicted its destruction (v:2). Later, on the Mount of Olives, his disciples asked him two questions: first, when these things would happen, and second, what would be the signs of the end of the world (“age” in some translations) and of the second coming (v:3). In response, Jesus spoke at length about wars, uprisings, famines, earthquakes, pestilences, false prophets, et cetera; all of which would be accompanied by great tribulation, “such as not been seen since the beginning of the world until this time, no nor ever shall be” (v:21).

Then Jesus got truly apocalyptic: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (vv: 29-31).

And when would all this happen? “Assuredly,” Jesus said to the men with him that day, “this generation will not pass away till all these things take place.” (v:34) This phrase is repeated in Luke (21:32).

He also tells his disciples that some of them “would not taste death” before they see the kingdom of God come with power (Mark 9:1) and the Son of Man comes in his kingdom (Matthew 16:28).

From these passages it is quite obvious that the Jesus depicted in the gospels predicted that he would return within his disciples’ lifetimes. That obviously did not happen. The Jesus depicted in the gospels is therefore a false prophet.


POSSIBLE OBJECTION: Perhaps Jesus meant that his disciples would not die spiritually before his return, so this isn’t false prophecy because they’re alive and well in spirit right now.

RESPONSE: The words that refer to death in the original Greek do mean literal, physical death. There is no contextual reason to interpret the passages as meaning otherwise, save one: to “explain away” a false prophecy.


POSSIBLE OBJECTION: Perhaps Jesus wasn’t talking about his second coming, but about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. That did happen around the year 70.

RESPONSE: Jesus’ disciples specifically asked him what signs would foretell the end of the world. Jesus listed a series of events – mundane events first, then a series of what can only be supernatural events (darkened sun, falling stars, angels to the sounds of trumpets, etc.), which are clearly apocalyptic in nature. So Jesus directly answered the disciples’ question about the end of the world. They weren’t merely talking about the temple.


POSSIBLE OBJECTION: Perhaps Jesus was talking about the establishment of his spiritual kingdom on Earth, not his literal second coming. That happened with the establishment of the church on Pentecost.

RESPONSE: Again, his disciples directly asked him about the end of the world, and Jesus directly answered them. Moreover, it is clear by the imagery they used in their own writings that the early Christians understood Jesus to be talking about the literal end of the world. Compare Matthew 24 with verses such as 2 Peter 3:10, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and 5:1-3, and Revelation 1:7.


POSSIBLE OBJECTION: Perhaps Jesus was speaking metaphorically. He did like to do that.

RESPONSE: He did, but only in the context of parables. This was clearly not a parable. This was Jesus making a prophecy which did not come to pass. Pure and simple.

Words Fail Me

I was at EvolutionBlog, reading about the 6th International Conference on Creationism and came across this:

I will have more to say about the minutiae of the conference in subsequent posts, but for now let me close with one dramatic break from the generally scholarly tone of the speakers. A fellow named John Pantana got up to tell us about God's pharmacy. To anticipate in advance your natural question: Yes, he's serious. I know that because someone asked him precisely that after his talk, and he bluntly answered in the affirmative. Read it and weep:

Here's God's amazing pharmacy. We can see the creativeness of God in the colors of food and the shapes of food that we put into our bodies. ...

Did you know that the sliced carrot looks like a human eye. The pupil, the iris, the radiating lines look like a human eye. Science shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to the function of the eyes.

A tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All the research shows that tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure food for the heart and the blood.

Grapes and the heart. Grapes hang in a cluster that look like the shape of a heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell. All the scientific research shows that both red and green grapes are profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles and folds are just like the neo-cortex. They have shown that walnuts help develop more than three dozen neuron transmitters to the brain. So everybody eat some walnuts.

Kidney beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function. Yes, they look exactly like the human kidney.

Celery, bok choy, rhubarb and many others look like the bones. These food specifically target bone strength. Bones are twenty-three percent sodium and these foods are twenty-three percent sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocados, eggplants and pears target the health and function of the womb and the cervix of the female. They look just like these organs and the latest research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week it balances hormones ... and prevents cervical cancers. It takes exactly nine months to grow an avocado from the blossom to the ripened fruit.

Figs and male sperm count. Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos. Figs increase the motility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet potatoes and the pancreas. Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives and ovaries. Black and green olives assist the health and function of ovaries.

One last. Oranges, pomegranites, grapefruits and other citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like body cells. Today's research shows that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.

You know, I just transcribed that laboriously from my little voice recorder. It seems I needn't have bothered, because it looks like he got it verbatim from this site. Charming. Incidentally, I suspect Pontana got this from the web, as opposed to the website getting it from him, since he was reading mechanically from his slides, and stumbled over big words like lycopine, bok choy, and cerebrum.

He closed with:

Worship him who made heaven and Earth, the sea and all the springs of water. Worship the God of creation. How big is God? He's big enough to rule the universe yet small enough to live within the heart. He's got the whole world in his hands. Jesus is lord.

Don't hear that too often at scientific conferences.


Wow. I mean, wow.

Sex Ed

I always knew they were gay.

Sadder and More Pathetic Everyday

Monday, August 18, 2008

Horse to Water

You can lead an atheist to evidence, but you can't make him think.

Posted by Ray Comfort on 8/18/2008 07:12:00 PM 4 comments

I'm really beginning to regret all the time I've wasted reading that blog and its comments, and the effort and time I've wasted commenting myself.