Here’s an article dealing with the ‘stupid’ things Christians sometimes believe will affect their faith. Pastor Osborne claims too many of his parishioners were complaining about having a bad life despite their Christian status. This often leads them, he says, to have a spiritual meltdown when they realize having faith does not protect them from harm anymore than unbelievers.

Now it’s nice of Osborne to tell everyone the truth here, but it sounds to me if you follow a religion’s rules, pray like a madman, and still get royally screwed over, it might be time to call it quits on their whole religion business. After all, they do claim your life will be improved by believing, and if that’s just not the case, then logically you can determine those making these claims are full of shit. Nothing too surprising about that, no?

Osborne takes the practical approach to faith. He says you shouldn’t expect God to lift one finger to help you, but rather your faith is essentially a lottery ticket you’ll be able to cash out when you die.

They all lived by faith “yet their faith didn’t fix anything,” Osborne points out. What faith does promise, however, is forgiveness and the gift of eternal life.

Yeah, I’m not convinced this God of yours who apparently offers no special protection or services to mankind will suddenly appear in the 11th hour and whisk me away to that big ‘House Party’ in the sky. How about I don’t waste my life pretending to understand what this confusing entity wants from me and instead live my own life the way I see fit. At least if I screw up, it’ll be my own fault!

When I think about the year 2010, the first thing that comes to mind is the sequel to 2001 A Space Odyssey. It makes me think about how optimistic Arthur C. Clark was in terms of the human race’s engineering skills. Let’s just say it’s doubtful we’ll be sending anyone to Jupiter. In fact, rather than being a scientific Mecca, the world seems to have taken a nasty turn towards superstitious belief. Case in point: there is currently a bill floating around in Congress that wants to make 2010 the ‘Year of the Bible’.

(1) to designate an appropriate year as ‘The National Year of the Bible’; and

(2) to issue a proclamation calling upon citizens of all faiths to rediscover and apply the priceless, timeless message of the Holy Scripture which has profoundly influenced and shaped the United States and its great democratic form of Government, as well as its rich spiritual heritage, and which has unified, healed, and strengthened its people for over 200 years.

The text goes on to say the Bible has apparently “…inspired compassion, love for our neighbor, and the preciousness of life and marriage, and… healed and blessed our families, communities, and our entire Nation, especially in times of war, tragedy, and economic and social crisis”. I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but anyone who thinks the Bible is an adequate moral guide has never actually bothered reading it. The wording makes reference to the moral teachings of both the Old and New Testament. You might remember that these same texts were used to justify slavery, and used to torture and kill suspected witches by the Pilgrims. Anyone who has any degree of moral fiber will admit the Bible is one of the worst ethical texts in history.

These kinds of stupid and unconstitutional bills are in direct response to the momentum and visibility of the Atheism movement, make no mistake; the Right is trying to show everyone the Bible is the true heart and soul of the country rather than The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, or The Bill of Rights. This is the kind of fight we have to be prepared for. These religious idiots will fight us at every turn. Each time a poll comes out showing that our numbers are growing, they will act with increasing impunity to destroy the separation of church and state. It’s going to be a long and hard battle against superstition, ignorance, and nonsense. Hope you’re all ready to fight the good fight!

Here is a great article on the Independent asking the British government to stop forcing kids to engage in prayer. Since I’m not from the UK, the fact this is mandatory is new to me. I suppose it makes sense; there was a time not so long ago where the majority of Britain was pretty religious. That time has now passed, however, and it’s time for a change:

I can understand why the unelected, faltering religious institutions cling to this law so tightly. When it comes to “faith”, if you don’t get people young, you probably won’t ever get them. Very few people are, as adults, persuaded of the idea that (say) a Messiah was born to a virgin and managed to bend the laws of physics, or that we should revere a man who at the age of 53 had sex with a nine-year-old girl. You can usually only persuade people of this when they are very young – a time when their critical and rational faculties have not yet been developed – and hope it becomes a rock in their psychological make-up they dare not pull out.

I also find the majority of comments are hilariously abusive; the writer is accused by one fellow of being a left wing ‘tosser’. You Brits are too funny.

It used to be you only needed to warn your kids not to trust strangers trying to lure them into their vehicles for fear they might be kidnapped. Now parents in Colorado Springs have to worry about the Cornerstone Baptist Church luring their kids inside their creepy vans in order to baptize them. That’s what nearly happened to a 7th grader at Russell Middle School. Administrators immediately sent a warning out to parents to remind their kids that religious nutballs are scary and should be kept at a safe distance.

Personally, I find this almost as funny as hearing about Mormons baptizing the deceased. Do these clowns not realize a baptism is merely a symbolic gesture on the part of believers? If there really was a rule that every human who wanted to go to heaven was required to have water splashed on their face by a dude in a costume, how stupid would that be? Oh wait, the whole idea of heaven is pretty stupid, isn’t it?

Also, how desperate is this church for new members? I’m pretty confident parents would not respond positively to a their kids being temporarily abducted in order to perform a weird religious ceremony. Just a thought.

According to this survey, church goers are more likely to support torture. Evangelicals were the group that support it the most, and considering that because of them, we had to endure 8 years of W. Bush, then yeah, that makes sense to me (also, The Passion of the Christ is probably the longest snuff movie in history).

Are you not as tired as I am with all the moral righteousness of Christians? There isn’t a day that goes by where they don’t attack atheists and accuse us of having no morality. The fact that they can turn around and support torturing other human beings is beyond me.

I have an idea; next time some religious jerkoff gets in your face and starts telling you there is no morality in atheism, ask them why 6 in 10 of them find it’s not a big deal to inflict pain on other human beings.

An article here tries to make the case that both the Left and the Right are wrong about the Founding Fathers establishing (or not) a Christian nation. The author makes a good case for why religious conservatives are wrong, but he doesn’t seem to say anything constructive about why the Left is mistaken. I must assume he feels perhaps secularists like myself may not fully appreciate the contribution Christians have made in forming this country. I thought, therefore, I might talk a little bit about my thoughts on the subject.

We cherish our memories. Without them, our experiences would simply fade, and we would lose the ability to learn. This is why history is such an important subject; the progress of our society has only been possible because of the shared and recorded experience of millions of human beings who are now deceased. We stand on the shoulders of giants, and we directly benefit from their knowledge so long as we take the time to examine the past.

History is a neglected subject, and easily corruptible; after all, how many are willing to lie to further their agendas and politics? Take for instance the ‘religious right’ and their revisionist perception of the Founding Fathers, who they believe were devout Christians. They uphold the factually incorrect idea that the United States of America was founded to be a Christian nation, or even that the founders had intended to make Christianity the official religion. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Declaration of Independence was a statement against the tyranny of kings, princes, and clergymen. This is precisely why the separation of Church and State is such a fundamental principle; it is designed to prevent the usurpation of freedom by men of the cloth.

I won’t deny Christianity has had a supreme influence on the West; it does not mean, however, our morality is inherited from the Bible. If anything, our modern society was shaped and influenced by moral philosophers coming out of the Enlightenment. It just so happened that many tried to apply their models to that of Christianity, despite the fact much of it is contradictory. They were pious men, but although they may have been inspired by God, it does not mean their morality reflected the message and tone of the Bible. If anything, they did what most Christians do these days; they ignore anything that conflicts with their morality, or declare the stories are meant to be taken allegorically. It’s one or the others, guys; not both.

If the US was really a Christian nation, then all other religions would be outlawed, or at the very least, severely limited. Yes, the majority of Americans are Christians, but so what? It does not mean the entire country should be defined by what a large portion of the population believes. To do so misses the whole point and strength of the American model of government; that people should be free to seek out their own happiness as they themselves see fit. If that involves rejecting God, then anyone should be able to do so without fear or retribution, discrimination, or lost opportunity. Sadly, the reality is that Muslims, gays, and atheists are pariahs in the eyes of many Christians. Their livelihood is largely dependant on the fairness and objectivity of a secular society. This is why history is so important. We must learn the lessons of the past; that no one mode of thought or religion can be enforced on others, and no religion (or even lack of religion) should be forcefully imposed onto others. America is not a Christian nation, and you can thank some pretty smart guys for that one.