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TwitterThe Truth Hurts
16 May 2011 No Comments
in Politics, Rants, Religion, Video Tags: Christians, hypocrisy, war
Atheists are People, Too
07 Sep 2010 No Comments
in Religion Tags: atheism, physics, Religion
Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics: You are all stardust. You couldn’t be here if stars hadn’t exploded, because the elements – the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for evolution and for life – weren’t created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and the only way for them to get into your body is if those stars were kind enough to explode. So, forget Jesus. The stars died so that you could be here today. –Lawrence Krauss
The coming evangelical collapse OR why they still don't get it
10 Mar 2009 No Comments
in Religion Tags: dogma, evangelicals, Religion
Michael Spencer over at the Christian Science Monitor has this article today about the imminent collapse of the evangelical church in America. He claims that “Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants” which sounds about right. Christianity has likely peaked in this country, due in no small part to the evangelical, or worse, the fundamentalist elements within.
Depending on how you define “evangelical”, I was raised in such a church (Dutch Reformed, as a matter of record). So, the assertion that this flavor of church is turning stale raised an eyebrow. I have to say, after reading his article, I think Spencer is onto something.
Why is this disaster about to befall the church? Spencer’s reasons, with my comments following:
1. Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and with political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake.
Bingo. I can’t even begin to highlight this enough. This movement has even gone so far as to have priest and pastors alike saying that a vote for one candidate is a sin. What tripe. But buried within this first point is something that deserved it’s own bullet point.
Being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of Evangelicals can’t articulate the Gospel with any coherence. [emphasis mine]
I can’t even begin to count the number of times before and after leaving the church where I’ve had conversations where the person debating and/or arguing with me got the Bible wrong. If you’re going to argue a religious viewpoint, you sure as hell better have your own sacred text straight. The knowledge the average Christian has about their own faith is astoundingly small and only serves to belittle their faith and religion in the eyes of those to whom they attempt to proselytize.
2. We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught…. Our young people have deep beliefs about the culture war, but do not know why they should obey scripture, the essentials of theology, or the experience of spiritual discipline and community.
Here we disagree. My experience was actually different, and I saw it mirrored in the experiences of my friends growing up. Yes, we have deep beliefs about the “culture war” (ed. ug, really?), but we reject the previous generations’ stances. We know full well what the Church’s stance is on gays, evolution, abortion, etc., but our experiences tell us that those stances are wrong. We reject the hypocrisy of a church that discriminates against gay people but continues to employ or welcome adulterers, or spiritual leaders who rail against such sins while committing those very sins or stealing from the coffers. We reject a church who views science as an evil force aligned against Faith, then tells their pew neighbor they’re doing very well thanks, the treatments are working quite well.
My entire childhood was spent in the shadow of fear of what would happen if God caught me not praying before dinner, prayers, incidentally, I realized very early on I could rattle off without thought and still fulfill my obligation somehow. Orthodoxy was boring, and asking questions was frowned upon or outright challenged, only confirming that it’s engaging qualities were either for the adults or non-existence. Either way, as a child, I’m not interested.
3. There are three kinds of evangelical churches today: consumer-driven megachurches, dying churches, and new churches whose future is fragile.
Maybe, but I don’t think this is a cause, merely a symptom.
4. …Christian education has not produced a product that can withstand the rising tide of secularism. Evangelicalism has used its educational system primarily to staff its own needs and talk to itself.
I’ll have to take his word, but I can’t imagine accomplishing much talking to an echo chamber.
5. The confrontation between cultural secularism and the faith at the core of evangelical efforts to “do good” is rapidly approaching. We will soon see that the good Evangelicals want to do will be viewed as bad by so many, and much of that work will not be done. Look for ministries to take on a less and less distinctively Christian face in order to survive.
Frankly, there’s only one answer to this: bullshit. This is a total copout argument: “We have to do un-Christian-like things because that’s what people expect. If we did what we should do, it would be viewed as bad.” Hmm, maybe that’s because undermining and oppressing everyone who doesn’t fall into line with your strict definition of “good” is, in fact, bad.
And, let me dispense with one other pet peeve. “Cultural secularism” is not “cultural”. It’s just secularism. Full stop.
6. Even in areas where Evangelicals imagine themselves strong (like the Bible Belt), we will find a great inability to pass on to our children a vital evangelical confidence in the Bible and the importance of the faith.
Now we’re just expanding on the previous points. Why can’t the average Joe and Jane pass on confidence in the Bible and the importance of faith? See point 1: they don’t know the Bible, and therefore even they can’t live by. When I was active in the church, I could count the number of people in my church who were All Week Christians on one hand. Most of the others were Sunday Morning Christians. The rest came out of compulsion or familial necessity (Mom said you had to).
How do you expect to instill confidence in a book and dogma even you don’t really believe in? You pay it lip service, sure, but only when the meal’s on the table or someone’s watching. Religion, in public just as much as in the sanctuary, is spectacle. The prayer always sounds better and lasts a little longer when someone’s watching or listening.
7. The money will dry up.
Well, no duh. And, not only that, but I’d wager that before the actual balance is $0, many churches will have gone under simply because of the way they spend money. The money spent on actual ministry, sending people in amongst the unwashed heathens, is dwarfed by building funds, sound systems, projectors, printing costs, salaries and benefits. Oh, didn’t they tell you? Being an evangelical preacher is pretty lucrative, even without a TV show.
The big question is, now that someone finally said all this in a fairly well-read publication, what’s the response from those still on the inside? My guess? Stunning denials that will shatter any irony meters deployed nearby. Then character attacks on Spencer (“He’s not the right kind of Christian to make these points.”) Then we’ll get the pseudo-intellectual rebuttals of how this needs to happen for some reason, but it will all work out because God wants it to or something.
The only saving thing here for evangelicals? It doesn’t mean your faith is dying, just the mechanism. Hm, maybe that’s not such a bad thing after all.
'Expelled' is a piece of crap
21 Apr 2008 No Comments
in Religion, Science Tags: creationism, Politics, Science
How do I know? Because even the Grand Rapids Freaking Press panned, no, outright insulted the movie. This is a newspaper steeped in the Christian orthodoxy which the film touts and published in the heart of Christian Reformed bigotry and ID adherents. A sample:
The film frames scientists who oppose I.D. as hypocrites [...] thus making Michael Moore’s similarly slanted documentary techniques look like objective journalism.
…
But “Expelled” is slick and slimy, and anyone wanting a proper response to the onslaught of leftist documentaries — or harboring a similar viewpoint of man’s origins — likely will be put off by Stein’s smug tone and his disigenuous [sic] suggestion that not just Darwinism, but science itself is a dangerous tool of evil minds.
Ouch.
Creation Museum Report
30 Nov 2007 No Comments
Epic review of the Creation Museum, the nauseating edifice to the Creation “story”. With it’s accompanying photo gallery, the review of the Creation Museum is scathing, pointed, and hilarious all at once. Even Christians should be laughing at the absurdity of the assertions put out at this place. To wit:
But seriously, the ability to just come out and put on a placard that the Jurassic era is temporally contiguous with the Fifth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt — well, there’s a word for that, and that word is chutzpah. Because, look, that’s something you really have to sell if you want anyone to buy it. It’s one thing to say to people that God directly created the dinosaurs and that they lived in the Garden of Eden. It’s another thing to suggest they lived long enough to harass the Minoans, and do it with a straight face. It’s horseshit, pure and simple, but that’s not to suggest I can’t admire the hucksterism.
Thanks to titled: some amusing blog pun for the article tip. (Aren’t neighbor-y people great for info?)
Question to the Faithful
06 Oct 2007 No Comments
Is a person is able to create non-sentient life (say, a bacterium), what does that do to your worldview?
This is not an endorsement of the experiment in question, but more a moral quandary. Eventually, someone will figure out how to combine the right amino acids and energy to create a non-theoretical lifeform. Since creation of life is reserved for deities, what will this eventual achievement mean to the larger community of believers?
What would it mean to you?
Christian Reformed Church lifts barrier to female ministers
13 Jun 2007 3 Comments
in Cool!, Religion, Spot the Sarcasm
I am shocked. Pleased, surprised, curious, but shocked.
Delegates meeting at their annual synod voted Tuesday to remove the word “male” from the requirements for church office.
This is a huge step for one of the most conservative Dutch Reformed organizations in the world. I’m absolutely certain this will cause a split in the church, similar to the Anglican Church. Much applause to the synod for dragging the church out of the dark ages and into modern life in acknowledging equality in the ability to lead a congregation.
First alcohol in Zeeland, now female ordination in the CRC, what’s next? One service a week? Less homophobia? Actual wine at communion? I’m taking bets.
The Founding Fathers on God
24 May 2007 No Comments
A comment on another post to the effect that this country was founded on religion tweaked me a little bit. So, here’s some reading to get the perspectives of some of our founding fathers.
The Founding Fathers Speak Out on God, Religion and the First Amendment
Seperation of Church and State
Notes on the Founding Fathers and the Separation of Church and State (from a theology school)
The Founding Fathers Were Not Christians (Free Inquiry article)
This was from a very basic Google search. As religious teachers are keen to say, ignorance of your sin is not an excuse for it. Falsely claiming a common viewpoint with people of immeasurable importance without doing your research is just as damning.
Your Daily Dose of Crazy
22 May 2007 2 Comments
in Made Me Laugh, Religion, Signs of the Horsemen, Uhm... yeah
Found via the StumbleUpon button.
Click to enlarge
Based on the info on this clipping, this crazy woman is from Soldotna, Alaska.
A holy symbol inside a potato
08 Apr 2007 No Comments
in Religion, Signs of the Horsemen, Uhm... yeah
“It’s been really hard,” Sachs said. “This potato has changed everything. I can’t explain it.”
All hail the potato! Glory be it’s starchy mercy.
Oh, wait, Marshall, MI. Never mind.
Tune in next week when Holland resident Gertrude Van Pennipinchen sees Jesus in profile in a plate of toad-in-a-hole.