Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Christian cross shouldn’t stay on public land

Driving around yesterday, I heard a Portland talk-show host get enraged about a lawsuit that seeks to have a Christian cross removed from the Mojave National Preserve in California.Right-winger Lars Larson said that a plywood box has been placed around the cross. "Unbelievable. How can this be happening in America!"What's unbelievable is that there would be any controversy over removing an obvious religious symbol from public property -- regardless of whether the cross was put up by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.The National Park Service denied a request to put up a Buddhist memorial. So it looks like only Christians…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Sacrificing a child for religion gets two months jail time

Here's some bad news for children being abused or killed in the name of religion: last Friday an Oregon judge sentenced Carl Worthington to two months in jail for sacrificing his child, Ava, in the name of Jesus.It's disturbing that this legal slap on the wrist is all Worthington got for committing an atrocious crime. As Oregonian columnist Susan Nielsen said today, religious crazies benefit from a double standard under my state's laws.  This trial should inspire Oregon to look outside its borders and consider the following: First, other states aren't so deferential to parents who withhold lifesaving medical care…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Child sacrifice gets a yellow light in Oregon

Today an Oregon jury came to a verdict in what I call a child sacrifice case. Carl and Raylene Worthington let their 15-month old daughter, Ava, die because their bizarre variety of Christianity teaches that Jesus cures illnesses, not doctors.All I needed to know to conclude that Ava's parents should rot in jail for a really long time was summed up by Ava's grandfather, Guy, in a newspaper story.Worthington said no one in his family has seen a doctor and has no use for them. Instead, they put their trust in God, he said."Jesus Christ almighty can cure anything," Worthington…
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Great news: Christian America is on a decline

Maybe there is a churchless God after all, because my prayers are being answered: Christianity is becoming less influential in American culture and politics.So argues Jon Meacham persuasively in Newsweek's "The End of Christian America" -- just in time for Easter weekend. The percentage of self-identified Christians has dropped 10 points since 1990, from 86 to 76 percent. People unaffiliated with any faith have doubled to 16 percent. The number of agnostics and atheists has quadrupled. As if this wasn't enough to throw Christian fundamentalists into a frenzy, this week they also had to deal with President Obama's remarks in…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Jesus’ body found in the trash! For real!

What a beautiful sight for churchless eyes: here's a photo of Jesus lying in a trash bin, pierced with a rusty nail and in the company of some banana peels (plus coffee grounds and other assorted discards). If you're not a Catholic, you may not recognize the Son of God. But if you're a believer, there he is, in the form of a communion wafer – which the faithful consider to be transformed into the body of Christ at holy communion. In a fascinating blog post, "The Great Desecration," biology professor P.Z. Myers relates how his wafer trashing has caused…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

What, it’s Easter?

After I bought a cup of coffee and some muffins this afternoon, the clerk said "Have a nice Easter." I thought, What, it's Easter? I'd completely lost track of what tomorrow was. I started to say, "I'd forgotten about it. Guess that shows how religious I am." But I decided to bite my tongue and simply say, "Thanks." Easter means absolutely nothing to me. Probably somebody in the world celebrates a memorable day in Zeus' existence. The two celebrations are equally senseless to my churchless self. Yet I realize that other people find religious rituals and holidays deeply meaningful. They're…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Christian sex toys

Well, finally. Some Christianity that I can get behind. Or on top of. Whatever. Christian sex toys. Though the offerings are fairly tame. The NPR story says the "site steers clear of certain types of sexual activity that they believe are unholy." Any guesses? Well, at least Joy Wilson and her husband are making good use of Biblical passages from the Song of Solomon. Sexual theology appeals to my churchless soul. [Update: Gosh, does God have a plan for me? Am I about to convert to Christianity? Could be. Just noticed a CNN story about a minister asking his married…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Is it negative to be anti-Christian?

My wife and I try to be positive people. So when Laurel told a man we'd just met today, "You should know that we're anti-Christian," I hoped that this believer wouldn't take our negativity personally. Fortunately, he didn't. I went on to explain that it isn't so much Christianity that turns us off as fundamentalism – which comes in many guises. Christian fundamentalists just happen to be by far the most common variety in our neck of the world's woods. This cartoon does a good job of summing up what we find objectionable about so many Christians. They take the…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Creation Museum displays Christian credulity

Just when I've been thinking, "summer is here, living is easy; maybe I shouldn't hammer religion so hard," the Creation Museum has to open its doors and make me wish I had a hammer of Biblical proportions. Oops, bad choice of words. Because the problem with the Creation Museum — a huge one — is that it treats the Bible as gospel truth rather than manmade fables. So if Genesis says that the Earth was created just a few thousand years ago, then dinosaurs must have co-existed with Homo sapiens, no matter what science has discovered. This ridiculous monument to…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Christians admit their religion is based on hate

I'm pretty harsh on Christianity, along with every other faith-based religion that asks us to believe in things unseen and a god unknown. But it takes a Christian to really reveal the dark side of Christianity—a true believer whose world view is so blinded by an egocentric conviction that he's got all the answers, he doesn't see how deep is the moral morass into which he's sunk. Such a man is Rick Scarborough of Vision America, an organization that claims to be "restoring the original American vision." This supposedly includes the right to discriminate against, hate, and vilify people who…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Pope says hellfire is real and eternal

Well, looks like it's going to be an interesting afterlife. If you believe the Pope—and why wouldn't you, since he's infallible—the fires of hell are real and eternal. This news comes on the heels (oops, I typed "hells" first time around; guess the Devil made me do it) of my condemning myself to hell for a free DVD. And providing video proof which, unexpectedly, has been viewed by 755 people in less than three months (only a few of whom were me). Despite being a devoutly unfaithful lapsed Catholic, I figured that it was safe to take the blasphemy challenge.…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Unbelievers should want the Bible taught in public school

Seeing the headline on this week's TIME cover, "Why We Should Teach the Bible in Public School," I was prepared to become outraged. But after reading the article, and giving more thought to the subject, this unbeliever is all for more Biblical instruction. Naturally it shouldn't be with an evangelical slant. The article's author, David Van Biema, says that the Bible should be treated as the bedrock of Western culture, not the holy word of God. Other religious texts also should get wider exposure in schools. A few weeks ago I pulled up to a drive-in Dutch Brothers for a…
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Lost Tomb of Jesus story shows shakiness of Christianity

Sunday the Discovery Channel will broadcast a documentary, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus." James Cameron claims to have found evidence that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and fathered a son named Judah. And that he didn't ascend bodily to heaven, since his body was buried. Lots of Christians and scholars are in an uproar, for different reasons. Scholarly types are critical of how the archaeological evidence has been interpreted. True believers are offended that anyone would try to demolish the foundation on which Christianity is built. For the bodily resurrection is one of the essential doctrines of the Christian Faith. Here's…
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I condemn myself to hell. For a free DVD.

I haven’t made my Blasphemy Challenge video yet, but here’s the written version: “Hi. I’m Brian. I deny the Holy Spirit.” According to Mark 3:29, my soul is now in deep hellish doo-doo. “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” On the plus side, if my video is among the first 1001 to be uploaded to YouTube, I’ll get a free DVD of The God Who Wasn’t There. That’s a $25 value, definitely enough for me to sell my soul. Actually, I’d condemn myself to hell for a lot less.…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

“The Pagan Christ” looks at Christmas differently

Spoiler alert: if you’re a Christian who believes that today you celebrated the birth of someone who actually existed, stop reading--if you don’t want to run the risk of having your belief balloon punctured. Since I’ve never had any allegiance to the historical Jesus, I had no problem breezing through Tom Harpur’s eye-opening “The Pagan Christ,” subtitled “Is Blind Faith Killing Christianity?” Harpur, a former Anglican priest and professor of Greek and New Testament at the University of Toronto, argues that Christianity is nothing more than warmed over Egyptian and Greek mythology. Jesus never existed as a historical personage. His…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus Religions

Almost time to celebrate the Christianity meme

Here we are, late December, and there sure is a lot of Christian talk going around. Someone from outer space would be asking, “What’s that all about?” Mangers, wise men, gifts of frankincense and myrrh. Our alien visitor would be told that Christmas is a celebration of a man who was sent by God to redeem the world’s sins; that he died, was resurrected, and now is able to give other people eternal life in heaven if you believe in him; and that he expects believers to praise his glory to others so that they too can be saved. “Oh,…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Don’t spam God

It’s rare that I resonate with a Christian message. But I like the general tone of this short “Do you spam God?” piece (a PDF file). I wonder, though, whether maybe God would prefer not to be bothered at all, compared with getting heartfelt messages. What’s the point of blabbing away to an omniscient omnipresent being? (Thanks to the New Life Church for sharing this link).
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus God

Struggling to comprehend the Christian mind

I’ve been enjoying the Christian/non-believer dialogue being carried on via comments to my “Morality comes from nature, not God” post. Pastor Phillip Ross has stimulated some interesting cyber-conversation between himself and Church of the Churchless regulars, me included. Today I’m in a pretty mellow mood. Last night’s election results filled me with hope that the divisions plaguing the United States can be bridged by moderates who realize that left and right can’t exist without a center. I was in that spirit when I perused the latest comments from Phillip and others today. Rather than reflexively thinking, “Geez, that’s ridiculous” after…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus Politics

Texas governor says non-Christians are going to hell

On this election day eve, let us remind ourselves why it is so important to send a message to the Christian Taliban in this country: we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore! What aren’t we going to take? Intolerance. Sanctimoniousness. Attempts to turn the United States into a hateful Christian nation. When the Republican governor of Texas agrees with a sermon where the pastor said that non-Christians are “going straight to hell with a non-stop ticket,” it’s long past time to scream bullshit. Governor Rick Perry’s weird religious beliefs are his own business. But he…
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