Let’s break this down a bit

Okay, so Freedom From Religion Foundation doesn’t have the best reputation with the FOX Newsers.

I get it. You get it.

The group, led by David Silverman, ask that public property offers equal space for a verity of religious or non-religious beliefs.

The conversation is a tough one, I’m sure.

Both parties feel they are protecting their cause.

But listen to the conversation itself. Even if you can’t understand what they’re talking about. Just listen to the rhythms and flows. Listen to it for the sarcasm and the malice.

I’ve had this type of conversation a lot. You know, you’re trying to stay reasoned and the other person is either laughing or hiding behind interruption.

I’ve been to counseling, and I’ve been to couple’s counseling. I strongly recommend both.

One of the beneficial aspect of couple’s counseling is learning validation and listening. I know too many people who don’t listen. They interrupt. They spend more time coming up with something similar from their own lives and not coming up with another question to make the speaker feel important and listened to.

When people don’t confirm others thoughts and conversations (i.e. blurt in stories, don’t ask for more clarification, don’t respond with a synopsis of what the other is trying to say), I shut down. I get bored. I turn off. What’s the point of talking if your “listener” is always talking over you?

What’s the point of conversation if someone laughs, scoffs, or responds with anything other than a headshake and at least the appearance of lingering on every word?

These hosts on these shows are other people’s role models.

And it’s no wonder the conversation turns to shouting.

How pathetic.

 

Everybody has a reaction to yesterday’s shooting

Your ears and eyes are likely jammed with images and words about the shooting yesterday in Sandy Hook Connecticut.

You may have heard that the killer’s name was Adam Lanza. He was 20. And not only did he kill his mother (possibly), I read his girlfriend and another friend are missing.

Likely, your Facebook feeds are stuffed with responses.

Of course there are those who blame the video games. The POV shooters. I have a hard time on that one. I wonder about those games desensitizing some people who might be prone to mental illness.

People are blaming that there aren’t enough emphasis on mental illness in this country.

People are citing the meme about far less shooting deaths in other countries with far less belief in God.

Many people are focusing on religious responses on Facebook. You know, I’ll pray for the victims. I’ll pray for the suspect.

Others: gun control. I have one friend who deleted someone for going too far to evangelical land and blaming liberal atheists.

That guy said, “I don’t know what I believe about god, but if that god allowed such things to happen, I’m not sure I could believe in that god.”

I don’t think the guy saw the irony.

I have another friend saying that Obama should have made a stronger stand during his press conference on what he’s going to do to make sure this never happens again.

On my blog, this post is getting mad hits. At the link, I posted a screen cap of a Facebook conversation with a girl who posted that stupid meme,

“Dear God, why do you allow so much violence in our schools? Signed a concerned student.

[BREAK]

“Dear concerned student, I’m not allowed in schools. God.”

Another friend on Facebook ranted about Mike Huckabee and how he is complaining without God in schools, violence is going to happen.

God has no control over an elementary school because, while there might be people who claim Christianity there, one established religion isn’t allowed. So he is killing or allowing the murder of innocent children?

My point is that my non-religious friends are up in arms. My religious friends are up in arms.

Hell, I just did a count for how many pages on Facebook have been started that read, “Adam Lanza [the killer] burn in hell”. There are about 24.

There’s Facebook page, Adam Lanza Connecticut shooter rot in hell.

I realize these are coping mechanisms. But I can’t help but criticize this as tomfoolery and an embarrassment to other believers. But other believers don’t speak up against it, that I hear.

I don’t have kids. Things like what happened yesterday make me wonder if not having kids is generally okay.

If I had to deal with the heartache. The turmoil of even telling a child today about what happened.

That a mass shooting could happen in his or her school. That he or she could be in a situation to fend for his or her life.

Bad things happen to good people.

Evil things happen to children.

My heart breaks thinking about it in a hypothetical situation.

Or you could lie to your children and yourself and not tell them anything. Keep on living in your utopian garden.

There are several frustrating things about this whole catastrophe. And there is little that betrays my understanding of the world more than when someone writes or says, “Thank God my family, my children, my friends are safe.”

As if one person has the magic connection to Jesus to keep this far from them.

As if God went out of his way to keep you from this same pain.

As if some people actually deserved this pain.

There’s one thing you won’t hear, among the people cheering on Adam Lanza’s burning in hell, and that’s: well, at least these children are alive again in heaven.

At least we can bask in the glory that these children are with their maker. That they’ve been healed. They are not in pain, but in glory.

This is one of the reasons I don’t believe.

Because no matter the incident. No matter the death count.

People will yell with certainty that Adam Lanza is burning in hell.

But no one, not until the funerals, will anyone stand in front of the country and say, “These children are better now. Better off. They are wearing silken white robes.”

Because as much as this country wants everyone to believe. And as much as they claim 85% believe.

The atheistic tendencies of people speak louder than they think.

I don’t have the answers. I don’t blame godlessness. I don’t blame god. I can’t blame satan either. I can’t find any proof that those guys exist.

The way I understand religion, I thought Jesus would be the first to offer Adam Lanza salvation.

I thought Jesus would intervene before hand instead of letting his “creation” be trampled by “evil.”

There are answers, though. And those answers could point us to solutions.

And if there is any glory and honor, we’ll fight to make sure this never happens again.

 

****UPDATE*** I was wrong. People are saying that the kids are celebrating in heaven. See here *******

Thoughts on assholery

There’s been something bothering me. Or maybe it’s some things.

Maybe it’s the Christmas season. Maybe it’s spending more time with friends and family.

Maybe it’s the idea that this economy is so tough, I have no idea if next week I’m going to have to find a job in the “real” world.

Last night I was listening to music that reminded me of an old girlfriend and I found myself a bit more emotional than usual. It wasn’t a longing for my ex-girlfriend. It was a return to emotions that I felt during our breakup.

But there are a zillion things are bringing the emotion right now. This blog for example.

I mean, Le Café represents ideologies that are completely contradictory to my upbringing. Some of the biggest readers of this blog are family, like my dad, my brother, my sister in law. I think my mom either reads it, or gets second hand info from my dad. But regardless, it’s understood that the universe-sized elephant in Chicago is the asshole who battles his former belief in Christianity via a public blog on the internet.

While I don’t sit here saying, “I’m going to hurt my family’s feelings today,” I can honestly say that my motivation is not to hurt them. I realize that it would be difficult to separate self from faith, as most people identify their person with faith.

My criticisms are surely offensive. (More below the fold).

This is the real reason that we must save the children! … Chances are it’s too late.

“Rock ‘n’ Roll is the Devil’s Music! BEWARE. The hypnotic voodoo rhythm, a reckless dance down the Devil’s road of sin and self-destruction, leading you to eternal damnation in the fiery depths of hell!” 

When you’re roasting in hell and rubbing aloe superfluously on your burns, you can think about not heeding this simple advice.

You sinner!

Via Christian Nightmares. 

 

 

Mitt Romney shows how nuts he is and then how human he is in one fell clip

So there’s the clip above, and you should watch it.

It shows you how nutballs the Mormon faith is. And it’s amazing to me that I come from a home where Mormonism was the bottom of the barrel in terms of religions.

And between Mormonism and Democrats, Mormonism is more warmly received.

So when I go home during this holiday season, my parents would rather share their time with a Mormon than a liberal — a person who wants people to be treated fairly, equally and like Jesus would treat them.

Republicans are voting for a person who thinks Jesus descended on Missouri — the NEW!!! Jerusalem — than a person who advocates science and human welfare.

That’s how it is. I just need to accept it.

Billy Fucking Graham would rather remove Mormonism defined as a cult on his web site than have the liberal — who sides with Christianity — get back into office for another four years.

This world is messed up.

There is division in this country, and I can’t help but point in one direction as to who is culpable for pushing the divide.

Answer me this, believers, when Romney advocates siding with Jerusalem, does he mean the Missouri one or the one in the middle east?

Just so we are all clear, don’t ask Romney about his religion. Don’t ask him about his taxes. Don’t ask him about his plan to reduce taxes. And definitely don’t ask him about FEMA.

What do we talk about when we sit down for dinner?

Sandy brings us three steps closer to the apocalypse!

The above photo was taken at Avenue C on the lower East side in Manhattan. Wow, right?

See the original on Instagram here.

If you’re like me, you’ve been watching the Internets with great curiosity as Sandy unfolded its powerful arms and unleashed the giant storm onto the northeast.

As she used her fire-hose powered water cannons protruding from her mile-wide nipples and sprayed water and winds over the northeast.

I’m no bible scholar, but I get the feeling — from an ignorant reading of biblical text — that the apocalyptic end of the world is coming soon.

Every second. Every minute. Every hour. Every week. 

Every month.

Every year.

Every two years.

Every decade.

Every … shit … what comes between decade and millennia?

Centurion ski boats?

All I know is, the more time that passes between Jesus’s promise and a cataclysmic storm like Sandy … excuse me … a providentially-predicted storm like Sandy … we get closer to the almighty return.

We don’t know the hour. We don’t know the place.

But we do know that “this generation” — this one right now! — will not pass before Jesus returns.

Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it^[d] is near, right at the door. ³⁰ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Keep in mind, it might be the next generation, just in case this one passes and the next one starts.

But be ready!

It’s coming. And perfectly natural disasters are ushering us closer and closer to the pending apocalypse.

By the way, I am not relieved that Cindy Jacob’s prayers were unanswered.

That means only one thing.

We are alone.

While Jesus is trying to beat Ba’al’s Angry Birds score.

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Image via JMG

Eastwooding Richard Dawkins

I’m not posting this one for you. I’m posting it for me. I’m selfish like that.

It’s a video of the greatest Christian apologist to ever debate as he takes on a chair. Mr. Doctor. William … Lane … CRAIG!!!

And that chair represents Richard Dawkins.

As William Lane Craig proves beyond a shadow of a doubt, he can prove the existence of Richard Dawkins as he sat on stage with him in the video above, just not in person, but in deified spirit.

Who else would believe that someone who isn’t there … is there … unless they already had a foundation of believing in something or someone who wasn’t there.

So don’t watch this video.

I have to post it here, so I can remember to watch it later.

 

 

I feel sorry for crucifying Kirk Cameron

 

In the above video, Kirk Cameron explains that he was crucified by the media for his views on homosexuality.

You know what? Cameron is right. He was dragged through the mud over expressing his loving views based on biblical principles.

He’s right.

We’re all wrong.

We should buy one of those over-sized cards that express apologies and sign it. We’ll lick a big stamp and lay it right on there.

Cameron says that his truth is a loving truth. And now I agree with him.

The same book that loves people out of the grips of hell through belief in his savior is amazing.

The same book that loves sassy children to death via stoning.

Can’t you feel the love tonight. 

The same book that loves little girls whose hymens are broken outside of marriage all the way to a pelted grave.

The same book that loves you like no other by condemning you to death by just being born in the lineage of Adam & Eve.

Phew. Love like that has no boundaries.

You know, it’s your fault that your great great great … great grandparents ate forbidden fruit.

And then a god-man came down and loved you with suicide and Frankensteining himself back to life.

Cameron’s “love” is so awesome, how could anyone (anyone!) disagree with it? Gosh, you’d have to be a complete moron.

Via

 

Albert Einstein (have you heard of him?) sings the hits

 

The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. These subtilised interpretations are highly manifold according to their nature and have almost nothing to do with the original text.

From a letter Albert Einstein wrote on January 3, 1954 to Eric B. Gutkind (real name). The letter was in German. Did you know Einstein knew more than one language?

I hate when smart people act antagonistically toward religion. It’s insulting. 

More info and context here.

 

I can’t find any information to back this guy up

 

 

I woke up this morning at around 3:30 and couldn’t sleep.

When this happens, I pick up my phone and read through Facebook and my email. That’s when I came across the above update.

This person has alluded to the idea that Obama’s apology is partly to blame for the violence against the U.S. and it’s to blame for the perception of our country appearing weak.

He also said that the filmmaker, Sam Bacile, the director of that now famous video has been arrested.

I could find no indication that he has been arrested. I also found that the movie is a full-length, and what’s going around the internet is a 13-minute trailer of sorts.

I looked up Obama apologizing, to which I found only explanations for how Obama hasn’t apologized. He has condemned the violence, the upheaval of violence, but never apologized for it. He never expressed “I’m sorry.” “I apologize.” or “I regret.” Not in any sense that he’s apologizing for the U.S.

One web site talked about this idea of apologizing stems from a trend in the conservative discussion, but bares no credibility in real discussion.

And there’s this interview with Laura Ingraham and Matt Lauer that seems to be the sentiment in Cliff’s Notes terms about the discussion. Lauer points out that there is strength with honesty in his speeches, and Ingraham takes the high road and blames him for not doing/saying enough.

What am I to make of the update above? This comes from a man who has served his country through military service. His father served. He is a patriot.

Do I  have all the information wrong? Or does he?

Sometimes I get the feeling that people think I think I know everything. Or I’m staunch in my position. I’d like to think I’m open to the information.

You can think whatever you want.

But if I can’t find anything to back up the guy’s statement above, what good is it?

It’s hilarious that Christians keep returning to the crucifix immersed in urine. That happened back when I was in middle school. The protests were crazy. Maybe not violent, because we’re more advanced than Islamic culture.

I like to see people’s passion.

I just wish I could find the information to support this guy’s point of view.

Can anyone help with that?

I’m posting the text of the update below the fold.