Archive for category religion
Scandal-Ridden Church Attacks Atheism as the Ultimate Evil
Posted by Rational Dreamer in religion on May 22nd, 2009
A new Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, was installed in London today, making him the spiritual leader of the 4.2 million Catholics of England and Wales. In the wake of the dreadful decades-long child abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic church of neighboring Ireland this week, what do you think his first order of business was?
That’s right, attack atheism:
At the installation of the Most Rev Vincent Nichols at Westminster Cathedral, his predecessor, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, described a lack of faith as “the greatest of evils” and blamed atheism for war and destruction, implying that it was a greater evil even than sin itself.
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In his homily at the service, Archbishop Nichols did not refer to child abuse, but pledged himself to a battle against the advancing tide of secularisation and a defence of faith.
Funny, But True?
Posted by Rational Dreamer in religion on May 21st, 2009
Even though I am no longer a believer, I often tune into one of the local religious radio stations while I’m in the car. I usually prefer talk radio to music, and I’d rather listen to a religious program than one of the insufferable right-wing windbags that seem to be on every other station I tune to.
As I was driving home this evening, I was listening to one of those preachers who cracks a joke every other sentence as he relates his half-hour home-spun homily. He had the congregation rolling in the aisles he expertly related some hilarious hijinks from his youth.
But as often happens when I’m listening to this type of anecdotal sermon, I began to wonder how much of the story he was telling actually happened? I’m sure that in many cases, this type of comedic retelling is based on a kernel of truth, but it must be very rare that events unfold in people’s lives as ready-made hilarious anecdotes.
We all embellish to some extent—I certainly find myself embellishing an experience to give it a little polish from time to time—and there really is little harm in it. But it beggars belief that a pastor can have so many funny things happening in his life that he can use them to make a living telling jocular sermons week in and week out. Certainly, once you begin to listen with a skeptical ear to this type of sermon, it’s pretty easy to tell which parts of it are likely made up or greatly embellished.
Does it matter if the preacher is spinning tall tales from the pulpit? It doesn’t seem to matter to their congregation, who are usually having a whale of a time, but I think it does. Pastors and priests are automatically seen as virtuous people (until they fail in some obvious way) and church tradition accords them great deference when it comes to what they say in the pulpit. But with that deference comes responsibility, and if you make up stuff just to get a laugh from your audience, it’s taking advantage of their unquestioning goodwill and respect.
For me, although it wasn’t the deciding factor when I was wrestling over what I believed, the notion that the content of many of the sermons I had been listening to was untrustworthy certainly helped to clear away some of the religious clutter from my mind.
Creationists Sue the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Posted by Rational Dreamer in politics, religion on April 22nd, 2009
Last year, the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) applied to have its “Master of Science” program officially recognized in Texas but was rejected by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) which oversees all applications, who found that whatever it is the ICR Graduate School is teaching, it ain’t science.
Now they’re back, in full whine mode, and with a law suit claiming that their academic freedom and their constitutional right to free speech have been violated. Not surprisingly their press release is laughable, and full of lies and distortions.
Read the rest of this entry »
The Problem With Salvation #2:
The Deal Of A Lifetime?
Posted by Rational Dreamer in religion on April 21st, 2009
One day, you find yourself walking past a large curtain draped along the side of the street—a curtain like those they use in game shows to hide the grand prize from the audience and contestants. Suddenly, a salesman jumps out from behind the curtain to inform you that he is about to make you an offer that you cannot possibly refuse. He tells you that for a mere $100,000, he will sell you the brand new, top-of-the-range Mercedes-Benz luxury sports car (worth a cool half-million dollars) parked on the other side of the curtain. Your interest is piqued and you tell him to go ahead and show you the car, but the salesman says no, he can’t do that, and that you will just have to take his word for it that the offer is genuine.
Naturally you are very suspicious, believing that the salesman may be trying to scam you. When he notices your skepticism, the salesman pulls out a thick brochure and hands it to you, saying that it contains the answers to any questions you might have, and that it will explain how he is able to offer you such a fantastic deal. You take the brochure, expecting to see glossy photographs of the car and a fancy sales pitch, but all you find are pages and pages of dense technical information about the car and even more pages of barely decipherable legalese describing the terms of the deal. Undeterred, you decide it’s worth investigating further since it does sound like a great deal, so you take a deep breath and turn to page one of the brochure.
The Problem With Salvation #1:
Introduction
Posted by Rational Dreamer in religion on April 19th, 2009
Of all the religious concepts I wrestled with while I was still a Christian, it was the doctrine of salvation that proved to be the decisive factor in my transformation from a believer into an atheist. No matter how much I tried, I could not find a way to rebut the logical inconsistencies that kept popping up all over the place when I thought long and hard about the issue.
I was born and grew up in Britain, where my family were heavily involved with the Methodist Church—a very liberal denomination by American standards—and I continued to attended church services, if somewhat sporadically, after I left home and well on into my twenties. Although I have always had moments of doubt about Christianity, I didn’t seriously consider the possibility that it may only be the elaborate invention of the human mind until I was in my early thirties, soon after I had arrived in the States. (The two events are not entirely coincidental.)
Having made several trips to the U.S. before moving here, I was already aware that the Christian community is divided into two camps when it comes to the doctrine of salvation—one that believes you must ask for and receive personal salvation before you can enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and one that believes personal salvation is not essential and that you can get into Heaven as long as you a lead a reasonably decent and honest life, even if you are not a Christian.
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