Posts Tagged atheism
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.
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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