Young Christian Proselytizing

(rolling my eyes)

Jesus and the Fourth of July

A float created by The Door Christian Fellowship Ministry, based in Flagstaff, Arizona.

(via Why, That’s Delightful)

The Multiplicities Of God

A few thoughts on the many conceptions of the divine.

Song Time With Westboro Baptist Church

For those who are not familiar with the obtuse theology of the congregation, here’s a musical primer.  Wonder when the album is going to drop.

Athiest Summer Camp For Kids

Leave it to Richard Dawkins.

The five-day camp in Somerset (motto: “It’s beyond belief”) is for children aged eight to 17 and will rival traditional faith-based breaks run by the Scouts and church groups.

Budding atheists will be given lessons to arm themselves in the ways of rational scepticism. There will be sessions in moral philosophy and evolutionary biology along with more conventional pursuits such as trekking and tug-of-war.

I love this.

There will also be a £10 prize for the child who can disprove the existence of the mythical unicorn.

New Expose On Scientology Leader: Nut Job!

Former members who worked under David Miscavige, leader of the Church of Scientology, recount the intimidation seen during their lieutenancy in a new exposé. The musical chairs story is pretty crazy.  More after the jump.

The Murder Of George Tiller

Picking up where I left off on a previous post, my latest discusses a bit more about the recent murder and how I view it as domestic terrorism.

A taste:

The irony would be comical were it not so painfully tragic: a supposed follower of Jesus Christ murdering a fellow individual (let alone a fellow Christian) in a house of God.  Yet, Scott Roder (who, at this writing is the current suspect in the killing) felt it justified to execute abortion doctors, serving as the only means of defense for the unborn fetus.  The parallels to the pious Islamist, who detonate bombs in Israel’s public squares in retaliation for Israeli bombing that takes the lives of children, is blatant.  That behavior is dubbed as terrorism: using violence to achieve political aims.

Jesus Phreak

I was disappointed to miss Dale Smith’s comic one-man show at the Gay Community Center of Richmond this past Friday.  I took Smith’s “Intro to the New Testament” in my last semester at VCU and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  He was smart, engaging, and took on “taboo” themes (homosexuality, treatment of women, etc.) with respect and objectivity.  If you’re able to see it, I would imagine his Jesus Phreak show to be quite good.

Abortion Doctor Murdered In Church

Doctor George Tiller was murdered in the lobby of his church on Sunday, where he was working as an usher.

Tiller, 67, had performed abortions since the 1970s and ran the Women’s Health Care Services clinic, one of just three in the nation to perform abortions after the point when a fetus is considered able to survive outside the womb.

Tiller’s family members said through their attorney: “Today we mourn the loss of our husband, father and grandfather. Today’s event is an unspeakable tragedy for all of us and for George’s friends and patients. This is particularly heart wrenching because George was shot down in his house of worship, a place of peace.”

Regardless of your stance with the practice of abortion services (late-term or otherwise) this likely serves as an example of  horribly misguided zealotry of “pro-life” sentiment.

More after the jump…

Christianity and Torture

My latest contribution, further discussing a Pew Research Poll that found many of Christianity’s most pious were also the most supportive of torture.  I take a look at how Christianity and suffering have been intertwined since the former’s beginnings.

A taste:

The most prevalent symbol of suffering is the cross itself, on which Jesus painfully respirated his final breaths.  The scourging that occurred before his murder and the extracted death that crucifixion entails (a ghastly crushing of the lungs by one’s own weight) provides a saddening irony over the matter.  It seems hard to fathom Christians finding a minutiae of justification for such primitive and egregious violations of international law and human dignity.  Christ’s divinity was emboldened by his staunch antipathy toward marginalization and barbarity.  And this is the ultimate point of Christianity: to mimic the man many view as the human incarnation of the divine.

Outre Art

The torment of St. Anthony, thought to have been painted by a 12 year-old Michelangelo.

New Piece

My latest is now up. I look at the importance of uncertainty when it comes to examining death, as opposed to conjuring elaborate and detailed finalities.

A taste:

In more primitive years, it was thought that stars were tiny windows looking into Heaven. That rain was poured upon from some celestial damn. We now know that stars are not windows, but giant consolidations of gas. Rain does not come from the heavens, but from clouds, products of the Earth’s atmosphere. As with the phenomenon of death, individuals attempted to create a reality when actual, true reality was lacking.

Doubt should be welcomed, for it allows individuals to debate, think, and reason with whatever force that compels such doubt in the first place. Doubt begets thought. Thought begets intellectual growth, which, in turn begets human development.

Op/Ed Piece

My latest one on the importance of secularism to religious maintenance.

Gay marriage is also an increasing bellwether in the constantly evolving socioreligious market. Very often detractors to the aforementioned union argue that it is an affront to the “sanctity of marriage.” If this so-called sanctity is in eminent peril, why is there no abhorrent protestation to divorce? Why are there few ministers and religiously minded politicians broadening the argument to include this far more dangerous and rampant threat? The answer is simple: it would be terribly unpopular, as divorce rates are so profuse, churches would empty in drones. It’s just bad business. People do not want to be told that their lives do not pass a dogma test. The idea is unsalable, to put it in the terminology of business.

Christians and Torture

Slightly unsettling, if not surprising, results from a Pew research study.  It seems the more “Christian” one is, the more likely one is to approve the use of torture.

I hold no certitudes formulated by religious dogma or precedent (Christian or otherwise), but I revere many of Jesus’ thoughts on life and the treatment of others.  I can’t possibly see the historical man (remember: crucifixion is one of the most dreadfully painful and ghastly ways to die) being OK with such primitive and egregious violations of international law and human dignity, and the ultimate sacrificing of one’s ethics and morals.  And this is the ultimate point of Christianity: to mimic the man many view as the human incarnation of the divine.

A rundown of the results:

More than half of people who attend services at least once a week — 54 percent — said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is “often” or “sometimes” justified. Only 42 percent of people who “seldom or never” go to services agreed, according to the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified — more than six in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only four in 10 of them did.

(hat tip: Andrew Sullivan)

Preach It, Baby!

The vitriolic disposition is a bit unsettling.  But I’ll give the little one credit: at such a young age, he’s about as ideologically intelligible as some other adult preachers I’ve heard before.

Crucified Nun Dies During Exorcism

Very sad and appalling stuff.  The nun was 23 years-old, and was undergoing some sort of exorcism to cure her schizophrenia; the priest and fellow nuns of the convent believed she was possessed by the devil.

[Maricica Irina] Cornici was found dead on the cross on Wednesday after fellow nuns called an ambulance, according to police.

Police say the 23-year-old nun, who was denied food and drink throughout her ordeal, had been tied and chained to the cross and a towel pushed into her mouth to smother any sounds.

“God has performed a miracle for her, finally Irina is delivered from evil,” AFP quoted the priest as saying.