Religious nutjobs spread the blame for Aurora shooting

I've been watching a range of documentaries on Youtube and elsewhere lately on the evolution/creationist debate in the US, and what is happening is that religious people want their fairy-tales and thumb-sucked stories to be equated to science.

The truth for the US and other countries (especially in Africa where funding and political connections run deep between fundamentalist donor groups and propaganda) is that a certain type of religion wants to worm its way into public and private life, and determine the future of society - based on what? Well, bull-crap fiction, actually.

So they abuse every event, even though such similar events don't occur in far more secularized societies.

What's even worse is what I'd personally call the "Westborization" of US society.

Every unwanted event is linked by torturous analogy to "disobeying literal scripture".

Many in the US regarded Fred Phelps and his cult as an abnormality.
I'd say that was a serious mistake.
They are the sign of the times.

That Phelps thinking is now prevalent, and if it's not stopped it will invade the research institutions, and eventually the homes of not just liberals, but also of conservatives, and the US will be one massive cult, where kids are taught that an earthquake is due to gay sex, and not the shifting of tectonic plates.

It's actually mind-blowing.
A society stands before a full-on take-over by a mind-control cult that is anti-science and has offered only fiction and miracles, while it deeply questions its core liberal values!
Yeah, to even consider religious crap like that means liberalism has gone too far indeed!

(PS. OK, I've felt the earth move with gay sex, but that's just a metaphor.)

Originally posted by windword


As I recall, in the story, God is bragging about Job and decides to have a little fun, in a wager with Satan, allowing Satan to bring havoc to Job. God allows his entire family to be killed, so it didn't work out well for them. They were just collateral damage in the bolstering of God's ego. This is the same God that is being worshiped today!

Wow you sure have a lot of hatred towards a God that you claim is a fantasy. I wonder why? Could it be in your heart you know that Yahweh is real and you are not right before him?

God will allow evil as a consequence of sin to exist until the appointed time. Or hadn't you noticed? This is a clear teaching of scripture. The Job incident revealed two important truths. The first is the importance of keeping one's faith, even in the presence of overwhelming circumstances, and the second is just how we are all a whisker away from doom without the protection of God.

Where is your proof that they were "systematically killing and oppressing the Hebrews?"

Anybody who didn't worship Jehovah was targeted and killed by the Hebrews.

Did the Philistines worship Satan?

All the pagan gods are manifestations of satan. Either demons inhabit the idolatry or it is inspired directly by them, it makes no difference. As for the phillistines, their God dagon was drawn from the Caananite Baal pantheon and was considered the father of Baal. That cult was heavily into child sacrifice and ritual prostitution.

Originally posted by SevenThunders

Originally posted by windword


As I recall, in the story, God is bragging about Job and decides to have a little fun, in a wager with Satan, allowing Satan to bring havoc to Job. God allows his entire family to be killed, so it didn't work out well for them. They were just collateral damage in the bolstering of God's ego. This is the same God that is being worshiped today!

Wow you sure have a lot of hatred towards a God that you claim is a fantasy. I wonder why? Could it be in your heart you know that Yahweh is real and you are not right before him?

The god of the Old Testament Jehovah, is an example of misogyny, intolerance, jealously, war, murder, rape and child abuse, as well as slavery, abortions and a deliberate attempt to stifle knowledge and critical thinking.

God will allow evil as a consequence of sin to exist until the appointed time. Or hadn't you noticed? This is a clear teaching of scripture. The Job incident revealed two important truths. The first is the importance of keeping one's faith, even in the presence of overwhelming circumstances, and the second is just how we are all a whisker away from doom without the protection of God.

LOL!

So God had to torture Job and kill his family to show the rest of the world that were only a whisker away from doom? It's so obvious that we're vulnerable that even a cave man can figure that out! Just what is this God of Job credited for protecting us from? His OWN wrath?

Where is your proof that they were "systematically killing and oppressing the Hebrews?"

Anybody who didn't worship Jehovah was targeted and killed by the Hebrews.

Did the Philistines worship Satan?

All the pagan gods are manifestations of satan. Either demons inhabit the idolatry or it is inspired directly by them, it makes no difference. As for the phillistines, their God dagon was drawn from the Caananite Baal pantheon and was considered the father of Baal. That cult was heavily into child sacrifice and ritual prostitution.

The god of the Old Testament Jehovah, (or Yahweh, as you new Christians call him) is an example of misogyny, abortions, intolerance, jealously, war, murder, rape and child abuse, as well as bigotry, slavery, and a deliberate attempt to stifle knowledge and critical thinking.

He is an impostor. His character has given rise to the justification of atrocities of the human spirit, or "holy spirit" as you Christians call it. If there exists a Satan, the god of the Old testament is him! And following his example represents the "unforgivable sin" that your Jesus referred to.

All pagan deities are parts of nature as opposed to your god of duality, good vs evil, that you got going on there. You see everything that isn't in your very tiny definition of what god is as the opposite of god. I see it as all parts of the whole. There are no demons, just other entities on their own spiritual path.

Tell me where you get your information on the Philistine "cult" that was the religion of a nation that practiced child sacrifice? By the way, we know that the god of the old testament required child sacrifice, because it's in the Bible.

reply to post by windword

Dear windword,

Just a small clarification, if you please.

So God had to torture Job and kill his family to show the rest of the world that were only a whisker away from doom? It's so obvious that we're vulnerable that even a cave man can figure that out! Just what is this God of Job credited for protecting us from? His OWN wrath?

It sounds as though you're accepting the story as literally true. Are there other parts of the Old Testament that you accept that way?

But I may be misunderstanding.

With respect,
Charles1952

reply to post by charles1952


Hi Charles,

No, I don't accept the story as literally true, but the poster to which I am replying does, so I have to address it as if it were a true and literal story. Do you understand?

I also don't regard the god of the Old Testament to be literal figure, or even one figure, but a composite of "pagan" deities. However, to laud and rejoice in the examples of God's wrath, where it is often imitated and played out in current events, should be called out and denounced. (Ergo the Religious Nutter thread)

PS: Job is one of my favorite books, as it tells a story of devotional friendship, that I find inspirational.

reply to post by windword

Dear windword,

Kind and understanding as always, thanks.

PS: Job is one of my favorite books, as it tells a story of devotional friendship, that I find inspirational.

I like it too. But I always thought the three friends were pains in the, well, you know. I don't suppose you were referring to the faith and trust between Job and God, were you?

But, apologies, I'm getting off topic. Just wanted to thank you.

With respect,
Charles1952

reply to post by charles1952

This won't be very clear, forgive me, it's not clear in my own mind. And they are just stray thoughts from one person.

That's alright. I've given it all some time to settle, and I still havn't been able to catch and tag all my thoughts for our topics

I don't understand why evolution and athiesm have to be forced together all the time. Believing in the scientific method does not mean someone has to eliminate religion. The theory of evolution is constantly evolving as we learn more of the mysteries of existence.

To me, believing in evolution means that you have to believe that our individual evolutionary fitness is all that matters when we die.

The 2 quotes, immediately above, are from my previous posts found on page 5 of this thread. Believe it or not, I only stopped by to explain how the Aurora shooter could not use a belief in evolution to justify his actions. At its core, the theory of evolution presents that an individual organisms evolutionary fitness is its only measure of success. Evolutionary fitness simply measures how successful each individual organism is at getting it's genetic material into the next generation. To not produce offspring is to fail at evolution. I don't know if the Aurora shooter has children.

Next, it is my belief that some Athiests had previously hijacked evolution to push their own agenda. And that is the only reason Christians attack evolution. Scientists have not developed the theory of evolution to disprove Christianity or any other religion. Overall, scientists work objectively to fully understand anything and everything. They don't set out to prove anything right or wrong. They experiment, measure, and test to prove exactly how it is.

May I suggest you de-emphasize the Bible for a little while. Many Christians will say that they have a "relationship" with God. Perhaps if you looked at the stories of people who were solidly Christian it might be more meaningful at the moment.

When I started reading the Bible, together with this thread, I was not thinking about joining the debate over Christians killing Athiests. I was just following along, and referencing my bible, to see where true contexts of what was going on. I'm an easily distracted individual, and I turn to John 3:16 to remember my great-grandmother. From there I continued reading up to and past John 15:16. That verse stuck in my head as I continued to read the book of John. There were other verses too, but John 15:16 is not the least bit ambiguous about it's meaning, especially when taken in context with the entire book of John.

I've already admitted in a previous post that I know and have heard of many Christians, Muslims, and Jews who have strived to only practice what all people should consider to be good deeds. I think that I have already put too much energy into proving that Jesus was not advocating peaceful living for everyone. It is not my lot in life to complete the dismantling of the Bible. I'll leave that to those who have nothing better to do with their time.

Like you, I'd prefer to engage above the petty bullcrap, and contemplate solutions to the real problems we are facing. There are good and bad people of all cultures, races, and religions. I don't know if it is what you meant in your previous reply to me, but that is what how I've understood it.