http://www.putlocker.com/file/E144599D3AA15CAE
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Week 8 - Documentary "The God Who Wasn't There?"
I've been too busy this week to post a proper update, and will probably continue to be too busy. I'm two days late posting as it is. Instead of a lengthy post about a choice topic this week, I'm just going to leave a link to a documentary I've watched several times, shedding some light on the Jesus Myth, and the improbability that he even existed.
The God Who Wasn't There: Documentary filmmaker Brian Flemming examines the Bible and discusses the history of early Christianity, raising doubts as to whether the New Testament personage Jesus ever really existed. Flemming examines the similarity of the Jesus story to other savior myths of the time and points to inexplicable gaps in early Christian history that combine to shed doubt on the Bible's Jesus story.
http://www.putlocker.com/file/E144599D3AA15CAE
http://www.putlocker.com/file/E144599D3AA15CAE
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Week 7 - "The Bible, A Moral Compass...?"
Slavery
Leviticus 25:44-46 - However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way.
Exodus 21:7-11 - When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment.
Exodus 21:20-21 - When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property.
Ephesians 6:5 - Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ.
1 Timothy 6:1-2 - Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed. If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts. Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them.
Luke 12:47-48 - The servant will be severely punished, for though he knew his duty, he refused to do it. "But people who are not aware that they are doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given."
Exodus 21:7-11 - When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment.
Exodus 21:20-21 - When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property.
Ephesians 6:5 - Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ.
1 Timothy 6:1-2 - Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed. If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts. Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them.
Luke 12:47-48 - The servant will be severely punished, for though he knew his duty, he refused to do it. "But people who are not aware that they are doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given."
And here are a few quotes from people of the Christian faith throughout history, who also supported Slavery because of what the Bible said...
"[Slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God...it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation...it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts." Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America
"There is not one verse in the Bible inhibiting slavery, but many regulating it. It is not then, we conclude, immoral." Rev. Alexander Campbell
"The right of holding slaves is clearly established in the Holy Scriptures, both by precept and example." Rev. R. Furman, D.D., Baptist, of South Carolina
"The hope of civilization itself hangs on the defeat of Negro suffrage." A statement by a prominent 19th-century southern Presbyterian pastor, cited by Rev. Jack Rogers, moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
"The doom of Ham has been branded on the form and features of his African descendants. The hand of fate has united his color and destiny. Man cannot separate what God hath joined." United States Senator James Henry Hammond.
"If we apply sola scriptura to slavery, I'm afraid the abolitionists are on relatively weak ground. Nowhere is slavery in the Bible lambasted as an oppressive and evil institution: Vaughn Roste, United Church of Canada staff.
Human Sacrifice
Genesis 22:1-18 - Take your son, your only son – yes, Isaac, whom you love so much – and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you."
Exodus 13:2 - "Consecrate to me every first-born that opens the womb among Israelites, both man and beast, for it belongs to me."
Leviticus 27:28-29 - "Note also that any one of his possessions which a man vows as doomed to the Lord, whether it is a human being or an animal, or a hereditary field, shall be neither sold nor ransomed; everything that is thus doomed becomes most sacred to the Lord. All human beings that are doomed lose the right to be redeemed; they must be put to death."
Joshua 7:15 - "The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will himself be burned with fire, along with everything he has, for he has broken the covenant of the LORD and has done a horrible thing in Israel."
1 Kings 13:1-2 - At the LORD's command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, and he arrived there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to offer a sacrifice. Then at the LORD's command, he shouted, "O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you."
Deuteronomy 13:13-19 - "Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. "The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him."
Exodus 13:2 - "Consecrate to me every first-born that opens the womb among Israelites, both man and beast, for it belongs to me."
Leviticus 27:28-29 - "Note also that any one of his possessions which a man vows as doomed to the Lord, whether it is a human being or an animal, or a hereditary field, shall be neither sold nor ransomed; everything that is thus doomed becomes most sacred to the Lord. All human beings that are doomed lose the right to be redeemed; they must be put to death."
Joshua 7:15 - "The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will himself be burned with fire, along with everything he has, for he has broken the covenant of the LORD and has done a horrible thing in Israel."
1 Kings 13:1-2 - At the LORD's command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, and he arrived there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to offer a sacrifice. Then at the LORD's command, he shouted, "O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you."
Deuteronomy 13:13-19 - "Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. "The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him."
And let's not forget that Christianity is a religion formed around one specific human sacrifice, the worship, celebration and glorification of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Those crosses you wear are not a holy symbol. Crosses were used for centuries as an ancient torture device, where thousands of people were nailed upon to die a slow, painful death. It was designed to work alongside gravity, where the sufferer would either bleed to death or die by his bones and organs being crushed under the weight of gravity because of how they were nailed to the cross. And Christians pray to crosses, wear them around their necks, have pictures of them with bloody, suffering Jesus nailed up to it. It's disgustingly morbid.
Rape/Violence Towards Women
Deuteronomy 20:10-14 - As you approach a town to attack it, first offer its people terms for peace. If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. When the LORD your God hands it over to you, kill every man in the town. But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the spoils of your enemies that the LORD your God has given you.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 - If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her.
2 Samuel 12:11-14 - Thus says the Lord: 'I will bring evil upon you out of your own house. I will take your wives [plural] while you live to see it, and will give them to your neighbor. He shall lie with your wives in broad daylight. You have done this deed in secret, but I will bring it about in the presence of all Israel, and with the sun looking down.' Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan answered David: "The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die. But since you have utterly spurned the Lord by this deed, the child born to you must surely die."
Exodus 21:7-11 - When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment.
Zechariah 14:1-2 - Lo, a day shall come for the Lord when the spoils shall be divided in your midst. And I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle: the city shall be taken, houses plundered, women ravished; half of the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be removed from the city.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 - If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her.
2 Samuel 12:11-14 - Thus says the Lord: 'I will bring evil upon you out of your own house. I will take your wives [plural] while you live to see it, and will give them to your neighbor. He shall lie with your wives in broad daylight. You have done this deed in secret, but I will bring it about in the presence of all Israel, and with the sun looking down.' Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan answered David: "The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die. But since you have utterly spurned the Lord by this deed, the child born to you must surely die."
Exodus 21:7-11 - When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment.
Zechariah 14:1-2 - Lo, a day shall come for the Lord when the spoils shall be divided in your midst. And I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle: the city shall be taken, houses plundered, women ravished; half of the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be removed from the city.
See also Judges 21:10-24, Numbers 31:7-18, Deuteronomy 22:23-24, Deuteronomy 21:10-14, Judges 5:30.
Murder/Racism/Discrimination
Kill People Who Don't Listen to PriestsDeuteronomy 17:12- Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel.
Kill Witches
Exodus 22:17 - You should not let a sorceress live.
Kill Homosexuals
Leviticus 20:13 - If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives.
Kill Fortunetellers
Leviticus 20:27 - A man or a woman who acts as a medium or fortuneteller shall be put to death by stoning; they have no one but themselves to blame for their death.
Death for Hitting Dad
Exodus 21:15 - Whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death.
Death to Followers of Other Religions
Exodus 22:19 - Whoever sacrifices to any god, except the Lord alone, shall be doomed.
Death for Fornication
Leviticus 21:9- A priest's daughter who loses her honor by committing fornication and thereby dishonors her father also, shall be burned to death.
Kill Nonbelievers
2 Chronicles 15:12-13 - They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
Kill the Entire Town if One Person Worships Another God
Deuteronomy 13:13-19 - Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. "The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him."
Kill Followers of Other Religions.
Deuteronomy 13:7-12 - If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst.
Kill Women Who Are Not Virgins On Their Wedding Night
Deuteronomy 22:20-21 - But if this charge is true (that she wasn't a virgin on her wedding night), and evidence of the girls virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her fathers house and there her townsman shall stone her to death, because she committed a crime against Israel by her unchasteness in her father's house. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.
Death for Blasphemy
Leviticus 24:10-16 - One day a man who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father got into a fight with one of the Israelite men. During the fight, this son of an Israelite woman blasphemed the LORD's name. So the man was brought to Moses for judgment. His mother's name was Shelomith. She was the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan. They put the man in custody until the LORD's will in the matter should become clear. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and tell all those who heard him to lay their hands on his head. Then let the entire community stone him to death. Say to the people of Israel: Those who blaspheme God will suffer the consequences of their guilt and be punished. Anyone who blasphemes the LORD's name must be stoned to death by the whole community of Israel. Any Israelite or foreigner among you who blasphemes the LORD's name will surely die.
Kill People for Working on the Sabbath
Exodus 31:12-15 - The LORD then gave these further instructions to Moses: 'Tell the people of Israel to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you forever. It helps you to remember that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. Yes, keep the Sabbath day, for it is holy. Anyone who desecrates it must die; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. Work six days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest. I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.'
Kill Bad Children
2 Kings 2:23-24- From there Elisha went up to Bethel. While he was on his way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him. "Go up baldhead," they shouted, "go up baldhead!" The prophet turned and saw them, and he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two shebears came out of the woods and tore forty two of the children to pieces.
God Kills the Curious
1Samuel 6:19-20 - And he smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah, he smote of the people seventy men, `and' fifty thousand men; and the people mourned, because Jehovah had smitten the people with a great slaughter. And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Jehovah, this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us?
Kill Sons of Sinners
Isaiah 14:21 - Make ready to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their fathers; Lest they rise and posses the earth, and fill the breadth of the world with tyrants.
God Will Kill Children
Hosea 9:11-16 - The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird, for your children will die at birth or perish in the womb or never even be conceived. Even if your children do survive to grow up, I will take them from you. It will be a terrible day when I turn away and leave you alone. I have watched Israel become as beautiful and pleasant as Tyre. But now Israel will bring out her children to be slaughtered." O LORD, what should I request for your people? I will ask for wombs that don't give birth and breasts that give no milk. The LORD says, "All their wickedness began at Gilgal; there I began to hate them. I will drive them from my land because of their evil actions. I will love them no more because all their leaders are rebels. The people of Israel are stricken. Their roots are dried up; they will bear no more fruit. And if they give birth, I will slaughter their beloved children."
God Kills all the First Born of Egypt
Exodus 12:29-30 - And at midnight the LORD killed all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn son of the captive in the dungeon. Even the firstborn of their livestock were killed. Pharaoh and his officials and all the people of Egypt woke up during the night, and loud wailing was heard throughout the land of Egypt. There was not a single house where someone had not died.
But remember, Thou Shalt Not Kill.
Mass Murder/Genocide
1 Samuel 15:2-3 - This is what the Lord of hosts has to say: 'I will punish what Amalek did to Israel when he barred his way as he was coming up from Egypt. Go, now, attack Amalek, and deal with him and all that he has under the ban. Do not spare him, but kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and asses.'
Judges 20:48 - The men of Israel withdrew through the territory of the Benjaminites, putting to the sword the inhabitants of the city, the livestock, and all they chanced upon. Moreover they destroyed by fire all the cities they came upon.
Zephaniah 1:2-6 - "I will sweep away everything in all your land," says the LORD. "I will sweep away both people and animals alike. Even the birds of the air and the fish in the sea will die. I will reduce the wicked to heaps of rubble, along with the rest of humanity," says the LORD. "I will crush Judah and Jerusalem with my fist and destroy every last trace of their Baal worship. I will put an end to all the idolatrous priests, so that even the memory of them will disappear. For they go up to their roofs and bow to the sun, moon, and stars. They claim to follow the LORD, but then they worship Molech, too. So now I will destroy them! And I will destroy those who used to worship me but now no longer do. They no longer ask for the LORD's guidance or seek my blessings."
Let's not forget the stories of Noah's Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, and the 10 Plagues in Egypt, among others.
With just that little amount of evidence directly out of the Bible, I don't know how anyone could claim it was a proper tool for teaching their children morality and right vs wrong. To claim such things not only shows a distinct lack of critical thinking on the part of the reader, but an alarming inability to think for oneself and differentiate from what's truly right and wrong. And the fact that many people claim that the rules of the Old Testament are simply stories or the rules no longer apply is also alarming for many reasons. If they no longer apply, why are they in the rule book for the entire religion at all anymore? If they're just stories, then why do people claim they're rules and to this day still live by them and carry out their message?
"Without religion, we'd have good people doing good things, and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." Stephen Weinburg
"In Christianity neither morality nor religion come into contact with reality at any point." - Friederich Nietzsche
"Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion that has ever infected the world." - Voltaire
I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. - Susan B. Anthony
Few intelligent Christians can still hold to the idea that the Bible is an infallible Book, that it contains no linguistic errors, no historical discrepancies, no antiquated scientific assumptions, not even bad ethical standards. Historical investigation and literary criticism have taken the magic out of the Bible and have made it a composite human book, written by many hands in different ages. The existence of thousands of variations of texts makes it impossible to hold the doctrine of a book verbally infallible. Some might claim for the original copies of the Bible an infallible character, but this view only begs the question and makes such Christian apologetics more ridiculous in the eyes of the sincere man. -- Elmer Homrighausen, Christianity in America
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfullly as when they do it from a religious conviction" Blaise Pascale
"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."--Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, ch. 2.
The Bible is a book that has been read more, and examined less, than any book that ever existed. - Thomas Paine
Properly read, the bible is the most potent force for Atheism ever conceived. - Isaac Asimov
"If we are to believe the Bible, god created a flood that nearly wiped out all of mankind, taking genocide to epic proportions. Why then is god worshiped and Hitler, who committed genocide on a smaller scale, labeled evil for similar acts?" - Scott Williams
No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means. --George Bernard Shaw
http://www.religioustolerance.org/sla_bibl.htm
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Response from my mom, Week 6 on "Water to Wine."
I had some time tonight as I had to have a snack before bed so I read your week 6 blog. There are two comments I have:
1) there are times in the bible that having wine is ok; it is all relative as to how and when; whether over-indulging and ruining your life or relaxing and enjoying life.
2) I disagree about your comment: "And that's why religion hates science. That's why science and religion can never coexist as two sides of the same coin. Science disproves religion, science destroys the usefulness of religion, and when you're in the business of power and control like religion has been for thousands of years, it's going to piss you off."
Christians don’t have a problem with science, and I have seen science in a lot of areas and in a lot of studies involving Christianity. In fact, I believe God created science, and he knows far more than what we have discovered. Also, there isn’t any reason that he wouldn’t use science in some of his miracles.
Your comment about how God created science is ignorant and untrue. To believe that statement, you must first believe that God is real at all, which is absolutely absurd to someone like myself. Secondly you must consciously reject the facts and evidence of the contrary WITHIN YOUR OWN BIBLE. In the very beginning of the book, God forbade Adam and Eve to eat of the "Tree of Knowledge" and exiled them for doing so. It's why we have sin in the world, death, disease, why women have pain during child birth, everything is a punishment for human curiosity. Religious leaders have followed suit throughout the years since the Bible was written (by men). Galileo was harassed, and eventually condemned from the church for "heresy" upon his death. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei#Death . William Ockham, Conrad Gessner, Gregor Mendel, Aristotle, Pierre-Simon Laplace, Charles Darwin, Democritus, Nicolaus Copernicus, the hundreds of thousands of "free-thinkers" murdered during The Dark Ages, The Middle Ages, The Renaissance, etc.
Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_and_science#Copernicus and don't say "Oh that's the CATHOLIC church," because for well over 1000 years and up until now even, the Catholic church has been the largest denomination of Christianity and the largest in power, infact most denominations stemmed from Catholicism.
http://articles.exchristian.net/2002/10/how-many-people-have-been-killed-by.php Read this again as well, go through the list and see how many scientists, astronomers, philosophers, mathematicians, and scholars were executed because of "heresy" or just because.
- In the early fourth century the philosopher Sopatros was executed on demand of Christian authorities.
- The world famous female philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria was torn to pieces with glass fragments by a hysterical Christian mob led by a Christian minister named Peter, in a church, in 415.
- Already in 385 C.E. the first Christians, the Spanish Priscillianus and six followers, were beheaded for heresy in Trier/Germany.
- Manichaean heresy: a crypto-Christian sect decent enough to practice birth control (and thus not as irresponsible as faithful Catholics) was exterminated in huge campaigns all over the Roman empire between 372 C.E. and 444 C.E. Numerous thousands of victims.
- John Huss, a critic of papal infallibility and indulgences, was burned at the stake in 1415.
- University professor B.Hubmaier burned at the stake 1538 in Vienna.
- Giordano Bruno, Dominican monk, after having been incarcerated for seven years, was burned at the stake for heresy on the Campo dei Fiori (Rome) on 2/17/1600
- Thomas Aikenhead, a twenty-year-old scottish student of Edinburgh University, was hanged for atheism and blasphemy.
Read also this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Anti-Gnosticism Anti-Gnosticism in latin literally translates to Anti-Knowledge, anti being against and gnosticism being knowledge.
Read also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Heresy_in_Christianity
Read also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Censorship_in_Christianity
Please, don't try to tell me that science and religion are friends.
http://markhumphrys.com/science.religion.html
Friday, November 11, 2011
Week 6 - "Water into Wine."
One of the great miracles documented in the Bible that Jesus was claimed to perform, was turning water into wine. It was actually the very first documented miracle he decided to do. Instead of healing a sick person, he decided to make alcohol for an after party for a married couple. Seems very savior-like to me. I guess he wanted to start off slow, you know, to build suspense. It would be crazy to start off with a bang and give people zero room for doubt that he was the son of God instead of just an average magician with even average-r parlor tricks. Anyways, disdain aside, this miracle can be found in John 2:1-11. The passage states:
Most people, even some non-Christians, do believe this is an impossible feat and therefor must be a miracle, aka an act of God. But was it? Let's ignore the fact firstly, that "Coincidentally, miracles vanish in the presence of video recorders and scientists" as Michael Jensen was known to have said. Let's also ignore the fact that it is a well accepted sin to have vices or indulgences of any kind as a Christian. In several sections, the Bible actually condones drinking.
Leviticus 10:9 - Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:
Numbers 6:3 - He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.
Deuteronomy 29:6 - Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.
Judges 13:4 - Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
Judges 13:7 - But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
Judges 13:14 - She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.
Proverbs 20:1 - Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Proverbs 31:4 - It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink.
Isaiah 5:11- Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
Isaiah 5:22 - Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink.
Isaiah 24:9 - They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
Isaiah 28:7 - But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
Isaiah 29:9 - Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
Isaiah 56:12 - Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.
There are of course exceptions (like alcohol permitted for medicinal purposes... yet condoms are a sin even if they prevent the spread of STDs and AIDS) as well as contradictions, which once again goes to show that the Bible was written by very imperfect, confused humans. Not only does this make you, mom, a sinner (sherry is an alcohol, sorry to break it to you) but it also makes Jesus a sinner. How can the son of God be a sinner? Is the son of God, or God himself, allowed to break his own rules? (Thou shalt not Kill... oh right.)
Moving on. Thanks to science, we have many answers to many previously unanswered questions. We now know the world is round, not flat. We also know that the earth revolves around the sun, and not the other way around. Both of these bronze age beliefs were actually backed up by the Bible, and have since been disproven. We now know that the sun will indeed rise every morning, and it's no longer necessary to sacrifice virgins in order to ensure this natural occurrence. And now, thanks to more and more research, we're even discovering the scientific basis to many things people once believed were "miracles." If you haven't guessed it, the one I'm going to explain today is turning water into wine.
Now, because I'm not a fancy scientist, I'm going to let this 1 minute 42 second youtube video explain this easily debunked miracle.
I know all that is kind of hard to understand, and even harder to believe that people who lived in the desert and rode on camels 2000 years ago had anything like that readily available to them to use as parlor tricks. It's far fetched, yes. But much less far fetched than "God dun it." This is merely the chemical presentation of how it can passably be done in this day and age without the help of any "God." In the end I can neither prove nor disprove the fact that it did or didn't even happen, let alone whether or not it was a true miracle, because the fact of the matter is no one can. The scriptures that told the story of Jesus's life were in fact written approximately 90 years after his death. None of the people writing the scriptures about Jesus even lived during his time, let alone personally knew him or witnessed the events. Plus taking into consideration how many times it's been written, rewritten, retranslated, edited, and put on the chopping block, for all we know, "wine" could have actually been "chocolate milk."
Moving on. Here's another example.
In the end of this video, the person mentions not to drink this, and rightfully so. Like mentioned above, it's a highly chemical example. So again it poses the question; is this a plausible example of something people back in the dirt and camel ages could perform. Maybe not, but there is a more simplistic method of doing this, and creating wine that's also drinkable. It's a simple thing called Oak Aging.
A brief history on these types of barrels...
You can read more about oak barrels here... http://www.beekmanwine.com/prevtopah.htm
Basically what could possibly happen, is the residue from wine previously inside these oak barrels remain on the inside of the barrel long after the wine has been removed. By adding some water and swishing it inside the barrel, the wide residue comes off and mixes into the water. There is 31 gallons of water in one cup of wine, so it's completely logical to assume that adding water to the extract left inside the barrel will create... wine. Just as how adding water into a milk jug will create a milky type of water, and in some cases, some people add water to juice (like you) to flatten the taste and make more juice.
And that's why religion hates science. That's why science and religion can never coexist as two sides of the same coin. Science disproves religion, science destroys the usefulness of religion, and when you're in the business of power and control like religion has been for thousands of years, it's going to piss you off.
And in closing, a little video just for funzies.
http://blogcritics.org/tastes/article/jesus-first-miracle-water-to-wine/
http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/features/water2wine.shtml
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/ht/waterwine.htm
http://www.beekmanwine.com/prevtopah.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/22/world-water-day-2011-cost-footprint_n_839189.html#s256663&title=Glass_Of_Wine
And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 4Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 5His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. 6And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 11This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
Most people, even some non-Christians, do believe this is an impossible feat and therefor must be a miracle, aka an act of God. But was it? Let's ignore the fact firstly, that "Coincidentally, miracles vanish in the presence of video recorders and scientists" as Michael Jensen was known to have said. Let's also ignore the fact that it is a well accepted sin to have vices or indulgences of any kind as a Christian. In several sections, the Bible actually condones drinking.
Leviticus 10:9 - Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:
Numbers 6:3 - He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.
Deuteronomy 29:6 - Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.
Judges 13:4 - Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
Judges 13:7 - But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
Judges 13:14 - She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.
Proverbs 20:1 - Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Proverbs 31:4 - It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink.
Isaiah 5:11- Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
Isaiah 5:22 - Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink.
Isaiah 24:9 - They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
Isaiah 28:7 - But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
Isaiah 29:9 - Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
Isaiah 56:12 - Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.
There are of course exceptions (like alcohol permitted for medicinal purposes... yet condoms are a sin even if they prevent the spread of STDs and AIDS) as well as contradictions, which once again goes to show that the Bible was written by very imperfect, confused humans. Not only does this make you, mom, a sinner (sherry is an alcohol, sorry to break it to you) but it also makes Jesus a sinner. How can the son of God be a sinner? Is the son of God, or God himself, allowed to break his own rules? (Thou shalt not Kill... oh right.)
Moving on. Thanks to science, we have many answers to many previously unanswered questions. We now know the world is round, not flat. We also know that the earth revolves around the sun, and not the other way around. Both of these bronze age beliefs were actually backed up by the Bible, and have since been disproven. We now know that the sun will indeed rise every morning, and it's no longer necessary to sacrifice virgins in order to ensure this natural occurrence. And now, thanks to more and more research, we're even discovering the scientific basis to many things people once believed were "miracles." If you haven't guessed it, the one I'm going to explain today is turning water into wine.
Now, because I'm not a fancy scientist, I'm going to let this 1 minute 42 second youtube video explain this easily debunked miracle.
I know all that is kind of hard to understand, and even harder to believe that people who lived in the desert and rode on camels 2000 years ago had anything like that readily available to them to use as parlor tricks. It's far fetched, yes. But much less far fetched than "God dun it." This is merely the chemical presentation of how it can passably be done in this day and age without the help of any "God." In the end I can neither prove nor disprove the fact that it did or didn't even happen, let alone whether or not it was a true miracle, because the fact of the matter is no one can. The scriptures that told the story of Jesus's life were in fact written approximately 90 years after his death. None of the people writing the scriptures about Jesus even lived during his time, let alone personally knew him or witnessed the events. Plus taking into consideration how many times it's been written, rewritten, retranslated, edited, and put on the chopping block, for all we know, "wine" could have actually been "chocolate milk."
Moving on. Here's another example.
In the end of this video, the person mentions not to drink this, and rightfully so. Like mentioned above, it's a highly chemical example. So again it poses the question; is this a plausible example of something people back in the dirt and camel ages could perform. Maybe not, but there is a more simplistic method of doing this, and creating wine that's also drinkable. It's a simple thing called Oak Aging.
A brief history on these types of barrels...
"Most of us are familiar with museum specimens and replicas of archeologically-recovered clay pots and amphorae from Greek and Roman sites: these clay-based vessels predate wooden containers for storage of wine and other liquid goods. But the existence of straight-sided, open wooden buckets, employing the craft of the cooper, is documented in Egypt as early as 2690 BCE (Before the Christian Era). Fully-closed barrels were first developed during the Iron Age (800-900 BCE), and by the first century BCE were widely in use for holding wine, beer, milk, olive oil, and water.
As trade and transportation developed, shippers discovered that sealed wooden containers were vastly superior to relatively fragile clay vessels, and the craft of cooperage -- barrel-making -- was launched, developing in direct proportion to the growth of trade. Wooden casks of barrels had largely replaced their clay counterparts by as early as the second century CE .
The most significant advantages of wooden barrels were, first, their strength: being made of wood and set round with hoops (first also made of wood, later of metal) that bound the joints of the barrels into a double arch; second, the barrels themselves were like wheels and could be easily rolled from one resting place to another; third, it became evident that certain goods - like wine - actually benefited from being stored in wood.
This third advantage forms the basis for the entire modern cooperage industry, and in fact is the only real reason for its continued existence in a world where stainless steel and non-reactive synthetic materials outweigh all other advantages that barrels ever possessed."
As trade and transportation developed, shippers discovered that sealed wooden containers were vastly superior to relatively fragile clay vessels, and the craft of cooperage -- barrel-making -- was launched, developing in direct proportion to the growth of trade. Wooden casks of barrels had largely replaced their clay counterparts by as early as the second century CE .
The most significant advantages of wooden barrels were, first, their strength: being made of wood and set round with hoops (first also made of wood, later of metal) that bound the joints of the barrels into a double arch; second, the barrels themselves were like wheels and could be easily rolled from one resting place to another; third, it became evident that certain goods - like wine - actually benefited from being stored in wood.
This third advantage forms the basis for the entire modern cooperage industry, and in fact is the only real reason for its continued existence in a world where stainless steel and non-reactive synthetic materials outweigh all other advantages that barrels ever possessed."
You can read more about oak barrels here... http://www.beekmanwine.com/prevtopah.htm
Basically what could possibly happen, is the residue from wine previously inside these oak barrels remain on the inside of the barrel long after the wine has been removed. By adding some water and swishing it inside the barrel, the wide residue comes off and mixes into the water. There is 31 gallons of water in one cup of wine, so it's completely logical to assume that adding water to the extract left inside the barrel will create... wine. Just as how adding water into a milk jug will create a milky type of water, and in some cases, some people add water to juice (like you) to flatten the taste and make more juice.
And that's why religion hates science. That's why science and religion can never coexist as two sides of the same coin. Science disproves religion, science destroys the usefulness of religion, and when you're in the business of power and control like religion has been for thousands of years, it's going to piss you off.
And in closing, a little video just for funzies.
http://blogcritics.org/tastes/article/jesus-first-miracle-water-to-wine/
http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/features/water2wine.shtml
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/ht/waterwine.htm
http://www.beekmanwine.com/prevtopah.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/22/world-water-day-2011-cost-footprint_n_839189.html#s256663&title=Glass_Of_Wine
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Response from my mom, Week 5 on "Hilter the Catholic"
Hi Dea,
I read your blog about Hitler. I have never ever heard before that he felt he was acting in God’s will, so that is news to me. I have only ever heard (and believed) that he was a great evil. You’ve heard my opinion about the Catholic church before, so it doesn’t surprise me that he was affiliated with them. In my mind I have always thought they were a cult and represent many evils. In any case, your quote at the bottom “not everyone who quotes God is good” is accurate. We have to always be wise and discern who is TRULY a good Christian and who is only using the title for a sales pitch. One other thing that comes to my mind is how the human race has ‘matured’ as the decades roll by. Humanity (whether believing in God or not, or whether claiming to be a Christian or not) has a sordid history of treating their fellow man very badly. It shocks and appalls me just how badly humans have treated each other; but nowadays we seem to have matured, we have a lot of new laws to protect people and their rights, and we don’t seem to think the same way… know what I mean?
I disagree about part of what you said. We may have matured as a species, but that's thanks to science and the questions we've been able to answer through it that before we couldn't. We're still incredibly immature and violent towards each other because humans simply can't accept or get over each others differences. We as a species are prone to hate what we fear/don't understand. If you think that's changed at all though or you think we've stopped treating each other badly and killing each other, check out these examples...
9/11
The war in Afghanistan & Iraq
Libya & Gaddafi
Saddam Hussein
US Ban on Cuba
Communist China
North Korea
Weapons of Mass Destruction & the threat of Nuclear War
Widespread famine and poverty in the African Continent
Homophobia
Racism
Occupy Wallstreet and the 99%
Palestinian vs Israeli conflict
The bombing in Norway that killed 87 people earlier this year
The Death Penalty in the USThe KKK
Westboro Baptist Church
I'm sure I'm missing some things, but by that list alone, it's obvious that humans have in no way matured to a point where we treat each other any better, we've just developed better weapons to kill each other.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Week 5 - Hitler the Catholic
As usual, Christian propaganda has been responsible for an enormous lie about incredibly important historical facts. The one particular lie I'm focusing on today is Hitler's religious views. Most people nowadays believe that Hitler was an Atheist, and his genocide against the Jews was hate-inspired because of his Atheism. But that is far from the truth. The reality of the matter is Hitler was not at all Atheist. Adolf Hitler, in fact, was a devout Catholic. It was an incredibly shameful thing for the Catholic church, which is why, I assume, they tried to cover it all up afterwards by saying Hitler was an Atheist instead.
"I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so." - Adolf Hitler
Hitler's Catholic Upbringing
Adolf Hitler was the son of Alois and Klara Hitler. He was born on April 20, 1889. His father was baptized Roman Catholic at infancy, and remained Roman Catholic his whole life. (The story you have have heard about Hitler's father being "the son of a Rothschild" was a lie and disinformation). His mother, born Klara Pölzl. was also a devout Roman Catholic and attended church on a regular basis.
You can see in the picture to the right that both of his parents were buried in a Catholic graveyard.
As a boy, Hitler was enrolled in a Catholic monastery's choir and school. He excelled at his work and earned the Austrian equivalent of what we call "Straight A's" in North America. He was later quoted saying "Since in my free time I received singing lessons in the cloister at Lambach, I had excellent opportunity to intoxicate myself with the solemn splendor of the brilliant church festivals. It seemed to me perfectly natural to regard the abbot as the highest and most desirable ideal, just as my father regarded the village priest as his ideal."
When he was 15, Hitler was confirmed Roman Catholic at the Linz Cathedral, and was sponsored by one of his father's pallbearers and former customs house colleague.
"Adolf Hitler, son of the Catholic Church, died while defending Christianity. It is therefore understandable that words cannot be found to lament over his death, when so many were found to exalt his life. Over his mortal remains stands his victorious moral figure. With the palm of the martyr, God gives Hitler the laurels of Victory". -Spanish dictator (Francisco Franco, Knight of the Order of Christ) published on the 3rd of May 1945, the day of Hitler's death. ("Reforme", 21st of July 1945.)Hitler went on to eventually write his book, Mein Kampf. In the book and as well in public speeches, he often made statements which affirmed a strong belief in Christianity. In one quote from his book, he said ""Therefore, I am convinced that I am acting as the agent of our Creator. By fighting off the Jews, I am doing the Lord's work."
Hitler said it again at a Nazi Christmas celebration in 1926: "Christ was the greatest early fighter in the battle against the world enemy, the Jews . . . The work that Christ started but could not finish, I--Adolf Hitler--will conclude."In a Reichstag speech in 1938, Hitler again echoed the religious origins of his crusade. "I believe today that I am acting in the sense of the Almighty Creator. By warding off the Jews, I am fighting for the Lord's work. "
Hitler regarded himself as a Catholic until he died. "I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so," he told Gerhard Engel, one of his generals, in 1941.
There was really no reason for Hitler to doubt his good standing as a Catholic. The Catholic press In Germany was eager to curry his favor, and the princes of the Catholic Church never asked for his excommunication. Religions encourage their followers to hold authority in unquestioning respect; this is what makes devout religionists such wonderful dupes for dictators.
When Hitler narrowly escaped assassination in Munich in November, 1939, he gave the credit to providence. "Now I am completely content," he exclaimed. "The fact that I left the Burgerbraukeller earlier than usual is a corroboration of Providence's intention to let me reach my goal." Catholic newspapers throughout the Reich echoed this, declaring that it was a miraculous working of providence that had protected their Fuhrer. One cardinal, Michael Faulhaber, sent a telegram instructing that a Te Deum be sung in the cathedral of Munich, "to thank Divine Providence in the name of the archdiocese for the Fuhrer's fortunate escape. " The Pope also sent his special personal congratulations!Later the Pope was to publicly describe Hitler's opposition to Russia as a "high-minded gallantry in defense of the foundation of Christian culture. "Several German bishops openly supported Hitler's invasion of Russia, calling it a "European crusade." One bishop exhorted all Catholics to fight for "a victory that will allow Europe to breathe freely again and will promise all nations a new future. "
Biographer John Toland wrote of Hitler's religion: "Still a member in good standing of the Church of Rome despite detestation of its hierarchy, he carried within him its teaching that the Jew was the killer of god. The extermination, therefore, could be done without a twinge of conscience since he was merely acting as the avenging hand of god - so long as it was done impersonally, without cruelty. Himmler was pleased to murder with mercy. He ordered technical experts to devise gas chambers which would eliminate masses of Jews efficiently and 'humanely', then crowded the victims into boxcars and sent them east to stay in ghettos until the killing centers in Poland were completed."Jews, of course, were not the only "holy" victims. In Yugoslavia, Hitler installed a Croatian, Ante Pavelic, as his puppet, and Pavelic, a Catholic like Hitler, began extermination of the Serbs, who were Greek Orthodox. One of my relatives by marriage is a Yugoslavian, a Serb, who survived World War II by going "underground" with the advent of Nazism in his country. Out of his immediate family of 17 (this includes his parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and first cousins), only three survived. His mother and sister just disappeared, his mother shortly after being given the opportunity to convert to Catholicism, an offer she refused. The Vatican was not unaware of the massacres conducted in Yugoslavia In the name of Catholicism, but Pope Pius remained diplomatically quiet. In fact, one of his actions was to receive Ante Pavelic in private audience, thereby giving his blessing to this regime.
War's causes, of course, are complex, but it would be difficult to overestimate the disastrous role religion played in World War 11. Distrust, fear and hatred of Jews was a lesson Hitler learned early in life. It was taught by his church and reinforced by his culture. It became his obsession, his version of "the Lord's work." That Hitler, that supreme villain of the 20th century, could see himself, and be seen by others, as "providentially" guided, protected and inspired should certainly serve as an ominous clue to the dangers of religious belief. just as the Vatican umbrella could be maneuvered to shield the massacres of Serbs by Catholics in Yugoslavia, so can religion validate any behavior, any atrocity, any war.
"I am personally convinced of the great power and deep significance of Christianity, and I won't allow any other religion to be promoted. That is why I have turned away from Ludendorff and that is why I reject that book by Rosenberg. It was written by a Protestant. It is not a Party book. It was not written by him as a Party man. The Protestants can be left to argue with him ... As a Catholic I never feel comfortable in the Evangelical Church or its structures. That is why I will have great difficulty if I try to regulate affairs of the Protestant churches. The evangelical people or the Protestants will in any case reject me. But you can be sure: I will protect the rights and freedoms of the churches and not let them be touched, so that you need have no fears about the future of the Church." - Adolf Hitler
"The folkish-minded man, in particular, has the sacred duty, each in his own denomination, of making people stop just talking superficially of God's will, and actually fulfill God's will, and not let God's word be desecrated. For God's will gave men their form, their essence and their abilities. Anyone who destroys His work is declaring war on the Lord's creation, the divine will." - Adolf Hitler
Hitler & Atheism
 |
| "Gott Mit Uns - God With Us." |
In a radio address October 14, 1933 Hitler stated "For eight months we have been waging a heroic battle against the Communist threat to our Volk, the decomposition of our culture, the subversion of our art, and the poisoning of our public morality. We have put an end to denial of God and abuse of religion. We owe Providence humble gratitude for not allowing us to lose our battle against the misery of unemployment and for the salvation of the German peasant."
In a speech delivered in Berlin, October 24, 1933, Hitler stated: "We were convinced that the people needs and requires this faith. We have therefore undertaken the fight against the atheistic movement, and that not merely with a few theoretical declarations: we have stamped it out."
In a speech delivered at Koblenz, August 26, 1934 Hitler states: "There may have been a time when even parties founded on the ecclesiastical basis were a necessity. At that time Liberalism was opposed to the Church, while Marxism was anti-religious. But that time is past. National Socialism neither opposes the Church nor is it anti-religious, but on the contrary, it stands on the ground of a real Christianity. The Church's interests cannot fail to coincide with ours alike in our fight against the symptoms of degeneracy in the world of to-day, in our fight against the Bolshevist culture, against an atheistic movement, against criminality, and in our struggle for the consciousness of a community in our national life, for the conquest of hatred and disunion between the classes, for the conquest of civil war and unrest, of strife and discord. These are not anti-Christian, these are Christian principles."
During negotiations leading to the Nazi-Vatican Concordat of April 26, 1933 Hitler argued that "Secular schools can never be tolerated because such schools have no religious instruction, and a general moral instruction without a religious foundation is built on air; consequently, all character training and religion must be derived from faith."
Response from my mom, Week 4 on "How Christians Stole Halloween."
No response from my mom this week.
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