This is an article from last year. This TV news feature a Houston Lutheran pastor who no longer believes in God. He indicates that a careful reading of the bible led to his loss of faith. Discussion turns to The Clergy Project, initiated by Daniel Dennett, which claims more than 200 members, all of them current or former church leaders who are atheists.
A TV plays nonstop in the lunchroom at my workplace. Today, as I grabbed a snack, CNN was interviewing a “Vatican spokesman” (I didn’t catch his name, but he was the man on the right in this photo). While this interview was airing, the Cardinals were still deliberating. It occurred to me first of all that despite being guided by the “Holy Spirit” these men were struggling to make a decision. The Vatican Spokesman said to the CNN reporter, “We’re looking for Something New.” Amen to that.
I don't know anything about Dusty Smith, but I've seen a few of his videos and enjoyed them. Here's his latest: A video reviewing the "History" Channel's series on the Bible, the entire review taking less than ten minutes. It seems to me that Smith's crusty commentary serves as a counterbalance to the uncritical cherry-picking reading of the Bible characteristic of many American religions. In the following video Dusty asks how self-respecting women can claim to be Christians, even in light of the New Testament.
Why did the alleged God banish the alleged Satan from the alleged heaven? Many Christian accounts of Satan bluntly conclude that Satan was full of pride, causing God to give him the boot. Which leads to the follow:
I don't know who creates these images, which are often posted on Facebook. They sharply challenge assertions commonly made by believers. Sometimes they challenge deeply held theological arguments. And as Ronaldo de Souza once suggested, theology is “intellectual tennis without a net.”
Believers constantly overlook the sins of "God." He literally gets away with murder when he slaughters little children. All of this should be a problem for Bible literalists--the inerrant folks--but they claim that it isn't. That works thanks to the big blind spot to occurs in all types of believers: Morality binds and blinds, and it does this especially well in the context of religions.
I spotted this image on Facebook--it details the seven "Godly" sins. There is no indication of who the author was--if anyone knows, I'd like to give credit. I can't argue with the logic of the chart.
