I recommend that we give this atheist (Ebonmuse, at Daylight Atheism) a chance to give sermons church pulpits across the country. Just be sure not to tell the congregations that he's an atheist. Instead, let them soak up his words. He'll have them weeping with inspiration. He'll rev them up…
You can read about it here. An excerpt from the article: More people in Britain think religion causes harm than believe it does good, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today. It shows that an overwhelming majority see religion as a cause of division and tension - greatly outnumbering the…
We’re right in the middle of massively expensive Christmas displays. No, not just the light displays. I’m referring to the numerous expenditures of time, energy and money that, because they are expensive, serve as reliable messages to others that we are interested in bonding with them . . . or not. Christmas is as good a time as any to let the truth hang out.
These displays take many forms. To whom do we send Christmas cards (and from whom do we receive them?)? To whose parties will we be invited? Who are those select people with whom we will end up exchaning gifts? It doesn’t matter if we don’t really enjoy cards, parties and gifts. It doesn’t really matter whether we believe in virgin birth. It doesn’t matter whether there were three kings or whether there was an especially bright star. As with oh-so-many things, Christmas is really about relationships. At bottom, Christmas is about rubbing elbows and bonding, no matter what the conventional wisdom.
The conventional wisdom says that Christmas is about a particular set of alleged historical truths. We need to keep in mind, though, that there are many cultures that give no credibility to the Jesus story who engage in similar gatherings and similar gift exchanges based on their own lore, much of if as unlikely as the story of a virgin giving birth to a God. They have their own gift exchanges and parties and songs and decorations framed by lore that makes no …
As regular readers know, I take an interest not only in science, but in the evolution of science. Back before Newton proposed the bold theory that the force holding us to the ground was the same thing that guided the heavenly bodies, everyone knew that the grave matter of original…
I can’t reveal how I obtained a copy of the dramatic memo re-printed below. It is important reading for anyone who might someday die. It is a rare candid glimpse into the mind of the Creator of the Universe.
To: Heaven Admission Screeners
From: God
Date: December 23, 2006
Re: Criteria for Admittance to Heaven
As you all learned in your basic training, our screening program is simple. After a person dies, he or she is brought to one of the numerous screening stations at the Pearly Gates (it’s a lot like airport customs down on Earth). Each applicant is asked to succinctly describe what he or she has accomplished on earth that would justify admission into heaven. We’ve heard lots of flimsy excuses over the eons, many of them falling into predicable categories. I wrote this “refresher memo” to point out many of these commonly heard (deficient) accomplishments and to give you a few other pointers to assist you in your screening duties.
First of all, keep the focus on the bottom line: exclude from heaven all of those people who haven’t shown any significant accomplishments while they lived on earth. Remember, our task is to give fair, expedient and professional resolutions of whether the applicant deserves admission to heaven. Your job is not to chit-chat with the applicants, much less counsel those who you’ve just turned down. Tell them that the rules are the rules, then loudly and resolutely state, “Next!”
Many applicants base their application primarily on …