A Bit of Orange

A lot of people tend to be very offended by people like me, because I compare different ideas and then judge some of them true and some false. A disproportionate number of these people tend to be female, and often somewhere between 13 and 30. I don’t know what that says, I just find it weird.

The kind of feedback I receive from these ladies is along these four lines of argumentation:

1. You are wrong.

2. You should shut up.

3. Why can’t you leave other people alone? If their belief makes them happy, then why can’t you just let them be happy?

4. You are wrong and should shut up.

Eventually you will discover that they feel like they are defending people they care about- friends and family who are (gay, atheist, evolutionists, democrats, Cubs fans, vegetarians, cat owners, etc etc etc.). And they feel that a person who is attacking (whatever belief or behavior) is attacking that person they love. Their conclusion is, the way to be loving is to leave people alone and let them be happy doing or believing whatever they want.

This sounds compassionate, right? Like a greeting card wrapped in barbed wire. However, as I shall explain, these ladies are completely bonkers. To prove that I shall replace (whatever) with a belief which you will feel I am making up, but I assure you I am not. Let’s pretend that someone you love and care about believes that their medical ailments can all be cured by consuming pigeon poop. I am not making this up. Continue reading →

A famous, As-Seen-On-TV atheist once said that teaching children that there is a hell is child abuse. Naturally this means that every Christian parent, pastor, or Sunday school teacher is an evil criminal who needs to be rounded up into concentration camps.

But not Muslims. They’re  a protected class right now.

Let’s consider the logic of his position. It makes a fair amount of sense that if you tell a child they will burn forever in the literal tormenting fires of hell, that they will not accept it as comforting news. They may (and I say this as a lay person who is not a child psychologist) dislike the idea rather strongly. In fact, it may frighten them almost as much as the seven foot tall Easter Bunny costume stuffed full of half baked community college liberal arts student which their parents force them to sit on to get their picture taken at the mall every spring.  Continue reading →

People all the times be saying, “Faith means believing in things which ain’t so.” Or sometimes, “Faith means believing things without, or sometimes in the teeth of evidence.”

And from these quotes, we can learn that some people, despite having been born and raised in the Christian West, have NO IDEA what the Bible says or what the church has taught for 2,000 years.

I personally think 2,000 years would be enough time for everyone to find the time to see what the Bible says before they go off writing books about it, but apparently I am being presumptuous. Thus to help you, my friends, I will show you what the Bible says: Continue reading →

Whenever dealing with deep theological and philosophical issues, all wise persons tend to let their minds wander toward Star Wars, especially the original trilogy, Episodes IV, V, and VI (that’s 4, 5 and 6 for those of you who don’t speak ancient Greek).

I  recently heard a question which comes up frequently when people are pondering the existence, character, and nature of God, which is “How do you reconcile the peace and love talk of Jesus with the war and genocide actions of God in the Old Testament?”

Sometimes people will just frame this question about the “slaughter of the Canaanites” which always makes me want to ask them, “Why are you so concerned with the killing of the Canaanites? Do you even KNOW any Canaanites? OF COURSE NOT! They’re all DEAD! For all you know they were the biggest jerks in the universe which YOU would have killed given half a chance!”

But it is a fair question. In the New Testament Jesus says “Love your neighbor” and in the Old Testament He apparently told the Israelites to kill all of the Canaanites. Seems like a sticky wicket doesn’t it?

Hmmm… I think Wicket was the name of that one Ewok in Return of the Jedi… Continue reading →

Anyone who knows any math will know that the single most certain truth on earth is that the Cubs will never win the pendant. Or this was true for 108 years…

Wait, no, I was going to say, the single most certain truth on earth is “2+2=4”. It is completely indisputable. Except when it’s wrong. I’m just going to come out and say it:

2 + 2 =7.

Continue reading →