Below you will find pages that utilize the taxonomy term “Religion”
No, Florida, No.
Apparently my old stomping grounds of Ft Lauderdale have passed an ordinance making it illegal to feed the homeless. WTF, Florida? Anyone who is active in church should be fighting this with civil disobedience. They can’t arrest all of you!
Humanity Has Truly Changed Very Little
Yesterday I read through the intro of Don’t Know Much About Mythology. It posited that one possible reason for myths was for the rich to control the poor. I thought, “Yeah. Makes sense back then with their god-kings, but we’re smarter now.” Then I thought about American politics and realized nothing has changed over the past 10000 years.
By the way, so much of the Christian discourse in America is so far away from the actual content of the Bible that regardless of whether you believe in Yahweh/God and Jesus’ divinity, you should regard most of what you think you know about Christianity as mythology.
Is it Obsolete? Evangelism
Welcome to my new series where I wonder if some concepts and technologies are now obsolete thanks to our new paradigms and technologies. Today’s topic - evangelism.
Short term readers of my blog will think I only write about Linux and technology. Long term readers will know that I’m a Christian. I was brought up (what the media refers to as) an evangelical. Specifically, I was brought up as a Baptist. My entire church life though high school involved being told how we had to spread the Word of God. Indeed, if you believe in the divinity of Jesus and the infallibility of The Bible, it even says in the Gospels that Jesus commanded his followers to spread the “Good News”. And so they became the first missionaries.
How Long *were* They in the Garden?
If you take the Biblical story of Adam and Eve literally (as opposed to figuratively or allegorically) there is one possible explanation for the world as science sees it that I’ve never, ever heard anyone propose. This shocks me as it seems to be a convenient answer that fits with the science. The Bible tells us that when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree (not the apple…) they had to die. This means that prior to that, they were immortals. At least that’s the only possible reading of the story of Adam and Eve that doesn’t make God a liar.
If God was a Programmer
This joke’s been around the nets for a while, but here’s a new and novel presentation.
So he *does* admit it!
(I’m writing this on the 21 around midnight, but I have a lot of posts coming up so I time-shifted this to the 24th)
If you’ve read my blog long enough, you know that I believe in events transpiring when they should. In other words, God places things in our lives at the right time. If you call it luck, what is luck, but another name for God? You’re still ascribing it to an unexplainable force.
Certainty and its effect On Wars
In " Things that Shouldn’t Make Me Happy", Scott Adams hits on one of the most poignant things I’ve read in a while. For a humorist, he has been making some amazing points recently.
If you think about it, wars are generally fought because of a false sense of certainty. Usually some leader thinks he is a God, or talks to God, or descended from the Gods, or thinks God gave his people some particular piece of real estate. The leader’s opinion is the most certain in the land. People flock to certainty and adopt the certainty as their own. The next thing you know, stuff is blowing up.
Sacrifices and other Old Testament Rituals
I’m reading through Leviticus right now and boy is it tough going. The entire Biblical narrative has come to a complete halt as rule after seemingly arbitrary rule is spelled out. And the killer is the repitition. Instead of lumping twenty offenses together and saying, for all of these the punishment is X, it lists the punishment each time for each specific offense!
I used to think that these rules were pretty arbitrary and marveled at just how detailed the regulations concerning their lives was. One thing I’ve always wondered about is what the point of it all was. Why did God have to have all these rituals - did He really need the Isrealites to kills goats, pigeons, and sheep? Couldn’t he just have told them to pray and He would answer their prayers?
Please pray for
John Edwards wife and Press Secretary Tony Snow. Cancer doesn’t care what side of the political spectrum you’re on, it still attacks.
In Mohammad We Trust?
This news is a few weeks old, but I’m behind on my “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me” podcasts. However, a congressman said that we have to be really careful with dealing with Iraq and Iran (meaning bomb the stuffing out of them) or else our money may one day read, “In Mohammad We Trust.”
Hey you moronic, racist/religioust, jerk - does our money say, “In Jesus We Trust?” If your improbable scenario were to play out, our money would read “In Allah We Trust” and everyone knows that Allah == God. Therefore it would say the same thing it says now.
The Evolution vs Creationism BullSh*t needs to stop
Recently, someone created Conservipedia, saying that Wikipedia has a liberal bias. Its proof? Idiotic things like the fact that some of the articles are spelled in the Queen’s English (honour, colour) despite most users being American. This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.
Another proof it gives is not idiotic, just misguided - Wikipedia, like a majority of the world, lends credence to the Theory of Evolution. Frankly, as a Christian, I’m sick and tired of this whole Creationism movement. All it succeeds in doing is making Christians look like conniving morons. We can’t get schools to teach in the Christian God creating things, so we created “Creationism” that teachs that some Diety created the world and everything. I think people would be less vitriolic towards the whole thing if it just went outright and called it for what it is - the Christian God.
You can't talk about Jesus here! It's a Christmas festival!
Apparently showing a trailer for a movie about Christ at a Christmas festival is too much for Chicago officials. Although Fox was prepared to pay $12 000 to the festival if the trailer for “The Nativity Story” would be shown throughout the festival. Sorry, said the Political Correctness Police, we can’t appear to be endorsing any religion. Never mind the fact that there’s a menorah on display at the festival.
Gay Pastor Confesses?
It was just an audio footnote on NPR’s story, but he has confessed to his church that some of the allegations are true.
This story should remind people why religion and politics shouldn’t be mixed. This guy wanted to be all big, calling into the White House and stuff and he wanted to support and anti-gay amendment. Now, the whole world gets to watch his fall. It always makes me sad when religious leaders get caught up in stuff like this because, as a religious person myself, it makes it seem as though all Christians are hypocritical or something. Sure, even Christians, sin, but the cliche is true - the bigger you are, the harder you fall. If this guy was just some regular local preacher, this would just be a Colorado thing instead of a National issue.
He's cheating on his wife? With a gay man?!?
A Pastor with ties to the White House, Republicans, and Anti-Gay Marriage stuff in Colorado has been accused of having an affair with a gay man. Now, the elections are just 4 days away, so the first thing I thought was - this is TOO perfect. This has to have been made up to defame the guy in the hopes of throwing off the “Values Voters” who vote for Republicans. After all, if they aren’t practicing what they preach, why not vote for Democrats? Even just saying he had a heterosexual affair would be bad, as he is a Pastor and is supposed to be setting an example. But it has happened before.
The Pope is Wrong
I can just see it in some extremist planning area:
Extremist 1: Hey, the Pope said we were a violent people!
Extremist 2: What a jerk! What should we do in protest? Extremist 1: Let’s bomb churches and kill a nun!
Extremist 2: Excellent, that will clearly prove him wrong!
See the irony? Why don’t they?
Thank You God
That my father-in-law was able to get a kidney from his sister and the surgery went well. He is now recovering, but will no longer need dialysis every other day! I kept myself busy/sane in the hospital by reading my Salvador Dali book and taking pictures. Here are some of the pictures from the hospital:
stream of consciousness...
It really annoys me when I can’t remember what I wasn to post. Blogging has been one of the casualties of working a steady eight hour job. While I’m at work I always thing of all these great ideas of thigns I want to blog, but then when I finally get home, I either have forgotten what I wanted to talk about or I just don’t feel like it anymore. The second reason seems to be just as prevalent as the first - sometimes I would have put an idea on paper, but after mulling about it all day long, I just don’t feel like thinking about it anymore. Frankly, as I write this, I feel I’ve written this paragraph, or one similar to it, at least once before. I guess that means this is a true and recurring problem which really bothers me.
Jewish Reggae
Christian Rock/Pop music has been around since the 1970s when Larry Norman pioneered the genre. Since then it has become a HUGE market encompassing all areas of music from rock to ska to punk to rap. There is a large popuplation of Jews in the US, so why wouldn’t there be Jewish music? Finally, our country has put enough of our prejudices aside that I heard Matisyahu’s single “King Without a Crown” on the pop radio station here in the Baltimore Area.
God's Debris
God’s Debris, by Scott Adams, is a total mind-blow. It is, indeed, one of the most provacative philosophy books I have read in a long time. As Adams says himself, the book is not a reflection of his opinions or necessarily of anything more than nonsense. He just took the simplest answer for the philosophical questions he poses. However modestly he begins the book, it’s clear he hasn’t fooled around. The points he presents in the book on religion, the sexes, and other topics will cause you to seriously think about your beliefs and why things are the way they are on this earth. Especially poingnant is his chapter on Holy Land when we have so many groups fighting each other on account of Holy Land.
thanks God
Sure, this is mostly a technology (read linux) blog with some politics thrown in. But long-time readers know I am a religious person. Not a religous fanatic, but religious nontheless. I just wanted to take a post to express my gratitude for things that have been going so well for me. For instance, my mother’s flights to and from, and her time in, Mexico were safe. There are many other things, some of which I may be able to discuss in the future. Thank you God.
A response on Good and Evil
Sarong Party Girl (SPG), who ironically does very little blogging about parties, wrote this hasty article, tackling an issue she talks about a lot - relativism and good & evil. The key point of her post, which has been a theme in some of her other posts is:
At the end, whatever we do, there will never be more good than evil, and good can never triumph, because from someone else’s point of view, what is good for you might not be good for him. We sympathize with the victors as history is written by them.
Things that make you believe...(part 1)
Just a quick thought that I may elaborate on later (hence the part 1). Some may just call it coincidence, but days like this further my belief in God. Out of the blue I think that perhaps I should just try my server again, after trying EVERYTHING when I first moved in. Now it suddenly works! I feel God put that idea in my head. Thank you.
Thanks God!
Got FIVE As this final semester of my four years at Cornell, so I just had to thank God for that.
Thanks again God
Well, I can’t get into too many details at this time because of professionalism, but I had been praying for certain things to happen in my future and they had occurred! I know we’re not supposed to make deals with God, but I did promise that if He delivered that I would share it with the whole world. I am VERY happy today and my life is now a little less infinite than it was a couple of weeks ago! I’m so happy I can barely contain it!
And the new Pope is....
Joseph Ratzinger from Germany! I had been hoping they would go with a Latin American poope like they had been predicting. Not only because this would have probably been a Hispanic, but because it would have been the first Pope from the New World. I would also have liked an Asian or African Pope because that would also have been a break from a European Pope. Well, maybe next time.
breaking news!
A new pope has been chosen! More info when I hear it later tonight. Wow, this world really had been accelerated. They picked someone on the first day unlike in previous times.
Proof of God in a commercial?
I was watching a commercial today on MSNBC for a knee replacement technology. The ad had some woman who lives in San Francisco and the infinitely large hills there were just killing her knees because she had arthritis. But then modern medical science gave her: “a replacement knee that, unlike the ones produced by other companies, bends and turns to ALMOST simulate the function of a real knee.” And it continued with the usual disclaimers - don’t elect to have this done if you’re sick, the knee may gain setience and kill you - stuff like that. But what stuck out for me in the ad was the fact that the replacement knee ALMOST was like a real knee. ALMOST. Are you telling me that modern science can put a man on the moon, build a space station, make computers that store so much information that if you would have told the original creators of the computer you would have been thrown in a luny bin, can manipulate NANO objects to build things for them, yet it cannot make a fully functional knee?!? WTF is that?