I think we should stop teaching chemistry too.

I just read this post (We're Back: On Erhman, CNN and the Middle East) at www.PrimeTimeJesus.com. Apparently Bart Ehrman is emboldening terrorists. It reminds me of how the Bush administration accused those of us who were opposed to the war in Iraq of emboldening terrorists. Whether or not one agrees with Ehrman's work, to suggest that he should stop publishing his studies because some extremists are being encouraged is ridiculous. Extremists use the Bible too, should we stop publishing it?

An encounter at BJ's Wholesale Club

So, let me first tell you that until today I had a bumper sticker on my car that read "If Religious Groups Want To Get Into Politics, They Should Pay Taxes". Ironically, I decided today, while in BJ's, that I no longer wanted to express myself through bumper stickers since they seldom initiate any real dialogue.

As I returned to my car, put my groceries in, and began to remove my two bumper stickers, an angry pastor and his wife approached me. He angrily asked me why I displayed that bumper sticker and I told him it was because I don't like religious organizations getting into politics and trying to legislate their own brand of morality and that it was illegal for churches to endorse politicians and keep their tax exempt status. His wife chimed in with something like "If you were down on your luck, the church would be the first one to give you water." They both then proceeded to tell me how churches were the first to respond to Katrina and all the good churches do. I agreed that churches did a lot of good. They just couldn't understand that I didn't have a problem with churches. It's like they thought my bumper sticker said "Tax churches" because the next thing they talked about was how if churches were taxed then they couldn't do all the good they do now. My response was "But if churches were taxed and didn't have as much money, God would provide right?" They said yes he would.

They said something about how I would feel differently if I knew the Bible, at which point I explained that I had been a Christian for 20 years. He asked why I wasn't now and I briefly explained that in seeking a fuller relationship with God he gradually became less real to me. His wife asked me if I had a Bible and a Strong's concordance and I said yes. She then asked me to look up the word "love" in the concordance and read all the verses about love, and then she said something about having and older edition Webster's dictionary to look stuff up in. I was tempted to explain to her that I knew the new testament was written in Greek and that the Greeks had four words for love, etc. etc., but decided not to as I really wasn't interested.

We ended with him asking what my first name was so he could pray for me; I've always wondered why we needed names to pray for people. I thanked him, told them it was nice to meet them, and was on my way.

Why do some believers seem to be so challenged and almost intimidated by those who used to share their faith?

You are all wrong, fortunately, I'm right.

Today's post, the first in quite a while, is about schoolyard bullies who have grown up and become TV or radio personalities. You know the ones I'm talking about, the ones who see the world in black and white, and only their side is the good side. The ones who don't actually deal with real issues, but instead toss around labels that do nothing, but make extremists be more extreme, polarizing this great nation of ours. I become nearly physically ill when I hear some of these disgusting hypocrites speak. During the last administration those of us who were less than thrilled with President Bush were un-American and were told we hated America, now these same people are criticizing our current president, hell it's not even valid criticism, it's just bullying, but they consider themselves patriots and still say the rest of us are un-American.

Why do people listen to these mental midgets?

A Year Without God

February 29th, 2008 was the day I sent out my letter to my friends and family declaring my new found lack of belief. Of course, there is no 29th this year, so March 1st will have to do. ;-)

It has been one of the most interesting years of my life. I've had regular theological discussions for most of my adult life, but never with such variety, and certainly never from this side of the fence.

One of the things I've tried to do is not make assumptions about what people believe. The labels we give ourselves and each other are so very inadequate at expressing what we really believe. There is so much variety of belief, even within each of the nearly infinite denominations within Christianity, that pigeonholing is not advisable. It's easy to label someone a fundy or a new ager and essentially write them off. It's much more interesting, challenging, and sometimes exhausting to try to dig deeper and see what they really believe and why.

I have constantly run into the certainty brick wall. We are all certain of many things, but I refuse to be certain about the invisible. The problem with many of the God arguments that are made, is that they depend on experiences. I'm glad that you are happy and that you've had experiences you identify as God, but that does not mean I will have those same experiences or even if I do, choose to identify them as God. I try to be kind, but there are times where something appears so ludicrous to me that I laugh. Really, none of us is perfect, we could all be wrong.

It's been a good year, no disasters have befallen me, no local floods or fires, God hasn't tried to smite me yet. Of course the year hasn't been perfect, I experienced the same sorts of events that happened when I was a professing Christian. Work related stress from time to time, family medical issues, etc, etc. Then again, a big book I once read said something like "The rain falls on the wicked and the just.".

Let's see how the next year goes.

This was crossposted at atheistsandchristians.com and merelyadequate.net

How do you, or did you experience God?

Today's question is "How do you, or did you experience God?"

In my discussions with theists, I've been accused of false conversion many times. I was essentially doing it wrong, and they, of course, could tell me the correct way. However, other theists have been much more kind and understanding and realize that I must experience God in my own way...if a god exists.

I will now attempt to explain the ways in which I felt I was experiencing God.

The little things: Thoughts, feelings, bits of scripture popping into my head or jumping off the page at me.

The big things: Feelings of purpose, belonging, being loved, cared for, protected, and guided. Feeling God move at gatherings, especially during worship. Being given the right things to say in the right time. Prayer, nearly without ceasing. Blessing others with prayer, both one on one and during small group gatherings.

Even though I never felt God spoke to me in direct words, I felt that he was in constant communication through thoughts and feelings. I did my best to always keep him in my thoughts. I had bibles everywhere and made special CDs of music and scripture. I found one the other day. I called them Songs That Keep Me Strong, and had several consisting of quite a few songs.

Please share with me how you experience or experienced God. Please do not try to use this as an opportunity to tell me what you feel I did wrong.

Poets, priests, and politicians.

I've been reading a lot of different arguments on various Christian web sites, arguments in favor of Christianity or against atheism. The conclusion I've come to is that while these arguments are sometimes fascinating and incredibly complex, they are about as useful as tits on a bull. Please, don't think me unkind, but you can argue till you are blue in the face, but if I don't have a real experience with your brand of spirituality then your arguments are merely interesting at best.

When I was a Christian I delved into the realm of apologetics quite a bit. One of my favorite verses was:

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (New International Version)

4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Now I see such actions as futile and masturbatory, preaching to the choir quite literally.

I guess the point of this post is to let you know not to get all upset when atheists don't find your arguments compelling or don't decide to delve deeper into your beliefs. I know you feel your arguments are compelling and that everyone should find them convincing, but not everyone will, not even all of your fellow theists.

The title of this post came from here.

CD Review - Benjamin Payne - The Way of Truth

Ok, I know, I know. I'm an atheist ex-Christian and I'm reviewing a Christian worship album. Crazy I know, but it's also really good music. I listen to all sorts of music, with all sorts of messages.

This CD is a wonderful combination of great musicianship, terrific song writing, wonderful vocals, and oh yeah, lots of hand raising, foot stomping worship music! There's something for everyone on this CD. Fast, slow, loud, soft, it's all here. The arrangements are lush and really put one into a contemplative mood. Benjamin has been one of my best friends for many years, so you might think I'm biased, but ask any of my friends if I'm afraid to criticize their music. I'm not. One thing about Benjamin, he means every word on this CD. He completely gives his all to God, and this CD shares a little bit of that dedication with all of us, even those of us that don't share Benjamin's faith.

Benjamin Payne - The Way of Truth
It can also be found here: www.digstation.com

I posted this review at cdbaby.com, digstation.com, merelyadequate.net, and atheistsandchristians.com