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I never was a fan of Christians’ tendencies to attribute all that is bad to Satan, to the Devil, while maintaining that all that is good on Earth is an act of God. The world is not easily defined into such black-and-white terms. Morality is relative, truth is subjective. So, maybe Satan and God are one and the same?…like a divine Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.
I am led to believe by the teachings of the Bible (and more credibly by many a philosopher) that we as humans have Free Will. The whole notion, the very validity of the concept of Sin (and our responsibility for our actions) is 100% based on the idea that we as free-acting agents can make choices as we see fit, be them good or evil.
Yet, if I were to walk into a church, for example, and start throwing eggs at the congregants, I am sure that they would regard the incident as an act of Satan. Keep in mind, that while Satan is very very evil, no all acts influenced by him are particularly evil. This is because all things aren’t either extremely good, or extremely evil. The gray area is wider than the universe. If I tell a child to ‘Shut the hell up,” or if I go around telling children that there is no Santa, is that evil? No. Is it wrong? Maybe (I guess it depends on when ‘telling the truth’ is regarded as wrong). Is it a sin? I dunno.
Here in lies the dilemma. If we start attributing all good to God and all bad to Satan, then many problems arise.
Can I really be held responsible for being influenced by an unseen force?…a force God created?..a force God refuses to extinguish? If my whole life is a tug-of-war between the will of God and of Satan, how am I supposed to be held responsible? How can I say that any choice I made was my own choice?
From a Christian perspective, God and Satan are essentially in a gigantic domestic dispute, and we, the children, are caught in the middle. In a broken family, you don’t blame the children for their actions when one parent coaxed them into smiting the other parent.
In my view, if there is a God, he created bird, and trees, and fruit and love, and cancer, and death, and pain and torture. This is why I blame God for any bad that happens in my life. And you should to. Because when it all comes down to it, good or evil, he started it all and that makes him responsible.
Christmas is an evolving thing.
Many things we consider Christian tradition began before Christ. Pagans of northern Europe celebrated winter solstice, called Yule. It happened on the shortest day of the year, the Winter solstice which occurs some time between December 20 and December 23 every year.
Yule logs were burned. The custom of kissing underneath a Mistletoe was a ritual. Live trees were often brought into homes during winter as a reminder that soon crops would grow again. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in Germany.
Then somehow, the traditions were usurped by Christian . And for hundreds of years, the tree was no long a symbol to worship Saturn, the God of Agriculture, as they did in Rome, or as the Pagans did later in Northern Europe, worshiping the Sun God, Mithras. The tree was now used to worship Jesus. And the whole thing became a major pillar of Christianity.
Now, we have seen the gradual removal of religious themes from Christmas in all sects of modern life. ‘Holiday Tree,’ for example. And why? So not to offend Jews, and Muslims and Atheists who have to use our malls and schools and other public places. But most importantly, Christmas is thusly more appealing to a wider audience. More people can feel good about getting into the giving-mood without having to worry about all the Jesus stuff.As a result, there is more spending. The holiday isn’t as niche as it once was.
Christmas is now a celebration of capitalism. From Sun Gods, to Pagans, to Christ, to Capitalism.
What’s next?
Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of time today to do a half-decent blog, so I opted to post some of my favorite video’s about the lighter-side of religion.
Here are 2 of my favorite stand-up comedians’ bits on religion.
Enjoy
For the world being as spiritual as it is, you’d think there would be more movies released with religious content. Yet, I can more readily think of a dozen zombie movies as opposed to the 3 or 4 religious movies that come to mind.
A list of some of the major theatrical and televised religious movies can be found here.
One of my favorites is Kevin Smith‘s Dogma.
Dogma poster
This movie is half analysis of faith and spirituality, and half rude sex joke, pot-laden, swear-filled comedy. I won’t get into the plot here, but having been raised a Catholic, I appreciated Mr. Smith’s interpretation of the faith. Despite the strange conclusions he draws, he does so from legit Catholic premises. The movie got a lot of controversy. One fun tidbit is how Kevin Smith joined the protesters speaking out against his movie!
There are 2 general types of religious movies: those that attempt to honor and respect whatever aspect of religion they depict, like The Ten Commandments, The Passion of the Christ and Ben Hur, and then there are those movies who take the opportunity to bring criticism, reinterpretation and contemporary social commentary to the table by mixing what is cherished with what is taboo. Like Dogma, Saved, Bruce Almighty and Oh God! These movies seem to get away with this ‘blasphemy’ by playing the “It’s just a movie” card.
But why is religion assumed to deserve such respect that it is above the witty jabs and secularist scrutiny of common people?
Remember the Muhammed cartoons that sparked such debate? People dies over that. And check this article out about how one Muslim in Britain suggested that he’d rather not talk to Muslim women through their veils. Both the oppressive men and oppressed women of that faith were angry at him.
I just don’t get it. Religions provide little more than speculations and assumptions, and yet, they are to be taken so seriously. And worse yet, ALL of them are to be taken more seriously than ALL the other fakies out there.
I can’t wait for the next highly controversial movie to come out. I think the religious denominations out there all need a swift kick in the ass
Christ versus Capitalism (Santa)
The above demonstrates a crude interpretation of what happens every year. There is a dichotomy in what the holidays stand for. Over the last, say 15 years or so, we have seen a shift in the way our society presents the holidays. Christmas Trees are now blandly called Holiday Trees. Certain Christmas Carols have been edited to make them less Christian-specific. I can’t recall that last time I saw a manger on display at a mall. Santa is the new Jesus.
Sears commented about their decision to change their Christmas themes to a more general holiday theme:
“The reason for our use of holiday tree is due to the [sic] Sears Holding is a very diverse company, we do not want to offend any of our associates, but also our valued customers. We decided to call them holiday trees because even if Christians are the only religion that uses a Christmas tree we still do not want complaints from other customers of different religions complaining about our use of Christmas.”
I don’t understand this. If you have read my blogs, you know I am not religious, and I am sure not going to go to any lengths to defend any religion from criticism. But I do know when a betrayal to one’s culture is happening and we see it every Winter.
I am personally pro-‘Christ’ when it concerns holidays derived from Jesus. You get a bunch of easily-offended people who want to engage in the holiday cheer, but they demand that the holidays comply with their beliefs. Why? No one says that people HAVE to celebrate Christmas. No one says you can’t create your own version/interpretation of the Christmas season to suit your needs. But what ticks me off is how people demand that we change the way things have been done for centuries just because they have a hard time dealing with the concept of Jesus, God, divinity, angels, etc.
I say, phooey to you. I am offended at how this culture aims to try to please everyone. It takes away all the fun of living. Imagine if a restaurant wanted to serve only drinks which nobody disliked? We’d have only water to choose from. Bland!
So, as hypocritical as it may be for me, an agnostic, every year at this time I say Merry Christmas. I will say it to Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists and everyone in between. And if you don’t like it, then plug your ears or move to a country where Christmas isn’t a part of the culture!
Happy Holidays!
The battle between capitalism and spirituality
Deism is the belief that God exists and created the universe, but they deny things like prophecy and miracles. Basically, they feel God does not intervene in the humans’ lives. He simply made the universe to me more or less autonomous and just let’s things happen. Breaking the natural laws of the universe in not his style. To deists, God’s gift was reason and not religion.
There is a good website for deists. It covers many typical religious arguments, problems regarding ethics and even atheism. I think Deism would be a good rebound for any atheist to fall back on. Right away, many of the problems/issues with god which drive many to BE atheists are resolved.
- The problem of evil How could an all good god allow evil? Deists say he’s apathetic!
- weird religious anomalies regarding morality Biblical fundamentalists (if they are true to the printed word) would feel justified killing a persona for working on Sunday. Deists say – god doesn’t care about such thing
- Which religion do I have to believe to NOT go to hell? The deist says, who cares? Worship none, worship them all. Either way, you’re NOT going to hell
Ben Franklin
There were many famous deists in American history. Many of the founding fathers leaned that way.
With deism, all the unnecessary pressure regarding religion’s ‘fine print’ and ‘red tape’ and ‘loopholes’ is resolved. You can live you life anyway you want, and feel the confidence that you know there is a purpose to your life…whether god cares or not.
There is a lot of weird religious stuff out there. Some of the more bizarre stuff, and often more offensive, comes in the form of televangelism.
One show I often stop on when channel surfing is called ‘Jack Van Impe Presents.’ It comes on in the 10pm – midnight range on a few non-cable stations like Fox. The show is set up to look like a news show, but the theme of the whole thing is interpreting world events though a prophetic lens. The actual ‘news’ part is simply (and always) the woman on the show, Rexella Van Impe, reading various headlines from national and local papers. She never discusses the issues deeply, but to her credit, she does add insightful commentary like “Oh my,” “Mmm mm,” and “can you believe it?” After Rexella has read the clips, she turns to her husband, Jack, who then rambles off a number of Bible passages that relate ‘directly’ to those events.
So what we have here is preaching disguised as news. But doesn’t televangelism need to beg for money? Why yes. This show does that in a different way. And if you go to www.jvim.com you can watch how, online…not that it’s often entertaining. But, occasionally, you see something like this:
(the ‘good’ part begins about 45 seconds in)
Now, let’s put the strange biblical-scifi-mumbo jumbo aside for a moment. In case you didn’t catch the bigger picture: they tried to sell you something. This show has something to sell every week. Sometimes they are a lame-looking, low-budget thriller-type movie with a Christain message incorporated into it. Other times they offer guides to help you survive the first days of the apocalypse.
Jack Van Impe Presents has found a way to disguise what they do. It seems to be working too, because I remember the first time I saw a show back in 1998. These guys were filming out of a cardboard box. Now, in comparison, they have a much higher budget. The show’s formula hasn’t changed at all. They have been consistently predicting the end of the world being just around the corner for years and years and years.
But I have to commend them. No one else I have seen does it quite like them, and it’s their uniqueness that keeps me stopping by from time to time.
And in the words of the great John Cleese, “And now for something completely different.”
I give to you, the Gangsta Rapping Preacher:
***WARNING! THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS LANGUAGE NOT SUITABLE FOR MINORS***
Thanks for reading,
Dan
_-_Dante_And_Virgil_In_Hell_(1850).jpg/300px-William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_(1825-1905)_-_Dante_And_Virgil_In_Hell_(1850).jpg "Hell, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau")
Hell - a homosexual, vampiric ballet?
HELL
An Evil Joke of Biblical Proportions
Why the hell do people believe in it? It’s such a bizarre concept – eternal damnation. Yet pretty much every major religion has a version.
- Christianity
- Judaism
- Islam
- Hinduism
- Greek Mythology
- Celtic Mythology
- Catholicism (negotiable)
But what is the variable universal across so many cultures which creates this abomination? I have put much thought into this and I believe it stems simply from humans’ desire to see justice served for all people. No one likes the fact that there are rich, murdering rapists out there who will never see the inside of a prison. Life must be fair. Bad people can’t win, that’s so…unfair.
This is what I believe was the driving force, the urge behind the genesis of the concept of hell. And those in charge at the time tested the idea on the less-educated, probably with decent results. Remember how your mom told you, as a child, that she can ‘sense when you’re being bad’? – well, she couldn’t unless she was sensing it with her own 5 senses. She said that because she can’t possibly keep an eye on you all the time, and more importantly she knew you’d believe it. I mean, didn’t you also believe that a biped bunny with a shirt and/or pants comes to deliver candy each Easter? Or that there is a fairy out there who is willing to pay good money for stinky, bloody teeth?
But what is even more mysterious is why people want to believe in hell, once they are old enough to no longer believe in silly, make pretend things. For me personally, all the loopholes, inconsistencies and inanities innate to the very concept of (Christian-based) hell are what drove me even further from religion. I was insulted, frankly.
Let’s take an extreme, but valid example:
Joe has been a foul, cruel, filthy man his whole life. If people knew half of what he did they’d shoot him on sight. Joe lives long, mocking god and then one day finds himself dying. He gets afraid. What if hell is real? Oh no. He sympathetically calls to Jesus with his final breath and finds himself at the gates of heaven:
“Who are you?” Joe asks the robe-wearing white man.
“I am Saint Peter and I am here to assess the value of your soul,” he says as he flips through a large tome.”
Joe scuffles his feet and scratches his head. “That’s not the official biography, is it?”
“You have no idea,” says Peter. “Let’s see…theft, rape, murder, murder, blasphemy, idolizing, bestiality, oh my, and you hadn’t even hit puberty yet.” Peter thumbs through the book’s sin-laden pages. “Well, I can’t argue with results. In the end, you did the right thing.”
“I did?”
“Yes. You accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior. You are forgiven.”
“Wow! It’s true?! Ha!” Joe hops around, exuberant and elated. “Oh man What are the odds?”
“Yea,” Peter shrugs. It’s not really fair, but those are the rules. If there’s one thing I have learned at this job…it’s that getting into Heaven isn’t about how you live your life, it’s about how you end your life.”
“I’ll say!” says Joe. “I got the best of both worlds, so to speak.”
Peter smiles and opens the gate to heaven. “Well-played.”
*** Now let’s look at the other side of the coin***
Jim is a decent man. He has lead an average, decent life peppered with your run-of-the-mill sins. He was a humanitarian, a teacher, a father and a faithful…Buddhist? He dies, calmly, peacefully…and then he sees someone he doesn’t recognize:
“Saint who?” asks Jim, impressed at the white fog rolling by his feet. He figures there must be a fog machine nearby.
“Peter!” yells the man at the podium. “Saint Peter. And I am here to assess the worth of your soul,” he says as he runs his finger down the page of a giant book.
“Oh, wonderful,” Jim says cheerfully.
“Oh dear. I’m afraid it’s not good,” says Peter as he slowly closes the tome before him. “You believed in the wrong god.”
“B…but…I was raised to believe in Buddhism,” mumbles Jim. “I really thought I was doing the right thing.”
” ‘fraid not,” Peter snaps as he picks at his teeth with his fingernail. “It’s not about what you think is right. It’s about an objective truth which is unknowable through any actual empirical data.”
“Well, that’s not my fault. I was to believe that Christianity was not the best choice.”
Peter chuckles and shakes his head. “Yeah, it happens. But you still are guilty.”
“Guilty?” Jim screams. “I DIDN’T KNOW! Doesn’t, like, plausible deniability have any precedence here?”
“Nnno,” Peter says, twiddling his fingers awkwardly. “This is such a complicated matter. But really, in a nutshell, it all boils down to what you call God. Jesus, to be specific. He’s very particular about that.”
Jim stands in silence, trying to fathom what he is hearing. Then he says, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet?”
“Didn’t work for Shakespeare, I’m afraid.” Peter grins.
“So…I’m going to hell?”
“Yes. But try to look on the bright side. It’s not like, you’re a bad person. It’s just a technicality, it happens to billions. All we ask you to do is remember that even during your eternal roast, God still loves you…always has, always will.”
Peter pulls a lever and Jim falls into the lake of fire.
~ The End
Hell is a silly idea, I say. But apparently it works, right? It keeps those sheep together. I have met Christians that get all jittery when hell comes up. They can’t handle thinking about it. And despite all the reasons NOT to do so, they cling to it like it means something. I’ll never understand. In a nutshell, I feel that preachers who scream the threat of hell are committing an act of terrorism. What are your views on damnation?
Dan
Click here to see some of Mr. Lee’s propaganda from his site. Also, taken from the American Taliban site are some of his quotes:
“Raising your children under Americanism or any other principles other than true Christianity is child abuse.”
“Democracy originated in the mind of a rational being who has the deepest hatred for God.”
“Do you realize that the only thing that gives democracy existence is sin? The absence of democracy is perfect obedience to god.”
“The best way to insure the earth is never over populated is for sensible and righteous governments to clear all forms of atheism and heresy.”
Okay, why do I like to dwell on the religious extremes? Maybe it’s because for some reason they tend to be highly influential. I mean, look at Fred Phelps‘ congregation. “God Hates _____” There are some rude things I won’t fill-in-the-blank with, but you can find out yourself with a simple Google search. But among the more innocent things he preaches that God only hates, but strikes out against, are ‘America,’ ‘Jews,’ and ‘Canada.’
But getting back to Robert T. Lee…he has, on the link I posted above, an argument about Atheists which has a strange point. Here are some excerpts:
Relignews's Blog 