Bible Quiz #2

Quiz #2 from the lovely Crystal. 

When the prophet Elisha came out of the water, 42 little children teased him by saying "Go up, thou bald head!" How did Elisha react?

A. He cursed their children, and their children's children to be   bald.
B. He ran away crying, clutching his head in shame.
C. He called upon two bears to tear the children limb from limb.
D. He laughed at their innocent joke, and gave them gifts of sweets and shoes.

Again, I was surprised to see a Bible story I didn't even recognize! Oh, and since I didn't check the answer before posting this, I'm going to guess A... although I'm particularly fond of answer C. 

What do you think?

Bible Quiz!

My life has become a chaotic (but awesome) mess recently, so until it calms down a bit, I'd like to entertain you all with a treat from my friend Crystal. She's been posting these lovely Bible Quizzes on Facebook, and I adore them.

Let's play, shall we?

BIBLE QUIZ TIME! 

God sends an Angel to speak to Balaam as he's riding along on his donkey. The Angel stands right in the Balaam's path. The donkey responds by:

A. Walking straight through the Angel's belly.
B. Bouncing off of the Angel's body and then convulsing on the ground.
C. Getting spooked and running in the opposite direction.
D. Turning to Balaam to ask "What're you hitting me for, don't you see this Angel??"

Leave your answer in the comments! No peeking at the link until you've guessed!

Secular Sacred Places

NPR did a story on Secular Sacred Spaces way back in August and I've thought about that piece quite often since then. Mostly they refer to places like Ground Zero, Gettysburg, or Anne Frank's house that feel special, sacrosanct, and somehow different from other spaces.

The story made me think about personal "sacred" spaces. For instance, when I was a kid, my family was the first one to build in a wooded cul-de-sac. It was just our home and one or two others for many years and I loved roaming the woods and climbing trees and getting muddy in the streams. And I was crushed when a new home was finally built on my favorite spot. The one with the best climbing tree and a rock covered in moss and a tiny patch of sunflowers. That was my childhood sacred space.

Today, there are little corners of the Los Angeles Zoo that are special to me. When the partner and I were broke and unemployed, we still kept our membership to the zoo and went about once a week. It made us feel like we had something when we financially had very little at all. Now, this year, we're getting married there... because the Zoo feels more sacred to us than any house of worship.

Libraries and buildings with beautiful architecture have this feeling for me, too. Libraries are one of my favorite spots to be contemplative and lose myself in rows of books. A friend and I recently visited the L.A. Central Library downtown and it is fabulously beautiful. Just check out this rotunda and chandelier.

You can keep your god... I worship knowledge and literature and art. I could hang out here all day.

GD IS LV... A powerful message for us all.

 

I saw this lovely license plate as GOP's other half and I were driving around town. Forgive the bad image-- you try taking a photo in a moving car at night!

I don't get this kind of proclamation via license plate. God is Love. Wow. Original and clever. Good for you. I hope this driver is some kind of minister, otherwise, is this really the focus of their life? Is this the total summation of their philosophy? 

"God is Love" doesn't make any sense, either. I doubt they're some kind of "spiritual" type person who thinks that Love is God... meaning that love triumphs all evil and that the presence of love and the capacity to love is the closest to godliness that any of us can get. That sort of philosophy I can get on board with. When someone is shocked by my atheism, gasps, and asks, "But what do you BELIEVE in??" I can usually at least placate them by saying that I believe in love.

But I don't think that was the message this SUV driving do-gooder was going after. I'm sure they were trying to tell us that God is all-loving. That he loves unconditionally. Well, no. 

LOVE ME OR I SEND YOU TO HELL! WORSHIP ME ON THE SABBATH OR I SEND YOU TO HELL! In most religions, you have to at least repent at the last second or be "saved" to get into Heaven. That's not really unconditional love.

Even if you belong to a religion like Judaism that doesn't believe in Heaven or Hell... you still have to admit that isn't a very loving god. The Old Testament god is certainly not a loving god, but a vengeful, spiteful, wrath and fury sort of god. Let's not forget my favorite Hollywood temple...

So.... I'm still confused. Who is this god that's all love? Because I have yet to see evidence for it.

WAIT! Unless I'm interpreting this all wrong. Could that license plate actually mean:

God Damn IS L'Heart

Of course! This person isn't religious! They're just emo and have been tortured by love! I totally get it now! Are there some interpretations that I'm missing here?

Astrology is just as stupid as religion

Ah, the silliness of the all.

I am no longer a Capricorn, my friends. I am now a Sagittarius, like GOP's other half. I wonder, has our compatibility now changed as a result? Are we more or less destined to be together? Our roommate is no longer a Gemini, but a Taurus. Hopefully, this means he'll be a little less crazy and two-faced.

Today's announcement that our old astrology charts are now all out of whack because of the Earth's tilt will completely alter the lives of all of those Zodiac worshipers out there. There's even a new sign, Ophiuchus, which I don't even know how to pronounce. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE! I don't understand them, therefore, I don't trust them!

Via

I have a dear friend who owns a book that breaks down a person's zodiac sign to the very week that they were born and has a detailed match-up of each personality. The book weighs about a ton, and my friend is thoroughly convinced of its accuracy. Personally, I find it to be more than a little absurd, but the fact that someone put so much effort into the creation is fascinating. But what does this new zodiac mean to that book? Is it now all false???

The comments this is generating are priceless... People saying that they are REAL Libras, not fake ones, and "Born a Pisces, always a Pisces." My favorite ones though are from people saying that this news won't make them change their tattoos!! Yeah! You tell 'em.


Astrology is just as silly as religion. It's all made-up stories meant to comfort people and give them reasons for the unexplainable, to give order to a chaotic universe.

Now, let's play a game. I'm going to put up a profile for a zodiac sign, and you try to guess which one it's for (no Google cheating).... READY? GO!

This dramatic, creative, and outgoing sign has the keyword magnetism for good reason. Fiery and self-assured, a _____'s charm can be almost impossible to resist. Whether it's time spent with family and friends or efforts on the job scene, a ______ is going to bring a lot to the table.

Some Easy Reading in a Not So Easy World

I've been pretty contemplative and more than a little sad about the Gabrielle Gifford's shooting, and became even more upset today when I read that the suspect was an "ardent atheist" according to an article I just read. It's sad because the media will probably try to spin him and his motives a thousand different ways, but it seems like he wasn't a right-wing nutbag, but just a mentally ill individual. Seems like he was full of conspiracy theories and hated all government. For some reason or other, he became fixated on Rep. Gifford.

Certainly, we'll all be inundated with reports on this shooting, and all I can say is that it's extremely troubling and depressing. So, since I'm a little too sad about the whole thing to say much else on the matter, here's an oldie but goodie... "Advice God" meme from GOP to you.

New Year News

Sorry about the lack of posts for the past two weeks... Work gets cuh-razy during the holidays, plus there was a lot of time spent with family and friends, and I incorrectly believed that I was having a computer crisis. Did you know that if you have an Mac adapter with the wrong wattage (60 vs. 85), it will appear to charge the computer, but won't allow it to start up if it's plugged in? Neither did we! So I spent about 5 days of the holiday sans computer because I incorrectly believed that I was having video card issues again. Silly me!

But here's the New Year News:

God Obscures Perception is getting married!

We've been together over 6 years and became officially engaged in October (on our anniversary). We've debated a lot about the cultural meanings and history of marriage, what it means to the LGBTQ community, and if getting married is the right thing to do. Ultimately, though, we decided that not getting married does not help the gay community achieve that right for themselves. We'll be having a completely non-religious ceremony with some nods to atheism, officiated by our best friend. I didn't post the news any earlier because we didn't want to even think about planning anything until after the New Year. So here we are!

Not that I'm interested in having a wedding remotely inspired by anything on The Knot (but they do have some decent organizing tools that we can use as broad outlines), but can I mention how irritating it was that they do not have an option for an "atheist" or "non-religious" tag for profiles?

I selected "Intercultural" because my parents are very devout Catholics. That's practically like another culture, right? Or would that make it "Interfaith?" At least they have a "Same Sex" option. These options are so limiting! Why bother even giving tags like this?

That's why I love Offbeat Bride. Just doing a search for "atheist" on that page turns up about 40 results. As opposed to the 10 results you get on The Knot, which mostly features different pages of the same 3 threads.

And I don't think you'll find many articles titled "Musings on Feminism and Weddings" on The Knot. While our wedding will probably seem completely irreverent to some, we hope that it will be a thoughtful celebration of our personal commitment to one another and an expression of our appreciation that we are legally allowed to wed and enjoy the benefits of marriage... with our deepest regret that same-sex couples are usually denied this right and our hope that this will change someday soon.

Plus a really great party.

Holy Virgin Reindeer!

Mary, Mother of REINDEER! Thank you, so so much, Zoo Borns, for lighting up my rainy weekend with this gem:

The little Reindeer was a surprise when he was born at the Zoo on Sept. 18 in an exclusively female Reindeer exhibit. (Scientists do not believe there was any miracle involved, though; Boris’ mother was just unexpectedly pregnant when she arrived at the Zoo in May.)

"Scientists do not believe any miracle was involved"... Thank you, San Diego Zoo, for having a fabulous sense of humor!

And "Joey to the World" everyone! 

The Story of the Christ Child

At work, I began a discussion about having religious Christmas music playing and whether or not anyone was bothered by it. Generic secular Christmas music certainly doesn't bother me, in fact, I rather enjoy it! Even the religious music doesn't bother me as much. I grew up with it, so I sort of have nostalgic feelings towards it. Although, "Silent Night" and anything specifically referencing a virgin birth is sort of weird to me when it plays in a public place. Like a restaurant. I just think it's a little odd in a restaurant where a decent percentage of our guests are Jewish or non-religious.

Gross. That's just weird.

This led to me telling a story about my best friend in 6th grade whose father was Catholic and her mother Jewish. The family celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas. Coming from an area with very few Jewish families, my friend and neighbor explained to me the story of Hanukkah and its traditions. However, while the family put up Christmas decorations and exchanged presents on Christmas, my friend had never been to a Catholic church and had absolutely no idea what the Biblical Christmas story was... so I explained it to her.

Now, as I told this story, a co-worker who grew up in a relatively non-religious household confessed that as an adult, he really didn't know the Biblical story either. So, I tried to explain it. And I laughed. It really sounded ridiculous.

An angel tells a teenage girl named Mary that she's going to have a baby! But Mary is a VIRGIN! Mary cons her boyfriend, Joseph, into marrying her so she will be respectable. Joseph calls Mary a lying whore and stomps off. That night, he's visited by an angel in a dream, telling him that Mary is telling the truth. This scares the crap out of Joseph, so he marries the now-pregnant-by-God Mary.

When Mary is uber-pregnant, the couple travels to Bethlehem to pay taxes (or participate in the census, depending on the version). Mary rides on a donkey. Anyway, when they get to Bethlehem, the inns are all booked up, so they end up sleeping in a stable. There, Mary gives birth to Jesus. And a whole boatload of angels show up and sing, probably freaking everybody out.

Meanwhile, a great big star shines overhead, and a bunch of shepherds travel to the stable and pay homage to Jesus. Because some angels told them to do it. OR if you read a different account, some "wise men" see the star, interpret it as a sign, and travel all the way to Bethlehem from who knows where and bring Baby Jesus some useless, but probably valuable gifts.

Wow.  As always, you can count on Wikipedia for plainly spelling out all of the wonderful contradictions that exist in the Bible even for the most simple of stories. I love it. And as an adult, I now get to enjoy the incredulity on the faces of those who grew up in a totally secular environment as I tell the traditional Christian story of Christmas.

But you know the version I like best? The short, but sweet, version told on Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special, our household's favorite holiday movie tradition! It's utterly delightful.

It's the TRUE MEANING of Christmas at 1:20. Thanks for explaining it to me Pee Wee!

Virgin Mary, Mother of Wings...

A little irreverence to brighten your day. 

Source?

Not that I'm a big fan of Hooters OR eating chicken wings, but this kind of thing always makes me laugh. Thanks to the bro for sharing.

And on a similar-ish note, I just watched the first episode of "Extras" with Ricky Gervais and laughed riotously/uncomfortably throughout. Cheers to him for making atheism a major theme of a first episode. The BBC gets away with everything. I can't imagine an American show doing that. I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the series.

I Saw JESUS!

Jesus has re-arisen! Last night, in Beverly Hills, a friend and I saw JESUS! We saw him once on Little Santa Monica Blvd. near Canon, and then again walking down Wilshire by Robertson. It was awesome to watch the double takes passers-by would give. Apparently, he's a familiar figure to west-siders because a lot of people know about him.

He's just this incredibly tall, probably 6'6" man with long brown hair and a goatee who walks around Los Angeles in a flowing white robe. He likes flashing peace signs. The photo I got is miserable, I only caught him at the last second. With legs like that, he moves pretty fast. I'm sure superstitious types would look at this photo and think it's a ghost! I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for this guy, and next time I'm talking to him and getting a better photo!

Perez Hilton has some much better photos! I really want to talk to this guy! Alert the non-believers! I guess we're just wrong.

God Damn-- I mean... ?

Blasphemy. Doesn't really serve a purpose anymore, does it? I mean, Holy Zeus, am I a hypocrite for acknowledging a god in some small way by damning it?

I'd like to think not. It's just words, after all. It's something made up to help give expression to anger or frustration. Just because I say "fuck" doesn't mean I'm actually talking about sexual intercourse. I don't know much about the etymology of swears, but I sure do enjoy using them. And "god damn" may be one of my favorites... it's a close second to just using "JESUS CHRIST." Sometimes I may or may not give Jesus a middle name that isn't mentioned in the Bible.

I started thinking about this a while back at work when I had the most comical/graceful slipping-and-almost-but-not-quite fall in the middle of the dining room. Someone had spilled olive oil on the floor and my right leg flew out in front of me as my arms windmilled, flailing wildly. I ended up performing something that looked a bit like a ballet move as all the surrounding customers GASPED audibly. Thankfully, my hands were empty at the time. And I shouted,

Source

"JESUS!"

at the top of my lungs. In retrospect, I'm quite pleased with myself for not shouting out something more offensive. I'm lucky that most of our clientele are either gay or Jewish, and likely don't care about such things. My mother is the type of person who takes offense at Valley Girl types saying, "Like, gawd, totally, for sure" too much. To her, even saying, "Oh, god" is using the "lord's name in vain."

If I don't believe in any of these imaginary figures, why do I invoke them when I am most frightened or angry? Old habit? I actually used them less when I was a believer. Or maybe it's just utterly satisfying to abuse the words. They are unbelievably satisfying.

So what? Does this make me a hypocrite? It might take some practice, but I could get used to saying "FSM damn it" or "For the love of INVISIBLE PINK UNICORN!" Sure I could.

X-mas or Christmas? Who cares.

Fuck it! I just like the whole holiday season! I really don't care what it's called or if it's politically correct to acknowledge Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and Ashura and everything else. Celebrate Festivus! Why not?

You know what I like about this time of year? It's all the pretty decorations. I like seeing green garland and bows wrapped around normally ugly street lamps. I like that stores and restaurants bring greenery into their businesses. I like plants. Having trees brought indoors, even fake ones, is really pleasant.

I can't help the fact that I was raised in a Christian home with typical Christian traditions. Therefore, I have warm fuzzy memories of holidays. There's just something inherently cheerful about this time of year. Now, do I appreciate nativity scenes going up on public property? No. I really don't. And I'm sure if I was raised in a Jewish household, the bombardment of Christmas upon my life would get a little annoying.

And you know what else? I don't think "Jesus is the Reason for the Season." I think that most societies have celebrated during this time of the year in some way or another. Maybe to brighten up the dark and cold winter months? To mark the shortest day of the year in some way? Or maybe to celebrate that they had enough food put away for the cold season. Of course, the simple fact that we are reaching the last month of the year is enough reason to celebrate. One big lead up to New Year's. It's fun. And I enjoy it.

I'm hoping that one of this site's followers will kindly remind me in the comments of where he read this, but I really liked what he told me the other day... [EDIT: "How to stop worrying and love Christmas" by Mitch Benn in the collection "An Atheists Guide to Christmas"] Why have a problem celebrating Christmas, a holiday with CHRIST in its name? Even as an atheist, why would that be an issue? It shouldn't be! The days of the week are all references to ancient gods and we don't acknowledge them. So why be perturbed by a holiday called Christmas?

Fabulous Ugly Sweater Party from 2005

For me, Christmas is a secular holiday that involves making inanimate objects look pretty, getting crafty, baking and cooking, giving gifts, and spending time with family and friends. And getting totally wasted on a variety of alcoholic beverages. That's important to us. This year, we will be putting up lights, a tree, and hopefully attend at least ONE ugly sweater party. That's what the holiday is all about.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Red Kuri Squash for my Thanksgiving Day soup!

I am up ridiculously late because I wanted to prep/cook a lot of vegetarian goodies before tomorrow morning.

This year, I am very grateful that my two older brothers are also atheists. Our sibling Thanksgiving has been a tradition for several years, and I appreciate not having that awkward moment of "grace." Mostly, I will be thankful that I have family close by whenever I need them, and they have been there for me many times. I am thankful that my baby niece is beautiful and happy and healthy and that modern science has made childbirth safer for all women. I am very lucky.

But, then again, I don't believe in luck. I like the term "blessings," but it doesn't really mean anything for me. I guess I could say that I just feel grateful for what I have.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? Science? I sure am. And to live in a country where I'm at least not stoned to death for espousing my views. Thanks, America.

Eat up, everyone!

Feeding the "Homeless"

I did something kind of stupid yesterday. I fed a homeless guy.

Actually, he probably wasn't even homeless. He wore cheap dirty clothes, but he probably has a place to live. He was standing on the corner by my neighborhood Starbucks. As I passed he asked, "Could I have a dollar? I'm just trying to get something to eat." As someone who has occasionally given money to "beggars" and immediately regretted it, I instead offered to purchase him some food.

"If you prefer that, sure." OK, I said, and as he followed me he asked, "Is it OK if we go to Quizno's?" As that's where I was going myself, I said that was fine. After I ordered my sandwich, I told the lady to get the guy whatever he wanted. He then asked me if it was OK if he got a Combo. I was a little irritated that he was taking advantage of my generosity. But.... I had offered. And really, at this point, what was a couple more dollars? So I paid for his sandwich plus a drink and whatever else he got. He thanked me several times and I was relieved that he never said "God Bless You"...

I did all this, and quite frankly, I felt like a bit of a chump afterward. Why did I buy this particular guy a sandwich? People ask me for change or a dollar every day and I usually pass them by. But this guy had a specific request for food. Other times, when I've made the offer to purchase food for someone, they backpedal and say they need the money for the bus or other random things. But this guy took me up. Maybe he was truly looking for money to buy food. But he wasn't starving. He was by no means skinny. Frankly, he was rather obese. But that doesn't mean he couldn't use the nutrients.

I've never been starving, but I've gone without eating because I couldn't afford to eat. I've had times where I almost passed out because I was trying to stretch my groceries by eating less. But when it's gotten truly desperate, I've been lucky to have people who could help. So I'm sympathetic. 

And yet, I still feel like I was a fool, like this guy took advantage of me. This isn't directly related to religion or the normal topics of this blog, but it still sort of feels like a moral-ish question. What do you think?

Faith, Politics, and the 2010 Election (NPR)

NPR did a story today on the Brookings Institutes study on religion and its effect on the 2010 elections.

Do you think that Obama's religious views are similar to yours? Here's what the study said:

The survey found that 51 percent of Americans saw the president’s religious views as different from their own, including 16 percent who saw them as “somewhat” different and 35 percent who saw them as “very different.” Only 40 percent see the president’s religious beliefs as similar to their own, including only 12 percent who saw them as “very” similar.  This question sharply divides Americans along racial lines: 74 percent of African-Americans see the president’s religious views as similar to their own, compared with just 35 percent of white Americans.

We do not want to exaggerate the importance of these new religious divisions. Views on the nature of President Obama’s religious faith parallel political attitudes toward the president.  Voters who are hostile to him on political grounds are likely to distance themselves from his views on other matters, including religion.  In the PRRI survey, 94 percent of those who said Obama’s religious views were “very similar” to their own had a favorable view of the president.  Among respondents who said his religious views were “very different” from their own, 78 percent had an unfavorable view of him.

What does this even mean? I guess since Obama states that he is a Christian and believes in God, I would have to say that his views are "very different" from my own. But I have a generally favorable view of him. I just don't get it. If you're a theist, and you claim to be a Christian, I guess your views are pretty similar to people who make similar claims. I just don't get it all of this fuss over IMAGINARY CHARACTERS!!!!

Coincidentally, American Exceptionalism was also mentioned in the report. A shocking 6 in 10 people believe America is a chosen nation, singled-out by God for a special mission in the world. Wow. That's kind of scary. I mean... that's clearly embedded in our national psyche and that freaks me out. What is our mission? What is it that we are supposed to do out there? And are our current engagements even copacetic with that idea? Is a war in Afghanistan and Iraq conducive to a special mission in the world? If this is what a majority of Americans believe, how come we aren't doing more to make the world a better place???

What scares me is that a large part of these surveyed people might actually believe in Armageddon. Is that what our mission is really all about? Spooky.

Guest Post #2: National Exceptionalism and Religion

 Guest Post #2 from our friend Zach. Anyone who wants to submit ANYTHING is welcome! Videos, photos, cartoons... we want it!

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The US really has one export that it has traded on for about the last 150 years that has driven it like no other.  Regardless of what we sell or what we make, the thing we have really been selling since we got to the Pacific is the idea that the United States of America is special.  We have pulled people here in droves, and still do today with the promise that somehow this country, this place, these people here are going to give them a better shot than they had back home.  I will get to the merits of the idea later but right now it's the manifestation of this idea that gives me pause. Every country believes it's special somehow and that's fine.  They wouldn't have developed themselves as a country if they didn't. Where this becomes dangerous is when it's God telling you you're special.  Right now in the world there are three perfect examples of the dangers of God picking one nation over another.

1: Iran.
Iran is considered the world's only theocracy (I don't know why the Vatican isn't considered one but whatever).  President Ahmadinejad is only the head of the government.  The head of state is the Ayatollah Khamenei is the actual leader of the country and NOTHING gets done without his say so.  He had to certify the last contentious elections and Ahmadinejad serves at his pleasure.  Under the theocracy, Iran has alienated the larger international community, taken steps to develop nukes, and oppressed the freedoms of its people and their rights to choose their own leaders.  All unilateral actions taken without regard to the larger world in which they reside because Allah is on their side. 

2: Israel. 
Israel is not technically a religious state.  However, any Jew who steps on their soil is immediately a citizen, and they are preparing legislation right now to force all non-Jews who want citizenship to sign a loyalty oath.  A Christian or Muslim or Atheist born and raised in Jerusalem could potentially lose their citizenship if they didn't sign.  The Jews like to refer to themselves as the chosen people and if that doesn't smack of divine exceptionalism, I really don't know what does.  It is evident even as far as Jews of OTHER nations are concerned:  ex.  I have a very close devout Jewish friend.  We often get into debates about Israel.  In the last one she said something that disturbed me to the point that I have spoken to her little since (to my own discredit).  Debating the flotilla and the "ground Zero Mosque,"  she accused me of anti-semitism and then said that she would "Support Israel whatever they did, because it was the [homeland]."  This girl loves the US and would never show it such blind deference nor should she nor anybody.  This type of support can only be engendered by God and is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.   

3: Speaking of Extremely Dangerous...The USA. 
Since Manifest Destiny there has been a sense that the US should be an empire.  We quail at calling it that but displacing entire native and colonizing populations in a land grab to take hold of an entire continent really reeks of such an attitude.  Our last president spoke openly of being "Chosen by God" to lead us through the trials we face and Reagan liked to refer to Russians as the "Evil Empire" indicating that we were inherently good.  Conservative with a simple and unexamined view of the Constitution, tend to have an equally simple and unexamined view of the Bible.  What they believe in is God's will and they believe in America. This perspective is dangerous because America doesn't have to do anything to BE exceptional aside from be the place where these people live and can vote Republican. We can claim to be against Torture and Nation building while doing THOSE EXACT THINGS, yet we are the USA and God says we are special.  We can act out of fear and protectionism and seal our borders and kick out all the illegal immigrants without exception (even if they were brought over the border as infants and have never known any other country but ours), but we are the land of opportunity: open the poor, the tired and the huddled masses, because we are the USA and God says we are special.  We can forget the poor and accept a prosperity gospel despite it being EXACTLY the OPPOSITE of what democracy, our country and CHRISTIANITY are founded on, because we are the USA and GOD says we are special.

I believe the US is special. We can provide opportunities. We can welcome all who love peace and we can say whatever we want.  But like it or not we are not alone in these things anymore. We are special because we a nation strong enough to be able to stand by our ideals.  We are powerful enough and brave enough to stand firm and say WE DON'T TORTURE in the face of fear stay fast to that. We are special because we have the power to say WE BELIEVE IN FREEDOM FOR ALL and fight to expand those freedoms at home and abroad. We are special because we have the wealth to say NO ONE SHOULD GO WITHOUT BASIC NEEDS.  And work to pull people out of degradation and poverty. We are special because we have the influence, the wealth, the strength and the avenues in place to lift not just other nations but our own towards ever greater heights.  But if we don't use those exceptional qualities, if we don't constantly strive to be better and less compromising for the good of all.  If we rely on some god to tell us that we're special.  We won't be anymore. 

Crystal Cathedral files for bankruptcy OR Jesus and Money

Boo hoo. Your giant mega church just filed for bankruptcy. You avoided paying vendors to the point that they felt they had to sue you in order to get their money. Reverend Schuller has been at the head of the church since he founded it in a drive-in movie theater decades ago. He tried to pass on leadership to his son, but then removed him when there was some kind of family disagreement about the direction in which the church should head. Now, Schuller's daughter, Sheila, runs the church.

She said the bankruptcy declaration "is just one more chapter in the book that He is continuing to write -- and we know that God's plans are good -- we have no doubt His chapter will be good!"

Ha. Yeah. Chapter 11 in the Good Book. Schuller isn't the worst of the worst. He doesn't practice hate speech. He doesn't espouse a completely literal take on the Bible. On the topic of homosexuality and gay marriage, he generally dodges around it, saying that he thinks that male/female marriage is the ideal... blah, blah, blah.  But he believes in destiny and that God meant for him to carry His message and all that.  Most of their sermons are completely generic and carry a message about "YOU can do it, just trust in God and he'll take care of EVERYTHING" and phony self-esteem messages.

The biggest problem I have with the Crystal Cathedral and similar type churches is how much money they suck out from trusting citizens. That money could be put to soooooo many better uses. Instead, it constructed a multi-million dollar building out of glass.

It also is just plain silly. Take, for example, this interview the church had with an author about God and Money. Appropriate, I thought, given the church's financial troubles. Let me give you the highlights of the author's financial advice:

First, pray. Invite the Lord of the universe to be part of your financial life. Then secondly, review. Review what you had come in and go out that week [...] And then lastly, celebrate [...] celebrate when the Lord allows you to pay off that credit card. Celebrate together.

SSC:    How did you get into the finances found in God's word? I find that fascinating.
HD:     Well back in the early seventies, my business partner asked me to join him in a study of the bible to find out what it said about money. We didn't know. We had new families and a new business. So we spent a year and read through the entire bible and identified two thousand three hundred and fifty verses dealing with money.
SSC:    I had no idea there were that many bible verses on money.
HD:     It totally blew us away. Fifteen percent of everything that Jesus said had to do with money.
SSC:    Wow, so it must be important.
HD:     It is. And I think the real key for us is that Christ knew that from time to time all of us would have struggles over money. I believe He wanted to equip us to handle money wisely so that's why He gave us these principles that are so applicable today.

Then he basically says to not spend more than you have to on anything and put all surplus money towards paying off debt. Well, DUH. I don't think you need Jesus to tell you that. I also find it interesting that he left out verses like this:

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.'"

-Matthew 19:23-24

"Jesus answered, 'If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'" -Matthew 19:21
 

I'm just saying that it's almost impossible for a Christian to NOT be hypocritical. 

So, if the Crystal Cathedral didn't espouse the worst kind of Christian hate, can I still be pleasantly amused by their Chapter 11?

I just think that if you're going to be a church or pretend to be a prophet in the name of Jesus, you can't go around collecting and spending millions annually.  It's hypocrisy and a waste of money and time that could be devoted to something better.

Honoring Post-Mortem Wishes of the Religious

When the last of your two parents dies, would you (as an atheist), acknowledge their wishes for a religious funeral ceremony? 

My mother asked me this the other day. She's an extremely devout Catholic who's very, very involved with her church. Apparently, the parish priest hosted a free class on Catholic funerals and told a story about a church member whose non-practicing children ignored her wishes for a Catholic funeral. My mom asked me, since both me and my two brothers are atheists, if we would respect their desire for a formal Catholic funeral. 

I said, yes, of course.

I didn't really think about it. I would assume that this is what they want. They have a lot of friends and there are other family members who would be mortified if a Catholic funeral did not happen. Now, since I don't believe in an afterlife, do I think it matters? No. Do I like the idea of giving money to the Catholic church and supporting them? No. But, I would be equally mortified if my parents forced a Catholic ceremony on ME, knowing that I don't believe in it. Again, I guess it doesn't matter since I don't think anything happens when we die. But I don't want that to be the last memory that the living have of me-- a completely wrong impression of who I was as a living person. Even though we're in our twenties, the life partner and I have discussed our last wishes with each other. We don't trust our parents to honor them.

What would you do in this situation? And if you don't believe in an afterlife, do you care what happens to your body when you die?

Avoiding Church With the Parents OR Religion at "Home"

I hope the decision isn't reversed!

One half of GOP is out of Los Angeles at the moment, and that half is me. Our most regular contributor. I'm in Iowa right now, feeling especially sad about the liberal Supreme Court justices getting booted out of a job. I just flipped through the local paper and saw a cute engagement photo for two men... I hope they still get to marry in the next year.

And speaking of weddings, that's why I was back in Iowa. One of my cousins was getting married! It was my kind of ceremony. One of their best friends became an officiant through the Universal Life Church (you can be atheist and register with them) and there was ZERO mention of a god or religion. It was short, sweet, and very personal. They had a focus on a eco-friendly reception, which was very cool.

The wedding was far enough away from where my parents live that they had a motel reserved for that evening. The next morning was Sunday. They were, of course, going to church. With my EXTREMELY religious grandmother. What was I going to do?

Relief came in the form of my cousin. Most of the younger crowd from the wedding planned to go out that evening for drinks, and I wanted to join in. My cousin offered to let me stay at her place and my parents agreed to pick me up from her apartment the following afternoon. THANK YOU! Win win. I got to hang out with my cousins a bit more and was saved from the awkwardness of Catholic mass.

My parents know that I am a non-believer. I don't think the word "atheist" has ever been uttered, but they know that I don't go to church and don't believe in many of its tenets. If I'm at home, they let me sleep in and don't harp about mass. Even at Christmas, and they've taken it considerably well. But if I were at a hotel that needed to be checked out of.... I would have been forced to go out of necessity unless I was stubborn enough to insist at being dropped off at a Starbucks. But that would have led to really uncomfortable discussions with my grandmother whose heart would be broken that I refuse to attend church.

Does this make me an atheistic coward or just a considerate person who doesn't want to crush the expectations of an 87 year old lady?

On another note: businesses close REALLY early on Sundays in Iowa. This is annoying. However, the cafe I tried to eat at gave me a free cup of coffee to go. That was nice. More on businesses and Sundays another day.