Vox’s posts tagged religion

[you've got to have faith]

nobody@vox.com(piscesgal) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:32:13 +0000

I took the belief o matic test over at the Beliefnet website and here are my results(my comments are in bold)

Liberal Protestant

Mormon(....)

Quaker

Unitarian(about as close to being an atheist as you can get :P)

Reform Judaism(I could do this..especially if it meant I could eat bacon and shellfish.Not in the same meal,mind you)

Pagan

Theravada Buddhism(my niece Remi will love that!)

Jehovah's Witness

Bahai

Sikhism

New Age

Mayahana Buddhism

Secular Humanism

Orthodox Judaism

Conservative Protestant

Taoism

Jainism

Christian Science

Orthodox Quaker

New Thought

Hinduism

Islam

Seventh Day Adventist

Scientology(oh HELL no!)

Nontheist

Eastern Orthodox

Roman Catholicism

I find it interesting that Roman Catholicism is dead last, given that I was raised Catholic(and am still a practising Catholic though I disagree with the church on a lot of things)and given the way that I answered some of the questions.

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Faith and Certainty

nobody@vox.com(smcallister) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:26:54 +0000

A common defense of religious conviction is the use of the conviction itself as a defense. “It’s part of my faith.” “I take God’s existence on faith and that’s all I need.” “At some point you just have to have faith that God exists.” What does faith mean in a religious conversation and does it differ from what it means in other conversations?

Does faith that gravity will keep you rooted to the earth mean the same thing as faith in the existence of God? No. The faith that you won’t fly off the earth is a belief based on the incontrovertible evidence of the effects of gravity. Because of your knowledge of the laws of gravity and based on experiential evidence that so far, with each step you’ve taken, you’ve not flown off the earth, you are certain that you won’t fly off the earth with your next step. It’s akin to saying that you have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow morning. What if the possibility existed, no matter how great the odds, that at some point in your life gravity takes a holiday sending you spinning into space. If you knew that possibility existed, could you still say that you had faith that you wouldn’t fly off the earth with your next step? It would be related to saying “The odds that with my next step gravity will take a holiday are so great that I’m not really worried about it.” Certainly you wouldn’t say that if the odds were 50-50. Even at the astronomical odds of it happening you might say you have faith that it won’t happen, yet may not be willing to say that you were certain it would. In this case, the difference between faith and certainty would be the existence of the aberration in the law. Without the aberration you could be certain. With the possibility for the aberration, you could still have faith that your next step will be into that mud puddle, but you couldn’t be certain.

So, does that mean that certainty and faith are different? I think clearly they must be. By most common uses of both words, if you’re certain of something, faith isn’t necessary and if you have faith in something, certainty isn’t possible. For example, what sense is it to say “I’m certain the sun will set tomorrow, I have faith in it”? Having faith that the end of the day will happen seems to be a weakening of the certainty that it will—as though you’d never seen a sunset happen and that lack of evidence would throw the certainty into some realm of doubt. In this use, faith would have some measure of doubt inherent that wouldn’t be there with certainty.

However, some might say that their faith is all the certainty they need, essentially saying that their certainty is grounded in their faith. This seems to me a rather queer thing to say, but let’s look at the defining phrase, “all the certainty they need.” This seems to imply that the degree of certainty here is something less than, say, the certainty that your name is what it is. The certainty allowed by the faith is “good enough for them,” as though there’s good enough certainty, better certainty and best certainty. That’s understandable. We all do that sort of probability calculus with certainty all the time. We often say, “I’m fairly certain that . . .” to mean that the odds of something happening in our estimation are pretty high. It’s a statement of confidence.

Is it a misuse of the word “certain”? Of course not. Does the certainty in this use mean the same as the certainty that 1+1=2? Not at all. We often use the word as a sort of emphasis. We know the strength of certainty that the addition tables are immutable. When that lesson is learned it’s a certainty for us. There can be no doubt. So when we use the same word in a context in which there could be doubt but we assess the probability that something else may happen as very low, the use of “certain” becomes a signpost for what probability we’ve attached to what we’re talking about. Once again, though, I don’t believe this is the meaning those of faith would admit to when saying that they are certain in their faith.

In order for their faith in God’s existence to be meaningful, for their certainty that there is a God, those who profess it must believe that their faith and certainty are beyond doubt. Others may doubt, but for them it is a certainty—no less certain than that the sun will set and that 1+1=2. This, I’d submit, isn’t false, it’s meaningless.

First, imagine if I said, “I’m certain that 1+1=2, but John doesn’t believe it.” Now imagine me saying, “With recent discoveries I’m certain that there’s life on other planets, but John doesn’t believe it.” Is the first sentence the sort that the theists would say is closest to their certainty in God’s existence? Does John’s disbelieve make sense? Not really. The fact of the matter is that 1+1=2 and for someone to say that John doesn’t believe it is just another way of saying that either John hasn’t learned his addition tables or John is mentally incompetent. Imagine changing the statement just slightly to “I was certain that 1+1=2, but I don’t believe it now.” This absolutely doesn’t make sense. But, if we exchange “1+1=2” with “God exists,” it suddenly becomes very meaningful supported by numerous instances of that very thing happening.

What’s different? Obviously something about the nature of the certainty changed. In the one case, losing certainty made no sense, while in the other, it made perfect sense (passing no judgment on the speaker). The certainty means something different between these two statements. What’s different is that in the second statement, “I was certain that God exists, but I don’t believe it now,” the possibility that the essence of the subject could change was inherent in the use of the word “certain.” In other words, the certainty entailed an embedded probability that was later determined to be inordinately high. That’s not possible in the former use of “certain” with the addition sample.

The point of all this was to say that when a person says that their faith makes them certain, what they’re really saying is that their faith establishes for them a high probability that what they’re claiming is actually the case. Inherent in it is the possibility, for them a very low and perhaps unknown probability, that what they’re claiming could be wrong. It’s an unintended agnosticism.

More to follow.

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feedle - Fri Jul 25 09:52:13 2008

nobody@vox.com(feedle) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:52:18 +0000

"We're all here to fart around. Don't let anyone tell you any different!"
-Kurt Vonnegut, from A Man Without a Country

As I am often wont to do, I've been spending a lot of my free time lately evaluating my religion, my spirituality, and my overall take on such matters. Also, as is common in these periods of naval-gazing (and sometimes even nasal gazing) I have emerged on the other side in quite a different place than I started.

This is to notify you, and the rest of the world who cares (which, in reality, is and should be precisely no one), that the being you know as "feedle" now considers himself an atheist and a humanist.

The best argument against God came from an unlikely source. On a whim, I picked up a book called God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, the sort of well-reasoned rant I often read when I'm in one of these moods (that is, looking for a new perspective in which to view the world). You should read it, if for no other reason that to NOT consider his argument is to continue down a path at your own peril: if, after reading it, you continue to be a religious person, you are at least now duly informed of the harm religion can inflict.

Anyway, the one sentence that stood out was him relating the story of Pierre-Simon de Laplace, a French mathematician, astronomer, and quasi-philosopher who had the pleasure of being summoned before Napoleon Bonaparte to explain his latest collection of theories, the Mécanique Céleste (English: Celestial Mechanics). Napoleon inquired how he could write such a substantial volume of work about the way the Universe works without once mentioning God, it's Divine Creator. Laplace simply replied, "Je n'avais pas besoin de cette hypothèse-là," highly paraphrased, "The hypothesis doesn't need one."

And neither do I.

What does belief give me? Absolutely nothing. It does not give me strength, it does not allow me to see the world with any finer detail and relief. To the contrary: it takes it all away from me. When I cry out in pain to a "higher power" to help, I remove from my hands the power to heal myself. When I explain the weather, natural disasters, the diversity of life on this little rock, whatever... I take away from the wonder of it all that science provides us.

In short, instead of having a crutch to fall back on, I now have to take responsibility for my life, and my place in the world. God didn't put me here. Chance didn't put me here. I, and the decisions of my ancestors, put myself here.

All the wonder of the Universe doesn't need God to explain it's wonderous existence. The beautiful roses in my garden, the wonderful company of my pets and friends, the warm glow of a fireplace on a chilly Portland winter evening.. none of these things need God to exist or be pleasurable. Other pleasures, such as the intoxicating aroma of a good gin or absynthe, the power of the modern telecommunications infrastructure, or the cool breeze of the air conditioner in a hot Portland summer afternoon.. none of these things need God to exist. In the latter cases, much to the contrary: they exist because fellow apes made them. One ape a long time ago figured out that yeast makes alcohol. One particular ape named ~~Elisha Gray~~ Alexander Bell created not ony the instrument but the company that made telecommunications possible. And, if not for some horrifically wrong ideas of where malaria came from, apes would not have tried to cool the air using compression of gases that makes most forms of mechanical refrigeration possible.

The same goes for the whole Otherkin belief system. Whether or not I am who I thought I am is irrelevant. I don't need to be, to be who I am. To believe otherwise is to cheapen myself: to take away from what I have accomplished in this life even though I've suffered from hemochromatosis, diabetes, and fibromyalgia. It is to take away from myself that I have, as an only child of a barely middle class family from Los Angeles, managed to bring my standard of living up a notch or two from what my parents knew; and to discount the benefit of them buying a home in Southern California in the late 1960's, when property was cheap and a postal carrier and a warehouseman could afford two modest houses in a Los Angeles suburb.

I got here without God. No divine intervention brought me to this place. Hard work, good decision making, and just plain "right place, right time" got me here. I owe more to my parents, my friends, and my own tears than I owe to some hypothetical God, or to some hypothetical spiritual being inside me.

And you know what? I feel good about this.

For the first time in a while: I feel strong, I feel whole, and I feel one.

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REL: Be happy, do what you want, life's too short - you shall be judged

nobody@vox.com(Charles Ng) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:32:52 +0000

傳(11:8) 人活多年，就當快樂多年；然而也當想到黑暗的日子。因為這日子必多，所要來的都是虛空。(11:9) 少年人哪，你在幼年時當快樂。在幼年的日子，使你的心歡暢，行你心所願行的，看你眼所愛看的；卻要知道，為這一切的事，神必審問你。(11:10) 所以，你當從心中除掉愁煩，從肉體克去邪惡；因為一生的開端和幼年之時，都是虛空的。(12:1)

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Why do you pray?

nobody@vox.com(Koios) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:36:11 +0000

Hurricane Dolly recently hit the Texas coast. I have a few relatives down there, none of which I'm really close to. But, through the grapevine, I have heard that some of my relatives' homes are flooded and that they do not have power. This is definitely a horrible situation.

Throughout this whole ordeal, my father has been texting me, asking me to "join him in prayer"or "pray" for his family, particularly his mother. He doesn't know that I'm an atheist, yet, so his requests are understandable. Nevertheless, his texts annoy me. Why do you pray?

What is the point of "praying"? All praying does is help you sleep better at night by giving you a false sense of security. If my father really wants to help his family, he should go and help with the relief aid (which he is). But, most people, I think, would simply pray and let that be that. But praying does nothing--it helps nothing.

And really, if God can control the weather like dumbass Pat Robertson says he can, then maybe there is a reason Hurricane Dolly hit the Texas coast...What would that reason be? Oh, yeah--sin. Yay for sarcasm!

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Why do you pray?

nobody@vox.com(Koios) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:36:07 +0000

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Doubt

nobody@vox.com(Libertine) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:14:32 +0000

Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.
-- Voltaire

This quote rather accurately reflects my attitude toward religion. I am agnostic, which means I don't think there's enough solid evidence to either prove or disprove the existence of a god or gods. And I believe that if there is a God, that the world's religions have largely failed to accurately capture how the deity relates to humanity and how humanity relates to the deity and one another.

I've felt this way since childhood. I can remember a fundamentalist cousin trying to convert me, but even at age ten, my rational mind just couldn't wrap itself around the implausible things recorded in the Bible.

As I grew older, I was able to better verbalize my doubts. For example, why did God have to be intangible? That is, one cannot see, hear, touch, taste, or smell God. Essentially, God can only exist within one's mind -- and how did one separate one's active imagination from the presence of God?

Why did Jesus have to die for humanity, when God could have created people perfect in the first place? It seems to me as if people were intended from the get-go to be imperfect, to make mistakes, to "sin". After all, perfect, static human beings could not learn and grow. How boring that would have been.

These and other doubts about religion brought me to my current position as a skeptic. Unlike Voltaire, I do not find doubt to be an unpleasant condition, but rather the inspiration of questions and beginning of knowledge. To ask why and to seek answers is a good thing.

Thoughts?

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The Role Of Imagination

nobody@vox.com(smcallister) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:19:52 +0000

I wrote this quickly last night and sent it out to my writing group. I've received one response and it was about what I expected. I thought I'd see what you thought.

THE ROLE OF IMAGINATION

Why do we say

that bluebirds sing

when they couldn’t tell

a whole note from a quarter?

Why do we think

that geese mate for life

with an obligation to fidelity

more determined than our own?

Why do we think

a tree craves rain

and the grass wants sun

and the blooms on hostas

reach for the sky?

Why do we say

that squirrels are nervous

and hogs lazy

and goony birds goony?

Do we want all things

to think like us,

to feel what we feel,

to be in our image?

And why do we say

God loves us?

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No Defeat In African Heat

nobody@vox.com(Mahoganie) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:43:25 +0000

*maybe long. ok it IS long. be sure to take potty breaks*

BCBG Girl(s) - I love'em but hate 'em.

A local radio personality described the recent heatwave in DC as "it's Africa hot!" Though I've haven't been to Africa (yet), there wasn't cause for me to doubt him, especially since my body reacted and gave into the heat via a nose bleed. That's how I know it is hot. Still in this heat I managed to get out, participate and enjoy life.

Other than writing, driving is very therapeutic to me. The urge to drive a distance had been nagging me the whole week. Finally I volunteered to take my mother and a cousin of mine to a furniture store in Fairfax, Virginia. That experience, as well as the whole weekend, was a lesson and interesting.

The furniture fiasco started on Thursday eve. My mom and a friend of hers ventured to a store in southern Maryland. My mother found furniture that would go swell in the new family room once the renovations are complete. However, the store manager gave her the run around and eventually told my mom that the pieces that she wanted couldn't be ordered. Judging from how my mother told the story and the fact that the her friend was more upset than her, the manager wasn't friendly at all. Apparently she had attitude, didn't know how to work the computer system correctly to look up the furniture and perhaps (dare I say it) at bit racists. Point blank, the manager was not customer friendly at all.

My mother wasn't worried nor upset to the point where she was about to write "to corporate" like her friend. Instead she came home, did a lil research and set in her mind to venture to their chain store in Fairfax. My mother was operating with the mode "I will not be defeated." I took her to the store and judging by the look on her face my mother was pleased with this one. Not only did we end up with a personable sales person AND store manager, but in the end my mother was told that she could have the furniture pieces she wanted with the patterns/fabric she choose, plus major discounts were taken off.

Since we didn't arrive at the store until a little before 8:00 pm, we didn't finish our business until closing time, 10 o'clock. Even then my mother wanted to find the Wegmans that is located in that area. Now the story about Wegmans is, I always travel to the one in Ashburn, Virginia. It was the first one built in the DC/VA/MD area. The one in Fairfax is the second. Because I could never find my way to the one in Fairfax, I always (still do) go to the one in Ashburn. Besides, I don't mind the drive. My mother and I tried to find the Fairfax location once and got lost. She tried again for a second time and only found it by a fluke. Since then, she had forgotten the way.

What I love about Wegmans

Again with her mode of "I will not be defeated," especially late at night, she got directions from the furniture store folks and we were off. Really, the purpose of going to Wegmans was to introduce my cousin to the store. Still we managed to get turned around. After stopping at a gas station to get directions once more from a West Indian lady with a heavy accent, we found the "promise land".

I guess I shouldn't mention that we did have a GPS system in the car with us, because for whatever reason my mother didn't use it when looking for Wegmans. Oye!

Friday night ended and Saturday began.

Thanks to that quick drive to Fairfax the previous night, my urge to drive a distance was on full blast. I needed to get out of the house as electricians, the plumber and telecommunications folks were buzzing around. The heat in the house was building - mind you, no working a/c systems at the moment. Even though there is one little a/c window unit in the bedroom I'm currently sharing with my mother, the poor thing is overworked and is barely pumping out enough air.

Sooooo.. speaking of Ashburn, I called up the Snickerdoodle's godfather. He's always inviting us to his place, especially since he has just moved to a new place near the Ashburn Wegmans. I felt a little discouraged when he reported to me that later in the day he would be heading to Culpepper, VA to spend time with his fiance's family. Naturally that ex'd out my "trip" to Ashburn. I ran a couple of errands and settled with the thought that I would be home on a Saturday. I tried to think of other activities for the Snickerdoodle and I, but my heart was dead set on driving to Ashburn while listening to Ben Watt's 5th compilation CD (yes it came in the mail on Thursday!) and spend time with the Snickerdoodle's godfather.

I was almost out the door to run my father to the cleaners when a message on instant messenger popped up. It was the Snickerdoodle's godfather telling me that he didn't go to Culpepper after all and if I still wanted to come down I could. I made the run to the cleaners, came home to fix up the Snickerdoodle's diaper bag, double checked a few things and we were OUT!

The whole time I kept having flashbacks of my mother an her attitude of not being defeated. I could do nothing but smile and chuckle to myself as I thought of others in my life who carry this same attitude and I've had the pleasure of witnessing or having them share with me how they REFUSED to be or feel defeated.

Normally when I head in that direction of Ashburn or Leesburg, I take I66, then the Dulles Toll Road. and exit at route 28. Coming home I go a completely different route and yesterday I decided to take one of the ways I use to go home. I bypassed the toll road and stayed on 66. I figured I could take Route 28 from 66 which would dumped me in the Chantilly area and I would drive straight on to Ashburn. Driving on 66 was a breeze, which is a rare, until I approached the exit I NEEDED to take. The aftermath of a serious car wreck still lingered as lanes were blocked, people were rubber necking and emergency crews were still trying to get to the scene. A totally wreaked car was sitting sideways on the median along the man made hill of dirt. From what I saw, the bumper was completely off and laying on the flatbed of a tow truck. The driving side door seemed to be missing in action as well.

I said a quick prayer, heard my mother's voice saying "I will not be defeated," and inched my way to my exit. At first I wasn't sure if I had taken the right exit as the sign didn't say anything about Chantilly but boasted Centerville and Dulles Airport proudly. Needless to say, I took the correct exit as I noticed the Chantilly area immediately. Within minutes I met up with the Snickerdoodle's godfather and ended up going grocery shopping with him as he contemplated on what to cook for us.

It was a good mini getaway as we sat, chit chatted and I watched him cook, from scratch, (REAL) steak quesadillas with the tomato, onion and cilantro mix to go with it. Everything had the right spices and seasoning. Forget what you eat at a restaurant! Hopefully he will email me the recipe.

When I came home I couldn't help but think to myself if I'm becoming cynical. I've always considered myself to be an optimistic kind of person, but lately I'm catching myself with a "tough tiddy," condescending, sarcastic, defeated kind of attitude. Hence why I almost pleaded with my mother the previous evening to forget looking for Wegmans late at night and even giving into the thought that I would be home on Saturday instead of doing what my heart was set on doing.

Saturday ended and Sunday began.

I didn't make it to my church. However I made it to my Aunt VJ's church later in the afternoon. My Uncle Rich, along with two other members of their church, were ordained as deacons. My aunt didn't preach, but a guest pastor did. I must admit I did find much of the scene comical. It was as if I could write a novel based off of what was going on during service inside that small baptist sanctuary; in particular the choir the members from the guest church. I had already pegged them to be a group of country looking misfits thrown together for the sake of their church having a choir. There was nothing formal about them. No robes or matching outfits. In a way I appreciated that. Before singing, they were loud and cheered for EVERYTHING and everybody. In a way I understood that too, because my church can be the same way.

I know you aren't suppose to judge a book by its cover, but in looking at them I was prepared to listen to a lackadaisical sound. Nothing polished or professional. Instead I got the biggest shock as those "sistas" opened their mouths and "SANG." My comical outlook seemed to fade and was nonexistent by the time the pastor took to the alter to preach.

Preaching from James chapter 1 he spoke on obedience. Before he began he mentioned how he had preached the same word earlier and it is very rare that he preached the same sermon twice, especially on the same day. However he felt compelled and felt it was his duty to be obedient and preach the sermon to this crowd.

Granted the sermon was really for the soon to be deacons has they assume a leadership and discipleship role, everyone could benefit, including me. Oddly enough it really served as an affirmation as with the email I received from "WOE" a few days ago concerning willing obedience. However, there were a few extra added points. Two in particular dealt with consistency with prayer and spiritual maturity. The pastor pointed out that the importance of being consistent with your prayer is to demonstrate sincerity and faithfulness. If your prayer is random and all over the place more than likely you are just playing "church" - as he pointed out in so many words.

With spiritual maturity, it isn't enough to just hear and know "The Word." You have to go further and DO or demonstrate "The Word" as well. It was here that I couldn't help but ponder over how much of the word I practice and carry out in my everyday life. Growing up I attended nothing but religious schools. I was a Baptist attending a Seventh Day Adventist elementary/junior high school and later a Catholic high school. Religion classes in each school was nothing more than learning about the miracles of Jesus and God and later studying the word according to their teachings. I always gained a new perspective of The Word, especially from the Catholic point of view as one class focused on the added book of the Bible, the book of Wisdom.

Yet, with each teaching from school or even from my own church, it never felt all that sincere from the heart for me to just pick up the Bible on my own accord and go for it. It was always a forced duty in order to get the grade I needed from class to pass and graduate. So now I'm at the point in my life where I'm feeling that perhaps all that I know and have done so far isn't enough. Maybe this is where my cynical attitude has come from lately, especially as I am going through another change. I'm growing impatient with life at the moment and I feel as if I'm in another rut. I silently pray for financial stability. Still, I get ticked off when I try, write and push myself only to be knocked down again.

I've been knocked down so many times in various ways I just don't feel a thing no more when it happens. I do feel defeated and I do resign to that notion, only to stay down to take a breather and figure out another plan and get up again.

It's amazing that when your head is clear you still see things through rose colored glasses. You can see any and everything in everyone else but yourself. You can pin point others flaws and goodness and encourage them to see them through, but when it comes to you... everything is clueless.

This is how I have been feeling lately.

After this weekend with all the messages I've received, email, my mother, my lil experience in driving to Ashburn and the guest pastor I feel like I have no choice at the moment but to be obedient.

I thought about giving up writing, but even I can't kid myself with that. It has taken me three days just to finish this blog because I struggled to find the right words and even reflect on all that has been happening. It has actually become my conversation with God as I vent and wonder and ask what do I do now? All I "hear" are just thoughts of what I could be doing with it and a voice saying "keep on writing." I also heard the pastor say "with each blessing there is an issue or a sense of responsibility." When you are blessed with something it is your responsibilty to maintain it and with everything else in this life your blessing will come with some issues; be it jealousy from others or a form of other rejecting your blessing.

As I sit at this makeshift desk amongst the construction, while baring the thick humidity settled in this house and being bit by "invisible" mosquitoes, I've been thinking. I guess at this point it is time for me to stop thinking and just do.

Just Be. Just Do.

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HE TOLD ME ALL I EVER DID.

nobody@vox.com(lovetheword) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:46:34 +0000

[43]

THE SAMARITAN WOMAN

Read: John 4:1–42

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." John 4:39 NKJV

* * *

This story is one of the most beloved illustrations of grace in the New Testament. The setting was in Samaria where the religion was a mixture of idolatry with a smattering of Jewish influence. The Samaritan woman knew about a promised Messiah, but she lived a sinful life and Jesus kindly confronted her with her sin. In a conversation about "living water" she came to realize that this was the Messiah she had heard about. She said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he." (4:25-26)

* * *

Sometimes we think that people mixed up in cultish religions are unreachable with the gospel. In fact, they may be searching for the truth just as the woman at the well. She …went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (4:28-29 NIV)

* * *

Lord, help me to share my faith with people regardless of how impossible it seems, trusting in the work of Your Spirit in their hearts.

* * *

Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." John 4:42 NKJV

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Post Revisit

nobody@vox.com(Mahoganie) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:16:05 +0000

I've been struggling a bit to write a decent blog about this weekend and some lessons I've learned. Yet it's been a mental fight to say what I need to say as I even had to revisit an old entry of mine. I've been battling with spiritual maturity and it has been kicking me in the ass.

Untill I can finish getting my thoughts together, part of me feels the need to repost my entry "Good Christian, Bad Christian." The other part of me just wants to take a full fledge break from writing in this blog.

If you are a visitor and would like to know what was said in my entry from February, just click there ----------> Good or Bad?

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So, What's In a Name?

nobody@vox.com(whatbigjodontknow) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:43:10 +0000

When outing someone, carefully choose the words to stir maximum outrage. Such is today's marketing lesson from reporting on Pleasantville (NY) Rabbi Mark Sameth's upcoming text on the universal nature of his god. First comes the announcement he will unveil a "secret" in understanding the universal nature of the omnipotent. Second comes the explanation that the four-letter sacred name read backward leads to one of the deities remaining secrets: God is a hermaphrodite. Which isn't that surprising, but it certainly is an interesting way to sell the idea.

** There's no secret to swinging both ways, but it still doesn't mean that Big Jo wants to know. **

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Love Thy Neighbor

nobody@vox.com(Koios) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:01:30 +0000

Traditional Judeo-Christian morality tells us to love our neighbors. Most of us, whether religous or not, would agree with this moral sentiment. But, if we are to love everyone, then is this really "love"? There is a sense in which "love" loses the power it is suppose to contain.

So, are we really suppose to love everyone? Is that even possible? Should we really "love" strangers and our enemies? Is it moral to "love" so inclusively? Wow....that just sounded whorish. Whorish morality anyone?

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The Constraint of the Call, VerseVisions Art; 1 Corinthians 9:16

nobody@vox.com(Mark Lawrence) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:46:13 +0000

The Constraint of the Call, VerseVisions Art; 1 Corinthians 9:16, originally uploaded by Marketseq.

"Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!" 1 Corinthians 9:16

This painting was inspired by the moving devotions penned and published by Oswald Chambers in the early 1900’s. His powerful book, My Utmost for His Highest, continues to touch my life and draw me closer to Jesus. I hope that this art and verse do the same for you!

Read the devotional from My Utmost For His Highest that inspired this work.

Large contemporary Christian paintings by artist Mark Lawrence of Alpharetta, Georgia.

Giclee Fine Art Prints of this VerseVisions® work are available in the VerseVisions Gallery.

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Are you drowning in Credit Card debt? Exorcism may work.

nobody@vox.com(xmangerm) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:25:32 +0000

Rev. Billy Credit Card Exorcism

Are you drowning in Credit Card debt?

If you are, then you might want to contact The Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping for they can lead you in the right direction---namely with Credit Card Exorcism and a host of other effective ways to save you money and of course to "Stop Shopping Brothers and Sisters!!!

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Just another Flimflam man? You be the judge.

nobody@vox.com(xmangerm) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:00:50 +0000

While cruising the WWW today and every day I often stop by the Amazing Randi's skeptic web page for a good dose of reasonableness. And check out what I found James Randi was writing about now:

The currently-most-popular religious “healer” to infest the lecture venues of America is a 32-year-old Canadian decorated with tattoos, plus a pierced eyebrow and chin.

In his current “Lakeland Revival,” Todd Bentley preaches that some god or other acts through him to cure cancer, heal the deaf, and raise the dead. Really? Well, The Illustrated Man can snap up a million dollars that’s available right here at the JREF – as if he didn’t already know that – as soon as he produces the evidence for any healing he’s invoked by his rantings. Now, Bentley claims that he has medical proof of many healings he’s brought about – the same story we regularly hear from all these liars – but he’s somehow not able to produce it! For the Associated Press, when asked, his “ministry” came up with a list of fifteen persons it said were cured, and who they said they’d checked out. Bentley’s people said that all but three of their stories had been "medically verified." That sounded good – though it was a rather slim number, given the thousands upon thousands of cures for which they say they can show proof.

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Weekend Reading, Volume 9

nobody@vox.com(Jay) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:05:59 +0000

Roger Ebert writes about movies that hurt too much to watch. I can't bring myself to re-watch either Brokeback Mountain or Schindler's List. Brokeback breaks my heart or, rather, reminds me too much of my broken heart. And there's the recent loss of Heath Ledger, too. My feelings about Schindler's List are a little bit complicated. At the theater, I cried so much that I considered leaving; I felt like I was bothering everyone else. It wasn't so much the inhumanity depicted in the film, though there was that, of course. I was crying in response to the good things that some characters did, at enormous risk to themselves. It's a manipulative film, spectacularly so. (Link via PeaceBang)

Mamihlapinatapai: (Yaghan) a look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that both desire but which neither one wants to start; eye-contact implying 'after you...'; ending up mutually at a loss as to what to do about each other (Link via Kottke)

In Japan, Buddhism is one the wane, according to this NYT story. I've always really appreciated the "easygoing, buffetlike approach to religion" taken by the Japanese. We Americans could learn something from that.

When I was a kid, way before it was cool, my dad was an organic gardener. We lived out in the sticks, and no one else got it. At all. Least of all me. So, anyway, this list in the NYT of the 11 best foods we aren't eating has some, er, special resonance for me. Actually, though, I already like, and eat, several of these foods. But Swiss chard?! Please, God, please tell me I had enough of that stuff in my childhood to last a lifetime. Please.

And another NYT story that I can recommend this week—can you tell what I was reading this week?—details the recent collapse of catfish farming in Mississippi. Times are hard in the Delta. Eat more catfish, people! (Check out the cool slideshow accompanying the story, too.)

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Do You See Your Calling? VerseVisions Art; Romans 1:1

nobody@vox.com(Mark Lawrence) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:53:27 +0000

Do You See Your Calling? VerseVisions Art; Romans 1:1, originally uploaded by Mark Lawrence.

"Separated unto the Gospel." Romans 1:1

I sometimes get so caught up in trying to be good in the eyes of God. I find myself so preoccupied with my own inner behavior that I lose sight of what God has called me to do first and foremost- proclaim the Gospel.

I justify this by thinking that there is no way that I can be used by God to witness to others until I clean up all of the garbage within myself. The truth is, if I wait until I am personally “holy”, I will never be of any use to God here on earth. God is very interested in reaching and saving His lost children, yet I am more interested in how He can make me more pleasing in my own eyes.

Father God, forgive me for my selfishness and pour into me your passion and urgency to proclaim the Gospel of Salvation through Jesus Christ.

This painting was inspired by the powerful devotions penned and published by Oswald Chambers in the early 1900’s. His powerful book, My Utmost for His Highest, continues to touch my life and draw me closer to Jesus. I hope that this art and verse do the same for you!

Read the devotional from My Utmost For His Highest that inspired this work.

Inspiring contemporary Christian paintings by artist Mark Lawrence of Alpharetta, Georgia.

Giclee Fine Art Prints of this VerseVisions® work are available in the VerseVisions Gallery.

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Zealots

nobody@vox.com(Steve Betz) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:42:15 +0000

I realized that when I was traveling this past weekend that two books that I had read back-to-back possessed a common element: they both* were about groups of people that are outside the mainstream of society and had completely dedicated to the activities within their respective communities. Fanatics. Extremists. Zealots.

In “Under The Banner of Heaven”, Jon Krakauer describes the founding of the Mormon faith, the growth of the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS), and a particular splinter sect, the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints). The book interweaves the historical research with the details of a brutal 1984 double murder in which two brothers (FLDS members) murdered their sister-in-law and her infant daughter because (they claimed) of a revelation from God. Whoa.

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

Jon Krakauer

Now, San Diego has a large Mormon population and most of what I know of Mormonism (and its fundamentalist off-shoots) comes from HBO’s “Big Love”, which while entertaining is probably not exactly 100% based-in-fact. (Though curiously, I recognized several plots from the show in the accounts of modern FLDS communities and incidents…) I was glad to get a less fictionalized account, though Krakauer was definitely trying to sell books by staying focused on the prevalent violence and prurient aspects of polygamy associated with the FLDS.

I’m sure the book caused a firestorm in the LDS community, but I found the book both educational and at times riveting. I thought it was best though when it forced the reader to consider their preconceptions about faith and society. For example, what distinguishes a “cult” from a “religion”? When does a faith-based code trump civil authority (lots of “Law & Order” episodes there…)? Why do we consider someone that says God talks to them as crazy, when billions of people believe they communicate with God everyday through prayer?

* I’d thought to juxtapose the two in a single post, but the content didn’t seem to mesh well, so I’ll try it with adjacent posts.

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Bust my balls

nobody@vox.com(Stephen P. Gates) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:41:43 +0000

It was a previous post up on that awful typepad esque website, but I thought I'd put it up here again.

"I do wonder what crack potted Pol Pot. My view of Buddhism is that is could be viewed by more pragmatic persons as a cynical cult to reduce the likelihood of a peasants revolt by convincing said peasants that your problem is that you desire more from life then is actually possible. And Zen, as an extreme route to Enlightenment, may have employed more methods then a cruel Japanese ha ha stick to the head.

To me, Buddhism dismantled the idea of a categorical imperative.

But then perhaps Buddhist thought is as well understood by me as a Thai toenail."

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