It IS Possible to be Perfect!! - Jehovah's Witnesses Proved it Today

After a difficult year, we have decided to continue our efforts in promoting critical thought and exposing Christianity as a bane to civilization.  Walking the dog in this case couldn't have come at a better time.  As we walked the dog today, we happened upon a group of lively Jehovah's Witnesses, and we couldn't resist stopping to chat with them, which inspired us to create this post.  The conversation was very one-sided however, as all they could do was repeat their mantra "We are all born sinners!"

Let me explain how this came about, as what we pointed out to them is one of the BEST arguments against Christianity.  When we first happened upon them, they offered us a tract, as Jehovah's Witnesses so often do, and Tony took this as an opportunity to ask these lovely ladies whether or not it was possible to be perfect.  Now, most Christians (and others who are not Christian, but have been brainwashed by the Christian system into believing we, as humans are somehow born "imperfect") would say that no, it is NOT possible to be perfect.  But here's the trick.  Tony did not ask if it was possible to be perfect from the day we are born, he asked if it was possible to be perfect!  Note the difference.

What we mean by this, is that Christians believe it is not possible to be perfect--even just for a moment!  This means Christians believe they sin 24-7.  But is this the case?  We asked the lovely ladies if they had done anything, or thought anything "sinful" during the time we spoke with them, and they were reluctant to say anything, so Tony asked them if they were thinking "dirty thoughts" or had done anything evil in the few minutes we had been speaking with them, and they said "no."  So of course, Tony told them, that they proved it IS possible to be perfect, as they had been "perfect" and had committed no "sin" during their conversation with us!  This is when they began repeating their mantra, "We are all born sinners."  But of course, we had just proven them wrong, so we took their tract, and continued our walk--with smiles on our faces.

We glanced through the tract when we arrived home, and I had to laugh when I came across and interview with a retired environmental consultant who happened to be a Jehovah's Witness who was "convinced that life was designed by god."  Think about this for a moment, as this would mean God "designed" the lives of children who were molested, tortured, and starved to death--making him a sadist of epic proportions.  Surely--not a god worthy of worship, but a god worthy of contempt.

On The Question Of Yahweh And The Slaughter of The Canaanite Unborn Fetuses: Dear Anonymous - Part One. My Response to a Recent Commenter on This Blog

 

This is part one of my response to a recent commenter on my blog. His/her comments went into a great deal of detail. As to respond in a scholarly fashion, I have chosen to write a series of blog posts in order to give a more thorough response. This is part 1. Enjoy.

Dear Anonymous,

If you have read my blog at all, you will notice that I have allowed many people who oppose my views to post comments--as long as they stick to the arguments, and do not fall prey to ad hominem, red herrings, etc. I also made it through your entire letter, which has prompted me to write this post (more will follow), as a few lines in a typical response would not do justice to what you had written.

You asked me if I thought all of the Canaanites that were slaughtered were innocent. (Deuteronomy 7:1-2) According to many Christians, the unborn are "sinless"--they are not yet born--so even if one pregnant mother, and one unborn fetus was innocent, your god would be unjust in causing its death.  On the other hand, many Christians also follow Augustine's concept of original sin.  This is the teaching that all people who are born, inherit the sinful state into which Adam and Eve passed due to their sin within the Garden of Eden.  Some argue that this happens at conception.  As a result of being born/conceived in sin, all humans are depraved and have a corrupted nature. I will go into more detail and present arguments against Augustine's concept of original sin in another blog post.  Like Pelagius did, I will show that Augustine's concept of original sin is inconsistent with the Bible and that it is a false doctrine. Furthermore, Augustine's concept of original sin is inconsistent with the notion of free will. Ethically speaking, it would be morally unjust for the Christian god to punish anyone for a deed they did not commit.

According to Christianity, the Christian god is all knowing.  Thus, the Christian god knows if a fetus will grow into an evil monster, so perhaps, just as you say about the Canaanite slaughter, i.e. those children could grow to be evil monsters if they were allowed to live; those fetuses that are aborted could also have grown into evil people, and your god is orchestrating their termination because as you say, he knows best "in the larger sense." Just like the Canaanite children could grow to be evil monsters if they were allowed to live, so could the aborted fetuses have grown to be evil monsters, so your god did not allow them to be born. Furthermore, the question then arises as to why your god allowed "evil monsters" such as Hitler to be born in the first place, who then went on to kill more than 6 million of his "chosen people." It makes no logical sense that an all-good, all knowing, and all powerful god would kill an entire group of "potentially evil" people, but fail to eliminate the fetus of one of the worst mass murderers in human history--the murderer of his own so-called "chosen" people!!  As you say in regards to the slaughtered Canaanite children:

"...those who still had a chance to love him were in danger of either being affected by this hate or destroyed by it. What if this being knew that the Canaanite children who were innocent at that time would have grown into a culture so predisposed against God that they too never would have had a chance to know him for who he really is and all of them would have chosen other than god. Is it possible that God actually spared their eternal lives by removing them from their temporal ones?"

Here, we can assume that if Yahweh exists, he would know, and since he knows, why would he not get rid of someone like Hitler? We can also apply what you say to the aborted fetuses. By what you say then, it would be possible that your God is sparing their eternal lives by removing them from their temporal ones. And since the bible tells us that "...EVERY decision is from the Lord" (Proverbs 16:33) this would be his will--according to what the bible tells us. Everything is determined by your god--including abortion, which you claim is the murder of the innocents.

You speak about me hating god--but I cannot hate something that has not been shown to exist--that would be like hating Santa Claus. What I do hate however, are the consequences of a belief system that encourages "moral laxity" as it promotes the idea that someone else (Jesus) pays for the mistakes of others. While there may be no god, there are many religious people, and  as the Christian philosopher Pelagius pointed out long ago, when people do not have to take moral responsibility for their actions, and are told they are "born sinners" and cannot help but to do bad things--and will be forgiven for any indiscretion as long as they repent (well--except blasphemy!)--this leads to moral laxity. It leads to a society full of people who believe they cannot help but to commit adultery, rape, murder, etc.--because they believe they were born bad--but it's ok because Jesus takes the consequences for their actions on the cross. When there is no personal responsibility, and no consequences--we have a society in chaos--which is exactly the case. There is also no justice for the victims of Christian crimes in this life. Furthermore, religious people of all faiths have caused the death and torture of millions of innocent people. From Chinese foot binding, to the cutting off of the clitoris of women in Africa, to the Christian murders of the so-called "witches" and the slaughter of innocent South and North American Indians, and Africans--my goal is to prevent future atrocities, and "moral laxity." To repeat, what I hate are the consequences of a belief that encourages "moral laxity," and unnecessary pain and suffering.

As for allowing small hurts to, as you say, prevent bigger hurts (as in slaughtering babies to prevent them from growing into evil monsters) --any kind of "hurting" would be unnecessary for an all-good, all-knowing and all-powerful god. If god is all-knowing, all-good and all-powerful, there should be no evil. ie., no "hurts." A possibility, that Descartes pointed out, is that Christians ought give up one of these attributes in order to avoid the problem of evil.

Of course, if one gives up the attribute that Yahweh is all good, it points to what might be the best explanation--Yahweh is a sadist. It would appear, via the writings of the bible, that one explanation could be that Yahweh is a sadist, and gets off on causing undo pain and suffering. According to the bible, if your god was real, he orchestrates a great deal of unnecessary suffering. We can say this because if Yahweh were all-powerful, he could just snap his almighty fingers to prevent any type of hurt--and if he were all-knowing, he would know how to prevent any type of pain and suffering--but he does not. Furthermore, the bible tells us that "...EVERY decision is from the Lord," therefore, he is responsible for the pain and suffering, resulting in the problem of evil.

Life is not something that as you said, is something to be "deserved." We are all born into life, which we know is limited--making it all the more precious. We must also co-exist, which is why societies form moral and ethical guidelines--no gods required. We have families, we love, we learn, and we live. This is life as many of us know it, but for others, life is nothing but a struggle for survival. Due only to the circumstances of their birth, many starve, or are dying of curable diseases. Yes, children that pray to your god every day, suffer and die needlessly, and I could never worship a god who is "bountiful" to men such as Benny Hinn (who was outed as fraud on "The Fifth Estate"--a Canadian news program) yet does nothing for the weak and suffering children in Africa and around the world. How bizarre that your god is given thanks when a quarterback throws the winning touchdown, but nothing is said of his responsibility when the innocent are allowed to suffer. If there was such a thing as an eternity with a god, I certainly would not want to spend it worshiping the god the bible describes as being narcissistic, egotistical, angry, vengeful and jealous. I prefer the idea of doing what is right in this life, via Normative Ethical Theories, as we do not require a god for objective morality-- and leaving that legacy for those that follow. That to me, would be a form of "eternal life."

Part 2 will be written in the coming days. Again, thank you for your comments--they have provided me with great fodder for the blog.

Acts of a Malevolent, Pernicious, Sadistic and Masochistic God

Act of God??

I recently stumbled upon a blog written by a Christian named Michael Homula, who was "born" because his mother decided against abortion. He is now on a crusade to prevent abortions across the US. In this post, I want to illustrate the blatant contradictions used by Christians such as Mr. Homula, that they seem totally unaware they are making.

For instance, in reference to the killer tornadoes that occurred in the "Bible Belt" recently, Mr. Homula stated:

"...God allows “bad” things to happen; God does not cause them to happen."

But then he goes on a few paragraphs later to say:

"...God sometimes causes natural disasters as a judgment against sin."

So, according to Michael Homula, God DOES CAUSE natural disasters, and God DOES NOT CAUSE natural disasters. One objection to this that Christians often raise, is that when God causes a natural disaster, it is actually caused by people and their sin.

However, according to the bible, Yahweh CAUSED sin in the first place--in the very beginning. The bible states that Yahweh determines EVERYTHING, as it states in Proverbs 16:33, "...EVERY decision is from the LORD." This does not mean some, or a few decisions--but every single one, including the actions of Adam and Eve, and the killer tornado.

If Yahweh created perfect beings (Adam and Eve), then they could never have "sinned" by thinking of eating the forbidden fruit. Thinking about eating the fruit was sinful, even before they ate it, and as "EVERY decision is from the Lord," Yahweh planned it that way. And, as Yahweh himself admits, he creates evil or calamity, or disaster:

"I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things." Isaiah 45:7

Therefore, according to the bible, there is NO FREE WILL, as EVERY DECISION IS FROM THE LORD. He causes the evil resulting in children in Africa starving to death, and killer tornadoes in the Bible Belt.

If the bible were true, Yahweh must really be angry at starving children, and Christians in the south.....

Without Changing the Story, Can You Picture the Serpent as the Hero?

This post concerns the story of Adam and Eve, and I will argue that the story of Adam and Eve represents the transition from a matriarchal society to a patriarchal society, and that the serpent was not evil, but the hero of the story.*  I will prove this by taking the story as it is written, without adding to the story, or taking anything out of the story--but by merely elaborating on what is written.  Traditionally, this story is viewed as the "Fall of Man" and is believed by Christians to be the reason why humans are "born sinners" and as it says in Romans, "the wages of that sin, is death."--but below you will find out otherwise.

For those unfamiliar with the story, according to the bible, Yahweh created the universe, the world, all the animals and plants, and Adam and Eve --the first two human beings--wandering naked in a garden. Yahweh is purported to be a god who is all knowing, all good, and all powerful by the Christians, but this was not always the case. Before Christianity, he was more like the god of the Greeks-- Zeus--a storm/war god. So this all knowing god then put a forbidden tree in the middle of the garden where Adam and Eve were living, knowing what was going to happen to them when he did. He told Adam and Eve they could have the fruit of any tree they chose except that one, for if they ate from the fruit of that tree, they would "die on the day they ate of it." He's such a manipulative trickster that god. As Adam and Eve had no knowledge, they were literally as innocent as babes in the woods, and what Yahweh did was akin to a human father leaving a 2 year old child alone with a poisoned box of chocolates. I don't have to be god to know what would happen in that case, and such a father would be considered negligent, and would be charged by the police.

So Eve went to the tree, and was met by a mysterious talking serpent. Eve told him that Yahweh said they would die on the day they ate the fruit from this tree, but the serpent knew better. The serpent said to her that she would not die on the day she ate that fruit, but would instead gain the knowledge of good and evil, and would therefore, be able to find the Tree of Life and become gods. So she decided to eat the fruit, and offered it to Adam, who also decided to eat the fruit--this is the so-called "sin" which Christians believe has led all of humanity to sin.  It is ironic that gaining "knowledge" is considered "sinful"--but then again, Yahweh did say he would "destroy the wisdom of the wise," 1 Corinthians 1:19  But I digress.

Adam and Eve then gained the knowledge the serpent told them they would. They also noticed they were naked, felt ashamed, and immediately went out and "sewed" some leaves together to cover themselves. (Where they got the needle and thread from, no one knows.) But why were they ashamed? This is a red herring--don't let it fool you. The original authors of this story, and theologians of the past and present would have you think the "shame of nakedness" and "original sin" were the focus of this story--but they are not. The real focus of this story is the transition from a matriarchal society to a patriarchal one, which allows the demonization of women, as traditionally, Eve is blamed for the "Fall of Man."

Continuing on with the story, after they had eaten the fruit and sewed their leaves together, the all-knowing Yahweh called out to them and asked "Where are you? ( as an all-knowing god, he should have known that), and when he finds them he asks if they have eaten the forbidden fruit!! (Again--he is supposed to already know the answer to that.) Yahweh was playing games.

Adam and Eve confessed to eating the fruit, which prompted Yahweh to punish them with "hard labour." (Adam in the fields and Eve giving birth) But Yahweh wasn't finished yet. He decided to punish everyone that comes after them for the "crime" of gaining the knowledge from the tree, which could have saved Adam and Eve from the tyranny of being ruled over by an egomaniacal god. He was in control, and he knew that if Adam and Eve found the Tree of Life--they would have become immortal gods like he is--and he couldn't have that. So he went to the other gods, and said, "..."The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."(Genesis 3:22) Now, many Christians believe that Yahweh was speaking to Jesus and the Holy Ghost in this passage, but this is nonsensical. The Jews who wrote the Torah/Tanakh did not believe in Jesus, and still do not believe that Jesus is god. The Jews did however, believe in many gods. Jeremiah 11:13 states they had as many gods as towns in Judah, and the goddess Asherah was among them. There is also archeological evidence for Asherah being the consort of Yahweh, and she is represented by Asherah poles in the Old Testament, which further illustrates that the Jews worshiped various gods at one time or another in their history.

Think about this for a moment. No court of law would punish you for a crime your grandfather committed because that would be unjust. Why then do Christians feel is is just for their god to do just that?? This belief is grossly unfair and grossly unethical.

The serpent is not Satan, nor is he evil, as he told the truth and Adam and Eve did not die on the day they ate of it--but gained knowledge. Yahweh LIED, as they did not die on the day they ate of it. (They did not die a "spiritual death either, as the bible says no such thing.) Yahweh did not want them to have the knowledge of good and evil, as he did not want them to have the knowledge which would allow them to find the Tree of Life and become gods--like him. The Tree of Life is a representation of Yahweh's consort Asherah, and while most Christians believe Yahweh is the only god in the universe, there were many other gods and goddesses the Jews worshiped. (Every Jewish tribe had their own pantheons of gods and goddesses before Yahweh was made the only god.)

Actually, the story of Adam and Eve paints Yahweh as an egotistical, narcissistic deity, while the serpent did nothing but tell the truth in his attempt to help Adam and Eve reach the Tree of Life and become gods.  Yahweh had constructed a scenario where Adam and Eve could not become gods--which is why he hid the tree of life. He then goes on in the Old Testament to demand that he be the only god. So, after he uses the other gods to help him hide the tree of life, he then turns on them.

Yahweh planned out a scenario in which he knew the ignorant humans would fail so the world would be filled with humans who were subservient to him, and only him--which was his goal all along.

Not everything is as it seems......

* Based on Nietzsche's "The Antichrist" 48