By Laura Koran, CNN
Here's the Belief Blog’s morning rundown of the top faith-angle stories from around the United States and around the world. Click the headlines for the full stories.
From the Blog:
CNN: First lady implores black churchgoers to get political
First lady Michelle Obama made an impassioned pitch for black churchgoers to embrace political action on Thursday in a speech to the country’s oldest black religious denomination. “To anyone who says that church is no place to talk about these issues, you tell them there is no place better,” Obama said at a conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Nashville, Tennessee.
CNN: Would Jesus support health care reform?
He was a healer, a provider of universal health care, a man of compassion who treated those with preexisting medical conditions. We don’t know what Jesus thought about the individual mandate or buying broccoli. But we do know how the New Testament describes him. The Gospels are filled with stories of Jesus physically healing the most vulnerable and despised people in his society.
Tweet of the Day:
[tweet https://twitter.com/mboorstein/status/218392834464677890%5D
Belief on TV:
Enlightening Reads:
The Washington Post: Supreme Court ruling promises religious fights for the forseeable future
The Supreme Court’s decision Thursday to uphold the core of President Obama’s health care law guaranteed that the law and its potential impact on abortions and contraception will remain a powerfully divisive issue for religious groups for the forseeable future. Attorneys already challenging the law on behalf of mostly Catholic institutions said the decision opened the door for more future litigation. The decision immediately electrified religious progressives, including many Mainline Protestant and Reform Jewish leaders, who believe expanding coverage meets a core priority of Scripture to heal the sick.
Christianity Today: Founder of Singapore's Largest Megachurch Arrested Over Wife's Pop Music Outreach
Singapore's charities commissioner has charged the founder of a 30,000-member megachurch with diverting US$18 million in church funds in order to support the ministry-related singing career of his wife. City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee, along with four other church leaders, was arrested and charged this week with "conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust." This is the biggest case involving misconduct at a registered charity in Singapore, according to Singapore Press Holdings' AsiaOne website.
The Huffington Post: Orthodox Jewish Woman Gives Birth During Vow Of Silence, Hides Baby Under Dress From Paramedics
After giving birth alone in her home, a Jerusalem Haredi woman hid her baby under her dress with the umbilical cord still attached, hid the placenta in a bag, and refused to speak to anyone including paramedics. The reason? She had pledged not to speak until the end of Shabbat on Saturday night, reports Haaretz.
Religion News Service: Ahmadiyya Muslims get warm welcome in Congress
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is persecuted around the world, but it has plenty of friends on Capitol Hill. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., joined more than 20 House colleagues and at least one senator Wednesday (June 27) at a reception to mark the first visit of the Ahmadiyya’s spiritual leader, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, to Congress.
Quote of the Day:
Living out our eternal salvation is not a once a week kind of deal. And, in a more literal sense, neither is citizenship. Democracy is also an every day activity. […] To anyone who says that church is no place to talk about these issues, you tell them, there is no place better. No place better, because ultimately these are not just political issues. They are moral issues.
First Lady Michelle Obama said in her remarks at the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s conference in Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday. Read more here.
Join the conversation…
A clinic such as this, where countless uninsured line up at dawn for free medical care, convinced one man to quit his Cigna job.
CNN: A health care 'Judas' recounts his conversion
When Wendell Potter first saw them, he froze. “It felt like touching an electrical fence,” he says. “I remember tearing up and thinking, how could this be real.” Thousands of them had lined up under a cloudy sky in an open field. Many had camped out the night before. When their turns came, doctors treated them in animal stalls and on gurneys placed on rain-soaked sidewalks.
You gotta love these religious retards whose only retort to us atheists is "they're just mad at god"..
So funny.
what an ass hole Canadian thinks !
We see the drivel from the haters. Praise the morons of hate. Hoorah.
Prayer really changes things
Prayer doesn’t not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.
An article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.
The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!!
There is a God.
I do not have to prove that claim because I'm to cool for that.
See how i can use atheist logic? Its easy!
thats right, you are too Kool – so Kool infact that when you get cancer and die it will be god who is doing it because god feels that no creation should be as Kool as it.
thats right... i compared you to god – then again i believe god to be a m@ss murdering psychopathic narcissist with a personality disorder...some please, you should take this as a compliment compared to what you really are.....a modern human – is there truly anything more evil and vile then us? more destructive? more emotional but with less control? no, we are the most vile thing this planet has ever known and you think we are the creation of a master mind – a god – what kind of screw up creates this and calls it success? bear in mind that god did attempt to wipe us off the map several times for being such a grand mess up....what kind of god screws up?????????
"I do not have to prove that claim because I'm to cool for that."
You don't have to prove it because you are incapable of proving it to even yourself. Hence you gave up when you were threaten into believing it. Always afraid and hiding. And the need to mock atheism stems from your inferiority to the usage of logic because once again you're afraid of the consequences of your little bubble bursting from the truth that no god will be there for you.
And we now take this time to urge you to keep on hiding. At least myself that is.. because I love to see your kind grovelling in terror of the eventuality of your bubble being popped.
Lol atheists deny their own standards that they have for proving something but never ever themselves.
How "logical"...oh wait that's called denial!
Please note that there are only one or two Christians trolling away here under many names.
One is HeavenSent/prayertroll. Think about the kind of things she always says, and there she is, no matter what name she is using.
The other is ClownQuestion/Hmmmm/TheCapitalist/bubbles/C'mon Mannnnnn/panstonfire/StarPerformer, and many many more names. This is a fairly new 18-year-old boy who is playing a trolling game. Heavy name shifting, replying to his own posts, repeating cliches with the intent of provoking responses, ad hominem, and other lonely bitter approaches like that.
Neither has any intention of debating rationally – they are purely trying to get a rise out of atheists. They are both childish losers who think they win by being annoying.
I would that you not feed these snivelling woosies. You are playing their game by their rules if you do.
@c'mon
The second time I did indeed use the label C'mon Clown. That is because you responded to my primary post which was labeled labeled clown et al. So, why did you respond to the first post which was clearly directed at Clown?
1) Because I read both posts
2) I decided to only respond to one post
3) The point you were trying to make was clear
I'm actually laughing hysterically right now at your stupidity.
Obviously my point was not that clear, my bad. I didn't think you were Clown till you responded to a post directed at Clown. After reading your responses though I have become more and more convinced that you are indeed the Clown I suspect you to be. If you aren't Clown you should be aware that you write like a high school kid.
Well one thing's for certain.....atheists sure are a hostile bunch.
truth is far from that.... more believers willingly go to war then atheists. we are smarter and require a reason to die....a cause to fight for....where as a believer needs only to hear the words "god said it was ok" and away they go....sheep...
@hippy
I don't anyone would ever actually believe we are the same person. My post are not nearly as florid as yours.
Prayer takes people away from actually working on real solutions to their problems.
Prayer has been shown to have no discernible effect towards what was prayed for.
Prayer makes you frothy like Rick Santorum. Just go to http://santorum.com to find out more.
Prayer prevents you from getting badly needed exercise.
Prayer makes you fat, pale, weak, and sedentary.
Prayer wears out your clothes prematurely.
Prayer contributes to global warming through excess CO2 emissions.
Prayer fucks up your knees and your neck and your back.
Prayer can cause heart attacks, especially among the elderly.
Prayer reveals how stupid you are to the world.
Prayer exposes your backside to pervert priests.
Prayer makes you think doilies are exciting.
Prayer makes you secretively flatulent and embarrassed about it.
Prayer makes your kids avoid spending time with you.
Prayer gives you knobbly knees.
Prayer makes you frothy like Rick Santorum. Just google him to find out.
Prayer dulls your senses.
Prayer makes you post really stupid shit.
Prayer makes you hoard cats.
Prayer makes you smell like shitty kitty litter and leads you on to harder drugs.
Prayer wastes time.
@C'mon Clown
et. al. is a Latin abbreviation for "and others", no need to look that up. What did you think that et. al. meant?
Thanks for shedding that groundbreaking knowledge. I never asked you what it means, wonder why? It's because I'll occasionally use it in work emails when mostly addressing a specific person, but also addressing the group as a whole.
I hope it atleast made you feel smart to act like I didn't know what it meant. Have a good day bro.
And you claim not to be Clown. LOL
Proof that a personal god does not exist:
Physics does not allow any outside force to act on our universe. If an outside force (god) did act on our universe, it would cause consequences that we could see. God therefore would be testable. The fact that no outside force has ever been recorded to have happened (laws of physics been broken) we can say that there is no force. This means no personal god granting prayers. Physics acts the same way everytime, physics doesn't change at the whim of some supreme being. As I stated, if it did, this being would be recordable and testable and proven to be real.
This although doesn't prove that a god created the universe. But this is an illogical as.sumption because as I have just stated, no being could have interfered with our universe after it started and therefore to say one was present at the very beginning is poor science and bad logic. There are many theories about the beginning of the universe, some of which don't involve gods or supreme beings. The theories without any gods should be viewed as more logical, more scientific and more possible because they are not creating something to explain the action (the big bang).
Maybe not proof that god does not exist, but proof that believing in a god is unscientific, and illogical.
It is incredibly unscientific and illogical to claim that YOU (or even the collective WE) are able to see and test EVERYTHING existing in the Universe. Just to illustrate how wrong such claims may be I'd like to remind you that about 75% of the Universe is "Dark Energy" which we can not see or test and know next to nothing about.
We can only see and test about 3 or 4% of the universe's "stuff" we are aware of. None of it points to a god concerned with human affairs. Thus, disbelief is the most rational approach. Atheism is the most logical position, currently.
Atheism is for weak-minded who can't do anything on their own.
That claim is easily refuted by the facts. Many great contributors to society have been atheists. You don't seem to care about lying as long as it's for your own side. But let me guess, you wouldn't think it was right if an atheist did it? Wonder what your god thinks about it?
you should all be proud of the very real fact that you live life to serve something that which you have no proof of even existing. bravo.
about you choose something that really means something to all mankind to devote your life to and hold above all things....perhaps a virtue of some sort...i hear they are hard to come by these days.
Prayer changes things .
`Prayer doesn’t not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.
An article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.
The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!~~
There is 0 evidence that "prayer" changes things. There is however proof every day that "prayer" does NOT work.
Notice the time Jesus and mr. Prayer posts....same people...helllloooooooooo
Prayer has arrived. O happy day kalu kalie.
"Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things
Notice the time Jesus and mr. Prayer posts....same people...helllloooooooooo"
Nope – wrong.
Prayer changes things
Proven again
Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things,
Proven
"Prayer changes things
Proven again"
No you're a proven liar over and over again. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.
An article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.
The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!
So clown, does God exist?
so lunch God doesn't exist?
I'm not an athiest, but apparently you are scared to make the claim.
Lunchiep00,
I've seen you claim God doesn't exist countless times in the belief blog. Man you atheists will really lie about anything to try and make yourselves seem smarter than you really are. Narcissist much?
Well I guess I can't prove I didn't.
While all the losers are hard at work the atheists keep themseleves gainfuly employed on the belief blog 😉
Well...this atheist worked very hard, built up a company over 25 years, sold it and retired before 50....kinda messes up your little fantasy though......
Nah, the atheists hardly post here these are nuts who are mad at God.
Atheists are so cool. Seriously, how did you guys get to be so cool? Man, what I wouldn't do to be in the cool kids club, I mean you guys are like totally similar to the popular kids in high school. I'm also blown away by the intellectual depth of the average atheist poster. I mean comparing God akin to santa or a sky fairy is so clever!! If that's not the smartest, most well thought-out argument then I don't know what is. That is an absolutely infallible, scientifically proven point that nobody can refute and it proves your smartness!!
All hail the CNN atheist poster who is all-knowing. HeII, if you don't think they're the smartest and all-knowing then just ask them, they'll make sure to tell you.
I'm glad you have finally accepted your own inferiority now fcuk off.
Sarcasm is a poor mask for a persecution complex.
Your post screams inferiority complex.....
@You're Awesome,
And yet you think yourself to be wise.
It's turtles all the way down...
That was so cool how totally destroyed all the Atheist arguments with your irrefutable sarcasm! How can I learn to be just like you, you're so cool.
Don't tell an atheist they aren't special.They hate how the religious claims humans are special but to atheists only they are special.
That was funny!
Doc V-Sarcasm is what again? have you looked at the mirror lately?
I am guessing he having a hard time grasping the concept that some just don't believe in his God. If he wished for somebody to believe in his God then the burden is upon him to provide the evidence. Its like a child coming up to you and asking you to believe in their imaginary friend and then you ask them to show you their imaginary friend. He is a child with an imaginary friend and needs to pony up the evidence if we are to believe or "see" his imaginary friend. Religo nuts are like little children with simple little minds scared of the boogie man under their bed. They then have their imaginary friend up above who protects them from the boogie man. You just pat them on the head and say ..ah that is so cute.
@Doc – No persecution here, I find it comical because I'm confident in my beliefs. I mock when it's determined that no rational coherent conversation can take place. I also mock when people claim to be so much more intelligent than others yet they prove that they clearly lack in education or knowledge. It's hilarious and I can only laugh at those people because they have no interest in anything other than proving their incorrect as.sumption, but they love to claim superiority.
@Horus – You should probably google inferiority complex, you clearly don't know what it means. Please also see description above to see a description of yourself.
@Judaism,
Do you see the irony in you trying to make the same point that I initially mocked because of its stupidity and intellectual dishonesty? I'm guessing not and hence my point is proven.
"Do you see the irony in you trying to make the same point that I initially mocked because of its stupidity and intellectual dishonesty? I'm guessing not and hence my point is proven."
= you don't know shit.
@yourawesome – you act precisely as if you have an inferiority complex. You attack something that you do not understand. You go on and on about how smart and intellectual these atheists think they are. That's your insecurity lashing out.
@ .
Thanks for playin!
@horus
I'll stick to my original assertion, please google inferiority complex and the traits that exist in relation to this complex. If you don't care to look it up and want to claim you were right all along (because it makes you feel smart) then go ahead, not like that's anything new for atheists. I will no longer comment however since you deny the simplest of things.
"I will no longer comment however since you deny the simplest of things."
= you really, really don't know shit.
@ .
Lol ok dude. Nice try.
Andddd just like the typical atheist, once proven wrong they never respond and run with their tale tucked between their legs. Their arguments are all bogus once people actually look into them and they're full of lies and deceit. Thanks for playin!!!
*tail
HAHAHAHA,
I must have missed the spot where they were "proven wrong", but I can understand how someone who says, "their tale between their legs", might be a little off in other areas of perception as well.
** no... tails
@You're Awesome!!!
Atheists aren't comparing God and Santa, they're comparing the amount of evidence for each. None. If you can't grasp such an obvious concept as that, you're probably not in a position to understand the finer points of the reasoning, either.
I challenge hipppoet to write a paragraph using correct grammar. I bet he can't do it!!! The grammar is atrocious along with multiple misspellings haha. Since he blames it on "carelessness" and not lack of education/intelligence let's see if he can actually use correct grammar for a paragraph long post!!! Please also make sure that your sentences actually make coherent sense.
Regards,
An Educated American
oh i prefer my hoop be on fire first...i'll wait. lol
good dog.
🙂
What is your deal? Leave people alone.
@Hmmm
The thing I find hilarious is that your paragraph is full of grammatical errors, punctuation errors, and not to mention bad sentence structure, and some incoherency.
Yes, the poster (is it our old friend TheCapitalist in lame disguise?) fumbled his grammar and punctuation while trying to flams another for bad grammar.
What a maroon!
Hmmm done gots more gooder grammer then Hippy done has
I challenge an atheist to prove there is no God to the entire world.
As soon as you give a testable, falsifiable hypothesis for the existence of God.
Round and round and round we go – where we stop?
With you denying the basic request and resorting to name calling.
@Clown
It can't be done. Next challenge.
@clown
I've addressed your idiotic thought on another thread. Learn how the burden of proof works.
So it doesn't apply to you even tho you make claims such as "There is no God" or "God is a fairy-tale".
By your standards if you do make a claim without proof you now must prove that claim.
Total logic fail on your part.
clown question bro
I challenge an atheist to prove there is no God to the entire world.
------–
Ball is and always been in your court. The standard and bar starts at zero evidence...it is up to the believer to provide the proof in the pudding whether it is Santa, fairies, blue dragons, giant bridge trolls, Odin, God, Satan etc. Each time you post what you did, you sound REALLY foolish
clown question bro
So it doesn't apply to you even tho you make claims such as "There is no God" or "God is a fairy-tale".
By your standards if you do make a claim without proof you now must prove that claim.
Total logic fail on your part.
---
You are VERY dense or a troll. lol
@clown
And where is the assertion that no god exists? Who said that on this thread? You should really stop listening to what your priest says atheists think, claim, or believe. We do not all think alike, and while few may claim there is no god, most just do not believe.
Clown
If you had any understanding of logic or the burden of proof you would realize that the statement that you just made is utterly asinine.
I said IF
learn to read.
Bow down to the awesomeness of the cookie monster!
Judaism comes from the Sumerian Religion
I am guessing he having a hard time grasping the concept that some just don't believe in his God. If he wished for somebody to believe in his God then the burden is upon him to provide the evidence. Its like a child coming up to you and asking you to believe in their imaginary friend and then you ask them to show you their imaginary friend. He is a child with an imaginary friend and needs to pony up the evidence if we are to believe or "see" his imaginary friend. Religo nuts are like little children with simple little minds scared of the boogie man under their bed. They then have their imaginary friend up above who protects them from the boogie man. You just pat them on the head and say ..ah that is so cute..
Isnt Clown just so cute...lol I think he/she is literally too stupid to insult.
@clown
Yes you said if. But you also "challenged" people to prove something than no one on this thread has asserted, not to mention it's something that most atheists wouldn't assert without reason. You have come across as arrogant, ignorant, and asinine.
Denial.
@hawaiiguess
Are you really going to try and say that the majority of atheists don't make the claim that no god exists? Especially the claim that most, if not all, on these comments don't make that claim? I mean I've heard some dumb things, but this one takes the cake.
Please re-read ANY belief blog on CNN and count the NUMEROUS claims by atheists that literally state verbatim "no God exists."
Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried, LOL!!!!!
@clown
What does that have to do with anything that has been said here. Are you really that incapable of posting something relevant, or even explanatory.
If God is Good, not just decides what is good, and is all powerful and is omnipresent, then evil could not exist.
Evil exists...
@C'mon
There are a few people on these blogs that will assert that no gods (plural) exist without anything to back that up, but they are few and far between. You are thinking of a false dichotomy of "the christian god or no god", and sorry but that's a fallacy.
Now, if you want to talk exclusively about the christian god, then a lot more people will assert that, with me among those ranks, and it can be shown logically.
The only goal of clown et. al. is to insight atheist and to then say "oh I made you mad therefor I win." Don't worry he will go away once school starts again.
"Sky fairy"
"fairy-tale"
"God doesn't exist"
"Live in reality your God is not real"
"Imaginary friends"
Most common use of words by yours truly..most atheist posters.
so yes MANY made that claim already.Its who that is in denial about it..
soooo...where is my hoop on fire. i can also balance a blow up ball on my nose while on the high wire peddling a unicycle....
if you wish me to preform for you then you will always be left with dissappointment. I am a free human, no one controls me nor anything can command me to do anything. Get over yourself.
🙂
@huebert
I'm an actuary, nice try though. Google it since you probably don't know what it means.
hippy,
Ummmmmmmmm, what?
@clown
As I said to C'mon, it's not a choice between your god and none, that's a false dichotomy. And as I also said to C'mon, if you want to talk purely about christianity, or the abrahamic god, then I'm perfectly happy to say that one definitely doesn't exist as characterized.
lol, the original post was at me commanding me to preform....hence my first reply...but i did say that i'd wait – now i waited and he hasn't lit my hoop on fire....i jump thru no hoop for no one but i love fire so i thought it a compromise. 🙂
@C'mon Clown
et. al. is a Latin abbreviation for "and others", no need to look that up. I was referring to your habit of using multiple handles. What did you think that et. al. meant?
@hippy,
Ummmmmmmm, what?
@clown
"Most common use of words by yours truly"
"Yours truly" refers to the person speaking.
Yours truly (Clown's Teacher) thinks that you are quite uneducated... in many matters.
@huebert,
Unfortunately your assertion is entirely false. Clown question and I clearly agree however it's probably not the smartest thing to as.sume that two posters agreeing are the same person. I guess it's impossible for me to prove it to you, just like God in your opinion, however I know the truth and don't really need to waste time trying to prove it when you've already made up your mind in your head and nothing will change it.
So congrats to you and all your other handles, aka, hippy, lunchbreaker, etc because using your logic....you all must be the same person. LMAO.
lol @huh.......... try reading the post above where you click reply.
@C'mon
If You are not one of Clown's alts why did you respond when I said "Clown et al."?
how dare you! i never use other handles....I am the hippypoet and that is what I am!
@hippy
I don't anyone would ever actually believe we are the same person. My post are not nearly as florid as yours.
I will master the reply function one day.
@huebert
thank you the compliment...i am will to bet most have no clue what you said. 🙂
@ huebert
You actually labeled it somewhere as "c'mon clown" and then accussed us of being the same person. Are you really that dumb?
Awwww look huebert and hippypoet just made friends. It's so wonderful to see the beginning of a loving, long lasting relationship such as this. I wish you both the best of luck in your relationship!!!!
@c'mon
The second time I did indeed use the label C'mon Clown. That is because you responded to my primary post which was labeled labeled clown et al. So, why did you respond to the first post which was clearly directed at Clown?
I will not master the reply function today apparently.
I find it hilarious that as soon as I actually make the assertion that C'mon and clown say atheists do, and offer to back it up they disappear.
see reply at top of page. It's getting more and more funny. Anyways, I'm off work so I'll let you morons sit here and try to think of other ways that all those who disagree with you are the same person. Later losers.
Truth – conformity with fact or reality
.
As sumption – 1.A thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof:
.
Appears some are confused with the Truth and As sumption. Christians do not believe in a certain truth, rather as sume it to be true.