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February 9th, 2013
10:00 PM ET
My take: A word to Christians - Be nice
By John S. Dickerson, Special to CNN Last week a high-profile American writer and news personality asked me a painful question: “Hey pastor, can a Christian tweet hate?” It was not a hypothetical question. He was asking because some of his 1.3 million Twitter followers claim to be “Christian,” and some of the meanest, most perverse hate-tweets he receives come from these self-proclaimed Christians. We’ve all seen folks, Christian and otherwise, lose their cool in a Facebook face-off or in the comment section under a controversial news story. But as I scrolled through the “Christian” hate tweets to this news personality, I was baffled and ashamed by these so-called followers of Christ. One user describes himself not merely as Christian but as “sharing God’s message of Grace with everyone I encounter.” The messenger of Grace recently tweeted that he doesn’t merely hate this news personality, he despises and loathes him. These are the moments when it’s embarrassing to be a Christian. I’m not embarrassed to believe the extravagant claims of Christianity: that Christ was born to a virgin, died for our sins, physically rose from the grave and is returning to rule the world. But I am embarrassed to be associated with some of the people who claim his name. I have written in the past about the bad reputation that Christians have in America. Some argue that it comes from misrepresentation by the media. Others argue that “all who live godly will suffer persecution,” and that’s why we Christians have a poor reputation. Maybe there’s some truth to those claims, but we Christians have to acknowledge another reason why we are perceived as hateful: because many of our number are. More and more, I see hateful Christians chalking up their disrepute to “persecution.” God tells us otherwise. In 1 Peter 4 we’re told, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed. …” And that’s the truth; sometimes we are insulted for proclaiming the good news of salvation in Christ. But listen to what follows: “If you suffer, however, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.” The Apostle Peter is more or less saying: If you suffer for sharing the good news of Christ, great, you’re blessed. But if you suffer just because you’re being a criminal or acting like an idiot, then don’t blame it on Christ. Some 2,000 years ago, Peter knew so-called Christians would be criminals and “meddlers.” He knew some would claim, “Wow, I’m really suffering for Jesus,” when they are really just suffering for being jerks. The word “meddler” means busybody: someone who inserts himself into matters that are not his own. Might this include some people involved in the Twitter, Facebook and “comments” showdowns of our day? So yes, “all who live godly will suffer persecution.” But let’s not be jerks, get persecuted and then blame it on Christ. American Christianity, with its past position of cultural superiority, gave birth to some self-righteous and condescending so-called Christians. These folks may be culturally Christian, but they know little of Christ and his actual message of humility and repentance. I am convinced that, if Jesus Christ were here walking among us, he would have nothing to do with those who claim his name and consistently spew hate. Theologians and academics will argue about that last sentence. Isn’t Jesus “a friend of sinners?” Yes. Doesn’t Jesus’ grace wash away the sins of those who trust in him? Yes. Wouldn’t that include the sin of "hate tweet"? Yes. In seminaries and churches, we tend to engage in obscure questions about theology. For example, “Is it possible for someone to truly trust Christ and spend their entire life tweeting hate?” Maybe so. But Jesus didn’t engage in such esoteric abstractions. He taught simple truth with clarity, authority and practicality. On controversial issues—“Are hate tweeters true Christians?”—I find myself drawn to the simple words of Scripture. Theologians will argue and debate, but God’s word is simple and clear. “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.” (1 John 2:9,11) “With the tongue we praise our Lord and father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” (James 3:9,10) “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:20) Jesus put it this way in Matthew 12:34-36: “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” If we will give account for every careless word spoken, might we also give account for every careless comment typed or tweeted? Christians aren’t the only ones hurling hateful blows on the Web. But we are the only ones who claim to follow the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. So let’s be nice. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John S. Dickerson. soundoff (10,298 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 Next »
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Editor's note: 
Thank YOU! This is truth, regardless of your religious stance and affiliation!
I, as a Pagan, have often sensed that I am more 'Christian' than most Christians I meet, simply because I follow these principals as this is the Goddesses way, as well. (Do an ye will, but harm none – try living that as a Christian, and you will see that it not only encompasses the 10 commandments, but also a whole host of unwritten rules – we teach personal responsibility toward all living creatures with our creed).
It is good to see that a Christian authority is calling all self-righteous 'Christians' to change their ways and become one with the DIVINE, regardless of the name used.
Again, I say Thank YOU and I applaud you!
my invisible pink unicorn also likes goddesses
I completely agree with you!
Change it to Liberals be nicce and you might have something that at least resembles reality. All the hate, violence, and threats allways come from the Liberlas and it is the Liberals who are allways the intollorant and the facist and racist in this country. in fact they are the only legalised hate group allowed in America even celibrated by the liberal news outlets like CNN.
LOL, no it's not my side it's the other side. I'm rubber and you're glue. It's them, not us.
Biased much?
Time to get back on your meds Wade.
Hey dude – look in the mirror, these dudes were talking about YOU.
=================================================
Thomas Jefferson, POTUS #3:
Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.
John Adams, POTUS #2:
I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved – the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced! With the rational respect that is due to it, knavish priests have added prostitutions of it, that fill or might fill the blackest and bloodiest pages of human history.
James Madison, POTUS #4, chief architect of the U.S. Constitution & the Bill of Rights:
During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution.
Thomas Paine:
All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.
Wow! The author writes of hate tweets, and receives a hate response! You are the one he writes of. Please learn to respect your fellow man, and especially your God by following His rules!
Way to make it political, D-Bag
Was it hard to type with your tinfoil hat falling over your eyes constantly Wade?
Come on Wade, admit it, you are just mad because the liberals are smarter than you are.
Wade–very true. They are blind to their own evil, deceived you could say. They advocate for aborting life in the womb and then pretend to care about women and children. They push for gay marriage despite their own psychological studies that show the importance of a mom and dad in a child's life (gay couples WILL try to adopt at some point because they do want to feel like a "family", all at the expense of the child. It is actually quite selfish from a psychological point of view).
Wade, my friend...Christ by almost all accounts, was a whacky liberal in his time. This comment coming from a Republican Christian.
Curious that it took only a few posts for the rabid-knuckle draggers and self-victimizers to emerge. Also curious how the more angry one's post is, the more riddled it is likely to be with gross spelling errors, illustrating the direct inverse correlation between conservative views and educational attainment.
Arizona Republicans Propose Bill That Would Not Allow Atheists To Graduate High School . from CNN NEWS, CHRISTIANITY IS SPELLED "HATRED", OR IS IT "INTOLERANCE".
How can they play nice? They think the world revolves around them, when in fact it only revolves to have a chance to get away from them.
I applaud the author, too many people are too focused on making themselves feel like "the underdog in a great war" that is distorts their belief system. Look at W.B.C., they've practically turned hate into a religion.
@crappygovernment : there is a difference between being assertive and being mean.
Has anything improved with Christianity since 200+ years ago?
=================================================
Thomas Jefferson, POTUS #3:
Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.
John Adams, POTUS #2:
I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved – the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced! With the rational respect that is due to it, knavish priests have added prostitutions of it, that fill or might fill the blackest and bloodiest pages of human history.
James Madison, POTUS #4, chief architect of the U.S. Constitution & the Bill of Rights:
During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution.
The Christians make it clear who they hate. After 57 years being on the receiving end of their hatred, I associate Christianity with hatred.
I hear you but do remember to evaluate people as individuals not groups.
When a person is screaming their religious hatred, it is easy to make an individual judgement.
"I hear you but do remember to evaluate people as individuals not groups."
Hateful Christians seem more and more to be an awfully large group of individuals.
I am Pagan. During a Yule (winter solstice) ceremony on private property, there were members of a local church across the road with signs screaming at us that we were going to hell, worshipping satan, blah – blah – blah same old ignorant accusations. I've come across this many many times. Some of the younger members of our gathering began making comments back to the harrassers. I told them they were giving these fools just what they wanted & to please stop feeding thier negative tirade. Doing so only lowers you to thier level. As long as they stay off our land and do no violence, let them scream till thier lungs burst. They will walk away with the headache – not us. Do what you will but harm none (our rede) – unless they are intent on harming you – then by all means defend yourself. If we had done that at thier church during thier Christmas service I'm sure we would have been hauled off to the hooscow lol. There are many Christians whom I adore and have much respect for. I cannot lump together an entire group due to the rude and bad behavior of some of them. I must admit that it makes me angry that sometimes these people frighten our children. Not with the fire & brimstone spiel but with thier screaming and bitter remarks that the kids think they might attack us. May thier god help them if they do.
"So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables." Jn 2:15.
Thank you for this post. Christians are certainly called to be charitable, kind, generous and forgiving. However considering that the word nice has its roots in the latin word for naive and simple minded we are not called to be nice. Sometimes righteous anger is called for. In the face of the evil and confusion present in our society we as christians need personal conversion, patience, humility and courage to call others on, at times even firmly and strongly.
Christians do not be nice, be kind. do not be doormats!
oooh
When you are worthy to walk in his shoes you can pick up a whip.
Well said!
I guess it depends on whether you are being criticized for being a jerk or for standing up for Christ's actual teachings (rather than Fox News or Republican 'teachings').
Jesus was only critical of the self-righteous religious hypocrites who thought highly of themselves while looking down on everyone else; he said they had no part of his kingdom. Good news indeed.
I actually prefer those frothing at the mouth Christians over the nicey-nice ones like the author. The expose themselves quicker and more accurately reveal the absurdity, bigotry and self-serving nature of organized religion.
Hush troll. Go back to your cave.
Self serving? Hardly. When it is practiced faithfully Christians are called to serve.
Luke 22:26
But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.
Romans 12: 3-8
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Galatians 5:13
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
Ephesians 6:7
Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people
1 Peter 4:10
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
1 Peter 5:2
Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must,
but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve;
I give these as examples of service being uplifted.
Very well written article and great point – it blows my mind how someone purports to be a Christian but they act opposite of the teaching most of the time. You are what you do and some extent what you say but saying you love Jesus and you hope others burn in hell and get killed is not living what you puport to believe in.
Evolution as a means to species is false as science, yet as a religion, Darwin's notional hypothesis is alive and well.
"Evolution as a means to species is false as science"
ok, where's your proof?
Maybe just stay on topic – science, evolution, etc was not the point. Other forums you can go to for that.
The Global Geological record demonstrates in hard physcial evidence that species occur rapidly followint a mass extinction. To believe that a slow change over time leads to species is a logical paradox, with only 1% of species existing from the last mass extinction. For an in depth scientific understanding of why evolution is mnot a means to species I recommend Dr. Gould's work; but ignore the baseless assertion at the end.
JPT is a troll who has been frequently refuted for his blathering of unfounded lies in these blogs. He is consistent about one thing – failing to provide good references for the little tidbits of "knowledge" that he loves to just throw out.
That's interesting, since Gould actually believed in punctuated evolution....
You're contradicting yourself if you're appealing to his theory, because that only means that evolution is still true, if you bought into what he said.
Gould elinimated the basis of Darwin's means to species and replaced his notional hypothesis with the baseless assertion (oxymoron) of rapid evolution. The sole basis of which being that" something can not come from nothing", as does black box radiation.
If your mean Stephen Gould's work, he actually believed in evolution. He was worked and debated about some of the details of the processes. That is how science works, not by saying "I have an answer" but by multiple people looking and questioning ever increasing information and data to get to a better understanding of an answer.
As for more rapid bursts of life after a mass extinction, the rapid is still thousands of years out of the billions of years the earth has been here. Yes more life forms show up after a mass extinction, they fill the gap left by others. Natural selection to the environment.
So we thank you for making points and references that support more modern views of evolution and now the rumor mill type that some people attempt.
Gould's work is the scientific treatise that disproved evolution as a means to species. Gould's alternative baseless assertion that species somehow occur rapidly, but still oxymoron evolution, was done to bring biological science into line with the hard physical evidence of the global geological record; without upsetting too many fools.
Tarver-
I'm curious. Why do you think any of Stephen Jay Gould's work put an end to credible hypotheses on speciation by any and all evolutionary processes? That seems to be what you are saying.
How about you tell those who follow Islam to be nice.
What's your point?
this article is about Christians, not Muslims
why are you telling the author what he should write about, anyway?
How about you go away.
most Muslims are nice people, it's those who have been radicalized that we see the most on TV. ALL religions have a sect dedicating itself to violence/hate.
You totally got the point of this article. Brah.
Most Islamists are nice.
You only hear about the ones that go Kaboom.
As a nonbeliever who has read the Bible cover to cover I fully endorse this article. You have the right to believe but that right comes with the responsibility to: 1) Know what your Bible says (not just "the good/important parts", and 2) Follow it like you believe your salvation depends on it.
Oh yeah sounds like you are a nonbeliever alright.
You are the rare atheist my friend and peace be with you.
By calling yourself an atheist you're automatically labeling yourself as illogical: do you have evidence for no God? So you have evidence there isn't an invisible Spirit (invisible to you) that controls all things and is against worshiping false gods, lying, theft, murder, adultery, envy and jealousy and who commands that we do to others as we would have others do to us? Can I see "scientific" evidence? Atheists love to stereotype themselves as being lovers of science, logic and truth and being objective rather than biased, bitter, ignorant and deluded, so lets see that scientific evidence you have for no God. Oh, you have none, nor does anyone else. All ignorant blind people like yourself can come up with is, "Do you have evidence for no Zeus?" again, demonstrating your ignorance of logic and evidence for the Bible. You are shown you are illogical, and your next move is to still think you are wise and to defend your illogical belief with a mere question made in that SAME IGNORANCE, as if you can then, after being shown to be extremely illogical to the absurd, somehow then win against the one who who isn't blind, pointed out to you the utter obvious, with a mere stupid question. And by the way prideful Christian haters: this is a guy who wrote a book on logical fallacies, personality disorders, and over 500 arguments against religion; there is nothing you can say to me to "win", no insult. All you've got is your usual cheap shots which just show all the more each time you make them how lowly, sad, desperate and futile your positions are, your "TLDR"s your "rant"s your "your stupid"s your "STFU" your "your not nice, I'll pray for you"s your "did you take your meds?" (what drug addicted shallow solutions you have to "problems") your "you need to see a doctor" (as if no Christians are doctors and all doctors will side with you, talk about arrogant, deluded, bigoted and blind), and your "I think you're the mentally ill one"s (so what? that's science?).
May God forgive you. – eternian.wordpress. c o m
"you're automatically labeling yourself as illogical: do you have evidence for no God?"
I had no need to go any further
1) you clearly don't know the definition of 'atheist'
2) you have no idea what logic is, and it is clear from your obvious 'shifting of the burden of proof'
@savingdaniel, I'm not sure if you are off your meds or you just failed critical thinking. Either way, that was a ridiculous rant.
savingdaniel: i do not know of any atheist who claims that there is evidence for no god. but, believe as you wish. now, b1tch, get back on your knees and beg for salvation
@Rob
As an agnostic myself I completely agree with what Avowed atheist is saying... Christians pick and choose what to follow and believe yet condemn others for whichever "sin" they want to. Now Rob, who the hell do you think you are telling people if they're a nonbeliever or not? You are almost as annoying to me as the damn fundies. You are one of the first stupid atheists I have met. Congratulations Rob!
@savingdaniel If cutting and pasting ever becomes a religion, you'll be a shoe-in for pope. Until then, $TFU.
And in one breath we are called to condemn those who think differently, those who have not seen the light. We are called by name to bully people into submission of Christ!
Oh wait.. no.. no we're not. My dear Atheist friend, please forgive the shortcomings of Christians who don't know how to love or how to speak in kindness and grace. We're not all like this. It pains me to see so many people who are suppose to walk with the God of love and yet have no idea what that means. Christians are not better than everyone else, we are not more informed, we are not set apart, we are not special, and we are not perfect. Some of us do value science and logic for these things too were blessed to us by our Creator.
Goddess worship is most certainly a religion. Be she the fallen angels, Asheroth and Lilith, or even the virgin goddess of the hunt.
Oh, my, yes, especially that virgin goddess of the hunt!
"Goddess worship is most certainly a religion." which makes no point. That summarizes your way in life, wandering, aimless, arbitrary. Contrast that to those who love and follow Christ, who live to glorify a real proven God, while people like you chase fantasies, with no basis, even made up ones like Wicca. Truly sad.
Learn the truth archeology.t k
Stop being bitter.
The Global Geological Record is sience, while Archeology is fraud; one science and the other religion. I perfer the scientific method, where Darwin never had more than a notional hypothesis, false today.
There was Adam & Lilith before Adam & Eve.
Why doesnt the bible speak of this ?
Lilith rejected being Subserviant to Adam.
Eve was the good little woman who did was she was told
and took the fall for that damn apple in the garden.
Mary Magdalene was not a harlet, she was a disciple
and the church had to put her in her place.
Cant have woman as equal to men, now can we !
"Christian" is code word for Republican- Conservative . Just so you know .
cool what is a misasma – I mean since you know code
Actually, you have it backwards. Replican/conservative is code word for Christian.
Actually, it appears that many here don't use Firefox and their spelling is atrocious.
"Misasma"
Ooooh, another anagram puzzle!
m i s a s m a
"Maim Ass"
"Amiss Am"
"Am As Ism"
'Atheist' is code word for obnoxious communist
think those who are religious and those who are not religious need to grow up, and learn how to actually be human for a change, as someone who is gay and who also happens to be a witch ( which isn't a religion by the way) I am constantly being judged, Christians say I am going to hell, while Atheists say I am crazy, seriously, the problem isn't with Religion or a lack there of, it is with this self proclaimed need to always be right, that is why we have so many problems in the world,as a witch but more importantly as a human I am taught how to respect and love, myself, others and all of life, for what is our mere purpose in life if not that, it surely is not to hate or judge others, what kind of life is that, who would really want to live that life, if that was applied to every religion and every atheist this world would be a much happier place.
whatever, witch
Scared that I am right? thought so.
No Michael, there is a need to live in reality. Living in reality means you have a sane view of the world around you and how things actually work, so that you can make smart decisions.
You're a witch. I don't necessarily think you are crazy, but I do think you believe in things that don't actually exist. Your ability to make sound decisions is impaired by the fact that you don't have a picture in your mind of the world that fits reality. Christians used to burn "witches," which is a perfect example of this. They were killing innocent people because they thought they had evil magic powers, when in REALITY nobody has any magic powers, and there was no reason to kill anyone. This is the kind of behavior that results in the insane belief that supernatural powers of any sort exist in our world.
And you do? what makes you so right? what is reality? how do you know that reality isn't an illusion? being a witch is a lot more than believing in supernatural powers, its about knowing onself,its about personal responsibility, its about respecting onself and others, I don't do anything to harm anyone yet you judge me yeah that just makes you so rational I thought atheists were suppose to be objective and fair, instead you act like the very thing you despise, what exactly does it accomplish? except to boost your own ego well guess what the world doesn't revolve around you.
"what makes you so right?"
I'm not 100% right about everything. However, I'm more right than not because my worldview is based on falsifiable evidence. As our knowledge advances, so will my worldview evolve along with it, realizing where I was wrong in the past, and improving the certainty of other views as the evidence continues to pile up. This is an honest view of the world, not one that makes up supernatural nonsense to fill in areas we don't fully understand yet.
And where exactly does that evidence come from?, so I am suppose to believe you and everything you say because you have evidence,how do you know what I experience?Even if you are right who cares,what does it matter who is right and who is wrong,as long as I do good, what does it matter what I believe,why don't you focus on people who actually harm others with there beliefs? I know one thing for sure a life without believing in anything is no life at all, good luck with that hope it takes you far, I honestly would hate to live your life sounds rather boring and lonely.
Oh and by judging me your not really acting rational or sane btw might want to practice what you preach, any true rational sane person, can see both sides to anything, there objective is unbiased and fair, you on the other hand choose to judge a whole group of people you know nothing about based upon your own assumptions that's not really that rational to me.
"I know one thing for sure a life without believing in anything is no life at all"
Why do you have to believe in supernatural things that don't exist to have a meaningful life? I'd say Hemmingway, Bruce Lee, Thomas Edison and John Lennon all had pretty dang meaningful lives.
Hmm I will answer that when you can tell me why I am automatically irrational and insane simply because I choose to believe in a world which is not ruled by facts or logic, sucks to be stereotyped doesn't it, whether your right or not is irrelevant, people are going to believe and not believe in whatever they choose to, it makes nobody right and nobody wrong, because there is no absolute truth neither in religion or science, because reality is not fixed it is only shaped by how we choose to perceive it, the only truth comes from our own experiences, and an fyi, obviously your life has no meaning if you have to constantly prove to others how right you are, if your life has meaning than prove it, don't sit here and judge me, what does that do? make something of your life, show others that your more than just what you believe or don't believe, than maybe your life can truly be meaningful.
Hizzoner Michael,
–" what exactly does it accomplish? except to boost your own ego well guess what the world doesn't revolve around you."
- "I honestly would hate to live your life sounds rather boring and lonely."
- "obviously your life has no meaning"
(and that's just in this thread)
Here Come Da' Judge- I didn't post my beliefs to boost my ego, I posted it to make a point there is a difference, I never said you couldn't believe in this or you can't believe in that, I never said my way was the right way and yours is the wrong way, I never posted on others comments and told them they were wrong, I am an American citizen and I have every right to voice my own opinion just as much as anyone else, don't like it, don't read it, I am not responsible for your insecurities, you choose to comment on my post simply to tell me how wrong and irrational I am, that tells me one thing that what I said must have some truth to it, or else you wouldn't feel so threatened by what I say or believe in.
"Hmm I will answer that when you can tell me why I am automatically irrational and insane simply because I choose to believe in a world which is not ruled by facts or logic,"
What a laughable statement. Honestly, read what you just wrote.
Secondly, you posit the argument that it doesn't matter who is right or not, as long as you are "nice" to people. Nothing could be further from the truth. It matters very much who is right. A modern day example: Rick Perry. I've met the guy, he's not a jerk, he is nice to people in general. However, his state, which he governs, went through a terrible drought. His solution was to pray. Instead of focusing all his time and energy on real solutions to solve the problem, he relied on his supernatural beliefs to solve it, which did absolutely nothing. Real people's lives were destroyed because of his beliefs and his way of viewing the world, even though he thought he was doing a "good" thing and being "nice" to people.
Supernatural beliefs lead to people being satisfied with incorrect answers to problems, and being satisfied with not improving our knowledge of the world. It is a dangerous, dangerous thing that kills people every day. It matters a LOT who is right.
Name me one witch or wiccan in history to today who has harmed another? name me one witch who has hated another? name me one witch who has tried to coerce people into there way of thinking? yet you have no problem trying to coerce me into your thinking by telling me that I am wrong and irrational why? wow you are one insecure dude.
You're clearly not getting it. You keep focusing on the idea that as long as you aren't directly walking up to someone and physically harming them then nothing dangerous is going on. What an incredibly simplistic thought process.
What makes you think that what you think isn't dangerous? oh wait I know because your sane and rational right and you have all the answers haha, your just so perfectly normal with your complete lack of beliefs, so that makes you an exception right, must be so great to know everything about everything, now I must bow down to you like a faithful servant I am , lol your so beyond deluded.
I think the root of the problem is that some christians think they speak for God. You are not the word of God, and God does not expect everyone to take your word for it when you tell everyone what you believe he thinks and wants.
Many modern Christians have become Gnostic and therefore go beyond the requirement of Levitican law, of warning against bad behavior, to the evolutionist text's requirement of stopping the person engaging in said behavior.
JPT: "Levitican law" (Gullible's Travels, part 1)
i think the whole bunch of you need to open up your history book and realize all people have good and evil in them and decide which one you wanna be. regardless of religion if you research it they all commit evil acts in the name of their god . human sacrifice , genocide , physical and moral abuse , slavery , its not a popularity contest you make a choice to be a good person or a bad one and then justify it in your own mind because thats what humans have always done. but then you get this superior group that start criticizing the others saying you are heathen we or the elite that also is historically a human trait. you need to come to grips with your own mortality and get off you high horse and love one another. and yes i call myself a christian and the truth hurts but i am not a saint and i have my share of immoral thoughts and actions but i don't look to condemn anyone else to make myself feel superior i just try to accept their good points and bad points if possible as a fellow human.
humans have commited godless acts throughout history no race , religion , country etc. is innocent . they have all fought wars and tried to dominate other societies who didnt believe as they do. some have even sacrificed and tortured their own to gain favor from god . you can't put a name tag on it such as christian ,muslim,hindu and say one is better than the other. they all have good and evil people in their congregation. the world needs to choose to be good help one another , love one another as humans and quit judging as if you were some saint. Forgiveness is the key because we all need it to try once more to be good because as the evil humans we are we're gonna be tempted to hate ,judge, condemn ,and shun our brothers and sisters for countless and any imagineable reason.
So how does this guy even fathom that he can speak for every christian in the world and what they believe. I don't get what the big scare is .Why can't people believe in God and Jesus Christ as their savior and try to be good and ask for forgiveness when they fall short? How bout the kid who raided the school and went on a killing spree. Now if he had been treated with love and acceptance and allowed to attempt to be normal do you think he would have done such a thing . When humans are alienated and shunned they usually retaliate in extremes ,most cases suicide, but sometimes they want to make a statement to society when they go and decide to take more with them. But regardless if you treat others with respect ,love,dignity, and above all acceptance i doubt youll get anything bad in return.
wonderful article....this is exactly the problem I have with the evangelical church today. The church has become the fundamentalist legalist pharisees that Jesus spoke out against. I can't get behind it anymore. I am a follower of Jesus, not the christian church.
Christians are incapable as a group of being nice. There are a few that pull it off, but the vast majority let their goofy cult worship of pretend people in the sky turn them into a$sholes. In their mind you either believe in the same fairy tales they do or you are the enemy.
Spiritual warfare rages on, until the end of Time.
Any group is incapable of being nice when it feels threatened in any way.
Belief is a factor of human biology; our brain chemistry at birth causes us to be fearful and look for protection immediately; when our parents (a group) offers that protection, our brain chemistry begins the long process of developing "faith' in the strength of numbers.
But it does this five or six years before most children can rationalize; as a result, our brain chemistry's balance is partly blamed on maintaining our beliefs, which is why lost beliefs usually cause cognitive dissonance.
ANY group can make people behave that way; religion is just the most powerful to override our objectivity, because it deals with the question of our own mortality.
We're about 100 years away from formalized religion being in the minority; but if you think they're mean about it now, wait until they really feel threatened.
Imagine this Toy version being Full Scale!
INFINITY TRACK SUPER CONDUCTION 02/05/13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lmtbLu5nxw&feature=player_embedded
Uh oh – someone is starting to throw up his video salad again. Drink your milk dear, it should calm things down.
We're closer to this than you think. It requires two things to become reality. 1.) We need to figure out how to make stable superconductors at room temperature. 2.) We need to be able to manufacture huge sheets of conductive material that can generate the magnetic field for the track. Nano-thin sheets of graphene may be a good candidate in the near future.
Neither of these two obstacles is overwhelming. You WILL see mag-lev transportation in your lifetime.
If you think a bellowing lung turned into an avian lung, your stupid. Orthodox biologist have no explanation of the intermediate changes. I guess you idiots believe in the FAIRYTALE that a frog can turn into a prince!!! You stupid atheists believe in MYTHS!!!
You making nonsense up about how evolution works and then spewing it on the internet does not actually mean you have any idea what you are talking about. Irreducible complexity is BS made up by creationists to try and make their insane fairy tales jive with what we KNOW about how biology works.
take a couple of breaths. look for a mental health counselor in the phone book,. i think YOU NEED SOME HELP!!
Wow. idiot.
Troll.
Just taking what a few others have said about religion and spitting it out against evolution.
At least put some more effort in to it.
You didn't bother to read the article did you brother? Go read it now and think about how it may, or may not, apply to you. You should have so much love in your heart there is no room for hate. I know how hard that can be. How difficult it can be to care and love those who you feel you despise. Just remember, if you despise someone you are despising God. Our Lord didn't tell us to only love the people we feel like loving. I know, I know, hate the sin love the sinner, but guess what? You can't yell at the sin, only the sinner.
Dawkins believes the seeds of life were put here by space aliens! The cult of new atheists with Dawkins as there leader will turn this world into the USSR or North Korea. A cold dark world with no purpose or moral code. And the myth that a frog can turn into a prince will prevail. The FAIRYTALE magic story of a lighting bolt striking a mud puddle and creating life will be forced on the masses