Welcome to the World

A straw man is an argument set up by one’s opponent that can easily be defeated.  This video is quite condemning of Christianity as an organized religion.  If all these things were true I probably wouldn’t be a Christian either.  Watch the video a couple of times, and perhaps take a minute to calm down.  You may need a dose of Maalox, then consider these counter points:

• You WERE NOT born worthless.  If Christians are teaching this as doctrine they need to be slapped, not the makers of this film.  You are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God.  There is no person without worth, regardless of the judgements passed by the world or by Christians.

Defecting to Faith

First, let me say that I’ve been reading several different blogs listed at SBC Voices, and will soon be adding some of those to my blogroll.  A button for SBC Voices appears in the sidebar if you would like to check it out; I’ve been introduced to some really good blogs over there including Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee, who shares the story below.

According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, often quoted by atheists to show how quickly religion is failing, children raised in non-religious homes tend not to stay that way.  The New York Times calls the situation “defecting to faith,” and reports that over half of those raised with no religious affiliation will choose one in adulthood.  Only 13 or 14 percent of those raised in Christian homes will defect.  And although atheism has large numbers of “converts” each year, it also has one of the lowest retention rates. 

Link to Kevin’s article here, with more stats and links.

Christianity, Truth or Fiction

There is an old saying that is Christianity were a lie, they would have made up a better lie.

Think about it. The basic tenants of the Christian faith are that a carpenter from a small town in Israel was crucified by the Roman Empire, buried, rose again from the dead, and that faith in these events is what gets one into heaven. These are just the basics. We could make a long list. To be a faithful Christian, one must believe:

Answering Tough Questions

Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris are raising an army of New Atheists who are ready to do battle with the people of faith.  It is no longer enough to simply not believe in God; the “New Atheists” don’t think anyone else should have the right to either. 

The issues of creationism, evolution and Intelligent Design have been pushed into the forefront of debate in recent years, thanks to films by Ben Stein and the opening of the Creation Museum.  The battle of words takes place not just in pulpits or auditoriums, but in board of education meetings at the state and local level that determine curriculum and policy.  In both issues science, reason and logic are dragged through the mud by both sides in order to “prove” one side is right and the other wrong. 

Abortion is and perhaps always will be a hot topic in this country. 

The Invisible Sky Bully

The invisible sky bully; have you ever heard God referred to that way?  Even worse than calling him the “invisible man in the sky” is the notion that God pushes people around because he is bigger than them.  A real bully is often a coward, and throws his weight around or intimidates those smaller than himself with words.  Those promoting the sky bully myth would have you to believe that God orders people to worship him, and sends to hell anyone that doesn’t.  It makes it easier to not believe in a God that could be like that, or helps people to doubt there is such a God.  In a way that’s good, because there isn’t a god like that.

The Godless Revolution That Never Happened

I want to link to this article on atheism, but I’m afraid to at the same time.  I’m going to wind up getting into an argument that I wish I hadn’t started.  The name of the blog is Heritage and Destiny, and while the title of the post is Culture Wars, it is really about the false claims of atheism.  Here it is, please click the link and read it.  I believe atheism is a growing trend, but this article sites Gallup Poll information that shows the numbers have been pretty consistent over the years, and atheists are still quite a minority.  The new atheists may be louder, but according to the data are not growing in numbers any faster than the old passive atheists did.

Give us a sign.

The Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign on two separate occasions, in Matthew 12 and again in Matthew 16.  Both times Jesus replied that a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.  In the second case, Jesus had just miraculously feed a crowd of 4,000; but if he showed them one more sign, then they would believe. 

The Biblical Exegesis of a Renowned Atheist

“Christians seldom realize that much of the moral consideration for others which is apparently promoted by both the Old and New Testaments, was originally intended to apply only to a narrow defined in-group. ‘Love thy neighbor’ didn’t mean what we now think it means. It meant only ‘Love another Jew.'” -Richard Dawkins

You see friends, what you have here is one of the world’s foremost anti-theists, what Becky Garrison describes in her book as “the new atheists.” Richard Dawkins not only believes there is no God, he thinks religious faith is dangerous and a threat to our society.

Evangelizing Christian talks to Articulate Atheist

I recently discovered the blog of John Shore, and the first thing I read was a coffee shop conversation he listened to between an evangelizing Christian and a guy he described as “Wasn’t Having Any.” The discussion was over John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” W.H.A. asserted that Jesus was not saying that only Christians were going to heaven, and that many Christians have abused that verse to claim it means something Christ didn’t say.

The Failure of Science vs. Religion

When I first heard of “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” I was hoping it would open some doors. I was optimistic that the popularity of this movie would get people asking the right questions, and that Christians would have some answers ready. It could be expected that atheists, evolutionists and Darwinists would oppose the film and its ideas, but Expelled has also received negative criticism from other circles.

Intelligent Design is sort of a redheaded stepchild to begin with. It is not creationism, and conservative evangelicals think of ID as a compromise between religion and science. They accuse ID of trying to “water down” religious faith enough that science can accept it. So IDers are going to take it from both sides; Darwinists who think that it’s creationism as well as religious zealots who thinks it isn’t creationism enough.