(August 20, 2015 at 8:57 pm)NoFaith2Burn4 Wrote:

(August 20, 2015 at 5:40 pm)Randy Carson Wrote: Is the problem in the Church, Jiffy?

Columnist Jeffrey Kuhner at the Washington Times wrote:

"For the past 50 years, every major institution has been captured by the radical secular left. The media, Hollywood, TV, universities, public schools, theater, the arts, literature — they relentlessly promote the false gods of sexual hedonism and radical individualism. Conservatives have ceded the culture to the enemy. Tens of millions of unborn babies have been slaughtered; illegitimacy rates have soared; divorce has skyrocketed; pornography is rampant; drug use has exploded; sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS have killed millions; birth control is a way of life; sex outside of wedlock has become the norm; countless children have been permanently damaged — their innocence lost forever — because of the proliferation of broken homes; and sodomy and homosexuality are celebrated openly. America has become the new Babylon." (as quoted here)

The article points to the rise of a new Arianism...let me know what you think.

LOFL, you Godwinite shithead - racism is for Xtians, and Hitler was a good Catholic.

Racism is extremely rare among secularists, for similar reasons which made them rational enough to be secular and non-ideological. Racism is common among white Christians, and here are likely reasons for that:
1. Angels are always white.
2. Any mention of "Black Arts", "Dark Magic", "Black Magic", "Dark Angel", "Angel of Darkness", or "Prince of Darkness" necessarily reinforces existing bigotry when heard among white congregants. Because, white angels represent good, and black angels represent...darkness! It's like the old movies, where the good guys wore white, and the bad wore black hats.

Angels, like God, are pure spirit. They have no color.

"... Tens of millions of unborn babies have been slaughtered; illegitimacy rates have soared; divorce has skyrocketed; pornography is rampant; drug use has exploded; ..."

And are most rampant in conservative areas.

Strange how these whiny conservatives forget to mention that.

(August 20, 2015 at 9:40 pm)Randy Carson Wrote:

(August 20, 2015 at 8:57 pm)NoFaith2Burn4 Wrote: LOFL, you Godwinite shithead - racism is for Xtians, and Hitler was a good Catholic.

Racism is extremely rare among secularists, for similar reasons which made them rational enough to be secular and non-ideological. Racism is common among white Christians, and here are likely reasons for that:
1. Angels are always white.
2. Any mention of "Black Arts", "Dark Magic", "Black Magic", "Dark Angel", "Angel of Darkness", or "Prince of Darkness" necessarily reinforces existing bigotry when heard among white congregants. Because, white angels represent good, and black angels represent...darkness! It's like the old movies, where the good guys wore white, and the bad wore black hats.

Angels, like God, are pure spirit. They have no color.

Then in that case, the Catholic church has a lot of explaining to do for all its depictions of so many white people with angel's wings. If they are truly invisible for being of no physical form, then there should be no depictions of them whatsoever.

(August 20, 2015 at 10:05 pm)NoFaith2Burn4 Wrote:

(August 20, 2015 at 9:40 pm)Randy Carson Wrote: Angels, like God, are pure spirit. They have no color.

Then in that case, the Catholic church has a lot of explaining to do for all its depictions of so many white people with angel's wings. If they are truly invisible for being of no physical form, then there should be no depictions of them whatsoever.

Are you interested in artists' depictions or theological accuracy?

(August 20, 2015 at 10:58 pm)Randy Carson Wrote:

(August 20, 2015 at 10:05 pm)NoFaith2Burn4 Wrote: Then in that case, the Catholic church has a lot of explaining to do for all its depictions of so many white people with angel's wings. If they are truly invisible for being of no physical form, then there should be no depictions of them whatsoever.

Are you interested in artists' depictions or theological accuracy?

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(August 21, 2015 at 12:57 am)NoFaith2Burn4 Wrote:

(August 20, 2015 at 10:58 pm)Randy Carson Wrote: Are you interested in artists' depictions or theological accuracy?

Your patron saint Peter was a murderous thug. So were the majority of his successor popes, up through the 20th Century.

You still haven't answered the question on what Lot did when a stranger came to his house, seeking asylum from a murderous mob. You haven't addressed that question because you know how inconveniently shameful downright despicable the behavior of the most holy man of his generation, who had the favor of his god truly was.

I don't get the idea that religious businesses should be given tax exempt status in order to keep out of politics.

Doesn't cut it for me. The religious businesses should keep out of politics anyway. What other businesses have to be paid off in order to not explicitly preach against the government and try to get their own ideas made into law?

Giving specific "large enough" religions tax breaks amounts to the government sponsoring those religions, for no good reason, while refusing to do the same for very small ones.

As for charity work, the rules for tax exemption should be exactly the same. Are other charities allowed to overtly preach marketing messages with no relevance to the charity work they are providing?

Religion, as always, wants special treatment. I don't know if the tax exemption will ever be removed. Maybe one day, when religion has finally lost its hold. Right now, even the politicians who want it gone are probably aware of the mass shitstorm it would cause.

(August 21, 2015 at 12:57 am)NoFaith2Burn4 Wrote: Your patron saint Peter was a murderous thug. So were the majority of his successor popes, up through the 20th Century.

I see.

Quote:You still haven't answered the question on what Lot did when a stranger came to his house, seeking asylum from a murderous mob. You haven't addressed that question because you know how inconveniently shameful downright despicable the behavior of the most holy man of his generation, who had the favor of his god truly was.

You asked in another thread, and I responded.

http://atheistforums.org/thread-35417-po...pid1027484

(August 21, 2015 at 2:06 am)robvalue Wrote: I don't get the idea that religious businesses should be given tax exempt status in order to keep out of politics.

Doesn't cut it for me. The religious businesses should keep out of politics anyway. What other businesses have to be paid off in order to not explicitly preach against the government and try to get their own ideas made into law?

Giving specific "large enough" religions tax breaks amounts to the government sponsoring those religions, for no good reason, while refusing to do the same for very small ones.

As for charity work, the rules for tax exemption should be exactly the same. Are other charities allowed to overtly preach marketing messages with no relevance to the charity work they are providing?

Religion, as always, wants special treatment. I don't know if the tax exemption will ever be removed. Maybe one day, when religion has finally lost its hold. Right now, even the politicians who want it gone are probably aware of the mass shitstorm it would cause.

Would you eliminate the tax-exempt status of all charities, rob? Or just the churches?

(August 19, 2015 at 7:24 pm)jiffy Wrote: I have a few questions regarding your perspectives on the church and Christianity..

**What are the big problems/issues you see in the Christian church today?

**Is your perspective of the former question from the inside (ie, your background was in church) or that of an outsider looking in? What took you away from church, if your background was church?

**What do you think about the person Jesus Christ? Is he real, historical person? Faked?

**What is the point or purpose in your life? What do you live for?

I'm especially interested in your responses to the first question!!

1. Yes I have many problems with the fundamentalist church : denial of science, treatment of atheists, gays, women, the incessant need for everyone to believe the same, their hypocrisy, their lacking of understanding the bible. I think it's best summed as, they are fucking nuts. Basically the Christian church is the embodied of ignorance and seems to what drag us backwards.

2.I was a united Baptist for many years. I was raised in the church, baptized at 14 and left officially at 22.

3. I don't think it matters worth a damn if there was some dude named jesus or if he is a myth. It's obvious that the deity jesus isnt real for many reasons such lack of extra biblical records. Moreover while I love the peace and love that Jesus preached his central doctrine of take no thought for the morrow is largely ignored because its so moronic.

4. I live for tomorrow. I feel that the Christianity definez purpose to ones life much like how I define the purpose of a hammer. To assign meaning to life is a over simplification.

Quote:The article points to the rise of a new Arianism...let me know what you think.

I think you're a shithead.

BTW, the Washington Times is a Moonie paper.  Fucking jesus will be disappointed in you.