If the tornado had left a copy of Frankenstien untouched, what would that prove?

(June 4, 2025 at 3:38 am)zebo-the-fat Wrote: If the tornado had left a copy of Frankenstien untouched, what would that prove?

That the Bible is a lurching monstrosity, assembled from disparate mythologies and brought to life through hubris and ignorance of the dangers involved?

(June 3, 2025 at 6:19 pm)Fake Messiah Wrote: Hey guys, a miracle has happened that will make you rethink your atheism: a house was destroyed by a tornado, but the Bible inside was not.

Quote:Restoring Faith: Miracle Bible returned to owner amid tornado destruction

Amid all of the destruction and debris from the tornado that ripped through Laurel County, a Bible was found and returned to it’s owner, unharmed.

The Bible traveled across the interstate and was found in an former neighbors yard.

The Wyatt’s and Blanton’s home were both destroyed in the tornado, as both homes were right in the path of destruction.

Three days after the deadly storm, Mr. Blanton was cleaning up his yard when he found something that belonged to his old neighbors.

“It was wet, but there wasn’t a page torn out of it. That is what I love about it,” Mr. Blanton said. “And to see the destruction of the houses and everything tore up, and that Bible just being wet and unscathed. It’s a miracle. It’s a miracle that we are still here.”

Both families say they do not know God’s reasoning, but they are keeping their faith in Him.

https://www.wymt.com/2025/06/02/restorin...struction/

If it's a three-bedroom, two-bath Bible, I'd say it counts as a miracle. Otherwise, not so much.

Boru

A mom is charged with son's death claiming God told her to 'exorcise demons'

A southeastern Florida mother has been charged with murder after her 6-year-old son missed two weeks of school and died during what she deemed an exorcism, according to local police.

According to Del Toro Jr., officials think the boy died on May 18 and had been in his room ever since. His mother spoke to investigators and said she last spoke to her son that day, four days after he was last seen at school.

Paulynice told investigators that she hadn’t been in control of her body, and that “God” or “Father” told her what to do. She tried to resist, but God would “make her pay,” the Treasure Coast reported, citing an affidavit.

“She believed she was being told by God to basically exorcise demons out of the child's body,” the sheriff said at the press conference.

Paulynice said she put her hand over her son’s mouth and suffocated him as he was “kicking and screaming” in bed. After Ra’Myl died, the boy’s mother checked on him daily and blew warm air on his face, checking to see if he was alive, the Treasure Coast reported.

“She felt the child had been released of those demons and was waiting for him to basically come back,” the sheriff said.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati...006617007/


Oh, I wonder where that poor woman got this stupid and dangerous idea that the devil possessed her son? Who brainwashed her? Well, I don't have to look far. Just over at the Catholic News Agency:

Quote:Angela Musolesi, assistant to exorcist Father Gabriel Amorth: ‘The devil is afraid of me’

A Franciscan nun, Sister Angela collaborated for 28 years with the renowned Italian priest and exorcist Father Gabriel Amorth. To expand the legacy of Amorth, who died on Sept. 16, 2016, in Rome at the age of 91, she founded the Children of Light association.

With the action of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit bothers the devil a lot. It is the spirit of the risen Jesus. Sometimes, when I have prayed over someone, invoking the Holy Spirit, the devil has cried out: “You are hurting me, you are hurting me.”

The devi primarily tries to attack the intellectual faculties and, through that, the heart. From the mind, from the head, through the brain, he confuses us.

The most widespread action in the world is that of Lucifer, who is the spirit of mental confusion, of the darkening of intelligence, of the inability to make decisions, and then also of madness, suicide, and death. This is what happens to young people who no longer have Jesus as a point of reference. He moves well in society. Certainly, prisoners, convicts, are the ones who suffer the most.

The most difficult thing is to get the devil to manifest himself, to make himself visible through a person who has a demonic action. But the most widespread action in the world is the ordinary action of the devil: mental confusion. It makes people believe he doesn’t exist, it makes them believe he doesn’t create problems.

The teaching that Father Gabriele Amorth has already spread is important because it says: Look, the devil is at work in the world. We must speak more about him, and everyone must apply Jesus’ words: “Whoever believes in me must — not can, must — command the devil, heal the sick, and raise the dead.”

So any of us, a layperson, a nun, or a normal priest, must command the devil and not be afraid.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/...raid-of-me

(June 4, 2025 at 3:38 am)zebo-the-fat Wrote: If the tornado had left a copy of Frankenstien untouched, what would that prove?

God works in mysterious ways.

"Is there a rational method for evaluating religious claims?" Asked elsewhere, because the OP is an ignoramus. Anytime (usually) a religious person comes selling the claim of a religious entity (jesus, mohammad), they get rational discussion on why there isn't. They just don't want to hear it.

(June 4, 2025 at 6:36 pm)Fireball Wrote: "Is there a rational method for evaluating religious claims?" Asked elsewhere, because the OP is an ignoramus. Anytime (usually) a religious person comes selling the claim of a religious entity (jesus, mohammad), they get rational discussion on why there isn't. They just don't want to hear it.

And then when we get impatient, they can accuse us of bias.

Hey, Christian woman, do you have a healthy womb? You do! Well then, let a pre-born child inside that is left frozen so that it doesn't rot, and then take another one, and another one, and another one until we clean up all the warehouses of the fertility clinics so that all those frozen babies get born.

Quote:IVF is life-changing for infertile families. But the Christian right says it’s not in ‘God’s plan’

In February 2024, the Alabama supreme court cited biblical passages to argue that embryos should be legally recognized, not as personal property, but as “extrauterine children” with rights equal to those of children. The ruling upended the local IVF industry, as clinicians handling embryos feared being sued under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. Several Republican leaders including Ted Cruz and Donald Trump quickly vowed to preserve IVF access, and Alabama lawmakers passed emergency legislation to protect medical staff from lawsuits.

At the same time, prominent Christian right leaders and conservative groups, including the Heritage Foundation and Students for Life of America, celebrated the ruling. Some called to extend the legal rights of embryos and expressed their fervent desire to restrict IVF nationwide, arguing that the regular testing, freezing and discarding of embryos makes IVF incompatible with Christian values regarding the sanctity of “unborn children”.

Christian right leaders who oppose IVF have also begun to direct their followers towards a seemingly heaven-sent alternative: the relatively niche practice of embryo “adoption”.

Embryo “adoption” programs actively promote the view of embryos as “preborn” children, all equally deserving of a chance at life, and match mainly white Christian families who have excess embryos from their own IVF journeys to others looking to conceive. In casting the process of embryo donation as adoption, the practice takes a distinctly evangelical view of freezing and storing embryos, said anthropologist Dr Risa Cromer.

What concerns them is the testing, discarding and indefinite storage of embryos; they don’t tend to view cryopreservation itself as especially problematic, as long as God’s divine plan for each embryo is allowed to manifest. In order for that to happen, all embryos in storage should be thawed and transferred “from cold freezers into warm wombs”. The more Christians partake in this mission, evangelicals believe, the more frozen embryos can be “saved”.

Dr Jeffrey Keenan, president and medical director of the non-profit National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) in Knoxville, Tennessee, claims he has seen over 1,000 babies born through its embryo adoption program since 2003. His hope is that “loving homes” are found for the estimated 1.5 million embryos currently cryopreserved in the US and that fewer end up in storage in the first place. “Ultimately, our dream is to put ourselves out of business,” he said.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...tian-right

I wonder why the nuns don't join in on saving the frozen babies?

One man's god is another man's spittoon.

Quote:When holy places are spat upon: a cry from a Christian pastor and leader in Jerusalem

While recently guiding a group of 16 peace studies students from the U.S., Canada, Hungary, and the UK through Jerusalem, I was teaching them about the sacredness of this city—a city revered by Christians, Muslims, and Jews.

As we stood near the Church of All Nations, also known as the Church of Gethsemane, a group of young Jewish students walked by with their leaders. To our shock and sorrow, they began spitting in front of the church—an act of contempt simply because it was a Christian place of worship.

As a local Christian and a follower of Jesus, this pierced my heart. Not just for the disrespect shown to a holy site, but for what it reflects: a failure to recognize the dignity of others made in the image of God.

How long will such despicable acts go unchecked and unchallenged? Where are the voices in Israeli society who will denounce this? Where are the educators who will teach their students respect, not hatred?

We, as Christians in this land, will continue to do just that. We will not return hate for hate, or spit for spit. But we will not be silent. We call on religious leaders, educators, and government officials to speak up, to act, and to teach the next generation a better way.

https://www.christiandaily.com/news/when...-jerusalem

WOW, 90% of Christians are not aware that their local church offers programs to kick the addiction of watching pornography.

Or maybe they're just playing stupid and don't want to go to their local pastor and say: "Hey, I've been watching porn. I've been masturbating." And maybe they're right. It's none of church's business what they do privately. And there is no such thing as porn addiction.

Quote:Bridging the Gap: The Church’s Role in Addressing Pornography

Though pornography’s influence is widely acknowledged, many faith communities still struggle to address the issue openly and effectively. Barna’s Beyond the Porn Phenomenon research, conducted in partnership with Pure Desire Ministries, reveals both troubling trends and hopeful opportunities for the Church to provide lasting support.

While over half of Christians and churched adults (53%) say it’s important for their church to address pornography and sexual compulsive behavior, only 10 percent are aware of their church providing programs for people struggling. And yet 75 percent of pastors say they are individually ministering to those struggling with porn. The data points to a gap in the awareness or efficacy (or both) of how churches approach this topic. So, how can leaders bridge this gap?

Most U.S. adults overall (56%) view therapy or counseling as the most effective approach for addressing porn use, followed by addiction recovery resources (28%). Specifically among those with a history of porn use, half (55%) also list therapy or counseling as the top form of treatment for someone struggling with pornography (vs. 62% of nonusers). Further, two in five past or present porn users (38%) think personal counseling is a very effective strategy.

Engaging individuals in positive hobbies and activities emerges as another method that U.S. adults perceive to be effective (27%). Recovery groups (25%) and support from friends (23%) land about in the middle of what U.S. adults deem the most effective forms of treatment.

https://www.barna.com/research/address-porn-use/