--Stephen Weinburg
The Major was walking with his wife on an excellent beach in Pinellas county, FL. it was one of those rare times when a couple who has a large active family can slip away for perhaps a half an hour.
The Major is walking on the beech with his quad cane when he is approached by another couple. A man asked if The Major had hurt his knee. The Major's wife said, "No, it was something else.
The man then offered to say a prayer with The Major.
The Major looked at the man and said, "No thank you. I'm not religious."
At this point the other man should have retreated and apologized for the intrusion.
Instead he said, Even if you don't love god, He loves you!
The Major retorted, "Well, you are certainly entitled to you opinion."
It is likely the man was a clergyman or an Evangelical who wanted to invite my wife and I to his church. Proselytisation is a big part of Christianity and has been for two millennia.
The Christian right often suggests that atheism is a religion. Most non-believers simply want to be left alone by the likes of the Evangelical the Major met on the beach.
Atheists don't proselytize. We don't try to make religious people into non-believers. However, if pressed about our "beliefs' we will be happy to explain there is little evidence for a supreme being.
Most atheists are also agnostic. We know that the existence of God can nether be proven or disproven. Many Christians on the other hand, are gnostic, they intuitively know that God exists.
Most of the friction arises between non-believers and religious when religious people try to force their values on others by insisting on prayers at the start of public events or by adding religious content to schools or other public institutions.
Evangelicals are also cliquish. There are evangelical cliques in the armed services. This is big problem in the Air Force because the Air Force Academy is located near Colorado Springs, an Evangelical hot bed. Many of the young academy graduates who will be the future leaders of the air Force marry local evangelical girls.
By cliquishness, the major means this. You are either one of use or against us. There are no gray areas in the Evangelical mind.
It is interesting that the Evangelical the major met at the beach assumed God is a man. The Hebrew creator was named Elohim, a plural form, and Elohim was both male and female.
Elohim created two gods, Yahweh, who was male and Asherah, who was female. King Joseph or Josiah, get rid of Asherah around 600 BCE. Asherah was more popular than Jahweh, who was a mashugana.
At the time, Asherah had shrines along roads and her likeness was in every Hebrew kitchen. King Josiah encouraged the exclusive worship of Yahweh and outlawed all other forms of worship. So Judaism became a monotheistic religion.
If you are interested in what happens when Evangelical and atheists debate, check out some of the Rational Response Squad videos on You Tube: see http://youtu.be/D-rKiGJrcNw
Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort got creamed in the May, 2007 debate.
source: http://www.rationalresponders.com/
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Rightardia by Rightard Whitey of Rightardia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at rightardia@gmail.com.
The Major was walking with his wife on an excellent beach in Pinellas county, FL. it was one of those rare times when a couple who has a large active family can slip away for perhaps a half an hour.
The Major is walking on the beech with his quad cane when he is approached by another couple. A man asked if The Major had hurt his knee. The Major's wife said, "No, it was something else.
The man then offered to say a prayer with The Major.
The Major looked at the man and said, "No thank you. I'm not religious."
At this point the other man should have retreated and apologized for the intrusion.
Instead he said, Even if you don't love god, He loves you!
The Major retorted, "Well, you are certainly entitled to you opinion."
It is likely the man was a clergyman or an Evangelical who wanted to invite my wife and I to his church. Proselytisation is a big part of Christianity and has been for two millennia.
The Christian right often suggests that atheism is a religion. Most non-believers simply want to be left alone by the likes of the Evangelical the Major met on the beach.
Atheists don't proselytize. We don't try to make religious people into non-believers. However, if pressed about our "beliefs' we will be happy to explain there is little evidence for a supreme being.
Most atheists are also agnostic. We know that the existence of God can nether be proven or disproven. Many Christians on the other hand, are gnostic, they intuitively know that God exists.
Most of the friction arises between non-believers and religious when religious people try to force their values on others by insisting on prayers at the start of public events or by adding religious content to schools or other public institutions.
Evangelicals are also cliquish. There are evangelical cliques in the armed services. This is big problem in the Air Force because the Air Force Academy is located near Colorado Springs, an Evangelical hot bed. Many of the young academy graduates who will be the future leaders of the air Force marry local evangelical girls.
By cliquishness, the major means this. You are either one of use or against us. There are no gray areas in the Evangelical mind.
It is interesting that the Evangelical the major met at the beach assumed God is a man. The Hebrew creator was named Elohim, a plural form, and Elohim was both male and female.
Elohim created two gods, Yahweh, who was male and Asherah, who was female. King Joseph or Josiah, get rid of Asherah around 600 BCE. Asherah was more popular than Jahweh, who was a mashugana.
At the time, Asherah had shrines along roads and her likeness was in every Hebrew kitchen. King Josiah encouraged the exclusive worship of Yahweh and outlawed all other forms of worship. So Judaism became a monotheistic religion.
Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort got creamed in the May, 2007 debate.
source: http://www.rationalresponders.com/
Subscribe to the Rightardia feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UFPYA
Rightardia by Rightard Whitey of Rightardia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at rightardia@gmail.com.
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