Quotes of the day
posted at 10:30 pm on April 27, 2009 by Allahpundit
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“More than ever, America’s atheists are linking up and speaking out — even here in South Carolina, home to Bob Jones University, blue laws and a legislature that last year unanimously approved a Christian license plate embossed with a cross, a stained glass window and the words ‘I Believe’ (a move blocked by a judge and now headed for trial).
They are connecting on the Internet, holding meet-ups in bars, advertising on billboards and buses, volunteering at food pantries and picking up roadside trash, earning atheist groups recognition on adopt-a-highway signs.
They liken their strategy to that of the gay-rights movement, which lifted off when closeted members of a scorned minority decided to go public.”
***
“Among the many extraordinary positions Eagleton takes in this book, perhaps nothing is more startling than the highly original claim that the United States of America is not religious enough. All right, I am paraphrasing — what he actually says is that our nation’s nauseating, wall-to-wall public piety is strictly pro forma. It’s a kind of ideological window dressing for a social and economic system based on the ruthless exploitation of human beings and natural resources, which is about as far from the teachings of that radical Jewish carpenter from Nazareth as you can possibly get.”
***
“Another reason cited by many people who are now unaffiliated is the belief that many religions are partly true but no single religion is completely true. Fewer people, however, say they became unaffiliated because they think modern science proves that religion is just superstition, indicating that the belief that science disproves religion is a less important reason for becoming unaffiliated than disenchantment with religious people or institutions. At the same time that the ranks of the unaffiliated have grown, the Landscape Survey also revealed that the unaffiliated have one of the lowest retention rates of any of the major religious groups, with most people who were raised unaffiliated now belonging to one religion or another.”
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That’s a well-founded fear. To paraphrase something you wrote earlier, kinda hard to get around at the university level.
RightOFLeft on April 28, 2009 at 1:46 AM
I understand you believe what is written in the Bible, and question what people have said and do say. This is the path you have taken to find and practice your faith.
I walked a different path. I read the Bible and many other writings. I listen to many voices. And throughout this, I am guided by my personal and direct experience of God.
Miracles are difficult things. Even when witnessed by many, they can be denied. However, if you have been blessed by a miracle, there simply is no doubt about it.
Loxodonta on April 28, 2009 at 1:46 AM
heh. I actually feel guilty.
RightOFLeft on April 28, 2009 at 1:48 AM
Whoever taught you understatement, did a very good job.
Loxodonta on April 28, 2009 at 1:49 AM
Look, I don’t care what private universities (not getting government funding) do.
I think that, if we are going to have public universities, then at the very least the faculty should be better balanced in their beliefs. Further, we should cut funding to the ridiculous programs that are out there. Professors should be punished for religious/political persecution (against their students). And courses that discuss “controversial” topics, should probably just be, well, seminars without grades. These wouldn’t be as hard to implement as the policy of “non-opinion” courses.
Upstater85 on April 28, 2009 at 1:52 AM
My parents?
Actually, they think I’m too cynical…
Upstater85 on April 28, 2009 at 1:53 AM
Let’s sell them off. The structure might actually be of some use if we could figure out a way to apportion tax refunds to citizens with children so that they could actually facilitate a supply of excellence in education with their high demand.
Saltysam on April 28, 2009 at 1:54 AM
I will vote for the politician that supports this… Anyone that would support this would never enslave America like Obama.
Upstater85 on April 28, 2009 at 1:55 AM
I don’t believe in atheists. They can’t possibly exist it just isn’t logical or provable. Secretly they believe and they can’t prove to me they don’t.
I do understand being disillusioned by religion… if your faith is based on fallible humans and not on God.
I have never doubted the reality of God and have never been disappointed in the results of my faith. I know in whom I trust. He is worthy of my trust.
petunia on April 28, 2009 at 1:57 AM
I am fortunate to have survived events that would have distressed Alfred Hitchcock. Perhaps it is for this reason that I do not wish Hell on anyone.
That is a lovely statement. God is open to receiving all. However, my sense is that Hell is not empty, but those who dwell there do so by their own choice and free will.
Loxodonta on April 28, 2009 at 2:02 AM
So much of the conservative premise on policy would be voted for if the general public wasn’t bombarded with “don’t think” pop-culture propaganda.
The problem that the conservative message has is, in most cases, it requires a cerebral discussion.
There may come a day when we need only to wave the aggregate results of Carter-Obama in the public’s face for them to, similar to Pavlov’s dog, cling like iron filings to the Magnet of Conservative Ideas.
Saltysam on April 28, 2009 at 2:03 AM
I have HOPE that this day is coming … I just hope it isn’t 8 years later.
Upstater85 on April 28, 2009 at 2:05 AM
But today, for the predominant culture of the MSM, academia, and the entertainment industry, the slightest mention of conservative values, is like yelling “Blücher!” in a crowded stable.
Blücher!
Loxodonta on April 28, 2009 at 2:08 AM
OK, I must go to bed or else I am going to be quite grumpy in a few hours.
Long live the Dead, Unmoving Constitution!
AND, atheists should be allowed to adopt baby whales.
Upstater85 on April 28, 2009 at 2:09 AM
Private Universities get to do whatever they want, sure. My own fault for being imprecise. I meant public schools.
Teachers aren’t being persecuted for their religious beliefs. They’re being persectuted for their professional opinions, and that’s unavoidable. It can be hard to tell the difference between a crackpot theory and an revolutionary idea. In particular, science has been the best at differentiating between the two over the long run. It doesn’t make any sense to give Christians special protection from the professional ridicule that unorthodox theories invite.
RightOFLeft on April 28, 2009 at 2:11 AM
If you keep up with this hope stuff, I’m going to tell your parents.
Loxodonta on April 28, 2009 at 2:11 AM
God, save the Constitution!
Saltysam on April 28, 2009 at 2:15 AM
“but those who dwell there do so by their own choice and free will.”
That certainly echoes the interpretations of CS Lewis and (best I can tell) Desiderius Erasmus.
But the salient points, it seems to me, are first of all, in the comprehensiveness and completeness of the salvific act of Jesus – which is to say, it’s all done.
And secondly, in the acknowledgement of the power of those acts to remove the human judgement factor: Hitler? Stalin? Pol Pot? Jeffrey Dahmer? Dick Cheney? Bill Ayers? Richard Dawkins? Rick Warren? Dalai Lama? Desmond Tutu?
Not our call. We’re all in the same boat. We’ve all been separated from God, and Jesus’ sacrifice puts all of us right with the Father — at least that’s how the story goes.
notropis on April 28, 2009 at 2:17 AM
Jeez! You get 10 athiests to appear and the Times reports like it was the million [10 thousand actually] man march.
DannoJyd on April 28, 2009 at 2:20 AM
:-)
Just remember, most people are conservative. They just don’t know it.
They are denying their inner conservative, from a combination of social and mental confusion.
There will be a reawakening.
Saltysam on April 28, 2009 at 2:24 AM
Boats come in many different shapes and sizes, and with many different means of propulsion, and they can go in any direction, even by flying and beneath the surface.
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An Angel writing in a book of gold:
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said,
“What writest thou?” The Vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord
Answered, “The names of those who love the Lord.”
“And is mine one?” said Abou. “Nay, not so,”
Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still; and said, “I pray thee, then,
Write me as one who loves his fellow men.”
The Angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And, lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest!
– James Henry Leigh Hunt
No matter the boat, water is water.
Loxodonta on April 28, 2009 at 2:27 AM
I like that.
Good night.
Peace be with you all.
Saltysam on April 28, 2009 at 2:30 AM
I vigorously agree with you.
Loxodonta on April 28, 2009 at 2:33 AM
And may peace be with you. Take good care of yourself.
Loxodonta on April 28, 2009 at 2:36 AM
For so much “science” being taught in schools, there is a phenomenon that is pervading our culture that disturbs me.
I see too many people rejecting religion and clinging to science as their holy grail, yet they have no ability to apply mathematics and engineering in the real world and simply rely on faith for their “scientific”….”beliefs”.
I see it too much, and it is frightening.
Saltysam on April 28, 2009 at 2:40 AM
:-)
Thank you, and good night.
This time, for real!
Saltysam on April 28, 2009 at 2:41 AM
Atheists and gays best have their fun now because once the Muslims get control……
Goodale on April 28, 2009 at 2:44 AM
Man, I miss Hot Air.
Veritas on April 28, 2009 at 3:06 AM
Atheist desire a world free of superstition and myth.
They feel that the religious have had their way far too long and in the 21st century we know an awful lot about actual reality as opposed to what they perceive as living in a fantasy land.
But humans are too chicken to die so an afterlife was invented not only to comfort but as a way to control them as well. The promise of salvation is an easy sell to non critical thinkers and the gullible will convince themselves of anything.
All the evidence points to a naturalistic universe with absolutely none for a supernatural one. Remember, evidence is required from the ones making the claims and not from the ones who don’t. All sorts of silly things you can’t disprove but that isn’t evidence that they might be true.
In other words faith is a religious opinion and not fact.
Just because there are deep mysteries doesn’t give anyone free license to invent an explanation without evidence or a solid testable scientific hypothesis.
You cannot make reality subservient to satisfy an emotional need no matter how much you’d like to.
A will always be A.
Humans are animals-primates-and you need a living active brain to support a thought.
Out of an estimated 70+ billion people who have lived and died throughout history not a single one was brain dead and came back to tell the tale. None.
Near death experiences don’t count because you’re still alive albeit barely and will imagine anything in a dream like state.
Braindroppings on April 28, 2009 at 3:07 AM
Well, that’s pretty much it in a nutshell. Case closed.
MB4 on April 28, 2009 at 3:34 AM
God Bless You All………..
Seven Percent Solution on April 28, 2009 at 4:26 AM
“You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?”
- Jesus Christ
I thought I already warned you how woefully ignorant you sound when it comes to actual knowledge of religion? Here’s a tip for future study: God didn’t write the Hallmark cards you confuse for Scripture, moron.
TMK on April 28, 2009 at 5:12 AM
I think it is funny that a lot of atheists are drawn to Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings series. Genres with advanced people, “forces”, supernatural powers and superior beings. It’s not a statement of anything, just interesting.
Cindy Munford on April 28, 2009 at 6:14 AM
Whenever I see or hear discussion of atheists, disenchantment with religious institutions, and “unaffiliation,” I am reminded of this South Park episode: Go God Go XII
misslizzi on April 28, 2009 at 6:42 AM
Why do atheists spend so much time and energy trying to disprove something that they don’t even believe exists?
mountainmanbob on April 28, 2009 at 7:31 AM
Braindroppings: Since you’re so advanced in your knowledge, feel free to give us the reasoning and scientific cause for sentience? Oops. Keep believing in your faith, my friend.
‘
I find it amazing some leverage science by weighing it against simple math. Head up to the mountains my friend and look around and see the beauty of God’s work.
‘
Perhaps like others you’ll get an epiphany and realize that God isn’t about fighting the man or trying to prove you are better than others who think differently regarding the mysteries of faith, it’s about comprehending why we are here, the fact we have souls, and most especially living our lives by the Golden Rule, and not survival of the fittest.
crscott on April 28, 2009 at 7:35 AM
All you need to know to settle this:
Bacon exists, therefore…
hillbillyjim on April 28, 2009 at 7:51 AM
According to the Christian scriptures Jesus Christ claimed that hell was a very real place and was filled with people who got their by virtue of their own actions.
doriangrey on April 28, 2009 at 7:59 AM
So the unaffiliated must be slipping, and in danger of disappearing.
/sarc
They may claim to objectively evaluate God’s existence, but is just a pretext to cover major ethical failures on their part.
Rather than admit their guilt and failure, they tear down views that expose their inadequate lives.
It is difficult to project a confident worldview that opposes a righteous and holy God, so they increase their efforts. Admitting failure is not an option for these failures.
Right_of_Attila on April 28, 2009 at 7:59 AM
So, in other words, they feel a little guilty about leaving their faith but, they don’t want to go back either because they can’t stand the thought that they are going to have to answer to a higher power.
boomer on April 28, 2009 at 8:18 AM
I think if GM receives any government subsidy, it’s only natural that the White House determines salaries of everyone there. After all, the government owns them.
radiofreevillage on April 28, 2009 at 8:48 AM
Just because there are deep mysteries doesn’t give anyone free license to invent an explanation without evidence or a solid testable scientific hypothesis.
Braindroppings on April 28, 2009 at 3:07 AM
FACT: Jesus Christ lived. Not one reputable historian doubts this fact.
FACT: Jesus Christ died on a public cross with witnesses.
FACT: Jesus Christ was buried in a public tomb.
FACT: Jesus Christ’s tomb was sealed by official seal, not to be violated.
FACT: Breaking an official seal required investigation, and the death of anyone who broke it without authority.
FACT: Jesus Christ’s tomb was guarded by soldiers (Roman or Temple)
FACT: The penalty for Roman soldiers sleeping on guard duty, was death.
FACT: The penalty for temple soldiers sleeping on guard duty was to be burned alive in your raiment (clothing of office).
FACT: All of this was predicted in the writings of Isaiah, Zechariah, and other Old Testament prophets.
FACT: The Dead Sea scrolls contained Old Testament writings (especially Isaiah), and were carbon-dated over a hundred years before Christ lived.
FACT: The Dead Sea scrolls were compared against modern Biblical translations… and the translations were found to be over 97% accurate, with the other 3% being minor grammatical differences that did not change the meaning of the scripture.
FACT: After the crucifixion, the apostles were scattered and in fear for their life. After the reported resurrection, they went forth and preached boldly. And even though all underwent extraordinary persecution (all but John were reported tortured to death), they refused to recant their testimony.
FACT: Women were considered unequal to men in the culture of that day. For it to be reported that women found the tomb is extraordinary… and not what would be in a made up story.
FACT: Fragments of New Testament exist that have been carbon-dated to within 30 years of Christ’s death… but were found hundreds of miles from Jersualem.
FACT: The Bible reports multiple instances of appearances by Christ after being crucified to death in public, buried in a public tomb, with guards. One time, Christ appeared to over 500 men who were together in one gathering.
FACT: Paul references these witnesses and points out “you were there… you witnessed… you know these things… tell me if I’m wrong.” (This is called peer review, and is performed every day in scientific journals.)
FACT: No one, during that time, ever disputed that Christ died, that his body was gone. All they had to do to kill Christianity, was produce the body… buried in a public tomb, guarded by soldiers under pain of death. AND THEY NEVER DID.
FACT: Thousands of Christians are documented as dying willingly for their beliefs, rather than recant or worship the gods of others… within a decade of the reported resurrection… indicating that many were witnesses, or personally knew a witness, to His resurrection.
FACT: It is statistically impossible for one person to fulfill all the prophesies concerning Christ (remember the Dead Sea scrolls?) by random chance. EIGHT prophesies alone dictate the location and date (within a few years) of his birth.
FACT: Rulers names and dates, recorded in the Bible surrounding Christ’s birth and death, have been corroborated with archeological evidence.
FACT: Crucifixion as a means of execution was only practiced for a few decades around the time of Christ… and was doubted by some skeptics for years… until proof of crucifixion was found by archeologists.
FACT: The Roman historian Tacitus tried to later explain away the Darkness of the crucifixion by claiming it was a solar eclipse. The fact he tried to explain it as an eclipse meant that it was well known that it wasn’t a normal darkness. Unfortunately for Tacitus, the crucifixion occurred just before Passover, which occurs at a new moon… which means the moon was on the opposite side of the earth than where it needed to be for a solar eclipse.
I have given solid historical and archeological evidence for just a few things concerning my faith.
Please explain why you brush away, and ignore, known facts concerning Christianity. Have you actually looked? Or are you just a fool, pretending to be wise because to do otherwise is an inconvenient truth?
dominigan on April 28, 2009 at 8:58 AM
Exactly. As christians we can debate what the essence of hell really is (ie. how literal should we take the biblical imagery). What’s not debatable is that it is a real state of existence and that MANY are there.
“Enter by the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it.” (Words of Jesus from Matthew 7:15-16)
frank63 on April 28, 2009 at 9:23 AM
actually all the evidence points to a DESIGNED universe…ever hear of the anthropic principle? the only alternative is the multiverse, which is science fiction.
and evolution is nothing more than an atheist fairy tale, of that faith of atheism.
right4life on April 28, 2009 at 9:29 AM
Debating him will be difficult… a random collection of cells, brought together by random chance, molded by random mutations, acting on animal impulses, with a brain formed randomly, and firing random electrical impulses, randomly storing half-hazard collections of chaotic events…
And yet he wants to debate logically.
How is it even possible for him to form one coherent thought from all that random chaos… unless he first approaches it from a logical, designed universe…
…and agrees with us.
dominigan on April 28, 2009 at 9:40 AM
Braindroppings suppose you were out in the wilderness and you found an electronic device on the ground, say an Ipod. No people around for hundreds of miles. No footprints. You assume without doubt that a human being put that device together. You assume that at one time a person was in that very spot and dropped their Ipod, even though it’s someone you have never seen. I’m sure you’ll say that everyone knows that Ipods don’t created themselves yet you have never seen an Ipod assembled so how can you say for sure that’s what happened? There is zero physical proof for your belief that the Ipod was assembled by a person, yet you believe it without doubt. Why? Because you are inferring a designer based on design. It’s no different with God. Your belief that the Ipod is humanly designed is just as much as act of faith as a religious believer’s faith in God.
frank63 on April 28, 2009 at 9:43 AM
God didn’t write your Scripture either.
Speakup on April 28, 2009 at 10:05 AM
I like the sci-fi, advanced technology, and swashbuckling aspects, but I laugh at the hokey religions and motley crew of super-beings.
Count to 10 on April 28, 2009 at 10:08 AM
The anthropic principle uses the concept of “multiverse”, genius, and, far from being mere “science fiction”, there are multiple compelling ways to arrive at the concept.
Please examine your thought process for signs of projection.
Count to 10 on April 28, 2009 at 10:12 AM
oh please, its pure conjecture, nothing more. its ‘compelling’ because the alternative, God, is unthinkable to you atheists…
right4life on April 28, 2009 at 10:14 AM
Alternate explanation: Paul made it all up, using Jewish scripture as his guide, and all claims stem from the story he spread around. Gee, that was simple.
Count to 10 on April 28, 2009 at 10:17 AM
good point!
right4life on April 28, 2009 at 10:20 AM
yeah israel is a nation, as the bible foretold, iran and russia are allied, as the bible predicted, and iran is israel’s primary enemy…its all ‘coincidence’
right4life on April 28, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Quantum mechanics: that the wave function might not actually collapse, but rather the decoherance propagates, would imply all possibility happening simultaneously, thus multiverse.
Inflation: general versions of an inflating universe will have the inflation going on indefinitely with spots here and there that fall out and re-heat into something like our universe, thus a spacial multiverse.
Beyond that, yah, we get into things that are increasingly speculative, but still extrapolations from the observed universe.
Count to 10 on April 28, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Amen!!! One cannot live on a borrowed revelation.
Queen0fCups on April 28, 2009 at 10:24 AM
And I supose you must be enthralled with all of the accurate predictions of Nostradamus, too. It’s all in the interpretation of vague lines, and language translations make it all too easy.
Count to 10 on April 28, 2009 at 10:25 AM
you mean like the finch of a beak changes sizes in generations, so we can infer that everything evolved….
right4life on April 28, 2009 at 10:26 AM
uh yeah, I’ve thought for decades, that the US would abandon israel, based on those prophecies…and now its happening…
and the nations have NEVER been aligned like this before…and somehow Ezekiel just guessed…ok…
right4life on April 28, 2009 at 10:28 AM
To those of you that think God is a myth:
You would have benefited from a tour in my unit in Iraq. You would have benefited from having the cherry sniped off of YOUR cigarette.
The fact that a frightened, skinny, teen-aged little IT guru made it out of Iraq alive with just a few scratches after serving the first within the first 100 days of the war is proof of God’s existence.
And I’m not a naive or unintelligent. Nor am I the least skeptical person.
leetpriest on April 28, 2009 at 10:29 AM
If changes can happen and be passed down, evolution is inevitable.
Of course, that doesn’t mean it happened. I mean, the world could have come into existence yesterday.
Count to 10 on April 28, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Because people walk in the light they are given and cannot live on a borrowed revelation – all that you wrote, while I agree with it, does not make sense to those who cannot see it. Think about Saul/Paul he could not see until he did. Faith is a gift from God – He is the author and finisher of our faith.
Queen0fCups on April 28, 2009 at 10:31 AM
evolution is all in all, praise darwin!
right4life on April 28, 2009 at 10:33 AM
Ah, come on. Your chances of surviving Iraq were much better than your chances of dying there, and you know it.
Thanks for your service, though, and I mean that.
Count to 10 on April 28, 2009 at 10:33 AM
It wasn’t exactly the cakewalk the media made it out to be around the first few months. We didn’t have the money like we do now for IBA and better Kevlar helmets.
leetpriest on April 28, 2009 at 10:38 AM
I don’t imagine it was a cakewalk by any means.
I’m just saying the casualty rate wasn’t anywhere near %50.
Count to 10 on April 28, 2009 at 10:40 AM
In no way shape form or fashion does any calculation of percent casualty rate detract or demean the incredible sacrifice and contribution by every service person every minute of every day 24 hours a day that we may sleep well and deep each of those minutes and each of those days.
Speakup on April 28, 2009 at 10:54 AM
In deed.
But it is hardly miraculous that one survives an experience were survival is the norm, not the exception.
Count to 10 on April 28, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Which of the biblical prophecies are you referring to as vague?
spmat on April 28, 2009 at 11:35 AM
The 4200 plus US casualties is hardly miraculous, however discounting the sacrifice with percentages falls far behind in priority any discussion of personal belief.
Eating the same dirt sandwiches long enough has an amazing ability to mitigate race, age, belief or anything else other than the intense focus on getting the job done and getting out alive.
Speakup on April 28, 2009 at 11:43 AM
Man, I miss Hot Air. You know, the one wherein it wasn’t necessary for the staff to act like trolls.
Veritas on April 28, 2009 at 12:10 PM
Badger40 on April 28, 2009 at 12:21 PM
Great post Braindroppings. Organized religion is a racket designed to dupe, take advantage of and control ignorant and superstitious lemmings such as right4.
dakine on April 28, 2009 at 12:49 PM
we’ll see how has the last laugh…loser…we’ll see if your hairygod darwin can save you!!!
right4life on April 28, 2009 at 1:45 PM
How very Christian of you • Pope Stephen VI • Pope John XII • Pope Benedict IX • Pope Boniface VIII • Pope Urban VI • Pope Alexander VI Borja• Pope Leo X • Pope Clement VII, would be so proud.
Speakup on April 28, 2009 at 5:33 PM
Good evening!
You know, the fact that you jab right4life with that observation deems a Christian someone holding to a higher standard. It stings when a non-believer uses that form of rebuke, but I like it because non-believers and believers know it isn’t Christian behavior to be mean-spirited.
This is why very few (if any) Christians stood with Hot Air posters like St. Olaf. We (and you) knew he was all about himself–not Christ.
Skidd on April 28, 2009 at 8:41 PM
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