How about this Proposition?

You know I have written much about Rapture Ready and end-times-believing Christians in the past. They all believe it so firmly that no amount of reality will ever sway them. Their dishonesty in their very own writings and beliefs can never be changed. They all have their eyes to the sky looking for Jesus to return at any moment.

Then there are other Christians out there looking to make a few buck off these gullible people. Take for example the website You've been left behind.

I think that maybe I should into this racket as well. I mean that as an atheist, I will most certainly be left behind, and I will most certainly be able to send out emails and actively work with recipients of these emails. That is more than I can say for the staff of that other website. They will all be gone and cannot offer the personal services that I can, being as I will still be around after the rapture.

So what do you think? Should I go for it? I will even go so far as to offer cut-rate prices at half of what that other left behind site offers. Or should I just offer my services as a post-Rapture contractor (with the obvious pre-Rapture fees) to an already established firm?

God, Satan and Armageddon

I freely admit that there are many varying doctrines of Christian belief. The more fundamentalist and literal-minded they are, the more silly, and easily refuted. Thus it is not within the scope of this blog to debate the more liberal or figurative flavors of Christianity, merely because they require more in-depth argumentation and much more nuance. (It is easier to refute any and all known versions of "God" as being nonsensical.) So I stick with the straightforward fundie Christians. With that in mind, here is one lone paragraph from Joseph Chambers of Rapture Ready; "Hell is rehearsing for Armageddon." (Note, I really have no use for the rest of his essay, for it is absurd. This is the one single idea that really has any impact on Christianity in a general sense, the rest is cultist uber-belief .)

The entire “One World Government” and “One World Religion” that Satan will promote and control is his grand scheme to create such a world power and spiritual (evil) force that he can finally succeed in defeating God and take his seat as the “Supreme Authority.” You may say it is crazy to believe that Satan is expecting to win. How can you read his grand design for world control, economic mastery (by his controlling all buying and selling), and the entire religious harlotry of Biblical prophecy, and not believe Satan plans to win? Satan is preparing the ultimate effort to remove God from His throne, to defeat the Lord Jesus as the Savior of men and to defile the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit of Holiness. Believe the Word of God; Satan will lose.

I guess the most obvious is this, why would any supernatural being be obsessed with material things like wealth and power? It makes no sense whatsoever. Seriously, just look at how the supernatural is described by Christians. It is the realm of miracles, a total nonvalue of the material, timeless infinity, no cause and effect, unlimited pure knowledge and power beyond everything in the material realm. I would also add that the supernatural is wholly unaffected by the laws of physics or even nature as a whole.

So his own realm why then, would a supernatural being care in the least for the riches and materialisticness of the real world? Why would Satan care about money, gold, or wealth. For in

his own realm he can generate, out of nothing, an infinitely larger amount of gold and diamonds and money, etc.

The obvious answer is that Satan does this to entice us humans over to him with dreams of wealth untold. But just how realistic is that? Why the need to accumulate natural supplies of gold when miracles can produce so much more?

Now we've pondered the obvious, now let us consider the less obvious. why would Satan want to control this world? It is material, natural, after all. The Bible says that this world will not last forever, only the supernatural realm lasts forever, so why would Satan want to limit himself to something that is quite temporary? If his battle is against God, then this makes no sense whatsoever. In analogy, it would be like an enemy commander saying to his troops and the superior battle force, that he has no intention of winning the war, all he wants is to win some small, insignificant battle which in repect to the entire war is utterly meaningless. This is true because no matter how you slice Christianity, it teaches that this natural material realm is utterly meaningless in the scope of the Godly supernatural realm. Just look at these New Testament passages:
"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" [Col 3:2 NIV]
"There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another" [1 Cor 15:40 NIV]
"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands" [2 Cor 5:1 NIV]
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." [2 Cor 4:18 NIV]
"those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away" [1 Cor 7:31 NIV]

All of this really has to do with this passage, quite possibly my favorite:

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? [1 Cor 1:20 NIV]

And yet it is the foolish knowledge of this world that has made everyone as happy and prosperous as we are. Cell phones, microwaves, medicine, medicine, medicine, and can I also mention medical technology... All foolish knowledge in God's realm.

And in Satan's realm as well, since it is all in passing. I guess the really foolish are those who buy into this nonsense of God and his arch-nemesis, the devil.

And Now for Something Really Surprising

Get this! I actually agree with something written over at Rapture Ready.

Ron Graham pens a tangential critique of some book I will never read because it says something so dumb that reading it will not add one useful bit of knowledge. That is where we agree.

Ron and I agree that evangelism is not dead. Evangelism will exist as long as there are living Christians.

But as for the rest of his post... Well need I really comment?

Enjoy for yourselves.

A New Perspective on an Old Meme

As you may well know, I am fascinated by Christian thought, rationalization, and theology. I read as much as I can, given my resources (of course). I generally prefer reading and learning about the more popular Christian sources -- in spite of the fact that I write about the more, shall we say, extremist, sources. Very rarely do I ever write about, say, liberal Christian views or theology.

There is a reason for that. It is not really interesting. The differences between liberal Christianity and secularism is almost undetectable. The only difference being the source of the supernatural (or lack thereof). Morality and life-views are almost identical outside of this mysterious supernatural realm. Giving liberal Christians, or even lapse Christians a pass is hardly difficult to fathom. They view the real world much as agnostics and atheists do: It is all up to us to make our lives better; some magical fairy sky-god isn't going to do all our work for us.

Which leads me to this abrupt realization. I, throughout all my reading journeys, have never come across something so stark and so startling as this statement:

Many religions describe many different gods. Buddhism has Buddha and other gods; Islam has Allah; Hinduism has 300 million different gods from which to choose; and while Judaism’s god seems very similar to the Biblical version, Judaism’s god is one that requires little faith and lots of works. Any god that is different than God Himself is a false god, and there are many in the world today. [emphasis mine]

In other words, there is no Judeo-Christian God. There is a Jewish god and the one, true, Christian God. The two are not the same.

I just wonder if the god of the epistle writer, James, is not the one true God either...

18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? [James 2:18-22 NKJV]

James seems to be saying that gobs of faith (as was shown by Abraham) and lots of works. But then again James only wrote one minor epistle in the New Testament, so he can be ignored.

Oh and the source of that quote? Jason Lovelace in his piece, "The False Gods of this World" over at Rapture Ready.

Would it be bad of me to remember this and pull it out any time some Christian mentions "Judeo-Christian God" or uses the Jewish (i.e. Old Testament) bible as proof that Jesus is part of some trinity of gods which includes said Jewish "God"?

Rapture Ready pt II -- Heathen Rapture Debunked

In my last post, I identified a two part series of posts by Wilfred Hahn over at Rapture Ready. I will focus on part II in this post. We have already seen how he ignores fact and reality to twist current world events into "proof" that rapture is imminent. Only he showed that in reality it is nothing more than a self-generated series of events that have no relation to anything supernatural -- i.e. God. In spite of this plain and simple fact, he proceded to expound on his thesis that somehow, someway, nonChristians can see these events and recognize that the coming of Jesus is indeed a certainty in short order. In his opening paragraphs of part II he writes:

Therefore, the simple question we pose is this: If Christians, who supposedly possess the Bible and therefore are without excuse to hear what God says and means, would at least non-Christians have a legitimate excuse for their blindness? The Bible answers this question clearly in the negative. Unbelieving humanity will have no excuse.
While Christians also “have the word of the prophets made more certain” (2 Peter 1:19) the entire rest of the world still remains without excuse. This indictment is even more valid today. Why? The first verified appearance of the prophesied Christ has already occurred. If He “[…] had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.“ (John 15:22) Moreover, God “has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17:31)

Any time a fundamentalist Christian uses a Bible quote in their argument, I know that I can easily defeat their argument. For there is not one single quote in the entire Bible that proves anything at all. even the moralistic quotes only show that the Bible writers were aware of moral tenets that others had also learned through non-God-revalatory methods (trial and error). But lets look at this passage from Wilfred.

The first verified appearance of the prophesied Christ has already occurred. If He “[…] had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.“ (John 15:22)
Well then, wouldn't we all be better off if we had never heard anything of God, Jesus or his message, because then we would be free of all guilt! But we know that is false. Even the Bible denies this. For look at the very first book of the Bible. The story of Noah should be enough to prove this false. Innocents who had never heard of God were all summarily killed off, even animals. So this is a lie. It is certainly not a good start to convince non-Christians of the accuracy and supremacy of the Bible. and if this blatant falsehood is protrayed as proof of Jesus, then there is no reason to believe at all. (or maybe telling lies is how proof is given; See Paul in his epistles to the Romans, "For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?" [Romans 3:7 NKJV] )

Moreover, God “has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17:31)
Excuse me, but no proof of anything is not the same as proof of something. Prove that Jesus was raised from the dead first. That is a pretty extraordinary claim, and somebody merely saying it happened is not enough. If it were, then all Christians should be Mormons, since the claim of Joseph Smith should be enough proof that it really happened (The visit by the angel Moroni). Besides we have already seen that the founding Christians, like Paul, were willing to lie to further their evangelical goals, so how can we take a statement by another "Paul" as truth, if it is established that they lie?

So let us continue and examine just what the next five end-times signs Wilfred has lined up to prove to us heathens that the rapture is real.

6. World Energy Supplies

At first you may wonder just what our world energy supplies has to do with rapture and the Bible.. That is an easy one to answer; nothing at all. But, as I am sure you could have guessed by now, the obvious is not what Wilfred wants to discuss:

In recent times, energy prices have been soaring. What could this have to do with the endtimes? It certainly speaks of an eventual end at least of one type — the end of the Oil Age. Our secular observer of this development — whether an energy expert or geopolitical strategist — would agree that oil assuredly will run out some day based upon present-day trends. Moreover, they will also surmise that this will have a destabilizing effect upon the world. But, from the evidence, could they also conclude something more apocalyptic even without reading the Bible?

The answer to his question is: No. Of course everyone agrees that oil will run out. It is a finite quantity after all. But science and almost everyone who is not an insane conservative also knows that new alternatives to oil are possible and should be researched. Science wants to solve the Oil problem -- the energy problem -- by finding new sources of energy, but that requires money. Liberals and heathens want to give them this money, conservatives want to invest in finding new places to drill for oil. ANWR anyone? So no, there is no evidence of "something apocalyptic" coming in terms of energy except that Cheney and Republicans do not want to change from oil. So the problem is the stubbornness of conservatives, not the supply of energy. So, again, conservatives cause the problem and then these end-of-the-world religious nutjobs claim this means something that it does not. What they fail to realize isthat they are only setting up a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Consider these facts: Roughly three-quarters of world oil reserves are found in countries that are either predominantly Islamic or members of the 57-country member Organization of the Islamic Conference. Muslim nations have 3.4 times as much oil per person than the world average and almost 7.7 times as much as major Christian nations — what I call the Top-10-X countries

So what? Oil is found in a region that has also traditionally been Islamic. Let's see what Wilfred says:

These facts and many improbable others relating to the world’s hydrocarbon situation today, beg incredulity and statistical probabilities. Observing all of these improbable facts (For a full list of more than 20, please see the article series in Midnight Call, Final Combustion: Oil, Islam and the Christian West — April to July 2006), a geopolitical analyst today would be alerted to a cosmic time plan that is indeed headed for a flash point.

Improbable? How is it improbable that a valuable resource winds up being discovered in a region that nothing else at all to offer -- thus making that region poor and backward. I would counter with the example of diamonds in South Africa. That region contains many resources other than diamonds, and yet it is still poor. The injection of diamond wealth still did not affect the overall population. And their predominant religion? Christianity. So Wilfred is just chasing a logical fallacy here, trying to equivocate two unrelated facts into one cause and effect.

And that "cosmic time plan"? Well it seems to be that nothing here on earth in terms of resources is infinite and will run out. It is up to humans to either conserve that resource or find alternatives to it when it runs out. Wilfred is an idiot.

7. Populations and Pensions

Can I just skip this with merely the observation that Wilfred is an idiot? No? Ok. I guess it is true that ad hominins do not suffice as logical argument. So the world's population is growing. I can only reiterate that all the world's resources are limited, not just oil. Food and land are limited as well. But increasing the world's population is solely within the religious doctrine of conservative Christianity. Abortion and contraception are bad things to them. They are the ones pushing for a larger population. The problem is of their making. But guess who has the solutions? That's right, the non-Christian heathens, the liberals, and science.

But the obvoius is not where Wilfred goes:

What kind of crisis is expected? Not a population explosion as has been feared in recent decades, but rather an implosion. Where it once was feared that the world would soon be overburdened by too many people, world population growth has since slowed dramatically from the peak rates of the 1960s. Demographic experts are already predicting that the world’s population may actually decline 25 to 50 years from now. Crucially, world population trends have moved from one extreme to another in less than one century — a relatively short span on the human timeline.

What?? I don't know what dope this guy is smoking but I want some. We have added almost a billion people since 2000. And what experts are predicting a decline? All I can find is that there are some who think that we have already overtaxed our resources and thus we cannot sustain our current population. But that is an unproven hypothesis. Other --equally as valid -- experts say that the earth can sustain a human population of 10 billion if our resources are properly managed. The problem with their estimate is that it requires liberal leaders willing to exploit new ideas and new resources instead of conservatives who want the same ol' same ol'.

As it stands today, all our problems are fixable, but only if a new, progressive, leadership is in place to push for it. The environment will not survive if tired old conservative ideals are continued. The oceans, our energy, our farmland all will collapse unless new ideas are used. So the conservatives that Christians push to lead us are the source of the problem facing us all as a population. This means Christianity is the problem, not the actual sustainability of our planet. (I realize I am oversimplifying here, it is religion in general, in other regions of the world the religion for the same attitudes is different, but the general attitudes proffered by religion is the same no matter what the religion or where it is.)

8. Geopolitics and Human Conflict

Ah yes, the war and complete nuclear annhilihation argument. We certainly have that power now in this point of human history. It would also be nice if we had cooler heads prevailing when it comes to war. But as always it is the ultra-conservatives who push for war. Liberals always are on the side of peace. Haven't we had this argument now here in the U.S. since 2003 when Bush and his hawks invaded Iraq? I can only guess that Wilfred was hibernating in his religious cavern during this time.

To some, it appears certain that it will be “religious fundamentalism” that brings the world to this state. Or, it could simply be the warlike characteristic of man in an age of advanced weaponry and geopolitics that must lead to such an outcome. Recently, comments about a possible World War III have been popularized in relation to Iran’s purported nuclear build-up. World wars are a modern invention, the first two of which have only occurred in the last 100 years. Whatever the case or the cause for a WW III, the secular analyst must conclude that it could soon hold dire implications for the world.

Well he has me there. I certainly think it will be religious extremism that ends us as a race. Be that religion Christianity or Islam it does not matter. Religion, as a whole, is the most likely source of our demise. That means religion is the evil among us. So how is this an argument for believing that religion is our savior?

Oh, and for what its worth, Wilfred is completely ignorant of actual world history. There have been a number of world wars before WWI and WWII. They just weren't labeled "world war". The Romans, the Huns, they were warring parties that engulfed the entire known world (at theor respective times) in war. Technology changed but that is about all.

9. Environmental Concerns

Haven't we already covered this many times? Does Wilfred not realize that these things are all intimately connected? Oh, that's right the "environment" to the right means nothing more than "glabal warming."

Is the earth wearing out? Despite the fact that there is a contested debate about global warming and various other environmental issues today, the Bible says that the world will run down. “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies.” (Isaiah 51:6) No matter that globalists might want to use such issues as global warming to further their humanist agenda, it is factual that the world is being indelibly changed in our day. Pollution has had an indisputable impact in many ways. Forests are disappearing at a rate that is not sustainable. Fish stocks in the world’s oceans are being gradually depleted. There are a large number of similar developments that are observable in the world, as the wearing out of a garment. Indeed, some effects can be reversed. But all the same, the logical analyst
would still be faced with this question: How long can such trends continue before deeper crises impact the world?

Whoa! What else if left for me to say. I could write something very similar to this to prove Wilfred wrong. "Humanist agenda." Yeah, that is the agenda where we humans want to protect and preserve our world and our environment so that it endures well beyond our own meager lifetimes. It is the religionist agenda that selfishly abuses every single resource we have with no thought for tomorrow or much less a century from now. It is the religionist agenda that craves war and conflict. It is the religionist agenda that sucks up all the wealth from every other sector of humanity. And in answer to Wilfred's question, those trends can only last until religion as a whole is dropped from the human collective. Then things can begin to improve. The end-times that Wilfred envisions is one solely and wholly created by religion. "Humanism" is the only rational and reasonable solution.
10. Technology Signs
One would expect that this would be a diatribe railing against all modern technology which has caused as much harm as good. But you would be wrong. In fact Wilfred goes in the exact opposite direction. His claim is that all our modern technology should be seen as showing even more proof that God created everything. How this fits in with his main thesis -- that these are the top ten things a heathen would recognize as being signs of the end-times is beyond me. This seems to prove the exact opposite..

But there is a paradox in all this. Consider that two thousand years ago Apostle Paul could write this: “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
If Paul at that time — pre-technology and pre-modern-science — could deduce that God must exist based upon knowledge about the physical universe known then, why not more so today? That should be the logical conclusion. Yet, modern man has taken the opposite posture. He chooses to worship mankind itself rather that the original Creator of all this know-how in the first place.

I think that today's known human knowledge shows the exact opposite of what he claims. The size and nature of the universe is the exact opposite of what the bible teaches. The age of the universe contradicts what the bible claims. And these are simply facts, we are not even considering the theories which arise from these facts.

Oh and just what knowledge of the universe did Paul possess? That the sun revolved around the earth, that the earth was flat, that the stars could fall to the earth, that demons caused disease and prayer could cure said disease. There is no knowledge at all in that which could be said to be useful in understanding the universe, or even God, for it was all wrong. If the knowledge used at that time to create a god was wrong then there could have been no god at all, if the knowledge we have today shows there is no god then this is not somehow tristed proof that there really is a god, as Wilfred claims.

From there he has a few closing comments. Here is one:

Christians have even less excuse. There are 2500-year old Bible prophecies that can only take place in an advanced technological age such as today. For example, the statement about the two witness that “for three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial” (Revelation 11:9) has obvious implications. This could only occur as of this last half-century — the era of communications satellites. What nation, language or kindred people’s today would not have access to the internet or television over a 3 and ½ day period?

Could there possibly be any more of a ridiculuous statement? The inclusion of three and a half days proves that the Bible writers knew of satellites and the internet? How absurd is that? I guess the fact that the known world at that time was all contained within a small area, and the other areas, Africa and Asia were considered off-limits and not-essential. (consider this statement regarding Paul: "Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia." Here is the quote in context: Acts 16:5-7 [New King James Version]. ) Ignoring huge chunks of the world certainly makes it a smaller place don't you think?

But even more importantly, look at that passage again. What does it have to do at all with all tribes knowing about all other tribes at all? What does it saying about knowing anything at all about everything going on in the world at all? It takes a warped mind to read the internet and satellite communication into that passage.

But I have to say this, and I cannot stress this strongly enough. I have to thank our good friend Wilfred. For he has proven to me that without a doubt Christian thought and the foundations of current Christian thought are fully without any merit or validity at all. Wilfred has done more to strengthen my disbelief than all the atheist writers I have read, combined.

Time To Pick on Rapture Ready Again

This is a post I'd been thinking about for a while. Rapture Ready has two articles up showing that even us heathens can recognize the signs of this imminent rapture by famed global economist/strategist, Wilfred J. Hahn. Here is part I and here is part II. In this series, he outlines ten points that even a heathen like me should be able to recognize as being the signs of Jesus' coming (I would have to agree with the Apostle Paul and say first coming -- but that is a different story).

This situation is really more incredible than it seems. Why? Because one doesn’t have to be a Bible-reading Christian to recognize that the world is heading for troubles and that many of today’s trends are simply not sustainable. If Christians stand accused of ignoring the Bible and obvious world trends and events today, would then a non-Christian have any excuse for ignorance? No.

At first I would have to say, "Well no duh!" Yes the world is headed for troubles. But I would ask the obvious question, who is causing those troubles? On the one hand it is conservative Christians causing all our problems here at home and our problems abroad. On the other hand it is conservative Muslims causing problems elsewhere. In any sense it is religion that is making this world a worse place. Even in the smaller sense of Hinduism and Islam in India and Pakistan, or the provokative message of peace of Buddhism. I would even say the philosophy of China, some sort of pseudo-religion of supremacy-of-state over the individual prefectly matches the message of all religions, albeit cloaked in some faux-atheism sheepskin.

Secondly, it seems patently obvious that these trends cannot be sustained. But again who is pushing to keep these trends going and who is trying to reverse them? Environmentalists want to reverse the unsustainable ewnvironmental damage we are doing to our planet. And guess who argues against global warming and other environmentally destructive things we are doing? If you said Christains you would be correct. Energy? Again it is the Christians who block the scientists efforts to move us forward towards a more responsible sustainable energy policy. War? Christians want it. Torture? Again Christians. And what about overpopulation? Oh, yeah, Christians say have more (white) babies, no abortions or same-sex marriages, no education for safe-sex, no contraception, no access to morning-after pills. No to Christians, more people and less food is good (it is also the christians who want this to be an "ownership society" where everyone owns their own home on a piece of land.. Just where is that land going to come from? Farms.. Farms.. Farmland.

Now I am not saying that we atheists and scientists are perfect and only provide the "right" answers, but one thing we always have done is to provide the solutions to the problems that have been created by distinctly religious sources.

This is only a thumbnail sketch of this "sustainability problem." To really look into it, we need to see what Wilfred identifies as the ten sustainability issues, and compare them to their sources, and the sources of their solutions. (oddly enough -- or should I say understandably enough -- he never identifies population and food supply as an issue. That is one I'd list as number one, religious wars being number two, and rich-centered energy supply as number three... But that's just me.)

He lists them in no particular order. While I find that particularly odd, I will run with it and respond one-by-one. His number one:

1. Skewing of Wealth Between Rich and Poor

That is certainly a valid concern. Oddly enough it seems to be a distinctly liberal issue. Liberals want to fight this skewing but conservatives want to broaden it. Again is it any shock that Christians who want to make this chasm wider are wildly conservative? Maybe we have an opening here to turn many Christians into bleeding-heart liberals so that this unsustainibility problem could be aleved.

Wilfred seems to concur:

Secular analysts would surely wonder where these trends are heading. At the present rate of this development, any one of two outcomes, or both, could occur — either a world controlled by small cabal of rich overlords or anarchy and societal breakdown. It would not be overstating the case to say that today’s wealth imbalances in the world exceed that during the late stages of the past Roman Empire. It is not a positive outlook.

That settles it, vote progressive and save the world from destruction!

2. Islam, Europe and the Catholic Church

Remove religion and things would improve. Funny how a fundie Christian and some lowly atheist like me are in total agreement. The money quote:

Some prophecy scholars in fact think that Islam will be part of a world-wide religious ecumenicism at some point in the future. This, however, seems unlikely. True Islam does not compromise and never has, other than for short-term advantage. In fact, Arabs (Islam, after all is an Arab religion) cannot even agree amongst themselves, a characteristic that the Bible itself documents.

Sound familiar? It you thought that the exact same thing could be said for Christianity then you get a point. Why are all Christians not Catholic?? Does not the Bible not also document that as well? Oh, and ask a fundamentalist Christian to compromise on same-sex marraige or abortion and see what answer you get. I think it is obvious at this point that ol' Wilfred has his head up his ass.

3. Materialism and Financial Pyramiding

Oh and I guess Christians, say all those who control gorvernment thanks to Bush and the Republicans, are not personally responsible for this? Isn't it liberals who want to spread the wealth (through "socialism") and conservatives who want an ownership society where each person keeps what they earn to detriment of all others (unless they default on their home loans, then those same conservatives want all other Americans no matter how poor to help them pay for their McMansions via a public bailout. The same goes for the bailout of Wall Street who made this happen.

But let's see what Wilfred has to say:

However, none of these factors are more vulnerable than the last two of the 5P list — Productivity and Pyramiding. These relate to the economic and financial explosion over this period, involving globalization, technology, the increasingly invasive role of money, and the unstable system of monetarism. It has created a lustrous, intoxicating apparition of wealth … albeit mostly false wealth. While the advance of technology itself likely will not be lost, the huge financial colossus that has emerged in recent years is extremely vulnerable to collapse. Even secular analysts can see this. One does not need the Bible to understand this, though the Scriptures surely are in line with this view. Given the greed, corruption and rapaciousness that are part of this trend, it is only a matter of time. In fact, this collapse may already have started. It can happen quickly and suddenly.

Again, tell me who is responsible for this? Ah, yes, conservative Republicans who are wholly supported by conservative Christians. Yes, they have created the very problems they now proclaim as proof of their vision. Talk about self-fulfilling prophecy. The money:

Actually, of all the 10 Endtime Signs for Heathens, this one is the most imminent. While it is possible that the world monetary authorities and governments can buy some time by way of temporary manipulations, it remains very possible that the worldwide financial problems that began to unravel as of July 2007 are in fact, the start of the deteriorating conditions that will culminate in the final disasters in the Tribulation period. The sad truth, however, is that while many non-Christian analysts can see the writing on the wall, a large part of North American Christianity remains deluded, clinging on to their prosperity theology and the idea that God will not judge the materialism and greed that are the very underpinnings of our society.

Has Wilfred actually sat down and read about who and what caused all this? Bush and Co are the root. But even before that it was the Newt Revolution contained within the "Contract with America" that was the root. All us heathens look at this and shake our heads and say to ourselves you guys (conservative Christians) caused all these problems, but don't you worry, for we progressives (and atheists included) will come up with solutions to all the problems you caused. For we want to save the world and all you guys want is to bring about its end so that you can (in your wildest desires) bring about the presence of your mythical sky-god.

4. Diseases, Pandemics, Biodiversity

Again, Conservative Christianity despises science because it includes evolution and other evidences that require proof. All science has its root in fact and theory, theory is built upon fact. Science offers the possibility to cure diseases. But religion and Christianity in particular puts up a huge barricade: Do not teach evolution, do not do research on stem cells. Do not go in the directions that the facts lead, if those facts lead away from God. Who is it that limits research dollars for science and medicine that could lead to cures? Oh yeah, conservative Republicans based on the opposition of fundamentalist Christians.

There are some disturbing developments that suggest that the advances of medicine with respect to germs and microbes may only be temporary. One of these is the emergence of the superbug — bacterium that have mutated to become resistant to multiple types of antibiotics. Infectious disease physicians are becoming increasingly alarmed that the development of new antibiotics will lose pace with this threat. They have good reason for their concerns. For one, pharmaceutical companies are falling behind in the development of new antibiotics. Secondly, antibiotic resistance spreads fast.

Can anyone say evolution? And who fights evolution? Oh that's right, conservative Christians. Science can stay ahead of the curve as long as science is not hampered by Christian dogma stating that evolution is not to be taught and science can only proceed if it is God-supporting. Maybe if religion kept its perverse worldview out of the purview of science, then sciece could continue to cure disease. But that will not happen as long as there are fundamentalist Christians out there protesting evolution and science discovery, if it may disprove their limited views of "God."

Ouch! This may be the most painful point Wilfred brings up:

5. Israel & Jews in the World

His point is totally muddied, but it seemsto be:

For one, it would have been noticed that for the first time in over 2500 years, the world’s largest population of Jews now live in Israel. That is a recent bellwether. Up until 2006 or so, the US held this distinction. (See Midnight Call issues of November and December 2007 for a broader discussion of this condition.) An understanding of probabilities and world history would further highlight the significance of Jewish developments in the world today. What people has ever been restored to their homeland after 2500 years? In fact, what people has ever survived that long with their identity intact once they have lost their country? What probabilities are defied by the fact that Hebrew, a language that fell out of common usage, would again become a spoken language?.

So just a quick question, why does the concentration of Jews in any part of the world, not just Israel, matter to anyone? How is that a distinctly secular concern? The only possible explanation I can come up with is another religious excuse. More Jews in Israel means more reason for Muslims to attack. But that is not secular at all, it is religious. If religion went by the wayside, then there would be no problem at all with this "Jewish buildup". Again, it is religion that is the source of the problem. And speaking of Jews and persecution, who is it that have killed more Jews... Oh yeah, Christians; Christians hate the Jews for "killing their God." P.S. Can I mention the "dead" language of Latin which has survived in both science and the Religion of Catholicism. Does that count??

We have covered the first five points that are to be found in part I of Wilfred bizarre screed. In my next post I will cover the second five points.

Oh -- and they do not get any better. Our friend Wilfred seems to prove that what passes for Christian thought is not that at all

The Genius of Talking Out One's Ass

Literally talking out one's ass requires a genius most of us mere mortals do not possess. That is controlling one's sphincter to "shape" the flow of air past the spincter into reconizable sounds, more commonly known as "words." Learning that talent can only be called genius. (Yet we see so many on the right who have perfected the art of talking out your ass, maybe the genius of it is today greatly diminished... If people like Malkin, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Hannity, Townhall.com, The Corner, LGF, Powerline, etc. can do it, then it can't be all that intellectual.)

But there is one unique form of talking out your ass that dominates. I see that you're way ahead of me here; yes its Christianity. The concept of Christianity is based on the principle of talking out your ass. So here we move from the literal (which requires genius) to the metaphorical (which requires nothing more than the ability to string a couple of words together into some meaningless sentences).

So here's the meat; the reason for writing this post:

Over at RaptureReady, Jack Kelley has an article up which defies all logic, and, coincidentally steps into an area in which I have spent years studying: the logic and structure of the New Testament. (For the record, I am not one of the emailers he discusses.)

The general thrust of his post is that there appears to be a disconnect between the gospels of Paul and the Jerusalem Apostles. (I wrote my book on this very subject.) But what interests me about his article is not that we have different interpretations of the texts of the Bible, but that he fails to see the glaring disconnect in what he does write. I will not critique his entire article, for I have already done that in my book, as his arguments are nothing new. He even admits as much.

So let us examine two excerpts and consider what they really are saying in terms of the value of Christianity as a "path to heaven."

First:

Was the doctrine of Grace unknown in Old Testament times? Over 1000 years before Paul began preaching, King David had this to say after sinning with
Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:1-2 & 16-17)

See how David makes no attempt to restore himself to righteousness through his own works. According to the Law both he and Bathsheba should have immediately been put to death. David humbled himself before God, confessed his sin, asked to be forgiven, and was. (2 Samuel 12:13)

So from this passage we see how Jack is arguing that a person can get into God's good graces by being repentent before God Almighty. Now if being forgiven by God is a good thing, and can be done by human piousness, then what does the Christian have to say about the status of David's eternal soul? Is David in heaven for being "right" with God?

I don't know. But let's see what Jack has to say about Jesus:

When the people asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the work that God requires?” they gave Him the clearest opportunity of His ministry to hand them a list. Here He was, a Jewish rabbi, standing in Israel speaking primarily to Jewish people who wanted to know what God required of them. He could have referred them to the 10 Commandments, or the Sermon on the Mount, or the 613 laws of the Torah. But how did He respond? “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” (John 6:28-29)

Then He said that it was God's will that everyone who looked to the Son and believed in Him would have Eternal life. (John 6:40) Their salvation was based on their belief that He had come to save them, not on their behavior. Just like ours.

Much of His teaching from the Sermon on the Mount had been aimed at convincing them that they could never attain the necessary righteousness by keeping the Law. He even commanded them to “be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48) This can only be achieved when God's righteousness is imputed to us by faith. Those who advocate the different Gospel hypothesis would have us mix some combination of grace, faith, and works to arrive at the Jewish formula for perfection. But it can't be done. Grace is defined as an unmerited favor. As soon as you add work, it's no longer unmerited. The two don't mix.

He is correct, the two don't mix. How can one be a good person before Jesus by being repentent and getting into God's good graces (and therefore presumably getting into Heaven -- unless David is in Hell for being born before Jesus...) and then suddenly after Jesus, the only way into heaven is by believing that the man, Jesus, is God?

Given the two differing systems of entry into heaven (if I were a religious person), it certainly seems like the moral high road would be to be a good person, follow the rules and when they are broken, be repentant. The second almost seems like a cop-out in comparison: believe in the man-god and ignore the rules, yet still gain entry into heaven.

Of course, that isn't true either. Jesus and by extension, Christianity, still require a strict adherence to rules, only they seem to be new rules. Now the only things that Christians are concerned about is homosexuality, abortion, and the evils of science. So a gay believer in Jesus would still not gain entry into heaven, according to many Christians. Rules still matter.

This is the fatal flaw in Christian theology. Somehow, before Jesus, Jews were able to gain entry into heaven via their actions: repentence and good deeds aimed at the glory of God. But after Jesus, the rules changed. That was no longer enough; belief in Jesus as God was the primary (only) way to gain entry into heaven. The rules changed in mid-stream. And this rule change was due to a God-head who does not change, and whose rules are never changing (ala the whole silly concept of "traditional marriage.") But then, even Jesus has rules. Paul has even more rules.

Jack gives this simple statement regarding rules:

I can't tell you how many times folks who believe differently than I do have advised me to just read the Bible carefully and I'll embrace their position, but that's another story.

Sorry, Jack, but a careful reading of the bible is not necessary here. Only a casual reading will expose the reality of the bible. It may be another story from the one you present here. But it is the story. Either rules matter or they don't. If they matter, then anyone who follows them is good. If they don't then only in believing in Jesus matters. Considering the sheer animosity towards homosexuality of most fundamentalist Christians, I would have to say rules matter. If rules matter, then Jesus is not relevant.

...And Jack Kelley is talking out his ass.

Rapture Index of Rapture Ready

One thing I religiously (pun intended) check on is the Rapture Index from Rapture Ready. It occurred to me that I should 'correct' it to reflect reality, and then find out where we really stand on the rapture index. So below is my correction to the index. The first number is the one I assign based on the facts of the world. The second +/- number is the difference between my number and that of Rapture Ready. Following that is my brief explanation of why I assigned the number I did. Any thoughts or adjustments you think I should make to this revised index, please leave in comments.


False Christs 0 -3 All there have ever been are wackos claiming to be christ (ala David Korresh)
Occult 0 -2 The only occult action has been Christian women killing their children in the name of God (and being declared incompetent)
Satanism 0 -3 Nothing in this category makes it a zero
Unemployment 3 +1 Even in the world's current economy, most of the world is employed.
Inflation 2 -1 Most of the world's inflation is contained
Interest Rates 4 +1 The US credit crunch is causing major problems in financial markets
The Economy 3 -1 The economy is stalling based on the housing market and credit problems, but the overall world economy is stable
Oil Supply/Price 3 -2 Oil remails at a stable price, and the world's economy has seemed to absorb its new higher priced stability
Debt and Trade 3 +0 This category will always remain at a 3 because what's good for one country is bad for another
Financial unrest 4 +0 The credit crunch has world markets jittery
Leadership 3 -1 Bush is the de facto world leader and his ability to lead is questionable based on his intellectual capibilities.
Drug abuse 1 -1 Drug abuse had declined over the last decade while liberals were running the US, but now that conservatives are in control, Afghanistan is producing record poppy crops
Apostasy 0 -4 No action in this category (because no Christian can define what apostasy is without other Christians denying it)
Supernatural 0 -1 Nothing that has a cause outside of nature has occurred
Moral Standards 2 -1 Hypocrasy runs rampant within the Republican party regarding sex.
Anti-Christian 0 -3 No action in this category which wasn't originally initiated by Christians causes this category to be zero
Crime Rate 1 -4 Crime fluctuates year-over-year, but remains largely unchanged.
Ecumenism 0 -4 Papal decrees chastizing Protestants needs to be watched, but again, who's the correct Christians and who are wrong?
Globalism 0 -4 There is no movement towards globalism which hasn't been the norm for millennia
Tribulation Temple 0 -2 No Temple exists and none is planned
Anti-Semitism 1 -3 Only Christians are anti-Semitic these days, and since they "must be right" then this isn't an issue. Muslims are neutral at this point.
Israel 2 -3 Calm pervades the land of Israel as the Palistinians are having internal strife
Gog (Russia) 2 -3 Impotent as they have been for over a decade
Persia (Iran) 1 -4 Much talk, no action. About as dangerous as Iraq shortly before we invaded.
The False Prophet 0 -3 No false prophets leading the faithful astray
Nuclear Nations 2 -2 Nuclear weapons still exist and pose a threat as long as they do
Global Turmoil 2 -3 War in Iraq and Afghanistan, turmoil in Africa
Arms Proliferation 0 -4 Stable
Liberalism 0 -4 no liberalism detected anywhere in power
The Peace Process 0 -2 slow, but outside of the wars, stable
Kings of the East 0 -4 No threat
Mark of the Beast 0 -3 Nonexistent
Beast Government 0 -3 Nonexistant
The Antichrist 0 -2 None found
Date Settings 0 -2 Only the doomsday-mongers are setting any dates
Volcanoes 0 -4 Nothing unusual
Earthquakes 0 -5 Nothing unusual
Wild Weather 2 -3 Global warming is creeping into our "normal" weather
Civil Rights 3 +0 Still many groups denied rights that everyone else enjoys
Famine 2 -2 Stable, there is always someplace where famine exists
Drought 0 -4 Nothing critical as of yet
Plagues 0 -3 No activity
Climate 5 +2 Global warming is being denied by many anti-scientists and those in power
Food Supply 2 -2 Tight but controllable for the moment
Floods 2 -3 Areas prone to flooding are being flooded. The severity is getting worse due to global warming

Index total 55

Blood and murder of the innocent -- Good!!

It is readily apparent to any atheist that Christianity is an absurdist philosophy (as is Islam). No matter the flavor of Christianity (from liberal to conservative fundamentalist), it fails to pass the laugh test. Now I hate to keep picking on Rapture Ready, but, this is the perfect example of why it is so very easy to reject the theology of Christianity. Paul Vanderstar explains:

Adam and Eve were thrown out from the Garden of Eden before they could eat from the Tree Of Life. Had they eaten, not only would we be in the awful condition of sin, but had God allowed them to eat the fruit of that tree we would have been in an eternal condition of sin and un-redeemable by blood. God loved His children that much that He cast them out of Eden and paradise for a time until His plan of redemption was completed on the cross, but that is getting ahead of this story. Our focus is on the prophecy of Jesus and recognizing our need for a blood covering through the death of an innocent. [emphasis mine]

Blood. There we have it. Blood is the key. Spilling blood is pleasing to God, and only blood can satiate his bloodlust. Taking that theme to today's headlines, maybe all those innocent Iraqi pregnant women and children whose blood is spilled on the pavement (and they subsequently die) is a good thing, for all the guilty Iraqis are now cleansed in their blood. Or some such nonsense.

But my real point here is not cynicism, it is the utterly incomprehensible idea that an all-powerful god would, could, be incapable of redeeming in some other manner than blood. Like simply saying, "Ok, if you ask for forgiveness for the sins of your ancient ancestors, and bow down to me, then I fogive you." But no, the Christian God, seems to be strictly limited to only accepting the blood (death) of innocents as repentence for sins. This alone should give any Christian pause and make them think just how silly their religion is.

Rapture Comedy

I'm only going to write one more post concerning the silliness of Rapture Ready. See this current article: Global RECALL NOTICE

It is unsigned, so I cannot put a name or a logical connection to it. Take this ingenious opening:

The Maker of all human beings is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart.

The "Maker" made defective products. And the products are to blame! Repent! Repent!!!

This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units.

Of course the manufacturer of the original model isn't to blame, the original models have only themselves to blame to being so stupid as to allow themselves to be created flawed.

This defect has been technically termed "Subsequential Internal Non-Morality," or more commonly known as SIN, as it is primarily expressed.

I would call it SINM, as that is just as meaningful as sin...

Some other symptoms include:

1. Loss of direction
2. Foul vocal emissions
3. Amnesia of origin
4. Lack of peace and joy
5. Selfish or violent behavior
6. Depression or confusion in the mental component
7. Fearfulness
8. Idolatry
9. Rebellion

Or as I like to put them:
1. Just where are we headed in Iraq?
2. Dick Cheney is the spawn of satan
3. So being made from dirt is better than being made of primidorial soup
4. Who knew that atheists were all suicidal and all Christians were signing up to go die in Iraq?
5. Yes, "war in Iraq" = peace, and desiring an end to war in iraq = violence and warmongering
6. ??? I think the only confusion here is believing in some "god" who can only "save" humans, if he commits suicide to himself as a blood sacrifice to his own vanity. Yeah, that's real sane.
7. Fear od hell = not fearful, fear of religions = fearfulness. Ok, well, he has me there. I have a great fear of religious zealots like this guy blowing up the world, certainly greater than any fear of some imagined eternal hell.
8. Is worship of the Indianapolis Colts considered idolatry?
9. Yes, all Christians should stand up, take up arms and kill, kill kill... Wait, or not. Is not killing for God considered rebellion, or is killing for God considered rebelling against that whole peace thing. Sheesh, now I'm more confused.

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this SIN defect. The Repair Technician, Jesus, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required.

Cool, we all are fee-free!!!! But I still am unclear on the whole manufacturer is not responsible for the flawed design thing. That's like saying the Ford Pintos were at fault for being flawed, and not Ford, for Ford's design was perfect....

The number to call for repair in all areas is

P-R-A-Y-E-R.

Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure. Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component. No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with:

1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self control

...Because only a Christian is capable of possessing these qualities. Oh, and according to the Christian, you'd better possess these qualities, or they will hate, fight, show no patience or kindness, be nasty, unfaithful, aggressive and lack all self control towards you. (And if you happen to be gay, Whoa! look out, death by dragging behind a car is too good for you). But it is the atheist who is a bad, bad person.

Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth), for further details on the use of these fixes.

Yes, and for the proper methods to use to execute those who do not agree (or agree, but mistakenly think eating shrimp is ok, but being gay is damnable).

WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded.

Like guessing which Christian sect to believe in (and reject all others).

DANGER: The human being units not responding to this recall action will need to be scrapped in the furnace. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility.

Again, guessing the wrong Christian sect to adhere to is functionally no different than running around as a gay Muslim abortion doctor.

This has been brought to you by S.T.U.P.I.D. Strict Translations (of) Uber- Pius Iconic Doctrines

Rapture Ready is Irony-Rich

When we last left off, we had discussed "magical thinking" from master logician, Todd, a Rapture Ready Regular. It seems he just can't give up writing articles that are so blindly ironic and illogical. Todd's latest missive, "Sucker's Bet" is a real beauty. He rails against those of us who reject the Christian end times vision, calling it -- you guessed it -- a sucker's bet. Specifically, he does not address even one actual reason why we reject biblical prophecy, or even attempts to explain away the logical inconsistencies (or outright errors) found in those prophesies. He calls it all a sucker's bet, but fails to breach the glaring problem, that there are many religions each with their own prophesies, and even within Christianity, many contradictory interpretations of those Christian prophesies. Therefore, even before we get into what Todd actually did say, we have broadened his bet into mere guesswork of which version of prophesies to choose, if we do choose to take religion's side -- that there is a god, and s/he/it has deterministic plans for the end of (their) creation.

He opens with this:

At the heart of many emails is content I identify as the "Sucker's Bet." The people who send us these messages view us "Doomsday Christians" as wasting our lives by endlessly waiting for a Lord who is never coming. They base their opinion on the idea that Jesus hasn't come in 2000 years, so this complete lack of activity should prove that He is not coming at all.

Notice, first of all, that this belief Todd relates here is that of someone who believes that Jesus was real, a Christian. In other words, there is already a whole new level to Todd's "bet" which he completely ignores, that Christians disagree on what the end-times biblical writings mean, and what "wisdom" they impart to Christians. So we already have a logical break in Todd's argument. But let us move on to the very next paragraph:

Some of these people bet they will have the satisfaction of watching me squander my life on a meaningless quest. But I'm not sure where they see the payoff. If I outlive them, there is no payoff. If they outlive me, some other Christian will carry on the bet. The only wager I see is their hope that Jesus doesn't come back and bring their carefree existence to a premature end.

In a word, no. Neither I, nor anyone else who disagrees with Todd's faith could care less what he uses his life for. (With the caveat that he does not turn his beliefs into activism -- forcing those who disagree with him into accepting his peculiar views.) Otherwise, this entire paragraph suffers from an obvious logical fallacy, it is a non sequitur. In reality, there is no payoff for either side. One who denies Jesus and the Rapture, gains nothing. All they lose is the time, effort, and hard-earned money contributed to a useless endeavor -- religion. And, that, dear Todd, can be considered a win-win proposition. Whereas, the opposite position, that proposed by Todd, is lose-lose. If you're correct in your views, then you gain the uncertainty of which religious views to accept and devote your entire life to -- guess wrong and you're eternally damned. If you're wrong in your views, then you've spent your entire life chasing something that does not exist -- eternal salvation. (of course, there is the third option, correctly guessing which salvation and end times plan is correct. But that reduces your belief system down to a lottery. Is guesswork and luck really any way to determine salvation??)

But let us see where Todd takes this "sucker's bet" essay:

Games of Chance
The genesis of deception begins with the failure to understand that the world is filled with people who are constantly scheming ways to deceive us. A wise person uses critical thinking to assess all questionable situations. I can think of three popular games of chance that perfectly illustrate that things are not always what they appear to be.

Yes, and what he fails to recognize is that the only true way to avoid the "sucker's bet" is to not play at all.

Todd gives three examples of what he calls sucker's bets. I will only focus on one, as it seems to best fit to real situation. His second example is:

"Let's Make a Deal" -- Back in the late 1970s, several TV game shows offered people the chance of winning big prizes through a random selection. In one of these setups, a contestant was told to chose from five boxes, with one containing the top prize and the others containing prizes of lesser value. After the person made his or her selection, the host would often open three of the remaining boxes, giving the impression that the contestant now had a 50/50 chance of being a big winner. Because the host knew which box contained the keys to the shiny new Buick, the contestant's chances were still only 20 percent. If the host offered him $5,000 to pass on the opportunity to win the car, the wise choice would be to take the money and run.

Here there are exactly three options for the contestant;
1. Stick with their original choice
2. Choose the other box
3. Take the money and run

This is the classic "monty hall problem" with an added twist. Obvious to anyone, the safe bet is to take the money. For there, and there only are you guaranteed a positive outcome. The other two options involve a risk of being wrong (one more than the other, read the wiki text for more on this.) The clear problem for Todd, is that this does not help his case at all, if anything, it destroys it. The reason is clear. Let us rewrite the options on salvation, from the perspective of Todd:
1. Stick with his current views on salvation
2. Change religions to one that has a worse "hell" and better salvation
3. Choose neither, and live life as best as possible

Choices one and two here, both have their advantages and pitfalls, but neither guarantees a difinitive outcome (guess wrong and you wind up in hell). The third option is the only one with concrete outcomes. Albeit, with considerably less reward than those promised by the first two. But that gets into the area of "Pascal's Wager." A more in-depth discussion of this type of fallacy is beyond the scope of this post (there are a number of weaknesses in the wiki entry for this). Simply put, let us examine the differences between Islam and Christianity. What it all boils down to is the argument of "My personal beliefs are more valid than your personal beliefs, because I believe so."

But what Todd is really trying to show is that is you're willing to play the odds, then the odds are in the favor of end-times Christians:

Know the End-Time Odds
I believe people who scoff at prophecy are making a "Sucker's Bet" because they fail to realize that prophecy is in an advanced state of fulfillment. Most of these people make assumptions about end-time prophecy without even studying the evidence.

I think we can safely say that our buddy Todd, is making an erroneous assumption here. Merely stating what he thinks "most of these people" have studied does not make it so. This on top of the logical fallacy that if people who have not studied prophecy in the bible come to the same conclusion as those who have studied it and still reject it, does not invalidate the common conclusion. As for the whole "advanced state of fulfillment" opinion, I like to say what generation ever has been war free, had obedient children, or free of natural disasters? (We will reconsider this later in this post.)

For centuries we've had general signs that pointed to man's prophetic destiny. While atheists promise a utopian society, the reality is that we are moving closer to the type of self-destruction the Bible warned about.

This is just flat out false. There are no athiests who promise utopia. What we do promise is reality. What we promise are honest ways to reduce crime, suffering, inequality and suffering. But as realists, we never promise those things will be eliminated.

Actually this is extreme irony on the part of Todd. For it is Christians who promise utopia. They are all talk about about getting into heaven and living with God in His house. Now just what do you think heaven is, if its not a utopia? Furthermore, what about the other side of this issue -- destruction of life on this planet? Who is it that pushes for nuclear annhilation of Iran, Cuba, China, Venezuela and all those other nations whom the conservative Christian neo-cons don't like? If you push for those things then it cannot be fulfillment of prophecy, it is sheer insanity. Yes, Christopher Hitchens is an atheist and he is a doomsday neo-con, but he is not the norm for other atheists. His views are quite common among conservative Christians though. Reality does not match the beliefs of Todd.

He then goes on to talk some nonsense about Israel and how its rebirth is one fulfillment of prophesy. The problem being one that is painfully clear, the prophesies of Israel found in the bible have not been fulfilled at all. Simply saying that Israel was reconstituted as a nation is not enough; for it is nowhere near the same state that once existed. Further, it only became a nation again as a form of restitution for the holocaust. It certainly did not become a nation again in the manner the bible said it would.

Todd concludes this section with this:

Jesus said something that makes it all the more risky to bet against prophecy. In Matthew 24:34, He told us, "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." There is no consensus on how long "this generation" would last, but because many key prophetic events are in the late stages of development, it would be logical to place us close to the end of that generation.

Unfortunately, Todd is wrong here in two senses. First, Jesus was referring to a generation of people (who all died 2000 years ago) and not an era as Todd would have you believe. Context here is crucial. Second, read this passage from the Old Testament:
Ecclesiastes 1:4 "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever."
It is hard to reconcile this passage with the words of Christ:
Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."

How can the earth pass away and exist forever? Prophecy? No. Confusion? Most certainly.

Another problem we come up against is just what generation have there not been wars and famine and earthquakes? What generation has not suffered misery? Every era of human history has dealt with exactly the same problems. Today is no different than any other period in human history.

Todd concludes with:

Betting Against Yourself
Ironically, the Bible prophesies that one of the signs of the end-times is people making "Sucker's Bets." The more these people mock, the more they are pushing the prophetic clock closer to doomsday.

Talk about sucker's bets. Then what Todd really wants is for more people to mock his beliefs even harder, to accelerate that good ol' doomsday clock. Once again, just when were people not making sucker's bets. In the time of Jesus, believing in his new religion was just such a sucker's bet, when viewed in comparison to all the other mystery religions in existence at that time. The same goes for today. The real true sucker's bet when it comes to religion is choosing which one to believe in, since all require the same ephereal "faith" with no baisis in fact and reality.

You know it is not people like Todd who concern me. What truly concerns me are those people who agree with Todd, but have the actual and very real power to destroy the world via nuclear weapons. That is what makes this supposed fullfilling of end-times prophesies so very dangerous.

It is also the very reason why others, like myself, feel so compelled to punch holes in the illogic and irrational thinking that goes into believing in biblical prophesy.

When I respond to people, I reply to the real issue they are secretly addressing. People usually write me because they are bothered by events that confirm Bible prophecy. I point out to them that prophetic fulfillment is the real reason they're mad at me, and I warn them by saying, "If my luck with the end-time signs doesn’t run out soon, yours will."

Nope. The problem is in doomsday believers believing that they are fulfilling some prophesied destiny and in the process causing the "luck" of all of us (all of humanity and all living things on earth) to run out via utter nuclear destruction. I don't know about you Todd, but I value my life, and that of future generations, and I do not want to see it destroyed just because some idiot thought they were doing God's will.

Irony Meters and "Magical Thinking"

I think that the proof of the concept of infinity can be found in the level of irony contained in the beliefs and writings of fundamantalist Christians. That well of irony is truly infinitely deep. Just read this article at RaptureReady.com entitled "Magical Thinking."

The second paragraph sets up the irony of infinite proportions:

After many years of contemplation, I've come to realize that magical thinking is one of the most common causes of erroneous beliefs. The term, "magical thinking," is the ability to draw conclusions that are based on a person's desire for what reality should be, not necessarily upon what reality actually is. People simply believe things that have no connection to logical thinking.

Any freethinker who reads this immediately recognizes it as being a bedrock principle of rationality. But this was not written by a person moving past myth and fairy tales, but a diehard fundamentalist Christian, defending his narrow faith.

I could write this very paragraph and follow it up with the supernatural and mythological tales found in the New Testament about a man dying and coming back to life, magically turning water into wine, walking on water, or multiplying loaves of bread and fishes. Those things all defy logic and any common experiences we all have witnessed. Yet, to this person, those things are not magical and are perfectly logical if given the preconception that God exists and can do anything because He is all powerful and all knowing. Clearly those preconceptions are the perfect example of a "person's desire for what reality should be, not necessarily upon what reality actually is." No one has experienced these things, and so believing in them is clearly a desire for what reality should be. The author so desires God to be real, that he makes God to be real. I guess this proves that 'Man' really is the creator of 'God'. And that God is real because God is the product of creation of the natural human mind.

What I was referring to in the previous paragraph is bias. Let's see what the author has to say on that subject:

Overcoming Bias
One of the biggest obstacles to truth is bias. There is good kind of bias; then, there is a type that involves having a preference to one particular point of view, or ideological perspective, that is not supported by fact.

If that doesn't send your irony meter into overload then I cannot imagine anything which will. Even those of you who own the super-heavy-duty "fail high" irony meters will need to go buy new meters on that one. The fact that the author does not even bother to mention that his views might be biased, or that he might suffer from this very "magical thinking" does not seem to matter one bit to the author. He takes his views as a "for granted" and a priori.

Then without a hint of irony, he goes into this comment:

True-Believer Syndrome
The term, "true believer syndrome," is largely credited as being coined by M. Lamar Keene in his 1976 book, The Psychic Mafia, referring to an irrational belief in paranormal events, even after direct confession or evidence that the events were fraudulently staged. Keene became interested in this phenomenon after he worked to expose fraudulent psychics, faith healers, and miracle workers.

He would show people that the person claiming to have supernatural powers was a scam artist, and they would refuse to listen to him. "The true-believer syndrome is the greatest thing phony mediums have going for them" because "no amount of logic can shatter a faith consciously based on a lie," said Keene.

True-believer syndrome proves that the wrong type of magical thinking can lead to self-deception.

No suggestion at all that this could be applied to the New Testament writers who believed in Jesus' supposed supernatural powers. Nope. Those are taken for granted to be true... er, I mean True.

Now, for those of you who just rushed out to buy a new irony meter, please, turn it off before reading this next passage. That will eliminate the need to go through the trouble of filling out all the warranty information and the long wait to get a replacement when this statement melts your brand new meter...

Critical Thinking
William Graham Sumner offers one of the best summary of critical thinking: "Critical thinking is the examination and test of propositions of any kind which are offered for acceptance, in order to find out whether they correspond to reality or not. The critical faculty is a product of education and training. It is a mental habit and power. It is a prime condition of human welfare that men and women should be trained in it. It is our only guarantee against delusion, deception, superstition, and misapprehension of ourselves and our earthly circumstances."

Critical thinking is what keeps us out of trouble. Whenever we encounter a situation that could be hazardous to our mental, physical or financial well-being, we need to pull out the litmus paper of skepticism.

Ok, so what is the big payoff of all this freethought and rationality? Are these the writings of a newborn freethinker, who has given up all precepts of a magical ghost puppetmaster in the sky?

Nope.

God Does Not Use Magical Thinking
A lot of Christians believe that the Kingdom of God operates on magical thinking. God just makes a wish and things magically happen. The process may appear to be that simple from our vantage point, but that can't be how things work. For every complex cause, there needs to be an intelligent force acting behind it.

God does not have a personal fairy godmother to grant His wishes. When the Almighty desires to perform what we would call a supernatural act, He has to fulfill it himself. When Jesus healed the man of leprosy, the biological composition of the man's infected skin was broken down and rearranged to form healthy skin. When the Lord walked on water, either He was made lighter or the molecular bonds of the water were made stronger.

Magical Thinking's inability to bridge the gap between the natural and supernatural world has provided an opportunity for some people to rationalize many biblical miracles. The parting of the Red Sea is frequently explained as being the result of a wind blowing away the water. Some folks go into pure heresy by claiming that Jesus didn't die on the cross; they say He simply fainted and later recovered.

Faith is not a special power unto itself. It is simply an asterisk that says, "I don't know how God did it." When believers arrive in heaven, the Lord will reveal all mysteries, and there will be no more "magic."

Wow. Just. WOW. Not one shread of proof that this magical God is real, that the aforementioned "bias" plays no role in this god-belief, that these supernatural miracles are real when the "supposed" miracles of all other religions are false is given. Not one shread. Just sheer blind acceptance. And this is somehow not "magical thinking."

I cannot even begin to put into words just how preposterous this is. Just how blinded by bias and "magical thinking" this individual has to be in order to write this and be serious about it.
What reality does this author think we all live in when he believes that snakes and jackasses can talk in human language, that the sun can not only stop, but "move backwards", that the stars can fall to the earth, that the dead can come back to life and walk around, that diseases are the result of demons, that faith and prayer can allow any believer to move mountains, that the future can be foretold (and has been in the bible), and that anyone who believes that a God can only forgive his (flawed) creation via committing a blood sacrifice (suicide) of Himself unto Himself. Yet all the miracles and supernatural occurances associated with all the other "gods" and religions of the world are all false.

I think we all know who is suffering from "magical thinking".