Reaffirming My Disbelief in God

Why was I ever told there was a caring, loving God in my heart? Why was I ever fed this lie?

For every child that suffers through cancer or is abused or suffers any painful death I reaffirm my disbelief in the God I was raised with.

My heart goes out to the family of Thai Nguyen who died today after a long fight with cancer.

My son asked me the other day why I didn't believe in God. It wasn't a conversation I was ready for. But he continued to press me. Perhaps I was too harsh in my response but I said because of all of the pain and suffering I've seen, all the children hurt, kids getting their arms cut off in Africa, where was God when this was happening? I told him because of that I don't believe in God.

There is no excuse for the suffering in this world if there is a deity watching over us who deserves our worship. If God is there and cannot stop the suffering then he is not worth worshipping. If God is there and chooses not to stop the suffering then he is not worth worshipping. If God is there and causes the suffering then he is not worth worshipping.

Our Modern World: Genie sued - will he get to keep his bottle?

Genies get no respect. First they are portrayed as hot females who grant the wishes of their male master. then they are made to be buffoons by Robin Williams, and now this:

CNN: Saudi family sues genie, alleges harassment

A family in Saudi Arabia has taken a genie to court, alleging theft and harassment, according to local media.

The lawsuit filed in Shariah court accuses the genie of leaving them threatening voicemails, stealing their cell phones and hurling rocks at them when they leave their house at night, said Al-Watan newspaper.

Riiiiight...I'm sure such a silly case would be thrown out right away...no?

"We have to verify the truthfulness of this case despite the difficulty of doing so," Sheikh Amr Al Salmi, the head of the court, told Al-Watan. "What makes this case and complaint more interesting is that it wasn't filed by just one person. Every member of the family is part of this case."

Oh, that makes much more sense. The whole family can't be mistaken...

At least this time the news from Saudi Arabia is funny. At least it isn't about some grandmother being flogged or some child being raped/married.

Mystery Hunters

While browsing through the cable guide last month looking for something educational to record for my son and I came across a show called Mystery Hunters. It comes on Discovery Kids at the wonderful time of 1am but I have a Comcast DVR so that wasn't a big deal (we rarely watch things live anyway). It's a show that investigates claims of the paranormal, UFO's, and such.

The Wikipedia entry for the show gives a good description so I won't go into too much detail here.

I just wanted to get the word out that there is a good science based show out there for kids that is fun to watch and gives lessons in how to deal with strange things rationally. I like the fact that it isn't just dry facts. I like that they keep some of the mystery in each story while giving facts and science the final word.

My son really enjoys watching this show (so do I!) and I wish DK would put it at a more convenient hour for people who don't have DVR's (do people still use VCR's?).

Anyway...Mystery Hunters...good TV for kids...pass it on!

Update: You can watch some of the episodes online here.

The Abortion Jihad

I was in college when it seemed like a small war was breaking out between anti-abortion activists and abortion rights activists, with doctors and clinics caught in the middle.

I thought at the time that it seemed like an "Abortion Jihad." A holy war against abortion.

CNN: Man charged in slaying of Kansas abortion doctor

No motive for the killing was immediately known. If Tiller's killing stemmed from his work, he would be the fourth U.S. physician killed over abortion since 1993. Leading anti-abortion groups condemned his shooting, emphasizing that they wanted to shut down Tiller's practice by legal means.

During the 1990s, three doctors who performed abortions were slain in high-profile cases.

In 1998, a sniper killed Dr. Barnett Slepian in his Amherst, New York, home. Anti-abortion activist James Kopp was later arrested in France and is serving life in prison.

In 1994, Dr. John Bayard Britton and a volunteer escort were shot and killed outside an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida. Paul Hill, a former minister, was convicted in the killings and executed in 2003.

And in 1993, another doctor, David Gunn, was shot to death outside another Pensacola clinic. His killer, Michael Griffin, is serving a life sentence.

In addition, a nurse at a Birmingham, Alabama, clinic was maimed and an off-duty police officer was killed in a 1998 bombing by Eric Rudolph, who included abortion among his list of anti-government grievances.

With only 3 doctors in the entire country...now 2...who perform this type of abortion, it makes one wonder just how many are actually performed each year. And do people really think that a woman past the first trimester would really go through all the trouble of seeing one of these doctors just to get rid of an unwanted baby? Or would they only do it if their life were in danger?

A co-worker's wife just had her second miscarriage in 6 months. Who should be blamed for that? At least half of all pregnancies end this way. So what is responsible for most aborted babies? Us? Nature? God?

EDIT:

I just saw this related article on LiveScience:

New Surprising Results on Abortion and Religiosity

Unwed pregnant teens and 20-somethings who attend or have graduated from private religious schools are more likely to obtain abortions than their peers from public schools, according to research in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

The Problem of Communication

The biggest problem I have with religions is that of communication. All religions that I know of are taught through some holy text that has been handed down over generations. We are born into societies that teach us these texts as fact and as the word of God. That is where my problem begins.

I'm not the first to think this. I was listening to an interview with Ryan Convington of Answers In Genesis Busted yesterday on The Infidel Guy podcast and heard him make a very similar argument like what I'm about to make.

Why is it that a God who created us has done such a poor job at getting his message out? Why is it that such an amazingly intelligent being could be such a poor communicator? If he made us then he knows how our brains work. He knows what makes us believe things. He knows what is required to make us accept something as truth. So why is it that we don't have one world religion that we all can accept as true?

Take Judaism as an example. There is a world full of humans but God decides to pick one group of people to be His people. But even among the Israelites there was doubt. So, God's solution was to tell one man, Moses, his story and give him some stone tablets with simple rules for living on them. But if God was so smart and all knowing then wouldn't he know what to tell Abraham or Moses so that when the word was passed along everyone who heard it was like "Ding! I get it!" But getting people to believe he was the one true God was a struggle. When large groups of people were encountered who worshipped another God was his solution to impart divine wisdom on them? Did he give the Jewish leaders wise words that would convince the others of the truth of Yahweh? No, he had them slaughtered. This God, who knows how we think and in some cases changes our minds (hardens hearts) cannot come up with a good, logical argument for getting people to believe in him. He must resort to violence and threats.

Next we have Christianity. Here is God's perfect chance to make people believe. He's come to Earth in human form and even with some cool parlor tricks he cannot convince everyone around him that God is real and people should believe him. All it took was some wise words that would open their minds to the perfect truth that is God. He did have some good sermons. The parables were powerful stories, but his ultimate solution was to sacrifice himself. Huh? How does that prove you are God? It does do one thing, it plays on our emotions. So perhaps God as Jesus was better at getting people to believe than God as Yahwey?

Some will argue that if you look at the world's population today we have billions who believe in Christ, so how was he a bad communicator? Well, for starters he could have written things down himself. Or had people dictate his stories as they were told. Why wait until a generation after his death to codify his words? We are now at the mercy of humanity's own poor communication skills. And it has taken 2000 years to get us to this point. It wasn't until humans invented better means of getting around the planet and studying other people's languages that so many people started believing in Christ. It was humans passing the word, not God. The problem created by that solution is seen in people like me. Once I learned how the book was written I started having doubts about its validity. I see the human flaws in the Bible. I don't see anything that may have come from God's mouth to my ears.

What would have been more believable to me? Why not have the Ten Commandments delivered to every society on Earth at the same time? At the time of Moses there were cultures all over the world, on every continent. Wouldn't it make us all believers if when we met cultures on other continents that they had the same set of rules as us, but written in their language? Why limit it to just one mountain in the mid-east? Or, as Ryan Covington said in his interview, what if Jesus has visited every continent? What if they all had the same savior story? It would be very hard to doubt something with great power a long time ago was able to spread a message around the world before the Internet.

I'm sure I haven't presented my argument as strongly as I should, so your comments and critiques are certainly welcome. But this is my biggest problem with all religions. If God is so great then why is he so bad at getting his message out?

Podcast Highlight: The Unbelievers

Meet The Unbelievers.

Their names are Hamish and Andy and they live in New Zealand.

I stumbled on their podcast last month while browsing the podcasts in the iTunes store and have finally almost caught up with all their episodes.

Each episode is generally spent talking about current events. What makes it a little different from the rest, at least from my point of view, is hearing the opinions of people who live in a largely irreligious country. They find lots of humor in how silly American politics are and our religious controversies.

They're funny to listen to. I cracked up when they described God as a "celestial security camera." Not sure if they came up with that themselves but I hadn't heard that before.

Every time I listen, though, I can't help but be reminded of the youtube video of Charlie the Unicorn:


Shun the Unbeliever! Shunnnn!!!

Anyway, if you haven't already subscribed I suggest you give The Unbelievers a listen.

Mmm...Cheesus!

I was sent 2...count 'em 2!! links to Cheesus videos today:



and



Wow...is God trying to tell us to stock up on Cheetos before the Apocalypse?