Previously I’ve tended to highlight just three items of weird religious news that popped up in the news cycle during the past seven days, but starting last week, I’m now going in a different direction. So let’s see where it goes.
Crossing The Line
I was writing earlier in the week about Noah’s Ark and the credibility of the young-earth creationist claim that there was once a worldwide flood. One rebuttal I highlight was an article that was published this month in Skeptical Inquirer by Lorence G. Collins, a retired professor of geology from California State University Northridge. He lays out 21 reasons explaining why the sedimentary rocks in the Grand Canyon are not the result of a flood 4,500 years ago. Ken Ham, the chap who runs Answers in Genesis, responded by personally attacking Mr Collins in a posting. Why? Well because Mr Collins is a Christian, and so from the viewpoint of Mr Ham he is a traitor.
So my point is this. There are plenty of people who do have a religious belief, but they are also perfectly decent, honourable, and pro-science. The objective of highlighting religiously inspired weirdness in a posting such at this is not to attack every variation of belief, but instead to throw a spotlight upon those that cross a line and start to deploy intolerance, bigotry, anti-intellectualism, and outright fraud upon the public. For example, if you truly believe that people of the same gender getting married is wrong, then don’t marry somebody of the same gender. What you don’t get to do is to insist that your specific beliefs should be implemented by everybody. That is crossing the line.
So who crossed the line this week?
We have the usual list of people who claim the high moral ground, and yet demonstrate gross hypocrisy
- Alabama Youth Pastor Arrested for Allegedly Sexually Abusing Boy Under 16
- Evangelical Support for Trump Has Gone Up (!) Since Stormy Daniels Scandal Began
- After Allegations of “Inappropriate Behavior,” an Influential Pastor Resigns
- Christian Host: Evangelicals Back Trump Because His Oval Office is Scandal-Free
We also Have Trump Appointees being … well, basically everything we expect from a Trump Appointee
- EPA Head Scott Pruitt Wanted an Official Agency Coin Emblazoned With a Bible Verse
Guns … because Jesus supposedly loves the AK-15
- This Church Welcomes Concealed Weapons Because God Wants Them to Be Armed
- NRA-Backed Politicians Just Received Admission Into the Ninth Circle of Hell
- Rick Wiles: Government ‘Death Squads’ Are Carrying Out Mass Shootings To Justify Gun Control
Weird conspiracy claims are a constant weekly theme …
- Liz Crokin: The Satanic Pedophiles Taking Over the U.S. “Are Trying To Kill Us”
- William Koenig: ‘It’s Very Possible’ That Jared Kushner Could Bring About The Antichrist
- ‘Activist Mommy’: Public School Sex Ed Classes ‘Rape The Minds Of Our Children’
Belief is apparently akin to a natural disaster …
- The Proof of Christianity is “Like a Tsunami,” Says Apologist Who Gives No Proof
Doing nothing at all, while creating the illusion of action …
- Kansas GOP Legislator: Schools Don’t Need More Funding; They Need More Prayer
Doing the right thing for the wrong reason …
- Christian Writer: We Should Welcome Muslim Immigrants Since We Can Convert Them
Movies and Books
- An Atheist Reviews “To Train Up a Child,” the Infamous Christian Abuse Manual
- Under Catholic Church Rule, Hollywood Films Couldn’t Feature Interracial Couples
- This Advice for Christian Filmmakers Comes from a Rather Unusual Source
Highlight of the week
For me the highlight is the observation that the chap who regularly predicts the end of the world every few months has popped up yet again to predict the end of the world on 23 April …
- The Rapture is April 23, Says Man Whose 2017 Rapture Predictions Never Came True
I also have a prediction.
Nothing will happen, and in a few months he will be back with yet another prediction. I guess he also believes we all suffer from alzheimer’s and don’t remember all the previous failed predictions.
For those that believe the bible is literally true, then here is a verse or two for you regarding prophets …
21 “But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ 22 If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared. – Deuteronomy 18:21-22
… oh and don’t forget this bit …
But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death. – Deuteronomy 18:20
So for those of you who believe, I have a bucket of stones waiting here for you to deploy on 24th April. But given the observation that everything he previously predicted also failed, why wait.
Well no, I don’t actually believe that you should do that, and neither should you, but you know that; that’s my point.
And that’s a wrap for just the last seven days.