Christianity and Evolution

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxBASNmg4AY

I don't understand.
I really, really don't understand. Not even a little bit.
OK, several things.

1) An atheist who says "there is no God because science" is just as wrong as a Christian who says "Evolution can't be true because bible." 

2) EVOLUTION does not equal ATHEISM. Lots of people believe in a deity and still buy into evolution.

3) Evolution does not have to mean there is no God. In point of fact, it doesn't have to mean much of anything to a religious or faith perspective.

Well, I guess it does in a very specific situation...
IF you REALLY believe that God LITERALLY spoke things into existence in 7 days, creating a vault in the sky between two waters and hanging in that vault the sun, moon, and stars
.. AND IF you believe that he sort of drew a person in the dirt and blew on him to make him live
... AND IF you believe that an ACTUAL TALKING SNAKE (because, hey, who HASN'T run across one of those ... ) talked an actual woman into eating an ACTUAL piece of fruit that, when eaten, somehow LITERALLY gave here the knowledge of good and evil 
... AND IF you believe that this Omnipotent God that was so powerful he spoke things into existence was just sort of strolling in the garden one day and was, in spite of being all-knowing, completely taken by surprised by this unacceptable state of affairs
... AND IF you believe that, in his goodness and mercy and utter, perfect justness he could think of no other course of action than to curse not only the "guilty" party, but all of their offspring for ever and ever and the entire earth and everything on it, up to and including an eternity in HELL for nothing more egregious than being born human  ...

*deep breath*
Yeah. Maybe it went down EXACTLY that way. Why not ...

Look - if you want all of that to be LITERALLY TRUE, then I guess you can't be OK with evolution.

If you want it to be a beautiful, important, symbolic allegory for something far more profound and important, then there's not a problem, here.

This is all just one more way to practice that basal human impulse to divide into us and them, love us, and hate them, and nobody does it better than Christians...

How's that new nature coming along?

HOBBY LOBBY, why I care...

Sometimes I find myself very puzzling.

Why, for instance, am I so terribly, terribly upset about the Hobby Lobby thing?

A bunch of very nice folks who, by most accounts, give their employees a great place to work relative to the other outfits in that space, are asking, in their minds, to not pay for murder.
That doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

So why am I so upset?

This probably says it better than I ever could.
http://aattp.org/when-corporations-become-indistinguishable-from-churches-government-isnt-far-behind/

It's a little long winded, and I have a few things to add, so here's a summary followed by some embellishments.

Summary: 
It's one more step towards what the author so rightly points out is a uniquely American form of Oligarchy / Theocracy. Is the Hobby Lobby thing, in itself, a terribly big deal? Probably not. But, as the author points out, the supreme court has instructed lower courts to reexamine several cases related to birth control in light of this ruling. It's part of a larger pattern.  Corporations are people.  Money is speech. If my feudal Lord believes a thing, then by God it impacts me. And, the obvious answer of a single payer system is right out of the question, despite all the problems it would solve.

My first Embellishment -

It's that maddening abortion question that seems to be the end all and be all of every consideration in the conservative religion.

You believe life begins at conception.

OK - Why? There are several key points between conception and birth, actually including birth, that I could make an argument for. Why conception?
And, can you prove it sufficiently to design law around it?

And while I'm asking questions, why do you insist on calling me a murderer if I don't agree that this is where life starts? What great evidence can you site that gives you the right to poke your finger into the chest of my wife or daughter who believes differently than you and say "You have to surrender your body to the rigors and dangers of pregnancy for 9 months AGAINST YOUR WILL because I, THE GOOD AND PERFECT CHRISTIAN, BEELIEEEEVE that the thing in your belly is a person."  I've come to see this whole issue as a power-grab, with you the Moral Majority imposing your will, once again, on people who do not believe as you do, against their will. Until you can prove that the thing in question is, in fact, a person, then MY RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS must be protected. Specifically, my freedom to disagree with your religious assertions.

My second embellishment - Sorry, but just the hypocrisy ...

The inconceivable levels of hypocrisy of the conservative religion.
I've heard them all.  "Come to church, there's always room for one more." "I'm just a sinner saved by grace".  on and on.  You know what, that GREAT, until you start making LAWS.
Two of the most outspokenly anti-gay-marriage people I know are divorced and just got remarried in defiance of he word of CHRIST!!  But YOU, you dirty Ho-Mo-SEXual, with your SATANIC a-GEN-da ... GOD WILL JUDGE 'MERICA if we allow you to jointly file your income taxes.

1/2 of my Pastor's family will be at work on Sunday in DEFIANCE of the very 10 commandments they want posted in every court house.

I could go on and on.  It's like the "biblical" rules are for everyone BUT YOU, the CHRISTIAN who's hitting people over the head with them.

I have more, but this is getting long, so I'll cut to the chase.

My last embellishment - ultimately, there's the Obama factor.

There's a link that the author shared, which I'll not take the time to investigate, because I've done that too many times and no one cares. If you'd like to, feel free.

At any rate, it states that Hobby Lobby was ALREADY paying for these "abortifacients" before it became an Obama issue,  It was paying for them, one would assume, because of a federal mandate that employers provide health insurance to workers that, if I'm not mistaken, dates back to the 70's.

Why, then, the current challenge? That demonic Obama character, that's why.

The Obama presidency has shown me a few things.
1 - The "liberal bias" of the main stream media is nothing at all when compared to the cold as steel effectiveness of the right wing machine.  They've managed to convince their constituency that Obama was born in Kenya, that he's a Muslim, that he is doing horrible things by issuing executive orders, that the vast majority of the solar companies have failed, and on and on and on. Democracy is and will remain completely broken until something is done about that.
2 - I'm not at all sure that we, as a country, would be nearly so susceptible to this if Obama was white.  I know, I know.  You're not a racist.  All I know is that white people have, quite collectively, gone completely off their nut. They will believe almost anything ... no.  They will believe ANYTHING you say about that guy.
3 - NO ONE is better at dividing into us and them, loving us, and hating them, than members of the Conservative Religion, who normally call themselves Christian.  Yes, Christian, I'm talking to you right now.  What makes you so utterly brilliant at it is that you can't possibly imagine that you're doing it.

It's amazing to watch. It really is.

Christ and the Environment

http://losalamitos.patch.com/groups/weather/p/climate-change-study-permanent-unbearable-heat-expected-in-southern-california-by-2047_44f0b316

So many things are weird to me. I think this is the last thing I'll say for a while, but here's this one.

Christians are Republican. No, don't even argue that you're not, I've seen your glee over the glitches in Obamacare, which I cannot see in any other context.

But that's OK, I get that. You picked a team over an issue that was important to you, and I completely respect that. Now you want your team to win, and that's completely natural.

I guess, if I had a wish, though, it would be that you could start pressuring your team to have more Christ-like opinions on issues outside your main one.

For instance: what would Christ say about the environment?

Would Christ say, well, Bush 41 ended acid rain by creating a market for sulfur and letting his market based solution solve this problem, but that same idea is applied by that Kenyan Muslim Terrorist AntiChrist black-man in the white house, it's the most evil thing ever?

Would He say Boy, despite the opinion being held by literally all of your best scientists, there's a possibility that they're wrong, so why advance the human race by creating cleaner more renewable sources of energy that will reduce costs and improve standard of living for everyone, particularly the poor?

Would He mock the environmentalists who, whether they're right or wrong, have the best interest of His creation at heart?

Would He say, Hey, having an environment that supports human life and happiness is important, but I'd hate to see profits hurt by some sort of effort to make a change?

Would He even say, Hey, you can't put people out of work? Or would He say, man, do everything you can not to put people out of work, and if you DO put people out of work, support them, retrain them, pray for them, feed and clothe them until they're back on their feet again? And, oh, btw, develop of carbon sequestration technology, and you don't have to put people out of work?

The only way that I can understand the Christian position on a variety of issues is through the psychology of teams. Our minds are designed to make us join a team, make us love us and hate them, and blind us to obvious Truth.

BUT, we are the disciples of The One who is the Way, the TRUTH, and the life. Truth is important. Perhaps more important than anything. Wanting our team to win at the cost of Truth is a terrible, terrible shame.

My next note will be this same sort of thing, but about health care ...

It's Sad

It's sad.

I'm listening to the radio, and I hear some preacher literally preaching against big government, as if the bible says that.


After a few moments of listening in stunned silence, I turn the channel to another Christian station, where they're talking about how changes in government policies are driving out Christian heritage.


You'd swear that Christians can't worship God or follow the teachings of Christ without the approval of the state of Iowa, or that (Beware: The following is sarcasm:) Kenyan Muslim Terrorist AntiChrist in the white house.

There's a hideous idol standing in the middle of our sanctuary, and on it's head are two horns. On one is written "the culture wars", and on the other, "Republican politics".

It's a comforting idol, for sure. It allows us to exercise our basest human instincts to divide into us and them, love us, and hate them, and do it all in the name of something higher, something pure, something good. 

Except that it's not any of those things. It boils with the wretchedness of racism that the perpetrator can't even see,much less acknowledge. It drips bile towards those who have legitimate differences in opinion. It intoxicates decent, generous, kind people into demonizing the very people to whom you should be reaching out, convinced that they are the enemy of your "Christian nation".

And hidden behind this abomination is the cross of Christ, quietly calling you to the real, difficult, demoralizing, frustrating work against nature; the remaking of yourself in Christ's image. The Cross of Christ calling you to deny yourself, to deny these basal, tribal instincts, to put aside the psychology of teams, and to begin the journey of a genuine disciple of Christ.

Wake up.

The first word of Christ ...

If we accept Markan Primacy, then the first words of Christ recorded in the bible are as follows:

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!"

What a truly, truly wonderful thought.

I have an idea.  Let's preach this:  The time has come.  The kingdom of God has come near.  Repent, and believe the good news.  :-D