Lazy Myth: There is no reasonable evidence for Christianity

This somewhat blasé objection goes something along the lines of: I don’t believe in the Christian God for exactly the same reasons you don’t believe in Odin (a Norse god) or the Tooth Fairy.

(This argument is actually a softer variant of Stephen Roberts’s argument: I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.)

Firstly, the issuer of this argument (which is actually nothing more than fluffed-up rhetoric) is attempting to pursuade his opponent and/or audience not by reason nor by contradictory evidence, but purely – and unjustly – by association. He is stating, by inference, that only the misinformed… Continue reading ...

Quote: Former atheist speaks on cruelness and injustice

My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. Of course, I could have given up my idea of justice by saying that it was nothing but a private… Continue reading ...

Purposely Driven Lost

[I was thinking of titling this The Purpose Driven Lie ... but I'm convinced Rick Warren is more of a lost sinner than a lying one.]

Admittedly, I have Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life sitting somewhere on my bookshelf. I had read it some years ago. Recently, however, since I’ve joined the blogging community, I’ve become increasingly aware that Rick Warren’s gospel of Jesus is not necessarily an accurate – let alone spiritually healthy – one. I further admit that at the time, I thought his book was great … after watching this video, and after reading article after article on the interwebs that pull the true meaning of Rick Warren’s gospel apart, I will endeavour to read his book again – this time, with a more critical… Continue reading ...

Christianity – a religion of hypocrisy?

Hypocrite [hip-oh-krit]: n. a person who pretends to be what he or she is not.

Linking back to my previous post (Moral standards and hypocrisy), I thought I would expand a little on the theme of the cartoon in a kind of broad Christian context.

In Christianity, there are two types of hypocrites.

1). There are those who know that they will always stumble to achieve God’s standard if they rely on their own efforts – even sheer will-power cannot make them immune from their own depravity and sin. These are the types who, when they acknowledge that they have sinned against God, genuinely repent and seek forgiveness – firstly, from God and secondly, from those whom they have offended/hurt by their actions. Having… Continue reading ...

Cartoon: Moral standards and hypocrisy

I saw this cartoon up on CrossExamined Blog and had to share it here.

How high are your moral standards?

There is a whole series of posts/articles in this one cartoon alone, don’t you agree?

It also illustrates the standpoint that I believe most critics of Christians/Christianity take – they look at the sins Christians commit and then label them hypocrites for doing them as it violates God’s moral standards. Yet, any good Christian already knows he is hypocritical to the core by that definition … what else do you think the story of the Gospel about?!… Continue reading ...

Dinesh D’Souza and evolutionary theory – a short take on his evolutionary defence

What’s So Great About Christianity, by Dinesh D’Souza, has so far been a great read. He provides a detailed account of historical Christianity and proceeds to demonstrate the positives that Christianity has since brought into the world – and which, he argues, would not have come if Christianity did not exist. He claims that Western society today has benefited greatly from a Christian heritage – and that it is this same heritage that society has slowly – and voraciously – been turning against.

Our Western cultures today now bite the hands that fed them – the irony is that the tools in which anti-theists in general, and anti-Christians in particular, now wield have been afforded to them by… Continue reading ...

Lazy Myth: Christians don’t have fun

[Previous Lazy Myth: Religions are all the same]

Christians just don’t have fun. Christians are spoil-sports, party-poopers and kill-joys. Just when you’re starting to really unwind and enjoy yourself at the start of the weekend, your bible-thumping grandmother knocks on your front door and invites herself in for a spot of tea and some spongecake. Christians are boring; and becoming a Christian automatically renders the rest of your life as one big meadow with rolling hills where Julie Andrews sings tirade after tirade of tunes from the Sound of Music. (Disclaimer: okay. I acknowledge that, for some of you out there, that is your idea of fun, but work with me, okay?)

And further, who wants to live forever in heaven? How can that be fun? All… Continue reading ...

Apple stores – like heaven?

So I’m a bit of a self-confessed Apple-freak. No, no – not the Granny Smith kind, the iPod kind (actually, the Macintosh kind). It’s something I blame my brother-in-law for. Well in truth, it’s something that I’m thankful to my brother-in-law for … my last Windows PC was a nightmare that I’m happy to forget. But I digress … on with the post.

On June 19, Sydney will take the honour of the first city in Australia to become home to the country’s first bona-fide, ridgy-didge, Apple run-and-operated Apple retail store. It’s what geeks like me in Australia have been looking forward to … for too long, we’ve been the poor second cousin (and still are!) in terms of speedy access to all the new fab gear and gizmos… Continue reading ...

Chimp making a monkey out of the Court of Human Rights

The world is an amazing place. So amazing in fact, that an animal rights activist in Austria is seeking a Court ruling to ascribe inalienable human rights to a 26 y.o. chimpanzee named Matthew. (The naming of this chimp and the author of this article are purely coincidental … besides, following the hypothesis of the literary evolution of personal pronouns, I’ve discarded the extra ‘T’;) ) If the Court rules in favour, Matthew will fall into the legal guardianship of the activist concerned, Paula Stibbe.

According to the article, the sanctuary in which Matthew the chimpanzee resides is closing its doors, and Ms Stibbe is doing her part to protect him. By becoming the chimp’s legal guardian, she’ll be able to take care of him.

I wonder, if… Continue reading ...

Don’t mind me … I’m just tinkering

In the last fortnight, my wife and I had been painting her elder brother’s house while he was away; we borrowed his keys on the premise that we would ‘clean up things a bit’ – he was a bachelor then but will be married by the end of the month. And trust me … being a bachelor for many many years had taken its toll on his house.

Amazing what a touch of paint can do, though. He was impressed and his fiance loved the look, which made all the stints to 3am that we pulled each weekday worth it in the end.

So, I was inspired to do a little redecorating at thoughts out !oud. I think I’ll stick to this nice robust, reddish-brown theme – why… Continue reading ...

Why church sucks or ‘What churches need to avoid‘

In a sense, maybe I’m being a little unfair: after all, the title suggests a universal statement, but I know it not to be true in that regard. However, my experience is real and certainly disheartening and it’s in that strain that I write this with a good number of generalities. I’d hate for the majority of churches to be the same.

Firstly, I’m not talking about the spiritual Church (wherein, all believers are part of the true church who is the bride of Christ); this is very much a narrow focused article. No, the spiritual Church is something that is transcendent of what we could experience on any given Sunday at the church down the street or around the corner. I would further contend that the physical church… Continue reading ...