Word.(via prologic)
Too true.
(via godtoldmeto)
AC Grayling is one of the most well spoken individuals I think I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to.
Christianity
1. Abandon the mythology of Genesis. God did not make the world in 6, 8 or 1000 days or 1000 days of years. Stop squabbling over Hebrew syntax and what you think the Biblical writers meant. They meant what they wrote and they were wrong. We know far too much about how things really came about to believe any of the nonsense written by a Hebrew-speaking priest of the sixth century BCE who thought things came about by a direct act of his hereditary deity.
[..]
Muslims
1. Give up the idea that the Quran is the most beautiful poetry ever written, the most perfect Arabic ever set to ink, the closest we can approach God in the scheme of time. Are you inhaling this stuff or just smoking? You have two hundred poets whose Arabic is better, any one of which could have won in a slam-down with Gabriel.
[..]
Judaism
1. There are no chosen people. There are just people. It is depressing, isn’t it? We all want to be special.
(via friendlyatheist.com)
Like Hemant says on Friendly Atheist, #4 under Judaism might require a bit of an exception, but otherwise this is a pretty dead-on accurate list.
Could this be the beginning of Sharia Law?!? (via FreeRefugee)
I have no words for this, other than to say that I don’t believe the same level of apprehension would have been displayed on television if it were Christianity rather than Islam.
Friendly Atheist by @hemantmehta » Chicago Coalition of Reason Billboard Goes Up
I wish I had one near me, frankly (though without the Chicago bit - that might confuse people). Instead, there’s at least one version of a “Jesus is Coming” billboard a couple blocks away. Sigh.
Philip Pullman, the children’s author, is set to cause controversy with a new book – called The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ – denying that Jesus was the son of God.
The book which is due to be published at Easter next year, argues that St Paul came up with the ‘’story” that Jesus had a divine link.
Pullman has previously ruffled feathers in religious circles with the trilogy His Dark Materials, interpreted by some groups as being anti-Christian.
He said: ”By the time the gospels were being written, Paul had already begun to transform the story of Jesus into something altogether new and extraordinary, and some of his version influenced what the gospel writers put in theirs.
”Paul was a literary and imaginative genius of the first order who has probably had more influence on the history of the world than any other human being, Jesus certainly included. I believe this is a pity.”
Pullman is a wonderful, illustrative writer, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Dark Materials trilogy. I must admit, however, that I didn’t pick up any anti-theism in the first go-round. The stories were entertaining and fantastical, and though the movie was poorly executed, they’re worth exploring if you’ve never had a read.
I’ll be purchasing The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ the day it comes out. It will be interesting to see what he has to say and what he uses to back it up.
Is your Anglican church not hateful or intolerant enough? Join ours! We hate both gays and women!
What a sentiment…
