Empire State & Mother Teresa

I was looking through today's Google News Alerts and there was an article about The Empire State Building getting into hot water with the Catholic League, other christian groups, and the New York City Council. The problem is that they have declined the request to honor the celebration of Mother Teresa's 100th birthday.

I don't see the problem here at all. The Empire State Building is owned by a private company, Malkin Holdings. Much like every frigging church in America, they can decide what to do with their property.

If a religious organization has the right, based upon their beliefs, to deny performing marriages to same-sex couples, or fire a teacher at a private christian school for pre-marital sex, then I say that the owners of the privately held Empire State Building can decide exactly whom they wish to honor and whom they wish not to honor.

My stance would be completely different if the building was in the hands of the people and the government. In that case, the policy would have to be all or none. If we do it for Mother Teresa, then you'd better be prepared to do it for Joseph Smith (LDS), Mohammed (Just don't draw a picture of him), Vishnu, etc...

So, calling all catholic leaders... Open up the churches for gay marriage, or how about stopping the bullshit about condoms helping spread AIDS/HIV and then we'll talk about helping you fight for Mother Teresa's honor.

The Ten Commandments?

A coworker of mine and I were talking one day about religion and we got on the topic of the 10 Commandments. He said that even I had to agree that all of our laws in America were based upon them, and the reason our laws are based upon them is they came from god.

First, a little background on my coworker. He was a minister at his church, and attending school to become a pastor. He is very devout in his beliefs, and even though he and I disagree on spiritual matters, I respect the hell out of him. He is the type of Christian that is open-minded enough to answer your questions without getting butt-hurt in the process.

Now, back to his statement regarding the 10 Commandments. I asked him what he meant by that. He said that without the 10 Commandments, we would have no authority to determine what good and bad is, and society would be evil and chaotic.

I asked him if he felt that people didn't realize that it was wrong to kill before the supposed divine revelation from god? He said that they couldn't have known it was wrong. I chuckled a little at his reply. He asked what I thought was funny, and I asked him if he remembered why Moses fled from Egypt at the age of 40? He thought for a second, and said it was because he had killed an Egyptian that was beating a slave. I let that sink in a little and then said, was it because he killed someone, or was it because he was going to be punished (put to death himself) for commiting murder?

Apparently, the Egyptian culture had a series of laws in place regarding morality and civil conduct. Genesis 39-42 talk about Joseph's stay in the Egyptian penal system (BTW, his crime was apparently forcing himself on another man's woman). I'm not sure what the other criminals were incarcerated for, but it would seem like there were laws that required obedience in common practice prior to the Exodus.

Such reverence is given to Moses in the bible (both the old and new testaments) and even in the qu'ran. But I find him to be more of an enigma. Let's look at what the bible says about him. He was born a slave and placed in an arc and set adrift on the Nile. The Pharoah's daughter finds him and claims him as her son. He is raised as Egyptian royalty, and is heir to the throne of Egypt. Then, at the age of 40 he kills an Eqyptian who is beating a slave. He then flees to save his own life.

The puzzling part of this to me is the whole 'prince of egypt' thing. If he was heir to be Pharoah, would he really be punished for killing anyone? I would say no, unless the Egyptians had very strict laws.

Exactly when the Exodus occurred has been up for debate, and probably always will be, but it seems to be a window from about 1200 BCE to 1500 BCE. So, even giving them the benefit of the doubt by using the older date, than means that the Sumerian "Code of Ur-Nammu" predates the commandments by over 600 years. Hell, that means that those laws were being practiced even before the Hebrews were supposedly enslaved. And more to the point, the codes of the Sumerian culture seem to be much less about gods and more about what the consequences are for your actions.

I can't really argue against the statement that our laws today are modeled after the 10 Commandments (at least the "Don't Kill, Don't Steal" ones), but that really isn't the point of my banter there. My point is that those Commandments didn't come from god, but instead from the steady cultural evolution of society itself.

Do as I say, Not as I do...

I saw a funny window sticker on the back of a couple of cars on my way home from today. The cars were parked in the driveway of one of my neighbors. The stickers said "Future Quest - 2010". For those not familiar with Future Quest, it is a 3-day youth conference at a nearby church. The goal of the conference is "... to train up young people to be bold disciples of Jesus."

It wasn't the stickers that made me laugh, it was the owners of the cars. This neighbor that has had the police called many times for domestic violence disturbances... Husband beating wife, wife beating husband, husband beating children, etc... The last time that I'm aware of it happening, I had his son knocking on my front door, hiding in the shadows of my driveway from the police. His father was beating his mother, and the boy had had enough of it. He sucker punched his old man and knocked him out cold. When he came to, he chased the boy out of the house and called the cops on him. (And sadly, the mom was completely supportive of the dad!).

I kept the boy safe that night, and made sure he had a place to go the next day. Hopefully the talk I gave him helped him out (he returned home about a week later and is living at home again).

I've talked to the parents many times, both before and after that particular incident, and can't believe their utterly disgusting elitest attitude towards everyone else. To use an expression I heard a lot growing up "They feel their shit doesn't stink!". They used to invite my family to their church a couple of times a month, telling us that it would be good to be saved and to put our trust in Jesus. After months of this, I finally told them that I was an atheist. They couldn't have looked more shocked if I had pulled Jesus out of my ass! They gave up on me (thank god - pun intended!) and doubled-up on my wife. They told her that for the children's sake, she needed to get them baptized and into church. Their immortal souls were in danger living with the enemy!

Now, I've read the bible several times, cover to cover, and I guess I've missed the parts that talk about it being moral to beat your wife and children. It does say you can kill your children if they are disrespectful, but nothing about beating the shit out of them. So where do these people get off thinking that they are living a 'moral' life? Could it be the very same church that is sponsoring this Future Quest?

Do these people really feel they are a bold disciple of Jesus?

If that's the case, then I will have to live, and eventually die, with my eternal thankfulness that I'm free from that type of moral teaching!

Welcome to my thoughts

A hearty welcome to you.

I am an atheist!

Regardless of what believers will tell you, in today's American society, that is a difficult statement to make. I have lost family and friends because of my (lack of) belief. Some of my daughters' friends are no longer allowed to play or visit with them.

But is living a lie, just for social acceptance, really worth it?

I don't share the same past of many atheists. I wasn't raised in an overly religous home. My parents are more spiritual than religous. They gave us the freedom to find our own way and choose our own beliefs. There was never a lack of love in our household. And even without the church, they raised 3 morally responsible children. (Thanks Mom and Dad, I love you!)

Growing up, I tried to become one of the flock several times, but the more I learned, the less I wanted to become part of it. None of it made any sense. I didn't see "God's Love" anywhere in the teachings. I think it's possible that I didn't see it because I didn't need it. I was raised with an abundance of love, and really didn't feel the need to look for more.

After years of avoiding the topic, I grew weary of listening to people preach their beliefs without even really knowing what they believed. I have these 'spoon-fed-Christians' to thank for my coming out of the closet! I felt a little sad for them that I knew more about their religion than they did.

I want to use this blog as a place to put my thoughts down.