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Is The Solution (  )
Recently, I received a chain letter via email, which was calling for a return to good old Bible-based values. The message seems to find its origin with the Seventh Day Adventist sect of Christianity, which is notorious for apocalyptic predictions gone wrong and a tendency to play victim ("we are persecuted because we keep the sabbath"). While this group thinks of themselves as original, their faulty logic is no different from the numerous other Monotheist cults. The Seventh Day Adventists, and most other right-wing Christian groups, assume that a return to Monotheism is the solution to all the world's problems. They long for the Golden Days when the whole world was full of peaceful Monotheists who followed the Bible. The reality is that the time they are nostalgic for never happened; their golden age was really lead. This is the problem with all Monotheists, who erroneously claim that a return to their mythology is the perfect answer. One good example might be Iran. In the 70s, Iran suffered from problems with crime, drug abuse, unemployment, and numerous other dilemmas that face many nations. The Islamic Revolution of 1979 was supposed to change all that, as now the people were returning to the true deen. Unfortunately, crime has only gotten worse; there are less jobs, and the drug problem has increased. The only thing the Muslims can say is that the people have not truly turned to Islam. The call for a return to Islamic values in Iran was a disaster, yet the Monotheists are still calling for yet another return to Islam. The reality is that Iran's problems have very little to do with the ideology of the people. Before the revolution, there was already unemployment problems due to population growth, which the job market could not handle. After the revolution, there was a boom in birth rates, and this made the limited number of jobs seem even smaller in light of the larger population. Less jobs meant less money, which meant poverty, crime, and drug abuse. Ideology was not the answer. Now we turn to the nation which may be on its way to becoming the Christian equivalent of Iran: The United States of America. We have drug problems, unemployment problems, crime problems, violent children, et cetera. What is the solution? Well, maybe we could start by slowing the rush to cut social programs. The Monotheists disagree. Instead, they argue, we must turn to the laws of a barbaric bronze-age manuscript, and return to ancient tribal values. While we agree this nation is far from perfect, we doubt that Christianity (or any other form of Monotheism) is the answer. Here is our response to the email...
****SERIOUS FOOD FOR THOUGHT****Here the author commits a fallacy by indirectly blaming all the nation's problems on a single deceased atheist. The atheist population in America is an extreme minority. The removal of prayer in school had to do with the issue of freedom of religion; it was designed to protect religious minorities, the very people whom right-wing Christians would like to exile. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school, the Bible that says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said, OK.Here the author commits the fallacy committed by all Monotheists, as mentioned above. We have problems in our nation, and the Christian assumes that an appeal to his own religion is the solution. Sure, some of the above is in the Bible, in fact the first two commands are from the ten commandments. However, let's not forget Exodus 20:17, which says "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, ... nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's." In the Bible, women are the property of men; they are his possessions -- like an ox or an ass. That's the ten commandments for you. The Bible is a barbaric book, and if we lived by the values found in there, we'd be worse off than we are now. Let's not forget about Genesis 19:7-8, where Lot offers his daughters to a crowd of rapists. Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem. And we said, an expert should know what he's talking about so we said, OK, we won't spank them anymore.Here we see the kind of frightening right-wing attitude Monotheists bring to the table, where they assume that violence is the answer. Let it be noted that nations which rule by Monotheist values happen to be the most violent in the world. There are children shooting each other in Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, and numerous other places. What were good Christian Serb teens doing to their Kosovar Muslim counterparts? What the author fails to realize is that the countries with the least violence (Japan, Germany, Iceland, Switzerland) also happen to be the countries with the highest literacy rates. Then someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued. And we accepted their reasoning.Again, the Monotheists aren't wondering about the social programs they've cut, and the lack of education in this country. Instead they think heavy blows to the head and gut will make a student more civilized. Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won't even have to tell their parents. And we said, that's a grand idea.In many respects, abortion is a sad thing. However, what these fanatics fail to realize is that this needs to be legal in order to be safe for the girls. If abortions were illegal, they would be performed underground, under much more dangerous and unsanitary conditions. As for anonymity, this is to protect the girls from the very right-wing Monotheist parents who forward these sorts of letters. Finally, with regard to abortion, Christianity is not the answer to this problem. In fact, murder our future generations is promoted in the Bible. Let's not forget 2 Kings 2:23-24, where the prophet Elisha orders some bears to kill 42 children for making fun of him. Doesn't that count as 42 fortieth trimester abortions? Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they're going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want, so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school. And we said, that's another great idea.If these children were reading the pornographic bible, they'd be further motivated to have sex. Let us not forget that Leviticus chapter 15 pertains to the issue of ejaculation. There are also numerous stories about rape in the Bible, and even a few references to large penises (Ezekiel 16:26 & Ezekiel 23:20). Furthermore, sexually repressed Monotheists happen to be among the most violent people on earth. As for the condoms, this is to help prevent the spread of disease. If we just closed our eyes and ignored the problem the way the Monotheists want us to, AIDS would spread like wildfire. Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs. And agreeing with them, we said it doesn't matter to me what anyone, including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and the economy is good.Now we see that the author is indirectly blaming school shootings and other problems on the sexual practices of slick Willy Clinton. As long as no one is hurt, a man's private life is his own business. Notice Bill never shot anyone. Why? Read above about sexually repressed Monotheists. And then someone said let's print magazines with pictures of nude women and call it wholesome, down-to-earth appreciation for the beauty of the female body. And we said we have no problem with that.Indeed pornography is degrading towards the image of women, but does this imply that the Bible is not? If we're going to throw porn in the waste bin of history, the Bible has to go along with it. There is much pornography in the Bible (remember the aforementioned verses that talk about ejaculation and large penises?). Genesis 35:22 tells us that "Reuben went and lay with his father's concubine." Strange that God would want us to know about the sexual habits of his people. Let's not forget the whole issue with Judah's sons, each having the same wife, instances of coitus interuptus, et cetera, all found in the 38th chapter of Genesis. Oh, and don't forget 1 Samuel 18:25-27, where David buys his wife with 200 foreskins! And someone else took that appreciation a step further and published pictures of nude children and then stepped further still by making them available on the internet. And we said they're entitled to their free speech.Actually, child pornography is illegal in every country of the world. And the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence, and illicit sex. And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes. And we said it's just entertainment, it has no adverse effect, and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead.It is true that the entertainment industry does promote such things, but certain groups have tried to limit how much of that children see via ratings systems (which are far from perfect). Indeed, there is room for improvement, but notice how this author fallaciously implies that the Bible is the answer, when in reality the Bible itself promotes rape, murder, and other atrocities. Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, their families and themselves.Violence is a sad thing, but is Monotheism the answer? Thinking back to the state of civilization prior to the enlightenment, we'd have to conclude that the Bible is not the answer; maybe we should try Buddhism. As for Christianity versus angry gunmen, see Violence and the Wedgwood Shooting, from the Secular Web. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."We here at the Freethought Mecca agree 100%. With all the union busting, zero tolerance attitudes, cutting of social programs, and other right-wing quick-fix responses, we are faced with an increasingly stratified nation of uneducated and violent thugs. We do reap what we sow, and soon the proverbial chickens will come home to roost. "Dear God, Why didn't you save the little girl at school in Michigan? Sincerely, Concerned Student "Dear God, why didn't you save the thousands of Jews and Muslims who were killed by the Christians during the crusades and inquisitions? Why didn't you save the Hindus and Buddhists who were killed by Christians and Muslims in India? Why did you not spare the people of Africa from the Monotheist hordes of Christians and Muslims looking to enslave new victims? Please God, protect me from your followers. Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.Funny how there are people that actually take the Bible seriously. This is a book filled with tribal vulgarity, contradictions, absurdities, and numerous other problems. Its only function is to serve as a window into the mind of nomadic goat herders who lived centuries ago. Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says.Funny how Monotheists think their mythology is the answer. Funny how Christian presuppose the existence of mythical places called "heaven" and "hell," not realizing that this has all been refuted by those who are familiar with the Philosophy of Mind. Funny how someone can say "I believe in God" but still follow Satan who, by the way, also "believes" in God. Funny how we are quick to judge but not to be judged. Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.Funny how Monotheists actually believe that mythical beings like Satan exist. Funny how there only attempt to prove the existence of these beings is to make an appeal to their own myths, while pointing to the state of the world today, when in reality the world was a much more violent place while the Monotheists were in control. Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but the public discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the school and workplace. Funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ on Saturday , but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week.The lewd, the crude, the vulgar, and the obscene are all online, and you can find it on any site that offers the Bible. Are you laughing?Indeed we are, as this is just plain hilarious. Funny how when you go to forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it to them. Funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me.Funny how you actually still believe that God exists. [1] [2] [3] Are you thinking?Are you? Seems to me like you need an introduction to logic and fallacies. Pass it on if you think it has merit! If not then just discard....Or post a response on the FTMecca, for all to see and laugh at! But, if you discard this thought process, then don't sit back and complain about what a bad shape the world is in...No, actually go out and do something about it. Progress comes through change, not via a return to tribal customs. |