Month: May 2007

God Hates Cuba… Apparently

Facebook.com, if you are unfamiliar, is a social networking tool that allows members to join groups with other members that share a common bond. Groups range from political, athletic, and religious groups to include humorous, offbeat, and nonsensical groups.

I try not to make this a political blog aside from matters that deal specifically with the separation of church and state and any legislation that may affect atheists and non-believers. I will apologize upfront if you are put off by any political remarks, but I find this to tie in very much to my general loathing of the Jesus Fan Club.

While browsing the volumes of worth on Facebook, I came across the group titled “I HATE FIDEL CASTRO.” I clicked through because the topic interested me on a political level, though I found the content to be far from political.


The group’s description boasts:

New report states that Castro’s stiches from stomach surgery have not healed properly, and he has had to seek medical attention for them. That is good news and that shows how awesome GOD is, while he is a forgiving and loving GOD, but he is also a just GOD

In believing that God is just, you imply that God is sympathetic to the American people and their system of government. This is a pristine example of the rampant ethnocentrism that so many theists display (particularly in the southern U.S.). Honorable as you may think you are being in your declaration, displaying enthusiasm for another’s pain and suffering is not what I have ever seen defined as “Christ-like”.

Let’s hope so? Pardon me for doubting the intelligence of someone who dubs himself an “anti-castro redneck”. Were this group created by a Cuban who had qualms with the current state of Cuba, I could understand the dissent, however this group is simply a response to one anti-castro redneck’s distaste for communism (i.e. not right-wing conservatism.)

I suppose “love thy neighbor”, like so many other Bible lessons, is a conditional sentiment.

Six Reasons to Believe in Circular Logic, Superstition, and Persecution

“EveryStudent.com is a safe place to explore questions about who God is and what it might be like to know God.”

When I first read the mission of this site, I thought, “Okay, so these folks really want to openly discuss their beliefs.” Of course, after I started digging around a little, I found the following list of six definitive reasons why GOD exists. So much for open discussion.

Six reasons that god exists

1. Does God exist? The complexity of our planet points to a deliberate Designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it today.

2. Does God exist? The human brain’s complexity shows a higher intelligence behind it.

3. Does God exist? “Chance” or “natural causes” are insufficient explanations.

4. Does God exist? To state with certainty that there is no God, a person has to ignore the passion of an enormously vast number of people who are convinced that there is a God.

5. Does God exist? We know God exists because he pursues us. He is constantly initiating and seeking for us to come to him.

6. Does God exist? Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus Christ is the clearest, most specific picture of God pursuing us.

To quote Jules Winnfield on Pulp Fiction, “Well, allow me to retort.”

1. One, the complexity of our planet points to the Christian God as creator? I know they said “deliberate Designer”, but I highly doubt that they were referring to Kronos, Ahura Mazda, Quetzalcoatl, Amun, or his noodly excellence. Looking at something and not understanding immediately where it came from is no reason to abandon logic, throw up your hands and attribute such acts to a celestial magician (especially when there are any number of “creators” to choose from). Science, with all of its discoveries, continues to pull back the veil of ignorance once planted by religious superstitions of the past. Have patience and I am fairly certain we will continue to learn more and more about our origins. I’ll almost bet those origins won’t contain any “let their be life” moments or the instantaneous creation of fully developed plants and animals.

2. This is more or less a restatement and clarification of the previous question. Except instead of “complexity of planet”, they have chosen “complexity of human brain” which raises no question which can’t be answered with the above explanation. In true Christian argument fashion, the same old questions are reworded and repeated.

3. Of course “chance” and “natural causes” are insufficient explanations. But, to me and so many others, so is “Big Daddy in the sky did it.” Pointing back to #1, give it time as the scientific method, i.e. properly examining a hypothesis by experimentation and analysis of the data, reveals the truths of our origins. But seriously folks, stop living in the past. We are here now, and we need to live our lives in the present to ensure a healthy future.

4. This one is just plain stupid. That something is popular makes it true? What a keen notion. A large number of people once thought that the earth was flat and was the center of the universe. Large numbers of people have believed many false things. To lean on your popularity shows a lack of any real evidence to support your claims.

5. God does not pursue us. This is a baseless claim. People pursue God because they pursue answers to difficult questions. They feel the need to believe in an afterlife of rewards to make up for a life filled with sickness and suffering. Surely all of this bad will be made up for with something? Ah! Heaven! With it’s golden-paved streets and harp-toting angels, I will be able to put aside all of the bad things I have to deal with here on Earth.

6. Again, this is merely a restatement of #5 pointing specifically at Jesus. If someone were to call themselves the son of God today, would he be received as the second coming of Christ? No. In fact, I’m sure there are more than a few rooms in asylums worldwide filled with second comings. People to whom God speaks nowadays are either committed or elected.