Muslim Cleric Calls For Beheading

Well once again the public face of Islam is showing just how modern and tolerant they are. An Australian born Muslim cleric has publicly called for the beheading of a Dutch politician who is anti-Islamic.  The politician, Geert Wilders, and his Dutch Freedom Party are currently trying to form a new minority government with Liberals and Christian Democrats.

The Netherlands’ newspaper ‘De Telegraaf’ displayed on its front page the story of Feiz Muhammad’s speech demonizing Mr. Wilders and calling for his beheading.

Feiz Muhammad has gained infamy for calling for radicalization of  Muslim children and blaming rape victims for their own attacks.  According to his website Mr. Muhammad is now based in Malaysia

Totally ignoring his own low-life Satanic views of all of humanity Mr. Muhammad called Geert Wilders “this Satan, this devil, this politician in Holland” and says that anyone who talks about Islam like Wilders does should be executed by beheading.

Apparently there is no free speech in Denmark as Mr. Wilders is on trial for hate speech and discrimination against Muslims. Mr. Wilders also made a film in 2008 accusing the Koran of inciting violence (which it does), and the film used images of terrorists mixed with quotations from the Koran.  The charges against Wilders also included an opinion piece he wrote for a Dutch newspaper where he compared Islam to fascism and the Holy Koran to Hitler’s book ‘Mein Kampf.”

Mr. Wilders has also been in the press lately for his plans to speak out against the planned “Mosque” in New York City on the anniversary of the Muslim attack against America on September 11^th of 2001 that killed 2977 human people…and 19 Muslim scum hijackers who were financed by Saudi Arabian Muslims.

From everything I have learned about this Wilders guy he is just exercising his Human right to speak his mind (and the truth by the way), but the Danish have strict hate speech/blasphemy laws.

And from what I have learned about the scumbag Feiz Muhammad he is a typical right wing Muslim religionist spouting typical Islamic crap…may he shake the hand of a left-handed skeptic.

I’m not convinced that Islam will grow up and join the Human Race anytime soon.

Just one more reason to reject religion…they’re too damn dangerous and blood-thirsty

http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-51264420100903

Go to Jihad Watch to get more understanding of Muslim cleric creeps

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No Visible Means of Scientific Support

Quote of the day

“But, Gods, gods, angels, demons, devil, heaven, hell, people formed from dust or ribs, the dead rising, water walking, transformation of water into an alcohol, millions of animal species on a boat, etc., etc., defies mans experience, observations and understanding of natural law. It has no visible means of scientific support.  I am not skeptical about it having occurred; I reject it entirely. I am a person who respects the laws of the natural universe and whose thinking is grounded in reality.
Please don’t call me a religious skeptic.  To quote Katherine Hepburn: “I am an atheist and that’s it.” The atheist Camel Chronicles, Dromedary Hump, BookSurge Publishing, 2009

What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof. – Christopher Hitchens

God and Christianity and Us Poor Humans

I’ve recently been in a discussion with a person about Satan and why he would even bother anymore since his fate is already sealed. We and Satan already know he loses the battle with God, and…all the people who follow Christianity know it.  The story has been outlined for us by the Church; we know Armageddon will be coming, the Four Horsemen, the Anti-Christ, and whatever else John writes in Revelation.

This God of Christianity is going to allow this melodrama to proceed to the point of human annihilation on this planet, and somehow God calls this victory.  ALL the various Christian denominations believe they alone will survive and live forever…either in Heaven or in a  Earthly Paradise, looked over by God–in person.  All this Armageddon and stuff is caused by a Devil (or is it the original plan of God when He started all this crappy melodrama?), who knows he will lose the fight; does this make even the slightest bit of sense?

I like the following part of an essay that I have already posted earlier on my blog…it speaks to the problem with Devils and any other spirits called up by religion.

“For many centuries the church filled the world with devils — with malicious spirits that caused storm and tempest, disease, accident and death — that filled the night with visions of despair; with prophecies that drove the dreamers mad. These devils assumed a thousand forms — countless disguises in their efforts to capture souls and destroy the church. They deceived sometimes the wisest and the best, made priests forget their vows. They melted virtue’s snow in passion’s fire, and in cunning ways entrapped and smirched the innocent and good. These devils gave witches and wizards their supernatural powers, and told them the secrets of the future.

Millions of men and women were destroyed because they had sold themselves to the Devil.

No man has genius enough to describe the agonies that have been inflicted on innocent men and women because of this absurd belief. How it darkened the mind, hardened the heart, and poisoned life! It made the Universe a madhouse presided over by an insane God.

Think! Why would a merciful God allow his children to be the victims of devils? Why would a decent God allow his worshipers to believe in devils, and by reason of that belief to persecute torture and burn their fellow-men?”  Robert Ingersall

Does this man above speak the truth?  Did the churches do these terrible crimes?  Yes they did…its known written history.  And then later on in the American colonies the Puritans repeated the deadly serious criminal act of burning and hanging “witches” and railing against demons.  I think this is a serious mistake that a real “God driven” religion would not make.

Or would you think that there was real demons and evil spirits and Satan himself doing these things?  If not, how would you reconcile the churches doing these things in the name of God?  Do many Christians you know believe in Satan and think he sends his minions to do bad stuff in the world…like he was supposed to have done in the Dark Ages and in the Puritan states of America’s past?

Think about this; The Catholic Church (who was the victor in the God Wars way back then) was the keeper of the scriptures and writings of all of early Christianity. They molded the church (and Scripture), in the way they wanted. They alone keep the religious fires burning in the beginning years.  They promulgated the evil words that started the above scenarios. They started the whole mess.

The Protestant Reformation or Revolution started by Luther started out with the best intentions, but they made at least one mistake…they used the same book, and that book is terribly, terribly wrong about so many things

“This fact is forgotten by Protestants. They read blood-curdling stories of the Inquisition and of atrocities committed by Catholics, but what does the average Protestant know of Protestant atrocities in the centuries succeeding the Reformation? Nothing, unless he makes a special study of the subject . . . Yet they are perfectly well known to every scholar . . . If I do not enumerate here the persecutions carried on by Catholics in the past, it is because it is not necessary in this book to do so. This volume is addressed especially to Protestants, and Catholic persecutions are to them sufficiently well known . . .

…What makes, however, Protestant persecutions especially revolting is the fact that they were absolutely inconsistent with the primary doctrine of Protestantism — the right of private judgment in matters of religious belief! Nothing can be more illogical than at one moment to assert that one may interpret the Bible to suit himself, and at the next to torture and kill him for having done so!”  The Double Standard of Protestant “Inquisition Polemics” by John Stoddard

So why do you think religion is any different today?  We no longer believe in witches and demons…at least most of humanity does not, but there are still many inconsistencies in how Christians practice their faith and most of them pick and choose their theology to suit their life and how they want to live it.

I think that a religion based on a real God who is able to interact with us would be unquestionably believed by all people, there would be unanimity in all matters of belief and understanding in His message. There would have been no need or reason for all the unbelievable terror and evil carried out in His name, no evil men sentencing people to death in His name, no churches growing fat off the dissemination of the “Holy Word”.  No people using His church and His religion to sodomize helpless children or prey on the weak and vulnerable, to steal others wealth and in general keep people under the yoke and in their control.  And there would be NO need for devils, demons and such.

The common apologetic for these problems mentioned is that it is evil men who have done this; God and The Church are blameless in this matter. Really!!–not much of a God to allow so much crime in His house.

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Demons and Devils and Popes, Bishops and Priests

“All the fathers of the church believed in devils. All the saints won their crowns by overcoming devils. All the popes and cardinals, bishops and priests, believed in devils. Most of their time was occupied in fighting devils. The whole Catholic world, from the lowest layman to the highest priest, believed in devils. They proved the existence of devils by the New Testament. They knew that these devils were citizens of hell. They knew that Satan was their king. They knew that hell was made for the Devil and his angels.”

As late as the middle of the sixteenth century, every infant that was baptized was, by that ceremony, freed from a devil. When the holy water was applied the priest said: “I command thee, thou unclean spirit, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, that thou come out and depart from this infant, whom our Lord Jesus Christ has vouchsafed to call to his holy baptism, to be made a member of his body, and of his holy congregation.” At that time the fathers — the theologians, the commentators — agreed that unbaptized children, including those that were born dead, went to hell.

And these same fathers — theologians and commentators — said: “God is love.”

These babes were pure as Pity’s tears, innocent as their mother’s loving smiles, and yet the makers of our creeds believed and taught that leering, unclean fiends inhabited their dimpled flesh. O, the unscarchable riches of Christianity!

For many centuries the church filled the world with devils — with malicious spirits that caused storm and tempest, disease, accident and death — that filled the night with visions of despair; with prophecies that drove the dreamers mad. These devils assumed a thousand forms — countless disguises in their efforts to capture souls and destroy the church. They deceived sometimes the wisest and the best, made priests forget their vows. They melted virtue’s snow in passion’s fire, and in cunning ways entrapped and smirched the innocent and good. These devils gave witches and wizards their supernatural powers, and told them the secrets of the future.

Millions of men and women were destroyed because they had sold themselves to the Devil.

No man has genius enough to describe the agonies that have been inflicted on innocent men and women because of this absurd belief. How it darkened the mind, hardened the heart, and poisoned life! It made the Universe a madhouse presided over by an insane God.

Think! Why would a merciful God allow his children to be the victims of devils? Why would a decent God allow his worshipers to believe in devils, and by reason of that belief to persecute, torture and burn their fellow-men?

Christians did not ask these questions. They believed the Bible; they had confidence in the words of Christ.

How did your Devil, who was at one time an angel of light, come to sin? There was no other devil to tempt him. He was in perfectly good society — in the company of God — of the Trinity. All of his associates were perfect. How did he fall? He knew that God was infinite, and yet he waged war against him and induced about a third of the angels to volunteer. He knew that he could not succeed; knew that he would be defeated and cast out; knew that he was fighting for failure.

Why did God create those angels, knowing that they would rebel? Why did he deliberately sow the seeds of discord in heaven, knowing that he would cast them into the lake of eternal fire — knowing that for them he would create the eternal prison, whose dungeons would echo forever the sobs and shrieks of endless pain?
Robert Ingersoll late 1800’s

Remember people God never changes and he is a God of love….right….right???

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Heaven or Hell…God or Satan

Below, in today’s post, I am corresponding with a nice young man named Justin. He is in college and is a very evangelical soul. Although I disbelieve in his worldview, I am happy to ‘talk’ with him. I hope you find our discussion as interesting as I do. You-refers to Justin. Me-refers to me. 😉

You: I’m going to try to ignore possible sarcasm in these questions and answer simply. Refers to post Here
Me: What? Me being sarcastic….Noooo 🙂

Me: Did matter always exist in the universe?
You: God began time. God created matter.
Me: Standard non-believer response…who or what created God?

Me: *Did God always exist in the universe?
You: No, God created time. God created the universe.
Me: Standard response, see above.

Me: Was there ‘nothingness’ everywhere that was filled up with a sentient cloud of electrons or atoms? Or was there absolutely nothing there…but, somehow, something…was a God?
You: There was God. Then he created.
Me: See above.

Me: Were we, and our universe, as we know it, purposely created to ‘glorify’ a cloud of sentient nothingness?
You: We were created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
Me: Again with the ‘glorify’ thing. What is it with all Gods that we have to glorify them? Doesn’t he realize that the human race has evolved away from the wide-eyed innocence that priests in the past could count on for easy obedience in the flock? The church leaders couldn’t come up with anything better than he needs to be glorified? God doesn’t need to be glorified. Satan doesn’t need to be glorified…this ‘glorified’ crap needs to be re-examined. It sounds like an easy way out of explaining a phenomenon that really needs to be re-examined in the light of our better understanding of the world, and the universe, and human motives. Besides, how is God’s wife (Asherah) going to feel, if we go around glorifying him and leave her out? J

Me: Are we even real? Could we be a dream that a cloud of nothingness is dreaming? Shades of Matrix 🙂
You: We are real. Interestingly, it is the Christian worldview which states that we are real and the laws of nature are unchanging that allows science to take place.
Me: Well, actually I was being a little sarcastic there. The laws of nature, so far, don’t need a God to explain things. They’re a little fuzzy on the very beginning of things, as even I will allow for the possibility of ‘God’ or something having started it (time…the universe), but after it was here, natural processes can account for everything. We still come back to the conundrum of who created the creator. “He was always there” doesn’t cut it in my humble estimation.

Me: Why would a God set up a paradise, with a snake/Satan that he knew would cause Eve to “Sin”? and Why was Satan…the sinner…even around then, or allowed to be in the garden?
You: God was not surprised. He allowed people to do what they did as part of His prearranged plan. God gets all the proper glory and credit in the end.
Me: So, let me get this straight; God, even in the beginning, was setting up this little plot to terrorize and murder mankind? He sets up this drama so the glory and credit will fall on him when we go through this horrible experience that is our human history? Man, that’s Evil with a capitol E. Who needs Satan when we have a God that can plot all of this from the beginning of time? *^{see asterisk below}

Me: How was Satan even considered evil or sinful, when there was no evil or sin existing at the time?
You: Satan began to think of Himself like God. That was wrong. Through Adam the curse of sin entered mankind who was made in the image of God.
Me: Yea, those youngsters that we create get all full of themselves when they hit the teen years. We humans all seem to attribute anthropomorphism to our creations. If we are made in his image, I picture a 6’6″ human shape floating around in space, trying to figure out which end is up. Obviously not true that we are made in his image.

Me: Why was Satan even allowed to be around later in this fairy tale?
You: Not a fairy tale. However, see above comment on prearranged plan.
Me: *See above asterisked comment. That’s really Evil to plan something like that.

Me: Why would an intelligent cloud of nothingness set up the trap for his creations (us), knowing what the outcome would be? Isn’t that kind of like leaving a very sharp butcher knife in front of your one-year-old kid?
You: Not an intelligent cloud of nothingness. He is the Creator. He is God. See comment on prearranged plan.
Me: That God is Evil.

Me: Why would a God even create an evil being?
You: Does cold exist? It is the absence of heat. Does darkness exist? It is the absence of light. Does evil exist? It is the absence of God.
Me: I believe that is flawed logic. You are using physical phenomena that have no relationship to metaphysical reasoning. Yes there is good and evil in this world, and they are opposites in our logic. But, the absence of God does not mean all that’s left is evil? I have no sense of God in my mind, and I am far from evil. In my logic of un-belief, you really have no God directing your actions, and I believe you are probably not evil.

Me: Why is God so directly involved with the killing of so many humans?
You: I do not tell you what to do with your broken microwave. Please be respectful by not telling God how to initiate His justice against a rebellious creation.
Me: Well, the thing is…I’m one of the creatures that your God goes around indiscriminately killing and maiming with His Love. His ‘plan’ as described by various church leaders and evangelical civilians….sucks.

Me: Who tempted Satan to sin…why? If there was no sin before, what was the sin?
You: *Humans did not sin because they were tempted by Satan.* They did so because they chose to do so. You could say they were morally neutral unlike humans today who are inclined towards sin. I am speculating here as I have not done a study on it, but perhaps the angels were created morally neutral.
Me: * I’m sorry, did I miss something here? Didn’t Satan in the form of a snake, tempt Eve to take that fateful bite? Because he is an evil, arrogant, conniving, devilishly convincing fast talker. Here was poor Adam and Eve, literal ‘babes in the woods’ in a world that, to them, was brand new…they had no history to draw on, no instruction classes on the evil ways of some creatures, nothing to base critical decisions on. How gullible are we as young people…before we have had some bad experiences? And, if as you suggest earlier, this is just a pre-arranged plot…that’s just Evil.

Me: If there is no sin in heaven how did Satan sin? Do sins just pop-up, so to speak?
You: You have an incorrect presupposition. Take that away before reading this next sentence. Satan chose to have a rebellious attitude and thus sinned.
Me: Well we know from your exegesis that this was pre-arranged for him to act this way. He was destined from the moment of his creation to be sinful. So I guess God was just setting up this universe and us to be puppets in a play.

ME: What happens if we get to heaven and, God forgive…have a sinful thought?
You: Christians are born again and given a new nature. When in Heaven, there will be no sin. How exactly will that work? There are multiple theories, but I don’t think that is specifically laid out in the Bible. God created the universe. He can handle it.
Me: Ah, there it is. We are born again. The theory that explains it all.

Me: Since there is no visible heaven, will we be among the stars, on earth, another planet, or in our own imagination/minds?
You: Your question has a presupposition. Take that away before reading this next sentence. From my understanding, Earth will be restored and Christians will have access to it and Heaven while the unredeemed will be in Hell.
Me: So the earth will be like new again, and we (well…you) will live on it…and in heaven. Just Christians though. So approximately 40 to 80 billion souls will burn in hell?

Me: Where exactly do you think hell is, and why would a ‘loving God’ want to burn and torture people in it for eternity?
You: Hell is God’s place of justice. God is love. He loves life, therefore he hates murder, Love requires hate in a sense. God is loving and just, therefore Hell must exist. As it is just, it cannot be defined as torture.
Me: I’m sorry, but that’s some really bad logic there. 🙂 I’ll take the last part first: “As it is just, it cannot be defined as torture.” I think that’s what George Bush and Dick Cheney are rationalizing to themselves as they torture people. The rest of what you’re saying here is just so convoluted I can’t even wrap my brain around it enough to reply. I worry about your soul, in a metaphorical way.

Me: Did you ever examine your belief that Santa Claus is not real, and why you think that way? It’s because of the evidence…right?
You: Yes
Me: Give me something real.

Me: Do you Really believe that a ‘Universe Creating God’ would make up this little story of sin and redemption you claim we are all living?
You: No, I do not believe God would make up the story. It is not little either.
Me: You’re right; it’s not little. In most of the above discussion you assert that God did make up the conflict, from ‘the beginning.’ You’re trying to confuse me, right?

Me: Why do you still believe the Bible is the real inerrant word of a God, when you have been shown the many errors in it?
You: Your question has a presupposition. Examined correctly, there are no errors in the Bible. Secondly, I know the perfect God so His Word cannot error.
Me: “Examined correctly.” Those two words speak volumes about Christian Apologetics and the faith in general.

Me: Jesus was, without a doubt, preaching of the second coming of the ‘Kingdom of God’ in the near future, and here we are two thousand years later, still falling for it. Why?
You: People redeemed are part of God’s Kingdom. Christ’s return is coming soon in God’s accounting of time. Be ready.
Me: This doesn’t answer the question. Jesus was preaching the soon to come, new Kingdom of God, the second coming. Where is it? He said some of the same people he was preaching to would still be alive when it happened. If his words were inerrant, as all the words are (?), what happened?

Me: Evidence that believers cannot reach a consensus on the Bible (or the Koran for that matter) is found all over the Christian and Jewish communities. They disagree with each other…sometimes violently…over interpretations of their so-called Holy Script. That alone, is testament to the non-holy status of the Bible, and their sects founded on it. If the Bible and religion were true…the divisions would not even be there. The whole world would be under its sway.
You: You presuppose that if God wrote it, everybody would agree. You’re simply wrong on this point.
Me: Well, I think you’re wrong. 🙂 If there were a ‘True God’ out there in our world, the whole earth would know it, and the nightly network news would be doing interviews. That wouldn’t be something that would be denied in our world today…if the proofs were there. You have to step away from this little ‘Pre-planned By God’ drama. In the ancient world these mythical stories couldn’t be denied because not only wasn’t there enough knowledge about ‘things.’, but people were very gullible. They were not educated and hardly had knowledge of things further than their own horizons.
As people get educated and learn about the real world, these purposely planted superstitions fade away. There is no observable supernatural or magic phenomenon operating in our world. There is not any evidence or proofs that there ever was. A real God operating in our universe requires that magic be true…it isn’t.

Shalom

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Did our Universe Always exist?

Did matter always exist in the universe?

Did God always exist in the universe?

Was there ‘nothingness’ everywhere that was filled up with a sentient cloud of electrons or atoms? Or was there absolutely nothing there…but, somehow, something…was a God?

Were we, and our universe as we know it, purposely created to ‘glorify’ a cloud of sentient nothingness?

Are we even real? Could we be a dream that a cloud of nothingness is dreaming? Shades of Matrix 🙂

Why would a God set up a paradise, with a snake/Satan that he knew would cause Eve to “Sin”?

Why was Satan…the sinner…even around then, or allowed to be in the garden?

How was Satan even considered evil or sinful, when there was no evil or sin existing at the time?

Why was Satan even allowed to be around later in this fairy tale?

Why would an intelligent cloud of nothingness set up the trap for his creations (us), knowing what the outcome would be? Isn’t that kind of like leaving a very sharp butcher knife in front of your one-year-old kid?

Why would a God even create an evil being?

Why is God so directly involved with the killing of so many humans?

Who tempted Satan to sin…why…if there was no sin before what was the sin?

If there is no sin in heaven how did Satan sin? Do sins just pop-up, so to speak?

What happens if we get to heaven and, God forgive…have a sinful thought?

Since there is no visible heaven, will we be among the stars, on earth, another planet, or in our own imagination/minds?

Where exactly do you think hell is, and why would a ‘loving God’ want to burn and torture people in it for eternity?

Did you ever examine your belief that Santa Claus is not real, and why you think that way? It’s because of the evidence…right?

Do you Really believe that a ‘Universe Creating God’ would make up this little story of sin and redemption you claim we are all living?

Why do you still believe the Bible is the real inerrant word of a God, when you have been shown the many errors in it?

Jesus was, without a doubt, preaching of the second coming of the ‘Kingdom of God’ in the near future, and here we are two thousand years later, still falling for it. Why?

Evidence that believers cannot reach a consensus on the Bible (or the Koran for that matter) is found all over the Christian and Jewish communities. They disagree with each other…sometimes violently…over interpretations of their so-called Holy Script. That alone, is testament to the non-holy status of the Bible, and their sects founded on it. If the Bible and religion were true…the divisions would not even be there. The whole world would be under its sway.

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Did God Give US Free Will?

Do we REALLY have free will?

Some of the best known Christians in history have taught there is no free will, including St. Augustine , Martin Luther, and John Calvin. The Christian Bible states in many places that God creates our future and decides our fates. It constantly denies that we have free will. If God knows exactly what will happen, (Being omnipotent and omniscient of course) the status of choices as free, is questionable.

“Praise be to [God], who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Ephesians 1:4-6 NIV

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:4-10 NIV

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” Romans 8:29-30 NIV

“Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad – in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls – she was told “The older will serve the younger”. Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated”. What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” Romans 9:10-15 NIV

“It does not therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed on all the earth.” [Exodus 9:16] Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” ” Romans 9:16-19

“[God] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, ” 2 Timothy 1:9 NASB

“All people living on the Earth will worship [The Devil], except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living which belongs to [Jesus].” Revelations 13:8 NIV Pretty much the whole thing

Schopenhauer talks of free will and moral responsibility thusly:

“Everyone believes himself a priori to be perfectly free, even in his individual actions, and thinks that at every moment he can commence another manner of life. … But a posteriori, through experience, he finds to his astonishment that he is not free, but subjected to necessity, that in spite of all his resolutions and reflections he does not change his conduct, and that from the beginning of his life to the end of it, he must carry out the very character which he himself condemns….”

So what is one to make of all this? Christians, today tell me that I have free will and it is by my own choice whether I go to heaven or hell. But, then you read Revelations 13:8 (above). Of course this is just one of MANY inconsistencies to be found in that confounding book; the Bible.

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Angels, Demons, and Satan

“The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not. Eric Hoffer

I have asked some very religious people I know if they believe in demons and angels. 100% of them said they believed, but had not experienced sightings. I have been reading about demons and angels off and on for years; and of course there is all the TV series’ and movies that have explored the subject for years. What really is up here? Just what are demons and angels and how do they affect the ‘Real World.’

Demonic supernatural powers are believed to include fabrication, psychokinesis, levitation, divination, possession, seduction, ESP, telepathy, witchcraft, and curses, as well as binding, making contracts, controlling the classical elements, animal control, and provocation. Demons use variants and combinations of these powers to harass, demoralize, confuse, and disorient the victim, or the willing subject of demonic interest.
Wikipedia, retrieved 3.11.08, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_demonology

The New Testament mentions a number of times in which Jesus drove out demons from diseased persons. There seemed to be lots of demons in the time of Jesus.

• Matthew 7:21-23: Many will drive out demons in Jesus’ name (also Mark 16:17; Luke 10:17; Acts 5:16; 8:7).
• Matthew 8:14-17: Jesus healed many demon-possessed (also Mark 1:29-39; Luke 4:33-41).
• Matthew 8:28-34: Jesus sent a herd of demons from two men into a herd of about two thousand pigs (also Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39, both referring to only one man).
• Matthew 9:32-34: Jesus made a demon-possessed and mute man speak; the Pharisees said it was by the power of Beelzebub (also Mark 3:20-22).
• Matthew 10:1-8: The Twelve Apostles given the authority to drive out evil spirits (also Mark 3:15; 6:7; 6:13; Luke 9:1; 10:17).
• Matthew 11:16-19: “this generation” said that John the Baptist was possessed by a demon (also Luke 7:31-35).
• Matthew 12:22-32: Jesus healed a demon-possessed blind and dumb man (also Luke 11:14-23; 12:10; Mark 3:20-30).
• Matthew 12:43-45: Jesus told an allegory of nasty spirits coming back home, that is to the human body where they have lived before (also Luke 11:24-26).
• Matthew 15:21-28: Jesus expelled a demon from the body of the daughter of a Canaanite woman (also Mark 7:24-30).
• Matthew 17:14-21: Jesus healed a lunatic by driving out a demon from him (also Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-49).
• Mark 1:21-28: Jesus expelled a nasty spirit from a man (also Luke 4:31-37).
• Mark 9:38-40: A non-Christian is seen driving out demons in Jesus’ name (also Luke 9:49-50).
• Mark 16:9: Jesus had driven seven demons out of Mary Magdalene (also Luke 8:2).
• Luke 7:21: Many people are cleansed from evil spirits by Jesus.
• Luke 13:10-17: Jesus expelled a spirit of disease from the body of a woman on the Sabbath.
• Luke 13:31-32: Jesus continued to cast out demons even though Herod Antipas wanted to kill him.
• Luke 22:3: Satan entered into Judas Iscariot (also John 13:27).
• John 7:20: A “crowd of Jews” that wanted to kill Jesus said he was demon-possessed.
• John 8:48-52: “The Jews” said Jesus was a Samaritan and demon-possessed.
• John 10:20-21: Many Jews said Jesus was raving mad and demon-possessed; others said he was not.
• Acts 5:3: Satan filled the heart of Ananias.
• Acts 5:16: The Apostles healed those tormented by evil spirits.
• Acts 8:6-8: At the teaching of Philip the Evangelist in Samaria, evil spirits came out of many.
• Acts 8:18-19: Simon Magus offered to buy the power of Laying on of hands.
• Acts 10:38: St. Peter said Jesus healed all who were under the power of the devil.
• Acts 16:16-24: Paul and Silas were imprisoned for driving a future-telling spirit out of a slave girl.
• Acts 19:11-12: Handkerchiefs and aprons touched by Paul cured illness and drove out evil spirits.
• Acts 19:13-20: Seven sons of Sceva attempted to drive out evil spirits by saying: “In the name of Jesus, they were unsuccessful and were actually driven from that house by the possessed.
• Revelation 18:2: The Whore of Babylon is a home for demons, evil spirits and unclean birds.”
  Wikipedia 3.11.08 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_possession

Regarding Angels: Some secular scholars believe that Judeo-Christianity owes a great debt to Zoroastrianism in regards to the introduction of angelology and demonology, as well as the fallen angel Satan as the ultimate agent of evil, comparing him to the evil spirit Ahriman. As the Iranian Avestan and Vedic traditions and also other branches of Indo-European mythologies show, the notion of demons had existed long before. Wikipedia 3.11.08 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels

Could this be another example of the church integrating pagan beliefs into their theology, like they did with the Trinity??

A Gallup poll, conducted in 2004 says that belief in angels and demons is on the rise in the United States. In 1994, 72% of Americans said they believed in angels; in 2004 78% indicated belief in angels.
Belief in the devil is rising even faster; increasing from 55% in 1990 to 70% in 2004.
Gallup Poll News Service, May 25, 2004.

Canada and the UK are more skeptical however. A Gallup poll in November of 2004 showed that 56% of Canadians and 36% of Britons believe in angels and 37% of Canadians and 29% of Britons believe in the devil. Gallup Poll News Service, November 16, 2004.

The difference in believing in Angels and Satan is kind of weird. Do people think of them as coming from different realms? It seems to me the logical way to think of this is; if you believe in Angels, you ought to believe in Satan. After all, they supposedly come from the same source. Probably comes from that unique ability humans have of holding two contradictory beliefs and being able to rationalize it.

“We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes.” – Gene Roddenberry

Do we have any official, recognized sightings of either Angels or demons on record anywhere? Does anyone out there have film or tape of the Devil torturing someone? Does some secret government agency go around investigating sightings of Angels and demons, like Project Bluebook did for UFOs ? Think about it; at one time our government actually considered that flying saucers might be real. They have never even considered Angels or demons. They realized the stupidity of such an endeavor.

Answer to Life

Hi Mathew Paul,

I’m going to answer your reply in a column instead of in the leave-a-reply section because I need to blow off steam. Nothing personal, have just heard all of these platitudes before, and never really answered fully. I hope you don’t mind.

You wrote: I submit that the earth as created by God was an ideal place to live in with every blessing in it.

I submit to you…that when the earth came into being that it was (and still is, mostly) a beautiful place…but also deadly. The earth harbors deadly diseases, deadly animals, and is a cruel environment for puny humans. Man/woman have fought, for a million years (out of over 4 billion) or more, to establish their control of the environment they live in. In all those years we endured unbelievable suffering. For hundreds of thousands of years, 50% or more of our children died before they were 2 years old. People that made it to adulthood probably only lived into their 30’s, or 40’s. Near starvation was probably the norm for humans up to, probably the 1600 to 1700’s.

The earth has in its lifetime supported well over 40 billion souls, and it’s only recently that there has been some security in people’s life. This, of course, does not count Africa, which is probably a lost continent.

Where was God when the Neanderthals were fighting to live on a European continent that was largely covered with ice, 75,000 years ago? Where was God when our ancestors were barely surviving by hunting and scavenging in the African veldt, over 100,000 years ago? All of the DNA evidence, both mitochondrial, and Ychromosomal, points to Africa as humanities original home.

The fact that humans and Neanderthals have inhabited this earth for hundreds of thousands of years is not even remotely questioned in the scientific community. It is accepted fact. All, and I repeat, All, of the available physical, natural evidence on this earth supports this fact. The fundamentalist and evangelical religions, mostly in the US, are the most numerous doubters of these facts, but it doesn’t really matter…they are true facts nonetheless.

I will repeat something I think I spoke of elsewhere on this blog. As our society and science advances on this earth, religion is more and more being disproved. God is only left in the gaps, and those gaps are quickly being filled with natural facts.

You wrote: I submit that man chose to obey the enemy (rather?) than God and the present world is the result of the same.
Also: I submit that the world is under the power of the Evil One and all the sickness and mysery that we see all around are his making.

I submit to you…the world we live in has…always…had both good and bad people. There are millions or billions of people alive today, that are every bit as good and loving as are a lot of Christians, and they believe in no God, or Buddha, or any of the Brahmin Gods, or a thousand and one others. Believing in a “God” does not guarantee goodness. Witness the Catholic priest scandal of recent times…and I’ll bet you it’s gone on for 2000 years, and all over the Christian world. I have some limited personal experience with people high in the Protestant community, that is not good, and not Christian. As to the “enemy” all I know is that I do not obey any “Devil or Satan.” Any misdeeds I do are strictly my own responsibility, and I KNOW that. The “devil does not make me do it.”

I’m reminded of (are you in the US?) the recently defrocked preacher in Colorado who preached on and on about the evil of homosexuality, all the while having a homosexual relationship with a male prostitute. “The devil took hold of me.” He says. “No, lust took hold of you.” I said. We are a society that tries to shift any responsibility for our wrong actions to others. The Devil or Satan is one of those “others.”

You wrote: I submit that God in Christ came as a man and redeemed the world and the process of redemption is going on now as people choose to believe God in Christ over against the devil.

I also submit that the myseries of sin will soon come to an end and a king will rule in righteousness and peace on this earth soon.

I submit to you that Paul invented that myth of original sin, and the early Catholic priesthood invented the “trinity.” Why does God say in one breath: the son inherits the sins of the father.” 2SA: 1,19 and IS 14: 21-22, and EX 20:5 and in another; the son does not inherent the sins of the father. DE 24:16, and EZ 18:20. Why does Jesus reference his Father in Heaven, and say that only the Father knows the time of the end. MT 10:32,33 and MT 7:21 and MT 24:36.

You said: Now I wish you would give me an explanation of the existence of the earth and mankind and their present predicament. Is it going to continue endlessly without a hope or what is to be expected for the future? Please give me in black and white as to what you believe about the given issues and your reasons for doing so. I will truly appreciate your reply and jokes apart, if you give me a better expanation than what I hold which can show practical results as I produced in my life, I will whole=heartedly accept your position. Waiting earnestly for your immediate reply. Thanks in advance!

I…don’t know the explanation of the existence of us…and I wish I had the answer to the predicament of man/woman kind. But, I also do not give up reasonable, logical thought processes and submit my brain to a magical creature of myth.

My own prediction for the future is: Who knows? I suspect that man will continue to strive on. There will probably be a revolution or two in the western world, millions more will die and be born. The wealthy and the politicians of the world will continue to F__k over the rest of us. Life will go on, as it has for over a million years. Whether the world/earth will continue to be healthy for life, is up in the air, but will probably continue to deteriorate; as it always has.

What you are doing in your life is obviously working for you. Why would I want to change that for you? I have a hard enough time being responsible and caring for my own wonderful family.

No, you continue to do what gives you joy, and occasionally we will chat and gently berate each other’s lifestyle or beliefs. Peace out to you.