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SHOW NOTES
1) Intro music is by Rob Potylo. Click here for more – http://robpotylo.bandcamp.com/
2) Closing music is “God Is Dead” by Black Sabbath, video directed by Peter Joseph – http://youtu.be/OhhOU5FUPBE
3) Interview with Mike Shipley from Bradley Manning Freedom Torch Parade – Click Here
Moviestarlett- I have differant opinions then you about the merits of god, religion, eternity, consciousness, the nature of reality, etc. Most Christians I must admit, would now get the full spectrum from me on why I find the entire concept immoral, starting from the very beginning at the story of creation and then Adam, Eve, Original sin, etc. However, I just can’t find that normal level of resistance in me to what your are saying in your posts. As far as being a Christian, you are probably one of the least offensive ones I have encountered, and I wanted to applaud you on that. Doesn’t mean we agree whatsoever, but I welcome a world where people of differing viewpoints can actually have meaningful dialogue.
also, the media is right to stay away from Bradley Manning’s sexuality. i think it’s fine to call a wo/man a traitor or a hero, but if you call someone a traitor while also publicly hashing out that person’s gender and sexual identity, you’re treading on dangerous ground. it would only bring out the bigots, and detract from Manning’s heroic actions. i still notice the media is silent on the war crimes Manning exposed, focusing instead on Edward Snowden and whether or not he’s taking a poop or eating a hot dog somewhere in Hong Kong.
JonB, i do realize i’m in the minority and it saddens me. i know Christianity gets bashed because people have so trampled and twisted it, and use it as a shield for their own misguided, destructive agendas.
i will say that many people are “born” knowing God is real, and we set out in search of Him. as far as this being (or not being) a perfect world, that goes back to creation and the fall of man. Adam and Eve kinda messed it up for everyone, then Cain went and killed his brother because he was jealous of him, etc.
there is evil in the world because Satan, or the devil, is currently reigning. Jesus Himself describes Satan as the ruler of this world. i could explain why everyone doesn’t automatically get into heaven, but for people who don’t believe, it wouldn’t make any difference. we are human and so we think and reason with our minuscule human minds. we cannot begin to understand the mind of God or know why He allows things to happen on earth. i don’t understand why my teenage cousin died in a car wreck or why babies are born with birth defects, but hardships and tragedies also being out the best in people. without struggles, we lack character.
you have to also understand that for the Christian, this life is all too brief.
we live out our lives with the objective of inheriting eternity. as humans, we cannot even grasp the concept of eternity…really, my human mind is like, i don’t wanna do ANYTHING forever. but again, there is a lot i cannot understand while still in the body.
anyway, i don’t mean to preach a sermon. God is Who He is, and it is what it is.
“why, you don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. what is your life? you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” – James 4:14
Well said, Jean.
Both of you have well-written responses. Thank you.
Comments on the comments –
1. The podcast was not a rail against Christianity, it was a rail against god for putting us humans on earth with full power to do absolutely everything wrong up to and including destroying all life on earth and then just leaving us to get on with it.
2. The very clearly stated point about what’s wrong with all the spying is that it’s grossly UNCONSTITUTIONAL!!! It doesn’t matter a damn that we can protect ourselves from spying (which is a foolish belief, imo). It matters that everything that used to be wonderful about our country has been trashed.
Moviestartlette- Very well written post. You realize however that you are an extreme minority in Christian cirles though right?
When the majority behaves a certain way, it should be expected that reactions are then primarily directed at that same majority. If the rest of so called “Christians” adopted your philosophy of let god sort it out, I doubt there would be much mockery or resistance to that religion. But you have 2,000 years of pretty heinous behaviors committed in the name of Christianity to overcome, and a much louder and more numerous population of Christians today who continue to push their dogma into government, scool and science, so we kinda get used to having to resist such.
Personally Im more of an epicuris guy:
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then He is not omnipotent. Is He able, but not willing? Then He is malevolent. Is He both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is He neither able nor willing? Then why call Him God?
I want my children to experience as happy a life as possible with as little misery and suffering as possible. If I had such power, I’m pretty sure I’d skip hell, the devil, plague, disease, starvation, heck probably skip the need to kill animals so we could eat too. Why not just open heaven to us all? Why have to pass tests, when God made us exactly as we are today? If he wanted us different, couldn’t he make us that way? Why aren’t we born KNOWING he is real, like we know to breathe and eat?
Sorry not trying to be offensive to you, as you seem to be a good person who I’d undoubtedly like if I met in RL, but I find the entire tenets of the Christian faith to be fairly evil at it’s very core.
Lee, is it possible for you to increase the volume on this podcast? I’ve turned up every setting on my speakers and computer and I’m still missing bits.
Thanks!
Lee I love your stuff. I just found you via Max Keiser’s show. I was just listening to your podcast and got a little annoyed at how very close you come to the answer regarding PRISM without actually stumbling over it, despite how very simple the answer is.
Sure, you can be angry about a government that wants to spy on its citizens because that is a damn good indicator of evil intentions by a government if you ask me, but there are simple methods by which you, me, anyone and everyone can have complete anonymity online while still leveraging all the power of the internet.
If the government is guilty of trampling our right to privacy then Facebook, Google, Apple and the rest have all betrayed every single one of us too. STOP USING THESE ONLINE SERVICES. They sold you out. The only way the government can track you on Facebook is if you use Facebook!
Be responsible for yourself online. Don’t use centralized social media, like Facebook and Google. Learn how to use encryption and use it on all your emails. It’s actually very very easy.
I am hopeful that this ‘outing’ of their sinister plan will inspire many more people to learn how to be invisible online.
When you’re online, treat your privacy with the same importance as you would your money. If you’re lazy with either one you lose them.
(updated. please delete 1st post .)
Lee, you say our government is seriously screwed up, but doing away with government is not the solution; that would be “throwing out the baby with the bath water.”
you are correct.
in the same way, the fact that Christianity, as a religion and way of life, has been completely hijacked, exploited, infiltrated by right-wing extremist nutballs, used as a justification for hatred of gays/LGBT, and misrepresented as a justification for waging wars around the world and terrorizing and exploiting helpless people, is a really, really bad reason for throwing out religion altogether.
here’s the thing. i’m a Christian–like a real Christian, not one of the 99% of fake Christians who, as you so accurately pointed out, cherry-pick a few scriptures from the Bible to bash people over the head with while conveniently ignoring the overwhelming majority of scriptures that condemn the Bible-thumpers themselves. i have nothing in common with such blatant posers and perpetrators; these people are doomed. i don’t judge people for being gay/LGBT. real Christians love all people unconditionally and know that there is only one Judge to whom we will all give account, and that Judge is God Himself. in fact, the act of judging another person is condemned as a sin by Jesus Christ himself; just read the Beatitudes in Matthew 5–the Sermon on the Mount.
so just because people have desecrated Christianity and made it into a running joke doesn’t mean true Christians abandon the faith any more than it means true Muslims abandon Islam because of radical extremists who have been so highly publicized by the mainstream media.
if you read or understood the Bible and Christianity, you’d know that the entire New Testament is devoted to the teachings of Christ as a means to navigate an evil world where sin runs rampant, and everything that’s happening is fulfilling prophecy, from wars and rumors of wars to earthquakes, floods, natural disasters (now man-made more so than natural), et al. the world is evil, and people are corrupt and depraved; this is a central theme of the Bible. God is not a magician and He is not Santa Claus. he warns us to keep ourselves pure in this evil world so we can inherit eternal life. real Christians understand this.
in addition, Revelation 12 details the war in Heaven that Satan and his angels lost, and how Satan was thrown out of heaven and hurled to, guess where? earth. and God says, woe to the earth because Satan has been cast there; he is filled with fury because his time is short.
so all i’m saying is, if you’re going to criticize Christianity, at least understand it. also understand that most who profess to be Christians are hypocrites and liars who malign the word of God. so why not just criticize them.
i don’t judge you for being atheist and you don’t judge me for being Christian, how about that? we all have earthly mothers and fathers, and how much would it hurt and upset you if i went on a 15-minute tirade against your mother and called her a douche bag and a horrible parent? i just wouldn’t do that. you know why? because i respect you as a human being and that’s your MOM. i don’t even know your mom.
you don’t even know God, Lee. you don’t believe in Him. so why are you bashing who/what you admit you don’t acknowledge as real, what you don’t believe or understand?
we have this in common: we believe the world is seriously screwed up and we want to do something about it. we’re not gonna shut up and sit on the sidelines and watch the world implode. let’s just cling to that which we have in common and work together without attacking each other by bashing and criticizing each other’s belief systems. i wanna stand with you and support MOC and change the world. i don’t want to feel criticized and attacked by you. don’t divide this movement; together we can change the world. i don’t want to feel alienated or ostracized, and i wouldn’t want to do anything to make others feel that way, just because they’re atheist, or something else that i personally don’t believe in.
you’re a cool dude, Lee. but Christians are not all the same. God is not dead to us. if He’s dead to you, that’s fine, but do we really need to hear about how much you think he’s a (fill in the expletive)? would you go on a tirade criticizing Allah and bashing Islam? is it too much to ask for the same consideration? there are far more important issues to discuss than whether or not we share the same beliefs; we don’t. let’s focus on the task at hand instead of calling each other names.