“Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half the time.”

-E. B. White

A new poll from the First Amendment Center reveals that I may have misunderestimated the American people. They are far more ignorant than I had believed, and most of them see no need to go to the trouble of seeking truth when PR and rumors fit effortlessly into that same space in their consciousness. The majority of Americans (55%) believe that the Constitution established a Christian nation, and even more (65%) believe that the founding fathers intended the United States to be such.

This is disturbing on several levels. First of all (and least obviously), it means that at least 10% of Americans believe that the founding fathers were too stupid or incompetent to actually get their intentions down on paper. This tremendous insult to the memories of the great men who gave birth to the grand experiment that is the United States saddens me. More clearly, these results highlight both the success of the religious right’s marketing machine and the failure of the American educational system. I don’t know about any of you, but thinking back, I was never required to actually read the Constitution in school. We learned about what it says, but I suppose the four page document was deemed too hard. After all, so many of our elementary school children can barely read a comic book, much less an 18th century legal document.

Now, I was not so naive as to assume that all Americans understood the secular nature of our founding document, but I honestly didn’t expect the informed to be a minority. In a democracy, majority is truth, so welcome to the Christian States of America, heathens.

On a subject only tangentially related to the topic of this blog, the survey also indicates some unsettling trends in the public’s thoughts on the freedoms granted to us in the Bill of Rights. 74% of people want to prevent public school students from wearing T-shirts with slogans that might offend someone, and 42% don’t feel that musicians should be allowed to sing songs with potentially offensive lyrics. 34% believe that the press has “too much freedom,” and 40% think that the government should be able to require broadcasters to report a certain amount of “positive news” as a prerequisite for being allowed to use public airwaves. A quarter of Americans even believe that the first amendment “goes too far in the rights it guarantees.” Of course, they can’t even name those rights. Of the five freedoms granted by the first amendment, speech was the only one that could be named by the majority of respondents (64%). Only 19% were able to name freedom of religion, but since only 56% believe that freedom extends to all religious groups, I guess it doesn’t make much difference.

I recommend not just reading the article, but perusing the actual survey tables. Look ignorance and authoritarianism in the eye. And don’t blink.

~I AM~

I just received an extensive comment on the last post. I thought that the author deserved to have this much work promoted to the front page. I could respond, but I’ll leave the fun to you, the readers. Enjoy.

http://atheistdelusion.cf.huffingtonpost.com/
http://deludedmailbag.cf.huffingtonpost.com/
Psalm 14:1-3 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none that does good. The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any that act wisely, that seek after God. They have all gone astray, they are all alike corrupt; there is none that does good, no, not one.

God said this about the atheist.

“The fool has said in his heart, there is no God”

Not a fool, but “the” fool. Webster’s dictionary describes a fool as “a very stupid person, one lacking judgement, common sense, wisdom, a silly person, a simpleton, an idiot, an imbecile, someone that is kept to entertain as a jester, a joke, a victim of a joke, one who is duped, a clown, a trick.” And in Jeremiah 17.9… the prophet said the “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperatley wicked, who can know it?”

Only God knows our deceitful and desperately wicked hearts.

Who wants to be a fool?
God looks to see if any of us are wise
If someone is really wise, they will seek God
How do you seek God?
Is it a long journey?
Is there some secret mystery?
Is there some great deed we must do?
Is there some valiant & heroic struggle?
Since God is already at the door, and already knocking, perhaps we should open the door?
The Bible is God’s word, it is how God speaks to us,

Perhaps we should read it and study it and think about it
Since prayer begins with God’s invitation, shouldn’t our prayers begin by listening to God?
They are all alike
There is no one that does good
All have gone astray
Sin is universal
Sin is not just inevitable, it is a great pervasive evil,
And it eats up all in its reach (you are your brothers keeper)
In the face of universal sin, the only thing to do is repent
And trust in the mercy of God
The good news is that God has mercy on penitent sinners
The good news is that there is a Savior
Jesus is our refuge, not because we deserve refuge
Jesus is our refuge because God has mercy upon us
God give his Word
God creates faith
God knocks at our door
God forgives – wisdom is opening our lives to the mercy of God
And righteousness – that too comes from God through Christ.
You see the Lord will restore the fortunes of his people,
His people are the people who live by grace through faith.

Atheists are all afraid from the truth.
First you claim there is no God and heaven, If you and the Atheists believe there is no “God” than why you hate him so much? If you and the Atheists don’t believe in heaven than why you and the Atheists think heaven is a boring place to go to. LOL. You all are hypocrite.
You know there is a God, but you want to live for the devil, Remember the devil know the bible as well as you and me.

In Psalm 14.1…..God said this about the atheist.

The atheist and his atheism.
keywords: atheism, God, atheist, Jesus, agnostic, Christianity, religion, philosophy

Atheism is defined by Webster’s New World Dictionary as, “1. the belief that there is no God, or denial that God or gods exist. 2. godlessness”. An atheist, therefore, is a person who believes that there is no God. But what does the Bible say?
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
PSALMS XIV:I
Atheism is a belief system that ardently denies the existence of God. God calls the atheist a FOOL. Many atheists spend much time and effort attempting to “disprove” that God exists. According to Romans chapter 1 they know that He exists, but they want to control their own lives and not submit to the Lord. They are actually rather tragic figures just like any other unsaved individual. It is hard to live out their atheism–if they did, they’d actually be considered crazy like O’Hair was.
The atheist’s RELIGION (which is simply a system of beliefs based on a philosophy) of atheism is simply a way to try to block out and override the truth–the ol’ ostrich-head-in-the-sand technique:
If you try to tell ‘em the truth, they say “Shut up!”
stick their heads in the ground and shout–
“There’s nobody there,
there’s nobody there,
there’s nobody there, I tell you!
See, I can’t see ‘em!”
Well, atheist reader, Somebody is there and His truth has stood from the beginning of time and will continue for all eternity. God is not dependent on you in any way. Blasphemies, wars, famines, and political appointments come and go, but when the dust settles, there’s Jesus. And there is nothing you can do about it but breathe out hot air. You will humble yourself before the Lord Jesus or you will be ground to powder.
And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
–Jesus Christ
Matthew 21:44
Most atheists have what I call the Don Quixote Syndrome. Let me explain. Cervantes wrote a book about Don Quixote a long time ago. Don Quixote would attack windmills as if they were his enemies. Of course a windmill is nobody’s enemy. If what the atheist believes is REALLY his belief, then he would leave people like me alone. After all, if God did not exist, He and His followers would be no enemy to the atheist. We’d just be deluded people. Therefore IF the atheist REALLY believes there is no God and the fool attacks a Christian, then he has the Don Quixote Syndrome because the Christian is not his enemy. Nevertheless, God is real and THAT is why atheists have all these organizations and debates to “prove” that God does not exist. Atheist reader, if you would just be true to what you purport to believe, then you wouldn’t have the Don Quixote Syndrome.
My old pastor once ministered to an old atheist who had been a card-carrying atheist for decades–but as he laid on his death bed, he wanted a pastor. I don’t know if he got saved or not. When it’s time to die, many atheists are understandably uneasy and those that aren’t should be terrified.
There is hope for the atheist. He can be saved. In fact, there are plenty of atheists that have come to Jesus Christ. I refuse to argue with them, but will answer honest questions. Unfortunately, many atheists ignorantly say hard things against the Lord Jesus Christ and His people. Don’t let fancy titles and big words shake your faith in the One who holds your eternal destiny.
Think about this: What does the atheist have to offer you? Eternal life? Spiritual comfort? Love? Kindness? Comfort in the midnight hour when no one is around? No, none of these. He has nothing to offer you but blasphemy, hell fire and the wrath of God. The atheist will tell you fabulous fairy tales like
you were spontaneously generated from a rock,
a monkey is your daddy,
a fish is your cousin,
you have no hope,
you should just live for today,
when you’re dead, you’re dead.
If you follow their ignorant advice and die without Christ, you WILL forever regret it and you will remember that someone told you the truth and you scoffed.
Atheists try their hardest to argue a fact that is firmly established–God is real. You cannot look on His creation and its ways and honestly deny it. I won’t argue that 2+2=4 and I won’t argue that God exists. An atheist once wrote and said, “2+2 is not necessarily 4?. Well, write any other number on your math test and see if you get it right.
The bottom line is that atheism is a false belief system composed of fools–it’s not new–the Bible told us about atheism thousands of years ago. Is there a real atheist? No. The closest thing to it is someone who has told themselves a lie so many times that they begin to believe it’s true.
I think that atheists say there is no God so they won’t have to repent; I think it is a cop-out. This is my view that men seek an out from reality. Some take drugs, drink, there are many ways to “escape” reality. But reality says we need a Saviour. Oh how we need a Savior.

No atheist has any proof that there is no God. He says……. but in reality he has no proof.

Arriving Late

Eddie, an outspoken atheist, spent his entire life of 50 years denying the existence of God. Then he contracted a debilitating disease, and his health slowly deteriorated. As he lay in a hospice house awaiting death, Eddie was visited almost every day by some Christian friends he had known in high school. They told him again of Christ’s love. But the closer Eddie came to dying, the more it appeared he was not interested in God.
One Sunday, a pastor stopped by to visit. To everyone’s surprise, Eddie prayed with him and asked Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. A few weeks later, he died.
Eddie denied Christ for 50 years and spent just 2 weeks loving and trusting Him. But because of his faith, he will experience forever God’s presence, glory, love, majesty, and perfection. Some may argue that this isn’t fair. But according to Jesus’ parable in Matthew 20, it’s not about fairness. It’s about God’s goodness and grace (vv.11-15).
Have you waited such a long time to trust Jesus for salvation that you think it might be too late? Consider the thief on the cross, who put his faith in Jesus just before he died (Luke 23:39-43). Trust Jesus now, and receive His gift of eternal life. It’s not too late!

If God is calling you today,
Then trust in Christ without delay;
Tomorrow it will be too late
If death occurs and seals your fate. —

It is a dangerous presumption to say, “Tomorrow,” when God says, “Today!”

An Atheist’s Point Of View
Three young men who say they are atheists decided to “sample” and report on several churches in their city. One of these men said, “There is something other than teaching that is appealing to people. We didn’t see a lot of doctrine. . . . The appeal was mostly the community. The content in most churches isn’t nearly as important as the packaging.” The three atheists offered this explanation for why thousands of people in their area attend church each Sunday: The attraction stems more from a person’s Christian identity than from what the religion teaches.
Their experience agrees with the observation of author A. W. Tozer, who said, “Increasing numbers of [Christians] are becoming ashamed to be found unequivocally on the side of truth. They say they believe, but their beliefs have been so diluted as to be impossible of clear definition.”
The apostle Paul knew whom he believed, and he instructed Timothy to “hold fast” to the truth he had been taught (2 Timothy 1:12-13). We too need to hold tightly to our beliefs based on the unfailing, God-inspired Bible. What we believe about God is more crucial than any feeling we get by being in church. Tozer calls us to stand “firm on the Word of God that lives and abides forever.”
Since by faith I have clear vision,
Your blest Word is rich and new;
Men with eyes by sin distorted
Cannot all its treasures view.
Don’t be a Christian in name only.

Profitable Reading
READ: 2 Timothy 3:10-17
You have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. —2 Timothy 3:15

Bible scholar William Barclay recalls the experience of a group of British soldiers during World War I. For a long time the men were in a relatively quiet standoff with the enemy. Among them was an atheist who, trying to fill up the empty days, went to the chaplain to ask if any books were available. The only book the chaplain had was the Bible.
The atheist refused the Bible at first, but then he took it and began to read the Old Testament at random. He came across the story of Esther and was so engrossed by it that he decided to read the whole Bible. As he did, he realized that what he was reading was true, and he received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
The apostle Paul stated in 2 Timothy 3:16 that “all Scripture . . . is profitable.” It gives people the wisdom that leads to “salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (v.15). Even passages that may seem boring and lacking in spiritual value have the power to transform people’s lives.
If in our own reading we come across passages that we find uninspiring at first, let’s trust the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts and change our lives. Remember, when it comes to the Bible, all of it—from Genesis to Revelation—is inspired and profitable (v.16).
The Bible has power to arrest and convict,
To reveal God’s truth to our soul;
For in it we find the good news of the One
Who alone can cleanse and make whole. —Fitzhugh
Many books can inform you; only the Bible can transform you

Update 6/22/07: I won’t be there after all.  I’m not feeling well.

Original Post: If you’re a freethinker in the Denver metro area, this post is for you. If you’re not, this is probably a waste of your time.

This Saturday (6/23) my wife and I will be attending the Colorado Secular Picnic at Bear Creek Lake Park in Morrison (click the link for details). It goes from 1pm - 7pm rain or shine. Come to think of it, if it rains I probably won’t be there, but the forecast looks pretty good so far. This is being organized in part by the Denver Atheists Meetup Group. I joined the group when I first moved to Colorado last year, but this will be the first event I actually attend. If you’re there and want to meet me, I’ll be the big guy with a shaven head and a tattoo on my lower left arm. I will also very likely be wearing a pair of brown Birkenstocks. If you think you’ve spotted me, the code is “The pelican flies at midnight,” to which I will reply “The chocolate mousse is not in season.” Alternatively, you can say “Hey, are you that guy?” to which I will reply “Yes.” Go with whichever one you think is more fun.

~I AM~

This is not a political blog. It never has been, and it never will be. That being said, I recently learned about a political movement that I think would appeal to a lot of the folks who read this site. This weekend on The McLaughlin Group, John McLaughlin started talking about a web site called Unity08. I was intrigued by the premise, so I checked it out.

Unity08 believes that neither of today’s major parties reflects the aspirations, fears or will of the majority of Americans. Both have polarized and alienated the people. Both are unduly influenced by single-issue groups. Both are excessively dominated by money.

For most of the 20th Century, the contest for the U.S. presidency was waged over those “in the middle.” Recent Presidential elections, however, have not been focused on the middle but on the turnout of each party’s special interest groups — with each party’s “base” representing barely ten percent of the American people.

We believe that, while the leaders of both major parties are well intentioned people, they are trapped in a flawed system — and that the two major parties are today simply neither relevant to the issues and challenges of the 21st Century nor effective in addressing them.

As a result, most Americans have not been enthusiastic about the choices for President in recent elections, the key issues they ran on, or the manner in which the campaigns were conducted.

Therefore Unity08 will act to assure that an alternative ticket is presented to the American voters in 2008.

Now, I’m not naive. I know full well, as someone who once voted for Perot, that a third party probably doesn’t have a chance in hell.  However, this is a different approach than any that has been taken before. You can go to this site right now and sign up as a delegate. Once you’re registered, you will be able to vote in an online primary to select a unity ticket to run for the presidency. ANYONE can be involved. As a result, I think there is a very good chance of ending up with a moderate, libertarian ticket that will finally appeal to the political middle of this country.  That ticket may then be totally insignificant, but if it turns out not to be, I know I want a lot of atheists involved in selecting these candidates. You have little to lose and potentially much to gain by getting involved.

I played around with their “Dream Ticket” function, and created the button you see at the top of the right column.  I’m not totally sure these are the people I’m going to vote for in the primary, but I think it’s an intriguing combination. There are also plenty of non-politicians to choose from.  If the idea of voting for Bill Cosby and Lance Armstrong or Warren Buffett and Shaquille O’Neal appeals to you, you have that option.

I’m taking a wait and see attitude toward this whole thing at the moment, but if there is any sign over the coming months that this experiment could actually play a significant role in the next election, I plan to make the first political contribution of my life.

So, go take 20 seconds to sign up.  You’re probably wasting your time, but you might help change the world.

~I AM~ 

I’m a little late talking about this issue, but since I haven’t posted anything since October, just be happy with what you get.

On May 22, the Pew Research Center released a study that I’m sure most of you have already heard about. The headline on their report was “Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream.” Of course, anyone who actually looked at the results knows that the most important word there is mostly. Pew learned that a mere 26% of U.S. Muslims under the age of 30 feel that suicide bombing of civilian targets to defend Islam can be justified. For the entire Muslim population on the whole it was 13%. When I think about the kinds of feelings that would make someone say “I don’t know” or even refuse to answer the question, I think I’d be justified in adding in the 9% of people who did one or the other for a grand total of 22% of the total Muslim population, but let’s just work with the 13% for now.

Pew estimates that there are 1.4 million Muslims living in the United States. So, this means that at least 182,000 American Muslims are down with suicide bombing. Does that sound like good news to you? We’ve seen what 19 can do. 182,000 can lead to a very bad day indeed. Now 13% doesn’t seem very high at first glance, but it depends on what you’re talking about. If a diet product has 13% as much fat as the regular version, that sounds pretty good. However, if I were to ask you to get into a box with 100 cobras, but assure you that 87 of them have been defanged, 13% starts to seem pretty damn high. Always remember to multiply probability by severity of outcome for a real sense of what’s going on. If there’s a 13% chance I’m going to get a papercut today, I don’t really care. If there’s a 13% chance that I’ll be beaten to death in the street, that’s clearly too high.

Another bit of good news from the survey is that only 5% of American Muslims have a favorable view of al Qaeda. 10% have a “somewhat unfavorable” view. I think the real story here, however, is the 27% that didn’t know or refused to answer. Hmmm… Let’s think about this… Why might someone refuse to answer that question in a telephone poll? This is America. It’s not like the government is tapping… oh, that’s right. Never mind.

So, what do we learn from all this aside from the fact that 182,000 Americans wouldn’t flinch if somebody blew up himself up in your favorite Starbucks? We learn a little more about the role of religion in terrorism. I can’t remember how many times people have told me that Palestinians are driven to don suicide vests in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv because they’re poor, or because they’re politically oppressed. In this country, where our Muslims are mostly middle class and we constantly trip over ourselves to avoid the appearance of racial profiling or the slightest offense to the “religion of peace,” what’s the excuse of these 182,000 people if not Islam itself?

~I AM~

P.S. A note on the death of Reverend Falwell: yippee