Posted in Morality on June 27, 2010 | 4 Comments »
My motivations are fucked up
They point two ways
Scarred by rejection
Hidden behind smiles
I find myself disillusioned
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I did everything right
Was honest and loving
Opened my heart
In a flurry and frenzy
Honesty-pushers call me a liar
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What’s left for this soul of mine?
When missionaries deceive
When pastors mislead
The elders say submit
Then give you the lip [Why should I be better?]
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The moral highbrows
Use it for immorality
Nothing left
But selfish smarts
Against their own game
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Humility is overrated
When used as a tool
To use others
For your own gain
I have seen it done
I have seen it done
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By far, the most common argument I see made against atheists is that while they have moral standards, they do not have a defense of morality and therefore are “borrowing” from a Theistic (e.g. Christian) worldview every time they make a moral statement. This is presented as evidence that atheists have an internal contradiction in their worldview whereby they are not allowed to make any moral statements because they cannot account for the origin – or source – of morality.
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It is not about the arguments.
In order for a person to leave a faith, the perceived value of leaving the faith must exceed the perceived value of staying.
Evangelism, then, is the art of marketing an idea’s value. Good evangelists dance the dance of making God’s wrath hotter and God’s salvation sweeter. The greater the perception of God’s wrath, the greater one’s perception of God’s salvation. Conversion is ones entrance into a social structure whose entire end-goal is to fine tune and balance this perception of God’s wrath and God’s salvation so that the greatest number of people convert and stay. Those faiths that achieve this balance between threats and rewards most effectively will survive and reproduce.
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Tonight at Aikido our sensei mentioned something that hit home pretty hard. He mentioned that the difference between aikido and other martial arts is its focus on effecting change in the world – without causing pain. The idea is to alleviate conflict without causing harm to your aggressor. And this got me to thinking a [...]
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Dear family,
It has been almost one year since I realized fully that I could no longer believe the tenets of Christianity in just about any form. I searched high and low, studied the Bible diligently, studied the apologetic arguments deeply, and talked to probably hundreds of individuals from family members to professors to pastors to other students at Moody Bible Institute. Many of you may remember my initial notes on Facebook. At that time I was simply trying desperately for any individual who could provide sufficient Christian answers to questions which already had excellent answers outside the faith. The responses I received from Christians pushed me further away from the faith. The occassional hatred, predictability, and clear lack of critical thinking in so many responses convinced me that the Holy Spirit could not be indwelling those who were posting on my notes.
I simply could no longer believe…
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So last night I was talking to a friend and it got me thinking about happiness and having a fulfilled life: what it is and what it is not. First I want to start with a presupposition: a fulfilled and happy life is possible. We all know people who claim to have fulfilled and happy [...]
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One thing I did not anticipate upon leaving the faith was just how much my curiosity about “sin” and the “world” had been suppressed by the structure of rules and “thought regulations” I had imposed upon myself via the Bible or had been imposed upon me via the sect of the Christian faith I was raised within.
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