Hoop Snakes, Jesus and Oral Roberts

If, unlike me, you never grew up in the rural south, you have probably never heard of a hoop snake. I first began hearing about them when I was about 8 years old.  

Hoop snakes, I was told, grow to terrifying lengths.  Some had been known to attain lengths of 30 feet or more.  Their venom is especially lethal. Cattle weighing a thousand pounds have been known to die within three minutes after being bitten by a hoop snake. I was told they could easily outrun a horse and in fact horses had been known to be killed by hoop snakes. 

How can a snake move so fast? Hoop snakes get their name from an uncanny capability known only to their particular species; the ability to form their body into a hoop by grasping their tail with their jaws. In this unusual configuration they can attain great speeds as they literally roll after their prey. 

When I was a kid,  walking alone on the dusty back roads of southern Missouri, I was always careful to walk in the middle. Weeds and brush on either side could easily conceal a hoop snake, silently waiting for its prey.  Since there was no way one could determine from which side of the road an attack might take place, it was safer to walk in the middle where one would have at least a few feet advantage should a hoop snake give chase.

I had never actually seen a hoop snake, nor had any of my young friends, who warned me about them. But the people who told them knew someone who knew someone who had actually seen one.

Then one summer, an older friend told me he didn't believe hoop snakes existed. I remember not being convinced. How could they not exist when someone, somewhere had actually seen one? It took some time but I finally was able to shed my delusional fear of hoop snakes.

I wonder if Jesus is just another hoop snake. We know he is dangerous because if we don’t believe in him he will see to it that we spend eternity in unbelievable agony.  He makes a hoop snake look like a  teddy bear by comparison.  He leaves no doubt in the Christian bible what he has in mind.  “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

There are of course other parallels. For example no one claims to have actually seen Jesus but we know there are people who knew people who knew people who knew people….we would have to string this thing out for two millenia to finally get to the first person who claimed he actually saw and talked to Jesus.  

Well, actually there is one person.   Oral Roberts.   Some 25 years ago, in 1987, Roberts saw Jesus. He was 900 feet tall. And Jesus spoke to him.  He told Roberts that he (Roberts) needed to raise $4.5 million.  4.5 million in “quick money”, otherwise God was going to kill him.  "'I'm asking you to help me extend my life,” Roberts told his television audience.  “We're at the point where God could call Oral Roberts home.”He asked viewers to send $100 immediately and pledge additional amounts later.

I’m sorry I never had the opportunity to meet Oral. He died in 1992 after god graciously allowed him another five years for raising all that cash.  No doubt his name will go down in the history books as the only person in the 20^th century to ever actually see Jesus.

Unless of course, Jesus really is just another hoop snake.

Why My Blog is Named "An HONEST Search for Truth

To me, truth has always taken precedence over everything else. We should search for truth and when we find it, we should have the courage to accept it. The problem with religious people, no matter what faith they adhere to, is that they hold a preconceived notion in their head as to what is true. When overwhelming evidence contradicts their preconceived beliefs, they simply ignore the evidence. 

Strangely we look for and act on evidence in every facet of our lives….except religion. 

A couple of years ago my neighbor, a retired professor and practicing Quaker, graciously invited me to speak at a gathering of religious leaders, the purpose of which was to explain their "faith" to others. The group ranged from a Muslim and Rabbi, through a plethora of other faiths, including Methodists and Baptists. My neighbor thought it only fair that someone who held no faith be invited.

Stupidly, I took him up on his offer.

I explained to the group that we are all born as atheists. It is only through indoctrination that we become Baptists and Catholics, Muslims and Jews, etc. In my short presentation presented (again stupidly) without notes or a prepared script, I gave Christians leaders attending the meeting a fact they were not prepared to hear. A whopping 67% of the world’s population totally reject the idea that Jesus is their savior.

I explained that with a death rate on our planet of 7.99 deaths/1,000 population 157,610 of us die every day. Those numbers quite clearly indicate that if you are a Christian, you have no choice but believe that 73 people each minute of each day are condemned to eternal agony. I looked at my watch and explained that in just the 40 minutes since our meeting started; nearly 3000 people had gone straight to hell.

One preacher literally gasped when I said that and blurted out, “That’s not true!” But the grim fact is if you are a Christian, it is true. His reaction was typical of someone who had been cherry picking bible verses for so long that he had actually began to believe his own propaganda.

To say it is not true is to reject what your own bible and your own Jesus declared in several places on its pages. I’m not saying it. Your own bible says it!

Here, have a look. Matt. 5:28, 9:45, 16:18. Luke 10:15, 12:5, 16:23. James 3:6, John 14:6. If you don’t believe your own bible then you are not a Christian. Period.

Stop a moment and listen to that small voice of reason. That’s not Satan whispering in your ear. That is your brain operating just the way it was designed to operate. Listen to it. There is nothing to fear.

And We Thought HFT Was Fast

Heavenly Father, this prayer is to let you know about a situation that might be of some concern to you. I know you bear a heavy burden, having to sort through all the prayers that come your way each and every day. Christians alone number some 2.3 billion and if they only pray once each day, that’s 2.3 billion right there, and of course 1.6 billion Muslims pray five times each day so that’s another 8 billion. Even if we subtract 20% for those too young to pray, you still receive 8.24 billion each day. The way I figure it that comes in at 95,370 PER SECOND!

My concern is not with the Muslims. Since they reject Jesus as their personal savior, I know where they are headed. No, my concern is with your one and only begotten Son.  Please, I beg of you Heavenly Father, don’t take offence at this, but I am beginning to think (and I tremble when I say it) that your Son may have a lazy streak. 

Why am I so concerned about your boy? Well, there are now 7.2 billion of us alive on this earth and only 33% of us believe His claim as stated unequivocally in John 14:6. It just seems to me that 33% after nearly 2000 years of practice does not reflect well on His efforts.  Even the sorry Houston Astros who came in dead last in 2012 chalked up a better record by winning 34% of their games. And they only had six weeks to practice.

I will pray about this. I figure with prayers coming in at 95,370 per second, one more won’t add that much to your burden. 

Before I close...two more questions.

Do you still take a day off?

Are those little crackers really your Boy?.

Psst...Hey Buddy, Wanna Buy a Bridge?

A rambling article in the New Yorker by Steve Coll entitled, “CAN THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD BE TRUSTED?” finally gets around to answering its own question.

“The Brotherhood has also long emphasized evolutionary politics, as opposed to seizing power in coups d’etat. Some of the Brotherhood’s thinkers have advocated a strategy of gradually converting souls, even if it takes generations, so that Islamic revolution will arrive in the end like a peaceful tide, never to recede.”

The article continues: “Skeptics of the movement have long argued that the Brotherhood is, at its core, anti-democratic (as well as anti-Semitic, about which there can be little doubt). If the Brotherhood occasionally shares power in a particular national democratic setup, this argument goes, it is only as a short-term tactical maneuver, in preparation for dictatorship. Nor, these skeptics continue, will the Egyptian Brotherhood or Hamas ever accept Israel’s legitimacy or national rights.

That view certainly got a lift last Saturday, when Khaled Meshal, Hamas’s political leader, told a mass rally in Gaza that Israel would be wiped out through military force, and that a Palestinian state should be created “from resistance, not negotiation.” Meshal, who stood before a tall rocket erected to represent Hamas’s military prowess, went on:

"We will never recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation, and therefore there is no legitimacy for Israel, no matter how long it will take. We will free Jerusalem inch by inch, stone by stone.”

“Those who favor engagement with Hamas and the Egyptian Brotherhood dismiss such rhetoric as nothing new; they contend that it should be understood as base-rallying political speech..."

Yes, and this is exactly what Joe Kennedy said about Hitler and the Nazis. Better to make peace with them, he said, rather than risk a world war.  Well Britain’s Chamberlain and the French tried that and it didn’t work then and it won’t work now. 

Like Hitler, who we recognized too late was a madman; the Muslim Brotherhood is intent on implanting their delusion on the rest of us. Delusion is defined as: “A persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory evidence, especially as a symptom of a psychiatric condition.” 

There is no cure for delusion. Drugs are available for psychotics, but nothing is available for delusional people. And even if there were, delusional people would not avail themselves of it because they would think the doctor prescribing the drug was “in on it.” Or if they are religious they would think it was the work of the Devil.

Religion, any religion, is a delusion without a cure and will be the main contributor to the downfall and annihilation of our species.   For those who disagree, I have a nice bridge for sale that connects Lower Manhattan to Brooklyn.

religionrevealed.blogspot.com

The Inaugural

At his 2008 inaugural, President Obama chose Rick Warren, a fundamentalist, to deliver an inaugural prayer. Below is the prayer, all 4 minutes and 36 excruciating seconds of it, along with my comments.

"Almighty God, our Father, everything we see and everything we can’t see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you, it all belongs to you, it all exists for your glory. History is your story." 

He didn’t even get through the first paragraph before he exposed his cognitive dissonance when he intoned:  ".......you are the compassionate and merciful one and you are loving to everyone you have made.”

Presumably, Preacher Warren is unaware of the 18 million children under the age of 5 who die each year from the effects of malnutrition or outright starvation when all it would have taken to save them was a few inches of rain.  If it all belongs to Rick’s imaginary friend in the sky, then we should demand he take responsibility for it.

"Now today we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time, we celebrate a hinge-point of history with the inauguration of our first African American President of the United States. We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African Immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven. Give to our new president, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the Cabinet and every one of our freely elected leaders." 

What a pity that while Rick piled up his prayer requests for the President, he forgot to ask his imaginary celestial dictator to dole out a dollop of wisdom, humility, courage, integrity and compassion to the Republicans.

Perhaps that moment of forgetfulness on Rick’s part is what caused the Senate Republican hypocrites to wrap themselves in the flag of Jesus, and reject a United Nations treaty on the rights of the disabled.

The Republicans couldn't even bring themselves to vote for the rights of soldiers who have lost limbs and eyes in combat while earning a salary of $17,892.00 per year in order to protect the salaries of Senators who earn $174,000 per year and a lifetime pension of over $50,000.00.

"Help us, oh God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race or religion or by blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all. When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us."

So Romney and the Republicans knew they would be forgiven when they abandoned the 47% and the brave combat soldiers who returned from the war who were maimed for life.

"When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us. And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches and civility in our attitudes—even when we differ." 

Lesson: We can rape the planet for profit oh ’Lord for we know you will forgive us.

"Help us to share, to serve, and to seek the common good of all. May all people of good will today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy, and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet."

More prosperous? More peaceful? Well 4 years have gone by Rick.  Unemployment has spiked to 25% in some European countries and remains depressingly high in the USA. Meanwhile, because of religion,  people are still fighting like cats and dogs.

"And may we never forget that one day, all nations, all people will stand accountable before You. We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care. I humbly ask this in the name of the One who changed my life—Yeshua, Esa, Jesus, Jesus—who taught us to pray: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be they name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." 

Rick Warren blathered on for an excruciating 4 minutes and 36 seconds.  By the time he finished his prayer another 158 innocent young children had died from starvation.

“It all comes from you, it all belongs to you, it all exists for your glory.” 

You said it Rick, not me.

Mr. President, on behalf of the third of religiously unaffiliated adults under 30, without whose help you could not have won the election, we now plead with you to govern, not in accordance with a book of fables which is disavowed by two thirds of our planet’s citizens, but turn instead to the Establishment Clause of our Constitution.

Let’s get off our knees and get to work.

religionrevealed.blogspot.com

"If I Had a Hammer " Peter, Paul and Mary

I have a great idea but first you gotta read this which I got from a website called "The Straight Dope" Fighting Ignorance Since 1973

From the moment the Pope dies, the Secretary of State, I believe, becomes the Camerlengo. He, with the College of Cardinals will run the church until the next Pope is elected.

The Camerlengo supervises all aspects of what goes on from the death of the pope to the election of the next pope. He is involved in the funeral arrangements to the preparing for the conclave and all that goes into that.

But his first duty is to perform a ritual at the deathbed of the Pope. A ritual that goes back to the Middle Ages is to take a silver hammer and lightly tap on the pope's head. Then in a strong voice call out to the Pope in his baptism name. For example, for Pope Paul VI, the Camerlengo would tap the pope on the head and then say, "Giovannit Daltista Enrico Antonio Marie, are you dead?

This is repeated two more times.  Upon the third tap and call to the pope, if the pope does not answer, it is proclaimed, "Pope N. is truly dead!"

O.K.? Got that ?

Now here’s my great idea. The price of silver on the spot market at the close on Friday was $33.40 per ounce.  Just for argument, let’s say the hammer used to determine the health of the pope weighs 32 troy ounces or a little over two pounds. That means the hammer would be worth 1068.80.

Now.

I have in my shop a ball peen hammer which I purchased at a garage sale for 3 bucks.

What if I exchanged my three dollar hammer for the Vatican’s $1068.80 hammer and took the difference ($1065.80) and spent the money buying warm clothes and shoes for homeless children?  I mean, when you think about it, what’s the difference between tapping the dead pope on the head with a silver hammer and a ball peen hammer.

The difference of course is a bunch of kids whose parents are out of a job would get new shoes for Christmas.

Faith and Piano Tuners

What would the 4 ½ billion people who deny Jesus is  their savior think of Christians claims? I’m speaking about the claims that snakes and donkeys talked, that the earth was made in six days, that dead men come back alive, that it's actually possible to drink the blood and eat the flesh of a long dead religious leader, that during a great flood the water rose 15 cubits above the highest mountain where the temperature at that altitude would be 43 degrees below zero. Things like that.

The definition of delusion is: "A persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory evidence, especially as a symptom of a psychiatric condition." If we string out the logic, there is no other conclusion we can come to than the fact that faith is the starter drug which leads to delusion.

The definition of faith is: “belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof”.

The faith of the 9-11 hijackers was so strong it led to their delusion that they would be met in Paradise by 72 beautiful virgins. No proof required.

The faith that Muhammad received revelations from an angel in a cave with no witnesses, leads Muslims to the delusion that the Koran is true and that he rode a winged horse to heaven and back. No proof required. 

The faith that Mormons have that Joseph Smith, with no witnesses present, actually talked to an angel named “Moroni”  who directed him to a book with gold pages inscribed in a “lost” language, complete with magic reading glasses, lead them to the delusion that their Book of Mormon is actually true. No proof required.

The faith that Catholics have that a few words mumbled over a cracker and some wine, lead them to the delusion that it actually (not symbolically; actually) turns into the flesh and blood of a long dead religious leader. No proof required. 

Clearly then, as illustrated by all these examples, faith leads to delusion, a persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory evidence

This is frightening. 7.2 billion persons on this earth and a large majority are not only delusional but stand ready to act on their delusions.

Richard Dawkins, world-renowned evolutionary biologist asks: "Would the most advanced life-form in the universe devise such grand concepts as DNA, nuclear fusion, and quantum mechanics and then spend all eternity fussing about whether you regularly sing to him, vote against gay marriage, or accept on faith that the earth is 6,000 years old when there is a mountain of evidence to the contrary? Frankly, I don't believe in an all-knowing, all-powerful creator. But even if I did, I'm certain he would want us to think for ourselves and eschew such claptrap."

It's worse than Dr. Dawkins thinks. Some churches even bicker over whether they should play a piano or have musical instruments. Once they get that sorted out with their god maybe he can turn his attention to the millions of children who starve to death each year. My personal hope is the "no music" adherents win out. They could probably save one child from starvation just on the money they spend each year on piano tuners.