The Science of Star Trek [Infographic]

The Science of Star Trek [Infographic]

FacePalm of the Day - Debunking Christianity: Why was Jesus' tomb not venerated?

Jonathan Pearce wrote about question of why Jesus' tomb was not venerated.

Any other ad hoc (Christian) rationalisation is simply not good enough - it doesn't answer the question well enough, the question "Why was the tomb of Jesus, God incarnate, not venerated?

Let us even use the the same definition for veneration he uses.

By veneration, I mean the worship or religious and spiritual respect given to (dead) people or places deemed as important to the religion or cult. In Catholic traditions, veneration of Saints has been a long-held tradition.

If you believe that Jesus rose from the dead why would worship at the place where he was buried. He is not there! On top of that there is the first commandment that would mean it is a bad idea  to worship anything else or anyone else other than God.


Definitely this is a failed argument!



Debunking Christianity: Why was Jesus' tomb not venerated?

FacePlant of the Day - Debunking Christianity: Why Christianity has Contributed to the Development of the Porn Industry

It amazes me how people confuse what the Bible says versus what people say the Bible says. There is a difference. Worse is when people choose to reject God based on those erroneous teaching. This particular post I am responding to does exactly this: Denying Christianity because of stupid things people who either pretended to be Christians taught or just got God wrong. In some cases, they were really Christians who just got the concept of sexuality wrong. Instead of just pointing out what is wrong here let us look at what the Bible really says.

For the most part, Christians have always felt uncomfortable with their sexuality. In this post, I will explain why this is so, and why the attitude Christian society has towards the human body and human sexuality has led to sex being viewed as something "dirty," and that the human body itself is "filthy."
The Christian view that humans are "born sinners" and that the body is filthy, and sex is "dirty" then leads people to act on their so-clalled "sinful nature"--which has inevitably contributed to the development of the porn industry.

 It does not follow that being a sinner is followed by sex being filthy and dirty. Just because church clergy tells you that sex is immoral and should not be enjoyed does not mean that the Bible says the same.This is why You need to know the Word of God for yourself.

"As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” - Genesis 9:7

So how does it make sense that God would condemn sex when he told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. He even told Noah and his family to be fruitful and multiply. The command to Noah was given after people were sinners. No where in the Bible does God tells us to go and sin. Also notice no where in the Torah do we see anything for sacrificing for the sin of having sex with your spouse.

How could this be you might ask? It all began with the "Eve whore" in Genesis --who is blamed for luring man into partaking of the forbidden fruit.

 The Bible does not blame Eve for our sin. It's Adam's fault.

¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve. ¹⁴ And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.  - 1 Timothy 2:13,14

¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned —

¹³ To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.- Romans 5:12-14
The forbidden fruit then became a metaphor for human sexuality, and sexuality then became to be viewed by Christians as an indulgence that is immoral and potentially dangerous. But why?

That is not what the Bible says. The metaphor does not hold and no way to substantiate it from the Bible.

 In the story of Adam and Eve, Yahweh told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit--but they did anyway. After they had eaten the forbidden fruit, they then realized they were naked, and shamefully covered themselves with leaves they had "sewn" together. (How they knew how to sew, and where they got the needle and thread from is not explained in the story.) Through Augustine, this instigated the view that somehow the human body is dirty and shameful and should be covered, and sex is somehow an immoral act. However, this is not main context of this story at all, as I note in another post --it is a red herring. The original authors of this story, and theologians of the past and present would have us think the "shame of nakedness" and the "original sin" of partaking of the "forbidden fruit" were the focus of this story--but they are not. The real focus of this story is the transition from a matriarchal society to a patriarchal one, which allows the demonization of women, as traditionally, Eve is blamed for the "Fall of Man."

Augustine was a great theologian and I admire the way God used him, but St Augustine is wrong if he did indeed teach that the human body is shameful. The Bible does not tells us that sex is immoral. The Bible says you should not engage in immoral sex. God does not hold Eve responsible for the sin compromising the whole human race. That was on Adam. Re-Read Romans 5. Of course men have tried to pass the buck. Even Adam tried to blame Eve, but God would not have it.

That Eve was scapegoated and women were vilified by the Abrahamic faiths is explained by one of my favorite philosophers, Mary Daly, who was a feminist and theologian who taught at Boston College. In her book "Gyn/Ecology, she explains how an "all male homosexual trinity" claimed to be responsible for all of creation; and the "Virgin Mary," who was but a vessel that could only be validated by a man, has helped lead society to where it is today concerning attitudes towards sex and women. It was through these myths that the Bible writers sought to eliminate the goddess. Men, jealous of the creators of life, sought to vilify women, thereby elevating their own status--and they did so via such myths. Unfortunately, this vilification has led those in Christian society--whether they claim to be Christian or not--to view sex and women as immoral and dirty.

 Imaginative. But hogwash just the same. So why have some Christians and others in  Abrahamic faiths vilify women and blame them for their own lack of self control. The Bible tells us. Men love darkness rather than light and would rather blame women rather than take responsibility. Really sad.

Most people believe that this is how it has always been--but this is not the case at all. In fact, in Africa, before the introduction of Christianity, women walked around half naked, or completely naked, and nobody paid any mind. They were not lusted after as "Eve whores,"--as their body and their sex was completely natural for them. It was through the Abrahamic faiths that the natural act of sex became something unnatural. This then leads down a rabbit hole, where men blame their own urges on the "Eve whore" as they themselves believe that everything from masturbation to sexual enjoyment in general is "dirty"--making women the scapegoats.

Yup some people have thought this way and continue to think this way but that is not what the Bible tells us is true. The Bible tells a man to enjoy his wife. Love her. Satisfy her. And for a wife to do the same for her husbands.

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well.
¹⁶ Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    your streams of water in the public squares?
¹⁷ Let them be yours alone,
    never to be shared with strangers.
¹⁸ May your fountain be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
¹⁹ A loving doe, a graceful deer —
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love. - Proverbs 5:15-19

¹³ Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. ¹⁴ You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.

¹⁵ Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.^[a] So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

¹⁶ “The man who hates and divorces his wife, ” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,”^[b] says the Lord Almighty.

So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful. - Malachi 2:13-15

.

This view of the "Eve-whore" was then promulgated throughout our society in general--resulting in perverted views of human sexuality. It is our antecedent beliefs that influence how we "see" things, and it is the results of these beliefs that has not only suppressed women, but has also promoted the view of women as dirty "Eve-whores." (Note, that there are no derogatory terms--at least I do not know of one--that denigrates men for participating in sexual acts--but there are MANY such derogatory terms for women.)

Agreed our society does have perverted views of human sexuality but those views do not match the one the Bible admonished us to have. That is the problem.  The Bible does have derogatory terms for men who engage in sexual acts outside monogamous marriage like  "fornicator", "adulterer", "sinner", and others. Why don't these come up anymore? Simple instead of our society being ashamed of such evil, we revel in it. We celebrate it. We display it. Our society's condemnation is well-deserved.

I do not view sex as something "dirty," nor am I a hedonist.

Neither does the Bible.

I believe that sex is completely natural and is an expression of love that should not be taken lightly. I also believe that when people commit to each other, they can have a fabulous sex life. Christians however, with their perverted view of sex, do not see it that way. Not only is sex in marriage no longer a "forbidden fruit" for many Christians, (i.e.,boring) but wives themselves are viewed as somehow "pure," so quite naturally, this then leads to adultery where the "born sinners" seek out the "Eve-whores" to satisfy their "sinful" urges.

What? You mean men are not capable of controlling those urges and give themselves to one individual woman? You mean they need the help of God to change how they think and to best treat their wives in and out of the bedroom? Exactly the point the Bible is making. It's the most fabulous sex life you can have - God's way. It is isn't the Bible's depiction of sex that is perverted, it is human beings that have perverted and some of them were in the church when they perverted it.

  (They could never do that with their wives they say.)--which has also been a contributing factor to the development of the porn industry. Unfortunately, women, who believe they are now liberated from the bondage of men, are also now participating in the same way that men are--but that is a subject for another post.

The following doesn't refer to just homosexuality but to all who wanna do this their way:

²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. - Romans 1:28-32


Therefore, the perverted views of sex resulting from the influences of Christianity has been a contributing factor to the development of the porn industry. So Christians who whine about the sexual immorality in society should take a look in the mirror.....
_______________
Cathy Cooper

Twice she make a point that teaching people that sex is dirt and immoral although we are all hardwired to need it contributed to sexual immorality and porn in our society but fails to make it stick. I mean after all historically goddess worship always seems to include some kinds ritual sex or orgies. An awful lot like some of the porn we have today. If she was correct you wouldn't see anything like that until Christianity had become a major religion had it been a major contributing factor. Further the problem with sexual immorality in our society is indeed due to us. Many "Christians" will preach against gay people having sex but won't say a word about people living together and having sex as long as they are a man and woman. This is no less a sin. 

On the other side, I think that anyone who would argue that God hates sex and expects us to hate it too never really read the Bible. The book Song of Solomon (aka Song of Songs) is full of erotic imagery and language. Hot stuff it is but this failed argument it isn't.

Debunking Christianity: Why Christianity has Contributed to the Development of the Porn Industry