Keep God Out of California

I found this clip of Chris Pontius on the Religious Freaks website and it is so damn funny. That is, until the freakshow attack. Watch for yourself:

http://religiousfreaks.com/2007/02/19/keep-god-out-of-california/

After watching this, ask yourself if Pontius has every right to voice his own opinion or should he be put to death. Obviously the attacker takes the bible very seriously. Here are a couple of moral snippets from the ‘Good’ book which may have led to this attack:

“And The Lord said to Moses … He who blasphemes the Name of The Lord shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him; the sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.” (Leviticus 24:13,16 RSV)

“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods … You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” (Deuteronomy 13:6,10 RSV)

Just another example of how religion is the cause of much of this worlds violence.

Moral Lesson 1

The Old Testament talks about the complete destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  In this story God chooses to spare Abraham’s nephew Lot who resides in Sodom.  Why he chooses to spare Lot is beyond me as you will soon see.  God sends 2 male angels to warn Lot and his family of the cities impending doom.  Lot being the good, God fearing man that he is, warmly welcomes the angels into his humble abode and makes them feel right at home.  But soon all the men of Sodom hear of the visiting angels and gather around Lot’s house demanding: ‘Where are the men which came in to thee this night?  Bring them out unto us, that we may know them?‘ (Genesis 19:5)  What do you think they meant by ‘Know’.  Well it is the city of Sodom…  Lot wants to be a good host and therefore attempts to bargain his way out of this situation with: ‘I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.  Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came under the shadow of my roof’ (Genesis 19: 7-8).

Please feel free to comment on what kind of moral lesson this is supposed to be teaching.

Does this seem crazy to you?

There is this story going around about this guy.  You may have heard it, it goes something like this:

• Man born to a virgin mother.
• Man can heal the sick and raise the dead.
• Man can raise himself from the dead.
• Man can disappear, like a wisp of smoke, into the sky.
• Man and his father (wait a second, I thought he didn’t have a father?) can hear your every thought and act upon them. 
• Man can simultaneously hear everyone elses thoughts in the whole world too!
• Man sees all, and will reward or punish you, even after your death.

The story goes on and on, but you get the point.

Character

“The Christian God is a being of terrific character – cruel, vindictive, capricious and unjust.”

- Thomas Jefferson

Delusion

“When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity.  When many people suffer from a delusion it is called Religion.”

- Robert M. Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance