PaulSpoerry.com

Real quick late night post. Just had a strange conversation with a Christian friend who started making crazy claims about the validity of Christianity over other because of its moral foundations. This was followed by of course anti-Muslim-speak (in other words “they’re all terrorists”), and a constant pointing to how the bible is such a great source or morality. These things always frustrate me. There’s nothing “bad” about Christianity except when Christians do exactly what Jesus said not to do and be the judge themselves. LOL. Anyway… fodder for my arguments.

Bible:

The killing of homosexuals is condoned and encouraged in the wonderful laws of Leviticus.  Leviticus 20:13 clearly states “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”  Well there you have it, Homosexuality is wrong, and they must pay the ultimate price… IN THE NAME OF GOD!!!

Who else shouldn’t people do?

• Don’t let cattle graze with other kinds of Cattle (Leviticus 19:19)
• Don’t have a variety of crops on the same field. (Leviticus 19:19)
• Don’t wear clothes made of more than one fabric (Leviticus 19:19)
• Don’t cut your hair nor shave. (Leviticus 19:27)
• Any person who curseth his mother or father, must be killed. (Leviticus 20:9)
• If a man cheats on his wife, or vise versa, both the man and the woman must die. (Leviticus 20:10).  I wonder if Dr. Laura would like that one to be enforced?
• If a man sleeps with his father’s wife… both him and his father’s wife is to be put to death. (Leviticus 20:11)
• If a man sleeps with his wife and her mother they are all to be burnt to death.  (Leviticus 20:14)
• If a man or woman has sex with an animal, both human and animal must be killed. (Leviticus 20:15-16).  I guess you should kill the animal since they were willing participants.  Are they crazy?
• If a man has sex with a woman on her period, they are both to be “cut off from their people” (Leviticus 20:18)
• Psychics, wizards, and so on are to be stoned to death.  (Leviticus 20:27)
• If a priest’s daughter is a whore, she is to be burnt at the stake.  (Leviticus 21:9)
• People who have flat noses, or is blind or lame, cannot go to an altar of God (Leviticus 21:17-18)
• Anyone who curses or blasphemes God, should be stoned to death by the community.  (Leviticus 24:14-16)

One must wonder why there are so many people wanting to site Leviticus for gay bashing, but they never mention these rules.  How strange.  It is common that a Christian will blow off these old rules with “Jesus came to change the laws, so these are outmoded, and we don’t need them”, but throughout Leviticus God states that these laws are to be followed forever.  Hmmm.

That doesn’t even touch the monstrosity called Deuteronomy which is filled with some whacky stuff.

As for the all Muslims are terrorists I wiki’d the Christian version and only had the following to share with my friend: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_terrorism. For the record, a lot of Muslim based countries scare the shit out of me… but then again so do a lot of uber hardcore born again Christians who’ve never even read the bible.  ;O)

Update to responses received:

I never imagined that a late night post… ok rambling… would receive such a huge response. This post has certainly generated a lot of traffic. For those who have sent me hate filled emails I can only say that I’m sorry you were offended but please take your hatred elsewhere. Better yet, go to church and pray for me (I personally don’t think it will help me but appreciate positive rather than negative response) and let your personal god be my judge. For those who have commented on the original source for most of this post, the link to the original source is in the trackback (below).

Finally, since this seems to be getting a big response I thought I’d point out two excellent books, that could be interesting to a wide variety of readers. The first is Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris. The book was written in response to letters Christians wrote to Harris regarding his previous book. It’s a quick read, where Harris critiques many of the absurdities of biblical religions that claim inerrancy for a ‘book’ written some 2000 years ago.

Another great book is I Sold My Soul on eBay by Hemant Mehta. I think this might have a broader appeal as both a Christian and non-Christian can take a lot away from the book. In I Sold My Soul on eBay Mehta explains how and why he became an atheist and features his latest church critiques, including descriptions of his visits to some of the best-known churches in the country. His observations will surprise and challenge you, revealing how the church comes across to those outside the faith. What’s most interesting is how, even though he is an atheist, he provides suggestions to Christians on how they could enhance their base, be more inclusive, and actually spread their faith. It’s an honest look at current Christianity in America, exposing the best and worst of the faith and the churches the spread the word of Christ.

Ken Miller’s talk on Intelligent Design at Case Western University. Ken Miller basically rips Intelligent Design apart in a 2 hour long exposé of the claims of intelligent design and the tactics that creationists employ to get it shoehorned into the American school system.

What I find most interesting is that the claim of Intelligent Design is almost exclusively a US based idea. Christians in most other countries are are completely on board with evolution.

Whenever this subject comes up with friends who disbelieve evolution they say “it’s just a THEORY”. Well, yes… that’s true, but they grossly misunderstand how the word theory is used in scientific circles.

You’ve been told that “evolution is just a theory”, a guess, a hunch, and not a fact, not proven. You’ve been misled. Keep reading, and in less than two minutes from now you’ll know that you’ve been misinformed.�

The Theory of Evolution is a theory, but guess what? When scientists use the word theory, it has a different meaning to normal everyday use. (Theory: A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena. American Heritage Dictionary).

�That’s right, it all comes down to the multiple meanings of the word theory. If you said to a scientist that you didn’t believe in evolution because it was “just a theory“, they’d probably be a bit puzzled.

In everyday use, theory means a guess or a hunch, something that maybe needs proof. In science, a theory is not a guess, not a hunch. It’s a well-substantiated, well-supported, well-documented explanation for our observations (Scientific theories are explanations of natural phenomena built up logically from testable observations and hypotheses. Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science - National Academy Press).��

It ties together all the facts about something, providing an explanation that fits all the observations and can be used to make predictions. In science, theory is the ultimate goal, the explanation. It’s as close to proven as anything in science can be.

Some people think that in science, you have a theory, and once it’s proven, it becomes a law. That’s not how it works. In science, we collect facts, or observations, we use laws to describe them, and a theory to explain them. You don’t promote a theory to a law by proving it. A theory never becomes a law.

This bears repeating. A theory never becomes a law. In fact, if there was a hierarchy of science, theories would be higher than laws. There is nothing higher, or better, than a theory. Laws describe things, theories explain them. An example will help you to understand this. There’s a law of gravity, which is the description of gravity. It basically says that if you let go of something it’ll fall. It doesn’t say why. Then there’s the theory of gravity, which is an attempt to explain why. Actually, Newton’s Theory of Gravity did a pretty good job, but Einstein’s Theory of Relativity does a better job of explaining it. These explanations are called theories, and will always be theories. They can’t be changed into laws, because laws are different things. Laws describe, and theories explain.

Just because it’s called a theory of gravity, doesn’t mean that it’s just a guess. It’s been tested. All our observations are supported by it, as well as its predictions that we’ve tested. Also, gravity is real! You can observe it for yourself. Just because it’s real doesn’t mean that the explanation is a law. The explanation, in scientific terms, is called a theory.

Evolution is the same. There’s the fact of evolution. Evolution (genetic change over generations) happens, just like gravity does. Don’t take my word for it. Ask your science teacher, or google it. But that’s not the issue we are addressing here. The Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection is our best explanation for the fact of evolution. It has been tested and scrutinised for over 150 years, and is supported by all the relevant observations. Evolutionists have been clear about this distinction between fact and theory from the very beginning, if only because we have always acknowledged how far we are from completely understanding the mechanisms (theory) by which evolution (fact) occurred. Darwin continually emphasized the difference between his two great and separate accomplishments: establishing the fact of evolution, and proposing a theory - natural selection - to explain the mechanism of evolution. Evolution as Fact and Theory.

Next time someone tries to tell you that evolution is just a theory, as a way of dismissing it, as if it’s just something someone guessed at, remember that they’re using the non-scientific meaning of the word. If that person is a teacher, or minister, or some other figure of authority, they should know better. In fact, they probably do, and are trying to mislead you. The Cobb County School Board required a sticker with the following text to be placed on all biology textbooks: This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered. Decision of the Court Striking Down the Cobb County Evolution Disclaimer. Pretty crazy that a school board, those responsibile for teaching our children, could be so misled about the definition of theory… and they’re teaching our kids.

Evolution is not just a theory, it’s triumphantly a theory!