God or Government?

Curiously, many of the strongest proponents of a particular monotheistic worldview have no problem rejecting someone's humanity on the basis of their government-issued paperwork.

Why?  It turns out that, according to most Christian Evangelicals (who overwhelming support Donald Trump's immigrant policies), we are all the children of God... but casting out the foreigner (because they didn't meet the altogether arbitrary standard of government approval) is totally legit.

So much for Leviticus 19:33!  "When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him. You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God."

The Religious Lottery

Imagine I told you that I believe I won the lottery.

That's a specific, provable claim.  There are a number of pieces of evidence that could do this: the winning lottery ticket, a news report from a verifiable source that I won the lottery, a screenshot of my bank account after depositing the check, photos of my lavish new purchases with my lottery winnings.  That's all good evidence.  But just telling you that I know I've won the lottery and my faith assures me of it is not enough evidence for you to believe my claim that I won the lottery.

Also notice what happens when I tell you why I believe I won the lottery.  If I told you:  "I believe I won the lottery because it cheers me up when I'm sad, it gives me hope for the future, my friends and family enjoy talking about what we will do with my lottery winnings, and anyway... I don't want to live in a world where I didn't win the lottery!"

What would you think about this?

You probably wouldn't believe that I won the lottery.  You might find it very strange that I believe I won the lottery in an apparent effort to make myself feel better.  You also might feel concerned or even somewhat sorry for me, wondering how I will adjust if I no longer engage in self-deception about winning the lottery.  Should you try to explain to me that there's no evidence that I won the lottery, that it's possible for me to win the lottery but it hasn't yet happened to me?  Should you respect my belief that I won the lottery even though it now seems clear I hold this believe not based on evidence but based on faith?

Now imagine that no one has ever won the lottery.

We tell ourselves, "we have people who play the lottery every day, so surely there must be some lottery winnings out there!  People have been playing this lottery for thousands of years.  They take their family to play the lottery every Sunday.  Billions of people play the lottery.  While no one has been able to produce evidence that they won the lottery, we have to have faith that they will."

At what point does a rational person, with more inquiry into the nature of this lottery, simply conclude it is very unlikely anyone will win this lottery... and that perhaps it may not be the best use of our time and attention to play the lottery without compelling evidence that it yields winners?

At what point does it no longer appear reasonable to play a lottery for which there is no evidence that anyone wins?  And with billions of people playing very different versions of this lottery, we don't know - without evidence - that any of them are more likely to produce a winning ticket than any other.

That's the dilemma of religious faith and the limits of its pragmatism.

The "Copy+Pasta" Debate Technique

Has anyone else tried the "copy+pasta" debate technique with the Flying Spaghetti Monster? How does it usually go over?

I'm not trying to be uncivil; I am trying to demonstrate that these parallel paragraphs have an identical amount of evidence to support their claims: zero. Although at least we know what a bowl of spaghetti looks like when tossed into the air.

Why Democrats Lost

... because they have candidates like Mark Pryor and ads like this:

Translation: "I'm not ashamed to say I have widely-held yet scientifically unfounded views and their implications on our planet. I read from a book that tells me only its invisible author has all the answers. Thus, I cannot make any statement endorsing the policies or governing philosophies of my leading political party, which might be no better than the other leading party. I orient my life based on a religious book written thousands of years ago and this book guides me in my role in secular government. I'm Mark Pryor and I approve this message because it seems to be the most banal and spineless way to appeal to religious voters without really saying anything at all."

Some Biblical Policy Recommendations!

I read with interest in a recent Valley Courier op-ed that concluded with: "The United States of America can still be a great country. I've seen a bumper sticker that you might consider: VOTE THE BIBLE."

I wasn't entirely clear what this actually meant, so I spent some time poking around the Bible and have come up with the following policy recommendations from the book of Leviticus, citing chapter and verse.

It shall hereby be a criminal offense to: burn any yeast or honey in offerings to God (2:11), fail to include salt in offerings to God (2:13), bring unauthorized fire before God (10:1), let your hair go unkempt (10:6), tear your clothes (10:6), eat a rabbit or pig (11:4-7), attend church within 33 days of giving birth to a boy or 66 days of giving birth to a girl (12:4-5), have sex with a woman during her period (18:19), reap the edges of a field (19:9), mix fabrics in clothing (19:19), eat fruit from a tree within four years of planting it (19:23), get a tattoo (19:28), work on the Sabbath (23:3), or blasphemy (24:14).

Now, I realize that many of these crimes, as directed by the creator of the universe, are to be punishable by death (public stoning is the method recommended in the Bible) but that seems rather harsh for a first offense.  Maybe I'm just soft on crime.

Anyway, I'm not quite certain how to handle the many directives on trading slaves or properly beating them to serve their Christian masters, but the Bible clearly has recommendations for keeping slaves and never condemns the practice... so this may necessitate another Civil War to truly establish.  It will only be in keeping with these and the many other recommendations found throughout the Bible that America may still be a great country.

...What's that?  Many of the authors of the U.S. Constitution were deists who explicitly rejected religious influence in government or the establishment of a theocracy?  ... The Constitution doesn't even contain the words "God," "Bible," or "Christianity?"  Well, now I'm just confused.  Maybe I should turn to the book of Deuteronomy for answers.  I'll get back to you on that.

Boycott Marriage Equality

Too salient not to share:

Because if God really objects to same sex marriage, I'm sure He will just send angels around the world to deliver your principled, faith-based messages anyway. So no sweat.

When George Talks to God

When George talks to God, disaster strikes!

Rape a Virgin, Get a Wife

Deuteronomy 22:28-29: "If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay her father fifty shekels* of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives."

 *about 20 ounces of silver or about $300

Oh, Church Shootings!

Church massacres are always an interesting genre of rampage killing.  There are obvious political overtones to shooting up people in the house of the Lord.  In that wacky summer that brought us the Holocaust Museum shooting (source) and the Tea Party protests of "death panels" resulting from Heath Care Reform (source), Dr. George Tiller - a prominent abortion provider - was shot and killed in his Kansas church by a far right zealot who opposed a woman's right to choose pregnancy termination (source).  The National Guard was called in to protect abortion clinics and the usual cast of anti-abortion zealots had to walk back their rhetoric and pretend their constant harangue had nothing to do with Dr. Tiller's death.

Well, today we have a new church shooting and, of course, the details of the case are just a few days away.  After a previous act of homicide, 57 year old Jeremiah Fogel opened fire in a Lakeland, Florida church but was held down until police arrived to arrest him (source).  No doubt this tragic mayhem increased the faith factor among churchgoers - despite the fact that God clearly allowed Fogel to enter the church with a loaded weapon and did nothing to intervene.  The real faith should be placed in the responsive citizens who ended the gunman's rampage - not the apathetic-as-usual God of the Bible.

Oh, and as if a non-sequitur, the AP article ends with:

"The suspect owned a limousine service that provided transportation to the airport and often worked outside with his wife, mowing the lawn and pulling weeds, neighbors said."

There you have it, folks: too much yard work leads to mass murder.  So don't force your old man to mow the lawn and pull weeds too often or your local church will be the next to eat hot lead!  Thanks to Jack Thompson for this bit of insight (source).

Weeding out the suspects - the investigation continues.