More Northwest Florida Weirdness…

Pensacola, Florida, the county seat of Escambia County, Florida is a small town. I looked it up – population 55,240 (US Census for 2000) – we’re not talking Orlando or Tampa, here – Pensacola is a dinky place by comparison.

So how did so much weirdness get crammed into one area? (See previous blogs “Land of the Bible Bizarre” and “…the Bizarre-ness Continues”) Is it the climate? The UFO’s in Gulf Breeze?  Hurricanes? The lack of affordable homeowners insurance? Bushwackers? What is it?

Now a local attorney, Mike Papantonio of the Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Echsner & Proctor law firm in Pensacola is after Rush Limbaugh – and maybe Rush Limbaugh’s job.

Papantonio, or “Pap” as he is sometimes called, has aspersions of becoming the next big thing in talk radio. Papantonio is the host of a nationally syndicated radio show, “Ring of Fire,” on Air America Radio and is the founder of GoLeft.tv. Never heard of it? Yeah – I’d never heard of Rush Limbaugh either until he burst on to the national airwaves back in 1988. Papantonio is different from Limbaugh – Papantonio’s opinions and philosophy comes from the far left (hence, the “GoLeft.tv”) as opposed to Limbaugh’s far right views.

Papantonio - looking Left for the answers.

Papantonio writes a semi-regular opinion column in the local newspaper, the Pensacola News Journal (www.pnj.com), and on Wednesday he had this to say about Limbaugh…

Let Rush Talk to a Laid Off Worker
Mike Papantonio • January 28, 2009

Last Sunday, the pastor in the church I attended prayed for Barack Obama. That pastor prayed that Obama would have the strength and wisdom to guide America. I’m certain that the majority of that congregation agreed that we should all pray for Obama’s success. It made me proud to be a member of that church during that prayer.

I wish Rush Limbaugh had been there. Because the week before Limbaugh made the statement on his radio show that he hoped that Obama’s efforts to pull America through these dark days would fail.

His words were: “I hope Obama fails. Somebody’s got to say it.” He went as far as telling his lockstep listeners that he was angry at Republicans who are pulling for Obama to succeed.

I’m pretty sure there are preachers all over this country leading congregations in prayers that make the same plea my pastor made last Sunday. And I’m comfortable knowing that the power of those prayers are much stronger than the repugnant hate talk of an aging radio host in search of a bigger audience.

It’s important to consider the specifics of what Limbaugh is hoping for in Obama’s failure. Eight million Americans lost their homes to foreclosure during the Bush years. Perhaps if Limbaugh could step out of his 25,000-square-foot home and see the pain of a mother and father telling their children that they just lost their home, maybe then he would want Obama to succeed.

Or maybe Limbaugh could step away from his $400 million job long enough to be on site the day a factory or a bank or a restaurant closes. And maybe he could follow one of those fathers home to tell his family that he just lost his job. Maybe then he would want to pray for Obama, rather than hope Obama fails.

It might even be a good idea for this pathetic radio demagogue to put his solid gold microphone down for a few days and spend some time with his Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity chicken-hawk crowd touring V.A. hospitals. Perhaps then Limbaugh, who himself received a military deferment, could appreciate Obama’s effort to end “W’s” Iraq disaster instead of hoping for Obama’s failure.

These latest words give us a creepy picture of the real heart and soul of Limbaugh. Because, as he rallies his ditto-head crowd around the hopes of failure for Obama, he is in effect hoping that all of America fails.

But last Sunday, a prayer of hope and compassion delivered by a preacher who truly cares about America made Rush sound like the petty, irrelevant demagogue that he has worked so hard to become. ~ Pensacola News Journal, 01-28-2009

Notice how Papantonio worked religion into his column? Rush’s desire for Obama to fail has nothing to do with religion – but, like a good Pensacolian, Papantonio manages to tie the two together.

Since Papantonio brought up religion, Limbaugh is held in high regard by the Religious Right. Robertson, Dobson, et. al., put up with Limbaugh’s obvious un-religious behavior (3 failed marriages & a drug habit) just to advance their political causes. To me the unquestioning support of these quasi-Christians (like Limbaugh) by the Religious Right tells me just where their priorities are. Advance the political agenda and we’ll worry about the Gospel later.

Filling the conservative "power gap" with gab.

First of all Limbaugh is an ENTERTAINER. Limbaugh does not hold any public office and he is not in a position of any authority. Limbaugh is on the air for one reason and one reason only – he’s good at ENTERTAINING. His ability to ENTERTAIN allows Limbaugh to afford his ultra-luxurious East-coast Florida lifestyle – just like a good attorney, such as yourself, Mr. Papantonio, can afford much more than the average Pensacola resident – you know, a gated home, beach front property, a Bentley or a Maserati, etc. Limbaugh’s influence, if he really has any at all, was given to him by the free market, also known as the listening audience — unlike Air America which, well, doesn’t have much of an audience by comparison. Why criticize Limbaugh’s ability to earn a good living in an industry where most hosts fail? Criticizing Rush’s income and possessions just makes you look small, Pap.

Limbaugh’s opinions are his own. When his right-wing, quasi-religious rhetoric gets to me (after about 10 minutes) I turn him off. If more people would do the same, we wouldn’t have to worry about Limbaugh. Limbaugh only has as much power as we, the listeners, give him. Don’t like Rush? Turn him off. Stop listening.

Then Limbaugh will become like Air America…

…no power and no listeners…

Those Evil Atheists

It is a broad and inaccurate brush that paints atheists and atheism as “evil” and as a malevolent force that “good will ultimately overcome.” A recent example is a December 20, 2008 quote from Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Republican Congressman representing Florida’s 21st District. Congressman Diaz-Balart made the comments after attending the “Divine Performing Arts” show (a stage show detailing the history of the Chinese people in dance and song) in Fort Lauderdale.

“I was very moved by the song that talked about the damage atheism has caused and is causing…the songs carry a sense that evil will not prevail, and so the message is that the truth ultimately prevails…the message is eternal, it is truth…because eternal truth will survive atheism and the difficulties of the 20th Century. It is very important that this message gets out because it is the truth.”

From the above quote I think I can reasonably assume that Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart is, at the very least, a theist, and at the most, a religious man. Judging from his background, bio and friends, I’d say he’s most likely a Catholic or at least brought up in a Catholic home, although I admit I don’t know this for sure. Congressman Diaz-Balart clearly makes a direct connection between evil and atheism. In fact, to Congressman Diaz-Balart, the words “evil” and “atheism” can be used interchangeably. There’s no difference between the two – evil is atheism and atheism is evil.

Professor Dawkins from an appearance on "Doctor Who, The Stolen Earth" -- An evil atheist?

Has this been your experience? It certainly hasn’t been mine. I have found atheists to be some of the most independent, interesting and thought-provoking people I’ve met. The atheists I know would rather argue over a cup of coffee than participate in mass religious genocide. (It is true that some atheists dream of the day religion dies, but not by force – by its own accord.) My point is that atheism does not make a man “evil” – the man himself makes the man evil. Evil is not the product of atheism – evil is the product of a warped, paranoid mind, longing for power and approval with overtones of veneration and adoration.

No doubt Congressman Diaz-Balart had in mind Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung. Mao believed the Chinese were dominated by three separate institutions; the state, the clan and family, and the system of gods and spirits (theocratic authority) – these three institutions had to be dismantled in order for China to be a true and pure Communist state. Problem is, Mao himself demanded reverence. His “Little Red Book” was nothing short of a Ten Commandment-like Prayer Book. Even today Mao is regarded not so much as a great Communist leader but as a Great Ancestor close to the Divine. It was Mao’s megalomania, not his claimed atheism that motivated him.

Brought up as a Roman Catholic, served as an altar boy, Adolf Hitler was a typical Austrian. It was Hitler’s upbringing in what was an anti-Semitic religious culture that made him susceptible to the rampant Judeophobia that dominated the German nationalists Hitler gravitated toward while in Vienna in his late teens. Much later as Hitler rose to power, he echoed the same anti-Semitism at a 1926 Nazi Christmas celebration, “Christ was the greatest early fighter in the battle against the world enemy, the Jews … The work that Christ started but could not finish, I — Adolf Hitler — will conclude.” His famous (or infamous) book, Mein Kampf, repeats Hitler’s belief that he was doing “the Lord’s work.” Sometimes I wonder how much different history would’ve been if Hitler truly had been an atheist or at least an agnostic. He probably would’ve died a struggling artist outside a coffee house in Linz instead of becoming a tyrant fueled by divine beliefs in the lowliness of the Semitic races and the superiority of the German Soul.

Then we have Joseph Stalin – a tyrant and mass murderer that makes Hitler look like a light-weight – a man that professed atheism but created a system where communism and the Communist Party was the religion. Stalin’s communism claimed to be pro-science and anti-religious when in fact it clearly held unscientific views (the Communist Party under Stalin opposed Darwinism) and was anti-religious only in the sense that it suppressed all other religions except itself. Party devotees established a “Red Corner”, placing a portrait of Lenin in spaces that used to be occupied by Christian icons. An article of advice from Pravda, 1950…

“If you meet with difficulties in your work, or suddenly doubt your abilities, think of him – of Stalin – and you find the confidence you need. If you feel tired…think of him – of Stalin – and your work will go well. If you are seeking a correct decision, think of him – of Stalin – and you will find that decision.”

A more modern tyrant, Saloth Sar, better known by his fabricated name, Pol Pot, worked, starved or out-right murdered 1.7 million Cambodians, or about 20 percent of the population of Cambodia, all in an attempt to reclaim the racial purity of the Khmer race (the ethnic majority in Cambodia) and reclaim the ancient “lost territories” of the medieval Angkor kingdom. Pol Pot’s goal was to establish a purely Cambodian Communist State, one free of foreign influence – this included minority languages, French or foreign educated professionals and Cambodia’s Buddhist religion. In an effort to suppress religious expression, monks were defrocked, temples and artifacts, including statues of Buddha, were destroyed and people praying or expressing other religious sentiments were often killed. It was Pol Pot’s belief that the pure Cambodian Communist State was to be revered, the Khmer Rouge to be feared and the nobility of ancient Cambodian agrarianism to be achieved. A trinity, if you will, of beliefs that often fuel religious wars, such as those currently raging in the Middle East.

All of this brings us back to Congressman Diaz-Balart, who was born in Havana, Cuba before Fidel Castro’s 1959 Communist Revolution. Castro was raised as a Catholic but renounced his faith and was later (1962) excommunicated by Pope John XXIII. This excommunication had little, if any, affect on Castro but was designed to undermine support for Castro among Catholics in Cuba and around the world. As a result, Castro viewed the Roman Catholic Church as a political enemy, not a religious force, that he had to deal with. It wasn’t until the 1990’s, with Soviet-Russian support crumbling, Castro loosened restrictions on church-going Cuban Catholics. In 1998, Pope John Paul II visited Cuba, appeared together with Castro and succeeded in thawing the relationship between the Vatican and Communist Cuba. In April, 2005, after the Pope’s death, Fidel Castro, wearing a dark suit, attended a mass in the Pope’s honor in Havana’s cathedral and expressed his gratitude for the “heartfelt way the death of our Holy Father John Paul II was received (in Cuba).” Hardly the remarks of an “evil atheist.”

It’s the last place most religionists and theists look, but the Bible condemns not atheism, but religiosity. (And those of you that bring up Psalms 14 and Psalms 53 need to study your Hebrew.) The Apostle Paul in Acts 17 was walking and talking with the Epicureans and the Stoics in Athens on the Areopagus. The Epicureans were atheists – believing that there was only this life and, if there were any gods, or God, at all, they or He were/was not concerned with the affairs of man. The Stoics believed in self-mastery and austerity as the means to achieve perfection in this life. Paul commented on both of these philosophies…

“Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects.”

Paul’s criticism was derived from the fact that religiosity and mysticism reigned supreme in the lives of these Athenians. It wasn’t their unbelief that was the problem, it was their religious beliefs.

Atheism is not the enemy. Atheists are not the enemy. The fuel of megalomania and paranoia are religiosity and mysticism…

…the true evil.

“…some began to sneer, but others said, ‘We shall hear you again concerning this.’”

…And The Bizarre-ness Continues…

Marcus Schrenker...D.B. Cooper?

No known connection, but the aircraft that was abandoned in mid-flight by fugitive (now captured) Indiana money manager, Marcus Schrenker crashed into a wooded area off of Wright Basin near a neighborhood in East Milton, Florida – that’s in Santa Rosa County.

Is there something about Northwest Florida and Santa Rosa County in particular that draws criminals, fugitives and religious weird-os? Is Santa Rosa County the singularity of some kind of a Bermuda Triangle-like phenomenon that draws wack-os, crazoids and nut-burgers to itself? We will probably never have these questions answered, but I think it’s strange that out of all the places to crash, Marcus Schrenker’s abandoned single-engine Piper Malibu decided to crash in Santa Rosa County, Florida. Like some weird and wacky magnet was guiding it, pulling it toward the center of weirdness.

Yes, yes, I know – Schrenker was originally bound for Destin, Florida. Thing is, Destin, Florida is in Okaloosa County, Florida – the next county east of Santa Rosa County, Florida.

Now I’ll probably never know this until 20/20 or DateLine conducts a well-hyped interview with Marcus Schrenker, but I’m convinced that Schrenker was a big fan of one of my favorite movies, In Pursuit of D. B. Cooper. This 1981 movie starred Treat Williams as D. B. Cooper and was only loosely based on the real D. B. Cooper story. The real D. B. Cooper parachuted out of the rear of a Boeing 727 with a bag full of stolen money and was never seen again. The movie picks up where reality leaves off and fictionalizes the events following D. B. Cooper’s famous jump.

The connections to Schrenker and the movie are obvious…

1) Schrenker parachutes out of a plane after stealing money – so does D. B. Cooper.

2) Schrenker recovers a previously hidden motorcycle – so does D. B. Cooper, in the movie version.

3) Schrenker makes contact with law enforcement – so does the movie version of D. B. Cooper.

4) Schrenker’s cute wife had filed for divorce – so had D. B. Cooper’s, in the movie.

5) Schrenker lives rough while on the run – so does the movie Cooper.

Unfortunately, this is where the movie and Schrenker depart company. Not good for the now captured Schrenker because in the movie [SPOILER ALERT] D. B. Cooper gets away with the money and lives happily ever after and even [SPOILER ALERT #2] gets back together with his wife! Only in the movies!

But, sorry, Mr. Schrenker, life is a bitch in the Bizarre-o World of Northwest Florida.

Land of the Bible Bizarre

Late Friday, January 9, 2009, U.S. District Court Judge M. Casey Rodgers granted a preliminary injunction in the case of the ACLU v. Santa Rosa County School District (Florida). The ACLU filed a lawsuit in August on behalf of two Pace High School students, who claim Pace High School officials misuse their positions to promote their religious viewpoints. The suit named the Santa Rosa County School Board, the district’s superintendent, and the principal at Pace High School as defendants.The lawsuit also documents how teachers and staff at Pace High School preach about “judgment day with the Lord” and offer Bible readings and biblical interpretations during student meetings.

Among the complaints listed in the suit:

1. Elementary graduations and middle school Christmas concerts held at churches.

2. Teachers & staff at Pace High preaching about Judgment Day with the Lord.

3. Teachers & staff offering Bible readings and biblical interpretations during student meetings.

The preliminary injunction prohibits all district officials from:

1. Promoting or sponsoring prayers during school-sponsored events, including graduation.

2. Planning or financing religious baccalaureate services.

3. Holding school-sponsored events at religious venues when alternative venues are reasonably available.

4. Permitting school officials to promote their personal religious beliefs and proselytize students in class or during school-sponsored events and activities.

On Dec. 15, 2008, the school board, the superintendent and the principal filed an “Admission of Liability” with the Court regarding the district-wide constitutional violations.

“The School District ultimately did the right thing in admitting and accepting responsibility for its violations of students’ constitutional rights,” said Benjamin James Stevenson, principal litigator and staff attorney with the ACLU of Florida’s Northwest Regional office. “We are pleased with (the) decision, and we look forward to working with the defendants and the court to permanently bring the school district in line with the First Amendment.”

Just in case you’re not familiar with Santa Rosa County, Florida, it’s no where near Miami, Tampa, Orlando or Jacksonville. Santa Rosa County is located in the far north-west of Florida, the second Florida county east of the Alabama state line and is part of what the locals call the “Redneck Riviera” because the county shares it’s southern border with the Gulf of Mexico. Santa Rosa County is mostly a rural county and is known for two things:

1. Having more churches per square mile than any other in the nation — there are approximately 178 churches in Santa Rosa County.

2. One of the largest producers of Florida-grown marijuana – due to the large size of the county, its rural nature and its lack of major metropolitan areas.

Just five years ago, Santa Rosa County was a dry county – no wine or spirits – and no beer sales on Sundays. Since then, Santa Rosa County has become “wet” on a limited basis. The locals blame the county going “wet” on new residents moving in from “up north” and changing the local “traditional values.”

If you’re still having a hard time imagining where this place is, let me call your attention to Santa Rosa County’s neighbor county just to the east, Escambia County, Florida. Pensacola, Florida, the county seat of Escambia County, is the home of some of the more bizarre and sometimes violent religious entities. Examples include:

June 1984 – bombing of a local abortion clinic.

December 1984 – bombing of the same abortion clinic.

March 1986 – former KKK member and local religious leader, John Burt, along with his daughter, break in and assault female abortion clinic workers.

March 1993 – Michael Griffin, allegedly a member of Rescue America (founded by Pensacolian John Burt), shot and killed Dr. David Gunn outside an abortion clinic.

July 1994 – Paul Hill, a former Presbyterian minister and leader in Defensive Action killed a physician and bodyguard outside another abortion clinic; he wounded the wife of the bodyguard. Hill was executed by the state of Florida for his crimes.

Pensacola is the home of Pastor Chuck Baldwin who pastors Crossroads Baptist Church and was a U.S. Presidential Candidate representing the Constitution Party in the last national election (2008).

Pensacola Christian College which instructs its faculty, staff and students on how to vote in local elections in order to advance the college’s agenda. This same college churns out Christian “home-school” material with a decidedly conservative right-wing view point.

Pensacola Bible Institute, founded and led by Dr. Peter Ruckman, requires Bible students (and wives & children) to stand and shout (“preach”) at traffic stopped at busy intersections.

Dr. Kent Hovind, founder of Creation Science Evangelism, fought Escambia County over building and zoning permits for his Dinosaur Adventure Land amusement park. Dr. Hovind and his wife, Jo, were later convicted of tax evasion. Hovind is now serving time in a Florida prison.

Pastor Gordon Godfrey of the Marcus Pointe Baptist Church known for his anti-homosexual stance and anti-gay billboards he and his church paid to have erected before the Memorial Day “Gay Days” at Pensacola Beach. Godfrey advocated throwing nails and tacks in the beach and hotel parking lots during these “Gay Day” events. Pastor Godfrey, an avid hunter and outdoorsman, was later convicted of hunting deer in Wisconsin without a hunting license.

So, you can see that it’s no surprise to hear that public school teachers and administrators are teaching the “judgment of the Lord” in the Santa Rosa County Schools.

This is, after all, the Land of the Bible Bizarre.

Israel’s Cheerleaders

Many of my pagan friends (“pagan” is my affectionate term for a non-believer) ask me why Christians, and Christianity in general, are so ardent in their support of the State of Israel. Somehow, even my pagan friends are aware that Judaism generally does not support the growth or expansion of Christianity, so why do Christians actively support and prop up the State of Israel, home of Judaism?

It’s strange, but understandable, that these questions are asked of me in hushed tones, quiet whispers and a quick check to see if anyone is listening. Questioning the support of Israel can get you accused of anti-Semitism or, worse yet, being pro-Arab – and we can’t have that!

Some basics – both the Jews and the Arabs are correct in claiming the same father, Abram (later Abraham) and both are correct in claiming a Divine blessing upon them and their descendants. The Jews trace their lineage back through Isaac, the son born to Abraham’s wife, Sarah, and the Arabs trace their lineage back through Ishmael, the son born to Abraham’s Egyptian maid, Hagar. If you read the Book of Genesis, the stories of these two births are rudely (and I mean really rudely) interrupted by the disgusting story of Sodom and Gomorrah, so I think the continuity of the two births of Ishmael and Isaac gets lost. If you objectively read the accounts of the births and omit the Sodom and Gomorrah story, you find that God physically intervened twice to help Ishmael’s mother Hagar stay alive while Sarah, Isaac’s mom, was once visited by three men (assumed angels) that told her she would have a baby in a year’s time. We end up with two Divinely blessed half-brothers – Isaac whom God promised, “I will establish My covenant with him…” – Ishmael whom God promised, “He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.” Ishmael, the name meaning, God will hear, and Isaac, meaning he laughs.

Put them together in the same land with the same promises and what you get is not funny.

You would think modern day Christian support of Isaac’s descendants, the Jewish people, would be because of God saying, “My covenant [is] with him [Isaac].” You would be wrong.

The true source of the modern day Christian support of Israel comes from Biblical eschatology. According to eschatology, the Bible tells us that there are future events that cannot happen until Israel has been established as the Divinely ordained and permanent home of the Jewish people, the children of Israel. One of those things that cannot happen until Israel has been established is the Second Coming of Christ. So, very simply, anything modern day Christianity can do to accelerate the process of establishing the State of Israel, whether that be in the form of material aid, monetary aid or military aid – any kind of aid at any cost – will only serve to hasten the Second Return of Christ. That’s the motivation for the support – to, if possible, “speed up” the promised return of Jesus Christ so He can establish His Millennial Kingdom here on Earth.

That’s what is taught in Christian churches today. It also explains some of the fascination modern day Christians have with charismatic prophets who are constantly trying to crack “Bible Codes” or swear they’ve seen plans to “re-build Solomon’s Temple” in Jerusalem. Some examples of what I’m talking about come in the form of, Perry Stone, Jack Van Impe, Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye, Trinity Broadcasting Network and the Christian Broadcasting Network to name a few. In fact, just a few years ago, CBN’s Pat Robertson worked out mathematically when Christ would come back based on the date that the State of Israel was established by the United Nations – A.D. 1948. (Robertson came up with 1988 (the year God told him to run for President), but re-figured after considering the boundary changes during the 1967 and 1972 wars. Robertson now has dates of Christ’s Return between 2008 and 2012.) The point is that the formation, establishment and maintenance of the State of Israel are vital for Christ’s promised return.

So Israel should be grateful for the Christian support – whatever the reason, right? Well, maybe, but there is a down side.

According to modern interpretations of Biblical eschatology, what also has to happen after the establishment of the Jewish homeland, Israel, is the rise of the false Messiah, also known as the “Anti-Christ” and the “Beast.” The Anti-Christ, it is said, will arise as a world leader and negotiate a peace treaty in the Middle East which will allow Israel to re-build the Temple of Solomon and re-establish Judaism’s rights and rituals to conform to the ancient laws set forth in the Torah. This all sounds great; until you read that the Anti-Christ also breaks the peace treaty, desecrates the Temple and declares open war on the Jewish people. “[T]hen let those who are in Judea (Israel) flee to the mountains…” Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew, “and unless those days be shortened, no life would have been saved.” Millions of Israelites will die, save 12,000 from each of the Twelve Tribes, all in the process of convincing them that Jesus Christ is the True Messiah.

Boil it down and what you get is modern day Christianity supporting the State of Israel in an effort to eventually convert the Jews, or what is left of the Jewish people, to Christianity.

I wonder how many Israelis are aware of this?

Atheism Wins

By now most of you have read how a small group of lonely atheists have decided they want to ban God from Barack Obama’s upcoming Presidential Inauguration. The proposed ban doesn’t have a prayer in succeeding but the press time and exposure these atheists get is priceless. It’s not only the media coverage that drives contributions to atheist organizations but the reactionary theists (usually Christian) that wet themselves every time an atheist takes a pot-shot at religion or religious tradition.

Come on – I mean really – what do Christians have to fear from atheism?

Recently, on the island of deep-thought, fish-n-chips and bad dentistry, otherwise known as Great Britain, an atheist group was tired of the religious ads that appear on city buses. So, putting all of their pointy-heads together, they came up with as ad of their own:

There is probably no God, so stop worrying and get on with your life.

And a second variation:

There’s probably no God. So stop worrying and enjoy life.

That’s it? That’s the best their uncluttered, non-religious minds can come up with? There’s “probably no God?” Whaddaya mean “probably?” You mean there might be a God? That should have caused every atheist in the UK to run to their nearest atheist organization and ask for their contributions back. If I were in charge of the Atheist Bus Ad Campaign, my slogan would be:

There is no God. This life is it. Have fun.

Christianity has little to fear from atheism. Atheists usually don’t recruit or proselytize, although one atheist organization, Freedom From Religion Foundation, hands out what they call a “nontract” to Christian believers in an effort to negate the effects of religious tracts, propaganda and teaching. (For an atheist organization, this is dangerously close to proselytizing and appearing “religious” – so it should be no surprise that the Freedom From Religion Foundation is headed up by a former charismatic pastor, Dan Barker. Old habits die hard, eh, Dan?) Other than the exception of the FFRF, hard-core atheism is advanced through books, magazines and websites that the interested reader must seek and find. Unless you count “DARWIN” fish, most atheism is not thrust in your face – it’s a sought after topic or choice.

It’s not the atheist that twists and distorts scripture, using the Bible as a tool to deceive, extort and steal from the gullible only to pad their own nests here in this present life. It’s not the atheist that claims to speak directly to God, see visions and hear prophesies only to have those visions and prophecies proven false. It’s not the atheist that pollutes the airwaves with outrageous and unsubstantiated claims of healings, supernatural miracles and appearances of the Divine. It’s not the atheist that substitutes subjective personal experience with objective truth. It’s not the atheist that wants to force teachers to fore-go science in favor of mysticism.

If Christians want to identify the real enemy, all they need to do is look at the face of Twenty-First Century Christianity. Look at the Charismatic Movement. Look at the Prosperity Gospel. Look at Trinity Broadcasting Network. Look at the Christian Broadcasting Network. The fine wine has turned to vinegar – atheism is the result – not the cause.

History and Agatha Christie have taught us all that if you want to poison someone, and not get caught, you do it slowly, patiently, over time. You disguise the poison with something good – mixing error with some truth. Only then will you be able achieve your goal and walk away, blameless.

It’s not atheism I fear. It’s not the lack of belief that disturbs me. It’s belief – it’s religiosity.

The truth with a bit of error…over time and…

Atheism wins.