God's livestock...if God were real...if you really did believe in God
Don't forget: next Saturday, 4 June, is the Reason Rally at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C. It runs from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. The event is FREE, and the awesome atheist hard rock band Monster on Sunday (video below) will be playing at the after party! Be there or be an equilateral equiangular quadrilateral! Oh, and tell 'em Dot Calm's shadow sent you. Not that that will mean anything to anyone...but it might elicit a "hunh?"
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Greetings, faithful Dot Calm Readers, Truth Crusaders, and Freedom Fighters!
A few things have been bumping around between my ears lately...
One of them is the unfortunate analogy of "the Lord is my shepherd" and all the Biblical references to believers as sheep.
Do you really want to be a sheep?
Think about it for a minute. Sheep are not very bright (except for Harold, that most dangerous of animals: a clever sheep).
Sheep are milked to make cheese for the shepherd, shorn to make clothes for the shepherd, and finally led to the slaughter to make dinner for the shepherd. Sheep are not the shepherd's beloved pets--they are his livelihood and his food.
Suppose God really did exist. Can you imagine Him snacking on your praise and worship like Pecorino Romano? Clothing Himself in your prayerful reminders that He exists? And finally taking you to the abattoir to...*ulp* so that He could...*ulp*?
Maybe Christians are taught to eat Jesus' flesh and drink His blood because that's what God is going to do to them someday...?!
So I asks ye again: do you really want to be God's livestock?
Um...yikes.
As Tweety Bird would say, "I scared myself!"
*****
Next on the list of random thots passing through my all-too-active imagination...what would the Christian God do if He were real?
For one thing, if God existed and really were a loving father, He wouldn't mete out eternal punishment for finite crime. Nor would He consider our simply being human as a capital offense. He wouldn't risk everyone's salvation based on where we all were born, which religions our parents practiced and passed on to us, and whether or not we all literally believe one set out of many indistinguishable cherry-picked centuries-old texts demonstrably full of scientific inaccuracies, contradicting accounts, ancient practices and priorities, and malfeasance on His part.
No--if God were real, then He could snap His fingers and instantaneously fix all the holy books all over the world to make them credible, uniform, universally understandable, timeless, and undeniably moral. He could have prophesied the discovery of germs, for example, in the ancient Hebrew texts. Or He could have fulfilled His prophecy to return in Matthew 16:28: "Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom" (a prophecy that, ironically, makes Jesus a failed prophet whom we can safely ignore according to Deuteronomy 18:22: "When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him").
Or God could just appear to all of us, all around the world, all at the same time, to introduce Himself and announce His message. God could answer the prayers of all the starving children in Africa, taught to pray to Him by countless missionaries, and feed and clothe them as He promises to in Matthew 6:26: "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" At the very least, God could have left a signature in His work that cannot be explained by natural laws. Like making it rain a few hours every night, once everyone is safely indoors, so that crops grow wherever they're planted so that people always have enough to eat.
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then He is not omnipotent. Is He able, but not willing? Then He is malevolent. Is He both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is He neither able nor willing? Then why call Him God?" - Epicurus (c. 341 - c. 270 BCE)
*****
So, it's pretty clear to me that the Biblical God cannot exist--at least, there is no apparent evidence of Him...not to mention the impossibilities of omnipotence and omniscience...meaning that, if God can make a rock He can't lift--or if He can't make a rock he can't lift--then He is not omnipotent, and it's physically and logically impossible for God to be omniscient because there is no way He could possibly know what He doesn't know.
I think these points are more obvious to believers than they admit, and I think it shows in their behavior.
Consider my Tea Party Christian friend, who claims to believe John 1:1, which states that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." In other words, my friend claims to believe that the Bible is Jesus and that to disbelieve the literal truth of one syllable of the Bible is to spit in baby Jesus' face.
Thus, my Tea Party Christian friend claims to believe that the entire Bible is literally true.
But he believes that the universe and the earth are billions of years old--not the 6,000-10,000 years the Bible clearly describes.
He believes that the earth is a globe--not the flat, square disk [sic] the Bible clearly describes.
My friend refuses to believe in the Bible's hard "terrible crystal" firmament in which the tiny diamond stars are mounted and which separates the waters below the "circle of the earth" from the waters above in outer space. Instead, he believes what he learned in public school science class: that there is no hard barrier between our atmosphere and outer space, which is a vacuum that spacecraft can actually fly through.
My friend has worn his hair long, has had a tattoo, wears mixed-fiber fabrics, eats pork and shellfish, and daily commits countless of the hundreds of victimless abominations God commanded us to avoid in Leviticus and Deuteronomy (611 or 631, depending on which site you Google). My friend has divorced, breaking Jesus' own commandment in Mark 10 and Luke 16:18 (Matthew 19 makes an exception if the woman commits adultery--but it's still 2:1, so no divorce for you, Christians!). My friend is like most American Christians who condemn others to feel good about themselves while ignoring Jesus' own teachings, including taking care of the poor and following every jot and tittle of the law--meaning Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
So many more examples I could give proving that my friend only gives lip service to the Bible. But I think I've made my point. Don't you think that, if you really believed in God, and if you really believed He is who the Bible says He is, you would follow all of His commands, including doing whatever it took to make yourself believe His word literally? Hell, I would.
Seriously, my friend ignores so much of the Bible that he can't reasonably be called a biblical literalist. Hating homos and believing Noah's flood ain't enough to earn that coveted distinction (oops--did I say "coveted"? Can't break the tenth commandment! Or was the tenth commandment the one about not boiling a kid goat in its mother's milk? ... Eww!).
But there is something I don't understand in all of this...
Just who the phuque does he think he's fooling--God?
Time to slog on with the blog!
Don't forget to read Dot Calm's shadow's favorite independent sources of news and information:
Daily Kos
AlterNet
Democracy Now!
Conservatives are Destroying our Future
Conservative Clown Car
Americans Against the Republican Party
Americans Against the Tea Party
...And, whatever you do,
VOTE BERNIE!!!!!
Please send him a buck o' five. I do whenever I can. At the very least, I'm gonna send $15 to Debbie Wasserman Schultz's Democratic opponent on Bernie's behalf. That woman needs to GO!
Thanks for reading, and thanks for being good to yourself and your loved ones.
Peas!
- Dot Calm's shadow
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In the Bible,
God's subjects burned their tithes and offerings.
So why do Christians and their churches
spend their tithes instead?
How can the money get into God's coffers
if it doesn't rise up to heaven as smoke?
- Dot Calm's shadow
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Mailbag
From CPD Action--Trump must come clean with his tax returns
Last week, we honored Senator Elizabeth Warren at an event in Washington, DC, for her deep commitment to holding Wall Street accountable for their role in the financial crisis. During her speech, she slammed Donald Trump for his disgusting remarks about profiting from the housing crash of 2008. While millions of people lost their livelihoods and families lost their homes, Trump was “excited” to make money — and may have been successful at it.
This is one of the great injustices of our times, and is a terrifying example of how the economy is rigged against working families, and rigged for greedy opportunists like Donald Trump.
That’s why we agreed with Senator Warren when she called on Donald Trump to disclose his tax returns to see exactly how much money he’s raked in.
Sign the petition: Demand Donald Trump release multiple years of his tax returns!
This shouldn’t be rocket science. For the past 40 years, every serious contender for the presidency has released their tax returns. With the GOP nomination locked down, Donald Trump has an obligation to disclose to voters how much he is making, how much he is paying in taxes, and other critical information.
What we do know is that the last time he disclosed his taxes, he paid close to nothing. That’s because he benefits from loopholes designed to let millionaires and billionaires pay taxes at a lower rate than everyone else.
To make matters worse, he is quick to push others to disclose personal information when it benefits him. When Mitt Romney was running for president in 2012, Donald Trump demanded he release his tax returns. And who can forget the call for President Obama’s long-form birth certificate — a witch hunt that Trump spearheaded.
Donald Trump’s tax returns could be a wealth of knowledge — pun intended. We could learn how much federal income taxes Trump has paid, if any. We could learn if Donald Trump is exploiting tax loopholes that allow the wealthy to pay lower tax rates than average workers. And we could learn about any shady business dealings keeping money in Trump’s pockets and from common-good infrastructure like roads and schools.
Tell Donald Trump to release several years of his tax returns and be more transparent with American voters!
We are joining nearly twenty national partners to hold Donald Trump accountable, and to increase transparency in his campaign. In mid-June, we will join our partners in delivering your signature directly to Trump Tower in New York City.
Let’s expose Trump for the selfish, greedy person he really is. Sign our petition today.
In solidarity,
Brian Kettenring
Co-Executive Director
PS: To watch Senator Warren’s remarks at our event, click here!
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| Tell Donald Trump: You must release your tax returns | |
| Tell Donald Trump:
“Release multiple years of your tax returns and level with the American people about your wealth, business dealings, how you truly make your money, the tax loopholes you take advantage of, the tax rate you actually pay and how your tax plan would benefit you personally.”
Add your name:
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From Daily Kos--stop water bottlers from polluting OUR parks
The bottled water industry is manipulating Congress -- again -- to thwart national parks' efforts to curb pollution.
Last year, hundreds of thousands of people like you called on their Members of Congress to protect our parks from this egregious interference, and it worked! But they're back at it and we need to be louder. Sign the petition to Congress: stand up to the bottled water industry and support our parks! Disposable plastic water bottles are a huge source of trash in our national parks. That’s why parks across the country have taken steps to limit sales of bottled water and encourage reusable bottles. And Big Water's lobbying group (which represents corporations like Nestlé) has been manipulating the Congressional budget process to stop this movement. They tried last year and we stood up to them, but this year they've been sneakier. They planted language into an appropriations bill that would pad the profits of the bottled water industry at the expense of our parks and the environment. Congress needs to hear from us before the committee discusses the bill next week. Add your name to join Daily Kos and a coalition calling on Congress to protect national parks and stop the bottled water industry’s manipulation. Keep fighting, Mara Schechter, Daily Kos |
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| Tell Congress: Stop hedge fund tax dodging | |
| Petition to Congress:
"Close the carried interest loophole that allows hedge fund managers to dodge billions in taxes by passing the Carried Interest Fairness Tax Act."
Add your name:
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It
has been two and a half months, and anti-choice Republicans STILL
refuse to give Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland a hearing.
Now we know why: Sen. Charles Grassley finally admitted that the real reason he's blocking Merrick Garland is abortion.1
All that talk about how the president shouldn't appoint a Supreme Court justice in his last year? All that went out the window when Sen. Grassley was talking to his anti-abortion base. He told them the issue was abortion, pure and simple.
Now
it's time to really turn up the heat. We've launched $100,000 worth of
radio ads targeting four senators, including Sen. Grassley, representing
states that Barack Obama won twice.2 Will you chip in $15 to help keep our ads on the air?
Sen. Grassley's hypocrisy is just stunning.
He's
said again and again that his objection to Chief Judge Garland has
nothing to do with Garland's positions on issues—he simply objects, on
principle, to a president appointing a nominee in his last year in
office (even though he personally had no problem voting for Anthony
Kennedy during Ronald Reagan's last year in office).3
But
when he was among his right-wing supporters and didn't think anyone
else was listening, he said: "I can’t overstate what is at stake here.
We know if another liberal is nominated to the Court that even the
reasonable restrictions on abortion would be swept away."
That's
why we're launching this major ad campaign featuring the voices of real
NARAL Pro-Choice America members making a simple point: Everyday
Americans can't just decide we don't want to do our jobs—and the Senate
should have to do its job too.
There's simply no excuse for refusing to give Chief Judge Merrick
Garland the up-or-down vote he deserves. Will you chip in $15 to help
keep these ads on the air?
Thank you for helping to make reproductive freedom real for all women.
Ilyse G. Hogue
President, NARAL Pro-Choice America
Sources:
1. Grassley Uses Abortion Example for Why Liberal Shouldn’t Be on High Court, WHO-HD, April 20, 2016
2. Pro-Abortion Rights Group Launches Supreme Court Ads, Roll Call, May 26, 2016
3. Grassley Statement on the President's Nomination of Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court, Chuck Grassley, United States Senator for Iowa, March 16, 2016
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| Tell House Republicans: Stop playing politics with the Zika crisis | |
| Tell House Republicans:
"Stop playing politics with women’s and children's health. Fully fund the Obama administration and Center for Disease Control’s plan to fight the Zika virus and ensure that all women have access to the full range of medical services they deserve in the face of this disease — appropriate, affordable birth control, prenatal care and abortion."
Add your name:
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Urge Congress to enact the President's ban on transferring cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia into law.
Foreign Policy magazine has reported that the Obama Administration has suspended US transfers of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia
following concerns over civilian harm from their use in Yemen, where a
Saudi-led coalition has been conducting a military campaign since March
2015. A senior U.S. official acknowledged reports that the Saudi-led coalition used cluster bombs "in areas in which civilians are alleged to have been present or in the vicinity." Under U.S. law,
countries that receive cluster bombs from the U.S. must agree that
cluster munitions “will only be used against clearly defined military
targets and will not be used where civilians are known to be present or
in areas normally inhabited by civilians.”Take Action
Reps. John Conyers, Keith Ellison, Raul Grijalva, and Jim McGovern had introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act which would have permanently banned the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia. The House Rules Committee did not allow this amendment to be considered by the full House. But Members of Congress will soon have other opportunities to make the ban permanent, and can now move to do so with a new argument: that they are simply enacting the President's stated policy into law.
Urge Congress to make the President's ban on transferring cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia permanent by signing our petition.
The President's ban on cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia is wonderful news. But cluster bombs are an incredibly dangerous weapon that frequently kill civilians long after their deployment due to unexploded bomblets and Just Foreign Policy will continue to work to completely eliminate US production and transfer of cluster bombs to any country.
We are only $500 away from reaching our fundraising goal this month. Can you help fund our work to eliminate cluster bombs with a tax-deductible $15 donation?
If you prefer, you can send a check to:
Just Foreign Policy
4410 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, #290
Washington, DC 20016
Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman, Avram Reisman, and Sarah Burns
Just Foreign Policy
© 2016 Just Foreign Policy
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Urge Platform Committee members to add language against settlement expansion to the Democratic Platform.
Members of the Democratic Platform Committee have an opportunity this year to show support for Palestinian rights. As J Street notes: "Support for the two-state solution has been a staple of the party's platform for years. It's
time to add language noting concern about the relentless expansion of
settlements, which entrench the occupation and endanger peace." As J Street's President Jeremy Ben-Ami notes at Huffington Post,
the current Democratic platform mentions neither settlement expansion
nor the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people. Take Action
Urge the Platform Committee to add language against settlement expansion to the Democratic Platform by signing our petition at MoveOn.
Reps. Keith Ellison, Luis Gutierrez, and Barbara Lee are members of the Democratic Platform Committee; Rep. Elijah Cummings is its chair. DNC chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz appointed four members of the committee, including Rep. Lee and Rep. Cummings. Wasserman Schultz's Democratic primary opponent, Tim Canova, should know that adding support for Palestinian rights to the Democratic platform has widespread Democratic support.
Urge these Democrats to support adding opposition to settlement expansion to the Democratic Platform by signing and sharing our petition.
Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman, Avram Reisman, and Sarah Burns
Just Foreign Policy
Help support our work!
If you think our work is important, support us with a $15 donation.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.
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Q: What do a Christmas tree
and a priest have in common?
A: Their balls are supposed to be
A: Their balls are supposed to be
just for decoration.
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Democracy Now!
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a 30-minute debate ... Read More →
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presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are in a dead
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the former U.S.-backed dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré, is convicted of
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A bus full of ugly people had a head on collision with a truck.
A bus full of ugly people had a head on collision with a truck.
When they died,
God granted all of them one wish.
God granted all of them one wish.
The first person said,
"I want to be gorgeous."
"I want to be gorgeous."
God snapped his fingers and it happened.
The second person said the same thing and God did the same thing.
This want on and on throughout the group.
God noticed the last man in line
was laughing hysterically.
was laughing hysterically.
By the time God got to the last ten people,
the last man was laughing
and rolling on the ground.
the last man was laughing
and rolling on the ground.
When the man's turn came,
he laughed and said,
"I wish they were all ugly again."
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he laughed and said,
"I wish they were all ugly again."
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Daily Kos
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An old man goes to a church,
and is making a confession:
Man: "Father, I am 75 years old. I have been married for 50 years. All these years I had been faithful to my wife, but yesterday I was intimate with an 18 year old."
Father: "When was the last time you made a confession?"
Man: "I never have, I am Jewish."
Father: "Then why are telling me all this?"
Man: "I’m telling everybody!"
and is making a confession:
Man: "Father, I am 75 years old. I have been married for 50 years. All these years I had been faithful to my wife, but yesterday I was intimate with an 18 year old."
Father: "When was the last time you made a confession?"
Man: "I never have, I am Jewish."
Father: "Then why are telling me all this?"
Man: "I’m telling everybody!"
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AlterNet
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A gentleman is preparing to board a plane, when he hears that the Pope is on the same flight.
“This is exciting,” thinks the gentleman.
“Perhaps I'll be able to see him in person.”
Imagine his surprise when the Pope sits down in the seat next to him.
Shortly after take-off,
the Pope begins a crossword puzzle.
Almost immediately,
the Pope turns to the gentleman and says,
“Excuse me, but do you know a four letter word referring to a woman that ends in ‘unt'?”
Only one word leaps to mind.
“My goodness,” thinks the gentleman,
“I can't tell the Pope that. There must be another word.”
The gentleman thinks for quite a while,
and then it hits him.
Turning to the Pope, the gentleman says,
“I think the word you're looking for is ‘aunt.’”
“Of course,” says the Pope.
“Do you have an eraser?”
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Movies!
Glenn Beck spewing idiocy instead of doing something helpful, duh
Noam Chomsky on Marxism
Alex Jones thinks all liberals love Satan. Maybe he means Satin. Maybe he should take his Xanax and calm down before he has apoplexy.
Dumbald Drumpf is now the favorite for the White House...Atheist God help me!
I think that Texas was actually marginally smart enough NOT to vote this moron onto the board of education...but not by much. My Tea Party Christian friend believes all the same things she does...
AND HE VOTES!
The racism you're about to hear is really disturbing. And Dumbald Drumpf is making it the norm!
More bigotry--these morons claim they'd rather be crucified than treat other people as equals. I think they all need to move to Iran so they can live in the theocracies they lust for.
The Thinking Atheist:
Seth interviews the Liberal Redneck
Another Handyman Corner.
I needed a giggle after all that frustration.
posted by Dot Calm @ 6:40 PM
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