Anyone who’s familiar with Christianity knows that, in the last few decades alone, the Christian church has seen an astounding number of its powerful preachers exposed as blatant hypocrites. The most famous example, of course, is Ted Haggard, former president of the National Association of Evangelicals and a fervent opponent of gay marriage, who fell spectacularly from grace after revelations of a three-year sexual relationship with a male prostitute.
But he’s not the only one. There’s Jim Bakker, a once-powerful televangelist who was found guilty of fraud for running a phony investment scheme, and Jimmy Swaggart, who exposed the sexual indiscretions of several powerful preachers and was later caught patronizing a prostitute himself. The list could further be extended to include Peter Popoff, a faith healer whose “miraculous” knowledge of audience members’ illnesses came through a covert radio receiver in his ear; Richard Roberts, who resigned as president of the college founded by his father Oral Roberts after a lawsuit alleging misuse of school funds; Randall Terry, the anti-abortion activist who was censored by his own church for adultery; the secret anti-Semite Billy Graham; the turbulent and violent life of Francis Schaeffer; recent revelations about Todd Bentley; and many, many more.
The charge of hypocrisy in the church has become so pervasive that even Christian apologist sites feel obligated to address it. In this post, I’ll address the common apologist replies and show how they unintentionally illuminate the depth of the problem, as well as discussing what it does and does not prove.
To start off, it’s quite true what most apologists say: that the existence of hypocrites within the church does not prove that Christianity’s claims about the existence of God are false. There is no logical connection between those two propositions. But all these hypocrites, I think, do undermine a different supernatural claim: the alleged ability of Christian belief to transform people’s lives in a uniquely effective and beneficial way.
Read the full text of Ebonmuse’s post and, if you have an opinion on this, please comment.
I wear my company logo on my work shirt. I’m aware that when I’m in public wearing this shirt, my attitude and actions will reflect back on my company. If I go out after work, get roaring drunk and start making passes at random strangers on the street, I shouldn’t be surprised if my boss gets a call the next day.
When I was in the Army Security Agency we were constantly reminded that we represented the United States and the Army even though we seldom wore uniforms. We were expected to live up to the traditions of the military and the country we represented.
Chuck Colson, that fine example of Christian honesty, wrote recently, “There are 1.9 billion Christians in the world today. You cannot judge Jesus Christ by the behavior of any one of them or any group of them, for that matter.”
No, we can’t judge Jesus. We can’t even determine from historical evidence if he really existed. But what we can do, Chuck, is judge your religion based on the behavior of its followers.
I get tired of hearing all the excuses put forth by Christians. “We can’t live up to the standards in the Bible, we’re sinful and imperfect.” Bullshit. You can’t live up to those standards because they’re unrealistic, absurd and idealistic. They are the projected concepts of goat herders who lived thousands of years ago.
Still, if you want to belong to that club, there’s no getting around the fact that the merits of that club will be judged by the behaviors and attitudes of its members. There’s no reason that non-believers shouldn’t evaluate the claims made by Christianity, Islam, Scientology and the rest by looking at that religion’s believers and the way they conduct themselves in society.
Just because your religion gives you a pass in your holy book for failing to live up to the standards of that group doesn’t mean the rest of us are going to.
Hundreds of New York City firefighters, bearing a gift of remembrance for another place affected by the events of September 11th, made a special dedication ceremony today in Somerset County.
More than 400 firemen came thundering into Shanksville’s fire station to give a gift, and show September 11 solidarity.
They brought a piece of steel from the North Tower of the World Trade Center that is shaped like a cross.
This morning in front of that cross, firefighters read the names of those lost, when Flight 93 crashed, not far from the fire station.
New York City firefighter Dominic Esposito was on-hand.
He came for the family he lost in the towers.
“My brother, firefighter Frankie Esposito and cousin, Capt. Michael Esposito,” said Esposito.
For Esposito, this was not a ride, but a pilgrimage, to where other heroes fell.
“Oh, that’s sacred ground,” said Esposito. “That’s so sacred ground.”
“My brother was killed in the South Tower,” said New York Fireman John McAllese. “Had four kids, all under 5 years-old. I lost 8 guys in my fire house.”
For McAllese, the steel cross means his brother, Esposito’s brother’s spirits and all the others will forever be in Shanksville, as well.
“It brings a part of it together,” said McAllese. “All three, that day. It brings it all together. It’s special, being here.”
“With this memorial, here in Shanksville, every time we go to a call, there won’t be a time I don’t think of those people,” said Shanksville Fire Chief Terry Shaffer.
Retired New York City Firefighter Lt. Paddy Concannon was one of a few who decided Shanksville and its firefighters deserved this particular monument.
“It is a monument a testament that life goes on,” said Concannon. “We’re going to do our things as Americans, and we’re not going to be deterred.” (Source)
Memorials have value as reminders of events or people that have had an impact on the lives of those who erect them. But in this case, there’s a presumption that a religious icon, a particularly Christian icon, represents everyone that died in that flight on September 11th, 2001. It’s a memorial that is a slap in the face to anyone who died not believing in Jesus as their savior.
Consider that the majority of humanity has believed in some god or another for nearly as far back as we can trace societies. Consider the fact that throughout that same length of time man has been killing man, robbing, raping, abusing, hating, warring, denigrating, assaulting and refusing to hold the elevator door for their fellow human beings. You’ll have a hard time convincing me that a world without a belief in gods could be worse. At the worst it wouldn’t be any different than our world is now. There’s no reason to believe it couldn’t even be an improvement.
The only way democracy and religion are connected is that they are both ideals. In their purest form they both establish inhuman standards. We all do that to some degree. Many of us plan our day down to the minute. I dare say that in most cases our ideal schedule has suffered a few adjustments due to reality. The ideals, democracy and religion, likewise get adjusted and tweaked to accommodate our humanity. Absolute morals create a “guilt” factor to decision making, meaning we’ll most likely make social and political decisions based on emotion (feeling or avoiding guilt) rather than reason.
I dare any adherent of any other religion, especially those based on the divinity of Jesus, to provide a doctrinally sound reason why this religious belief is false while your particular interpretation is valid.
I might be willing to consider the claims made by this Cheesus impersonator, but my brain damage isn’t that extensive just yet. Give it time. I’ll have a plastic statue of him on the dashboard of my car by the time I’m 80.
I think I use the term radical rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “Atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘Agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean Atheist. I really do not believe that there is a god - in fact I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one. It’s easier to say that I am a radical Atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously.
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