Atheism

What particular aspects did it have which caused it to be selected from all the other typical run of the mill stories in which a Christian minister murdered, or was alleged to have murdered, an atheist for his money?

Spendius Please do not take this the wrong way but I think that I see where you are coming from.
I do think that we could interpret the story differently, I know that I did.
This is how I interpreted it. The old man and the preacher were friends that had differnt view points on a few subjects [ god and others] but may have shared many veiw points on other subjects. Maybe the old man had some terrible kids that he did not want to leave his money to so he left it to the preacher who shared the same ethical values as he did in hopes that the world may be a better place.
Who knows what happen? I know that I do not, but if we are not careful we will believe anything that we want the reality to mean if we do not have all the facts. we all share the same problem { confirmation biases }

There was also a distinct shortage of evidence given under oath and cross-examined by a defence counsel. That's what the story most lacked I felt. It looked like a sort of free-thinking Kangaroo court to me.

The TV show is a mainstream network program that attempts to dissect crimes, not argue atheism or theology. I did not watch the conclusion. I know my opinion, but did not learn what the law ultimately decided.

Dumb-buttes like spendius have to let the whole pot of spaghetti hit the fan over the slightest mention of atheism and religion, regardless of context.

Well ed--it was you who rushed to the keyboard to feverishly bring us the little tale of woe. Not me. It was your spaghetti and your fan. I was lounging on my sofa watching the Test Match as your fingers were working away.

And rl seemed to agree to an extent with my take on it. So it's 2-1 to the dumb-butties already.

Anyway, this topic is not meant by k for argument. I am not going to peek at spendi's tirade.

I know this conversation has proceeded way past the above page 1 quote, but it applies.

I recently visited family in the Midwest. The first Sunday I attended church with them, sang some hymns (which I still love) and listened without judgement. The second Sunday, I remained at the hospital with Dad while others attended church on his behalf. The third Sunday, Dad asked my sister and I to attend and carry a message to the pastor and congregation, basically thanking them for their prayers and assistance at home during our week at the hospital.

It was the third Sunday that had my legs twitching in preparation to run out, until my sister put her hand on my leg and whispered, "It's almost over." She is the only family member outside of Bear and the cubs that knows I no longer believe.

The pastor is held in high regard by Dad, my step-mom and siblings that are in that area. I really don't get it. I'm actually frightened by what I heard.

The sermon was from Luke and dealt with the temptations of Christ while in the desert for 40 days. The first temptation deals with the devil saying, "Hey, if you're who you say are, make yourself some bread." (uh, okay, that's paraphrased) The pastor found a way to turn this into how god provides everything we need and how lazy people turn to the government for their bread rather than trusting that god will provide. He elaborated on this for a good 10 minutes.

The second temptation deals with the devil tempting Christ with "Hey, if you're who you say you are, jump off this building." (Again. I paraphrase.) Somehow, the pastor turned this into how "all those smart people out there..." over-analyze and think they are so smart cause they went and got an education and now look at 'em trying say the Bible isn't true and god doesn't exist. (Me in my head: "Really? You've slammed poor people, now smart people, and you've got the whole congregation nodding and saying amens. What's next?")

The third temptation has the devil saying to Christ, "Hey, I'll give you all the kingdoms of the world if you'll worship me."

Ya ready?....

Uh-huh. The pastor actually pulled the mosque at ground zero lever. AT ground zero! Lordy, what's the world comin' to when educated people are claiming that it is okay, in a country that is known to be built on christianity, to allow a mosque to be built where a holy war was declared by the people of Islam!!! (Picture voice rising, body becoming animated and congregatation being built to a frenzy.)

I should have walked out. I really should have walked out at the least, or spoken up.

gram won't take me to church any more.

and I never said a word...

scary **** when the politics creep in.

No kidding. This is the church that included republican talking points and 'vote for Bush" in their bulletin when we visited in 2004. I just found out that during that same trip the reason my kids insisted I not make them go back to Vacation Bible School with their aunt that summer was because the first day was spent telling the kids they were supposed to hate homosexuals.

"Jesus wept" comes to mind.

Thank you for giving us all something to think about. Very observant of you.

What do we do then? Junk the whole shooting match and start over because of some nutty pastor and a True Crime series designed to fit in between the ads?

Where do you want to start? Give us a date and we'll go from there with what we don't know. I'm game.

Wow... just wow.

Nice post - thanks

SQuinney - Egads!

Edgar, thanks, but don't worry.....

Spendius do you have a favorite pastor that you think is not as nutty?
If so please give us his name so we can observe his enlightenment.
I do not mean this in a negative way but in a positive way so that I can advance my ethical skills. I have seen some very bright pastors before myself.

I go with the Pope actually. He knows what's what. These Johnnie come latelys are not my cup of tea. Best of luck with them. Rather you than me.

Reminds me of the time my cousin went to church, but at the same time, he was waiting for somebody to pick him up. (This cousin believes in Christianity, although he was not a church member at the time). When the time came to go, he began walking to the door. The minister said, in his most powerful voice, "If you walk out that door, I hope God strikes you dead." Cousin meekly returned to his seat.

Not one for scientific experiment was he ed? Bradlaugh used to stand before large crowds and demand God strike him dead to prove He had infinite power.

I realy can not comment on him as I have not done the research. Who knows he could have been a complete fool, but I do have a question did his experiment work out as he had thought? or did god strike him dead?

Don't churches lose their tax exempt status if they specifically endorse candidates? I think there is some leniency on voting measures for various topics, but I'm pretty sure a church is in tax land the second they say to the group "vote for X."

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