http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/skeptics-religion/ en-us Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:45:30 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2051223/posts Jimmy Akin Sez: P.Z. Myers Must Be Fired I agree. The man was free to say whatever demented stuff he liked on his blog. Solicitation for readers to steal and desecrate the Eucharist has crossed the line. Jimmy writes: Although he carried out his action. in his words, to support the idea that "Nothing must be held sacred" (also trashing a few pages of The God Delusion, a book with which he is in sympathy), he did not merely tell people that nothing must be held sacred. Nor did he argue for it. Claiming that nothing must be held... Catholic and Enjoying It http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2051223/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:45:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2049994/posts I appeared Monday on the Riz Khan show on Al-Jazeera with Richard Dawkins, and guess what? We had a civilized three-way dialog. No one erupted into Hitler-type yells. The Gestapo didn't show up, nor the Inquisition police, to drag Richard Dawkins from the studio. Host Riz Khan interviewed me for the first half of the show on the compatibility of Darwinism and religion, and on the issue of how to teach evolution in the schools. Then Khan interviewed Dawkins for the second half, mainly on why he encounters resistance to evolution and also why he rejects arguments for God as... AOL News Bloggers http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2049994/posts#comment Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:19:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2047829/posts Stumbling to my feet amidst this show of inspiration, Crumbling to the earth in chunks of ebony; sublime! Wonder fills my senses with divine anticipation… Peeking through the twilight; blankets laced with starry night, ______________________________________________________ Like an orange flower blooming out of just a notion, Gentle beams of sunlight soon initiate the stream, Before you know it, floods of light come streaming like an ocean The sea lay there before me basking in its radiant beam ______________________________________________________ What do I owe this pleasure? To the gods of here or there? Or to a Heavenly Father who created all we see,... fracturedrepublic.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2047829/posts#comment Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:48:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2046871/posts Please watch Segment 14 and comment on the following discussion items.1. Do fallen angels control human actions? If yes, please give an example. 2. Is it possible to yeild control of one's mind to demonic influences by joking as Carl does? Is it possible to yeild control of one's mind to demonic influences by surrounding oneself with negative music, books, and movies? 4. Do fallen angels use religious leaders to accomplish their agenda? 5. If Satan exists as an active force in the world, what are the limits of his power? Does prayer help? Segment 14: In this segment, Carl... Eudaimonia and other pursuits http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2046871/posts#comment Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:41:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2044051/posts New legal threat to teaching evolution in the US New Scientist ^ | 7/9/2008 | Amanda Gefter Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 4:06:06 AM by Soliton Louisiana is another story. A hub of creationist activism since the early 1980s, it was Louisiana that enacted the Balanced Treatment Act, which required that creationism be taught alongside evolution in schools. In a landmark 1987 case known as Edwards vs Aguillard, the US Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional, effectively closing the door on teaching "creation science" in public schools. ID was invented soon afterwards as a way of proffering creationist concepts... New Scientist http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2044051/posts#comment Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:11:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2040097/posts Police charged a third person Wednesday in connection with beatings and rape that authorities say were carried out by a satanic cult. Diana Palmer, 44, of Cottage Woods Court, surrendered to police Wednesday afternoon. She was charged with being an accessory after the fact of assault with a deadly weapon and was being held in the Durham County Jail under a $95,000 bond. Joseph Craig, 25, has been charged with kidnapping, rape, forcible sexual offense and assault in the case. His wife, Joy Johnson, 30, has been charged with aiding and abetting. Both were being held Wednesday in the Durham... wral http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2040097/posts#comment Thu, 3 Jul 2008 04:00:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2038869/posts The crevo threads typically degenerate into name calling. Recently, the Religion Moderator declared that "science is not religion", and did not publish the criteria for such consideration. My suggestion to the evolutionist community has been to acknowledge that Scientism is a religion and start to utilize the protections offered under the religion tags that are different than other threads (due to the intensity of feelings over religious issues). So this thread is intended to be an ECUMENICAL thread under the tag of SCIENTISM. The intent is to keep discussion civil. I would like to see a straightforward discussion over the... Free Republic http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2038869/posts#comment Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:44:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2029448/posts The Open Secret: A New Vision for Natural Theology by Alister E. McGrath (Too new - there are no customer reviews as yet) Editorial Reviews Review "Alister McGrath's The Open Secret provides nothing less than the foundations of a vigorous renewal of natural theology for our time. Theologians and others who have considered natural theology an exhausted topic will have second thoughts after reading this richly nuanced, scholarly, creative, and enjoyable book." John F. Haught, Georgetown University "This is vintage McGrath: confident, capacious in scope, brisk in exposition, decisive in argument. Noone is better placed to make a case for... Amazon http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2029448/posts#comment Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:16:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2026925/posts An athiest friend of mine just send this to me . He never lets up . On the other hand , I never attempt to convert him . What are you thoughts on what this Nick Gisburne says . What is your counter argument ? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2026925/posts#comment Fri, 6 Jun 2008 07:46:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2026471/posts With its image of blue sky and fluffy clouds, the rectangle floating lately over I-95 near Allegheny Avenue suggests something dreamy, almost heavenly. At least from a distance. Drivers headed north toward the giant billboard might first discern the words God and Believe and suppose this to be the work of a fundamentalist church. But this is the work of no church. "Don't believe in God?" it asks. "You are not alone." Think of it as a sign of the times. Mounted by a consortium of local atheists, it is an invitation to the area's atheists, agnostics, skeptics, rationalists and... Philadelphia Enquirer http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2026471/posts#comment Thu, 5 Jun 2008 14:57:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2024990/posts "Anonymous" While we go about our daily lives--surfing the web, using it to pay bills or catching up on the latest news and chatting with friends and family--little do we realize that just beneath the digital surface of the worldwide web a war is being waged: the first Cyber World War, between a modern-day David versus Goliath. Goliath is the Church of Scientology, a multi-billion dollar enterprise, who is being systematically unmasked by the group known as Anonymous, the modern day David. ALSO at DBKP.com: * 'Anonymous' Hackers Vow to Destroy Scientology * Anonymous Issues Warning Number III to... DBKP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2024990/posts#comment Mon, 2 Jun 2008 21:26:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2017411/posts Mormons, note the simularity of portions of the Book of Mormon to the King James Version of the Bible, assert that it proves the divine origin of the Book of Mormon. Of course that convicted fraud Joseph Smith Jr. would need to plagerize, but the G-d of Israel, of Jacob, and of Abraham would not need to plagerize, seems to have excaped them. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2017411/posts#comment Sat, 17 May 2008 18:28:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2017086/posts Stemming from this comment >>I think the RCC doctrines are a product of the enemy<< Please tell us where we stand here. Examples welcome, but I'm not sure that actual names can be used when quoting another FReeper, so date and thread title may be better. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2017086/posts#comment Fri, 16 May 2008 22:19:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2016384/posts Two times in two weeks I've had a conversation with friends about agnosticism. Both friends -- one a rational, intelligent person and another one who ... well, let's just say he wasn't as bright -- claimed to be agnostic when asked the very, very loaded question "Do you believe in God?" I used to just ignore it when people would answer "I'm agnostic," to such a question, even though I took issue with it. As an atheist, I knew that my so-called agnostic friends were really atheists. ... ProgressiveU http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2016384/posts#comment Thu, 15 May 2008 16:41:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2006999/posts An evolutionist professor from Antelope Valley College on Wednesday conceded the strong probability of intelligent design in life's earliest forms. The announcement came at the end of a 3-hour presentation at the LPAC by scientists from Reasons to Believe, a Christian ministry that creates and tests scientific models based on the Bible. Matthew Rainbow, a biology professor with a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry, told a crowd of several hundred that he had been persuaded to change his view of the origins of life about six months earlier, after reading books by the evening's two Reasons to Believe presenters,... AV Press (California) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2006999/posts#comment Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:30:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2003420/posts Oprah Winfrey may have gone too far in exploiting and distributing the teachings of a questionable New Age writer. On Monday night, Winfrey conducted her weekly Web "event" seminar with New Age writer Eckhart Tolle. His message: "Life is the dancer and you are the dance." Got that? Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2003420/posts#comment Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:09:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1999304/posts I've said it before and I'll say it again: it is hard not to be sympathetic to the travails of the people of Tibet. Annexed against their will almost 60 years ago, their culture destroyed, their self-determination trampled under foot, their freedoms curtailed, and their religion mocked, Tibet is a case study of what atheists do when they get to rule. Please, recall the infamous Maoist maxim: "Religion is poison." It is the same feeling echoed by the "bright" Neo-atheists such as Dawkins, Harris, Wilson, and their sycophant followers. The difference between these and the Maoists is that the latter... Vivificat! - News, Opinions, Commentary, from a Personal Catholic Perspective http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1999304/posts#comment Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:15:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1993581/posts Is Belief in God Just a Natural Phenomenon? Posted: Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 4:04 am ET The attempt to explain every dimension of the cosmos in purely natural terms is one of the monumental projects of the modern age. If the existence of a supernatural Creator is denied, then everything -- everything -- must be explained by purely natural and material causes. Explaining some aspects of human experience will pose an especially difficult challenge for those committed to a naturalistic worldview, but some scientists are working hard toward meeting the challenge. For years now, Daniel Dennett of Tufts... Albert Mohler.Com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1993581/posts#comment Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:00:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1993366/posts Mexico City, Mar 26, 2008 / 05:47 pm (CNA).- Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information Technology said this week that while most Mexicans remain Catholic, the fastest growing group in the country is atheists. In a recent report, the Institute said the number of atheists grows annually by 5.2%, while the number of Catholics grows by 1.7%. Mexicans “are increasingly more involved in the new religious movements that are gaining ground in the ambit of the faith, mainly in rural zones, poor urban areas and indigenous communities,” the report indicates. “These faithful are characterized by two things: high... Catholic News Agency http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1993366/posts#comment Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:58:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1992536/posts Following a visit to Assisi where he was reported to have prayed at the tomb of St Francis, perestroika father and former USSR president, Mikhail Gorbachev, has denied rumours that he is secretly a Catholic. AsiaNews says rumours of Mr Gorbachev's alleged "secret" conversion had begun circulating after he and his daughter Irina visited the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi, home to the saint's relics. Italian daily La Stampa called the event a "spiritual perestroika". "Over the last few days some media have been disseminating fantasies, I can't use any other word, about my secret Catholicism, citing my visit... CathNews http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1992536/posts#comment Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:52:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1985710/posts In What's So Great About Christianity, Dinesh D'Souza is skeptical of skepticism and enthusiastic about the faith. There are two types of Christian apologetics. One makes the positive case for faith; the other responds to critics. Dinesh D'Souza's delightful book, What's So Great About Christianity, falls into the second category. It sets out to rebut recent exuberant atheist tracts, such as Christopher Hitchens's God Is Not Great and Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion. [Snip] This leads us to perhaps the strongest argument against atheism, which D’Souza makes only indirectly—the argument from experience. Atheism cannot reach our hearts. A rigorous atheist... Christianity Today http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1985710/posts#comment Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:54:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1977038/posts I used to be a pagan. Not a neo-pagan with phony stilted semi-Tolkienesque speech (“Bright blessings! Merry meet!” “An it harme noone do as thou wilt”). Nor was I an adherent of some recently minted group of Gaia-worshippers playing dress-up in their Society for Creative Anachronism costumes and pretending they are living by Ye Olde Religion like somebody from The Da Vinci Code’s central casting department.No. I was a real pagan, which is to say, I was like jillions of other kids raised in American suburbia in the 1960s and ’70s, so remote from God that I didn’t even know... NCR http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1977038/posts#comment Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:17:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1973976/posts A column published earlier this month, entitled "To hell with the dole," seems to have hit a nerve with some readers. Essentially, these folks took issue with what they saw as my flippant use of a serious theological term. In response to these concerns, I want to be clear that I gave very serious thought to the use of the word "hell." I would not have used the word "hell" if it did not have the precision I intended to convey. Idolatry is a very serious matter. In fact, as we read through the biblical history of Israel, we see... WorldNetDaily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1973976/posts#comment Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:14:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1971019/posts (ACPA-london) Excitement is growing in the Northern England town of Huddlesfield following the news that a local man saw an image of the big-bang in a piece of toast. atheist donald chapman, 36, told local newspaper, "the huddlesfield express" that he was sitting down to eat breakfast when an unusual toast pattern caught his eye. "I was just about to spread the butter when I noticed a fairly typical small hole in the bread surrounded by a burnt black ring. however the direction and splatter patterns of the crumbs as well as the changing shades emanating outwards from this black... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1971019/posts#comment Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:29:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1966902/posts Salt Lake City - This morning, PETA sent a letter to newly elected Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Thomas Monson wishing him well in his new position and urging him to emphasize God's requirement to protect His creatures and treat our bodies as sacred gifts by urging all Mormons to go vegetarian. "As you know, the Doctrine and Covenants states, 'And [animals] hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger,'" writes PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich, a lifelong Christian, in his letter to Monson. "Adopting a vegetarian diet... PETA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1966902/posts#comment Fri, 8 Feb 2008 05:00:04 GMT