Tim Tebow, not God, Throws the Ball

What does it take to be a quarterback for an NFL team? It starts with a kid who is willing to put in thousands of hours in high school and all through college then into the big leagues. It takes inborn athleticism combined with a fast-thinking intelligence and relentless determination.

That's just to be on the team. To be a first-string quarterback, you have to be the best of the best.

Tim Tebow is such a man. He worked extraordinarily hard to get where he is ... which is why Tim Tebow's religion is a real shame. Christianity has stolen Tebow's pride. Instead of taking pride in his accomplishments, he gives the credit away to God. The simple fact is that it's Tebow throwing the ball, not God.

In less than a second or two, Tebow's mind absorbs the receiver's position, speed and direction, and on top of that he includes the position and momentum of each opposing player. Tebow instantly calculates how the receiver can elude the opponents to arrive at an open position, then hurtles the pigskin ball down the field with incredible accuracy of direction, altitude and velocity. And it's not just that one receiver; he simultaneously has to choose between several receivers, runners, running it himself, or throwing the ball away.

That is talent. Tebow deserves to take pride in his skill. But instead, Tebow gives his accomplishment away. Tebow believes there's a god out there who alters the laws of physics of the universe because this god, who created the unimaginably vast universe, cares whether the NFL team called the "Denver Broncos" wins or loses. And the reason this god cares is because Tebow presumably prays more earnestly than the opposing quarterback.

What's wrong with pride in one's accomplishments? Christians, Jews and Muslims count pride as one of the big sins. Why? Having pride in one's work is admirable. Pride makes us do our best and then lets us take pleasure in a job well done.

That is what Tebow should be doing rather than thanking God.

Several years back I wrote a blog about this same topic (except that it was about friends and family) that is still one of my favorites. I closed it with this:

Religion lets people avoid personal responsibility by asking, and getting, God's forgiveness. Never mind whether the victims agree with God. I suppose that's a pretty good bargain – "Believe in me, and you're off the hook for your sins." But the flip side of the deal is that God also steals all the glory. Everything good is God's doing. Humans get all the blame, and God gets all the credit.

Christian Apologist: Skepticism Caused by Hurt from Church

Christian apologists just can't stand the idea that we skeptics actually have good reasons to not believe their mythology. To them, Christian theology is so obviously true that anyone who doesn't believe must have some other reason. If someone is a non-believer, then they must have been beaten by a nun, molested by a priest, shunned for homosexuality, or hurt in some other dastardly fashion by a Christian or by the church.

It just can't be, they say, that someone actually rejects Christianity itself.

The latest salvo of this nature comes from Christian apologist and author Dr. Alex McFarland, whose new book, 10 Answers for Skeptics, purports to have statistics showing that most skeptics were driven away from their faith by bad experiences. In an interview with the Christian Post, McFarland said,

"Through nearly a year of research and numerous personal interviews, my goal was to really get 'inside the mind of the skeptic.' The most common type of skeptics I meet are wounded skeptics. They have been hurt by church, religion, or by another Christian."

The problem with Dr. McFarland's statement is that like so much of Christian apologetics, it uses flawed logic. McFarland makes the reader think that bad experiences caused the skepticism. More importantly, McFarland seems to think that if you can cure the hurt and heal the damage, the ex-Christian skeptics will all come flooding back to their former faith.

McFarland is implying that skeptics are really Christians in their hearts, and it's only the hurt and their pride that have separated them from God.

This is completely wrong.

These ex-Christian skeptics have had their eyes opened. The hurt they suffered gave them a wonderful opportunity to objectively question Christian dogma and mythology. At the same time, it allowed them to consider other philosophies and religions ... and even atheism. They looked at all the injustice, pain, starvation and disease around the world, and realized that the loving Christian God couldn't possibly be real. They looked afresh at the inconsistencies in the Bible, the immorality of a God who commits genocide, infanticide and many other crimes. The old adage, "God works in mysterious ways" suddenly seemed cheap and shallow. And they looked at their own lives and realized that bad stuff happens to good people all the time for no apparent reason. What sort of almighty, loving God would allow that?

McFarland is right that hurt by a fellow Christian or the church drives people away from Christianity. The key point he's missing is that once free of Christianity's bonds, people are drawn toward skepticism and atheism by the forces of reason, facts and morality. And once a person's eyes are opened to the wonders of reason and science, there's no going back.

The Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) rely on ignorance. They've even developed a pair of synergistic, powerful memes that are a defense against inquisitiveness and thought. I call them the Ignorance is Bliss and Anti-Rationalism memes. The Ignorance is Bliss meme tells believers that everything you need to know is in the Bible, the meek shall inherit the Earth, and that anything (like science) that contradicts the Bible is Satan's work. The Anti-Rationalism meme tells believers that faith is always more powerful than reason. This is the official position of the Roman Catholic Church: no matter what science and reason tell you, faith that you feel in your heart is more important.

I've met many skeptics in my life, particularly since the publication of The Religion Virus, and I can tell you that McFarland is simply wrong. Yes, it's true that many skeptics are former Christians. And many are "wounded" as McFarland says. But I've never met one who was being held back from Christianity by their "wounds." To the last one, they saw the hurtful experience as an opportunity.

They weren't driven from their faith. They were pulled by the truth of reason and science into skepticism and atheism.

And that is what McFarland should really be worried about. He should be looking at the mythology itself. He needs to see why it's so easy to leave Christianity behind once the chains of blind faith are broken.

Obama: Leave God in Pledge and on Money

"Under God" is going to stay in the Pledge of Allegiance for a while.

Last month a petition to President Obama to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance was signed by over 20,000 American citizens. It's clear that this is a minority opinion in America, but protecting minorities is what the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights is all about.

Now the White House has made the administration's position clear: God should stay in our Pledge and on our currency. I know for a fact that regardless of the President's feelings about separation of church and state, he'd be committing political suicide to endorse anything that took God out of our government. That's just politics.

The heart of the White House response is this:

"A sense of proportion should also guide those who police the boundaries between church and state. Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation - context matters.

That’s why President Obama supports the use of the words “under God” in our Pledge of Allegiance and “In God we Trust” on our currency.

So, we have to look at this petition as just one more step on a long road.

Below is the whole text the email I received from the White House.

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Religion in the Public Square

By Joshua DuBois, Executive Director of the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Thank you for signing the petition “Edit the Pledge of Allegiance to remove the phrase ‘Under God.’” We appreciate your participation in the We the People platform on WhiteHouse.gov.

The separation of church and state outlined in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution is an important founding principle of our nation. Our nation’s Bill of Rights guarantees not only that the government cannot establish an official religion, but also guarantees citizens’ rights to practice the religion of their choosing or no religion at all.

Throughout our history, people of all faiths – as well as secular Americans – have played an important role in public life. And a robust dialogue about the role of religion in public life is an important part of our public discourse.

While the President strongly supports every American’s right to religious freedom and the separation of church and state, that does not mean there’s no role for religion in the public square.

When he was a Senator from Illinois, President Obama gave a keynote address at the Call to Renewal conference where he spoke about the important role religion plays in politics and in public life.

A sense of proportion should also guide those who police the boundaries between church and state. Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation - context matters.

That’s why President Obama supports the use of the words “under God” in our Pledge of Allegiance and “In God we Trust” on our currency. These phrases represent the important role religion plays in American public life, while we continue to recognize and protect the rights of secular Americans. As the President said in his inaugural address, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers.” We’re proud of that heritage, and the strength it brings to our great country.

Why Christianity is in Trouble: Halloween!

Christianity is in trouble, with church attendance falling and faith weakening across the nation. What are they going to do to save the faith? Well, some of the more clever conservative Christians figured out a solution: Piss off kids on Halloween! Drop Bibles and religious tracts into their candy bags! Tell them they're sinners! Halloween is devil worship!

Yeah, that's sure to pull those kids into church next Sunday.

Seriously, they're doing this. USA Today is reporting that the American Tract Society (ATS) published Peek-A-Boo, Jesus Loves You! (Yes, ATS really exists ... I always wondered where all those tracts came from.)

But up in Calgary, they're going one better. Those cheapskate ATS tracts are nothing compared to the Holy Bible that Calgary kids are going to get! And by the way, it's not Halloween, it's "Jesus-ween."

Seriously, people. Why not just take your religion out behind the barn and just bury it? It would be just as effective, and you wouldn't be annoying a bunch of innocent kids who just want to have some fun.

Global Warming Science Vindicated ... Again

It's time for everyone who jumped all over my previous blogs about global warming to eat some crow. And it's time to celebrate another victory for good science winning over opinions, faith and dishonesty.

U.C. Berkeley scientist Richard Muller, a climate specialist and self-described global-warming skeptic, headed a massive review of all global warming data at U.C. Berkeley. And better yet, his study was funded in part by the famous conservative billionaire brothers, Charles and David Koch.

And guess what? Muller's team confirmed that global warming is real. But even better, their results show that global warming is actually worse than the conclusions from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change!

Got that? A conservative-funded review by a top climate skeptic and his team said that the mainstream reports were too conservative and that global warming is real.

What do you think will happen to the debate now? Probably nothing. Global warming deniers are a mix of about 1% genuine scientific dissent by a few qualified scientists, joined by hoards of evangelical Christians, pseudo-Libertarians, conspiracy theorists and other hangers-on, fueled by an industry-sponsored disinformation campaign. It's certain that the real scientists in this group will review the Berkeley study's results thoroughly, and some of them will change their positions in the face of the evidence. A few will remain unconvinced.

But the non-scientists and corporate schills? Their beliefs have nothing to do with science.

The religious right will continue to deny global warming, because the Bible says God promised to protect Earth after he killed everyone and everything during Noah's flood. And the professional disinformation specialists will continue to do their jobs, fueling debate with more nonsense.

We can only hope that this report will make a difference where it matters: with policy makers.