Linda Murphrey is the daughter of Jack Hyles – founder of Hyles-Anderson College and pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana. In this TEDx talk, titled From Cult to Courage, she shares her story.
Category Archives: Christianity
So Why Do Atheists Spend So Much Time Trying To Debunk Religion?
Posted onThe question in this post title is one of the questions that bugs me oh so much when it comes from anyone – but especially from a Christian.
My friend Donny posted a link on his wall to an old post from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Not even halfway through the article, the author succeeded in irritating me by asking:
What makes Dawkins and Hitchens so fascinating, however, is not so much the tightness of their logical argumentation or their marshalling of empirical evidence, but the force and power with which they make their cases against religion. Why spend so much time proving the nonexistence of something? Why not do something more constructive with life? Why not build bridges or run marathons or even collect string? Devotion to the debunking of that which does not exist is a strange and parasitic activity. After all, I don’t believe in unicorns or the tooth fairy, but I really do not have the time or the energy to write long books articulating my position and ridiculing those who hold such beliefs.
Not only is that ridiculously condescending, but it’s also so full of hypocrisy that it seems Christians just can’t see.
Donny asked me to explain it because he couldn’t see it. I answered:
You spend all (or most) of your time going around the country speaking about something you are passionate about. About something you believe in so deeply that it is fundamentally a part of who you are.
Dawkins and Harris and Hitchens (when he was still alive) do (did) the very same thing. Yet, it’s somehow wrong for them to do so?
How do you not see the hypocrisy there?
That explanation did nothing to persuade him of the hypocrisy of his perspective, so I further responded:
And that baffles me. Truly.
Prominent atheists are trying to change the world. (Hey, isn’t that what you’re trying to do?)
The thing is, atheism doesn’t want to take your beliefs away from you. There are two things happening in the secular movement. First, the movement as a whole simply seeks to make it okay for me to not believe. There are those who believe that because I am an atheist, I am not American. There are those who believe that this country should be governed by Christian beliefs and the Bible. The secular movement seeks to stop that from happening by making the government separate from religion, providing freedom and equal footing for everyone. Most of the Christian community does not seek that (though some do).
And secondly, many atheists believe that religion causes harm to society. And they write books about it to raise awareness about it. There are those who wish to eradicate religion because they believe the world would be a better place without it. They look at religion and see children dying because the family refused medical treatment in lieu of prayer and faith healers. They look at wars that have been fought over religion. They look at the way homosexuals are dehumanized and belittled by many as a result of religious belief. And rather than remain silent about it, they stand up and say something about it.
How is that a bad thing? Why does that not make sense to those of you who choose to dedicate your lives to teaching and converting people to believe in something no one can see because you believe it makes the world a better place?
And once again, he still couldn’t see it. I really don’t know how to explain it any further. The conversation degenerated from there into a discussion about whether or not wars are really fueled by religion and how many people have died as a result of atheist regimes – discussions that are easy to get caught up in but have little to no bearing on the question at hand.
The fact of the matter is that Christians look down on atheists for standing up for what they believe is right. And until they can see that they are seeking to silence a group of people who employ some of the same methods as Christians (ie speaking publicly, writing books, creating groups on campuses), they will never understand why I look at the conversation and see hypocrisy.
God’s Infallibility and Authority
Posted onI got really excited when I discovered that Tim Minchin has two albums on Spotify. So on the way to work this morning, I was completely grooving to The Good Book when I had a few thoughts.
I am probably not the first person to ever have these thoughts, but it was the first time I’ve ever had them – an epiphany if you will.
You may recall that I used to be among those who counted the Bible as infallible and the complete word of God.
This is a common belief among evangelicals. And when you question things like Paul declaring women should be silent (1 Cor 14:34) or many of the laws written in the Old Testament the answer you’re often given is that “Those laws were written for a different time period.”
And at one time, I accepted that. It made sense to me that since women were treated as property in those times when the Bible was written that rules, laws, commandments, etc. would reflect such things.
But it occurred to me today that according to the beliefs of those who spout such things, society was created by God. The all-knowing, all-powerful God who knew that society would one day be the way it is now.
So why would that God create a society and give rules to live by that would one day change, yet still expect His followers to follow “his” writings? Stay with me here.
If God created society and the rules written in the Bible, why didn’t He create them the way they’re supposed to be instead of allowing rape, slavery, murder, and oppression?
On the other hand, if you’re pushing God’s rules to fit into societal standards – isn’t that essentially an admission that God didn’t create the world and how people live?
This all sounded much better in my head, but hopefully you see the point I’m trying to make.
No matter which way you take it, it doesn’t make sense. And both point out the flaws of this “all powerful God” that is worshipped.
Teen Birth Rate Lowest Ever
Posted onAccording to the Religious Right, we live in perilous times. To hear the GOP candidates (former and current) talk about it, God needs them to bring this country back to basics because we’ve gone so far off track that if God were anything like he was in the Old Testament, we’d be having a flood.
So then why is the teen birth rate the lowest it’s ever been?
The birth rate for teenagers in the U.S. dropped to the lowest ever, with the fewest number of babies born to the age group since 1946, as health-awareness efforts paid off, U.S. officials said.
I can’t give a citation for what I’m about to say, but I can’t count the number of times I heard a sermon preached about how America was going to hell, largely in part due to unwed teen mothers.
Birth rates fell among all age groups, and racial and ethnic groups. The CDC credited “strong pregnancy prevention messages” with the declines, as well as an increase in contraception. It’s also more common for teenagers to use two kinds of prevention — a condom in addition to birth control pills, for example — when they have sex, the report said.
And oh hey! Guess what? Birth control works. Not abstinence.
Remember that, okay?
You Are What You Claim to Hate
Posted onThis is one of the most articulate and well-thought out responses I’ve seen or heard to a fundamentalist pastor and the evangelical Christian thinking that is prevalent in the conservative Right.
I’m definitely looking forward to discussions on this one. 
Creationist Claims
Posted onI found this gem over at Unreasonable Faith. The scary thing is that I used to believe some of these claims. I believed in the water canopy. I believed in a literal 6 day creation. I believed that there may have been “dragons.”
I’m so glad I finally came to my senses. (Though, I don’t think I ever believed that dinosaurs breathed fire because they had small nostrils!)
God Teleports People to China…
Posted on
This is… absolutely ridiculous.
This man believes that God physically teleported him from Pensacola, FL to China.
The red flags for me are:
- The woman who gives the introduction doesn’t believe he was physically moved – she speaks of being translated or transported in the Holy Spirit.
- If you’re not familiar with Christianity, the words this man is speaking would be completely foreign to you. It’s completely Christianese – “the third heaven”, “in the natural”, “we see in part…”, “the realm of the glory”, “the realm of the natural”, “the eternal perspective of things”… what does any of that even mean?
- Teleportation. TELE. PORT. ATION. It doesn’t exist.
He says that several people had similar experiences that night. Mass delusion. That’s what this is.
The Ledge
Posted on
This past weekend, I finally got to watch The Ledge - the movie that has made the rounds as an “atheist movie.”
Wow.
It’s taken a few days to process everything, but my general opinion is that every person in this country needs to watch this movie.
Honestly, parts of it were pretty uncomfortable for me to watch. Joe, the Christian antagonist, sounded exactly like me at certain points in my life. I do think his character was a little over caricatured as a whole, but it was really eye-opening to hear those words and see what they sound like from the other side. It was disconcerting. It was a little embarrassing.
I may have had a little more passion in my eyes when I spewed those words, but I have argued those points many many times in my life.
Now, I see things the way Gavin does. And seeing my old self through those eyes isn’t really pleasant.
The movie isn’t atheist propaganda. Its purpose isn’t to plant atheistic ideas in your head (though if it makes you stop and think, all the better). The tag line of the movie is “What would you die for?” and Gavin is telling his story while standing on the ledge of a very tall building.
People think that just because we don’t have a god in our life that we can’t have meaning in our lives. That we can’t live or love. That we have no convictions or morals. That there is nothing that we believe in enough to die for.
This movie intends to change those perceptions. And I think it does so wonderfully.
Ernest Willis Finally Convicted and Sentenced for Rape
Posted onWhen Tina Anderson was fifteen years old, she was raped by a male member of her church. Then she was forced to stand before the church and apologize for adultery. I’ve written about this twice before.
Ernest Willis was convicted of three counts of forcible rape and one count of felonious sexual assault in late May – fourteen years later.
Yesterday, he was sentenced to 15-30 years for his crime. Before the sentence was read, Willis read an apology. While he never admitted to rape, he apologized for “sexual misconduct”.
I am thrilled that this man is finally paying for his crime against Tina. But what about the rest of the church leadership who helped cover up the rape? When will those folks be held accountable for their actions?
Keep the Change
Posted onAnyone who knows me knows that I’m a big fan of country music. Quite frankly, it’s in my blood. I can’t not love it. But I’ve been getting frustrated by the rise in political messages found in the music. It started with 9/11 (Stars and Stripes by Aaron Tippin, Red, White, and Blue by Toby Keith, and Have You Forgotten? by Darryl Worley, just to name a few), and it seems to have continued with Darryl Worley’s new song that is a direct message against our President.
The song is called Keep the Change and would be clever, had that phrase not already been worn out since Obama first began campaigning.
Let me be clear on one thing before I take a look at the lyrics. I don’t fault him for using his voice to say what he wants. We all have the right to say and think what we want to – even when it’s inappropriate. My purpose here is to show how arrogantly ignorant the lyrics are – not to say the song shouldn’t have been recorded or played on the radio (funny thing though, I haven’t heard it on the mainstream country station here in the Triangle – I heard it on the very conservative small town station from a few towns away).
If you see me hold my hand over my heart
Before I start the pledge of allegiance
There’s a reason
It’s to honor those who died
I can’t really say anything negative about this part. It’s a great way to catch your attention for the song though – declaring how patriotic you are.
And if you see me close my eyes and bow my head
Before I break bread with my family
It ain’t a habit, it’s important
It’s my right
Yes. It is your right to do so. Just like it’s my right not to do so. For some reason, you never see the good God fearin’ man standing up for my right not to believe in God.
I work half the year for me
The other half for Uncle Sam
While he’s bailin’ out those sinkin’ ships
And drownin’ the little man
I watch the news and have to wonder
If this country’s goin’ crazy
Talkin’ ’bout how much they love it here
But how they want to rearrange it
Okay, I get it. You’re questioning why we want to change something we claim to love so much. But, maybe that’s why? Progress is inevitable. Change is inevitable. And those who are seeking change are trying to make things better. It doesn’t always work out like that, but there are definitely a lot of things about this country that *do* need changing.
I’m just your average Joe
And that makes me smart enough to know
There’s a bunch of us out here
That feel the same
Wanna keep our God, our freedom
A little money in the bank
Y’all can keep the change
No one is trying to take anything away from anyone. Ever. That’s the exact opposite of what the majority of people want. Okay let me rephrase – no one this song is directed at is trying to take anything away from anyone.
We want you to be able to keep your God. Just like we want you to leave us be and not force your God into our living rooms. The point of keeping church and state separate? It’s so that you can live and worship your way and I can live and not worship mine.
It’s that simple.
Now the fat cats on the hill acting so brilliant
Ain’t smart enough to notice
That we’re angry
And that America’s in trouble
If they don’t wise up and stop
Bustin’ out the blocks that were laid
As a foundation well our nation
Could wake up in a pile of rubble
I can only assume that he’s referring to the belief that this country is a Christian nation founded on the principles of the Bible. See above.
They say we’re making progress
But it’s a big old shame to me
Common sense ain’t near as common
As it used to be
Finally! He said something I agree with 100%!
The rest of the song is mostly repeating the chorus and other lyrics. To what end? Clearly his message is anti-Obama and anti anything that doesn’t involve faith.
I really wish that people would stop being so defensive long enough to see things objectively and realize that just because someone doesn’t believe in the same things it doesn’t mean that they want to oppress or subdue you and yours.