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I thought I heard some dumb xtian allegories in my time...

... but this is a new level of dumbness for me -

http://www.joyfulministry.com/athiest.htm

A preacher and an atheistic barber were once walking through the city slums. Said the barber to the preacher: "This is why I cannot believe in a God of love. If God was as kind as you say, He would not permit all this poverty, disease, and squalor. He would not allow these poor bums to be addicted to dope and other character-destroying habits. No, I cannot believe in a God who permits these things."

The minister was silent until they met a man who was especially unkempt and filthy. His hair was hanging down his neck and he had a half-inch of stubble on his face. Said the minister: "You must not be a very good barber because you wouldn't permit a man like that to continue living in this neighborhood without a haircut and shave." Indignantly the barber answered: "Why blame me for that man's condition? I can't help it that he is like that. He has never come in my shop; I could fix him up and make him look like a gentleman!"

Giving the barber a penetrating look, the minister said: "Then don't blame God for allowing the people to continue in their evil ways, when He is constantly inviting them to come and be saved."

Tags: allegory, christian, dumb, new low

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Permalink Reply by Фелч Гроган on December 24, 2008 at 8:18pm

They can't spell "atheist".

You know, I'm normally a pedant, but I was so gobsmacked by the jaw-dropping idiocy, I didn't even notice.

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Permalink Reply by funk Q on December 25, 2008 at 12:44am

The message I get from this is that living in "poverty, disease and squalor" is perceived by the minister as "their evil ways".

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Permalink Reply by MysticalChicken on December 26, 2008 at 8:45pm

I Stumbled that story last night while doing a StumbleUpon search for "atheism". Hey, Stumbleupon, I meant pro-atheism!

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Permalink Reply by Pockets on December 27, 2008 at 4:50pm

Yes...because all atheists are dirty disease ridden bums....I would bet (I have no evidence) that most of the homeless are religious. And when was it evil to lose your job, or be mentally ill and unable to live a normal productive life.

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Permalink Reply by Фелч Гроган on December 27, 2008 at 7:17pm

Yeah, I've knocked up a fair few detox / rehab frequent flyer points, and even the ones that stress they are purely medical / psychiatric programs still ram jesus down your throat on a daily basis - because 99.9% are AA based 12 step programs. They are all Jesus camps.

What pisses me off the most is that a lot of people that land in these places are there because of court orders. So, essentially, the state is sentencing people to religious indoctrination gulags. Separation of church and state my ass.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Little on December 27, 2008 at 10:18pm

Apparently you can only be saved if you look for it. God doesn't come to you, you go to him. An idiot sentiment, I agree. God is only interested in those that are willing to take the extra energy to find him. So what. I would rather spend the energy on making the world a better place, or finding a good cup of coffee...

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Permalink Reply by Richard Clair Blackburn on April 27, 2011 at 9:35am

The barber also does not claim to be all benevolent, omnipresent, omniscient, or omnipotent, all of which are traits heaped upon "God".

Like I always say, a God or Gods might be out there, but if they are they cannot be omnipotent or omniscient, and haven't been doing all these things the theists claim they have.

I have begun promoting a god from another world, his name is Alex, he told me he didn't make our world, and he hates being worshiped. So if Theists want allegories as 'proof', then I have many stories from his world they can chew on.

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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on April 27, 2011 at 10:15am

Should we also mention that the barber and his shop are fairly visible, and gives clear and definable service for the money spent?

While god's shops are also visible, he is NOT, and if there is valuta to be had for the tithes spent, you couldn't prove it to me.

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Permalink Reply by FreeThinker on April 27, 2011 at 5:50pm

Exactly. When you see people spending money in the barber shop, you also see the results. With religion, you see people spending a lot of money, but not seeing any discernable difference in the before and after.

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Permalink Reply by David Anam on April 27, 2011 at 12:10pm

Let us try to understand the viewpoint presented here. It seems that there are 3 basic facts:

1. Lack of faith is the cause of all suffering.

2. Therefore, suffering will continue as long as lack of faith continues.

3. Therefore, faith is the only cure for suffering.

How would someone reconcile this view with charity? Giving a starving person food would be acknowledging that a lack of food could cause suffering, which is contradictory to the position that a lack of faith is the single cause for all suffering.

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Permalink Reply by Phister Gagghol on April 27, 2011 at 4:18pm

Oh, I had a doozy once. Debating in a chat, basically science vs. religion. This was a while ago so bear with me. The basic gist that this xtian was saying was that science is evil and inaccurate and that all things are only known by God. His example was that only God knows how the human eye works. I was completely floored. I thought I had heard it all until that nugget of wisdom was plopped forth. I suggested that he should consult a physiology book along with some serious psychotherapy.