Preaching to the Choir and the Moral Imperative of Preaching in Public
I actually think I am doing fellow non-believers a disservice when I bite my tongue and refrain from comment on inherently unreasonable things I read at other (and mainstream) websites. I actually believe that no matter what the consequences, when we read dogmatic statements about real life it is our duty (hey, I was tempted to say "sacred duty") to point out to fellow readers the inanity of, e.g. the personal involvement of God in the daily lives of human beings I use my real name in my comments and thus put my professional career on the line, and I'd like to believe I am doing it for good (and in so Catholic a city as this, heroic) reasons: in what dark recess of my mind lurks a non-altruistic, perhaps even masochistic, purpose.
This week in one of our district courts, a hearing is being held on orders of a higher court to find out if a woman named Overton is guilty of murdering a child by making the boy swallow Paul Prudhomme-Emerill-type Cajun seasoning. (My favorite, not that it matters, is one called Slap Yo' Mama.) Salt, unfortunately, is toxic in large quantities and this boy went into convulsions, the question being, did he have a mental condition that is known to the profession, a tendency to eat enormous quantities of anything he liked. (The boy was not quite right, if you know what I mean.) The Court of Criminal Appeals sent the case down from Austin to Corpus Christi (all right, yuks aside) so that medical testimony could be better developed; the higher court could affirm, reverse and send down for retrial, or reverse and let the woman go free.
There is a dimension to all this that I hesitate to bring up lest I be viewed (even on this site) as a nasty old crank: religion. The spirit of Chris Hitch is in me, saying religion poisons everything, and I hasten to add, "Even court cases." You see, Ms. Overton had some evangelical types paying for her defense and appeals, including some big guns this time around. (One of her lawyers is Gerry Goldstein, the Guru of Bill of Rights lawyers statewide.) The claque people are convinced they know Overton well, that she is a devoutly religious person, and thus, she could not possibly have intended her boy die of sodium toxicity. They filled the gallery at trial. They spoke to TV reporters. Wonder no one told them that Ms. Overton's sanctity had nothing at all to do with whether she was guilty or innocent. Overton's church was God-certain of the woman's innocence, though "twelve good and true" found her guilty. The Christian losers vowed to get her case reversed at any cost.
Today, in its online version, the local paper carried a comment to all this by a reader who said "God's will she will be released...." I wrote back that a good, omnipotent God would not have allowed the child to die in the first place.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Mahatma Coat on
-
I agree. It is necessary to speak up when we see injustice and/or falsehoods promoted.
Generally, I am unabashed to mention that I am a non-believer. If someone references God or faith in a casual conversation, I give my take on the same situation (and generally can do so in a non-conflictual manner) from an atheist and reason based perspective. If they mention faith as their reason for believing something, I will mention the reason based reason. For example, "faith" in their Church. I might acknowledge that we all seek community support, being the social primates that we are! Then I may relate to their need for community support by saying that as I dont believe in faith and have been very disappointed by my reading and understanding of the Bible and the context in which it was written, I find my support and inspiration from Community Volunteering.
Or if people reference God, I can usually understand what they are saying and relate to it by referencing love. For example, just yesterday, a mother was talking about her son and instructing him to be polite to his fellow classmates--as a child of God he was told to be good and loving. I told her I agree, and although we are atheist, we tell our kids that life is for loving one another. She blinked a little, but smiled a genuine smile back to me.
I just care most about carving out a space in public life to express myself authentically. If others do not believe as I do, I am still certain we will find common ground in our shared humanity. And if we cannot, then I have to question their real motives.
-
Permalink Reply by John Aultman on -
It should be apparent to Ms. Overton and her evangelical friends that their loving, omnipotent god either:
1. Agrees with the verdict.
2. Too bust answering the other billions of prayers coming his way.
3. She and her evangelical friends picked the wrong christianity from the 38,000 different denominations in the world. (so are not REAL Christians)
4. Their loving omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient god does not exist.
Feel free to add to this list...
-
Permalink Reply by Steph S. on -
You are correct that a
"that a good, omnipotent God would not have allowed the child to die in the first place."
Did they publish your comment?
-
Permalink Reply by James M. Martin on -
It's just like this, an online story + comment where anyone can post. But they have one of those "inappropriate" icons 'neath every comment so that anyone offended by it can complain, but I don't know if it was removed later. I never bother to check such things.
-
Permalink Reply by booklover on -
Good for you James for speaking-up and using your real name. I have been trying to do that more often. We should stand-up for reason and not be scared to. I know sometimes people can't, even for safety-reasons! I HATE when someone is defended in court as being "a good christian" or that they regularly go to church, like that has ANYTHING to do with whether they are guilty of a crime or not.
-
Permalink Reply by James M. Martin on
-
We also had an ambulance chaser charged with holding himself out to be a lawyer and then sending the cases on to P.I. attorneys. When it came time for sentencing, his character witness was the bishop (RCC) and it was brought out that his testimony was bought by generous contributions to the local Catholic charities. Anyone seen the movie, True Confessions? It's all true. The priests are whores for the Vatican.
-
Permalink Reply by Andy Reid on
-
I agree as well. I'm rather unpopular around these here Kansas parts because of my opinion on religion. I'm generally the first and only one around here to "hitch slap" people for their stupidity and contradictory ideals. It's not very popular in the bible belt. I will continue to do so, though, because everyone that knows me personally will tell you I'm the most honest mother-F-er they know.
-
Permalink Reply by booklover on
-
Hitch-slap! LOL Andy, that's GREAT! Did you come up with that? I've never heard it before.~ Melinda
-
Permalink Reply by James M. Martin on
-
Isn't that an irony there, an atheist being more honest than a Christian? I am not saying it is an anomaly mind you, but an ironic fact. Also, the statisticians have proved that atheists, again ironically, know more about the Bible than persons of faith. Familiarity breeds contempt.
Members
-
Tony Carroll Online
-
Loren Miller Online
-
Jim Greenamyer Online
-
Emily Rietz Online
-
Chrissie Farthing Online
-
Marianne S Online
Blog Posts
Come together one and all
Posted by Holli Clay on May 21, 2013 at 6:53pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Hello fellow atheists! I have joined this site in an attempt to find other rational individuals, such as myself, and to promote a current charity drive that I am trying to get going for the Oklahoma tornado victims. I have managed to get many groups from around my area, including the Beyond Belief Foundation to back me on this endeavor.
I am located in Newnan, Ga and have my own atheist group entitled "Coweta County Atheists". I am currently being backed by Spaulding Co.…
Continue
Pope's 'exorcism' caught on film video
Posted by Debra Stevenson on May 21, 2013 at 2:37pm 0 Comments 1 Like
There is a video of the Pope's 'exorcism' caught on film. The man isn't demon possessed, there are likely no 'real' demons. He's just delusional and doesn't want to accept personal responsiblity for his own behavior for his own dysfunctional life.
Brandi Amari Williams
Do you support 'traditional' marriage, vot now ad
Posted by Debra Stevenson on May 21, 2013 at 2:28pm 2 Comments 2 Likes
There is an ad that reads ' Do you support 'traditional' marriage? Vote Now"! .
No, I don't support 'traditional' marriage because there is no such thing. I support heterosexual and same-sex couples marry each other legally , yes. 'Traditional' marriage promoters largely do not believe that heterosexual women are co-equal to their husbands. Their only purpose in 'traditional' marriage is to sexually satisfy their husbands if they can and raise children and do all…
ContinueWar on Christmas in May
Posted by matthew greenberg on May 21, 2013 at 12:18pm 6 Comments 1 Like
i've got no problem with everyone saying "merry christmas" on christmas day. however, they've turned it into an entire holiday season where it lasts a month or more. in those situations it should be perfectly acceptable to say "happy holidays" or call it a…
ContinueEvents
© 2013 Atheist Nexus. All rights reserved. Admin: Richard Haynes.
