Archive for category Jesus

Anne Rice Leaves Christianity, Not Jesus.

Anne RiceAnne Rice was raised a Catholic and left the religion to do her own thing for many years. Much to the delight of Christians who like to name drop (and especially those who hate vampires), she reverted to Catholicism in 1998, dedicating her writing and life to Jesus.

“I Quit”

But twelve years later, the tide has turned once again. Rice recently spread this news  via her facebook page:

Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten …years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.

As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of …Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.

–Anne Rice, author 2010

You can imagine all the  atheists eating this for lunch, can’t you? Can’t you smell the delight over  someone famous  leaving Christianity? Everyone likes having a public figure on their team. Free endorsements!

However…

Not Good Enough

Good for Rice that she finally recognized the mess of this religion. I understand not wanting to identify with much of Christianity—especially the fundamentalist branches that make a business out of being anti-everyone–but that’s not good enough!

Rice is clearly not abandoning her mythology and superstitious delusions. She’s leaving conservative, fundamentalist  Christianity behind and making a political stand out of it. But what about liberal Christianity that is still based on the same myths, but is dressed up in hipster clothing and a laissez faire attitude? When Rice realizes the whole shit n’ caboodle is based on a false premise, then perhaps she might leave for good.  Perhaps.

What do you think?

(hat tip goodreasonnews)

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Masturbation is a Sin! Unless…

Trees are so hot. I just want to hump one right now. Like this guy!

Or maybe… not.

This facebook conversation could have been stolen from one of many a debates I had with other Christians when I was in college. We discussed the topic of masturbation more than anyone should. As you may know, the question “how far is too far?” is more than popular with those battling  raging hormones.

A consensus on whether masturbation was sinful or permissible was hard to come by; but in the end, a middle ground was reached that still let people pleasure themselves, but gave it a nice “sinless” protective barrier. So long as you did not lust and go against what Jesus taught in Matthew 5:27-28 [show] "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (ESV)
This text is from the ESV Bible. Visit www.esv.org to learn about the ESV.
, you were not sinning. However, if you fantasized or involved anyone else in the act, you were a dirty sexual deviant.

The idea that someone could masturbate without shame or sin is extremely popular with the young adult crowd. Christianity is calling you a nasty sinner if your hands explore your golden chalice/divining rod/pick your own name–even as your natural (supposedly created by god) body is telling you yes, yes YES! So how do you escape the thought police and still have that tremendous, shuddering release? Think about trees; imagine taking a Chemistry final; recite something you’ve memorized… and my personal favorite: pray!

Yes, I was actually told that if I prayed while I played, that god would keep me from sinning.

It didn’t help. In fact, that seems pretty fucked up to me.

Hey Christians, if any of you read this, here’s a tip:  If you want a healthy sex life in your future, don’t teach yourself early on that what comes naturally to you is shameful or dirty. Masturbation is just fine! And the mind is the most powerful sex organ you have. Don’t stifle it! And for goodness sake, don’t pray while you masturbate.

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New Poll: Do you think Jesus ever existed?

photo by Photo Giddy


Did a man ever exist whose name was Yeshua son of Yosef and Miriam, whose professions were carpenter/stoneworker and rabbi, and who was put to death by crucifixion? Was he the messiah? Was he made up by his followers? Was he just a normal bloke who taught unconventional ideas who ended up on the wrong side of the law?

What do you think? I’ve embedded the poll here and in the sidebar. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Soooo correction two days late (sorry, I’ve been busy with a wedding): The embedded poll was shit, so let’s just vote in the sidebar ;) Hopefully that still works. Thanks!

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Chris Crocker, Jesus, and Hateful Christians

Remember when Chris Crocker defended Britney Spears in this tearful, screaming, epic video? Well he’s back with more emo in this tearful, screaming rant against Christians who insult Chris’ purpose or meaning.

I admit I laughed when I first watched it (wide-eyed, drama-shocked, nervous laughter). The crown of thorns? Wow. God instructs people to brush their teeth? Okeedoke.

I played it again and realized that beneath the hysterics, there is a worthy, relevant message. How could any Christian (or non-christian, but the video is about believers) point a finger at someone who’s different and off the beaten path of social acceptability and claim to know anything about how god feels about them or what god would want them to do? It is intensely arrogant that anyone could claim to speak for an infinite, unexplainable, unimaginable deity. If this god is so large and so all-powerful and all-knowing and all-loving, then how could one man, book, tradition, or creed even grasp one minute speck of an idea about what god is or wants?

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