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Category Archives: Atheist

Death Cult Pastor: One Day We’ll Answer to God Even You, Friendly Atheist! – Friendly Atheist – Patheos

Posted: April 19, 2021 at 7:14 am

Pastor Greg Fairrington of Destiny Church in Rocklin, California is a death cult leader. Hes blamed church closures on liberal crazies and Satan instead of COVID. After multiple churchgoers allegedly tested positive for COVID, he celebrated by saying the favor of God is on this house! His wife says face masks are meant to shut the mouth of Christians.

And whenever weve criticized it, hes never really responded.

But over the weekend, it finally happened: He low-key threatened me (or a more generic friendly atheist, I suppose) with some Christian revenge.

Do not let the visuals of this corrupt culture destroy your faith, Christian. Because God sits on the throne of His Holiness, and I need to remind you this morning: Not all of Gods accounts are settled on this Earth. He keeps all records of wrong, and one day, we will all stand in front of His holy throne and give an account.

Even you, Friendly Atheist! One day, even though you dont believe in God, will stand in front of the God that you dont believe in, and you will have to give an account!

Theres nothing less scary than a pastor trying to frighten an atheist with a Hell that doesnt exist.

But even if anything he said was true which its not it would be nice if we could all patiently wait until Judgment Day to figure out whos right or wrong. If it turns out Im wrong, well, my bad. I guess he showed me.

The problem is that Fairrington is so eager to get to the afterlife, hes dragging everyone to the end of this life. Im doing more to protect his congregations health than he is. And unlike him, I dont even need to threaten anyone along the way.

(via Christian Nightmares)

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Ford on Fridays: they call me the scat man. The bird scat man. – Victoria Buzz

Posted: at 7:14 am

I got crapped on by a seagull today.

It was right near the Legislature, so my first reaction was to wonder if John Horgan had finally got fed up with my schtick and was hurling mouldy clumps of Hansard transcripts at me.

But no, it was just one of our local winged trash screechers, expelling its waste onto my noggin, pant leg, and shirt.

People will tell you thats good luck. We all know thats a lie.

The old superstition that avian fecal matter brings fortune was probably concocted by a mother desperately trying to comfort a freshly dunked-on child. And that child was, and still isthe guy inside Big Bird.

Okay, thats definitely not true, but neither is it true that a birds digestive tract is a determining factor in your chances of winning the lottery.

So there I was, with seagull scat smeared stupendously on myself, with nothing to show for it but a grim comfort that I was riding my bicycle with my helmet on. It was a low bar, but I had avoided becoming a Radagast the Brown cosplay.

At least, my brain tried to rationalize, you didnt get it in your hair.

Yes, like beloved bird character Falco, I had to say: I guess I should be thankful.

Im an atheist. I mention this because I think when people who are religious, spiritual, or superstitious have something bad happen to them, theres a deep well to go to. Perhaps it was Jesus will that I get crapped on. Maybe I had kicked the bad karma fairy. Or maybe my body thetans needed a purging.

Whatever the case, atheists like me, broadly speaking, can only turn to science. Or in this case, statistics.

Let me tell you folks, there is a veritable cornucopia of Google results for odds of getting pooped on by a bird.

Im happy to share with you that birds crap a PROLIFIC amount, with some species expelling butt blasts every 15 minutes.

Given that tremendous typhoon of turds, and the fact that we live amidst an Alfred Hitchcocks worth of seagulls, it becomes more and more of an inevitability: it is not a matter of IF the birds will get you, it is WHEN.

For my atheist sensibilities, this experience was as close as I might get to a spiritual epiphany; the realization that there is an astronomical amount of poop out there, working against you.

Theres a kind of power in that; knowing that there will be a day for you in the poop chute of life. You could, perhaps, stay indoors. Wear a helmet. Carry a shotgun and a murderous look in your eye. These are all potentially mitigating efforts against the airborne assault.

But thats no way to live.

Far better to live life accepting the knowledge that it could crap on you at any moment while enjoying all the clean days in between.

Welcome to Ford on Fridays: a weekly column where Victoria Buzz staff writer Tim Ford offers his thoughts on life, love, and the pursuit of the perfect joke.

This column is for comedic purposes only. Please feel free to send feedback, thoughts, and [constructive] criticisms totim@victoriabuzz.com.

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Ford on Fridays: they call me the scat man. The bird scat man. - Victoria Buzz

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THE REAL MRS MUHAMMAD Will Be Performed as Part of Suidoosterfees at Artscape Theatre This Month – Broadway World

Posted: at 7:14 am

The Real Mrs Muhammad tackles the complexities of an inter-cultural live-in love affair between a naturalised, practicing Muslim, Pakistani man named as Sajid, and an atheist South African woman, Simone, that is interrupted by an arranged marriage. The two meet on a plane and swear reciprocal undying love. After a year of long distance between Cape Town and Pretoria where he resides, she packs her bags to commence the "unholy" shack-up until a "situationship" triangle ensues.

While he took her as the girlfriend, to Pakistan to introduce to his family and friends, a gesture not synonymous in such a traditional world, he simultaneously but secretly continues with the traditional arranged marriage preparations. When his secret is eventually revealed, Simone opposes this turn of events. He tries to justify the solemnisation of his arranged Muslim marriage, to take place in Pakistan, around his contention that, as he puts it, he wants a "real woman" who can give him a "real child" as opposed to her who does not see as a "real woman" as she cannot bear him a child. The idea of surrogacy or adoption is out of the question to him as he claims it's "against his religion and culture".

This impending arranged marriage causes much consternation, stress and upheaval, during the early years of their relationship. Other major cultural and religious differences puts additional strain on the two's future....if indeed there is a future?

A few years into the relationship, and although she supposedly subscribes to the principles of feminism, she conditionally agrees to accept his arranged marital status. Deviously she agrees that the wife and baby could move to South Africa to live with them. Is this a ruse in her under-handed gamble in the hope that between the wife and the common law wife, "The Real Mrs Muhammad" would be revealed to the world? Which one would it be?

The play is written and performed by Simone Heradien. It is directed by Kurt Egelhof. It is based on actual events that transpired between the author and her partner. The wife remains nameless in the production although at times she is referred to as "The Bitch" so as not to give her credence.

The Real Mrs Muhammad forms part of this year's Suidoosterfees at Artscape Theatre It premiered at the SoloAfrika Festival of Monodrama 2018, marking Simone's debut performance as an actor.

Performances run 28 April- 30 April.Ticket price: R70 throughout

Strict COVID-19 protocol is observed. No mask, no entry.

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Everything Wrong With Exodus 1 in the Bible | Hemant Mehta | Friendly Atheist | Patheos – Friendly Atheist – Patheos

Posted: at 7:14 am

Everything Wrong With Exodus 1 in the Bible | Hemant Mehta | Friendly Atheist | PatheosEverything Wrong With Exodus 1 in the BibleApril 17, 2021Hemant Mehta

The video below, from my YouTube channel (please subscribe!), discusses all the problems with Exodus 1.

New Pharaoh is worried that Josephs brothers families are going to take away his power. So he needs to stop them.

If you like what youre seeing, please consider supporting my work on Patreon.

(Original image via Shutterstock)

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Why the Universe Itself Can’t Be the Most Fundamental Thing – Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Posted: at 7:14 am

Jerry Coyne has posted in reply to my observation that Gods existence can be demonstrated by the ordinary methods of science. That is to say, all proofs of Gods existence are scientific theories in the sense that they have the same logical structure as any other scientific theory that proposes explanations for the natural world.

Scientific theories are inductive in that they depend upon evidence in the natural world to reach a conclusion. Thus demonstrations of Gods existence, for example Thomas Aquinass Five Ways, are scientific theories in the sense that Newtons Law of Gravitation, Einsteins Theory of Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, and Darwins Theory of Evolution are scientific theories. Scientific theories can demonstrate the existence of things outside of nature the singularity that gave rise to the Big Bang and the singularities at the cores of black holes are things outside of nature. Science has demonstrated the existence of these supernatural singularities.

There is only one difference between the scientific demonstration of Gods existence and that of gravity, general relativity, quantum mechanics, or evolution: the evidence for Gods existence is immeasurably greater than the evidence for any other scientific theory.

Many readers will think this a radical statement but it is conventional natural theology. Natural theology is the branch of science that demonstrates the existence of God according to evidence in nature. It has deep roots going back at least to Aristotle. It is different from divine revelation, which is another way of understanding God.

Demonstrations of Gods existence in natural theology depend on evidence in nature, such as the existence of change, of causation, of a hierarchal manifestation of qualities, of teleology and design, and even of existence itself. For example, Aquinass First Way demonstrates Gods existence by showing the necessity for a Prime Mover to explain change in nature. That is, if everything that grows, moves, or changes in nature is caused to do so, a Prime Mover outside nature must start the causes. Thus, the evidence in favor of the First Way is observable in every movement of an atom, every gust of wind, and every physiological process in every organism. Everything and anything that changes in this world is a data point that supports the existence of God, according to Aquinass First Way.

As you might expect, atheists dont like this fact. Coyne tries to offer rebuttals in his blog post. They serve mainly to demonstrate the fact that he doesnt understand the problem.

One of Coynes commenters (Torbjrn Larsson) raised an issue worth noting the claim that God is unnecessary because the universe itself may be the most fundamental thing that exists.

Everything must have a cause. Therefore [magic agent].

What caused [magic agent]?

A [magic agent] need no cause.

Then there are things that need no cause. I cut out the middleman and can now say the universe need no cause.

He is asserting that the universe itself is the ground of existence. God is unnecessary.

As philosophers have noted over the past several thousand years, there are many reasons why the universe cannot be the most fundamental thing that exists. Ill discuss two of them here:

First, as Aquinas notes in his first Three Ways, change, cause, and existence in nature cannot go backward forever in an essential causal chain. Essential causal chains require the continued existence of all the causes in the chain. Forces and states in nature tend to be essential causal chains the warming of the air in summer is due to the direct radiance from the sun due to tilt of the earth as it revolves around the sun which is due to gravitation as described by general relativity, etc. If any step in the causal chain from gravitation to summer warmth is eliminated, the effect is eliminated. If the earth ceased to tilt or revolve, or the sun cease to shine, or gravity cease to operate, summer would cease.

But these ordered causal chains in the universe cant regress to infinity because there must be a fully actual cause at the beginning that gets the chain going. That fully actual cause cannot itself depend on any other cause within the system. Otherwise, how would it start?

Imagine a chain hanging from the sky supporting a weight suspended in the air. Each link in the chain is a cause for the continued suspension of the links and the weight they hold up. However, the chain could not hold itself up alone. It cant be links all the way up. Something at the beginning must be holding the chain up. And whatever holds the whole causal series up cannot just be another link in the chain. To be a first cause, whatever is holding up the chain must be something different from the chain itself.

In the same way, the cause of the universe must be something other than the universe itself and must have the power to cause things independently of the laws of nature. That is what all men call God.

A second reason why the universe cannot be the most fundamental thing is the principle of sufficient reason. In its most distilled form, the principle states that every fact in the universe has a reason sufficient to account for it. We may not know the reason for every fact and we may not even be able to know the reason for every fact. But we must infer that there is a reason for every fact.

For example, imagine waking up one morning and finding a car parked in the front yard. That would be a strange thing and we might infer that somebody got drunk and inadvertently parked in the yard or perhaps the car was left there after a collision. Or possibly it was someones idea of a practical joke. But we cannot infer that the car is there for no reason whatsoever. We intuitively understand that there must be an explanation, even if it is hard to come by.

Now lets assume that the universe itself exists for no reason. Then everything that exists violates the principle of sufficient reason. If the whole universe doesnt need a reason, then nothing within the universe needs a reason. Then science would be impossible, because anytime a scientist tried to explain the existence of a subatomic particle, a star, or a species, one could simply say that they existed for no reason at all and that would count as a scientific explanation.

Denial of the principle of sufficient reason would make ordinary life impossible we would have to accept that everyday occurrences in our lives could well have happened with no explanation whatever. But in reality, even chance occurrences happen in accord with physical laws and thus happen for reasons.

Atheists who deny that God exists deny the principle of sufficient reason for the universe. In doing so, they must also deny our common-sense experience of the world and they must even deny science itself. So the answer to the objection But then God Himself needs sufficient reason to exist is straightforward: God is supernatural and self-subsistent and thus is the First Reason. He is not in need of a reason for Himself.

As I said before, the existence of God is a more well-established scientific fact than any other theory in science. In fact without God as Prime Mover and sufficient reason, science itself would be impossible. It is deeply ironic that atheist scientists, by denying Gods existence, deny the rational basis for their own profession.

You may also wish to read: Heres why an argument for Gods existence is scientific: The form of reasoning and the type of evidence accepted is the same as with Newtons theories or Darwins. We can observe Gods effects in the natural world just as we inferred the existence of the Big Bang and black holes by observing their effects. (Michael Egnor)

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Podcast Ep. 369: Atheists No Longer Have to Swear to God to Vote in Alabama – Friendly Atheist – Patheos

Posted: April 11, 2021 at 5:47 am

In our latest podcast, Jessica and I discussed the past week in politics and atheism.

We talked about:

Atheists no longer have to swear an oath to God in order to vote in Alabama. (1:30)

An anti-LGBTQ official in Alabama dropped his future Senate bid after his mistress revealed their taped conversations. (8:19)

Tennessee Republicans are removing a ban on priests holding office but not the part banning atheists from the same thing. (16:54)

Tennessees Lt. Gov. found a clever way to block a bill making the Bible the Official State Book. (25:52)

Texas wants lawyers for fetuses. (29:05)

The Arkansas House passed a bill permitting the teaching of Creationism in science class. (32:56)

Jerry Falwell, Jr. told people to get vaccinated to own the libs. (37:05)

A New York GOP official resigned after claiming gay people on an island would die in a few decades. (40:36)

A Kentucky tax preparer is openly refusing to work with gay couples. (46:46)

Creationists are mad that higher standards in science education mean not teaching Creationism. (50:33)

This is a weird reason to not like Morgan Freeman. (1:05:20)

The president of the Mormon Church said people with religious doubts are lazy learners. (1:13:09)

Wed love to hear your thoughts on the podcast. If you have any suggestions for people we should chat with, please leave them in the comments, too.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Google Play, stream all the episodes on SoundCloud or Stitcher, or just listen to the whole thing below. Our RSS feed is here. And if you like what youre hearing, please consider supporting this site on Patreon and leaving us a positive rating!

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Podcast Ep. 369: Atheists No Longer Have to Swear to God to Vote in Alabama - Friendly Atheist - Patheos

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Zoom event to promote dialogue between theists and nontheists – Idaho State Journal

Posted: at 5:47 am

The community is invited to participate in a Zoom Live event aimed at increasing dialogue between theists and nontheists this week.

Idaho State Universitys P.E.A.C.E. (People Empowered by Acceptance, Conversation, and Education), Diversity Resource Center and Cultural Events Committee will present Faitheist: Building Bridges Between Believers, Nonbelievers and Everyone in Between at 5:30 p.m. MT on Wednesday. The event is open to everyone, but those who would like to participate should register online at https://qrco.de/faitheist before it starts.

Organizers say those who register can watch the event live or, if they cant make it at that time, watch a recording later on. Links will be provided as part of the registration process.

Story continues below video

The event will feature Chris Stedman, author of two books: Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious and IRL: Finding Realness, Meaning, and Belonging in Our Digital Lives.

Stedman, a Minneapolis resident, has been both religious and nonreligious at different times in his life, and he believes there is an immense value to be gained when people on both sides of that divide engage. Stedman says those who do will not only learn more about others, but also themselves.

In this presentation and discussion, professor, author, and activist Chris Stedman will share his storyincluding how studying religion at a Lutheran college helped him understand his identity as an atheistand help participants explore what theists and nontheists can gain from being in dialogue, how we can come to better understand one another, and how we can work together to improve the world we all share, according to a news release.

Stedman was the founding director of the Yale Humanist Community and was a fellow at Yale University. In addition, he served as a humanist chaplain at Harvard University, according to the news release. He currently teaches in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Augsburg University.

I love speaking at colleges and universities, Stedman said, adding that hes excited to share this experiences with ISU and the surrounding community.

He anticipates the event will be more of a conversation than a lecture, and he encourages everyone who is interested to participate.

The more voices (we have) in the conversation, the more well all learn, Stedman said.

For more information about Stedman, people can visit https://chrisstedmanwriter.com.

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Zoom event to promote dialogue between theists and nontheists - Idaho State Journal

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TN GOP Will Fix Statewide Ban on Priests in Government (But Atheist Ban Remains) – Friendly Atheist – Patheos

Posted: at 5:47 am

The Tennessee State Constitution has a section in it that specifically lists whos not allowed to hold elected office. You may be familiar with that because heres Article IX, Section 2:

No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state.

Its the infamous section that says atheists cant hold public office. (Six other state constitutions have similar language.)

Thankfully, that whole section is enforceable, due to the 1961 Supreme Court case Torcaso v. Watkins, but still: Thats what the State Constitution says. Even after that SCOTUS decision, it remained on the books, a vestigial reminder of a more intolerant past.

The reason that section still exists on paper is because theres a process for amending the state constitution that requires more than a Supreme Court ruling. Lawmakers would need to pass a resolution over two consecutive sessions to get rid of that section, and then voters would need to support that move in a future election.

Those are a lot of obstacles, and lets face it the Republican majority running Tennessees government isnt really eager to clean up their Constitution to help out atheists.

But heres where it gets interesting: Section 3 of that same Article says people who have fought duels (or helped someone fight a duel) cant hold office either. Thats also messed up and wildly out-of-date.

Section 1 is equally bizarre. It says anyone whos a church leader is barred from office because it might distract them from more important work:

Whereas ministers of the Gospel are by their profession, dedicated to God and the care of souls, and ought not to be diverted from the great duties of their functions; therefore, no minister of the Gospel, or priest of any denomination whatever, shall be eligible to a seat in either House of the Legislature.

I dont think I need to burn my Atheist Membership Card to say that shouldnt be there either. Its also unenforceable due to a separate Supreme Court case, but just like the anti-atheist section, it takes work to remove that passage from the states constitution.

Well, guess what?

Republicans in Tennessee are now taking the steps to remove Section 1 and only Section 1 from the Constitution. They want to clean the important document of the anti-priest language while just side-stepping the anti-atheist language.

Senate Joint Resolution 55, sponsored by State Senator Mark Pody, would amend the Constitution by eliminating Section 1 if it passes through the legislature and has the support of the majority of voters in the 2022 general election.

On its own, the resolution is sensible. Ill say it again: That part of the Tennessee Constitution should be eliminated. If a pastor wants to run for office, thats fine. (Hell, just look at Senator Raphael Warnock, the Georgia senator who is still serving as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church.) Having church leaders in office isnt a problem; legislating their faith or ignoring church/state separation would be, but thats a separate issue. The two do not necessarily overlap.

Heres what I dont get. (Or maybe I do.) If Tennessee lawmakers are going through all the trouble of getting rid of an archaic section of their Constitution because they should why not just get rid of that entire Article?

Its the height of Christian privilege for a lawmaker to eliminate a(n unenforceable) law banning priests from holding office while keeping the (also-unenforceable) law that bans atheists from the exact same thing even though theyre literally right next to each other in the document.

It would have taken no additional work to get rid of that part. Theyre deliberately choosing not to.

One Democrat even brought that up during a hearing of the State and Local Government Committee (at the 42:20 mark):

During last weeks senate committee hearing, Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, questioned why Pody wasnt addressing other provisions in the Tennessee Constitution that have been rendered unconstitutional.

If were going to do that, should we just clean up everything thats currently [unconstitutional] in the Tennessee Constitution? We have numerous provisions that can be deleted. Seems like that would be a more sensible way of doing it and putting it in one resolution.

Pody said in response that is a thought, but he said one simple step at a time would be best. Committee Chairman Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, said legislative attorneys told him the resolution cant be amended.

What a pathetic dismissal. Even if the current resolution cant be amended, it could easily have been fixed from the outset if Pody cared. He doesnt. Thats the problem. Saying we need to go one simple step at a time is a very convenient excuse when your religion is the beneficiary of step one and you have no intention to ever move on to step two.

Im not surprised that Mark Pody would do this. Hes previously sponsored legislation to make the Holy Bible the official state book. Hes filed bills to reject marriage equality and ban abortions early in a pregnancy. Hes also filed a bill that would require a woman seeking an abortion to have her fathers permission even if her father is the one who impregnated her.

Hes a Christian Nationalist in every sense of the word. The Bible guides his decision-making, not the Constitution and what will best help the people in his state. But the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as the Senate State & Local Government Committee both approved this resolution unanimously. It could be voted on in the State Senate this week and move on from there.

Ultimately, this whole resolution is symbolic more than anything else because we know those parts of the constitution are effectively worthless. But symbols can perpetuate stigmas. The right thing to do here would be to eliminate all of those sections barring people from holding office on the basis of their religious views or positions. But Tennessee lawmakers have decided to keep the part barring atheists from holding elected office while getting rid of the part limiting the participation of preachers.

I know there are a lot of examples to choose from, but what a perfect example of how a Republican majority in state or federal government opposes equality under the law. They didnt have to do it this way. But they did anyway. It wouldve cost them nothing to say lets just get rid of sections 1 AND 2 but no. They decided to just play to their Christian base.

Pody did not respond to a request for comment last night.

(Thanks to Brian for the link)

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TN GOP Will Fix Statewide Ban on Priests in Government (But Atheist Ban Remains) - Friendly Atheist - Patheos

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Frank McNally on A History of Northern Ireland in 100 Euphemisms – The Irish Times

Posted: at 5:47 am

1.The Irish Problem

2. The North

3. The South

4. The Troubles

5. The Crossness

6. The Clones Affray

7. B Specials

8. Unapproved Road

9. Concession Road

10. The Monaghan Salient

11. Drummully Polyp

12. ire

13. The Six Counties

14. The Wee North

15. The Black North

16. The Occupied Territories

17. Our Wee Country

18. Ulster

19. The Province

20. The Mainland

21. Fenian

22. Taig

23: Themmuns

24. Black Orangemen

25. Big House Unionist

26. Lundy

27. A cold house for Catholics

28. The Northern Disease [] at the present [] safely confined in its Ulster quarantine. (George OBrien, 1936)

29. Norn Iron

30. The dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone

31. Puckoon

32. The Patriot Game

33. Border Campaign

34. Only our rivers run free

35. Nordies

36. Mexicans

37. El Paso

38. P ONeill

39. glaigh na hireann

40. Officials & Provisionals

41. We will not stand by

42. Vanguard

43. Free Derry

44. Free Stater

45. Free Presbyterian

46. The Men Behind the Wire

47. Romper rooms

48. The disappeared

49. Bandit Country

50. Soldiers briefly entered the Republic due to a

map-reading error.

51. Stroke City

52. Foyleside

53. Tiocfaidh r l

54. Stoops

55. The Condom Train

56. The Peace Train

57. A suspect device on the line near Newry

58. Q. Are you Catholic or Protestant? A. Im an atheist, thank God.

59. Q. A Catholic atheist or a Protestant atheist?

60. On the blanket

61. Haitch Blocks

62. Aitch Blocks

63. Its gonna happen, happen, happens all the time/Its gonna happen, happen, till you change your mind.

64. As British as Finchley

65. A failed political entity

66. Third Force

67. Legitimate target

68. Loyal

69. Peter the Punt

70. Slab.

71. I pondered on the churches of England and Rome/Hadnt paid the rent for my spiritual home.

72. Walk the Queens Highway

73. Traditional route to church

74. Peace wall

75. Garda X

76. Stakeknife

77. Humespeak

78. Creative ambiguity

79. Confidence Building

80. Sunningdale for Slow Learners

81. I feel the hand of history on my shoulder.

82. I hate to leave (George Mitchell)

83. Never! Never! Never! Never! (Oh, all right)

84. The Chuckle Brothers

85. They havent gone away, you know

86. I have not been and am not a member of the IRA

87. Put beyond use in the presence of two

clergymen.

88. Whataboutery.

89. Curry My Yoghurt

90. The Derry Girls blackboard

91. Our Precious Union

92. Backstop

93. Seamless technological solutions

94. Get Brexit Done

95. Oven-Ready Deal

96. The Northern Ireland Protocol

97. Boris Johnson has assured unionists

98. Feasibility studies for a proposed bridge across the Irish Sea

Read the rest here:

Frank McNally on A History of Northern Ireland in 100 Euphemisms - The Irish Times

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Check Out This Massive (Resurrected) Interactive Chart of Bible Contradictions – Friendly Atheist – Patheos

Posted: at 5:47 am

Nearly a decade ago, a computer programmer used data from the Skeptics Annotated Bible and available information about Bible verses that cross-referenced the same topics to create a visual masterpiece called BibViz (Bible Visualization). The site allowed visitors to hover over different arcs to discover biblical contradictions.

Unfortunately, the site atrophied over the years the old URL now redirects to one with a lot of broken links but the source code was always available online under a Creative Commons license and now an enterprising atheist named Randy has resurrected the graphics and fixed the broken parts at LyingForJesus.org.

Go there and just start playing around. Each arc lights up when you hover over it and tells you which verses are being linked together. Click on an arc and itll take you to those contradictions specifically with citations so you can check them out for yourself. As Randy told me, its just a wonderful counter-apologetics resource for anyone interested.

Show your fundamentalist friends and watch them squirm. Theres just no plausible way anyone can take the Bible literally after going through all these unless theyre closing their eyes, sticking their fingers in their ears, and refusing to think about any of the errors in their worldview. Some items can be rationalized, but not all of them.

The site also shows you where in the Bible youll find all the biblical passages featuring Cruelty & Violence, Discrimination against Homosexuals, Scientific Absurdities & Historical Inaccuracies, or (below) Misogyny/Violence/Discrimination against Women. You can also scroll all the way down to see a list of every contradiction in the supposedly infallible Holy Book.

Those vertical bars go from the number of relevant verses in Genesis (on the left) to Revelation (on the right).

Its a new site so there are still some snags in there. But Randy tells me hes working on fixes and plans to make a similar site for the Quran in the near future. If you have suggestions or corrections, feel free to contact him directly.

Excerpt from:

Check Out This Massive (Resurrected) Interactive Chart of Bible Contradictions - Friendly Atheist - Patheos

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