Religulous was not ridiculous but was hilarious.

Look! It's Bill Maher and Jesus in the holy land!

I was home sick today and decided to take advantage of my On Demand movie selection via cable. It costs the same as renting a movie at Blockbuster and I don't have to leave my house. Love it! The first movie I "rented" was Religulous, which was hilarious! Granted, if you have belief in a god, you may not find this very funny. Bill Maher isn't confrontational at all and freely admits that he doesn't know if there is a god or not. He doesn't try to sway anyone's beliefs either. All he does is ask questions. He's trying to get people to really think about what they believe, which I fully support. Don't believe in a religion just because your parents did!

So what made this movie so funny? The responses that he got to his questions. It's the people trying to support their faith yet contradicting themselves along the way, which I guess makes sense because the Bible contradicts itself too. I can't quote the movie word for word but the funniest part to me was when Bill was talking with a guy who believes in god and Jesus but doesn't believe in Santa Claus. Right, because there's no way that one guy can delivery gifts via chimneys one night a year but there is a god that keeps track of every single second and person in the world and is making everything happen. It does sound funny, doesn't it? So talking snakes, virgin births, and someone living in a big fish for three days is true? Sorry, I'm not buying it but I might buy the DVD. : )

Stay tuned for a post about the next movie I "rented".

It burns, it burns!

Pope Benedict XVI was in the Vatican today doing his weekly thing at the Paul VI Hall and the Medrano Circus was performing. Apparently, during the performance a lion cub was brought to the Pope and he got up to pet it. The cub roared at him and the audience laughed. What I found funny was how the cub looks like he's looking directly at the cross and roaring. The second picture shows the cub still looking at the cross and hissing. Doesn't look like he has an issue with the Pope but keep that damn cross away!

There shall be hell to pay!

My mother asks me if I believe that god created man and woman. I haven't talked to her a whole lot about religion but she knows that I don't believe some of the same things she does. In response to her question, I say no. Then she asks if I think we'll go to heaven when we die. I tell her no, that I don't believe in heaven or hell and don't tell dad cuz' he'll flip. Then I start thinking about how much she's into Christianity now and I told her not to flip either. She says I'm on her prayer list already. Oh bejesus. So then she asks, what do you believe in? Crap, um...I'm thinking of what to say. She says are you agnostic or whatever? I'm like, oh, that's what she meant. I thought she wanted me to explain what I thought happens to us when we die. So I tell her that I like to think of myself as a non-theist, which then forced me to explain the differences between agnostism, atheism, polytheism, etc. By the time we were done with the call, I think she was quite stunned. She said that she's fine with me believing whatever I want as long as I change my mind before I die and then she laughs. Nice, mom. Afterwards, I was thinking that I should have reminded her that I asked christ into my heart when I was 8, so shouldn't that mean I'm golden? hee hee

UPDATE 6/25/2009: A good chunk of this post was removed due to blog content change.

Too much hate and not enough love.

While I'm on the topic of religion tonight, there is an article that came about due to Sarah Palin's church being set on fire by means of arson. Click here to read that article. My favorite part was the very last paragraph:

"Secularists in the west say to the apologists of the religions: your beliefs are your choice, so take your place in the queue. They also say: you've had it your own way for a very long time and committed a lot of crimes in the process and you still fancy yourself entitled, but you aren't. You don't smell too good at times, so don't try to tell me what I can read, see on TV, do in my private time, think or say. In fact, keep your sticky fingers off my life. Believe what you like but don't expect me to admire or excuse you because of it, rather the contrary, given the fairy stories in question. And when you are a danger to the lives and liberties of others, which alas is too frequently the wont of your ilk, we will speak out against you as loudly, persistently, and uncompromisingly as we can."

There is talk that Mrs. Palin's church was set afire because they promoted a Focus on the Family conference that was there to turn gay people straight. Your gayness can be overcome! What a crock of crap. If the church was set on fire because of this, I have to say that two wrongs don't make a right. It's sad that certain people of certain religions can't just love and accept everybody...isn't that what the Bible says to do? Hmm? And when someone feels they are being attacked, they may want to lash out but you have to stop and think, what will this accomplish? Usually nothing because the person/thing you're lashing out at isn't going to change. It continues to be a vicious circle and the only way to change the situation is to change your way of looking at it. I'm saddened anytime that I hear of predjudices whether they be religious, racial, sexual, financial (rich vs poor) or otherwise. Unfortunately, there will always be someone that wants to bully someone else. If only the bully could feel the pain they are inflicting. Emotional scars last far longer and go far deeper than physical scars.

Freedom of religion means any religion.

A friend of mine sent me an article the other day about a new religion course being taught in schools in Quebec. I'll wait while you read the article here. This is ridiculous. Why are these parents so appalled? Is it because their child might learn something new that makes more sense to them than the religion they were brought up with? Or are they thinking this may lead to their children questioning aspects of their faith that they (the parents) can't answer? Let's not forget that questioning aspects of a religion can mean that you're doubtful of what you've been following and may make you fall out of grace with others around you that are following that faith because questioning just isn't allowed. Whew, that was a long sentence. If these parents are so strong in their faith and feel their children are too, then they shouldn't be worried. It's just information that the child may not have known before. It doesn't mean that the school is trying to sway anyone. Technically, it's comparable to teaching an Irish student about Spanish history. It happens all the time and no one pitches a fit. But with anything religious, you gotta' tiptoe around it. Yeesh!

Seriously.

I was browsing a message board last night on the topic of atheism. Now, I'm not saying I am an Atheist but I will say that I'm not a Theist. I kind of like the term Non-Theist. It just seems more in line with what I believe, ahem, don't believe. Some people like to say they're Agnostic. I don't like that term because it just seems so wishy washy to me. I know we don't live in a black and white world but when it comes to something as big as "god" or whatever you like to call him/her, I think you should take a stand. Agnosticsm allows people to be on the fence. That's just my thought...take it or leave it.

To give you some background, I was raised Christian and even prayed to god up until about 6 months ago. No, nothing horrific happened that made me turn away from Christianity. I hadn't been a strict Christian for quite awhile and started researching other religions. I knew there had to be a religion out there that made sense to me and wasn't something I believed just because my parents did. After all of my research, I have come to two conclusions. There isn't a religion out there that makes sense to me and I no longer believe in a god. So there's my religious history in a nutshell.

To get back to the original reason for this post, I was on a message board last night for atheism. There was someone on there with a username of HEAVENCANTWAIT and they posted John 3:16 and 17 and said “Do not form an opinion of the Bible until you have read it for yourself. God is real, heaven is real and eternity lasts a long time. Why spend it in darkness when you can spend it in light and in paradise?”. Obviously they don’t realize that most Atheists HAVE read the Bible and have decided it’s a load of horse poo. What makes you say it’s all real? You have proof? But what really killed me was the first response to the post:

Subject: Ah i remember you.
Body: If heaven can’t wait, then why don’t you go there faster? Seriously.

LMAO!! Last time i checked, HEAVENCANTWAIT didn’t post again.