Re: Why I Hate the Phrase: “True Christians Don’t Do That!”

Link to the Article

I actually liked this article. The author raises a good point. Every brand of Christian thinks they are right and others are wrong in some way or another. That's fine. That doesn't mean there is no correct way. The authenticity of one's adherence to the teachings of Christ will be determined at the right time. It won't be me, nor will it be this author. The author writes, "There is no way to determine which denomination is following the bible the correct way. There is no one correct way to follow Christ. If there was 40,000+ different denominations wouldn’t exist." That is a presumption. There was one group once upon a time, then there were two and then more. That was because groups started to degrade the original teaching of one church. The Church, made up of fallible and broken individuals can make mistakes and they have at times. That fact does not negate that God exists and that he established a church, outside of which there is no salvation.

Laurence Gonzaga
6.16.15

Re: Cursed are the Meek, for They Dream of Being Enslaved

Link to Article

1. You can't just take one passage to make your point. Obviously, not all Christians have been, are, and will be, meek. But it would be convenient to make the author's point that Christians are only made up of gullible ignoramuses. 
2. The idea that a bunch of men with power came together and cooked up the Jesus story and then managing to impose that on an entire group of people to systematically enslave their minds is rather unlikely. I'm not sure how you could even begin to prove such a theory other than simply asserting it as fact.
3. The author writes, "They believe those obviously made-up fairy tales because when they were very young they were taught not how to think but what to think, and were warned on pain of unimaginable eternal torment never to doubt what they were taught." If it were that obvious then how does one explain how Christians become atheists. IQ doesn't magically change because a person get's butt hurt and now has a philosophical axe to grind against religion. Atheists also become Christians or religionists, so how does the author explain that? Maybe they lose IQ points, as a result of PTSD perhaps. 
4. This article was nice poetry. Perfect for all atheist conspiracy theorists. 

Laurence Gonzaga

6.16.15

Re: God Isn’t Real but the Devil Is: Childhood’s End and Five Years of Hell

Article

This was a good piece to read. Abuse is nothing to ignore. Anyone who suspects abuse should address it to the proper people and/or authorities. Of course, use your best judgement. The only thing I can criticize about an article such as this is that it is used as a way of arguing against the existence of God. What happened to this young girl and now woman was terrible and the one responsible needs to answer for his crimes. However this:

I now know that God did not “let” this happen to me because God does not exist. No God would allow something like that to happen to a child.

... is a leap in logic. Tragedies do not disprove the existence of God. It may disprove certain ideas of God, but could not in itself disprove his existence.

Laurence Gonzaga
6.16.15