God Debates Atheist Lawyer Andrew Seidel
I interviewed hot-shot atheist lawyer Andrew Seidel, who works for the Freedom From Religion Foundation. We talked about his book 'The Founding Myth' which is about religion in the USA. I debated his claims that I don't exist, which are quite hurtful.
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Thor is hot.
Adventures In Babysitting movie has Thor and a 9 year old girl worshipping him day and night..
@Larry68Feminist You're not suggesting that Thor is as bad as Mohammad when it comes to the 'young stuff'??
@MsDemeanour back in the day it was common and it is still around today
@MsDemeanour the movie is funny ...Mohammed raped a 9 year old upon her wedding night.....2 very separate allusions to alleged gawds : Thor is NOT allah
Cute idea, but I couldn't sit through it . That was really annoying.
How the fuck there's someone speaking on my behalf??? Me, as a God, don't take this lightly....
Well, I as a bigger god than you don’t take you lightly! LOFL!
@yvilletom , Lol!!! Are we in a family of Gods who are outraged by this impostor talking in our behalf???
@yvilletom, @Paddypereira OUT of the way boys....I am Tiamat!
Tiamat gave birth to the world’s gods and created the earth.
Thanks for posting this. I just ordered his book.
I got it from library....never finished it. I returned so i can BUY it. This book needs to be on my bookshelf 24/7
I finished it a couple of weeks ago. Well worth the read. He does a wonderful job making the case that the founders wanted nothing to do with mixing religious dogma, in any form, in the foundation of the country.
I've seen this book mentioned here before but I've not read it. I would like to learn more, though my first reaction is not positive because I feel it is in direct opposition to the intent and mindset of the Founding Fathers. This is is just my initial reaction however. I do realize our Founding Fathers lived in a different age and some of the effects of that now do appear as relics. How much and exactly what, I do not know.
Has anyone here read it?
At 11:30 you get the "thesis of the book for 5 year olds - Christian nationalism is an existential threat to the Republic" See, that's where I am like wondering "WHAT?" Wondering what others thoughts and reactions are. I listened a little bit more. I do agree with some of his ideas, certainly not all, and I have only listened to a little bit. I wonder what the concluding idea is. Hopefully I will get to it soon.
You stated : "I feel it (the book) is in direct opposition to the intent and mindset of the Founding Fathers."
Why?
The intent of the Founders was the separation of Church and State; and Christian Nationalism is in direct contrast to that.
I was raised in Conservative/ Fundamentalist Christianity and I can attest to this.
They only want Democracy if the majority is voting how they think their god wants them to vote--otherwise it can be damned. This is why they support tRUMPf--no matter what he does.
He is not saying that Christianity should not be allowed--that people do not have the right to freely believe as they choose--ONLY that we were NOT founded on Christian principles--as Christian Fundamentalists claim-- and they hold no special status in this country.
I was raised to believe this and it is an absolute lie. And, Christianity held no special place in the minds of our founders. If anything--they feared it and its potential for abuse; and that is why they wanted a solid wall of separation between Church and State.
You can imply intent from experience and patterns. The two that come to mind are looking at the history of folks like Gouverneur Morris who penned most of the Constitution. He comes from Huguenot roots and was part of the Morris family which suffered backlash after Cromwell and contains a Graham ancestor who was drawn and quartered for being in one Christian sect rather than another. There is nothing in this that argues for "let's put the Christians in charge." Moreover, when you look at the intellectual progression from the Declaration of Independence to the Articles of Confederation and then the US Constitution there is a clear departure from mentioning god which runs contrary to the practices of the day. There is also a line of argument that believes that mention of god in the Declaration was less about beliefs and more about getting the document read from pulpits.
Another good read if you want to try and get a grasp on this : "One Nation Under God" by Kevin Kruse
I read it. I think he does a wonderful job of making the point that the values of the United States of America and the dogma of Christianity are not remotely equivalent.
@Joanne, @twill, @redbai, @bobbio52 Thanks for your reply. I just read an interview with the author and I am finding myself in agreement with him more than I expected to. I do agree in a high level of separation between church and state because it allows people to worship freely or not worship at all, a very neccessary component of a free society, but I do still think our nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values. Also, I can understand why the ideas presented in the book were presented and I think given our current political reality it is a neccessary perspective to examine and understand in more detail. Reading the book seems like a good way to do just that. I hope to read more.
@bobbio52 Thank you for including this detailed information I was not familiar with. Even if we put aside the Founding Fathers intent and look at the words of Abraham Lincoln, our nation's greatest, we see references to God in his addresses to the nation. I came across one of his speeches the other day , as I was looking something up, and he very clearly puts the references in no uncertain terms "God" and it is at this mention that his words seem the most profound, imo.
There is a big difference between a nation founded by Christians and a Christian nation. In terms of whether or not the US is founded on Christian principles, let's start with Democracy which is a Greek concept and never, ever mentioned in the Bible. The Bible is all about kings and monarchies which our country wanted to remove ourselves from. The Constitution allows Lincoln to mention God and also Theodore Roosevelt to be sworn in without a Bible. The Founding Fathers were smart guys and drew lessons from history and cultures. Our laws are combination of English and Roman traditions and some of the political theory comes from Norman attitudes which were influenced by Viking culture. Even the ten commandments only four of them made the cut and on and on...
@Flowerwall Have a look at the Treaty of Tripoli. In it, it states clearly that "the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."
And, references to God where NOT referring to the Judeo/Christian version of God--but rather a generic god, nature's god, a deist view of a god.
Our country was founded on secular values. Our founders did not believe in divine revelations. They thought that this generic"god" had endowed us with reason and expected us to use it--unlike much of Christianity that vilifies reason.
@Joanne I agree with the first half of your last sentence. I haven't read the book, so it's hard for me to pinpoint exactly where it is a disagree. I also agree with all references to God being open to interpretation of individual religious beliefs or absence of belief. I also liked the quote given by the author in the interview "Patriotism has no religion". This is a good point to remember - your duty is to separate the lines of thinking to uphold each to the highest possible standards remembering that who we are as a nation is built upon certain fundamental principles of tolerance and freedom that are unchanging. There certainly are boundaries on where those exist, definately. And the boundaries cannot be crossed without changing the core.
Also thanks for posting the treaty info. It is something to learn about.
I'm not sure when Jesus died and I'm also not sure he was "the Christ." It is certain that he did not spend 3 days dead if we assume he did live and died by crucifixion. Somebody cannot count time and "days" very well. At best, I agree with those who say he had a bad weekend.
Consider now that god hates sin and all the sins of the world were put upon Jesus. Some claim this is why he died so quickly and they forget that god allows him to "sit at his right hand." This is like a having a kid who fell in crap and you keep him beside you without cleaning him up. WTF?
As for America as a Christian Nation, believers of this nonsense forget that many types of people came to America and not everyone came here wanting freedom of religious practice. Dive into it all and it's a lame claim. If the myth is made "true" by government process your government has more control of you.
Thanks for posting this. Really enjoyed it.
I like Odin more than Thor and one part of that is because Odin is Thor's father A second is that Odin hung from a tree for nine days which is much longer than the Jeebus 36 hours, which believers try to say is 3 days.
Jesus Christ did not die on Friday; that's a Catholic fable. He was crucified at 9 AM on Wednesday, and buried before 6 PM Wednesday (which began the Jewish fifth day of the week). He rose sometime after 6 PM Saturday evening and before sunrise (6 AM) on Sunday.
www.quora.com
Who was keeping the time cards for all this???
They can't even get their shit straight.
I like Odin, too. Thor's just better looking.
Andrew Seidel is one of my favorite people, that I've never met.
Mine too. I love getting my FFRF paper each month to see what assholes Andrew has gone after!!