The King

Elvis Aaron Presley is still alive. He is busy working on new music: his new album comes out soon and his comeback will be amazing. Are you ready? 

Elvis and I communicate daily. He hears me speak and even hears my thoughts. He sometimes grants my wishes: he can do anything, because, you know, he's Elvis.

We should all be preparing for the King's imminent comeback. The people in our lives who have passed on have gone to be with Elvis, and we will all be together someday... in My Blue Heaven.

My belief Elvis lives is not based on science. It is a faith-based belief. Believing Elvis is alive gives my life meaning. His music and films form my life's moral foundation. I can't imagine living in a world without Elvis. 

Scapegoat

In ancient Middle Eastern cultures, thousands of years ago, people transferred their wrongdoings to goats. People then set the goats free into the wilderness to die miserable deaths of thirst and starvation. This somehow cleansed people of their responsibilities and wrongdoings, or so they thought. This notion of the escaping goat gave us the English word we know today as "scapegoat."

The idea that wrongdoings could be atoned for by the murder of innocent beings was a central theme in many ignorant, backward Middle Eastern cultures. Given all we know today, can our wrongdoings really be cleansed away by murdering innocent goats or anything else? If so, and crucially, is it moral for us to attempt to avoid personal responsibility by having innocent beings tortured and murdered on our behalves?

It does not appear possible for us to cast our responsibilities onto goats or anyone or anything else. And it is a good thing it does not appear possible. Personal responsibility forms the basis for all morality. We must be responsible for our own actions if we are to live morally. The thought that we could somehow cast our own wrongdoings onto an innocent being to be tortured and murdered is both ridiculous and horrific. I do not authorize anyone or anything to be tortured or murdered due to my misdeeds. As an able and competent adult, complaints about my behavior should be addressed to me and me alone.

Justice?

Ali is a loving husband and father who lives in a small-town in India. Ali is a hard-working physician and philanthropist who gives his time and money to his family, to charities and to strangers. He has never seriously wronged anyone in his entire life. Like almost all Indians, Ali was born into a Hindu family. Ali worships Hindu gods and has several altars to Hindu gods in his family's home. Ali has heard of Christianity but has never met a Christian.

Bob is a confessed violent pedophile and child murderer. He spent his adult life preying on children before being apprehended by the police. Bob currently sits on death row in Texas. He is scheduled to die in 2015. Bob tells people he was recently "born again": he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

What if we view these 2 men in light of the Christian Bible (Hebrew Bible plus "New" Testament)? According to the Christian Bible, after death those with a belief in Christ's divinity have their sins forgiven and enjoy eternal paradise. Those without a belief in Christ's divinity burn alive in eternal hellfire. Ali burns in hell forever. Bob goes to Heaven to be with Jesus... and all the children Bob victimized.

One thing should be clear: Christianity is not concerned with moral accountability. Fortunately there is no evidence of eternal paradises, eternal hellfires or books written by invisible gods. There is only life and death, time and death being the ultimate change agents. Ali will live a long, comfortable life with his wife, children and grandchildren. Bob will suffer at his fellow inmates' hands and then die of lethal injection. And then, from everything we can tell, they will both be dead, just like everything else that has ever lived.

Family Values?

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:25-26

What Would Jesus Drive?

This beautiful Mercedes Benz CL500 was parked in Austin, Texas -- on a parking stripe, basically taking up 2 spaces. The after-market black wheels and tires were sharp and expensive. The lone bumper sticker read: Jesus, I trust in You.

The CL500's retail price is about $90,000. That people can justify wealth accumulation with Christian faith is fascinating. To me, the phrase "wealthy Christian" is a contradiction in terms. What do wealthy Christians think when they read a passage like Matthew 19:24: "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."? How can they miss one of Jesus's core messages: Love the poor? The New Testament makes it seem like Christians should be almost Socialist in their charity and service to the poor. And yet Christian Republicans are frequently those who most fiercely oppose social programs for the poor, citing the corresponding cost.

Horrific Violence Breeds Horrific Violence

What would you do if someone instructed you to murder your child as a show of loyalty? Grab your child and run? Call the police? Or would you be loyal and do it?

Christians young and old are taught to honor Abraham for being willing to murder his only son, Isaac, at God’s request. What kind of parent would really do that? 

Religious people so often say that violent scripture is just an illustration of the real point -- a parable -- and that we need to read deeper to get the real meaning. The problem with interpretation: everyone's is different. And the Bible and Quran are often interpreted by psychopaths as instructions to kill innocent people.

For example, Andrea Yates drowned her 5 young children in their bathtub in Houston, Texas in 2001. A devout Christian, Ms. Yates read the Bible feverishly, and she and her husband "home-churched" their children three times a week. Amazingly, Yates was on firm scriptural ground when she murdered her children. Just like Abraham, when Yates felt that God required her to kill her children, she did it without question. Yates apparently takes a literal view of Christian scripture, and who can blame her? If you really believe that the perfect word of the loving creator of the universe is right there in black and white, who are you to question it? Some devout believers will do anything they believe gods are instructing them to do.

Be Healed!

Demon possession and sin as sources of sickness are described as actual problems in the Bible, and it takes fancy intellectual footwork on a reader’s part to not recognize that. Most people laugh at Benny Hinn and other faith-healers, but the Christian Bible is on Benny's side.

It’s time we be clear: Jesus claimed to be a faith-healer, and much of his ministry allegedly involved casting out demons. Here are just two examples of the dozens of passages about demon possession in the Christian Bible (Hebrew Bible plus "New" Testament). Isn't it interesting that none of these miracles left behind any evidence that we can actually verify today? Is that the only reason some people still believe these myths? These days, why do we generally require evidence in order to believe peoples' claims about faith healing? 


[Jesus "heals" a young man apparently suffering from epilepsy:]
Matthew Chapter 17

14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him.
15 "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.
16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."
17 "O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me."
18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.

Mark Chapter 1
23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out,
24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!"
25 "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!"
26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.