The topic of this episode of The Big Question is a discussion concerning how the UK recently passed a ruling saying that humanist marriages are not to considered a legal form of matrimony in the country, while in Scotland, which embraced humanist marriages since 2005, they now outnumber Catholic weddings.
But things quickly go off the rails with the introduction of Taiwo Adewuyi, founder of the group Discuss Jesus. (Though to be honest it does not sound like he wants to rationally discuss ANYTHING.)
Courtesy of Raw Story:
Host Nicky Campbell presented Adewuyi, who said humanist weddings are “entirely demonic.”
“It all goes back to the origins of humanism,” Adewuyi said. “Humanism is the cancer on thanks-giving. It is the Devil’s PR. It is a first-class ticket to the sea of wantonness and debauchery.”
Humanism, he said, tries to “knock God off the throne” and put mankind at the top instead, which Adewuyi claims is wrong.
Andrew Copson of the British Humanist Association responded, “Well, if you’re going to wantonness and debauchery, you might as well travel first class.”
“Humanism,” he explained, “is a nonreligious world view that — instead of looking to revelation or authority, we look to reason and evidence to understand the universe. Instead of looking to moral rules that come from outside human beings, we look to other human beings to generate values in the here and now and also to generate meaning in our life.”
“Instead of looking externally for some meaning to give value and sanction to the existence we’re having, the humanist view is that men and women in the course of our lives create the sustained meaning together,” Copson said.
Okay I am not terribly familiar with this Andrew Copson fellow but I found his explanation of humanism to be very satisfying.
And this in a nutshell is how many people in the religious right characterize those of us who are living our lives free of religion or oppressive dogma.
Everything to them is black or white, right or wrong, good or evil. And if you are not one of them, believing exactly as they do, then you are an agent of Satan and you, and your dangerous ideas, must be rejected out of hand.
And the struggle continues.
Back in the 70's. my future mother-in-law, who spent her days watching the 700 Club, ranted and railed against 'those secular humanists' taking over the public schools. I was young, and did;t see any evidence of anyone doing anything but trying to teach us to be civil human beings with some grasp of history, government, and science, and being able to write and speak as if we were intelligent. Yes, we had to do all our research from BOOKS in the library, and use notecards and everything to back up our sources. I even made outlines for every paper I ever wrote. Those were the days..those 'humanists' sure knew how to teach. Now, we have more people determined to inject their religion into our schools, and instead of teaching kids to respect one another, they want them to fear God? Instead of teaching spelling and grammar, they want to debunk 500 years of science? And then they dare to blame liberals and 'humanists' for the decline. 'Cause God and Jesus are the only belief system that matters.
ReplyDeleteI have to wonder how all these Catholics in Britain know who is a humanist anyway? Aren't people allowed to forego the huge expense of a church wedding and just have a civil ceremony? MYOB, Catholics. And Libertarians. And Fundamentalists.
Just As We Suspected: Plenty Of Child P*rn Found At The Vatican
ReplyDeletehttp://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/02/05/just-as-we-suspected-plenty-of-child-prn-found-at-the-vatican/
sad, but not surprising.
DeleteYou correct in asserting that they view everything as black or white right or wrong, and somehow they always see themselves as being in the "right" category regardless of their actions. I think it gives them some sick sense of superiority above the rest of us humans....
ReplyDeleteMy new bumper sticker: "Yes, I'm an agent of Satan! Ask me how!"
ReplyDeleteThat British Christian said "The Bible talks about Lucifer, whose name is the Devil." He doesn't know what is in his own scripture. The only time Lucifer is used in the KJV it is a reference to the Morning Star, the planet Venus. It is only misguided tradition that conflates Lucifer with Devil. Lucifer used to be a good Christian name as there is a record of a third century Bishop named Lucifer. So the guy is an idiot right there.
ReplyDeleteNow here's an example of an arrogant 'christian' attitude. Geesh.
ReplyDeleteChristian Missionary Disappointed That Africa Isn’t the Hellhole She Was Hoping For
...I have absolutely no problem with her not knowing what to expect.
But discouragement at the reality of the situation? Frustration?
It’s as if she’s unhappy everyone isn’t dirt-poor and sick, just waiting for her and Jesus to come along and save them.
How selfish must you be to feel disappointment that a foreign city isn’t plunged in poverty?
It makes me wonder what the purpose of her trip was. To help people who really don’t need anything she can offer? To take a selfie with some hungry black children in order to get a bunch of Likes on Facebook? Did she seriously go on a mission trip to Nairobi without doing any research whatsoever about the people who live there?
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/02/04/christian-missionary-disappointed-that-africa-isnt-the-hellhole-she-was-hoping-for/
it didn’t happen like I thought it would...
...My heart was prepared for dirt floors.
For dirty laundry hanging everywhere.
For kids that were half naked and covered in bug bites.
People who couldn’t speak English.
not this
https://jestidwell.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/it-didnt-happen-like-i-thought-it-would/
He showed his ass by demonstrating the level of manners he has.
ReplyDeleteBut that also is typical of those fanatical fringe believers. If it even HINTS they are losing ground in any discussion, they interrupt, they scoff, they laugh at the speaker and they ENDLESSLY repeat their same stupid argument - especially when their "opponent" is quiet and reasonable and polite. They take THAT as a sign of weakness.
This is one of my favorite takedowns:
ReplyDeletehttp://egbertowillies.com/2015/02/03/one-handles-moralizing-bible-thumpers-video/
New movie that has right wingers all wee-weed up:
ReplyDeleteThe movie covers the period in which Jesus wanders the desert for 40 days, and is a parable to tell the internal discussion which the central figure of the Christian faith had while alone for weeks by himself. To tell this story, he purposefully took lead actor Ewan McGregor and cast him as both Jesus Christ and as his alter-ego, Satan. And it is that last detail which has critics upset.
http://www.lastdaysinthedesert.com/
http://www.charismanews.com/culture/48125-blasphemous-film-claims-satan-is-jesus-alter-ego
Was this happening as Obama was talking about religion at his Prayer Breakfast?
ReplyDelete