Trump voter claims that he would believe The Donald over Jesus Christ.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

A man who said he voted for President Trump in 2016 said on Monday that if Jesus Christ told him Trump colluded with Russia, he would still have to check with the president to see if it was true. 

“If Jesus Christ gets down off the cross and told me Trump is with Russia, I would tell him, 'Hold on a second. I need to check with the president if it's true,’” said Mark Lee, one of six Trump voters to appear on a CNN panel Monday morning. 

Lee said he believes in the president and his mission of “draining the swamp.” 

“Trump is there for the small guy; he’s there for people like myself,” Lee said. 

Lee described the “swamp” as “the mainstream, the elites that look down on a guy like me.”

Okay that is a level of brainwashing that you just don't see very often.

Damn, how does this guy not realize that Donald Trump is the poster child for the very "elites" that he clams looked down on a guy like him? 

Did the RNC suggest that Donald Trump was the second coming of Christ? On Christmas? Maybe.

#MerryChristmas pic.twitter.com/5GgDmJrGMS

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 25, 2016

The above was Trump's season greetings to his deplorable followers.(Yes I know he has decreed that we all say "Merry Christmas," that's why I didn't!)

As you might imagine he was mocked mercilessly over that tweet, as well he should have been.

@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/kX0nzR2ktt

— Orli Matlow (@HireMeImFunny) December 25, 2016

However even more disturbing was this message from the RNC:

In a holiday message sent out by the GOP, Reince Priebus, the outgoing RNC Chairman and incoming chief of staff, wished a "Merry Christmas to all!" 

"Over two millennia ago, a new hope was born into the world, a Savior who would offer the promise of salvation to all mankind. Just as the three wise men did on that night, this Christmas heralds a time to celebrate the good news of a new King," the message said. "We hope Americans celebrating Christmas today will enjoy a day of festivities and a renewed closeness with family and friends."

 "Just as the three wise men did on that night, this Christmas heralds a time to celebrate the good news of a new King."

 Say what?

Now I don't know about you but that seemed to say that not only does Donald Trump want to take ownership of the phrase "Merry Christmas," but that he would like to co-opt the entire season and make it all about him.

"Who needs that Jesus Christ dude now that you have a new savior in town?"

Spokesguy Sean Spicer was quick to correct the record.

Christ is the King. He was born today so we could be saved. Its sad & disappointing you are politicizing such a holy day. https://t.co/NEOkLNd1Mz

— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) December 25, 2016

Yeah, fuck us for simply using reading comprehension and NOT utilizing our Republican to English phrase book.

So according to this guy Donald Trump is NOT trying to replace Jesus in the hearts and minds of the American people.

At least no yet, but I think we all know that is on the agenda.

New game pits "Avenger Jesus" against Donald Trump, the Teabaggers, and Sarah Palin.

Courtesy of OC Weekly:

Defeating Donald Trump, Sarah Palin and the Westboro Baptist Church God Hates Fags crew on screen is not enough for the creators of Avenger Jesus: The Social Justice Mobile Game. 

The Avenger Jesus Game Series company is also taking aim at teabaggers and assorted Christian conservatives with sale proceeds and advertising revenues, the founders claim. 

"We are using right-wing tactics, pushing the bounds of free speech to further the cause for equality before it's too late" is how co-creator Joey DeLoach puts it in a company press release.

Money from the app will go to LGBT and women's groups among others.

This is of course a little silly, but in the past I have enjoyed playing some silly politically inspired video games, so maybe this one will catch on as well.

Besides who doesn't think that if there were a real Jesus, and he came back today, he would not be going after these assholes who drag his name through the mud with a vengeance?   

Best argument for being an Atheist that I have seen in a while.

Supporters of Catholic school basketball team chant "You killed Jesus" at Jewish opposing team members.

Courtesy of the National Post:  

An ugly thing happened at a high school basketball game in a suburb of Boston on Friday night. 

It occurred at a division title game between the all-boys Catholic Memorial School and the public Newton North High School, which has a large Jewish community of students. The game was held at Newton South High School, where an estimated 100 young men sitting in the student section cheering for Catholic Memorial shouted, “You killed Jesus, you killed Jesus,” according to several witnesses who asked not to be identified. Most of those chanting fans wore red shirts as a display of support for their team. Some of the witnesses, who were Jewish, said they found the chant alarming. 

One spectator who was shaken by the events — and who asked not to be identified — is a native of Skokie, Illinois, where in the mid-1970s, a controversy erupted when neo-Nazis wanted to march through the heavily Jewish town. Skokie officials tried to stop it but lost the case in court. This spectator, whose parents are survivors of World War II concentration camps, said, “I can’t believe it,” she said. “I just can’t believe it.”

Nothing like religion to bring people together, don't you think?

From his Oregon jail cell Ammon Bundy says he misses his family, but says standoff was worth it.

Courtesy of Oregon Live:  


He hung his head and talked softly when he described how hard it is being away from his wife and children. 

"We are in here locked away and our families are trying to survive, and they're struggling out there especially when we were the primary breadwinners,'' he said. "My babies are at home. My beautiful wife is at home. Everything is at risk right now for us, as far as our income, our house. But we have to ask ourselves – was it worth it? I believe it was.''

Bundy says that he reads scripture each day and then shares them during his nightly 15 minute phone call with his family.

He also claims that he takes inspiration from the words of Martin Luther King Jr..

You know if he were really paying attention to the teachings of Christ and the words of MLK he might realize that what he did was against EVERYTHING they stood for.

While Jesus, as he is described in the Bible, might have been cool with a peaceful protest, it is highly unlikely that he would have given his blessing to allowing those protesters to bring automatic weapons to the standoff with them.

And as for Martin Luther King Jr., can we even imagine how differently the civil rights movement would have turned out if the marchers in Selma had been brandishing firearms?

We STILL would not have equal rights in this country.

No what Ammon and his idiot friends fail to understand is that showing up ready to kill, means that you are also showing up ready to lose your freedom or your life. And that after the fact the only people who will feel sympathy for your cause are the same ignoramuses who also read words of peace and interpret them as declarations of war.

You have to admit, it must have been tough.

Sarah Palin's book promotion goes from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Courtesy Anarchy Oakley's Facebook page:

JESUS WOULD FIGHT FOR OUR SECOND AMENDMENT 

Taking concrete defense measures (ie. arming ourselves) away from the good guys? Yeah... that... we don't want that.

Jesus would fight for our second amendment?

Has she even read the book she is plagiarizing?

Is this the man who would fight for the 2nd Amendment?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[a] 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. Matthew 5:38.

Or this man?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Matthew 5:43-44.

Because that's the man who the religion that Palin claims to adhere to is named after.

I find it beyond ironic that I would feel the need to defend Christianity, but let's face it this woman, and MANY of the loudest voices seeking to represent her religion, seem to HAVE no idea about it's central theme.

But here's a hint.

I does NOT involve shooting first and asking questions later.

You know as an Atheist I would love to give all of the credit for people leaving the church on the fact that we have access to more information and are better educated today than in years past.

However the truth is that it is exactly people like Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and Ted Cruz who wrap themselves in the cloak of Christianity, while preaching messages of hate and divisiveness, that is causing people to run screaming from the religion in droves.

So I guess for that I should tha.....I should than....I should offer Palin my tha.....you know what I'm trying to say.

After all she is unwittingly doing a public service, while trying with all her might to do something completely different.

Much like she tried to help reform the Republican party and instead damn near destroyed it.

P.S. Oh yeah I almost forgot, Palin also linked to this parody song attacking the President over his calls for gun control. I assume that Billy Joel will be contacting his lawyers later today. 

If you think Ben Carson the man is kind of bizarre, you should take a look at his house.

Aw what now?

Courtesy of the Guardian:  

The decor at Ben Carson’s home in Maryland shows that Donald Trump may not have the biggest ego among the Republican candidates. On display are awards, certificates, medals, and a painting of himself with Jesus.

This is that picture of Ben and his homie Jesus.

Seriously WHO has a picture painted of themselves with Jesus?

Not to nitpick, but isn't that supposed to be "proverbs" 22:4?

I guess Ben was too busy learning how to cut open human brains to learn anything about spelling.

There are many more photos at the link which show that Carson's home is literally covered with certificates, photos, and medals all paying homage to his greatness.

Speaking of proverbs wasn't there one in the Bible about pride and a fall?

By the way this is his wife Candy Carson.

(Be nice.)

And of course there are still more of Carson's lies coming to light almost on an hourly basis now.

At this point I think Carson's goose is cooked.

Or at least it should be.

But then again attempting to predict what the loons in the Right Wing might do in response to these revelations is becoming just about impossible.

Texas family argues that they do not have to really teach their children anything while homeschooling them because Jesus is coming.

"Oh thank God, now I don't have to finish my homework."

Courtesy of KRGV: 

Laura McIntyre began educating her nine children more than a decade ago inside a vacant office at an El Paso motorcycle dealership she ran with her husband and other relatives. 

Now the family is embroiled in a legal battle the Texas Supreme Court hears next week that could have broad implications on the nation's booming home-school ranks. The McIntyres are accused of failing to teach their children educational basics because they were waiting to be transported to heaven with the second coming of Jesus Christ. 

At issue: Where do religious liberty and parental rights to educate one's own children stop and obligations to ensure home-schooled students ever actually learn something begin?

Well the woman has a point.

After all if she teaches her children facts, they may not be so easily manipulated by her iron age superstitious nonsense.

People have literally been waiting for the return of Jesus Christ for over two thousand years. Putting their lives on hold, terrifying their children with stories of the Rapture, ignoring Climate Change, and refusing to learn anything that might refute their faith that this life is nothing except a stepping stone to the eternal life which awaits them.

This is child abuse, plain and simple.

Still one of my all time favorite Presidents and Christians.

Source

This is a man who lived his faith instead of using it as a blunt instrument to attack others.

Perhaps the only Sunday school class I would attend voluntarily.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

Larger-than-usual crowds of well-wishers meant former President Jimmy Carter had to teach an extra Bible class at his rural Georgia church and a local schoolhouse on Sunday, after he announced on Thursday cancer had spread to his brain. 

Carter, 90, a lifelong Baptist and church deacon, has taught Sunday school for decades, and the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, is used to a throng. 

The church’s website asks people to line up before 9:00 a.m. and attend an orientation before the 10 a.m. class. 

The theme of the lesson was love, Carter told the 300 people who filled the church’s sanctuary, after briefly alluding to his health. 

“We are studying the most important aspect of Christianity,” he said, and read from the Sermon on the Mount in the Book of Matthew: “I say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

The article goes on to say that Carter taught a second Sunday school lesson so that those who could not attend the first were not left out. And then afterward he posed for pictures with well wishers for over half an hour.

You know along with the great Fred Rogers, Jimmy Carter is one of those people who literally embodies his Christian teachings.  Mr. Rogers was also a Sunday school teacher, and by EVERY account was as wonderful in private as we was on TV.

Jimmy Carter is also a great example of Christianity done right.

It really is too bad that there are so many out there using Christianity as an excuse to hate, or as camouflage to cover for their bad intent.

If there were more Jimmy Carters (And of course Mr. Rogers) serving as examples for their faith in the world, I bet there would also be fewer Christians leaving the fold.

And remember, this is an Atheist saying that.

Pat Robertson suggests grandparent get grandchild away from atheist parent. Oh yeah, that's a good plan.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

“Pat, I am very concerned because this past weekend my 6-year-old grandson said his dad told him God and Jesus were not real and were just made up to scare people about dying,” a viewer named Elizabeth explained to Robertson in an email. 

Elizabeth said that she tried to “explain the truth” to her grandson but he wouldn’t believe her. 

“I’m worried for my grandson’s soul,” she wrote. 

“You should be,” Robertson agreed. “If there’s any way you can get that child away from that… His father telling him that. I don’t know, but if there’s any way you can get him enrolled in a Christian school or get him into some, you know, they have daily vacation Bible school and things.” 

“There’s all kinds of things you could do to kind of get him into some positive influences,” he noted.

What Pat Robertson really wanted to say: "Yes if there were any way you could get this child away from their parent so that you could indoctrinate them into your stone age superstitious nonsense that would be great. Oh and don't forget to send me money!"  

I mean sure taking the child from his home might potentially traumatize them, and secretly enrolling him in a Christian summer camp would undoubtedly screw up this grandmother's relationship with the boy's father, but does any of that really count when there is even one child who might be using that Satanic critical thinking voodoo?

Remember if you do not get them young it becomes increasingly difficult to convince them to buy into your bullshit.

NBC cancels Mark Burnett's Christian propaganda.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter:  

NBC has decided not to continue A.D. The Bible Continues. 

The series opened to high expectations but was not an out-of-the-box ratings hit like History Channel's record-setting The Bible. From producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, the Universal Television drama is a rare miss for the mega-producers, and came in a season in which religious-themed fare, including CBS' Dovemakers mini, failed to lure live viewers. 

Let's face it, the viewing public is just not that into Jesus anymore.

Besides there is some rather impressive competition.

For instance there have been two recent Hercules movies, one starring The Rock, and he's a half god as well.

And then of course there is Thor who is not only a full on god, but also a member of the Avengers whose second movie broke all kinds of box office records.

I mean let's face it if, for your modernized versions of ancient mythologies, you had to choose between this..

...and this. Which would you choose?

After all we are now living in the 21st century, so if we are going to be confronted by primitive religious beliefs they should at least have a "wow factor."

Excellent point.

Millenials love Einstein more than Jesus, and hate George W. Bush more than Joseph Stalin. Well good for them!

Courtesy of the Daily Mail: 

George W Bush has gone down in history as one of the world's most evil people, just behind Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden. 

The former president beat Stalin, Mao and Lenin as a figure of hate in a new study of history's biggest heroes and villains. 

Albert Einstein, meanwhile, beat Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King and even Jesus Christ to be crowned the world's biggest hero. 

This is according to the opinions of almost 7,000 students from 37 countries including Argentina, Pakistan, South Korea, Italy, and the US. 

The students, who had an average age of 23, were asked to give their opinions on 40 figures and significant events throughout world history. 

Interestingly enough the historical figures more despised than Bush were Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, and Adolph Hitler. Great company you keep there Georgie! (Can you believe his brother actually thinks he might be elected to the White House?)

Personally I was a little disappointed to see that Jesus beat out Buddha for biggest hero, and that President Obama was nowhere on the list.

I found this study particularly interesting in that the sampling was from all over the world, and that it was focused on a fairly young population.

This indicates to me that these young people are less religious, more inspired by science (Thomas Edison and Sir Isaac Newton also made the top ten.), and totally fed up with dictators and their wars.

In other words they are moving toward a more peaceful coexistence based on a love of logic, and away from the constant state of warfare dictated by an adherence to religious doctrines.

If true that is very good news indeed.

Michele Bachmann predicts that President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran will usher in the Apocalypse.

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

In a radio interview last week, Bachmann, the former Minnesota Republican congresswoman, told "End Times" host Jan Markell, “We need to realize how close this clock is getting to the midnight hour.” 

“We in our lifetimes potentially could see Jesus Christ returning to earth and the rapture of the church,” Bachmann said. “We see the destruction, but this was a destruction that was foretold.” 

Bachmann cited the Obama administration’s nuclear negotiations with Iran as a cause. The U.S. and five partner nations are discussing a deal with Iran that would prevent the country from developing or obtaining nuclear weapons. 

“We are literally watching, month by month, the speed move up to a level we’ve never seen before with these events," Bachmann said. "Barack Obama is intent. It is his number one goal to ensure that Iran has a nuclear weapon.” 

Later in the interview, Bachmann again tied her rapture prediction to Obama’s foreign policy. 

“If you look at the president’s rhetoric, and if you look at his actions, everything he has done has been to cut the legs out of Israel and lift up the agenda of radical Islam,” she said.

So color me confused. Is this considered a good thing by Bachmann or a bad thing?

After all fundamentalist Christians like Bachmann can hardly wait to throw their granny panties at Jesus, and according the the Bible he can't show up until the Anti-Christ, which in this case I assume is Obama, starts some great war in the Middle East.

So does this mean that Bachmann, who previously freaked out about Obama starting World War 3, is now cool with Obama's Iran deal now?

Like I said, confusing.

Look who finally rolled back the rock to emerge and join the living.

Posted on Palin's Facebook page.

The only text was "Happy Easter." Gee she might have actually posted this all on her own.

I guess the question "Is there anything that Palin will not use to raise money for her PAC?" has now been answered.

"Hey, a gal's gotta eat!"

It's Easter so let's talk about another book purporting to disprove the existence of Jesus. (It's like an IM tradition.)

The author's name is David Fitzgerald, his book "Jesus Mything in Action" will be out later this year, and this is a portion of his argument courtesy of the Daily Mail:

'There is a paradox that Jesus did all these amazing things and taught all these amazing things yet no one heard of him outside his immediate cult for nearly 100 years. 

'Or it means he didn't do all these things at all. 

'The first gospel of Christianity appears to have been a literary allegory that were written decades after the time they portray. 

'I believe that Christianity started as one of the many mystery faiths that appeared at the time where old Gods and old traditions were rebooted. 

'Christianity appears to have been a Jewish mystery faith. 

'By the time of Paul there appears to have been plenty of different "Lord's suppers" as he complains about the existence of other gospels and messiahs. 

'It appears that early Christianity managed to take the stories from these other faiths and incorporate them into the story of Jesus.' 

Mr Fitzgerald said: 'There is nothing implausible to think that Jesus was a real person, but I just don't think that he can have been a single person if he existed at all. 

'We also have no mention of Jesus in other historical texts from the time. There were certainly people writing about Judea at the time like Philo of Alexandria. 

'During this period there were many other messiahs and wannabe messiahs who did far less exciting things than Jesus, but all of them managed something Jesus did not - to make a dent on the historical record. 

'Two billion people believe all these miracles happened yet there is no evidence they did.'

If you are anything like me you have probably heard most of these arguments before. In fact a number of them have appeared right here on IM many times in the past.

However there have been new discoveries since I first started writing here, such as the fact there is no archeological evidence to support the exodus from Egypt, Egyptians never even kept Jews as slave,  increased scrutiny of the Bible, and new questions about the historicity of Jesus, all of which is being disseminated at an ever increasing rate over the internet.

It seems that each new scientific revelation takes us further and further away from the Biblical explanations provided to us by our Sunday school teachers. 

I personally have been working on a post that would demonstrate the logical infallibility supporting the idea of the supernatural. In a nutshell since everything that can be observed, weighed, or quantified is by definition a part of the natural world, then everything, regardless of how miraculous or magical is may seem, is simply a natural phenomena that we have not yet managed to put under our metaphoric microscope.

Remember the Arthur C. Clarke quote, "Magic is just science that we don't understand yet."

With that realization in mind one can simply no longer entertain the possibility of a supernatural entity being responsible for ANYTHING. Therefore no gods, and of course no son of said gods.

I actually have no problem with the idea of faith, I just believe it to be displaced.

We are far better served to direct our faith not toward the gods of mythology, whether Christian or otherwise, but rather towards humanity. Because ultimately it is faith in what we can achieve together that will ensure our survival as a species.

And I believe to survive as a species we are going to have to suppress our need to identify our differences, be they gender, race, religion, or geographic location, and instead see ourselves as one people, on one planet, looking toward a shared vision for our future.

Just something to keep in mind this Easter Sunday.