Bible scholar writes book pointing out that what you think the Bible says, it not at all what it says.

Bible scholar Dr. Joel M. Hoffman has written a new book entitled "The Bible Doesn't Say That: 40 Biblical Mistranslations, Misconceptions, and Other Misunderstandings" which reveals that what many people take as gospel, is anything but.

Here are a few examp0les courtesy of Chron:  

The Bible Doesn't Call Homosexuality A Sin 

Only three biblical passages address homosexuality directly. And while they frown on some male homosexual behavior, they do not condemn all of homosexuality, and they do not call it a sin. 

So it's a double mistake to say that "the Bible calls homosexuality a sin." 

The Ten Commandments Don't Prohibit Coveting 

The word "covet" in "thou shalt not covet" is a translation mistake. The original Hebrew verb here, CHAMAD, means "to take," a fact we learn by looking at how the word is used in context is that some things are not just illegal but also immoral. 

The mistranslation "thou shalt not covet" wrongly suggests that feelings might be immoral, while the original text only addresses actions. 

The Bible Doesn't Contradict Evolution 

Some modern critics of the Bible claim that you can't believe the Bible if you think evolution is right, and some modern Bible readers say that you can't believe evolution if you think the Bible is right. 

Both groups have misunderstood the Bible. What they don't grasp is that most of the stories in Genesis were not meant to be history. 

One of the ways we know is that there are, in fact, two creation stories --- one in which Eve is created from Adam's rib, the other in which Adam and Eve are created at the same time. They can't both be historically accurate, and they were not intended to be. 

Rather, evolution is a scientific truth and the creation stories in the Bible are religious truths. And sometimes "believing the Bible" means believing that a story in it didn't happen. 

"Biblical Marriage" Lets Men Marry More Than One Wife 

"Biblical marriage" is a hot topic, but even a quick look at biblical marriage shows that it's not what most people think. 

According to both the Old Testament and the New Testament, most men are allowed to have lots of wives at once -- the exceptions being kings (who according to Deuteronomy 17 can only have a few wives) and some religious leaders (who according to 1 Timothy can only have one). 

Biblical marriage does not have be between only one man and one woman. 

The Bible Doesn't Forbid Abortion 

There's one direct mention of losing a fetus in the Bible, and that's in Exodus 21. The Hebrew isn't entirely clear, but the question there seems to be: What happens if a man accidentally causes a woman's miscarriage? 

The normal eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth rule won't work, because the man doesn't have a fetus to match the woman's lost fetus. 

The answer is that the man has to pay a fine. Because a fine is never the penalty for murder, we learn that, according to the Bible, abortion is not murder. Other than that, the Bible offers no guidance about abortion. 

There is of course quite a lot more, but you get the gist.

One of my go to rules for understanding the Bible is to never ask for clarification from priests, ministers, nuns, or even Christians.

Most of them are salespeople trying to sell a product. They only care about a truth that helps them to achieve that goal, not actual truth itself.

It is hard to imagine that a book which has had such incredible impact on humanity is so poorly understood by the majority of humans.

But then again, we don't have to imagine it do we?

CBS Sunday Morning aired a pretty good segment on Atheists in America.

I get asked sometimes why I insist on talking about religion and openly talk about being an Atheist.

I think this news segment might help to explain that.

You see somebody has to help to change the image of the Atheist as a person who hates God, lives a life of sin, and is somehow being influenced by Satan.

The fact is that the vast majority of us are simply people who have come to realize that the arguments for the existence of God are paper thin and do not stand up to scrutiny. While also believing that more people should scrutinize them.

We are essentially like everybody else.

There are honorable, and dishonorable Atheists.

Kind and unkind Atheists.

Loving and emotionally distant Atheists.

Wealthy and poverty stricken Atheists.

The only real difference between us and those who are religious is that we recognize the difference between believing something, and knowing something.

And for the more well adjusted among us the fact that we cannot yet know everything, that there is no comforting explanation for the universe and our place within it, is both exhilarating and inspiring.

(H/T to The Friendly Atheist.)

Watching this literally fills me with joy.

If we could only shed ourselves of our crippling insecurities, and shake off the chains of superstition, just imagine how much farther we would be down the path of understanding.

Everyday we should ask ourselves what we want to learn today.

And the answer should always come back "Everything."

Through the Wormhole presents: "Did we invent God, or did God invent us?"

"If God exists ONLY inside our brains, that does not mean God is not real. Our brains are where reality crystallizes for us."

I LOVE that quote! 

In many ways it says it all when it comes to arguing the existence of God. 

I really like the way that they approached the question, essentially mapping out WHY humans feel the need to identify and communicate with non-existent entities, and how that may have helped us to rationalize our world and develop into the critical thinking species that we are today.

I guess my question would be, does continuing to believe in a supernatural presence help us, or does it hold us back from evolving even further?

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Ego and our cosmic perspective.

I think that Professor Tyson really nails it here.

Ego is really the biggest obstacle to recognizing scientific truth about our origin and the reality of our place in the cosmos.

After all if you believe that everything around you was created simply for your benefit, and that you yourself were created in God's image, why would you want to believe otherwise?

I'm sure you have seen Fundamentalists who get EXTREMELY agitated at the idea that man evolved from a monkey. And correcting them by telling them that man did not evolve directly from the modern chimpanzee but rather that they both share a common ancestor, and in fact also share a common ancestor that once dwelled in the oceans, only agitates them further.

In truth it is a matter of perspective. I once had a friend tell me, back when I used to feel obligated to challenge people's faith on daily basis, that the problem was I was trying to offer them truth in exchange for eternal life. Which in fact was like trying to feed a starving man a breadcrumb when they just knew there was an all you can eat buffet awaiting them over the horizon.

To me the idea of being part of this universe and having the ability to bask in its magnificence while exulting in our increased understanding of it, makes me feel blessed. Not by a God, but simply due to my existence, and the intellect to appreciate it.

I think that if we are going to make progress with our understanding we have to stop being so damn selfish, and recognize that the beauty of our existence is in its connection to everything else, NOT in our toddler like expectation that everything we experience was given to us for being special and unique.

Thoughts?

P.S. By the speaking of Professor Tyson you have to see this awesome new trailer for his upcoming Cosmos series.  Prepare for awesomeness.

Religion done right: Two gay students, attending an all boys Catholic school, will be allowed to attend their junior high prom as a couple.

The boys attend McQuaid Jesuit High School, in Brighton, New York.

Apparently the young men had asked permission, probably expecting their request to be rejected, to attend their prom openly as a couple, rather than to go seperately and hide who they are.

Initial reports were that the school had rejected their request, resulting in a flurry of angry social media posts, but that turned out to be premature.

Instead school president, Father Edward Salmon, decided that they had the right to enjoy their junior prom just like every other student.

He also chose to issue this response on Wednesday to any parents or students who may have a problem with his decision:  

March 27, 2013 

Dear Sisters and Brothers of our McQuaid Jesuit Community: 

Our new Holy Father, Pope Francis, in the homily for his Inaugural Mass, had encouraging and inviting words: "Today amid so much darkness we need to see the light of hope and to be men and women who bring hope to others. To protect creation and to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope, it is to let a ray of light break through heavy clouds." 

Darkness and heavy clouds have gathered here at McQuaid recently because of misinformation, fear, misunderstanding, and even anger. That misinformation, fear, misunderstanding, and even anger came about after two of our brothers asked whether they could attend the Junior Ball together. Into the darkness of misinformation, fear, misunderstanding and anger, together with Pope Francis, I invite and encourage each and every one of us in the McQuaid family to be men and women who bring hope to one another. I invite and encourage each and every one of us in the McQuaid family to be men and women who look upon one another with tenderness and love. I invite and encourage each and every one of us in the McQuaid family to open up a horizon of hope, to let a ray of light break through heavy clouds. 

I myself would like to let a ray of light break through by correcting some misinformation. It is simply not true, as was reported and as many seem to have assumed, that a decision had been made by McQuaid authorities not to allow the young men in question to attend the Junior Ball. No decision had been made. 

I would like to let a ray of light enter into the darkness of fear. I, together with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, who in their Pastoral Message, "Always Our Children," ". . . call on all Christians and citizens of good will to confront their own fears about homosexuality and to curb the humor and discrimination that offend homosexual persons. We understand that having a homosexual orientation brings with it enough anxiety, pain and issues related to self-acceptance without society bringing additional prejudicial treatment." 

I would like to let a ray of light enter into possible misunderstanding of the Church's teaching. In that same message, Always Our Children, the Bishops are clear --"Nothing in the Bible or in Catholic teaching can be used to justify prejudicial or discriminatory attitudes and behaviors." The Bishops continue: "It is also important to recognize that neither a homosexual orientation, nor a heterosexual one, leads inevitably to sexual activity. One's total personhood is not reducible to sexual orientation or behavior." In that same message, the Bishops refer to a 1986 Letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which emphasizes that "Respect for the God-given dignity of all persons means the recognition of human rights and responsibilities. The teachings of the Church make it clear that the fundamental human rights of homosexual persons must be defended and that all of us must strive to eliminate any forms of injustice, oppression, or violence against them." 

The Bishops continue, "It is not sufficient only to avoid unjust discrimination. Homosexual persons 'must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity' (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2358). They, as is true of every human being, need to be nourished at many different levels simultaneously. This includes friendship, [brotherhood] which is a way of loving and is essential to healthy human development. It is one of the richest possible human experiences. Friendship can and does thrive outside of sexual involvement." 

Lastly, I would like to let a ray of light into the darkness that anger can bring. Based on the misinformation circulating and a certain misunderstanding of Church teaching, some people began posting prejudicial and humiliating comments in the social media. Speaking or writing or acting out of anger is not usually helpful. Others, however, deeply concerned for the dignity and respect of all persons, wrote thoughtful and encouraging e-mail messages to McQuaid officials. 

In conclusion and in the hope that I and all of us at McQuaid Jesuit will let a ray of light break through the darkness and the heavy clouds that have surrounded us, I have made the decision that, if our two brothers who have asked to attend the Junior Ball together wish to do so, they will be welcomed. 

With this decision I am not contradicting the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church with regard to human sexuality; I am not encouraging nor am I condoning homosexual activity just as I do not encourage or condone heterosexual activity at a dance. I am not contradicting the Church's opposition to the redefinition of marriage. With this decision I invite and encourage us all, as Pope Francis does, to exercise care, protection, goodness which calls for a certain tenderness "which is not a virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness." 

Sincerely in the Lord, 

Edward F.Salmon, S.J. President

I know I am often critical of religion, and that is certainly not going to end anytime soon, but I think it is fair that when somebody representing a religion does something this positive, and unexpected, it warrants our recognition and praise.

Good on ya Father Salmon.

Melissa Harris-Perry's touching letter to a sixteen year old girl in Steubenville, Ohio.

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Courtesy of MSNBC:  

Dearest Beloved Girl, 

This letter is an apology. An apology for being an adult who has failed to make the world safe for you. Because you should be safe. Even when you make the sometimes stupid, often naive choices that teens make, you should be safe. 

Your vulnerability should not invite assault and attack of your body or your spirit. And so I am sorry, because we have failed to teach your male peers that they have no right to touch you without your consent or to use you to meet their needs or to discard you if your victimization does not fit their life plan. I am sorry we have failed you. 

This letter is also a note of gratitude for your willingness to report this crime, to take the stand, and to endure the viciousness hurled at you this week. I know the words that run in a loop in your mind. Don’t tell. If you tell, no one will believe you. If you tell, everyone will think you are a whore. Sometimes he is the one who says them first, spewing the words like mold spores that grow in the darkness of your silence. Sometimes it’s your own voice telling you, I can’t tell. No one will believe me. It’s the reason 54%of survivors never report the assault. It’s the reason I kept my secret for nearly a decade. But not you, beloved. You demanded the right to be heard. 

You may have lost your voice that night, but you found it again when you told the truth–even though you knew, didn’t you? You knew just how relentlessly they would try to silence you. You knew that neighbors, and friends, and even members of the national media would mourn the loss of your attackers’ football careers more than the loss of your innocence. 

You knew that even those who claimed to be sympathetic would pass along the pictures of your assault with a tone deaf voyeurism that seeks to make you a thing instead of a person. I think maybe you knew, or suspected these things, but you spoke out anyway. 

And that…that is astonishing. And I want to say thank you, because you did what so many of us never find the strength to do. You spoke for yourself. You spoke for the 44% of rape victims who are under 18–and you spoke for my 14-year-old self, who still hears that threat echoing in my head, “Don’t tell. No one will believe you.” 

So, this is my apology and this is my gratitude. This is me saying, “I believe you.” 

And I believe you are inherently valuable. Not as a character in some grotesque news cycle where your assault is all we know, but as a girl with hopes and dreams and ambitions and vulnerabilities and so much more growing up to do. I never need to know your name, but I need you to know you are not alone. Surviving is not a single occurrence, it is a lifetime of making choices that honor you and your right to speak. You have begun surviving. You will continue surviving. And if you ever get down, or wonder how you will go on, take out this letter and read it to yourself. 

I believe you. 

Sincerely, 

Melissa

If any of you have been raped then I don't have to tell you how incredibly powerful the words  "I believe you" are to this young sixteen year old girl.

Melissa Harris-Perry is right, she deserves to be believed, AND to be protected.

An homage to the light that science now shines on the universe around us, and a look back at the darkness from which we emerged.

"It was science that brought us out of the darkness, and showed us what we needed to know. That opened our eyes to reality. That gave us everything the gods denied us."

And yet today science and education are under constant attack. NOT because they are failing to do their jobs, but because they are doing it too well.

We owe it to our children, our country, and our species to constantly learn and discover, so that we may someday truly understand from whence we came, and to where we are going.

Spiritual people more likely to suffer from mental illness. Interesting.

Courtesy of the Telegraph:

Professor Michael King, from University College London, and his fellow researchers wrote in the British Journal of Psychiatry: "Our main finding is that people who had a spiritual understanding of life had worse mental health than those with an understanding that was neither religious nor spiritual." 

The study was based on a survey of 7,403 randomly selected men and women in England who were questioned about their spiritual and religious beliefs, and mental state. 

Of the participants, 35 per cent described themselves as "religious", meaning they attended a church, mosque, synagogue or temple. Five in six of this group were Christian. 

Almost half (46 per cent) described themselves as neither religious nor spiritual, while the 19 per cent remainder said they had spiritual beliefs but did not adhere to a particular religion. 

Members of this final group were 77 per cent more likely than the others to be dependent on drugs, 72 per cent more likely to suffer from a phobia, and 50 per cent more likely to have a generalised anxiety disorder. 

They were also 40 per cent more likely to be receiving treatment with psychotropic drugs, and at a 37 per cent higher risk of neurotic disorder. 

The researchers concluded: "We conclude that there is increasing evidence that people who profess spiritual beliefs in the absence of a religious framework are more vulnerable to mental disorder.

Well of course I have  numerous opinions on this data, including why I think it might be so, but I think I will simply leave this here for all of you to discuss and then later I will revisit it and perhaps add my two cents worth.

I think one thing to keep in mind is how one defines "spirituality" and the reason WHY somebody usually joins a religious organization. I think that will help narrow the focus of the debate.

Mr. Rogers offers words of comfort from another troubling time in America's past.

I'm reaching the point in the aftermath of this tragedy where I am becoming numb.

I know that it is important to continue the dialogue, and hopefully push our politicians into working on a solution, but I am just tired of wiping away tears and feeling helpless.

At times like that I can think of no better voice to hear delivering calm, rational, comforting words than Fred Rogers.

This was from right after 9-11 but I think it applies equally as well today.

Video tribute to the Reason Rally.

To some of you, particularly those who are religious, this might seem unnecessarily provocative, or even an attempt to give a giant middle finger to those who embrace a particular faith, but I would argue that is not the case.

What this is, and why it is so important, is that it is the coming together publicly of a group of people who, more often than not, feel terribly isolated.

Individuals who grow up within a religious environment, often have a strong sense of community. In fact MANY of their activities will center around their church, or temple, or synagogue.

Atheists have none of that.

We are often ostracized and marginalized to the point that our only constant companions are books and our own troubling thoughts.

I can tell you that as a seven year old suddenly questioning the existence of God, there was no faster way to find your self abandoned on the monkey bars then to bring up that topic on the playground. There was quite literally NO ONE with whom I could discuss what I was going inside my head.

In fact I was told by the principal at one elementary school that parents had complained and that I simply needed to STFU. So in that environment, where I was expected to learn and seek answers to my questions, I was forbidden from asking what I considered one of the most important questions of all.

But nothing could stop my mind from pondering those questions, and for me it became a lifelong journey toward revelation. A journey, might I add, that I have made solo for the majority of my life.

So knowing that there are so many like minded people in the world, and seeing them gathered together in Washington D.C., may come as close as an Atheist can come to a shared religious experience.

And at least for me, that is huge.

President Obama's 2008 attempt to explain why Christians need to read their Bibles.

If image will not enlarge for you click here.

Now see if ALL Christians thought like this, I would have no problem with them, or organized religion itself for that matter.  But sadly many of the people who profess to be Christians think more like this:

"I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own world view, his own confused theology," (James) Dobson said, adding that Obama is "dragging biblical understanding through the gutter."

And so another reasonable man attempting to rescue his faith from the clutches of the Biblical snake oil salesmen and charlatans gets shouted down for suggesting that people truly READ the book at the center of their religious faith.

Remember THINKING is bad, only BELIEVING is good.

Carl Sagan: A Universe Not Made For Us.

We have been discussing the differences between faith and facts, and the reason why religion exists, but I have rarely seen the discussion so eloquently explained as it was in this stunning video.

It is well worth the nine plus minutes it requires to watch it.

Let us start this Tuesday morning by satiating our intellectual curiosity and awakening a deeper respect for science.

From The Daily Galaxy:

Astronomers have found pristine clouds of the primordial gas that formed in the first few minutes after the Big Bang. The composition of the gas matches theoretical predictions, providing direct evidence in support of the modern cosmological explanation for the origins of elements in the universe. 

Only the lightest elements, mostly hydrogen and helium, were created in the Big Bang. Then a few hundred million years passed before clumps of this primordial gas condensed to form the first stars, where heavier elements were forged. 

Until now, astronomers have always detected "metals" (their term for all elements heavier than hydrogen and helium) wherever they have looked in the universe. 

"As hard as we've tried to find pristine material in the universe, we have failed until now. This is the first time we've observed pristine gas uncontaminated by heavier elements from stars," said J. Xavier Prochaska, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

One of the questions I get asked quite often in my real life, and here on the blog, is why I don't embrace any particular religion.

But in a way I do.

Our very first primitive religious beliefs grew up around a desire to understand the world around us, and our place in it. We originally lacked the means to examine, and the ability to understand, the mysteries that surrounded us, so priests, witchdoctors, and oracles provided mythologies to satiate our curiosity while giving us the illusion of comprehension.

Today science performs the very same function, only this time it is NOT just an illusion, it is fact.

You see in my opinion human beings are defined by their desire to know.  That is why I shun religions which purport to give us a sense of understanding, while discouraging our innate curiosity, lest it endanger their domination over our consciousness.

I would have no argument against religion if it simply provided comfort while promoting intellectual discourse, but that is not often the case. Instead it seems to demand that believers sacrifice that which makes them human, their desire to learn, in exchange for an allegiance to a certain worldview which seems to have little use for scientific investigation.

To my mind the unraveling of the mysteries that surround us should feed that which defines us as human, our intellect, in a way that replaces the need for religion. How can we feel alone in the universe with so much happening around us? How can we feel insignificant while discovering, examining, and beginning to understand the very fabric of space and the building blocks that make up our reality?  How can that not make us feel connected in way that believing in an omniscient, omnipotent, immortal being simply cannot?

Essentially there has NEVER been a more complex and compelling mystery than the one that we find ourselves in the middle of every single day of our lives. Today we are witnessing science take the unknown, turn it around in its hands, and lay its secrets bare to be devoured by the hungry minds of men and women all over the world. Is that not tantamount to a religious experience?

Some worship in synagogues, temples, or cathedrals, but I worship under a veil of stars, while kneeling on pews made of earth, opening my mind, as well as my heart, to the possibilities that exist while reaching out to the knowledge which dances just beyond the reach of my fingertips . Because after all, isn't this constant quest for knowledge really the destiny which unites mankind?

I apologize if I have offended any of my more religious visitors, this is, of course, my opinion and everybody is welcome to agree or disagree. All that I ask is that you consider what I have written and keep an open mind to the wonders of the universe, as well as the possibility that their creation is not as you assumed it to be.

Let us please remember to keep the conversation in the comments section respectful.