Why Swallow That?

Is that a trampoline down there? The Resurrection of Christ (Kinnaird Resurrection) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

There is a heroic legend in the technology community about the man who invented elevator safety brakes. He claimed that any elevator fitted with his brakes, even if all the cables broke, would be safely and swiftly stopped by his new invention. No one trusted it. Did he get angry or indignant? No. He simply put himself in an elevator, ordered the cables cut, and proved to the world, by risking his own life, that his brakes worked. This is the very principle that has delivered us from superstition to science. Any claim can be made about a drug, but people are rightly wary of swallowing anything that hasn’t been thoroughly tested and re-tested and tested again. Since I have no such proofs regarding the resurrection story, I’m not going to swallow it, and it would be cruel, even for a god, to expect otherwise of me. So I can reason rightly that a god of all humankind would not appear in one tiny backwater of the Earth, in a backward time, revealing himself to a tiny unknown few, and then expect the billions of the rest of us to take their word for it, and not even their word, but the word of some unknown person many times removed.

Yet, if one returns to what was probably Paul’s conception of a Christ risen into a new, spiritual body, then the resurrection becomes no longer a historical proof of the truth of Christianity, but an article of faith, an affirmation that is supposed to follow nothing other than a personal revelation of Christ—not to be believed on hearsay, but experienced for oneself. Though I do not believe this is a reliable way to come to a true understanding of the world, as internal experience only tells us about ourselves and not the truth of the world outside of us, I leave it to the Christians here to consider a spiritual resurrection as a different way to understand their faith. But I don’t see any reason to buy the resurrection story found in the Gospels.

 

—	Richard Carrier – Why I Don’t Buy the Resurrection Story (6th Ed., 2006) Phenomenal half-hour Yale University speech touching pretty heavily on the historic story of Jesus and his resurrection.

I’m not sure that anyone can claim the title of the “greatest…in history” but I certainly agree that Ingersol was a great man, and unfortunately far too unknown. SOB

graygoosegosling

Robert Ingersol was the greatest orator in American history. In honor of his August birthday, here are a few of his words to ponder and cherish. I need say no more.

Ingersol Quotations

“A fact never went into partnership with a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of wonders. A fact will fit every other fact in the universe, and that is how you can tell whether it is or is not a fact. A lie will not fit anything except another lie.”

“Anger is a wind which blows out the lamp of the mind.”

“Few nations have been so poor as to have but one god. Gods were made so easily, and the raw material cost so little, that generally the god market was fairly glutted and heaven crammed with these phantoms.”

“Give to every human being every right that you claim for yourself.”

“Happiness is the only good. The…

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Debunked: The Myth That Ralph Nader Cost Al Gore the 2000 Election | Disinformation

Excellent article.  Obama Dems are now using this argument to prevent the progressive left from voting Green. They are more interested in maintaining the status quo than they are in real change. I will be voting for Jill Stein for president. I will  vote for Dems on a state and  local level unless a green or other left alternative is available.

Green Party Platform

 

Debunked: The Myth That Ralph Nader Cost Al Gore the 2000 Election | Disinformation.

You will be assimilated. Resistance is Futile. SOB

Kasama

Kasama received this shortly after the police ended their ransacking of the Seattle apartment. We will cover events and statements as they emerge.

Early morning, July 10, SWAT police forced their way into the Seattle apartment of organizers from the Occupy movement. The sleeping residents scrambled to put on clothes as they were confronted with automatic weapons.

The neighbor Natalio Perez heard the attack from downstairs: “Suddenly we heard the bang of their grenade, and the crashing as police entered the apartment. The crashing and stomping continued for a long time as they tore the place apart.”

After the raid, the residents pored over the papers handed them by a detective. One explained: “This warrant says that they were specifically looking for ‘anarchist materials’ — which lays out the political police state nature of this right there. In addition they were looking for specific pieces of clothing supposedly connected with…

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Slavery? There was no slavery. Only happy, smilin’ nigras what loved der massa. SOB

Under the Mountain Bunker

Rewriting history to suit your personal comfort level is doubleplusgood.

Charles Johnson reports that Teabaggers in Tennessee are demanding that school textbooks leave out America’s history of slavery:

“…a group of Tea Party activists in Tennessee has renewed its push to whitewash school textbooks. The group is seeking to remove references to slavery and mentions of the country’s founders being slave owners.

“According to reports, Hal Rounds, the Fayette County attorney and spokesman for the group, said during a recent news conference that there has been “an awful lot of made-up criticism about, for instance, the founders intruding on the Indians or having slaves or being hypocrites in one way or another.

“[…] The group called for textbook selection criteria to include: “No portrayal of minority experience in the history which actually occurred shall obscure the experience or contributions of the Founding Fathers, or the majority of citizens, including those who…

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God’s Belly Button | graygoosegosling

Great post. SOB

Jack had a ready answer, “God the father does not have a belly button. God the son had a belly button. God the Holy Spirit does not have a belly button. That’s one out of three for belly buttons.”

“Jack, who are you to claim you know about such things. What does your church say about it?”

“Hmmm, You know, I really don’t have any idea.”

I thought not. “What about DNA? Was Jesus haploid or diploid. Did he have half the number of Chromosomes or the same number as other humans?”

“Hmmm, I don’t know, but I do know he probably had genes from his mother.”

“Wait a minute Jack. It says in the bible that Jesus was descended from the house of David, so he also must have had genes from David’s line. Right?”

Jack looked confused.

God’s Belly Button | graygoosegosling.