God
You hear many complaints nowadays about pesky, outspoken Christians. Across the West, a fashionable attitude has emerged: Beyond the doing of charitable works, and perhaps the soothing of the bereaved at funerals, “religion” should be an entirely private affair.
The so-called New Atheists are vocal advocates of this position. One of them, Michel Onfray, has admitted that his atheism “leaps to life when private belief becomes a public matter”. Onfray hates it “when in the name of a personal mental pathology we organise the world for others”.
Here in Australia, there are many like him. The talented journalist-author Peter FitzSimons is fond of ridiculing sportsmen, like golfer Aaron Baddeley, who publicly give thanks to God. FitzSimons rarely misses a chance to snipe at all “delusional” believers, and, in a recent spray in the Sydney Morning Herald, asserted ludicrously that belief in God “is entirely inimical to educational principles”. (Read Brian Rosner’s spirited reply.)
Many of us these days prefer to take our Christmas without the Christ or the Mas(s). It’s convenient to keep the name, though – the world’s not quite ready for Sockandjockmas or Drinkingwhitewineinthesunmas.
The hijacking of this pagan/Christian celebration by the irreligious is of concern to many – particularly when the predictable stories start to circulate about childhood institutions ‘banning’ Christmas in favour of the bland and Americanised ‘Happy Holidays’.
Last week Tracey Spicer revealed that a Sydney class had torturously removed all references to Christ from end-of-year Christmas carols. Utterly ridiculous, of course, an unnecessary and probably unrequested bending over.
Continue reading "Do they know it’s Sockandjockmas Time at all?" »
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snooch says:
As someone who is unable to be with family or friends this Christmas, that Minchin vid linked pretty much sums it up for me. Religious or not - and despite whatever the relevance the history of the date may or may not have - why can’t we just put aside… Read more »
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James1 says:
Much obliged Pax, thanks. That will give me some reading material for the Christmas break. Read more »
In the name of God, why should anyone be force-fed the word of the Lord while they’re shopping?
That swarthy dude with his dulcet tones outside Roger David in Rundle Mall? He can convert me to men’s suits any day. But these sanctimonious sermonisers and their 100-decibel rantings? No way, Jesu.
Myer is My Sunday place of worship, thank you very much, and Adelaide City Council can have My Vote for ridding our secular shopping strip of these screechy preachers who are apparently just as deafening as chain saws, jackhammers and farm tractors.
Continue reading "Let’s tell these bloody street preachers where to go" »
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bob says:
These guys also beleive that black people are the descendants of Ham, and are cursed by God. Read more »
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Jason Todd says:
I’d happily wander by and leave them undisturbed if they were discussing christ at christmas. However, considering that chances are I wouldn’t be able to wander past these guys without having them scream at me that I am an immoral sodomite who is destined for the bowels of hell for… Read more »
Thank God census night has come and gone. Thank God literally. I’ve been bored witless by insecure atheists prattling on in the last few weeks and days about questions on religion.
For two things are sure. The census will show that a clear majority of Australians believe in a god. And religion is a clear force for good in our society.
“I wonder how many people still believe in God?” my 55 going on 15 year old DJ and artist brother in law Driller (that’s his real name) wrote on his Facebook page recently. “I certainly don’t. Do you?”
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Jim says:
Anne, I’m not a evolutionary scientist but I use logic to work out that the knowlege we build on in science is based on accepting methods that have been tried and tested many times with the same result. This is accepted as evidence. Therefore, I don’t think scientists are just… Read more »
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Anne Stocks says:
Jim in all the time I have been posting on Punch even when using a Pen name, not one of you have given any evidence to support Evolution except that which also confirms Creation ...I have supported written evidence which I have shared with you and others many times….. need… Read more »
My sister enrolled her son in primary school this week, and wrote ‘No’ on the enrolment form next to ‘Scripture’, boldly letting her share of the $165 million tax dollars used to fund the National School Chaplaincy Program gurgle godlessly down the plug’ole. Atheists are so wacky.
As nobody had volunteered to run non-religious ethics classes at this particular school, my sister was advised to perhaps just sign her son up for the general scripture classes, because “the little ones get upset when they’re pulled out of class”.
As opposed, of course, to how they feel when they’re being taught about eternal damnation, and the implication that Mummy and Daddy will spend it sipping sulphur in Hell’s hottest nite spot (which isn’t actually Minsky’s, very surprisingly).
Continue reading "School kids should walk the dog, not walk with God" »
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Anne Stocks says:
Al says .... What hope does Atheism offer: Teaches the finality of death, once you are dead that’s it, no reward, no punishment…..So have you died Al, you seem to be very sure Christians are wrong and there is no Afterlife as they share, sorry but unless you have indeed… Read more »
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Anne Stocks says:
Thanks for the Link Servaas and I look forward to hearing from you, there is no rush, when you can is ok, it seems I might have posted the wrong e-mail address again, not sure why it’s rejecting, I have never had trouble on previous posts, I offer it mainly… Read more »
Modern-day defenders of orthodox Christianity – of any religion with a supernatural element – face a host of challenges. Chief among them is the widespread assumption that science and religion are hopelessly incompatible.
In his best-selling book The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins asserts that “religion is now completely superseded by science”. It’s a familiar line. Religion, we’re told, is shadowy and value-laden – an exercise in “blind faith”.
And the Bible says that the Earth was made 6,000 years ago in the course of seven days. Anyone who believes that is crazy! These notions are deeply ingrained, but they are fallacious. And they distort the true beliefs of most Christians in Australia.
Continue reading "The best arguments for God are purely scientific" »
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Craig says:
Mel, I worry far more about people who claim to know 100% about what there is to know. Such as those who believe in God. Read more »
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CMG says:
Hey Faulgerlema grow up Punch isen’t for kids put your greaffiti someplace else- your bedroom wall for instance. Take a Hike Read more »
Brendan Brown writes “Hey God, reveal thyself!” and puts forward his case of “noisy atheism”.
He candidly speaks about the lack of evidence with regard to the divine and light-heartedly takes religion to task for the holes in their belief systems.
It’s a given that no evidence is currently available that supports the existence (or non existence) of god. Yet both atheists and theists continue to taunt each other for evidence.
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Anne Stocks says:
Another one you seem to have lost Moderator Paul Murray says…When religious people capitalise a word that isn’t a proper noun, it’s a clue that they are not using the word with its usual meaning. So True Paul, instead we are referring to God’s Truth or His Love, Joy, Compassion… Read more »
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Paul Murray says:
I love the random capitalisation. When religious people capitalise a word that isn’t a proper noun, it’s a clue that they are not using the word with its usual meaning. Rather like Scientologists using the word “ethics”, which does not mean “being ethical” in the usual sense, but means “promoting… Read more »
What is the National School Chaplaincy Program?
The National School Chaplaincy Program was introduced by the Howard Government and expanded by $222 million under Julia Gillard in yesterday’s 2011 federal budget. The program allows for schools to apply for a grant of up to $20,000 per year to employ a religiously affiliated “chaplain” to provide students with emotional and spiritual guidance.
What is “spiritual guidance”?
“Spiritual guidance” is a vague and largely invented “discipline” that only exists to ensure the employment of its teachers.
Continue reading "God in the classroom: School chaplaincy FAQs" »
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Vamitrimi says:
There are also links to professional poker strategy resources, like the Secrets of Texas Holdem - a crash-course in how to win. Read more »
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peacleSed says:
http://world-finances.com/images/stories/pmo.17112501_std.jpg Modern portfolio theory The portfolio perspective in this website is focus on the aggregate of all the investor’s holdings: the portfolio. Because economic fundamentals influence the average returns of many assets, the risk associated with one asset’s returns is generally related to the risk associated with other assets’… Read more »
Another day, another non-appearance by a religious prophet.
As this article goes to press, neither Jesus, the Hidden Imam or John Maynard Keynes has returned to earth, which is unfortunate as religion has never been in greater need of validation.
It’s irrelevant if religion has practical benefits in terms of charity, community building and teaching ethical behavior, if religion’s key claims are not rooted in reality. Either religion is factual or it is not and either there are good reasons to believe something or there are none.
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RubyEvans30 says:
Following my own investigation, thousands of persons on our planet get the loan from well known creditors. Hence, there is a good chance to get a term loan in any country. Read more »
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Anne Stocks says:
Hi Sir Ronald Bradnam we meet again but you have confused my with your understanding below because you said *... * Many Scientists were ridiculed and executed by the Church over the years for everything from proclaiming that the earth was in fact round, official doctrine of the pope and… Read more »
Mathematicians have released a study that made for great headlines, including:
(A fairly tenuous link but a mention of religious songs, and I’ll take any excuse to listen to Tim Minchin)
Faith no more! From New Zealand to Canada, religion ``to become extinct’’ in nine countries.
Study Finds Religion May Be Heading for Extinction in Parts of World.
Researchers Predict the End of Religion.
Continue reading "Reports of religion’s death greatly exaggerated" »
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Anne Stocks says:
Very True what you shared True Believer and I agree ... Man-made religion is certainly emptying denominational buildings. Too much of man, not enough of the good Lord - where He is, people flock, when He withdraws denominations become dry and without life. But Tory the Living God will never… Read more »
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Antoine says:
Vous avez de bons points il, c’est pourquoi j’aime toujours verifier votre blog, Il semble que vous etes un expert dans ce domaine. maintenir le bon travail, Mon ami recommander votre blog. Mon francais n’est pas tres bon, je suis de l’Allemagne. Mon blog: Credit immobilier ou solution Rachat de… Read more »
I recently watched Ricky Gervais hosting the Golden Globe Awards and found it hilarious. He’s got guts. In his closing line he shouted out that he wanted to thank God for making him an atheist. I think that also took guts - on top of everything he mentioned during the night he finishes off the show with a jab at religion.
It makes me wonder sometimes, being a religious person myself, how different would life be if you’re an atheist?
I moved into a new house not long ago and on our first night’s sleep, we discovered a note was cellotaped to the back of our bedroom door. It was a prayer, one I hadn’t heard before. The following morning I looked it up and discovered that it’s a life prayer.
Continue reading "If I were an atheist I’d still believe in Ricky Gervais" »
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Dave says:
Zac - come one mate. This is a bit rich. I grew up in a strict christian household and I am so glad I came to my senses as an adult and realised (even if the three people you mentioned were athiests) that atheism is bar far the most peaceful… Read more »
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Dave of Sydney says:
That’s right True Believer, keep on ducking and weaving. I CAN be a hypocrite because I never professed to you what I believe in. I am using YOUR OWN teachings to call you a hypocrite. Myself I have nothing to be hypocritical against. BIG difference. I see, I suppose you… Read more »
The floods have caused great devastation and have presented fundamental challenges to our society and lives.
This kind of crisis poses challenges to us on a number of levels – social, physical, emotional and existential.
Tory Shepherd’s article “Digging a hole while trying to find God” outlines the existential challenges provoked by the flood.
Continue reading "A response: Disasters do not negate the existence of God" »
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IterTvemter says:
Haha that’s rediculous. No way Read more »
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ce qui est vimax says:
What I wouldnt give to have a debate with you about this. You just say so many things that arrive from nowhere that Im fairly certain Id have a fair shot. Your blog is wonderful visually, I mean people wont be bored. But others who can see past the videos… Read more »
Church leaders faced with a national disaster are struggling to find relevance and avoid hypocrisy. In the wake of the floods, people with religious convictions face an age-old question:
Where was God?
It’s a classic case of cognitive dissonance, where holding two conflicting thoughts causes the brain to implode. God is good, all-knowing and all-powerful and yet bad stuff happens.
Continue reading "Digging a hole while trying to find God" »
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Stu says:
@ True Believer: “I ‘believe’ you exist, but I do not ‘know’ you exist. I am replying to you on the basis of my belief you are there. There is a difference. :0)” Explains even more. Do you know I’m is responding to you on the Punch, or do you… Read more »
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True Believer says:
@Stu: “Interesting you think you can respond to someone who does not exist. Explains a lot. “ I ‘believe’ you exist, but I do not ‘know’ you exist. I am replying to you on the basis of my belief you are there. There is a difference. :0) Read more »
Should we play God? It’s time we dumped that question. It only shows how deluded we are about where we’ve already got to.
Playing God is taking over responsibility for the things that once could only be committed to prayer, ritual and trust in the Almighty – the things that couldn’t be controlled, including most things to do with the health of you and those you loved.
You become responsible for what was just “in God’s hands”. A hazard of life becomes a risk you accept. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the matter of starting a family.
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SB says:
So the world exists for you and how dare people have children because it means you have less resources. As a mother, you contributed to over population just as mouch as any other mother. Anyone who believes anything other than you must be stupid. What a naive comment. Read more »
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Lisa H. says:
Hasn’t the one child policy been relaxed over the past years? isn’t this partly because the gender imbalance was becoming obvious to the central planners? I cannot believe that the gender imbalance in China is simply a bizarre myth propagated by ‘anti-chinese’ forces. I can understand why a poor Chinese… Read more »
People often say that without God there would be no atheists. Presumably that’s meant to be some pithy truism that shows no one exists without God.
To an atheist, that’s about as meaningless, smug and lazy as saying that without Bigfoot, Sasquatch-deniers would not exist.
Swathes of people seem to put atheism in the ‘unthinkable’ category. It is a position they cannot empathise with at all – the most similar attitude that comes to mind is homophobia.
Continue reading "“I’ve never met an atheist”, and other tales of certainty" »
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Ally says:
Pedro, it’s because atheism has been demonised by the general population that makes it so difficult to ‘come out of the closet’. For most older atheists, we have gone through a long process of changing from believing the religions we were indoctrinated into from childhood to our current position of… Read more »
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Bob says:
@ notsurprised Indeed the odds are stacked against us. The odds the sperm that resulted in you being born making it were astronomical but it happened. And as someone has already said, the odds of winning the lottery are enormous as well but people win it frequently. In an infinite… Read more »
Update 12.35pm: Stephen Fielding has just told The Punch that he was mistaken when he claimed on Q&A that Kevin Rudd did not believe in evolution. A number of commenters have attacked the PM below off the back of Fielding’s claims but the Senator says: “I made a mistake. I thought I had read it somewhere but obviously I didn’t, I apologise to the Prime Minister for the mistake.”
We now know courtesy of Monday’s excellent episode of Q&A that when Stephen Fielding and Kevin Rudd first met the PM pulled a Bible out of his top pocket and gave an impromptu sermon. It’s not clear which passage Rudd read although we can presume it wasn’t Ezekiel 25:17 - “I will strike you down with great vengeance and furious anger and you will know then that I am the Lord” - tempting as it may have been for the PM to pass the ETS by popping a cap in the Christian Senator’s ass.
I am not a violent person either but there was something about the creeping Jesus quality of Monday night’s show that had me wanting to kick a hole in the plasma, wondering angrily whether anyone can remember the French Revolution and the quaint conviction that the Church is over there, the State is over here, and never the twain shall meet.
Continue reading "For God’s sake, can our MPs just stick to their day jobs" »
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Antonio Ramiro says:
The real problem is simply this, jealousy of believers. You see the flood for instance is looked upon by evolutionist in a scientific way instead of a philosophical way. The way that was intended by god because the so called geeks cant see beyond their microscopes. They think that God… Read more »
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Guenstig Uebernachten says:
Human Concern,assumption team search wave transfer firm surface gun anybody edge brain cause appeal see need prison cos performance figure key president college nose specific discuss court play wall room solution patient eventually allow shop meanwhile park assessment relief feeling easy pleasure version smile wrong part terms essential back brain… Read more »
The 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche put before people a choice: Dionysos or the Crucified?
He saw with clarity that there were two starkly opposed views of life being lived out around him. One followed Dionysos, or Dionysius, the Greco-Roman God of wine, who championed hedonism. The other was the Christian way, the way of the crucified saviour who gave his life for others. God taking on flesh to save the world — that’s crazy, said Nietzsche. Many today seem to agree with him.
A new book called The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas (Ariane Sherine (Ed), The Friday Project, 2009) agrees with Nietzsche, but wants to tell even him to chill out a bit when it comes to Christmas.
Continue reading "Nietzsche and Simon Le Bon: Do they know it’s Christmas?" »
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sbegmeister says:
A silly article. Why does this debate continue? Cultural heritage is worth celebrating but not ignorance and irrationality which cannot be justified by “faith”. Merry Christmas and every other European mid-winter festival. Read more »
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Libby says:
Hey I_Exist, Many of us form our views on God as children: Christians, Atheists and others. An informed view can not be developed on such a thin layer of information. I wonder why you are so moved to read and then comment something that is a ‘waste of human effort?’.… Read more »
From my observation it is never Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims or even Scientologists who get upset when a nativity scene goes up in a chicken shop at Christmas.
I am not surprised, because as people of faith they understand that their religious freedom is only as safe as it is for those who hold a different belief.
For this reason I have always been perplexed as a professed Christian by objections to Australian women wearing a hijab in public. I recently walked the Kokoda trail with one young Australian woman who wore it the entire way – quite an effort.
Continue reading "The rightful place of God(s) in Australian society" »
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Mr Pastry says:
I’m sticking with the Dream Time and the Rainbow Serpent, more believable than the Bible and no doctrines strapped on by evil church bureaucrats. Read more »
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Al says:
Its such a pity and loss that Australia hasnt become a religion free country. That would have been mans greatest achievment in history and the first step towards a peaceful world. I simply cant respect people of religion, I’m sure there are some religious people who do good things, but… Read more »
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marley says:
I'm one of the older ones, so I've certainly seen a few changes in my time. When I started school I learned to write with a nib pen, dipped in an inkwell (no, I'm not kidding). My mother became a dab hand at getting inkstains out of my clothes. Flicking ink at one another in the classroom was an essential… [read more]From: I’d rather have a piece of toast than listen to crap lyrics
Erick says:
Led Zeppelin are responsible for my all-time favourite mixed metaphor: "There you sit, sit and stare, like a book on a shelf rusting." (Misty Mountain Hop) I laugh every time I hear it. Hmmm, I believe I've decided what to play on the way to work today. [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
No wuckin forries. These nuckin futs are tuckin fops
Well, puck me with a fitchfork. The F-word is apparently an acceptable part of Australian speech. That’s… Read more
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