Thanks, Dave. We are aleady in a religious war and have been for some time. The humanists recoil and bridle in indignation at the mention of "religion" yet they are as hate filled and oppressing as the most bigoted fundamentalist I know. Most of them seem to think that their pet theories and ideas (mostly a mixed bag of socialism, paganism, and science worship, although there are a few libertarian humanists) are "the answer" and must be pushed on the "superstitious" who are hopelessly deluded. Ironically, that is THEIR beef against the religious. The humanists/secularists just want their gods followed. Europe and Australia are suffering the consequences of secularism under attack by radical Islamists, assassinations and attacks, women raped because they "dress like *****s" and don't follow Islamic dress requirements. I have read the riots in France were primarily Muslim riots, but this was downplayed in the press. There is no longer a strong Church in Europe to combat this so the future there will probably be more violence and upheaval. But, hey, since there is no right or wrong and we're all nothing but evolved animals it doesn't really matter, does it?

>>> People who harbor strong convictions without evidence belong at the margins of our societies, not in our halls of power. The only thing we should respect in a person's faith is his desire for a better life in this world; we need never have respected his certainty that one awaits him in the next...<<<

This is scary. I know what the author means, but I could turn it around and declare that evidence to support man's origin as an organism randomly mutated from primordial slime does not exist, so where does that leave him? The problem is "halls of power" controlled by men.

"Thanks, Dave."

You're welcome. It never fails to amaze me that someone actually thinks they want to live in a world that doesn't have the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit operating to keep Satan at bay. Unfortunately for some, they will get a chance to find out what it's like.

I highly recommend that those who don't believe we are engaged in a spiritual war should read David Limbaugh's "Persecution," and the email copied below.

JS, when I read the dangerous idiocy that passes these days for rational thought such as what is being espoused by Noel and Harris it reminds me of 2Peter 3:5.

You said: "The humanists recoil and bridle in indignation at the mention of "religion" yet they are as hate filled and oppressing as the most bigoted fundamentalist I know."

More so. Here are excerpts from an email I received during Christmas from someone in the "peace, love and tolerance" crowd who objects to what I publish in my newspaper.

"It has morphed ... to an outlet for the Christian religious right.

"Although it is the holiday season, and Christmas stories are to be expected, we found the 'Local residents take mission trip' article to be particularly offensive. The idea that a religious organization would compose a hit list of people to target for religious rewiring is highly offensive. Going to a foreign country, which of course has its own customs and religion, to impose a religion upon it is the ultimate definition of arrogance and ugly Americanism.

"As evidenced by the fact that only family members work on your paper, it has increasingly become a vehicle for expressing your personal religious values without the regulation of differing views. As you have no one but your insular group contributing, your ideas do not reflect a well-rounded sampling of world views; in other words, they are by nature incestuous. In order to be a true newspaper, you must have a staff that brings a perspective from outside; by definition, your small family is incapable of this.

"We do not wish to be subjected to your religious views - which we do not share, and indeed, object to - any longer. Please remove us from your mailing list."

Isn't that precious? My newspaper is a conservative-minded publication in a largely conservative community. It is not overtly "religious," other than we have a regular "Pastor's Column" and don't shy away from doing stories on local people who travel all the way to Africa to do missionary work. Oh, and we did wish everyone a "Merry Christmas" during our Christmas issue instead of "Ho, ho, ho. Happy Winter Solstice." Pretty offensive stuff, I guess.

I gotta tell ya, the anti-God crowd is getting extremely bold -- encouraged by the backing they get from the government, the media, the public schools and such nitwit organizations as ACLU.

Dave

Oh THAT's the God we should worship!! You mean the one who commands the stoning of disobedient children, sorcerers, homosexuals, and those who choose to worship foreign gods. The one who delights in animal sacrifice. The one who, not satisfied with men carrying out his barbarism, sent his Son so that those who don't believe can suffer in a lake of fire for all eternity. That one? The one whose crimes, in that case, infinitely surpass Hitler's or Stalin's or Bin Laden's. The one who prefers that a 150 cell blastocyst remain frozen in a petri dish rather than be used to find a cure for an array of painful, fatal illnesses. The one who wants us to teach schoolchildren that the world was created some time AFTER Sumerians were brewing beer. That God? I stand corrected.

You said: "I stand corrected."

Indeed you should be, but I doubt it will get through to your hardened heart.

Noel,
He sounds, from your posted excerpt, like one angry, and ignorant, fella. He said, "...People who harbor strong convictions without evidence belong at the margins of our societies, not in our halls of power..."

Christian "convictions" have a LONG HISTORY supported by reams of EVIDENCE. In the Christian apologetical heritage, faith and reason are not enemies. Harris must have missed Aquinas among many others researching his pseudo tome.

The 20th Century was populated by many totalist, atheistic (Harris' ideal secular man) thugs from Pol Pot to Joe Stalin to Adolph Hitler to Vladimir Lenin to Chairman Mao. They accounted for the slaughter of well over 100 million men, women and children. Guess Harris wasn't particularly adept at basic math.

In the halls of statist funded academia they'd probably refer to Harris as a god. On the streets we call men like him a "tool". In Hell I suspect he's a patron saint.

Good answer Dave. Where reason flourishes, the "faithful" take their leave.

It seems Noel has "dispensed with the dogma of faith" and is more comfortable blaming the evils of men on God and using that as an excuse to promote the "elimination of religious identity". Also note the venomous tone of the response (but supposedly only the religious are "haters" and judgmental, right)? We all are supposed to make our choices as human beings. Noel is certainly free to choose Harris' path. But all those "we"s in the article are disturbing. What if some of us disagree that "we" have "no need" of faith, that "we" DO have strong convictions with which he may not agree or that "we" do not believe faith and reason are incompatible (even though he may not understand it)? Human cooperation is apparently the justification for this nonsense, that sickening "peace through unity" lie. Dismissing religious faith as "tribalism" and calling for some kind of "extended morality" (and what the heck is THAT?!) simply begs the question: on what authority is this morality to be based?

Dave is a pinhead. His cardboard cut out of I AM is just a glimpse of the Depth of my love for you knuckleheads. I still love him though even though he has thing cut up into neat boxes his mind can handle. In the end you all shall see and believe. Remember, of faith, hope and love, LOVE is the greatest.

"Dave is a pinhead. His cardboard cut out of I AM is just a glimpse of the Depth of my love for you knuckleheads. I still love him though even though he has thing cut up into neat boxes his mind can handle. In the end you all shall see and believe. Remember, of faith, hope and love, LOVE is the greatest."

Ah. I see we are hearing from the cult of Universalism again. Just like old times.

Hi Lester,

Hope you're keeping up with your gymnastics, even though you don't have Blondeau to encourage you.

Babu