April 22, 2013

  • Below is a letter to the Editor of the Wichita Eagle, dated several days ago.

    BIBLE CHALLENGE

    In reply to an April 12 Opinion Line comment that people believe in the Bible based on faith, not facts: One’s unbelief in the Bible does not keep it from being true. The skeptic was not there at the beginning either, so whatever one believes about it, it is by faith.

    Historical records support the Bible. Much of the early texts of the Bible have been found. Many of its prophecies have been and are being fulfilled. Many lives have been changed from despair to hope, from evil to right living, from hate to love.

    God answers many prayers when we believe the Bible’s promises. Our trying to fathom God’s ways might be like and ant or a flea trying to figure us out.

    Mary Frazier, Wichita, Ks

    I feel sorry for Mary Frazier, all the Mary Frazier types of the world.

    First of all, she isn’t specifically discussing the Bible, rather the creation story, the one originating with the Judeo-Christian notion of God, as opposed to all those of other religious who ‘know’ the world was created by ‘their’ god or gods.

    The Bible is not an accurate history, and it certainly if full of inaccuracies, fables, lies, deceptions, and a few good bits about human nature, human psychology, and human sociology. There are no original texts available. Perhaps, Mary Frazier thinks that the Dead Sea Scrolls are original documents? They are certainly old, but not contemporary to the time they are supposed to be about.

    One need not have been around at the beginning to understand science - comprehend geology, evolution, botany, zoology, etc. One need not be a Fred Phelps claiming that homosexuals are the cause of certain things, or like Mary Frazier saying that ’many’ bible prophecies have come true.

    I can predict that we will have future tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, and wars. I don’t need an invisible friend in the sky to ‘foresee’ the future. Science can often predict certain future occurrences with increased accuracy as to time and place. Meteorology, oceanography, geology and the like can scientifically predict some occurrences well before they happen. It doesn’t take some ancient Moses or Ezekiel or Daniel to simply say that in some future times all hell will break loose. And those who today make such calculations and predictions don’t often say we will have a Tsunami because the Invisible Assumptive is going to bring a bunch of shit down around us because some percentage of the population is gay.

    Religion can produce warm and fuzzy feelings, if we don’t get caught up in notions of hell fire and damnation, unpardonable sins, or an angry god who kills entire armies of people - people he is supposed to have created in the first place. If a parent in the 21st century kills one it’s children, we have laws against that. What do we overlook what this terrible, invisible sky fairy supposedly did, and supposedly still does? And, Mary Frazier, don’t buy into the notion that Jesus changed any of that. He says he came to fulfill the prophecies. Jesus was the original believer, the original Mary Frazier Jim Jones, David Karesh, and Charlie Manson rolled into one. If we actually decide to ignore that god is an angry, jealous MF’er, and that he indiscriminately slaughters masses of people, and does a myriad of truly cruel and unconscionable things, then we are blind to what the Bible has to say. In short, the Mary Frazier types have created the god they want but conveniently forget that they need to go to church with the god of their bible, the angry, baby killing, destructive god of their bible. They have to overlook that their god scoured the earth for the perfect teenager to impregnate, then abandoned her to raise an illegitimate son. We call those things rape, pedophilia, child abandonment and abuse. We prosecute people who do such things.

    I cannot justify that there was no other way to save the humanity - a humanity that was so imperfectly manufactured in the first place that thy needed saving - than to condemn Jesus to die a painful and horrific death. We have to consider such a god as a sadist, masochist, pedophilic rapists and a being that turns a death ear when his illegitimate son asks, “Father. Why have you forsaken me?”

    There are many ways to lead a productive and happy life. Religion has helped people do that, but it certainly isn’t the only path to a happy existence. That religion has been beneficial is not proof of God, or creation. That there are passages and concepts in the bible that give people hope, faith, solace is not proof of god. It is just good psychology.

    I seriously doubt ants or fleas devote much of their day to trying to figure us out.

    Yesterday’s daily prayer, by Billy Graham, stated that God will destroy the universe and then re-build it. Billy says he got that answer from the bible. He doesn’t explain where God will be when the Universe is destroyed. How will God step outside the area of destruction if the entire universe is destroyed?

    *****

    From the Opinion Line;

    “How very sad that there are not 60 senators with the courage to tell the NRA where to go. PROFILES IN COURAGE was a relatively small book; PROFILES IN TIMIDITY would be a ponderous tome.”

    “The Second Amendment is already well regulated. I wish I could say the same about the First Amendment.”

    “An allegation that cannot be refuted is a form of lying.”

    (JRM Comment: This last opinion is too wishy-washy to make much sense. If an allegation is itself a lie, and is not refuted, then it remains a lie. But if the allegation is true, and is not refuted, it is still the truth. What about a allegation that could be refuted, but isn’t? Is the allegation true or false? There is no way to tell.)

    *****

    Kansas legislators now have a bill that says life begins at fertilization. Governor Brownback signed that measure into law yesterday.

    I guess I am 9 months older today than I was yesterday. I have some questions.

    Will the state spend billions to change all official records - my birth certificated, hospital records, my driver’s license statistics?

    Will new birth corticated now state than a baby was 9 month and one fraction of a second old when it popped out of the womb?

    Will a woman who has an involuntary miscarriage be tried for murder, or manslaughter.

    Will the Invisible Assumptive sky fairy be a co-defendant, he having designed creatures in such a ill-conceived manner that involuntary miscarriages sometimes occur?

    Will we now call involuntary miscarriages by the name abortion?

    Will such laws go viral, become law in every state so I can then seek 9 months worth of back social security payments?

    Will all women be equipped with a device to record the instant of fertilization so our public records will be more accurate than merely back-tracking 9 months?

    Will Republicans now stop saying they are for a smaller, less intrusive government?

    Will Roe v Wade become null and void by default?

    What other mischief can ignorant legislators do to deny humans privacy and personal freedom?

    Will Kansans finally wake up and dump Republicans from office?

    Will Republicans ever care as much about the living as the unborn?