Is atheism the answer? Part 4

If you're looking for something interesting to do, please read my newest Examiner article!

Is atheism the answer? Part 4

Here is a short excerpt:

It's been a couple of months since I began this series, and I've been putting off concluding it because it's such a huge subject and there's just too much to discuss. Yet, at the same time, in my own mind the whole theism-vs-atheism debate is entirely reconciled. And that is precisely the reason I am writing this series, which I thought might end with this entry but which may be continued...

If your perspective of reality as manifested on a daily basis in your interactions with others is hostile, aggressive and selfish, whether you are a theist or an atheist, your mindset is not an improvement over what we already find dominant. Fanaticism and extremism in any ideology is not the answer.

For the rest, go to:

Is atheism the answer? Part 4

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Adulterer Gingrich Destined for Hell

In yet another display of unmitigated arrogance, while giving the commencement speech at recently deceased fundmentalist minister Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, American politico Newt Gingrich called for an attack on "radical secularism." Gingrich's hypocritical "holier-than-thou" stance is particularly amusing in light of the fact that he is a twice-divorced, known adulterer.

In his pretentions of being a moral cop, possible presidential candidate Gingrich peppered his speech with quotes from the Bible, presumably leaving out the following scriptures:

... take heed to yourselves, and let none be faithless to the wife of his youth. For I hate divorce, says the LORD the God of Israel, and covering one's garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So take heed to yourselves and do not be faithless. (Mal 2:15)

And Pharisees came up to [Jesus] and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" He answered, "Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?" He said to them, "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery." (Mat 19:3-9)

According to the New Testament, Jesus was squarely against divorce, as well as remarriage, calling the latter "adultery." Since Gingrich is by biblical default and admission an adulterer, let us look at biblical scriptures concerning adultery and adulterers:

You shall not commit adultery. (Exd 20:14)

If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. (Lev 20:10)

Neither shall you commit adultery. (Deu 5:18)

He who commits adultery has no sense; he who does it destroys himself. (Pro 6:32 )

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.... It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery." (Mat 5:27-32)

And Jesus said, "You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness..." (Mat 19:18)

While Jesus upholds the proscription against adultery found in the 10 Commandments, the gospels do not record Christ as assigning the death penalty as a punishment for adultery, as does the Old Testament. In fact, Jesus is depicted as stopping the stoning of a woman on the charge of adultery, uttering the famous words, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." (Jn 8:17)

So egregious is the sin of adultery, however, that St. Paul lumps adulterers in with "the immoral...idolaters... sexual perverts... thieves... the greedy... drunkards... revilers [and] robbers." According to the New Testament, none of these individuals "will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Cor 6:10)

Thus, it would seem Newt Gingrich is destined for Hell!

In his Liberty-University speech, Gingrich also remarked:

"A growing culture of radical secularism declares that the nation cannot profess the truths on which it was founded... We are told that our public schools can no longer invoke the creator, nor proclaim the natural law nor profess the God-given quality of human rights.

"In hostility to American history, the radical secularists insist that religious belief is inherently divisive and that public debate can only proceed on secular terms....

"Too often, the courts have been biased against religious believers. This anti-religious bias must end..."

In reality, not only is religion divisive, but the a priori assumption by religionists that God exists, as depicted in the Bible and other "holy texts," is utterly dishonest and is at the root of many of the world's problems. The honest debate should be not whether or not "God" is to be allowed in public schools but whether or not the anthropomorphic god as portrayed in the Bible even exists.

The fact is that the majority of individuals in the United States consider themselves to be religious, including judges and legislators, and there have been no professed atheists on the Supreme Court since its inception. Fortunately for Newt Gingrich, however, the courts have been biased against fervent believers in the Old Testament punishment for adultery, i.e., stoning. Gingrich had better hope for his own sake, therefore, that the wall of separation between church and state remains high and unbreachable.