Aug 13 2008
I find it bloody annoying how some Australians - church leaders and politicians mainly - describe this country as a ‘christian’ nation or a ‘christian’ society. Australia isn’t actually.
Our society, like most civilised Western democracies, is a secular society that tolerates religious belief.
I believe the word ’secular’ doesn’t describe our society well enough though - so I have come up with an alternative that I’ll run by you.
Jul 23 2008
I’ve written before about the charlatan Benny Hinn. Seems his ability to fool the gullible is as strong as ever.
Excerpt from an article on the Freethinker
“EXPERTS in South Arica are claiming that a genuine miracle took place at a massive evangelical rally staged by American “prosperity” preacher Benny Hinn, who is touring the country with his “Miracle Crusade”.
The genuine, verifiable event – attributed to “the power of the Almighty” – occurred when thousands of pounds miraculously left the bank accounts of around 1,000 of devout Christians, and within minutes inexplicably surfaced in Hinn’s sizeable off-shore bank accounts.
It happened when Todd Koontz, a guest speaker at the “Miracle Crusade” told the 18,000 believers at the Coca Cola Dome near Johannesburg that God had created a “two minute” window of opportunity, during which time the Almighty would make hundreds into millionaires, or even billionaires.”
Sigh… there’s an idiot born every minute. Read the rest of the story here.
Of course, Benny the Hair has made some outrageous claims in the past too - the following transcript details Hinn’s exact words on the October 19, 1999, Praise the Lord show :
“Here’s what I see for TBN. You’re going to have people raised from the dead watching this network. You’re going to have people raised from the dead watching TBN … I’m telling you, I see this in the Spirit. It’s going to be so awesome-Jesus I give you praise for this-that people around the world-maybe not so much in America-people around the world who will lose loved ones, will say to undertakers, “Not yet. I want to take my dead loved one and place him in front of that TV set for 24 hours.” …
I’m telling you, I can feel the anointing talking here. People are going to be canceling funeral services and bringing their dead in their caskets, placing them-my God! I feel the anointing here-placing them before a television set, waiting for God’s power to come through and touch them. And it’s going to happen time and time-so much it’s going to spread. You’re going to hear it from Kenya to Mexico to Europe to South America, where people will be raised from the dead. So much so that the word will spread that if some dead person be put in front of this TV screen, they will be raised from the dead and they will be by the thousands …
I see rows of caskets lining up in front of this TV set and I see them bringing them closer to the TV set and as people are coming closer I see loved ones picking up the hands of the dead and letting them touch the screen and people are getting raised as their hands are touching that screen.”
Ok, I rest my case, he’s certifiable…
Mar 16 2008
The Chasers is an Aussie comedy show that takes the proverbial out of most things - they do a good job on the Hillsong church in this one. A bit of info about this church is on this page at the Millennium Project
Mar 10 2008
“To deny that a rock is 300 million years old is to deny the process that got us to that understanding. Since this process of inquiry is our best tool for succeeding in the world, its denial is a grave threat to our future prosperity. Far from making us stronger, faith cripples us because it takes away our greatest advantage: our ability to question, to learn, to adapt and, therefore, to live.”
“Honesty is difficult. It requires heroic efforts of introspection and self-awareness. This honest portrayal of reality is at the heart of the conflict between science and religion. While science is a natural response to reality, religion demands that we distrust our senses and our intellect, instead relying on a supernatural explanation. In this way, faith robs us of the best tool we have for learning about our world and understanding our true position within it. Religions, especially fundamentalist religions, get stuck because they are based on an immovable, unchangeable, unquestionable authority. But without doubt and questioning, there is no way to acknowledge, much less correct for errors.”
Excerpts from a great article by Lauren Becker.
