Friday, November 13, 2009

Those who wait upon the Lord . . .

“Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will rise up on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

“Those who wait upon the Lord are like Mt. Zion, unmoved by any circumstances.”

In the book of Daniel there’s an interesting reference to atheists. God is pleading with His people and he says, “Why do you worship gods that cannot see, nor hear, nor smell, nor speak, nor touch?”

We could add, “Why do you worship a god that can ONLY see, hear, smell, speak and touch?” Of course it’s atheists who do this. That’s their whole gig; bowing down to naturalism and scientism; expecting their lifeless god to carry them through life’s toughest struggles. In Daniel’s account, the King has built a statue of himself (the same as every atheist on the planet) and everyone is commanded to bow down to it. Under penalty of death, everyone does bow down to the statue that cannot see or hear or smell or taste; everyone that is, except three Hebrew captives. Can you imagine that kind of courage? The whole valley is full of thousands upon thousands of people, and all but three young men bow down in unison to this lifeless statue. Those who love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength remain standing in the face of formidable power.

How about you?
.Do you worship materialism?
.Do you bow down to scientism?
.Have you staked your eternity upon atheism?
.Do you worship something that can do nothing to help you in your time of need?
.When your spouse leaves you for another person, what is your atheism going to do for you? When your partner hits you or calls you names, how is your philosophy of life going to support you?
.When you get laid off from your work, or when the spot on your lung shows up in the x ray, or when your child turns against you and leaves home with some jerk who abuses her, upon what are you standing and will it hold you firm?

For atheists, your god of sight, hearing, smelling, talking, and touching will prove itself useless.

34 comments:

The Atheist Missionary said...

Couldn't resist.

Do you worship materialism? Nope but I do find that stuff is usually better to have than no stuff

Do you bow down to scientism?
Nope but the scientific method is a good way to develop a catalytic converter, vaccine, artificial heart, deep space telescope, etc. At least the best way that we've come up with yet

Have you staked your eternity upon atheism?
No sir - I don't believe that eternity is a concept that the human mind can even properly comprehend. For example, did your god pick his nose for half an eternity before deciding to create his/her/its playground earth?

Do you worship something that can do nothing to help you in your time of need?
If we define "worship" as: "idolize: love unquestioningly and uncritically or to excess; venerate as an idol." the answer is no - I don't worship anybody or anything.

When your spouse leaves you for another person, what is your atheism going to do for you?
Absolutely nothing aside from helping me appreciate that decision was the combination of circumstances that led to an inexorable conclusion. Remember, free will is a mirage.

When your partner hits you or calls you names, how is your philosophy of life going to support you?
Atheism is not a philosophy of life - it is simply a rejection of your philosophy

When you get laid off from your work, or when the spot on your lung shows up in the x ray, or when your child turns against you and leaves home with some jerk who abuses her, upon what are you standing and will it hold you firm?
Times can and will get tough. Religion is an emotional crutch that comforts some. If I lost one of my children, what a comfort it would be to think that I would see them again in the afterlife. However, wishful thinking doesn't make the object of your wish any more likely. Even you know that Mak

Thesauros said...

"combination of circumstances that led to an inexorable conclusion. Remember, free will is a mirage."

Atheists, helpless and hopeless.

Generalslip said...

>>"combination of circumstances that led to an inexorable conclusion. Remember, free will is a mirage."

Atheists, helpless and hopeless.<<<

I'm sorry, this is so working with POE's law right now. You just made yourself seem ridiculous.

Gandolf said...

"Do you worship materialism?"

Mak i think society would be much better off without divise faith beliefs,that have traditionally split and divided family and community for many many years now.Leading to some of the big problems we see in society today,where family/community values have been somewhat depleted.

So in that sense maybe i am classed as a materialist ... Yes i think family and community value that we can have on this earth,is worth far much more than some mythical faith belief that creates division.

While those who wait on the lord wait,the rest of us humans have to get on with it and try to deal with all the division of this earth, that your lord promised to deal out like a "sword" as he devided families and father from son and mother from daughter etc.

Faithful folk all to often suggest they do honestly? care about those stuck in prostitution or drugs etc.

But while they "say so" do they take much time to think and consider the belief they and others have followed that over time has split and devided our families societies like a sword!..Helping them become what they have now sadly become.

When considering matters of materialism,does the matter of church faith god/s beliefs long dark sad history of need of power for control and extortion of wealth from people...Ammount to this materialistic manner too?

Mak->"Have you staked your eternity upon atheism?"

Seems eternity that is not even known to exist,concerns folks of faith much more, that the one and ONLY life folks of this earth honestly know they actually have.

I wonder do many folks of faith even stop for a moment, to consider how many other folk in this world actually are sometimes paying extreme costs for their mythical beliefs of faith folks dream of this eternity ?.

I harzard to guess not many bother to consider it to much...They are often far to busy with the materialistic view that they will recieve a eternity filled with bliss for supporting a belief that has destroyed many peoples earthly family lives.

Mak->"When your spouse leaves you for another person, what is your atheism going to do for you?"

Well maybe it cant often do a lot to help these days Mak,but should non belief of gods take the blame of often not being able to be so helpful these days.

When historically its the "god beliefs" that have been the cause of division in families and communities, that used to once be the thing that was most helpful!.

Mak society over all pays very very dearly! for the curse of belief of god/s on this earth.

You as a person who i admit is honest in his faithfulness, sadly tend to naturallly overlook often even considering to consider the big downsides the rest of us all pay for!,for your right to be faithful..

Yes Mak! many people in this world DO pay very dearly for peoples right to believe in mythical gods and their dreams of prizes in eternity.

Mak->"Why do you worship gods that cannot see, nor hear, nor smell, nor speak, nor touch?”


Sounds a lot like all the blind deaf silent god/s beliefs of this world, whos only touch seems to be to split and divide and rip off the only life that folks know they actually have!.

Sad! and then its the non believers who get classed as the materialists ... If wishing to use life wisely is about being anythin materialist ...well supposed in that sense we feel life is something that should be looked after.

Non believers get classed as being materialistic,while they paying for the folks of faiths materialistic dreams of some mythical eternity

tinkbell13 said...

I was getting some hope that maybe you are learning, but you do not appear to be.

You so smugly said

Atheists, helpless and hopeless.

Here is another term that I think that you are all to famaliar with. Prejudice.

A prejudice is a preconceived belief, opinion, or judgment toward a group of people or a single person because of race, social class, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, disability, political believes , religion, line of work or other personal characteristics. It also means a priori beliefs (without knowledge of the facts) and includes "any unreasonable attitude that is unusually resistant to rational influence."[1] Although positive and negative prejudice both exist, when used negatively, "prejudice" implies fear and antipathy toward such a group or person.

* Cognitive Prejudice refers to what people believe to be true: for example, in adherence to a particular metaphysical or methodological philosophy at the expense of other philosophies which may offer a more complete theoretical explanation.
* Affective Prejudice refers to what people like and dislike: for example, in attitudes toward members of particular classes such as race, ethnicity, national origin, or creed.
* Conative Prejudice refers to how people are inclined to behave. It is regarded as an attitude because people do not act on their feelings. An example of conative prejudice may be found in expressions of what should be done if the opportunity presents itself.

The more you generalize, the more bigoted you become. Not a very Christian attitude. Didnt JC teach you to love your enemies? That is not so loving towards your fellow human beings.

Anonymous said...

Do I worship Materialism?

I do not worship anything, I am an atheist. I respect evidence, but that does not necessarily have anything to do with atheism itself, it just happens to be the reason why I am atheist.


Do you bow down to scientism?

Bow Down? Do you mean do I accept reason? Yes I do. Even when it tells me I am wrong. The truth is more important than my ego, or desire for significance. I would not call it bowing down, however, I would call it being open-minded.


Have you staked eternity upon atheism?

I do not have eternity to stake, I have a lifetime. I am not going to stake that lifetime on wishful thinking, but rather treat it with the priority that it deserves.


When your spouse leaves you for another person, what is your atheism going to do for you?

It will not do anything for me. It also will not tell me she is a bad person for doing this, or that God hates her for it, or that she should not be allowed to leave me. Reason would tell me to respect her opinion, and that it is her choice.


When your partner hits you or calls you names, what is your atheism going to do for me?

My atheism does nothing for me as it is, it's not a belief, it's a lack of belief. If I am a victim of spousal abuse, I might try to find a shelter, which would give me real help. I would rather be dry, than feel dry. Real shelter is better than imaginary shelter.


When you get laid off from your work, or when the spot on your lung shows up in the x ray, or when your child turns against you and leaves home with some jerk who abuses her, upon what are you standing and will it hold you firm?

IF I get laid off from work I go look for another job. IF the spot on my lung shows up on the X-ray I keep seeing the doctor - if I am cured, I thank my doctor, if not I try to do what I can with the time that I have left. IF my child leaves home with some jerk who abuses her, I will talk to her on the phone when she calls, call her when she does not, seek her out if that fails, and make sure she knows there is a place with me that is safe and always open, and real. I will not pray and then feel better about my self for doing nothing.


Do you worship something that can do nothing to help you in your time of need?
I do not worship anything. Maybe there is relief in worship, I would not know, even when I had faith it was never anything but a burden. That relief, however, would be no more real than what you would get if you just took some drugs. It is delusional. And drugs always work, which makes them better than delusions. If you only care about how it makes you feel, then there are better ways to feel good. I do not use drugs, either.


Let me ask you some questions back:


Do you not like material things?

Do you actually bow down to God's 'truth', or just the parts of it you like (have you ever worn wool and cotton at the same time)?

Do you stake the only life you know for sure you have on the idea that there might be something afterward?

Does your worship really help you through your problems, or just distract you from them?

When your spouse leaves you for another person, does the fact that God says she isn't allowed to do that make you angrier than you would have been otherwise?

When you lose your job, will God pay your bill, cover your HMO?

Would a righteous God give you cancer?

How, exactly, does God improve a situation where someone is beating your children? Wouldn't a better improvement be to try to stop it somehow?

Do you prefer reasoning with someone to coercing them, or is winning more important than being right?

J Curtis said...

Do I worship Materialism?

I do not worship anything, I am an atheist.


Atheism 101 blather at it's finest. Wow!

Unknown said...

.Do you worship materialism?
No, but I accept there is nothing but the material. The immaterial is only so until it is proven to exist; then it becomes material.

.Do you bow down to scientism?
No, because I have a general disdain for made-up terms.

.Have you staked your eternity upon atheism?
I have no eternity to stake on anything; I've got, what, eighty years? Then it's over.

.Do you worship something that can do nothing to help you in your time of need?
Seeing as I don't worship anything, no. And seeing as millions of people are left unhelped in death-causing circumstances every day, maybe you should ask yourself that very same question.

.When your spouse leaves you for another person, what is your atheism going to do for you?
It will let me realize that it's not some all-powerful entity screwing me over, but just bad decisions on my part and the parts of others. In shorter terms, 'life'.

.When your partner hits you or calls you names, how is your philosophy of life going to support you?
By letting me take care of it myself, instead of praying to some supposedly all-powerful deity who has done shit-all for millions of abused couples.

.When you get laid off from your work, or when the spot on your lung shows up in the x ray, or when your child turns against you and leaves home with some jerk who abuses her, upon what are you standing and will it hold you firm?
I stand upon reason. If I get laid off, either it was my fault or I'm just one of many and blind chance was against me. If I get lung cancer, it's again either my fault for doing something stupid or blind luck. If my child leaves me, I was a bad parent; if somebody abuses her, I'll call the police instead of praying to a god who does nothing. Reason holds me firm in the face of all adversity, because it lets me understand that not everything has a reason; there is no 'greater plan'; life is born from chance, continues through random occurrence, and then ends however it does.

Episkopos Andy said...

I was raised in a very strict, Christian household. I know what it is like to have a strong belief in something that has zero evidence. It is hell. I hope this is just satire, but I fear it is not. Please, understand that religion is merely a remnant of our ancient, human culture; something we no longer need. It got us far, helped us survive, but now it just tears us apart. The crux of every religion is a belief in a supernatural force that has never been witnessed, only written about by mere humans in ancient books who, likely, did so to control other humans- not to spread the word of god.

VeridicusX said...

Makarios,

You've finally made me to see the error of my ways.

If I don't believe in an invisible, white haired, genocidal, child molester in the sky, I'm totally without hope!

"Yahweh is a being of great spiritual power. We know this because he is capable of being invisible and white haired at the same time. Like all religions, the Faith of Yahweh is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that he is white haired; we logically know that he is invisible because we can't see him."
[Paraphrased from the manifesto of the Invisible Pink Unicornists].

Matt said...

Interesting piece satirizing the common perception of an ignorant christian! Thorough devotion to the act throughout the rest of your blog too. A++ would read again.

Anonymous said...

.
Learn And Be Free Of Ignorance!
.
Learn And Be Free Of Ignorance!
.
Learn And Be Free Of Ignorance!
.

tinkbell13 said...

I love this definition from the Urban Dictionary- Emotional Crutch.

Emotional Crutch

A substance, object, or individual providing temporary comfort and support in times of turmoil and duress.
|"Yeah, man. When I've had a hard day at work, Jack Daniels is *totally* my emotional crutch."

Everyone has trouble in their lives. And, most people have difficulty getting through it. Actually, the less sociopathic person turns to substances, and just generally abuses themselves and those around them. And, then others turn to religion, and willingly choose to engage in one of the most selfish and socially dangerous belief systems in the planet.

And, then there are some of us, who are just lucky enough to be able to deal with it and get through the night without anything.

Thesauros said...

A substance, object, or individual providing temporary comfort and support in times of turmoil and duress.

That is a good one. Thank you.

tinkbell13 said...

More than welcome, anytime.

Anonymous said...

Do you worship materialism?
Worship? No. In fact I don't worship anything.

Do you bow down to scientism?
Is that a word? Either way, you're probably equating being penitent and worship...which, as I said earlier, I don't do. I do however believe more in the ability of thousands of scientists creating a collective body of knowledge over a 2000 year old book written by people with less education than the average modern 8 year old.

Have you staked your eternity upon atheism?
No such thing as eternal life. In fact heaven would be quite crowded if there was...

Do you worship something that can do nothing to help you in your time of need?
Actually I rely on myself to get me through times of need. Also the love of my wife and support from friends. But ultimately we are responsible to ourselves

When your spouse leaves you for another person, what is your atheism going to do for you?
Actually that happened briefly and I got through it with help from the aforementioned friends (plus some Atavan). But I knew that no one was responsible for what happened then the two of us and only the two of us could fix it. Which we did.

When your partner hits you or calls you names, how is your philosophy of life going to support you?
By reminding me that praying doesn't do anything, action does. Why wait for signs from an imaginary being?


When you get laid off from your work,
18 year old Scotch

or when the spot on your lung shows up in the x ray,
Chemotherapy.

or when your child turns against you and leaves home with some jerk who abuses her, upon what are you standing and will it hold you firm?
Reasoning.

Thesauros said...

So tinker, is asking for help a sign of weakness?

Anon. I'm sorry to hear about the relationship thing. Hope the recovery stays on course.

Anonymous said...

It can be. It's a tool, something you do to solve a problem. It's not universally a sign of weakness, or a sign of strength, it's just an option we usually have. To say what it is, you pretty much need a context for it.

Asking a doctor for help with disease is wise. Asking a lawyer before signing a contract is clever. Depending on the context, it can be a sign of need, desperation, hopelessness or incompetence. Asking the whole of cosmos to conspire to help you on an individual level, on the other hand, is just silly.

Thesauros said...

"Asking the whole of cosmos to conspire to help you on an individual level, on the other hand, is just silly."

Just a couple points:
. I don't know anyone who's ever done that

. To what will you turn to for help if not that which is stronger than yourself?

Anonymous said...

Well, praying to God (the ultimate reality or something like that in the dictionary) would by definition be adressing the entirety of Cosmos, and praying for anything specific would be asking it to help. So I know of a lot of people who do that frequently, and believe it actually works, too.

I believe the second question should be "Who do you turn to," not "what do you turn to." The answer is, whoever seems appropriate given the context, or lacking someone appropriate, whoever is available. They have to be real though, because like I said before, real shelter is better than imaginary shelter, even if it's somewhat less glamorous. If there is no one to turn to, then I do not turn to anyone - sometimes you have to go it alone.


I find that the idea of getting strength from faith is kind of like the story of Dumbo. Believing in God is an emotional Feather that can convince you that you have the support you think you need to get through tough times, but the strength, solidarity and ability that you are actually using to get through them are there with or without that Feather. The Crows want you to need the Feather because then you will need them, but you don't. You were able to fly yourself, all along.

This is why it breaks my heart so to see people give in to strange beliefs propagated by thieves and charlatans, and let people shape your dreams and frame your world. Trust me, when you leave that up to a book, the world will get a lot smaller, and you will miss its wonders. Once it is gone, it is gone forever, and if you missed it that is forever. I think people deserve better than that.

Anonymous said...

.Do you worship materialism? no, I do not worship anything.

.Do you bow down to scientism? no

.Have you staked your eternity upon atheism? no, when I die my time is up.

.Do you worship something that can do nothing to help you in your time of need? no, I rely on myself, my husband, and loved ones

.When your spouse leaves you for another person, what is your atheism going to do for you? Knowing my husband the way I do, I doubt this. However, I would rely on friends and family for emotional support.

When your partner hits you or calls you names, how is your philosophy of life going to support you? This would not happen in my life. My husband is a pacifist.

.When you get laid off from your work, or when the spot on your lung shows up in the x ray, or when your child turns against you and leaves home with some jerk who abuses her, upon what are you standing and will it hold you firm? friends and family

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