Adam Says: Faith or Manipulation Strikes A Chord With Me.

It does not happen often (mainly because thinking makes my head hurt) but every once in a while I read or hear something that makes me say "Hey that's what I was thinking." To that point here is a thought provoking article from Relevant.com that made me say that very thing.

Adam and Jeremy Say: Maybe They Just Hate God

Here is a story from the Washington Times that talks about the popularity of atheist novels that outright attack God and religion... No other comment just something for you to think about.




The Washington Times
http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Militant atheists topping best-seller lists

By Rachel ZollASSOCIATED PRESS

Published May 26, 2007


The time for polite debate is over. Militant atheist writers are making an all-out assault on religious faith and reaching the top of the best-seller list, a sign of widespread resentment over the influence of religion in the world among nonbelievers.

Christopher Hitchens' book, "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything," has sold briskly ever since it was published last month, and his debates with clergy are drawing crowds at every stop.

Sam Harris was a little-known graduate student until he wrote the phenomenally successful "The End of Faith" and its follow-up, "Letter to a Christian Nation." Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" and Daniel Dennett's "Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon" struck similar themes -- and sold.

"There is something like a change in the zeitgeist," Mr. Hitchens said, noting that sales of his latest book far outnumber those for his earlier work that had challenged faith. "There are a lot of people, in this country in particular, who are fed up with endless lectures by bogus clerics and endless bullying."

Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, a prominent evangelical school in Pasadena, Calif., said the books' success reflect a new vehemence in the atheist critique. "I don't believe in conspiracy theories," Mr. Mouw said, "but it's almost like they all had a meeting and said, 'Let's counterattack.' "

The war metaphor is apt. The writers see themselves in a battle for reason in a world crippled by superstition. In their view, Muslim extremists, Jewish settlers and Christian right activists are from the same mold, using fairy tales posing as divine scripture to justify their lust for power. Bad behavior in the name of religion is behind some of the most dangerous global conflicts and the terrorist attacks in the United States, London and Madrid, the atheists say.

As Mr. Hitchens puts it: "Religion kills."

The Rev. Douglas Wilson, senior fellow in theology at New Saint Andrews College, a Christian school in Moscow, Idaho, sees the books as a sign of secular panic. Nonbelievers are finally realizing, he says, that contrary to what they were taught in college, faith is not dead.

Signs of believers' political and cultural might abound.

Religious challenges to teaching evolution are still having an effect, 80 years after the infamous Scopes "monkey trial." The dramatic growth in home schooling and private Christian schools is raising questions about the future of public education. Religious leaders have succeeded in putting some limits on stem-cell research.

And the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a national ban on partial-birth abortion -- the first federal curbs on an abortion procedure in a generation -- came after decades of religious lobbying for conservative justices.

"It sort of dawned on the secular establishment that they might lose here," said Mr. Wilson, who is debating Mr. Hitchens on christianitytoday.com and has written the book "Letter From a Christian Citizen" in response to Mr. Harris. "All of this is happening precisely because there's a significant force that they have to deal with."

Indeed, believers far outnumber nonbelievers in America. In a 2005 AP-Ipsos poll on religion, only 2 percent of U.S. respondents said they did not believe in God. Other surveys concluded that 14 percent of Americans consider themselves secular, a term that can include believers who say they have no particular religion.

Some say liberal outrage over the policies of President Bush is partly spurring sales, even though Mr. Hitchens famously supported the invasion of Iraq. To those Americans, the nation's born-again president is the No. 1 representative of the religious right activists who helped put him in office. Mr. Bush's critics see his Christian faith behind some of his worst decisions and his stubborn defense of the war in Iraq.

"There is this general sense that evangelicals have really gained a lot of power in the United States and the Bush administration seems to represent that in some significant ways," said Christian Smith, a sociologist of religion at the University of Notre Dame. "A certain group of people sees it that way and that's really disturbing."

Mr. Mouw said conservative Christians are partly to blame for the backlash. The rhetoric of some evangelical leaders has been so strident, they have invited the rebuke, the seminary president said.

"We have done a terrible job of presenting our perspective as a plausible worldview that has implications for public life and for education, presenting that in a way that is sensitive to the concerns of people who may disagree," he said. "Whatever may be wrong with Christopher Hitchens' attacks on religious leaders, we have certainly already matched it in our attacks."

Given the popularity of the anti-religion books so far, publishers are expected to roll out even more in the future. Lynn Garrett, senior religion editor for Publishers Weekly, says religion has been one of the fastest-growing categories in publishing in the past 15 years, and the rise of books by atheists is "the flip side of that."

"It was just the time," she said, "for the atheists to take the gloves off."



http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20070525-105753-5623r

An off brand of Christian

This interview with Aaron Weiss of Me Without You recently appeared on www.relevant.com It paints an interesting picture of person who views the gospel and the Christian faith in a rather original way:

Aaron Weiss eats out of trashcans. The man who fronts the band mewithoutYou is known for his seemingly strange behavior. mewithoutYou has seen a rise in popularity since the release of their last album, Catch for Us the Foxes, due in part to touring with bands like Coheed and Cambria, The Blood Brothers and playing spots in this year’s Warped Tour and Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival. Their new album, Brother, Sister, is out on Tooth & Nail Records and features collaborations with Jeremy Enigk (Sunny Day Real Estate/The Fire Theft) and members of Anathallo and Psalters. The band has received serious attention from major press, and they just wrapped up a tour this fall with Say Anything and Piebald.

With all the attention the band is receiving, it’s doubtless that fans will see him rummaging through waste bins or get a whiff of his sweat-drenched body when he walks off stage. This will bring questions, and Weiss will lovingly oblige, as he did with me backstage. This interview, a combination of in-person conversation and e-mails, has answers for the pressing questions many will have for him.

The fact that your tour bus is bio-friendly is receiving a lot of attention. What’s the reason behind the conversion from fossil fuels to vegetable oil?
Well, oil is a limited resource and vegetable oil is renewable. It’s good to not support an industry that seems pretty shady. A lot of violence breaks out over petroleum and for environmental reasons, it’s good all around.

Did you do the conversion yourself?
No, no, we found a guy online who sells kits that allow you to do the conversion yourself. Then we found some mechanics who had never done a conversion like that before, but were familiar with what needed to be done. Our manager didn’t really want us to do it, but when he found out that I was going to pay for it myself, he said “Well, it’ll be great publicity.” It has been, it’s been great publicity.


I read that a few years ago, Christianity was just "business" to you and that you wanted to "just make out with chicks" (at one point). It wasn't until you spent a time in a communal living situation that things changed for you. What made you join that commune?
I suppose it was a longing for something real, something different than what I'd known. The Christianity I'd been exposed to was primarily concerned with the afterlife, little concern for people's tangible, immediate needs. We pray, of course, "your kingdom come ... on earth as it is in heaven," and I found myself wondering what the world would look like if the kingdom did come, if it were a paradise, right here, today. And it seemed like communal living was a step in that direction.

Have you received direct criticism to your way of life from other Christians? What was it, and how did you deal with it?
Not as much as I'd hope. When criticism does come, I usually think, "Finally, I must be doing something right!"

What were your friends' and family's reactions to your life change? Was it immediate, or did the Aaron Weiss we see today emerge slowly?
For a while there was a gradual turning, with one single experience bringing about a sudden and dramatic change almost three years ago. I think people worried about me. I was feverish, couldn't sleep much, woke up trembling. I would ramble on, trying to communicate what was inside, to share what had been given to me. It didn't work—I've had to learn to be quiet, to listen, to show it instead.

How does your view of Christianity affect your desire to, or lack of desire, to be married?
Jesus said that it's better for a man not to marry. Paul wrote the same thing. I see it as a sort of a concession I'll have to make if I don't have the faith to find contentment in my God alone. That I may need such a compromise seems likely, as I've always had a passion for that sort of union, and I get lonely. I don't so much mean sexually, but mostly I long for companionship and a deep friendship. If God is willing though, maybe I could find that in the Holy Ghost.

What is your reasoning behind not following traditional hygienic standards? I'm thinking of bathing and digging through trash cans.
Ah, lots of reasons. One's I'm a cheapskate, and I'd rather find food than buy it and not spend the money on hot water or soap. Another's that I feel some inclination to care for the creation and not use the resources it takes to bathe all the time and to produce, ship, package food and so on. I used to be embarrassed taking food from a trash bin or looking dirty. Anymore I feel embarrassed buying food when it's being thrown away everywhere I look! And dressing up in new clothes every day, trying to look attractive or desirable and stay clean and respectable—it's a lot of effort, and I don't have it in me anymore.

When I see people with their hair done and make up and stylish clothes, it looks silly to me now, like a costume. I try not to come down hard on that sort of call for affirmation (I'm not far removed from it at all), but the Scriptures say we should try to look beautiful with a gentle, quiet spirit—if there's peace in our eyes, this is much more beautiful.

What is your response to those who would say you're just a "neo-hippie Christian?"
"Thank you," and "I'm sorry," and "how are you?"

What theologians and philosophers have inspired your thinking?
Soren Kierkegaard.

What is your advice to those who aren't ready to give up all they possess like you have?
I haven't given up all I possess. I've been trying to live more simply, getting rid of things rather than accumulating them, but I still have things. I don’t even need as much money as I make in the band.

Anyhow, material possessions are just one way we can be chained to this world. Even if we were to give up all our stuff, what good will it do us if we then judge others who haven't done so? Giving away everything we own is right, but we can get rid of our belongings but hold onto lust, jealousy, pride, arrogance, ambition. My advice is to ask forgiveness for trusting in what is useless and to pray for God to give you the love for others that would move you to sell all you have to give your money to the poor, not with reluctance or motivated by guilt, but with joy. Pray for that, and if it doesn't come pray for it again and again, and whatever good does come don't make a big show of it but keep your goodness a secret for God, and tell someone you trust the things you do that are the most wrong and shameful. Keep praying for mercy and forgive everyone, and show gratitude to the One who made you, and pray for me is my advice.