Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Catholic Father Says That Atheism And Theism Are The Same Thing Now
Father Raniero Cantalamessa, writing a "Gospel Commentary for Palm Sunday" in Zenit, the Catholic news service from Rome, Italy, has redefined atheism so that it means, well, theism.
How incredibly convenient!
[link] Jesus on the cross has become an atheist, one without God. There are two forms of atheism: the active or voluntary atheism of those who reject God, and the passive or suffered atheism of those who are rejected (or feel rejected) by God. In both forms there are those who are "without God." The former is an atheism of fault, and the latter is an atheism of suffering and expiation. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, about whom there was much discussion when her personal writings were published, belongs to this latter category.
On the cross Jesus expiated in anticipation all the atheism that exists in the world, not only that of declared atheists, but also that of practical atheists, the atheism of those who live "as if God did not exist," relegating him to the last place in their life. It is "our" atheism, because, in this sense, we are all atheists -- some more, some less -- those who do not care about God. God too is one of the "marginalized" today; he has been pushed to the margins of the lives of the majority of men.
So, as you can see, all atheists really do know that God exists, but they either choose to "reject" Him, or they are going through so much suffering that they lose sight of Him. Mother Theresa's atheism is a good thing, you see? It means that God was heaping on extra punishments and torment for no reason - because she was so saintly and good. Obviously she needed to be tortured her entire life. And this is proof that He exists! Hallelujah!
And God Himself is "marginalized"! The horror! The poor, put-upon, all-powerful Universal Creator of everything is sad because every time He punishes one of his most faithful creatures over the course of years, then refuses to provide any evidence that He actually exists in any real sense, they stop believing in Him. It makes me weep, really.
That means that all of us atheists who make the simple claim that god-belief of any kind is absent within us are delusional liars.
I see.
Thank you Father, for your enlightened Palm Sunday commentary in which you attempt to marginalize and demonize 12 to 15% of the world's population. But that seems to be one of the things the Catholic church does best. Create the illusion that a group of fellow human beings are somehow sub-human, then use that perception to get the upper hand politically
Great job! Mission accomplished! I am SO looking forward to your God making me suffer. Maybe I can be as big an atheist/theist as Mother Theresa if He keeps me alive long enough, and I get painfully tortured enough!
Yes! Religion is so great! And Catholicism is the best religion ever!
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Anger
Perhaps Cantalamessa's onto something. Your post does seem angry. Angry at whom?
Ah, I've come across this
Ah, I've come across this ridiculous argument before.
If people all know god, why the need for thousands of churches, massive missionary efforts, a scramble for each Xian denomination to spiritually colonize Africa and South Africa, and spend donation money on Bibles instead of aid.
Why doesn't Christianity ever sprout up magically in places where they have never heard of it?
Why the need to dominate so much cultures through-out history? They all know god already
Why did thousands of years of civilization pass before Christianity was invented by man - I mean handed down by magical omnipotent beings?
actually an intertextual quote
BTW, the "My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me?!" is actually a quote from one of the Psalms, consciously chosen by the NT author who wrote it, to refer back to an earlier religious utterance, which means the Jesus character is effectively praying, not crying out in despair per se.
Of course, back in the day, the nascent Christian sects were all considered atheists...by the Romans.
But the Padre's commentary is all horse-hooey. I became a much happier person when I gave up my last vestiges of the Gawd delusion.
The Padre was tippling...
Okay, I was raised Catholic. I've tasted that communion wine many times; it just isn't that good. I wonder what the good Padre was drinking?
The notion that the desperate desire to believe with discordant lack of any sense of a deity is atheism is atrocious. Some people suffering in this state do become atheists (like me), some find a sense of God again, and some like MT just suffer. To be without God doesn't, by any stretch of the imagination, mean you don't believe in the existence of God.
In short, he's confusing misery with liberty. Damn, that Italian wine must be good.
So Thankful
I want to thank you Brent for informing me of this great thinkers words. I want to express my gratitude as well to Father Raniero Cantalamessa....I've always wanted to be able to scream "Praise Jesus" without getting that pukey taste in the back of my throat...now I can...I'm a believer...all glory to the big MF'er in the sky! What a brilliant technique....reframe the debate around ridiculous/false assumptions...the Father has obviously been taking US government 101.
Only In Mirrors Are Lefts Right
"On the cross Jesus expiated in anticipation all the atheism that exists in the world, not only that of declared atheists, but also that of practical atheists, the atheism of those who live "as if God did not exist," relegating him to the last place in their life."
What a dumb shit is "Not My Father" Raniero Cantalamessa. I refuse to take advice or counsel from someone who thinks that we atheists do this for fun or convenience or to free ourselves from unearned guilt or to get illicit sex or to take over the world and give it to the other imaginary spook.
When are these dipshits going to realize that magic is fine when it comes to entertaining crowds of adolescents and lazy people but falls flat when examined by people with functioning brains?
I am a very thick skinned individual. It takes a concerted effort, or just plain ineptitude to piss me off. Not My Father has not only produced a knife capable of cutting me but then goes on to imply that my personal take on the state of ISS* was anticipated by a bloody fool nailed to a tree trunk! Now I am offended! Not easily done since I have heard his watery pablum before. But never have I been told that Geezuz understood my years long dearth of faith by virtue of his momentary doubt while in his death throes.
Thanks but no thanks. I can do that myself. Have done it. Happy with it. Need no expiatory intercessor.
So. Black is white. On is off. Male is female. Dead is alive. All I know is false. The sky is below and the ground above. Noise is silence. I am not commenting.
Way to go, padre. You mother.
*Invisible Supernatural Spook. pronounced "issssssssssssssssssss." The True Name Of Dog.
Along with Jesus, logic is being tortured
This morning at breakfast I saw a woman wearing an attractive broach in the shape of a cross. It was such a well-designed piece of jewelry that it was hard to remember that the cross - the very symbol of Christianity - is an instrument of torture. Maybe future, "kinder" religions will have waterboards.
Anyway, I have read the bible, and Jesus, assuming he existed and assuming he said all that stuff, said; "My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me?!"
Not a word about the nonexistence of God. In fact, it assumes God's existence and demands to know why He had forsaken the guy on the cross.
My guess? The guy on the cross was all bloody and sweaty, and crapping himself, and he probably would have messed up God's carpet. Come back after you're resurrected and have had a bath, Jesus!
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