Hawaii
Citizens
for the Separation of State and Church
A
religion and government watchdog group founded in 1997 to oppose the Christian
supremacy movement and defend the separation of state and church.
|
Hawaii
Citizens |
 |
||
| GOD GETS THE
BOOT! HCSSC forces Honolulu Police to remove "so help me God" from oath of office. |
||
 |
||
| Rebuttal of Corky's cartoon slandering atheists. | ||
 |
||
|
Kahle on O'Reilly
Factor HCSSC president Mitch Kahle debated Bill O'Reilly on Fox program "The O'Reilly Factor", Friday, January 31, 2003. Kahle took the brash and arrogant O'Reilly to task on the issue of state-church separation, prompting the host to threaten to "pull the plug" on the program. "O'Reilly is overrated. He's a bully, who lacks the intellectual honesty to handle true debate," Kahle said. "He (O'Reilly) never even bothered to check the facts in the case (Ornellas v. Hamamoto)." |
||
 |
||
| HCSSC on National
TV... Mitch Kahle was interviewed on the Fox News Report with Shepard Smith. The story, which covered the Navy's "I believe in God" code, aired on Friday, August 16, 2002, at 7 PM EST on Fox News Channel stations nationwide. |
||
 |
||
|
HCSSC featured in Playboy Forum "News Front," page 62, June 2002 issue. Click here to read more. |
||
|
||
|
||
Support Freedom - Join the ACLU of Hawaii (click here to join now)
SPOTLIGHT:
Child Sex
Abuse and Cover-Up
- crimes in the Catholic hierarchy
NATIONAL:
American
Religious Identification Survey
- Christianity declines, atheism on the rise
HAWAII: Hawaii
Most Non-Religious State in Nation - Glenmary
Research Center
study shows
RECOMMENDED READING: "Why
I Am Not a Christian" - text of speech by Bertrand Russell
HISTORY: "The
Strange Origin of the Pledge of Allegiance" - essay by John
W. Baer
OP/ED REBUTTALS: "Separation
of church and state is a myth"
- Christian historical revisionism
NOTE:
This website is for archival purposes only.
HCSSC has been inactive since January 2004.
NEWS & FEATURES (Archive)
City
agrees to keep events secular
Deal remedies a complaint about a parade with religious
overtones
Honolulu Star-Bulletin - Thursday, June 24, 2004
ACLU
deal separates church from July 3 park festivities
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
- Wednesday, June 23, 2004
McKinley
will erase ‘God’ pledge
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
- Wednesday, January 29, 2003
McKinley
drops 'love for God'
Honolulu Advertiser - Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Settlement
Puts An End To McKinley High School's Honor Code
KHNL News 8 - January 28, 2003
Activist
fought religion in government
Mitch Kahle’s efforts have forced city and state agencies
to cut references to God
10 who made a difference in 2002
Honolulu Star-Bulletin - Saturday, December 28, 2002
Interfaith
prayers can include all
By Rev. Mike Young, Honolulu Star-Bulletin Saturday, December 14, 2002
City
Council Prayers - Christian Proselytizing Unconstitutional
HCSSC Files Formal Complaint with Honolulu City Council - Wednesday,
November
13, 2002
"God"
Reference in Council Invocation Under Dispute
KGMB 9 News, CBS
- Tuesday, November 12, 2002
Separation
Of Church And State
KHNL News 8, NBC
Hawaii - Tuesday, November 12, 2002
Council
invocation is challenged
Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
Page A3 - Tuesday, November 12, 2002
Linda
Lingle Returns $3,000 to Christian Supremacists
HCSSC
complaint triggers return of campaign contributions - Wednesday,
November 6, 2002
Inouye,
Akaka, Abercrombie must apologize
Congress passes resolutions supporting "God" and discrimination
HCSSC Letter to Senator Daniel Inouye - Sunday,
October 13, 2002
Lingle
Accepting Donations from Christian Supremacists
HCSSC Letter to Linda Lingle - Friday, October 11, 2002
Separation
anxiety
Should references to "God" be removed from government?
Kahle
says yes; Gomes
says no; you decide....
Honolulu Star-Bulletin - "Price of Paradise" Editorial
Feature - Sunday, October 6, 2002
Buddhist
association supports removal of ‘God’ from Pledge
A secular Pledge of Allegiance offers more liberty, the group says
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
- Saturday,
October 5, 2002
'God'-less
oath
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
- Wednesday,
October 2, 2002
After
the furor, a quiet oath
Honolulu Advertiser - Wednesday, October 2, 2002
State
Constitution is clear on wording of police oath
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
- EDITORIAL - Monday, September 30, 2002
Police
officers complain about removal of ‘God’
They believe the change infringes on freedoms
Honolulu Star-Bulletin - FRONT PAGE - Saturday, September 28,
2002
HPD
oath change prompts protests
Thousands of e-mails urge the speedy return of "so help me God"
Honolulu Star-Bulletin - FRONT PAGE - Friday, September 27, 2002
‘God’
dropped from HPD oath
The department acts in
response to a complaint
that the language did not comply with the state Constitution
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
- FRONT PAGE
- Tuesday, September 24, 2002
HPD
oath will drop 'so help me God'
Honolulu Advertiser - Tuesday, September 24, 2002
Group
requests God to be dropped from police oath
KHNL-News 8 (NBC
Affiliate) - September 23, 2002
Hawaii
voters reject religious conservatives
Primary
Election Results - Sunday, September 22, 2002
Hawaii
most non-religious state in US
Vast majority of Island residents do not subscribe to any religion
Survey by the Glenmary Research Center, a Roman Catholic research
organization
Honolulu
Advertiser - Saturday, September 21, 2002
"...SO
HELP ME, ER...UH, MITCH..."
Mitch Kahle gets "Corky'd" again! (Believe it or not)
Corky's Hawaii - Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Front Page, Monday,
September 16, 2002
Isle
group protests use of word ‘God’ in HPD oath
The group claims that the wording violates the state constitution
Associated Press - Sunday, September 15, 2002
HPD
"So Help Me God" Oath Violates Constitution
Mistake
could jeopardize constitutional authority of police officers
HCSSC Press Release - Friday, September 13, 2002
Religion
removed from HPD Web site
Associated
Press - Saturday, September 7, 2002
HPD
removes religious content from its Web site
Honolulu
Star-Bulletin - Thursday,
September 5, 2002
HPD
Promoting Bible and God on Official Website
HCSSC Complaint
Letters to Chief of Police Lee Donohue
Group
objects to firefighter guide
Honolulu Advertiser - Tuesday, September 3, 2002
Group
protests prayer printed in HFD guide
Critics say the use of "God" violates church-state separation
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
- Friday,
August 30, 2002
City
Fire-Safety Booklet Includes Christian Prayer
HCSSC's complaint letter to Fire Chief Attilio K.
Leonardi - Thursday, August 28, 2002
Religious
Language Sparks Boys & Girls Clubs Controversy
Fox News Channel - Monday, August 19, 2002
HCSSC
demands abolishment and recall of "I believe in God" cards
Letter
to Rear Admiral Robert T. Conway, Jr., Commander, Navy Region Hawaii - Saturday,
August 17, 2002
'I
believe in God' to be erased from Navy youth cards
Honolulu Advertiser - Tuesday, August 13, 2002
School
vouchers get no support
Honolulu
Advertiser -- Thursday, August 15, 2002
McKinley
sued over ‘God’ code
The ACLU goes to bat for a student who claims the school is endorsing a religion
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
- Wednesday, July 17, 2002
Lawsuit
targets code at McKinley
Honolulu Advertiser
- Wednesday, July 17, 2002
Creator
of McKinley code ‘disgusted’ by controversy
He wants the school to keep the code intact or get rid of it
Honolulu Star-Bulletin - Friday, July 19, 2002
ACLU
Sues Over McKinley High School's Code
Issue Over 'Love For God' Wording
KITV-4 News - Tuesday, July 16, 2002
Federal
Lawsuit Challenges McKinley High School Code of Honor
KHNL News 8 Transcript - Tuesday,
JJuly 16, 2002
ACLU
Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Student over Religious Code
ACLU of Hawaii Press Release - Tuesday,
July 16, 2002
The
Pledge of Allegiance
With or without "God," it should be abandoned
By Mitchell Kahle
More
than 29 million atheist Americans (nearly double in ten years)
Honolulu
Advertiser - March 9, 2002
ARIS:
American
Religious Identification Survey
(City University of
New York)
"God
Bless America"
removed from Health Department
Friday,
June 21, 2002
The
Meaning of Life (without superstition)
By Mitchell Kahle
Move
over Gideon, the Buddhists are coming!
Sunday, June 9, 2002 - Honolulu Advertiser
Department
of Taxation removes "God Bless America" following complaint
HCSSC
- Friday, June 7, 2002
Honolulu
Advertiser Faith Briefs - Saturday, June 8, 2002
Remembering
atheists in foxholes
Religious belief
is not prerequisite for patriotism, courage and honor
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
-- Saturday, May 25, 2002
Boy
Scouts brings restrictions on itself
Honolulu Advertiser EDITORIAL - Tuesday, May 14, 2002
DOE
places restrictions on Boy Scouts program
Honolulu Advertiser -- Saturday, May 11, 2002
Schools
limit Boy Scout program
The organization's oath citing duty to God leads to the DOE
restrictions
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
- Saturday, May 11, 2002
Traditional
Marriage: what is the government's interest?
And how the state is using an unconstitutional "religious
test" to discriminate against atheists
The
Boy Scouts, "Love for God," and Hawaii Public Schools
Letter to the Superintendent of Hawaii Public Schools - Friday,
May 3, 2002
Boy
Scouts face new DOE restrictions
some Scout activities found "unacceptable
and objectionable"
Thursday,
May 2, 2002
God’s
followers (Bob Rees' report on McKinley debate)
Honolulu
Weekly - Wednesday, May 1, 2002
Public
debate on state-church separation
Wednesday, April 24, 6:30 - 8:30 PM, McKinley High School,
Hirata Hall
What's
so bad about Good Friday?
(Critical Commentary by Mitch Kahle)
Thursday, March 28, 2002
Ties
to Scouts stains group’s teachings
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Raising Cane -- Sunday, March 10, 2002
Boy
Scouts in Hawaii Public Schools
Wednesday, March 6, 2002
*FEATURE:
Atheist
says he acts in good faith
Honolulu Advertiser, Page 1, Monday, February 11, 2002
School
code decisions take different stances on religion
Kaimuki removes a ban on Satanism, but McKinley holds firm on a reference
to God
Honolulu Star-Bulletin - Wednesday, February 6, 2002
School
lifts Satanism ban
Honolulu Advertiser - Wednesday, February 6, 2002
High
School Faces Fight Over Satan Reference
KITV-4 News - Wednesday, February 6, 2002
Kaimuki
High School Principal Agrees to Remove "Satanism"
Tuesday, February
5, 2002
Satan-safe
Kaimuki High School
Tuesday, February 5, 2002
HCSSC
Active in Opposition to HB2415 "Moment of Silence"
and SB2595 "Discrimination in Housing"
HB2415
- Moment of Silence is Prayer Scheme
Letter to All Hawaii Legislators - Sunday, January 27, 2002
Catholic
Church sex abuse "secrecy"
policy
is illegal, immoral
Sunday, January 13, 2002
McKinley
student code needs scrutiny
Editorial, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Monday, December 31, 2001
"Love
for God" must be removed without delay
Letter to Superintendent Pat Hamamoto, Saturday, December 29,
2001
Click
here to view poster of McKinley HS "Code of Honor."
McKinley
High School student code preaches "Love for God."
Teacher's complaint triggers HCSSC demand for immediate removal.
McKinley
pride built in code, officials say
Honolulu
Star-Bulletin, Page A4, Friday, December 28, 2001
McKinley
High’s ‘Love for God’ draws critics
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Page A2, Thursday, December 27, 2001
Christian
group wants God in the classroom
The Garden Island
News - Friday, November 09, 2001
HCSSC to Oppose School Prayer Scheme
Crosses
will be regulated as signs
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Page 1A, Saturday, October 27, 2001
September 11, 1997 - Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Group files suit to remove cross at Kolekole Pass
October 21, 1997- Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Kolekole Pass cross ordered dismantled
ARTICLES & ESSAYS by Mitchell Kahle
The
Pledge of Allegiance
With or without "God," it should be abandoned
The Meaning of Life (without superstition)
Opposing the Christian supremacy movement
Remembering
atheists in foxholes
Atheism: what do atheists believe?
772,843 Hawaii residents (nearly 70%) are unaffiliated with the Christian religion, according to a survey recently published by the Glenmary Research Center, a Catholic organization. Only about 29% of Hawaii residents belong to any of the Christian sects, down from about 34% in 1990. Approximately 100,000 residents are practicing Buddhists; other faiths include Jews (estimate 7,000), Native Hawaiians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Shintos, Unitarians, Wiccans and others
The vast majority of Hawaii residents (approximately 52% or 630,000), however, are atheist, agnostic, and secular humanist or religiously indifferent.
NOTE: Membership and attendance
numbers claimed
Vast majority of Island residents do not subscribe to any religion
Survey by the Glenmary Research Center
Honolulu
Advertiser - Saturday, September 21, 2002
In
God We Trust?
Removing
"God" assures religious liberty and justice for all
By Mitchell
Kahle
FOR MORE than 150 years our nation's motto was "E Pluribus Unum," which means "out of many, one." In 1956, Congress changed the motto to "In God We Trust."
"E Pluribus Unum" is a beautifully inclusive slogan, which truly represented the diversity of America. "In God We Trust," on the other hand, is an exclusive and false declaration.
It is exclusive and false because millions of Americans do not believe in or trust in "God." The word "God" evokes monotheism, a concept that is almost exclusive to the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
In Hawaii - where more than 100,000 residents subscribe to the tenants of Buddhism; where thousands practice the rites of Shintoism; where Native Hawaiians retain their traditional ho'omana; and where thousands are atheist, agnostic or secular humanist - the government's prejudice in favor of "God" is particularly disturbing.
The advocates of Christian theocracy - a nation of laws based on the Bible - claim that the "separation of church and state" is a myth because the phrase is not spelled out in the U.S. Constitution. They are mistaken.
ALTHOUGH the Constitution does not include the exact wording, the principle of state-church separation derives from these constitutional provisions:
> Article VI: "...
no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or
public trust under the United States."
> First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…."
> Fourteenth Amendment: "No State shall ... deny to any person within
its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
In deciding most cases, the Supreme Court has applied the "Lemon Test," from the Lemon vs. Kurtzman decision of 1971, which requires that all government activity:
> Must serve a principally
secular purpose.
> Must not, in effect, advance religion over non-religion.
> Must not involve excessive entanglement with religion.
Accordingly, the principle of separation is not based on the explicit wording of the Constitution but on our evolving process of common law and more than 50 years of affirmative jurisprudence.
THE DISTINCTION between personal religious expression and government religious preference is easy to recognize and understand. Individuals are free to exercise religious expression in public, but the government may not promote religion on behalf of the public.
With the exception of "time, place and manner" restrictions, citizens are free to express religious views in public, including prayer and proselytizing, as long as their activity does not infringe upon the rights of others.
Children are allowed to pray in public schools or read the Bible during lunch, recess or other personal times.
Government employees, including elected officials and police officers, may pray, sing religious songs, recite scripture, wear religious jewelry or otherwise express their chosen religion with complete freedom, as long as their personal activity does not interfere with the obligation to serve the public with integrity, respect and fairness.
THE SEPARATION of state and church protects religious freedom for all Americans, including minorities and those who choose to reject religion altogether.
Congress should restore "E Pluribus Unum" as our national motto. The Pledge of Allegiance should also be restored to its original form without "God." McKinley High School should remove "Love for God" from its code of honor for students.
Religion is and should always remain a personal matter for individuals to choose or reject as their conscience dictates.
Government preferences for
one particular religion over others or for religion generally over non-religion
are prohibited by the Constitution and all violations must be neutralized if
this nation is ever to achieve true religious liberty and justice for all.
For
more information about state-church separation in Hawaii, call 524-6208 or send
email to hcssc@lava.net.
50 Reasons Why the Bible Must Never be Used in Government
Christian fundamentalists insist the Bible is the foundation of law and morality in this country. Their assertion, however, is both absurd and false.
Below are 50 Bible quotations for curious and free-thinking minds to contemplate.
According to the Bible...
God deliberately killed every living thing on Earth.
Genesis 7:20-24 20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. 21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. 23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
Lot had sexual intercourse with his daughters.
Genesis 19: 33-36 33 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay* with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay* yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie* with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. 35 And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. [*lie/lay: to have sex with]
God ordered Abraham to murder his son Isaac.
Genesis 22:2 2 And [God] said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
God murdered innocent children.
Exodus 12:29 29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote* all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. [*smote: to kill]
People who work on the Sabbath must be killed.
Exodus 31:14 14 Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
God commands the death penalty for adultery.
Leviticus 20:10 10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulteror and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
God commands that homosexuals be murdered.
Leviticus 20:13 13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
Moses and the Israelites murdered thousands of women and children; they raped more than 32,000 virgin girls.
Numbers 31:15-35 15 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? 17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. 18 But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. 35 And thirty and two thousand persons in all, of women that had not known man by lying with him.
Moses and the Israelites were marauders; they killed everyone, including innocent women and their babies.
Deuteronomy 2: 34 34 And we took all [the] cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to survive.
Moses commanded the Israelites to murder anyone who worshiped other gods.
Deuteronomy 13:6-10 6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; 10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Moses promised that God would massacre all who came before the Israelites.
Deuteronomy 32:22-25 22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. 23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them. 24 They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. 25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.
Joshua committed no less than 31 acts of genocide.
Joshua 6:21 21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
God murdered 50,070 men because they looked into the ark.
1 Samuel 6:19 19 And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.
God glorified mass murderers; Saul and David were brutal killers.
1 Samuel 18:7 7 And the people answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
David always killed every man, women, and child.
1 Samuel 27:9-11 9 And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish. 11 And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.
God repeatedly threatened to destroy the world and kill the inhabitants.
Isaiah 24:1-6 1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. 5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
Isaiah 66:15-16 15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
God caused mass suffering and death.
Jeremiah 15:2-3 2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity. 3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
God threatened that the people would die horrible deaths and be left as carrion for wild animals.
Jeremiah 16:3-4 3 For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land; 4 They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
God murdered infants and ripped fetuses from the womb.
Hosea 13:16 16 Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and the women with child shall be ripped up.
God threatened doomsday upon the Earth.
Zephaniah 1:14-17 14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. 17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
New Testament Horrors...
Jesus promoted fear and threatened eternal torment in Hell.
Matthew 10:28 28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Jesus threatened violence and war.
Matthew 10:34 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Jesus threatened to torture people in Hell.
Matthew 13:49-50 49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, 50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus advocated self mutilation to avoid the hellfire.
Matthew 18:8-9 8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. 9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
Jesus promised to return and destroy the Earth.
Matthew 24:29-30 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Jesus said that blasphemy is an unforgivable sin.
Mark 3:28-29 28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: 29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.
Jesus said all non-Christians are condemned to hell.
Mark 16:16-18 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Jesus holds people responsible for the sins of previous generations.
Luke 11:50-51 50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
Jesus said to fear God, who may cast people into Hell.
Luke 12:4-5 4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Jesus came to destroy families.
Luke 12:51-53 51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. 53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Jesus demanded that his Disciples hate their families.
Luke 14:26 26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Jesus threatened terror and destruction.
Luke 21:25-27 25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Jesus said believe and go to Heaven; don’t believe and suffer in Hell.
John 3:16-18 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Christianity is an ideology of damnation.
John 3:36 36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Ritualistic cannibalism is required to enter Heaven.
John 6:53-56 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Paul threatened that God will destroy all non-Christians.
Romans 1:18-20 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Paul claimed women must serve men and remain silent.
1 Timothy 2:11-12 11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, not to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
Paul taught people to fear God.
Hebrews 10:31 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Peter advocated slavery.
1 Peter 2:18 18 Slaves, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
Jesus Christ and his angels of death plan to destroy the Earth and kill all non-Christians.
Revelation 16:2-14 2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. 3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. 10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain... 12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Jesus Christ will soon return to torture and kill billions of people.
Revelation 19:13-18 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
Jesus judges all people - the living and the dead. All non-Christians are sentenced to eternal torment in Hell.
Revelation 20:11-15 11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Note: All of the quotations above were copied directly from the King James Authorized Standard English Version. Selections from both the Old and New Testaments.
"You wonder how I can be wicked enough to attack the Bible. I will tell you:
"This book, the Bible, has persecuted, even unto death the wisest and the best. This book stayed and stopped the onward movement of the human race. This book poisoned the fountains of learning and misdirected the energies of man.
"This book is the enemy of freedom, the support of slavery. This book sowed the seeds of hatred in families and nations, fed the flames of war, and impoverished the world. This book is the breastwork of kings and tyrants - the enslaver of women and children. This book has corrupted parliaments and courts. This book has made colleges and universities the teachers of error and the haters of science. This book has filled Christendom with hateful, cruel, ignorant and warring sects. This book taught men to kill their fellows for religion's sake. This book founded the Inquisition, invented the instruments of torture, built the dungeons in which the good and loving languished, forged the chains that rusted in their flesh, erected the scaffolds whereon they died. This book piled faggots about the feet of the just. This book drove reason from the minds of millions and filled the asylums with the insane.
"This book has caused fathers and mothers to shed the blood of their babes. This book was the auction block on which the slave-mother stood when she was sold from her child. This book filled the sails of the slave-trader and made merchandise of human flesh. This book lighted the fires that burned "witches" and "wizards." This book filled the darkness with ghouls and ghosts and the bodies of men and women with devils. This book polluted the souls of men with the infamous dogma of eternal pain. This book made credulity the greatest of virtues, and investigation the greatest of crimes. This book filled nations with hermits, monks, and nuns - with the pious and the useless. This book placed the ignorant and unclean saint above the philosopher and philanthropist. This book taught man to despise the joys of his life that he might be happier in another - to waste this world for the sake of the next.
"I attack [the Bible] because it is the enemy of human liberty - the greatest obstruction across the highway of human progress. Let me ask you one question: How can you be wicked enough to defend this book?"
-- Robert Ingersoll
CAN
GOD HAVE AN ORGASM?
By George H. Smith (excerpt from "Why Atheism?" published
by Prometheus Books)
Can God have an orgasm? The mere posing of the question is bound to offend the religious sensibility of many people, and many would refuse even to consider the question from fear that God - who is privy to their every thought - would seriously disapprove of any such blasphemous curiosity. But this question raises a serious problem about the nature of God that dates back to the skeptics of ancient Greece.
If we suppose that God can feel physical sensations of any kind, then we must also suppose that God is a corporal entity, a physical organism with the capacity to experience sensations. And this supposition, aside from conflicting with the notion that God is a purely spiritual being, carries with it the disturbing implication that God is subject to change and so cannot be immutable. To experience a sensation, after all, is to experience a change from one state to another, so if God is able to feel anything we cannot regard him as immutable, because this means the absence of any change whatsoever.
Moreover, the notion that God can feel sensations and is therefore subject to change is clearly incompatible with the absolute perfection of God. For consider: If we suppose God to be perfect, then any change must necessarily be for the worse, after which he will no longer be perfect. If, on the other hand, we suppose that any change in God is necessarily for the better, then this means that God was less than perfect prior to the change.
These and similar arguments were first proposed by the skeptics of ancient Greece, who showed that the traditional conception of God (or the gods) is self-contradictory and therefore incoherent. The only way out of this conceptual morass is to say that God, who never changes, does not experience sensations or feelings of any kind, as we understand those terms. But this assumption brings with it a new set of problems. For example, if God is unable to experience pain, then there is at least one thing that we humans (who are quite familiar with this sensation) know that God does not, in which case God cannot be omniscient. For we can never know the meaning of "pain" unless we have experienced this sensation for ourselves. "Pain" must be defined ostensively, i.e., through direct experience, so a being who has never felt pain can never know the meaning of "pain."
Thus if God has never felt physical sensations of any kind, then there are many things of which he is necessarily ignorant, things that are known to his creatures but not to their creator. Most people have experienced an orgasm, but can the same be said of God? If the answer is yes, then we confront the previously discussed conflict between change and immutability, as well as that between change and perfection. If the answer is no, then we might ask why God has never had an orgasm. Is this because he will not or because he cannot have this experience? In the former case, although many things are presently unknown to God, he could acquire this knowledge if he so chose. In the latter case, God is forever barred from knowing many things that we humans know quite well. In either case, however, God cannot be all-knowing, because he must totally ignorant of sensory knowledge.
"It is agreed, in this country, that if a man can arrange his religion so that it perfectly satisfies his conscience, it is not incumbent upon him to care whether this arrangement is satisfactory to anyone else or not"
-- Mark Twain
"I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute…where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference."
-- John F. Kennedy
"The religion of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable right."
-- James Madison
"The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error."
-- John Stuart Mills
"There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ's moral character, and that is that he believed in Hell. I do not myself feel that any person that is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment."
-- Bertrand Russell
"Fear of things invisible is the natural seed of that which every one in himself calleth religion."
-- Thomas Hobbes
"What skeptical thinking boils down to is the means to is the means to construct and to understand reasoned argument and - especially important - to recognize a fallacious or fraudulent argument."
-- Carl Sagan
"I hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of the land."
-- Frederick Douglass
"[The Bible] …is the enemy of human liberty - the greatest obstruction across the highway of human progress."
-- Robert Ingersoll
"If a man would follow, today, the teachings of the Old Testament, he would be a criminal. If he would follow strictly the teachings of the New, he would be insane."
-- Robert Ingersoll
"I do not feel obliged
to believe that the same God who has endowed us
with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use"
-- Galileo Galilei
"The Bible is not my
book and Christianity is not my religion. I could never give assent to the long
complicated statements of Christian dogma."
-- Abraham Lincoln
"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead."
-- Thomas Paine, in "The Age of Reason"
"I cannot imagine a god who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a god, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism."
-- Albert Einstien, in the "New York Times," 1930
"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter."
-- Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to John Adams, April 11, 1823
"The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us, and I for one must be content to remain and agnostic."
-- Charles Darwin, in "Life & Letters"
"I cannot believe in the immortality of the soul. No, all this talk of an existence fore us, as individuals, beyond the grave is wrong. It is born of our tenacity of life -- our desire to go on living -- our dread of coming to an end."
-- Thomas Edision, in the "New York Times," 1910
"I don't believe in God because I don't believe in Mother Goose."
-- Clarence Darrow, in a speech, 1930
"I don't believe in the divinity of Christ, and there are many other postulates of the orthodox creed to which I cannot subscribe."
-- President William Howard Taft, from "The Life & Times of W.H.T."
"At present there is not a single credible established religion in the world."
-- George Bernard Shaw, from "Major Barbara"
"Neither in my private life nor in my writings, have I ever made secret of being an out-and-out unbeliever."
-- Sigmund Freud, in a letter to Charles Singer
"Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world."
-- Voltaire, in a letter to Frederick the Great
"I cannot see how a man of any large degree of humorous perception can ever be religious -- unless he purposely shut the eyes of his mind and keep them shut by force."
-- Mark Twain, from "Mark Twain's Notebook and Journals"
"By the year 2000, we will, I hope, raise our children to believe in human potential, not God."
-- Gloria Steinem, from "Peter's Quotations"
"The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion."
-- President George Washington, in The Treaty of Tripoli
"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile."
-- Kurt Vonnegut, from "Peter's Quotations"
"I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking...there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence."
-- Carl Sagan, "Parade Magazine," March 1996
"If there is any fixed
star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty,
can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or
other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their
faith therein."
