Boy, These Days Evolution Just Can't Seem To Catch A Break

[Ponder This]

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"Tony Perkins Blames Texas Mass Shooting on Teaching Evolution in School"

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Just after we were told about a month ago that mass shootings are caused by Not Letting Kids “Pray in Our Schools, we now find they're caused by Teaching Evolution in School instead. Gotta wonder what's in store for next month, "Mass Shooting Caused By French Kissing In High School Halls" perhaps?

In any case . . .*sigh* . . . . . .

"After yesterday’s mass shooting in Odessa, Texas left seven (and counting) dead and many more injured, FOX News invited “former police officer,” Family Research Council president, and Christian Right mouthpiece Tony Perkins to offer his analysis.

All the smart people were taken, I guess.

After admitting prayer was not enough — because it never is — Perkins, as usual, shifted to blaming an “absence of morality.” As if atheism and science were inspiring all these mass shootings.

… At some point, we have to realize that we, as a nation, we have a problem. And the problem is not the absence of laws, it’s an absence of morality. Really, the result of the decades-long march through the institutions of America, driving religion and God from the public square.

… I agree, praying alone is not enough. It’s time to act. And it’s not just about having a conversation about restricting those who should not have guns — criminals — but it’s also a discussion of the absence of a moral core in our culture today. I mean, look. We’ve taught our kids they come about through chance through primordial slime, and then we’re surprised that they treat their fellow Americans like dirt!

It’s time we talk about the result of the left’s systematic march through our institutions, driving religious expression from the public square. I think we have to go back to the point where we instill in these children — at least give them the opportunity to know that they’re created in the image of God. Therefore, they have inherent value.

We’ve driven religion from our public life, and we’re shocked that we no longer have morality, and we no longer value human life.
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I don’t recall any of these shooters screaming “Charles Darwin” while running into a Walmart or church. They’re not carrying The God Delusion when police capture them. No mass shooting has ever been thwarted because a misogynistic high schooler saw “In God We Trust” on his classroom wall.

Somehow, other countries in the world educate students about evolution and they don’t see the same levels of gun violence. They don’t have much religion either. They’re happier, healthier, safer, and more godless.

The problem is that people like Perkins insist that common sense must take a back seat to their personal brand of superstition. The problem is that, while Perkins isn’t in Congress, plenty of Christians who share his views are in the Senate and they refuse to budge an inch because their Republican base would flip out. Perkins is priming them to flip out.

It’s up to the rest of us to push back against their inability to deal with reality. If we don’t, these stories will never stop.
source

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Whenever there's a tragedy, people search for a reason.
For some people this is merely an opportunity to gather emotional energy to fuel an agenda.

 

[metis]

What I meant by that statement is that the "Church", which by that time was by accident the "Catholic Church", did not play the true game of Love in Christ.
They manipulated the populace in conforming to work for the "Church", making them rich and powerfull, sending the uninformed into wars, taking money to forgive their sin etc.
The reason was only one:
The people had to trust the "Church" on what the Bible said.
and the "Church" had very corrupt ******** that simply lied to the believers and sucked them dry.
Once the Bible was translated in English and German, the people realised how corrupt the "Church" was and revolted.
Then the reformation had the same ******** twisting scripture to fight their brothers.
Today we live in a society where the Catholic Church is nothing like they were 500 years ago.
There is no comparison at all.
And as for the Protestants, well they are still set in their ways, but dont even recognise the Catholic church as some enemy.
today both believe in the Bible, and the Trinity.
And this is all that matters.

What a highly-bigoted piece of trash the above is. The Church always taught that having "Love in Christ" in mandated, even if some of its clergy didn't reflect that. Same thing happened with some of the apostles as well, but I'm not using that as some kind of excuse, as two wrongs don't make a right. And then you virtually ignore what some of the Protestant leaders did that was just as evil, thus showing another manifestation of your highly bigoted approach.

But I agree with your last statement that things have gotten much better with both camps, and the one thing I never have heard at mass or in discussions with priests is any kind of bashing of Protestants. I just wish all Protestants would stop using their words of bigotry as well, as Catholic-bashing is still quite strong, including with some here at RF.

Jesus taught us to "love one another as I have loved you", and Paul warned us about the dangers of those who cause division within the "one church", so there's simply no room for such attacks. Yes, we can debate some of the issues, and that's good imo, but bashing and entire religion or denomination out of one's bigotry is immoral under the Gospel.

 

[SA Huguenot]

What a highly-bigoted piece of trash the above is. The Church always taught that having "Love in Christ" in mandated, even if some of its clergy didn't reflect that. Same thing happened with some of the apostles as well, but I'm not using that as some kind of excuse, as two wrongs don't make a right. And then you virtually ignore what some of the Protestant leaders did that was just as evil, thus showing another manifestation of your highly bigoted approach.

But I agree with your last statement that things have gotten much better with both camps, and the one thing I never have heard at mass or in discussions with priests is any kind of bashing of Protestants. I just wish all Protestants would stop using their words of bigotry as well, as Catholic-bashing is still quite strong, including with some here at RF.

Jesus taught us to "love one another as I have loved you", and Paul warned us about the dangers of those who cause division within the "one church", so there's simply no room for such attacks. Yes, we can debate some of the issues, and that's good imo, but bashing and entire religion or denomination out of one's bigotry is immoral under the Gospel.

Oh, but dont think I am satidfied with the Protestant church, in history or curent.
for one, the protestant churches in South Africa used this love everyone mentality, twisted it for their own purpose in achieving power, and lost the congregations.
not a lot of people go to the old protestant churches anymore.
They lost their calling and the people finds them hypocritical indeed.
In South Africa we say, "Fluit Fluit, die Kerk is uit!
Translation, whistle, whistle, the Chusrch has gone silent.
We all agree, Christianity is not a Church anymore, but the belief in Jesus Christ as the salvation in the Trinity, and the Bible!

 

[SA Huguenot]

What a highly-bigoted piece of trash the above is. The Church always taught that having "Love in Christ" in mandated, even if some of its clergy didn't reflect that. Same thing happened with some of the apostles as well, but I'm not using that as some kind of excuse, as two wrongs don't make a right. And then you virtually ignore what some of the Protestant leaders did that was just as evil, thus showing another manifestation of your highly bigoted approach.

But I agree with your last statement that things have gotten much better with both camps, and the one thing I never have heard at mass or in discussions with priests is any kind of bashing of Protestants. I just wish all Protestants would stop using their words of bigotry as well, as Catholic-bashing is still quite strong, including with some here at RF.

Jesus taught us to "love one another as I have loved you", and Paul warned us about the dangers of those who cause division within the "one church", so there's simply no room for such attacks. Yes, we can debate some of the issues, and that's good imo, but bashing and entire religion or denomination out of one's bigotry is immoral under the Gospel.

Oh, by the way.
Do you know what Martin Lutherus wrote in his 95 Thesises?
this was the only reason for the Reformation in my point of view.
The rest on what who did to who is not important.

 

[metis]

Oh, by the way.
Do you know what Martin Lutherus wrote in his 95 Thesises?
this was the only reason for the Reformation in my point of view.
The rest on what who did to who is not important.

Since I grew up in a fundamentalist Lutheran church with thoughts about going into the ministry, yes, I'm quite aware of the 95.

And what one does before and after is important to me because it speaks to a person's basic character. However, a caveat to that is I also believe in repentance and forgiveness.

 

[Father Heathen]

OK, So what religion are Communists and socialists?
And If you regard a human to be a Genetic adaptation developed from a lower life form, you disregard the Human created in the immage of God.
Then, as socialism and Communism displayed for over 100 years, the human are to be disposed off if they do not fit in with the socialist view.
The hardcore atheists have no regard for life as a whole, and with their religion of Evolution, yes, religion of evolution, they can never be conservative in their life.
Morality are then infested with free sex, promiscuity, abortion, hatred towards the Christian values, fashism, corruption, and abortion.

The root of Atheism is Evolution, and the fruits of Atheism is poinsonous.

Wow. You're really going around in circles with these weird, incoherent non sequiturs.

 

[night912]

The theory of Evolution is one that permits the Communist and socialist to create the environment of non Theism.
The biggest Atheists on Earth, Mao Tsedong, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Ceaușescu, all embraced Evolution and treated humans as some animal to dispose off at will.

It's funny how you listed those people. Because out of those, only two of them did actually did a genocide. And you know what they had in common? They were both brought up with Christianity teachings. And I'm not saying that Christianity was necessarily their reason for the genocide, I'm just pointing out your ignorance here.

Funny how you think socialism Communism and Atheism are non related.

It's only funny to those who are ignorant of what a political party is compared to a position regarding the existence of a god.

fact, the only safe countries on Earth today are the Christian countries, and the worst countries are the Atheist driven ones.
Wherever Atheism and Evolution thrives, poverty, corruption, murder and sorrow prevails.

I guess I don't have to worry then, since I live in the secular country called the USA.

 

[JasAnMa]

And therefore, what you are saying DOESN'T MATTER. No one should care that Christianity had anything to do with founding a free society. The free society is what has been deemed "right" by our culture, NOT "Christianity."

I'd like to add something here....I believe it absolutely matters where "right" comes from. If our country was founded on the Bible, which it largely was, that means it's foundation is the Bible. We have now surgically removed the Bible from basically everywhere which means the foundation, and the inspiration, for the foundation of the country has been removed. The country flourished but the more we pulled the foundation out from underneath ourselves the only thing we had to fall back on was what we deemed right in our own eyes. I would suggest to you that the country has gotten exponentially worse in, basically every respect, nearly every aspect socially and morally. Food for thought.

 

[JasAnMa]

My apologies for the grammar.... I'm very tired. Also, I know many of you don't believe in the devil.... But he's real... And he invented autocorrect.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

I'd like to add something here....I believe it absolutely matters where "right" comes from. If our country was founded on the Bible, which it largely was, that means it's foundation is the Bible.

This is actually not true. Most of the founding fathers were deists, not Christians, and they were often keen to assert (even the ones who were Christian) that they believed America was not founded as a "Christian country".

We have now surgically removed the Bible from basically everywhere which means the foundation, and the inspiration, for the foundation of the country has been removed.

Also false. Again, the founding fathers omitted any mention of God, the Bible or Christianity from the constitution. The Bible is no more an inherent factor in the makeup of America than McDonald's is.

The country flourished but the more we pulled the foundation out from underneath ourselves the only thing we had to fall back on was what we deemed right in our own eyes. I would suggest to you that the country has gotten exponentially worse in, basically every respect, nearly every aspect socially and morally. Food for thought.

So did you think that America was morally superior when slavery was legal, women were denied the right to vote and it was illegal to be homosexual?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

that means it's foundation is the Bible.

Where? A reference to a vague "creator?" Our guaranteed rights that are explicitly prohibited by the Bible? "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of property or happiness" aren't exactly Christian ideals or values.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

So did you think that America was morally superior when slavery was legal, women were denied the right to vote and it was illegal to be homosexual?

You forgot to add the downward/declining trend in crime that has been ongoing for about 20 years now.

 

[Wandering Monk]

You forgot to add the downward/declining trend in crime that has been ongoing for about 20 years now.

Decline in abortions to the lowest level per capita since 1973. Because the country is going to hell without the Bible you know.

 

[JasAnMa]

This is actually not true. Most of the founding fathers were deists, not Christians, and they were often keen to assert (even the ones who were Christian) that they believed America was not founded as a "Christian country".


Also false. Again, the founding fathers omitted any mention of God, the Bible or Christianity from the constitution. The Bible is no more an inherent factor in the makeup of America than McDonald's is.


So did you think that America was morally superior when slavery was legal, women were denied the right to vote and it was illegal to be homosexual?

It's easy to revise history, where do you think the idea of all men created equal came from. It wasn't from the people driving slaves, which can't be supported from scripture. I also never said the founders were Christian although many were deists.....I said the foundation was Christian and if you can't see how many laws were founded on the Bible, them you don't want to see it and nothing I say will convince you. Thanks for your objections though, I look forward to bumping heads again..... Hopefully a little later in the day.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

It's easy to revise history, where do you think the idea of all men created equal came from.

Irrelevant. Lots of ideas from the Bible were borrowed wholesale from earlier moral philosophies. It's not like the notion of equality never existed until the Bible was written.

Also, the Bible specifically divides people along social/racial lines at various points, justifies genocide and asserts that women should be subservient to men.

It wasn't from the people driving slaves, which can't be supported from scripture.

The Bible specifically explains how and why you can own slaves, lays out the standards for how to treat them, and tells you what kind of people you are allowed to own and for how long. God specifically instructs many of his followers to take the peoples of conquered nations as slaves.

I also never said the founders were Christian although many were deists.....I said the foundation was Christian and if you can't see how many laws were founded on the Bible, them you don't want to see it and nothing I say will convince you.

Please name a law that was founded on the Bible that couldn't possibly also have entirely non-Christian, or even secular, justification or origin.

 

[sealchan]

I'd like to add something here....I believe it absolutely matters where "right" comes from. If our country was founded on the Bible, which it largely was, that means it's foundation is the Bible. We have now surgically removed the Bible from basically everywhere which means the foundation, and the inspiration, for the foundation of the country has been removed. The country flourished but the more we pulled the foundation out from underneath ourselves the only thing we had to fall back on was what we deemed right in our own eyes. I would suggest to you that the country has gotten exponentially worse in, basically every respect, nearly every aspect socially and morally. Food for thought.

Many people came to this country to escape persecution by religion...mainly some form of Christianity. To say that this country was founded on the Bible...you may he right but not in the way you think.

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

I'd like to add something here....I believe it absolutely matters where "right" comes from.

I take the position that it doesn't. And as evidence, I would like to present the amount of time we have all been confused and arguing over WHERE our ideas of "good" come from. You think you have it figured out... philosophers only try to figure it out... most people admit that they don't even know for sure. And yet... what do you know? We still get along toward the goal of working out what is good and bad pretty much all the time. We make laws, tweak them or remove them if necessary, etc. Constantly evolving the conversation. And so I don't even think it CAN matter where "good" comes from. If it mattered so much, then we'd be in deep, deep trouble, because we don't seem to have any idea. But we still get on with the task of trying to establish moral societies, and we have still been pushing the envelope forward as best we can. "Right" or "Good" are what matter more. Not where they come from.

If our country was founded on the Bible, which it largely was, that means it's foundation is the Bible.

Basically, the way it went was (and you can check the history books for evidence of this) it was based in decidedly "Christian" values (possibly from The Bible - though there are PLENTY of directives, rules and edicts in The Bible that NEVER made it into our governmental or legislative system - like the first 3 or 4 commandments for instance) until that wasn't good enough.

We have now surgically removed the Bible from basically everywhere which means the foundation, and the inspiration, for the foundation of the country has been removed.

This is entirely untrue. You do realize that "freedom of religion" was one of the founding principles of the country's government? As in - no one gets to tell you what you have to believe or practice? Which means it should have ALWAYS been entirely uncouth to actually care that someone wasn't Christian.

The country flourished but the more we pulled the foundation out from underneath ourselves the only thing we had to fall back on was what we deemed right in our own eyes.

I would argue that this is all we have EVER done. The vast majority of people were Christian at one time, and so "what we deemed right in our own eyes" was Christianity! No-brainer there, really. But as we became more diverse, "Christianity" as a basis for all discussions of ethics, morality, legislation and governance was BOUND not to hold up. And it didn't. And it can't. End of story. Non-Christians cannot be forced to care what Christians think because they are Christian. These days, you're going to have to bring more rationale to any discussion than just "because The Bible says so" or "because it is a tenet of Christianity." And that is, honestly, the way it always should have been. At one time it wasn't, but only because the Christians initially vastly outnumbered anyone else. What you're seeing now is the natural progression of other viewpoints joining the upper ranks.

I would suggest to you that the country has gotten exponentially worse in, basically every respect, nearly every aspect socially and morally. Food for thought.

Christians always seem to want to say this. I think it is because they can see the hold their faith used to have on society being flushed down the toilet. The swirling vortex just keeps getting stronger and faster, and its got them all on edge. So they make statements like this, trying to sway minds. but the reality is that since the days of rampant Christian moral control we abolished slavery, have worked toward eliminating segregation, questioned our own motives with regards to other's rights in every corner of philosophical meandering, have attempted to forge a society where any race, creed or color of human being gets similar opportunity and treatment, the well-treatment of people with disabilities or mental conditions is also at an all-time high, people live longer, health services are better, more advanced and more knowledgeable. I don't know... I can't think of much in the way of setbacks. Trump's border policies maybe. Really odd that he professes himself a Christian, isn't it? Or perhaps not so much, right? I would say there is more corporate and political corruption, and less actual moxie in going after and abolishing it. Not much else I can think of though. I am quite sure your mind just sees Christianity's withdrawing tide and thinks that is the ultimate sign that things are getting worse. Well it isn't. That is a myopic view that has no basis in reality.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

Thanks for your objections though, I look forward to bumping heads again..... Hopefully a little later in the day.

Also, if you genuinely believe that America was founded on Christainity and has since been degraded, then you must believe that Christainity endorses slavery and the subjugation of women.

 

[Wandering Monk]

Also, if you genuinely believe that America was founded on Christainity and has since been degraded, then you must believe that Christainity endorses slavery and the subjugation of women.

Waiting to see how long before we see the 'no true Scotsman' assertion about Christianity and slavery.

 

[SkepticThinker]

It's easy to revise history, where do you think the idea of all men created equal came from. It wasn't from the people driving slaves, which can't be supported from scripture. I also never said the founders were Christian although many were deists.....I said the foundation was Christian and if you can't see how many laws were founded on the Bible, them you don't want to see it and nothing I say will convince you. Thanks for your objections though, I look forward to bumping heads again..... Hopefully a little later in the day.

It came from Enlightenment philosophers like Voltaire, Locke, Rosseau and Montesquieu.

Slavery is supported by Scripture, unfortunately.