Daniel Dennett and Linda LaScola, a social worker, look into the question of what it's like to be a pastor who doesn't believe in God. They've interviewed 5 closeted non-believing church leaders. Fascinating stuff: Dennett and LaScola write of the pastors' loneliness and conviction that there are many like them. They wonder whether they learned too much: "What gives them this impression that they are far from alone, and how did this strange and sorrowful state of affairs arise? The answer seems to lie in the seminary experience shared by all our pastors, liberals and literals alike… It is hard if not impossible to square these new facts with the idea that the Bible is in all its particulars a true account of actual events, let alone the inerrant word of God." (tags: christianityreligionministersdennettdaniel-dennettatheismde-conversionbiblesystem:filetype:pdfsystem:media:document)
"In God is Not Great, Christopher Hitchens writes of Buddhism as the sleep of reason, and of Buddhists as discarding their minds as well as their sandals. His passionate diatribe appeared in 2007. So what's he doing now, just three years later, endorsing a book on Buddhism written by a Buddhist? The new publication is Confession of a Buddhist Atheist. Its author, Stephen Batchelor, is at the vanguard of attempts to forge an authentically western Buddhism." (tags: buddhismatheismstephen-batchelorreligionbuddha)
"A JEDI believer won an apology from a Jobcentre which threw him out for refusing to remove his hood." This is absolutely right: we must respect religious freedom. (tags: jedireligionpoliticsjobcentrenewssunfunnyhood)
Darryl, the Christian Volunteer, gets a bit more than he bargained for when he sends out a flyer requesting permission for David Thorne's kid to attend a presentation on the true meaning of Easter. An increasingly hilarious and deranged set of emails from Thorne follows: "Also, is it true that Jesus can be stabbed during a sword fight and be ok due to the fact that he can only die if he gets his head chopped off?" No idea whether it's entirely made up, but it's fun anyway… (tags: lolxiansfunnyreligionchristianityeasterschool)
3 Comments on "Link blog: christianity, funny, atheism, de-conversion"
“Also, is it true that Jesus can be stabbed during a sword fight and be ok due to the fact that he can only die if he gets his head chopped off?”
There Can Be Only
One!Three!One Who Is Three!Three Who Are One!One Or Three Depending On How You Look At It!One (Mod 2)!The original site’s back up, so I’ve changed the link to point to it. It does look like a genuine flyer and set of emails.
The Dennett/LaScola article is worth it for the phrase “atheist gaydar” alone.