For a very select collection of individuals the word “prophets” is indeed correctly rendered as “Profit$”. They have in effect taken down the cross and replaced it with their preferred alternative, the $ symbol.
I’m well-known for my non-belief, but this is not a “belief” vs “non-belief” posting. Instead, it casts a spotlight upon the utterly bizarre claims and behaviour of the supposedly divinely chosen. Namely, it is focused on those that deploy religion as a way to enrich themselves or simply puff themselves up into a position of importance. Standing with me condemning their corruption, blatant lies, and emotional abuse, are not just those that do not believe, but also many who do sincerely believe and are truly horrified by everything they observe being done in their name.
Right-wing authoritarian politics also plays a distinct role. What is in play is not just fanaticism, it also includes a blend of political paranoia and conspiracy thinking. It inspires intolerance and ignorance, and grants a license for many to tap into their inner bigot and to be obnoxious assholes.
In other words, their place in the spotlight for us to mock and laugh at them is something they have worked very hard to achieve, we should not disappoint them.
What has bubbled to the surface in this past week?
Here are a few examples …
COVID-19
- E.W. Jackson: Joe Biden Cursed Our Nation by Saying COVID Is Still Dangerous
- Pastors like this don’t want you to handle the truth, just their “alternative truth”
- Two NM Churches Face $10,000 Fines for Holding Large, Indoor, Maskless Services
- Video from one church shows virtually no one wearing masks during the Christmas Eve service. Super-spreader events impact, not just them, but many others.
- Martha’s Vineyard COVID Outbreak Linked to Christians Trusting Jesus Over Masks
- One Bible Study member said no one wore masks because “we were under God’s protection.”
- Pastor Mocked Follower’s COVID Death in Sermon: “He’s Weak… He Has No Faith”
- He claims he was quoted out of context. But he did say this. There really is no context that could justify this.
Evangelist Franklin Graham
- Evangelist Franklin Graham: If “Wicked” Democrats Win in Georgia, LGBTQ People Will Have Rights
- This is his biggest fear. Nothing else matters.
- Evangelist Franklin Graham: We Will Have a “Dark Winter” Due to Immorality, Not COVID
- Nope, it will completely and totally be down to COVID and the way that many people have been ignoring it.
Election
- Christians Will Again Walk in Circles Seven Times to Overturn Election Results … Last month, conservative Christians hosted “Jericho Marches” in various cities, gathering at state capitols and “march[ing] around them seven times until the walls of voter fraud and corruption fall down.”. It didn’t work. The election results weren’t overturned. Donald Trump is still a loser. So now they’re trying again, because maybe God just didn’t hear them the first time.
- There is no need to mock these people. Simply reporting what they do is wholly sufficient to achieve that. I personally think it is hilariously funny that they actually think walking in circles will do something.
Abuse
- A Little Girl in Missouri Was Killed By Neighbors Trying to Rid Her of Demons
- The neighbours and the girl’s parents, all members of the same church, have been charged in her murder.
- She was 4 years old. They beat her with a belt then dunked her into an icy pond in order to rid her of supposed demons. The good news here is that her siblings are now all run care and out of danger.
- Mormon Church Sued by Boy Scouts in Arizona for Covering Up Alleged Sex Abuse
- Is anybody actually surprised or shocked by this?
The Cult of Trump
- Anti-Abortion Group Gives Donald Trump Award for Promoting a “Culture of Life”
- These people love fetuses, but the moment you are born, all bets are off. They did not mean it to be, but clearly the title “Culture of Life” is deeply ironic.
Stupidity Incarnate – The weekly winner – Matt Powell
Creationist Matt Powell says so much daft stuff you have to seriously wonder if he is a satirist. Unfortunately not, when he said the following in the past, he was being very serious …
- He has said the government should execute gay people because the Bible says so
- It’s a “historical fact” that dinosaurs were killed in the Civil War
- “99% of school shootings are done by atheists,”
His latest gem this past week was this video …
… We have already verified and proven that evolution is nothing more than a fairy tale, and as Christians, we should believe in scientific, logical, and rational things, not primitive superstition and fairy tales.
Now the reason that I say it’s a fairy tale — and I’ll just give you one fact in this video that why we know that evolution is a complete hoax and a fairy tale and that it’s just bizarre — is because in order for evolution to be true, monkeys would have had to surf from Africa to South America 34 million years ago on rafts.
The only way that monkeys could have got there, since they found monkey fossils there, that weren’t supposed to be there, according to evolution because monkeys were in Africa, the only way they could have got there according to evolution theory, was surfing the ocean blue.
And so if you’re an evolutionist, that’s something that you have to believe is part of the theory, otherwise evolution doesn’t work…
…
… If you’re still going to claim to believe in evolution, but say, “No, the surfing monkeys and surfing dinosaurs is ridiculous,” that’s like being a Christian and claiming not to believe the resurrection. You know, the resurrection’s a part of Christianity, just as surfing monkeys and surfing dinosaurs is a part of evolution theory. Without it, evolution doesn’t work. Without the resurrection, Christianity doesn’t work…
When faced with stuff like the above, most serious evolutionary biologists would simply roll their eyes and mutter “dumbass”.
Evolutionary biology is simply an observation of what has happened. For those that sincerely hold a belief, it explains how God did it. For others such as Matt who dismiss it all as “lies of the devil“, the only rational conclusion we are left with is to consider them to be rather silly fools.
For the curious, he may be grasping hold of this piece by the Smithsonian (April 2020) and totally misunderstanding it.