Sunday

Sundays used to be for getting to church on time.  Now, they are for sleeping in   [in the case of Hubby who works swing shift] and getting done what is needed to get done and/or hanging out.  Instead of listening to Pastor Butthead spew inanities about an imaginary being.

So far today I have moved a bunch of dirt to lower and even out the driveway for the long shed area.  I had to dig up quite a few roots from the shrubs I cut out already.  I got the north end wall OSB wall board cut and up on the front of the shed and I got that piece and the piece next to it screwed in securely.  I had to put a coupe of cross piece 2x4's up to hold the wall board.  So that was some measuring, cutting, drilling and screwing that had to get done.

Went to the neighbor's house and fed/watered the dogs and chickens.

It is already 11:20am so I think I will go out and start putting base coat on the new wall boards and the little bit of trim I missed last time.

Religion

Josh is right to be worried about the internet destroying Christianity.  If it were not for the internet [combined with reading a few key books, one of which was Loftus Why I became an Atheist], I would probably still be going from church to church trying to figure it all out.

Once I accessed the internet I sifted through about a whole bunch of  topics related to Christianity.  Wow, the Bible isn't the word of God, lots of nice people have left Christianity,  there is support for people who are have a difficult time emotionally [exChristian.net is my home away from home].  There is no reason to believe there actually is a god, Satan or heaven and hell.  Christians are absolute liars for Jesus.  For instance, the nation was not founded as a Christian nation, evolution really is true and science is not a religion. I found all this on the internet.

The Jews don't believe in Jesus not because they are blinded by Satan as part of God's grand plan but because the Old Testament does not predict Jesus Christ the savior who dies on a cross.  The Book of Revelation can be interpreted so many ways it is absurd.  My final stab at what it would mean was a guy on a website that said the beast is us because in Ecclesiastes it says we are like the beasts. Frankly it made as much sense as all the other explanations given by all the other Christian experts on Revelation.  I realized just how absurd it is to spend years of one's life locked in a room trying to figure out what the Book of Revelations actually says.  What a waste of time.

Genesis obviously wasn't literal since evolution is true so what does it mean metaphorically speaking? Well, just like the Book of Revelations, anything you can dream up.  My final look at the metaphorical was a really super website that showed how the 6 days of creation were like the stages of the mind developing.  The birds represented the mind taking flight or some such.  It was great.  But really, it was then clear to me that how silly is that is.  The Bible seems to know nothing about psychology and Freud so why would it represent the development of the personal mind identity?

I could read Why I'm Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell and Which Way? by Robert Ingersoll and Kenneth w. Daniels Why I Believed, all for free on infidels.org  .  There was so much information on the internet that it took me quite awhile.  Finally, one day, I read a treatise that seemed to sum up how little we know about Jesus and at that moment I was an exChristian.  

I now have a growing library of "real books" but the internet was the one tool I could use that no one could see what I was reading about.  Never a book left on the table for people to say "Hey, Liz, you aren't reading that kind of stuff.  That kind of information is dangerous to your faith and you shouldn't have it."  This was my private way of deciding what I would believe and think without a debate with people whose feelings I did not want to hurt.

The internet is the end of the Christian faith for all who are questioning even if they aren't in college.  Whether they are young or old.  Whatever economic status they have.  The internet allows people to do the research if they have the desire.

Finally, there is this amazing world inside the computer where you can actually read the comments and articles of authors and scholars like Hector Avalos, James McGrath, John W. Loftus, TG Baker, Edward Babinski and others I am failing to mention.  Sometimes you can even interact with these brilliant scholars.  What a privilege that is!!!!  How cool is it that you can learn directly from experts in their fields and compare what they say to other experts in their fields.  You can learn so much from reading the back and forth between really well read and intelligent people.  Oh, I see what he is saying. Oh, I see what she is getting at in her reply.  

I live in the middle of nowhere but I am connected to the world.  

Religion

I don't know if atheism is going to win in the short run but agnostic towards Christianity will certainly be the norm soon.  How can you possibly justify your Christian beliefs against JW's, Mormons, Hindus, Muslims, et al.  I think a lot of people will be sort of New Age since you certainly can't really point to a god that cares and so many people in this country are under educated which means a whole lot of adults that are under educated.

I do think that atheism will keep growing.  Deism seems sort of silly in that a god started the whole process but can't be seen or felt now.  WTF?  Something like secular Buddhism may catch on since it is certainly amenable to agnosticism and atheism or even deism or naturalism.  It has the appeal of the ancients and is a tried and true method for growing as a person.  It seems to have a potential for beneficial affects via knowing yourself, instilling a set of  good values in society and personal meditation.  Secular Buddhism is totally compatible with science, logic and rational thinking.  

I am at least hopeful that we can move beyond what we have at the moment which is a total devaluation of personhood and a need to be a consumer above all else.