POST 13: ASTROLOGY and the ORIGINS of the JESUS MYTH

The Eye of Horus

I ran across a fascinating series of videos on religious myths in the pre-Christian world, which illustrate some of the remarkable "coincidences" between those myths and the ones of the bible. This is the first video.  Here is the second, and finally, the third.  The narrator, AakashaEssa, goes a bit off point at the end when he strays from the origins story to pontificate on religion, but I can't argue with much he says. Hope you find it as educational as I did. 

POST 12: I COULD'VE TOLD YOU THAT....

According to this article, describing a survey of 126 historical texts from from the time of the alleged life of Jesus, the Nazarene never really existed.  There are no verifyable, contemporaneous accounts of the fabled life and exploits of the "Son of God".  Seems odd that historians and political leaders in that part of the world wouldn't have mentioned a man allegedly performing remarkable miracles.  Even if he was seen as a threat to the religious and political order of the day, they surely wold have written SOMETHING about him, right?  That's the way I see it, anyway.

Here's the article - file it under "stuff I pretty much knew but is nice to see confirmed."

POST 11: YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS SH@T UP.... YUMMY JESUS

Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction.  And you just can't make up the sh@t that often spews forth from the pulpit.

Let us discuss, for example, the Yummy Corpse of Christ.  Not familiar with that doctrine?  Sure you are.  Turns out, Jesus is Delicious.

I remember being appalled at the whole concept of "transubstantiation" when I was old enough to understand it - the insane notion that somehow a cup of wine (or grape juice) LITERALLY becomes the blood of Christ with a few prayers/incantations uttered.  That's revolting.  Disgusting!  And you want me to drink that?!  F*cking degenerate vampires.  Ritual ghoulism (body) and vampirism (blood).  

And the apologists say "It's only 'ritual' vampirism/ghoulism.....

Not long ago, I ran across a comic from one of my favorite strips that makes the appropriate level of fun at this bizarre and ghoulish notion. If you are not famliar with Rob DenBleyker's "Cyanide and Happiness", do yourself a favor and get so.  Enjoy this unexpected intersection of Catholic ghoulism and in-your-face homoeroticism (not that there's anything wrong with that...).

This one's pretty good, too.

POST 10: THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY

I started this blog as a vehicle to spread the 'good word' of atheism, and to provide an outlet for my own musings on the subject.  In part, the mission of this blog is educational, and in the interest of spreading enlightenment, I recently composed the following History of Christianity.

Here's Christianity in a nutshell: Once upon a time, there was (probably) a charismatic rabbi in Palestine named Jesus. Either he claimed to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament (Torah) prophesy of Emmauel, or others claimed that of him after his death. Regardless, some decades (in some cases centuries) later, his followers began to write down the tall tales told of his life, embellishing them more and more ridicuously as time went on (think of the game "Telephone"). In the 4th century, a bunch of 'Jews for Jesus' had a convention and voted on which tales of his life to include in his official "canon". The rest of the stories were labelled as apocryphal "fan fiction", and adherents to these stories were labelled as heretics and probably burned at the stake. Eventually, the Cult of Jesus became powerful enough to take over the governance of western Europe - that period was known as the Dark Ages. Science withered and died, and superstition reigned. After the Reformation and Renaissance wrested political power from the Church, mankind began to progress again, and in the 1700s a new nation, founded on the secular principles of democracy, freedom and human rights arose in the Americas. Since that time, the forces of superstitious nonsense have tried to take control again, but those of us with an understanding of how religion poisons everything resist this to our utmost, with varying degrees of success. In the 1990s there arose a phenomenon known as "The Internet", shining the light of truth into the darkened corners of religious dogma and nonsense.  It is the fervent hope of many of us that the ever-widening availability of information will cripple the continued propagation of religious delusion, around the world.

POST #9: SEATTLE PRINCIPAL FIRED FOR MARRYING HIS MALE PARTNER

Of course, it's a Catholic School, and they fired him, because, sin.  But my favorite part is where the nuns offered to let him keep his job if he divorced his partner. So... divorce is ok now with the Church this week (when it suits them), but homosexuality is out?  OK, got it... Good luck to the students in their protest, but trying to get the Church to enter the 19th Century (let alone the 21st) is like beating your head against a wall. What say you, Pope Frankie? You ok with the gay-divorce cure for this "problem", too?

Thanks to Hemant Mehta of "The Friendly Atheist" for turning me on to the story.