Do you believe that slavery is an acceptable institution? God obviously does. He wrote an entire book of picky little rules (including a prohibition against boiling a goat in its mother's milk   -   Exodus 23:19), but never condemned slavery!

      In fact, Ephesians 6:5 says, "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ."   Imagine that it's 1863, and Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. Many American slaves at that time considered themselves to be Christians ... obligated to follow the clear teachings of the Bible.
      Please advise them on what they should do. Should they obey God, or men (Acts 5:29)?

      And in Exodus 21:7ff, God gives instructions on how a father can sell his own daughter into slavery. If I followed this Biblical teaching, would you want to be friends with me? Would you let your children come over to my house to play with my children (the remaining children that I hadn't sold into slavery)?

      And there's an entire "book" of the Bible that is a letter from Paul to a Christian slave owner; Paul is writing to him about one of his slaves (it's the "book" of Philemon).   Not once does Paul (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) speak out in any way against the institution of slavery.

      The best-selling book in history ... authored by the creator of the universe ... and it never condemns
      ---pedophilia,
      ---child abuse,
      ---abortion,
      ---animal abuse, or
      ---domestic violence.

      In fact, Biblegod endorses the beating of children (Proverbs 22:15).

      The Bible was God's opportunity to give us a definitive moral guide for living, to tell us not to beat up children, to tell us that men and women should have equal rights ... but he says the exact opposite.   Women are second-class citizens in God's eyes (I Cor. 14:34; I Tim. 2:12; Eph. 5:22; I Pet. 3:1; Col. 3:18).

      Isn't the Bible out of step with (a) modern times and (b) common-sense morality ... the kind that comes instinctively to a five-year-old?

      In fact, believe it or not, Jesus actually uses slavery as an example of how God deals with us.   Jesus says that a master beats some of his slaves with many blows, and some of them he beats with few blows (Luke 12:47-48).

      There is no idication in this passage that Jesus disapproves of (a) slavery or (b) the beating of slaves.   He casually mentions these subjects, as if he were talking about putting on shoes or washing your hands before dinner.

      Sometimes you can tell a lot about a person by what he doesn't say.

      And while God was dispensing wisdom ... couldn't he have told those guys back in 950 BCE some really useful stuff?
      Like what causes tooth decay?
      How about the germ theory of disease (microbes and hygiene)?
      Maybe a warning about cholesterol?
      Some rudimentary instructions on the manufacture of penicillin?
      Couldn't he have told them that the earth revolves around the sun ... that it's not flat?
      Maybe some clear guidance about abortion ... when (if ever) is it okay?   When is it NOT okay?
      What's the age of consent for sexual activity?
      How can we prevent sudden infant deaths?
      What are the exceptions to the hearsay rule?

      The best proof that the Bible is nothing more than a collection of writings from the Bronze Age   —   that it is written by men   —   that it doesn't come from an all-knowing deity   —   is its complete lack of any accurate information about cosmology or disease or nutrition.

      God loves us?   Fuck him.   He couldn't even be bothered to tell us about the pathogens swimming around in our drinking water.

      Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) did more for the human race than "God" ever did.

      Seth Andrews has said that the Bible should be called The Goat-Herder's Guide to the Universe.

28. The Bible specifically allows slavery, even giving rules [in both the Old and New Testaments] on how to buy slaves, and how they should be treated. See Leviticus 25:44 and Exodus 21:2.
      Would you vote for a President who stated publicly that he agrees with this clear, unequivocal doctrine of the Bible (i.e., the acceptability of slavery)?

29. James 2:20 says that faith without works is DEAD.

      Ephesians 2:8-9 says that we are SAVED by faith without works.

      Which do you believe?   Is FWOW dead, or does it save us?

And by the way ... can one be saved by works without faith?
      The Bible clearly says that one can (Ezekiel 18:21-22) ... and clearly says that one can't (Ephesians 2:8-9).
      Which do you believe?

      And of course, Romans 2:13 flat-out says that you can "get right with God" by obeying the law.

      And the reason that Yours Truly is going to heaven?   I'm married to a nice Christian girl (I Cor. 7:14).

      And speaking of salvation (you know, going to heaven vs. going to hell), shouldn't we pay attention to what Jesus himself said?

30. James 2:21 says that Abraham was righteous because of his works; Genesis 15:6 says that Abraham was righteous because he believed God.
      Which do you think is true?   Was Abraham righteous because of works, or beliefs?

31. We know for a fact that Lot was "righteous," because the Bible says so (II Peter 2:7).   We also know for a fact that Lot got drunk, fucked his own daughters (Genesis 19:30ff), and got them both pregnant.
      If I did this to my daughters, would you tell people that I was righteous?

      And how would you illustrate this daughter-fucking story in my son's Bible?   He really enjoys the colorful illustrations of "The Rainbow After the Ark Landed" and "Jesus Holding a Lamb While Delivering the Sermon on the Mount."

32. Have you ever prayed to your God and not gotten what you asked for?   Have you ever prayed to your God and asked for something worthwhile (such as healing for a sick relative) but still didn't get what you asked for?
      Are you aware that the Bible says this is evidence of your lack of faith (Matthew 21:22)?
      Why haven't you ever asked your all-powerful God to eradicate cancer or AIDS?   Do you think he'd do it?
      Why haven't you asked him to stop the war in Ukraine?

33. II Thessalonians 2:11-12 says that God sends a powerful delusion to certain people, causing them to believe a lie, so that they will be condemned (i.e., spend eternity suffering in hell). Isn't this type of activity, which God admits to in his own book, immoral? Isn't this what Christians accuse Satan (the father of lies - John 8:44) of doing? If you were God, would you cause people to believe a lie? Why?

      And in Jeremiah 20:7, we read, "You deceived me, LORD, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me."   Would a loving God treat Jeremiah this way?

      Isn't it possible that God has lied to you?

34. Do you believe that prayer should be allowed in public schools? Are you aware that Jesus himself specifically commanded people not to pray in public (Matthew 6:5-6)?

      And by the way, if you're sitting in a classroom and you want to pray quietly to yourself, how could anybody ever stop you?
      Are you really wanting to pray, or do you want to put on some kind of a show for the people around you?

35. Are you aware that the Bible unequivocally commands   —   twice   —   that women are not allowed to speak in church (I Tim. 2:12, I Cor. 14:34)?
      Has your pastor ever preached a sermon on this Scriptural principle?
      Does the pastor of your church enforce this commandment?
      Are there any other areas in which you (and the members of your church) are openly rebelling against the Lord?
      If you are a female, are you ready to repent of your sin of speaking in church?

      If you were the pastor of a church, and it was Sunday morning, and you caught a woman in your church violating this commandment, how would you handle it? What would you say to her?

      By the way, Christians often engage in outlandish contortions of logic when trying to avoid the clear, plain, obvious meaning of the "women-have-to-shut-up-in-church" verses (and other verses that show that the author of the Bible is really some male chauvinist non-deity human like Moses or Paul).   The "standard" apologetics are:

----- (a) this verse is not meant for modern times;
----- (b) there are other verses that indicate that women taught and/or were actually apostles in the early church [in other words, "The Bible contradicts itself"]; or
----- (c) you're taking it out of context.

      Some of the greatest entertainment in the world is watching Christians do furious backflips trying to explain these embarrassing "non-PC" Bible passages.

36. Deuteronomy 13:1-5 states that anyone who preaches a god other than your god should be put to death.
      PLEASE tell me that you disagree with your god on this point.

Deuteronomy 13:6-9 says:
      "If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people."

      If your eight-year-old son casually suggested following a different religion (don't tell me this idea hasn't occurred to you once or twice), would you kill him ... or would you "show him pity," which the Bible specifically forbids?
      Are you starting to notice that your Bible contains a large number of "death orders?"

37. The Bible tells us that the Israelites wandered in the Sinai desert for 40 years, and that most of them died there (Numbers 14:20-24).   Using the census numbers from Exodus and Numbers, that means that approximately two million people died in 40 years in a relatively small area (and we know where it is ... well, we know where this would have happened, according to the Bible itself).
      Are you aware that there is absolutely no archaeological evidence (pottery, artifacts, spearheads, bones) of those people having been in this part of the world?   Two million dead humans, and yet no graves or bones.   How do you explain this?

38. The Bible promises that God will meet ALL your needs (Philippians 4:19).
      Do you carry insurance? Why do you think you need it? Don't you believe what the Bible says? Is a promise from God not good enough for you?

39. Do you believe in evolution? Are you aware that the DNA of a bonobo (a primate) is 98.4% identical to yours (hell, in some states, that's high enough to establish paternity)?
      If God created everything, why do you think he created you almost exactly like a hairy jungle primate?
      Are you aware that your skeletal system is pretty much identical to that of a bird, or a dog, or a cat, or a rat - an arm that has a radius and an ulna; carpal and metacarpal bones; a scapula; ribs; a sternum; a pelvis; tibia and fibula bones in the legs; the whole framework covered by a system of muscles and skin tissues; bilateral symmetry; a blood/circulatory system that's powered by a heart?
      Is your God so lacking in imagination that he created most of the warm-blooded animals using exactly the same basic design? Or is there perhaps the tiniest possibility that we all evolved from a lower life form?

40. John 7:38 quotes Jesus as saying, "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."
      In 31 CE, the Scripture (being the Old Testament only ... the New Testament hadn't been written, of course) said no such thing.
      What exactly was Jesus talking about?

41. Genesis 5:27 says that Methuselah lived 969 years.   Honestly now ... do you believe this? What do you think his family gave him for his 762nd birthday? How long did it take for him to blow out all the candles on his cake?
      And by the way, if you made a birthday cake that would hold 762 candles, and placed them in a square pattern, the cake would have to be at least 5' by 5' (no oven could hold it).   You would need more than 30 cans of grocery store frosting.   And if you spent exactly one second lighting each candle, it would take 12 minutes.

42. In Numbers 31:1-18, God commanded the Israelites to kill the Midianites - but "keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately."   If your son were in the Army, and he murdered defenseless civilians, but spared the women so that he and his friends could fuck them, what would you think of him?
      Would it make you proud? Would you brag about him to your friends at church?   "Yep, Jeff is a hero ... killed lots of Iraqi civilians, and then raped some Iraqi girls ... wanna see the pictures he sent us?"
      Interestingly enough, the Israelites weren't even at war with the Midianites at the time (and hadn't been at any time in the past)   —   they were just living in Midian as guests.   Your gracious, loving God simply ordered the Israelites to commit mass murder.

      This raises a question in my mind. I imagine an Israelite soldier (who is carrying a very sharp sword) who receives this commandment from God, and he simply refuses to do it.   He just can't bring himself to kill children.   This soldier   —   after he dies   —   when he is judged by God   —   is this particular sin (his disobedience of God's direct commandment) going to send him to hell for all eternity?
      I mean ... SERIOUSLY.
      Imagine people in hell, comparing notes.
      "I'm down here because I committed adultery."
      "I'm down here because I worked on the Sabbath."
      "I'm down here because I refused to murder infants."
      "WHAT????"

43. II Samuel 12:15-20 tells the story of God killing an infant because it was the product of its parents' adultery.
      If you were God, would you do such a thing? Please (a) explain to me the justification for this infanticide and (b) tell me what this incident reveals about the true character of Biblegod.

      And please give me a list of all the sins which would justify the killing of a newborn baby (not including someone else's sin of adultery, which we already know about).

And please tell me where the baby went after God killed him - heaven or hell? If your answer is "heaven," please give me some scriptural authority (chapter and verse, please) for the proposition that babies/infants/children automatically go to heaven (no requirement for fall-on-your-face repentance and Faith in the Substitutionary Death of Jesus).

      By the way, if you contend that a two-month-old infant who dies will go to heaven ... does he remain an infant for all eternity? Just crying and crawling, for billions of years? Or does he "grow up?" And please back up your answer with scripture.

      And what if I had a nose job during my life here on earth?   In heaven, do I get my old nose back?   What would I look like?

      And what if my daughter had an abortion? Some Christians think that life begins at conception. What if that microscopic eight-celled zygote is flushed out of my daughter's womb by an evil "abortion doctor?" Does THAT thing go to heaven? What does it look like in heaven? Where does it get its personality? What language does it speak, since it never learned a language (and never had a mouth)?

      Or does the zygote go to hell ... even though it couldn't POSSIBLY have ever committed a sin?

      Also ... if a mentally retarded person dies and goes to heaven, does he remain mentally retarded for all eternity? Or does God smarten him up so that he won't make the other Christians uncomfortable? Again, please show me scriptural authority for your answer.

      Does an unsaved mentally retarded person go to hell?   He never "received Jesus," so he damn sure can't go to heaven (John 14:6).   What do you think about a sorry motherfucker who would torture a mentally retarded person for billions of years?

      And what language do they speak up in heaven? Surely you don't believe that all Christians speak English. How would you communicate with a Navajo Christian who was born in 1798 and died in 1830 and never learned a single word of English?

44. II Samuel 24:1 says that the Lord incited David to take a census of Israel; I Chronicles 21:1 says that Satan incited David to take a census of Israel. Which do you believe?
      And if your explanation is that it one of these two contradictory accounts contains a "scrivener's error," explain to me why the Almighty Omnipotent Creator of the Universe is powerless to prevent copiers' errors.   Also explain to me how any scrivener could be so inept that he accidentally wrote "Satan" instead of "God" (or vice versa).

45. In Genesis 1:26, when God said, "Let us make man in our image," whom was he talking to? The animals? The plants? It couldn't have been a human, because humans didn't exist yet. There's only one God, so he couldn't have been talking to some other god.
      Or could he? Are you aware that the word in Genesis 1:1 that's translated "God" -   אלהים   - is plural?

46. Genesis 10:5 says that at that particular point in history, different peoples had different languages; Genesis 11:1, just a few verses down, says that there was only one language in the world. Which do you believe?

47. According to your God, if a girl gets married and it turns out she wasn't a virgin, she deserves the death penalty (Deuteronomy 22:13-21) ... but the same rule doesn't apply to males.   Why does God discriminate against females?

      Let's imagine that men (not God) wrote the Bible   —   no divine inspiration or "supreme wisdom" whatsoever.   Let's say it was ordinary men who lived in a primitive pre-technological patriarchal society a few thousand years ago ... and they were just making it all up. What kind of book would we expect?

      Let's see ...

» » »   It would reflect the attitudes of that period in that women would be property, just like cattle.

» » »   Rape would be okay, at least in the context of "the spoils of war" (but see Deut. 22:23ff - you're not allowed to rape a girl who is engaged to be married - death penalty for this - and if you rape a girl who isn't engaged, you have to pay money to her Dad and marry her - this kind of rape is a PROPERTY CRIME. And there are different rules for city girls and country girls, depending on whether or not she screamed ... it gets complicated).

» » »   Violence would be a casual thing, and the beating of children would be permissible (even encouraged).

» » »   God would, of course, be a male.

» » »   The virginity requirements would apply only to women.

» » »   There wouldn't be any accurate scientific information (cosmology, nutrition, physics, medicine, chemistry) at all, since the book would merely be a product of its (primitive) time.

» » »   Old age would be revered, and there would be tall tales about people living to be hundreds of years old.

» » »   Children would have no rights whatsoever.

» » »   There would be no tolerance of other cultures, and when another nation was conquered, its inhabitants would be slaughtered like animals (an exception, I suppose, to the "Thou shalt not kill" rule) or enslaved.   See Numbers 31:14-18.

» » »   Following a different religion would be strictly prohibited (i.e., no competition allowed).

      Does this sound familiar?

48. All throughout the Bible, it seems that God's solution to every problem involves death and blood.   He can't even forgive sin unless there's blood dripping somewhere (Hebrews 9:22).
      Wouldn't you expect the creator of the universe (the guy who invented positrons, quarks, and neutrinos, and put nipples on men) to have a little more imagination than this?
      And speaking of God as a creator ... do you believe he created this thing?
      By the way, are YOU able to forgive sin without somebody (or some animal) bleeding?   My guess is that you are.   Doesn't this indicate that you're more merciful than Biblegod?

49. God couldn't forgive your sin without an innocent person (Jesus) suffering. What does it say about the character of your God that he insists on torturing his own son to appease himself?
      What horrible thing would I have to do to you that you would demand the hideous torture-death of your own son ... that is, nothing else would satisfy you ... you'd insist on your own child being hung on a wooden cross by nails driven into his little hands and feet? And what would this say about you as a person? And how would this constitute evidence that you were "too holy to allow sin into your presence?"

50. And tell me, what is noble and majestic about demanding the death of your own son for any reason?   Would this be characteristic of a god, or of a twisted, sadistic, psychotic fiend?
      And don't tell me that "God demands a perfect sacrifice, because he is holy and perfect."   He's God, the all-powerful all-knowing all-everything Supreme Being.   He makes ALL the rules.   That "perfect sacrifice" argument makes as much sense as saying, "God is perfect, so he demands 25 cents per sin."   God could have made a divine law that we have to eat a pretzel for every sin we commit, or that we have to paint our toenails green and do cartwheels to atone for our sins.
      There is nothing inherently logical, nothing intuitive, and certainly nothing noble or inspirational or magnificent about the idea of "my perfect son dying a horrible death = payment for humanity's sins."   God made that up out of thin air; it comes directly from his twisted mind.
      Remember ... he's God.
      He made up all the rules!
      Ancient heathen religions saw their gods as angry, vengeful deities who had to be appeased.   Biblegod is just another in a long line of hateful blood-eating death-cult gods ... who don't exist.

51. Do you use the King James Version of the Bible?   Are you aware that the first edition (the one published in 1611) contained 80 books (81 if you count "Additions to Esther")?   It had Tobit and Judith right in there with III John and I Corinthians.
      Have you ever read any of the "missing" books?   Do you know why they aren't in your "modern-day" KJV, even though they WERE included in

            the King James Version (1611),
            the Wycliffe Bible (1382),
            the Coverdale Bible (1535),
            the Great Bible (1539),
            the Geneva Bible (1560),
            the Bishop's Bible (1568),
            the Douay-Rheims Version (1609),
            the original German Luther Bible,
            the Latin Vulgate, and
            the Greek Septuagint?

Do you, in fact, know anything about the "missing" books?

      By the way, have you ever seen the ACTUAL King James Version of 1611?

      My guess is that Christians who spout off about "the 1611 KJV" don't know what they're talking about.

52. Nehemiah 7:66 says,
"[T]he whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and three-score (42,360)."   But if you add the figures between Nehemiah 7:8 and Nehemiah 7:62, the total for all the tribes is 31,089, not 42,360 (an error of 11,271). And Ezra and Nehemiah can't agree on what the total should be; the former supports 29,818 while the latter asserts 31,089. How do you explain this? Are God's ways so far beyond our own poor powers of understanding (Isaiah 55:9) that even his math is different?   Can Biblegod make two plus two equal five?

53. I just got through reading Matthew 25:41ff.   Do you think it's appropriate for a person to be punished with eternal torture just because he fails to give food to a hungry person? If your answer is "yes," then what punishment would be appropriate for Hitler, who murdered six million Jews?

      And speaking of Hitler, think about this: Hitler tortured and murdered millions of Jews. After he killed them, he buried them in mass graves, like animals. And then ... those dead Jews went to stand before your God. And God said to them, "You all died without Christ (Acts 4:12).   Therefore, you're going to hell, to suffer and scream in agony, forever."

      Hitler abused and murdered the Jews here on earth for twelve years ... God tortures the Jews (they reject Jesus) in hell for all eternity.   Who's worse, Hitler or God?

      And it gets even better: According to evangelical Christianity, Adolf Hitler could have repented ten seconds before he died ("I accept Jesus, Amen"), and he would have gone to heaven.   His Gestapo officers, and the guards at Dachau and Buchenwald ... each and every one of them could have done the deathbed repentance thing, and then gone to heaven ... where these Nazi bastards could have stood and watched those Christ-rejecting Jews, all six million of them, burning and screaming in hell.   From Luke 16:19ff we know that people in heaven can see people in hell, and even talk to them.   These Nazis could taunt and ridicule the dead Jews for millions and millions of years ... courtesy of God.

54. The National Review Board gave a report of sex abuse committed by Catholic priests in the United States between 1950 and 2002.   Four percent, or one out of every 25 priests, had been formally accused of sexually abusing minors (these are just the ones who got caught).   Which do you think is safer for your child: to be alone with a Christian priest, or to walk through a city park alone at 11:00 pm?

      4% of all Catholic priests ... that's actually a higher percentage of child molesters than you'd find in the average prison population!   You'll find lots of murderers, rapists, and bank robbers in a typical U.S. prison ... but you won't have a 4% pedophile rate.

      Criminals who are convicted of pedophilia have to be segregated in prison; if they aren't, the other inmates will kill them.   Convicted criminals in prison won't tolerate pedophiles ... but the Catholic church coddles them, reassigns them, and hides them.

      When was the last time you read a newspaper article (or saw a news item on TV) about a member of the Wiccan clergy sexually abusing a child? Or a Buddhist priest? Have you ever seen even one news article about a clergyman from the Church of Satan molesting a child?

      I contend that, statistically, your six-year-old daughter is safer being alone with a minister of the Church of Satan than with a Catholic priest.

      By the way ... try to name any other business that would still be open if one out of 25 of their managers was allowed (by upper management) to rape children. McDonald's? Starbucks?

55. Are you aware that your God has threatened (four different times, in four different books of the Bible!) to make people cannibalize their own children as a form of punishment? See:

        (1) Leviticus 26:29;
        (2) Deuteronomy 28:53;
        (3) Jeremiah 19:9;
        (4) Ezekiel 5:10.

      And II Kings 6:28-29 tells the story of someone who actually did it (ate her own child)!
      Would you teach these verses to your children during a home Bible study? Are there other disgusting passages in the Bible (II Kings 9:10, II Kings 18:27) that you believe children should be protected from? What would you think of me if I read these disgusting Bible verses to your child? Shouldn't the Bible be removed from the libraries of elementary schools? What sins or crimes do you believe would justify a sentence of "you must eat your own children?"

      There are FIVE references in the Bible to cannibalizing children, yet only ONE commandment to attend church (Hebrews 10:25).

      And by the way ... doesn't this punish the (innocent) children also? Where is the justice in making them die (and be eaten!) because somebody else has sinned?

      Biblegod is a disgusting fucked-up weirdo.

      The story of Job illustrates very clearly God's attitude toward children.   Job has children; God allows Satan to kill them (as a way of testing Job's faith).   At the end of the story (Job 42:12-13), God "restores" Job's children ... by letting him father some new ones.   Got that?   God allows Satan to take Job's property ... his sheep, camels, oxen, donkeys, and children.   Then God restores Job's property ... new sheep, new camels, new oxen, new donkeys, and new children.

      This is great for Job, but what about the innocent human children that God originally allowed to be killed along with the livestock?

56. Do you believe the creation account in Genesis?   Which one?   Genesis 1:1ff or Genesis 2:4ff?
      Sometime try to reconcile these two different accounts of the same incident (especially the sequencing).
      And then try to reconcile the four different Biblical accounts of the arrest, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus found in the four gospels (specifically, the sequence of events).

57. In Exodus 7:3-4 we read that God wanted Pharaoh to do something, but that God hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he wouldn't listen to God. What does this tell you about the character of God?
      Is it any wonder that the colloquial term "playing God" refers to something one shouldn't do?

58. Jesus said that "Whoever is not with me is against me" (Luke 11:23); he also said "Whoever is not against us is for us" (Mark 9:40). Which statement do you believe?
      In other words, if I say, "I just don't give a damn. I'm not against Jesus, and I'm not in favor of Jesus either," does that mean that I'm for him or against him?

59. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Billy Graham's daughter all believe (and stated publicly, on TV) that the attack on the Twin Towers (September 11, 2001) happened because

      (1) America had become sinful and was permitting abortion, witchcraft, and lesbianism;
      (2) God got mad at America; and
      (3) God "removed his protection" from us.

      Do you believe this?   Does this kind of God deserve your worship, or your contempt?

      How many of the Americans who died on September 11 were lesbians or witches (give me your best estimate)?   Do you believe that it's moral for your God to kill thousands of innocent people because he's upset at some Wiccans (who practice the most harmless religion on earth)?

60. Do you believe that Jack T. Chick was a Christian? Would you like to spend eternity with him in heaven?

61. I read in I Corinthians 5:11 that a Christian should not associate with another Christian who is covetous or is sexually immoral. It is ordered, by your God, that you shouldn't even sit down and eat with such a person.
      Have you ever obeyed this commandment? Have you ever left the dinner table because a "covetous" Christian sat down with you? Have you ever seen, or even heard of, anyone who actually obeyed this commandment?

62. God has ordered repeatedly (in the NEW Testament) that wives should submit themselves to their husbands (Ephesians 5:22; I Peter 3:1; Colossians 3:18). These commandments are much, much clearer than anything the Bible may say about abortion (and I contend that the Bible says nothing about abortion).

      Going strictly by the Bible, it is obvious that a wife disobeying a direct order from her husband is a much more serious sin than aborting a fetus (which, I know, doesn't make any sense).

      If you are a married woman, do you obey this Scriptural commandment ("submit to your husband")? If you don't, why do you call yourself a Christian? If you are a Christian husband, do you demand that your wife obey the Lord in this area? If not, why not? Don't you have the guts to demand that your wife live according to the Word of God? Don't you have the guts to exercise authority that was given to you by the creator of the entire universe?

      What do you think would happen if, this very evening, you sat down with your Christian wife [she'd BETTER be a Christian   —   see II Cor. 6:14] and said, "God has ordered you to submit to me"? Which are you more concerned about: (a) God's commandment or (b) being politically correct?

      Would you complain if your wife disobeyed the Lord in other areas of her life   —   for instance, if she committed adultery or murder (or boiled a young goat in its mother's milk [Exodus 23:19])? Do you belong to a church where this commandment is regularly disobeyed by the women of the church?

      Can you explain to me why Christian men protest in public (and commit criminal acts of harassment) over abortion, but don't protest about disobedient wives? Could it be that modern-day Christians only pretend to live according to the Bible, while ignoring the more "difficult" (or politically incorrect) commandments?

63. In March 2004, Mel Gibson released a movie about Jesus. All of the actors in the movie speak their lines in either (1) Aramaic or (2) Latin. Neither of these two languages is actually spoken (as the lingua franca) anywhere on earth (except for a few small isolated communities in Syria and elsewhere that Aramaic is still spoken).

      Do you think Mel Gibson was stupid for shooting a movie about Jesus in two languages that nobody actually uses in ordinary speech? Do you realize that, for the first time in history, a movie has been made that must include subtitles everywhere it is shown, anywhere on earth? Do you believe that Mel Gibson was on some kind of ego trip, just "showing off," wanting to make a movie that was painfully "authentic" without regard for any practical considerations?

64. I John 5:16-17 (KJV) talks about a "sin unto death" that one should not pray about.   What sin is that?   And please back up your answer with Scripture.

65. Which of the big-time evangelists (if any) do you trust, and which do you think are phonies?
      Robert Tilton? Billy Graham? Peter Popoff? Benny Hinn? Marilyn Hickey? John Agee? John Ankerberg? Joel Osteen?

66. In the gospel according to Matthew, which was written around 65 CE, we are promised that the second coming of Jesus will be very soon (Matthew 24:34); in fact, Christians in the First Century CE thought Jesus would return during their own lifetimes, and there was even a rumor floating around that he had already come back and had left people behind (II Thessalonians 2:1-2). Jesus told his contemporaries that some of them would not "taste death" before his return (Matthew 16:28).

      Well, about 19 centuries have come and gone ... do you still believe that Jesus is actually going to return?   When?   In another 19 centuries, perhaps?   Do you believe that it could be "any day now?"   If your answer is "yes," do you believe that the revelation of the "man of sin" has already occurred (II Thessalonians 2:3)   —   which is a prerequisite for the Second Coming?   Who do you believe the "man of sin" to be (full name and address, please)?   When and where (and how) was he revealed?

67. Are you aware that there are several pre-Christian myths about a god-man who comes to earth, is born of a virgin, sacrifices himself, and is resurrected? That some of those pre-Christian myths include stories about the miraculous feeding of multitudes, the healing of sick people, and walking on water? Do you have an explanation for how these stories, which existed before Jesus was ever born, could be so similar to the stories found in the Gospels?

68. Do you believe that a person who is 99.999% morally perfect, and commits only a few minor sins in his lifetime (no murder, rape, theft, adultery, or violence) deserves to suffer in hell for all eternity, just because he fails to "accept Jesus" (a term that's interpreted 18 different ways by 6,000 different Christian groups)?
      If it were up to you   —   if you had the power to make the "He's going to hell" decision   —   would YOU sentence Mr. 99.999% to an afterlife of perpetual suffering? If your answer is "yes," why do you think this is fair? Do you realize that your God would send such a person to hell forever? Are you perhaps more merciful and compassionate than your own God?

      What if the only sin he ever committed in his whole life was planting a field with two different kinds of seed (Leviticus 19:19)?   When he dies ... hell, or no hell?

      Do you think that I deserve to spend an eternity in hell?

69. Which do you believe is more psychologically harmful to a child: being sexually fondled by an adult, or being threatened (week after week, in a Sunday morning church service) with eternal, unending torture in a "lake of fire?"

70. You would tell me that I can't be "saved" unless I believe certain things, i.e., that Jesus is the son of God, and died for my sins, and rose on the third day (Hebrews 11:6, Romans 10:9). I do NOT believe these things. How do I force myself to believe something that I don't believe? Of course, I can lie and SAY that I believe, but God will know I'm lying, so that's no good.

      Suppose I told you, with all sincerity (and swore on a stack of Bibles), that Elvis Presley is still alive; his death in 1977 was faked. He was kidnapped by space aliens, and he now lives on the planet Venus. Any day now, he will return to earth to reign over us for 1,000 years. All this is prophesied in an ancient book I have (which I then proceed to show you). And then I tell you, seriously, that unless you believe this, 100%, with all your heart, you will go to hell when you die.   You must believe this to be saved!!!

      Wouldn't the "smart play" be for you to believe this, just in case it's true? What if you're wrong?

71. In I Samuel 16:14 (KJV), we read that "an evil spirit from the Lord" troubled King Saul. Why do you worship a God who sends evil spirits to trouble people? How would you like it if he sent one of his evil spirits to trouble YOU?

      And by the way, where does God keep his evil spirits when he's not sending them out to trouble people?

72. If your own child disobeyed you, would you lock him in an oven, set the temperature to 550°, and turn it on? No? Is it perhaps possible that you have better moral sense than the God of the Bible?

73. Do you believe that some of the commandments in the Old Testament don't apply to Christians? Which ones?
      Does the OT commandment against adultery apply to modern-day Christians?
      What about the commandment not to wear clothing woven of mixed linen and wool (Leviticus 19:19)?
      Why does one OT commandment apply, but not the other?
      How do you decide which Old Testament commandments are still valid?   Did somebody die and appoint you God?

74. Around the time Jesus was born, Herod ordered the murder of innocent children (Matthew 2:16).
In the time of Moses, God killed the firstborn of every household (Exodus 11:4-5) - innocent children.
How is God morally different from King Herod?

75. In I Corinthians 15:29, we read about being baptized for the dead. What, exactly, does this mean? Has your preacher ever preached a sermon on this topic? Have you ever been baptized for a dead person?

76. Matthew 7:1 orders Christians not to pass judgment.
      I Corinthians 2:15 says that a spiritual man judges everything.
      Which is it? A Christian being judgmental - is that good or bad?

77. In 1994, Christian singer Michael English, then 32, won six "Dove Awards" for his music.   He later gave them back, saying it was because of "mistakes" he had made.
      In fact, he had been carrying on an adulterous relationship with one Marabeth Jordan, another "Gospel singer" who was also married (they hooked up while they were on a tour together that raised money for a home for unwed mothers.
      No, I didn't make that up. It was during this "unwed mother" singing tour that Mr. English impregnated Mrs. Jordan.

      Question: Do you have any Michael English recordings in your possession? Do you plan to keep them, or destroy them? If one of his songs were playing on the radio (how about "Mary Did You Know?"), would you turn it off? Would you allow your children to listen to his music?

      Of course, he's written a book about his fall from grace. It can be yours for $24.99 plus postage ($8.99 for the Kindle edition).   What is it about Christians that makes them want to write books about their spectacular public failures?

      I have read Mr. English's book.   He's a complete fuckup.   It almost becomes repetitious: he gets addicted to drugs, goes into rehab, becomes addicted to drugs again, goes into rehab ... I'm an ATHEIST, and I've never been addicted to drugs, not even once.

      And by the way ... Marabeth's child, the child who was a product of adultery? Mrs. Jordan miscarried. God killed the child, just like he did when King David committed adultery and got Bathsheba pregnant (II Sam. 12:1-19).

      Please explain to me again how your God is "pro-life."

Marabeth Did You Know?           Marabeth did you know           For several months           I longed to be your lover?           Marabeth did you know           That when we fucked           I broke the goddamn rubber?           Did you know           Your baby boy           Will soon be killed by God ...

78. Jesus said that a sparrow can't fall to the ground unless it's God's will (Matthew 10:29).
      How do you explain catastrophes such as the destruction of the Twin Towers, or the 2004 earthquake in Bam, Iran, which caused the deaths of 31,000 people?
      What about Hurricane Katrina (August 2005)?
      The Indonesian tsunami that killed over 250,000 people (December 26, 2004)? The earthquake in Pakistan (October 2005)? The typhoon in Myanmar (2008)? The earthquakes in China (2008)? The earthquake in Afghanistan in 2025 (1400 dead)?
      Obviously, these things happened because God wanted them to happen. How do you think God decides where (and when) these horrible events will occur? What did those 31,000 Iranians, some of them infants less than a week old, do to deserve a violent death?

      Why doesn't God send an earthquake to San Francisco to kill all the queers? Or cause an earthquake at a prison, so that violent criminals will die? Or send a special tornado to the Middle East to kill all the Al-Qaeda guys? Why doesn't God put these natural disasters to some good use, instead of making them appear to be random (exactly the way they would occur if he didn't exist)?

      The concept of omnipotence doesn't fit well into a moral rule set.   I am told that "God is good all the time."   What would God have to do to show that he is not good?

      The suggestion that God is good means that there is some standard that he is being held to.   It means there's a possibility that tomorrow he might not be good.   Every time I hear the expression "God is good all the time," it makes me want to ask: What exactly is the standard that you're holding him to, the requirements that he meets so that you're describing him as "good?"
      I know for goddamn sure it's not some standard about preventing Nazis from throwing Jews into ovens.

It is plain that there is one moral law for heaven and another for the earth.       The pulpit assures us that wherever we see suffering and sorrow which we can relieve and do not do it, we sin, heavily [James 4:17; Matt. 25:31ff].       There was never yet a case of suffering or sorrow which God could not relieve.       Does he sin, then?   If he is the source of morals, he does, certainly; nothing can be plainer than that, you will admit.       Surely the source of law cannot violate law and stand unsmirched; surely the judge upon the bench cannot forbid crime and then revel in it himself unreproached.       Nevertheless we have this curious spectacle: daily the trained parrot in the pulpit gravely delivers himself of these ironies, which he has acquired at second hand and adopted without examination, to a trained congregation which accepts them without examination, and neither the speaker nor the hearer laughs at himself.   —   Mark Twain, Fables of Man

79. If a person is "saved," can he later become "unsaved," that is, lose his salvation?

The answer is no:
Romans 11:29 indicates that a gift from God (which salvation is, per Ephesians 2:8) is irrevocable.   And Romans 8:1 says that there is no condemnation for Christians.

The answer is yes:
Hebrews 6:4-8 says that there can be a "falling away" that results in a loss of salvation   -   it's referred to as "being cursed" and "burned."

      And Revelation 3:5 indicates that it is possible for one's name to be "blotted out" from the Book of Life.

      So which do you believe?   Is it possible, or impossible, to lose one's salvation?

      And do you still believe that God is not the author of confusion?

80. Matthew 5:48 says that I should be perfect, just as God is perfect; Ephesians 5:1 says that I should imitate God.
      How should I go about "imitating God?"   Perhaps by killing an infant who is the product of adultery (II Samuel 12:15-16)? Even if the child's father begs for mercy?
      Perhaps I should stand by and do nothing while six million innocent Jews die in gas chambers?
      Perhaps I should impregnate a virgin I've never been married to (Luke 1:31)?
      Perhaps I should contact all the people I claim to love, and threaten them with eternal fiery torture?
      Maybe I should watch a tsunami start (December 26, 2004), out in the middle of the ocean, and sit on my ass and do nothing for two solid hours as it approaches land ... where 250,000 unsuspecting people are about to die ... and not warn anybody?

      And speaking of impregnating a virgin I'm not married to ... that "affair" between Mary and God sounds like fornication to me, and according to the Biblical law, both Mary and God must be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22:23-24). Can God make a rock so big that He Himself can be killed by it?

      Which reminds me ... the Bible says that Jesus (the "High Priest") never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). My question is: What if he had sinned ... gone into a whorehouse for ten minutes and gotten his cane varnished, for instance? Since he's God (John 10:30; Colossians 2:9), isn't it true that anything he does is, by definition, NOT a sin? Like when Big God kills a bunch of innocent people? That's not a sin, is it? So if Jesus (aka God) stabbed a guy to death for no reason, it's not a sin, since (a) he's God, and (b) God has the right to take a person's life for no reason (the way he does thousands of times every day), right?
      Isn't it theologically impossible for Jesus [aka God] to sin?

81. In John 14:12, Jesus says that his followers (Christians) will do greater works than he did   —   that is, greater things than (1) healing lepers, (2) walking on water, (3) feeding five thousand people with a few loaves and fishes, etc.
      Suppose I tell you that Jesus lied.   Can you show me even one Christian, anywhere on earth, who is currently fulfilling this "doing greater works" prediction?

82. Are you aware that there are many Christian documents that were written during the First Century CE (such as the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Thomas, The Shepherd, the Didache) that didn't become part of the Bible?   Are you aware that the decisions as to which writings would be included in the Christian Bible were made over 1600 years ago?
      Tell me everything you know about (1) those book-choosing/book-rejecting "experts" in the Fourth Century CE and (2) the decision-making processes that they used. Explain to me why you trust them so much.
      Can you name even one of them?
      Were they educated people?
      Were they all male ... was there even one woman on the panel?
      Were they scholars, or were they just politicians?
      Aren't you terribly worried that some of what's in your Bible doesn't belong there, or that there's something left out that is very important?
      Aren't you taking a huge leap of faith ... not with regard to your God, but with regard to the Fourth-Century folks who cobbled together the oddball collection of writings we now refer to as "the Bible?"

83. Leviticus 18:22 says that homosexuality (a man fucking a man as if it's a woman) is an abomination.
      Question: If God decided tomorrow that heterosexuality is an abomination, would you stop being a heterosexual? Could you stop being a heterosexual just because God commanded you to stop?

      And speaking of "abominations," the Bible says that eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 11:12). Have you ever eaten shrimp? crab? lobster?

      According to the Bible, eating shrimp is just as big a sin as sticking your dick up a man's ass.

84. Romans 1:20 says that God's invisible qualities (aorata - an adjective used as a noun - lit. "invisible [unseen] things") can be figured out by looking at what he created.
      What invisible qualities of your God have you divined from studying his creation (we're NOT talking about anything you read in the Bible)? And how did you arrive at your conclusions?
      What part of "creation" indicates to you that God would murder his only-begotten son because other people (not his son) disobeyed him?
      Is there anything in nature/creation that suggests that the Creator wants you to kill adulterers by throwing rocks at them, or that he wants you to trim the excess skin from around the tip of your dick?

85. Have you ever studied church history   —   the Inquisition, the witch burnings, the Crusades, the selling of indulgences, the Popes who fathered illegitimate children? How do you feel about these things? Do they make you ashamed to belong to such an ugly tradition? Why isn't church history ever taught in church? (you Protestants would have to admit that for many centuries, the Catholic church was the only boat afloat.)

86. Romans 2:13 says that those who obey the law (oi poihtai nomou   —   lit. "those who do the law") will be "justified."   Galatians 2:21 says that if righteousness could be gained through [obeying] the law, then Christ died for nothing.
      Which do you believe? Did Christ die for nothing?

      Does it bother you that your Bible can't seem to tell a story the same way twice?

87. Are you aware that the New Testament gives us no reason to think that the believers in the early church ever referred to themselves as Christians?
      The word "Christian" (cristianouV) is used only three times in the New Testament (Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28, I Peter 4:16), and the context indicates that "Christian" may have been an insult.   Why do you think people today who believe in Jesus call themselves "Christians?"

88. In Proverbs 26:4, God orders you not to answer a fool according to his folly. In the very next verse, Proverbs 26:5, God orders you to do the exact opposite   —   that is, he orders you to answer a fool according to his folly!

      Let's say you've decided to live your life according to God's Holy Word, and you are confronted with a fool.   What should you, as a Bible believer, do?

89. The Bible that you carry and study and memorize consists of 66 "books." Why aren't more Bible "books" being written today?
      If I told you that a certain writing from, say, 1997 should be considered Scripture, on par with Colossians and II Thessalonians, on what basis would you dispute me? How do you know I'm wrong?

      Come to think of it, by what standard or criterion do you believe it's appropriate to include III John in the Bible, but reject the Gospel of Peter?   Or the Didach?
      If you bought a Bible that was accidentally printed without III John in it, how long would it be before you even noticed?

      "God whispered it into my ear ... so that I could whisper it into your ear."

90. Genesis 2:17 tells us that God ordered humans not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.   Why would God not trust humans with such knowledge, but rather give it to ... a piece of fruit?

The Bible records that Eve ate the fruit because she wanted to gain wisdom (Genesis 3:6); God commands us to obtain wisdom (Proverbs 4:5).   Which do you believe ... that God wants us to gain wisdom, or doesn't want us to gain wisdom?

And God told Adam and Eve that when they ate of the fruit, they would die (Genesis 2:17). They ate it and, according to the Bible, they didn't die.   Why did God lie to them?

      Another question: How could Adam and Eve understand what it meant to "die?" They had never seen anything die before.

91. Suppose a woman told you that her husband was gracious and loving because he promised not to kill her if she served him for the rest of her life.

      You'd think she was a brainwashed slave, and that he was a sicko (and you'd be right).

      Yet your God offers you this same choice.

      My question is: Why do you believe that a choice between

        (a) loving your god and
        (b) eternal torture

is a legitimate choice offered by a loving deity?

      Why can't God just say, "I love you. Take it or leave it" (like I said to Mary Jo Weaver in the eighth grade)?   Why does he have to be such a stalker?

92. A part of you might be hoping there's a passage in the Bible that says that a 4-year-old child doesn't go to hell if he dies.
      Keep reading; you won't find it.
      If Biblegod wanted you to know this   —   if this popular idea (a made-up unscriptural "age of accountability," usually claimed to be age 12) were true   —   wouldn't God have actually mentioned it somewhere in the Bible?

      Do you believe that a three-year-old who dies "without Christ" will be tortured in hell forever? If you believe that he can get to heaven "without Christ," why do you believe this?   Jesus Christ himself said that you don't get to heaven without Jesus, period (John 14:6).

      Please give me a Scripture reference for the concept of an "age of accountability" that gives a non-believing child a "pass" on all the repent-and-believe-Jesus requirements.   Send me an email.

93. Are you aware that your God has screwed up at least ten times (according to his own book ... the one he wrote) so badly that he repented? See Genesis 6:7, Exodus 32:14, Judges 2:18, I Samuel 15:35, II Samuel 24:16, I Chronicles 21:15, Psalm 106:45, Jeremiah 26:19, Amos 7:3, Amos 7:6 (you'll want to use the KJV to see the word "repent" or a variation thereof).
      Why does an omniscient God change his mind so much?
      And why in the hell does he claim to be "perfect" (Matthew 5:48)?

      And speaking of omniscience/omnipotence ... if

----(a) God wants everything to be righteous and perfect and
----(b) God is truly omnipotent, yet
----(c) everything is not righteous and perfect, right now, at this very moment ...

then there must be some other thing that God wants even more than for everything to be righteous and perfect. Any ideas on what that other thing might be?

      And still speaking of omnipotence ... are you aware that the Bible itself records an incident when there was something that God could not do?   See Judges 1:19 (Biblegod can't overcome iron chariots).

94. Do you believe that the Ten Commandments should be displayed in public schools? If so, why? Why do you consider it to be important?
      Do you understand why people see a conflict between the First Amendment and the practice of displaying the Ten Commandments (#1 of which is "Thou shalt have no other gods before me") in tax-supported buildings?
      What if a second-grader read the Ten Commandments (on the monument in front of his school) and asked his teacher to explain "adultery" to him?
      That's certainly a Biblical topic. How would you want your daughter's elementary-school teacher to explain the sin of sport-fucking?

      Do you believe that the displaying of the Ten Commandments helps to create some sort of wholesome school environment for our children? Do you think there's a big problem these days with kids carving idols during school hours?

      And by the way ... did you know that the Biblically-prescribed punishment for disobedience of each of the first seven commandments is death? Would you support the death penalty for violation of these commandments? If not, why not? Are you smarter than God?
      Doesn't it make sense that if we post the Ten Commandments on the courthouse lawn, we should also include a statement that God demands that violators be killed? Would that be a good "moral lesson" for your children?
      Wouldn't you agree that ideological consistency requires that, if we acknowledge the legitimacy and authority of the Ten Commandments in our society, we should also make known the punishments that Almighty God demands for their violation? You wouldn't want to soft-pedal the word of God, would you?
      Why are Christians proud of one part of the Bible, but ashamed of another?

      Imagine there's a county in California where the majority religion is Islam. Would there be anything wrong with them erecting a monument (using taxpayers' money) on the courthouse lawn that reads, "There is only one God, and Allah is his name, and Mohammed is his only prophet"?

      Of course, they'd set it up in some prominent place, where everybody would have to look at it.

      If you believe that the Ten Commandments should be displayed on your courthouse lawn, do you have the Ten Commandments displayed at your own home? If not, why not?   Isn't it time to put your money where your mouth is?

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(On to page 2 of "Questions for Christians")

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