Rabbi Daniel Lapin: atheists are parasites

Big Bureaucracy ^ | September 4th, 2010 | Ellie Velinska

[Big Bureaucracy]

Sure, I am a stupid parasite.
Just asking.
Better safe than sorry.

[Notary Sojac]

If you had a chance to observe me for a month...to see me in my dealings with my family, friends and business associates...I am confident that you would be unable to find anything in my conduct that would enable you to distinguish me from a believing Christian.

Now, you may well say that it's the societal foundation provided by Judaism and Christianity that has conditioned that conduct. And you may be right, I'd accept that as a valid argument.

But would you agree with me that to feign a belief in a supernatural God in order to gain acceptance by that society would not only be dishonest, but insulting to God?

[Big Bureaucracy]

You found the way to unite us in parasitism. LOL

[Uri’el-2012]

"The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum." Thomas Paine

Paine was not a Founder of this nation.

[Big Bureaucracy]

Well said. I agree with you.

[Big Bureaucracy]

I agree with you. We struggle in America today with sustaining basic moral standards. Corruption, deception, envy are poisoning our society. We the people who care about it should be able to unite, despite the religious differences.

[stormer]

LOL! Paine's Common Sense, relative to the population of th colonies at the time, is the largest selling. most circulated book in the history of the United States. Edited by Benjamin Rush, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence, it is a direct call for abolition of British rule and the formation of a new and independent country.

If you don't believe that Paine was not a "Founder of this nation", then you have no understanding of his role in American history.

[ExGeeEye]

Except that God uses we believers to accomplish the good He wishes. He does not miraculously provide the good while we sit on our couches, or even our pews.

[Uri’el-2012]

Your brain has been addled by libertarian nonsense.

Paine was instrumental in the revolution.

However he had nothing to do with the FOUNDING of this nation.

[Abin Sur]

We all must live by the dictates of God given to us in the Ten Commandments

Really? Let's take a look at the Decalogue as it applies to life in the United States, shall we?

1. You shall have no other gods before me.
Explicitly allowed by the 1st amendment.

2. You shall not make for yourselves an idol.
See above.

3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
See above.

4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Sunday is for sleeping in late and watching football.

5. Honor your father and your mother.
Great advice, but not a legal requirement.

6. You shall not murder.
Finally one that is enforceable in modern society.

7. You shall not commit adultery.
Good advice, but not illegal.

8. You shall not steal.
Enforceable.

9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
In context, this is enforceable in court (not so much in everyday life).

10. You shall not covet.
Another completely unenforceable one.

Out of 10 commandments, only 3 apply to modern civil law in the United States. The simple fact is that we must not live by most of the commandments...and that's the way it should be. Religious freedom is good.

[Big Bureaucracy]

How is the Founding related to the modern day event of somebody calling the atheists parasites? Did the founders believe that atheists are parasites?

[stormer]

You are an idiot.

[Abin Sur]

1. Atheism has a soteriology...you must believe that Christianity is evil to be a good person.

Incorrect. Atheism is a lack of belief, or denial of the existence of, a deity or deities. It does not by definition define Christianity or any other religion as "evil".

2. Atheism has a ethic...anything is alright as long as you deem it alright. Whatever the athiest deems wrong is wrong. The Atheist is his/her own god.

Partially true, in that the ethics of individual atheists are determined by a combination of their own and other's conclusions.

3. Atheism has a theology....it teaches that each man is his own god.

Incorrect. I'm an atheist, and I don't think that I'm a god.

4. Atheism has a eschataology....the human race, once rid of religion, will be at peace.

While this may or may not be true (I think it's a load of dingo's kidneys) it is not a tenet of atheism as such. I will grant that some atheists believe it to be so, but that's not the same thing.

5. Atheism has a epistemology....we know what we know by what we experiece. Problem is, how does the atheist prove that statement?

He doesn't, any more than you can prove that you "really" exist.

Atheism is a fully formed religion!

Sure, just like "bald" is a hair color...

[wideminded]

Every point that you state there is incorrect.

[Uri’el-2012]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2583082/posts?page=35#35

[Abin Sur]

I'll see your Abigail Adams and raise you a Thomas Jefferson:

"But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."

-Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782

[Uri’el-2012]

You are an idiot.

An amusing riposte.

However clinically incorrect.

[stormer]

Perhaps I should have taken a closer look at the Binet Scale before making my post. To say that Paine’s role in fomenting revolution is not foundational to the birth of the Unites States defies logic.

[stormer]

And I would add this:

"Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law."

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814

[Uri’el-2012]

"God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a
nation be thought secure when we have removed their only
firm basis, a conviction in the mind of the people that these
liberties are of the Gift of God?"
Thomas Jefferson

"Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon
and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is
impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to
this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian."

UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
Church of the Holy Trinity vs. United States
February 29, 1892 -
decision rendered by Justice Josiah Brewer