[ez]

Someday the applecart will fall. It’s just a question of when, and everyone knows it. I imagine they’ll get cranky near the end...

[concerned about politics]

I don't think he meant aitheists were "evil feeders." I think he meant that everyone benefits, in some way, by faith, hope, and charity that comes with the concept of a higher power.
I think you're taking it too personally.

[cerberus]

Agree.............too much sanctimonious blathering (on all sides actually).

Meanwhile, "Rome" burns.

[Slyfox]

How lucky you are be able to practice your atheism in our country.

A lot of non-atheists made it all possible.

[ExTexasRedhead]

Whatever anyone wants to call themselves, in order to maintain a free and prosperous society, we all must have certain morals in order to live together in freedom. We all must live by the dictates of God given to us in the Ten Commandments. Too many have turned their backs on God’s laws and decency. We are headed for the cliff because we have corrupt, power-hungry, amoral politicians at every level of government in this country. The current Regime with Mullah Obama’s Czars and this Congress are destroying this nation and putting the world in peril because of their corruption and quest for power. Too many in Corporate America and elsewhere are also corrupt and power hungry. Somehow, we must get our moral compass back whatever your faith. In my opinion, to do less, dooms all of us.

[Uri’el-2012]

I believe that Rabbi Lapin has pricked her conscience.

One day she will realize that what made the United States
unique is that it was founded as a Christian Nation.

“The Law given from Sinai [The Ten Commandments] was a civil and
municipal as well as a moral and religious code.” John Quincy Adams. ...

[ColdSteelTalon]

I have seen the gamut in religious people and atheists. I have seen religious people that are peaceful and hateful. And I have seen the same in atheists.

I being a Christian, must believe and live (try as best as I can to live) by what Christ taught, and that is that we love one another. That includes loving people who I may not agree with. I have both atheists and people of other religions as friends. And I love all of them.

[citizenK]

The Rabbi is correct. Atheists benefit from the stability to society that religious organization affords. This is isn’t a Judeo-Christian thing either - ancient Greeks and Romans who were polytheists found the same benefit to organizing their religion. In the the ancient context, individuals would belong to a specific temple, which served as a support network for the other aspects of their lives - business/commerce, art and culture, politics and warfare. I saw the Rabbi makes these comments, and he was citing the fact that human beings appear to be hardwired to seek religious affiliation - it provides basic meaning to the other aspsects of life mentioned above.

My problem with atheists is that they mostly come off as intellectually dishonest. They claim to not believe in God, but deny that this view is a belief system itself. I could care less how this unfolds for individuals on a personal level. However, it is hypocritical of the atheists who try to push organized belief systems out of the societal “marketplace” - for example, those atheists who actively work to remove the nativity scenes from public spaces fail to view their own cause as the promotion of a belief system.

[Uri’el-2012]

“A patriot without religion in my
estimation is as great a paradox as
an honest Man without the fear of God.
Is it possible that he whom no moral
obligations bind, can have any real
Good Will towards Men?
Can he be a patriot who,
by an openly vicious conduct,
is undermining the very bonds of Society?
… The Scriptures tell us “righteousness exalteth a Nation.”
Abigail Adams

[aruanan]

The Rabbi is entitled of his opinion and is free to call me parasite. However, I urge his friends to help him, because he may need advice from psychiatrist.

Just two days ago a fellow who was calling people parasites strapped himself with bombs to make a point on Discovery channel. He wanted to inform the world that people are parasites.

Poor Ellie is suffering from the fallacy of the undistributed middle: A is M. B is M. Therefore, A is B.

An iMac is a personal computer. A Dell Inspirion is a personal computer. Therefore, an iMac is a Dell Inspirion.

No, Ellie, logic doesn't work that way.

[denydenydeny]

Lapin obviously means this in the Tocqueville sense: That what made America prosperous was that its Christian character helped ensure trust between businessmen.

[LiteKeeper]

Knowing Daniel Lapin, I would have to hear the original story. He is a godly man, well informed, knowledgeable of today’s culture.

[SkyPilot]

Sounds like Ellie Velinska is upset because the Rabbi was a little too close to the target.

In the end, we all benefit from the gift's that directly come from God Himself.

Our very lives. Food. Water. Air. Everything.

To not acknowledge God, with any thanks or gratitude, is to live as a parasite.

When you contemplate it - God asks for very, very, very little from us.

Atheists won't even engage Him in acknowledgment of His very existence.

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish."

Psalm 1: 1-6

[Tailgunner Joe]

“Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens.” - President George Washington

[Anti-Bubba182]

The Rabbi is exactly right.

[Anti-Bubba182]

Beck Guest Rabbi: "Atheists Are Parasites"