The author…

Hi. I’m Neil Robinson, an ex-university lecturer and teacher from the UK. Saved from Christianity a few years ago, I began to investigate just what it was I’d believed. ‘Following Jesus’ took thirty years of my life and it was all a fraud. 

With over 2 billion adherents worldwide, Christianity is still the most popular and insidious belief system in the world. But it makes truth claims and promises it cannot meet – and never has – and offers a perspective of reality based on fantasy figures and scenarios for which no evidence exists. It contradicts almost everything science tells us about reality and asks its adherents to accept its propositions on ‘faith’, without question or the exercise of critical faculties. It expects them too to spread the virus whenever and wherever they can.

Like other ex-Christians, I know from the inside what Christians believe, having bought into its false promises, failed prophecies and impossible morality. And impossible morality it is, which is why most Christians practise it as if it were a form of homeopathy; in miniscule amounts and only to their own taste.

Yet, we’re all expected to respect this faith, as if believing some of the daftest things imaginable is something that deserves to be tiptoed round; as if a virus of epidemic proportions merits ‘respect’ rather than treatment.

Well, you’ll find no respect in these posts, I’m pleased to say. There might instead be some treatment, some therapy perhaps, that can help deliver minds from contagion. I’d like to think so; my hope is that each post serves in some small way as an antidote to the virus that holds millions in its delusional thrall.

‘Rejecting Jesus’ can only do you good!

60 thoughts on “The author…

  1. Neil, you should check out my atheist memoir: “Portrait of an Infidel: The Acerbic Account of How a Passionate Christian Became an Ardent Atheist.”

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  2. Neil,
    At what point did you decide to dedicate your life to “rejecting Jesus” by questioning those that do? I read a few of your articles and noticed that you’re asking Christians defend the parts of the Bible that you don’t understand. For example, in your use of Matthew 5:38-48, you only summarized verses 39-48 so you could use alliteration further your real agenda. In verse 38, where Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” I’m only going to write it out for you here for those that don’t understand your manipulation of it: Jesus was telling his disciples that, the law of the land did not align with following Christ. In 39-42, he’s telling them that retaliation is not okay. His instructions continue. You skipped 43, addressing another old law. 44-48 Jesus instructs them to “love your enemies.” And finally, 49 refers to 45-48, “that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” 49 Jesus tells them to be perfect, because the deciples knew he was perfect, and they needed to act as he did by following the instructions he just gave them.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Cindy, to answer your points as far as I can make them out:

      You ask: ‘At what point did you decide to dedicate your life to “rejecting Jesus” by questioning those that do?’ This doesn’t quite make sense; those that do what? The answer to the first part of the question, however, is covered in the ‘about the author’ section – essentially when Christians wouldn’t leave me alone but seemed to think they were entitled to bombard me with inanities.

      You again: ‘you’re asking Christians (to) defend the parts of the Bible that you don’t understand.’ Thank you for your condescension here, but I do understand the bits of the Bible I cite – rather better than you if I may say so. I challenge Christians to show the extent they live according to Jesus’ demands when almost all of the evidence points to the fact they are unable to do so.

      ‘For example, in your use of Matthew 5:38-48, you only summarized verses 39-48 so you could use alliteration further your real agenda.’ 1) References must of necessity be limited; I’d say summarising nine verses is more than adequate. (Is this the old and feeble ‘you quoted out of context’ objection in a different guise?) b) your point about alliteration makes no sense and 3) I have a ‘real’ agenda? Please tell me what it is. I thought I made my agenda clear (you’ve already referred to it) but evidently you know better – well done.

      ‘Jesus tells (his followers) to be perfect, because the deciples (sic) knew he was perfect, and they needed to act as he did by following the instructions he just gave them.’ I’d guess this was my point (it usually is) though you don’t reference which post you’re addressing so I can’t be entirely sure. So, Cindy – are you perfect as he says you must be? If not, why not? It may come as a surprise to you that quoting Bible verses in garbled comments on blogs doesn’t really qualify.

      Whatever would Jesus think?

      Better luck next time.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Cindy, vs 38 is not a reference to the “law of the land.” Where do you think they “have heard it said”?! In Torah. Jesus is quoting the Bible!

      As for loving your enemies, who is God’s worst enemy? The Devil. I wonder why I never heard of Christians asking if God will love his enemy and what that might look like?!

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      • Interesting point, especially in light of that one verse,” Hell was created for the devil and his angels.”. I’ve read accounts of people who had been dead, briefly, and they claim the wound up in Hell. Either for the purpose of warning others, or what they were facing in the future if they didn’t stop, or do, certain things. Christians included.

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  3. Hi Neil,

    Interesting blog.

    I am curious, what denomination were you part of?

    Is there a post where you share your story?

    I find a lot of blogs are from ex christians in America but I feel the situation is different here in the UK so find it helpful to read the perspective of fellow Brits!
    Cheers

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Apologies, JR, for not responding sooner (for some reason WordPress didn’t inform me of a whole block of comments that arrived late last year).

    I belonged to a number of evangelical CofE churches, depending on where I found myself living. Even when there wasn’t one in the area I’d find an evangelical church of another denomination; a free church when I lived briefly in America (nice people but really way out) and a Methodist church prior to jettisoning my beliefs. How about you?

    Faith isn’t as in your face in the UK as it is in America, thankfully, but it still has a significant influence. Of course the internet allows one to reach all corners of the world and I’m pleased to have some (very!) small input into the States.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Can you really debate with pains in the butt? They’re yet another bunch of Christians who want to argue the finer points of their belief-system without any evidence they live according to its commands. I’ve no time for such people; Jesus’ mission, failure though it was, was not to set up debating societies for smart-arses. Nonetheless, I’ve bookmarked the site.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. All due respect, sir, I know many people who live according to the commands of Jesus, and see many people’s lives enriched and lifted as a result. I also am a follower of Jesus, and my life and work demonstrate that.
    Now, I’m not an advocate for sloppy belief, but i am secure enough in my conversion story and life transformation to be content with not knowing some things until i eventually do. I don’t have the anxiety of needing to know it all up-front or perform it all perfectly from the start in order to retain my faith; though I have met people who have had this rigid approach to faith, they were somehow quite willing to warmly welcomed unbelief whenever it invariably found them.
    (by the way, I found your site while researching Lot for one of my Bible teaching series)

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi. I’m glad you know lots of people who live according to Jesus’ commands, selling all they have to help the poor, giving to all who ask, loving their enemies with sacrificial love, etc etc. That’s great. Unfortunately, I don’t know any and didn’t do such things myself when I was a Christian.

      As for conversion stories and transformations, these are lovely emotional experiences that happen for all sorts of reasons (as I consider here: https://rejectingjesus.com/2015/05/03/a-new-creation-or-same-old-same-old/) These I have experienced.

      The bottom line is this: ‘Is Christianity true?’ and ‘Is there evidence that God, Christ, angels and heaven exist independent of the human imagination and the emotions?’ You’re more than welcome to provide any such evidence here, though if you do you’ll be the first who’s been able to.

      Glad to be of assistance with your study of Lot.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Hi. I’m glad you know lots of people who live according to Jesus’ commands, selling all they have to help the poor, giving to all who ask, loving their enemies with sacrificial love, etc etc. That’s great. Unfortunately, I don’t know any and didn’t do such things myself when I was a Christian

        Quite possibly why you are disillusioned now.

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  6. Catholicism is the religion Jesus set up. It’s good to reject Protestantism but not Jesus and His Church. He enables us to have intimate access to the Father. Life outside a relationship with the Father is illusion and death. Read John Main and Raimon Panikkar.

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    • Please cite the verses from the bible where Jesus says he came to set up Catholicism specifically? Are they near the ones where he says the world will end in his disciples’ life-time (Matthew 16:27-28 & 24:27, 30-31, 34; Luke 21:27-28, 33-34 etc)? If so – though we both know they’re not – then how can he hold both views? Believing the world was about to end kind of precludes setting up a church for the next 2000 years, don’t you think?

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      • Either God became a man or he didn’t. The evidence is overwhelmingly the case that he did. And it is the church primarily and not the Bible which emerged out of the church which stands as the sacrament of this truth and his presence on earth. If you are open to the truth, you will see it. But it is obvious to me that your intellect is blinded by your will, which is set against the truth.

        One must put aside the self and one’s thoughts and prejudices in order to see Truth. I would recommend silent meditation as taught by John Main. God is beyond all human concepts and words, so to encounter God one has to become silent.

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      • So I should follow your lead and suppress whatever intellect I’ve got, reject rationality and suppress my critical faculties in order to believe tautological nonsense like ‘it was the church… which emerged out of the church ‘ and other superstitious mumbo jumbo.

        Er… no thanks.

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      • I have a PhD in philosophy, so I certainly would not believe in anything that goes against reason or requires one to repress or contradict one’s critical faculties. Criticsl reason is only one way of encountering and assessing reality, and there are aspects of reality that reason cannot adjudicate because it cannot access them. Rationalism is itself based Upon faith, of faith in the ultimate intelligibility of the universe, and its perfect transparency to human reason. This of course cannot be proven, yet you believe it anyway. It’s quite superstitious to have such faith, but yet have nothing really to ground it on. The truth is that the reason why reason exists is because the universe is ordered, and the reason why it’s ordered is, of course, because there is an orderer, namely God. Here’s Edward Feser’s story. I hope it inspires you (edit)…

        Speaking for myself, anyway, I can say this much. When I was an undergrad I came across the saying that learning a little philosophy leads you away from God, but learning a lot of philosophy leads you back. As a young man who had learned a little philosophy, I scoffed. But in later years and at least in my own case, I would come to see that it’s true.

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      • Your ‘comment’ was far too long, ‘tides99’, being an essay in its own right. I have deleted the massive extract from Feser that you included and left only your own remarks. You need in future to provide a link to such material or to your own blog if that’s where you took it from.

        I will address your points soon, probably as a blog post.

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  7. How did I end up a mad dog non-believer? It has taken awhile because I have never felt like a true believer, though raised in a Mormon family in a Mormon town. Now it has become a bit of a passion to spread the word that there is only one life per each creature. The basic delusions which are problematic are resurrection, salvation (from what?) and eternal “life”. I have heard the stories of the glorious eternal progression of God’s spiritual children in the hereafter from the Mormons. Religion as such, is not the problem, Gods are not the problem. The problem is that the monotheists, the JCI, pray for the end of the world and have been trying to bring it on for centuries. I am a big fan of Hitchens, a former Brit, thanks a lot. It is puzzling that the scam has worked so well for so long, but of course most believers got it from their parents. This is a disjointed statement, but I hope to hear more of your position and goal (if any) in opposing the delusion of resurrection, heaven, and eternity. GROG

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    • I was talking to a young Mormon missionary in town this morning, stationed, or whatever it’s called, in the north of England, all the way from Utah. I told him I couldn’t believe in the resurrection, Jesus’ supposed trip to the Americas or the circumstances surrounding the ‘translation’ of the gold plates because they’re all just too far-fetched. I gave him an abbreviated version of how the resurrection appearances were, at most, visions, elaborated on extensively before being set down in the gospels decades later (There are several posts on this, and on heaven, on this here blog thing.)

      I wished Elder Nielson well and told him to enjoy his life by doing something with it. He said he was doing, but somehow it didn’t seem it. He probably regretted stopping me.

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      • Don’t worry about Elder Nielson. Missionaries have been inoculated against all opposition. I’ve had a few come to my door and I usually piss them off. GROG

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      • There is delusion in any merely human teaching and institution regarding ultimate truths about man, his purpose, and God. But however widespread and malignant such delusion is, it doesn’t mean that there is no truth in these areas that can be discovered and known to be true. To claim that there is no truth, either revealed by God or discovered by human reason, is to claim something that you can’t know or at least be sure of. God, if he did exist, would not be able to be judged in this way, for he would be beyond our thoughts. We tend to idolize our own concepts and viewpoints on things, making gods or non-gods out of them. We are thus caught up in a hall of mirrors. The antidote to this self-idolatry is the practice of silence, silent meditation, where we open ourselves to reality as it is, not as we would like it to be. I recommend this practice, using a mantra to help focus scattered thoughts, ma-ra-na-tha, Come Lord. See more here, if this is something that is interesting to you:

        https://www.johnmain.org/

        There are 12 audio talks here by John Main, a wise and humble teacher.

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      • You lost me, Thaddeus, in your first sentence. ‘Merely human teaching’? What other sort is there? The truth does not have independent existence ‘out there’ as you (and the X-Files) suggest. Neither the gods nor reality itself are waiting to dispense it if only we put ourselves in the right frame of mind. But thanks for the suggestion!

        Liked by 1 person

      • I’m waiting for an argument for your debatable conclusions. So far you simply state claims as if they were self evident. If you’re not open to the possibility that you are wrong, then I’m not interested in having a conversation with you. If you’re content with an echo chamber and a cave of shadows, I’ll be moving on.

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      • tides99: I responded to you in the post ‘Abandon Reason all ye who enter the Faith’. Shame you missed it. (see https://rejectingjesus.com/2018/06/17/5737/)

        In point of fact, I’m under no obligation to have a conversation with you. If you want to challenge any of my specific points or, indeed, answer the questions I ask of you, then by all means do so, and I will then consider responding further. If you find your faith to be so fragile that you’re unable to do so, then I guess it’ll have to be goodbye.

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      • The other sort of teaching beyond human teaching is divine teaching, that is, a teaching that is given to man by God and not merely created by man. You have no idea whether or not such a divine revelation has been given to man, but you act like you know it’s impossible or absurd.

        Also, reality itself is a book whose meaning can be read if one’s eyes are open and docile to its teachings. The essential meaning of the book of reality is love, but it is a tragic or comedic drama depending on what role you choose to play. Rejecting Love Incarnate will surely lead to tragedy for you if you persist in it. But as the Resurrection has demonstrated to the world, the story is ultimately comedic, eternal happiness for all who choose to receive the gift.

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  8. The other kind of teaching is divine teaching. You have no idea that such a divine teaching has not been given to man, yet you write as if you knew it wasn’t.

    If a creator of the world existed, he would be outside of that creation and we would not know for sure about him. There might be clues but not much more than that. But if the creator decided to come into the creation and reveal his nature and purpose while still remaining the creator then that would qualify as a divine teaching.

    The historical figure of Jesus Christ Make sense only as the incarnation of the living God, and no other explanation for him will hold water. He was neither merely a sage, nor a Jewish prophet, nor a moral teacher, nor a madman, nor a liar. By rejecting Jesus Christ you reject reason itself, the logos, and become a self-contradiction. The Gospels show us plainly that Jesus was and is the God-Man.

    I am happy to provide some arguments for these claims but for now let that settle in.

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    • Your ‘argument’ that Jesus demonstrates the existence of God and God proves Jesus was God is entirely circular. You presume your conclusion from the outset: ‘the’ creator, divine teaching, Jesus as God-Man all presuppose that a God exists – and yet you offer no evidence that he/she/it does. That could be because there is none, certainly not for Yahweh, nor for the belief Jesus was a manifestation of this god (C. S. Lewis’ discredited ‘Lord, Liar or Lunatic’ challenge notwithstanding.)

      Evidently, reason exists and as product of the human mind does so without recourse to any religious concepts (including your Logos) all of which are notably irrational.

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      • Neil, just thought I would drop in to offer support. The delusion abounds. It really is tiring and usually a waste of time to engage with these heaven bound souls. GROG

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      • Heaven and hell begin right here and now. Self absorption and isolation is hell, while self expansion and union in love is heaven. True religion enables such self expansion and self forgetfulness, to become one with the very source and fullness of love. Jesus Christ displays this perfect fullness. We live eternally, now in time and after in the eternal moment. We have this lifetime to get our soul ready for the moment of death. I would urge you to care less about the sins and hypocrisy of others and more about your own path. Following Jesus Christ is a sure path. There are other paths, for those who have not been given the chance to encounter Jesus, but none as sure as the way of the cross. John Main teaches how to be silent and experience the presence of God.

        https://www.johnmain.org/
        I

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      • ‘Heaven and hell begin right here and now.’ They do? How do you know? Where’s your evidence they even exist?

        ‘Self absorption and isolation is hell, while self expansion and union in love is heaven.’ How do you know this? Where does the bible say so? (Spoiler: it doesn’t.)

        ‘Jesus Christ displays this perfect fullness.’ He does? The failed prophet and false promiser who wanted his enemies murdered in front of him? Doesn’t sound like a perfectly realised individual to me.

        ‘We live eternally, now in time and after in the eternal moment.’ What evidence do you have that humans are eternal beings? All the evidence suggests we are entirely temporal.

        ‘We have this lifetime to get our soul ready for the moment of death.’ Who says? What evidence is there that we are, or have, souls? Where do you get the idea that this life is a prelude to ‘something better’? I’m not prepared to squander mine for a fantasy after-life.

        ‘I urge you to care less about the sins and hypocrisy of others and more about your own path.’ I don’t care about the ‘sins’ of others (there’s no such thing as sin, in any case) but the often deplorable behaviour of believers is clear demonstration that Christianity doesn’t actually work; doesn’t, as Paul insists, ‘make all things new’ and ‘new creations’ of people.

        ‘Following Jesus Christ is a sure path.’ A sure path to what? Hypocrisy? Wasting life? Developing new prejudices? Feeling inferior? Feeling superior? Heaven? (Where does the bible say you’re going there? More spoiler: it doesn’t.)

        ‘John Main teaches how to be silent and experience the presence of God.’ Most mainline Christians do not regard mysticism or meditation as a means of experiencing God. How do you know it’s the presence of God you’re experiencing, anyway? Given there’s no evidence he exists, isn’t it more likely the stillness within is an experience of… well, the stillness within?

        Sorry, Thaddeus, I know you’ll say I don’t get any of this because I’m not enlightened/in the Spirit/freed from sin/whatever but the fact is all of it, from the Jesus/eternal life stuff to the mysticism, is mere self delusion.

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      • If one strategy doesn’t work, another is needed. Also, a bit of mockery might give a tinge of a tickle now and then. They are delusional, you know. GROG

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  9. Pingback: Why It is Impossible to Argue with Christians – The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser

  10. Having read the comments coming from devout Catholics- and yeah, they are entitled to their opinions-all I can think of at times like this is all the depredations that Roman cult has indulged in for over2,000 years. A good portion of it 500+ years in the Western Hemisphere,all the horrific damage that was done, and continues to this day. Like all the bodies of children turning up, hidden on the grounds of government residential schools in the U.S. and Canada,lately. No excuses exist for these things. Native American kids,forced to attend those institutions. Growing up in Los Angeles, I always suspected that creed among my childhood friends was a crock. And however nice some of these teachers like Main may be, this is front and center in my mind. Contrary to doctrine and attitude among Catholics and Christians alike, beliefs can’t be imposed. Because I knew my own history,even when young, I was at that time resolutely Tengerist, and beyond converting. Though still a Christian today as an adult, I’m not part of any organized group. It made things bearable for me to shun churches. Seeing all the antics around me and in the news, it sure was the right decision for me ! I can’t blame anyone who feels the need to walk away.

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  11. Something I always found very disturbing is that if all humans descended from 2 people, that means God used incest, something he deemed an abominable sin, to populate the earth

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      • If God made multiple pairs of humans, Adam and Eve’s children can get married with the children of the other human couples, thus allowing humans to populate earth without incest.

        If there were many humans, the Snake would not be able to deceive everyone. He might be able to deceive Adam or Eve. But he would not be able to deceive Peter, Paul, Nicholas, Isaiah, Patrick, Katrina, Mary, and the rest. Some humans might have sinned. But not everyone. You can never deceive everybody all the time.

        If the punishment for sin was physical death followed by eternal torment in flames that don’t go out, that warning is blatantly absent in Genesis. Instead, God told Adam he would die. But Adam lived 9 more centuries before he presumably died of natural causes associated with old age, fathering many children. No mention of what happened to him after he died. Or to Noah. Or Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. They died. That was it.

        Also, if there was no death at the time, then Adam could have known what death was when he disobeyed God. And the fact that there was a Tree of Life bestowing immortality to all who ate from it is a strong indicator that death, in fact, existed prior to Adam sinning. Otherwise, there is no need for a Tree of Life.

        Everything was not perfect prior to Adam sinning. The talking snake, presumably Satan, was out to deceive the first humans into disobeying and sinning against God. A rogue creation. This meant sin and evil existed before Adam ever came into being

        The Old Testament talked about a gloomy underworld called Sheol deep beneath earth where everyone went to. But the idea of a fiery hell of torment and brimstone didn’t take front, left, and center of the Scriptures until Jesus. How suspicious is that?

        “Progressive Revelation?”

        That’s like if a teacher warned a student “Hey Diego! If you disobey me, you’ll be expelled.” Diego disobeys. He is expelled. But as he steps outside the school, he is arrested and sentenced to life in prison. The teacher didn’t tell him that latter part.

        Liked by 1 person

  12. The Bible mentions a temporary Hell called Hades and a permanent Hell called the Lake of Fire. The people in Hades stay there until the Great White Throne Judgment when God calls everyone’s number and checks for names in the Book of Life. Anyone whose name is not in the Book is sent to the Lake of Fire alongside the devil, his angels, the antichrist, and the false prophet.

    So, this means someone could have died. Burning and suffering in Hades for thousands of years. Taken out of Hades at the Judgment day and possibly granted a brief reprieve from the pain. Then told he is going to an even more violent torture chamber that goes on forever. Taken out of Hell only to be thrown back into Hell, in other words.

    Also, if there are billions of humans shrieking, wailing, and blaspheming God forever and ever, this means evil and sin will continue to exist forever alongside and concurrent with the New Earth and the New Heavens. A twisted duality.

    And since God is omnipresent, he would be in the Lake of Fire tormenting sinners just as he is in the New Jerusalem enjoying fellowship with his chosen elected.

    Think about that for a second.

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  13. I think you should read the book of Job in the old testament and realize you are not god. You can’t answer the questions that God poses to Job, even with your so called “science” as your ultimate authority. All time, space & matter are God’s creation, not something we can understand completely with our “finite minds”. God created us with a free choice to accept or reject Him, it’s your choice given by God even if you don’t believe in Him.

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    • I’ve read Job, thanks. It always strikes me that God’s questions are pretty pathetic – almost as if they’ve been written for him by a bronze-age human with no scientific knowledge whatsoever.

      God asks:

      ‘Have you ever in your days commanded the morning light?’ Nope. Then again, neither has God. The light doesn’t work on commands. Not unless you’ve got an Alexa.

      ‘Where does light live or where does darkness reside?’ Light doesn’t ‘live’ nor does it scurry off back to its burrow at nightfall. Similarly darkness, which is the absence of light.

      ‘Can you lead out a constellation in its season?’ Lead it out? To where? What on Earth is God talking about here? Again,the constellations do not respond to commands or God’s ‘leading’ as the question seems to imply.

      Give me science any day over this ignorance.

      Still, nice of you to pop by with such a friendly greeting, Ken. I’m shattered you don’t think I’m God though.

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  14. Hi Neil! I love what you are doing with your blog.I think the more people reject Jesus (and all other religious beliefs) and develop themselves as secular humanists, the better off we all will be. I do truly think one day religion will be effectively dead but it will be many many thousands of years from now. That said, fighting the good fight in the mean time is important.

    I myself grew up in a Christian household, but rejected it in my late teens. Unfortunately my parents and one of my siblings are still Christians. I do love them, but as I know you know it’s very hard to relate or connect with people of faith due to their lack of intelligence and emotional immaturity.

    Recently, I’ve been drawing a harder line in the sand in my beliefs.  I now firmly believe intelligent Christian is an oxymoron. While intelligence is not immutable, it to me requires critical thinking ability, and it is impossible to remain Christian while thinking critically without deluding yourself. That doesn’t mean I don’t care for them, though.

    While I do think you’re doing a great thing, I would like to ask you to challenge yourself in an area that I am also challenging myself in. When I debate Christians, typically my parents, I often matter of factly and very bluntly dissect and destroy their arguments to the point where they fall back on needing to have faith. Sometimes however I feel I am too blunt for anyone to ever realistically reject Jesus from my arguments.

    I also don’t hold back in telling them how intellectually and emotionally stunted they are as a result of their faith. My father cannot reason himself out of a paper bag. But he is also the quintessential example of the Dunning-Kruger effect. He cannot comprehend that he is not only not incredibly smart as he believes, but also a complete idiot. So when I tell the truth, and tell him his arguments are illogical and ridiculous and point out how, he takes it as a personal attack. Because he can’t let himself believe he’s not smart or his whole identity will come crashing down.

    So I am challenging myself to be more gentle, more compassionate, and less blunt. I know the best way to change hearts is with love and compassion, rather than logic and reasoning. It’s very tough, I know. And as you say in this intro, they don’t deserve respect. But I truly believe it’s the best way to change hearts.

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