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Atheist billboard incorrect
Posted on: October 27, 2011 - 10:02pm
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Atheist billboard incorrect
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2011/12/10/atheists-billboard-thomas-jefferson_n_1035168.html Religion Kills !!! Numbers 31:17-18 - Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.
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I can not personally attest whether Jefferson uttered that quote or not.
However, the Christian newspaper that rebutted with "Jefferson was a Christian and had bible quotes in his personal writings,". Is a bullshit non-sequitur.
Whether Jefferson was a Deist, Atheist, Christian or Raelian does not change the fact that the US is NOT meant to be a Christian nation nor a theocracy. What the founding fathers might have personally believed is irrelevant to the issue at hand.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
Considering the "Jefferson Bible" existed, and we know what it was (sayings that were directly attributed to Jesus) , and we know WHY, the quote is in question.
On the other hand, the quote is properly attributed as well as being grossly misused. Jefferson didn't have a problem with JESUS, he had a problem with not-JESUS. In other words, his problem was with Christianity, not with (l'havdil) Christ.
Compare and contrast with Marx and Lenin. Marxism is a great philosophy. Leninism wasn't, nor was Lenin a nice guy. Or Stalin for that matter.
"Obviously I'm convinced of the existence of G-d. I'm equally convinced that Atheists who've led good lives will be in Olam HaBa going "How the heck did I wind up in this place?!?" while Christians who've treated people like dirt will be in some other place asking the exact same question."
I understand why the quote is in question. I agree. The "backyard skeptics" should have gotten their facts straight before posting that on a billboard.
Just the other day, on another forum, someone was attributing the Voltaire quote "If god did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him, ". As being said by Winston Churchhill.
People really need to doublecheck their information rather than run the risk of looking foolish.
I also agree with your points about Jefferson/Christianity and Marx/Lenin.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
Just before I dumped Christianity and returned to the religion of my ancestors (damned Jews hiding in my family tree), the "collection" of religious texts I "followed" was more of less the Hebrew bible (Torah, Prophets, Literature) and the Jefferson Bible.
Jefferson was a pretty smart cookie. A lot of Deists left Christianity as they realized how preposterous Pauline Christianity really is.
"Obviously I'm convinced of the existence of G-d. I'm equally convinced that Atheists who've led good lives will be in Olam HaBa going "How the heck did I wind up in this place?!?" while Christians who've treated people like dirt will be in some other place asking the exact same question."
whose "marxism" are you talking about, since marx left behind nothing resembling a coherent system? for that matter, there was no "leninism" until lenin died. everything he did he considered thoroughly "marxist." ditto with karl kautsky, nikolai bukharin, leon trotsky, etc., etc. what precisely did marx get right that lenin got wrong? was it by chance the bit about the only hope for jews to improve their conditions being abandoning their jewishness altogether and embracing historical materialism? marx wasn't a "nice guy" either. most memorable figures aren't. that also goes for king david. nasty business how he handled the moabites... unlike poor maligned saul, who actually tried to give the kenites a chance to skip town. but who could possibly have a problem with that? oh yeah, hashem...guess he's not a nice guy either.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
Back when I first went to the UVA and Montechello online library in the early 2000s I found every one of the quotes in chronological order. I did my homework and did not blindly trust atheist websites or quotes from books. I never found one quote from one atheist that was not backed up by his actual letters.
Having said that I do worry about who is the gatekeeper at UVA in charge of guarding his letters and running the website. When I go there now everything online is much harder to find and what I could find before I cant now. It makes me think a Christian employee is pulling an after Akanaton, I would put it past them to destroy it.
If I ever found out that any of his letters were destroyed I'd have that person or people put on trial for treason.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
Jefferson is one of my heros too, but even with him, I find it funny when the Star Wars fan laughs at the Star Trec fan and says, "Silly guy, Klingons are not real". And light sabers are?
At least Jefferson was not afraid of being questioned about even his desim. But I'd tell him the same thing I am tell you. BOTH of you, outside your motifs and characters and details, you both start from the absurd premise that there is a non-material invisible super brain.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog