I am not quite sure where to post this, so I am putting it here since I am a Theist - a Christian to be exact.

I recently saw some news videos on the Blasphemy Challenge.  One of the things that struck me as ironic was that no one really seemed to know what blaspheming the Holy Spirit really is or how to do it.  If the goal is to "damn yourself to hell", you aren't doing a very good job of it.  :)  What I find even more ironic is that it is impossible for an Athiest to actually blaspheme the Holy Spirit.  Let me explain:

The Bible text cited is Mark 3:29.  Here, Jesus says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.  However, the context of the verse must be taken into consideration.  Verse 30 says that He said this because they (the Pharisees - a religious group that believed in God) said that He has an unclean spirit.  So, what this means is that blashpheming the Holy Spirit is a very specific thing.  It is when someone (in this case, the Pharisees) witnesses a work of the Holy Spirit and attributes that work to the devil.

I saw a proof of the non-existence of God somewhere on the Internet.  I can't find it now and I'm way too dumb to figure out how to google it.  It went something like this.

• God is that greater than which nothing can be conceived.
• A god who created the entire universe is pretty impressive, but
• He's not as impressive as a God who could create the entire universe with one hand tied behind his back.
• The greater the handicap, the greater the god.  Eg.  A god who created the universe while blindfolded, hogtied, with the Soundtrack from the Beverly Hillbillies playing at infinite volume in the background, and with a pit bull chewing on his genitals.
• In fact, the greatest of all possble Gods is the one which could create the universe under the ultimate handicap.  The ultimate handicap would be non-existence.

Q.E.D.  That than which nothing greater can be conceived is a non-existent god.

I'm opening this thread because some deist, Iconoclastithon, decided to open a thread at FreeThinkingTeens, (instead of doing that here), and wanted to post a criticism/challenge to the essay on this site "Am I Agnostic or Atheist". Which was written by Todangst, I believe.

You can read it here.

Mark 3:25: "And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand." (KJV)

There are many different sects of Christianity, many of which disagree virtually all tenents of the Christian faith. With so many Christians against eachother, how can it last?

(Cue the "No True Scottsman" arguments) 

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I believe, with no way of proving it, that there's a universe outside myself, which was here long before I arrived and will probably go on for a very long time after I stop being aware of any of it. It is a faith in something that cannot be disproved. I'm dead certain my faith is stronger than that of any theist.

Having taken that leap, I find no further use for faith. If I believe there's really a world, that I'm not dreaming it all, then I want to be very careful what I believe about that world.

I hear, over and over, with or without invoking gods & devils, that we choose how we see the world, and it's what we have in our hearts that's the important thing. I can go along with that only so far. I believe we can chose optimism vs pessimism, that we can decide to make the most of today or to stay in bed and feel defeated.

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Hello. I am newmodeltheist. I want to say a few words about your 'blasphemy challenge'

Your campaign is wicked and irresponsible. Young people find it relatively easy to rebel against the limits imposed on them by their parents or church, if they are of the mind to do so. Especially if they have mutual support from their own peers. What young people do not find so easy is to rebel against the limits imposed on them by jaded, predatory manufacturers of youth sub-cultures such as your own.

Go about your own beliefs and leave young people to find their own path in their own time as you had the privilage of doing (I get the impression that most of you had religion rammed down your throat). To target youngsters (proberbly much younger than yourselves) with mind-control of your own ("if you dont agree with us you're a stupid sheep" as opposed to "If you don't do as you're told you'll be punished&quot is in some ways more abusive than than that dished out by authority figures. Why? Because by portraying yourselves as the plucky, free-thinking, anti-authoritarian hero, you're stealing from your victims the one mythology they need for themselves for their own personal empowerment.

A couple of sources for you guys out there who are interested in examining both sides of the coin. Some respectable Christian Apologists: Ravi Zacharias (http://www.rzim.org/resources/jt_index.php); C.S. Lewis has a few good books, Mere Christianity is the one that I would recommend; and http://answersingenesis.org/home/area/qa.asp. Hope this is helpful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoDNNE7Pac8

PS: New Obama vids are online on youtube. Or watch it here: