AWOKE with a start this morning to the raucous cries of the bloody seagulls which have colonised my roof.
Oh, and to a barmy new definition of the words “logic” and “rationality”.
A Christian view of atheists
I’m not sure which was the more annoying – the ear-splitting cries of the winged scavengers, or the squawks of loopy Baptist minister Tom Estes, whose blog declares:
In the same way that true science debunks the THEORY of evolution, true logic and rationality can come to only one conclusion: GOD EXISTS. It’s time for us to free the terminology that has been hijacked by the anti-God left.
His blog, Hard Truths, ultimately exists:
To spark a renaissance of rational thinking … to begin a new age, where people actually open their eyes and see God, and the love that He has for us.
Estes has precious little love of atheists on the internet, and yesterday he used the Sabbath to demand on his blog that we be “brought down”.
He has come to the conclusion that the internet is being overrun by “God-haters”.
Am I the only person who sees this? I like to get on various article sharing sites like Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon, etc., and it seems like the stories that poorly reflect upon God are generally the highest rated on those networks. My article titled, Hollywood’s Creation was placed on Reddit by an atheist, and the person who posted it basically called me crazy. I got several hundred visitors in a few hours from Reddit, most of them atheists looking to see if I was as insane as advertised.
He rumbles on:
I could literally spend hours typing out the names of all the atheist forums and blogs that exist. And all of this had made begin to wonder; where are the Christians? This is especially puzzling when one considers that Christians make up nearly eighty percent of all Americans according to pewforum.org. Have Christians given up on the internet? If so, we need to open our eyes.
I wonder how many Christians know that 72% of all adults claim to use the internet every single day, and this is just in America. When we consider that hundreds of millions of people all across the world spent hours on the internet every single day, why would Christians not feel it is necessary to make the effort to reach these people? Why should we let atheism run wild and unchecked?
Christians need to begin to take a stand against the radical, atheistic elements that currently rule the internet. I know what many of you are probably thinking, ‘I don’t have the time to get on the internet and wrestle with these people’.
Well, I suggest you begin to make time, because while we are looking the other way, we are letting many opportunities to reach the lost slip through our fingers.
Well, guess what? Estes’ latest rant is riding high today in Reddit’s atheist section, which guarantees even greater exposure of his lunacy.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
July 20th, 2009 at 10:14 am
"Christians make up nearly eighty percent of all Americans". Now we know that he really IS insane!!
July 20th, 2009 at 10:22 am
"In the same way that true science debunks the THEORY of evolution,…"
All you need to know right there in that statement…move along now, please…nothing to see here…
I'd love to get my hands on one of those TrueScience™ textbooks, though. Probably endorsed by these utter wankers:
http://www.truthinscience.org.uk/
July 20th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Estes' line, "Why should we let atheism run wild and unchecked?" made my day. I had been doubting the impact of the online atheist revolution, but now I can see it's deeply worrying the god fanatics. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth taking them on, but clearly it is. Many people are sitting on the fence in regard to religion. Obviously more are getting off on the atheist side.
Thanks for this post.
July 20th, 2009 at 11:34 am
If he'd said American Christians make up nearly 80% of the twaddle they pass off as 'belief' (i.e it's taken around 2,000 years for all the other Christians to make up the rest) he'd have been nearer the mark.
July 20th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Another tosspot [so many are xtains] that doesn't live in the real world or understand what theory actually means. However, it is encouraging to see that we have got the knife into the fundies – time now to give it a good twist.
July 20th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Gravity is also only a "theory", Angela. Shame these tossers don't put it too the test by jumping off high cliffs …
July 20th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Hahaha!!! This is the Pareto Principle (80-20 Rule) then! It`s probably more like 20% of Americans that are really Christians now, so 80% of the nonsense spouted comes from 20% of the people, and 80% of the rubbish on the net occurs on 20% of the sites, and so on!! I never thought of that!
July 20th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Yes – I`m over the moon about this, too! This poor deluded idiot can`t figure out where all the atheist views are coming from, when (in his mind) such a huge majority of Americans are born-again, card-carrying, practising Christians!! Someone PLEASE take him to one side and explain the reason in words of no more than two syllables before I die of laughter!
July 20th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Looking at the cartoon above has reminded me of a neighbour who is a jehovah and the cheeky twot has a sticker on his door which reads "No Callers" don't you just love em!
July 20th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Where are the christians? Well, two of them knocked on my door this morning. I must be in a good mood because rather than telling them to 'Fuck off' I simply said, " I recognize that book your carrying, I'm a staunch atheist and secularist so you'll have no luck here" I did however invite them to have a brief theological discussion, which they declined! Spineless bastards!
Maybe even the door knockers are beginning to realize they don't have any answers.
July 20th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
And for one that's not blank
- there's this one to download from Atheist Eye
Atheist Tract [pdf]
Why Do You Believe in God?
Good to have around for the next
Jesus Freak who knocks at your door.
Listed among the various goodies in column 1.
http://www.atheisteye.com/
_____
July 20th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
From Ireland to America is the sound of believers runing scared. But why,? All we do is present them with solid evidence.
July 20th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
To quote again from the most competent evaluation of opinion polls so far published, "Living Without God" by Ronald Aronson:__nontheists constitute 36 percent of the population. Of the nominal Christians who amount to 60 percent (4 percent non-Christian theists), 32 percent of the total population oppose state enforcement of religion. A further 16 percent oppose teaching creationism in science classes. Hardcore fruitcakes like Tom Estes, so ignorant that they can't even grasp what "theory" means in science, constitute the remaining 16 percent. __If Estes is trying to prove to the world that the incurably godphuqt belong in cages with padded walls where they cannot pass on their mind-AIDS to the uninfected, he is going about it the right way.
July 20th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I had a similar experience. I was walking with my two year old daughter to the shops when this kindly, yet oddly wild-eyed, old lady tried to hand me a magazine. I was about to decline when she said it was about skin exposure and the dangers of skin cancer, especially for young children. I accepted it, thinking she was just handing out government leaflets.
Then I flipped the rest of the magazine over to reveal it was 'AWAKE', the propagandistic bullshit of the Mormons.
I blurted out 'Cheeky fucker!' partly out of shock, but also out of the sheer audacity of her trying to play on my fears as a parent! I think she heard me so I made quick my escape!
But they can't just hand out bullshit anymore, they have to try and back it up and when they do it falls flat on it's arse!
July 20th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Awake! Rozi is actually a Jehovah's Witless publication. I know because lately we have had an infestation of the critters around where I live. Since I started handing them a Freethinker they've stopped ringing my doorbell. Yay!
July 20th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Does it make you all feel good to bash me? I hope so! Do you all want to know the great thing about God? He loves you, even though you hate Him. Praise the Lord!
July 20th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Mormons are different from Jehovah's Witnesses? Pardon my ignorance! I thought they were, as my other half likes to say 'Same shit, different stick' (no, I don't get it either). Whoever they are, they hand out this nonsense at the Elderly Residential Hotel where I work.
Love how they try and pick on the elderly!
July 20th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Where I do agree with this religious clown is that he has a problem: the problem being that atheists tend to be well read, well qualified and able to write fluently. Christians have little to offer except to repeat the same tired garbage where they say, "you must believe and we will tell you what to believe."
On the Sunday programme we had some shameless bishop being given loads of time to whine about the "slippery slope" of what will happen if we allow any kind of euthanasia. No mention, of course, of the continuing killing and near starvation that is going on in Polunsky Unit, Livingsone, Texas. There are 3,500 people waiting to be killed in the USA. No mention and no interest. I have tried. Plenty of interest from this these nutters about atheists, euthanasia, wickedness of gays etc. I caught a bit on the same programme about some card game from the Humanists which looked fun. Missed what it was. Anyone know what it was? Sounded like a great birthday and Xmas present. Might send a copy to Rowan and Ratty.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
T Estes?
Bollocks!
July 20th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Broga. God Trumps see here:_ http://newhumanist.org.uk/
July 20th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
That's not what the bible says. The Bible calls him vengeful and jealous. Or are you proselytising about a different god to the one in the bible? Mithras?
July 20th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
God Trumps on the radio
New Humanist
http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk.....d-trumps...
_____
July 20th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Has it never never occured to you that there is just a tiny, tiny possibility that "god" might exist only between your ears?
July 20th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Damn, why didn't I clock that! Grrrr …
July 20th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Just looked at your website Mr Testes, your blog is like your name: bollocks. You are one sick human.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Rozi, there's an easy way to differentiate between the Morons and the Witlesses. The former wear magic underwear. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_garment
The latter won't accept blood transfusions. It gets confusing when you remember that Michael Jackson was a JW who allegedly thought that getting into boys' knickers was magic.
July 20th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
quedula. Many thanks.
Regards,
Broga
July 20th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
…like lemmings?
Yet another myth involving a Mickey Mouse creator!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.....ness_(fi...
July 20th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
I`m amazed, Rozi! Who`s in charge at this place where you work? They shouldn`t be getting away with this – and I`m serious (for once!!).
July 20th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
This is great, I'm sick, but you can use my name in a disgusting way and that's no problem at all. You atheists crack me up! But what's really great is when someone resorts to name calling it's invariably because they are LOSING the debate. So deal with that. God is good, bless His holy Name!
July 20th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Estes,
Lets get a couple of things straight. Firstly Athiests do not hate any religion, most actually feel sorry for anyone who needs to devolve any personal responsibility In life to an invisible friend. Think for yourself. The bible is a book, a very poorly written one at that. Get a copy of playboy, have a beer, enjoy life.
Secondly, all athiests I have personally met have never called for another's blood. Can you say that of your religion? Why all the hatred? Personally I think you all realise the nonsense that you spout is wrong but do not have the self belief to say so.
July 20th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Very funny, Barry! We`ve actually covered this topic before, if you remember (29th April: Mormon Beefcake Calendar), and I posted a link to the unintentionally hilarious site http://www.mormon-underwear.com/ , which explains it all so beautifully! ("What is so secret about Mormon underwear?" etc.) Really, I don`t know why people bemoan the lack of decent comedy programmes ont` Telly these days when there is all this sidesplitting stuff just a click of the mouse away!!
July 20th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Ah! But you`re not "interpreting" the Bible properly, Harry! It doesn`t say what it says, it says something else really. See?
July 20th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
'Why would Christians not feel it is necessary to make the effort to reach these people?'
As ever, you have to love that arrogant and patronising 'if you're not Christian then you need our help, whether you like it or not' attitude, which is partly how all these athiest blogs flourished in the first place.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Since the most unteachable trespasser on a site designed for people with functioning human brains since "Bob" is apparently reading the postings, let me repeat an above comment:
If Estes is trying to prove to the world that the incurably godpqhuqt belong in cages with padded walls where they cannot pass on their mind-AIDS to the uninfected, he is going about it the right way.
The one thing the Soviet Union ever got right was its recognition that brain amputees like Estes are as insane and morally retarded as their imaginary Sky Fuhrer.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Oh, I understand perfectly. There are lots of gods and one of them must be like Tom says his is, I'm just pointing out that the Bible is about a different god entirely.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Anyone who does not recognize the character mistranslated as "God" in English bibles as the most sadistic, evil, insane serial killer in all fiction, either has never read a bible, or is a few neurons short of a full cerebrum.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I find them on the table in the lounge, they must get dropped through our door, I think one of the residents is bringing in them in because the door is code locked, so unless the JWs have a cat burgular/ninja division…
It is appalling! I 'm half tempted to bring in a copy of the Freethinker, but a lot of the residents are Christian and would probably complain!
There's also a fair share of Christian cretins who write into the local paper denouncing LGBT and calling my town 'the new Gommorah'. It's fun being an atheist on the Essex coast I tells ye.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
William, you've just reminded me – Bob's been trying to get in on the act. He wants us all to know that atheists are hell-bound unless we repent, blah, blah, blah. Bloody little cretin never gives up!
July 20th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Actually, the subject of the "names of God" was being discussed by the BEattitude just recently. There are DOZENS of them!! Of course, I know from my own experiences that the Christian take on this is that they are all needed to, however inadequately, express the many facets of the personality and attributes of Yaweh. In actual fact, in the cold light of day, it becomes quite clear that these were all completely different tribal gods that were assimilated into the Jewish faith as it developed over the centuries. No wonder there are so many "contradictions" in the Bible!
July 20th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Be happy your imaginary mate loves you.
Everyone else thinks you're a muppet.
July 20th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
I've really had it with religious lunatics who think they have to run everything everywhere.
July 20th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Considering that vile site you run you have the nerve to come here and claim you're being "bashed". Get back to your blog and resume attacking atheists and gays, you bigot.
July 20th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Y'know Buffy, I'm almost starting to feel sorry for Tom Estes – in the same way I pity a person who's been hit on the head with a brick. Only in his case it was a bible wot done the brain damage. Shame really …
July 20th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
If you have such funny/strange beliefs..then yeah.
And how does one hate something which one does not believe in?
But lets assume for a while that he indeed does exist…surely you must admit that he at best is incompetent? All the power in the world, very simple thing to improve living conditions for billions.. but apparently chooses not to.
If a politician had the same power as god and did nothing to improve things a bit here and there people would be rightly outraged. The same should hold true for any deity.
July 20th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
I lost my ability to feel sorry for these types long ago–the adults anyway. They may have had it pushed on them as children but nobody's forcing them to believe that swill now. Considering they're the biggest proponents of "personal responsibility" they should exercise it themselves and stop pretending they're victims when held to account for the BS beliefs they choose to hold and the harm they inflict on others.
July 20th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Hi there, i'm a former atheists, and i recently go saved, and turned my life over to God, since then i have been very very blessed and it has changed my life. Just wanted you all to know that i'm praying for you and i love you all and so does God. God bless you everyone, God is Good, God is great even if it's him you hate……..
OH YEA I LOVE GOD, http://bit.ly/mOTYT
July 20th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
So it's true what they say: "There's a fool born-again every minute!"
July 20th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
shaun. Butt out now. I am god's reprentative on earth and I do not want you writing this kind of stuff. I am giving you 24 hours from now to promise to obey. You don't believe this, do you? OK, here is a test. You are now feeling sick, now dizzy, now the fires of hell are in front of you, now you feel at peace.
Tomorrow, do as I say or you will be descending into the pit of sulphure and fire.
July 20th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Yeah – like that guy whom I quoted the other day, who wrote in to the Daily Mail and announced with great authority that throughout the entire animal creation the only creature that practised homosexual acts was mankind! There`s a deluded idiot on Estes`s blog spouting the same bullshit: he knows fuck-all about biology, yet he`s pontificating like an academic. A guy called Adam has been wiping the floor with him, yet Estes thinks it`s the nutter who has won the "argument"!! Look it up for a laugh!!!
July 20th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Why don`t you just pray about it? If it`s the will of God, then, hey presto – no more atheists!
July 21st, 2009 at 8:57 am
I can see that you all need the help of a True Christian™ here.
1. "Jesus was all about peace."
This is a common false teaching with no Biblical base.
Jesus Himself tells us, in a way that cannot be misunderstood, that we are not to believe it:
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth:
I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Matthew 10:34
And how could anyone forget Exodus 15:3?
The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
2. "Jesus loves everyone."
WRONG! The Holy Bible tells us that God hate sinners.
And hate is the opposite of love, wouldn't you agree?
The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
Psalm 5:5-6
The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence His soul hateth.
Psalm 11:5
There is more but I shall save it for a rainy day.
God Bless
July 21st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I don't know you. I don't feel good about anyone getting bashed, I'm not a sadist. We atheists DON'T HATE something that doesn't exist. How do you know that "He"- your sky daddy- loves us? By the time I was 13 I had worked out, that if I was the all powerful God that I was told about, I wouldn't even let dogs suffer when they died. I didn't know then about all the monstrous things that take place every day. Grow up Mr Estes. Be gratefull for this life, make the best of it. It could be snuffed out tomorrow.
July 21st, 2009 at 5:13 pm
He's Shaun the Sheep,
He's Shaun the Sheep,
He likes to muck about and do the bible bleat!
July 21st, 2009 at 5:17 pm
I have to agree that it is a bit of a cheap shot to make fun of the guy's name, especially when there are so many other things about him that could be made fun of, but honestly Tom Estes? what the hell were his parents thinking? Surely with a name like Estes the problem must have been thought about before.
July 21st, 2009 at 5:17 pm
True Christian?
That's almost as oxymoronic as Christan morality!
By the way – is that the King James Bible you're misquoting at random?
I'm told the Catholic one is much softer on the backside when you put it to the only good use anyone's found for it.
July 21st, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Mr. Estes, don't flatter yourself that you come high enough up on the intellectual scale to make any of us feel the need to engage in a debate. To be a believer of your calibre requires ignorance on a literally cosmic scale. Tell me the significance of the number 153 mentioned in John 21:11 and how it relates to the Christian fish symbol and I might begin to take you seriously.
July 21st, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Just curious shaun, did you lose the ability to spell and punctuate properly at the moment of your conversion? I don't usually comment on such things as I don't feel that it is too important as long as people get their meaning across but it does seem to be a bit of a Christian trait.
July 21st, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Well, Bless your heart Stuart H.
Yes, indeed it was the good old King James Bible. It's the one laid down by God himself and was the one that he commanded should never be changed. I can assure you, I did not misquote.
Unfortunately the Catholic Church along with all the other false versions of Christianity decided to re-write it and thereby tried to change the word of God.
False Christians like Shaun and Tome Estes follow false doctrine and really believe their Fluffy Bunny approach to Christianity.
Of course, there is only one place they will be on Judgment day.
I've heard that being Butt-raped by Satan is not a pleasent way to spend eternity.
YIC
Talitha
http://www.landoverbaptist.net
July 21st, 2009 at 8:02 pm
When a snake oil peddler keeps posting proof of his mental dysfunction to a site inhabited by people he knows disagree with him, isn't that a confession that people who do agree with his hypothesis that God is more real than Ernst Blofeld but less evil see him as an embarrassment to their cause and will have nothing to do with him?
July 21st, 2009 at 8:12 pm
As I have always said, Sister Talitha: "If the King James Version was good enough for the Apostle Paul, then it`s good enough for me"!
July 21st, 2009 at 8:18 pm
I am aware that Talitha is a satirist from the Landover parody site. Nonetheless, when people who should know better quote from a bible translation that falsifies the proper name YAHWEH into "the LORD", or the dual-sex, generic plural ELOHIM into the masculine, singular, proper name, GOD, I feel an intense urge to inform them that there IS a correct translation available. It is THE FULLY TRANSLATED BIBLE (2 volumes, Booksurge, 2006, 2007). We don't have to help the godphuqt by tacitly endorsing their deliberate falsification of what the original-language bibles really said.
July 22nd, 2009 at 4:45 am
Say for the sake of argument that the 80% figure is true. That's actually good: the vast majority of Christians don't feel the need to impose their views on others or otherwise convert people. The literalist Bible thumpers are in the extreme minority even amongst their fellow Christians. Estes real fight isn't with the atheists, it's with his more tolerant, less dogmatic fellow Christians.
July 22nd, 2009 at 8:17 am
Since when did rational thinking and facts have anything to do with religion?
Did Scientific and Biological facts about Evolution ever stop Christians believing that the world is only 6000 years old? Maybe Talitha makes them look at themselves in a way they can understand and realise their stupidity.
July 22nd, 2009 at 10:38 am
Of course if there is a God it isn't just one being.
Look at the world. Look at anything within the world that has been made by a single designer, then look at anything that has been organised by a committee. Yup, the world has "Run by committee" written all over it.