The Post-Christian Blog

 CGI, on their Armor of God program today, attempted to defend the word 'cult' while also deflecting its use from themselves. The host of the show used the basic and benign definition of the word, which is just a group with a shared ideology, to defend against its use as a pejorative. Interestingly, he also felt the need to claim that HWA wasn't a cult leader and the hatred expressed against him (HWA) and by extension Armstrongism only exists because he challenged the religious status quo with the actual teachings of the Bible.  There are a few problems with this sentiment that spring to mind;  1. The benign definition of Cult is not the 'correct' definition to explore in this context. Words change and have meaning regardless of what 50 year old dictionaries say. When people use the word cult today, almost never do they mean the benign version. The street definition of a cult is a group with a shared ideology, enforced mental or social boundaries and the curtailing...

  “Counterfeit Jesus!” Yells the man, With widows’ pensions in his hands. “Don’t heed the words of this maniac!” While pleas for help slide off his back. “I have the truth! He has but lies! Don’t study his claims, avert your eyes!” “He’s after power, he’ll steal your crown” He says to the poor as their roofs fall down. While many scrimp and scrounge and save, He spurns the freewill gifts they gave. “For God will bless, and relief deliver, But He only helps the Cheerful Giver.” “But these men…” He says, “that give and mend, Are causing division and do great sins.” “They go about to do ‘great deeds’, But their teaching is naught but twigs and weeds.” “For if they loved the proper LORD, They’d be in their seats and obedience afford;” “To care for this world is to worship The Dragon, but the righteous are blessed for their pious abandon.” “Be warmed and filled, and go on your way, And don’t show up empty on the next Holy Day.” Seth Forrestier - 8-20-22

  Sermon Notes: Cognitive Biases in Theology   What are Biases? Technically speaking, a bias is the inclination to show prejudice or favor towards something. An extreme case of bias would be when a judge renders a reduced sentence to a criminal because the criminal is the judge’s brother. That’s a bias, the causing or showing of prejudice or favor. Biases have a purpose of course, they’re not without some merit. We do arrange data in our heads necessarily because we don’t have the means of processing everything. However, despite their usefulness, biases are often ignored and left unchecked. When they go unnoticed and unchecked, they cause problems.   Today I want to explore some biases we all have and how they interact with our Theology. We will do this by having an interactive study.   The biases I want to explore today are Cognitive Biases like, Anchor-Bias, Survivorship Bias and False Consensus Bias.   This is going to be interactive, so have ...

There's a prevalent idea among Christians, that the concept of 'spirit' is complex and complicated; depending upon your specific denomination, complicated beyond understanding. Some, like Dr. Jordan Peterson, on the other hand, say that spirit is one of the easiest concepts to understand. His explanation goes something like this.  'Spirit' is extremely simple to explain because we use the concept and the word all the time in many different ways and we understand it's meaning there.  Here are a few of the ways we use 'spirit' in english and what they mean. Firstly, we use the word 'spirits' as the term for distilled liquors. We call them such, because a grain or starch is mashed and fermented, and through various processes of heat, steam and tubes is distilled into liquor. This distillation process takes away many of the specific characteristics of the the original ingredient, and leaves only a highly concentrated essence of it.  As a side note, a...

 I'm going to attempt not to rant, and let my blood pressure cool. In my business I deal with a lot of other trades, One of which I cannot stand. It seems that without fail just 'hiring-on' with this specific trade in this specific position makes you a liar. I don't know what it is but, but it makes me so very angry. Why do liars continue lying?!  You know, it's thought, by some, maybe many, that in certain situations telling the truth will make you less liked. It's a lame excuse, but let's just say that sometimes that's true... but compared to what? Who on earth says 'I'm glad that guy lied to me'? I'm often called to jobs where there is no good solution I can professionally offer, even more often I get called to jobs where the product I sell wouldn't help the homeowner. So I tell them that, very often, I unsell my own products... the interesting part is that 90% of the time those customers will make-up another need just to buy somet...

 

 I wrote a poem today, inspired by a passage of Theodore Dalrymple's book Out into the Beautiful World , and my own experience in the world of Logic and Dogma. The Wrong Reason Back in old when all things were new a plot was hatched by a chosen few. Allured by fame and compelled by power, these men began to build them a tower. They found them a spot and cleared out the land but each stone they set just sank in the sand. For years they tried to build a base, but alas,  the times would make it a waste. Then one day with rumors churning of marching armies, their torches burning. A woman moved about the fire, whose beauty and strength the heat did not tire. She moved as free as wind o'er water and no sound man had ever caught her. They studied her in secret and formed them a prayer, their words they broadcast into the air; "Beautiful and how curious a reason,  how I was made by will to love thee. Where'er I am, thou be ever beside me. On my left while yet also my right ev...

 If you ever check polling groups like Gallup, or Pew Research, you'll see what looks to be a declining belief in the Bible. I won't go through the actual numbers here because they're available on those sites. There is also no shortage of articles from church writers lamenting the data. The last couple of weeks I've been reading a lot of data on these polls and I think the churches are missing something, here are the basic ideas from the polls. 1 There's a drop in people believing the Bible is the literal word of God,  2 There's a major drop in regular church attendance of all denominations, 3 There's an increase in the amount of people that believe the Bible is valuable but a man-made thing, 4 And there is an increase in people considering themselves to not have a specific religion. I've read several different articles on this subject, including one today from CGI's Mike James. Here's what I think they're missing. The total number of people ...

    DINE WITH YOUR ENEMY    Sermon Notes       What’s an enemy? It’s a pretty broad term actually. A very simple working definition is ‘someone who doesn’t have your best interest at heart’. If you think about that for a moment, you’ll conclude that’s 99.9% of the human population.   A more narrow definition could be, ‘Someone who opposes you’. That’s quite a bit narrower, but it’s still a LOT of people. Think about being online in a chat, or a comment section of a video… people that oppose you are many.   Even narrower still, ‘someone who intends to harm you’. That’s still quite a few people as this isn’t restricted to physical harm. How many here have had other spread rumors about them? It’s still a lot of people.   Regardless of how narrow you want to define an ‘enemy’, it’s not a small group of people, and by many standards, anyone who isn’t your friend, is your enemy.   DO YOU HAVE ENEMIES?   ...