Negative Impact Christianity Causes

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1:1 Belief Vs Claims 2:1 Why the Bible Is False 3:1 The Bible You Don't Know 4:1 We Are All Godless 5:1 Lets Be Honest 6:1 Faith vs Science

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1:1 Belief vs Claims 1:2 Negative Impact Christianity Causes 1:3 Hasn't Christianity Fueled Good?

2:1 Why the Bible Is False 2:2 Failed Prophecies 2:3 False Historical Claims 2:4 Wrong About Nature 2:5 Contradictions

3:1 The Bible's Secrets 3:2 Ignored Words 3:3 Immoral God/Bible 3:4 History & Changes 3:5 Bible Stories Re-examined

4:1 We Are All Godless 4:2 God Doesn't Exist 4:3 Jesus Never Existed 4:4 Atheism, Humanism, & Morality

5:1 Lets Be Honest 5:2 Faith & Questions To Ask 5:3 What To Avoid (Apologetic Tactics)

6:1 Faith vs Science 6:2 Intelligent Design vs Evolution 6:3 Soul vs Cognitive Science 6:4 Old vs Young Earth

1:2

Negative Impact
Christianity Causes

Below are examples of the overlooked negative impact that Christianity's claims have on society today. These examples are not the result of bad people trying to do bad things. They are the result of good people doing what is morally right based on claims presented in the Bible.

Making it socially acceptable
to base decisions on falsehoods
instead of truths
obviously has its consequences.

Lying to the Masses

If you or someone you care about was investing a large amount of their time and emotions devoted to false claims and promises of a non-existing reward, wouldn't you want to know? At very least you should be concerned about Christianity because everyone deserves to know what is true.

Attack On Equality

All major campaigns, in the US, against gay rights base their motives on the biblical claims that homosexuality is unnatural and a sin. They don't attack homosexuality out of hate but rather to discourage an act that they are convinced, by the Bible, will cause a person to suffer eternity in Hell.

Murder By Faith Healing

On multiple accounts the Bible claims that all injuries & diseases will be cured through prayer. Patients who choose faith healing strongly believe that they have, or are being, cured and no longer seek additional medical attention resulting in further damage and sometimes death.

Homosexuality Is Not A Choice

No one chooses their sexual preference or who one is physically attracted to. Everyone's sexual orientation is determined biologically through genetics and epigenetics.

In the first few weeks of development all fetuses are female, hence why we are all born with breast tissue and nipples. It is not until about week 6 that fetuses with the male Y chromosome form testis which produce the hormone testosterone. About the 8th week is when the testosterone is released which masculinizes the body including a part of the brain known as the Hypothalamus which partially controls who we are sexually attracted to. The more the Hypothalamus is exposed to testosterone the more one is attracted to women. Occasionally a male fetus only produces sufficient testosterone to masculinize the body but not the brain or its brain does not absorb enough to make it fully heterosexual.

The development process of a fetus is never 100% precise so homosexuality and bisexuality can result simply due to imprecise development. Our genes can also determine one's sexual orientation. When one identical twin is gay the other is gay up to 70% of the time showing that genetics can play a role in homosexuality. Epigenetics can determine one's sexual orientation too. Epigenetics causes changes in the underlying DNA sequence without making a change to the DNA its self. That is how twins with identical DNA can still be born with differences such as sexual orientation.

Not Unique To Us

Homosexual behavior can be found throughout nature and is not unique to just us homosapiens. Over 400 species of animals from around the world including dolphins, lions, zebras, buffalos, ducks, foxes, elephants, and horses are now known to engage in homosexuality.

Understanding the Attack

By discouraging homosexuality fundamentalists are convinced they're helping homosexuals in the long run and preventing others from also being at risk of sin. The Bible clearly, and falsely, claims that homosexuality is unnatural, an abomination, and a sin (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). What is seen as an attack on equality is seen by fundamentalists as taking a stand against the social acceptance of a sin.

Reason For Concern

In addition to non-equality, the Bible's demonization of homosexuals has led to hundreds of millions of homosexuals worldwide being rejected by their families, driven gay & bisexual teens to depression and suicide, and led to violent hate crimes.

Dangers of Faith Healing

Faith healing is harmful, and sometimes fatal, because it is a false medical practice. If a person believes strongly enough they will become temporarily convinced they're healed and a rush of adrenaline will even mask the once existing pain. When a person is convinced they are cured they'll no longer see a need for seeking further medical attention. The problem is that even though one is no longer aware of their symptoms those symptoms still exist and continue to worsen bringing further harm and leaving the patient in an even worse condition.

Children are commonly the worse victims of faith healing. When a parent chooses faith healing over proper medical treatment for curable diseases things can take a fatal turn for the worse. As their child slowly dies the parents do not seek a doctor because they are convinced that their child IS being healed as the Bible promises. It is not until after it's too late that the parents realize a god was not healing their loved ones. Below are a few children who have died from treatable sicknesses because their parents put faith in the Bible's claims.

Ian Lundman - age 11 - Minneapolis
Ian died of diabetes in 1989 because his mother and stepfather had religious beliefs against medical care. They retained a Christian Science practitioner for spiritual treatment of Ian's illness. The practitioner billed them $446 for his prayers.

Matthew Swan - age 16 months - Detroit, Michigan
Matthew died of spinal meningitis in 1977 because his parents, Doug and Rita Swan, retained Christian Science practitioners for spiritual treatments instead aquiring antibiotic treatment that would have saved his life. The practitioners repeatedly said they were healing Matthew but no healing occured.

Amy Hermanson - age 7 - Sarasota, Florida
Amy died in 1986 of diabetes because her Christian mother refused to take her to a doctor for religious reasons. Amy was talented little girl, she took piano, violin, harp, and art lessons and excelled in academic subjects also.

Robyn Twitchell - age 2 - Massachusetts
Robyn died In 1986 of peritonitis and a twisted bowel after a five-day illness becaus his parents Ginger and David insisted on Christian Science treatment instead of medical treatment. Neighbors closed their bedroom window so they would not hear the boy's screams.

Andrew Wantland - age 12 - LaHabra, California
Andrew died of untreated diabetes in 1992. His mother who lived in Philadelphia had joint custody wanted medical care provided for her children. Andrew's father did not inform the mother her son was ill and seeked a Christian Science practitioner as a faith healer instead seeking proper medical care.

Harrison Johnson - age 2 - Tampa, Florida
In 1998 Harrison Johnson was stung 432 times by wasps. Not until after 7 hours of praying with fellow church members did his parents call for medical up, despite alarming symptoms and being unresponsive for 30 to 45 minutes. Six minutes after the 911 call, the EMT's arrived to find the toddler without a pulse and not breathing.

Mark 16:17-18 "And these signs shall follow them that believe; ...they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

Apologists say to "just ignore" Mark 16:9-20 since it was not in the oldest copies of scriptures. This is true, like Jesus' ascension to Heaven, the contents of Mark 16:9-20 were added to scriptures centuries after they were written. They are still however in the book which people claim is the infallible inspired word of God. Even if you discard Mark we are still told that whatever a Christian asks through prayer will indeed happen (John 15:7 & Mathew 21:22). In John 14:12 we are told that anyone who has faith in Jesus will be able to perform all the miracles that he did, including his acts of healing, and even greater ones.

Exposing Faith Healers

In documentary titled "Miracles for Sale" Darren Brown shows how easy it is to make any actor a faith healer. With only six months of training Darren turned a regular person into a convincing faith healer. The volunteer was able to convince 100% of the approached patients in the streets of Texas that they were actually healed and free of their pains.

False Claims Of Success

Despite false claims of success faith healing has never been proven to work. There have been situations where after praying a patient gets well even though the doctor said it would be impossible. But the same has happened when people didn't pray. Tragically the complete opposite happens and with or without prayer the patient takes a fatal turn for the worse. Such situations are only proof that even doctors can be mistaken and wrong. Others have heard stories of stories about blind people being able to see after the aid of faith healing but there is never basic evidence to back such stories. Simple documentation like before and after photos of the physical changes in the structure of the patients eye would serve as solid proof.

Related Links

Fatally Blurring Reality

Blurring the line between reality and mythology has led to fatal outcomes. When people credit the voices in their heads, unfiltered thoughts, to a higher power such as "God" rational judgements are removed from the picture.

Anti Freedom Of Choice

All decisions pertaining to life should only be based on a factual understanding of life. Almost all "pro-life" groups base their decisions on Bible based counterfactual claims. The freedom and health of women are under attack because of decisions based on biblical misconceptions.

Anti Medical Research

Embryonic stem cells have the proven potential to cure every disease or injury a person could suffer from yet many people are against it. Those opposed to the greatest cure in the history of mankind all based their decision on claims made in the Bible.

This delusion becomes especially dangerous when people are told not to question the voices in their head, even when it says to kill your own child like in the story of Abraham and Isaac or Jephthah and his daughter. Biblical claims that people can be possessed by evil spirits and that upon death one will reside in paradise have also led to the murder of innocents. Below are four examples of deaths caused by blurring the line between reality and Bible based myths.

Deranged mother shoots son at shooting range

April 09, 2009

CHILLING security footage shows the moment a deranged mum held a gun to her son's head at a shooting range before pulling the trigger. The woman killed him before turning the gun on herself. Marie Moore, who thought she was the Anti-Christ, took her 20-year-old son Mitchell to the Shoot Straight range in Casselberry, Florida, for what he thought was an afternoon's firing practice, the Daily Mail reports. But as he concentrated on the target in front of him, his 44-year-old mother picked up a gun, pointed it at the back of his head and murdered him at point-blank range. Mitchell slumped to the floor dead as his mother stepped back, placed the gun in her mouth and again pulled the trigger. She died a short time later in hospital.

'I'm so sorry. I had to send my son to heaven and myself to Hell,' she wrote in a suicide note.

Read the full report here

Father says God told him to kill his daughter

January 25, 2008

Former pastor Blair Donnelly, 48, stabbed his daughter, Stephanie, 16, to death in the family home. A hush has fallen over Kitimat after a local dad was deemed not criminally responsible for stabbing his teenage daughter to death in the family home. "No one's talking about it - it's just too shocking, too horrific. A child is the most precious thing you have," said Kitimat Coun. Joanne Monaghan Thursday night. Monaghan was reacting to a ruling by Supreme Court Judge Harvey Groberman on Wednesday that Blair Donnelly, 48, was in a psychotic state when he stabbed his daughter Stephanie, 16, to death.

Read the full report here

Father Decapitated 5-Year-Old Son to Save Him From Anti-Christ

February 11th, 2009

In a jailhouse interview, 33-year-old Joseph Hagerman told 13NEWS he knew what he was doing when he decapitated his five-year old son, Joshua. Hagerman was arraigned just before noon Wednesday morning. When asked by the judge, he said he understood he was being charged with murdering his son and wounding his wife. He asked for a lawyer to be appointed to his case. The judge set a bond hearing for Thursday at 9:00 a.m. In the Tuesday night interview, Hagerman made numerous biblical references about the end times and admitted to cutting off his son's head to save him from the anti-Christ. Joseph Hagerman told 13NEWS that he and his family are very religious. He said his son had recently been communicating to him that the anti-Christ was going to kill him, though he did not say it directly.

Read the full report here

Mother who stoned sons to death acquitted

April 3, 2004

TYLER, Texas - A woman who claimed God ordered her to bash in the heads of her sons was acquitted of all charges by reason of insanity Saturday after a jury determined she did not know right from wrong during the killings. A jury found that Deanna Laney was legally insane May 9 when she killed her two older sons, ages 6 and 8, in the front yard and left the youngest, now 2, maimed in his crib. Laney, 39, would have received an automatic life sentence had she been convicted of capital murder...

...Psychiatrists testified that Laney believed she was divinely chosen by God - just as Mary was chosen to bear Christ - to kill her children as a test of faith and then serve as a witness after the world ended. In a videotape played at her trial, Laney said she saw her youngest son play with a spear, hold a rock and squeeze a frog, and took them all as signs from God that she should kill her children.

Read the full report here

Are "human lives" being aborted?

Life does not start at conception, it stars long before conception. Every sperm and every cell is a living organism. "Human life" however does not start until long after conception but what exactly counts as human life? Is the biological organism being halted during an abortion considered human?

90% of all abortions occur during the first trimester, the first 13 weeks of development, yet significant brain development does not occur until week 20. The embryos being aborted are not even conscious beings and don't have the ability to react to its surrounding environment. One might argue, "but it has the potential become a human" but that is true for the embryos of all living organisms. Since all organisms start off as a near identical cluster of cells they all have the potential to develop into any animal. What decides the final outcome is the blueprints, the DNA inside the cells which determine how the cells form. Despite anti-choice propaganda the embryo of humans does not have all of its genes at conception. The DNA blueprint is generated progressively, by interactions with the environment and by complex internal negotiations within an increasing complex embryo.

In the early stages of development the embryo of a human is not even on a direct path towards a fully developed human baby. Since our DNA still contains all of instructions from our evolutionary ancestors the embryo goes through many of the early development stages of other animals before heading in the direction of human development. Before the embryo develops anything that resembles a human face it first develops a tail only to later be removed when a newer gene kicks in to guided the development in a direction that has a closer resemblance to humans.

To recap, the embryos that are aborted are not even conscious beings and cannot be considered any more human than the embryos of any other organism. Even with most of the blueprints written out and some of the parts in place an embryo is no more a human life than a door is a mansion or a pigment is a painting.

Related link
scienceblogs.com/pharyngula

What's a risk

Aside from unwanted births there are a variety of health conditions in which abortion may become critical to protect a woman's life. There is, for example, a form of pregnancy-related high blood pressure that can be life threatening. The medical term for it is preeclampsia. It occurs in seven percent of pregnant women. If it is untreated or doesn't respond to treatment, it can lead to convulsions, failure of various organ systems, coma, or death. Abortion may be the only way to save the woman's life. Certain other conditions, such as severe diabetes, heart disease, or trauma from car accidents, may also require abortion to save a woman's life. Termination of pregnancy is also essential to save the life of a woman with an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy.

Some anti-choice propaganda actually claims having an abortion increases a woman's risk of cancer. Not only is this a completely false scare-tactic it is actually the opposite which is true. Pregnancy is what increases a woman's risk of having cancer and there is absolutely no connection linking abortions to cancers. Newer studies have shown that abortions are sometimes necessary to avoid being at risk of cancer.

Related links
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/BreastCancer/MoreInformation/is-abortion-linked-to-breast-cancer
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/abortion-miscarriage
http://www.examiner.com/religion-politics-in-national/abortions-are-actually-safer-than-delivering-a-baby

Why fundamentalists are anti-choice

Fundamentalists are convinced that a "soul" is inserted somewhere during conception and that that soul must reside in a human body long enough for the human body to develop a brain that is capable of learning about and accepting Jesus. Else that soul will not make it to Heaven. It is the Bible's false claims of the existence of souls, Heaven, and Hell that are the real root of controversy. This neglect of focusing on the real issues has stemmed a long list of critical and sometimes fatal problems.

God the abortionist

If God created our bodies then he is the biggest abortionist of all times. A spontaneous abortion or miscarriage is where the life of an embryo or fetus of a human baby is terminated. 15% of all pregnancies end in a spontaneous abortion and many of these women do not even know they are pregnant. Sometimes the pregnancy will only last a few weeks and the women may think the spontaneous abortions is just her menses. 25% percent of all women will have a natural spontaneous abortion in their life.

Why people are against it

Almost every person against embryonic stem cell research base their decisions on the Bible. Embryonic stem cells require the termination of a 3 day old embryo and many Christians see this as destroying the host of a human soul. The fundamentalists are convinced that a "soul" is inserted somewhere during conception and that that soul must reside in a human body long enough for the human body to develop a brain that his capable of learning about and accepting Jesus. Others attack the research to limit public knowledge about life's development to prevent awareness of the Bible's stories of a soul being pure mythology.

Problems With The Soul Story

A three day old embryo can split causing identical twins, does this mean that a "soul" split into two? At this stage embryos can even fuse together, does this mean that two souls merged into one? The ancient story of a soul simply does not have any place in the realm of biology. The concept was used to answer once unanswerable questions but now that we have a proper understanding of life we no longer have a use for ancient assumptions.

Stem Cell Reserach

Apologists commonly make the following four claims...

1. "The embryos used are fully developed human fetuses."
The embryos used are only a small cluster of cells no bigger than a pinhead.

2. "Embryos are obtained from abortions and will even cause teenage girls to risk their lives by performing abortions in alleyways for sakes of selling their fetuses for research."
The second half is mere propaganda and yes, they actually preach that. Most importantly, the stem cells are not obtained from abortions. They are only obtained from discarded leftover fertility clinic embryos.

3. "Embryonic stem cells have never shown any potential or usefulness."
This is just flat out dishonest. Even in 2007 embryonic stem cells have been proven to cure both diabetes and even blindness. They have also been proven to be able to rebuild any damaged organ in the human body.

4. "Adult stem cells are more useful than embryonic stem cells."
Unlike embryonic stem cells adult stem cells can only turn into limited types of cells. Adult stem cells are cell that have already started formation into particular cell types. Embryonic stem cells have not taken shape yet and give the freedom of working with a clean slate.

Why protect the unborn potential humans if we won't protect those born with life threatening diseases?

Morals & Ethics

When you look past the fictitious belief of a human "soul" there is no question about the ethical and moral benefits of embryonic stem cell research. The embryos that are uses are nothing more than a tiny cluster of cells with no resemblance to human life. At this stage they could just as easily be manipulated to grow into any multicellular organism as they could a human. The embryos are also leftover from fertility clinics and would otherwise be thrown away. Nothing is being lost but what can be gained is a countless amount of cures to put an end to the suffering of millions.

Hindering Education

Children and even adults are not getting proper educations because evidence based education is being censored or replaced by Bible based "alternatives" in churches, private schools, and occasionally public schools.

HIV Epidemic

In South Africa 5.3 million people suffer from HIV yet the Catholic Church convinces them death is better than condom use because the Bible condemns the "wasting of seeds."

Division

Christianity bases authority as truth instead of truth as authority causing conflicting world views. Children are labeled at birth as "Christian" or "non-Christian" and segregated in many schools. Those who leave the Christian circle are commonly outcasted by family.

Glorified End Times

The Bible based glorification of the world's end has a dangerous impact on personal, political, and global objectives. 44% of Americans believe the world will be destroyed in their lifetime and eagerly await it.

Tax Exemption

Religious institutions are exempt from paying taxes and that pushes the burden onto the rest of us. Pastors are even exempt from paying property taxes on their own houses further contributing to state and local governmental deficits.

Christian Taliban

Many Christian organizations and universities (e.g. Regent, Liberty) strive to make the US a Christian Taliban, a theocratic state. These universities focus on training "Christian soldiers" for positions in courthouses and government to force scripture into law.

Blue Laws

Blue Laws tell others what they can and cannot buy, sell, be hired for, or do on certain days based on the Bible.

Censorship

The Bible claims what is to be right or wrong instead of letting a society choose for themselves. The Bible has played the largest role in film censorship and religious groups regularly prevent films that are critical of Christianity from being released in the US.

1:1 Belief vs Claims

1:3 Hasn't Christianity Fueled Good?

1:2

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CHAPTER 1
1:1 Belief vs Claims
1:2 Negative Impact Christianity Causes
1:3 Hasn't Christianity Fueled Good?

CHAPTER 2
2:1 Why the Bible Is False
2:2 Failed Prophecies
2:3 False Historical Claims
2:4 Wrong About Nature
2:5 Contradictions

CHAPTER 3
3:1 The Bible You Don't Know
3:2 Ignored Words
3:3 Immoral God/Bible
3:4 History & Changes
3:5 Bible Stories Re-examined

CHAPTER 4
4:1 We Are All Godless
4:2 God Doesn't Exist
4:3 Jesus Never Existed
4:4 Atheism, Humanism, & Morality

CHAPTER 5
5:1 Let's Be Honest
5:2 Faith & Questions To Ask
5:3 What To Avoid (Apologetic Tactics)

CHAPTER 6
6:1 Faith vs Science
6:2 Intelligent Design vs Evolution
6:3 Soul vs Cognitive Science
6:4 Old vs Young Earth

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Understanding Fundamentalism