Hi gang! Sorry I’ve been so silent lately. It’s really just been a combination of being really busy with work, playing Destiny in my spare time, and not having a whole lot to say lately. But the other day, I ran across a really great article about Arian Foster joining Openly Secular, which is trying to make “non-religious” not such a dirty label. I thought it was a great read, and I think all of you would find it interesting. Check it out here.
I’ll try to have something more substantial soon. 🙂
Finding Truth 
This *was* a great article (I was thinking of writing about it myself). As a huge Texans fan since the dawn of the franchise, Arian is a huge asset to the team both as a helluva player and a helluva thinker. He challenges people to see things from a different perspective with both fortitude and class. People become better that way. Thanks for posting this, Nate!
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Thanks, rodalena! 🙂 Honestly, I never watch NFL games, but I’m thinking about following the Texans just for this guy, now. I was extremely impressed with the way he came across in the article.
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it’s funny, when i was a christian and playing football back in the high school days, i recall thinking much of the same, “God isn’t watching the game, hoping we win.”
I did think God was real. I may have prayed that he keep us all safe, and free of serious injury of course, but other than that, i just didn’t think God cared about football.
It’s also funny that many of these religious people will skip church or do a rushed, abridged version of their service in order to make a game… not exactly practicing religion, religiously.
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Thanks to Nate, I posted a link and excerpt from the article on my blog. A Christian readers left a comment saying:
“So what? Most athletes can’t even spell their own name.”
My reply was, “Star athletes are role models for young people. The more role models that come out as non-believers, the more young people who will be comfortable to tell their friends that they do not believe in gods, ghouls or devils either.”
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Nate,
What percentage of your regular readers (who are non-believers) say that they deconverted from Christianity due primarily to the internet?
I am one.
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Hi Nate, whilst I miss your posts, please don’t feel under pressure to post. Sometimes we just need to ‘chill out’ so to speak. Though from personal experience I know that computer games can eat time. If I get involved in one I am often surprised how quickly the time passes.
When I was still a Christian I used to feel so guilty when I spent time enjoying myself with computer games.
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I shake my head at such ‘news’ articles but it brings home the truth about just how (insanely) religious the USA really is.
The thought of a BBC sports panel discussing the religion, or lack of, a top player such as former Chelsea midfielder, Frank Lampard ( who, after his mother passed away, would always look skywards after scoring) is as joke-worthy and ludicrous a proposition as the same panel including a Vulcanologist and discussing the odds on a volcano erupting in London before kick off.
It just wouldn’t happen. Ever.
In South Africa, ”traditional” still goes on in certain sports, and especially football.( soccer).
There are tales of witch doctors potions being given to players and weird stuff like this.
There was a tradition ( may still be) that once a player has run on the pitch he was not allowed to leave until the whistle blew as this would incur bad mojo.
True story.
Former Manchester United goalkeeper, Gary Bailey used to play for a local side, Kaiser Chiefs and on his first game just before kickoff, he was so nervous that he needed to leave the field to pee. He was forbidden by the other players and the coach as a witch-doctor has already ”blessed” his goal. The team said he must pee by the centre circle and his team mates huddled around him to save any embarrassment.
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Yes, folks. I have a few screws loose. I’m still battling for reason, science and sanity over on Theology Web. Here is my latest comment:
Dear Readers,
Ask anyone who has ever escaped from a cult and this is what they will tell you:
1. When they first began to question the teachings of the cult they were told to just trust the leadership of the cult; the leadership is wiser and has many more years of training and experience in the teachings in question. “Trust us.” (Appeal to authority)
2. When the “doubter” began to question further, and became persistent in his questioning, he was then told that he had a bad and rebellious (sinful) attitude, and that his sin was stirring up trouble in the group. Other members of the group are brought into the discussion to criticize the “doubter” for the trouble that he or she is causing. (Peer/group pressure)
3. If the “doubter” announces that he or she is thinking of leaving the group, he or she is immediately threatened with all manner of severe punishments and consequences in this life and the next. (Intimidation and Fear)
4. Once the person has left the cult, he is seen as the enemy. His reputation and intelligence are immediately attacked in order to blame his defection on something being wrong with him and not that something is wrong with the cult: “He didn’t leave us because he found out our beliefs are false. He left because he has a secret sin he wants to indulge. Claiming our beliefs are false is just a cover for his sinful desires.” “He didn’t know enough about the (cult’s) beliefs to know if they were correct or not.” “He didn’t study the sacred texts long enough.” “Yes, to an untrained, inexperienced person who has not spent time studying our sacred texts they will appear to contain errors and discrepancies, but the wise, experienced leaders of our group can very easily explain why these alleged errors and discrepancies are perfectly harmonizable.” “If he had studied this, this, and this book by trained experts in our belief system, he would have realized how silly his doubts and deconversion are.” (Destroy the former member’s reputation at all cost. Make him look like an idiot as the reason for his deconversion. This lessens the chance that other members will question the belief system, and, intimidates those who are secretly questioning to keep their mouths shut.)
Sound familiar?
Dear friends, whoever our Creator is, he/she/or it gave you a brain. Use it! Two plus two NEVER equals five. Never. And dead people who have been truly dead for three days cannot be reanimated back to life; to eat a broiled fish lunch with their former fishing buddies; to later levitate into outer space. Never.
Don’t let the “experts” of this cult convince you otherwise. Don’t let them convince you that YOU are stupid for questioning their irrational, illogical, nonsensical tall tale. Their philosophically complicated and verbose explanations are nothing but spin.
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