(Image via Wikipedia)

Did the 9/11/01 attacks end up changing some of our attitudes about religion?

In an article on my Apologetica page I make the point that it did in at least two significant ways:

1. Islam in America came out of the closet

2.Atheists also came out of the closet

<<Read my conclusions on my Apologetica page>>

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2. -Barack Obama’s Religion: How Muslims View It

American Atheists filed a lawsuit on Monday to have the iconic ‘Ground Zero’ Cross removed from the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City.

The World Trade Center cross is made up of two intersecting steel beams found intact in the midst of the rubble created by the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks. The cross was displayed and dedicated on Saturday at the new 9/11 Memorial Museum.

The 17 foot tall cross was discovered by a construction worker after the Sept. 11 attacks and was the only thing left standing amid the rubble. It has become a symbol of the 9/11 attacks and an icon of hope.

According to 9/11 Memorial president Joe Daniels:

The cross is "an important part of our commitment to bring back the authentic physical reminders that tell the history of 9/11 in a way nothing else could."

"Its return is a symbol of the progress on the Memorial & Museum that we feel rather than see, reminding us that commemoration is at the heart of our mission."

The atheist organization is seeking to have the cross removed since it only represents one religion- Christianity.

Meanwhile, Byron Babione of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has responded to the atheists claims and suit with the following:

(the atheist group) is "completely out of step with the Constitution."

“One atheist group’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by the heroes of 9/11. A cross like this one simply does not amount to a government establishment of religion under either the U.S. Constitution or the New York Constitution."

"The cross is not only known far and wide as a religious symbol, but also as a symbol of death, remembrance, and honor for the dead. Americans have long recognized this.”

The American Center for Law and Justice plans to respond to the law suit with a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the Ground Zero cross on behalf of a former 9/11 firefighter and first responder. According to Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ:

"This is another pathetic attempt to rewrite the Constitution and rewrite history by removing a symbol that serves as a powerful remembrance to that fateful attack nearly 10 years ago. This lawsuit is deeply flawed and without merit. It is just the latest chapter of an anti-God strategy employed by atheist organizations across the country—a strategy offensive to millions of Americans, a strategy that we’re confident will ultimately fail in court."

Response: Here we go again. These kind of cases are rarely won by those who want to take down memorial crosses. When judges do render in their favor they are overturned in appeal. A case in point is the Mohave Desert Memorial Cross. Courts eventually ruled that it could stay in the national park and did until some ‘activist’ took it down and stole it.

The 9/11 cross became an inspiration to millions -that even in the midst of so much destruction an accidental symbol of hope was found that defined the feelings of millions of folks that no matter what the American spirit could not be broken. Do you really want to take away a poignant symbol like this which stands defiantly against those who want to destroy our way of life including our freedoms and particularly our freedom of religion?

Besides, the cross is not the only religious symbol displayed in the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Why pick on it only?

My question is this- Why do atheists who complain about the intolerance of others towards them want to get caught up in cases like this that are intolerant of the feelings of so many others. Exactly where is the harm and how is it really an establishment issue?

There are crosses displayed in every veterans national cemetery all across the country along with other religious symbols. Do they really want to eventually rip the crosses literally off of the graves of veterans who served their country well?

I recently visited Arlington National Cemetery, there were huge crosses all over the place. Some had been there for over a hundred and fifty years. Do these really need to be torn down in the name of separation of church and state? What about the graves decorated with the Star of David? Do those need to be desecrated also?

The real question is this- does the establishment clause in the Constitution do away with religion and the public exercise there of? No. In fact it is suppose to protect our religious freedom from legislation that would hinder it. At least that was the original intent of the framers who thought nothing of halting their deliberations on a number of occasions to seek the guidance of the Creator.            *Top

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     (Getty Images via @daylife)

British scientist Stephen Hawking who is considered one of the smartest people in the world has come out and called heaven a "fairy story" for people afraid of the dark.

In an interview with The Guardian (UK Newspaper ) on Monday, Hawking said that his views were affected and influenced by his battle with motor neurone disease:

"I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first," he told the newspaper.

"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."

Lately Stephen Hawking has increasingly become vocal in his atheistic stances. In his earlier works he actually allowed for the possibility of a creator. However in his latest book, "The Grand Design", he said that a deity no longer has any place in theories on the creation of the universe from his perspective.

Response: Hawking is a brilliant scientist when it comes to physics. However when it comes to issues of philosophy, metaphysics, and theology he is somewhat lacking.

His statement demonstrates an acceptance of materialistic theory, that everything that is human can be explained and accounted for totally in the physical elements that make up the human body.

However, some of the greatest minds that the world has ever known have believed that not everything that makes up a human can be accounted for materialistically in the physical body. Many believe that a better explanation of human existence includes the possibility of a non-physical element. That living humans are a composite which includes the physical body and something other –a spirit or soul.

The idea of a continued existence after the death of the physical body is rooted in the metaphysical and religious teaching of most of the major world religions, that humans have a spirit or soul that exists independent of the physical body.            *Top

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The American Atheists Org. put up a billboard coming into NY City (on route 495 at Kennedy Blvd on the NJ side of the Lincoln Tunnel) with the message:

You KNOW it’s a Myth

This Season, Celebrate REASON!

And so the battle over Christmas begins.

Here’s the reason they spent a huge amount of money to put this message out. From the American Atheist website:

The purpose of the billboard is threefold:
1) To address those atheists who “go along to get along”, and to encourage them to come out of their closets
2) To attack the myth that Christianity owns the solstice season
3) To raise the awareness of the organization and the movement.

Response: I thought long and hard about exposing this billboard further. Writing about it actually helps to spread their message that only few driving along Route 495 in New jersey would have seen. However since it is now sort of all over the place on the web and even on TV news shows it is probably best now to look at the message and respond.

First of all their attack on the ‘myth’ that ‘Christianity owns the solstice season’ is completely wrong. Commercialism and malls have over taken Christianity when it comes to Christmas a long time ago. So the atheists have their own ‘myth’ going.

Secondly, their claim that the celebration of Christmas revolves around a ‘Myth’ is somewhat true when you consider Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and other features that have become part of the celebration.

Even the choice of December 25 came much later and definitely is not the real date of the first Christmas. Also, the ‘Wisemen’ probably showed up and visited the Christ Child a year or so after the event according to scripture.

Thirdly, if you really want to celebrate reason this season and take all of the myth out of it, read the actual Biblical accounts of the birth of a baby in Bethlehem that changed history for all time:

In Matthew (Mt 1:18-2:18) and in Luke (Lk 1:26-56, 2:1-40).

*Top of the Blog

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(Capitol Visitor Center via Wikipedia)

A federal court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit to eliminate the National Motto –“In God We Trust” and the Pledge of Allegiance from being displayed in the US Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C.

US District Judge William M. Conley ruled that the atheist group-Freedom from Religion Foundation did not have any legal standing to bring the lawsuit in the first place.

The motto and the pledge were supported in court by the American Center for Law and Justice who represented 50 members of Congress in the case. Jay Sekulow, chief counsel was pleased with the outcome:

“This challenge was another misguided attempt to alter history and purge America of religious references. The National Motto and the Pledge of Allegiance displayed in the Capitol Visitor Center merely echo the sentiments found in the Declaration of Independence. In our view, Congress acted appropriately by including these expressions in the center — expressions that are consistent with the Constitution.”

Response: The assault on religion in the public square continues but fortunately was thwarted in this case. When the center opened the Pledge was no where to be found and the supposed motto displayed was not the official one at all. There were even pictures of the Congress chamber where the motto- “In God We Trust” had been photo-shopped out. Obviously the original designers of the visitors center were trying to eliminate all references to ‘God’ on purpose.

The congress voted to address that slight then the Freedom from Religion Foundation group sued to take God out of the picture again. For once a judge refused to participate in judicial activism and honored the duly elected representatives of the people who supported the opinions of their constituents and brought God back to the capitol.

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Image via Wikipedia

Do atheists and agnostics in America know more about religion than people of faith? According to a Pew study they do.

According to the study:

Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.

On average, Americans correctly answer 16 of the 32 religious knowledge questions on the survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. Atheists and agnostics average 20.9 correct answers. Jews and Mormons do about as well, averaging 20.5 and 20.3 correct answers, respectively. Protestants as a whole average 16 correct answers; Catholics as a whole, 14.7. Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons perform better than other groups on the survey even after controlling for differing levels of education.

Response: Like any study of this kind a whole lot depends upon the questions that are asked.

Looking at the survey I would say that all it really proves is that those that are better educated can better answer the list of questions that the Pew researchers came up with.   My conclusion is that education is probably the major determining factor here and not ones faith or lack thereof. The study also shows that College grads beat out everyone else.

It is no accident that the top people of faith in this survey are Jews and Mormons, two religions that emphasize education in their culture and whose adherents are better educated than the average. The same could be said about atheists and agnostics.

Take a look at the survey and tell me what you think.             *Top of the Blog

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When asked about it Christopher Hitchens replied that he would not be joining in.

Hitchens is dying of cancer and the effects of his recent chemotherapy are obvious. When asked about his health he had this to say:

"Well, I’m dying, since you asked, but so are you. I’m only doing it more rapidly."

When asked about those who would be praying for him, Hitchens says that they can be broken down into basically three different groups:

1. Those who seem genuinely glad he’s suffering and dying from cancer.

2. Those who want him to become a believer in their religious faith.

3. And those who are asking God to heal him.

To the first group he says: 

"’To hell with you’ is the response to the ones who pray for me to go to hell."

To the second he says that he is ruling out any kind of deathbed change of heart:

"’Thanks but no thanks’ is the reply to those who want me to convert and recognize a divinity or deity."

To the third:

"I say it’s fine by me, I think of it as a nice gesture. And it may well make them feel better, which is a good thing in itself."

Response: So there you have it. It is ‘Everybody Pray for Hitchens Day.’ Please join in prayer for a loyal opponent of Christianity and religion in general. I must admit that I like the guy in spite of the fact that I disagree with his stand on God and religion.

I am praying for his recovery and healing, but I must admit that I am also praying that he finds God before it is all over.             *Top of the Blog

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