Rally for Reason

Y’all come to Kentucky y’hear.

Do you have something more important to do this Memorial Day?

See: www.rallyforreason.com

Edwin.

==============================================================================================================

From:

A M E R I C A N A T H E I S T S

A A N E W S

#1232 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5/8/07

http://www.atheists.org

http://www.americanatheist.org

http://www.atheistviewpoint.tv

Feel free to distribute, AANEWS update on Memorial Day RALLY FOR REASON

CREATIONIST MUSEUM SET TO OPEN: HAS BIBLICAL LITERALISM PERMEATED

MAINSTREAM AMERICAN CULTURE, REPLACED SCIENCE?

Raquel Welch, Barney Flintstone Meet Genesis

It was once only a fantastic belief preached in fundamentalist and evangelical churches, tent-revival meetings, and the most hard-shell Baptist seminaries and other religious schools.

Now, though, creationism — the belief that human and other life on our planet, along with everything we know to constitute the observable universe, was recently created by a supernatural deity, and the literal account revealed in passages from the Old Testament — is rapidly going mainstream. The teaching of creationism and similar accounts like “Intelligent Design” in public schools has become a culture war skirmish playing out across the country. Authors and lecturers regularly debate the topic in the media and even college campuses as they attempt to “challenge” and refute Darwinian evolution. Personal opinions about evolution and creationism were even solicited during last week’s nationally televised debate among the major Republican contenders seeking their party’s nomination for the presidency.

And what may be a high water mark in the public relations campaign to showcase creationist doctrine is slated to occur on Memorial Day, Monday May 28, 2007 when the group “Answers in Genesis” opens its $27 million, 60,000-square-foot Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky.

Supporters pray that the museum will present an “alternative” to scientific evolution. The core audience is expected to be the millions of Christian evangelicals and fundamentalists who look to the Bible as a literal, true and reliable source. Other visitors, though, may agree with much of the message being promoted by “Answers in Genesis” and its president, Ken Ham. A Gallup Poll released in March showed that 47% of Americans believe a supernatural deity created humans similar to their present form within the last 10,000 years.

This belief contradicts findings in geology, biology, astronomy and other sciences that indicate life and the present condition of our universe to be the result of long evolutionary processes taking place over “deep time,” millions and even billions of years.

The museum is strategically located. Ham boasts that the facility is within one day’s drive of 60% of the U.S. population, and expects to draw over 250,000 visitors in the first year. AIG has spared little expense in putting together what is described as a first-class exposition. A second construction phase is now underway, adding another 10,000 square feet of space. Crosswalk.com reporter Michael Ireland described the project as “a one-of-a-kind, high-tech museum filled with animatronic displays (e.g., moving dinosaurs), striking videos, a state-of-the-art planetarium, Special Effects Theater, etc.

that is spread over 60,000 square feet incorporating up to 40-foot ceilings to contain some of its massive exhibits.”

“The museum will go beyond telling the compelling story of the creation of life on this planet,” Ireland added, “to proclaiming the Bible as supreme authority in all matters in addresses.”

The expansive undertaking was possible thanks primarily to AIG’s 8,500 charter members and tens of thousands of other donors. There has been considerable media coverage of the museum project on the major television networks, PBS and print media including The Washington post, The New York Times and Discover Magazine. International media from Australia, Europe and elsewhere have also covered the story.

“Answers in Genesis” — Crankery to Mainstream

“Answers in Genesis” has evolved from humble beginnings into one of the nation’s leading crusaders on behalf of Biblical literalism and supremacy. Its roots go back to the Creation Science Association which, in 1980, became the Creation Science Foundation. Ken Ham, born in Australia in 1951
, moved to the U.S. in 1987 after earning a bachelor’s degree in science. In 1993, he was granted an honorary doctorate of literature from Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University.

During this period he worked at the Institute for Creation Research, and in 1994 established the “Answers in Genesis” Christian ministry.

Ham and his organization expound a religious doctrine known as “young Earth creationism.” This belief rejects Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, along with most mainstream scientific findings about the origins of life and the rest of the universe. Instead, believers point to select passages in the book of Genesis, taking as literal truth stories that Jehovah created everything in six days, along with the tale of Noah and his ark. In lectures and debates, Mr. Ham and other advocates of creationism often attempt to discredit evolution by asking, “Were you there?” They also claim to find evidence of flaws or shortcomings in evolutionary evidence, or take the position that “fairness” and free speech require creationism be given equal time in public school classrooms.

Not all Christians, of course, accept Biblical literalism or oppose the science behind evolution. There are also advocates of so-called “Intelligent Design” who reject the proposition that the universe is the result of recent divine creation, but instead claim that physical laws and other scientific findings are evidence of deity who played a role of “first mover” in bringing life and the universe into existence at some point in the distant past. Like the “young Earth”

creationists at AIG, supporters of “ID” claim to challenge mainstream, evolution-based scientific findings, and promote themselves as a legitimate “alternative,” especially in public school classrooms.

Blaming Darwin

Just as they promote a Biblical-supremacist theology, Mr. Ham and other creationists condemn evolution as a pernicious force in human history. Wikipedia notes, “Ham believes the Theory of Evolution indirectly caused or heavily contributed to the rise of humanism, racism, eugenics, euthanasia, pornography, homosexuality, family breakup, abortion, and more by increasing the influence of atheism.”

Like others on the religious right, Ham also links the teaching of evolution with increased secularization and social changes. Reacting to the recent shootings at Virginia Tech, Ham posted an opinion piece on the “Answers in Genesis” web site declaring, “We live in an era when public high schools and colleges have all banned God from science classes,” presumably resulting in “a culture (that) allows the killing of the unborn” and the perception that human life is “cheap.”

GENESIS AND RAQUEL AND BARNEY, OH MY!

As creationism has become a major cultural project for many evangelical Christians wary of secular science, the academic community has managed to respond with books, articles, web sites and conferences. The fact that anti-evolution activists have taken over local and, in some cases like Kansas, even state school boards and education departments has also generated concerns about the status of science education in America. Meanwhile, creationists and Intelligent Design proponents have become more sophisticated in getting their message out to the public.

Despite a more polished and sophisticated message, many of the claims of “young Earth creationists” remain difficult to defend. That will not stop the Creationism Museum from presenting every detail of the literal Genesis story as truth — such as the claim that dinosaurs co-existed with our early human ancestors. Dioramas and 3-D exhibits at the museum will reportedly depict dinosaurs and humans living in the same environment. It may not be as titillating as the 1966 film hit “One Million Years B.C.” starring a buxom Raquel Welch and other humans who battle their monstrous reptilian neighbors. Fossil and other evidence points to a different sort of time-line, where dinosaurs became extinct about 6o million years before human beings made their appearance. Film producers and executives at Hammer Studios made no claim to scientific accuracy, though, and instead indulged in fantasy, violence and, of course, titillation in the form of a sexually-charged heroine.

The AIG may also have to deal with charges that it is simply blending ancient Bible-based allegory with American pop-culture, especially the Hanna-Barbera Production animated sitcom, “The Flintstones.” The show ran from 1960-1966 on the ABC television network, and portrayed the travails and triumphs of a stone-age, working class family living in the imaginary town of Bedrock. “Friendly” cartoon-style dinosaurs were part of the natural environment, and the show skillfully amalgamated a semblance of contemporary technology built from stone-age implements often powered by animals.

While pop-culture entertainment like “The Flintstones” or movies featuring ancient monsters and distressed fashion models make no pretense to scientific or historic accuracy, creationists are serious in citing the Bible as a literal, accurate answer to complex questions about human origins. As Biblical supremacists, they embrace the works found in the Old and New Testaments as revealed truth from God. AIG and other creationist groups, for example, not only reject evolution as an explanation of how life appeared on Earth, they also expand their theology to reject much of contemporary cosmology. Their “young universe” — only 6,000 or so years old — still betrays compelling evidence that it is much larger and far more ancient. Creationists have invented interesting but nevertheless flawed arguments to explain this discrepancy, including claims that God created light “en-route,”

or that the speed of light was considerably greater in the not-too-distant past.

Collision in the Classrooms

Creationists not only argue the validity of the Biblical account in Genesis, but also insist that their views are at least as “valid” as contemporary science, and thus worthy of “equal time” in school science classes. They also oppose efforts to censor teachers who want to introduce creationist ideas, especially as “an alternative” to most science texts now used.

Because of its stance on behalf of “Biblical Supremacy,” AIG also opposes any pro-life position in respect to abortion rights, and challenges homosexuality as a violation of Christian teaching. It also maintains that Darwinism and evolutionary teachings have been the basis of destructive racial theories and eugenics. They cite the Holocaust and the rampages of Stalinism as examples. According to Wikipedia, “In dealing with Christendom’s own violent history, AIG asserts that anyone using the Bible to justify atrocities (such as the Crusades, the colonization of the New World, pogroms, the burning of ‘witches,’ the Wars of Religion etc.) are ‘completely contrary to the teachings of Christ.’ “

Critics, though, see creationist undertakings like the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum as destructive; they worry that young children may be influenced by such ideas at the expense of scientific literacy.

Several hundred people are expected to join a “Rally for Reason”

outside the gates of the AIG museum on Memorial Day, May 28 during the facility’s grand opening. “Many educated people realize that creationism is a myth,” said Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State Director for American Atheists and an organizer of the Rally for Reason in an interview with Associated Press. “Myths aren’t necessarily untrue, but they aren’t literal, either.”

For further information:

http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/evol20.htm

“Federal judge bars ‘Intelligent Design’ from classrooms (12/20/05)

http://www.atheists.org/evolution/

(Numerous articles on creationism, evolution)

http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/evol4.htm

(Nearly half of Americans accept creationist accounts over scientific

evolution.)

**

“RALLY FOR REASON” COALITION PLANS MASSIVE PROTEST DEMO

AT MAY 28th OPENING OF CREATIONIST MUSEUM

When “Answers in Genesis” opens its $27 million Creation Museum to the public this Memorial Day (Monday, May 28, 2007), hundreds — maybe even thousands — of demonstrators are expected to gather outside to challenge the message AIG is sending to the public.

“The Creation Museum is a charming fantasy,” Edwin Kagin told the Cincinnati Inquirer newspaper. “They are helping to dumb down society and we have to make a response.”

Kagin is National Legal Director for American Atheists, and has watched over the years with alarm as religious fundamentalist have tried to smuggle their doctrines into the public schools under the guise of challenging evolution. He has also monitored the construction of the state-of-the-art museum being built by the creationist group “Answers in Genesis” not too far from his residence in Union, Kentucky. Both critics and supporters say that the 60,000-square-foot museum is an impressive undertaking, complete with lavish exhibits (some reportedly depict dinosaurs and human beings living together in a Garden of Eden-style setting), cafeteria, gift shop, planetarium and much more.

Even some mainstream religious groups are upset at the progress being made by evangelical and fundamentalist brethren who, they insist, wrongly interpret the Bible as a literal text revealed word-for-word by Jehovah. The Rev. Mendle Adams, pastor of St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Cincinnati, plans to be one of the protesters outside the museum gates and is urging fellow clergy to join in.

“The views (of AIG) are homophobic and anti-science,” Adams told reporters. “It’s what I consider to be dishonest to people regarding science. It’s anti-reason and plain goofiness.”

Adams says that those who use scriptural texts like the bible to dispute scientific evidence embarrass other Christians.

“They (creationists) make us a laughingstock,” he groused.

Kagin has organized the “Rally for Reason” which he describes as an ad hoc coalition of secular and religious groups who oppose creationism, and don’t want to see the Bible or other religious texts used in public schools — particularly science classes — for fear of promoting a sectarian agenda.

Atheists, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and other nonbelievers will be on the picket line alongside progressive religious groups, all speaking out against the Answers in Genesis museum. Kagin emphasized that “Rally for Reason” was not disputing the right of AIG or other creationist groups to speak out and spread their message.

Here’s the official announcement, plus updates on lodging and other protest details, from Rally for Reason:

ANNOUNCEMENT of RALLY for REASON

Did you miss Woodstock? Did you miss Stonewall? Did you miss Selma?

Did you miss People’s Park? Did you miss the 60s?

Don’t miss this! Y’all come, y’hear!

WHO: People who accept evolution over superstition and myth.

WHAT: Rally for Reason.

WHEN: 9:00 am (EDT) Monday, May 28, 2007 (Memorial Day)

WHERE: Outside the gates of “Answers in Genesis,” Bullittsburg Church Road, Exit 11 (Petersburg Road), off of 275 in Kentucky, Boone County, Kentucky

Please note: The “Creation Museum” of Answers in Genesis is in a rural area. There are motels and restaurants within a few miles from the site, however. You can also go inside the Creation Museum for facilities. We recommend that you buy a ticket and see it.

People from all over the country are invited to join outside of the gates of “Answers in Genesis” (AIG) in Northern Kentucky. We want to let the world know that most rational people do not share the primitive world view of Creationists that the Earth is only a few thousand years old, and that humans and dinosaurs existed at the same time. This is the story that will be actually presented as true by the 27 million dollar plus “Creation Museum” opening Memorial Day, May 28, 2007. Various groups, representing both religious and secular orientations, will join together to protest this destructive world view.

The organizers stress that they do not challenge the right of AIG to present their worldview. “They can teach that things fall up if they wish,” said Edwin Kagin of Union, Kentucky. “We are simply trying to show that the nonsense they are vending is not accepted by those who do not share their fundamentalist religious views, and their effort to sneak those teachings into the public schools.”

AIG believes that the book of Genesis in the Bible is literally correct. See: www.AnswersInGenesis.org .

For contrast see:http://www.talkorigins.org ; http://home.austarnet.com.au/stear/default.htm

More details will be provided as they become available. So pay attention, make some signs, bring your musical instrument, water bottle, and trail mix, and plan to come to Kentucky y’all.

See: http://rallyforreason.com

For more information contact: reasonrally@hotmail.com

If you plan to attend, please try to let us know about how many will be joining us.

**

Notes on the Announcement of Rally for Reason

By Edwin Kagin

Several well meaning people, for whom I have great respect, have expressed their opinion that it is a mistake to give any attention or press to something as unacceptable to rational persons as the idea of “Creationism” and the “Creation Museum” dedicated to forwarding this mythology.

Ordinarily, I would agree with this analysis. We need not protest those who hold to a Flat Earth “theory,” etc. However, the situation in Northern Kentucky is different. “Answers in Genesis” has managed to get world wide press for their fantasy presentations. The “Creation Museum” is being endorsed by official convention and tourist outlets for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The Governor of Kentucky has expressed support for teaching Bible stories in public schools, and Boone County, Kentucky is giving breaks on laws and taxation, denied others, to the vendors of religious dogma. The temporary President of the United States has even opined that the jury is still out on evolution.

Foolish ideas can come dressed up, just as there can be dressed up fools. And the presentations of the “Answers in Genesis”

(www.AnswersInGenesis.org) outfit are well dressed indeed – yes, this is a compliment to their marketing. But such well dressed ideas can deceive many to their great cost. Just ask some Germans and Italians whether they would rather their country had not been treated to, much less accepted, the dressed up ideas of Hitler and Il Duce.

If, given all of the publicity that ha
s been generated, nothing supporting science and evidence is offered, the impression will be given to the public, the press, and lawmakers that no one objects, and that if fancy, growling, expensive, mechanized displays of dinosaurs and humans living at the same time, and sharing “Noah’s Ark,” are presented as true, with no word to the contrary, then it must be so.

Discussing these matters learnedly in secular groups that are attended by few, and snickering at those who think it is only fair to teach creationism in public schools, does not get the message to well meaning, but misinformed, people who will visit the “Creation Museum”

to view displays and dioramas slickly designed to “prove” the Earth is only some 6,000 years old. And thus will our society become a bit more “dumbed down,” and will in consequence be internally weakened.

The attitude that it is best not to give nonsense credit by opposing it can be quite dangerous. School boards and legislators might well conclude, without further information, that if scientists, teachers, and the public are not opposed to the well publicized idea of teaching Bronze Age myths as fact, then such misinformation is permissible.

As unpleasant as such may appear, the appropriate way to respond is to be there, and to go through the “Creation Museum.” Get over the idea that you are helping to fund them by buying a ticket. This is the only way to obtain the knowledge needed to help save the scientific method and civilization from returning to another Dark Age. You should see it, if for no other reason than to know what you are talking about.

We can politely, and with dignity, carry signs, perhaps humorous ones, and pass out serious literature, and listen to entertaining talks, all designed to inform, to present fact over fantasy, truth over dogma, light over darkness. We can help those, who do not know, understand that evolution is a “theory” in the same manner that gravity is a “theory.” People do understand that things do not fall up when dropped.

And you can meet some nice people.

While the site is quite rural, with no facilities, do not despair.

There are motels, restaurants, gas stations, etc. within a very few miles from the site. And it you need to go inside, this might be a good time to inspect the Creation Museum.

Here is our website with more information: http://rallyforreason.com

And, if you think being outdoors in response to a threat to the foundations of knowledge is too much trouble, do not worry. Those who would establish a theocracy over us have promised to attack only when it is convenient for you, when it is not raining, when you can be warm, dry, safe, well fed, and have had plenty of time to engage in Liberal Angst over just what to do. Meanwhile, others will fight the American Religious Civil War and protect your freedoms for you.

Edwin Kagin

Organizer

Rally for Reason

* In Re: getting to the “Creation Museum” of Answers in Genesis and Housing.

It is recommended that you arrive on Sunday, May 27th. This is so you can maybe go to the “Rally for Reason Speak-Out,” being generously sponsored by the Free Inquiry Group of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky (FJIG) the evening before the event.

You can perhaps stay on the ground outside of Answers in Genesis in a sleeping bag if you wish. Maybe even in a tent. But you must bring everything you need.

* To get here, you must first figure out how to get to Kentucky, or, if already in Kentucky, how to get to Exit 11 off of I-275, which can be gotten to from I-71/I-75 or from 1-74.

* The Cincinnati Airport (yes, the Cincinnati Airport is in Kentucky-don’t worry about it. The Cincinnati IRS is in Kentucky too, and Kentucky owns the Ohio River. It is a long story) is quite close to Answers in Genesis.

* These are the official AiG directions to the Creation Museum and AiG-USA headquarters, borrowed with our thanks from their website:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/feedback/directions_aigus.aspx

From south

. Take I-75/71 north.

. Go west on I-275 for about 11 miles.

. Take the Petersburg exit (exit 11), bear right.

. Go south (under I-275 overpass)-this is route 8.

. Take the first left (Bullittsburg Church Rd.) and go about

1/3

mile.

From north

. Take I-75/71 south to the lower part of the

I-275 loop.

. Go west on I-275 for about 11 miles.

. Take the Petersburg exit (exit 11), bear right.

. Go south (under I-275 overpass)-this is route 8.

. Take the first left (Bullittsburg Church Rd.) and go about

1/3

mile.

From west (Indianapolis)

. Take I-74 east.

. Go south on I-275 for about 10 miles.

. Take the Petersburg exit (exit 11), bear right.

. Go south-this is route 8.

. Take the first left (Bullittsburg Church Rd.) and go about

1/3

mile.

Once at the site, you should be able to park off of the road on Bullittsburg Church Rd.

Now, if you wish to get here on Sunday, May 27th and have some sleep and food (all three are recommended) before the beginning of this event at 9:00am.on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28th, 2007, here are some motels and their contact information:

Airport Inn

648 Donaldson Rd./Rt. 236

Erlanger, KY 41018

Phone: 859.342.6200

Fax: 859.342.6077

Comfort Inn Erlanger

630 Donaldson Road

Erlanger, KY 41018

Phone: 859.727.3400

Fax: 859.727.1378

Email: erlangerkyci@supertelinc.com

www.choicehotels.com

Days Inn Cincinnati Airport

599 Donaldson Road

PO Box 18549

Erlanger, KY 41018

Toll Free: 877.237.1834

Phone: 859.342.7111

Fax: 859.342.6098

gmdaysinn@trianglehospitality.com

Econo Lodge

633 Donaldson Road

Erlanger, KY 41018

Fax / Phone: 859.342.5500

www.choicehotels.com/hotel/ky077

All of these are within sight and easy walking distance of each other and they are all reasonably close to I-71 and I-75 (which run together at the point they intersect with I-275) and to the airport. Some of them have shuttles to and from the airport. A wide variety of restaurants of every type are just down the road, as is the famous Turfway Race Track, and lots of other stuff. You are of course welcome to come a few days earlier and to stay a few days thereafter.

There is quite a bit to do and see in Kentucky and in that city just north of our Ohio River, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Here is some wonderful news about a place to stay. Jen Warner owns a beautiful bed and breakfast, complete with acreage and horseback riding, named “First Farm Inn.” It is two miles from Answers in Genesis. When I was less aged, I could have walked that easily and so can some of you. Biking would be even easier. Jen has a limited number of bed and breakfast rooms available for May 27th and thereabouts. And, she has graciously agreed to let people coming for the Rally for Reason do primitive tent camping on her property for a much reduced fee. The term “primitive camping,” as used herein, means you may sleep on the ground in a sleeping bag or cot and you may put up a tent. However, you may not have a fire. There will not be bathroom facilities.

For more information, call Jen. Tell her Edwin sent you. Here is the contact information:

http://www.firstfarminn.com

First Farm Inn

2510 Stevens Road

Petersburg, KY 41080

Jen (jen@firstfarminn.com)

859 586 0199

Because the event is on Memorial Day, if you are planning to attend it is recommended that you make reservations NOW. If you can get a number of folks to agree to group together, you may be able to (probably can) get a group rate. Ask the motel.

There is a suggested list of what to bring and what not to bring on our website:

www.rallyforreason.com

PLEASE NOTE: You have to get to the site and get back to wherever you are going next on your own. There are no buses, cars, bikes, rickshaws, mules, or any such whatsoever provided by the organizers to transport you. It is strongly suggested that you make arrangements with someone with a car for a ride. Failing this, you could take a cab.

This rally is an exercise in self reliance and in independence and mastery. It should be great training for surviving the American Religious Civil War.

Edwin Kagin, “Rally for Reason”

**

FIG TO HOST “RALLY for REASON SPEAK-OUT” SUNDAY, MAY 27

WHO: The Free Inquiry Group of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky (FIG)

WHAT: “Rally for Reason Speak-Out”

WHEN: Sunday, May 27th, 2007, at 7:00 pm. (EDT)

WHERE: Hilton Cincinnati Airport, 7373 Turfway Road, Florence, Kentucky. Phone (859) 371-4400.

The hotel is easy to get to. It is just off of the Turfway Exit on

I-71 / I-75 in Northern Kentucky.

The Hilton is also holding us some rooms at a group rate. Tell them you are coming for the Rally for Reason.

This meeting will be the evening before the Rally for Reason, set for outside of the gates of Answers in Genesis, on Monday, Memorial Day, May 28th, 2007.

Come and meet others, and hear such speakers as Arlene-Marie, President of Michigan Atheists; Rev. Mendle Adams, a Christian minister; Frank Zindler, author and scientist, Dr. Gene Kritsky, an evolutionary biologist; Helen Kagin, a retired physician and many others.

Yes, there will also be an open mike and an opportunity for those of you who have come for the Rally for Reason to speak out as well. The press has been invited. Some folks are making a documentary of this event.

Details for the Rally for Reason will be discussed.

===========================================================================================================

Feel free to distribute, AANEWS update on Memorial Day RALLY FOR REASON

Atheists and Believers Join to Oppose Nonsense

ANNOUNCEMENT of RALLY for REASON

WHO: People who accept evolution over superstition and myth.

WHAT: Rally for Reason.

WHEN: 9:00 am (EDT) Monday, May 28, 2007 (Memorial Day)

WHERE: Outside the gates of “Answers in Genesis,” Bullittsburg Church Road, Exit 11, off of 275 from 1-71/I-75, Petersburg Road, Boone County, Kentucky

Please note: This is a very rural area. No motels, no department stores, no nothing. No facilities, no food or drink, no shelter, open air only, no protection, chances of survival doubtful. (Okay, we will provide port-o-potties, and there are restaurants and such only a short distance away).

People from all over the country are invited to join outside of the gates of “Answers in Genesis” (AiG) in Northern Kentucky to let the world know that many rational Americans do not share the primitive world view that the Earth is only a few thousand years old, and that humans and dinosaurs existed at the same time, as presented by the 27 million dollar plus “Creation Museum,” opening Memorial Day, May 28, 2007.Various groups, representing both religious and secular orientations, will join together to protest this destructive world view.

The organizers stress that they do not challenge the right of AiG to present their worldview. “They can teach that things fall up if they wish,” said Edwin Kagin of Union, Kentucky. “We are simply trying to show that the nonsense they are vending is not accepted by those who do not share their fundamentalist religious views, and their effort to sneak those teachings into the public schools.”

AiG believes that the book of Genesis in the Bible is literally correct. See: www.AnswersInGenesis.org . For contrast see:http://www.talkorigins.org ; http://home.austarnet.com.au/stear/default.htm

More details will be provided as they become available. So pay attention, make some signs, bring your musical instrument, water bottle, and trail mix, and plan to come to Kentucky y’all.

See: http://rallyforreason.arkonuts.com

For more information contact: reasonrally@hotmail.com

————————————————————————————————————

ANNOUNCEMENT OF “RALLY for REASON SPEAK-OUT”

WHO: The Free Inquiry Group of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky (FIG) will sponsor\

WHAT: “Rally for Reason Speak-Out”

WHEN: Sunday, May 27th, 2007, at 7:00 pm. (EDT)

WHERE: Hilton Cincinnati Airport, 7373 Turfway Road, Florence, Kentucky. Phone (859) 371-4400.

The hotel is easy to get to. It is just off of the Turfway Exit on I-71 / I-75 in Northern Kentucky.

The Hilton is also holding us some rooms at a group rate. Tell them you are coming for the Rally for Reason.

This meeting will be the evening before the Rally for Reason, set for outside of the gates of Answers in Genesis, on Monday, Memorial Day, May 28th, 2007.

Come and meet others, and hear such speakers as Arlene-Marie, President of Michigan Atheists; Rev. Mendle Adams, a Christian minister; Frank Zindler, author and scientist, Dr. Gene Kritsky, an evolutionary biologist; Helen Kagin, a retired physician and many others.

Yes, there will also be an open mike and an opportunity for those of you who have come for the Rally for Reason to speak out as well. The press has been invited. Some folks are making a documentary of this event.

Details for the Rally for Reason will be discussed.

Did you miss Woodstock? Did you miss Stonewall? Did you miss Selma? Did you miss People’s Park? Did you miss the 60s?

Don’t miss this! Y’all come, y’hear!

Edwin.

ON EASTER

The things you are liable to read in the Bible, they ain’t necessarily so. Porgy and Bess

Easter is the High Holy Day of the Christian religion. In its many manifestations, Easter celebrates the myth of the reanimation from death of the god Jesus, aka the Christ. Like its womb mate Christmas, Easter is a marvelous blend of Christian and non-Christian nonsense. The Christian side is represented by “Handel’s Messiah” and hot cross buns (a seasonal pastry with a sugar cross on it) and the non-Christian nonsense side by “In Your Easter Bonnet…” and hunts for Easter Eggs (dyed boiled eggs in the shell–laid, young minds are taught to believe, by rabbits. Some hold the rabbits don’t lay the eggs, only deliver them. What do you think?).

To understand the phenomena of Easter, one must understand the Christian “Gospels.” These four small propagandist tracts, written long after the supernatural fact, by unknown authors who did not know Jesus, contain the only known evidence for the existence of Jesus. Believers will argue other historic proofs, but these are provable forgeries added centuries later by pious priests who copied or translated Jewish, Roman and Greek texts. If the ancient writers had deliberately omitted Jesus merely because they had never heard of him, this error was often fixed for later Christian editions. The only evidence for Easter beliefs comes from the gospels.

Here’s a neat bible study exercise for non believers. It will help you learn something of the Christian belief system and will prove useful in the American Religious Civil War when believers try to force you to play in their sandbox. Read all four gospels and, including every fact contained within them, write a concise, noncontradictory chronology of what happened between the time Jesus was crucified on a stake (the Greek word translates “stake” not “cross”–tell that to your preacher and watch him ring them bells) and the moment he went up to Heaven. Then you will know what Christians believe. To make the challenge more exciting, be sure to include facts, for the same time frame, from “The Acts of the Apostles” and from the letters of Paul. Paul really got Christianity going. He claimed to have seen Jesus after Jesus had gone to Heaven. Lots of people believed him. Lots of people believed Joseph Smith too. Joseph Smith wrote “The Book of Mormon” and claimed an angel helped him translate buried gold plates the angel later reburied. At least Paul had honest delusions.

The reason the death of Jesus is of importance to Christians is because if they believe Jesus died for their sins they get to live forever with him when they die. Because Jesus survived death, believers will too. Somehow Jesus’ “sacrifice” doesn’t seem like such a big deal, being a god and all, and getting to come alive again after being dead only one day and two nights. Many people have died for others and have stayed dead. There should be no shortage of volunteers willing to die to save everyone forever and be worshipped as a god if they could come alive again after being dead between Friday evening and Sunday morning.

Once you finish the bible stories about Jesus, you may well wonder how anyone could believe this stuff, and you should understand why the events were omitted from every other history of that time. When Jesus died on the stake, the bible reports that dead people came out of their graves (whether decomposed or not isn’t revealed), walked around the city and were recognized by many. This should have provoked some interest by the scandal sheets of the day, but no other reference is found of it. We might wonder if the risen dead sued to get their property back from their useless heirs.

You will note from your Easter biblical studies that the primary witness to the resurrection of the Christ was one Mary Magdalene, a woman thought to be a prostitute who had been possessed by seven demons, i.e., she was nuts. Wouldn’t it have been nice if the risen savior of the world had appeared in all his glory to the Roman Senate where literate rational humanists could have recorded an accurate account of this miracle? Why have your immortal soul hang in the balance on less than credible evidence? Should one accept that laws of nature have been broken and that a dead body has come alive again on the word of a deranged hooker? Would a just, rational, compassionate god condemn one to eternal torment for doubting such evidence? Clearly the Senate, or even a meeting of the Aqueduct Committee, would have been a better place to break the good news of salvation.

But we are not dealing with a rational god or even decent moral behavior in the Easter story. The god the myth says was the father of Jesus believed in child sacrifice. Previously content with blood drained from the slashed throats of sheep, goats and such, god needed more gore to save everyone. He wanted his own kid killed as a blood sacrifice for the sins of the world. This is what little children (kids) are taught in Sunday School (that’s where Christians violate the Fourth Commandment by worshipping on the first day of the week instead of the seventh as god ordered–no wonder we are in such trouble). But if child murder for the sins of others isn’t bad enough, consider this. Christians celebrate the death and rebirth of the god Jesus in a grotesque cannibalistic ritual of (symbolically if Protestant; for real if Roman Catholic) eating his flesh and drinking his blood! This bizarre custom is known as “Holy Communion”–dare we call it “swallow the leader?”

If Jesus rose from the dead, and if he went to Heaven, and if Heaven is outside the known universe, and if the laws of nature invented by god apply to god, then Jesus could not travel faster than the speed of light. If he left for Heaven two thousand years ago, he isn’t there yet, and won’t be there for some time. Therefore, we really need not concern ourselves at this point about his return to earth. Presumably he will return sometime after he gets there.

So now you know about Easter. You will probably be a happier and better adjusted human being if you stick to the Easter Parade and pass on the eating
of human flesh and blood. And please remember that this disgusting rite is practiced in buildings owned by Christian groups who do not have to pay taxes on their property or income.

And the next time some un-American lunatics want to have forced Christian prayer in public schools, tell them you are a spiritual vegetarian. Happy Easter.

Edwin Kagin

(Permission is given for non-profit reproduction. If you make money on it, I want some of it. Edwin)

JESUS CHRIST HAS RETURNED

April 01, 2007. Independence, Missouri, U.S.A,

Jesus Christ has returned to Earth!

The Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of the World, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Great I Am, has returned to our suffering world as He promised to do quickly over 2,000 years ago.

In God’s stunning surprise move, this greatest event in the history of the modern world occurred just after Midnight on Sunday, April 1st, 2007. The Christ returned to a sacred spot in Independence, Missouri, U.S.A., as correctly predicted by the Mormon leader Joseph Smith. Believers expecting His return to occur on Temple Mount in Jerusalem were shocked, but red heifers were much relieved.

Religious leaders worldwide were taken completely by surprise, even though the sacred writings had said no one knew the date or the hour of the divine reappearance. But every knee was bowed and every tongue confessed that the Lord Jesus had come. Those few, in Independence, Missouri and elsewhere, who denied the obvious, the “Second Coming Deniers,” were classed as persons so caught up in sin that they could not see truth made manifest before them.

The timing, while unpredicted, does fit a pattern.

The Rapture occurred just over seven years ago. For a full report, see:

http://www.edwinkagin.com/columns/transubstantiation.htm .

It is uncertain just what will happen next. God, being God, is fully capable of changing His mind, and then stating that He did not change His mind, and that we, who are but mortals, did not understand Him the first time. And He is of course right. Whatever He says is right. Maybe we are not all condemned as we were told after The Rapture of 2000 C.E. Maybe we just misunderstood.

Those who have long asked, “What Would Jesus Do” are rapidly finding out.

The Messiah has ordered all churches, of whatever persuasion or denomination, to immediately liquidate their assets, ordering them, as he had the first time around, to “sell all that you have and give to the poor.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, both reorganized and un-reorganized, has begun to comply, as have Protestant and other denominations. The Roman Catholic Church has issued directives that all of its worldwide holdings are to be given to the poor, after satisfying judgments for damages rendered against them for their priests abusing children.

The Pope in Rome has abandoned his golden throne and offered it to the Christ, who simply said, “Sell it, and all that you have, and give to the poor.” Worldwide, gold is being removed from tabernacles, temples, and mosques, and bank accounts are being emptied to provide food and housing for the poor, as the divine directive becomes realized.

Church property worldwide is being liquidated. It appears that all poverty will be abolished virtually overnight.

Ministers preparing to preach Palm Sunday sermons, celebrating the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on his previous visit, quickly changed their messages to proclaim the good news of his entry into Independence.

Everywhere, the strains of “Handel’s Messiah” are heard in the streets.

All war on Earth has ceased.

American Atheists has disbanded and cancelled their Easter Convention.

Thoughtful people are wondering just how it is possible to know the truth.

But the truth will set us free.

Details on the nightly news, immediately following the latest on the Anna Nicole story.

by Edwin Kagin, Special Reporter, April 1, 2007.

All Rights Reserved. Permission to Reproduce is Granted.

The Bizarre Trial and Decision on the Custody of the Corpse of Anna Nicole Smith

It is perhaps excessively charitable to characterize as merely bizarre the trial and resulting decision in the case of just who should have custody of the decaying corpse of former Playmate of the Year Anna Nicole Smith.

Underpinning the entire madness was the unstated assumption that the dead (no one said “dead” of course; they said things like “passed on,” “passed away,” and other euphemisms of denial) former model will know, care, and be emotionally affected by, where her “remains” are “laid to rest,” i.e. buried, so that she can “finally” be really dead or something.

Not unexpectedly, a while back the 20’s or 30’s something bride was left a widow woman when her 90’s something billionaire husband died, and some millions of dollars were left to her in a much disputed will. Recently her son died and was buried in the Bahamas. Then Anna Nicole died, leaving behind a young daughter sired by presumably only one of an increasing list of competing applicants. No DNA tests have been done, so the fatherhood of said child is as yet undetermined. Maybe no one knows for sure. Motherhood is a fact, fatherhood is an opinion. If you (assuming you are male) were the father, and by being so declared could perhaps manage lots of money for your daughter’s estate, would you not be first in line at the DNA lab? And if you knew you were not the father, but were in fact a perjurous fortune hunter, would you not resist having a DNA test done? Just wondering.

Then there was the estranged mother of the corpse, who had not seen her now dead child for years, but who really loved her and had warned her about the drugs she thinks wasted both daughter and grandson. She wants the body. The law, as will be explained, says she gets it.

Stir into this a roomful of lawyers, doubtless being paid by the hour to be on national television, and an arguably narcissistic emotionally troubled incompetent for a judge, and compelling drama must needs result. And it did.

Lest your narrator run afoul of legal rules prohibiting him as an attorney from comments tending to bring the bench and bar into disrepute by commenting on behavior that brings the bench and bar into disrepute, permit the caveat that the following remarks are rendered as opinion, satire, fair comment, paraphrase, or imperfect attempts at public education directed toward improved understanding and delivery of legal services, and are intended to be neither the absolute truth nor criticism of anyone. The following are not statements of the law or of the facts of this case and should be understood as creative fiction, in that it is inconceivable that such things could actually have happened, and the fact that your author was not there and is not an authority on the law herein discussed.

A dead human body is regarded by the law as personal property. Therefore, certain fairly simple rules apply. In the Florida case that resulted when Anna Nicole was found dead, the rule is thought to be that the body is, upon application, to be delivered to the next of kin who may claim the property and dispose of it in a lawful manner, that being usually burial or cremation, in a given jurisdiction or wherever, although there are of late other neat things, like….. Never mind. Please consult “On the Disposal of Human Remains,” from Baubles of Blasphemy, by your author. It can be found here: http://www.edwinkagin.com/columns/human-remains.htm .

It works like this. The next of kin gets the body. There is really nothing complex to decide. The spouse gets the body. If none, then it goes to a child over the age of eighteen. If none, then to a parent. Freeze frame. We need go no further. In the case under consideration, there was no spouse. There was no child over eighteen. There was a parent who would take, and who wanted, possession of the body. Simply, huh? Case closed, right? Mother gets the body doesn’t she? Hardly.

Rather than reaching the obvious legal conclusion and giving the dead girl to her mother for burial, the hearing involved several days of irrelevant and inadmissible testimony, ranging from speculations on paternity, and on who slept where, to a video of an grossly impaired Anna Nicole in a clown costume, with the whole show punctuated by arguably improper leading questions and personal antidotes and opinions issuing from the seemingly emotionally disturbed, or incompetent, and frequently weeping, trial judge.

Then, in a sudden change of direction, the judge, appearing as if he was about to decompensate on the bench, and giving the impression to keen legal observers that someone with more authority and sense than he had told him to give it up and go home, the judge declared a short break, returned, and tearfully rendered his ruling. Custody of the corpse was awarded, he said, to the guardian ad litem of the minor child. Said guardian ad litem was ordered to decide, in his sole discretion, where the body was to be buried. And, the judge said, that place was to be beside the body of Anna Nicole’s dead son in the Bahamas. The judge then declared that he was completely through with the case, that he had no further jurisdiction over anything, and left.

Where to start? Well, a guardian ad litem is a court appointed attorney who is in a case to represent a minor child’s best interests and to protect said minor child’s legal rights. This is fit and proper. A “guardian ad litem” is not a legal “Guardian,” as that term is ordinarily understood. “Ad litem” means for the purposes of the legal action, the instant litigation, and not for anything else. A true Guardian is a person given essentially lawful custody and decision making authority by a court for a minor or for an incompetent adult. There is no legal authority whatsoever to give a guardian ad litem possession of the body of the dead mother of a minor child. For that matter, there is no legal authority to give a true Guardian the body of anyone who is not his next of kin. And there is no authority for a judge to assign to a guardian ad litem the judge’s responsibility to follow the law and to make a proper legal ruling.

One must feel sympathy for the judge and hope that he gets help.

The mother is appealing the decision.

And the body is decomposing.

Edwin Kagin
February 22, 2007

Lest We Forget…..

Today, February 17th, we should pause and remember that great hero of freethought, Giordano Bruno.

On February 17, 1600 Giordano Bruno was murdered by the Christian Inquisition.

His murderers would protest that he was lawfully executed.

His crimes ( from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno ) were as follows:

  1. Holding opinions contrary to the Catholic Faith and speaking against it and its ministers.
  2. Holding erroneous opinions about the Trinity, about Christ’s divinity and Incarnation.
  3. Holding erroneous opinions about Christ.
  4. Holding erroneous opinions about Transubstantiation and Mass.
  5. Claiming the existence of a plurality of worlds and their eternity.
  6. Believing in metempsychosis and in the transmigration of the human soul into brutes.
  7. Dealing in magics and divination.
  8. Denying the Virginity of Mary.

What he was really murdered for was for saying the Earth moved around the Sun.

He was burned alive at the stake.

Before the fire was lit, his tongue was nailed to the roof of his mouth so he could not utter further blasphemies as he painfully died.

You can learn more about this great hero here:

http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/john_kessler/giordano_bruno.html

Many think such things could not happen today.

You don’t really believe in evolution do you?

And you don’t think the Earth goes around the Sun, do you…….?

Edwin.

Do Angels Have Sex?

The following brilliant analysis of one of the statements in Baubles of Blasphemy was sent to me to refute my error and to set me straight. In this apologetic work, we learn that I was correct but that god either does or does not have sex and that angels either do or do not have sex and that language doesn’t mean anything and names don’t mean anything and that the sexless author of the refutation has never encountered a television named Robin.

Reader’s views are invited.

Edwin.
——————————————-

From: One Two

Subject: Minor edit for you: angels are sexless, not male

I read today your webpage about Santa Claus at

http://www.edwinkagin.com/columns/christmas.htm

Generally I enjoyed and agreed with what you write.

As a minor complaint, however, you assert that “there

are no female angels–check your bible, you can win

bets on this” — which is true, in the limited sense

that nearly all translations of the Bible refer to all

spiritual beings as if they were males. However, the

mere fact that the authors and translators, working

within the confines of our limited human languages,

chose this form of expression does not mean that any,

much less all, angels *are* males.

Sex designations are used as differentiators for

reproductive function. It is quite impossible for

angels to have a sex unless both (a) at least two

sexes of angels exist and (b) angels reproduce

themselves sexually (instead of, for example, being

created by G-d or using an asexual reproductive

process). One can no more have a “male angel” without

at least the possibility of the existence of a female

angel than one can have a “male television” or a “male

viral particle.”

It would, I think, be more accurate to say only that

all spiritual beings mentioned in the Bible are

*described as* being male.

Thanks for your attention.

Are Atheists Wrong About Prayer?

Is it possible that Atheists are wrong and that sometimes prayers are really answered.

No.

But the results of the recent election does give one pause.

Was it not lawfully prayed in countless churches throughout our land, and unlawfully prayed in a growing number of American public schools, captured by the forces of darkness in the American Religious Civil War (ARCW), for “Our Father Who Art in Heaven” to “deliver us from evil?”

Or was it loyal Americans, tired of tyranny and of theocracy, who managed in some small measure at least to deliver us from evil?

Wonder if those now booted out of office would object to the idea that perhaps it is time for the Legislature to take back control of the Executive Branch of government?

Would those who think our way of life exists to unjustly enrich them be horrified at such an idea? Of course they would be horrified. All Americans should be horrified at such a idea.

That is because such a sentiment is unconscionably unconstitutional.

For the exact same reasons as was the idea, expressed in what some traitors were pleased to call “Justice Sunday,” that the Legislature should take back control of the Judiciary.

The ARCW is far from over.

Edwin.

ON THE RAPTURE, SEVEN YEARS AFTER

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matthew 7:21-23. Holy Bible (KJV, of course).

Many kind and compassionate Atheists are concerned about a now-available-in-stores video game in which self-proclaimed good believing Christians obtain points by killing off other Christians, and members of lesser breeds who are not as godly as they, as the best Christians seek to be taken up into the sky to a make-believe place, a supernatural realm, to there be joined or reunited with invisible friends, both those forever immortal and those heretofore dead. This shoot thy neighbor game, this harmless representation of Christian caring, this faith filled electronic exemplar of god’s love, is said to be being vended by Wal-Mart and other Fundangelical Friendly Facilities (FFFs) throughout the United States. This writing is to suggest that the reactions of both players and critics may be somewhat overdone, although, in general theological reasoning, those who condemn such a deviate departure from decent demeanor are far more correct and “moral” and have better “values” than do those who would, even in pretend play, practice the sociopathic acts represented by the game and who would transmit such treasonous terroristic teachings unto their children.

Given the progress of secularism in elevating human behavior over the past several centuries, amazed Atheistic condemnation of the approbation of this activity by the godly is quite understandable. Yet we should perhaps have some sympathy for the hurt, outrage, and fear these fundangelical folks must feel, and perhaps we can find some small room for a measure of sympathy for their need to sublimate their despair at having not made the cut. If they are pathetically still awaiting The Rapture, we cannot but feel some pain, as for wounded children, for their hostile striking out, for their projection of passion poignantly presented in this “game,” where they, the clear losers, can be made to feel empowered and still somehow seemingly worthy of some sort of salvation.

At the stroke of midnight, December 31st, 2006, seven years will have passed since The Rapture. Yeah, I know some readers are now thinking that this is only six years. But figure it out. When a kid becomes “One Year Old,” said child has lived one year and is starting the second year of life. At child’s seventh birthday, child has then lived seven years and is beginning to live the eighth year of life. This is, of course, why many were mistaken in thinking the new millennium began at the beginning of the year “2000,” when it actually began at the beginning of “2001.” They were applying the rule for birthdays. But dates for years don’t work like birthdays. Let us say a babe is born in the year “One,” as some say someone of some importance was. The whole year of the child’s birth would be the year “One.” And at the end of that year, the child would be “one year old,” but it would also be the beginning of the year “Two.” Thus, the second millennium was not over until the end of the year “2000,” when 2000 years had been completed. But this did not prevent The Rapture from coming as foretold that terrible day seven years ago! And nothing will change that fact. No matter how many video games are vended with the theme of the joy of killing others on one’s way to being taken up into the skies to be with the lord and to enjoy the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. And now, after those seven years, we might pause and reflect on how we are doing. More on point for this rant, how the godly unsaved, the blessed condemned, are doing.

Seven (7) years is, after all, a somewhat magical number in their delusional system, a number recurring throughout their holy writings and prophetic texts, works viewed by them as future history. And seven years is a fairly long time. A person can go through college and Law School in seven years. Seven years is the traditional time after which a missing person is presumed dead. Seven is a magical holy number. It is the trinity plus the four gospels. It is the most perfect of numbers. And it has been that long since The Rapture.

All good and literate persons now know full well what happened. Even little children have read and have been taught that which hath been writ in, “ON THE TRANSUBSTANTIATION OF THE WORLD: THE REVELATION TO EDWIN.” This seminal document for our age may be found in electronic form here: http://www.edwinkagin.com/columns/transubstantiation.htm. It can also be found included in the banned book, Baubles of Blasphemy, created by your narrator. A few copies from the first printing of this classic may still be available. Check www.edwinkagin.com for information on this and other ultimate realities.

But I digress. The point is that The Rapture has happened, is gone, done, and over. If you are still here, you missed it. You had your chance. You will not be raptured, though you may yet still be ruptured. No one will ever be saved again. End of story. Get used to it.

Most readers who are of age remember that day seven years ago well, even if they were unaware of the happening of The Rapture. It was called “Y2K” (meaning “Year 2000”—for those doing their dissertations on this era), and people were getting ready for every computer on Earth to crash, and for banks, and therefore civilization as we have come to know it, to fail, and for marauding bands of brigands from here or wherever to try to invade their homes to get their stuff, so they hid their gold coins, laid in provisions, and locked their doors to await the end of the world, surrounded by survival equipment and weapons.

And nothing happened. Many credited it to the intervention of a god, totally ignoring all of the efforts of many computer geeks who had worked hard the entire previous year to fix the problems in the nation’s computers that would cause them to do dog knows what when they hit the next hour after midnight on December 31, 1999, in that the year had been expressed in computer-speak in only double digits, like “98,” “99,” etc. After all, who could have predicted at the dawn of the computer age that a new thousand year period would one day come—sorta like being in college in the ‘60s’ (see how it works—doesn’t tell you if it is 1760s or 1960s does it?) and reading George Orwell’s “1984,” and thinking it was an impossibly long time away. But 1984 came, and is still with us, and 2000 came, and it was not really special in any way at all. After all, dates on the calendar don’t really mean anything more than does the line on a map between Kentucky and Tennessee. They are not real things. There are not really lines on the ground between states or nations. Such things only mean what people agree that they mean.

After Y2K, clever shoppers could get great bargains on unused generators, still in their boxes, and on such delicacies as mung beans. Some frightened folks who bravely stayed in bomb shelters may still be there.

The simple truth is that we are all doomed pennies on the track.

Moral persons who incorrectly, but nevertheless sincerely, believe that The Rapture is yet to
come should, in consistent good faith, insist that airplanes in flight, hospital rooms doing surgeries, and other highly intensive life preserving industries be required by law to hire Atheist pilots, operating room staffs, etc., thus insuring that persons keeping their charges alive by narrow behavioral decisions do not abandon them when such saved professionals are chosen to go frolic in the phantasmagorical fields of divine dispensations. Those in the air or under the knife, although left behind, should not be left alone. But this is not really necessary, as no rapturing is in their, or anyone’s, future, for the reasons heretofore revealed. In any case, it might be nice if they decently suggested making some provisions for those of us they think will in fact be “left behind.” Maybe their failure to do so shows just why they didn’t make the Jesus Team.

To summarize, at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, seven years ago, all persons ever to be raptured off to Heaven went as had been foretold, and as reported in the revelation to Edwin above referenced. This is a fact beyond dispute. It is simply not open to further discussion. The Rapture is now, and has been for the past seven years, part of our human history. People still awaiting the coming of The Rapture are pathetically deluded, or criminally fraudulent, in waiting for it or in trying to get money and converts for causes that no longer have any meaning. The almighty power is through with the dregs that were left behind. The only thing remaining of theological significance is the final culmination of all things, the end of the world, in which all of us are….. Never mind. It’s too awful, and this is a family friendly publication.

As to the game, and its electronic exegesis, that provided the initial excuse for this blasphemy, and the impetus of the exegetes to indulge in such diversions, one can only ironically wonder, “What would Jesus do?”

Anyhow, don’t take life too seriously. You won’t get out of it alive anyway.

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Edwin, by dog

December 30, 2006

Setting Edwin Straight.


Here we present another commentary from someone who has heard certain of my comments, found them to be antithetical to his understanding of The Truth, and resolved to set me straight.

I do not need to respond to an authority who does not know how to spell “Atheism.”

Doesn’t he know the rule of spelling, “i before e except after c, or in Atheism?”

One might wonder why this fellow needs to spend so much life space putting together incorrect, hostile, misleading, and ill informed facts and conclusions rather than just accepting his truth that he is going to Heaven and that I am going to Hell and be done with it.

Readers are invited to respond in the comments section herein.


Edwin.

==================================================================================

From: (Redacted)
Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2006 5:38 PM
To: edwin@edwinkagin.com
Subject: Comments

Afternoon Mr. Kagin:

In a recent televised special, I listened to the arguments for and against God, of which you were a member of the panel.

After listening to numerous Univ. discussions over the years, regarding this and other topics in respect to creation Vs evolution, the same question comes to mind.

In claiming to be an athesist, you have denied the existence of God as Creator, is this not correct?

If it is, why waste so much time arguing over who is or is not correct, if there is no God? Or do you sub-consciously believe their is a God, but you refuse to be accountable to anyone other than yourself?

Even Lucifer had knowledge of God, but he decided to exalt himself above God.( At least he was honest with himself )

Is that not what the Humanist is attempting to do?

Definitions:

atheism

/aythi-iz’m/

noun the belief that God does not exist.

— DERIVATIVES atheist noun atheistic adjective atheistical adjective.

— ORIGIN from Greek a- ‘without’ + theos ‘god’.

humanism

noun 1 a rationalistic system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. 2 a Renaissance cultural movement which turned away from medieval scholasticism and revived interest in ancient Greek and Roman thought.

— DERIVATIVES humanist noun & adjective humanistic adjective.

Please notice the focus on human rather than divine. When the divine is ignored, and the human has elevated himself above the divine, he/she has declared himself/herself to be a god or goddess. Is this not what Lucifer did? It most certainly is.

Just a couple of quotes in closing:

My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.Albert Einstein (Nobel prize for Physics in 1921). Calaprice, Alice: The Quotable Einstein (Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1996).

Every time I write a paper on the origin of life, I determine I will never write another one, because there is too much speculation running after too few facts.” Francis Crick, [Crick received a Nobel Prize for discovering the structure of DNA.] Life Itself, Its Origin and Nature (1981), p. 88.

Just a few of many quotes from prominent individuals regarding Creation…

Regards,

Paul M. Anderson Ed.D, Ph.D Eng.

Retired Professor of Quantum Theory