I was assisted in this part one reposting and expansion by a bottle of Pine Ridge Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018. A blast of blackberries and plums on the front end. Long sustain on the palate. A middle of vanilla, expresso, and oak. Moderate tannins. Cherries and licorice on the back end. Bold but smooth finish.
“I prayed for freedom for twenty years – but received no answer until I prayed with my feet.”
Frederick Douglass
NOTE: This post in three parts is a transcription of a recording. This is me – Arthur, talking – raw and uncut – not writing. Myself and four other guys were at my house having a discussion that was fueled by hot wings (for them), vegan chili (for me), cognac, and beer. That is why the narrative is kinda “jerky,” inconsistent, profane, and in some places redundant. You will also see improper sentence structure in some places – like sentences ending in propositions.
Here Family, this is a repeat of an unregulated conversational exchange – not focused and structured writing. But – I am giving you the whole conversation. Questions were being asked, and some of those questions, responses, and rebutting statements are worked into the transcription to make it flow somewhat better. Most of the New International Version [NIV] and King James Version [KJV] biblical citations and other attributions were added later for clarity. Freedmen Family – you are getting the whole conversation. Read and reflect.
Why post this? Some folks have asked me if my Atheism informs my politics, I must respond “yes.” Beliefs inform all actions, and I think that religions, beliefs, and life philosophies are “operating systems” that shape one’s politics. That shape how one reacts (or not) to all things. That shape one’s outlook and proactivity. I am a full reparations activist – I am also the most complete and committed Atheist on the planet. This post is an opportunity for my Freedmen Family to know me better.
Full disclosure.
The other reason that I posted this here is because the politics in the Black [Freedmen] community is very much – too much, tied up in and with religion – churches – and preachers. Next to being released from legal slavery, and then being emancipated from the most onerous aspects of Jim Crow – reparations is the most important issue (yes) for us Freedmen in the here, and going forward until it is accomplished in the now. We have to do a mental reset in all aspects and at every level – that includes “belief systems.” My personal belief is that Christianity, the church, and the mindsets those constructs generate, has blunted our efforts to attain full citizenship and to obtain our reparational due – despite the fact that the Black church was quite prominent and instrumental in our previous freedom efforts.
In that respect – honors are due.
But!!! From the end of the “Civil Rights Era” going forward into the now – we have been fucked-over by the preacher-politician complex – that is just a fact. The dirty Democratic Party is the coordinator and beneficiary. Our Black preachers have always gotten in the way of good policy for Freedmen. For clergy – politics is just another income and influence stream, and churches serve as political indoctrination facilities – in addition to dispensing “hope” and “belief” bullshit. This post is not an assault on believers themselves. This is an assault on bad ideas, bad people, and what I perceive as bad beliefs. Bad beliefs always produce bad politics Family.
Always.
This post serves as a possible inducement for Freedmen to aggressively re-examine our individual, family, and group “operating systems,” and to evaluate whether they are politically and economically serving us in the here and now.
Not in heaven.
Ahh – HERE AND NOW MOTHERFUCKER.
Politics Is Life. – Politics Equals Resources. – Therefore:
I want all my Freedmen Family to understand the process by which I transitioned from believer to Atheist, by which I switched my allegiance from God – to an allegiance to Native Black American humanity and our reparations (other people are grown folks – and can take care of their own issues). My core of being (can we say “spirit?”) is now concretely foundationalized into the accomplishment of Black interests over that of white appeasement. I have snatched my focus away from heaven and the possibility of an ephemeral – unrealized salvation. No more God.
No more Jesus. No more Pastors. No more Church. I have refocused that same beautiful, reaching, transcendental, devotional energy towards the reparational ground I stand on – and the unliberated people in front of me.
Replacing the trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with the earthly triumvirate operationality of Business, Politics, and Economics. I can get on with the American practicality of creating a heaven in the here – and now, on THIS sacred ground.
TIME TO SWITCH IT UP
I look at Black clergymen as walking stacks of shit.
Many Black clergymen from then and now in the now are against reparations.
Never forget that religion did not, would not, and could not stop the exploitation of Black bodies. Never. Ever. The traditional African beliefs and practices did not stop them from practicing (even today) the inter-tribal trading and taking (in conflicts) for the purposes of enslavement – Black bodies. That unrelenting Black on Black enslavement done centuries before – and then feeding the Trans-Atlantic enterprise. Islamic piety certainly did not stop the African to Muslim slave trade (A trade that continues profitably till today?……… Oh Allah?).
The Catholic Church enthusiastically blessed the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Colonial Christianity was slavery’s main philosophical support in America. Right?
Native American tribal beliefs certainly did not stop the American Indian from participating in the entire slavery enterprise from top to bottom. White Evangelical Christianity was one of the most powerful forces in countering Civil Rights efforts. Violently and politically. And the third Secretary Of State for the Confederacy was Jewish – Judah P. Benjamin. All bullshit. Whatever good that religion was able to do in releasing us from slavery and securing citizen’s rights for us – is miniscule in comparison to the exhaustive amount of damage it abetted, and continues to exact.
And With That.
It should be an embarrassment that the Black church is the strongest institution in our community. That institution equals continued failure. We will never move forward as a people as long as the church remains our strongest institution. Our earthly existence is fed by politics and capitalism. Spirituality and metaphysics is not going to cut it. Because Jesus is Not Power. Jesus is The Game being played on us. And that church is the biggest player – on us. That Church is literally pushing us into the grave. Turning the other cheek to the bullets of white supremacy means death. Ours. I don’t care about the history – I don’t care about the tradition. I am speaking on a dark and parasitic institution that sustains our bleak condition and is partly responsible for our troublesome trajectory right now – going forward.
We cannot afford “Hope” anymore.
PART ONE:
“Through these [words] he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
2 Peter 1:4 NIV
I am what you might call a “Bible Atheist.” My first verbal eruption recognizing that there was something profoundly wrong in the racialized politics, normalized white supremacy, and Negro codes of Christian America, occurred in the summer of August 1966. I was eleven years old at the time, and the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior was campaigning in Chicago (my town) for open housing and the desegregation of all neighborhoods in the city. On the fifth of August, a march was staged through an all-white neighborhood in the city.
Reverend King and his group was met with the usual (at the time, and still practiced today) race-fueled hostility. Flying bricks, bottles, rocks. Supremacist calls of “Nigger! Nigger! Nigger!” etc. Reverend King was blasted in the head with a nice fat rock. That nice fat rock knocked him dead on his ass. The proceedings were televised on local television. And we were intently watching on our home set. Reverend King said: “I have seen many demonstrations in the South, but I have never seen anything so hostile and so hateful as I have seen today.” Wow…
To me – Reverend King embodied our intersection of religion and politics.
From things that I have seen and heard in church and mosque. Things that I have seen and experienced in society. Independently turning over in my mind what I received from certain sermons in my grandmothers church. Revisiting what I heard from certain lectures at my parent’s masjid (Temple No. 2 – Nation Of Islam). I had been developing all kinds of doubts about Christianity, Islam, Jesus, Allah, Jehovah. God. God. God!!! – Salvation, segregation, and lynching – With Taxes? OK. A Christian country? OK. Jesus loves you? OK. Can be a Christian AND A NIGGER – at the same motherfucking time? Damn. Let me check my watch.
Even at that age – I could clearly see that something was not adding up. I had been harboring those doubts for at least a year. But I never said anything.
After the Reverend King made his statement, I turned to my grandmother and said: “Granma, why does God only help white people?” She said: “What? Ahh – Baby, I know that’s what it looks like, but God has a reward for folks that keep the faith! What you looking at is the Devil, not God – OK Baby?” She then put her hand on my head, and started “speaking in tongues.” In order to “keep the peace,” I just said: “OK” – and kept it moving by changing the subject. You know?
That following Sunday, after services, one of the “elder ladies” of the church pulled me to the side and began to question me about my doubts. She asked: “Have you been praying for understanding?” I said: “No.” She said: “No wonder!!! You haven’t been reading your Bible, have you?” I had to admit, I had not read it at all. Like everybody, I just went by what the preacher said. She retorted: “Well, you should read it. It will straighten you out!” I said, “OK I will.” I don’t think she realized that I would actually do it. But I’m glad she asked, because reading the Bible in its entirety is what made me a hard-core Atheist. It took me twenty months, because I was not just reading it; I was studying and cross-referencing, and compiling notes on it. I religiously (Ha!) used a concordance and Bible dictionary.
I was THINKING.
One must remember that this was done before the internet, personal computing, Post-Its, and Hi-Lighters. By the time I finished with Book 66(!) of the King James Version (Revelation). I was done with Christianity, God, AND Jesus. FINISHED.
When I started from Page 1 (Genesis). Till the day I closed the book after the very last turn. Page 1834 (Revelation). Listen. I newly encountered a dismal world of incomparable weirdness. Reading onward, I never found much that was useful there. It wasn’t entirely bad. A few pieces here and there of actual wisdom. There was some great poetry – beautiful stuff. And I found some stand-alone gems regarding goodwill and human relations that are actually more useful taken out of context. Yep – out of context. The divine prohibitions against eating pork in the Books of Isaiah, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy are good to follow if you’d like to maintain good health. At the same time – at the time – it did not seem that you could be considered a good Christian in Black America if you did not eat pork.
When I was a child in the early 1960’s, you could come under a “Negro” cultural watch and suspicion if you turned down Mama’s pork chops: “You sure you don’t want chops Baby?” True Black Christians happily lived with their pork-induced diabetes, renal failure, and high blood pressure as they walked with Jesus.
Pork-shunning Black Muslims at the time were cultural outliers.
In that Bible (and later, Quran) – I also found a lot of stuff that simply was not true or logical. Whole chapters, and entire sections that are simply not usable in this modern world. Hundreds of strong statements established. And then hundreds of strong statements clearly made that directly contradict those that were previously established, being done with no clarifying or qualifying explanations. Those solid – but contradictory statements are just made and placed. They sit there with no clear and definitive repeals or nullifications of the statements they contradict. You follow this one OR you follow that one. The “which one” to follow seems to be dependent upon denominational and/or individual tastes.
There are no actual – I mean no literal workable connections or bridges between those contradictions to make a whole, sensible, and coherent unity of “The Word” as an entirety. If this “Word” is meant for “all mankind” – we are seriously talking about a necessary but missing universal applicability issue here folks. That’s a problem. “The Word Of God” containing contradictory statements? At all?
That’s an astonishing problem.
Seeing this is when I began to understand why – and why there can be, so many denominations and sects of Christianity. Denominations are created between the spaces of the contradictions – along with a mix of egoism, money, and politics.
I also made long and troubling notes on the fact that a lot of important existential stuff was missing. Like the correct explanations for gravity, water, light, quantum physics, organic chemistry, weak force, strong force, electromagnetism, and DNA. Those are “creation essentials” Dude. And with This God allegedly being “The Originating Scientist” – the fucking “Creator” – OK? And with us human beings having the full capability to understand the proper information, that stuff needs to be in there. The divine explanations AND the holy equations. All in there.
Nothing There.
Why did mankind have to wait thousands of years for an Albert Einstein to come onto the scene of reality (late) and explain E Equals mc Squared wrapped into the expansively apparent nature of space-time? OK? Which would have been necessary descriptive pieces to explain in any correct explanation of creation? OK? The speed of light? Dark Matter? Dark Energy? Yes. “The Creator” should have covered all of this. In this book. OK? How did my geology textbook from grammar school not mention anything about “The Great Flood?” Is it because that alleged event cannot be verified scientifically? Is it because we can’t find ANY corroborating geological evidence anywhere? Why not? Christians? This DID happen? Right? What is a star? Well, the Bible says that they can fall from the sky. Really Dude? Well – that’s what it “scientifically” says in Revelation 8:10 NIV. All fucking day Man.
Did the Bible writers even understand what a star is?
Disease is caused by demons – Matthew 10:1 NIV?
The world is flat with four corners – Revelation 7:1 NIV. Is it?
A lot of stuff is there that outrages any sense of operational morality; a lot of stuff that if put into practice would be dangerously uncivilized. And – a lot of stuff is there that is so opposite to any concept of a quality life, that it is understandable why most Christians of today ignore many if not all of the most unworkable and unreasonable parts of the Bible. Like: “Do not wear clothes of wool and linen [or any two fibers] woven together.” That’s Deuteronomy 22:11 NIV.
“Silk and wool suit Pastor?” OK.
The problem is that there are no repealing statements anywhere in that Holy Bible for not doing the most heinous or nonsensical stuff anymore (like slavery, stoning, misogyny, or killing gays). The Holy Bible is so open-ended, contradictory, and disjointed that anyone with a plan or agenda can merely “interpret” into existence any kind of doctrinal (or political) set up that he wants. And could actually back it up with good biblical justification if anyone decides to call him on his bullshit. As of like – right now – tonight. There are 41,626 different sects and denominations of Christianity that have all allegedly been “revealed” into existence just in America.
Confusion. These denominations and sects. Devoted to, I will presume, the ONE God. OK? But – if you notice, every other sect, and/or denomination, will point at every other sect and/or denomination, and say that those followers, that belong to every other sect and/or denomination are going to hell. Because God said so.
OK.
This Holy Bible. The Word Of God Himself. The Gospels. Literally leaves us all denominationally hanging. And thusly, scripturally directionless, with not one definitive passage, or verse(s) that would lead any of us to join the one “right” church (if there is one). So here we have Dude, 41,625 chances (and more) to go to hell. If we choose to congregate at “this church,” rather than “that church,” or “that church.” Or “that church.” Or “MY CHURCH” – because it’s the right one.
“The Lord” needs to do a conference call…
“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
1 Corinthians 1:10 KJV
Alright Cool. But at which church should or would this “perfect joining” take place? What denomination is scripturally appropriate to facilitate our being there appropriately? Denominationally? Specifically? “In the same mind and in the same judgment?” Especially when that translates to our righteous justice demand?
“Come on Paul. What’s the address?” Where? As a Reparationist – I see Christian denominationalism translating in many instances into ugly political divisionism. Positive Black American political momentums will sometimes die in churches.
And, the Bible is not time-specific at all – nor is it intended to be. Possibly. It is just chronologically open. For example, The New Testament gives us this:
“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, not one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
Matthew 5:18 KJV
OK? How long will that “all be” take? The Bible says we are in the “Last Days.”
What day is that “last day” indicated in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 KJV? – “Hello?”
Not much room for interpretation either:
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation.”
2 Peter 1:20 KJV
No “private interpretation” – huh?
So what is that pastor or priest talking about? Isn’t he “interpreting” in that pulpit? Giving HIS “take” on scripture? How HE feels? Dude, this verse means in plain English: “NO interpretation of the scripture. And if someone is doing it – hey, don’t fucking listen to him.” Right? All he is supposed to do, if anything, is to read any verse aloud, and shut the fuck up. I own twelve Bibles. I read them all to myself, and I keep my mouth shut (as far as interpreting anything). Why would I need to listen to him? A clergyman? Do you really need to go to church for that? Wasting time? Giving money? Listening to bullshit? Can you speak that to yourself?
Is the Bible “God’s Word” – or the pastors?
“The Sabbath” is another good example of what I mean by “unworkable and unreasonable.” How many Christians are out there that work on “The Sabbath,” and that know other Christians that work on “The Sabbath?” What about the restaurants many Christians go to after services? Well – according to the Bible, the penalty for the waiters and the cooks is death. That would be Numbers 15:32-36 KJV. Right? Are you flagging that waiter to take your donut order? Really Dude? According to the Bible, you are supposed to be executing that waiter – not giving him your order. That would be Exodus 31:15 KJV.
Aren’t You?
Well – Yeah Dude. The Holy Bible has no exceptions for restaurant personnel working on the Sabbath. It ain’t in there. How in the minds of Christians does it process that the people that work in the restaurants they go to after Sunday church services are somehow exempted from those Sabbath prohibitions and penalties?
So – where are these good Christians biblically? Huh? With them being the willing enablers of sin by patronizing these fine establishments. According to the Bible – “The Sabbath” is serious business. First established and made holy by God himself in Genesis 2:2-3 KJV, as part of the (first) Genesis creation narrative. And we read that “keeping the Sabbath” is the fourth commandment out of the ten dictated. Allegedly given to Moses on Mount Sinai in Deuteronomy 5:6-21 KJV.
“The Sabbath,” at least biblically, is something important. Something never, not to be messed with. That is Exodus 31:15 KJV. Remember – Jehovah, God commanded that a guy should be put to death, just for picking up sticks on this day. Numbers 15:32-36 KJV. Sticks equaling death? Damn. What a difference a stick can make.
And “Grace” doesn’t apply here.
On a more practical level, I don’t see why good wait staff would want to work in any restaurant that has a large percentage of Black Christians that loudly arrive after Sunday services. They don’t tip anyway – so why mess with that? No biblical exceptions for the football players in Sunday NFL games, or the folks that work at the power company (your lights on?). No Dude. Nope. Not even the folks at the gas station. How about the Fire Department? Dial 911!!! Voice mail kicks in: “Keep the Sabbath holy… If your house is on fire, please call us back on Monday morning. May God bless…” Would “The Sabbath” as authoritatively rendered in Exodus 20:8-11 KJV work for you in this instance? No Sunday overtime Man.
Stupid.
Then, to add to the confusion, as far as non-Christians outside of this – and them looking at the strong variances and denominational colors within the Christian landscape; the Christians themselves don’t seem to be in any agreement as to whether the actual “Sabbath” should be Sunday or Saturday. Present-day examples of “Saturday Sabbath-Keepers” specifically include: The Seventh-Day Adventists, The Seventh-Day Baptists, The Seventh-Day Evangelist Church, The Christ’s Assembly, The International Church Of God, and a whole bunch more. Along with all churches worldwide claiming biblical support for Sunday OR Saturday holy days. All churches authoritatively make this claim with the warning that doing sabbatistic devotionals on the wrong day is a hot ticket to hell. Is it?
Well – the Catholic Church, meeting at the “Council Of Laodicea” (363-364 AD), transferred “Sabbath” devotionals from Saturday to Sunday, with no divine consultation whatsoever. None. They didn’t ask God shit. Possibly, permission to make that switch wasn’t needed. The switch order came from Mr. Constantine. OK? I have always believed that Christianity is owned by white people anyway. And they can do whatever they want with it. That’s why white-assed Ku Klux Klan-type motherfuckers could blow up and burn down Black churches with impunity. No prosecution. No punishment. And ol’ Jesus did NOT stop shit.
Right?
We all know that God is white. “The Savior” Jesus is certainly white. I’m just going by the pictures. The Catholic priesthood has always claimed that they should have “authority” over motherfuckers: Maybe – they and the ruling powers should and do have “authority” over “God’s Word” as well? Who knows? But Christianity itself belongs entirely to white supremacy and niggers should understand that.
White Catholic priests certainly like having “authority” over little boy’s booty-holes (Oops!) – but hey Dude, that’s another discussion.
So. Every denomination, it looks like, seems to “stake-out” their own sweet day, according to their own taste preference of Saturday or Sunday. Is that what’s happening? I was thinking about throwing a wrench into all this by starting my own church and claiming that the real “Sabbath” is actually on Tuesday (I need money), and that God himself revealed this to me: “Right after eating a great bowl of Cocoa Puffs. A bright light appeared. And the Holy Spirit came upon me (get out of the gutter please) – and commanded me to establish this church!” Right?
I could preach this shit – and I know I would be able to get away with it.
Well, preachers do this stuff all the time.
Now, I had mostly kept my Atheism to myself (with the exception of immediate and extended family) for years. I did not open my mouth to the public about my position until immediately after 09/11/2001. That was when another “Party Of God” decided to make a strong political and religious statement by flying planes into buildings. Understand? A good friend (Seima Aoyama) was on American Airlines Flight 11. Blasted. Angry. Homicidal. Stop. I had never read a book written by any Atheist up till that time. I had my own good reasons for not believing. So I had no real need (so I thought) to seek other viewpoints. When I did start reading Atheist literature, one of the things that struck me – and still does, is the tremendous knowledge of the Bible that many Atheists possess.
Dude. I’m telling you, Atheists KNOW the fucking Bible. Not just direct and encyclopedically accurate knowledge of the literal text. But – Biblical History, Bible Criticism, Christian Apologetics, Biblical Exegesis, Free Will Theodicy, Aramaic Theory, New Testament Synoptics, Christian Ontology, Christian Epistemology, Divine Law Theonomy, Christian History, Christian Presuppositionalism, Christian Mythology, Effective Concordance Practice, Christian Hermeneutics, et cetera.
Most Atheists that I have read and interacted with seem to have a better grasp of the Bible and of the many diverse Christian doctrines, along with general Christian philosophy, doctrinal history, and theology than professional religionists or clergy. My personal observations reveal that: The greater the amount of clear, detailed knowledge one has about the Bible, the greater the likelihood that one may become Atheist, or may already be one. Yep. That is why I strongly believe – if I do believe anything. That 97% of full-time clergy (especially those with advanced degrees), professional apologists, and well-educated politicians are privately Atheist.
But those fuckers will never publicly admit the fact because of social, political, strategic, and economic reasons. A bunch of pragmatic wimps and liars.
Is the Pope still standing on that “infallibility” bullshit?
It is a solid fact that many people become Atheists as a result of going to college classes in theology or biblical studies – there are a LOT of those. People that have been formally educated in some of the world’s best divinity schools (like – Oxford, Princeton, Harvard, etc.), are presently some of the biggest and most passionate advocates for Atheism (like the late religion author Dr. Hector Avalos – Professor of Religious Studies at Iowa State University). Why do these sorts of people become hard non-believers? I think it is because Atheists truly care about whether their “operating system” is true or not. Is falsifiable or not. Is beneficial or not.
And the reason that YOU need to figure out whether your “operating system” is true or not is because as far as we know, we only have one lifetime. No one has proven otherwise. And there is a higher probability of that lifetime being a quality lifetime if we all at minimum have the clearest and most accurate understanding of reality to reference from. The Bible must be opened up to this type of evaluative scrutiny in fact – not in faith, because the Bible makes such strong, authoritative statements regarding reality. Dude – Christianity IS an “operating system.” OK?
Therefore, any scripture, religion, or life philosophy should and must be open to the closest examination. The hardest scrutiny. The most critical dismantlement of every single point presented. Evaluated in fact. Not in faith. That religion or life philosophy should be able to stand up to – and to then clearly remain operable at all levels under that kind of evaluative pressure. This established – before it should be adopted as a reference guide for your life. And that includes the Bible.
Does that make sense?
That research and scrutinization should always be done by and for YOU. That – “this is how I grew up” – OR – “that’s what my momma believed” – OR – “cuz that’s the tradition in my family” type bullshit. Those reasons ain’t nowhere near good enough to be “believing” anything. No Man. This is nothing but niggerized intellectual laziness. And motherfuckers allowing themselves to be trapped in the worlds of the “comfortable” and the “familiar.” We got these otherwise “smart” motherfuckers “believing“ shit. “You Guys are fucking grown-assed men. OK?” Grown motherfuckers should not be “believing” anything. Can we stick the “Tooth Fairy” and “Santa Claus” in there too? Fuck that. How about some facts Man? How about an admission if you don’t know? Operative wisdom lies in understanding that truth, proof, and reason trumps tradition, hope, and faith every time.
Faith Equals Death. “Faith” is the excuse making move, when you insist on believing things that have no logical basis or evidence to back up the move.
Understand. This Bible makes bold claims and assertions about the nature of reality, the course of earth history, and the course of cosmic development. “The Book Of Revelation” for example, takes a predictive position on the actual “end of the world.” But it reads like the reflection of a crazy bitch on a bad acid trip – for example. This Bible trespasses, emptily, upon all areas that have been correctly explained over time through the scientific method. And clarified through historical, cultural, and archaeological research. Ongoing. Nothing verifiable Man. How the universe came about, how life developed, the causes of disease, and so forth.
History. What verifiable realities actually happened? The Bible in fact (not faith) comes up woefully short, fully eclipsed by scholarship, experiment, research, and verifiable experience. When it comes to clear explaining of anything historically, culturally, morally, or scientifically. Historically – it does not do any better than begat, begat, begat. And no dates. No Dates Anywhere. This is why the Bible has to be constantly be “defended,” in order to remain usable, because most assertions and claims put forth in that ancient book cannot be demonstrated. Atheists have rightly gone beyond “defending” anything. Fuck That. Think Dude. Evidence and reason are the only things that count with anything dealing with reality.
So Guys – everything, including “God’s Word” is open to question. Everything. Ask The Question: “Is a, or any claim observable, transferable, and testable? Or is it not? And if it’s not, why not motherfucker?” Same shit you’d ask a hoe. Right?
So Fellas. OK. Can any “defended” biblical explanation, for any stated phenomena, claim, revelation, or occurrence, be rendered here-on-the-ground touchable, logical, and coherent – without us at any point resorting to metaphysics, spirituality shit, or transcendence to complete that explanation? I don’t know of any. But we do have many good folks in our midst who claim as their anointing to “Defend The Word.”
Dudes. If any biblical assertion regarding this reality is truly true, that truth would only need to be stated, demonstrated, and explained – and NOT “defended.” Any “Truth,” if it is true, does not require “faith” nor “belief,” or “defense.” Truth – in itself, is its own defense. Only accused people, liars, bullshit, nonsense, and truth claims, asserted without evidence or corroboration have a need to be “defended.”
That’s what lawyers are for.
On that note – it is irritating as fuck to talk to most Christians about certain passages in their scripture, because they don’t know what the hell you are talking about: “That’s not in my Bible!!!” At that point – you have to grab THEIR Bible away from them, turn to the appropriate passage, cite it, watch the cognitive dissonance kick-in, and then allow yourself to be entertained with the apologetic dance they always do when they encounter something in the Bible that THEY recognize to be literally heinous, literally untrue, literally contradictory, or literally stupid. It is important to keep a straight face. Hold it till you get home.
I recognized those things in the Bible when I was a mere teenager, so I know that astute religionists and the clergy see those things also. And if any one of them says anything about those things to the contrary of what I am saying RIGHT HERE – know that you are looking at a lying motherfucker. The average, run-of-the-mill believer needs to read and see those things as well – so that believer may formulate a pure, un-assisted (being un-assisted is important), but informed judgment.
For instance, a critical read reveals that the Bible is horribly edited. For example; there are TWO creation stories, with TWO different versions (Oops!) of the order in which God created things (No. 1 – Genesis 1:1 through 2:3 AND = No. 2 – Genesis 2:4-24). Just so you CAN SEE what I am talking about. Here it is:
CREATION ACCOUNT NUMBER ONE
Genesis 1:25-27 KJV (Humans were created AFTER the animals):
“(25) And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after theirs, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw it was good.
(26) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
(27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he him; male and female created he them.”
Genesis 1:27 KJV (Man and woman were created at the SAME TIME):
“(27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he him; male and female created he them.”
CREATION ACCOUNT NUMBER TWO
Genesis 2:18-19 KJV (Humans were created BEFORE the animals):
“(18) And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
(19) And out of the ground the Lord formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.”
Genesis 2:18-22 KJV (A man [male] was created FIRST, then the ANIMALS, then the WOMAN [female] from the man’s RIB):
“(18) And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
(19) And out of the ground the Lord formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
(20) And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a help meet for him.
(21) And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
(22) And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.”
“Oh Shit – which one? Make up your mind Yahweh!!!”
I am citing these famous passages in this way so you Guys can clearly see that I am not bullshitting about this bullshit. A major editorial fuckup. Latter-day apologists try to interpretively clean up this mess when it is pointed out. Retorting to those that notice this scriptural wreck with an utterance that allegedly came from Jesus:
“But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.”
Mark 10:6 KJV
They use this “Christ-generated” marker to interpretively point your allegiance to the first creation account in Genesis 1:1-2:3 KJV. This is nothing but an outlier verse being authoritatively utilized as a strategic scriptural “workaround.” Looking close – this “statement” gives you no details, nor toeholds, nor directions to work with regarding clarifying this creation issue. Neither in nor out of context.
Nothing.
But Hey – I will say this: “The next time you good religious hustlers come out with a new scripture, or ‘revelation,’ or any such nonsense that you guys will claim was given to you (only) from ‘on high’ – please invest in some good editors, typists, and proofreaders, so that you may avoid these kinds of fuckups. You would not want any compositional, spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors for folks to notice. That notice – unnecessarily raising doubts, skepticism, close examinations, second-guessing, fact-checking, background checking, and very inconvenient questions.”
Questions that might fuck up that hustle. You Know?
And then there is the problem of the tremendous inconsistencies of the “Four Gospels” in the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Between the four, the Gospels have got to be some of the worst reporting on a single story, about a single guy (Jesus) in the history of reporting anything. Understand Guys: If you had employees that botched a very important business report, and had fucked it up to the same exalted level of ineptitude that is reflected in the Gospels – you would not have just fired the bastards, you would also have those employees blacklisted from ever being employed in the same industry that you may be a part of, anywhere in the motherfucking world. As a matter of professional protection.
The Gospels are put together that badly.
And I am supposed to base my life on a fuckup? Ahh… No.
Compositional errors abound here, and many Gospel accounts are not in any useful way complementary between the four on important details. For example: My own studies as a teenager counted 57 separate and overlapping points that don’t totally square, or don’t square at all. Points that are here, but not there, and accounts that may be told of the same occurrence – but the telling(s) themselves are in themselves totally different stories. Or, the occurrence is missing entirely, and something else replaces it within the same time frame in another Gospel, or two.
Did y’all get that?
Matthew says there was an earthquake when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary(?) came to visit Jesus’ tomb in Matthew 28:1-10 KJV. How did Mark, Luke, and John miss that event in their disaggregated recounting(s)? I mean seriously Man. How in the fuck do you miss an earthquake? Three guys out of four?
The GOSPELS?
Look for yourself, the other three Gospels make no mention of this event at all. It is like all of this was independently made up and then thrown together. As a fact of scripture – each one of the four Gospels has a totally different resurrection story regarding the first visitors to Jesus’ tomb. We have four totally different accounts regarding the same, single, unique occurrence. NOPE. This is unacceptable. It is not like these particular books are separated or dispersed into different locations within the New Testament. Or, that they have no relation to or with each other. “Hell No Buddy!!!” These are the First Four books of the New Testament: Matthew – Mark – Luke – John. In that order, together, like a set.
These “Gospels” – supposedly, being the most important – the central part of the Bible for all Christians, should be the tightest, most profound, most timely, most usable, and most unimpeachable part(s) of scripture. But they are literally not!
There are also problems recounting Jesus’ genealogy; specifically laid-out by Luke and Matthew. But before we go into this – I want to point out that the fact that there is any “genealogy” regarding Jesus in the Bible, is just one example of the kind of confused reasoning that abounds throughout the Bible: How could Jesus, being “The Son Of God,” even have a “lineage?’ OK? Look Close: Having no “earthly” father, or genetically related “mother” on the one end – and him not “begetting” any children of his own on the other end. What possible “lineage” could Jesus have or produce? This is not an unreasonable question. Right motherfuckers?
OK.
According to some Bible scholars, Luke’s account (Luke 3:23-28 KJV), follows the lineage of Mary. Really? Now watch this: Wasn’t that booty supernaturally hijacked by the Holy Spirit for a minute? That’s what I heard. And the Bible itself makes absolutely no note at all of Jesus having any possible genetic connection to Mary.
This “Blessed – Immaculately Conceived Virgin.” Mary, basically functioned as a “total surrogate.” No egg was donated, no sperm was introduced. Watch This: That was a “spirit-injected” – THEN transitioning into “flesh” type operation. OK?
God just USED her ass.
Show me where she got paid.
Matthew 1:1-17 KJV follows the lineage of Joseph. How is this? We know that scripturally, Joseph didn’t get as much as a handjob. That’s some dry-assed shit. OK? Sounds like Joseph needs to make that appointment with Maury. Right?
We have the envelope: “In the case of Jesus Christ – Joseph – You Are Not The Father!” Right? So, I must ask: “For what purpose is an earth-sourced ‘lineage’ in there?” We have always been taught that Jesus is “The Son Of God.” Is that correct? So with this earthly “lineage” piece in place, what does “Son Of God” mean?
What?
Anyway. Both Gospels sweetly begin, showing that Jesus was supernaturally implanted. Not sired by Joseph. Mary was done divinely by God himself (through the “Holy Spirit?!”). Now, I don’t wanna sound blasphemous to any zealots in here. Cool? But I’m sure that some ladies out there may feel that the holy idea of getting “done” by the Holy Spirit is pretty fucking hot… Then, after a sweaty, heavy, and eventful pregnancy, we have Jesus The Christ himself, “The Savior” – wet – and white – popping up and out of Mary’s sweet, immaculate, virgin (whoa)!!!
How can niggers believe this goofy shit?
“Here’s a towel Baby!!!”
Now Guys: The lists are consistent between Abraham and David – but after that, everything goes waaay off track. Biblical scholars for centuries have tried to explain why the lists are so different. Experts putting forth various hypotheses, and to this day have not come to any good theory-level consensus. Centuries! Past Abe and Dave, ain’t nothing there matching up nowhere. The Bible itself presents no logical distinctions, nor gives up any kind of explanations for these discrepancies. The output from Bible scholars for hundreds of years regarding this issue amount to guessing. But the latest formal scholarship now regards these genealogies as pure inventions. So – either way, us laymen don’t know what we’re looking at.
Right Here. The core teaching. The message of the “Good News.” The witness of the itinerant ministry of Jesus. The ultimate sacrifice of his flesh for the sake of mankind. And – the great promise of his future return after “The End Of Days” should have been solidly and accurately recounted Here. FINE… But! Instead of the Gospels being the most finely-tuned and organized example of revelatory literature on the planet (after all, it was “divinely-inspired” and motivated). We have a holy mishmash so haphazardly compiled and nonsensically messaged that it should raise serious doubts in the mind of any THINKING person about its historic accuracy, the veracity of any claims made, and most importantly, the existence of any divine influences in its creation.
Before I read the Gospels, I had already had doubts about Jesus’ divinity. “The Son Of God,” all that stuff. You know? At that point I did not have any doubts about Jesus’ possible existence. But after I thoroughly read, exhaustively analyzed, and reflected for a long time upon the Gospels – I came to this logical place:
Until someone comes my way with solid, accessible, and verifiable EVIDENCE; not referencing somebody’s strongly-held belief – EVIDENCE; not what someone may sincerely feel in their heart – EVIDENCE; not clergyfied bullshit – EVIDENCE; not apologetically slick exegeses – EVIDENCE; not passionate recitations of scripture passages – EVIDENCE; not unverifiable emotional appeals – EVIDENCE; not creative interpretational constructs – EVIDENCE. And until I get that EVIDENCE – I will remain solid in certainty that the biblically presented Jesus never existed.
OK?
Now. We won’t go into any detailed discussion tonight, regarding some of the stupid nonsense that allegedly came out of Jesus’ mouth during his “ministry.” Those will be subject matter(s) for future discussions. But for the moment, let’s put it this way: Some of the stuff he said – I would have crucified his ass too.
Understand this Guys: Just Think Now… There is a full, international Gospel sub-industry that spends its working time trying to reconcile (to fix) these four distinct accounts of Jesus’ birth, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection into forms that are “digestible” and reasonably coherent to the believing public. And also, easily usable by clergy. There is a lot of creative energy being expended on this part of the Bible (along with problematic areas in the Old Testament). There are organizations, professional apologists, hundreds of books, articles, and thousands of internet pages addressing this single problem. One term used to describe this challenge is the “Synoptic Problem.” Check Google and Amazon for materials and websites that offer comprehensive and detailed scholarship regarding this.
Biblical scholars have been working their holy asses off to resolve this completely un-resolvable issue since the middle of the 18th Century. What is this – the fucking 21st? And they still haven’t been able to put this shit in sync? “Get the fuck…”
Ask yourself – Good Christian: “If ‘The Gospel’ was ‘divinely inspired by a Perfect God,’ then why would ‘The Word Of God’ need to be further researched – THEN – apologetically and hermeneutically processed to no end – and then for that ‘Word’ to necessarily be ‘fixed’ after that ‘divine inspiration’ – By Man?” OK…
The Gospels are an editorial mess. This is not good work.
As an aside – my grandmother belonged to what is called a “Full Gospel Church.” Now – there are lots of them in Black neighborhoods. As a kid, I actually thought (for real) that “Full Gospel” was probably something you graduated to. I never expressed anything regarding that. But I harbored the notion that there must be “Half Gospel,” and maybe “Quarter Gospel” churches in existence somewhere. Otherwise, why would it be necessary to mark a church as “Full Gospel” when the prime concentration of any church is supposed to be “The Gospels” anyway?
Still with me? Move on to Part Two.
FREEDMEN ABSOLUTE 