Mike Jones. Un-Truthing again, to promote his ironically anti-science, mafia grift.

 

Please note: A live discussion of that video, along with an audible reading of this blog can be heard here: --- --- One of the many failings of this short-vid: It argues from the position that: [to articulate the implications] "A guy who likes my religion said a thing, to endorse my religion. Because a guy said that thing, that thing must be true." Worse yet, the implication: "Therefor, my religion must be true. Therefore, that thing he said must be true. Therefore, my religion must be true. etc." Now, I'm sure Jones would deny meaning it that way. But I think it's obvious. However, ... The special pleading might be harder to notice. But that too becomes obvious, once we realize Muslims (sometimes "inspired" by their faith) did even more (for a time; and even earlier) to forward the interests of math, science, and (even more specifically) cosmology.

[I'd prefer you watch both of those. But you're only going to watch one of those, I'd prefer you watch the 2nd video] I also found it amusing to see Mike Jones using endorsements for the Catholic Church ... to endorse Protestant Christianity. -- TOGETHER, they are "Christianity". But are they really? That really depends on what we mean. I can see how an atheist could justify saying they are. Catholics, Protestants, and Christian-fringe group combine as a force of destruction in our world, under a common theme; - committing the same crimes, in the same name, and for the same reasons. In fairness, they are all part of a larger network of connected mafia families. And if that's how we are defining what it means to be a traditional "Christian", then fine. I'll agree with that. In this sense, they are all one "body" of Christians. Because there is a shared structure there. But for them to stand under the same banner and smile for "family" photos ... is disingenuous, at best. Normally, "Christians" on either side of that divide would be the first to tell you they are not part of the same church, body, or "bride" of Christ. This is literally what the term "Protestant" means. It's a protest; against the Catholic church's claim of being the legitimate church of Christ. Catholics, Protestants, and fringe independents never claim each other as Christians, except when they need to; for the sake of dishonest P.R./marketing apologetics. One respondent, in the comments, said this:
"I like the way that John Lennox said it. “Men became scientific because they expected law in nature because they believed in the law giver” In reply, someone more reasonable and honest said this (using some sarcasm, to point out the essential flaw of that claim): "Exactly. Why would you bother even trying to study weather, for example, if you believed it was due to the whims of one of the various Roman gods?" [Various Christians are likely to have been among those who "liked" that comment about the Roman gods;
oblivious to how the same automatically applied to fundamentalist Christian concepts of "God".] I'd go further than that, personally. I'd point out how: It makes no sense to expect a hidden world of physics, in a world MAGIC'd into being by an all-powerful wizard. There would only need to be one "law"; the command to EXIST! -as "spoken" by the law-giver. THIS is why it never occured to Hebrews or Christians to even LOOK FOR ... what there was no need for. Their deity was the "GOD" of the gaps. The entire universe was that gap. He was everywhere, in all things, causing and sustaining all things with his power. [Hebrews 1:3; Job 38:33-37; Psalm 135:6-7; and Colossians 1:17 (at least, per the common interpretation of this verse). "The text from Hebrews with which we began says that God is sustaining all things by his powerful word. If God were to choose to withdraw his word, the natural world we know would not merely grind to a halt, it would cease to exist." -Pepperdine University ~Taking their texts to heart~ humans were actively discouraged from looking for natural explanations. Other essential confessions missing from this clip:

1. Examples of Christian doctrines that incentivized scientific research. 2. Confession about why those incentives failed to incentivize for thousands of years. 3. Confession about when-and-why (some) Christians suddenly started wanting to do science. [spoiler alert: it had nothing to do with Christian doctrines] 4. The concession that Islam then also gets credit for a wealth of advances in math and science as well. 5. The concession that sharing credit with other religions means: it's not useful as a point that lends merit to claims of divine sponsorship 6. Christian doctrines have ironically done even more, for even longer, to sabotage scientific advancement. 7. If Christian beliefs would have stayed entirely moot about all matters of science, we'd be ahead of where we are now. So this would be like humanity being robbed at gunpoint for 1500 years, for billions of dollars worth of progress, and at the cost of billions of lives. Eventually, gradually, those robberies slowed. Although, those robberies still haven't stopped; even today. Recognize: the anti-evolution,
anti-Big Bang,
anti-latest findings in psychology,
and overall anti-Trust-in-science GRIFT, ... as part of his mafia-klan's ongoing, culture warring, propaganda campaign.
- SABOTAGING scientific advancement, and sabotaging Christian support of science; except *selective support*. Meanwhile, there has immerged a fairly new Christian gang. This new softer, gentler gang splintered off FROM Mike Jones' robber-gang. This new gang for a new age has been actually contributing to the common good;
-stealing a little, here and there, even from the poor; but then giving much of that back to humanity. Here rises: The PROGRESSIVE/left-ist Christianity.
Like all "Christians", they like to imagine that they owe their claim of "truth" to their bibles. But, of course, that just isn't so.

Instead, their emergence is due to the perpetual influence of the secular enlightenment.
Secular thinkers and traditional Christians had a new cultural baby together. That child reached a milestone in their maturing in America, as a group of "Quakers"; whom then led the efforts to free the slaves from mainstream Christians. That child is loyal to neither parent. BUT as they mature, they are certainly favoring their secular parent. And if they ever catch up to their secular parent's maturity, everyone will know; because their values will finally reach full synchronization. We're really not even very far from that, at this point. That progress continues; as more-and-more of them are pursuing careers in the sciences. Today, most of them just want a good job, with good pay, so they can have a healthy, respected, and fulfilling life. That has nothing whatsoever to do with trying to discover or validate the idea of a cosmic "law giver". In fact, the biblical "Jesus" would not approve; because THE END was coming ~any day now~. He called upon all his followers to forsake the pursuit of jobs, money, family, housing, and all other this-world concerns. Concern yourselves with nothing except spreading the news and instructions; preparing for the coming (Jewish) Kingdom. -- If we pretend that character existed, or if we assume that character was based on a real person whom held more-or-less to those religious views, ... Jesus would be PISSED that Christianity even exists. He would be even more upset to hear anyone citing him as the head of Christianity. And I honestly think he would have de-converted into atheism, to discover that the Divine Jewish Kingdom never came. An honest person would admit they were wrong. -- Flash-Forward, to today: Progressive Christians have decided Jesus was just being metaphorical. So they pursue money for personal gain. They also try to help advance the sciences. They are also generally support trying to heal and advance human interests.
-Unlike Conservative Christians; who can hardly wait to see it all burn.

And yet,
those efforts are nowhere near enough to make up for what Christianity stole from humanity for thousands of years prior.
Nobody could UN-RUIN and un-kill all the lives that Christianity wrecked in the past.
Witch burnings.

Heresy trials.

"Manifest Destiny".

The Third Reich.

Colonization and apartheid of the African nations.

The literal demonization of mental illness;
which diverted us AWAY FROM crucial advances in health-essential sciences, and INTO their pockets. 

-All while literally condemning the innocent as "guilty" of "spiritual" deficiencies. 

These are just some of the countless chapters of horrors brought to us by Christianity. There were many more ways that Christianity acted as vampires of society; draining away the health, life, and potential of all humans. They even sacrificed their own; without realizing it. Granted, over the past 500 years or so, there were always SOME Christians who stood against those evils.
But during the height of each blood-soaked chapter, they were outnumbered by the majority of Christians.
Each time, eventually, the Christians who were "left"/progressive OF those cultural-values dividing lines ... eventually overcame the violently entitled majority.
Every time the more secular-minded Christians fought against the more religious-minded Christians,  ...

they grew.

Every time they won,
they grew some more.

As they grew,
more-and-more accidentally grew enough ...
that they accidentally de-converted.

De-converted individuals, whenever fully integrated with secular niches in society,
grew even faster.

As the de-converted grew in numbers,
it became safer for the never-religious to come out of hiding.

As the percentage of secular-thinkers grew, the speed of the collective advancement,
and 
the collective power of their influence 
grew faster and faster.

That growing influence of secular thought and secular values ... 
helped the progress-minded churches grow even faster.

The budding flower of secular enlightenment
has grown tall,
under the shadow of the Cross.

As it turns out, ... Bibles are the least toxic when subject to the purifying fires of logical scrutiny and then filtered through a fine ethical mesh.
Whereas, when taken to be literal and inerrant ... Bibles are a HOW TO guide for clinical narcissists, psychopaths, and masochists. Progressing churches were not ready to chuck their bibles into the bin.
They thought "Surely, some divine truths must be hidden here; in these beautifully blood-soaked beaches.".

Gradually, they're able to disarm and dispose ancient stockpiles of malevolent cultural weaponry.



It's dangerous work; but they feel led by a god to do that work. 
-- Progress continues.
--
However,
those blood stains of traditional Christianity can't be washed away.

Nor should we just ignore the historically repeating facts.
 Christian dogma wrecks lives. And the best defense anyone ever has for it is: "Well, I like it". Whatever damage is might be doing to others is none of their concern. Meanwhile, it's still holding us back from our potential as a species.

Remember when this was happening?

Remember, also, how the compliant churches ... were mostly quiet about how the stubborn churches refused respect and protect the lives of others. Meanwhile, notice how THIS is still happening?

And this:

The PARENT CHURCH of ALL American Protestant Evangelical churches
was recently proven to be a global network of sexual predators; targeting young women and children, at every level of those churches.
And what are the roots of that poisonous weed?

It was founded by the same people who founded the KKK;
- as a haven for racists.
 
Meanwhile,
for hundreds of years (and counting), ...

EVERY Civil Rights Battle in America (and most of those battles across the planet) 
have only been necessary because of Conservative Christianity.

It's the Conservative Christians
whom ~better people~ had to fight against. 

Progressive-Christians, fighting side-by-side with religious and non-religious non-Christians 
had to rise up and fight against Conservative Christians.

And that WAR still rages on.
Still today, many people believe Abrahamic religious texts are literally and completely true. Still today, that belief is antithetical to the health of humans and human social systems.

[Note: White Christianity doesn't actually become something else whenever White Christianity is able to get not-white Christians to co-grift as groomers for White Christianity.]

[Also looking at you, black Mormons]

Nor can Mike Jones' klan un-ruin and un-dead all the lives his klan still destroys today, and will still be destroying tomorrow.
Nor would the Conservative Christian Fundamentalist Protestant klan  (nor the Catholic klan; nor any of their independent rival klans) ever WANT to undo all that, nor stop doing more of that; not even if they could. Why not? Because they thrive off of human suffering; as it can only spread via extra-vulnerable survivors in need of rescue. Authoritarian Christians are loosely networked gangs of arsonists;
setting, fueling, and fanning fires of destruction across the globe. It's all part of their ongoing efforts to: *sell fraudulent, afterlife fire insurance policies, * run Racketeering Schemes, and: * provide (highly profitable) "aid" to anyone struggling to survive the fires of destruction those mafias have set.

To what end? In order to amass further power, privilege, and profit. They are extending their territories, laying waste to the cultural heritage of their "enemies", hijacking governments,

oppressing societies (by leveraging social and political power, at the detriment of everyone else) and trying to topple health-essential societal infrastructures (ie: health coverage, govt food programs, disability income, public education, women's access to essential health services, etc). 

They are also brutalizing children into: exploitable slave-minds and conscripted soldiers for their ill-conceived ~war against humanity~. [Note. I'm still trying to figure out how to set this video to start at 1:35. The entire clip is relevant. But the strongest support for my point starts at 1:35]

They are also pushing the big hand on the Doomsday Clock forward, towards a GRAND FINALE
which they mistakenly believe their Jesus prophesied and promised.

Granted, the "Jesus" character in Christian lore did promise an final end to all the "wicked" non-Israelites. But that was only to issue in a specifically Jewish kingdom (on Earth); -including, perhaps, any gentiles who might become ~grafted in~ to that "life giving" vine before it's too late. Although, it was all supposed to happen during Jesus' original followers' lifetime. #ProphecyFailed. --- Cherry picking elements from Hebrew stories, Christian stories, Christian history, broader religious histories, and the history of science, ... WHILE (according to what I'm told) earning a Masters Degree in Philosophy of Science, ... while mispresenting all of those things, just to promote a psychologically abusive, societally cancerous, mafia turf-warring, Psy Op grift ... is very far from honest. It's even further from decent. --- For an actually-honest, accurate walkthrough of when/where/why Christians finally (and conditionally) joined the scientific frontier: [Note: I'd prefer you watch all three of these. But the 1st one is the best ~for this purpose~. Whereas, the 2nd video is best for understanding Christianity's grift from a social-psychology perspective. And the 3rd video is more of a logic-vs-fallacy format.]

More debunking of Christianity's claim of how much human progress we owe to their klan:

More about this:

--- Note: Of course, various freelance and professional fundamentalists will, inevitably, keep trying to re-hide their exposed grift; by "debunking" these debunks.

Individuals simply will be more impressed by whichever side appeals more strongly to WHO they are. Some people are emotional, selfish, tribal, codependent thinkers. Some people are more objectively rational, ethical, and independent. Right now, you are whoever and however you are. Like everyone else, I merely speak from the vantage point of who I presently am. Everyone thinks they are in the more reasonable of those two groupings. There are no facts or arguments anyone can present which can make an unreasonable person think reasonably; nor make someone with a fictionalized "self" become accurately self-aware. Thus, I recognize the limits of utility for anything I might ever say about anything. Right now, this is me. This is how I reason things out. But if you might want to attempt to bend my paradigm towards yours, I'm usually available for that. -- In any case, may you find great peace in your journey. And more importantly, may you find a way into that peace without stealing from anyone else's.