cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/21517567

> Summary > > Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed he was “physically mauled” by a demon in his sleep, leaving claw marks on his body, which he says are still visible. Carlson described waking with intense pain, bleeding claw marks, and an overwhelming urge to read the Bible. He recounted the experience as confusing yet transformative, adding that while he doesn’t expect others to believe him, the incident profoundly impacted him.

On the assignment sheet, students were asked to answer the overall research question about how the world began. Students were also asked to ponder the following questions:

• How did the world start?
• Who started it?
• When did evil start or did it always exist?
• Are people inherently good or evil or neither?
• What is morality?
• What is religion?
• What is Christianity?
• What does it mean to be a Christian?
• Is God real?
• Is Satan real?

“I don't care what anyone says,” Gray said. “If you start out with, ‘How was the world started and then who started it,’ that implies it wasn't science \[and] that it was an entity, a person, a being.”

I was just Googling for some tips on an argumentative child, but if all that's coming up are Christian dogma blogs with this kinda crap...maybe I should just let it be lmao

There are no depths the insane will not go

Robert Morris, who founded and led Gateway Church for nearly 25 years in the affluent Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Southlake, Texas, resigned after the scandal came to light in June. His exit sent thousands of evangelicals into a season of struggle that has lasted months

The church has seen a decrease of 17% to 19% in weekend services attendance, a church spokesperson told CNN.

The turnover at the church could have far-reaching effects. Gateway Church draws an estimated 100,000 people to its weekend services and has more than 560 employees at nine locations in Texas, and two others in Missouri and Wyoming, according to the church.

I find it odd that when filling out a form that asked me what my religion is one of the choices is Atheist.

What now? That is the that opposite of religion.

Huge hat tip to @d00ery who took me to the Wikipedia page of this amazing cartoonist.

All of his anti-religion cartoons on the page are terrific.

!

!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watson_Heston

At press time, several pregnant Oklahoma residents had reportedly died due to complications arising from the posting of the Ten Commandments.

I'm sitting here on the holy sabbath reading atheist memes while my mother watches sermons.

Link to original study for curious folks with access to it: https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2322399121

My mom and her prayer warriors have been praying to get my car fixed quickly. My car has been in the shop for a month. Apparently the omniscient omnipresent God of the universe can't fix a car.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

New Apostolic Reformation evangelicals see Trump as God’s warrior in their battle to win America from satanic forces and Christianize it

!

President-elect Donald Trump, joined by Melania Trump and Barron Trump, on Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Art Jipson, University of Dayton

A growing movement believes President-elect Donald Trump is fighting a spiritual war against demonic forces within the United States. Trump himself stated in his acceptance speech on Nov. 6, 2024, that the reason that “God spared my life” was to “restore America to greatness.”

I have studied various religious movements that seek to shape and control American society. One of these is the New Apostolic Reformation, or NAR, whose followers believe that they are waging a spiritual battle for control of the United States. NAR is an offshoot of Protestant Christian evangelicalism.

NAR advocates claim they receive divine guidance in reconstructing modern society based on Christian spiritual beliefs. In 2015, an estimated 3 million adult Americans attended churches that were openly part of NAR. Some scholars estimate that the number of active NAR adherents may be larger, as the movement may include members of Protestant Christian churches that are not directly aligned with the NAR movement.

The beginning of the movement

NAR emerged in the late 1990s when theologian C. Peter Wagner popularized the term “New Apostolic Reformation.” Wagner argued that God was creating modern-day apostles and prophets who would lead Christianity in remaking American society.

The roots of the New Apostolic Reformation can be traced to the broader charismatic movement that sees spiritual forces as an active part of everyday life.

This view does not separate sacred experience from regular everyday life. For the much larger network of charismatic Christians and Pentecostal movements that emphasize a personal relationship with God, the world is full of the active presence of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts and direct divine experiences.

Core beliefs

Central to NAR is the belief that Christian religious leaders should be the main source of cultural and political authority in America.

NAR proponents argue that select leaders receive direct revelation from God, guiding the direction of churches and fighting spiritual warfare against demonic influences, which they believe corrupt the behavior of individuals and nations.

NAR advocates for a hierarchical structure in which religious leaders and their political allies hold authority in society.

They believe in “The Seven Mountains Mandate,” a way to represent Christian control of society through a strategy that Christians should infiltrate, influence and eventually control seven key areas in society – business, government, media, arts and entertainment, education, family and religion – to bring about cultural transformation.

By doing so, NAR proponents believe they can establish a pure and true form of what they believe is a society ruled by divine guidance and strict adherence to biblical ideas.

Lance Wallnau, a prominent Christian author, speaker, social media influencer and consultant associated with NAR, has promoted the idea that such engagement where NAR Christian leaders hold authority through a government tied to divine will is essential for advancing societal transformation.

Wallnau has been a vocal supporter of Trump, viewing him as a significant figure in NAR’s vision.

Spiritual warfare

Followers of the NAR believe that they must engage in spiritual warfare, which includes prayers and actions aimed at combating perceived demonic influences in society.

!A man in a blue suit speaks to a crowd with his one hand raised. In the background is a large billboard of Mastriano Delrosso

Evangelist Lance Wallnau speaks during a September 2022 rally for Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano in Chambersburg, Pa. Doug Kapustin/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

This practice often involves identifying “strongholds” of evil, around cultural issues, such as gay marriage, transgender rights and LGBTQ+ activism, and working to dismantle them. An example of this is a recent series of religious-based political rallies led by NAR leaders known as “The Courage Tour” that advocated directly for Trump’s second election.

The NAR emphasizes that Christians should expect to see miraculous signs, where extraordinary events, such as Trump’s survival of an assassination attempt, are interpreted to be explained only by divine or spiritual intervention.

The movement’s adherents also believe in faith-based healing and supernatural experiences, such as prophetic utterances and speech.

Trump as divinely ordained

Many NAR leaders and followers support Trump, viewing him as a divinely appointed figure who would facilitate NAR’s goals for societal reconstruction, believing he was chosen by God to fulfill a prophetic destiny.

They position Trump as a warrior against a so-called demonically controlled – and therefore corrupted – “deep state,” aligning with NAR’s emphasis on spiritual warfare and cultural dominion as outlined in the “Seven Mountains” mandate. NAR leaders followed Trump’s understanding of a corrupt government.

The NAR led a “Million Women” worship rally on Oct. 12, 2024, to Washington, D.C., in which the organizers sought to encourage 1 million women NAR adherents to come to pray, protest and support Trump’s campaign. The event was promoted as a “last stand moment” to save the nation by helping Trump win the election as a champion against dark, satanic forces.

Several prominent politicians, legislators and members of the judiciary, such as House Speaker Mike Johnson and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, have flown the NAR-based “Appeal to Heaven” flag.

For NAR evangelicals, the presidential election is interpreted through a Christian apocalyptic rhetoric. In this rhetoric one candidate is a force for good, a warrior for God – Trump – and the other is led by demonic forces such as Harris. Trump’s 2024 win is seen as a critical moment of spiritual warfare where the forces of God defeat the forces of evil.

Criticism from many Christian denominations

Despite its growing popularity, NAR faces substantial criticism. Many mainstream Christian churches argue that the movement’s teachings deviate from traditional Christian orthodoxy.

Critics highlight abuse of authority by people who claim God is directing their actions and the potential for abuse of authority by those claiming apostolic roles. The embrace of Trump raises concerns about blending evangelical faith and political ambition.

Critics argue that the NAR’s support for Trump compromised the integrity of the gospel, prioritizing political power over spiritual integrity. The events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol further complicated this relationship, exposing the potential dangers of conflating religious beliefs with partisan politics.

Moreover, the NAR’s emphasis on spiritual warfare and the idea of taking control over society has raised other Christian groups’ concerns about its potential to foster an “us versus them” mentality, leading to increased polarization within society.

The New Apostolic Reformation represents a significant development, blending charismatic practices with a strong emphasis on politics and cultural transformation.

However, a large majority of Americans disagree that society should be remade based on religious theology. Thus, for now, the NAR movement’s fundamental views about religion and government are starkly at odds with most Americans.!The Conversation

Art Jipson, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Dayton

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

A near-death experience left the actor with a sacred knowledge sure to ruin your plans for the great beyond

Recently we had one of the largest fires in California history called the Park Fire.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Wednesday morning that 277 structures have been destroyed by the fire and 29 structures have been damaged.

On the TV they interviewed a man whose house survived. He said, "I thank god my house was spared".

So, let me get this straight. God destroyed 277 homes but saved yours? If that's god's will then god is an asshole.

"That ghoul has a sh\*t filled diaper for protection," one person wrote.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/20821881

Refrigerator logic, or a shower thought:

According to Genesis, God forbids Adam and Eve from eating fruit of the tree of wisdom, specifically of knowledge of good and evil.

Serpent talks to Eve, calling out God's lie: God said they will die from eating the fruit (as in die quickly, as if the fruit were poisonous). They won't die from the fruit, Serpent tells them. Instead, their eyes will open and they will understand good and evil.

And Adam and Eve eat of the fruit of the tree of wisdom, learning good and evil (right and wrong, or social mores). And then God evicts them from paradise for disobedience.

But if the eating the fruit of the tree of wisdom gave Adam and Eve the knowledge of good and evil, this belies they did not know good and evil in the first place. They couldn't know what forbidden means, or that eating from the tree was wrong. They were incapable of obedience.

Adam and Eve were too unintelligent (immature? unwise?) to understand, much like telling a toddler not to eat cookies from the cookie jar on the counter.

Putting the tree unguarded and easily accessible in the Garden of Eden was totally a setup

Am I reading this right?

My mom has a list of prayers that she claims were answered by God. As I look at that list I noticed that I did most of those things. When I mention that she says, God works through people. If I have to do all the work what do I need God for?

So, my child (nearly 3 years old) is music crazy. As odd as this may be (maybe not), her four favorite things in this world are The Beatles, Nirvana, The Rolling Stones, and Michael Jackson.

It occurred to me that she doesn’t have any experience with religious iconography, but she loves the Heart Shaped Box video.

So I thought, for fun, let’s show her a picture of a cross and ask her what it is.

“NIRVANA! It’s Nirvana!” (Forvana actually).

I’ve been laughing my ass off.

I have raised multiple children from two generations now and none of them have had the burden of religion. Thank…god? :p

Anyone have any ideas on how to kill God? I was thinking a out it and I think for a lot of people "God" is just this undefined "thing" out there that they can attribute other things to.

Like imagine a caveman kid talking to their caveman parent and asking questions like "Why is there a day and a night? Why is sky blue? Why is dog died?"

And the caveman parent just makes something up.

When people don't know the cause of something, they can create a cause out of their imagination.

God will always be lurking in the imaginations of stupid people, and we will always have stupid people on this planet.

For a while this scared me because I'm a stupid person with an imagination, so I knew the idea of "God" will stay with me till I die (since I can't think about anything when I die).

So I think the only way to kill God is if everyone dies. But even then it's a gamble because there's a whole "if a tree falls in a forest?" aspect.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Preferably a Holocene colander?

A consensus view was formally adopted by the IUGS in 2013, placing its start at 11,700 years before 2000 (9701 BC), about 300 years more recent than the epoch of the Holocene calendar.[6]

Some problems with Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar improves the approximation made by the Julian calendar by skipping three Julian leap days in every 400 years, giving an average year of 365.2425 mean solar days long.[82] This approximation has an error of about one day per 3,030 years[s] with respect to the current value of the mean tropical year. However, because of the precession of the equinoxes, which is not constant, and the movement of the perihelion (which affects the Earth's orbital speed) the error with respect to the astronomical vernal equinox is variable; using the average interval between vernal equinoxes near 2000 of 365.24237 days[83] implies an error closer to 1 day every 7,700 years. By any criterion, the Gregorian calendar is substantially more accurate than the 1 day in 128 years error of the Julian calendar (average year 365.25 days).

In the 19th century, Sir John Herschel proposed a modification to the Gregorian calendar with 969 leap days every 4,000 years, instead of 970 leap days that the Gregorian calendar would insert over the same period.[84] This would reduce the average year to 365.24225 days. Herschel's proposal would make the year 4000, and multiples thereof, common instead of leap. While this modification has often been proposed since, it has never been officially adopted.[85]

On time scales of thousands of years, the Gregorian calendar falls behind the astronomical seasons. This is because the Earth's speed of rotation is gradually slowing down, which makes each day slightly longer over time (see tidal acceleration and leap second) while the year maintains a more uniform duration.

Calendar seasonal error Gregorian calendar seasons difference

!

This image shows the difference between the Gregorian calendar and the astronomical seasons.

The y-axis is the date in June and the x-axis is Gregorian calendar years.

Each point is the date and time of the June solstice in that particular year. The error shifts by about a quarter of a day per year. Centurial years are ordinary years, unless they are divisible by 400, in which case they are leap years. This causes a correction in the years 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, and 2300.

For instance, these corrections cause 23 December 1903 to be the latest December solstice, and 20 December 2096 to be the earliest solstice—about 2.35 days of variation compared with the astronomical event.

Proposed reforms The following are proposed reforms of the Gregorian calendar:

Holocene calendar

International Fixed Calendar (also called the International Perpetual calendar)

World Calendar

World Season Calendar

Leap week calendars

Pax Calendar

Symmetry454

Hanke–Henry Permanent Calendar

I was reminded of it and told my daughter about it. For those not in the know, it was an incredibly bizarre show even by both Christian show and anime. It was about two kids and a robot plus a book/time machine who went to visit various Old Testament stories and participate in them.

They’re all on YouTube.

She immediately went to watch and reported back that the first episode was hilariously awful and she would be watching more because of it.

She is correct. It is Mystery Science Theater 3000-level hilariously bad. I remember being bored to tears by it when I was a kid.

Here’s a full playlist for anyone who wishes to feel the pain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxPfWVVtIRY&list=PLV4Ztn9euy7Twsn19KFiQVUHyNpJtiDL1

Some fun facts:

• It was a co-production between Tatsunoko Production Co., which had a lot of Anime experience, and the Christian Broadcasting network.

• The main character in the American version is named Chris Peeper and his father is Professor Peeper. They were not called that in the Japanese version. That was someone in America’s intentional choice.

• The lady who dubbed the main character's voice in English was also the voice of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Jimmy in Gigantor. Her final role was Eustace's mother on Courage the Cowardly Dog.

• There was another series made by the same companies at the same time called The Flying House where kids in a time-traveling and flying house went and visited Jesus and pals.

• They were both broadcast in Japan on TV Tokyo.

• The title of the first season of Superbook in Japan is translated as "Animated Parent and Child Theatre."

• The Japanese version changed it’s name in the second season. The new name is translated as "Personal Computer Travel Detective Team."

• 1.5% of Japan’s population is Christian, which may explain the two previous fun facts.

Edit: Pictured: Dog.

!

So, let me get this straight. Joseph notices that Mary is pregnant. Joseph confronts Mary about it. And Mary replies: err, hmm, I know, the angel of the Lord came down and impregnated me. We're going to have the child of God. And Joseph is like: okay, cool.

>I am posting this with the intent of soliciting help. The following is from pages 13 and 14 from Project 2025. I'm reading it in an attempt to understand what is coming for me as an American. As an Atheist, I have many thoughts on and disagreements but I also see in this (and this whole 2025 book) how the right is hooking the religious.

>I'm interested in anyone willing to read the following's take or opinion on any or all of it. Help me parse this. We (Americans) need all ideas we can get to counter this type of nonsense. The whole pdf is linked if you want to read it all (it's 900 pages and I will get through it, Spaghetti Monster Damn It).

>Without poisoning the well further, see below from the pdf (linked above). >Cranakis

PROMISE #4 SECURE OUR GOD-GIVEN INDIVIDUAL RIGHT TO ENJOY “THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY.”

The Declaration of Independence famously asserted the belief of America’s Founders that “all men are created equal” and endowed with God-given rights to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” It’s the last—“the pursuit of Happiness”—that is central to America’s heroic experiment in self-government.

When the Founders spoke of “pursuit of Happiness,” what they meant might be understood today as in essence “pursuit of blessedness.” That is, an individual must be free to live as his Creator ordained—to flourish. Our Constitution grants each of us the liberty to do not what we want, but what we ought. This pursuit of the good life is found primarily in family—marriage, children, Thanksgiving dinners,and the like. Many find happiness through their work. Think of dedicated teachers or health care professionals you know, entrepreneurs or plumbers throwing themselves into their businesses—anyone who sees a job well done as a personal reward. Religious devotion and spirituality are the greatest sources of happiness

— 14 —

around the world. Still others find themselves happiest in their local voluntary communities of friends, their neighbors, their civic or charitable work.

The American Republic was founded on principles prioritizing and maximizing individuals’ rights to live their best life or to enjoy what the Framers called “the Blessings of Liberty.” It’s this radical equality—liberty for all—not just of rights but of authority—that the rich and powerful have hated about democracy in America since 1776. They resent Americans’ audacity in insisting that we don’t need them to tell us how to live. It’s this inalienable right of self-direction—of each person’s opportunity to direct himself or herself, and his or her community, to the good— that the ruling class disdains.

With the Declaration and Constitution, our nation’s Founders handed to us the means with which to preserve this right. Abraham Lincoln wrote of the Declaration as an “apple of gold” in a silver frame, the Constitution. So must the next conservative President look to these documents when the elites mount their next assault on liberty.

Left to our own devices, the American people rejected European monarchy and colonialism just as we rejected slavery, second-class citizenship for women, mercantilism, socialism, Wilsonian globalism, Fascism, Communism, and (today) wokeism. To the Left, these assertions of patriotic self-assurance are just so many signs of our moral depravity and intellectual inferiority—proof that, in fact, we need a ruling elite making decisions for us.

But the next conservative President should be proud, not ashamed of Americans’ unique culture of social equality and ordered Liberty. After all, the countries where Marxist elites have won political and economic power are all weaker, poorer, and less free for it.

The United States remains the most innovative and upwardly mobile society in the world. Government should stop trying to substitute its own preferences for those of the people. And the next conservative President should champion the dynamic genius of free enterprise against the grim miseries of elite-di-rected socialism.