Evangelist Oral Roberts dies at age 91
Evangelist Oral Roberts, who rose from tent revivals to found a multimillion-dollar organization and an Oklahoma university bearing his name, has died. He was 91.
Love the comments on this video. Too funny. Click the YouTube logo to watch it over there (and read the comments).
The Naked Pastor posted these random thoughts the other day…
1. People don’t change their minds. Only rarely. Transformation is not a desirable option to our brains. It seems to require trauma, the threat of imminent death, to provoke real change of mind and bring about true transformation. Is it possible to enter death and be transformed while we are alive?
2. The greatest enemy of community is fantasy… visionary and wishful thinking. The lack of gratitude for what is, the unwillingness to appreciate what is, or the disdain for what is, erodes the fabric of community. Can we love unconditionally without coercion?
3. Our gross naiveté about the principalities and powers and their persistent desire and ability to enslave groups and individuals perpetuates the abuses institutions, including the church, are notorious for. Can all people be free?
4. Avoid naysayers as well as yes-men. You can always find complainers to agree with you. You can always find encouragers to agree with you. Can we find the courage to form our own minds independently, wisely, and compassionately?
I thought, hey… I like him. He’s is talking about deconversion in #1, because that’s what it was like for me to step away from faith. Constant bombardment with strange teachings in the Baptist church forced me to reevaluate the world we live in.
THEN, in #2 he nails it with typical religious thinking about the fantasy of a higher power vs. just appreciating this temporal gift of life on Earth, not just mine, but the whole human experience. We just got here (relatively speaking), and the Earth will be here long after we have faded to extinction. I already love unconditionally without coercion and don’t know how else you could.
#3… tell me about it.
And, regarding #4, don’t “seek approval” for your point of view. Establish it intellectually, with reason, and knowledge of the world and your fellow man. You don’t need other people to tell you what you should believe.
Holy crap, this dude’s batting 1000 in my book so far… but then came #5:
5. Listen to what the atheists are saying about the unprovability of God; discern the Christ-Principle in all things; have compassion for all beings. Is it possible to see all things as being reconciled?
Wha?! I rarely discuss the “unprovability of god”, but since you brought it up, what exactly is the evidence for God? If you look at the sum total of the things the Christian God gets credit for in the Bible, why would you WANT to believe in him? He wasn’t a good or just god. Jesus tried to correct all that, but please… look at the “miracles” he performed. His teachings were in line with to Mohammad, Confucius, Buddha, Plato, etc. (borrowed, ex post facto, by reasonable men writing down “history” many years later). Other than these writings, what evidence is there for god? For everyone good work, “divine” occurrence, or saved soul you can conjure, I can cite a dozen horrific, sad, disgusting things about the world that a good and just god would not allow… even a passive creator (with any “heart”) would not have created such a chaotic place.
Also, how would I find the “Christ-Principles in all things”?” As I understand it, the Principles of Christ are roughly, first, Faith in the Jesus Christ; second, Repentance… it really doesn’t matter after that because I get hung up on the FIRST one. I have faith that the human race has been duped for several millenia, for sure. With regard to “sin”, seriously, Catholics (et al), get a grip and just be good people… forget about all the EXTRA rules and regulations that the church has piled on. It’s not a “sin” to eat meat… ever. Weird.
How about we all just skip ahead to “have compassion for all beings”? I can get on board with that… why make it sound like I need belief as a crutch. See “The Golden Rule“.
The last sentence is stupid… no, we can’t reconcile all things, particularly mystical belief with intellectual reason. They are incompatible. Even less likely, reconcile your Christian mythology with a Islamic stranger an ocean away. Good luck.
However, abandon your fantastical beliefs, and then living with your fellow man, particularly the ones not like you, becomes much easier. I guess his thoughts were pretty random after all.
Great name for a blog post… even better name for a blog!
http://www.heavingdeadcats.com
Way to go, Neece. I really liked your recent post. One of the more frustrating aspects of being a non-believer is being a minority:
The very fact that we have atheists today, in growing numbers all over the planet, shows that if you take away the dogma and expose the lies and myths, some people will shrug off the mantle of religion even though in most societies, it means putting oneself outside the supposed comforts of society. It turns them into an outsider, to some degree.
I can assure you that here in the deep south, I am a minority, but not quite an outsider. I am not an outsider, because I keep my atheistic beliefs fairly quiet. When asked directly, I am always forthcoming, but generally it doesn’t come up. What is stunning is the number of times per day that people will refer casually or tangentially to their faith.
Just today I was talking with a coworker about a recent death of a friend. I inquired about upcoming services because it was important to him, but seemed to be taking a while. He mentioned that the friend had opted for cremation. He went on to say that this person’s family does things a “little differently”. I said, “Whatever do you mean?” He went on to say that “Uhh…cremation has never been practiced in Judeo-Christian tradition and only pagan religions cremate. Look it up… throughout recorded history… blah blah”.
I can count on one hand the number of times the word “pagan” has ever come up in a conversation. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that atheists tend to opt for cremation as well. You can well imagine where this person stands on the issue.
Anyway, if you were not already aware, here is some additional reading, statistics, and fun facts on the topic of cremation.
Oh, and keep up the great work, Neece (and Butch).
I have been wanting to post on Dr. Pausch’s death by pancreatic cancer and his religion, but really couldn’t find much to say beyond the other extensive reporting, and thought I was getting out of control with the obituaries (Snow and Carlin).
Richard J. Radcliffe on the Law Religion Culture Review has an excellent post on Pausch and his religion (or lack thereof). I will point out that Pausch comes very close to embracing atheism when he says:
I was raised Presbyterian and attended church regularly until I was about 17. I like the fact that [Unitarian Universalism] appeals to reason and thought more than dogma.
I think this was a man who had sworn off religion much the same way I have. If I found myself in his situation, I would conduct myself in the EXACT same way (well, I don’t teach, so it would be unlikely for me to give a last lecture). My children do not know that I am a non-believer. Many of the things I tell them have a universal non-religious wisdom just as the things Randy left for his children. It’s possible he folded in more religion privately, but the philosophy he shared publicly is what will endure and be repeated thus defining who Randy Pausch was. This will be what everyone, including his kids, will remember.
The best things I have seen come from him in his last few months of life are:
Never lose the child-like wonder. It’s just too important. It’s what drives us.
Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you.
Do not tell people how to live their lives. Just tell them stories. And they will figure out how those stories apply to them.
We’re not going to talk about spirituality and religion. Although I will tell you that I have experienced a deathbed conversion. I just bought a Macintosh.
I’ve heard this said before and strongly subscribe to the notion:
The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people!
He was an impressive man and it gratifies me a great deal to see what an effect he has had on others.
Kudos, Randy, and thanks for speaking out publicly for your kids. It made us all better people.
In light of Tony Snow’s untimely death today, I think this piece he wrote not quite a year ago for Christianity Today is pretty sad:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/july/25.30.html
To believe in something so fervently just to bring comfort to yourself and your loved ones about the pain, suffering, worry, and randomness of such events makes no sense. Even some of the passages seem written to convince the reader (and maybe even the writer) that his beliefs are not just fantasy.
Blessings arrive in unexpected packages—in my case, cancer.
Seriously?
Those of us with potentially fatal diseases—and there are millions in America today—find ourselves in the odd position of coping with our mortality while trying to fathom God’s will.
Uh, yeah… it’s certainly a challenge to discern “God’s Will” in a plan that includes as much death, disease, and destruction as His apparently does. Just because people find strength through adversity does not mean there is a grand design or a designer. In fact, I would suggest that this is direct evidence that there is NOT.
Although it would be the height of presumption to declare with confidence What It All Means, Scripture provides powerful hints and consolations.
OK, this is a problem. Hints? Consolations? If I were all powerful and had left behind a book that was to give My most intelligent creatures some indication of my design, I might do better than vague hints and worthless consolations. The bible is such a inconsistent mess, it’s hard to believe anything sensible can be gleaned from it.
I don’t know why I have cancer, and I don’t much care. It is what it is—a plain and indisputable fact. Yet even while staring into a mirror darkly, great and stunning truths begin to take shape. Our maladies define a central feature of our existence: We are fallen. We are imperfect. Our bodies give out.
Here’s where a believer’s logic completely breaks down. If it is “The Will of God” that you have cancer, why are you seeking a cure?! It’s God’s Will! Quit trying to alter God’s blessing for you. Even worse, these great and stunning truths were already there before you had cancer. You were mortal before you had cancer. Why is it after these awakenings that people decide to live their life differently or more purposefully?
Love is free, and if you aren’t getting plenty of it, then you are not living right. Experiencing love without God getting the credit is wonderful. It focuses the energy and directs the action… it’s all you. There is no other force behind your life. Whatever you do with and for others is entirely your free will. That’s what makes it so amazing.
Now get off the Internet, and go hug your kids, or kiss your wife, or walk your dog… Go tell someone that you love that you love them, especially if that’s not something you say frequently.
And the people replied…