Here’s a cartoon that expresses a sentiment I’ve heard a lot of lately (pulled it off of Reddit):
I’m sad that this needs commentary. Of the five or so things wrong with this, I think the worst is the implication that Christians, the religious majority in the United States, are oppressed, and homosexuals, a long-persecuted minority, are not.
A viewer of televangelist Pat Robertson’s 700 Club asked an obvious but important question about Miracles. Here it is (via Raw Story via Reddit):
On Monday’s episode of CBN’s The 700 Club, Robertson responded to a viewer who wanted to know why “amazing miracles (people raised from the dead, blind eyes open, lame people walking) happen with great frequency in places like Africa, and not here in the USA?â€
That is a good question. For one famous answer, see David Hume. For another answer, listen to Pat Robertson:
“People overseas didn’t go to Ivy League schools,†the TV preacher laughed. “We’re so sophisticated, we think we’ve got everything figured out. We know about evolution, we know about Darwin, we know about all these things that says God isn’t real.â€
“We have been inundated with skepticism and secularism,†he conintued. “And overseas, they’re simple, humble. You tell ‘em God loves ‘em and they say, ‘Okay, he loves me.’ You say God will do miracles and they say, ‘Okay, we believe him.’â€
“And that’s what God’s looking for. That’s why they have miracles.â€
One could argue the reverse ought to be the case: you need a background knowledge of the laws of nature in order to appreciate their violation. But what does he know, he didn’t live in Africa.