The Search for Christian Converts

by Nomad

The Surprising Truth about Thomas Jefferson- The Anti-Christian Founding Father

by Nomad

Thomas Jefferson was one of the most interesting men that this nation has produced and yet, today, his lives and ideas are nearly forgotten. He was above all, a product of the Enlightened Age, and didn't have much patience with religion and especially the Christian one.

Bitter Infidel or Enlightened Intellectual?

Published in 1885, the old book, Notes on Thomas Jefferson, Citizen of Maryland, offers the historical researcher some impressive shocks, particularly when it comes to the subject of Jefferson’s religious beliefs. 
The approach of the book comes from an unusual angle. The book, written in support of Christian values, takes a dim view of the third president’s attitude.

Why is that important? The author’s evidence is not attempting to defend Jefferson but to indict him. Yet the information in the book reveals an unexpected side to Jefferson.. 

The book begins: 

For obvious reasons, whatever pertains to Thomas Jefferson possesses an interest for all Americans. 

As the principal author of the “Declaration of Independence,” the first secretary of state, the second vice president, and the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson has every right to the title of “Founding Father.”
Given the state of politics today, this founding father’s opinions might seem even more radical and controversial than they did in his own time. For good reason, historians have tended to gloss over this aspect of American history.

Mitt Romney and the Eye of the Needle

Check out this excerpt from one of the (hundred) debates during the Republican primaries. 

That was an interesting reaction, wasn't it? Romney stammers his answer and has to think fast before he commits his soul to the fiery furnace. As Anderson Cooper gives him a second chance to clarify, Romney hesitates and finally- to smattering of applause- takes the plunge. 

(In an earlier post, we pointed out how Romney has violated repeatedly his own Mormon code forbidding lying in every form. He was quite willing in that case to break the tenets of that faith to the cost of his salvation.)

Mitt Romney, Lies and The Mormon Church 2/3

by Nomad

In Part One, we traced the strange origins of the Mitt Romney's Mormon faith and asked if the entire religion was a hoax perpetrated on 19th century victims. Let’s begin part two with what would seem at first glance to be a question with an obvious answer.

Is lying acceptable to the present-Day Mormon Church?

This is perhaps a more essential question since, no matter how it may have begun, the true value of any religion lies in what it has become and what it teaches its followers. And as far I can tell, no religion officially accepts the practice of lying. (Even Satanists are probably supposed to be truthful to one another, I'd imagine.)

The strongest criticism of the Mormon Church comes, not from other religions, atheists or outsiders, but from ex-Mormons. Former ex-high priest Park Romney, the cousin of the presidential candidate,  has been quite open about this subject. He told BBC,

"There's compelling evidence that the Mormon Church leaders knowingly and willfully misrepresent the historical truth of their origins and of the Church for the purpose of deceiving their members into a state of mind that renders them exploitable."

What that precise evidence was is not mentioned. Outside of the history of the formation of the religion, there are other things that Church leaders would prefer not to reveal.

Render Unto Ceasar: Was Jesus a Secularist?

by Nomad

Jesus, the founder of the Christian Church, never precisely stated his opinions on mixing religion with government. However, one passage from the New Testament supports the theory that when it came to religious affairs and government, Jesus thought they were separate things altogether.

Christians are familiar- or they ought to be familiar- with this story from the life of Jesus, in which, he outsmarts a shifty lawyer. 

Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.

“Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

Matthew 22:15-22

That’s probably a familiar passage even to people who are not all that devoted to the Christian faith. Besides showing that Jesus could argue as well as any lawyer of his time, or that his audience was not merely gullible village folk- it also demonstrates something else. Jesus himself believed that the realm of the government and the realm of religion were not to be intermixed. 

In his time, the powers of Caesar was not merely the head of government but, as a emperor of the known world, he was the government. His obscure whims required absolute obedience. 

Judea was little more than an occupied colony of Rome and dissent- even in its mildest form- was not tolerated. It was a case of "you are either with us or against us."