Things that make you say "huh?"

Headlines are a fascination for me, not only because their bold print demands attention, but because they are often filled with things that make you say "huh?"


A prime example of this came to my attention when I read the proclamation of the formation of a church... for atheists. I am not a stupid woman. Church is a gathering place for worship of God - however you define that. Atheists do NOT believe in any form of deity, so what exactly is their church and are they worshiping anything? And if it is simply a gathering of like-minded persons who wish to be godless and unchurched and without religion, why call it a "church"?

Do they sing hymns during their worship, or rock and roll anthems extolling the worldly lifestyle choices that Hollyweird has made popular? They don't pray, so I assume they open their gathering in some other fashion. They eschew any mention of Jesus, God, Jehovah, Allah or any other reference to persons they believe to be mythical creations of deluded people.

They proclaim that they are doing good things they've taken from church, but minus the references to God. One article states the following:

"There was so much about it that I loved, but it's a shame because at the heart of it, it's something I don't believe in," [Sanderson] Jones said. "If you think about church, there's very little that's bad. It's singing awesome songs, hearing interesting talks, thinking about improving yourself and helping other people — and doing that in a community with wonderful relationships. What part of that is not to like?" http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/atheist-mega-churches-root-us-world-20845796



The takeaway from his commentary is that people, in and of themselves, are able to generate all of that good without any form of godliness whatsoever.

While I do believe there is good in every man, we differ on our understanding by light years.

During my very religious upbringing, I was taught that the Spirit of God is in every one of His Children and that we are able to access the divine through the workings of that Spirit. That through that access, we can be motivated, strengthened and learn to see beyond self in a profound way that separates us from being mere animals so that we can become the Hands of Christ working in a way that can change lives, uplift and strengthen not only ourselves, but those around us in need of our help.

Everyone born into the world has that same opportunity for God is no respecter of persons and grants the same inheritance to all His children who are willing to obey His commandments and come unto Jesus Christ to be saved.

When you do not believe, where do you go when you die? What real motivation is there for you to do anything good or decent if you believe this is all there is?

Another quote says: "In the U.S., there's a little bit of a feeling that if you're not religious, you're not patriotic. I think a lot of secular people say, 'Hey, wait a minute. We are charitable, we are good people, we're good parents and we are just as good citizens as you and we're going to start a church to prove it," said [Phil] Zuckerman. "It's still a minority, but there's enough of them now."

That impulse, however, has raised the ire of those who have spent years pushing back against the idea that atheism itself is a religion.

"The idea that you're building an entire organization based on what you don't believe, to me, sounds like an offense against sensibility," said Michael Luciano, a self-described atheist who was raised Roman Catholic but left when he became disillusioned.

"There's something not OK with appropriating all of this religious language, imagery and ritual for atheism," said Luciano, who blogged about the movement at the site policymic.com.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/atheist-mega-churches-root-us-world-20845796?page=2

I must admit that I find myself equally puzzled. If you don't want the style and substance, why copy it? Why create the warm fuzzy feeling - or a shadowy reflection of same - when you have absolutely no intention of truly worshiping ANYTHING or ANYONE? It is more a club meeting than anything else. To call it church is a deliberate provocation and invitation to sin.

A quote by Thomas Payne begins to bring light to the confusion.

Thomas Paine said, “What is it we want to know? Does not the creation, the universe we behold, preach to us the existence of an Almighty power, that governs and regulates the whole? And is not the evidence that this creation holds out to our senses infinitely stronger than anything we can read in a book that any imposter might make or call the word of God? As for morality, the knowledge of it exists in every man’s conscience.” (In God We Trust, ed. Norman Cousins, New York, Harper and Brothers, 1958, p. 1.)

I believe the answer lies in people simply turning a deaf ear to their own conscience because other choices have become more appealing.

The Apostle Paul forewarned of this time when he said: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Tim. 4:3–4.)

We hear much of "tolerance" in our modern era. The word itself has been sore abused and twisted to meet the requirements of a people who's ears are becoming deaf to the whispering of the Spirit. Dallin H. Oaks spoke of this in an address given September 11, 2011.

"It is well to worry about our moral foundation. We live in a world where more and more persons of influence are teaching and acting out a belief that there is no absolute right and wrong, that all authority and all rules of behavior are man-made choices that can prevail over the commandments of God. Many even question whether there is a God.

"The philosophy of moral relativism, which holds that each person is free to choose for himself what is right and wrong, is becoming the unofficial creed for many in America and other Western nations. At the extreme level, evil acts that used to be localized and covered up like a boil are now legalized and paraded like a banner. Persuaded by this philosophy, many of the rising generation—youth and young adults—are caught up in self-serving pleasures, pagan painting and piercing of body parts, foul language, revealing attire, pornography, dishonesty, and degrading sexual indulgence. ...

On the foundation belief in right and wrong, there is an alarming contrast between the older and the younger generations. According to survey data of two decades ago, “79 percent of American adults [believed] that ‘there are clear guidelines about what’s good and evil that apply to everyone regardless of the situation.’”⁴ In contrast, a more recent poll of college seniors suggests that “three-quarters of [them] believe that the difference between right and wrong is relative.”⁵

"Many religious leaders teach the existence of God as the Ultimate Lawgiver, by whose action certain behavior is absolutely right and true and certain other behavior is absolutely wrong and untrue.⁶ Bible and Book of Mormon prophets foresaw this time, when men would be “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:4) and, indeed, when men would deny God (see Jude 1:4; 2 Nephi 28:5; Moroni 7:17; D&C 29:22).

"In this troubled circumstance, we who believe in God and the corollary truth of absolute right and wrong have the challenge of living in a godless and increasingly amoral world. In this circumstance, all of us—and especially you of the rising generation—have a duty to stand up and speak up to affirm that God exists and that there are absolute truths His commandments establish.

"In doing so, we Latter-day Saints rely on the truth we sing in the hymn I quoted earlier:

The pillar of truth will endure to the last,

And its firm-rooted bulwarks outstand the rude blast

And the wreck of the fell tyrant’s hopes.⁷

"As I face this audience of committed young people, I know that some of you may be wondering why I am speaking about what is obvious to you and what, you might assume, is obvious to others. Recall the survey data I mentioned earlier, suggesting that about three-quarters of all college seniors believe the difference between right and wrong is relative.

"I have chosen to speak about truth because teachers in schools, colleges, and universities are teaching and practicing relative morality. This is shaping the attitudes of many young Americans who are taking their places as the teachers of our children and the shapers of public attitudes through the media and popular entertainment. This philosophy of moral relativism denies what millions of believing Christians, Jews, and Muslims consider fundamental, and this denial creates serious problems for all of us. What believers should do about this introduces the second of my twin subjects: Tolerance.

"Tolerance is defined as a friendly and fair attitude toward unfamiliar opinions and practices or toward the persons who hold or practice them. As modern transportation and communication have brought all of us into closer proximity to different peoples and different ideas, we have greater need for tolerance. When I was a young adult, about 60 years ago, it was only in books and magazines that most Americans were exposed to great differences in cultures, values, and peoples. Now we experience such differences in television and the Internet, through travel, and often in personal interactions in our neighborhoods and the marketplace.

"This greater exposure to diversity both enriches our lives and complicates them. We are enriched by associations with different peoples, which remind us of the wonderful diversity of the children of God. But diversities in cultures and values also challenge us to identify what can be embraced as consistent with our gospel culture and values and what cannot. In this way diversity increases the potential for conflict and requires us to be more thoughtful about the nature of tolerance. What is tolerance, when does it apply, and when does it not apply?

"This is a harder question for those who affirm the existence of God and absolute truth than for those who believe in moral relativism. The weaker one’s belief in God and the fewer one’s moral absolutes, the fewer the occasions when the ideas or practices of others will confront one with the challenge to be tolerant. For example, an atheist has no need to decide what kinds and occasions of profanity or blasphemy can be tolerated and what kinds should be confronted. Persons who don’t believe in God or in absolute truth in moral matters can see themselves as the most tolerant of persons. For them, almost anything goes. “You do your thing, and I’ll do my thing” is the popular description. This belief system can tolerate almost any behavior and almost any persons.

"Unfortunately, some who believe in moral relativism seem to have difficulty tolerating those who insist that there is a God who should be respected and certain moral absolutes that should be observed." http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/ces-devotionals/2011/01/truth-and-tolerance?lang=eng&query=atheist

I believe strongly in our moral agency and our ability to choose the course our life will follow. I also believe that we should be tolerant, but that we owe  no one our allegiance but our God. To bow down and support evil is wrong. People are free to use their moral agency in a way that will break them against the commandments of God. They are free to abuse themselves in a fruitless pursuit for happiness that is of the world but not lasting in eternity. But they are not free to compel me to support their actions, to uphold behaviors that are evil or to support iniquity.

Church is not just a social club or civic organization. To bring it down to that level robs it of the sacred and sanctifying purpose that it can achieve and bring about in our lives. Church is NOT the "hang out" spot, nor is it just a building.

Church, as I have been taught as defined by Jesus Christ, is the gathering of His people to worship God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. To have the opportunity to be cleansed from our sins, to be washed clean, to be renewed and to gather strength in the fellowship of the saints of God.

While a social organization can be friendship unending, it cannot save.

The civic clubs can be fun, but they cannot sanctify.

And though we all enjoy the activities with our community friends, none of them can make us complete, whole and fulfill the measure of our creation under God.


I simply am unable and frankly unwilling to wrap my head around a life that is all style and flash but no substance or salvation.

I NEED God. Every second, every minute, every hour of every day. There have been too many great and small manifestations in my life of His constant love and care for me to slip into a worldly construct about what church is and how it functions.

I have been richly blessed time and time again by the overwhelming love of my Savior, who as God's Only Begotten Son, put Himself into my place to atone for me so that I could become complete and whole and free through His merits, mercy, grace and love.

Though the world is free to make their choices, as Joshua of old I solemnly and reverently declare "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord". I make mistakes in life, but I know Who is Able to help me become free and clean from them.

God bless those who wander in the world of politically correct thoughts and behaviors. And help me to be an example of the believers in all that I do and say.