ÿþ<html> <head> <title>Freethought Association | Jesus Smorgasbord</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"/> <meta name="description" content="The Freethought Association of West Michigan provides a public A forum for atheists, humanists, agnostics and other freethinkers to discuss philosophy, religion, science and social issues from a non-theistic perspective. 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And for questions regardiing specific items of interest, send e-mails to: info@freethoughtassociation.org. </p> <p class="body"> The party at the Van Oosterhout's Lake Michigan cottage was great fun and we thank them for hosting the Freethought at the Lake event again this summer. </p> <p class="body"> We were reminded that Gift of Life Michigan organ donor registry forms were available on the literature tables along with more information on this way to save or enhance others' lives. It was also reiterated that simply having a sticker on the back of your license is not a reliable way to have your donation wishes carried out in time. </p> <p class="body"> The next Freethought Movie Night is on August 3, starting at 7PM at Jason Pittman's home. The featured movie is Kinsey. The movie to be shown on the 17th of August is Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. BYOB and a snack to pass. For more information contact Jason at jpittman@backpacker.com or call 616-634-2471. </p> <p class="body"> The Freethought Women's Group is starting up again in August, after a month off, with a get together on the 20th (Saturday) at 10AM. Contact Jennifer Beahan at musiqueforlife@yahoo.com or call 616-706-2029 for more information. </p> <p class="body"> Our next meeting on the 10th of August will be The Science of Chiropractic, presented by Dr. Brian Makula. </p> <p class="body"> Rounding out the month of August, J. Stenish, WMU Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and author of Rot on the Vine; The Many Dark Faces of Religion will speak to us on August 24 on the topic of his book which blends fact and fictional accounts of a variety of tales of woe brought to us from religious notions and practices. The fiction portions are based on many real life general events that occur routinely or have occurred, rather than documenting specific cases; these stories are typically introduced by factual information that serve as a springboard for each tale that follows. </p> <p class="body"> Keep in mind that the Freethought Association will be moving to the Women's City Club facility on Fulton near downtown Grand Rapids in October (the 1st meeting being on the 12th). Prior to that, on September 28th, the presentation will take place at Fountain Street Church where the featured speaker will be Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to discuss Our Environmental Destiny. There is a ticket cost involved of $10. This will be in lieu of any meeting at the Y. C. Library. The Fountain Street Church website is: <a href="http://www.fountainstreet.org/">www.fountainstreet.org</a>. Our last meeting at the Yankee Clipper Library location will be on September 14, with Bob Baumbeck, GRCC Professor of Astronomy (retired), speaking to us on Astronomy; The Origin of Religions. </p> <hr /> <p class="subhead">Presentation</p> <p class="body"> Our topic for the meeting was The Jesus Smorgasbord; Recreational Christianity in the Northern Bible Belt. This entertaining and informative presentation featured a lively visual backdrop and three speakers alternating with each other for their commentary and first hand accounts of their experiences and encounters with the many flavors of Christianity during recent visits to numerous area churches. </p> <p class="body"> Their excellent adventure included an inside look at church politics and a first hand account of being slain in the Spirit as well as two of them being mistaken for a homosexual couple at a very welcoming church and many other interesting experiences. Our presenters, all FA members, included Jeremy Beahan, A.J. Koorstra, and Matt Wylie. </p> <p class="body"> Jeremy is a graduate of a local Bible college, who at one time wanted to be a pastor and who had had positive Christian youth group experiences, but became an atheist after unsatisfying answers to questions he posed and after embarking on a critical reading of the Bible, which he noted, is seldom done by the bulk of adherents to Christianity and its tenets. A.J. was introduced to us in a facetious manner as working for the government in some cryptic fashion, enjoying long walks on the beach (this secretary has even spotted him arm and arm with an enchanting golden tressed sea nymph by wave caressed shores) and being a Costco member. Matt is skilled in website work and was no doubt the chief force behind the marvelous visual displays that were at times shocking and at other times very funny, but always fascinating- that we were treated to. Another claim to fame for young Mr. Wylie is that he is a mail order ordained minister in 9 different church! es. </p> <p class="body"> The presentation began with a flurry of images regarding everything from Church/State entanglements to political cartoons featuring President Bush's theocratic leanings, to headlines regarding controversies within various churches. It was run in a swift fashion, so that it was a bit difficult to absorb details fully but the overall flavor was retained in this visual overture. Jeremy led off the trio of presenters by launching into a very energetic, evangelical, hellfire and brimstone sermon, finally exhorting us to praise Jesus (soon!) because he did not know how long he could keep that up! </p> <p class="body"> Shortly into the service started by "Reverend" Jeremy, "Deacon" Josh (Dunigan) passed a collection plate around. While its intended purpose was more as a prop to keep the church congregation feeling going, it did end up serendipitously netting the FA a decent amount of money. </p> <p class="body"> Talking about his experiences with Christian youth groups, Beahan said they really kept kids going and feeling that they belonged to something. They were accepted and fit in with a group that was part of something bigger than themselves. Instead of leading Jeremy to an Almighty God, thinking of all that was larger out there; the Big Picture&#8212;caused him to think about science, nature, philosophy, and other non-Christian concepts and views of the world as well as attempting to see how Christian doctrines might cohere with the real world. This made it harder for him to believe in a God in three parts Who had one third of Himself do some preaching and some magic tricks, be betrayed, executed, then rise three days later and finally ascend into the clouds. It was too much to believe that a torment without end (...because God cares) awaited those who did not accept these fanciful notions. Jeremy moved beyond the pat answers he was given and found the stories he was steeped in to be unrewarding as philosophy, science or history. A 6,000 year old Earth, genocides directed by or committed by a tribal deity, eternal damnation awaiting people no matter how good they were, solely because they hadn't heard, or didn't espouse, the Good Word, biblical inconsistencies, troubling ethical structures, and many other things drew him away from the faith he was born into. Beahan began to realize that it was the packaging; the emotional content- that packed the pews, not rational investigations into life's questions. </p> <p class="body"> The three presenters were upfront about how their survey of area churches was not a scientific nor entirely unbiased one. They were all White, male, liberal- leaning, book-reading atheists around the same age. They concluded that their objectivity level was perhaps on a par with Fox News. They sampled a rather small number of area churches relative to the number available. Each Sunday they would attend one church for 2-3 hours and take in one sermon at each, and they did this for a few months. They generated a large amount of information but had to prune it down greatly to accommodate time constraints. They also presented their encounters to us on just a few of the churches attended, for the simple reason that much of what they experienced was boring and they wished to keep their presentation lively and entertaining. There was a fair amount of diversity in the Christian churches attended with the common denominator being a belief in God and the significance of Jesus. </p> <p class="body"> Some of what followed was hard to reconcile with what one typically thinks of for a church service. One, for example, had at one time featured the film The Matrix for its religious instruction... a sort of Jesus Reloaded. The sci-fi trilogy tells a story about a world where machine intelligence has driven humans underground. Needing a power source in the wasted, darkened and ruined world, the machines use human bodies as batteries, while creating a virtual reality world for the energy- producing captives. Some manage to escape into the real world and are the only ones who can stand up to the machines. They try to free as many fellow humans from the Matrix as possible while destroying machines and their virtual agents both, depending on whether they are jacked into the virtual world or dwelling in the real one. The hero, Neo, was interpreted as a stand in for Christ, in the church presentation, and they see Christians as being among the unplugged ones. </p> <p class="body"> The apostle Paul was said to have traveled to Mars Hill. Now a mega- church in Grandville bears this name. It embraces pop- culture. Mars Hill Bible Church, has been stunningly successful in attracting members, serving some 10,000 people in three separate services! It had a rather unconventional way of dealing with the problem of pornography; Hosting a group called XXXchurch whos website is a ruse to get porn seekers to surf on in, only to find its purpose was to get them to stop their habit. They have everything from a Wally the Weiner (complete with scrotum and a smile) figure to porn aficionado prayer groups, to accountability software so that two others in a Porn Patrol can be e-mailed what sites the person has visited and these accountability partners try to help the porn addict fight his urges. </p> <p class="body"> The account became more and more surreal as it went on. We were told that the old- school pamphlets that warned the masturbator of blindness and insanity resulting from his manual proclivities were no longer effective. Now young, hip Christians are exhorted (on XXXchurch.com) to please God, not themselves and are even treated to slogans like: Every time you masturbate, God kills a kitten. </p> <p class="body"> Mars Hill mega- church tends to spin out old ideas in new ways to capture a "mall-cultural" (as our presenters termed it) trendy, White, consumerism- oriented segment of the population. The parking lot was packed when our intrepid freethinkers got there and cars were festooned with Jesus fish, Bush-Cheney, and Love Wins stickers. The mega- church was redolent with a sort of Bath &amp; Body Works aroma. The music was reported to be underwhelming while aiming at a White suburban hip sound. The sermon was forgettable, with a low degree of substance, while extolling practical advice... a very Dr. Phil- like/ group therapy feel suffused the experience. There were a lot of vague notions cast out to the congregation about how Jesus cares and will help you deal with your pain. No details. Nothing of note was said, and their approach to the Bible was decidedly post-modern. </p> <p class="body"> As with even more traditional church services, there was a lot of cherry picking of the scriptures. A line was read from the Bible that was supposed to infer the support of gender equality, but just a couple lines down the famous quote about how women should submit to their husbands was omitted. The minister would say things like: You tracking me? to engage the mostly under 30 audience and it was apparent to our presenters that many of the young women were attracted to him. He was enveloped in a nearly rock star air. </p> <p class="body"> This sort of mega church is part of the "emergent church" movement with post modern concepts, reaching out to the large number of unchurched who eschew traditional houses of worship. Those who attend the Mars Hill Church feel that they are being engaged in a casual conversation, and that the minister speaks their language. Rev. Rob Bell is felt to exude a friendly, charming, and above all- charismatic- persona, while telling amusing stories. </p> <p class="body"> Oddly, this hip and trendy church only recently allowed women to serve! There had been a committee put in place to oppose their involvement, which our presenters found utterly stupid, considering how naturally involved women generally become in keeping a church running well. At Mars Hill, half their membership had been effectively reduced to second class citizenship. The problem seems to be that they try to reach a hip, post-modern crowd, while relying on a source book that commands women to be silent in the church and to ask their husbands about things beyond their ken. </p> <p class="body"> Another mega church our presenters visited was the Kentwood Community Church which led them to draw shopping mall comparisons once inside. Youth were provided with 27 inch screen televisions, a large selection of the hottest video games, a graffiti wall, amps and speakers pumping out music, a juice bar, pizza, etc. This was a far cry from Sunday school but it kept them occupied in a safe environment and the family could say they all attended church together, even if no religious instruction was provided to the young people. </p> <p class="body"> In place of a sanctuary there was an auditorium with special effects and gimmicks, including dry ice, fog machines, colored lights, costumed dancers, and other pyrotechnic effects. Congas and electric guitars beat out a tempo that increased as a gigantic foam rubber tomb of Jesus emerged and exploded with smoke issuing forth. All in all it was like some 1980's metal band experience. It was stunning to think of all the time, energy and money poured into these garish displays, while being tax exempt, of course. </p> <p class="body"> Our presenters found the performances to have a very rehearsed quality. The talk was conversational and meant to sound smooth and personal but felt fake and the entire affair seemed pre-packaged and pre- planned. Everything was bullet- pointed and focus grouped to death. The KCC was content with looking good while having no depth, like a Thomas Kincaid painting. It was all charming and inoffensive and utterly bland. The Resurrection Life Church was given a similar review: not very eventful. The pastor was likable enough but there was little substance to his sermon. His words were conveyed in a bullet point fashion and the service was essentially termed nice. This term: nice, being used, it would seem, as a way of damning with faint praise. </p> <p class="body"> Next up for our consideration was what our presenters called What Would Jesus Burn? with the subtitle of Harry Potter and the Flames of Fundamentalism. The first item offered for burning was a no- brainer: a Harry Potter book. Burn! Burn! There's talk of witchcraft in it, after all!! But then the items we were quizzed on became more difficult to see how they could be fit for the fires by even the most fundamentalist Bible-believer. One such example was a Shania Twain CD. Not exactly Marilyn Manson, but it was deemed evil for the simple reason that Ms Twain does not explicitly give glory to God in her music. The most surprising fire fodder was a BIBLE! The reason? It was an NIV (New International Version) Bible. NOT a 1611 King James version, so it too must be reduced to ashes along with a Coneheads DVD and other assorted worldly evils. This bizarre spectacle too was not part of some wild drug induced atheistic hallucination but what had actually transpired under the guidance of the Jesus Non-denominational Church, or what our presenters called: Fear & Loathing in Greenville. </p> <p class="body"> The lesson they learned from this experience was never go early to a church if you are an outsider. Everyone wants to know all about you and why you are there. This was no mega- church that one could blend into, but a tiny place where any new faces are readily noticed. Every move is noticed too. Jesus Non-denominational Church in Greenville is presided over by God's Man of Faith and Power (beats the heck out of Reverend for a title), Tommy Turner Jr. </p> <p class="body"> The three FA members then showed a slew of clips from the preacher's rants where he spoke of wrestling against fallen angels and demons, evil, the perilousness of the world for Christians, Hell and brimstone, how self gratification feels good but DON'T DO IT! Shake it off! Talk of how a bad tree cannot produce godly fruit and should be hurled into the fires was jarringly juxtaposed with concepts of love and forgiveness. Tommy Turner Jr. explained in one clip how he has nothing to fear from someone who is a lemon tree and that God blows up the Devil. Enthusiastic amens punctuated his finer points. </p> <p class="body"> Our group's church hoppers were witness to faith healing exercises there. Since those who were to be healed were made to close their eyes, tilt their heads back, be shouted at in a disorienting and sensory overloading fashion and have their arms outstretched, they tended to lose their balance. When this occurred it was believed to be proof of God's power washing over and through them. Strange vowel combinations and gibberish gushed out then... what those who utter such in a religious context call Speaking in Tongues but is otherwise known as glossolalia. It derives from the Bible where foreign languages were understood to others when the apostles spoke them. Glossolaliacs speak no language known to humankind however. </p> <p class="body"> Yeah, our boys from the Freethought Association, caught in the midst of this frenzy and cacophony were admittedly scared at this point. People were being Slain in the Spirit left and right but this was all a matter of course for the regulars there. One woman who was a veteran of many falls had people at the ready to catch her in anticipation. </p> <p class="body"> Wylie was caught taking pictures at the service, effectively blowing their cover. But he definitely took one for freethought and redeemed himself fully. Totally unplanned and unexpected, he was lead up to be Slain in the Spirit after it was determined that this boy needed him some healing! Matt re-enacted for us what transpired at that fateful moment: his arms went out shaking, his head began to fall back, one leg then the other began twitching, then at the climactic moment when the spirit overtook him, his arms shot up and he shouted JESUS! AJ intoned drolly at this point: If you can't reach spiritual orgasm, you can always fake it. </p> <p class="body"> Next on our tour was the United Church of Christ in Kentwood. There was literature laid out about GRIID (Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy) and Habitat for Humanity and they were a thoroughly welcoming church for diversity, most notably for homosexuals and bisexuals. The UCC had even put together an ad showing diverse groups congregating at their church with the voice over saying that no matter where you are on life's journey, you are welcome there. We were asked if we had seen this ad. It was highly unlikely that we did, since this tolerant, warm and welcoming message was deemed to be too controversial to broadcast on major networks! As is often the case, when churches are divisive and intolerant there is nary a whisper of dissent, but when any are bold enough to actually exemplify Jesus' penchant for going to the outcast members of society, then they are seen as controversial. </p> <p class="body"> When A.J. And Jeremy attended this church together they were automatically assumed to be a gay couple. In conversation a few members seemed shocked that they lived in separate houses. </p> <p class="body"> There was traditional hymn singing and then the sermon about how the Jews had been led into Babylonian captivity. The sermon highlighted biblical character marginalized the poor and disenfranchised while building palaces to the rich and fighting an unjust war. Jeremy joked, "was this Jeremiah we are talking about, or Zedikiaha W. Bush?" A.J. And Jeremy saw how the minister was selecting out passages that bolstered his political views while ignoring those that were at odds with that message. They gave it a mixed review; giving high marks for moral integrity while giving low ones to intellectual integrity. Once again there exists a divide in what the faithful want their sacred text to say and what it actually declares. At the United Church of Christ they think genocide, sexism and intoler! ance is wrong but hold to a book that exults in those very things. </p> <p class="body"> They would almost be an edgy and different church, and they seem to want to fancy themselves progressive thinkers, but they must resort to revisionism to marry the dogma of the Bible with their contemporary, tolerant and broad- minded world view. The problem is that the Bible is both a perennial best seller and an almost unread text at the same time. It is believed to be the sacred, very Word of God, but is seldom well examined by its biggest supporters. This is why such absurdities can exist as the belief by some 12% of Christians that Joan of Arc was Noah's WIFE! Or that 75% believe that Jesus said that God helps those who help themselves, when it was in fact Ben Franklin. And how one passage can directly contradict the one immediately before it while disturbing the Bible believer not one whit. Whatever the slant of a particular denomination, it can be supported by scripture, so long as the pastor picks and chooses for his/her congregation the! passages that say what s/he wants said. When that fails, selective and often imaginative interpretation can conform the message as s/he sees fit. The flock seldom notices, since most are ignorant of the Bible's actual contents, relying on what they were told in Sunday school and church services only. </p> <p class="body"> But more significantly (and the underlying theme of this presentation) is that those who pack the pews and keep coming back for more (not regarding here those who merely endure the services merely out of habit and without joy) are drawn to the style more than the substance. They are attracted to the engaging packaging, not the doctrines, or to the examination the ethical constructs of an ancient Middle Eastern nomadic tribe, or vexing questions about what a critical exploration of their Good Book really has to say. Church is more a social event than a spiritual one, with lots of hand shaking, reveling in one's Christian identity, nursery and youth programs, and singing; a sense of community. Indeed, this sense of belonging was what attracted Beahan to the church as a teen. </p> <p class="body"> Dwelling too much on religious tenets, core beliefs and orthodoxy kills the service that is more about pageantry and performance. Approaching the Bible or the faith itself (Christianity in this case) rationally, critically and with an inquiring mind is a satisfying intellectual exercise, while often leading to doubt and apostasy, but it is not well suited to a communal emotional experience. Jeremy spoke of someone near and dear to him who was essentially an exemplar of what those of this faith regard as a good Christian. However, he learned that this sweet, compassionate woman had apparently never cracked the Bible to examine its contents. It is arguable that the majority of Christians base their moral behavior- as Christians- on an ideal that can seldom be found in the Bible or the history of Christianity in general. </p> <p class="body"> It's a very difficult thing to reconcile for oneself a personal knowledge of the Bible's contents of how it is right to bash the heads of an enemy's babes against rocks, stone disobedient children to death, regard slavery, sexism, genocide, and raping virgins as perfectly acceptable- while simultaneously holding to the belief that this book is all about love and peace and goodness. A God who delights in massive animal slaughter, is preoccupied with foreskins and one tribal group and their diet, and if they mixed fibers or crops in their field, and seemed to believe that the Earth It created was flat and that light exited days before a sun and moon did, is a challenge to reconcile with an all- knowing, omni- benevolent deity. It is more comforting to just not exercise one's brain about such things and go for what it feels good to believe. </p> <p class="body"> Likewise, it is easier and less troubling to believe in an all-wise, all good Jesus- without examining the matter- than to learn that he declared that those who did believe in his sovereignty should be slain before him, said the he came to bring not peace but a sword, came to divide households, was always talking of the eternal torture chamber that awaited non-believers, felt justified in cursing a fig tree for not bearing fruit out of season and was every bit as ignorant of the world as anyone else of his time and place and was extremely ethnocentric. He also made the prophecy that he would be back within the lifetimes of some of those who heard his words that day. Of course there were many very positive acts and words attributed to him too, not the least of which was his going to aid and comfort the poor and outcasts in society- but seeing him as divine and perfect is an awful stretch for one who has actually read the N.T. </p> <p class="body"> Greenville's Jesus Non- denominational Church was a rather frightening experience for our trio (with its slaying in the Spirit, speaking in tongues, and hellfire sermon) but the congregation they found to be very generous and, despite their small size, to have a robust food pantry and their beliefs and practices were genuine. There was no pretense and no concern for looking flashy and pre-packaged. Rev. Tommy was not about stylizing his animated sermons to fit modern sensibilities. They were internally honest. </p> <p class="body"> In the Question & Answer period that followed, one man criticized the presenters for their mocking tone and saying that the churches would always be well attended, while groups like ours would, conversely, always be small by comparison. Jeremy fielded this statement, saying that their presentation was a mixture of objective facts and subjective opinions from their perspectives as non-believers, as explained at the outset. A critical investigation of the Bible and church practices yields some uncomfortable data for those who wish to adhere to a sanitized, wart- free belief system, but truth is not arrived at by vote or attendance figures. </p> <p class="body"> Intellectual honesty is a difficult ideal to adhere to, and an often lonely journey for the notoriously affiliation- oriented and supremely social primate that is the human being. Those who were brought up in the warmth and sense of belonging that the church confers upon its members, often miss the social aspects. Passive acceptance of what one's pastor or youth minister says is comforting, and it is therefore a hard road to travel when one shines the headlamps of reason upon it; exposing the ruts of inconsistency and potholes of diametrically opposed values, or even outright unacceptable dogma for a modern, more enlightened era. Messages of love and peace and tolerance are extracted in most churches from a source that has little of these positive qualities in it, or at best, where these happy concepts are blunted by grim, violent and life-denigrating ones. For those who choose to ignore (or remain blissfully unaware of) the negative elements, t! his is not a problem. </p> <p class="body"> One attendee of this evening's presentation echoed something this secretary had heard many other times: that she was brought up Catholic and the Bible was really not dwelled upon all that much in her experience. The focus was more on Church ritual and dogma. She also commented that the presenters zeroed in on easy targets to lampoon. As they mentioned in the beginning, most of the churches they attended were found to be dull and unrewarding experiences, so they stripped down their presentation greatly for reasons of limited time and to not bore us out of our wits. Many typical FA members do not see the inside of churches regularly, and their survey, while unabashedly biased, was a rare glimpse for many of us into some of the more interesting Christian religious services conducted in the Northern Bible Belt. </p> <p class="body"> Revisiting the issue of Catholicism, they mentioned that they had attended a service at a Catholic church that had a strong sense of order and was impressive for its interfaith involvement, while another (Opus Dei), made the local news for its heavy-handed opposition to visiting Tibetan monks- even forcing them out! This secretary was told by one religious (Protestant) aunt that she had happily attended Mass with her Catholic friend one Sunday but when she returned the favor, inviting her friend to a Protestant church service, the Catholic woman had to rush off to attend an evening Mass, stating that the service she just attended didn't count. </p> <p class="body"> In response to another question, our presenters reiterated how modern sensibilities were hard to fit with many of the more horrific attitudes of the Bible. But if one really wants to hear the unvarnished Word of God, they will not get this in the mega churches. It would seem that the swelled attendance of these speaks to how many people really do not want to hear about the Bible or Christian tenets. However, one positive note in our presenters' evaluation of the mega-churches is that they are a good outlet for the use of talents an they get many people involved in these expressive outlets. Also, they provide a safe haven for young people that, while not teaching religious principles, at least entertain them and their parents know where they are and what they are up to. </p> <p class="body"> While they experienced politics in the pulpit, this was not the norm. Mostly such fare, if it existed at all, was found in the lobby and anterooms. It seemed that the two controversial issues: politics and (ironically!) religion were the very things that, in most cases, were to be kept to a minimum in religious services. People attend these services not to have their thinking challenged, but to feel good in a communal atmosphere, where they can believe they are all on the same page. </p> <p class="body"> Churches, it was noted do heavily influence politics, however. Almost daily one hears about getting back to our Judeo-Christian roots in this country, about biblical mythology replacing science, and about our moral decay with the only remedy being even more saturation and intrusion of Christianity into society than already exists. The influence extends well beyond any religious sensibilities or doctrines too often, as with the Christian Coalition's efforts toward making the Bush tax cuts permanent and other cases of where the secular underpinnings of our country are being undermined by the Religious Right. These last comments, to clarify, were offered by some audience members, not the presenters. </p> <p class="body"> Jesus, it was mentioned, is often used as a mediating force to balance out a vengeful and wrathful God. But Jesus does not denounce the Old Testament concepts, and indeed, even says that not a jot or tittle should be changed. The Bible God is, anyway, supposed to be eternal in His ways; even as things change, He does not. Even the Decalogue, with only ten commandments (in one of its versions, anyway) is not entirely relevant or acceptable to post-Industrial age people. Even here, most people who support it cherry pick and are unaware of its full content. They know it says to not kill and to honor one's father and mother and not to steal. They do not usually think of how wives are property, that there must not be statues or images made, that God commanded blind obedience to Himself alone among the many deities constructed by humankind, because He's jealous, and so on. </p> <p class="body"> While emotionalism is the glue for many active church goers, many who are part of the Freethought Association are more inclined to evaluate pronouncements in a cooler fashion. But it is this very independence of thought that makes it harder to assemble a large group of members toward one goal. As the old saying goes: it is akin to herding cats. Another detriment mentioned is that there is no metaphysical promise to confer upon the religiously skeptical. 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