Retired high school chemistry teacher explains Christianity

crucifixion

Tom Ritter, the retired high school chemistry teacher who insists that atheism is a religion and that atheists and agnostics are members of a "new flat earth society" has been issuing one press release after another over the past week or so.

In the latest, he explains Christianity:

God created man to be His friend.

God has other friends. The angels, but angels do not have our free will. The Trinity also make good company, but though They have different jobs, The Trinity think exactly alike. They are, after all, one Being.

This friendship, like any other, requires a conscious effort from both parties. God wants man to accept the hand of friendship freely, which means he can also refuse it. In short, He had to give man a free will, our tendency to think ourselves in charge, our human pride. If we accept it, this friendship lasts for eternity, a condition we call heaven. If we refuse this hand of friendship, however, because we are immortal, we exist forever in a state of isolation we call hell.

God also had to do something to show us how much He wanted that friendship and that this friendship was His doing, not ours. That something was the voluntary death on the cross of Jesus, One of the Trinity and part of Himself.

We commit a lot of sins and cannot atone for most of these. For example, suppose you kill someone. How can you ever atone to that man's family, let alone the victim? Our acceptance of Jesus' Atonement pays for this sin and worse in God's eyes.

The payment also puts us in God's debt, which is precisely where He wants us, because God has important jobs and satisfying relationships for everyone who accepts this hand of friendship.

P.S. A pair of Protestant theologians and a Catholic priest vetted this piece.

Ritter had filed a federal lawsuit against a school for teaching the theory of evolution because it was "the religion of atheism."

D. Beeksma

One of the growing crowd of American "nones" herself, Deborah is a prolific writer who finds religion, spirituality and the impact of belief (and non-belief) on culture inspiring, fascinating and at times, disturbing. She hosts the God Discussion show and handles the site's technical work. Her education and background is in business, ecommerce and law.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Voytek-Potrykus/1436419321 Voytek Potrykus

    I chuckled. Then I snorted. Then I just burst out laughing.

    • Deborah_B

      I think my reaction was similar, except maybe I'd add that my jaw dropped at first.

      • http://www.houseofbetazed.com Mriana

        Obviously mine was too, otherwise I wouldn't have said what I did about it. lol

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Voytek-Potrykus/1436419321 Voytek Potrykus

    One of the most abhorrent things about Christianity is the vicarious absolution of guilt. I killed someone? It's okay. Jesus died for my sins. My slate is clean.

  • Peter

    This payment also puts us in gods debt. What, gods a loan shark or has a bank. That's new. And do these theologians and that priest have names?

  • http://www.houseofbetazed.com Mriana

    He does a poor job of explaining Xianity. Any work of literature with a series of books and/or shows and movies can be explained much the same way. 1. Like any work of fiction, humans created God. Anyone who has studied religion (not just Xianity) and/or mythology they would know this. 2. God has other friends like James T. Kirk has a crew on the Star Ship Enterprise. Any work of fiction give the main character friends as well as foes, as well as a variety of personalities and features. As far as friends, AKA fans, go in such works of fictions, I'm great friends with Kirk, who has had more resurrections than Jesus Christ. 3. Oh yes, sure. Kirk and Will Riker had a lot to do with bedding many women. Their charm and sex appeal goes a long ways. 4. Of course, as humans we are fallible, that is why we strive to better ourselves and society. 5. I think very highly of the late great Gene Roddenberry, but he never wanted us to think of him as a deity or be indebted to him, but he's still my hero and I'm grateful for him for introducing the world to humanism through Star Trek.

    P.S. A group of writers vetted Gene's work and picked off where he left off after his death.

    • Peter

      Yes, old Kirk has been resurrected many
      times. God, he’s in everything, I wonder if his girdle is uncomfortable. I went
      to a stage musical in downtown Toronto on Sunday and there was Shatner’s star
      on the Walk of Fame. Right beside Celine Dion who I can’t stand. I’m a Star
      Trek fan, also, but I found Pickard more believable as a Captain.

      • http://www.houseofbetazed.com Mriana

        I like the Star Trek: The Next Generation better than TOS too, but even so, TOS is classic. One thing Tom Harpur said in a video once, which I find very true, "Religion is mythology misunderstood. Let me repeat that. Religion is mythology misunderstood."
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk-6qtQl0vU

        The Bible is no more true or accurate than any other religious text. All it is, is ancient writers explanation of life, in metaphor and allegory, in a manner they understood it and a means to pass on these stories, concerning life to their children. I recently read a Taoism story, from an Amazon except of a book, about a man running from a tiger, only to find another tiger in his effort to escape the first one. It was a metaphorical story about past, present, and future, called "Living in the Moment" http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1585425834?ie=UTF8&tag=truetao-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1585425834 the book was written by a Taoist who has a program called "Free Books for Prisoners" on taoism.net It is the next book my younger son wants to read in the series. He seemed to appreciate the Tao, which his older brother and I sent him, and really wants to read The Tao for Daily Life.

        I'm digressing a little, but my point is, any religious text or other written work that involves a philosophy (like Star Trek involves humanism) can hit home with anyone, make them think, apply it to their life, and trigger a psychological change. The problem is when people take these stories literally, believing they really happened in the past, instead of viewing them like Aesop's Fables, they miss the actual meaning/point behind the stories. I think many Fundamngelicals do that, believing that some metaphorical powerful character, like Ceiling Cat, is really going to come down and strike them dead if they don't follow it literally and believe it really did happen. It's not "God's" love, but love and compassion for each other that is the point and seen in many texts. Any of those stories can be a story as to what it means to be human and as Joseph Campbell implied, Jesus is symbolic of humans "We are all Christ crucified". When one takes the stories literally, they miss these things. I think the Humanist Manifesto II said it well when it said, "There is no god who will save us. We must save ourselves." That's all these stories in the Bible really are, but from a primitive tribal view trying to make sense out of life. Some ancient stories, but not all, whether from the Bible or from the Tao, are still useful today, if not taken literally and I would far rather see a Xian view the Bible like Harpur and Spong, than like Pat Robertson.

      • http://www.houseofbetazed.com Mriana

        Here's another video with Harpur, saying what I said in my last post much better:
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU8YPA43JE4

        One of the things that help me see this was reading other religious stories, esp and including Tao and Buddhism's stories. It can really be seen in those stories and BTW, I think Acharya S even points this out about these stories too.

        As the first story in the Tao Te Ching implies, "To describe it is to not describe it at all."

        • Peter

          I agree. And, perhaps, i'm not arrogant enough, i feel, to call myself an atheist, that like religions they have the definitive answer. I'm agnostic and quite willing to change. I'm a child of the 60s, and as such I, thanks to the Beatles, immersed myself in eastern philosophy. As such, if I was anything I would be a true Buddhist, the agnostic religion of the East, if that is not an oxymoron. The Buddha would not answer the question is there a god, it's unknowable. What intrigues me is the tradition of reincarnation. The Vedas, for instance, go back thousand and thousands of years well before the Abrahamic religions. In fact, Abe's first name was Abram, close to an anagram of Bramah. So many questions, so few answers, but you never stop seeking.. So, I'm getting into a rant here, but professional writer's do that. take care

          • http://www.houseofbetazed.com Mriana

            That's why I call myself a humanist. Humanism covers the UU, Ethical Society, Religious Humanism, Spiritual humanism, and much more than Secular Humanist like to let on. Fred Edwords explains a few:
            http://www.americanhumanist.org/humanism/What_is_Humanism

            Bob Price wrote an article about it, but it's been moved from his site to the Secular Humanist website: http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=price_22_3

            There is no Ethical Society here where I live and if not for the UU here having very few humanists and many Wiccans and other non-Xian groups, I'd probably fit well into the group. Nothing wrong with Wiccans, I just don't view the word as they do. However, I can respect their appreciation for nature and because of that and because they don't impose their worldview on others, allowing others to believe what they do, I get along quite well with them. I have a friend who worships Bast, adores cats (obviously), and we, as well as her "familiar", get along well. Religion itself doesn't bother me. It's what some people do with it that bothers me.

            Of course, many of the Eastern religions are atheistic, with some sects that do ascribe to supernatural beliefs, such as those who believe in a Buddha heaven.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1546749407 Maureen Hart

    what pathetic gobbly-gook blather !

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=270629485111 God Discussion | The Place for Seekers Who Do Not Want to Go to Church

    Ridiculous, isn't it…