I promised a guy I would help him destroy my career.
In an effort to keep that promise, I am posting this link: (https://johnbranyan.home.blog/2019/04/04/john-branyan-and-his-neo-nazi-views-on-genocide/)
As you’re reading my wicked quotes coming back to haunt me I encourage you to remember: “Context matters.”
Outside of their original context phrases often lose their meaning.
For example:
“So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts…”
John 2:15 – Talking about Jesus going into beast mode.
Without context, it’s obvious that Jesus supports whipping people.
Everybody knows it’s wrong to whip people.
Right?
RIGHT??!!
Context matters.
The one thing EVERYONE agrees about is: Whipping people is either good or bad.
Whipping people is not a meaningless act of nature about which we can be neutral.
Anybody who has ever played cards can understand this.
A deck of cards contains, among other cards, a queen of spades.
When you’re playing “Hearts”, this queen is either good or bad.
She’s good when you collect her along with ALL the other “hearts” in the deck.
She’s terrible when you collect her along with MOST of the other “hearts” in the deck.
The context matters.
Your personal circumstances will change the way you feel about the queen of spades.
But before you can decide whether the queen is good or bad, you must know the rules.
Without rules, a deck of cards is meaningless.
This is where atheists, humanists, and secularists go wrong.
Life has dealt them a fistful of cards but they don’t believe rules exist.
Every card is an idea out of context.
Everyone plays by their own rules.
Christianity is like a game of cards.
One of the cards is Jesus whipping people in the temple.
You need to know the context and the rules before you say whether that card is “good” or “bad”.
And if you’re a secular heathen who believes “God” is superstitious nonsense…
…don’t bother opening your mouth.
If you decide to visit the atheist’s shrine to my wickedness, I don’t recommend commenting there. The blog owner is a coward who will not tolerate anything except sycophantic agreement. He cannot be trusted with your comments. Feel free to join the dissenter dialogue here. If we get a decent dialogue going, we’ll post the link to the atheist’s blog so they’ll be able to see what adult conversation looks like.
While you’re at it, consider putting the Dissenter app on your browser. It’s a free speech platform that allows you to comment on ANY web page without worrying about censorship. You can say whatever you want! Get it here: https://dissenter.com/download
9 Responses
Hi John!
Usually when I want to read nonsense I stick to the Progressive Christian section of Patheos, but since you posted the link, I had to check it out.
Reading that dude’s blog was like drinking raw sewage. And I don’t have to belong to your cult to say so. 😉
I’m going to go read some imprecatory psalms now. I just wanted you to know that I support you, your family, and your church.
– Pete
John, when have these anti-theists ever taken anything in context? That idea is totally foreign to them. They certainly have never read the Bible in context, beyond childish wooden literalism, so why would they ever take your more nuanced point in context. To me, their reaction totally makes sense. They have proven that they are either incapable of understanding something deeper than superficial statements or they are being exceedingly deceptive. Neither one produces the effect they think it does (at least, outside their echo chambers where real grown-ups live and communicate on a mature level).
Actually, it’s quite humorous how much they don’t get this. I think it was Napoleon who said, never interrupt your enemy while they’re making a tactical mistake. While these atheists are not our enemy, they’re sure making themselves look stupid (or extremely deceptive). Frankly, a nine-year old would get your point. Apparently, those cognitive skills were never developed in them. But this is all is a great case in point, so let them blather on. 🙂
It’s important (to me, anyway) that this stuff be brought to the attention of the church. Too often the heathen are presented as merely wayward children who need only to be gently coaxed to Jesus. While that might be true sometimes, I have usually found atheists to be hostile and arrogant.
Very true, John. About 99% of atheists who actually comment on Christian blogs are like angry ex’s, looking to put their former lover in the worst possible light. It’s a bit pathological. As I said before, whenever I engage atheists, it’s to talk to seekers and believers, to show them what’s really going on and to give them confidence in what we believe. I think you’re doing that, too. And this shrine they’ve built to you will only be a place (outside their echo chamber) where people can go and realize just how bankrupt of intelligent thought these childish and belligerent anti-theists truly are. More likely it will just be ignored. But it should certainly give any relationally mature person pause before wanting to relate to these people.
To JB’s point, I think the analogy of Atheists as “children” is still applicable. But not the part about requiring gentleness… Sometimes children need to be told point blank, “GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER; everyone is looking, and you’re embarassing yourself.” 🙂
Or. as Jordan Peterson says, “Grow the hell up.” And that’s one of the points in his book, that parents would raise their children so that other people like them. Apparently, these people’s parents didn’t get that memo. 🙂
I said EXACTLY that to every one of my kids. “The most important thing you will ever learn is how to make other people like you.” I believe that sincerely.
My wife used to say that to everyone of our kids, too, when they acted up in public. And people used to tell us how well behaved our kids were and thanked us. It’s probably the best gift a parent can give their child. It will certainly prepare them to do well in the world.
Yes! I started telling Atheists awhile ago, “I don’t know who made you ‘Simon Cowell’ or why you think Christians are supposed to dance for your approval. But–threatening to leave church and never come back isn’t a very good punishment. Actually, things will be easier when you’re gone.”
I suspected they’ve spent so much time feeling like a “prize” for Christians to win that they’d never asked themselves whether they’re the types of prize ANYONE would want. They didn’t know how to respond to my statement that being judged by a Moral Relativist isn’t my idea of a good Sunday, and they can just stay home.
Basically, my point was what you said: some Atheists are anti-social and unlikable… it would do them some good to hear as much.