mirandaadria:

thatreligiousguy:

Wow… That awkward moment when Planned Parenthood leads “40 Days of Prayer” for abortion (a sort of flimsy and offensive imitation of the “40 Days for Life” movement which prays for an end to abortions). Here are some of their downright disgusting prayer intentions:

No, my dear. What’s really offensive is when cis-gendered men like you think you know what is best for those who own uteri. You don’t, and until you grow a uterus so you can experience the JOOYYYY of pregnancy, you never will.

“Day 18: Today we pray for all the staff at abortion clinics around the nation. May they be daily confirmed in the sacred care that they offer women.” —- What’s so sacred about helping kill another life?

Oh my, you’re quite the good samaritan, aren’t you? So you care more about some non-sentient, non feeling, non thinking embryos instead of the people who are actually helping already born people make responsible reproductive choices? The same people are constantly under attack from your anti-choice buddies and whom have their locations burned down because they believe so highly in the “sancity of life”?

“Day 4: Today we give thanks for the doctors who provide quality abortion care, and pray that they may be kept safe.” — Quality abortion care translates to a procedure that might actually kill the mother as well as her baby. Okay. That makes sense.

Except you’re dead wrong, buddy. Now thanks to modern medicine and technology, abortion is one of the safest surgical procedures available, and is infinitely less taxing on the bodies of uteri-owners than pregnancy. Pregnancy lasts 9 months and comes with a slew of psychological and physical burdens that you will never, ever understand or appreciate.

“Day 40: Today we give thanks and celebrate that abortion is still safe and legal.” — A murder mill would enjoy this, wouldn’t it?

Abortion is not murder. Never has been, never will be.

Yet they have the audacity to not even pray for the unborn lives of those infants they willfully murder. Amazing. 

There are NO infants involved in abortions. None. “Infant” is an emotionally charged word that anti-choicers like you love to use to make uteri-owners feel like monsters for not wanting to be pregnant. Stop it. All it does is make you look like an idiot.

Planned Parenthood, stick to your morbid enterprise of death and leave the praying to authentic believers. 

I’m Christian and pro-choice. Come at me, bro. I can guarantee you that the Bible does not condemn abortion anywhere, even the Old Testament which infinitely more heartless and ruthless than the New Testament when it comes to your “sanctity of life” shit.

Besides, if they wanted to pray about something, it would be more prudent for them to meditate on the Fifth Commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.”

Does not apply to embryos or fetuses. The Bible, like any text that has a historical context, must be read and understood within the confines of that historical context. You can’t just take one line and apply it to whatever the hell you want just because you think it will help defend your twisted and completely unreasonable moral agenda. I’d also like to mention that religion, especially Christianity, has absolutely no place in politics.

So sorry, you lose. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

(via spiceyweiner)

No matter what you believe, never cease questioning it. If your faith is well-placed, it will endure your doubts and challenges. If it does not, you don’t need it.

(via youngatheist)

See my primer on the DAISY and TULIP principles before reading.

The Calvinist position teaches unconditional election, that is, God elects some to eternal life and others to damnation. There’s nothing anybody can do about it, that’s just the way it is.

Arminianism teaches abrogated election, in which God elects those that he foresaw would choose to submit to him anyway. Election exists in a way that renders it completely pointless because it’s still dependent upon human choice.

This argument is hinged upon the foreknowledge of God. One has to believe that God is omniscient and possessing of foreknowledge to even begin this argument. This is where I disagree with everybody, because I have no reason to believe that God has any foreknowledge. 

Jeremiah 32:35 - They built high places to Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, and immolated their sons and daughters to Molech, bringing sin upon Judah; this I never commanded them, nor did it even enter my mind that they should practice such abominations.

If God in this passage is saying that he never saw this coming, this seems to put a lid on the idea of divine omniscience. People get around this a few ways. One idea states that God knows everything he wishes to know, and prevents himself from knowing the future or certain parts of it.  Some people argue that God has knowledge of counterfactuals and potentiality. God knows that which could be, but not that which will be. This preserves the omniscience of God and the free will of Man. It’s not that God doesn’t know everything, it’s that he knows every possible everything. Others say that Jeremiah 32:25 and similar verses are dramatic exaggerations and don’t really mean what they say. It is the last group that I take the most issue with, because this response is born out of fear. If your God has to know absolutely everything for you to be able to sleep at night, you are kind of pathetic. Part of the fun of human existence is not knowing and being surprised. Why shouldn’t divine existence be the same, especially if we are meant to be created after God’s own image?

So, in response to election, I choose neither; human choice decides human destiny. Everybody is invited to this party.

See my primer on the DAISY and TULIP principles before reading on.

In the argument of depravity, the position of the Arminian is that man’s free will enables him to know good from evil and to choose that which is good. Each person’s destiny depends on what he chooses to do with this free will. His will is not enslaved to his sinful nature.

The Calvinist argument is that man is totally incapable and it is only by the grace of God through the Holy Spirit that a person can even choose Christ in the first place.

My opinion is that man is not that fallen. People choose good over evil every day, with or without Christ. If it is possible to be good without accepting Christ, it is reasonable to assume that one could accept Christ without divine intervention. There are days when I’m convinced that every yearning of the human heart is always evil, all of the time, but then I remember that I’m chronically depressed, exceptionally bitter, and given to fits of misanthropy. My negative perceptions don’t determine reality. I will concede that people often suck, and that this is true for a majority of people a majority of the time, but this is not so much intrinsic to humans as it is the result of bad breeding. It is possible for every one of these people (excepting for the mentally ill and disabled) to reform, even without intervention, if they each have the desire. I am not optimistic about them doing so, but it is possible. If it is then possible for people to change for the better in the moral dimension, it must then be possible for people to change in the spiritual dimension. Intervention may happen and may be necessary for some individuals, but as a species we have the capacity to change and act upon that which we will. Our depravity is not total, and the belief that only God can change us seems like a cop-out for people who don’t want to take responsibility for their own condition.

Note: This is swiped from a website I have since forgotten, and is presented as a reference point for future discussions on the basic tenents of each doctrinal standpoint.

ARMINIANISM

Diminished Depravity:

As pivotal in the whole teaching of Arminianism the emphasis is on free will. Here God enables every sinner to repent and believe, but He does not interfere with man’s freedom. Each sinner possesses a free will, and his eternal destiny depends on how he uses it. Man’s freedom consists of his ability to choose good over evil in spiritual matters; his will is not enslaved to his sinful nature.

Abrogated election

He selected only those whom He knew would of themselves freely believe the gospel. Election therefore was determined by or conditioned upon what man would do. The faith which God foresaw and upon which He based His choice was not given to the sinner by God (it was not created by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit) but resulted solely from man’s will.

Impersonal atonement

Christ Died for all men and for every man, but only those who believe on Him are saved. His death enabled God to pardon sinners on the condition that they believe, but it did not actually put away anyone’s sins. Christ’s redemption becomes effective only if man chooses to accept it.

Sedentary grace

The Spirit calls inwardly all those who are called outwardly by the gospel invitation; He does all that He can to bring every sinner to salvation. But inasmuch as man is free, he can successfully resist the Spirit’s call. The Spirit cannot regenerate the sinner until he believes; faith (which is man’s contribution) proceeds and makes possible the new birth. This more than implies that man can resist the Holy Spirit’s drawing.

Yieldable justification

Everyone who believes and is really saved can lose their salvation. All Arminians have not been agreed on this point; some have held that believers are eternally secure in Christ - that once a sinner is regenerated, he can never be lost. (An echo of Calvanism.)


CALVANISM


Total Depravity – total inability

As a result of the fall man is totally unable to bring himself to a place where he can come to salvation. As a result it takes the Spirit’s intervention to bring a sinner to Christ - it takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature. Faith does not come from man, but it is God’s gift of salvation - it is God’s gift to the sinner.

Unconditional Election

John Calvin in his “Institutes,” Book III, chapter 23,
“….Not all men are created with similar destiny but eternal life is foreordained for some , and eternal damnation for others. Every man, therefore, being created for one or the other of these ends, we say, he is predestined either to life or to death.”

Limited atonement

The death of Jesus on the cross was substitutionary sacrafice for sin in the place of certain specified (fore ordained) sinners. Not only did His act on Calvary remove the sins of His people but it secured everything necessary for their salvation, including faith which unites them to Him. The gift of faith is infallibly applied by the Spirit to all for whom Christ died, therefore guaranteeing their salvation.

Irresistible grace

Not only is there the general call to salvation which is made to everyone who hears the gospel, the Holy Spirit extends to the elect a special call that unavoidably brings them to salvation. This secret call for the elect only cannot be resisted or rejected and always results in salvation. By means of this special call the Spirit draws sinners to Christ. He is not affected in this call of applying salvation by man’s will, nor is He dependent upon man’s cooperation for success. The Spirit graciously causes the elect sinner to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to come freely and willingly to Christ.

Perseverance of the saints

‘Once saved always saved.’ Those who have been elected are done so for eternity and cannot ‘loose’ their salvation. Those who have fallen away from the faith are seen as not being ‘real’ converts but usually branded false converts.