Quakers ‘brainwash’ children, apparently

Anglican Mainstream have found some ‘actual footage’ of Quakers ‘brainwashing’ children. Wow. ‘Brainwashing’. Strong word.

No bible, no God

In this article, Colin Coward picks out a fascinating quote from Albert Hohler, discussing Rob Bell’s new book Love Wins:

“Like so many others, Bell wants to separate the message of Jesus from other voices even in the New Testament, particularly the voice of the Apostle Paul. Here we face the inescapable question of biblical authority. We will either affirm that every word of the Bible is true, trustworthy, and authoritative, or we will create our own Bible according to our own preferences. Put bluntly, if Jesus and Paul are not telling the same story, we have no idea what the true story is.”

This quote perfectly illustrates the quicksand on which the faith of so many ‘biblical’ Christians seems to be built. Their faith rests on the affirmation that “every word of the Bible is true, trustworthy, and authoritative”. Without this absolute, they would have to figure out God all over again which would be a daunting prospect for many. It’s no wonder they stick to their position so forcibly: without the Bible, where would God be? They would have to find him.

Christian Insitute warns us against voting for AV

Beware, says the Christian Institute: if you vote for the Alternative Vote system, you’ll be in danger of voting in ‘Progressives’, who have a tendency to be ‘socially liberal on issues like abortion, marriage, feminism and homosexual activism’. Just so you know. Be aware also that by voting for AV you will probably be supporting groups such as Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, Liberal Judaism and Ekklesia, all of whom (the Christian Institute reminds us) have been called ‘progressive’ faith groups. And it goes without saying that you will also be supporting Ed Miliband. You can read the article here. In case you have not yet got the message, you can also read the article on Anglican Mainstream.

Dr Peter Saunders attacks David Cameron

Here’s an example of stretching the Bible to support an argument. In David Cameron and his comments on homosexuality and tolerance | Christian Concern, Dr Peter Saunders makes the case that David Cameron’s position on tolerance is at odds with the words of Jesus: ‘Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality…’. This passage is cited as Revelation 2:18-29, which of course is from the vision of St John. To use it as if it were the recorded word of Christ in such an argument relies on the fact that most people don’t read the Bible very much. It’s all to easy to persuade people that that the Bible says x about y, but we’re living in a grown up world and a ‘revelation’ somebody had two thousand years ago is hardly going to be persuasive a contemporary debate. Dr Saunders is going to have to do better than this if he wants to persuade non-Christian, let alone Christians who consider tolerance a virtue.

Loopy pastor

For his next stunt the completely loopy and irresponsible Pastor Terry Jones is threatening to put the Prophet Muhammad ‘on trial’.

You’d think the amount of deaths his and Wayne Sapp’s antics have already triggered by burning the Koran would be enough. If he goes ahead the consequences will almost certainly be much worse.

Love is an Orientation

It will be old hat to many of you but here’s a book I would really recommend: Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community, Andrew Marin. Get it. Read it. The author really does try to elevate the debate around the gay issue in Christianity and it’s highly refreshing.

Love Wins

Intrigued to read Rob Bell’s new book. Ordered. Will let you know what I think.

Flocked Out

Welcome to Flocked Out – a tiny platform where we hope to redress some of the propaganda people write in the name of faith. We’ll probably lean towards the gay issue in Christianity more than any other because this is where the bulk of the propaganda lies. You can learn more about us and what we’re trying to do on the About page.

Much of what we do will be Twitter posts about articles or things we have seen which encourage or incense us. You may have to use your own discrimination to work out which is which.