My Soapbox

Audio version of Chapter 36 of my book, "The Christian Contradiction." In this chapter, I explore some ideas on the basis for morality, and why morality is subjective although not arbitrary, and why notions of "objective morality" therefore does not truly exist. In this chapter, I also discuss some of my agreements and disagreements with Sam Harris' ideas on the scientific basis for morality, as well as some of my observations on his debate with William Lane Craig in April of 2011 at the University of Notre Dame.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/message

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/support

Audio version of Chapter 35 of my book, "The Christian Contradiction." In this chapter, I explore why in actual practice, we are all atheists. One of the reasons we are all atheists is because if we actually DID believe in several of the things we profess to believe with regards to religious faith, our behavior would not contradict these beliefs in such actions as buying health insurance, seeing doctors, and getting treatment for illnesses when scripture clearly states that prayer and faith is "good enough" to heal all ills. Also explored is the fact that everyone of all faiths is an atheist with respect to other faiths since everyone rejects at least one god, while claiming their god to be the "right one," with no genuine, credible, good evidence for these claims.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/message

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/support

Audio version of Chapter 34 of my book, "The Christian Contradiction." In this chapter, I explore the difference between what I call "true" faith" and "religious" faith, and why conflating the two is misleading and incorrect. Also explored are some of the problems and contradictions with trying to rationalize how and why "the supernatural" and its supposed affects on the natural world is not subject to demonstrable, scientific proof and observation, when in fact it must be if it is a factual realtity such as gravity and electromagnetic radiation.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/message

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/support

Audio version of Chapter 33 of my book, "The Christian Contradiction." This chapter explores why it is hypocritical to try to demonstrate "moral points" while quoting the Bible since the Bible itself contains many contradictory and immoral commands by God. Also explored are some of the many excuses we make for God's contradictory and immoral actions within scripture, such as allowing the pillaging, murder, and rape of others while asking us to neither kill, nor steal, nor commit adultery within the Ten Commandments at the same time.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/message

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/support

Audio version of Chapter 32 of my book, "The Christian Contradiction." In this chapter, I explore some of the reasons why Jesus was not "without sin" when looking at some of Jesus' actions and words from scripture and comparing them to God's standard of the Ten Commandments. This chapter further explores the absurdity of the Genesis creation story which tries to place all of the blame on humanity for all the problems of the world, and none on the "perfect" Creator who created us "imperfect" humans to begin with.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/message

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/support

Audio version of Chapter 31 of my book, "The Christian Contradiction," which begins Part V exploring moral problems of Christianity. This chapter explores the problems and contradictions with the notion of a "divine plan," and the utter self-centeredness of such an idea that the very Creator of the universe would personally suspend the laws of physics in one's favor. This chapter also explores a "third way" of thinking about why things happen in our world which are neither the result of a "divine plan" nor pure randomness, and how the fact of determinism takes all notions of a "divine plan," of will, and indeed "free-will" off the table.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/message

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/support

Audio version of Chapter 30 of my book, "The Christian Contradiction." In this chapter, I explore why I challenge the negative connotations often associated with the expression "doubting Thomas," since these negative connotations bear witness to the societical pressure we so often feel to "just believe" without evidence or sound reasoning, and all too easily give in to our emotions and credulity.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/message

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/support

Audio version of Chapter 29 of my book, "The Christian Contradiction." In this chapter, I examine whether or not religion actually makes us any "better" as a race, and why we tend to exchange our dollars for dogma in the hopes of purchasing our security so we do not have to think critically for ourselves about our place in the universe and the circumstance we find ourselves in. Also explored is the absurdity of the Genesis creation story in the Bible, and how only a cruel and sadistic God could have set humanity up for failure and misery by making us such imperfect, flawed creatures to begin with, not to mention the logical contradiction of how a "perfect" being can create "imperfect" people. Also explored is how the excuse, "We cannot understand the mysteries of the Lord" to rationalize the inconsistencies and contradictions of religious faith gets us nowhere.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/message

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/support

Audio version of Chapter 28 of my book, "The Christian Contradiction." In this chapter, I examine the problem with the concept of authority in matters of religion, spirituality, and truth. I also explore some of the reasons why authority has nothing to do with what is actually true, and why authority also has nothing to do with knowledge since knowledge and that which is true can be discovered by those who value, accept, and understand the implications of genuine evidence and critical thinking. Therefore, knowledge of truth does not require special "spiritual gifts," "special powers of perception," or so-called "revelation" to perceive truth.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/message

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/support

Audio version of Chapter 27 of my book, "The Christian Contradiction." In this chapter I explore one of the biggest problems I have with Judeo-Christian theology - the concept of sin as the idea of displeasing a standard-setting deity in the sky called "God."

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/message

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-cross/support