Sixty-Six AR House Mbrs. Voted to Commemorate Atheist Thomas Paine Day
"It is not a God, just and good, but a devil, under the name of God, that the Bible describes," Thomas Paine said.
Following are other quotes from Thomas Paine's greatest works, Rights of Man and The Age of Reason.
I don't know why Arkansas legislators would want to commemorate a day for an atheist man whose views are diametrically opposed to about 90% of Arkansans. I am sure some of those who voted for it were not aware of this aspect of Thomas Paine's life, but I can assure you that the sponsor, Lindsley Smith, was. (See the voting record below)
Lindsley Smith scored a zero percent on American Family Association of Arkansas ratings in 2005. (Lindsley Smith, Joyce Elliot, David Johnson, Sam Ledbeter and Linda Chesterfied were the only ones out of the 100 that scored a zero.) See this link for comparisons of all legislators in 2005 on family issues. http://www.wpaag.org/LegScoreSheetRepresentativesRankings05.htm
Thomas Paine Quotes (See link below where you can find these quotes)
"Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is no more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason and more contradictory to itself than this thing called Christianity." Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
"I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in human beings." Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit." Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
"Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man." Thomas Paine
"Is it not a species of blasphemy to call the New Testament revealed religion, when we see in it such contradictions and absurdities." Thomas Paine
"Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst." Thomas Paine
"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the bible is filled, it would seem more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the Word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind." Thomas Paine patriot & political philosopher (1737 - 1809) See link below for this quote:
And just why is it important enough for Lindsley Smith to bring this bill to commemorate Thomas Paine day up again this year when it failed in the last legislative session? There are so many more important things to be dealt with. The paper reports Smith as saying Paine wasn't an atheist. I wonder how she interprets Paine's quotes above. One of our most liberal journalists, John Brummett, had this to say on his blog "I’m really into Thomas Paine. More on Rep. Lindsley Smith’s effort to nab him the day he deserves [Saturday]"
This bill is just designed to kick the can along in the war against Christ and Christians that is so common in our world today! Thomas Paine Day is also called Freethinkers Day. http://secularseasons.org/january/thomas_paine.html See this link for Freethinker philosophy: http://en.wikipedia.org:80/wiki/Joseph_Lewis
See this link to find the surce of Thomas Paine Quotes: http://www.wpaag.org/Leg%2009%20-%20AR%20House%20voted%20to%20honor%20athesist%20John%20Paine2.htm
For the names of legislators who voted for this bill and those who voted against it, see this link: http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2009/R/Pages/Votes.aspx?rcsnum=2257&votechamber=House
Following are other quotes from Thomas Paine's greatest works, Rights of Man and The Age of Reason.
I don't know why Arkansas legislators would want to commemorate a day for an atheist man whose views are diametrically opposed to about 90% of Arkansans. I am sure some of those who voted for it were not aware of this aspect of Thomas Paine's life, but I can assure you that the sponsor, Lindsley Smith, was. (See the voting record below)
Lindsley Smith scored a zero percent on American Family Association of Arkansas ratings in 2005. (Lindsley Smith, Joyce Elliot, David Johnson, Sam Ledbeter and Linda Chesterfied were the only ones out of the 100 that scored a zero.) See this link for comparisons of all legislators in 2005 on family issues. http://www.wpaag.org/LegScoreSheetRepresentativesRankings05.htm
Thomas Paine Quotes (See link below where you can find these quotes)
"Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is no more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason and more contradictory to itself than this thing called Christianity." Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
"I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in human beings." Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit." Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
"Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man." Thomas Paine
"Is it not a species of blasphemy to call the New Testament revealed religion, when we see in it such contradictions and absurdities." Thomas Paine
"Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst." Thomas Paine
"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the bible is filled, it would seem more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the Word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind." Thomas Paine patriot & political philosopher (1737 - 1809) See link below for this quote:
And just why is it important enough for Lindsley Smith to bring this bill to commemorate Thomas Paine day up again this year when it failed in the last legislative session? There are so many more important things to be dealt with. The paper reports Smith as saying Paine wasn't an atheist. I wonder how she interprets Paine's quotes above. One of our most liberal journalists, John Brummett, had this to say on his blog "I’m really into Thomas Paine. More on Rep. Lindsley Smith’s effort to nab him the day he deserves [Saturday]"
This bill is just designed to kick the can along in the war against Christ and Christians that is so common in our world today! Thomas Paine Day is also called Freethinkers Day. http://secularseasons.org/january/thomas_paine.html See this link for Freethinker philosophy: http://en.wikipedia.org:80/wiki/Joseph_Lewis
See this link to find the surce of Thomas Paine Quotes: http://www.wpaag.org/Leg%2009%20-%20AR%20House%20voted%20to%20honor%20athesist%20John%20Paine2.htm
For the names of legislators who voted for this bill and those who voted against it, see this link: http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2009/R/Pages/Votes.aspx?rcsnum=2257&votechamber=House
posted by Debbie Pelley at Saturday, January 24, 2009
8 Comments:
Look up this link and see where freethinkers (atheists) base their views on Paine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Lewis_(freethinker) and this link that shows that Thomas Paine Day and Free Thinkers day are the same. http://secularseasons.org/january/thomas_paine.html
I don't think Paine was an atheist. He just wasn't a Christian. Being a non-Christian and being a non-theist are not the same thing. Paine said, "I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life. I believe in the equality of humans; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow creatures happy."
Paine believed in one more god than could be proven by the evidence. Unless, of course, you define an atheist as a disbeliever in any god, Paine was not an atheist. Unless you're willing to call every disbeliever in Zeus an atheist, Paine's belief in a god disqualifies him as an atheist.
Several of our founding fathers were hardly orthodox believing Christians. Even as recently as Abraham Lincoln, we have had a president who, though by no means an atheist (to the contrary Lincoln was a believer in God) but was likewise probably not a Christian in the traditional sense either.
Paine was unquestionably a leading writer and speaker in support of liberty and the very concepts on which our nation was founded. He deserves recognition, even if his religious views differ from those of today's majority.
Smith is an attention whore. I'm sure she's ecstatic about all the blogposts discussing her latest idiocy.
The Christian God is a being of terrific character- cruel, vindictive, capricious and unjust
-Thomas Jefferson
-seconded by rob_star
Vindictive or unjust? Which one is it? Could it be that His zeal for justice you (and T.J.) merely interpret as vindictiveness?
Nonetheless, Rob, whether or not you like Him is irrelevant as to whether He exists, and your disdain of Him says as much about your character as it does His.
Yield while you still can. Every day is a gift from Him, and He's under no obligation to furnish yet another one to anyone.
Your stupidity and ignorance is astounding.
?
I can't make sense of all the "anonymous" posts. I'm guessing they are from different anonymous people.
Thomas Jefferson was another theist who did not believe in the version of god offered by traditional Christianity. He did, however, appreciate the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth when all the supernatural parts were removed. I'm not sure he was successful in assembling a coherent philosophy from the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. I'm not sure it can be done. But for purposes of our discussion here, Jefferson is another example of one who was a believer in a god but not a traditional Christian. One wonders whether one who believes in the philosophical teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, but rejects the supernatural teachings, is properly called a Christian. There are quotes in which Jefferson apparently self-identified as a Christian in letters, on the ground that he was a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth. He apparently did not subscribe to the dogmas that were typical of Christianity of his day or ours.
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