''God Is A Hard Act To Follow''

[DeSwiss]

'God is a hard act to follow': Catholics outraged as church billboard shows Joseph and Mary in bed

The Daily Mail
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 12:21 PM on 17th December 2009


Church vicar Archdeacon Glynn Cardy said the sign was intended to challenge stereotypes about the way Jesus
was conceived and get people talking about the Christmas story, but not everyone has taken it that way

For some people Christmas remains a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, but the virgin birth is one part of the Christmas story that can cause controversy, even within the church.

A billboard at a New Zealand church has become the talk of the town for depicting a downcast Joseph lying beside Mary in bed with the heading 'Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow'. Church vicar Archdeacon Glynn Cardy said the sign was intended to challenge stereotypes about the way Jesus was conceived and get people talking about the Christmas story, but not everyone has taken it that way.

One paint-wielding vandal defaced the billboard just hours after it was erected on Thursday outside the St Matthew-in-the-City Anglican church in Auckland. The controversial sign has also triggered passionate and sometimes angry debate on talk radio and the Internet.

'This billboard is trying to lampoon and ridicule the very literal idea that God is a male and somehow this male God impregnated Mary,' said Mr Cardy, who described his church as having very liberal ideas about Christianity. 'We would question the Virgin Birth in any literal sense. We would question the maleness of God in any literal sense,' he said.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1236575/God-hard-act-follow-Church-billboard-causes-controversy-challenging-stereotypes-virgin-birth.html">MORE

- Well at least they didn't depict Jesus' rebellious teen years, when he openly accused Joseph of "not being his father."
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DeSwiss


http://www.atheisttoolbox.com/">The Atheist Toolbox





"The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent,
persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." ~ John F. Kennedy

[madrchsod]

1. that really is funny......

[NMMNG]

2. Christians are always crying "persecution"

Yet who are the first people to deface or destroy what they find the least bit offensive?

[DeSwiss]

4. They dislike depictions of their goddess.....

...having sex with her husband apparently.

[brendan120678]

10. Honestly, I think the answer to that is...

Muslims first, Christians second.

[sasquatch]

3. LOL!

[Meshuga]

5. That's the best religious billboard ever!

:rofl:

[Ian David]

6. And it only took hours for the chrisTians to come vandalize it. Stay classy, fundies. n/t

[DeSwiss]

8. I'll bet the local Catholic Church....

...paid for the paint.

[Deep13]

7. Is being hilarious a sin? nt

[DeSwiss]

9. Yes, but only if you're Catholic....

...Anglicans, not so much.

[ChadwickHenryWard]

11. What is the metaphorical value of the Virgin Birth?

The virgin birth only has any value as an event if it really happened. Its real use was in convincing skeptics that this Jesus guy was something special. Many other myths of the time had heroes born of a virgin/sired by a god, and the early Christians needed to keep up. But once the story is stripped of its original purpose, what good is it?

[darkstar3]

12. +1

[DeSwiss]

14. It's only value possible lay in it's belief....

...by those with no credulity of mind. None whatsoever. Its underlying intent is in the attempt to convey legitimacy to the child as being borne of a god.

- Which is a story and frequent motif of pagan religious beliefs from time immemorial (Vis-à-vis Joseph Campbell).

[brendan120678]

19. The only error with that graphic...

is that man & woman were not created with original sin. Man & women were created perfect - in God's image.
Adam & Eve created the stain of original sin when they committed the original sin in disobeying God.

[DeSwiss]

21. Oh no, I'm sorry....

...but ya see, this god is supposedly omniscient. Therefore, he realized his error even before making them. Ipso facto, he knew they weren't gonna be perfect, so therefore he could only make them imperfect to begin with. If he'd made them perfect, we wouldn't have a story {nor would we be having this convo}.

So, nope. Sorry, but there's No Way around it. It's His deal. It's His story. But even He can't have made something that is perfect that fucks up later on it's own. Because if He made it and He's perfect, then He can't fuck anything up. Right? Remember: His rules. His universe. His Creation. So they're either His fuckups, or they're no ones. It's all part of the deal. But it was a nice try......

Of course on the other hand, in truth, no one's fucked up. Because ya see there is no sin. Original or otherwise. Right? If there was an original sin, then it was He who did it. Since he knew we were imperfect. Right? BTW, which came first the chicken or the fuckup? Or course if there's no sin, then that puts somebody out of business. Doesn't it??? No sin, no sinkeepers.

- But who cares, it's only a fairy story. It's not like it's real or anything. Who actually believes these silly bible myth stories anyway? Not rational people anyway. Only the deluded.

[DeSwiss]

25. Found it.

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DujSwb2QEl4&feature=channel">Man of God

[darkstar3]

13. I want to know who thought of that billboard.

I'd like to buy them dinner.

This thing is :rofl: funny.

[DeSwiss]

15. That would be one.....

Church Vicar Archdeacon Glynn Cardy of the St Matthew-in-the-City Anglican church in Auckland.


- After this, I'm sure he could use a few more friends right about now.

[charlie]

16. The Vicar is a bit of a rascal. I like him

The sign over his church's kennel:

[darkstar3]

17. One more reason to move to NZ. n/t

[ChadwickHenryWard]

18. +1

[PassingFair]

20. One more reason to support the Anglican/Episcopal Progressive churches.

And I'm an atheist!

The Episcopalians are headed in the right
direction and deserve support.

[darkstar3]

22. Sorry, no.

I don't support churches, or church affiliated organizations. You are right, they are headed in the right direction, but I don't think they deserve anything for that since they're a few centuries behind.

As Chris Rock would say "Whatcha want, a cookie?!?!"

[PassingFair]

23. For such a HUGE organization to make this sharp a turn...

I still think they deserve a round of applause.

Lesbian Bishops!

I wouldn't have such objections to organized
religion if they didn't believe in absurdities
that lead them to demand that others live by
their "revealed truths".

[Christa]

24. Why isn't the impregnation called what it was?

Rape.

If anyone impregnates a girl/woman while she is asleep, it is rape and there is nothing holy about it.