Prayer-Soldier writes "On 2 Mar 10, The Paisano Online, an independent student newspaper of the University of Texas at San Antonio, reported that atheists were offering pornography in exchange for religious texts. The report related that the stunt subsequently drew a crowd of counter-protesters as each side promoted their message.
According to a 2 Mar 10 FOX News report, “Leaders of this atheist campaign allege that porn is no worse than what's written in religious texts.”
According to the Paisano Online report, “Atheist Agenda President Carlos Morales said that although pornography is a symbol of misogyny, the bible, too, advocates the mistreatment of women.” The report also quoted Morales as saying, “I wouldn’t want to live by what they call ‘morality’ in the bible.”
The Paisano also reported that the event drew Christian counter-protesters. One member of the ad hoc counter group, Cecilia Tapia, related that “she believes she was there for both herself and the atheists in the crowd.” She was quoted as saying, “It’s part of my belief; Jesus teaches us that if we do not preach the word of God when someone has entered into our lives, then it’s our fault if he doesn’t enter into heaven because it’s our job as Christians to preach out to everybody else.”
The atheist group was also featured by MSNBC in 2005 for a similar event. In an interview conducted by Tucker Carlson, Thomas Jackson, the 2005 president of Atheist Agenda, responded they are using the event to influence their political agenda. The interview eventually devolved to questions about whether Jackson uses the event to pickup girls.
Universities are designed to promote debate and learning. Parents are well aware from their own experience that the campus environment also presents many challenges to the moral values of young adults. Parents know the strength of the values they pass to their child will determine paths taken in the early years of adulthood. Children with a strong values base will make values based decisions. What many may not know is that the battle is often already lost during elementary, middle and high school.
According to a 14 Jun 09 WorldNetDaily report, two thirds of young people will walk away from the church. The report related that how children are taught in their formative years may lead to them to question scripture as they enter adulthood. The reported quoted Ken Ham, who commissioned a study as to the reasons youth leave the church. Ham said, teens come to believe "that what they are taught in school is reality, but the church teaches stories and morality and relationship. Bible teaching is not real in the sense of real history." Ham also noted that when the Bible is undermined, everything it teaches is in doubt.
As demonstrated by the Atheist Agenda, they often seek to make their point by questioning elements of scripture that are inconsistent with our modern social culture. On the surface, the argument is logical proof the Bible is just a book and God does not exist. Many Christians are not prepared with a full understanding of the inspired texts from which to weather the onslaught of atheist selectivity. To help their children, Christian parents must first seek to understand biblical history, the context of scripture and relevance to our modern experience. The conversations Christian parents have with their children must eventually tie to modern experience and understanding.
Cited Posts and Articles
The Paisano Online (2 Mar 10)
http://www.paisano-online.com/news/porn-for-bibles-1.1216882
FOX News (2 Mar 10)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587737,00.html
MSNBC (6 Dec 05)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10349028/
WorldNetDaily (14 Jun 09)
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=100324
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