Adam Creates The Crucifixion

The Atheist Turtle does not plan to make this a habit, well maybe, but after yesterday's post of the Last Supper he came across this picture of the Crucifixion.  The material used is, to say the least, unusual but actually appropriate for the subject matter.  It is made of toasted bread and the artist's name is Adam.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6981785/Artist-creats-replica-of-crucifixion-with-burned-toast.html

"Artist creates replica of crucifixion - with burned toast"


"An artist has stunned a church congregation after creating this giant replica of the Crucifixion - made from 153 slices of burned toast

11:05AM GMT 13 Jan 2010

"Adam Sheldon, 33, designed the unique piece of art six months ago at the request of his mother who worships at the Anglican Church of St Peter, in Great Limber., Lincs.

"Using his toaster, artist Adam, burned every piece of bread before drying them out and flattening them so they were ready to be positioned in a giant frame.  He then spent hours scraping the toast with a knife to create the lighter parts of the image, such as Christ's halo, and a blow torch to create darker patches.

"Before embarking on the mammoth project, Adam also made a much smaller depiction of the Last Supper on three pieces of toast to perfect his scraping technique.

"His Crucifixion picture now measures six feet (1.8m) by three-and-a-half feet (1.1m) and was mounted on the wall of St Peter's knave on January 30.

"Reverend Felicity Couch, 50, said the ''utterly unique'' image would stay up for two weeks and added many parishioners had not initially realised it was made from toast.

"She said: ''We asked Adam to create a piece of artwork for the church and this incredible picture made from toast is what he gave us.

''It's not what we anticipated but it is amazing and although at first we were stunned to find it was made from bread everyone is now incredibly impressed.

''A number of the congregation thought it was painted on tiles and were stunned to find it was actually scraped onto bread.

''Adam spent a great deal of time on his knees in front of the image carving away at each individual piece of toast for hours at a time.

''That in itself shows a great degree of religious symbolism and it seems the artwork has grown out of Adam's faith like so much great art from history.

''People have asked us if the mice have got to it yet, but the image is still in one whole piece with no sign of mould or nibbles.''

"The Parish of St Peter's was originally home to a Norman priory built before 1180 under the Abbey of L'Aulnay in Normandy.

"The church has 350 seats and the Anglican parish register dates from 1562. The church was restored in 1875."


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The Lint Supper

The Atheist Turtle has to have a sense of humor, and not every post is going to be serious; sometimes it might just be for fun.  Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper is the subject of an incredible amount of speculation  and even conspiracy theories.  But it can also be the subject of whimsy as follows.

I guess it's true. All things can bring glory to God.

Laura Bell believes so. She created a 14-foot by 4-foot re-creation of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper." Did I mention that she only used drier lint?

Bell did about 800 hours worth of laundry to get the lint she needed. In order to get the colors she wanted she bought towels and washed them separately. (It's always good to keep similar colors together in the wash. Just ask my wife who has a beautiful pair of gray soccer socks to go with her black jersey. In other words, don't wash white socks with a black shirt.) It took her about another 200 hours to put the 14 foot by 4 foot picture together.

madpastor.com/1/post/2011/05/the-lint-s ... upper.html

Science Flies you to the Moon, Religion Flies you into Buildings

I wasn't born a Turtle; I became one.  It was a process, but looking back on it the transition was more abrupt than I thought.  At one point in my life I believed in Jesus, then I didn't.  I must say that my period of unbelief seemed as natural a state as my previous belief, though looking back on it there was a difference; but now is not the time for that.  I hope through this blog to acquaint my readers (as I am vain enough to hope that I shall attract more than one) with my journey in the form of a Chronicle with frequent stops to share my thoughts.  But, I must caution that though a chronicle, much of it will not be in temporal order and for that I beg the reader's indulgence.

For convenience sake I will refer to myself as Nat (Neophyte Atheist Turtle) and feeling a bit intimidated I found myself a guide whom I will call Mat (Mature Atheist Turtle).

One day Mat called me and invited me to go along on an outing to a church.  "A church," I said surprised at the suggestion."

"Yeah, a church," he replied.  "Just be ready in 10 minutes.  I'll swing by and pick you up."

I hung up the phone, got ready and exactly 10 minutes later a large red bus stopped in front of my house (see picture).

"It's really something isn't it?" Mat asked pointing to the sign.

"Yes," I said, "What on earth are we going to do with it?"

Mat laughed, "We're going to park it in front of the biggest church in town just as their service is ending."

"Can we do that?" I asked.

"Sure, Christians are idiots.  They let us get away with anything because they have to be nice.
C'mon, we don't want to be late."

True to his word Mat parked the bus directly in front of the Church got out and stood facing it, waving, pointing to the sign and smiling as the congregation exited the church and walked by.  Most of them seemed a bit confused, then looked down and hurried away without saying anything.

"Look, here comes the preacher.  Be on your game.  Remember C.R.U.D.E.," Mat said.

"Good afternoon." the preacher said with a wide, apparently genuine smile.

I was pretty nervous and kept running C.R.U.D.E. through my mind.

Mat nudged me and I blurted out, "Circular reasoning!"

"Not yet," Mat said rolling his eyes and shaking his head.  Then to the preacher, "How do you like our bus?"

"It's very nice.  Is it new?"

"No, but the sign is.  Do you agree with the sign?" Mat asked.

'Science flies you to the Moon, Religion flies you into buildings' the preacher read, his smile gone.  He thought for a minute before saying, "Yes, I suppose I would have to agree."

Mat clapped his hands and rubbed them in anticipation.  "So, you agree that Christianity is dangerous?"

"What does Christianity have to do with your sign?" the preacher asked.

Mat's smile disappeared.  "It flies you into buildings. It's a religion." Mat replied in as emphatic a voice as he could achieve.

The preacher shook his head.  "No, it isn't."

Mat looked at me then back to the preacher in disbelief.  "Of course it's a religion."

"No, Christianity isn't," the preacher replied.

Mat was clearly frustrated at this unexpected em passe.  "Don't just stand there. Say something," he shouted at me.

"Rationalization!" I yelled.

Mat punched me in the shell.  "Why did you do that?  I'm right, this time he is rationalizing."

Mat ignored me.  He pointed his right index finger at the preacher.  "Christianity is so a religion.  Everyone says so.  If it isn't what is it?" he choked out.

"It's a personal relationship with Jesus Christ," the preacher said quietly.

Mat was quiet for a minute, then laughed. "How can you have a personal relationship with someone who isn't real?"

"But He is real."

"Do you mean to tell me that He is here, now?  Why can't I see him?"

I looked around.

"We live in two worlds; the physical and the spiritual.  We are so focused on the one that we become desensitized to the other," the preacher said.

"So, you claim to see Jesus?" I asked.

"For now we see through a glass, darkly.*  Each Christian experiences the relationship with Jesus differently.  It's personal."

I was feeling dizzy and Mat was not happy.

"All of that may be so, but you still haven't shown why Christianity isn't a religion," I said.

"It doesn't fit the mold of a religion.  Muslims don't have a personal relationship with Allah. Buddhists don't have a personal relationship with Buddha.  Even in the Old Testament, one could not have a personal relationship with God; you had to go through a priest.  When stripped to the core, Christianity is just that personal relationship with Jesus; it is not religion."

Mat looked like he was in pain.  I kept running over C.R.U.D.E. in my mind. "Deluded, he's deluded, yes?" I asked nudging Mat.

"Be quiet and Turtle Up," Mat said less than enthusiastically.

*1st Corinthian 13:12

edited 9/1/11

If you want to be an Atheist Turtle you have to be C.R.U.D.E.

Atheist Turtles may be intimidated to take on Christians especially ones who know the Bible and seem able to defend their beliefs.  When confronted by someone like that, or any Christian for that matter, the Atheist Turtle need only resort to C.R.U.D.E.

• Accuse the Christian of using Circular reasoning.  It doesn't matter if they are or not the accusation will put them on the defensive.  
• Second, accuse them of Rationalization.  This is very similar to Circular reasoning and can be used either in conjunction with or separate from it.  
• U is for Uneducated. The Christian is already intimidated by science.  They have been beaten up for nearly two centuries by scientific discoveries. So explain how uneducated they are.  
• The next attack is Deluded or Denial.  Forcefully state that Christians must be deluded or in denial of the facts of science and logic to continue to believe.  

If these tools are used effectively, either separately or in combination, the Atheist Turtle will be successful in the majority of encounters with Christians.  In the unlikely circumstance that the Christian has held his or her own, the Atheist Turtle has one final weapon in his arsenal.

• Evade! That's right, 'Turtle Up'. Refuse to discuss the subject further.  This final weapon is perfectly in line with what Atheist Turtles are designed to do.  Withdraw into your shell. Now, you may be put off by this at first, believing that withdrawing into your shell is surrender, but I assure you that is not the case.  

Consider that the person you are dealing with has been engaged in Circular reasoning, Rationalization, they are Uneducated, and either Deluded or in Denial or both.  So, what choice does the Atheist Turtle have?  In fact, it is in the best interests of the Deluded Christian to 'Turtle Up' to prevent further hardening of the errors being put forth.  The argument can always be resumed another time.

If you still feel uncomfortable about Evasion comfort yourself with the knowledge that such great atheists as Stephen J. Gould and Richard Dawkins advocate just this course of action. A.T.

Angry Atheists

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbqCCutJaDU&feature=related

The video associated with this post is of Chief Rabbi Johnathan Sacks discussing his associations with atheists.  He found them to be productive and even helpful by challenging him to remain disciplined in his beliefs, and he advocates for dialogue with them. 

Near the end of the video he mentions a different type of atheist.  He calls them 'Angry' Atheists and feels that they are destructive.  These are the atheists this site will focus on--men like Sam Harris who said, "If I could wave a magic wand and make either rape or religion go away, I would not hesitate to choose religion." 

For these atheists the church is evil and always has been.  Many deny that Jesus ever lived.  They claim that He was the result of Egyptian mythology, or Roman mythology, or both.  They deny the Bible any authority claiming it was forged and the church destroyed all of the competing sacred texts. 

There are answers to these attacks.  Some are known, some we still need to discover, but address them we must as many of the attacks are becoming what I call Atheist Urban Legends.  As they circle the internet they get broader and broader exposure and become accepted orthodoxy of atheism without investigation.  You can make a difference by challenging these legends and taking a stand for G_d.

Welcome to the Atheist Turtle Chronicles

Despite the name, this site is intended to be a response to the militant atheism which is insinuating itself into American culture.  Because of the nature of the threat, our response will be a militant one as well.  That does not mean that our methods will be the same; we intend to maintain the high road in terms of language, but it does mean that we will aggresively respond to the lies being passed off as truth.  We will lay siege to the books, articles, and blogs which use partial quotes and sympathetic sourcing as opposed to normal scholastic research.  We ask for your prayers as we begin this effort.  Thank you. A.T.