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     One of the primary purposes of this site is to utilize scientific reasoning to help confirm the existence of God for those who doubt and/or question traditional devotion.  Beginning with the earliest civilizations, all peoples were preoccupied with the belief in a higher supernatural Creator. Clues are found in every ancient culture from the Aztecs to the Zapotecs supporting the idea of a Supreme Being and a continuation of a supernatural existence after the mortal one. The first advanced civilizations such as the ancient Egyptians were so preoccupied as to create the immense structures of the great Pyramids to assist the Pharaohs in entering the next life. Even cultures separated by vast oceans followed similar paths. Why? The clues are all around us.  This site is designed to assist Catholics and other Christian denominations in debating with atheists, in certain aspects it may also be of assistance to some of the Jewish faith.  This topic is becoming of increasing importance due to the effects small minorities are attempting to impose on the vast majority.

     Productive debating with Atheists requires mutually accepted criteria, methodology and fundamental foundation, such as logic and science, to elicit mutual conformity.  In some circumstances, the Bible, Faith and/or Private Revelation could be an enigma to atheists, as the Bible (notwithstanding Scriptural dispute) could be considered biased.  Faith and Private Revelation would likely be considered supernatural and/or unverifiable as well (aside from the 1917 Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, Portugal).  Resolute Atheism necessitates an absence of anything to do with an entity of a spiritual nature that would have been capable of creating or maintaining the Universe.  Consider a child in Disneyworld, unaware of the network of underground tunnels necessary for exhibit functions.  The parent is aware that there is more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye.  Likewise, the earliest cultures realized that there is more going on regarding creation than meets the eye.  Most people are able to reason that there must be an intelligent design to the formation and maintenance of the Universe.  Yet, even today, there are small minorities who are unable to comprehend that connection.

Atheists have been adept at bolstering their numbers by attempting to affix themselves to non-religious categories of poll studies.  For example; a statistical study of major religions of the world ranked by the number of adherents, sets non-religious at about 16% worldwide (1).  The polls establish that half of that segment are simply non-practicing, while the remaining 8% are comprised of agnostic, atheist, secular humanists, as well as no specific religious preference,  "atheists are a small subset of this grouping".  Where an atheist might endeavor to lead others to consider their category to be 16% - 18% of the general population, it is more realistically about 3% - 4%.  Via several analogous poll studies, it is evident that a only a fraction of that figure represents those who truly believe that there cannot be a Supreme Creator - coupled with the belief that there is no life after death.

     There appear to be two rudimentary classifications of nonbelievers, for lack of conventional designations, we have referred to these groups as "Contrived Atheists" and "Veritable Atheists". Before debating, it would be helpful to ascertain which category the contender represents. Most will fall into the "Contrived Atheist" classification. These atheists will appear to have an entrenched hostility towards one, several or all religions (in which they endeavor to mask or conceal).  They characteristically exhibit an apparent abhorrence towards God in general, likely resulting from something troublesome that happened in their lives, which they attributed to God. It is difficult to consider these people genuine atheists, particularly due to the perplexity of being angry at something they proclaim not to exist. Arguing with this form of atheist will likely digress into trading "one liners" or "barbs of pointed witticisms", with diminutive results. They can remind you of the typical axioms; "going in one ear and out the other" or "spinning your wheels".  As, these nonbelievers may only be "jerking your chain" or "trying to get a rise out of you".  They are very similar to those who argue that NASA never landed on the moon in the late 60''s and early 70's.  Whether the evidence be communication records, Moon rock samples, photographs, retro-reflectors left on the lunar surface, testimony, video, etc., all evidence is completely ignored.  "Veritable Atheists" appear to be a smaller category and seem to take a more level-headed scientific approach. They have a genuine interest in objective systematic discussion with reason. Arguing with these people will seem to be more of a logical discussion than a debate.

     When debating with an atheist, it becomes apparent that they do have some legitimate contentions, particularly with Catholics.  Likewise, we do have some very questionable actions in our history that can be awkward to defend.  It is a foregone conclusion that atheists will gravitate towards these tough topics.  Regretfully, this has lead some Catholics to become perceptibly uncharitable while debating.  Debating with a knowledgeable atheist can certainly become arduous, as all the skeletons will be dragged out of the closet.  Subsequently, it would be prudent to become acquainted with certain targeted segments of history, particularly regarding events in the past that can be most vulnerable.

     The three major Catholic Inquisitions (Medieval 1148-1230, Spanish 1478-1501 & Roman 1542-1858) are likely targets. Thousands of people were brutally tortured to death for anything ranging from doctrinal disputes, to apposing scientific ideologies, to the general rebellion of the Church's brutal harshness in those days. Since in many cases the convicted person's property would be confiscated, wealthy people seemed to be specifically targeted. For example, centuries ago, the Catholic Church adopted the celestial sphere orbs theory developed by Aristotle. In these celestial models, the stars and planets are carried around by being embedded in rotating crystal spheres moving around the Earth. Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake by the Church for heresy (February 17, 1600) and his writings forbidden because he believed in the Copernican Heliocentrism theory by Nicolaus Copernicus, which held that the Earth was spherical and orbited the Sun. A statue of Bruno was constructed in 1889 at the site where Bruno was burnt, which eventually became a place of annual commemoration by atheists (2, 3).  Oddly, some Catholics opted to sanction the burning of Bruno in several debate discussions, citing unsupported anti-religious claims that were likely fabricated to help justify and seal the execution.  "Cardinal Angelo Sodano declared Bruno's death to be a "sad episode". Despite his regret, he defended Bruno's persecutors, maintaining that the Inquisitors "had the desire to preserve freedom and promote the common good and did everything possible to save his life" by trying to make him recant (4).  The quandary of Sodano's contrite account is that the Earth actually is spherical and does orbit the sun.  Giordano Bruno’s jaw was clamped shut with an iron gag that pierced his  tongue with iron spikes. He was then paraded through the streets of Rome, stripped of his clothes and burned at the stake wearing the tongue piercing gag.  Notwithstanding that Jesus told several self righteous Pharisees attempting to execute a woman caught in the act of adultery: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" (John 8:01).  How did the Church digress so far from Scripture?

The Inquisitions from two very contrasting perspectives

     The next Copernican target was the famous astronomer Galileo Galilei, who was threatened to be burned at the stake and shown the torture devices (including the recovered tongue piercing gag) used on Giordano Bruno. He was compelled to sign a document supporting the celestial sphere theory and denouncing the Heliocentrism theory.  In 1642, the great astronomer Galileo died in custody. Another example would be a Pomponio Alerio, a young Civil Law Student who in 1556 was slowly boiled to death in oil in for believing that men are capable do good works of their own merit. The Church taught that no man could do anything good without God's help. In Pomponio's case, the Church offered the hospitality of strangling him before boiling him in oil if he recanted, which he refused.

     There are more recent examples of religious mistreatment. From the 1950's to the 1970's, the Catholic Church in Australia forced over 150,000 women to adopt their newborn babies against their will (5, 6, 7). On the premise of rehabilitating young girls, the Magdalene Laundries began in Ireland in 1767, expanding throughout Europe, Britain, Canada and the United States, and lasting to as recently as 1996. The 2002 movie "The Magdalene Sisters" was a dramatizing film that followed the true story of a 15 year old girl who was forcibly raped. When a young girl became pregnant out of wedlock in Ireland, including circumstances of compulsory rape, the baby was forcibly sent off to adoption and the girl was sent to many years of mandatory labor at a Magdalene Laundromat. Life there was cruel, these young girls were forced to scrub clothes all day. Some young girl inmates reported years of sexual abuse by several aggressive lesbian nuns. "The Magdalene Sisters is a 2002 film written and directed by Peter Mullan, portraying how these poor teenage girls were sent to Magdalene Asylums intended for women who were labeled as "fallen" by their families or society. These detention centers were maintained by individual religious orders in the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. Peter Mullan has remarked that the film was initially made because victims of Magdalene Asylums had received no closure in the form of recognition, compensation, or apology, and many remained lifelong devout Catholics. Former Magdalene inmate Mary-Jo McDonagh told Mullan that the reality of the Magdalene Asylums was much worse than depicted in the film." Which is difficult to imagine, as the abuse in the film is quite shocking.  Although the religious orders refuse to disclose how many young girls were institutionalized in the Magdalene Asylums, estimates are about thirty thousand. In 2009, the bodies of 133 girls worked to death were found in unmarked graves at one Magdalene Asylum site (8, 9, 10). The film "Magdalene Sisters" can be watched in its entirety in ten parts on YouTube [Warning: part 5 contains female nudity from 5min-48sec to 8min-37sec] (11).

Many of these fanatical behaviors may be attributed to the resulting countless Christian splinter groups who eventually chose to gaff themselves off from the Apostolic Successorship of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.  It is also likely that several of these actions alienated other people who chose to abandon the Christian faith, and quite possibly any faith altogether.  In September of 1999, one of the greatest and most loved Popes, John Paul II, took the noble action of issuing a formal apology for all the mistakes committed by some Catholics in the last 2,000 years of the Church's history, including the trial of Galileo (12, 13).

     The pedophile priest scandal frequently becomes a poignant target. Adept atheists are well aware of the of the infamous 1962 Secret Vatican directive authored by Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani (then head of the Holy Office) which mandated the excommunication of children victimized by pedophile priests in the event they sought help from authorities, (as uncovered by CBS News in 2003). Atheists articulated compelling arguments that this document was specifically drafted to nurture pedophiles priests and provide them with sanctuary within the Catholic Church (14, 15, 16).  As soon as CBS News uncovered the 1962 Ottaviani mandate, the Catholic Church swung into damage control, endeavoring to minimize the directive’s role and significance. It would be wise to read this document very carefully, as defenders of this mandate claimed the secrecy is only to maintain the sanctity of the Confessional.  The directive clearly broadens the range and scope to before, after and outside the Confessional on the very first page "even apart from confession". The victimized children needed only to make one confession in their lifetime to be subject to the adroit legal phrasing. Defensive articles attempting to diminish the significance of this Ottaviani directive claim that it does not bar the child victims from making separate charges about the priest's sexual misconduct. On the contrary, atheists pointed out that in the event the injured party declined absolute secrecy (sought protection and/or justice from the authorities), the directive clearly mandates the molester victims be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church for life. The Ottaviani directive makes this unmistakably crystal clear throughout the document (17, 18).  This mandate was sent to every Bishop in the world.  We observed one irate Catholic woman challenging a contending atheist: "Show me evidence of even one child that was excommunicated for going to the authorities!"  Obviously, it took over forty years of legal battles to even uncover the secret Ottaviani directive, it would probably take an act of Congress to dig deeper.  Some Catholics have taken the position that Ottaviani's intent was to protect Church assets from expensive litigation and keeping awkward misdeeds in house.  Atheists have countered; "only a pedophile would safeguard a pedophile", which does present a certain logic.  If the Church was seeking to protect its assets, contacting the proper authorities immediately upon learning of sexual child abuse would have certainly accomplished that objective (19).

     The Crimen Sollicitationis Directive reversed Pope Saint Pius V's original Decree stating "Whoever commits such an execrable crime (pedophilia), by force of the present law be deprived of every clerical privilege, of every post, dignity and ecclesiastical benefit, and having been degraded by an ecclesiastical judge, let him be immediately delivered to the secular authority to be put to death, as mandated by law as the fitting punishment for laymen who have sunk into this abyss."  Crimen Sollicitationis imposes the strictest secrecy and orders that an oath of secrecy be taken by the Church officials appointed to make inquiries and hold a trial.  This secrecy is described as "a secret of the Holy Office". Breaking it incurs automatic expulsion (excommunication) from the Church, without any need for a declaration. The oath of secrecy must be imposed on the accusers and/or denouncers, as well as the accused, who if s/he breaks it will be automatically expelled by that very act. The Oath in Formula A is to observe the secret of the Holy Office.

In debate situations, atheists have attempted to float the idea that pedophile priests over the years have actually advanced to higher positions within the Catholic Church hierarchy, and subsequently drafted internal legal directives, documents and mandates to insulate and protect themselves from outside litigation.  There may be a certain logic to this supposition.  Some praying Mantis species disguise themselves as flower petals to snare their victims.  It would be reasonable to presume that ingenuitive pedophiles targeted careers as Boy Scout leaders, Day Care Workers, Priests, etc.  Jesus foreseen and warned us to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matthew 7:15). Before considering taking any defensive posture, we highly recommend becoming thoroughly familiar with the following site and Youtube video series:

     Another example that atheists had a field day with is when Bishop Raymond Boland responded to a newspaper article that stated: "The death rate of priests from AIDS is at least four times that of the general population".  Boland stated that these AIDS deaths show that priests are only human.  "A large part of the answer is implicit in the remarkable response to the situation tendered by Bishop Boland. To aver that a priest shows he is human by dying of AIDS is to say that it is somehow natural to our human state to engage in acts of passive consensual sodomy, from which the resultant infection takes its predictable course" (20).  Boland was later implicated in purportedly lying to his enraged congregation to protect a pedophile priest working with their children, in which documents implicated that he was allegedly aware the priest was a pedophile all along (21, 22).  "And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea" (Mark 9:42).  The necessary lesson of Judas is a powerful warning in the Gospel, if a disciple taught directly by Jesus can gravely falter, any other Church figure under the Pope can also gravely falter.  Our prayers certainly address all the mortified Priests who are in God's service for all the right reasons, this scandal must have taken a tremendous toll (23).  Priests are holy people who dedicate their lives to God.  Although it is wise to be cautious, insects have not chosen to completely abandon all flowers because of the diminutive risk of landing on one containing a praying mantis mimicking a petal.  It is amazing how much damage can be done by a tiny fraction.  It takes entrepreneurship, time, planning, architects, builders, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, etc. to build a house.  It only takes one evil person with one match to destroy it.  Unfortunately, those bent on destruction have this innate unfair leverage, namely; "It is much easier to destroy than to create".

     We are deeply grieved and apologize for these unpleasantries, but it is necessary to be prepared for the most likely criticisms, as not to be caught off-guard.  As Catholics, we question how we could have ever got to this point, this is where some Private Revelations can help explain these Institutional breakdowns.  Through a message given on October 13th (the anniversary day of the last Apparition of the Virgin Mary to the three children of Fatima and coinciding with the year of the Roe vs. Wade decision that became responsible for the deaths of over 55 million innocent unborn babies in the US alone), by Our most Holy Mother to Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa in Akita, Japan  (declared worthy of belief by Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, as well as the Local Bishop Ito) we are told: "The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see Cardinals opposing Cardinals, Bishops against other Bishops. The Priests who venerate Me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres (other Priests). Churches and altars will be sacked. The Church will be full of those who accept compromises, and the demon will press many Priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord" (24, 25, 26).

     The following is a link to some of the most informative blog debates on the web.  Albeit protracted, it is essential to read them (in their entirety) if you are considering debating with atheists:

CatholicTruthScotland.com/Blog/2009/11/The-Grand-Catholic-Truth-Debate

Believers.org/Argue.htm

AtheistNexus.org/profiles/blogs/atheists-trounce-Catholics-in

Infidels.org/Library/modern/Frank_Zindler

     It would be helpful to review these blogs very carefully, as the crass lack of ethics and morals can be a considerable shock when debating with some atheists, sort of like thrusting a child as pure as new fallen snow into a Turkish prison.  Although most of the atheists writing on these blogs seem to be striving to get a rise out of Catholics by crude sexual comments and viewpoints, others seem to envision a world as portrayed by Woody Allen in the 1973 futuristic comedy film "Sleeper", in which everybody has sex with everybody all the time, and no children.  It seems their only motive for existence is the perfection of complete sexual promiscuousness, and the cure to all the Earth's dilemmas can only be solved by flying around in squadrons of airplanes and helicopters sprinkling condoms all over the world.  Many assert that the Catholic Church is killing societies with Aids because it preaches abstinence.  That abortion, condoms and sex are the answer to everything.  Notwithstanding that abstinence is 100% effective and condoms are only 87% effective at best.  If you had a Russian Roulette pistol that could hold a 100 chamber cylinder, with 13 bullets in it (87 empty chambers), would you willingly spin the cylinder, put it in your mouth and pull the trigger?  A "no" answer is abstinence, a "yes" answer is condoms.  It's simple math, what's not to understand?  Furthermore, the false sense of security of condoms leads to increased sexual encounters, so the hypothetical Russian Roulette pistol is in your mouth much more often.  At some point, the odds will obviously catch up.  Moreover, observe the hostility and rage directed at any institution that stands in the way of their Utopian society base purely on sex.  They seem to manifest a sexual addiction, like a drug addict who would lash out against anyone standing in the way of their next fix.

     Atheist will continuously try to draw and keep the debate focused specifically on condoms, (you would think most of them had their entire stock portfolio invested entirely in condoms).   In debate situations, atheist typically craft countless unrealistic scenarios to justify condoms, and then ask; "Would the Roman Catholic Church recommend condoms if that were the case?"  Almost like dealing with a two year old, with the constant "What ifs".  You will also detect a very noticeable hatred towards God, and begin to realize; "How can anyone have such deep rooted hatred for something they proclaim doesn't exist?"  Moreover, this rage seems to be similar to "angry child syndrome", whereas some children attempt to provoke a reaction from the parent (God) via negative behavior.  This can be clearly seen in one of the above examples, particularly with the atheist who repeatedly posted the provoking parody he made up of the Lord's Prayer.  When occasional statements arise similar to; "I would rather be laughing with my friends in hell, than spend eternity in Heaven crying with the Saints", it might be considered a Freudian slip of a belief in an afterlife (27).

Survey: Americans don't know much about religion

MSNBC.MSN.com/id/39392563/ns/US_News

By RACHEL ZOLL / Associated Press September 28, 2010

A new survey of Americans' knowledge of religion found that atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons outperformed Protestants and Roman Catholics in answering questions about major religions, while many respondents could not correctly give the most basic tenets of their own faiths.  Forty-five percent of Roman Catholics who participated in the study didn't know that, according to church teaching, the bread and wine used in Holy Communion is not just a symbol, but becomes the body and blood of Christ.  More than half of Protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the person who inspired the Protestant Reformation. And about four in 10 Jews did not know that Maimonides, one of the greatest rabbis and intellectuals in history, was Jewish.  The survey released Tuesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life aimed to test a broad range of religious knowledge, including understanding of the Bible, core teachings of different faiths and major figures in religious history. The U.S. is one of the most religious countries in the developed world, especially compared to largely secular Western Europe, but faith leaders and educators have long lamented that Americans still know relatively little about religion.  Respondents to the survey were asked 32 questions with a range of difficulty, including whether they could name the Islamic holy book and the first book of the Bible, or say what century the Mormon religion was founded. On average, participants in the survey answered correctly overall for half of the survey questions.