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An essay by Frank Walton  Frank Walton is an undergraduate student at a four year college somewhere in the United States. He is the man behind the blogs The Blasphemy Challenge and Atheism Sucks !  
These three young adults have uploaded "Blasphemy Challenge" videos to youtube.com. At this site, teenagers and young adults are encouraged to make a video in which they state “I deny the Holy Spirit”. The video is then uploaded to You Tube, where all can see this denial of God. The Blasphemy Challenge folks claim that this act constitutes the “unforgivable sin,” in which the video blasphemer is damned forever, since God would never forgive this particular sin. The blasphemer receives a free DVD of "The God Who Wasn't There" when they upload their video to youtube.com. To date, there are over 1200 video responses to the Blasphemy Challenge. Responses have increased as press coverage has intensified. Brian Flemming was recently interviewed by John Gibson on Fox News, while the Rational Respnose Squad was interviewed by Nightline. And, just recently, Rational Response Squad members conducted a public televised debate with Christians Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort. Famous atheists such as best-selling author and scientist Richard Dawkins have praised them, while Sam Harris (author of the best-selling Letter to a Christian Nation) recommends them. The Blasphemy Challenge has a slickly packaged advertising program as well. Here's a partial transcript of their advertisement video:  [Voice Over]: Hell is a terrible place. And you will go there if you are not forgiven by Jesus Christ. But He will forgive you for anything. With one exception... Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven. - Mark 3:29 IF YOU DENY THE POWER OF EXISTENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT YOU ARE DAMNED TO HELL FOREVER [A video of a Young Man] : "Three months ago I was a Christian. The basic observation of the world around me and logical thinking, I have come to the conclusion along side the fact that there is no Santa Claus and there is no Easter Bunny, there's also no God. So without further ado my name is Chandler and I deny the existence of the Holy Spirit." THE RATIONAL RESPONSE SQUAD CHALLENGES YOU TO COMMIT THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN [Voice Over]: "The Rational Response Squad wants you to make a short video declaring your independence from the stone age. Shoot your video and upload it to youtube and we'll send you a free copy of the hit documentary "The God Who Wasn't There" DVD. Little is known about the Rational Response Squad due to the fact the main founders of the group use pseudonyms. The main leaders go by the names Brian Sapient, Kelly, and Rook Hawkins. Little is known of their background or credentials. But Brian Flemming is known to have a degree in English from the University of California in Irvine . All four of these Blasphemy Challenge backers are atheists and hold the peculiar view that Jesus never existed . Indeed, that is the subject of Flemming’s documentary, The God Who Wasn’t There . The Blasphemy Challenge claims that the sin of blasphemy cannot be forgiven. And they urge all atheists to commit this sin so they can have the joyous security of total damnation. The Blasphemy Challenges cites The Gospel of Mark, Chapter 3, Verse 29 to support their claim that blasphemy is a sin which God will not forgive. Does this verse in fact suggest that if someone says “I deny the Holy Spirit” they are unpardonable and doomed to hell no matter what? Absolutely not! It’s important to read Mark 3 as a whole lest someone take verse 29 out of context, which was the case for THE RATIONAL RESPONSE SQUAD and Brian Flemming. But in context, Jesus gave His twelve disciples the authority to cast out demons. Verse 14-15 says, And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons. Verse 22 is key to understanding Mark 3:29. Verse 22 says, The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He (Jesus) is possessed by Beelzebul," and "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons." (Parenthesis mine) The scribes here are attributing Jesus' actions to Satan (Beelzebul being yet another name for Satan). They also accuse Jesus and His disciples of being possessed by a demon because they're casting out demons. Jesus replied with a rhetorical question (verse 23), "How can Satan cast out Satan?" Jesus doesn't stop with the rhetorical question. He makes His point clear in verse 24-27, "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished! But no one can enter the strong man's house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house." Jesus concludes in verses 28-30), "Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin -- because they were saying, 'He has an unclean spirit.'" It’s quite easy to see now, blaspheming the Holy Spirit is to attribute the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to Satan. That's all it is, folks. And it's plain for anybody to see that. Blaspheming of the Holy Spirit is NOT merely saying you deny Him. Thus, you are not committing the unpardonable sin. Thus, those who have participated in the “Blasphemy Challenge” can be forgiven. Brian Flemming rejects this interpretation. He summarizes these verses as follows: 1) Some religious competitors accused Jesus of powering his miracles with Satan, not with the Holy Spirit. 2) In response, Jesus revealed that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an "eternal sin," and those who commit it "can never be forgiven." 3) Therefore, Jesus was defining "blasphemy" as exclusively the act of attributing the miracles of Jesus to Satan instead of the Holy Spirit. His assessment of these verses is: This is obviously some pretty flawed logic. Just because one particular type of blasphemy prompted Jesus to reveal this new rule of salvation does not mean Jesus was re-defining blasphemy . In essence, Flemming admits 1. I believe there is one particular type of blasphemy: attributing the power of the Holy Spirit to Satan. 2. But I also believe there is only one type of blasphemy. 3. Therefore, fundamentalist quacks are re-defining blasphemy when they say it's attributing the power of the Holy Spirit to Satan. The "eternal sin" described by Jesus is so troubling to atheists (like Mr. Flemming) that they go to comical lengths to interpret this particular lesson in a "very narrow and specific" way. For instance, while defending their convoluted interpretation of Mark 3:29, Rational Response Squad member Sapient claimed that Mark 3 mentioned “black magic.” Actually, it doesn’t. Mark 3 has no mention of “black magic” whatsoever! The Rational Response Squad’s slogan is “Fighting to free humanity from the mind disease known as theism.” Do they really believe that Christian theists literally have mental disorders? Yes! Here then is what front man, Brian Sapient, said of his own Christian mother, "I lost my mother to Jesus, and vow to conquer those who have led her to harm, yeah... no b*******. Well, I should clarify, she is still alive but her brain has been melted down to a non functioning level where synapses won't connect, known as born again christianity... she has become Christarded." If you’re a Christian, according to the Rational Response Squad, you belong in a mental health clinic! It’s a mystery why the mainstream media has totally skipped this matter. Why didn’t they tell the American public on Nightline that the Rational Response Squad believe that all Christians belong in a mental health clinic? Why didn’t the newspapers and magazines ever report that the Rational Response Squad want Christians locked up? Why were the Rational Response Squad never called to account for these views? An equally significant question is this: Are the Rational Response Squad good moral examples? Hardly. There are two things that are unquestionable about the Rational Response Squad: #1 - They target youngsters. #2 - They are overtly sexual in their conduct. Let's deal with #1 - They target youngsters. When asked "Is it true that you are targeting young people with this campaign?" their answer is "Yes.” Now #2 - They are overtly sexual in their orientation. You need only see how Sapient films Kelly in her own “Blasphemy Challenge” video where she denies the Holy Spirit . There you’ll see her flash her breasts for the camera, while Sapient exclaims in excitement like a hormonal teenager. Is this a moral example of a mature leader? Furthermore, the Rational Response Squad’s website is easily accessible to children, and their image gallery is not hard to find. Check it out at your own risk, and you’ll see plenty of pictures of scantly dressed women. Should young children (despite being an atheist or not) be exposed to stuff like that? This is what it all comes down to: 1. The Rational Response Squad are targeting youngsters. 2. Obviously youngsters will be drawn toward the Rational Response Squad if they chose to. (they have children participating in the blasphemy challenge!) 3. Those children will be exposed to excessive sexual antics of this group. Why are they exposing such material to children? How is this at all helpful to people at such a young age? If a little girl finds her self-worth in such graphic depictions, can you imagine how she'll grow up? And seeing how the Rational Response Squad is setting an example for kids, they're going to think this sort of lifestyle is okay. Your sons' masculinity will be defined by how much they can objectify women. Is that what a man does? If the Rational Response Squad are truly "rational" shouldn't they provide teenagers with reason and logic? Not sex orgies and half-naked women. The “blasphemy challenge” is a complete sham. It is based on faulty interpretation of the Bible, all done by people who plagiarize articles, hold to shabby scholarship, and demonize and lie about their opposition. I would hope any non-Christian who reads this article knows of the true nature of someone who violently curses at an almighty God such as ours. As Dr. Cornelius Van Til once said, non-believers are like unruly, disrespectful children who sit on their Heavenly Father’s lap in order to reach up and slap him in the face. But we Christians sit on His lap because we enjoy His company. Atheists like Flemming and the Rational Response Squad may spit in our faces and say all sorts of nasty things about us, but if “God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)” Past issues - Print edition - Media Kit - About Christian Faith and Reason ©2007 Christian Faith and Reason |