A speech delivered to the Stomach Club, a society of American writers and artists, Paris, 1879 by Mark Twain My gifted predecessor has warned you against the "social evil — adultery." In his able paper he exhausted that subject; he left absolutely nothing more to be said on it. But I will continue his good work in the cause of morality by cautioning you against that species of recreation called self-abuse — to which I perceive that you are [too] much addicted. All great writers upon health and morals, both ancient and modern, have struggled with this stately subject; this shows its dignity and importance. Some of these writers have taken one side, some the other. Homer, in the second book of the "Iliad", says with fine enthusiasm, "Give me masturbation or give me death!" Caesar, in his "Commentaries", says, "To the lonely it is company; to the forsaken it is a friend; to the aged and [to the] impotent it is a benefactor; they that [be? , are...

Here is a question for the Christians reading this: What is the point of a woman's orgasm, and why would a dedicated Christian woman ever have them? In Christian theology, it is understood that sex is only for procreation, and any other uses of the sexual function is rooted in lust and hedonism . To propagate the race the man must ejaculate his seed deep into the woman' s body, therefore it is imperative that the man have an orgasm, as this is how it works. However, the woman need not experience such a base lust-filled feeling at all. True she must endure the distastful prospect of having an aroused lusty nude man penetrating her womanhood with his blood engorged erect stiff member. She may even have to tolerate his semen filled testicles as they slap somewhat violently against her sensitive anal tissue. Her vagina needs to open wide and be well lubricated in order to limit the damage to it by the onslaught of impassioned deep thrusts as the man endeavors to reach climax, and...

Let's see, how many times in my life have I heard that opener? In fact how many times in anyone's lifetime do they have to tolerate the quick harsh judgments of others? This last one came from an atheist I know. I wouldn’t say I am friends with this person, but we do know each other and see each other around town from time to time. This person happened to run across ExChristian.NET , and figured out who the Webmaster is. The comment out of this fine upstanding atheist was not in any way encouraging. In fact, rather than just saying nothing at all, I got to hear, "You're obviously a new atheist. Your writing is so vitriolic. A seasoned atheist (like me) really doesn't have that much interest in the topic anymore." Well thank you very much for your heartfelt, albeit rude and unsolicited, comments! Okay, so what is my point in writing about this? I was a Christian for years and now I am an atheist. I was extremely interested in exploring Christianity when I was ...

A Plea For Tolerance In The Face Of New Dogmas by Bertrand Russell (1947) I speak as one who was intended by my father to be brought up as a Rationalist. He was quite as much of a Rationalist as I am, but he died when I was three years old, and the Court of Chancery decided that I was to have the benefits of a Christian education. I think perhaps the Court of Chancery might have regretted that since. It does not seem to have done as much good as they hoped. Perhaps you may say that it would be rather a pity if Christian education were to cease, because you would then get no more Rationalists. They arise chiefly out of reaction to a system of education which considers it quite right that a father should decree that his son should be brought up as a Muggletonian, we will say, or brought up on any other kind of nonsense, but he must on no account be brought up to think rationally. When I was young that was considered to be illegal. Sin And The Bishops Since I became a Rationalist I have f...

The following are verses showing that Jesus did NOT know all things. "And Jesus saith unto them. How many loaves have ye?" (Matt. 15:34) "How is it that ye do not understand that I spoke not to you concerning bread, but that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?" (Matt. 16:11) "... he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the son of man, am?" (Matt. 16:13) "..., how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?" (Matt. 17:17) "And he saith unto her, What wilt thou?" (Matt. 20:21) "... Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" (Matt. 20:22) "... What will ye that I shall do unto you: (Matt. 20:32) "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels who are in heaven, NEITHER THE SON, but the father." (Mark 13:32) "An...

The purpose of this brief article is to show the fallacy of the two verses that fundamentalists put most of their faith in: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." (II Tim. 3:16,17) I will forgo including the verses that give conflicting numbers as they are usually explained away as errors due to scribal mistakes in copying. The following verses are from the New Scofield K.J.V. and they are clearly contradictory statements, which cannot possibly be explained away as copyist errors. These scriptures show that "all scripture" could not have been "given by inspiration of God," 1. "And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Paddanaram unto LABAN, SON OF BETHUEL the Syrian, the BROTHER of Rebehah, Jacob and Esau's mother." (Gen. 28:5) ...

William F Henness [wildbillh@winco.net] One of the worse stories found in the Bible is in Num. 31. Twelve thousand armed men, under Moses' leadership, attacked the Midianites. They killed all the males and burned all their dwellings. But they saved all the females alive, until Moses heard about it. Moses promptly commanded all the male children be killed, but all the females were spared who had not had intercourse. "Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the female children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves." (Num. 31:17,18) Now these females were not all children, for in verse 35, it gives the number of virgins. "And thirty and two thousand persons in all, of WOMEN that had not known man by lying with him." (v. 35) Now, my question is, how did the soldiers determine the virgin...

• How could Adam and Eve ever have sinned if God had actually created them perfect, even if they did have free will? If God created them imperfect, how could a perfect just being blame them then for being imperfect? • How can evil exist in the world if God is simultaneously good, omnipotent, and loving? Why is it that no theodicy (explanation of God's creation of evil) stands up under rational scrutiny? • Why does the church say God did not create evil, when he himself claims that he did in Isaiah 45:7, Lamentations 3:38, and Amos 3:6? Despite the renderings in the modern translations, the Hebrew word is the same as that translated "evil" in numerous other passages. Even in the modern renderings, how can the Christian explain God causing "calamity" (NASB) or "woe" (NRSV) or "disaster" (NIV)?)? • Why does God expressly take credit for creating disabilities (Exodus 4:11)? If these are God's doing, then why does the evangelical church in...

I made a challenge some weeks back saying that there are no real Christians and that I could prove it. The article for the premise is here . In a nutshell I quoted Jesus where he is purported to have commanded his followers to give to everyone who asks of them, without reservation. I also prove through very words of Jesus that the motives of the asker are not to be considered in deciding whether or not to obey the command to give. The only option for the true believer is obedience to the words of his GOD. Anyway, I only asked for $10.00 to make the stinginess and disobedience of Christians even more striking by their ignoring a plain simple command, when it affects the pocket. I expected to receive absolutely nothing. However, I was wrong. My sister sent $10.00, someone sent a donation through Pay Pal for $10.00, and another contacted me with an interesting challenge to give to charity and he would match funds with whatever I gave. So, I contacted that person and said I would give $100...