By JJ So now you're not a Christian anymore. Maybe you've not been for years, or maybe it has been a few intense days. You're a free man or woman, and... when you're really scared, you wonder about God. When you hear about the apocalyptic end of the world suggested by climate change, you can't help but think of the Apocalypse of St. John ("Revelations.") Christianity isn't just a varying set of beliefs around a core drama -- its a fractured and ancient culture. It's a set of symbols, and those symbols are so hard to exorcise precisely because they are powerful, potent, and deeply buried. When you burn yourself, you jerk your hand back -- often times with far greater force than is necessary. When you "stop" being a Christian, you often find yourself seeking solace for what's missing in rational science, in a naturalist point of view (eg, only things I can experience exist, everything else is theory or hyperbole,) or perhaps you embrace

By A Freethinking Okie It seems I have been getting a lot of nasty personal emails from Christians calling me all sorts of names, saying I am bitter, angry, resentful, hateful, sad, bigoted, lost, confused, wavering, over-reacting, disillusioned, schizophrenic, bi-polar, and lactose intolerant. Okay, maybe not the last one, but I keep getting the same stuff everyday. It seems there are lots of Christians out there that feel it’s there duty to rebuke me and put this poor’ lost atheist in his place. Like an average blue-collar middle-of-nowhere small town Oklahoman whose face is easily lost in any crowd is a major threat to their faith. They could just as easily overlook me and ignore me as just another tiny voice of no real threat on the vast global network called the internet. But the emails just keep coming. I’m certainly no threat to them…or maybe I am. Yes, I think I am. Why? Well, the more I thought about it today the more I realized something about Christians (especially myself

Related article and podcast: Christianity's relationship with witchcraft

A review by SailerFraud For the past 10 years, I accumulated so many DVDs I hardly have any time to watch them. It's been over a year since I bought a DVD movie, and with such a backlog of DVDs, I thought I wouldn't buy another one in a long time. The movie "Jesus Camp" came out in 2006 and was shown as an independent film at selected theaters and times, and this January it came out on DVD. After covering footage from Jesus Camp, I decided to buy the Jesus Camp DVD. So how does it rate? I can't really give a numerical rating, grade, or thumbs up for this kind of movie. It is a reality documentary film that gives the straight details on what happens in these evangelical Christian churches, particularly in the mid-western red states. Jesus Camp provides chilling accounts of brainwashing cult tactics and religious fanaticism on the most moldable population, the young children. For those of you who think these fanatics are safely isolated from your community, Jesus C

By Nvrgoingbk For me, the most heart-wrenching aspect of an Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent God, was his silence. Prayer eluded me. I never could quite understand why we had to pray at all, since we were to pray for his will to be done. Seemed to me that Christians should just say to God, "Heavenly Father, do what you want, since you're going to anyway, in Jesus' name I pray, Amen." I could not relate to other Christians who just loved to bang on the doors of Heaven in effort to praise and petition their God. A "relationship" with Christ was impossible. Humans relate through their senses. That isn't our fault; it's biology. If someone wants to correspond with me or connect with me, it would take some effort on their part to achieve it, right? Well, the Christians claim that the Bible is God's way of doing that, but then how did the early believers hear from God? Was he still speaking audibly then? No, he wasn't; people sat arou

By Brian B. What would you think of a person who came up to you, broke both your legs, and after you had wallowed in your misery for a little while, offered you a pair of crutches? Most of us would be confused and bewildered, (not to mention angry) at this behavior. Yet this is exactly what is being done to the minds of Christians everywhere. One of the main things I've noticed about the Christians at my university is that they are utterly convinced that a life without God is a hopeless, pointless existence. They assume that people who lose their faith are wallowing in a pit of never-ending despair, that they have a hole in their hearts that they are trying to fill with 'the things of this world', but to no avail. Oh, if only those poor lost souls could know the tender mercy of our Lord and Savior! I remember taking a writing class with a professor who loved to go off on tangents. One of the things he said struck me, because it showed me just how much Christians have

A rant on Christian salvation By Dave, the WM I've been thinking about something lately: Christian salvation. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians said, "For by grace are ye saved and through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." The way this has been explained to me is that salvation is something that comes by grace, through faith, and not something anyone earns. In Evangelical circles, this kind of grace is described as unmerited favor. Unmerited: Not earned. But I was also told that a person must believe certain things in order to acquire this unmerited favor. Without the correct beliefs, no favor is granted. In fact, unless a few mandatory beliefs are accepted and adopted, no favor can be extended. No matter how this was ever explained to me, if in order to be granted "favor" a person had to do something, even if it was only the acceptance of a few ideas, then it seemed to me that the favor was

By John Frasse When I read the Bible, I see three basic "themes" that bother me. I think these "corruptions" (my term) are best explained as being introduced by the Bible's many human authors. These same themes are later reinforced and collaborated by the Canonization Process itself as the Christian Church became an integrated part of the "New World Order," that is, the New (Christian) Roman Empire. The resulting Dogmas also influenced Bible translation endeavors over the Millennia and these core teachings persist today, largely unabated. To be clear here, my strivings are not necessarily with "God," but rather with the Canonized Bible and the Dogmas associated with it. My three "Bones of Contention" are: 1. The concept of Exclusivity - A (single) "Chosen People" and their "Sacred Land". Don't get me wrong, I have no problems at all with the Jewish people and I love my Jewish friends but I don't think

By Anthony Citrano For someone who doesn’t believe in God, I think about God a lot. Exploring Texas, where megachurches are more common than oil wells (and probably more profitable), lately it's made my mind itch a little more than usual. I was raised a Pentecostal Christian, and these places remind me of the intellectual darkness I experienced inside the stifling walls of organized religion. That a hundred million of my fellow Americans believe these buildings are their best gateway to the Ultimate is heartbreaking indeed. In my early teens, based on instinct and little else, I rejected fundamentalist Christianity and stopped going to church. My mother was (thankfully) open-minded about it and accepted my decision. I wasn’t sure why it felt so wrong to me, but even at that age I realized that my natural mode of inquiry was incongruent their systemic resistance to questioning and self-examination. Growth and challenging one’s faith was heretical and an invitat

By DagoodS I enjoy listening to Christian Talk on satellite radio. It is a combination of the inability to turn away from a train wreck, and research for blogging. The other day I was listening to a fellow talk about senior citizens. He said, "Don't lose the faith in the last quarter of the game of your life that you have held on to since the first quarter." He spent some time, concerned about them struggling with their faith—using words like "strive" and "endure" and "work hard" and "labor." A young person chimed in how they were surprised to consider their grandparents having to work at hard at keeping faith. She felt by then they should have it all figured out, and would not be having the same problems as she did. The preacher replied, "We have to continually work hard, all our life to maintain the faith." Why? Why all the hard work? Why must it be a constant, never-ending pursuit, in which the slightest relaxati

By John Blatt Here is a poignant video about the coercive persuasion, mind control, and brainwashing of Christianity. It exposes all kinds of mind control characteristics and methodologies even of those outside Christianity, but anyone who either is a Christian or has been a Christian will see the marks of Christian programming and indoctrination in this little film. I have made some comments below concerning one aspect of this mind control that is touched upon in this video. I hope you enjoy it! In this video you hear the following statement: "Your bible clearly states that I am the the Messiah" (concerning a cult leader). The vast majority of people, both Christian and non-Christians alike, know that if someone claims to be the messiah you know it is just bullshit. One of the greatest deceptions of Christianity is for the bible to claim Jesus as the Messiah. Why? Because he is not here. He is not a person to talk to physically. He is supposedly only reached through

By Valerie Tarico "Condoms don't belong in school, and neither does Al Gore." So said Frosty Hardison, a parent of seven children, one of whom recently was threatened with exposure to An Inconvenient Truth , in her suburban Seattle science class. Frosty also stated, for the record, ""The information that's being presented [in the movie] is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is. ... The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn't in the DVD." The world, according to Frosty, is about 14,000 years old. Maybe it's been around long enough? Frosty was quoted in papers and blogs across North America. He even made The New Scientist , a British weekly. The thinly veiled implication, with the quotes themselves as stand-alone evidence, was that Frosty is a fool. If boldly proclaiming transparent falsehoods makes one a fool, so be it. But Frosty is not alone in his foolishness. The media would have missed

These four short films were produced, written, and starred by Brian Dalton. Brian is a creative genius who has many talents and interests, and in his latest project he explores the lighter side of religion through these humorous short films. Launched January 17, within a few days there were over 200,000 downloads of them from YouTube, iTunes, and at his own webpage, mrdeity.com . Everyone who watches them — whether religious, nonreligious, or antireligious — enjoys the wit and humor. He has written a pilot for a television series based on his character, Mr. Deity. Enjoy! Mr. Deity Episode 1: Mr. Deity and the Evil After creating the universe, Mr. Deity and Larry decide what evil they'll allow. Mr. Deity Episode 2: Mr. Deity and the Really Big Favor Mr. Deity seeks help to save mankind while Larry oversees construction efforts. Mr. Deity Episode 3: Mr. Deity and The Light Mr. Deity and Larry have trouble with the lighting on their new world. Mr. Deity Episode 4: Mr. Deity and the M

By DINA HAINES APPLEBY Do you know any atheists? Polls show that 1 percent to 3 percent of Americans do not believe in God. If your circle of acquaintances is bigger than 100 people, chances are it contains an atheist, although you may not know it. I never deny that I'm an atheist, but I don't always offer up that information. This is not because I am unsure or ashamed of my disbelief in God. I don't mind the questions or even occasional accusations that follow when I declare my atheism. I'm happy to discuss it. But I hate thinking about the conversations that people have and the conclusions they draw when I'm not there to respond. Living in America, this discussion usually plays out in terms of Judeo-Christian beliefs. The most common criticism about atheists is that without belief in God, we have no ethics or morals. A recent letter to the editor said, "No system of ethics ... can stand alone. To make [ethics] understandable to a child, it must be clothed in

The script for this video is largely based on a comment from 'Leonard' on the article "Don't believe in evolution?"

If you are a Christian, you are about to begin a fascinating journey. In the next ten minutes it will become clear to you that your belief in God is delusional. The goal of this short video is to help you look in a mirror and understand the delusion of Christianity. Once you can see what is going on, the hope is that you will be able to start healing your delusion. With each healing, we make our world a better place.

By John Blatt I, along with many other ex-Christians, am in a rare position to speak on one of the most oppressive thought systems that has ever been subjected upon humanity and because I honestly care about our world and our spiritual and psychic evolution of humanity do I set out to help some to be free from this darkness. This HAS to come out of me. I need to know that I did all that I could with the knowledge that I have to help humanity in the best way that I can. It is a part of who I am and what I am here to do with the remaining time I have left. Okay, why is it that Atheistic arguments cannot work against Christian Fundamentalism? Over the past three years I have read most of the major and many of the minor works on Atheism and its arguments against theism in general and fundamentalism in particular. There are some great arguments for sure, yet as a very knowledgeable ex-Christian I can logically answer 99% of all the hardest questions that can be posed to a Christian. I

By Valerie Tarico This post is excerpted from The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth. Thou to Whom the sick and dying Ever came, nor came in vain, Still with healing word replying, To the wearied cry of pain —Godfrey Thring1 ONE OF THE MOST POTENT CHALLENGES THAT NATURE RAISES AGAINST THOSE who want to believe in a just, loving, and omnipotent God is human suffering. We may diminish or even dismiss the suffering of “dumb beasts,” but we know that our own pain hurts. Worse, empathy makes it difficult to ignore the many forms of trauma suffered by our fellow humans. Very empathetic people may find themselves unable to ward off the pain around them even when their own lives are relatively intact. An attorney lies awake in the wee hours, thinking about the battered clients she represents. A father, tucking his child into bed, is intruded by images of other children, burned or missing limbs, in hospital beds in a war-torn country. A third grader develops nightmares