By newly not Here is my tribute to those who are Christian by name only: You call yourself a Christian, but you *still* haven't read the Bible all the way through, even though you usually have the 'Fifteen Minutes a Day' it takes. You're conveniently avoiding the numerous vile Scriptures we atheists like to throw at you. You call yourself a Christian, but you adhere to "selective morality" when it comes to obeying what The Word teaches. Don't you love God enough to do what He says? A good page for many examples of this is: http://www.evilbible.com/christians_are_hypocrites.htm You call yourself a Christian, but you get in slumps where you only pray to "God" when you need something, or things are going bad. You call yourself a Christian, but do any number of the following in relation to church: * You're secretly happy when circumstances prevent you from going * You sometimes can't help tuning out the sermon (because it's so "dam...

By dano What is God? Where is God? Who is God? Well, let me explain or define God. What I think God is. In my mind the only way I can describe God, is to call it a force. The ultimate force that caused everything. The prime mover. Any other description in my mind would be dishonest. I could not live with myself if I recognized any other description or definition of God. Any other definition of God or description would be inadequate. Not big enough! Now I find it very difficult to see that force as having a penis or a vagina, so I guess that rules out It as being male or female. Penises and vaginas are a rather recent adaptations to life here on earth anyway, making them irrelevant to whatever caused the big bang 5 or 6 billion years ago, and our universe may just be one of an infinite number of universes, and an infinite number of big bangs. What amazes me is that Bible God is so obviously just a primitive attempt by early man to describe God in our image, and that this poorly construc...

According to some, miracles PROVE that God is real. Maybe they're right! What do you think? To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

Sent in by Pirromount After putting a comedy video on MySpace, having it featured, getting over 160,000 views and then having it censored and my account closed after angry Christians demanded it be removed, I see how dangerous a deluded majority can be. You can see it at www.thesubmissivejesus.com . I've discovered that it all boils down to brain wiring: either your brain is wired to worship magic or it isn't, either it's wired to utilize logic or it isn't, either it's analytical of myths or it isn't. I'm sure that this is the last century for religion. Science and technology is advancing too swiftly for any primitive mindset to continue. Naturally, there will always be holdouts (some people still think the moon landing was faked), but the vast majority will smarten up as technology advances... or they will destroy themselves first and the evolutionary process will begin again. Press release: Promo ads for "The Submissive Jesus Prayer Answering Talking ...

This is a short clip from Stephen Hawking's Universe . The topic: Christian resistance to scientific advancement. Bible passages that relate to Geocentrism: Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10, and Chronicles 16:30 state that "the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved." Psalm 104:5 says, "[the LORD] set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved." Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that "the sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises." Bible passaged that relate to Human Evolution: Genesis 1:26 "And God said, Let us make man in our image..." Genesis 2:7 "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground..."

By Rabid Ape A challenge to creationists. Forward this to people that spew garbage..., and see if they have a head on their shoulders. Video idea from ' Octamed ' Text liberally quoted from 'Jim Arvo' @ exchristian.net , spontaneously and without permission. To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

By Dave, the WM Valerie Tarico, author of "The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth," pointed me toward an interesting website this week. Here's a quote from that site: A Christian Domestic Discipline marriage is one that is set up according to Biblical standards; that is, the husband is the authority in the household. The wife is submissive to her husband as is fit in the Lord and her husband loves her as himself. He has the ultimate authority in his household, but it is tempered with the knowledge that he must answer to God for his actions and decisions. He has the authority to spank his wife for punishment... Though this seems unusual in today's United States, this kind of marriage has been practiced throughout history and is still practiced in many parts of the world today. (LINK) That's right, it's Christian Domestic Discipline (CDD)! And if you wonder if these people consider themselves "True Christians™," read this: T...

"God Is Not Great" author Christopher Hitchens and the Rev. Al Sharpton recently faced off in a debate about religion at the New York Public Library.

By Nvrgoingbk When I was a Christian, I was always prepared for the imminent return of Christ. Working out my salvation with “fear and trembling” was a reality for me, as I never did have any true peace regarding any future acceptance in Heaven. Still, I forged on always hoping to be found among the sheep on that fateful day when Christ would return with the martyred saints and separate his flock to the right of Him. Christians will ask me what I am going to do or say to their Christ if one day he does return, and I am found wanting of a response as to why he should allow me access into his eternal day spa in the sky. I have no prepared response, of course, but I think that I would look Christ bravely in the eyes, and tell Him that I have no regrets. I think that I’d tell him that I lived and died with integrity intact. I think I’d bring forth my children, family, friends, and yes, even my enemies as an example of how I lived and let them speak for me. I’m confident that they’d d...

By fjell The screen is alight, and a unified choir of cheers erupting from the thousands of fans filling the stadium being pumped at high volume from the speakers in the café satiates the air. Before me is an omelette, half a fresh-baked baguette, and a quaint bowl of plain joghurt adorned with müsli and tidbits of fruit, sliced unseen five minutes ago by a Sri Lanken in an unseen kitchen. It is a Sunday afternoon in my life. The throng of faces from those seated around me - a mob of perhaps a hundred or so - are plastered with the stares of a strange palpable vacancy. A vacuousness which is exchanged every ten minutes or so for spattered cries of disbelief, shock, ecstasy, or anger. Their collective gaze is fixed cement-like to the screen hung in the furthest corner of the café. Actually I, as well as the mob, am seated on the sunny terrace of this loveliest of cafés - a café to which my heart has been romantically stapled since I green-hornedly ran across it nine years ago at th...

By Dano I find myself with this compulsion to try to use logic and reason to try to convince people they are wrong about a certain thing, but what I am beginning to understand is that when it comes down to religious beliefs at least, rational, critical thought takes back a seat to emotion every time. Now don't get the idea that I think I am the first one to have figured this out. On the contrary, I have read about "Cognitive dissonance" in all of the best selling books, written by the biggest names in Christian Apostasy. One best selling female author and Psychologist who is also an ex Christian fundamentalist even explained it to me this way: Some time the smartest and most gifted are the very ones who can come up with the most complex and imaginative ways to hold on to their emotional beliefs in supernatural things. You have seen them, those brilliant graduates of theology schools, who have gone on to become pastors, and teachers and spent their lives studying every Ch...

A special debate between Alister McGrath , Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University , author of "Dawkins' God" and "The Dawkins Delusion" and Peter Atkins , Professor of Chemistry at Oxford University , well-known atheist and supporter of Richard Dawkins, as seen on Channel 4's " The Trouble with Atheism ". This event was organized jointly by the University of Edinburgh Philosophy Society and The Christian Union. It was held in George Square Lecture Theatre which seats 500, however was overwhelmed by the number of people wanting to attend, over 300 people had to be turned away.

Christopher Hitchens , author of " God is Not Great ," defends atheism and secularism at the 2007 LA Times Festival of Books debate which was recently broadcast on C-Span2's " Book TV " television program. Other panelists include Zachary Karabell (author of " Peace be Upon You ") and Jonathan Kirsch (author of " A History of the End of the World "). Debate moderated by Thane Rosenbaum . The video is about an hour long.

Penn & Teller 's "Bullshit - Holier Than Thou With Christopher Hitchens ." To most of the world, highly revered figures such as Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, and the Dalai Lama are larger-than-life symbols of love, peace and charity. But how much of our perception of "sainthood" is built on hype and not facts? This clip reveals the dark side of the so-called enlightened ones and delves into why we're so susceptible to buying into their bullshit.

Sean Hannity recently attempted to match intellectual wits with author Christopher Hitchens in a debate about the existence of God. Hitchens has written a new book debunking the idea of God, entitled " God Is Not Great ." To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

By Randi Rhodes To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

By DagoodS We all cringe a bit when we see someone get caught for doing something wrong, and they begin to throw the blame on someone else. “Not my Fault!” Not to pick on her in particular, but Paris Hilton was just found guilty of probation violation. What did she say? “My Publicist didn’t inform me I was not able to drive.” “Not my Fault!” Anyone who has small children can watch this repartee occur in almost machine-gun like precision: “She hit me!” “He hit me first!” “She called me a name!” “He made a face at me!” “She started it!” “He started it!” It seems as if our natural human tendency, upon being discovered in the wrong, is to defensively determine some other person or circumstance to blame, in order to alleviate (even if just a bit) the responsibility of the action. To spread the blame. To share the fault. I was recently struck by how Christianity is able to do this with the Sin Nature. To spread the blame, just a bit, with the fact that this is simply who they are. The...

Part II of a debate between the Rational Responders and The Way of the Master that was recently aired on ABC's Nightline news program. To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

By Valerie Tarico, Ph.D. How many chickens did you have for breakfast? At any opportunity, the righteous send letters to my local paper, lamenting the murder of children. They aren’t concerned with the high school students who are getting their limbs blown off in Iraq, or ten year olds who are being handed machine guns by warlords in Africa, or toddlers who are needlessly dying of dysentery in back rooms in Cambodia. They are talking, of course, of abortion. At an outdoor rally at Westlake Mall in Seattle, Evangelical women took turns in front of a microphone, lamenting the babies they had murdered. They choked on tears, savored God’s forgiveness, and envisioned the day when they would come face-to-face in heaven with the people they had killed and could ask them forgiveness. Across the street a thin line of men and women held signs. Familiar, forgettable ones said things like, “Keep Abortion Safe and Legal” or “Hands Off of My Body.” They seemed flat and superficial in the presen...

By John of Let My People Go Human beings need contrast for anything to have meaning to them. The term daytime, for instance would have no significance to people unless they have experienced nighttime, heat has no meaning without the experience of cold, love without hate means nothing and similarly being right has no special meaning unless others are wrong. Invalidation of others provides the experience of being right as others are shown to be wrong promoting the accompanying feelings of superiority and “specialness”. One of the characteristics of the generally accepted view of cults is that they claim to enjoy a unique and somewhat elite position with God himself and consider themselves “special” as a result. One need only read Joseph Smith’s account of how he came to receive the Book of Mormon to acquaint oneself with the idea that his followers are in possession of more “truth” than the next religion as God has told him personally that in effect all the other religions have strayed f...

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Produced by Creative Mindworks, this comedy tour features a collection of characters based on the religious past of comedian and former Phoenix native Troy Conrad. The show’s mission: to use standup, short films, animation, improvisation, along with the help of Powerpoint to illuminate the social problems caused by blind obedience to religion. With the popularity of books like Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind Series, and Christopher Hitchens’ God is Not Great, religion in America is on the forefront of the National dialogue. “Audiences ready to laugh about the insanity that irrational beliefs have caused, and YouTube has made the show more popular,” says Troy Conrad, producer of The Comedy Jesus Show. “People are slowly waking up to the idea that they can be spiritual without religion, and use beliefs for unity and not exclusion and division. Religion has always been a divider, not a uniter. Laughter gives us power over the those divisions.” Enter the st...

By John W. Loftus I just watched the first episode of the PBS special, The Secret Files of the Inquisition . The second episode is on next week (5/16/07), and I highly recommend you watch it. One inquisitor, who went on to become Pope Benedict, told a Jew under interrogation, “convert or die!” These three words echoed down into villages and homes for two centuries. That’s two whole centuries. There was no escape from the power of the church since it reigned exclusively, even over the very ideas people entertained. At the beginning of the 14th century the church was losing power because it was unwilling to change. The people did not have access to the Bible (nor was there a printed Bible). They were simply to believe what the church taught. Furthermore, the Sunday masses were done in Latin, which people couldn’t understand. So it gave rise to many ideas about religious truth, including a heretical group called “The Good Men.” Instead of addressing these disputes civilly the Church set o...

A 1985 video produced by Richard Dawkins . The film is about 45 minutes in length. To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

By Micah Cowan My brother-in-law Tim had some interesting points to make about neurotheology, which he submitted in comments to my posted link to DagoodS’s article, Prove It! . I responded in-thread to most of what he had to say, but some comments he made presented an opportunity to discuss a topic that I believe is worth a separate post, and so here it is. Tim says: The fact that you can measure something like that [one’s spirituality, via externally observable properties in the brain] implies to me that atheists and theists should adopt a truce similar to the one Stephen Jay Gould offered between science and religion. I’m very much in favor of this. I have no quarrel with theism, I just don’t personally hold to it. The atheist, if he is honest, cannot lay claim to a certainty of explanation in support of abiogenesis (the spontaneous transition of lifeless matter into living). There are some interesting hypotheses, to be sure, but I’m confident that we will never be able to determin...