Gospel Of Yes Website

There can be no doubt that this presidential election has divided this nation unlike any other in our recent history. Here on ExChristian.Net emotions have been flaring and jibes flying on both sides of the political fence - and frankly, I'm glad to see that happening. Why? When I was a Christian, I was always strongly encouraged to vote based on such things as a candidate's stand on abortion or some moral issue, regardless of what else the candidate supposedly stood for. If I were to vote for the candidate that supported abortion or gay rights, I'd be condemned from the pulpit mercilessly until my very salvation would be brought into question by my own conscience. If I were a Christian now, voting for Bush would be what would be expected - it would be nearly mandatory. Now that I no longer believe, it is not mandatory that I vote for Bush. However, unlike the Christian, I do not now have a requirement to vote for any particular candidate, regardless of their ...

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sent in by Ficino I thought readers of Ex-Christian might be interested in this expression of atheistic sentiment from the 5th cent. BCE in Athens. It's a fragment of the play, Sisyphus, attributed to Critias or Euripides. I'd send it in as a "letter" but I don't know how to do that. I tried sending a message to the webmaster but, as happened at first with my testimony, I don't think it went through. Maybe the Sisyphus fragment isn't germane to the interests of the website, but if you think it is, here's a link to an e-text: http://www.wku.edu/~jan.garrett/302/critias.htm Here's the text written out: The Critias fragment from Sextus Empiricus, Adversus Mathematicos ix 54 (trans. R. G. Bury, rev. by J. Garrett) I revised Bury's translation a few years ago when I was translating a book on Aristotle by Richard Bodéüs, who discusses the Critias fragment in chapter 3. The book has been since published by State University of...

Speakable Joy I think therefore I am Why should you give a damn Are you jealous that I am free Free like i'm suppose to be Why is your face scary rotten green with envy Afraid of being wrong I see I am Atheist-Humanist standing tall and proud In a large crowd I stand out Because i'm also African-American I escaped mythology's slaveries I love the fact that I abolished them from my system for me Rising out of the ashes into a new birth of Ex-Christianity Emotional the journey has become For the first time I am actually being challenged Challenged to become a better and better and better me I am human in a human's clothing Instead of mythology's blind ass wolf with a sheep's appearance I delivered myself from the fiery pits of imagination's "heaven and hell" Read my lips oh religious one If you try to assimilate me again, watch will happen You will not be happy at the end of the day As you are not happy right now that I left the game That...

Jason Gastrich, or someone using that pseudonym, used to post here regularly. I doubt that person was authentic because his style differed markedly from Gastrich's stuff on sermonaudio.com. Regardless, I've decided to make available a podcast of Dan Barker's debate with Jason Gastrich. If you take the time to listen, leave a comment or two. On semonaudio.com Gastrich was praised as the clear winner (would you expect otherwise?). A poll of who wins a debate is worthless when the only the choir is polled, but it would be interesting to get some feedback here with opinions on which arguments were the most thought provoking. Leaving specifics is most helpful. Those who would like to purchase or read some excerpts from Dan's book, please click on this link: Losing Faith in Faith

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by Odin When I was in high school I went to Immanuel Mission Church in Hollywood, FL. In my youth group was a boy named Brian Kang. Brian was not popular with the adults; he was usually in trouble, and the kids teased him for his nonconformity. In my leadership position I could see Brian reach out for the love and sanity that Christ supposedly offered, and heard the pastor tell him it wasn't his until he stopped sinning. I saw Brian deal with his extremely difficult life, made more difficult by the lack of support and constant condemnation he received from the "family" that supposedly cared. Their best solution was to chastise Brian, cast out his demons, and "pray" for him. I never saw anyone share genuine care for him in my time at that church. When I think back I see how obvious it was then what the outcome would be. I learned just yesterday that Brian killed himself. He was only 18 or 19. As I understand it, that was 18 or 19 years of sadness and i...

The increasing secularization of American society has taken a particular toll on Protestant identity, presenting the prospect that after more than 200 years of history, the United States may soon no longer be a majority Protestant country, according to a new study by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. The percentage of the population that is Protestant has been falling and will likely fall below 50 percent by mid-decade and may be there already, the research reported. From 1972 until 1993 the Protestant share of the population remained stable. But then a decline set in. In 1993, 63 percent of Americans were Protestant, but by 2002, the number was 52 percent, NORC research found. During the same time, the number of people who said they had no religion went up from 9 percent to nearly 14 percent. The survey listed people as Protestant if they said they were members of a particular Protestant denomination, such as Baptist, United Methodist or...

© 2004 by Tim Simmons “All right, Mommy, just be patient.” Outside the run-down shack that Lottie Moore calls home, the mid-summer air begins to cool slightly as the remaining rays of sunlight recede into the Mississippi night, draining the warm pastel orange from each cloud. Shadowy mountains emerge from the distance, as if summoned by some unseen signal. A distant blue-white flash on the horizon briefly illuminates a wooden cross affixed to the top of the roof. “It won’t be long now, Mommy.” The cyclic grinding of a can opener droned beneath the high-pitched petitions of Lottie’s gray and white cat while a small television blared from the living room. The cat seemed to mimic the circular motion of the can with its body by turning endless circles. “It’s your favorite. Tuna flavor.” Lottie dumped the contents into a small plastic bowl, mashed it a few times with a fork and placed it on the floor. “There you go. Now, you say your prayer before you eat that.” Lottie ...

(i.e, me resorting to dumbing down my attempts to educate the masses my including crude little drawings, to delight and stimulate their little minds.) by A. Uiet Bhor My attempts to explain the inherent problems with religion and the urgency of embracing a secular ethical system usually results in a prolonged rant that is dismissed by theists as the ramblings of a disgruntled atheist. In an attempt to demonstrate my thinking on such matters I will keep this brief and include visual demonstrations of why I consider all religion irredeemable, and what actually makes a decent ethical philosophy. Religion is a very complicated phenomenon, and there are many ways in which it can be studied and understood. History, cognitive anthropology, psychology and meme theory have all given us insights into how religion develops and occasionally what is wrong with it. My personal approach is to look at how religious institutions are organised, and what affects their structure has on issues such as ...

By Eric Merrill Budd (sent in by Jeff Reid) What happens to individuals who have been psychologically abused and morally betrayed by fundamentalist cultic religious groups? how can they recover from the damage done? Physically leaving such a group is relatively easy, but the emotional and psychological departure can take months or even years. This is why many people do not understand how any person can stay within a situation of religious abuse - much the same way that people fail to see how battered women stay with their abusers. Such dysfunctional and destructive groups often use manipulation, fear, and deception to maintain a hold on members. They also shower their prey with unbelievable amounts of affection and approval for staying in the group and meeting their expectations ("love-bombing"). Groups also control and distort information from the outside. Thus it becomes a sin to read any "worldly" publications or "spiritual pornography....

"...and be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds," - Apostle Paul. One argument to which Christians are prone to resort revolves around the concept that without a Christian worldview, moral chaos is the result. To a degree they are correct - what we mold our minds with will certainly influence our behavior. Let me explain by relating something I heard on the radio today. The sister-in-law of Osama Ben Laden gave an insightful interview into the mind of an Islamic Fundamentalist on public radio. She has been separated from her husband for 16 years and has adopted a western life-style in part because of the Islamic marginalizing of women. For instance, she talked of how her brother-in-law Osama would not look at her or speak to her because for a man to look upon or speak to his brother's wife is a sin. Since Osama believed speaking to or looking on his brother's wife was a sin, he refused to acknowledge her at all. Our present world wide struggle w...

sent in by Lavonne My husband made me aware of this site almost a year ago. It was a "testimony" he showed me today that convinced me it was time for me to share. I was always aware of heaven and hell/angels and demons - the conflict for my soul that I would need to heed lest I suffer torment for all eternity. My earliest memory is of a tornado threatening just before my 5th birthday. Mom assured me that, if a tornado did strike, I would be in heaven for my birthday. I wanted a cake and presents. I responded to my first altar call when I was 7 years old. Mom was surprised, telling me I had "asked Jesus into my heart" years earlier. But that minister said that, if I did not love my brother, whom I could see, how could I love Jesus, whom I could not see" - I John, I think, I don't want to look it up. My brother is 3 years younger. Growing up, I did not always "love" him. I responded to the altar call and the hy...

by A. Uiet Bhor I am often confronted by those who ask me whether I think about death, especially as I regard it as the final curtain. Some theists find the idea quite terrifying, I personally think about it very little if at all, I fully intend to die when I am old enough, but until then I see no reason to dwell on the subject. As a total atheist on these matters, the afterlife just seems like naive wishful thinking, but in talking with theists I've discovered that not only do they take the idea seriously, but as a result they think about death a great deal. Also it's consequences have a profound effect on their theology, and even how they live their lives. (Of course, I regard this as an example of the creators of religion taking advantage of people's fear of death and inability to accept mortality, in order to create a series of exploitative behavioural restraints, but that's beside the point.) This has caused me to think about how my views on death, such as...