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Just like the spousal syndrome it's named after, this disorder is characterized by the inability to see anything but love in the actions of the abuser. Every hit is the victim's fault as this is the only rationalization to keep the image of someone who is loving alive. And so it is with the believer. No matter what terrible event happens in their life they can't see their god as anything but a loving father. He never gets any of the blame. It's either a lack of faith, too much sin or perhaps not enough praise that day. Suppose a believer's child was murdered. Can she conceptualize her god idly watching as the event took place, doing absolutely nothing? Yes, but it was for a reason. Her god still loves her, of course -- that's what she been programmed to believe. She'll probably come up with the standard answer designed to preserve the love like "god works in mysterious ways," "it was for the greater good," or "god...

by AtheistMommy Our Funding Fathers had a grand plan. A plan to create a wonderful place where all can be free, free to believe in anything, free to speak their minds, free to voice their opinions. Our Founding Fathers were not Atheists. They were not quite Christian, either though. Some didn't even attend church on Sunday or any other day. What they were, even better than belonging to a religion or not, they were Freethinkers. How is it we can call this land free? Religious tolerance has hit an all time low. Atheists are now speaking their minds and standing up for their rights instead of lurking in the shadows and denying their lack of beliefs. We now have church on TV every Sunday. Religious radio stations both on FM, AM, and internet broadcasting, mostly Christian. We have a man in the highest of political offices claiming to be God's president. Public fights about the pledge, the religious slogan on our money, and who's God is real. Let's not forg...

America is a nation wherein citizens of all religions and of none are welcome to participate freely in all of its social and political functions. The essence of the religion commandments of the Constitution, as drafted by the Founding Fathers and added by the First Congress, is voluntarism in matters of religion. Government is the essence of coercion; therefore, "no religious test shall ever be required" (Constitution, Art. 6., Sec. 3.) and Congress shall make "no law" respecting an establishment of "religion" (First Amendment). In other words, it is a "religious" test which shall not be required, not just a church test, and it is "religion" which shall not be established by law or Congress, not just a church. I hope your readers find "America's Real Religion" of value in understanding the Constitution's commandments and the resulting freedom guaranteed every American. Gene Garman, M.Div. America's Real R...

2004-12-31 / Knight Ridder / By Tom Schaefer The death toll from Asia's devastating tsunami could surpass 100,000. One hundred thousand men, women and children. One survivor, describing the scene, said, "Hell was unleashed." How are we to make sense of the senseless? The answer is, we can't. The problem of evil in this world has never been fully understood and cannot be completely explained. Watching the unbelievable devastation of Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India and other parts of Asia only heightens the anxiety about the role of the divine in the midst of destruction. How can God allow the innocent to suffer and die so horrendously? When the Reverand Billy Graham spoke at the National Cathedral following the September 11, 2001, attacks, he recounted how he is often asked why God permits evil in the world. He paused and said that he has never been able to find a fully satisfactory answer. Not even America's pastor, as he's been called,...

by Mark Twain (1909) The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before him rose the black night of Space, like a wall. His mighty bulk towered rugged and mountain- like into the zenith, and His divine head blazed there like a distant sun. At His feet stood three colossal figures, diminished to extinction, almost, by contrast -- archangels -- their heads level with His ankle- bone. When the Creator had finished thinking, He said, "I have thought. Behold!" He lifted His hand, and from it burst a fountain- spray of fire, a million stupendous suns, which clove the blackness and soared, away and away and away, diminishing in magnitude and intensity as they pierced the far frontiers of Space, until at last they were but as diamond nailheads sparkling under the domed vast roof of the universe. At the end of an hour the Grand Council was dismissed. They left the Pr...