Excerpt from The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth (Each week during the summer and fall of 2006, one chapter from this book will be posted on exChristian.net.) Preface: A Nation Under God Our goal is a Christian nation.... We have a biblical duty; we are called by God to conquer this country. We don’t want equal time. We don’t want pluralism. We want theocracy. Theocracy means God rules.—Randall Terry, Head of Operation Rescue, 1993 NOT LONG AGO, AN ASSOCIATED PRESS STORY CAUGHT MY EYE. TEXAS GOVERNOR Rick Perry signed two bills into law, one opposing gay marriage and the other restricting abortion. Rather than conducting the ceremonial signing in a state office, flanked by officials or staff, he stationed himself in the gymnasium of an Evangelical school, with Christian symbols in the background and an out-of-state evangelist at his side. Shouts of “amen” rose from the audience. Meanwhile, outside the school, protesters called for separation of church and s...

By Lorena During my recent European trip, I visited more cathedrals and churches than I care to remember. When I was touring the places, I often wished I'd had a computer to type the multiple thoughts that crossed my mind. One recurring thought was how people choose to worship those they perceive as holy, instead of imitating them. I am not convinced that all the Roman Catholic saints were remarkable, but there must have been something about them that made people put them in a pedestal. Should Mother Theresa ever be canonized, she will be worth imitating, but most likely the masses will resort to worshipping her instead. During my trip, in every museum and church I visited, I saw at least one if not five plus pictures of St. Jeronimo. I have no idea what he did to be regarded so highly, but it became boring after a while to see him portrayed over and over again. He, more often than not, was painted doing penances, out in the woods by himself on his knees beating his chest with a ro...

Launch in external player Okay, this video is over a year old, and technically this pan has nothing to do with the Jesus Pan that is now for sale. But both are hilarious. Order your Jesus Pan today: Jesuspan.com Also check out this article: Breakfast with Jesus .

by Ian Earlier this year, I was getting a bit fed up with religions and Christianity in general. It was a period where I was in the last stages of breaking off from organized religion, and as one can expect, it’s a difficult process. At one point, I finally just got so fed up that I decided to do a little rant to try and get the frustration out of my system. This is the result: To Jesus: Okay Jesus, if you don't mind, I'd like to rant a little to get this out of my system. For one thing, why on earth did you come to earth? Did you have even the slightest idea how your teachings would be taken and used for centuries afterwards? Did you foresee the rise of fundamentalists and evangelicals? If you did...aw geez, I don't even want to go there. Those guys used to creep me out. Now, they just annoy me. Anyway, just why did you come here in the first place? I've heard so many answers and so many versions of those answers that my mind gets boggled down in thinking about i...

By Ian If you died this minute, went to heaven and met God, what do you think God would ask you? Would God ask you if you are a Christian? Would God ask if you if you accepted Jesus? Would God ask you if you went to church on Sundays? Or…what if God asked you none of these things? What if God asked you something else? What if God, instead of asking you if you were a Christian or not, asked you what you did with your life? Instead of asking you if you were a Christian or not, what if God asked you how many people you loved during your life? Instead of asking you if you accepted Jesus, what if God asked you how many people you helped during your life? Instead of asking you if you went to church on Sundays, what if God asked you how often you volunteered to help others who were less fortunate then you? If God asked you these things, what would your answer be? *** Most religions teach that one day we will be judged for all our earthly deeds, after which we will go to heaven and hell ...

Many women, both within Christianity and outside of the Christian faith have the vague sense that something is missing from traditional views of God or Goodness. Christianity has its roots in patriarchal desert societies, in the traditions of the ancient Hebrews, which in turn have their roots in Akkadian and Sumerian epics and culture. In survival-oriented, food-scarce, warring traditions like these, God is generally thought of as male. But what, exactly, does that mean? Here are some things we can say with confidence about how male humans on the average differ from females: more physical strength, higher aggression, more focus on difference rather than similarities, more mathematical ability, less verbal ability, more self focus, more independence, and lower empathy. Together these qualities lead men on the average to be dominant, to innovate more, and to nurture and cooperate less. These differences are advantages in some situations, not in others. Either way, they don't have...

Ex-Christians, I submitted a testimony on Aug. 7-05. I read every day on this site and have been amazed by the superior thinking ability of some of you. I never have been able to concentrate for long periods of time on academic pursuits, but some of the regular posters here mesmerize me to the extent that when I see their names, I can't turn the computer off till I have scrutinized every word of their posts. I have a couple of questions for you. You are probably already familiar with my philosophy, but I would like to find out whether those as smart as some of you are, agrees or disagrees with my basic assumptions about life. I have already done the natural selection thing here many times, the natural process that brings us to the top of the food chain and made us the smartest species on, at least this planet. These are the questions: 1. If a mother sacrifices her life for her children, is that love? 2. If a man finds a mate who has all of the physical and intellectual characteris...

sent in by Ian When I was a Christian, one of the most frightening and intimidating aspects of the faith was the dreaded judgment day, where God (or Jesus, depending on who you speak too) will judge you and send you to either heaven or hell for all eternity. What better way to keep someone in line by threatening them with a judgment? Because I am no longer a Christian, I no longer believe in a day of judgment. In fact, I find the whole idea to be very juvenile. If you go through life seeing it as a trial, then the view of a judgment makes sense. If you go through life seeing it as an opportunity to learn and grow to become a better individual, the idea of a day of judgment becomes...well...silly. My own views on judgment are not however, the focus of this article. What I do want to call in s the fact that the whole day of judgment may not be as simple as some may think it will be (that is, if it actually happens). How so? In January of 2006, I was just starting to go through what is co...