by John W. Loftus How many sermons have Christians heard about Joseph and Potipher’s wife where the preacher asked something like this: “How many men would've been able to overcome this temptation?” And they conclude with, “I fear not many men here could’ve overcome this.” What are preachers saying here?...That Joseph was a man of faith and had real strength of character, but most men, even Christian men, do not. And yet when a Christian (former one) like me actually does succumb to such a temptation, these same preachers are quick to condemn me. Isn't that odd? Which is it ? The story of my affair [which took place 15 years ago(!) ] that I tell in my book, Why I Rejected Christianity , is a story that shows the church is the only place that shoots its own wounded. Say it isn't so? If someone has a problem, the church is the first to condemn. Christians stress that the marriage vows are sacred. And what part of those vows is most important? Sexual faithfulness. Why...

Hello everybody, I'd like you to know about this workshop coming right up. Feel free to call me and discuss. 510-292-0509 Marlene Winell Now registering: "CONNECTIONS" A weekend intensive for moving beyond religious indoctrination and reclaiming a life of joy, creativity, and connection. Led by Marlene Winell, Ph.D. This workshop is for “recovering fundamentalists” or anyone who has left an authoritarian belief system and would like to accelerate their personal growth. I believe these belief systems foster separation – from the self, from others, and from the world. After leaving, a major task is to heal and strengthen these connections. Recovery requires developing a healthy relationship with yourself, which includes respect for your own worth, trust in your own intuitive wisdom, and expression of your own creativity. New frameworks and new skills are also needed for deep connections...

This post is excerpted from The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth ( www.lulu.com/tarico ). The Bible Stands The Bible stands like a rock undaunted ‘Mid the raging storms of time; Its pages burn with the truth eternal, And they glow with a light sublime. The Bible stands like a mountain towering Far above the works of men; Its truth by none ever was refuted, And destroy it they never can. —Haldor Lillenas1 WHEN I WAS A CHILD, THE BIBLE WAS AS TIMELESS AS MY PARENTS. ALONG WITH the foundations of the earth and the valleys of the sea, it had always existed in its present, unchanging form. As a teenager, I spent hours weekly studying its passages under the guidance of others, wiser and more experienced than I. The contents of the Bible opened up to me. I learned the basics of “biblical exegesis,” the methods by which Evangelicals analyze scriptures phrase by phrase, word by word, even turning to the original Greek or Hebrew to better mine the depths of meaning la...

(Available as a ) Why are you so angry? It doesn’t make sense to be angry about God, since you don’t believe there is a God. You people are like talking to robots that only repeat their programming. I feel so sad for you. You haven’t truly experienced Jesus or you would never say the things you say. I accept that you don’t believe, but why be disrespectful of someone else’s religion? I don’t get it, why would you need encouragement in your ex-Christianity? Various Christians regularly post these kinds of questions and quips to http://ExChristian.Net . Since http://ExChristian.Net first went live, Christians of all denominational affiliations have posted remarks accusing ex-Christians of being bitter, unwilling to listen, not open to discussion, angry at God, angry at church, angry at Christians, or just plain angry. This emotional feeling about Christianity, say these Christians, is probably a sign that ex-Christians really know that Christianity is true. These Christians c...

by Ian Dreams are interesting things. Sometimes they're random, sometimes they're cool. Sometimes they can bring us happiness, and sometimes they can bring us crushing despair. But sometimes...they can have a message or two to bring us. *** Can dreams give us messages that can help us in our everyday life? Is it possible that dreams can give us answers that we're looking for, or just something to help us along and encourage us? As a spiritual person and ex-Christian, I enjoy finding what I like to call "Spiritual tidbits", little sayings or sentences that can inspire you and help you when you're in a troubled period of my life. I've searched books, the Internet, movies, and everything in-between for these tidbits that can help me in my life. Surprisingly, three of the most recent came from my dreams. I dream fairly often and enjoy writing my dreams down to enjoy later on. As one can imagine, my dream archive is quite massive after a year of writing t...

By Lorena “Mice appear to empathize with pain in other critters they're familiar with, a capacity previously thought to exist only in higher primates. When mice saw others they knew showing pain, they responded with signs of empathy, such as staying close by, according to a new study ( http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2006/06/29/mice-empathy.html ).” This proves it: mice are more compassionate than Christians. When you are a Christian and you experience pain, the “holy” people tell you to shove it. If someone you love dies, instead of hugging you and saying, “Sorry for your loss,” they say, “He is in a better place.” The last time I heard a church person say this one, I responded, “When somebody I love dies, I am going to cry until I have no tears left, because they may be at a better place, but I am going to miss them.” It doesn’t matter what sort of emotional pain is expressed, Christians always respond with a quick cliché and make no effort to reach out to the person wit...

This post is excerpted from The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth There is one Way, and only one, Out of our gloom, and sin, and care, To that far land where shines no sun Because the face of God is there. —Cecil F. Alexander “I AM TOO A CHRISTIAN,” MY HUSBAND, BRIAN, ARGUED WHEN I FIRST MET him. “I come from a Christian family. I sang in the choir as a kid. I was raised Presbyterian.” “You are not a Christian,” I repeated in a withering tone. “You’re a bleedin’ agnostic. You don’t even know what ‘being a Christian’ means.” He was wounded. I was astounded. The word “Christian” means a lot of different things to different people. Several years ago, I traveled in Malaysia. In Malaysia, you’re either Muslim or you’re not, and the laws that apply to you are different depending on which camp you fall in. This is not a matter of personal belief; it’s about how you were raised. It’s about birth and ethnicity. More than anything it’s about culture. This is the sense i...

by Jeff the Ubergeek In recent years there has been a tremendous rise in public awareness of clergy misconduct, primarily sexual. The scandals involving the Catholic clergy are perhaps the best known because of the media exposure. Indeed, with the media focusing almost exclusively the aforementioned scandals to the point of nausea, an obvious question comes to mind; does this problem affect any Protestant denominations? To many readers the answer is fairly obvious. Since the webmaster focuses almost exclusively on Protestant faiths when posting news items, we might conclude that problems involving clergy misconduct occur quite as often among Protestants – perhaps more so – than among Catholics. But apparently, some True Christian™ readers object believing the problem as solely belonging to “those Catholic fruitcakes,” while others question whether posting these news items serves any purpose. In order to better inform readers and address these objections, this article is submitted for r...