I have mixed feelings about this recent video posting to YouTube, because a child this age really has no idea what she's talking about. However, I see kids every day in advertising, promoting all sorts of products, and that seems to be OK with everyone. I've also seen children this young giving wonderful testimonials in churches, and that was always cheered and applauded as a fabulously positive thing. I've even seen some young kids preaching before, and at the very least, most Christians I knew thought seeing a kid preach was extremely cute. Bill O'Reilly got all up in arms about this short YouTube video, I think, because he was mentioned by name in it. So, in response, he called in an expert on his program to accuse the girl's parents of being child abusers. I'm not sure if that's slander or not, but, regardless, I don't recall O'Reilly having a conniption about the emphatic and emotional testimonials given by the overly excited, evangelically ze...

This is the second of a series of articles titled, A Skeptic's Guide to Bible Study for Christians. For background, please see the Introduction . A Critique of Common Reasons Christians Study the Bible If you are a Christian you have probably been told the virtues of daily Bible study. Among other things, you have probably been told that doing so will teach you how to live and/or grow in your faith ( 1 Peter 2:2 ), that you will be equipped to answer questions ( 1 Peter 3:15 ), you will learn to discern whether others speak spiritual truth (as exemplified in Acts 17:11 ), and perhaps most importantly that it pleases God ( 2 Tim. 2:15 ). In simpler terms, Bible study is supposed to teach you how to live, think, and judge the truth. Plus, it will make Him happy. These results certainly seem worthwhile. As confusing as this world can often be, a bit of focus and guidance is appealing. If in the process we ingratiate ourselves to a God with the power to give eternal glory or damn...

There is a very good chance you are a Christian. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's World POPClock Projection , the world's population is just shy of 6.6 billion people. Of these, about 2.1 billion identify Christianity as their chosen faith (see adherents.com ). In other words, about 31% of the world's population is Christian. What percentage actually practice their faith is, of course, subject to debate. If you live in the United States, the likelihood increases exponentially. Approximately 75% - 85% of its population identifies as Christian, making the United States home to one of the highest concentrations of Christians worldwide (followed closely by Brazil at about 66%). This means that about 10.5% - 12% of all Christians live in the U.S.. Therefore, regardless of what the Founders' intentions may have been, the U.S. is inarguably a Christian nation. At least from the perspective of demographics. As with the aforementioned world statistics, what percen...

20 videos documenting several documentaries on disbelief aired in England and presented by Jonathan Miller .

By John W. Loftus. Since others are getting into the act here , here , and here , let me throw my hat in the ring as well. Let me tell you how to be an apologist for the Christian Faith, as well as how to be one for skepticism. Like theirs, this too is sarcasm. How to be a Christian Apologist: 1) Hide your head in the sand. Believe that people in the ancient world weighed the evidence for their beliefs with the same rigorous standards that we do today. But the Bible itself tells us otherwise . 2) Demonize the skeptic. Believe he or she is willfully ignorant of the obvious truths that you believe. Believe that the skeptic is just not interested in knowing the truth. Believe that the whole reason he is a skeptic is because he hates God and is in rebellion against him. Believe that he just wants to live an immoral life apart from God. 3) Claim that skeptical objections have been refuted long ago. Claim that Hume’s arguments have already been refuted, as William Lane Craig said to me at a ...

Richard Dawkins with Pat Kenny on The Late Late show on December 9, 2006. Part 1 of 3 Part 2 of 3 Part 3 of 3

Written and animated by Edward Current

Richard Dawkins is interviewed about his book, " The God Delusion ." About 10 minutes long.

In public media and private conversations, one often hears the argument that science is just another religion. This is a powerful allegation. It levels the playing field. It says, essentially, everybody is entitled to an opinion, and you don't have any more basis for yours than I do for mine. The problem is this: Those who preach that science is a religion fundamentally misunderstand the nature of science. First, they equate science with a body of content, a collection of statements about what is real. Second, they assume that scientists arrive at their conclusions in the same way that believers do: by embracing a set of beliefs and then seeking evidence that they are true. Both of these assumptions are wrong. Scientific discoveries or conclusions are the public face of science. They get written into textbooks and popular books. They provide interesting material for the Discovery Channel and magazines like National Geographic or New Scientist. They guide our decisions about which m...

By Dave, the WM Over and over and over, Christians come to this site and express their "informed opinion" that Evolution must be accepted on faith and is therefore equal to a religious belief in Creationism. Is this true? Is accepting the Theory of Evolution as the best model for understanding the natural progression of life forms akin to religious convictions about Christian Creationism? Here is a short list of some commonly accepted theories in a variety of disciplines: Astronomy : Big Bang Theory Biology : Cell theory - Evolution by natural selection Chemistry : Atomic theory — Kinetic theory of gases Climatology : Theory of Global Climate Change (due to anthropogenic activity) Computer science : Algorithmic information theory — Computation theory Economics : Decision theory Engineering : Circuit theory — Control theory — Signal theory - Systems theory Film : Film Theory Games : Game theory - Rational choice theory Geology : Plate tectonics [1] Humanities : Critica...

By Ian A few hours ago, my history of cinema teacher, according to fundamentalist doctrine, cemented her place in hell for all eternity. She is now, according to doctrine, damned for eternity, condemned to a place of eternal pain, torture, and, if you believe it, fire. She will be eternally separated from God, never again to see her loved ones, to see her friends or family. She is a kind, cheerful individual who isn't afraid to joke around. She's really a nice, good person who by no means should go to eternal punishment. But alas, according to Christian fundamentalists, she's now damned for eternity. I don't know if she's a Christian or not, or if she has accepted Jesus as her lord and savior. After what she did, she'll definitely need it. How do I know that she's damned? Well, go take a look at this survey (warning: Fundamentalist christian ideas ahead designed to scare you, induce guilt, make you feel like a rotten individual, so on and so forth. ...

Kent Hovind , the self anointed, evangelical apostle of Young Earth Creationism , is currently in prison for tax evasion. For a long time he has been pointing his followers toward the writings of an imprisoned tax dodger named Irwin Schiff as well as promoting the Citizens Rule Book , a popular standard in the Christian Patriot movement . Using these fringe teachings, Hovind has been encouraging Christians to stop paying taxes and assuring his followers that they can't be prosecuted for refusing to pay. The teaching is too convoluted to encapsulate here, but rest assured that anyone who elects to follow these odd ball ideas are likely to also land in jail. From his prison cell, Hovind is blogging to his flock, preaching from behind bars, sharing his holy adventures of bold evangeliztion and discipling of the prison population. At the close of each epistle, he writes, "Remember my bonds." OK, so what! We all know Hovind is a whack-job fanatic. Who cares? Frankly, I don...

One hour long Buy this video by clicking here . Holding modern Christianity up to a bright spotlight, this eye-opening documentary asks the questions few dare to ask. "Did Jesus even exist?" is just the beginning for The God Who Wasn't There. Your guide through the world of Christendom is former fundamentalist Brian Flemming, joined by such luminaries as Jesus Seminar fellow Robert M. Price , author Sam Harris and historian Richard Carrier . In addition to the film, which won the Best Documentary award at the 2005 Grassroots Cinema Film Festival, this feature-packed DVD includes: -Special commentary tracks with Richard Dawkins and Earl Doherty -Over one hour of compelling additional interview footage -An in-depth Web-enabled slide show -Music from the soundtrack -Bios of all participants This provocative DVD takes off the gloves and gives religion an unprecedented, no-holds-barred examination. So hold on to your faith. It's in for a bumpy ride. Buy this video by ...

By Dave, the WM I'm an ex-Christian and an atheist. This Christmas I have two overly decorated 9’ tall Christmas trees complete with twinkling lights and one tree is circled by a battery powered toy train. Perched in locations all around my house, dozens and dozens of Nutcrackers of every height and description keep vigil while festive smelling candles taint the air. A thick layer of snow currently blankets the ground outside my window, and holly and ivy decorate my neighbor's porches. It's holiday time at an atheist home! What? An atheist celebrating Christmas? Christ's Mass. The Catholic Mass held on the eve before Christ's birth. That's what Christmas means, doesn't it? I mean, isn't an atheist who is celebrating Christmas about as hypocritical as one can get? Aren't we always hearing "Keep Christ in Christmas" and "Jesus is the reason for the season?" Isn't there even an atheistic " War on Christmas ?" Well, I s...

By Wayne Adkins On July 18th, 2006 Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, lumped atheists and agnostics together with bigots and in a paraphrase of an old untrue negative stereotype declared that there are no atheists in foxholes. It is ironic that such a bigoted remark would come during his speech about diversity to the NAACP. The National Guard received a number of letters complaining about his remarks and several atheist organizations denounced them. But the Army, despite how it defines unlawful discrimination in its own regulations, has decided that the remarks were not discriminatory. I disagree. Blum’s remarks are just the tip of the iceberg. Since troops have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years there have been numerous bigoted remarks made by military chaplains and other officers disparaging atheists and perpetuating the myth that there are no atheists in foxholes. Some have gone as far as claiming that atheists are lesser soldiers than th...

By David Gleeson After watching Morgan Spurlock's "30 Days" episode on FX last night, about an atheist mother who agrees to live with a wealthy Christian family for a month, it became painfully obvious to me that most people have glaring misconceptions about what it means to be an atheist, and about atheism in general. In this article, I'd like to highlight some of the most common errors and offer a level-headed response to these misunderstandings. 1. Atheism is the belief that no gods exist. This statement's ubiquity is exceeded only by its utter falseness; not only is it misleading, but it is the complete opposite of the truth. The word 'atheism' comes from the Greek prefix 'a', meaning without, and 'theist', meaning having a belief in a supernatural deity. Atheism, therefore, literally means "without theistic belief". Atheism does not positively assert anything; rather, it is a statement of withheld belief. Atheists, therefore,...

By Dave, the WM I've never met a single person who became a zealous Christian after being presented an intellectual reason to believe. In fact, I would dare to say that there has not been one real conversion in history that can be entirely attributed to a simple, unemotional presentation of facts. That's not how religion works. Religion finds fertile ground in the field of a person's emotions. If a few random twigs on the periphery of a Christian's faith suffer damage during a violent storm of logic, the roots of that faith tend to remain deeply buried, far out of site, and untouched. I've never been accused of being overly sensitive or romantic, yet my own conversion to Christianity was highly charged with emotion. Tears ran down my face. I trembled uncontrollably. I felt that I was having a face-to-face meeting with the everlasting Godhead. Even today, the experience is strong in my memory. "How to Witness" classes I attended in following years encourag...