By Valerie Tarico This post is excerpted from The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth. Thou to Whom the sick and dying Ever came, nor came in vain, Still with healing word replying, To the wearied cry of pain —Godfrey Thring1 ONE OF THE MOST POTENT CHALLENGES THAT NATURE RAISES AGAINST THOSE who want to believe in a just, loving, and omnipotent God is human suffering. We may diminish or even dismiss the suffering of “dumb beasts,” but we know that our own pain hurts. Worse, empathy makes it difficult to ignore the many forms of trauma suffered by our fellow humans. Very empathetic people may find themselves unable to ward off the pain around them even when their own lives are relatively intact. An attorney lies awake in the wee hours, thinking about the battered clients she represents. A father, tucking his child into bed, is intruded by images of other children, burned or missing limbs, in hospital beds in a war-torn country. A third grader develops nightmares ...

" The God Awful Truth " is a series of twenty-five thought-provoking films examining the true origins of Christian theology, Christian history, Jesus Christ, Paul of Tarsus, the Twelve Apostles, the Bible, the New Testament, the Old Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Torah, origins of Judaism, the Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, history of the Popes, the Protestant Church, the Crusades, the Inquisition, Christian Missionaries, Televangelists, and more. This film unravels the mysteries, reveals the deceptions, the horrors, and the atrocities performed against humanity in the name of religion for the past two-thousand years. For more information, check out http://www.godawfultruth.net/

The Atheist Viewpoint is a public access TV show by, for, and about Atheists/Atheism and the many political and social problems with religion. These shows can be viewed in full at http://viewpoint.illdill.net

By RubySera One big issue many of us ex-Christians struggle with, esp. in the early stages of deconversion, is prayer. For me, music is a big issue, too. I was never exposed to anything but church hymns from the 1800s and earlier. Those hymns expressed many deep feelings as I struggled to cope with and understand life. They held the higher ideals of human existence. They explored the depth of human woe. They promised peace to the submissive soul. They gave voice the exuberance I felt when nature bursting with new life in spring and the scent of young grass and dandelions and birdsong filled the air. I have a good voice and good memory and I love to sing. I would find self-expression of many forms through singing as I worked—it was a way to express my deepest secret feelings without anyone knowing what I was feeling. At times I was hanging onto life by the skin of my teeth but no one would rebuke me for feeling what I was feeling because they heard my voice heartily singing and never gu...

Another in a series of ex-Christian atheist Brett Keane asking questions so-called Christian leaders.

Recently a Christian poster made the allegation that anyone who walks away from Christianity always leaves a "strange" version of it. Although this poster declined to define exactly what a "strange" version of Christianity might be, the topic on which this Christian posted his observation had to do with Christians who believe the world is approximately 6,000 years old, was created in six days, in general cling to a Biblical literalism, and who in many cases believe their worldview should be promoted in schools and through other educational venues. Now the Christian poster didn't actually say that such literalists were strange in their beliefs, but that was the implication based on the context of the conversation in which he did say that he had never met a Christian who believed such odd things (World only 6,000 years old, etc). I suggested to this Christian that he hadn't been around much. Anyway, I attempted, unsuccessfully, to help this Christian understa...

A series of six videos featuring a few men & women who have killed in the name of God.

Sent in by Stevie P As I watch continuing coverage of Atlanta's evening news, I feel a tinge of anger. Recent headlines of the elderly woman shot dead in her home by police , is disheartening & disturbing. The incident kind of gives meaning to a conversation I had with an eighty-year young man at the community ballpark. His conversation gave me the hope we aren't all helpless to adversity as we age. The gentleman was sitting at the end of a metal bench which I happened to prop my bike on. It's an easy place to stand my mountain bike up as I get a drink of water from the nearby fountain. On this day, the little league games were in session and the park was crowded as usual. I enjoy riding my bike in the park. The paths are more challenging and it's excellent exercise. When I reached for my bike, the gentleman asked me if I would pick up his glasses which had fallen beside the bikes rear wheel. I introduced myself as he thanked me, and I was rewarded with an...

By John W. Loftus I have posted my statement on the problem of evil here . Several atheists do not consider the extent of suffering in our world to be a significant problem for Christian theists. I hope this can help to change their minds.

Evolution 101 with Dr. Zachary Moore: http://www.drzach.net/podcast.htm

Daniel Clement Dennett (b. March 28 , 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts ), is a prominent American philosopher and atheist activist. Dennett's research centers on philosophy of mind , philosophy of science and philosophy of biology , particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science . He is currently a professor at Tufts University .

In this 56-minute-long video, Paul Kurtz , founder of The Center For Inquiry , answers the question "What is Secular Humanism?" Explaining this robust system of ethics for those who are seeking alternatives to religion, Paul Kurtz shows how many people in the world agree with Secular Humanist values and ethics, but do not realize it. Enjoy.

By Micah Cowan I had always known about them. They were always there, lurking in the corners of Scripture, waiting for discovery, waiting to become catalysts of ignorant doubt; of the questionings of God and His Word. Problem passages. Those passages that, at first, and even second glance, seemed to pose real, spiritual problems: doctrinal difficulties, or contradictions of known facts about the world, or even of other passages in scripture! But always, there’s an answer, for those willing to look below “just the surface;” for those with the mustard-seed faith to trust at least enough to ask God: “Lord, show me the answers I’m not seeing.” By responding with the humility to seek God and have faith that there is more to these seeming difficulties than first meets the eye, I allow God to open His vaults of wisdom, to grant me a mere kernel of insight, of greater knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of His Word. Rather than becoming jaded and disillusioned, I will instead become a ...

By Lauren Becker The summer before my senior year of college I worked as a park ranger guiding hikes in one of the most beautiful state parks in the country. Its central feature was a 256-foot waterfall that plunged down through a gorgeous natural amphitheater, cutting through bands of limestone and sandstone and collecting in a deep pool, the perfect hangout for summer swimming. My favorite program was the hike to the base of the falls. Layers of rock are like chapters in a history book and this canyon, carved so deeply, told an ancient story. Standing at the bottom, calling out over the roar of the falls, I got to teach the exciting conclusion, "The layers of slate and shale beneath our feet tell us that 300 million years ago, this deciduous forest was a tropical jungle." "What book d’ya get that out of?" came the reply one day. And thus it began, for this waterfall was not only located in ancient rock, it was also in the heart of the Bible-belt. I had heard there...

By Dave, the WM This is a continuation of the article posted here: Morality and ethics without absolutes . Regardless of all the rhetoric, examples and arguments, the majority of Christians do not believe in absolute morality. Or do they? The argument from Christians is that without the Bible, or God, or the Ten Commandments, there is nothing to tell us that murder is wrong. There is no way to make a decision about rape, or theft. Without the absolute morality as defined in the Bible, all society would crash into a subjective chaos of relativistic anarchy where everyone does what is right in their own eyes and everyone is a victim of everyone else's violent, unrestrained lusts. All ideas have consequences, and the idea that absolute morality exists between the covers of the Bible has terrifying consequences to our freedoms. Oh yes. If there are absolute morals and they are explained by the Bible, we are in trouble. Commandment 1: Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Muslims, Bu...