Rational Response Squad member "The Hillbilly Atheist" recently had the chance to give a presentation about atheism at his college, deep in the Buy-Bull Belt. Check out his website here: http://www.hillbillyatheist.com/

By Brett Keane

If you have high blood pressure, don't watch this video.

Da Ali G Show does science. Ali G (Sasha Baron-Cohen) invited (now federal inmate and tax cheat) creationist Kent Hovind to discuss evolution. The show erroneously lists Hovind as a "Dr," but his "doctorate" was earned from an unaccredited diploma mill. By the way, Hovind believes in Unicorns:

By Dave, the WM I'd just moved into an apartment in Japan. My daughter was two-and-a-half years old, could talk in full paragraphs, and entertained my wife and I by singing all the words to every chorus sung at the English-speaking Assembly of God church we attended. We were far from home, but the joy of the Lord was our strength, and the oddness of our surroundings only helped solidify our church family relationships and our faith. We believed we had been sent to this far country to represent the one true god. I was up every day at 4am for an hour of intercessory prayer, followed by a solid hour of in-depth Bible study and memorization. Then I was out the door for a morning run before reporting to work. The Air Force was inflexible in its scheduling requirements, so I was never late. In a short time my family and I embraced a mission to be part of the evangelical effort in Japan. The military may have assigned us here, but we believed there was a higher purpose to finding ourselve...

by J.C. Samuelson Since my first tentative steps into skepticism back in 2003, I've learned a great deal about faith, religion, critical thought, history, science, human nature, culture & society, and HTML tags. And I've had the great pleasure to meet the electronic shadows of hundreds of others - both believers and skeptics - whom I treasure for their contributions to not only my learning but to humanity. Some of them I'm very happy to be able to count as friends. It's truly humbling to meet so many great minds, though it was disconcerting to realize that I'm not the smartest person in the world after all. It's very difficult to summarize what I've learned, but if there's one thing I could suggest as an advocate of skepticism for someone just beginning to doubt religious faith it is this: Not all truth claims are equal. Question everything, including skepticism. At the end of the day, the provisional certainty it offers is, in my opinion, far m...

This is a 30-minute BBC interview of Richard Dawkins by William Crawley broadcast on February 20, 2007. Dawkins' latest book is " The God Delusion ."

© 2007 Tim Simmons I’d like to talk to you about a subject that rarely sees daylight. I meant that figuratively, of course. Perhaps we just take it for granted. Maybe it's just not a very interesting activity to discuss on your lunch break. It's something that most people do every day but almost no one talks about it among friends. Of course I'm talking about the taboo subject of… wiping. You're probably thinking there's not much to say about the subject. On the contrary, I'm thinking about starting a newsgroup on the very topic - alt.wipeyerbooty. As I type this, I can think of so many things I want to say on the topic but let me just spotlight one of them. The main point I'd like to make about wiping is that it is an activity that none of us can really avoid and is a daily reminder of the dirty reality in which we live. Wiping is just a bad side effect of the design of the human body and we all know who designed the human body, right? What I want to...

Contributed by Zachary Moore: By Miles Rationis 1.Which of the following is the most compelling evidence for the existence of an intelligent and loving Designer? a. A Caribbean sunset b. The screams of a baby seal as it is torn apart by a shark c. The first time your perfect new baby smiles at you d. The speed of the Ebola virus converting an African child's organs into liquid 2. A deeply devout Catholic couple has just returned from their fiftieth anniversary celebration, when suddenly the husband falls to the ground, clutching his chest. What is the most productive action for the wife to take? a. Call 911 b. Put him in the car and race to the hospital herself c. Administer CPR d. Fall on her knees and pray to the Lord to spare his life 3. You are a product tester and frequently bring your work home. Yesterday, while dressed in a flame resistant suit (up to 3,000 degrees) and carrying the latest model fire extinguisher, you discover your neighbor's house is on fire. As the fla...

By Zachary Moore Now that Congressman Pete Stark has been "outed" as a non-Christian (although he's being described commonly by others as an "atheist," he's described himself as a "Unitarian who does not believe in a Supreme Being" - a difference which is perhaps nothing more than semantic subtlety), people on both sides of the theistic/atheistic debate are taking the opportunity to weigh in. Sam Harris offered this in an op-ed today: Pete Stark, a California Democrat, appears to be the first congressman in U.S. history to acknowledge that he doesn't believe in God. In a country in which 83% of the population thinks that the Bible is the literal or "inspired" word of the creator of the universe, this took political courage. Of course, one can imagine that Cicero's handlers in the 1st century BC lost some sleep when he likened the traditional accounts of the Greco-Roman gods to the "dreams of madmen" and to the "insa...

By Zachary Moore Last year, the Secular Coalition for America offered a $1000 prize to identify the highest-ranked nontheist politician in America. Their catch: Congressman Pete Stark . According to the SCA press release: There is only one member of Congress who is on record as not holding a god-belief. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), a member of Congress since 1973, acknowledged his nontheism in response to an inquiry by the Secular Coalition for America (www.secular.org). Rep. Stark is a senior member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and is Chair of the Health Subcommittee. Although the Constitution prohibits religious tests for public office, the Coalition?s research reveals that Rep. Stark is the first open nontheist in the history of the Congress. Recent polls show that Americans without a god-belief are, as a group, more distrusted than any other minority in America. Surveys show that the majority of Americans would not vote for an atheist for president even if he o...

By John Blatt How does Christian Mind Control work? Coercion is defined as, "to restrain or constrain by force..." Legally it often implies the use of PHYSICAL FORCE or physical or legal threat. This traditional concept of coercion is far better understood than the technological concepts of "coercive persuasion" which are effective restraining, impairing, or compelling through the gradual application of PSYCHOLOGICAL FORCES. A coercive persuasion program - within Christianity it is called "The Gospel Persuasion" - is a behavioral change technology applied to cause the "learning" and "adoption" of a set of behaviors or an ideology under certain conditions. It is distinguished from other forms of benign social learning or peaceful persuasion by the conditions under which it is conducted and by the techniques of environmental and interpersonal manipulation employed to suppress particular behaviors and to train others. Over time, coercive p...

by DagoodS On occasion the Christian informs us that they expect what they say will appear foolish. As if it was a badge of honor; giving a stamp of approval to the statement by someone being puzzled by it. I suspect this harkens back to 1 Cor. 2-4 where Paul states that the preaching of Christ crucified is “foolishness,” and Paul himself brags of becoming a “fool” for Christ. 1 Cor. 4:10. And what Christian does not want to be like Paul? Er…I mean what Paul said Jesus would want. Thus we hear statements prefaced by “This will sound foolish to you…” or “People believe I am a fool when I say...” often followed by some trite quip about faith or prayer. But then I look at how Christians actually live. They don’t look very foolish to me. No sirree! In fact they look quite clever. You know what looks foolish to me? Not planning for the future. Spending every dollar in your wallet seems very unwise to me. Common sense tells us we should be aware that things change, and we might need ...

By J.C. Samuelson Yes! You too can join the ranks of those blessed by the Grace of God for as little as $6.95 (plus shipping & handling). Wash away your sins, your guilt, and your thirst at the same time with Holy Spring Water&#153 . Not recommended for ghosts, ghouls, vampires, and other evildoers or creatures of the night (i.e., atheists). The latter website appears to be a parody similar to the kind found at Landover Baptist Church . Yet truth is stranger than fiction, and yesterday in the news there was an item about a man who actually does sell blessed drinking water. His name is Brian Germann, president of Wayne Enterprises, Inc.. The product is called Holy Drinking Water&#153 and can now be purchased online at the company's website . Mr. Germann got the idea for this blessed libation on June 6th, 2006 (6-6-6) after talking with his niece about the possibility of using holy water as a defense against evil. After finding a bottling company and a couple pries...

By Zachary Moore One of the common arguments lodged against same-sex marriage is the following: "but they can't have children." This argument is an obvious non sequitur - many different-sex married couples cannot, or choose not to have children, so should their marriages be considered any less valid? Well, according to the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance , they should be. This group, which was formed in response to the Washington State Supreme Court decision to uphold its ban on same-sex marriages, has just filed Initiative 957, which if passed, will: add the phrase, “who are capable of having children with one another” to the legal definition of marriage require that couples married in Washington file proof of procreation within three years of the date of marriage or have their marriage automatically annulled require that couples married out of state file proof of procreation within three years of the date of marriage or ha...

By John W. Loftus According to many believers Jesus has come back to earth in a man who lives in Texas. See Here . Do Christians really think that if people living in today's scientific world are so gullible to believe this crap that people were different in a superstitious age when it came to the Jesus they worship? If this can happen today, then why are we to think the same thing didn't happen in the 1st century AD? Besides, didn't God supposedly foreknow we would ask such questions as these which would lead us to doubt that the 1st century Jesus was the son of God?

By Dave, the WM Scouring the web this morning, I fell on an interesting website that dismisses all the testimonies on this site as being fakes, fabricated by a large group of people with evil intentions. What would these horrible liars be? What else?! Atheists! From that site: I want you to visit the following site: http://exchristian.net/testimonies/. There you will see people who allegedly leave Christianity and write about it. There’s only one problem. Its hard to believe that those testimonies are real. The problem is that anyone can log on to the ex Christian site and make up some bogus “leaving” my religion testimony. And well its hard to believe it because there’s no evidence that its real. For all we know it could be atheists, jews or even Muslims who make this stuff up. Before I provide the reference for that quote, I'd like to skip to another article on that site and provide another little snippet: An atheist has no purpose, no salvation, no afterlife… its like this worl...

By SailerFraud It's possibly the oldest question in religion. If God is so good and powerful, why does so much evil and injustice exist in the world? After all, God created the universe, heavens, earth, and all living things on earth. The Bible says God defeated Satan and death, can do all things, and answers prayers. Thousands of years later, evil still exists, even in the church. Crime, divorce, discord, embezzlement, theft, sexual abuse (especially against children), suicide, even murder. The honest answer is that there never was a God, an invisible man who was watching you and answering your prayers. However, religion is based on lies that this invisible man who does all things except listen to your prayers. In order to cover up your first lie, you must produce more lies to cover up the first one. The Christian lies about faith, how God answers prayers when it was just coincidence and 1000 other times your prayer wasn't answered, and more logical fallacies. Thousands...

By Kevin Parry I am not an expert on the Bible, but there are some things in that book that I find incredibly disconcerting, especially when it comes to God’s moral conduct. It is often said that a leader who is worthy of respect is a leader who sets an example. When I read through the pages of the Bible, I become more convinced that if the God of the Bible exists, he is the type of leader I will not follow, simply because he sets an example that at times I find morally objectionable. I’ve written this post in the realisation that I could be mistaken, that it is possible that I’ve missed something. If so, please let me know where I’ve gone wrong. One of the arguments for the truth of Christianity, put forward by various apologists, including CS Lewis, is that all humans are endowed with a moral sense of right and wrong. Due to the fact that this objective, moral sense exists, there must be a Moral Law Giver (i.e., God). For arguments sake, let’s accept that this divine moral sense exis...

By DagoodS The concept of god is a solution to a then-current perceived problem that did not have an apparent resolution. Let’s look at the course and development of the concept of god(s) from what we know as humanity travels through history. Every day the sun would rise. It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the sun provided light to see by, warmth to live by and regularity by which to monitor time. Useful thing—the sun. But where did the sun come from? Why was it so regular? How is it that it provided light? It was that “why” question that started to trouble humans. Worse, without the knowledge of the “why” we lose some sense of control. How do we know the sun will continue to rise day after day? Sure, we could put a blanket over us to avoid the light. Or go to shade to avoid the heat. But what accounted for it? Without that knowledge, we are powerless to either stop the sun if we desired, nor fix the sun if it was required. We were helpless. And so, the ...