Posted by Valerie Tarico Can we find a way to move beyond tribalism and superstition in our quest for meaning? Can we build spiritual communities that are morally and intellectually accountable, rooted in what we know about ourselves and the world around us? Even moderate people of faith seem to defend their religious texts and traditions as packages. And interfaith work that seeks to transcend tribal boundaries says blythely that "it's all good." Nick, a commenter at Radio Open Source suggests a first step toward something truly different. It's definitely what I want! Here's his article: How to make Chris Hitchens and his 'neo-atheist cabal' lose interest in their current anti-religion activism. Imagine a new global, ecumenical convocation of the three Abrahamic faiths. All of them, from Branch Davidians to Greek Orthodoxy, from Hassidim to Islamists. And they end their massive convention by issuing the following statement: We are appalled by the violence...

Michael Shermer travels to Laurentian University in Sudbury, Canada , to strap on the " God Helmet " in neuroscientist Michael Persinger 's lab that duplicates out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, alien abductions, and other paranormal phenomena. To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

By DagoodS The idea that I would ever be convinced Christianity was false was…well…preposterous. My parents taught it and lived it as a reality. So, too, my friends, their families, and all the people I associated with. There was never a question of whether the God of Christianity existed. Laughable. I could understand, and even sympathize with theists who didn’t quite get it. They were close, but off the mark by a bit. Maybe they had the Abrahamic God, but took a slightly wrong turn into Judaism. Or Catholicism. We even felt that many were so close it was possible they were saved! I could understand the heathens, too. Hey, I was just as human as the next person. At times it would have been fun to suppress the knowledge of God and engage in some hedonistic pleasure. But I knew the eventual guilt I would feel (and they must be as well) and that their conscience was being seared. It did seem a little odd that they would be so gung-ho on avoiding God. I liked God. I appreciat...

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Something a little different, sent in by Philosopher D. R. Khashaba Yet another adverse review of Christopher Hitchens ' apparently provocative book, " God Is Not Great: The Case Against Religion ," but this time the attack from the Christian camp is staid and soberly reasoned, as befits a former Bishop of Oxford and honorary professor of Theology at King's College, London. LINK I'll set down my thoughts and reactions as I jotted them down while reading the review without much editing or refinement. First I must say that I am not defending Dennett or Dawkins or Hitchens whose "diatribes against religion" Professor Richard Harries is concerned to counter. In my view the onslaughts of recent advocates of atheism while satisfying confirmed atheists fail to win over any believers. Professor Harries admits that the evils perpetrated in the name of religion are real enough. He also admits that the intellectual crudities of some of religion's defenders...

Posted by Atheist Dad God Hates the World A new music video from the Westboro Baptist Church . Have a barf bag handy. The best (worst) part is at the end. Although pretty much everyone considers the Westboro Baptists to be a fringe group, there "gospel" is really no different from any Christian denomination's "gospel." Some say God loves you. These guys say God hates you. They all say "Believe or Burn!" To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

UK Comedian Robin Ince talks about Creationism and Intelligent Design. To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

A short, revealing study of a certain point in Christian apologetics. An appeal to human decency, and a challenge to abandon faulty dogmas. To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

Lewis Black shares his views on science and creationism. To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

By Stronger Now This is a rant that I have been thinking about for a little while now. If God wanted humans to truly understand His will, why did He use fallible humans to write His book? It doesn't make sense to me. The Bible clearly states that God knew how to write; He supposedly wrote the original ten commandments on stone. Questions: Was it His own laziness that resulted in His homemade idiots writing it for Him? If He is "all knowing" then wouldn't He have known that the guys He had doing His work would screw it up (did screw it up), which would cause people to doubt His message, which would result in millions ending up in His hell? Are we so expendable to God that He can risk losing a few million souls, just to avoid writing and spreading His message Himself? If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. As for the Bible being infallible, rabbits do not chew their cud . Therefore, rabbits must be "clean" and not "unclean," e...

This short collection is not intended to be comprehensive, and unfortunately this particular breed is no endangered list. So, please feel free to add more examples in the comments section. Televangelist Jim Bakker founded The PTL ("Praise The Lord") Club and preached on television with his wife, Tammy Faye . A sex scandal forced his resignation. Later, he was convicted of fraud and conspiring to commit fraud charges for crimes committed while leading PTL. He served about five years of his 18-year federal prison sentence before being released on parole. Darlene Bishop is co-pastor of the Solid Rock Church in Ohio. She also hosts the inspirational TV program "Sisters," which she says is broadcast in 200 countries. In 2006, the grown children of her late brother sued Bishop , claiming she convinced him not to seek medical treatment for throat cancer. He died, and the suit alleged she, as executrix, mishandled his estate. Bishop has called the allegations "lies...

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Six proofs that God created everything. http://www.atheistsnightmare.com/ This video finished second in the Chicago Bagel Authority 5-Minute Film Festival. To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

By Dennis Diehl Thanks for letting me ask my questions Pastor. I know I'm just a kid but these are just a few things I have noticed in the Bible about the Birth Narratives of Jesus in Matthew and Luke...you know, the Christmas story. Question. Pastor...What difference does it make for Matthew and Luke to show us Jesus family connections from Mary and Joseph back to King David and Adam, when God was his real Father? Aren't genealogies meaningless since Joseph was a stop father, and all coming before him would be step ancestors to Jesus. So Jesus can't be connected back to King David as the line breaks between Jesus and Joseph. Right? Question. Pastor... If the Holy Spirit, which I think you said was a person in the Trinity, begot Mary, isn't the Holy Spirit really Jesus literal father?” Would this not then make God Jesus uncle of sorts, or Jesus his own Father, since they are three in one, coequal and co...oh you understand. This is a mystery isn't it? Question. Fat...

By R. S. Martin What does the Bible really mean? Jesus got it wrong, too. It is an open question whether Jesus ever existed. This goes for other biblical figures, too. For this article, I will work with the premise that Jesus and the other biblical figures existed. Is there a chance that today’s Christians know what the Bible actually means? Not one. Why? First of all, even Jesus got it wrong. How do I know? In Jesus’ time, there were many different ways on how to understand Jewish Scripture. Some said you had to take it literally. Some said you had to take it spiritually. Some said both those ways were wrong. Also, they did not agree which was the right "Bible." Which was most important: the law? the prophets? the "writings?" Which writings were what God meant: psalms? proverbs? Judith? Sirach? other? Into this confusion Jesus was born. With this confused background, the early Christians made up their own ways or methods on how to understand what Jesus said. None o...

The story of humankind's evolution and possible future evolution. To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

1: Learn the difference between the scientific and everyday use of key vocabulary words. 2: Discover how Darwin's curiosity, his passion for natural history, his voyage on the Beagle, and his use of the scientific process led to the publication of his groundbreaking book. 3: See how different lines of evidence contribute to our picture of evolution. Learn about the fossil evidence for whales' land-dwelling ancestors. http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_of_evolution 4: Travel to Ecuador to see how the process of natural selection operates in populations of rain forest hummingbirds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_selection 5: Examine the fossil and molecular evidence that supports the evolution of humans from earlier primate ancestors. 6: Learn how tuberculosis is transmitted and why the evolution of multi-drug resistant strains of TB in Russia affects us all. (more) 7: Consider different points of view, as scientists, religio...

This is a short clip from Stephen Hawking's Universe. It shows the same thing that we see happening today with fundamentalist and their denial of Evolution and other scientific discoveries. This was a period in time when the Catholic Church was as fundamentalist as some of todays Christian denominations. They learned their lesson and accepted Evolution about 40 years ago. Isn't it about time you did the same? Bible passages that relate to Geocentrism: Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10, and Chronicles 16:30 state that "the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved." Psalm 104:5 says, "[the LORD] set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved." Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that "the sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises." Bible passaged that relate to Human Evolution: Genesis 1:26 "And God said, Let us make man in our image" Genesis 2:7 "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground To monitor comments ...

Sent in by Jim E "The Truth Shall Set You Free" ... as long as the truth conforms to the principles adhered to at Conservapedia.com . That's right, the right-wing believes that Wikipedia is riddled with non-truth. What Wikipedia strives for–a doggedly open debate about facts–results in what conservatives feel is a liberal bias. How very interesting. And so, Conservapedia was born. The Los Angeles Times covered an article in today’s paper about this. It fascinates me for several reasons. First, this new wiki is frought with outright lies mixed with a good deal of status quo truth. This will cause it to appear as a viable resource to some, and result in the spread of misinformation. This is exactly the type of thing people fear from the original Wikipedia, but which hasn’t manifested itself to any great extent. Until now. Second, it appears as if the Religious Right (truly the term "conservatives" would be too broadly applied here) have so thoroughly gone off t...

By Bob A Choosing a god is a very important and difficult task as there are so many to choose from. Picking the wrong god could result in eternal damnation and fire. Can you take that chance? I thought not... Let's get started... 1. Assemble a complete list of all the gods ever worshipped. Many of these are well documented, so the task shouldn't be too difficult. Google GOD. I'd estimate somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 gods, not counting all those minor ones. This should be easily achieved in a few days or weeks. If any of those pesky JW's knock on the door, just ignore them. Ask the boss for some time off , if necessary, and tell him what you're doing. I'm sure he/she will understand. 2: List all the attributes associated with these gods. Some are maniacal punishing thugs, gods of hate, fire and all manor of brutality and damnation, eliminate these types, we'll just stick with loving and rewarding gods. This may be somewhat more difficult than ste...