Reposted from: Freethought Café by J.C. Samuelson As the holiday season approaches, many businesses are beginning to put up signs, decorations, and displays in preparation for the inevitable feeding frenzy that precedes the venerated Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Many begin to roll out their holiday products as well. One such company is Mrs. Fields , purveyor of cookies for a variety of occasions. It seems that an apparent failure by Mrs. Fields to offer products explicitly catering to the "Merry Christmas" crowd - by October - has drawn the scrutiny of those invested in the idea that there is a "War on Christmas." Many Americans have felt in recent years that there is a war on Christmas, a holiday with mixed roots in paganism and Christianity. Propelled by pundits such as Bill O'Reilly, John Gibson, and several Evangelical groups, including the American Family Association , this component of the culture war has descended to new depths of absurdity. In ...

Reposted from: Freethought Café by J.C. Samuelson Sam Harris stands poised on the brink of history as one of the preeminent thinkers of this century. His abilities as a wordsmith notwithstanding, the clear, incisive logic he uses to demonstrate his ideas is nothing short of refreshing. An example of this can be found by reading the transcript of a recent speech , delivered at the Atheist Alliance International Convention this year. Faced with a choice between preaching to the choir and challenging his audience, he chose the latter course, and in so doing moved the conversation forward. Harris makes many valid points, such as the fact that the label, atheist, is (or should be) unnecessary. His point is, of course, that people don't tend to define themselves by what they reject. Those who reject astrology are not called 'non-astrologers,' for example. Nor do those who reject racism refer to themselves as 'non-racists.' Another good point is that atheism implies too n...

Reposted from: Freethought Café by J.C. Samuelson The following subject matter applied to last week. It appeared last Monday at the original site. Nevertheless, since October is sometimes considered Freethought Month, it still seems relevant. The death toll had been mounting for some time now. Just this month, eight more had been hanged, some of whom were respected members of the community. This troubled Reverend Mathers, who knew that at least some of the condemned must be innocent. It was clear that something more had to be done to quell the hysteria that had gripped the community or other innocent people would visit the gallows. A few months before, shortly after the first hanging and upon a request for advice by the governor, Mathers, along with several other ministers, had signed a letter penned by Mathers' son urging the speedy prosecution of the accused. Yet the letter had also urged caution in the proceedings. The signatories, though they fully believed in the phenomenon t...

By dano I am a 71 year old Agnostic, I believe that the only sensible definition of God is "the creator of everything," the prime mover, if you will. God would have to be the creator of everything, because if there were something that It didn't create, then that would suggest the existence of more than one God. So, I'm sticking with "creator of everything" For the purpose of exerting less stress on my two typing fingers, I will, henceforth, in this article, refer to God as "It" I will assume that "It" created everything, because "It" is God. By everything, I am talking about germs and worms and monkeys and men and right and wrong, and sex and sin... And missionary style, doggy style, and self gratification... And Homosexuals, bisexuals, and asexuals, those who steal, who lie, and who cheat, and who think logically, and who doesn't... And those who call themselves Christian, and who claim Islam, and who believe that they are...

By Dave, the WM "Give ear to my words, O LORD Consider my meditation Hearken unto the voice of my cry, My King, and my God For unto thee will I pray My voice shalt thou hear in the morning O LORD, in the morning will I direct my prayer Unto thee, and will look up." — Psalm 5, vs. 1–3 Those words comprise a popular Christian chorus that I've probably sung a thousand times or more. I recall seeing my own hands lifted in the air, tears of joy on my cheeks, feelings of ecstatic jubilation filling my soul... Ah yes, the power of God's Holy Word, made alive with the help of some amplification, a few modern musical instruments, a huge overhead screen, and just a touch of emotion-laden message in tongues &mdash it all made for a powerful drug. All in all, it was a tremendously good way to put people in the mood for whatever the pastor might deem important to say. But why did we stop there? Why didn’t we sing the entire psalm? Why not add more from Psalm 5, like: "...

By Flo What I'm about to tell you will sound unbelievable and I doubt many of you will believe me but when you witness a miracle from God you have to tell somebody. My name is Florence but most of my friends call me Flo. My husband and I had just divorced due to irreconcilable differences - doctrinal differences, that is. He was the pastor of a small church. The divorce was nothing compared to the things that had happened during the previous years. I had come home early one afternoon to find my husband molesting our nine-year-old daughter in the living room. At first he was apologetic and told me it would never happen again but then he became threatening and said if I told anyone he would make things very bad for me. I never told anyone. Perhaps I should have. A few years after the incident, my daughter committed suicide. This was before the divorce and I wonder to this day if he had broken his promise. I never said anything about it to anyone and it doesn't matter now...

This is a 22-minute documentary about atheism that aired on CBC 's The National on October 5, 2007.

Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man-living in the sky-who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time... But He loves you! ~ George Carlin

...and in with the new. An agnostic takes a trip to Vatican City.

A video by John Anderson

By John Armstrong Is Jesus the ultimate urban legend? http://www.godvsthebible.com/ .

Reposted from http://www.ffrf.org/ The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is the nation's largest association of atheists and agnostics, is unveiling what is believed to be the first nontheistic billboard in Madison, Wis. The whimsical full-color 48-foot billboard mimics a stained-glass window and warns, "Beware of Dogma." "We are launching a campaign to place freethought billboards up around the country, wherever an irreverent billboard is needed--which is practically everywhere!" says Annie Laurie Gaylor, Foundation spokeswoman. "We don't go to Mass, but we can go to the masses," adds Dan Barker, Foundation co-president. "We think it is time for the rest of us to use the mass media to counter the ubiquity of religious messages on roadsides everywhere!" (Madison, Wis., locals can look for it on the feeder road off the West Beltline next to Culver's Restaurant, facing west, Oct. 2-16, 2007.) The Foundation will be erecting anothe...

By Tim Simmons There is one Moslem temple in Carbondale, Illinois. A small town of 26,000, the town is also home to one Jewish synagogue and two Catholic churches. The number of Protestant churches? Forty-seven. With three main streets and probably 150 smaller residential streets, there really is a church on every corner. But Carbondale isn't the exception when it comes to the number of Christian churches it boasts, but rather, it seems to be the norm. Take any small town of roughly 30,000 to 40,000 residents, anywhere in the southern half of the United States, and you'll find a similar pattern. Here's three I picked at random. Carlsbad New Mexico (pop 26,000) 54 Protestant churches West Memphis, Arkansas (pop 28,000) 55 Protestant churches Gainesville, Georgia (pop 26,000) 71 Protestant churches With such seeming consistency, one might conclude that having a church on every corner is normal. But just because something happens frequently or is considered normal, it d...

By Rick W This is not a reply to the usual Christian last-ditch effort of saying "Communists were atheists, and look how they behaved and what happened to them." Well, what I am about to state is that the radical Communist societies in which so many people were killed were/are more religious than atheist and that such figures as Stalin, Mao, and Kim Il Sung could not have held sway over their respective nations had their citizens been strictly freethinking atheists. Repressive dictators usually have a "cult of personality" around them. This has long been the case, as kings were often thought of as divine rulers - either gods themselves or those who had been specifically chosen by God to rule the masses. Some of these kings might have been atheists and merely used the idea of God as a way to make the downtrodden masses fall in line (which most of the time, they happily did). However, I bet that most kings actually believed that they, themselves were God's cho...

Hi, I'm Pat Condell. I don't respect your beliefs and I don't care if you're offended. Cheers. PatCondell.Com

The official video for the song "What We Need More of Is Science" by MC Hawking from the album " A Brief History of Rhyme ." Once again, the world is made safe for the pursuits of reason and logic thanks to the unique powers and skills possessed by M.C. Hawking.

A short video by Cristofer7 in which he explains why he still sometimes talks to God. More videos by Cristofer7

Posted by J.C. Samuelson An oldie but a goody reposted from http://www.humanistsofutah.org/2002/WhyCantIOwnACanadian_10-02.html : October 2002 Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22 and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by a east coast resident, which was posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative : Dear Dr. Laura: Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specif...

By SailerFraud The Christian fundamentalists try to impose their religion in public schools. When they are informed there is a diverse student population filled with other religions, the neo-Christians claim there is discrimination because public schools won't impose their religion as the sole standard. Sometimes it takes an outside reference point to get out of one's shortsightedness. Suppose a religious nut claims to have communal powers with the Greek mythological god Zeus. He fervently fights for his Greek Gods (Zeus, Hercules, Aphrodite, Hermes, etc...) to be recognized as the standard religion in public schools and courtrooms. He does not want his Greek gods to be taught as fiction or mythology; he wants them to be recognized as alive and the truth. Naturally, you the taxpaying citizen get defensive. You ask him to prove that the Greek gods are real and not fiction. He claims to have meet the Greek gods in his dreams and has communal powers with them. He points out...

Sent in by Joe M I've been monitoring the postings on this site for about a week now and I've noticed that atheist's have fell in the same trap I fell in years ago after letting my atheism be known. All atheist need to keep in mind that there is no evidence nor arguments for god's existence. All arguments that I've ever seen fall under the "god of the gaps" category. That is, if someone doesn't understand something or some cause they fill in that "gap" in man's knowledge with "god did it"!!! Keep in mind that just because there's no apparent explanation for something, in no way proves anything about the existence of a deity. When someone claims evidence for the existence of a deity, don't accept the "god must have done it" explanation. It explains nothing except a gap in man's knowledge at the time. For example, our primitive ancestors couldn't understand thunder and lightning, so they come up with ...