By Tim Simmons Part 1. Christians cannot accurately interpret the Bible Wait! Before you go reaching for that post reply button, wouldn't it be better to see what I have to say to support the above assertion? I have recently been accused of yanking Bible versus out of their context and twisting their meaning to make them support my point de jour. I asked the accuser for a specific example of where I had jerked a verse out of context and I asked them also to explain how the context changed my interpretation. This person declined to point out the error of my ways using any specifics other than the blanket assertion that I had done so. So, I thought it might be interesting to post a few of my thoughts on interpreting the Bible. The first observation I would make along these lines is that each person will approach the Bible with a different set of assumptions. Each person will have their own starting point from which they will try to explain the things they read. In other words, they w...

" Obsession is without exaggeration one of the most important films of our time. " –Glenn Beck, CNN Headline News From the "Obsession" website : Obsession - Radical Islam's War Against the West is a new film that will challenge the way you look at the world. Almost 70 years ago, Europe found itself at war with one of the most sinister figures in modern history: Adolf Hitler. When the last bullet of World War II was fired, over 50 million people were dead, and countless countries were both physically and economically devastated. Hitler’s bloody struggle sought to forge the world anew, in the crucible of Nazi values. How could such a disaster occur? How could the West have overlooked the evil staring it in the face, for so long, before standing forcefully against it? Today, we find ourselves confronted by a new enemy, also engaged in a violent struggle to transform our world. As we sleep in the comfort of our homes, a new evil rises against us. A new me...

Keep a copy with you. When confronted by a religious fanatic quoting the Bible, pull out The Sacred Book of Kush and ask what the difference is. You will notice that The Sacred Book of Kush has everything that the Bible has, including circular reasoning, extravagant and unfounded claims, threats and promises (both equally unlikely ever to be fulfilled), arrogance, jealousy, stupidity, and sales pitches for the priesthood. It also has two things the Bible doesn't: a sense of humor and a merciful brevity. Chapter 1 1) This sacred book was revealed by Kush to his prophet, Rocko S. Fitch, who wrote it down word for word and added the punctuation later. 2) This book is absolutely 100% completely true, and if you fail to believe any part of it, you will be cursed forever by an itchy spot in the middle of your back right where you can't scratch. Chapter 2 1) Kush is the supreme being — all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present, immortal, and a pretty decent guy once you get to know him...

Sent in by Bob B I hope readers will forgive me if these arguments have already been beaten to death on this site. I am new to this venue and have not had the time or the inclination to read every post. That said I will just jump in on the issue in question here. I have always regarded Pascal’s Wager as an inherently fraudulent argument. It is invariably trotted out by the Theists with the false confidence that it somehow ultimately trumps any argument that can be thrown against it. First of all, PW is an argument of accommodation not logic. What if God is real and we have renounced him? Isn’t it better to hedge our bets that we should believe, against our better judgment, just in case there is a Heavenly reward and Hellish punishment? I would hope this argument would be as repugnant to “people of faith” as it is to atheists. If I were a loving God, who also has conditional restraints on this love (if that in itself is not inherently contradictory) I would reserve a hot little p...

Reposted from: Freethought Café by J.C. Samuelson As any parent can tell you, fear is simply part of the job. Beginning even before one's child is born, fear is a constant companion, an ambient ocean that swells and subsides at every stage of the child's life. Even otherwise joyful or thrilling moments are sometimes laced with fear, such as when one's son or daughter stands for the first time, steps onto a school bus, rides a bike, gets a driver's license, or even graduates from school. Indeed, the altruistic concerns of parents are so extensive and diverse that quantifying them is effectively impossible. Some of them are, of course, justified. Some of them, well, not so much. One of the many perceived fears that at first glance appear to be justified is fear of doctors, or of medicine in general. Medical professionals poke, prod, and otherwise involve themselves deeply in the physical health of our children throughout their lives. It is a profoundly intimate involveme...

By IDarwin This is my first time to this site, and I liked all the comments. I figured I'd write something. As I read the comments, it reminds me of the Christians I know in my life (my family for example). From my experience, it's not the evidence that causes them to believe so much as being born into it, and then believing God has changed their life, or "blessed" it somehow. It's like giving someone a magic pill, and telling them this has great power, and it will help you if you just believe. So they do, and they work hard, and lo and behold, they change!! And they keep on believing in this power pill and sharing the Good News to all, and you just want to wake them up and tell them its not real. Like God, why can't they see what seems so obvious? And for the most part, this may not be harmful to them or those around them. It might actually continue to be beneficial. So why speak out against it? Because when you look at the big picture, it becomes dangerous. ...

By Joe Musselwhite I thought some of you might enjoy my "God in a box" experiment. I've had fun with this for years. Here's how it works: Go buy a small cardboard box around 2-3 inches square with a removable lid on it. On top of the lid write: "Inside this box is God" and now you're set. Take the box to one of your friends who believes in God and hand it to him and don't say anything. Wait for a response. 99% of the time they take the lid off and say there's nothing in here. Ah! Ah! Now you got them! Once they make this claim, ask them how did they know that nothing was in the box. They will respond that they know nothing is in the box because they can't see anything. This is the whole point of the experiment. It demonstrates very well that humans rely heavily on one of their senses before they claim they know something verses believing something. It proves that people require objective evidence before they accept something as fact. They d...

Part 1: Part II: Can a skeptic believe in God? This is a segment from the 2006 Amazing Meeting. Michael Shermer speaks first followed by James Randi . These two clips are only a short introduction to a great discussion. For details see http://www.randi.org/amazingmeeting/ .

© 2007 by Tim Simmons The recent insistence by Midwest Painter that nowhere in the Bible are Christians commanded to kill non-Christians has prompted me to do a bit of typing. I’ve already known about most of what I’ve dug up here but I thought I might try to put just SOME of the evidence in one post that Christianity has a bloody heritage not entirely unconnected to its holy scripture. My belief was that the Bible did command violence under certain circumstances but a wholesale command to kill anyone who was not already a Christian clearly is absent from the New Testament writings but IS depicted as historical events and direct commands from god in many places of the Old Testament. Can we establish a link between the Bible and violence perpetrated by those who profess to be Christians? I think the answer to this one must be a resounding YES! I will post a few quick things first then some links to some articles on the web in case anyone wants to browse them. I’d fi...

A new free e-book by Amy Black entitled "Breaking Up With Jesus" chronicles her thoughts and experiences in de-conversion from Christianity. The book is in .pdf format, is 159 pages long, and is available for download at LuLu.com and here on ExChristian.Net . If you do download and read her story, please consider providing some feedback here or at Lulu.Com . I have found that grieving the loss of my faith feels the same as when I grieve the loss of a friend. If you have found this to be true for yourself, don’t be embarrassed about it. Of course you are going to grieve when you lose something very important to you whether it is a person, a pet, a job, a home or a belief system. After any loss, there’s a hole in your life where something you loved used to be and it hurts knowing it’s not there. -- Amy Black, in "Breaking Up With Jesus" Download: Breaking Up with Jesus