Showing on UK Channel 4, Thursday 14 February 2008, 9pm Samuel Boutwell is a seven-year-old preacher. He takes his vocation to save sinners from rotting in eternal hell extremely seriously. Most Saturdays he stands in front of his local abortion clinic in Jackson, Mississippi and, bible in hand, bellows: 'Don't kill your child! Repent! God loves the little children!' View picture gallery >> Baby Bible Bashers follows the extraordinary stories of three of the Lord's 'chosen children', and their relationships with God, their families and their congregations. In addition to Samuel, we meet nine-year-old Florida firebrand Terry Durham , who likes nothing more than to don his oversize blue suit and alligator shoes, and whip the crowd into a frenzy. Terry holds the honour of having been the world's youngest ordained minister at just six. Brazilian sensation Ana Carolina Dias began preaching at just three years of age and regularly commands TV audience...

This post is part of a dialogue, In Two Minds: The Anatomy of a Christian Hate Letter , between former minister Brian Worley and psychologist Valerie Tarico . In the series, Brian Worley, an ordained Baptist, describes some of his encounters with Christian friends and family since he deconverted and Valerie Tarico responds. Dear Valerie, I have never forgotten that I was once a true believer (Fundamentalists type) for 23 years. I suppose that it was the expressed passion of the Fundamentalist preacher types that initially attracted me into the faith. What I found appealing was: 1) the urgency of the message 2) the earnest defense of the faith 3) denunciation of sin 4) music 5) the assembling together 6) the unquestioned “truth” of Christianity 7) the camaraderie of standing for something. All of these helped to bring me into the fold. Thinking back, I cannot recall anyone questioning the legitimacy of Christianity prior to my graduation from Bible college. I knew many that didn’t l...

For some reason, pro-life Christians think their God is against abortion and baby-killing. I don't get it! There are lots of examples to the contrary in the Bible . I mean, who has killed more babies than the Christian God ? Have you read these passages? Hosea 13:16 Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up. Exodus 12:29 "And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt..." 2 Samuel 12:14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. Isaiah 13:16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. Isaiah 13:18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the...

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Roy Zimmerman What's funny about war, poverty, ignorance, bigotry, neo-conservatism, homophobia, greed, lust and fear? Ask Roy Zimmerman. He's been writing satirical songs for twenty years. The Los Angeles Times says, "Zimmerman displays a lacerating wit and keen awareness of society's foibles that bring to mind a latter-day Tom Lehrer." "Creation Science 101" is on my album "Faulty Intelligence" available on my website and on iTunes. -- Roy Zimmerman

Video segments I–X Hell: The Devil's Domain From the dark Hades of Greek Mythology to the fire-and-brimstone visions of fundamentalist thunderers, Hell has long held a particular grip over the human imagination. HELL: THE DEVIL'S DOMAIN travels the world to peer into the darkest depths of this eternal fascination. The journey begins with the story of a near-death experience in which a man thinks he went to Hell after being declared clinically dead and before resuscitation. Trace the evolving conceptions of hell and the devil from Stone-Age French cave paintings to Hollywood blockbusters. Speak with survivors of the recovered memory craze and parishioners at a fundamentalist Texas church. Review literary landmarks like Dante's Inferno and Milton's Paradise Lost. And see how the world's great faiths various conceptions of the afterlife encompass these universal fears. Approximately 90 minutes in length.

I've been thinking about what would happen if Mike Huckabee won the Presidency and really did change the Constitution to "God's Laws". One thing for sure, the rock business would get a big boost! According to the Bible , God prescribes stoning for all kinds of offenses. Here are a few examples: (I actually copied this list from one of my favorite Atheist resources called, Dwindling In Unbelief . I hope Steve doesn't mind.) 1. For touching Mount Sinai Exodus 19:13 2. For taking "accursed things" Joshua 7:1-26 3. For cursing or blaspheming Leviticus 24:16 4. For adultery (including urban rape victims who fail to scream loud enough) Deuteronomy 22:23-24 5. For animals (like an ox that gores a human) Exodus 21:28 6. For a woman who is not a virgin on her wedding night Deuteronomy 22:13-21 7. For worshipping other gods Deuteronomy 17:2-5 8. For preaching the wrong religion Deuteronomy 13:5-10 9. For disobeying parents Deuteronomy 21:18-...

By Bob Patterson Debating fundamentalists is difficult because the battle involves differing weapons.The atheists uses logic while the fundies use emotion. There is almost no quick way to convince someone their long held emotions are incorrect. One way or another, the result is usually sticking their fingers in their ears and singing, "La La la la -- I don't want to hear you," or some other similar way to tell you to get lost. Testing emotions will usually invoke anger, as well. At least online debating has some advantage in that you don't have to withstand a shouting contest. If you could convince a fundie to become an atheist or even an agnostic, it would involve the following difficult changes: 1.You'd have to admit your parents lied to you, or at least, mislead you. 2.You'd have to admit you were wrong! 3.You'd have to become a minority. 4.You know that being an atheist isn't usually good in the workplace. 5. Your family and some friends may...

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By Bob Patterson 1: I don't believe in a god because I have yet to see, hear, or feel one. Neither have I seen any credible evidence that anyone else has. 2: I don't believe in your god because there are thousands of gods... What makes your god (out of 10,000 gods) the 'real' one? Ever notice that believers follow the religion of their parents? 3: What is the evidence for your god? If you tell me the bible, I'll have to assume you never read it. Much of the bible is the rantings of maniacal lunatics. Is that the best your god can do? 4: If, in fact, your god is the factual real McCoy, 100% of the world would know it. 5: Why does your god get all the credit for everything perceived as good, but never any blame for what isn't? 6: If your god is so great and so powerful, why is there still disease, suffering and birth defects? 7. Only 1/3 of the world's population are in 'Christian nations' which, of course, are only partially Christian? 8: If ...

This post is part of a dialog, In Two Minds: The Anatomy of a Christian Hate Letter , between former minister Brian Worley and psychologist Valerie Tarico . In the series, Brian Worley, an ordained Baptist, describes some of his encounters with Christian friends and family since he deconverted. In Letter One , he asked Dr. Tarico to comment on an exchange with his brother and in Letter Two, Valerie Tarico responds. Dear Brian, Your experience, I’m afraid, is familiar to many former Evangelical believers. Even though I have researched some of the worst of Christian history, the Evangelical child in me continues to marvel at things that are said in defense of the God of Love and Truth. After all, I believed in the fruit of the Spirit. I believed in Jesus who told us to turn the other cheek. So, I was shocked when I first read profanity and threats of personal violence against the stewards of exChristian.net, losingmyreligion.com, and even the Ontario Center For Religious Tolerance (relig...

This post is part of a dialog, In Two Minds: The Anatomy of a Christian Hate Letter , between former minister Brian Worley and psychologist Valerie Tarico . In the series, Brian Worley, an ordained Baptist, describes some of his encounters with Christian friends and family since he deconverted. In Letter 1, he asks Dr. Tarico to comment on an exchange with his brother. Dear Dr. Tarico, The last time I was with my Christian father, he cussed me out because of my beliefs. I looked him in the eye and said, “I got what I needed to know from you today.” (I had traveled a long way just to visit.) Then, I just turned and walked away. Below, I have posted a letter from my brother. Our relationship has never been the same since I left the faith. Brian, I feel very privileged that you chose to send me your propaganda I know that you hope to win converts to your dark world but what I choose to do is add you to my blocked senders list. I believe that most of your old friends and family have come t...

Pat Condell remarks on the curse of monotheism.

Former evangelical minister John W. Loftus would like to announce that his latest book — "Why I Became an Atheist" — will soon be released by Prometheus Books . For about two decades John W. Loftus was a devout evangelical Christian, an ordained minister of the Church of Christ, and an ardent apologist for Christianity. With three degrees--in philosophy, theology, and philosophy of religion--he was adept at using rational argumentation to defend the faith. But over the years, as he ministered to various congregations and taught at Christian colleges, doubts about the credibility of key Christian tenets began to creep into his thinking. By the late 1990s he experienced a full-blown crisis of faith, brought on by emotional upheavals in his personal life as well as the gathering weight of the doubts he had long entertained. In this honest appraisal of his journey from believer to atheist, Loftus carefully explains the experiences and the reasoning process that led him to rejec...

By Colin I have been floating around on this site for only a few months now, even though my own de-conversion happened more than 15 years ago. My wife is still a Christian (if a very lukewarm one) and I happened to read one of her magazines that a superheated fundamentalist Christian friend gave her. In this magazine, there was an article about this very site. The article did not mention the site by name, (probably because they did not wish to encourage foolish young sheep to leave the fold), but how intelligent do you need to be to Google “Ex-Christian”? I noted that the author of that article never posted anything on this site – a wise decision, in my opinion. This is not my testimonial , which I have submitted previously, but I do wish to tell everyone who visits this site, that everything you read here about de-conversion is true: It is not a process that takes place in a few days or even weeks – it takes years, more probably decades. It is usually the result of doing an in-depth s...

By David Gleeson Do atheists hate God? No. Consider: Do you hate Santa Claus? Or Zeus and Poseidon? The fact is, atheists just don´t believe in "God" or gods. You can´t hate something you don't believe in. Why don´t atheists believe in God? The reasons why an atheist doesn´t believe in God can be as varied as the beliefs of believers, but it usually boils down to a simple fact: the atheist just doesn´t see any evidence for the supernatural in general, and God in particular. If you are a Christian, think about why you don´t believe in Zeus or Shiva. That will tell you a lot about why atheists don´t believe in your god, or any god. So atheists think there´s no greater power than themselves? Whoa! Who said anything like that? Atheists believe we are just one ordinary life form that managed to evolve on a rock that circles one ordinary sun in one unremarkable galaxy, in a universe of 100 billion such galaxies and ten thousand billion billion such suns. Compare that world-view...

By Benjamin O'Donnell A common criticism of the so-called “new atheists” (who I prefer to call the " new anti-dogmatists ") is the "problem of morality": how, many religious critics ask, can we be good without God? Isn’t the fact that people are good, that people can tell good from evil, evidence for the existence of God? Even if God is a myth, isn’t He necessary to inspire people to acts of goodness and to keep them from falling into immorality? And in any case, don’t we get our morals from our religious traditions? A key problem here is that this “good without God” criticism is really at least five different arguments jumbled together. The argument from scripture First comes the argument from scripture: “how can we know what's good without a book of rules, like the Bible?” This is the one that Richard Dawkins so ably rebuts with his "cherry picking" point in his recent best-seller, The God Delusion . The Bible is full of horrible acts and re...

By Enjjpt Let me get this straight... God made man perfect in His own image. Then God put the perfect man and woman in a perfect garden to live for all eternity. God put a bunch of trees in the garden and declared one off-limits. Since man was made perfect in the image of God, he would be incapable of doing anything evil or wrong, he was perfect just like God. But since God is all-knowing, he knew even before He made the off-limits tree that Man would partake of it, and thus He is guilty of setting Man up for failure. This is no different from an adult placing a tray full of cupcakes in the middle of a room full of toddlers and telling them not to eat them and then getting angry when they do. No parent would expect children who know no better to obey such a command, because they understand the nature of children. So God, in His just and righteous anger over His creation eating the fruit off of the forbidden tree, decides that the offense is so egregious, so heinous, that it is a capit...

The following are 15 short videos are copyright-free for educational purposes. Feel free to mirror any or all of these videos with or without accreditation wherever ignorance abounds. For ease of viewing, the 15 videos are grouped in threes. In other words, each of these players contains tree videos. This is part of a superb series of videos exposing the funny stupidity of creationists and why they deserve to be laughed at. In each case the creationist statements are shown to be outrageously stupid by even the most rudimentary knowledge of science. -- Thunderf00t Episodes I–III Episodes IV–VI Episodes VII–IX Episodes X–XII Episodes XIII–XV

LEAVING YOUR RELIGION? . . .or still feeling the effects? It's not the end of the world. Join us at a recovery retreat. "RELEASE AND RECLAIM" A workshop for letting go of religious indoctrination and reclaiming your life. Led by Marlene Winell, Ph.D., psychologist, and author of Leaving the Fold, A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving Their Religion WHEN: FRIDAY, Feb. 29, 7PM until SUNDAY, Mar. 2, 3PM. WHERE: A beautiful house near the beach in Alameda, California, minutes from Oakland Airport. Leaving one's faith often creates intense feelings of confusion, grief, anxiety, and anger. The effects of authoritarian religious training can last a long time and run deep; full recovery can be difficult if the issues are not clear and you feel alone in the struggle. This workshop is designed to support you in the process of healing and growth. The weekend is a powerful group experience of sharing personal history, examining key ...