Bill Maher , who has been picking on organized religion for years on his TV shows "Politically Incorrect" and "Real Time," zealously traveled the world for "Religulous," his documentary challenging the validity and value of Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths. Raised in a Roman Catholic household by a Catholic father and Jewish mother, Maher decided at an early age that the trappings and mythology of the world's religions were preposterous, outdated and even dangerous. "Religulous," directed by fellow doubter Larry Charles (" Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan "), is intended to inspire similar skepticism in others — and perhaps get nonbelievers to talk more openly about their lack of faith. "I'm not looking to form an anti-religion religion. That would defeat the purpose," Maher said in an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival, where "Religulous...

By Sam Singleton There have always been parents who sent their young out to toil in the evangelical fields. I’ve seen children as young as six out on the sawdust trail. I myself preached my first message when I was seven. Peter Popoff was fourteen when he held a revival at the Amalgamated Full Gospel Assembly, a flock of twenty or so under the pastorship of Flora Gilder. Yes, there were women preachers. Holy rollers were very progressive. The Amalgamated Assembly was a dingy little coop about half the size of your average garage. And Peter Popoff went over big, even if he did have a pip-squeaky voice. One or two times there must’ve been upwards of thirty-six, thirty-seven people. And this one night he picked yours truly out of the multitude to prophesy over. His whole deal was that god told him stuff that nobody else got let in on unless Peter Popoff said it was okay. I was in the second row with the rest of the clan and this little Peter comes and puts his hand on my head and lights ...

By Neal Stone We've all heard the story of the Prodigal Son. The story goes that one of two sons decides he deserves his inheritance before his father passes away and goes out into the world and blows it all and ends up living with pigs. He finally returns home to his father, and family. Does he get rebuked? Does he get punished or at least an “I told you so.” No! He gets a party. The best food in fact is used at his party. As for the good son who stayed home and honored and supported his father? He got squat. I feel that the prodigal son should have a different ending. We are told this is how salvation works. So that when we return to God he celebrates. I disagree. I think this is one of the most f'ed-up stories of the Bible. A story where a major brat is rewarded for disobedience and arrogance. Meanwhile, the good son gets screwed for being faithful and good to his family and father. You see, I have a personal issue with this story. I am “the good son”. I was the...

Say What You Will, But Pay Your Own Way By Brother Sam I’m writing this on Friday, September 25, 221 years to the day from the First Amendment’s passage by Congress. That same amendment not only proscribes the government from telling preachers what they can say from behind the pulpit, but also prohibits the establishment of an official state religion. (Note to theists: If there's ever a state religion, it probably won’t be the one you have in mind.) This Sunday, right-wing pastors across the country, having been in close communication with the Heavenly Hosts, will confer god’s own endorsement on John “the Baptist” McCain and renounce Barack Obama as an agent of the devil. No shit. They’re gonna do that. And Brother Sam says God bless ‘em. They have every right to say any stupid shit they like. And what they do in the privacy of their own loony bins is their own business, so long as it’s all between consenting adults and they leave the children out of it. It’s time for churches to r...

Putting Lee Strobel 's claims to the test -- a video by TruthSurge

By Gary W "Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the word of god. It is a history of wickedness, that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind; and, for my part, I sincerely detest it, as I detest everything that is cruel." -- Thomas Paine First blind assumption: There is a god and this god is self-conscious, hereinafter called god. Second blind assumption: There is a devil and this devil is self-conscious, hereinafter called the devil. Logically, the devil would have to be the antithesis of god, and likewise god would be the antithesis of the devil. (Both are male of course, women are not allowed the status of god or devil hood in the Christian religion.) Now the devil, being the antithesis of god, is actively engaged in destroying everything sacred to god. But ...