Image via Wikipedia By Marlene Winell We can probably agree we don’t like the commercialism of Christmas, the stress, or the holiday angst. Yet at the center of it all there is a powerful image that speaks to all of us –- the Child. It’s fascinating to me that once a year so many people stop everything, or at least pause, to acknowledge a Child. But who is this Child of Christmas and why does the image have such power? We have religious and secular interpretations, and I would like to suggest a third -– a soulful interpretation. For Christians, this is a specific Child, the baby Jesus, entering the world to be its savior. This is why the angels sing and the wise men visit. God has at last fulfilled his promise, and there is rejoicing. For other people, not Christian, the Christ Child still represents hope and renewal. As with the solstice and the new year, the Child symbolizes the promise of new life and light. Our world is so weary with struggles, we all need the healing for...

... Your Brain Will Fall Out (Take My Wife) This is from Tim Minchin 's DVD, So Live .

By DocMike In 2005, Bill O'Reilly declared there was a " War On Christmas " because retailers were posting signs that said, "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" instead of " Merry Christmas ." Of course, the stores were simply trying to appeal to all Americans instead of a single group, in hopes that everyone would buy more stuff during the holiday shopping season. But Uncle Bill and his followers proceeded to blacklist retailers and anyone else who didn't cave in to the media pressure. Now, three years later, Bill is pushing, "We Say Merry Christmas" bumper stickers (free with a purchase of $19.95 or more from his website), The Liberty Council and Focus on the Family have posted "Naughty or Nice" lists, identifying retailers who mention (or don't mention) the word "Christmas" in their ads, and there has been a major backlash by religious groups (and individuals) about recent billboards and si...

By HellboundAlleee What does Christmas have to do with Jesus? Less than you think. Sift through world history in about five minutes, because I know you can't sit through more than that. If you want me to know I'm going to burn in hell, thanks, but I've been informed! -- HellboundAlleee

Image by Daniel Y. Go via Flickr By Valerie Tarico I just love Christmas!” my friend Hannah confessed recently, “even though I’m appalled by Christianity.” She sounded sheepish, as if loving Christmas somehow made her bad. Poor Hannah. I understand her tone of apology. What Hannah is appalled by isn’t the broad range of kind, thoughtful Christians in her community, but rather the thin cruel theologies that drive the Evangelical Right. People like Bill O’Reilly have claimed Christmas for their own--deriding broader holiday traditions. “It’s about Jesus!” They cry loudly. “Jesus is the reason for the season!” “It’s a Christian holiday (and this is a Christian country)!” Who wants to be associated with O’Reilly and his minions?! Hannah’s Christmas isn’t about Jesus, and she doesn’t want to lend power to fundamentalists by joining in something they have defined as their celebration. But she needn’t fear. Jesus isn’t the reason for the season. Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell...

By TruthSurge This is the HIGHLY ANTICIPATED set of additional questions that improve the level of accuracy of the famed MoralMaster 2.0 up to 200%! Don't wait! Order yours today! Related articles by Zemanta MoralMaster 2.0

By Billy B Hi, hello...whatever..., I'll just shoot the run down and get through my little "all about ME" stuff...short, sweet...m-kay? I'm a 56-year-old married w/kids dude. I'm atheist and a former "real deal" fundie. I'm also an ex-boozer and (substance) abuser. These past 18 years of sobriety have been a climb out of my hole of childhood indoctrination and baaaaad habits. Today, things are great. Short enough? Good deal. A Miracle...? I leave that to you to judge. On with my rant... How many of us ex-believers gave THOU$AND$ of hard earned dollars to the church? Speaking for myself , it was a big chunk of change. At least 10% of my income for over eight years went straight into the plate. A big enough dollar amount that I began to wonder if there might be any possible way for me to recover any... even ONE DOLLAR... of my money. Seeing is believing... I had a very strong hope that a "refund from God" was possible....this hope was well f...

Image via Wikipedia By Sam Singleton, Atheist Evangelist Across the country disparate sects of believers in the deity of Santa Claus have united in an effort to “reclaim” Christmas from those they call heretics for “continually dragging Christ back into Christmas.” Until recently the notoriously contentious and litigious Santa worshippers, or Santatarians, have been primarily known for feuding among themselves over which of three denominations represents the one “true” faith. Although only the most mainstream of the three, the Southern Santatarian Conference, is officially identified with the name, all refer to themselves as Santatarians, except in the Caribbean and some areas of the American South where “Santaria” is preferred (not to be confused with Santeria, often erroneously called Voodoo, which combines the worship of Christian saints and African spirits). More than half of all Santatarians self-identify as fundamentalists, of which the majority practice Santaclostalism, speaki...

Image via Wikipedia By Neal Stone In Olympia, WA ., the Atheists put up a sign that really upset the religious community. The following is my letter to this community. Dear Religious Community: You rallied at the capital against a sign. Just a sign. You don't even have to look at it. Where is, "Love thy neighbor?" How about, "Love your enemies?" And let's not forget, "Rejoice when persecuted!" Yet, you come against this sign with hate and anger. Do you really think Jesus is going to be impressed because you protested a sign? Do you really think this is what God wants you to do with your time when so many are suffering? You come out to defend and prove your beliefs. Only someone who is insecure or in a cult is so defensive. Maybe instead of defending, you could settle for living your beliefs? Can you handle that? Living what you believe is the best way to prove if something works or not. Prove to us that what you believe works! This win...

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"The way to change the world is to change people's minds. As more and more people openly discuss the fact that "God" and " Allah " are completely imaginary, the world becomes a better place. The people who believe in "religion" look sillier and sillier. Eventually, religion becomes a fringe activity that is meaningless." -- http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/ "WHAT IS ATHEISM?" Atheism is characterized by an absence of belief in the existence of gods. This absence of belief generally comes about either through deliberate choice, or from an inherent inability to believe religious teachings which seem literally incredible. It is not a lack of belief born out of simple ignorance of religious teachings. Some atheists go beyond a mere absence of belief in gods: they actively believe that particular gods, or all gods, do not exist. Just lacking belief in gods is often referred to as the "weak atheist " position; whereas believing...

Cover via Amazon By Valerie Tarico Bill O’Reilly is in heaven, because the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has given him a platform from which to launch his latest series of tirades about “The War on ChristmasTM.” Alongside a manger scene and a holiday tree, the executive office building in Washington State now has a plaque that says, “At this season of the Winter Solstice , may reason prevail.” It goes on to add: “There are no gods, no devils or angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.” The sign was placed by ex-evangelist Dan Barker (author of Godless ) on behalf of Washington members of the FFRF, an organization that works largely on separation of church and state . As nontheist and a Washington State member of the FFRF, I have mixed feelings about the sign. Not about the fact that it exists, mind you. Our governor and attorney general have issued a joint statement: The...

A video by gogreen18 Greg Epstein, Harvard's Humanist Chaplain, requested feedback on his Newsweek/Washington Post/On Faith post, " Less Anti-theism, More Humanism ," where he argues: In most people’s minds, “ religion ” does not just stand merely for belief in an unseen, all-seeing deity with a baritone voice and a flowing beard. It stands for the things we hold most dear: family , tradition, and community. Memories of lost loved ones and consolation in the face of death. The organized pursuit of social justice . Not to mention music, art, architecture, and I could go on and on. These things are all good. If you take a rhetorical blowtorch to religion without acknowledging the way it provides them, you get precisely what we have today: a nation and world where despite all our scientific knowledge , 80 to 90 percent of people say they are religious. In short, Epstein seems to be against outspoken atheism. What do you think? Related articles by Zemanta We Are All ...

Ever wonder where we get our Christmas traditions ? This video explains where the most popular Christmas traditions come from. More articles on Christmas: LINK

By DocMike You can't swing a dead cat in many US cities without hitting a religious billboard. But when the Freedom From Religion Foundation put one up that simply said, "Imagine No Religion", Christians went crazy! The sign company received so many calls from people who were "offended" that they took the sign down. And when The Colorado Coalition of Reason put this one up the religious press had a field day. So why are they so offended? What are they worried about? If churches all over the country can post hell threats and cutesy little "What part of 'Thou Shalt" don't you understand" signs, why can't a non-religious group post something as non-threatening as these signs? The answer can only be that religious people realize their belief system is so fragile, so delicate, that anything that provokes thought and reason will likely change the minds of some of their flock. Or worse, these insidious non-believers could create a change i...

Image by TracyJones via Flickr By Neal Stone First off, I haven't written for a while. I am out of phase. What I mean is that I tend to switch back and forth between technical and creative. My research in the historical Jesus has also begun with interesting results so far. But more on that in a later post. Out of curiosity I was browsing local ministries in my area, just to see what weird stuff was going on around here. First off I was amazed at all the bizarre religious crap I found -- even prophetic dancing! What also stood out was the many photos of the ministers praying, looking up into heaven, hands together, looking so spiritual. It looked anything but humble. So, I decided to write a little skit that follows a Christian gal I actually know. This skit is based on my experience along with a little fiction thrown in that's been inspired by other Christians I've known. This is how I view her and people like her. Please pardon my lack of playwriting skills. The o...

"Battle Of The Demons" by KmountMan By Angela The earliest fights between my mom and step-dad were about church and music. My mom became a Christian before my step-dad did. By this time my grandma and grandpa had both become Christians due to my mom's influence. It was a good thing (for a while) and their life began to change too. Over time each of my mom's three siblings would come to the same conclusion, Jesus was the answer. Over time I would come to doubt that conclusion. If Jesus was the answer why did I have so many questions? We attended a small Nazarene church with my grandma, grandpa, my mom's older brother, his wife and my mom's youngest brother. I liked going there on Sundays, sitting with my grandma and grandpa. The benches were hard wood and slippery, but I felt soft and safe. My dad never liked the church. He would go, but he always complained about how boring it was. When the service was over he wanted to get out of there as fast as h...

SILHOUETTE CITY :: 2 minute trailer Trailer for SILHOUETTE CITY - the first post-Bush investigation into the nature of the radical Christian right . It follows the spread of apocalyptic Christian nationalism from the marginal groups of the 70's-80's to today's mainstream Christian right. With the impending re-marginalization of Christian nationalists on the horizon (with the election of Obama ), the film explores the lengths to which religious militants in America are prepared to go for their beliefs. SILHOUETTE CITY :: excerpts Excerpts from the upcoming nonfiction film SILHOUETTE CITY - an investigation of apocalyptic Christian nationalism. SILHOUETTE CITY excerpt: Council for National Policy Meeting Excerpt from the film SILHOUETTE CITY. In Spring 2008, Republican presidential candidate John McCain told the Council for National Policy: "I want to look you in the eye and tell you I won't let you down." This is the only known video documentation of the CNP...

Image by Swamibu via Flickr By Ty H Philips For over two thousand years, western society has been influenced by the teachings of an obscure mythical figure known as Jesus of Nazareth. Why he was called this, is unknown, aside from his disciples trying to fulfill prophecy on their own, because he was neither born there, had family from there, nor ever lived there. Many, including myself, will argue that we are less influenced by the stories of Jesus as much as we are by the teachings of Paul and the future Roman Catholic Church . This paper will be a detailed refute of the ethicalness of the Judeo/Christian faith. I have been plagued, harangued, and fearful of my own objections on many grounds. First being raised in a fundamental and charismatic Christian household, I have ingrained in me, the teachings of a school of Christian thought called, Dispensationalism. This school of thought was created in the 1800’s by John Nelson Darby . Prior to this period, no Christian had h...