Image by ViaMoi via Flickr By Neal Stone When I did my last post on this subject, I was informed I had started off on the wrong foot. Indeed I did as I approached Christians ministers only and forgot to ask those that post here for sources on whether Jesus existed or not, I apologize. In the process I was given many sources including one that suggests the historian Josephus may not have existed and was nothing more than a forgery. The more I researched Jesus, the more I realized just how complicated and and hard this was going to be. I have evidence on both sides and there is a lot of it to go through to the point it is almost too much for me to handle. Then it hit me! Jesus is the most influential and famous person in history. Proving Jesus existed and who he was and his miracles were real is extremely difficult. Why is this? How can the most powerful, influential person in the history of mankind be so hard to prove? Why can't someone come up with solid non-disputable e...

By Tim Whistorn Image by _escalade328s_ via Flickr I admit it: Sometimes I just like to make fun of Christianity and those who keep the faith. On one hand I honestly do respect a person's right to believe anything they want, and to live/practice whatever pleases them. I just don't respect the way Christianity has been used to rob the masses of their personal sense of freedom and power for centuries; nor do I respect the very real threat to human advancement this dark age religion poses through many aggressive organizations, lobbying groups, and advocacies. And maybe I'm a little irked by the fact that most of my family and many of my friends are brainwashed to the extent that a really open conversation about the nature of life is an impossibility. Note To Reader : If Christianity allowed it's members to use their brains in debate this content would be great for dispelling the illusion. Sadly, as we know, Christians have at least two primary fall back arguments they ...

Image via Wikipedia Valerie Tarico interviews Dr. Tony Nugent, scholar of world religions. Dr. Nugent is a symbologist, an expert in ancient symbols. He taught at Seattle University for fifteen years in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies and is an ordained Presbyterian minister . Most Americans know how Christmas came to be celebrated on December 25 : The Emperor Constantine chose the date because it was winter solstice in the Julian Calendar , the birthday of dying and rising gods like Mithra and Sol. Some people also know that our delightful melange of Christmas festivities originated in ancient Norse, Sumerian, Roman and Druid traditions - or, in the case of Rudolph, on Madison Avenue. But where does the Christmas story itself come from: Jesus in the manger, the angels and wise men? The familiar Christmas story, including the virgin conception and birth of Jesus , is found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Scholars have pointed out that these stories are somewhat ...

By Neal Stone Image via Wikipedia WARNING: This article contains elements of logic, reason and free thinking and may prove harmful or fatal to ones religious beliefs. Read with extreme caution. Earlier in one of my posts I mentioned doing research on the Historical Jesus. In fact there are a few things I want to post about, I've just fallen behind. Kind of lost the writing bug for a bit. Guess the brain needs a break. All this thinking wears a guy out. (LOL) Since this project has gotten bigger than I expected, it will be broken down into smaller blogs. It will also take a while to do the research. The first step to researching and proving/disproving the Historical Jesus was to contact various ministers I know. This got a little interesting. Seems people get a bit concerned when you try and prove the Historical Jesus without the Bible. It's amazing how defensive religious people get when you challenge their beliefs or seek to prove/disprove what they believe. If what...

By Lance Image by Vermin Inc via Flickr "Of course the world is messed up. We live in a fallen world" Or so my Christian friend says. I used to believe this, and it was a good method for me to explain all the pain and suffering I saw in the world. Of course God had created a perfect world, and then we messed it up. It was all our fault. Even the fact that there is so much death and killing in the natural world of animals can be explained by the sin of disobeying God in the Garden of Eden . Apparently this act poisoned the entire world, magically transforming the world from God's perfect plan into the pain and death we see today. Before Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree, all animals got along just fine, and only plants were asked to sacrifice their lives. Adam and Eve and their kids would have had a perfect existence had they not fucked it all up for themselves and the rest of us. Yeah, right. My friend, who made the first statement, also believes in a lite...

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...

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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...