by summerbreeze O ne of the most disgusting displays of pompous self-congratulation ever seen, was during a T.V. sermon a while back, by Joel Osteen . I was a believer at that time, but my reaction to that particular program really hit me in the gut. The sermons' topic was receiving Favor from God, and the only way to receive " Favor " was to have unshakable FAITH, and the deepest sincere LOVE for the Lord, placing him above anyone and everyone you have ever loved. Mr. Osteen had been on a Church related trip, prior to this sermon. He started off by telling everyone how even though he had had a coach ticket, he'd been unexpectedly bumped up to First Class, and this was indeed God's Favor to him! The audience cheered and clapped like they had all just received a check for a million dollars. He proceeded to give about 4 or 5 examples of things that went well for him in the days leading up to the trip. All, of course, happened because of God's Favor toward him....

A great "forward" to fellow infidels and religious adversaries, this animated satire is a fresh new look at the familiar, biblical account of Creation.

by Kev Image by Chiot's Run via Flickr I was raised to be Christian. Christianity is a religion. I think society created religion to cope with the inevitability of death and here is why... We became intelligent over unimaginable lengths of time and evolved into what we are today. All animals evolve to become stronger. Animals that are strong tend to procreate more than animals that are weak because the opposite sex is attracted to dominant features ( natural selection ). So what makes humans stand out from the animal kingdom? Intelligence . In the course of evolution over the billions of years earth has existed, our brains developed. In the meantime, other animals were developing physically to survive their environments. Animals became stronger, faster, bigger, changed skin color or fur color, grew the necessary body parts and lost the useless ones. Humans used our brains. We had evolutionary success in thinking our way to the top. Intelligence is the most important attribute o...

Gay scientists have isolated the gene they believe makes people Christian.

An Exchange with Christian Apologist JP Holding By Kris Komarnitsky, author of Doubting Jesus' Resurrection: What Happened in the Black Box? W hile getting my knee x-rayed for a recent injury, I noticed a sign on the wall saying that a radiologist’s “interpretation” fee would be added to my bill. I thought it interesting how even photographic evidence involves interpretation and how much more so interpretation plays a role in making sense of Christian origins evidence. A recent discussion with popular Christian Internet apologist JP Holding illustrates this point. The occasion that led to our discussion was JP’s review of my book Doubting Jesus' Resurrection: What Happened in the Black Box? After his review, I approached JP to get a better feel for his opinion on one particular topic that he critiqued. The result was a cordial exchange of ideas. The topic JP and I discussed was whether or not some of the early Christians at Corinth doubted the reality of Jesus’ resurrection ...

by MtlRedAtheist T his is the first in a series of videos I plan on doing addressing some of the violent, absurd and atrocious Bible stories being taught to children in Sunday School around the world today. This one deals with the story of Abraham and Isaac . In the Bible, God wanted to test Abraham's faith by commanding him to murder his son as a sacrifice. Abraham was completely willing and plotted to kill his son, right up to the very moment that God stopped him, as he passed the test by showing his willingness to kill his own son. Children are taught that this is the type of faith they should have and that they should put God before everything, including their own children, even if it means killing them at God's request. In this day and age, Abraham would be put behind bars for plotting such a thing and most people religious or not would agree that should be the case. When ever someone commits a murder in their god's name, most everyone regardless of religion or lack...

By Carl S Image via Wikipedia R ecently I came across an article in the New Yorker magazine that mentioned an ex-nun who spoke of her convent’s prohibition against “particular friendships.” Since the last time I heard that phrase was nearly sixty years ago, it ignited memories of when I was a Catholic monk . It also brought to mind a comment made to me by a women I met on a singles date. After three hours of talking, she said, “This has been a unique experience.” Here is one of my unique experiences. Raised in a religious family which taught that one is bad just in being human, I felt I was supposed to swim upstream continually against myself. Where better to do this than in a Trappist monastery – that gung-ho of all religious institutions, that Marine Corps, Taliban, at war with oneself, as per the very instructions of Jesus himself? In this “contemplative” order, one dedicated himself in penance and prayer to “redeem” mankind. (Notice how the world became better in the 1950’s?) No...

by Larry Spencer F or years as a Christian, I struggled to understand how atheists could have any morality at all. If there's no God telling you what to do, why not do whatever you want? And won't that lead to all manner of selfish behavior? Earlier this year, I finally understood. Maybe the analogy below will help people here explain to others how atheists can be truly moral. Michael Boskin , who served the first president Bush, went to the USSR to help them move to a market economy. Here's a little story he tells. The head of Gosplan [the USSR's planning agency] was supposed to preside over price reform in the Soviet Union and thus the move to a free market . At our first meeting he inquired of me, "Who sets the prices in your economy?" Flabbergasted, I explained that, although we had a few industries that were regulated by the government, for the overwhelming bulk of products the interaction of numerous producers and still more numerous consumers deter...

A look at some of the flawed thinking that prompts people who believe in certain non-scientific concepts to advise others who don't to be more open-minded.

by Penn & Teller

by Mriana Image by pyota via Flickr I have not said very much about this because I find it a very painful and upsetting subject, even though it comes out in bits and pieces sometimes. However, I do not think my story would be complete if I did not touch upon the subject of taking religion so far that it causes death. Not just death, but even attempted suicide in some cases. For me, my grandfather was the first in a series of such things and I was twenty-three years old with a newborn son at the time. About twenty years ago, my grandfather killed himself. He did it in a manner in which my Evangelical Fundamentalist relatives could excuse it and say, “God called him home”, but I cannot believe that. In my honest opinion, it was suicide, pure and simple. In my opinion, they are making excuses and denying what his death really was. What exactly happened to this strong man that he would take his life? Well, first, he believed in an afterlife, but granted that alone is not enough to...

by Matthew Dolezal Image via Wikipedia W ith the chaos of daily life in modern Western civilization, the consideration of a deep philosophical question like "What is the meaning of life?" seems quite low on one's list of priorities. There are countless tasks I must complete each day in order to maintain my socio-economic and cultural status. After realizing this cycle appears infinite, one assumes his/her "purpose" is to be a cog in a machine - indeed, the word "career" seems to have replaced "purpose" in our society. But eventually, there is a break - you have a moment of time that has not been reserved or booked or clouded with efficiency, and you look up at the stars and wonder what it’s all about. This is inevitable. Our brains are machines of curiosity. We wonder and speculate, and then, if the curiosity gets the best of us, and we begin to investigate. How did this all come about? What is my purpose? What will happen after I die?...

By WizenedSage Image via Wikipedia I f you were God, would you provide your message exclusively to one prophet ? Wouldn’t it occur to you that some people would try a prophet scam once they saw how a prophet is revered and the recipient of special favors, money and power? This was an essential message of Al-Razi , a freethinking Moslem (864-930 CE) that seems to have slipped beneath the radar of many of us moderns. Of course, we can all see that at least some so-called prophets are not legitimate; even the religious can see this. No one today believes Jim Jones was an authentic prophet, and comparatively few believe in Joseph Smith . And, in the Western world , Mohammad is widely seen as a fake. Clearly, anyone with the gift of eloquence, especially if he also knows a few nifty magic tricks or illusions, is a potential prophet. Prophesying can be profitable. Al-Razi’s point here is not just that there have been many false prophets, but, much more importantly, that no sensible god woul...