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Stop praying, start reading 2008-02-11 07:11:11 The secularization of American public education has bred a nation of devout religious illiterates. By Patrick Grumley and Matt LeightonWhile it seems to be a growing trend for religious enthusiasts to claim that secular, and even atheist, ideologies are hugging the public square, evangelicalism seems to have more than just outlived the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. To date, Christianity has been the self-proclaimed founder of American morality. More recently however, Jesus and the divinely inspired have found competition at the book store by atheist authors such as Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins on the subject of morality and divinity. This dichotomy of ideals has fostered the public war between the religious and secular State, much to the amusement of European onlookers. For many elementary schools in Europe, students are taught compulsory religious education. By middle school, students are well aware of the holy books of Christianity, Islam, Judaism and have some understanding o ...

I once was a born-again Christian… 2008-02-10 09:51:42 By writerdd of Skepchick.com…but I’m not any more.Every once in a while I get an email or a comment accusing me of being a liar, saying it’s impossible for me to once have been a “real” Christian and now to be an atheist. Of course, the people who are so sure of my history have never met me and certainly didn’t know me in my past life as a Christian. Even so, their assuredness that what I’ve said cannot possibly be true always makes me think. Reading Infidel, I’ve been made acutely aware that Muslims don’t have this problem of understanding. They are quite certain that people of their faith can fall away, and therefore have a solution to stop the apostasy from spreading: kill the infidels. Hmm. It might be the only sure-fire way to control the flock. I just finished reading an article from Psychology Today, called An Atheist in the Pulpit, by Bruce Grierson. In the article, Grierson interviews several ministers who have lost their faith for a wide range of reasons. W ...

More than $1 billion annually funneled through ORU? 2008-02-10 05:18:10 A former Oral Roberts University accountant revised his lawsuit on Thursday to allege that more than $1 billion annually was funneled through the university, possibly to individual regents."It appears that many of the former board members were actual participants in the funneling of money through the university for their own eventual personal use, and thus, the foxes were watching the hen house," says former accountant Trent Huddleston's lawsuit.ORU spokesman Jeremy Burton said, "The allegations of inappropriately funneling money through accounts as alleged by the plaintiff have no basis in fact."Huddleston's attorney Gary Richardson said Huddleston had seen the account when he worked at ORU, between July 2006 and October 2007. In the lawsuit, Huddleston claims he was wrongfully fired because ORU, Oral Roberts Ministries and their leaders' fears he would talk about the alleged "'unrestricted' account" and because he regularly questioned expenses.Richardson said he received confirm ...

I was conveniently ignoring the not so nice stuff in the Bible 2008-02-10 04:52:06 Sent in by Sandra I was raised by my great-grandmother who during my early years taught the small children in the Mormon church we went to. I was a sickly child so she often read the lessons aloud. So I was reading "Little House on the Prairie" when I was five years old. At the age of eight I was reading from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. I was a voracious reader. The library was my favorite playground and curiosity my playmate. And I had questions by the bucketful. I would read the Old Testament and would feel really confused, so around the age of nine I started pestering Mama with many "Why does the Bible say...?" and "Why do we (Mormons) believe...?" Now here is the answer she gave that put my feet down the path of not accepting vague answers. She looked me square in the eyes and simply replied "I don't know." And then we would look stuff up together. Fast forward four years and I am living on my own, pregnant and dumped by baby's daddy. The Mormons excommunicate me ...

Church music director charged with rape 2008-02-09 11:13:19 The 31-year-old music director of Bethel AME, a high-profile West Baltimore church, has been accused of rape and child abuse in a case involving a 13-year-old girl who is a member of the congregation, according to city police and church officials.Timothy D. Price III was charged with second-degree rape, assault and child abuse, and multiple sex offense counts, city police said. Since his arrest Wednesday night, Price, who lives in Owings Mills, has been held on $1 million bail at Baltimore's Central Booking and Intake Center, electronic court records show.Price and the girl had sex on three occasions in his car, off church property, between early November and January, police said. Twice the meetings occurred in a West Baltimore alley and once in the parking lot of Druid Hill Park, according to police charging documents.The documents allege that one encounter occurred after Price obtained permission from the girl's mother to bring her home from church Bible study class. Police said th ...

"Creation Science 101" 2008-02-09 06:55:04 Roy ZimmermanWhat'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 ...

Teacher at Christian school charged with having sex with student 2008-02-08 15:14:03 It’s a kid’s paradise! Living Stones Church in Alvin, Texas, makes their summer camp an experience that kids will never forget.“They go home and their parents say, ‘They’re so positive now. They believe they can do anything, and [there's a] change in schoolwork.' It’s just amazing.” -- CBN.comALVIN — A teacher at a Brazoria County private school has been charged after allegations she had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student in an isolated Friendswood area in December.Jill Lewis, 26, of Dickinson turned herself in to Friendswood police Thursday after she was charged with having an improper relationship between an educator and a student, a second-degree felony. If convicted, Lewis faces up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.A press release from Friendswood police announcing the charges did not name the school at which Lewis taught, but a Jill Lewis is shown as the speech, computer and journalism teacher for secondary-level students on the Web site of L ...

The Pleasure Police: Imposing Christian Morality, Suppressing Sexuality 2008-02-07 20:17:42 By Brian Worley My wife asks the question, “Honey, would you ever cheat on me?” I answered, “I hope not.” She replies, “What do you mean you hope not?” The tension builds. She continues by saying, “Either you know or you don’t know.” I answered her this way because I have learned to respect a certain principle I have learned while working on this article.I answered my wife by saying, “Honey, I adore you and I hope that I would not do something stupid to mess up what we have together.”I could tell she felt some comfort with my reply but that it was still an insufficient answer to her initial question. More on this later.Suppression creates tensionAt this point, I need to ask you to be patient with me as I develop a few thoughts. Imagine yourself standing in a pool of water at least waist level high but lower than your ribs. When someone throws an inflated floating ball into the water, it naturally floats on the surface. Observe when you place force on that flo ...

Hell: The Devil's Domain 2008-02-06 20:11:32 Video segments I–XHell: The Devil's DomainFrom 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. ...

On the off chance Huckabee wins... 2008-02-06 18:45:45 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 21:18-21 10.For witches and wizards Leviticus 20:27 11.For g ...

The reward for being an atheist 2008-02-06 14:46:53 By Bob PattersonDebating 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 reject you. 6. You'd have to gi ...

I knew I was being conned, so I openly denounced the church 2008-02-05 15:56:49 Sent in by WesleyWhen I was young, and I mean real young (five at the oldest), I had like pretty much most of us, no real concept of human mortality, meaning I did not know I was going to die one day. I mean, death was just not something I ever had to consider. No family members I had ever spent time with had died, so my parents had just not really explained the whole death thing to me.Now my parents were not really religious people. My mother was a self-confessed agnostic and non-practicing Presbyterian (by baptism), and my father was just a non-practicing Catholic (just weddings and funerals),So, I had never really had any contact with strict beliefs in god.However, my mother’s mother had started to become heavily involved in a new style of Christian church, a new American-style church led by a dashing dynamic young man with the title of “Pastor Mike.” He offered the reward of eternal life and happiness, but to achieve this status, there were rules to follow. And these rules we ...

Church pastor charged with theft 2008-02-05 11:27:43 A Midlands church has lost $136,000. One of the people accused of taking it is the man who preaches every Sunday.They're accused of doing one of the most deceptive things a church official could do. Church member Mary Sullivan says, "I was shocked."Investigators think they were stealing money from the church. Lt. Phillip Crawford says, "I think we were all shocked when we first found out."It happened at St. John's United Methodist Church in Lugoff. Pastor Gerald Lord is accused of using a church credit card to rack up a $16,000 bill that included all personal items, all over a two-year period. He'd only been there about three years.Lea Ann O'Quinn, the church's bookkeeper but not a member of the church, is accused of using $120,000 of the church's money. Investigators say she used a church credit card for five years to help pay off her debts, and then used the church funds to pay off the credit card bill."I had no idea anything like that would be going on," says Sullivan. "I just ...

Pastor charged with murder 2008-02-05 11:21:49 DURHAM N.C., -- At the home Robert Lee Adam Reaves rented in Durham, a Wake County Sheriff's Deputy guards the driveway.Neighbors inquire about Reaves, a pastor charged with murder."It's very quiet. People talk in passing but there's nothing ever exciting that happens around here," said Reaves' neighbor Scott Nash.But last Wednesday, the body of 21-year-old North Carolina Central University student Latrece Curtis was discovered on an I-540 embankment. Investigators say she died from being hit with a sharp object -- at the hands of Reaves.Monday, Reaves clad not in a pastor's robe, but a Wake County Jail issued jumpsuit, made his first appearance."Based on the circumstances of this situation, I will issue a 'no bond' at this time, you'll be held without bond," said the judge.Still Reaves is no stranger to being on the other side of the law. He faced a conviction on sex charges while the pastor of a church in South Carolina, charges for financial card theft, motor vehicle theft a ...

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