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Christian parents, beware! 2007-10-30 07:18:02 From By The Book ComicsClick on the image for a larger version. There are so many contradictions in the Bible, you have to be careful or your kids will figure it out. You just can't go in there willy-nilly and read it yourself! Please ask your preacher which verses are okay to read. Better yet, just listen to the sermon on Sunday and don't try to read (or think) for yourself. — DocMike ...

The New Atheists on Organized Freethought 2007-10-29 05:45:02 The Humanist Network News (HNN) Audio Podcast is a monthly one-hour talk show created by the Institute for Humanist Studies. Every episode of the HNN Audio Podcast explores a different area of humanist thought, from politics to pop culture.Click on the player to listen to this month's broadcast. Direct DownloadSynopsis of this month's episode:Segment 1: Sam Harris on "The Problem of Atheism"Interview: Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith explains why people should not identify as atheists, humanists or Brights. Harris also says that religion testifies (more or less) to the possibility of extraordinary self-transformation, which is why he feels that we must develop a scientific language for talking about "mysticism" or "spirituality." Interview: Daniel Dennett, author of Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon responds to Harris. Dennett recognizes the limitations of the atheist label, but thinks the atheist label needs to be reclaimed and not discarded. He says religi ...

The Enemies of Reason 2007-10-28 17:00:26 Video presentation by Richard DawkinsPart I:Part II:The Enemies of Reason is a two-part television documentary, written and presented by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. From the makers: Is it rational that the dead can communicate with the living and give sound advice on how they should live their lives? What about sticking pins into your body to free the flow of Chi energy and cure your illness? Or the bending of spoons using your mind alone? Is that rational? Richard Dawkins doesn’t think so, and feels it is his duty to expose those areas of belief that exist without scientific proof, yet manage to hold the nation under their spell. He will take on the world’s leading proponents in their field of expertise, meet the victims who have used them and expose the history of the movements – from the charlatans who have milked these practices to the experiments and testing that have failed to produce conclusive results.[1] The documentary was first broadcast on Channel 4 in t ...

21 Unconvincing Arguments for God 2007-10-28 16:34:33 August Berkshire, the public relations representative for Minnesota Atheists and Vice-President of Atheist Alliance International, has put together a simple, concise list of 21 Unconvincing Arguments for God (PDF).Here's his list:(1) Holy Books - Just because something is written down does not make it true. This goes for the Bible, the Qu’ran, and any other holy book. It is circular reasoning to try to prove the god of a holy book exists by using the holy book itself as “evidence.” People who believe the holy book of one religion usually disbelieve the holy books of other religions. (2) “Revelations” - All religions claim to be revealed, usually through people called “prophets.” But a revelation is a personal experience. Even if the revelations really did come from a god, there is no way we could prove it. As Thomas Paine said, it is a revelation only to the first person, after that it is hearsay. People of one religion usually disbelieve the revelations of other rel ...

Christian Soldiers: a report by Dan Rather 2007-10-28 14:24:27 A watchdog group claims that members of far-right-wing evangelical Christian groups are having an undue influence on the U.S. military. More on this available at the Christian Science Monitor.From the horse's mouth: Military Ministry with MajGen Bob Dees ...

Scientific Arrogance? 2007-10-28 08:34:06 Reposted from: Freethought Café by J.C. SamuelsonArrogance. It's a charge often levelled against those who reject religious faith, among whose numbers can be found many scientists. And, surely there are some scientists and their supporters who are arrogant, just as there are arrogant believers. Yet, while both hold humility as a high ideal, frequently it is the scientist who manages to inspire us by the very public admission of a mistake. In fact, science, more often than not, progresses in spite of arrogance, with advances made by disproofs, rather than proofs, of a theory.One case in point would be the oft-repeated story of the aging zoology professor at Oxford who, after fifteen years of championing a particular theory, admitted his error after a visiting lecturer disproved that theory. Richard Dawkins recounted the tale in the series, Root of All Evil, but here it is as it was written in Unweaving the Rainbow:"Arrogant or not, we at least pay lip-service to the idea that science ...

Brother Jeff in 2008! 2007-10-28 08:10:26 Bless the Lard! I am pleased to announce that the Spook of Kryasst who is also somehow magically Him has magically inspired me to enter the race for President of the United States! Glory! I am running as an independent candidate. I represent not the Republicans or the Democrats or even the Libertarians - but the One who Croaked in the Spook and Magically Undeadened Himself for us all! I represent KRYASST, and I pledge to do what must be done to restore our nation to the greatness it enjoyed when the Lard and His Word were revered in this country. As your future president, I rest my campaign upon the following Twenty Promises: If elected, I will restore mandatory prayer in our public schools. Our children will start their mornings off right with a humble prayer of thanksgiving before Alrighty Gawd acknowledging His Lardship, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance with the words “UNDER GAWD” clearly stressed.If elected, I pledge that no child will be left spiritually behind. Every chil ...

Trying to pick up the pieces of all I once "knew" 2007-10-27 16:35:49 Sent in by DifferentNowOn January 15, 2007, I told my husband I wanted a divorce.It was a cold day in New York City. My second time there. We were on a company retreat with our business, the graphic design company we both owned. I woke up at 6 a.m. unable to sleep and went down to the hotel lobby so I could email the man I had fallen in love with and tell him I was antsy... really antsy. I couldn't put on a front any longer. It wasn't in my nature to hide things, and I couldn't keep it up for long.I had barely slept in two weeks. Two weeks since our first date. Two weeks of listening religiously to the wisdom of Johnny Cash while painting our studio space black. As black as my mood. Pouring myself into the old, worn down building that I convinced my husband to let us rent with dreams creating a theatre space and pursuing the never ending quest for fun, always fun... A pursuit that left him exhausted and asking me often, "why can't you just slow down?" His inquiry always met with my ...

What if everyone stopped believing in god? 2007-10-27 06:12:00 Sent in by GeoffAs I'm sitting here at 1:06 a.m. in the morning, something occurred to me: What if everyone stopped believing in gods?No, really. What if everyone everywhere just gave up Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, etc., etc. Would a god still exist?If it's as Christians say, and everyone really knows deep down that God exists, then regardless of whether or not anyone believes or disbelieves in God, HIS existence should still be obvious to everyone, right?But it's not obvious to everyone, so religionists evangelize and evangelize and evangelize and evangelize... Christians, when pushing their dogma, always point to nature as proof for a creator. But does beauty in nature really show anything except for the fact that nature is beautiful? How many people can honestly say with a straight face that when they look at a beautiful flower they think to themselves, "This must have been made by the Judeo-Christian god, who in the beginning made two people and a snake, but ironical ...

Creationism's disingenuous "Crossroads" 2007-10-25 19:17:26 Movie producers use lying subterfuge in the "creation" of a new upcoming movie denigrating science and promoting "Intelligent Design."Article from the New York Times: A few months ago, the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins received an e-mail message from a producer at Rampant Films inviting him to be interviewed for a documentary called “Crossroads.”The film, with Ben Stein, the actor, economist and freelance columnist, as its host, is described on Rampant’s Web site as an examination of the intersection of science and religion. Dr. Dawkins was an obvious choice. An eminent scientist who teaches at Oxford University in England, he is also an outspoken atheist who has repeatedly likened religious faith to a mental defect.But now, Dr. Dawkins and other scientists who agreed to be interviewed say they are surprised — and in some cases, angered — to find themselves not in “Crossroads” but in a film with a new name and one that makes the case for intelligent design, an id ...

Here's What the Evangelical Christian Must Defend 2007-10-25 16:39:29 By John W. LoftusHe or she needs to defend the existence of the social Trinitarian God (versus an anti-social Trinitarian God) of the Bible (which had a long process of formation and of borrowing material from others) who never began to exist and will never cease to exist (even though everything we experience has a beginning and an end), who never learned any new truths, who does not think (for thinking demands weighing temporal alternatives), who is not free with respect to deciding his own nature, who revealed himself through a poor medium (history) in a poor era (ancient times), who condemns all of humanity for the sins of the first human pair, who commanded genocide, who allows intense suffering in this world (yet does not follow the same moral code he commands believers to follow), who's Son (the 2nd person of the trinity) became incarnate in Jesus (even though no one has ever made sense of a person who is 100% man and 100% divine) to be punished for our sins (even though there i ...

Reason: the best counselor 2007-10-25 10:40:15 By Bill JI was reading up on an old friend from the ministry the other day. He went back to his roots in ministry and is providing counseling to people burdened by anger, depression and other issues. I recall his teachings and how they influenced me and others in ministry. Looking back I now see how narrow his views were and apparently still are.It is unfortunate that people tend to look to pastors for a lot more than the pastors can offer. My friend sees much of the world through the eyes of religion and his unique version of counseling. He equates depression, addiction and financial problems with harboring secret or not so secret, hatred, un-forgiveness and anger toward people who hurt you. His solution is to talk people into reliving the emotional pain of past experiences and then encourage them to forgive. This brings up a whole host of issues regarding his method and his proof that it frees people from things like depression, addiction, etc. On his website, promoting his book, one ...

You have no true understanding of God, Jesus or the Holy Sprite 2007-10-25 10:07:00 From Janice SI came across your Website by accident, read your comments. My heart goes out to you. You have no true understanding of God, Jesus or the Holy Sprite.I was amazed that you would ask for a donation in an attempt to prove your case. In asking Christains for a donation, to support your anit-God beliefs, you are asking Christains to further the work that Satan is doing thru you. (You can not sever two masters, either hate the one and love the other or love the one and hate the other)Also in your sad attempt to get money to support your views, you are suggesting to us the same arguement that Satan purposed to Jesus in the widlerness. Jesus's reply as is my own (Thou shalt not temp the Lord they God.)We do not have to prove anything to you or anyone else, we know in our hearts that we are saved by the shed blood of Jesus and that the Sprite of God is living and dwelling in us. It is a long and painful process but daily we are being renewed. And yes, we make mistakes and yes ...

Rightly Dividing The Word 2007-10-25 04:56:25 By Tim SimmonsPart 1. Christians cannot accurately interpret the BibleWait! Before you go reaching for that post reply button, wouldn't it be better to see what I have to say to support the above assertion?I have recently been accused of yanking Bible versus out of their context and twisting their meaning to make them support my point de jour. I asked the accuser for a specific example of where I had jerked a verse out of context and I asked them also to explain how the context changed my interpretation. This person declined to point out the error of my ways using any specifics other than the blanket assertion that I had done so.So, I thought it might be interesting to post a few of my thoughts on interpreting the Bible.The first observation I would make along these lines is that each person will approach the Bible with a different set of assumptions. Each person will have their own starting point from which they will try to explain the things they read. In other words, they will firs ...

Conversation with Ismael (a Muslim) 2007-10-25 04:43:59 By Tiny FrogThere’s a guy who comes into one of the local coffee shops - 40ish, a businessman, and speaks with a foreign accent. I had met him a few months ago. I didn’t know he was a Muslim until a few weeks ago when he mentioned fasting for Ramadan. Last night, I was working on my laptop at the seat next to him, and he said something to the effect that the US should withdraw from Iraq and let the Sunnis and Shia fight it out. I just kind of nodded, not really intending to get into a political discussion. I don’t recall exactly how we got on the subject, but we started talking about Islam. He was from Palestine and was a Sunni - although, he had a number of conservative Christian business partners and friends. He seemed moderate enough, didn’t have the “I’m a fanatic” beard, had lived in the US for 20+ years, but he prayed five times a day and had socially conservative views.I was interested in hearing his view of Islam, though, so I was asking him some questions about i ...