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Action Item: California Wildfires & Secular Charity 2007-10-24 19:30:19 Reposted from: Freethought Café by J.C. SamuelsonAccording to the Incident Information System tracking the California wildfires, 12 of 25 tracked fires are 100% contained. The fires, ranging from the Simi Valley to the Mexican border, are responsible for about 5 deaths at the time of this writing. They have also displaced nearly 1 million people, with well over 1,000 homes consumed and nearly 70,000 still threatened. More than 400 square miles in seven counties have been ravaged by fire which, being fed by desert winds, has proven itself highly resistant to air attacks, hoses, and (of course) prayer.The American Red Cross has mobilized, sending shelter workers, feeding vans, and other supplies to provide relief to those affected. Direct Relief International has also responded by sending emergency medical supplies and offering assistance to hospitals in the region. Another aid organization, AmeriCares, is also shipping emergency aid items such as water, hygiene products and other healt ... Amp

Dumbledore is gay, author reveals 2007-10-24 19:27:03 Reposted from: Freethought Café by J.C. SamuelsonLast Saturday, J.K. Rowling, the author of the famous Harry Potter series of books, revealed that the Headmaster of Hogwarts is gay. The revelation provoked gasps and applause from those present to hear the revelation, which was prompted by a fan's question concerning whether Dumbledore would find true love in the final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."Explaining, Rowling said that Dumbledore's great love was rival wizard Gellert Grindelwald, whom he had defeated well before Harry Potter came to Hogwarts. Dumbledore's ill-fated and tragic infatuation developed in his youth, when he befriended the winsome wizard Grindelwald, who would ultimately become Dumbledore's enemy.Many fans have long speculated about the sexuality of the famous wizard, and explicit scenes featuring Dumbledore have already appeared in fan fiction. However, not surprisingly, some are less than pleased by the announcement.Laura Mallory, a long time ad ...

Who Deserves Heaven as a Reward? 2007-10-24 14:36:43 By Atheist Tooth Fairy (ATF)In learning about the oh-so-many flaws of the Christian dogma, one issue I rarely see come up in discussion is how the Christian God determines who deserves the 'reward' of heaven.Now, I do realize that some denominations shun the concept of “Being Saved”, that the more fundamentalist Christians proclaim as a requirement to gain entry to God’s Heaven.However, it seems the majority of Christians we see come in here tend to believe one needs to “Be Saved” or one will burn in Hell.So for the sake of debate here, let us assume that an adult can't reach those Pearly Gates by using the ‘works’ method and one really must accept Jesus as one’s personal savior and/or be “Reborn”. My first problem with this heaven concept, would be with the children who have not yet reached this “Age of Accountability”, that so many speak about. Obviously the more common Catholic school of thought was, that if one was baptized (usually as an infant) that t ...

You were never a Christian 2007-10-24 13:08:00 I happened upon your website, it made me sad to see the Ex-Christians and all of your stories.. How can people give up on God?There will come a day when you will see that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only way. I can't understand the point where anyone would say ok I am not a Christian anymore.. then you probably were never one. The Lord says in His holy word that it is better for you to have never know me than to known me and to walk away or turn your bcak on Him. I pray that you and your members will return to His way before its too late. MaryG ...

New Research into the Origins of Life 2007-10-24 04:47:09 Reposted from: Freethought Café by J.C. SamuelsonJust how did life begin? Were the compounds necessary for life present in the massive protoplanetary dust cloud that surrounded our young Sun? Did they then become a part of the planets of our solar system, including one that would eventually yield complex life? Did they arrive from some other source, such as a comet or meteor?For as long as mankind has wondered, the question of life's origins (abiogenesis - literally "lifeless beginning") has remained among those most frequently asked - and answered. Every ancient society produced its own explanation for the phenomenon of life, nearly every one of them involving a god or cabal of gods and/or goddesses. Most of these have been discarded as myths. But whether one believes in gods or rejects them entirely, the question of life's origins remains an important one. Today, science is the preferred tool for finding answers to questions like this one. Abiogenesis is a rich field of study, and ...

Inconvenient Inaccuracies? 2007-10-22 21:27:35 From The Epoch TimesFormer US vice president Al Gore delivers a speech before a screening of the film he helped make of his best-selling global warming book An Inconvenient Truth in Cannes, southern France.While Al Gore supporters everywhere were thrilled with his win of the Nobel Peace Prize last week, a British judge stole some of Gore's thunder with his finding that Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, is laced with inaccuracies.Justice Michael Burton had been asked by school governor and father of two, Stuart Dimmock, to rule on whether showing Gore's Oscar-winning movie about global warming in British schools constituted education or indoctrination.Burton said that while the points raised in the documentary are broadly accurate, they are made in "the context of alarmism and exaggeration," and the science in the film is used "in the hands of a talented politician and communicator, to make a political statement and to support a political program."While Burton stopped short of ban ...

Spirit in the sky 2007-10-22 15:33:46 Sent in by SharonI remember a day in 2000 when my children were still living at home. My de-conversion had already begun, I think. I was getting into their contemporary music, both Christian and “secular,” as it was called. I was going to a church where I felt more free, dancing was part of the worship service, and now I was dancing at home to anything. On this particular day, I was dancing to a song on a CD belonging to my 16-year-old daughter called “Spirit In The Sky.” I don’t know if it was a “secular” or a Christian artist. That song made my heart soar, and I didn’t know why. Maybe it was just because I was feeling more and more like flying those days, as I was beginning to loose myself from the restraints of Christianity. One of my two daughters saw me dancing and ran to get her sister, yelling, “Come look at Mommy! You’ve got to see this!” My other daughter came and saw and both yelled, “Go, Mommy!” and started dancing with me.I still love that song and ...

Obsession -- Radical Islam's War Against the West 2007-10-21 21:10:24 "Obsession is without exaggeration one of the most important films of our time. " –Glenn Beck, CNN Headline NewsFrom the "Obsession" website:Obsession - Radical Islam's War Against the West is a new film that will challenge the way you look at the world.Almost 70 years ago, Europe found itself at war with one of the most sinister figures in modern history: Adolf Hitler. When the last bullet of World War II was fired, over 50 million people were dead, and countless countries were both physically and economically devastated. Hitler’s bloody struggle sought to forge the world anew, in the crucible of Nazi values. How could such a disaster occur? How could the West have overlooked the evil staring it in the face, for so long, before standing forcefully against it?Today, we find ourselves confronted by a new enemy, also engaged in a violent struggle to transform our world. As we sleep in the comfort of our homes, a new evil rises against us. A new menace is threatening, with al ...

Christians declare war on those evil athiests 2007-10-21 19:39:24 From TownHall.ComHow to shut up an atheistThe atheist’s days of running circles around the Christian with their darling questions are drawing to a close. Yes, the fat lady just wrenched herself off her humongous backside, has cleared her throat and now is fixin’ to sing the finale on the atheist’s ability to have fun with their specious little fairy tales at the Christians’ expense.That is if the Christian will buy, devour, commit to memory and stand up and challenge the pouty anti-God cabal with the atheist-slaying facts found in two new books from Regnery namely, What's So Great About Christianity and The Politically Incorrect Guide to the BibleAuthors Dinesh D’Souza and Robert Hutchinson skillfully answer, once again, the atheist’s pet questions about the existence (or non-existence) of God and how Christianity has allegedly made the world suck. Suck, for you thick atheists, is a slang word which means to make or to be really, really crappy (kind of like how our culture ...

16-year-old pastor's son arrested for shooting parents 2007-10-21 19:17:07 WELLINGTON, Ohio -- Police in Brighton Township in Lorain County said that a teenager shot his parents.The boy's mother was killed and his father, who is also a pastor, is in critical condition after being shot in their home on Peck-Wadsworth Road on Saturday.Marc Petric, 45, was flown to MetroHealth Medical Center after the shooting at 7 p.m. Sue Petric died at the scene.Marc is the pastor at New Life Assembly of God.The couple's 16-year-old son, Daniel, is being questioned by the Lorain County Sheriff.Officials said he was the sole person responsible for the crime.Daniel was arrested after police spotted him driving his father's 1999 green Windstar.He has not been charged yet. Daniel is expected in court Monday morning.Story Link ...

Halloween a serious threat to Christians? 2007-10-21 18:47:06 Sent in by BeasterOnce again, we have Christians telling us what a holiday is or isn't about. Now they are threatened by Halloween, yet have no problem rubbing Christmas in the face of others and get offended if you use Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. Wow, the hypocrisy. The following is a letter that was sent in to the Dallas Morning News regarding the celebration of Halloween. Pathetic....Halloween is a controversial holiday, as reflected in your columns. However, it's very easy to discover its origins, roots and current impact on our "Christian" society.While we continue to say we're a Christian nation, how has the very demonic Halloween holiday become so popular that it is second only to Christmas in its profit and celebration?Satanists practice sacrifices, mutilations, and many horrific religious rites on this, their high holy day. Why would any of us want to participate in celebrating a holiday that reflects demons (not sweet little imps and spirits of departed sou ...

The Sacred Book of Kush 2007-10-21 08:48:13 Keep a copy with you. When confronted by a religious fanatic quoting the Bible, pull out The Sacred Book of Kush and ask what the difference is. You will notice that The Sacred Book of Kush has everything that the Bible has, including circular reasoning, extravagant and unfounded claims, threats and promises (both equally unlikely ever to be fulfilled), arrogance, jealousy, stupidity, and sales pitches for the priesthood. It also has two things the Bible doesn't: a sense of humor and a merciful brevity.Chapter 11) This sacred book was revealed by Kush to his prophet, Rocko S. Fitch, who wrote it down word for word and added the punctuation later. 2) This book is absolutely 100% completely true, and if you fail to believe any part of it, you will be cursed forever by an itchy spot in the middle of your back right where you can't scratch.Chapter 21) Kush is the supreme being — all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present, immortal, and a pretty decent guy once you get to know him. Chapter ...

Origin of Vision Discovered 2007-10-21 07:41:32 From LiveScience.Com: You are reading these words right now because 600 million years ago, an aquatic animal called a Hydra developed light-receptive genes—the origin of animal vision. It wasn't exactly 20-20 vision back then though. Hydras, a genus of freshwater animals that are kin to corals and jellyfish, measure only a few millimeters in diameter and have been around for hundreds of millions of years. Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara studied the genes associated with vision (called opsins) in these tiny creatures and found opsin proteins all over their bodies. Though they don't have eyes or any specific light-receptive organs, researchers think that the light-sensing proteins concentrated in the mouth area of the Hydras help them to use light sensitivity to search out prey. Because studies of animals that evolved earlier, such as sponges, don't show the same light sensitivity, scientists were able to pinpoint the Precambrian date that anim ...

A couple of comments on Pascal’s Wager and the Hellfire and damnation factor 2007-10-20 10:20:44 Sent in by Bob BI hope readers will forgive me if these arguments have already been beaten to death on this site. I am new to this venue and have not had the time or the inclination to read every post. That said I will just jump in on the issue in question here.I have always regarded Pascal’s Wager as an inherently fraudulent argument. It is invariably trotted out by the Theists with the false confidence that it somehow ultimately trumps any argument that can be thrown against it. First of all, PW is an argument of accommodation not logic. What if God is real and we have renounced him? Isn’t it better to hedge our bets that we should believe, against our better judgment, just in case there is a Heavenly reward and Hellish punishment?I would hope this argument would be as repugnant to “people of faith” as it is to atheists. If I were a loving God, who also has conditional restraints on this love (if that in itself is not inherently contradictory) I would reserve a hot lit ...

Oral R.U. Without Dick ? 2007-10-20 08:10:15 By Alan of The Whited SepulchreOral Roberts University may lose Dick "Richard" Roberts, the current university president.A THREE-RING CIRCUSThree instructors have been fired, there are allegations that current ORU first lady Lindsey Roberts likes 'em young, that money has been misplaced, and that documents have been shredded. The University comptroller has been fired. In a faith-healing gone bad, three blind men were made lame.Oral Roberts, the university's founder, started his career with small tent revivals and faith healings. This grew to a multi-media empire, including radio, TV programs, and Oral Roberts University. Because of a unique fund-raising vision of a massive Christ, Roberts also inspired one of the great rapper names: MC 900ft JesusMy first exposure to these clowns was through my grandmother. She had been crippled by a severe stroke, and lived with us most of the time. I can remember her watching this charlatan's TV programs, and watching Roberts "heal" shills from th ...