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Religion: Threat to Public Health? 2007-10-20 07:12:12 Reposted from: Freethought Café by J.C. SamuelsonAs any parent can tell you, fear is simply part of the job. Beginning even before one's child is born, fear is a constant companion, an ambient ocean that swells and subsides at every stage of the child's life. Even otherwise joyful or thrilling moments are sometimes laced with fear, such as when one's son or daughter stands for the first time, steps onto a school bus, rides a bike, gets a driver's license, or even graduates from school. Indeed, the altruistic concerns of parents are so extensive and diverse that quantifying them is effectively impossible. Some of them are, of course, justified. Some of them, well, not so much.One of the many perceived fears that at first glance appear to be justified is fear of doctors, or of medicine in general. Medical professionals poke, prod, and otherwise involve themselves deeply in the physical health of our children throughout their lives. It is a profoundly intimate involvement that someti ... Health

Abominations that are causing desolation 2007-10-20 06:57:00 From Gary T To all "ex", "Non" christians, and all others reading this who feel they are disapointed or confused by the amount of ignorance, lies, perversion and confusion that is rapidly overtaking much of the Christian world today - I understand much of your heartaches, and I'm a Christian. I have'nt been going to a "church" religiously for many years now. We are at a time where we are experiencing "abominations that are causing desolation" due to the enemy within, and its growing strength. The strength of evil forces expanding throughout the world as more an more people fall prey to the temptations of an ever growing babylonian lifestyle, which intern causes lies, deciet, subversion and satanic influence within so - called church leaders, and the congregation. There is also much debate over the truth of the scripture, and there are many people who have many diferent views, all must be taken with a grain of salt and thouroughly examined and studied in a theological and historical ...

Many people use God as a temporary fix 2007-10-18 20:15:50 By IDarwinThis is my first time to this site, and I liked all the comments. I figured I'd write something.As I read the comments, it reminds me of the Christians I know in my life (my family for example).From my experience, it's not the evidence that causes them to believe so much as being born into it, and then believing God has changed their life, or "blessed" it somehow.It's like giving someone a magic pill, and telling them this has great power, and it will help you if you just believe. So they do, and they work hard, and lo and behold, they change!! And they keep on believing in this power pill and sharing the Good News to all, and you just want to wake them up and tell them its not real.Like God, why can't they see what seems so obvious?And for the most part, this may not be harmful to them or those around them. It might actually continue to be beneficial. So why speak out against it? Because when you look at the big picture, it becomes dangerous. Because entire lives are bui ...

Christianity is a crock 2007-10-18 20:06:27 Sent in by JohnI grew up a Roman Catholic and when I reached 18 was co-erced into checking out Pentecostalism by some friends of mine at school.I went along and was pretty much converted within a week. What joy! What peace! What a crock!After wandering around for about 18 years as a bible-believing Christian, I was struck by the lack of real love among the chosen and the total disregard for the "unsaved." I became a street preacher after getting into Ray Comfort's teachings (with Kirk Cameron!) and spent a good year and a half bothering others about their sin!I met an atheist on the street and we became kinda pen friends. He wrote to me and what impressed me was not just the facts he was presenting but the mere fact he bothered to answer those nagging doubts I had over the years.After coming to a realization in my own mind about the fact that the whole Christian thing was ridiculous (with some help from some medication prescribed by a shrink) I was cured of my beliefs and finally, for ...

Oregon Pastor Arrested for Sexually Abusing 8 Women 2007-10-17 17:00:59 (PORTLAND, Ore. ) - Portland Police Sexual Assault Detectives have arrested a 38-year-old pastor who allegedly sexually abused eight women associated with his church.Portland police spokesman Brian Schmautz says pastor Sergio Alvarizares was arrested Monday at his home in Ridgefield, Washington, and is being held on on one count of Rape in the First Degree, two counts of Attempted Rape in the First Degree and ten counts of Sex Abuse in the First Degree, after a two week investigation involving the victims associated with the church known as -- “Father’s House” -- located at 1725 Northeast Alberta Street.The investigation began on September 30th, when Northeast Precinct officers were called to the Father’s House on a disturbance call. Officers arrived and learned that several members of the church were arguing with the suspect about allegations of improper sexual contact Schmautz said.Later that night six women, who did not live in Portland, called the Multnomah County Sheriff ...

GOD IN A BOX 2007-10-17 04:39:54 By Joe Musselwhite I thought some of you might enjoy my "God in a box" experiment.I've had fun with this for years. Here's how it works:Go buy a small cardboard box around 2-3 inches square with a removable lid on it.On top of the lid write: "Inside this box is God" and now you're set.Take the box to one of your friends who believes in God and hand it to him and don't say anything. Wait for a response. 99% of the time they take the lid off and say there's nothing in here. Ah! Ah! Now you got them!Once they make this claim, ask them how did they know that nothing was in the box. They will respond that they know nothing is in the box because they can't see anything. This is the whole point of the experiment. It demonstrates very well that humans rely heavily on one of their senses before they claim they know something verses believing something. It proves that people require objective evidence before they accept something as fact.They don't even think about it until it's too la ...

Can a skeptic believe in God? 2007-10-16 19:03:44 Part 1:Part II:Can a skeptic believe in God? This is a segment from the 2006 Amazing Meeting. Michael Shermer speaks first followed by James Randi. These two clips are only a short introduction to a great discussion. For details see http://www.randi.org/amazingmeeting/. ...

The Violent Heritage of Christianty 2007-10-16 06:32:00 © 2007 by Tim Simmons The recent insistence by Midwest Painter that nowhere in the Bible are Christians commanded to kill non-Christians has prompted me to do a bit of typing. I’ve already known about most of what I’ve dug up here but I thought I might try to put just SOME of the evidence in one post that Christianity has a bloody heritage not entirely unconnected to its holy scripture. My belief was that the Bible did command violence under certain circumstances but a wholesale command to kill anyone who was not already a Christian clearly is absent from the New Testament writings but IS depicted as historical events and direct commands from god in many places of the Old Testament. Can we establish a link between the Bible and violence perpetrated by those who profess to be Christians? I think the answer to this one must be a resounding YES! I will post a few quick things first then some links to some articles on the web in case anyone wants to browse them. I’d ...

Church pastor dies while enjoying unusual hobby 2007-10-15 21:42:26 The Montgomery Advertiser reported the death of 51-year-old Rev. Gary Aldridge, a Montgomery, Alabama, Baptist Minister, back in June. The article has since been removed from the paper's website (articles are only archived there for a week), however, here is the original text:Minister died of asphyxiationBy Andre CoeMontgomery AdvertiserTheir pastor was dead. The church members were still in shock.Youth Minister Charlie Swain and one of the members of Thorington Road Baptist Church embraced. Another woman stood silently and wept.The congregation's senior pastor, the Rev. Gary M. Aldridge, had been found dead at his home Sunday morning under unusual circumstances.Aldridge died of asphyxiation, according to a preliminary report from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. The police went on to state that Aldridge evidently did not die from random criminal activity. Forensic Sciences also said there were no signs of injuries to Aldridge's body. The autopsy was recently released, ...

Eternal Forces strikes back 2007-10-15 17:45:48 Remember that Christian video game called Eternal Forces that came out last year? Well, apparently, criticism of the game caused sales to lag a bit. And in response, Left Behind Games is fighting back. The following is from GamePolitics.Com:And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger… (Ezekiel 25:17 …and, of course, Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction)Numerous reports have surfaced on the web over the last few days regarding legal threats made against blog sites by Left Behind Games, publishers of a controversial real-time strategy title based upon the mega-selling Christian book series.Gameology writes:You’ve probably seen that we’ve posted some rather critical remarks on the game Left Behind: Eternal Forces… we’re apparently on [CEO] Troy Lyndon’s radar… On Monday, they escalated their response by sending me a nastygram threatening me with legal action unless I remove “false and misleading” comments from this website.…The goal of this ...

I wasted good satire 2007-10-15 04:07:00 Sent in by Bryan BWhy is it that fundamentalists have to have a complete lack of sense of humor? Why is it so hard for them to detect shades of sarcasm, or hints of mockery? I guess the reason I'm asking is because I sent a satirical letter to Answers in Genesis, and it went like this:"Dear Creationists, I, like you, am offended at the exclusive teachings of evolution in public schools. I feel it is important for students to critically consider both sides (creation and evolution), not to be brainwashed by one side. As a member of the native Kiowa Apache tribe, I take pride in our creation story, which never changes, no matter what other men say. I still believe the world was formed by a creator mixing the sweat of 4 different gods, and a tarantula pulling cords to make the earth its present size. Secular scientists say there is no proof of this, but unbiased Kiowa Apache scientists have found just the opposite! Also, our sacred teachings predicted that many people would fin ...

Called by GOD to preach? 2007-10-15 03:01:13 These Young Preachers Say They Save Souls Seven-year-old Samuel Boutwell is an outgoing and well-spoken second grader. He loves to play with his dogs and play soccer, but he loves something else even more. Samuel is a Baptist preacher at a church in his home town of Brookhaven, a small town in southwestern Mississippi. He also preaches outside in front of the local Wal-Mart, and has preached on the road in Virginia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Washington D.C., and the streets of New York City. Like many, Samuel said he became a preacher after he was "saved" by Jesus -- he just happened to be 3 years old at the time. "After I got saved, I knew I could try to reach more people to try to get saved," Samuel said. His sin against God? Disobeying his mom. And so the boy turned to Jesus. When asked to describe God, Samuel said, "Can you show me a building that didn't have a builder, could you show me a painting that didn't have a painter? Because nobody made God. He just exists." Samuel is ...

Prayer guidlines published for Muslim astronauts 2007-10-14 13:23:39 A Malaysian doctor who will spend the last days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in space has vowed to follow the rituals of his faith even as he hurtles around Earth at 17,000 mph.Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor lifted off Wednesday in a Soyuz spacecraft from Kazakhstan, en route to the international space station where he will spend about 10 days.The spacecraft — which also carried an American and a Russian — will take two days to reach the station, a period coinciding with the last days of Ramadan, the month when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. Sheikh Muszaphar has said he will fast and pray in space, even though clerics said he could delay the fast."I am not sure how it would be done but I will share my experiences (with) all the Muslims all over the world when I get back," the 35-year-old Sheikh Muszaphar wrote in his Web journal. "After all, Islam is a way of life and I am quite sure I would not face much difficulties."Sheikh Muszaphar is taking vacuum-packed Malaysian food, inclu ...

Where are you, God? 2007-10-14 13:22:22 Sent in by ScottI grew up as a Catholic, believing in God. Eventually my faith wandered and I had many questions. I became a Methodist and was raising a family. I still believed in a God that would help explain the mystery of the cosmos, but Christianity was becoming increasingly absurd to me.Nine months ago, my ten-year-old son Connor died of a heart attack related to leukemia. Needless to say, we were devastated. I'm lost and broken; my whole world was shattered. There is nothing more tortuous than losing your child. It's not like you've heard it described -- "a big hole in your heart" -- it's your whole soul, your very existence being ripped in infinite directions, and so much worse. I've been robbed and violated and there is absolutely nothing I, or anyone else, can do to fix it -- I'm helpless and it is hopeless. There is nothing like having your young son die, that pulls the rug from under you. Everything I ever believed or thought I believed went with Connor; I have been d ...

Breaking Up With Jesus 2007-10-14 08:31:45 A new free e-book by Amy Black entitled "Breaking Up With Jesus" chronicles her thoughts and experiences in de-conversion from Christianity. The book is in .pdf format, is 159 pages long, and is available for download at LuLu.com and here on ExChristian.Net. If you do download and read her story, please consider providing some feedback here or at Lulu.Com.I have found that grieving the loss of my faith feels the same as when I grieve the loss of a friend. If you have found this to be true for yourself, don’t be embarrassed about it. Of course you are going to grieve when you lose something very important to you whether it is a person, a pet, a job, a home or a belief system. After any loss, there’s a hole in your life where something you loved used to be and it hurts knowing it’s not there. -- Amy Black, in "Breaking Up With Jesus"Download: Breaking Up with Jesus ...