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God Answers Prayers Of Paralyzed Little Boy 2007-07-31 12:44:22 SAN FRANCISCO–For as long as he can remember, 7-year-old Timmy Yu has had one precious dream: From the bottom of his heart, he has hoped against hope that God would someday hear his prayer to walk again. Though many thought Timmy's heavenly plea would never be answered, his dream finally came true Monday, when the Lord personally responded to the wheelchair-bound boy's prayer with a resounding no. "I knew that if I just prayed hard enough, God would hear me," said the joyful Timmy, surrounded by stuffed animals sent by well-wishing Christians from around the globe, as he sat in the wheelchair to which he will be confined for the rest of his life. "And now my prayer has been answered. I haven't been this happy since before the accident, when I could walk and play with the other children like a normal boy."God's response came at approximately 10 a.m. Monday, following a particularly fervent Sunday prayer session by little Timmy. Witnesses said God issued His miraculous answer in th ...

Bookstores have Noticed Atheists 2007-07-31 12:42:17 Minnesota Atheists notes a new policy at Borders Books — they've put up a small display section dedicated to books about atheism.If you've ever been frustrated in a search for books on nonbelief in your local bookstore or annoyed by their inclusion in the comparative religion section, Borders Books has remedied the situation. "Atheism and Agnosticism" has been added as a new section for the works of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and many others. We hope other bookstores will follow this example, and encourage our members to suggest they do.A reader actually sent me a photo of this miracle.Of course, compare the size of that to the "New Age," or "Religion" section of your typical bookstore, and you can see we've got a ways to go yet. I'm going to have to insist that everyone go out and buy these books. After you've finished reading them, I expect you to write a book of your own, so we can fill up a wide rack of our own.If you have doubts that you can write a ...

Pastor and Christian radio personality arrested 2007-07-31 06:04:23 Fans of gospel music likely know the name Tommy Tester well. He's a staple at WZAP 690 am in Bristol, Virginia, and has been for almost 25 years, but his recent arrest, has put his station in a tight spot.Johnson City police arrested Tester Thursday night on charges of indecent exposure and public drunkenness. Police say the preacher was driving drunk when he stopped at a car wash and urinated with children present. Investigators say prior to his arrest, Tester, who was wearing a skirt at the time, made sexual advances to them.WZAP Owner Al Morris says he has relieved Tester of his duties at the radio station until the facts of the case are determined. Morris says Tester's arrest came as a surprise to him and everyone at the station. Since the arrest, Morris says he has spoken with Tester, who he says denies all of the allegations. Morris asks everyone to pray for the man.It seems people are taking that request to heart, including members of Tester's congregation. He is the pastor o ...

You think with God you've found peace? 2007-07-31 04:20:35 By MG (Monk)I once had a question and answer session with a devout Church of Christ member. This was a few years ago, and I couldn't possibly tell you how much of this was/is my thought and how much came from other sources as I was deep into my de-conversion studies at the time. I do not wish to steal ideas (or otherwise plagiarize) but to promote independence, inquiry, and rational thought.With that prelude, the following is derived from a piece I jotted down after our debate:To Christians:Religion is the greatest menace the world has ever known. As long as religion exists, we will never see a unified world, a world at peace. You might ask, "Without religion, why bother with a unified world? What would be the point?" I say for the betterment of man, a LASTING betterment -- to take care of the carnal vessels that have sustained us this far: our bodies, the planet, each other. No one is coming back to save you or your children. If you don't save yourself, nothing else is going to do i ...

Exorcism ends in death 2007-07-30 11:39:46 PHOENIX — Officers responding to a report of an exorcism on a young girl found her grandfather choking her and used stun guns to subdue the man, who later died, authorities said Sunday.The 3-year-old girl and her mother, who was also in the room during the struggle between 49-year-old Ronald Marquez and officers, were hospitalized, police said. Their condition was unavailable.The relative who called police said an exorcism had also been attempted Thursday."The purpose was to release demons from this very young child," Sgt. Joel Tranter said.Officers arrived at the house Saturday and entered when they heard screaming coming from a bedroom, Tranter said.A bed had been pushed up against the door; the officers pushed it open a few inches and saw Marquez choking his bloodied granddaughter, who was crying in pain and gasping, Tranter said.A bloody, naked 19-year-old woman who police later determined to be Marquez's daughter and the girl's mother was in the room, chanting "something that ...

Atheist vs. Christian morality 2007-07-30 05:38:50 By Eris DI have been lurking on this site for a long time. Sometimes I comment on the occasional testimonial.I just want to say that I am constantly amazed at the warped views that the majority of people in America have about atheists. First, many think that we have no morals because we do not believe that the Bible is the infallible word of God and/or we don't believe in a god. Consequently, they think they make negative assumptions about our integrity and honesty in many ways.Unfortunately, I live in a part of the country where the majority of the people strongly believe in a mythical god and my husband and I hear those code words ''Have a BLESSED Day" almost every day. We know that we must conceal our atheism in order to keep ourselves and our kids safe against retribution from those who will do ANYTHING in the name of their mythical god(s), like defacing our property, harrassing our kids or getting us fired from our jobs.Last year I pulled up to the drive-thru of my local ...

The real truth about the Roman Catholic Church 2007-07-29 11:27:58 NOTE: This is not a child or work-friendly video.To monitor comments posted to this topic, use . ...

GET A LIFE! 2007-07-29 07:47:00 Your gospel story quiz made me angry. I took it twice, the second time through I recorded the opposite response to each question and still received a zero. Maybe you think it's clever to quiz people on the contradictions, my time is valuable and you wasted it with your impossible quiz. Get a life. ~Alana Cooke, MA, MEdTo monitor comments posted to this topic, use . ...

Born again religion reporter loses faith 2007-07-29 07:40:36 From the LA Times, written by By William Lobdell, Times Staff WriterWhen Times editors assigned me to the religion beat, I believed God had answered my prayers.As a serious Christian, I had cringed at some of the coverage in the mainstream media. Faith frequently was treated like a circus, even a freak show.I wanted to report objectively and respectfully about how belief shapes people's lives. Along the way, I believed, my own faith would grow deeper and sturdier.But during the eight years I covered religion, something very different happened.In 1989, a friend took me to Mariners Church, then in Newport Beach, after saying: "You need God. That's what's missing in your life." At the time, I was 28 and my first son was less than a year old. I had managed to nearly ruin my marriage (the second one) and didn't think I'd do much better as a father. I was profoundly lost.The mega-church's pastor, Kenton Beshore, had a knack for making Scripture accessible and relevant. For someone who ...

I Didn't Have A Choice 2007-07-28 09:15:27 By Telesmith I cannot believe. This statement is distinctly different than saying that I will not believe. Assenting to the claims of Christianity would mean betraying myself and what I now know. It would be akin to forcing myself to believe that I don’t have two legs. That would simply be impossible. No amount of mental coercion could accomplish such a feat. I know damn well that I have two legs just as I know damn well that Jesus was not God, the bible is not God’s book and he most certainly did not die for my sins. It all happened quite different than I ever imagined it would. I, as a Christian, thought that those who had backslidden simply “chose” to walk away. Maybe some do make an affirmative choice to leave the fold but for me it would have been an affirmative choice to stay and that affirmative choice would have been to lie to myself. I learned things I did not know before. I asked questions that I was not supposed to ask. I did not leave Christianity; I was ...

I am proud to call myself an atheist 2007-07-27 21:35:27 Sent in by Thomas MThis has to be one of the most difficult decisions I have made in my Life. With each keystroke my heart pounds a little harder. My ascent into an ex-Christian has been a painful and liberating journey. I may be young (25) but I have a lot to tell. My Dad was born again when I was five years old. He felt the call of god and moved out to Springfield, Mo to attend Bible College when I was 12. He was an old-time pentecostal full of the spirit. He pastored 2 churches and currently is a minister for a jail. I was home schooled from 3rd grade till 10th grade due to sin in schools. The only people I knew were pentecostal people. When I graduated from High School I had a dream of becoming an inner city pastor doing what Jesus wanted: Giving up everything and helping the poor. I went to my Dad's bible college where I fell into sin and was booted for a year. In that year I studied the Bible diligently wanting to become the most concrete christian I could so I would not ...

Christians don't really think for themselves, despite what they say 2007-07-27 05:34:01 By Bill JThe problem with Christians is that they are not taught to look at the Bible critically. They are taught to believe it without doubt, usually from an early age. To most of them, it is inerrant and inspired by the Holy Spirit, so it has to be correct. When I took bible classes in Bible College we always looked at the difficult passages with faith. The kind of faith that believes there is an explanation for why something seemed contrary. The professors always gave some reason for why God had the Israelites kill children or commit genocide. They would explain why God doesn't answer every prayer, even when we follow the Bible literally, like bringing the elders of the church to pray for the sick. Aren't the sick supposed to be healed if the elders pray for them? Only if they are true elders, right, whatever.Their explanations seemed plausible to us because we believed the Bible came from God and God must have had a good reason, right? Weren't we taught that God¡¦s ways are a ...

Over the Hedges 2007-07-26 20:07:10 by J.C. SamuelsonChris Hedges comes across as a decent guy. He laments the intolerant demagoguery of some prominent Christians and their Evangelical followers as well as the violence displayed by radical Islamists. He appears concerned about the forces that continue to divide us, and his persona is very nearly that of a journalistic Rodney King saying, "Can't we all just get along?"It seems almost cruel to offer criticisms of such an apparently forthright, earnest, compassionate, and likeable person's ideas concerning religion. In fact, it would be quite easy to find points on which we might agree. Yet it would be irresponsible not to offer a critical analysis of some of his ideas, most recently expressed in abridged form in an article titled, "The Hitch in Hitchens' Thinking" (see also here).High on Hedges' list of irksome issues is the proliferation of atheist polemics addressing religion. He has debated both Sam Harris and Chris Hitchens on the topic of God, and continues to tak ...

Chess and the Problem of Evil 2007-07-26 20:05:45 One of the most popular Christian arguments in defense of the belief in a perfectly good omnipotent God in the face of intense suffering is that the atheist does not have an objective or ultimate moral standard from which to press this argument against the theist. I have tried and tried to explain why these are two separate problems. In my latest attempt I said this:On the one hand is the problem of suffering for you who believe in a perfectly good omnipotent God. On the other hand there is the problem of objective morality for those of us who do not believe in God. If you press the second problem on me as an answer to your problem, then you are skirting the issue of your problem. It's that simple. You cannot respond to your problem by saying, "yeah, well you have one too," and I cannot respond to my problem by saying, "yeah, well you have one too." I have dealt with my problem here. When will Christians deal with their problem? Their problem arises from within the things they believe ...

Times-Harris Poll: 1/4th of Us Could Be Atheists or Agnostics 2007-07-26 20:03:52 Posted by John W. LoftusSource: The Nation [from the June 25, 2007 issue]"We commonly hear that only a tiny percentage of Americans don't believe in God and that, as a Newsweek poll claimed this spring, 91 percent do. In fact, this is not true. How many unbelievers are there? The question is difficult to assess accurately because of the challenges of constructing survey questions that do not tap into the prevailing biases about religion.""According to the American Religious Identification Survey, which interviewed more than 50,000 people, more than 29 million adults--one in seven Americans--declare themselves to be without religion. The more recent Baylor Religion Survey ("American Piety in the 21st Century") of more than 1,700 people, which bills itself as "the most extensive and sensitive study of religion ever conducted," calls for adjusting this number downward to exclude those who believe in a God but do not belong to a religion.""Contrast this with a more recent and more nuanced ...