sent in by Jeff

The story of my conversion to, involvement with, and de-conversion from the Christian faith is not nearly as dramatic, lengthy, or painful as many who visit this site. In fact, it s rather boring. However, perhaps someone can identify with me and see themselves in this story.

Growing up in a nominally Christian family I had some, but not a great many experiences with the church and faith in general. My father was (and still is) a confirmed agnostic who had undergone his own de-conversion after growing up in a devoutly Lutheran family, even going so far as to attend seminary. But, for most of my life I was ignorant of this. My mother, on the other hand, was (and still is) certainly a believer and so at an early age she began bringing me to a church for Sunday school. My grandparents on both sides of the family are all believers and attended church regularly. Since I spent a great deal of time with them, of course I attended church with them.

(Click Here to read more)

Ultra-Orthodox man charged with three counts of attempted murder over Jerusalem gay parade stabbing
By Tal Rosner

JERUSALEM – An ultra-Orthodox man suspected of stabbing three people during Jerusalem’s Gay Pride Parade last week says he acted in God’s name.

“I came to murder on behalf of God. We can’t have such abomination in the country,” Yishai Shlisel said during his interrogation.

On Tuesday, Shlisel was indicted on three counts of attempted murder at the Jerusalem District Court.

(Click Here to read more)

© 2005 Tim Simmons

(10) Irreconcilable Differences
The accounts of Jesus’ death and resurrection as depicted in the gospels are in serious conflict. Furthermore, Jesus’ resurrection appearances were not originally part of the gospel of Mark (the earliest of the four gospels). Mark originally ended at 15:8 with the women running from the tomb frightened. Verses 9-20 were a later addition. What the Christian scholars often overlook is the interesting phenomenon of later gospel manuscripts knowing more details than the earlier ones! This is a clear indication that those details were never part of the original oral and written accounts but were inserted into the later copies.

(9) Been There, Done That
The concepts of heaven, hell, eternal life, etc., all predate Christianity as does a savior-god who died and was resurrected. (See Zoroastrianism, Osiris, Dionysus, etc.)

(Click Here to read more)

FRANKLIN, Ind. -- A couple convicted of reckless homicide for relying on prayer instead of medical care for their seriously ill newborn say they would do so again if a similar situation arose.

Dewayne and Maleta Schmidt's daughter, Rhianna, died from an infection typically treated with antibiotics less than two days after she was born at the couple's rural Indiana home.

The Schmidts, who were convicted in May, will be sentenced Aug. 12 on reckless homicide charges in Rhianna's August 2003 death. They both face two to eight years in prison.

(Click Here to read more)

By ANDREW TILGHMAN
Houston Chronicle

Some followers collapse and wail after their pastor found guilty in '94 sex abuse of teen

Several members of a small Pentecostal church in Aldine collapsed on a Harris County courthouse floor and wailed unintelligible prayers Thursday after their longtime pastor was convicted of sexually abusing a teenage girl more than 10 years ago.

(Click Here to read more)

By LORNA THACKERAY
Of The Gazette Staff

Church group to picket its own summer camp after unwittingly renting it out to coven of witches

There's not much Gail Beauchamp can do about a circle of Montana pagans who rented a nearby church camp for a summer festival next month, but the Red Lodge woman says Bible-believing Christians won't let it pass unnoticed.

"I believe in the right to freedom of religion,'' she said. "But I also believe in my right to protest.''

(Click Here to read more)

By HARVEY RICE
Houston Chronicle

Edgar Lopez Bertrand, a televangelist regarded as one of the most influential ministers in El Salvador pleaded guilty Thursday to faking a passport for a girl he falsely claimed as his daughter.

Bertrand, 65, pleaded guilty in a Houston federal court after reaching a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C.

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Cyrano

Hi all, I'm Cyrano and I walked away almost five years ago.

It was actually my best friend's coming out that started me down that road, although I'd been going down it a while.

I was raised a Fundamentalist Baptist and exceeded even my zealous father's dreams in terms of my own "holiness" (read: self-righteous prudery). I was one of those horribly better-than-thou people who had read the Bible backward and forward, knew every apologetics answer to anything an unbeliever could throw at me, and actually wrote my graduating thesis on the value of the KJV over any other version of the Bible. In short, I was an annoying little shit.

(Click Here to read more)

Dear WebMaster,

I really and truly hope that u publish my testimony i sent, u guaranteed it....

It was just a testimony about how much God has done for me in my life and what he is doing.

I would like to know how someone could come up with something so corruptive, a site that encouages non-christians, Satan has really worked in your heart my friend

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Philip Agora

I became a born-again Christian in a Fundamentalist Church when I was 14-year-old boy, wrestled with various issues from the start, found myself dissenting on numerous matters, social liberalism for one, difficulty with idea of hell for another (an idea dealt with succinctly by Bertrand Russell, one of my good guys even when I was a Christian).

I have been a university gospel team preacher and developed an idea of Christian epistemology based on the experience of the so-called Holy Spirit. I found my Christianity more tolerable as a Quaker worshiping in a silent meeting that included a pagan and a jew in our midst. In a word we were a very accepting group of Friends.

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Derek

My decision to become agnostic did not happen overnight. It took several years before I came to realize exactly what I believed. I grew up believing Christianity was fact so it took time for me to kill that virus that had infected my mind. I hate to be harsh for those of you who are Christian reading this. But that is what I believe Christianity is: a virus of the mind. My hope is that you will read this article and hopefully it will allow you to question what you believe. I can't imagine anyone would want to believe in something that is not true. You don't believe the moon is made of cheese? or do you? I challenge you to read this article with an open mind. Explore the questions and really stop and think about them. Why do you believe what you believe? Do you know why? I sincerely only want to be where the truth is. If someone can convince me that Christianity, or any other religion is truth, then I want to be there. But unless I have concrete evidence I can't just go on blind faith.

(Click Here to read more)

By John Loftus

How the Christian deals with ex-Christians like us is troublesome to me. Doubt is explained away both intellectually and emotionally. That is, you either don t know what you should know, or you have psychological problems. And why do Christians do that? Because many Christians think that the intellectual foundations for Christianity are superior to others, such that anyone who doubts their faith is lacking in knowledge or mentally deficient. It s just troublesome for the Christian to think that God will condemn a doubter to hell (however conceived) if he honestly could find reasons to believe. That just seems unfair, they think, so they conclude doubters must be in rebellion against God, and/or mentally deficient

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Marie Murdock

Ok where do I begin?

I grew up in an abusive environment, which led to many emotional/mental scars....As a teenager I dabbled in drugs/alcohol/sex...and because of my past, I knew I needed to learn to cope in a healthier manner. I started going to church when I was 15 because my Mom, had gotten "saved", and was told that God was the only thing to save anyone from drugs/alcohol and self destructive behaviours. Of course being so young and wanting to "still serve my flesh", I continued to as most teenagers, and kept in the partying mode. When I met my husband...his Dad, a "christian" started taking us to church and we were told "we had to get married" because we were having sex...so 3 months later (age 19) we were married in a ceremony I had nothing to do with, accept show up~! The church made all the arrangements and I just needed to be there! (WE were "offending" ppl, by our lifestyle of sexual sin, and that is why we had to get married.)

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Becca

I grew up in a marginally Catholic family, and became extremely devout at a young age, turning to God and Jesus in an attempt to cope with abuse from my psychotic mother. I'm an intelligent, discerning individual, and so remaining faithful was a tremendous struggle because so much of Christianity just plain does not make sense. But at the time, I saw God as my only hope for any real love and support. Silly me.

(Click Here to read more)

Article from "The Religious Beliefs Of Our Presidents"
by Franklin Steiner - [ 1878 - 1968 ]

Washington: Born, February 22, 1732. Died, December 14, 1799,
President, April 30, 1779 -- March 4, 1797.

Forward
That much myth and legend is to be found in most of the past biographies of George Washington is admitted by practically all conscientious and discriminating writer's of today. That the "Father of His Country" has been delineated more in the character of a god or a superman than as a real human being is a fact now known to all who think as well as read. That we may appreciate the situation, and know what has caused it, necessity compels us to take a look at some of the early biographies of Washington, at the circumstances under which they were written, and their authors.
The,first 'Life of Washington,' and the one that has had the largest circulation, was written by the Rev. Mason L. Weems, and first published in 1800. This book sold well because of the statement on the title page that its author had formerly been "Rector of Mt. Vernon Parish." It passed through 80 editions, and more people have known Washington and known him exclusively by means of it, than through any other book. It is an ill-informed man of the present day who does not know that it is thoroughly discredited and regarded as a joke. Houoghton, Mifflin &,Co., the Boston publishers, have issued 'The literature of American History,' a practical anthology upon the subject. This states that if the "f" had been left out of the "life," making the title of Weems' book, 'The Lie of Washington,' its real character would be aptly described. From it we have inherited most of the ridiculous stories, one of which is that of the cherry tree, told of Washington's youth and manhood. In 1927, a new edition was published as a literary curiosity. The editor, Mark Van Doren, speaks of its merits as follows:

(Click Here to read more)

GEORGE WASHINGTON

Episcopalian minister Bird Wilson remarked in 1831 that “Washington is no more than a Unitarian, if anything.”

Washington was, by his own admission, an irregular church-goer, although he was a vestryman. When he did attend services, he studiously avoided taking Communion. Wrote his adopted daughter of him, “My father was not one of those to act or pray so that he ‘might be seen by men.’ He communed with his own God in secret.”

In his lifetime, Washington never gave personal affirmation that Jesus was the Son of God. There is no evidence that he ever encouraged his children to read the Bible, attend church, believe in Christ or practice religion in any manner whatsoever.

(Click Here to read more)

"Christian Fundamentalism: The doctrine that there is an absolutely powerful, infinitely knowledgeable, universe spanning entity that is deeply and personally concerned about my sex life."
..........Author Unknown

"'God is as real as I am', the old man said. I was relieved since I knew Santa wouldn't lie to me..."
..........Author Unknown

"Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
..........Author Unknown

(Click Here to read more)

Associated Press
July 15, 2005, 3:28 PM EDT

JACKSON, Miss. -- A Christian adoption agency that receives money from Choose Life license plate fees said it does not place children with Roman Catholic couples because their religion conflicts with the agency's ``Statement of Faith.''

Bethany Christian Services stated the policy in a letter to a Jackson couple this month, and another Mississippi couple said they were rejected for the same reason last year.

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Sandra G

A friend of mine posted here a while back and suggested that I do the same. From reading a lot of the testimonies it seems that people generally abandoned their beliefs for intellectual reasons. I think most religious people have questions or some doubts about their beliefs but most don't abandon their religions outright. The doubts co-exist with the desire to believe. I think leaving your faith usually takes more than doubts. I think there have to be other factors or events involved.

(Click Here to read more)

by Mitch

Since leaving Christianity about 12 years ago it has blown my mind how many so called believers know little 2 nothing about the book which is supposed 2 be the "blueprint" of their faith.

I recently had a discussion with a woman who i was about 2 date when the question came up about whether or not i believed in God. I told her i was neutral on a higher power but definitely not the one in the bible or anything else in it. She became shocked and started calling me a heathen. Lol, the whole thing got crazy as i told her exactly why i didn't believe it and named specific stories, acts by God, contradictions, and flaws. She didn't know what the hell i was talking about. How pathetic is that?

(Click Here to read more)

He faces three counts of filing false returns
By Greg Moran
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 13, 2005

Prominent San Diego evangelist Morris Cerullo was indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday on three counts of filing false individual income tax returns, which allegedly underreported his income by $550,000.

The indictment alleges that Cerullo, president of Morris Cerullo World Evangelism, filed false tax returns for 1998-2000.

The indictment alleges he underestimated his income by $290,000 for 1998, $110,000 for 1999, and $150,000 for 2000.

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by sightedone

I posted here a while back but didn’t really tell my story. I feel like the time has come for me to really put my thoughts and experience in writing for my own growth.

I grew up in what seems to me to be a pretty classical evangelical family. I spent the first 20 years of my life in the “Covenant” denomination and then from college on tried several other churches. I went to bible camp every summer for years, was a model youth groupie and went on two different month long mission trips to south America by the time I was a freshman in college. I went to a Christian college where I received a degree in psychology, and got married with one of my professors giving the message at my wedding. Not long after marrying, my wife and I went into the mission field for a half year in a third world country.

(Click Here to read more)

Did you know that evolutions's Proofs are rapidly vanishing? The more we learn, the more it points to God the creatior of the universe.

You say you don't in God, but what if there is a God and you have to stand before him some day. What if I am right and you were wrong. What if there is a real hell?

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Lord Hades

I wouldn't necessarily call it a crisis of faith, but lately I have found the resolve and courage to confront a very disturbing, yet liberating, issue within myself that I have carefully ignored and avoided over the last few years: namely, that I am not so certain, anymore, if I actually believe God exists, at least not in the ways that I have always been taught that He does.

The older I get, the less I find evidence that God exists in the ways that I have been taught to believe. It's an age-old circular argument that I have refused to answer, truly, because of what that answer would do to my perception of reality: if God exists, and He truly loves each and every one of us without prejudice or judgment, then why does He allow such horrible things to happen in our world? I understand the reality of war:

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by John Murray

My time in christianity was relatively short and my conversion and deconversion alike were nothing out of the ordinary so I won't bore you with the details.

Although I think that a lot in Christianity sucks big time, I must admit that even after all these years of deconversion I still get that nagging feeling:- what if I find out when I die that I'm wrong? I just haven't been able to make the confident break that many writers on this site have done.

(Click Here to read more)

Cardiac Patients in New Study Fared No Better With Spiritual Intercession

By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 15, 2005


Praying for sick strangers does not improve their prospects of recovering, according to a large, carefully designed study that casts doubt on the widely held belief that being prayed for can help a person heal.

The study of more than 700 heart patients, one of the most ambitious attempts to test the medicinal power of prayer, showed that those who had people praying for them from a distance, and without their knowledge, were no less likely to suffer a major complication, end up back in the hospital or die.

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Dennis

I guess you can say I am an ex-Christian. I used to believe all that crapola like jesus loves you and so on. But then one day I discovered all this religious crap is a load of bull. If God/Jesus/Allah/Great Zabbadabba or whatever we're calling him this week really gave a crap about us why is there so much suffering in the world? Don't give me that line of crap about free will and all that. If God gave a rat's ass about people he'd get off his ass and prevent shit like September 11th himself.

(Click Here to read more)

Jehoiachin's Age at Royal Ascension
II Kings tells us that Jehoiachin became king when he was eighteen while II Chronicles alleged that he became King at age eight:

II Kings 24:8
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became King and he reigned three months in Jerusalem
II Chronicles 36:9
Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem.

So how old was Jehoiachin when he became king? Eight or eighteen years old?

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Rich

Ok where to start on my incredible boring journey?? Hmm lets see.. Born into a very strict catholic family on Long Island, NY.. Started first grade in 1968. Wow those Nuns with the horrible outfits and the 12 in rulers… Scary! I remember once I was yelled at by Sister Margaret Joseph the principal of my grammar school for running in the hallways.. WTF was that about? I was punished by being made to walk up and down the hallway and up and down the stairs in the school for an hour while others were in class.. I thought that was cool because I’d rather be walking the halls then be in class learnin’ bout jeebus…

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by UberKuh

My transition from belief to doubt encompasses a long, arduous journey, but I can summarize it as follows. The Bible states in verses like Proverbs 8:17 and Jeremiah 29:13 that God wants us to learn more about Him and that, when we do, He will reveal His presence to us. These verses inspired me. I understood them as statements of a single promise, not a potential. In other words, I understood that I could count on the fact that, every time I looked for God, He would find me.

(Click Here to read more)

Wow. I just read your article on becoming an Ex-Chrisitan. I was really surprised by the ways you categorized them. It sounds to me like, perhaps, you had a really bad experiece w/ people who called themselves Christians, but obviously were not? Christianity is not about hate or exclusiveness.

(Click Here to read more)

SERIOUSLY - THIS WAS LIKE THIS WHEN WE CUT IT - NOT A DRAWING!!

FRESH CUT LOG~AMAZING

I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR SOME SORT OF SIGN TO HELP WITH A STRUGGLE I HAVE BEEN HAVING - I WANT TO OPEN A BUSINESS AND HAVE BEEN SO SCARED SINCE WE REALLY DON'T HAVE AN EXTRA $20,000 LAYING AROUND TO TAKE A CHANCE WITH - THEN MY HUSBAND WAS OUTSIDE DOING YARD WORK AND HE STARTED YELLING FOR ME TO COME LOOK -

(Click Here to read more)

by Chaz Bufe

note from webmaster: While I would not necessarily agree with some of the other publications written and promoted by the author of this piece, I did find this "pamphlet" relevant, useful, and thought provoking. Enjoy!

This pamphlet briefly looks at many of the reasons that Christianity is undesirable from both a personal and a social point of view. All of the matters discussed here have been dealt with elsewhere at greater length, but that’s beside the point: the purpose of 20 Reasons to Abandon Christianity is to list the most outstanding misery-producing and socially destructive qualities of Christianity in one place. When considered in toto, they lead to an irresistible conclusion: that Christianity must be abandoned, for the sake of both personal happiness and social progress.

As regards the title, "abandon" - rather than "suppress" or "do away with" - was chosen deliberately. Attempts to coercively suppress beliefs are not only ethically wrong, but in the long run they are often ineffective—as the recent resurgence of religion in the former Soviet Union demonstrates. If Christianity is ever to disappear, it will be because individual human beings wake up, abandon their destructive, repressive beliefs, and choose life, choose to be here now.

(Click Here to read more)

By Associated Press
July 8, 2005, 7:38 PM EDT

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Evangelist Billy Graham's daughter was arrested and charged with domestic abuse after witnesses told police she choked her husband in a parking lot, authorities said.

Virginia Graham Foreman, 59, spent a night in jail after the July 1 confrontation outside a shopping center, police said. She was charged with misdemeanor domestic abuse and released the following day.

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Jeff

I'm almost embarrassed at how dull this will be, but here goes:

I was baptized into a Lutheran family. I don't remember much about the first couple of churches, but my father liked the pastors at a Missouri Synod franchise in Ames, Iowa. Since this church was on a university campus, it was more liberal than most LCMS churches. It was mind-numbingly dull. All of it. Vacation Bible School (I don't know why they call it that, it's no vacation), Sunday school, all churchly activities.

(Click Here to read more)

This is something I threw together a couple of years ago, but with the discussions on the Rapture we've had to endure lately, I think it is appropriate to bring it back to the top of the site.

Enjoy!

1TH 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

I have been receiving posts from various overly zealous Christians warning me to get my life straight with God before the RAPTURE happens. They have been telling me if I don't hurry up and repent, I will really regret it when all the Christians disappear!!! I also keep getting criticized for not knowing what I am talking about, and if I would just read the whole Bible I would understand.


(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Sandy

I grew up Mormon, which was not a good experience. I was born to a single teenage mother and was then adopted by my great-grandparents who did love me very much. But as a child born to an unwed mother I was automatically labeled as a bad kid. I remember when I was about 11 I started asking questions. Looking back I realize how much my Great-grandmother really loved me. I asked why the doctrine didn't make sense, and she simple said she didn't know. At home I never got in trouble for asking questions.

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Carol

Hi, Good People,

I have enjoyed reading through much of this site and occasionally commenting for some time now and even though I really don't have much of a testimony, I thought I should post anyhow.

I was born into the catholic church and baptised. My Dad was and is non religious, but had to become a catholic to marry Mom. He didn't really swallow it and only went to church once in a while, when Mom dragged him on holidays.

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Tyler deren

Nine months ago I began to see the huge holes in the bible. I was a devoted Christian, and I even preached for 2 years. It was this that lead to my discovery of small mistakes and contradictions in the bible. That in turn lead to my mind opening up to the possibility that the bible was full of myths and lies. Once I began to read and study peoples works like Thomas Paine and Robert Ingersoll the blinders came off and I have never looked back.

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Chris

I was born and raised in rural PA, USA. My upbringing was pretty nondescript spiritually; I went to Catholic school and Catholic church every Sunday and viewed god as sort of a Santa Claus in the sky. When I was about 11 or 12, my mom was "born again" and went off the deep end. Sermons were always blasting on the radio, and she developed an obsession with the End Times, devouring every Hal Lindsey book she could get her hands on.

She was truly convinced that Jesus was coming back at any moment. She'd corner me every time some wingnut cult came out with a "calculation" that the world would end within the week, and tell me to pray and prepare. I lived most of my adolescence truly believing that it would all be over any minute, certainly long before I reached adulthood.

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Dulce

It all started out when I met the man of my dreams. We dated only briefly before we were married. I knew he was raised Pentecostal, but having never been to church or raised religious, I really didn't understand the implications of it all.

For those of you that don't know, Pentecostalism is an abusive, cult-like religion. Well, I didn't know. What I did know was that me going to this church made my fiance and his entire family so happy they practically cried with joy for the first year.

But let me tell you something, after I said "I do", everything changed.

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by anonymous

I was born into the Seventh Day Baptist church, but spent most of my life as an Adventist. There were a few major points on the road to de-conversion. I'll list them, rather than give a whole narrative.

1) Sexually molested at the age of 8 in the church building by a boy and a girl

1b) Baptised into Adventist church at age of 11

2) Began to compare creation and evolution at the age of 13. I couldn't quite believe the story about God putting dinosar bones into the earth to test our faith.

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Momo

I was raised a Christian, but even from an age when I didn't even have developed analytical thinking skills, there were so many things about Christianity that didn't add up. When I asked the adults, they couldn't explain anything to me without using circular logic or saying "the lord works in mysterious ways."

When I was 12, I went through a major depressive period because I thought I was going to hell because I thought somehow I'd accidentally sold my soul to the devil. That's so embarassing to look back on now, but at the time I wanted to kill myself. Only problem was, if I killed myself, that would make my descent into hell that much faster.

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Andrew

Hi all

Hows it going? I am new to this group

My spirtual story so far in life is as follows , I was brought up in an interdenomational (one with baptist , methodist , anglican etc) church and made a commitment to Christ at the age of 10 at an evangalistic rally.

For the next 4 years or so I just went to church on sundays and that was about it. When I was about 14 years old one of the sunday school teachers told me there was church and they prayed for people and they were touched powerfully with the power of God , some people shook and some people fell over and some people laughed and cryed and she asked if I wanted to come...

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by GuitarHound

Hello to all,

Forgive my grammerand punctuation, I'm not eloquent in writing, but eloquent in speech.

First off, I stumbled on this site doing a search on Dan Barker and found the link for his debate with Jason whatshis face. Anyway, I find some of the terstimonies posted here as hilarious...you guys rock!!!

Well I guess I'll let ya'll know a little about myself. I became a Born-Again believer at age 21 and joined a Non- denominational Church basically in a quest for truth and the meaning of life.

(Click Here to read more)

By Sola Odunfa
BBC Focus On Africa magazine

In late April, scores of giant billboards and thousands of wall posters all over Lagos proclaimed the first of three days of divine miracles and healing for at least six million Nigerians - but at the end of the third day, there was more bickering over money than praise to God for mercy received.
The vehicle of the expected wonders of the Holy Spirit was the UNited States-based evangelist Benny Hinn, who flew into Nigeria in a Gulfstream private jet with a large retinue that included his bodyguards.

He was received at Lagos airport in a motorcade of Hummer jeeps and other expensive cars.

The deaf would hear, the blind would see, the lame would jump and walk, barren women would conceive, the jobless would gain employment, and the enemy - both seen and unseen - would be vanquished. Mention any problem - physical, spiritual, economic - Hinn had come with the instant solution.

But things did not go well.

(Click Here to read more)

By Bobby Ross Jr.
The Christian Chronicle
June 21, 2005

Apologetics Press, the Montgomery, Ala.-based church organization that has waged a quarter-century battle against atheism and the theory of evolution, has fired its longtime director, Bert Thompson, amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Interim executive director Dave Miller said the organization, which has a $1 million annual budget, intends to proceed “undaunted by Satan.”

(Click Here to read more)

By Kate Connolly in Berlin
(Filed: 20/06/2005)

A Romanian Orthodox priest who faces a murder charge after ordering the crucifixion of a young nun because she was "possessed by the devil" was unrepentant as he conducted a funeral mass for his alleged victim.

Father Daniel Corogeanu, 29, said that the nun had been "possessed by the devil" and was "beyond salvation" in life.

(Click Here to read more)

by John W. Loftus
email: apacaptainjohn@juno.com

It was actually Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion of the Christ" which actually caused me to come out of the closet, so to speak, and write about my doubt.

The major atonement theory among Christians is that Jesus died in my place and bore the punishment I deserve so that I may be forgiven and go to heaven rather than hell. This theory dominates in the churches.

If Jesus suffered in my place so that I can go to heaven rather than hell, then apart from Jesus’ suffering I should be punished for my sins by being sent to hell when I die. But what has any one of us ever done to deserve the kind of punishment Jesus suffered, much less to deserve hell itself? All through my entire life I have never met, nor even heard of one person, who deserved such a punishment. Never. Never. Never. To say that my sins are an infinite wrong because they are committed against an infinite God, and thus demand an infinite punishment, seems mistaken for several reasons.

(Click Here to read more)

sent in by Rocky

I'll start by saying hello-been lurking on this site for several months and I'm impressed by most of the intelligence expressed here.

Before I cover my background, I'll tell you why I'm here and why I'm so PISSED! I live in a city which has taken yet another ridiculous religious grandstand-a "creation" exhibit at the Tulsa Zoo. Funded by, you guessed it, TAXPAYER DOLLARS. Apparently the mastermind behind this decided that the elephant exhibit is representational of the Hindu faith and therefore this brainiac, who can't separate fact from myth, wants his faith represented too. It's clearly a cultural exhibit, but try telling that to anyone who thinks the earth is only a few thousand years old.

(Click Here to read more)