By Riz S. -- L eviticus 20:10 states, “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.” – This is just one of many Biblical examples of absolute absurdity, supported by a “by the times” attitude. Image by Beopenguin via Flickr What I mean by this, is that at the time these passages were written, the idea of adultery was so loathed that it was considered punishable by death . Believe it or not, I don’t look down on this entry of Leviticus, along with countless other references like it. This is because I understand the concept of era-centric (or era-specific) writings and beliefs. It’s like recalling a time in the not-so-far-away past when Western cultures allowed Slavery. It is not to say these things were not dishonorable and deplorable, but rather it is about recognizing our naivety as human beings. While I hate to play the ignorance card, I do have to acknowledge: We didn’t know any b...

By timjim -- I was a Southern Baptist Christian at the age of 10. Now I know that this is very young, but I actually had a friend who said he had been a Christian since 6, said he just felt like he needed something different in his life (give me a break). As I grew up I kept to my faith and read the bible each day, prayed each day, went to church each and every time the doors were open. Hell, I even went and talked to the preacher when I wasn't going to church meetings. I held my faith higher than anything else in my life and I was just a kid. I had every pastor and person that had anything to do with the ministry telling my parents that they believed God was going to call me to be a preacher. I even, at one point, believed that I was going to be a preacher. Anyways, teenage years were hard (I hear they are hard even if you aren't a Southern Baptist Christian). I struggled with my faith, my hormones, and my friends. I felt the overwhelming need to tell everyone that they...

A little prayer time is good for the soul -- "Pray for You" by Jaron and The Long Road to Love - LYRICS Haven't been in church since I don't remember when Things were going great 'Til they fell apart again So I listened to the preacher As he told me what to do Said you cant go hating others who done wrong to you Sometimes we get angry But we must not condemn Let the good Lord do his job And you just pray for them I pray your brakes go out Running down a hill I pray and flower pot falls From a window sill And knocks you in the head like Id like to I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls I pray your flying high when your engine stalls I pray all your dreams never come true Just know wherever you are Honey, I pray for you Really glad I found my way to church Cause I'm already feeling better and I thank God for the words So I'm gonna take the high road And do what the preacher told me to do You keep messing up And Ill kee...

By Dano -- I don't know how or when I became a total skeptic, but somewhere along the line I acquired the talent for an almost instantaneous recognition of bullshit. Image by ThreadedThoughts via Flickr I enjoy reading Nigerian scam letters for their humor. The poor grammar and the pathetic attempts to use religion as embellishment, plus the ever present warning to "Don't reveal this to anyone else, and reply only to me", I find hilarious. I assume that ever since the first air head sent the first money, to the first scammer, to pay for the cost of securing and sending his very own 5 million dollars, that was left to him/her by someone, or needs your bank account number, so 25 million dollars can be transferred out of the country, before the authorities get wind of it, that the main topic of conversation in all those little third world Internet cafes is, how stupid Americans are. I have seen stories on TV about folks who have been duped by these phishe...

By DealDoctor -- Note: This is a REALLY long rant. Do NOT read it if you are busy and stop reading anytime it loses meaning for you. If you have time and a cup of coffee go for it. It hits on fundamental issues that underly the freethinkers opposition to religious and political totalitarianism. M y car does not think it simply obeys my command. I get to think and it is simply obeys and in fact it is forced to obey. It has zero choice in the matter. It is less than a child. It is certainly no human being. When my children were small they also did not really get to be freethinkers. When it came time to crossing the street they simply held my hand and crossed when I thought it was time to cross. They might as well have been my car at that point. My force insured that I was the thinker and that they obeyed. My hand was the stronger hand and my idea of the best action was the idea that resulted in their action when they were small. Today it is a much different matter I assure ...

By Rational Okie -- A s an over 40 atheist, I’ve been around long enough to witness the extreme changes that have occurred in the churches over the last 30 years. Churches now seem to compete to see who can be more extreme. From my perspective, living in the South, the evangelic fundamentalists are the most sanctimonious bunch of hypocrites that I’ve ever seen. They are often unabashedly crowing about their perceived superiority and ‘chosen’ status. Whereas in the past they used to be somewhat sheepish and only spoke about things like ‘tongue talking’ and ‘gifts of the spirit’ amongst themselves. For years I viewed these people as humorous but harmless. They did not have any impact on my life. Then something started to happen. Christians started to engage the scientific community. They wanted to discuss evolution and other scientific topics. Christians started to engage the legal community and started sending their children to conservative law schools. They got their own...

By Jeff -- M y first experience with religion was the Roman Catholic church when I was around 10 years old. Image by viewerblur via Flickr My father insisted on me and my siblings to attend, I never wanted to go, I thought it was confusing, boring and I couldn't understand how people got so enthralled. Thankfully my mother did not make us attend she felt that if we didn't want to go we didn't have to. Obviously she wore the pants in the relationship. My next experience was a Lutheran church that my friends family attended at the time. At this church I first experienced the shakers, I was blown away by how red faced and wild some of these people would get, I would look at them in the same way that I look at people who were on hard drugs out in public. At this time I also realized that the only reason I went to church was to be social afterwards and play in the church until my friends mother was done with bible class. ...

By J.W. -- T he tree of “Knowledge” had forbidden fruit, and maybe that fruit was God himself. Image by Psychology Pictures via Flickr You don’t look in the world for answers when God has given them to you. The greatest chance of solving a problem is to acknowledge it in the first place. The only known reality is ‘this world’, and that is good psychology . You should psych out God. As a former completely deluded person -- I understand. Killing the concept of God is uncomfortable. I recently did the deed, and quickly began to see the consequences. I realized I was carrying an agenda that was not my own. That agenda influenced my politics. It encouraged me to judge people by unreasonable standards. It promoted wading in guilt, and avoiding personal responsibility. It is time to debunk the final Santa Clause. We all know Santa was invented. God was invented too. So what is Gods purpose? God is a creative answer to the questions, "Why we are here?" "What is our pu...

By  Chris W -- T here was once a boy who lived with his grandpa. For the sake of adventuresome tales, the elderly man would tell his excited young learner that they lived in a kingdom unlike any other. Image by Stuck in Customs via Flickr This kingdom was the only one possessing a mountain filled with gold. Each year the king would choose one young boy to hike the slope of the mountain in search of the secret cavern that led to the treasure. The grandpa told his lad that only a shrouded few knew about the mountain, so he was forbade from telling a soul. Each year, one boy chosen by the king was sworn to silence. Keeping this secret was nearly impossible, but the honor seemed so awesome and the dream so entrancing that he waited, wise and empowered, for his chance to be called. Each year appeared and vanished while the boy became older and older. The wait finally became unbearable as he realized that he would not be a boy forever and so was running out of time. On a hot summe...