By Dethblight ~ T oday, (for no particular reason), I started thinking about something my Mom said when I first came out of the religious closet to her. I told her that I no longer believed in Christianity, and she automatically assumed that this was due to my experiences in the army. At the time, I immediately said "no", but now I realize that this may have played a role in the change of my beliefs... just not in the way that she meant. When I first told her that I no longer believed in Christianity and the bible (though I was still a Deist at the time), her first response was something along the lines of "I know that you have experienced some horrible things...". While I thought nothing of it at the time, I now find it interesting that she (and most other Christians) assume that I lost faith once I saw the dark side of humanity for myself. To her (and them), the reason for my abandoning Christianity was somewhere between anger at God and assuming that

By Victoria ~ W hen I was 6 years old my mother began dating a man who I will call Bill. She would later marry him in a relationship that lasted throughout my childhood and adolescence. She was in a vulnerable situation, as my biological father had walked out on her and left her with three kids to raise on her own. "Bill" was at first seemingly normal, but definitely a bit strange. Not a personality that I personally would trust my own children with, but that's besides the point. To make a long story short, Bill became worse and worse throughout the years, becoming increasingly more religious. He was what I call a fundamentalist. As the youngest, I was the one attacked most towards the end of his and my mother's relationship--after my older siblings had left home, I was left alone with an increasingly bitter, religious, and abusive man whom I had known as my father figure from a young girl. When I was young, Bill tried to get us into Christianity. Before his w

By Anonymous ~ M y soul cannot handle any more religion. It offends me and breaks me down. Immediately religion brings me to a place of unfounded fear, guilt and neurosis. As a child my life was dictated by the Bible. My parents spanked me because the Bible says, "spare the rod, spoil the child." I have learned that many children have been abused, many beaten to death, in christian/catholic households because of this verse. The impression I get from the stories in the Bible are that God will punish anyone at anytime for crimes that other people committed, whether you were good (just to test you), whether you were bad, or whether you simply misunderstood something that God was supposedly trying to say. I always "knew" (because I was told) that someday God was going to return on a "glorious day" when horrible plagues would be sent to earth, people would be tormented, satan was let loose, and pregnant women would experience the worst pain anyone has

By Veryconfused ~ I was raised as a Chrsitian my whole life and have lived dedicated to god. When I was 14 my mom was diagnosed with brain cancer . I prayed for two years, and when I was 17 she passed away. I spent my entire time in high school taking care of her -- waking up to help her go to the restroom -- and I prayed that god would save her. He never showed. I asked myself over and over how a prefect and loving god could do this. I am sick of people telling me "It's god's plan" or "I can't tell you why these things happen, it's just life." What the hell is the point of religion if it can't answer the toughest and most imoportant questions in life? I want to know why this happened! Where God was during this time? Why is religion here if it doesn't help? If you are a Christian I want to talk, cause aren't you supposed to help those who are struggling? And, I want a non-christian point of view on this matter. I'm sick of

By Alex Balderstone ~ I ’d like to discuss something which I am yet to see mentioned amongst ex-Christians . It is the Bible’s viewpoint on rewards in Heaven. Throughout my journey in quizzing the nature of the Bible in certain quarters, the reward system horrifies me, only to be beaten by the horrific nature of Hell , punishment and justice. In particular, the Five Crowns are often talked about. These are: The Crown of Righteousness The Incorruptible Crown The Crown of Life The Crown of Rejoicing The Crown of Glory And I’d like to add this too: and each one will receive His own reward ACCORDING TO HIS OWN LABOR. (1 Corinthians 3:8) This is a massive problem, coming into direct conflict with my personality, as I’m sure it will for many of you too. Throughout my mere 20 years on this Earth, I’ve received many awards and rewards for academic and extra-curricular activities. I’m not a straight A student, but I’ve always modelled myself on working damn hard and that eve

By belovedimmortalmy ~ S o recently I realized that I'm not really a Christian anymore and that I'm more of an agnostic humanist open to the idea of a liberal, loving god. I was trying to explore my faith and make it evolve in order to answer the many questions and doubts I've had growing up with conservative Christianity . My dad is a pastor and my mom is a Sunday school director. I told them that right now that I'm trying to deepen my faith and understanding as a Christian and I told them that is why I am attending a Unitarian Universalist church. They were a little freaked out when I told them that I am visiting a UU church. In their eyes, any church that is not Bible-based and Christo-centric is a false church, a cult. They do not view UU kindly, and already are trying to proselytize me back to being a "good" Christian. How do I tell them that I am not really a Christian anymore, that my beliefs are bigger and more loving than that narrow, condemning

By Libby Anne of Love, Joy, Feminism ~ A nother blogger that I have been corresponding with asked me the other day how I, as an atheist, account for the resurrection. When I was a fundamentalist, I was told that the resurrection was incontrovertible proof of the truth of Christianity, the kind of proof that cannot be ignored even by an atheist. This argument made so much sense to me at the time that I couldn't understand how an atheist could possibly explain it away. Those of you who are also from fundamentalist backgrounds may have been taught the same. So my goal here is not to upset anyone or start any debates, but simply to explain why atheists do not actually see the resurrection as proof of Christianity. I will start with my friend's question, and then offer my (somewhat lengthy) response: How do you, personally, account for the story of Christ's resurrection? It is fairly well documented. Do you think it was a hoax, a collective hallucination, or what? How do

By Jake Rhodes ~ T his serene and somewhat uneventful evening finds me listening to commentary on various theological debates while gazing upon the few empty beer bottles laid waste in front of me. My not quite “drunk”, but ever so slightly unreserved, state emboldens me so that I am convinced it is advisable to pen my musings on a topic I have been contemplating for the past few months. Fairly recently it appears it has become fashionable for religion, Christianity in particular, to append the adjective “reasonable” to a selected form of faith. In fact, William Lane Craig has actually authored a book with a title that conjoins the opposing concepts of reason and faith to form the epitome of an oxymoron. I must admit that I have not read the aforementioned book; this article is not intended to refute any of the points contained within Dr. Craig’s book. I have gleaned enough of Dr. Craig’s philosophy from his public debates to conclude that I have no interest in reading any of his wr

By houndies ~ I t occured to me recently that while xtians are often the ones to tell a nonbeliever that he/she can have no moral code without their biblegod, they are really the ones who have no reason to be moral. Their doctrine asserts that as long as one believes in christ as the way to god, they will go to heaven. Image by 陳卡比 aka Scott via Flickr I have a few xtian friends who believe "Once saved/Always saved." Regardless, the notion that xtians aren't perfect, just forgiven, is a belief that gives them no reason to be accoutable for anything at all. It's carte blanche to do whatever to whomever and not have to feel guilty. A few well placed tears to appease a scowling congregation and all is forgiven. If this is the worst punishment, then why not lie, steal, cheat, and so forth? Typically I have found the the remorse is shortlived and it's off to satisfy the old lusts of the flesh again. As Britney says, " Oops I did it again ." They don&#

By Cassaundra ~ I was hoping tremendously that I was not alone here and thank goodness I know that I'm not. From the very beginning I knew that I was different and was not made for conformity even if that was in the nature of religion-something that's been passed down through many generations of my family. I don't blame my mother and grandmother for teaching me what they taught. It's what was taught to them. But they weren't born or built for something different and I understand that now and can't expect them to understand or even accept my choice. It's taken me countless times of doubting, confusion and research over the years to know and be comfortable with the decision to go against the grain of my surroundings and say, "You know what, I just don't believe and can't believe what you're teaching and saying to me. I know you have good intentions but I'd rather use my brain, think for myself and not be force fed something that doesn&#

By Astreja Somewhere in the squirrels-on-crack illogic of Christian lay apologetics can be found a concept most bizarre: Biblegod as a "perfect" being. After listening to various believers prattle on about their imaginary friend, I came to the conclusion that a lot of Christians have a frightfully low standard for "perfection." Let's start with Genesis , Chapter 2 and the Garden of Eden fable. Somehow Mr. Perfect thought it would be a good idea to put two magic trees in the Garden but specifically prohibit the tenants from enjoying the fruit of Tree #2. As any sane parent knows, it's a bad idea to bake cookies and leave them on a plate on the coffee table, then tell the kids "Ah-ah-ah! Don't touch!" And after the kids have been caught with chocolate smears on their faces and cookie crumbs all over the living room rug, no sane parent would toss the kids out on the street and hire an armed security guard to keep the kids from comin

From student ~ I first, of all, want to acknowledge the forethought of the numerous articles in this site. Each writer has evoked some contemplation of my beliefs and I appreciate that. Image by Erik mit k via Flickr I find myself tempted to debate some of the fallacies brought up; but I feel that there is not merit to it. You accuse Christians of close mindednes; but are you not as exclusive in your thinking as well? In forsaking thought of God or any supernatural intervention, it automatically makes your mind open; but excluding liberal atheistic ideology consequently makes the individual close minded? Biased thinking? I believe so. There is an apparent contradiction. To be open to one thing, you quite likely will be closed to another; and to judge which is closed and which is open is subject to the individual's opinion. If you deny the existence of God than you must acknowledge the presence of another being(which in most cases is the individual) or else a different ide

Gary Tuchman reports on an author who says you must spank your child and a couple who killed their daughter doing it.

By Race ~ I think about my childhood a lot these days, now that I'm getting older. I remember a lot of happy times before I got all wrapped up in worldly ideas. My family was good to me, cared for me and taught me to appreciate the many good things life has to offer. When I got older and ventured out on my own I was unprepared for a lot of the difficulties I faced. I wanted to get married and have my own children, do good work and continue to enjoy life. I was always willing to do as much as I could to make other people happy, had a good work ethic and looked forward to many things that seemed to me to be perfectly within reach. I tried to pursue the " American dream " the way it was presented to me by my friends, by teachers, by television; but I have found that a great deal of what I had been taught about life was contrary to reality as I understood it. I assumed there was something wrong with me since I didn't seem to be as secure as the people around m

By Bethany ~ L ife is the most extraordinarily difficult epicenter of our existence. We would all die for our loved ones, but who of us really live for them? Image by memoflores via Flickr For the first 18 years of my life I’ve been immersed into the Christian faith. I’ve been baptized, dedicated, and was known as a covenant child. Every person in my family is a god fearing saint, every person except for yours truly. For one thing I have had issues with my religion every second of every loathing-sobbing-thrashing day of my life. I never really connected with God and Jesus the way I thought I was supposed to, I felt inadequate because I was a woman and I spent my days praying to desire God and guilt ridden when I continued to fall short. It still hurts. Six years ago I was at every prayer breakfast, youth group, missions trip and biblical retreat doing my best to “defy humanity”—but in doing so I was the most miserable person I knew. Two suicide attempts, two psych evaluations, two