By Almost There ~ I have been through the most terrible, dreadful time of my life, emotionally, in the last few years so its kind of hard knowing where to start, there is so much to say I just want to scream everything out all at once but I will try to tell my story as best as I can. My story first began not with doubt as such, but from the feeling of being hurt and confused. There were numerous times I felt a deep cut within myself wondering why would an all powerful, all present and all knowing God allow suffering in the world. Sounds like a simple enough question, but for a faithful Christian to have it is emotionally excruciatingly painful because there is no answer that will soothe the pain as they all fall short. Some Christians are afraid to ask it out of fear of being punished, so for a time I never verbalised the question, even to myself, even in my own head, I thought it but never really asked the question. I never had a fantastic life growing up, sure it was a dec

By Valerie Tarico ~ I n 1878, the Supreme Court of the United States wrestled with a religious freedom case focused on Mormons and polygamy. In the written decision , Chief Justice Morrison Waite explained the court’s attempt to discern the intent of the First Amendment. He turned to someone who had been in the room when the Amendment was written— Thomas Jefferson : Mr. Jefferson afterwards, in reply to an address to him by a committee of the Danbury Baptist Association (8 id. 113), took occasion to say: "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God; that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship; that the legislative powers of the government reach actions only, and not opinions ,—I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building

By Carl S ~ H istory. What place in history the present crisis in Iraq will occupy no one knows. The current conflict between the forces of ISIS and everyone else dominates. This is a religious war, as are the ongoing religious conflicts among the religious factions opposed to ISIS, whose aim is to return to an Islamic Caliph -dominated Middle East , this time dictated by Sharia law . Caliphs are history, their reigns abolished centuries ago. History. I came across a book review of “ Delphi : A History of the Center of the Ancient World.” Delphi lasted for a thousand years, where rulers came for wisdom, to consult priestess-oracles on the future, and on the decisions they must make. Delphi celebrated its many gods, held athletic, music, painting, dance, and mime competitions; Delphi, with its over-adorned sanctuaries and wealth. What remains of Delphi? It is a tourist attraction in Greece, where perhaps others, as I, ponder the fact that one day it became “history.” Consider the

By Carolyn Hyppolite ~ T here was never a time when the question of God was not important in my life. As a child, I was disinclined to believe. I was appalled by the story of the testing of Abraham—God tests Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son. I was eleven years old when I read that story and I decided that this was the kind of deity that I should stay away from. Despite my natural skepticism, there is another part of me that has found something appealing in the Christian story. At its best, it is a story about sacrificial love and the restoration of a broken world into something whole, just and beautiful. Perhaps, all of us can find some attractiveness in such ideals. In 2005, I had what I believed to be an encounter with the divine—a calling from God. I fell in love with Jesus. It transformed me radically. I became a zealous and conservative Christian . From that day, everything in my life had religious significance. I became obsessed with what God’s plans were for my p

By ijustwanttobeyourfriend! ~ W hat would you think of a father who could help his child as he/she is drowning but just watches and does nothing? What would you think of a father who watched his son/daughter get raped, tortured, and murdered, and have all the ability to to intervene, but instead just watches and cries and says, "I love you, I'm sorry"? father and son (Photo credit: disgustipado ) God is " Our Father " and he can help all these people. He's extremely wealthy, extremely strong, and all-knowing, yet refuses to even answer my simple questions for instruction on what to do with my life and who to trust. All I'm asking is that he would direct me and give me some instruction. I dont want it to come from a book. I want it to come from a Father/Mother/God. God gives us free will? He doesn't want robots? If he guides me and answers some questions and simply tells that child "don't get in the car with that serial killer&q

By Carl S ~ A merican linguist Noam Chomsky once remarked,  “If you don’t believe in free speech for those you despise, then you don’t believe in free speech.”  This would also apply to beliefs themselves. Do Christians really believe in freedoms of speech/religion, using this obvious common sense? I would reply with a resounding NO; that although the majority of them may profess tolerance, the difference is in degree. They all are intolerant, not only the extremists. What do we mean when we say “religion?” Obviously, the word so often used as synonymous with morality is propaganda. One can and does have morality without religion, and vice versa. Nevertheless, in spite of their contradictions and multitudinous sects, religions hold themselves up as something we should all respect unquestioningly. But, really, why? None of them is based on provable facts, and faiths=superstitions. (Oh yes, it is that simple.) Why then should religions be entitled to special preferential exempt

By Mason Torrey ~ A fter 32 years of being a dedicated Christian, Mason Torrey stumbles across difficult logic and faces the hardest decision of his life. "When you look head on into a light source, you become blind to everything around you." This book documents the first 32 years of Torrey's life as a dedicated Christian. Unwavering in his faith, nothing could take away his faith in God. Throughout the years, he faces challenges, heartbreak, fear, guilt and determination, none of which could rock his solid foundation in the Truth - God's Word. One day in December 2013, it all changed. Torrey has made his story is available as an e-book. He invites everyone to download it for free here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/456177. Website: http://www.solidatheist.com

By Tim Wolf ~ A fter a long period of growing doubts about my Christian faith, I realized a few years ago that I had become a non-believer. Yes, I’m an atheist. Since that realization, I’ve begun the process of coming out, first mostly online, but more recently to most of my friends and family. I often point out that my deconversion process began back in the late 1990’s when I decided to read the entire Bible and study all of those chapters in the Old Testament that I knew very little about. And so during that time I began taking some graduate level Bible and Theology courses and I read the entire Bible twice. When I discuss this with Christians today, the same erroneous statements and accusations are tossed at me in knee-jerk fashion. I would like to address some of these here. The following are a few of the common Christian responses to my deconversion: You had already decided you didn’t believe and just read the entire Bible looking for passages to back up your atheism. Th

By Tania ~ T he time has come to say another “goodbye.” The door has closed. I don't know if it will open again. If it will, my guess is that it won't be anytime soon. I've grieved. I'm not sure I'll ever be completely “done” grieving, because the sadness runs a bit too deep. I loved a lot, and I cared a lot, and now it's time for goodbye. I've cried, and screamed. I've talked, I've exhausted myself with the talking. I've tried to push the sad and angry thoughts aside, but I also need and want to face them, embrace them, not just ignore something so precious as these things that make us feel, that make us real, that show we're not robots. I went to the cemetery a while ago. I had some flowers, and I left them at the grave of someone I don't know. It was a symbol – this time of walking and reflecting, of realizing that something special is gone. A closure, a small attempt to somehow try to connect what once was to what is no lo

By Carl S. ~ A s a child, I was fascinated by the “ Miracles of the loaves and fishes.” As an adult, I find the “miracles” interesting. Consider the times in which they happened: the Romans dominated over the Jewish people , the Roman Empire was vast. Any and all unusual news would spread like wildfire. The first miracle, as recounted, is a report of a man who fed five thousand men alone, not counting the women and children, on this repast. Not just once, either; in a repeat performance, he fed four thousand-plus people. That’s a hell of a lot of people. You can imagine how fast the news would have gotten around. Free food! Okay, so the Romans had spies among the Jews; for sure, you know, worries about rebellions and all that. And let’s not forget the historians at the time: Jewish, Greek, Roman. Events such as these would be news, big time. So, in actuality, the Gospel accounts should be unnecessary. And can‘t you just see the Roman equivalent of a minister of agriculture r

By Valerie Tarico ~ T he American Bible Society funds an annual “State of the Bible” survey, and this spring the Christian Post cheered some of their findings: “The Bible continues to dominate both mind space and book retail space as America's undisputed best-seller.” According to the study , conducted by Barna, over 88 percent of American homes contain a Bible. In fact, the average is 4.7 copies per household. Now, I should note that a young non-religious friend once came home from school with a bright green Gideon’s New Testament that she later touted as a reserve of fine rolling papers, which may explain why the household average isn’t a solid 5. But most Americans treat the Bible with some degree of deference. Among adults who responded to the survey, 56% were classified as “pro-Bible” meaning they think it is the actual or inspired word of God with no errors. More than a quarter said that they read from the Good Book daily or at least several times a week. Fully half

By Jo Parker ~ W hen I was young, my mother hammered into me her belief that Catholics were not real Christians. I was not allowed to play with children from non-Christian families. I lived in a protected bubble. I was rarely exposed to anything that would cause questions to arise concerning differing belief systems. A Catholic family with five children lived two doors down, and I was not allowed to go to their house.I attempted to explain to my mother that they were like us. They had a cross on their wall. The girl, who was two years older than me, had told me she was a Christian. I was age 4 or 5 when my mother began to explain it to me, in simple terms at first: Catholics are idolaters because they worship graven images and pray to dead human beings, like Mary. She later pointed out that the children down the street celebrated Satan's holiday, Halloween.This notion was difficult to buy into beyond the age of 7. Halloween looked like a lot of fun. By that age, I was enroll