By Carl S. ~ F or eons, members of primitive, therefore superstitious societies, behaved like little children on a playground. Children can be cruel when they feel they're being treated unfairly. Their retaliation will express itself in the nastiest words. They might taunt each other with threats of "I hope your mom leaves you forever," or, “May you itch all over till you scratch your skin raw." “I hope your dog gets killed by another dog and you get blamed for it." They try to outdo one another in their inventions of nasty vengeances, which they might share with their siblings and parents with complete abandon. If you want to find ancient curses, go to the psalms. You'll be surprised at how many of them are pleas for revenge and punishment on those who are making life difficult for the pray-er, (apologists call those curses "imprecations”). And a lot of them reveal that the righteous ones are envious, jealous, and angry, because of the obvious good

TheNandoLife ~ A few months ago I posted my coming-out video on YouTube and Facebook as both an Atheist and Gay. It was a very polarizing day for me. It was very stressful, to the point that I thought I would throw up my own bloody intestines from the strain and the uncertainty of what would follow. But it was also very freeing. They could accept me, or they could not, but the choice would no longer be in my hands. I am now who I am, and that ain’t changing. I was a state leader for the Foursquare Church in the State of Baja California, Mexico. Later a student, then staff and missionary of Azusa Pacific University, the second largest Christian university in the country. I traveled the world and mobilized thousands of people in Christian ministry. I then became head of youth and young adult programs for the California-Hawaii region of the United Methodist Church.Until finally the questions and the doubts broke through, and set me free. Away from religious indoctrination and bra

By Steve Dustcircle ~ M y wife and I don't have kids, but the topic eventually comes up in a hypothetical sense:  Would we tell our children about Santa Claus ? We both are in agreement:  No. The big man himself brings up the rear at the 2009 Santa Claus Parade, Toronto. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I come from a household that pretended there was a Santa Claus when I was a small child. When my parents had “the talk” with me, I don't remember. But I do remember when one of my uncles played Santa and came down the stairs with a large sack of toys. I vaguely remember getting military toys. However, what is clear in my memory was one of my cousins saying, “That's Uncle Jeff!” I never forgot. I don't remember the trauma I might have felt, but I assume there was confusion, hurt, disappointment and possibly anger. There  had  to have been, because of the clarity of the memory of that event (Memories form when you repeatedly chew on an occurrence). Asi

By Valerie Tarico ~ G uess who has been calling Christmas a pagan holiday for the last 500 years? Christians. If it feels like the “ War on Christmas ” is getting really old, it is. Over ten years have passed since Bill O’Reilly first opened December with a segment called, “ Christmas Under Siege ”—ten long years in which his cadences and refrains and echoing chorus have become as familiar to most Americans as Handel’s Messiah. More familiar, in fact. Not that O’Reilly invented the idea. During the 1920’s, Henry Ford’s newspaper published a series of anti-Semitic articles titled, “ The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem.” Among the complaints : “Last Christmas most people had a hard time finding Christmas cards that indicated in any way that Christmas commemorated Someone's Birth. . . . People sometimes ask why 3,000,000 Jews can control the affairs of 100,000,000 Americans. In the same way that ten Jewish students can abolish the mention of Christmas and

By Amalia ~ I have never written about this publicly before, but 20 years of hindsight makes it easier. I am 40 years old and left the church when I left my parents home at 17. Looking back I feel angry that I was never asked if that is what I actually believed. I felt so much pressure to just believe and do what was expected of me that in the end I ended up resenting and absolutely despising everything related to the church. My parents are nice, they are loving until you speak about religion, At this point they become passive aggressive bullies. They don't see it at all, and the sad thing is that they probably never will as their beliefs seem to justify their self righteousness They have all the answers and everyone else is just drowning. God is on their side only. In my twenties I went through a period where I thought I could build a life that I could be happy to live or I could bow my head and be a good dutch Christian lady to save ties with my family. I

By Steve Dustcircle ~ W hile the most frustrating thing about being an ATHEIST is unlearning a lot of fallacies and myths, there are a few good reasons to have come out of a religious upbringing. I understand where Christians are coming from in conversation. I already know their religion throughout. I know the problems with other religions, as my stance against them are the same: the errors. Integrity and honesty. I don't go out of my way to be deceitful or manipulative. Generous and kindness. I still try to give of myself without worrying about resource or greed. I understand that friends are more important than blood. Family are stuck with you, but friends are usually chosen based on agreements and likenesses. Concerned with people and the planet: stewardship. Acceptance of others. weird-acting people, deformed people, strange beliefs, crabby people, etc. Commitment to my spouse, promises, and loved ones. Investing in what I believe in: books, organization

By WizenedSage (Galen Rose) ~ I believe the most important test we can perform to verify the existence of any candidate god is to ask whether that god makes sense. Yes, this is a theme I have written on several times before over the years, but it’s important enough to bear repeating. English: Image of the Last Page of the Coptic Manuscript of the Gospel of Thomas. The title "peuaggelion pkata Thomas" is at the end. Courtesy of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont Graduate University. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) For example, does a god who gets in a fit of anger and drowns everyone on earth except for one family make sense? Or, does an all-knowing, all-powerful and good god that allows 6 million people to be shot, gassed, or starved to death during the Holocaust make sense? Any clear-eyed assessment of these actions will find them immoral. Of course, the apologists will bend logic into ridiculous shapes to try to justify these actions, but their de

By Carl S ~ C NN Headline News features a program named " Forensic Files ." These are actual cases involving the forensic solving of crimes. Sometimes the evidence seems to offer conflicting interpretations and outcomes. One of them involved a case where a woman was found dead of a shotgun wound in her living room. The action took place while her husband said he was asleep in the bedroom, from where, he said, he heard a sound like a branch cracking, waking him momentarily. The forensic investigator concluded she was shot from behind, and spun around from the impact, falling backwards on the floor. Other evidence supported this conclusion. The husband was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 25 to 35 years. But wait! This was only 12 minutes into a half-hour program. What appeared to be an open and shut case turned out to be more complex. Different lawyers, working pro bono, decided to re-investigate the case. In their minds, some things didn’t add up to conclude mur

By Ben Love ~ A few days ago, I went in to my local Barnes and Noble bookstore, a place where I’ve spent many a happy day whiling the hours away engrossed in one book or another. But they had moved everything around since the last time I’d been there, and none of the new changes made sense to me. So I went to the help desk in the middle of the store and asked where I might find books on atheism. I heard some snickering to my left, and I turned to see two middle-aged women watching me with disapproving looks of horror on their faces. One whispered something to the other, and both then walked away with an air of superiority. Obviously, they’d heard my inquiry and clearly thought that it was Satan Incarnate standing there and not just an obscure writer named Ben Love. This experience is in direct contrast with one that happened to me about a month ago. My wife and I were having a discussion at Denny’s one night about one of my articles that had recently been published. It was, o

By Jason C. ~ M y departure from Christianity wasn't as painful as it'd been for many former Christians on here. My first phases of breaking away were the result of me trying to read the bible from start to finish. Being the soft person I am, I was easily frightened by the Bible. Actually, I'd always had this lurking fear of the damnation it claimed if I did wrong. This was my first realization of how wrong the bible is on many levels. Eventually, it all piled and I broke away, just severed the tie right there. I never did have a strong connection with God or Jesus to begin with, though I'm quite glad I never did. I didn't actually dig deep into my Atheism until later on though. It happened bit by bit, realizing how prayers went unanswered, miracles seemed to occur to the not as needy, the backwards love standards, and just the general illegitimacy of the bible. A sort of stepping stone for me was The Vegan Atheist , primarily through his Stupid Christian Comm

By Jennifer ~ L iving the Christian life is highly stressful and mentally unhealthy, to say the least, because Christianity like all other religions is based on fear. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” is the very first thing one learns as a child. “Better not lie, or God is going to punish you – with hell fire!” The longer I lived in this state of fear, the more my mental health suffered. Anxiety began to rule my life. Sixty years of abuse was enough. Quitting church attendance was the beginning of my salvation. It came in the form of Dr. Lissa Rankin’s, The Fear Cure . This book helped me unfetter myself from my fear-inducing religious upbringing and memories of past dangers I had experienced. I could tell my poor fucked-up amygdala (the part of the brain that detects fear and prepares the body for fight or flight,) “It’s okay, Christianity has been a bad dream. There’s no need to fear anymore.” The Fear Cure has also helped me dispel limiting beliefs arising

By Carl S ~ T his author reached the age of 78 recently. I didn't like 77. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that 78 rpm was the speed of phono records when I first heard music. ( It wasn't until many years later that my ‘first love’ became "stereo" reproduction.) I feel funny knowing that the people I admire the most have not lived as long as me. Ravel, Carl Sagan , Bach, Bartok, Pasteur, Beethoven and Shostakovich, come to mind. At the age of 75, I asked myself what I would do for the next 25 years of my life, but by then the course had already been decided for me. I had taken the leap from writing letters to the editor into another direction. These I have been sharing with you. In the beginning, I found FFRF listed in the back of " The God Delusion ." After joining that organization, I started receiving Freethought Today , their newspaper. In one issue was a letter from Galen Rose in Maine. What do you know; he was in the local telephone b

By whitehot ~ S ometimes when we drop the label 'Christian', some Christians assume we have dropped our character, too. This is a message for them. In case you were wondering... I am still peaceful I am still cautious I am still grateful I am still content I am still optimistic I am still welcoming I am still fragile I am still apologetic I am still merciful I am still just I am still rational I am still open I am still seeking I am still soulful I am still sensitive I am still compassionate I am still humble I am still reverent I am still respectful I am still sober I am still serious I am still virtuous I am still kind I am still broken I am still healed I am still philanthropic I am still helpful I am still capable I am still sensible I am still gentle I am still patient I am still honest I am still smiling I am still joyful I am still hopeful I am still listening I am still honourable I am sti

By Ex-Pastor Dan ~ S o, it’s happened again. In Paris, a group of religious fanatics tried to prove that their God is better than your god, or any other god for that matter. Not only better, but in their warped minds; bigger, stronger, more holy – indeed unique and exclusive! Exclusive of all other deities, because alas, only Allah exists - and Muhammad is His prophet. Therefore, permitting… nay! commanding His sold-out, mindless, martyr-bound zealots to proclaim their “gospel of peace” [sic] to the heathen masses of unsuspecting Parisian partiers. This message was delivered with literal explosive force, granting these Muslim evangelists instant passage to the waiting bosoms of 40 virgin maidens. Their ticket to paradise, bought and paid for (like another very familiar religion) with BLOOD! All day I have had an old TV advertisement jingle running through my head: “My dog’s better than your dog, my dog’s better than yours. My dog’s better cause he gets Kennel RationTM, my dog’