We're running Modern Applications on a Caveman Operating System By James Aames ~ I n order to understand why humans have a seemingly instinctual inclination toward religious answers, you have to believe in evolution. If you don’t believe in evolution, stop reading now. You won’t agree with anything I’m about to say. Here’s a statement that we don’t often consider; we evolved to do four things.   Stay alive  Attract a mate  Procreate  Raise children to the age where they can procreate That’s all evolution was good for and nothing more. Those are the only things you needed to do to replicate your egotistical DNA. Our brains did not evolve to show us what is true or to help us be our own person. If you meet someone who believes in fairy tales, or simply follows the tribe, they are not less evolved than you. Rather, they are the template of humanity. People who reject mystical answers have rebelled against many instincts that humans evolved to survive. Cavema...

By James Hollingsworth ~ I read Exchristian.net from time to time because I enjoy hearing people's stories about when and how the light bulb came on for them. My fellow exchristians have taken multiple paths to the realization that religion is all made up. For some it happens in a flash, for others it is a long painful process. For me it was when my friend Joe used the word " dualism " to describe religion. Dualism means that there are two separate and distinct worlds. One is physical. It has substance, flesh and blood; the stuff we feel, taste, and experience. It is where carrots grow, fish swim, birds fly, and galaxies revolve. The other world is supernatural. It exists outside the physical experience and will be our reward or punishment once we die. Religion is the struggle to reconcile these two worlds. This is a contrived dichotomy that only serves to justify the need for religion. There is only one world. What you see is what you get. And, religious...

By James Aames ~  I t’s considered bad form to condemn all versions of Christianity, so most leading voices in religious journalism will only speak negatively of “high-control” religions or simply “cults.” However, the subtle implication of those terms is that “low-control religions” or “non-cults” are not harmful. This has always caused me to stop in my tracks. It’s wrong. Even though Christianity is a continuum of beliefs, all versions of Christianity are indeed harmful. For the purpose of this article, I need to define the word “Christian”? Any version of “Christianity” that does not believe in the redemption from original sin through the crucifixion of Christ is probably misnamed. Based on this definition, every Christian, in spite of all the good things they might do, are still partly responsible for America’s toppling into the chasm of a police state. They are all responsible for making parishioners chronically insecure and susceptible to strong-man leadership. They are al...