by Mel Seesholtz, Ph.D. The leaders of America’s Christian fundamentalists and biblical literalists are constantly whining about being mocked and ridiculed. There are good reasons for the derision, and no one better personifies those reasons than Ken Ham , the founder of Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum . On 17 February 2010, the Associated Press ran a story about Mr. Ham’s latest pronouncement. It was also carried by OneNewsNow – the propaganda organ of Don and Tim Wildmon ’s rabidly anti-gay (and anti-gay families), anti-civil equality, anti-reason, anti-science American Family Association website – under the title “ Creation Museum founder: U.S. should take Genesis literally ”: In what he characterized as a “State of the Union” speech from his museum in Kentucky, Ken Ham rebuked churches and Christian scholars who don't believe in a young Earth and creation in six days. “That’s why we have such a weak church, why a church is not touching the culture,” he stated...

By Carl S -- S ome gang members killed a guy in my neighborhood. Because the guy was a druggie, the cops didn’t investigate. Hey, after all, this was going on all the time. Image by Laughing Squid via Flickr We took the body over to the funeral home, where it was put in a cooler. That was on Saturday, so we took Sunday off and went to church and stuff, then got over to the funeral parlor later to view the body. The guy opened the cooler and the body was gone! I said to the director, “What the hell did you do with the body?” He answered, “I don’t think he was dead, I think he walked out of here.” I said, “Hey man, you expect us to believe that shit? With five bullet holes in his chest? Go find that body!” There was some guy years later who claimed that 500 people saw the druggie walking around the neighborhood after he died. You can just imagine what kind of a loony he was! It’s the kind of story you’d expect to hear from a bunch of drunks at a party.

Nearly a third of Texans believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time, and more than half disagree with the theory that humans developed from earlier species of animals, according to the University of Texas /Texas Tribune Poll. The differences in beliefs about evolution and the length of time that living things have existed on earth are reflected in the political and religious preference of our respondents, who were asked four questions about biological history and God: 38 percent said human beings developed over millions of years with God guiding the process and another 12 percent said that development happened without God having any part of the process. Another 38 percent agreed with the statement "God created human beings pretty much in their present form about 10,000 years ago." Asked about the origin and development of life on earth without injecting humans into the discussion, and 53 percent said it evolved over time, "with a guiding hand ...

By Ben Boychu & Joel Mathis -- An education fight in Texas pitting religious conservatives against secular liberals once again raises the question: Did America's Founders establish a "Christian nation," a nation of Christians, or something else entirely? Image by Susan E Adams via Flickr The New York Times Magazine recently delved into the controversy in Texas, the second-largest textbook market in the country, where a Christian conservative bloc on the state school board wants the social-studies curriculum to promote the idea that America was founded on biblical precepts. As one member of state school board put it: "The philosophy of the classroom in one generation will be the philosophy of the government in the next." But does it matter today what the Founders thought about religion and government 230 years ago? Ben Boychuk and Joel Mathis, the RedBlueAmerica columnists, weigh in. Ben Boychuk: Many well-meaning Christian conservatives err whe...

By Mriana -- P eople talk about their experiences with Christian counselors, while I try to block out, refusing to discuss, my own experience with an Episcopalian psychologist, recommended by the church. Rose was not technically a Christian counselor, but a psychologist who was also an Episcopalian and the last therapist I spoke to until recently. I saw her briefly, about eleven years ago, when I was between marriages and a few years after I saw a prior counselor. The prior one only worked with me concerning my relationship with my bio-father, but very little with my other issues, yet admitted that my relatives religious beliefs had a lot to do with my issues and what happened to me. Image by Marlis1 via Flickr I would not call seeing the Episcopalian psychologist a bad experience and I certainly do not hate her, but it was not exactly a beneficial experience. It was definitely a learning experience though, as well as a Rose, not just in my description of her, but her name t...

By Sarah Bertrand --     The following is a rather lengthy exchange between myself, and an old church friend who found me on facebook, and noticed that I had my religious beliefs listed as "atheist". I've changed his name to "Christian" here, since he stopped communicating with me after this conversation, and I was therefor unable to contact him for permission to use his real name. Image by Jollyboy via Flickr S ubject: really???? Christian March 27 at 7:59am are you really an athiest!?!? Sarah Bertrand March 27 at 10:14am Yes, I am. I've been agnostic for some years now...I've only recently started using the big "A". Christian March 27 at 3:39pm wow... Sarah Bertrand March 27 at 4:00pm That seems to be the reaction from most people who knew me back in the day, namely the ones I went to church with. Christian March 27 at 4:38pm yeh that, and its one of the scariest things i've ever heard someone say! Sarah Bertr...