MACHIAS, Maine — A man who was serving as a pastor at a church in Addison and his wife have been arrested on charges of kidnapping and custodial interference after the wife’s two daughters, ages 7 and 12, were found earlier this week living on their own at an Ellsworth motel. Pastor Colin Haag Jr. and Amanda Haag Colin Haag Jr., 34, and his wife, Amanda Haag, 34, were being held Wednesday in Washington County Jail. Colin Haag’s bail was set at $100,000 surety or $25,000 cash. Amanda Haag’s bail was set at $25,000 surety or $5,000 cash. The two, who were arrested Tuesday, also are suspected in alleged thefts from at least one Down East church, according to police. The children were returned late Tuesday to their father from Florida, who had been searching for them for two years, according to Washington County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Timothy Tabbutt. The story unfolded early this week when a man found wandering the streets of Jonesport, later identified as Colin Haag Sr., told T...

By Dano -- I am inclined to think that people who believe in Christianity or Islam any faith based religion, are intellectually inferior, not as highly evolved as I am, but I know that not to be true. Image by pixelviz via Flickr I know that I am not as smart as many others that I have known, and indeed, I am intellectually lazy. I read what is written here on ex Christian, and know for a fact that I could never be as learned, or have the command of the English language, as some of the contributors here, not to mention the tenacity to think through the intricacies of a subject that they seem to have. A few year back I asked Dr. Valerie Tarico how a very intelligent person could possibly believe all the nonsense in the Bible, and she replied that some of the most intelligent are the most able, to dig themselves in the deepest. Not a direct quote, but I took it to mean the obvious. Really intelligent people have the capacity to fool not only others to a great degree, but them...

By Philippe Orlando -- I ’ve always wondered, “When did humans realize they were mortal?” When we were Australopithecus ? Homo erectus ? Or did we have to wait until we were fully Homo sapiens ? Image by grinwithoutacat via Flickr Imagine a small group of early humans. What did they think was happening when one of them was killed by a predator and became “something” that resembled the very same meat they had for dinner last night! What did they think? Did they consciously tell themselves “we are just mobile meat waiting to be killed by something bigger and stronger; everything is just meat, including us”? What of the other death? The quiet, incomprehensible one? What do you think they thought when one of them suddenly entered a state that resembled sleep. The others surely waited and waited for him to wake up so they could move on to the next food source. They shook him but he wouldn’t wake up. He was pale and his skin cold. The others didn’t have a choice but to wait. Maybe t...

By The Truth Seeker -- B efore I pose my question to the readers of this site, I want to tell you how much I have learned through the many postings and responses that I have read on this site. I can’t tell you how much comfort and wisdom I have found from your postings. You are an intelligent group and it has been good for me to read your posts. Image by charlie llewellin via Flickr I must tell you that when I found this site I was feeling very down because after a number of years of studying, reading , and investigating Christianity’s claims, doctrine, dogma, and theology I came to the conclusion that everything I knew about Christianity was false and I had been fooling myself for years. That’s an awfully tough position to be in when you’re on the downhill side of your life. Nevertheless, I’m glad I finally found the truth and feel very much relieved because of it. The problem that I am now having, and it is one that I think that others of the group may have, is how to w...

A Milwaukee man who worked as a pastor and a youth counselor until last summer has been charged in federal court with dealing heroin , according to court documents. Image by ficholasnorneris via Flickr John West, 59, and nine others, including his son, were indicted with conspiracy to sell heroin from summer 2009 until March. A mother and her adult son are among those charged. Court documents describe West as the leader of the group that often went to Chicago to buy heroin, developed an "innovative way of cutting" the drug to maximize profits, hired armed enforcers to protect the operation and personally carried a gun. West was ordained in 1969 and most recently was a pastor with his wife, Linda Hughes, at the Prayer House of Deliverance , according to his attorney and court documents. Hughes said she and West split more than a year ago and since then she has been the only pastor at the church, near N. 9th and W. Center streets. Authorities went to the church looki...

By Malcolm -- (Recently I came across your web page which I found very interesting. However, I found that I had a different attitude and experience to most of your contributors as to the reason why I am no longer a religious person. I did once, many years ago, adhere to and practice the Christian religion. My experience took me not away from God but into a deeper awareness of God. I wish merely to offer this different perspective to your readers.) Image by Bruno, o admirador secreto via Flickr I n the early 1960s Carl Gustav Jung gave his last interview to the BBC. The last question that was asked of Jung was whether he believed in God. He paused for a moment, then answered in this form "I do not believe in God -- I know God". Many years ago, I did once practice, or perhaps it might be better to say, adhere to the form of Christianity. I began as an evangelical holding a very literal view of the Bible, though I was not brought up religious nor was my family r...

By exfundy -- A few months ago I walked away from the faith that had defined my very existence for over 30 years. It was such a relief. Of course every change brings its own set of questions. Of all the questions that have been raised due to this change the one that has nagged at me the most has to do with labels. To understand why this question bothers me so much I have to give a little background here. During my days in Christianity I carried around dozens of labels. Of course the big one was 'Christian', but there were lots of others. I carried one based on my denominational affiliation. I carried others based on which side I took on any number of theological issues. I carried each of them proudly. Each was a badge of honor to let others know exactly what I believed and stood for. Yet as I look back I am saddened to realize that all those labels completely obscured the person behind them. The amount of people that actually knew anything about me that wasn...

Jesus gets upset when he realizes that there's no reason for his sacrifice. Image via Wikipedia

by Bob R. of a priori blues -- T his cover story of this month's issue of Christianity Today , whose subtitle is "A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction", is called " The Jesus We'll Never Know ." This title is playing off the title of a popular book by Christianity Today reporter Phillip Yancey, called The Jesus I Never Knew , which was a quaint, devotional little book about "meeting Jesus again for the first time" and all that happy stuff.  Yancey's book was one of dozens if not hundreds of books from the popular devotional genre written in the guise of objectivity or journalism or science, but intended to do nothing more than prop up the existing, Evangelical/Fundamentalist ideas about "the Historical Jesus", and why it really, really, really is rational to believe that a human being walked on water that wasn't frozen, made wine without grapes, or woke up none the worse for wear after being brain dead for three days.  I belab...

By JohnK2 -- N itty-gritty is defined by Merriam-Webster as “what is essential and basic; specific practical details.” It’s a bit of a cliché, but things aren’t always what they seem. Back when I was a Christian, I was taught at church that the Pentateuch (the first five books of the bible) was written by Moses. I just accepted this as fact, because this is what the pastor and the church-recommended books told me. However, if I had actually done some research of my own on this matter, I may have discovered that: (1) Deuteronomy 34 describes the death of Moses; (2) there are four different writing styles displayed in the original Hebrew of the Pentateuch, each with its own perspective, cultural bias, theology, and name for God; (3) redactors (editors) later compiled these four independent accounts into one big narrative, which was very common in the ancient world with no copyright laws; and (4) that this is formally called the Documentary Hypothesis by bible scholars. Facts ...

By Jay -- F or many years I was not a "believer" for various reasons. One day I found my confessing my sins and turning over new leaf during a hard time in my life. Image by CR Artist via Flickr For almost five years I fervently believed I was right about the choice I had made. However, over time I noticed that I did not exactly fit into the country club. Oh sure, I had been granted entry and was allowed to sit at the big table, but I was an outcast in among the true believers. It dawned on me one day that it was not the other people, but me. I was seeing things for what they really were and that was bothering me. After all, the Bible teaches love, kindness, patience, forgiveness, etc. All of those things are preached, but are never practiced. I found myself looking in the mirror and wondering how I fell into the trap so easily? I realized I had become the hypocrite of the Bible because of the Bible! Once I decided that I could not go on being this way and that relig...