By Carl S ~ A quick question I sincerely asked brought a faster response. Question: "When a person is accused of a crime, isn't the burden of proof upon the prosecutor?" Answer: "Of course, the prosecutor has that burden. The person is presumed innocent, without proof otherwise." This reply came so fast that she thought it was obvious to anyone, a no-brainer, so why did I ask? But I was making a test by asking that question of a religious believer. Silently, after doing so, I wondered what it was all about. When people of every religion attest to their unquestioned beliefs, they automatically assume that they needn't have proof for them. There is no burden of proof required for beliefs that people hold to be sacred, untouchable, and deserving of reverent respect. But there should be. If these beliefs are held so, are so very important for "salvation," then all the more must they be examined and questioned, demanded to provide evid...

By BlackFreethought ~ I n the Black American community, our culture has a definitive Christian undertone to it, due to 400 years of indoctrination and a violent separation from our indigenous African roots. This insidious aspect plays out when it comes to the role of the church in the community. Many in the Black community feel like they could not have made it without God. The narrative of historical oppression spoke of by family members coupled with the reality of racism that shows up in every day life, gives this particular view a life of its own. Songs with these refrains speak to this viewpoint: "If it had not been for the Lord on my side, where would I be?" "Never would have made it, never would have made it without You..." This philosophy, reinforced through Sunday sermons and church Bible classes over generations, uses guilt theology to keep congregants believing this untruth. Ergo, any time a person reaches a particular milestone or accomplish...

By illu minati ~ R ecently I de-converted from Christianity. I was attending a "born-again" Christian church called Jesus Is Lord Church. I was part of music team, and the guitarist. I can honestly say that even though I didn't speak-in-tongues(now I call it gibberish) I was a born-again. I had another talent that I was nourishing, it was debating. I read a book besides the Bible, it was "Witnessing to the Cults" or something like that. I was hard-core about the basics of religions, I know all the flaws of all Christian cults such as: Iglesia ni Christo, Jehovah's Witness , Mormonism, and sometimes Catholic Church itself. But one thing I refused to see was the born-again church itself. Next is I studied the atheism and watched debates about them. I am convinced that God is therefore true. The thing that started my doubt was an other-branch-church-pastor visited us and preached about who gets glorified in heaven, is it the inside-church workers or the o...

By Aspieguy ~ I recently was emptying the household trash when I spotted a church bulletin from my former UMC church. I began reading news of the same, dull events, more boring Bible studies, and the sermon outline. I won't go into great detail, but it was entitled " Why Kindness Makes the Difference". After a discourse on the Good Samaritan parable the pastor proceeds to tell his sheep how to be kind. Furthermore, he tells the sheep they should be kind because God has been kind to them, kindness is an act of worship, kindness honors God, kindness makes them happy, kindness makes them attractive , and God blesses kindness. I was really puzzled by this sermon outline. Did the congregation really need a sermon like this? Did they turn into selfish barbarians in my absence? Have Christians become so infantile that they will consider moronic sermons inspiring? Be kind? Did they not learn this in kindergarten? Now, I admit to some bias. I already despise this particul...

By Carl S. ~ C hurch congregations like to hear personal testimonies. I just got back from Heaven. There are many reports by those who have had a close brush with death, and how they found life to be more precious and more worth living from that experience. Has anyone besides me had the experience of appreciating life more than ever after a close brush with Heaven? Now, my Christian friends really want to go and spend eternity there. They live their lives helping others, praying to their heavenly father to grant their desires and those of others. They console, give financial aid to the needy, offer advice and try to be there for others in times of trouble and grief. They're even willing to go so far as to contribute their services in rebuilding houses for others. I must report to them: They'd be useless in Heaven. I do many of these things myself, but my rewards come from doing them without a god reference. I enjoy just doing them. Sometimes I find that I've been su...

By Carolyn Hyppolite ~ L ast week I received a phone call about a part time job. The man on the phone had my resume in front of him as he spoke to me and he seemed quite pleased with what he was reading. “This is exactly what I need,” he said. “Can you come in for an interview this afternoon?” We set up a 2p.m. appointment for that day and I was certain that I was heading there to be offered a job. That’s not what happened. As I sat waiting for him, I wondered what kind of name is Ephraim. There is a St. Ephrem in the Catholic and Orthodox Church but I have never met anyone who used that name. Perhaps, Egyptian, I wondered, Coptic Orthodox ? I had not been wondering for too long when I saw a bearded man wearing a yamaka. Of course, Ephraim, one of the tribes of Israel , I said. It’s very easy to forget those original worshippers of Yahweh . When my interviewer arrived, I reached out to shake his hands. “ I don’t shake hands ,” he said. “It’s my policy. I said the same...

By summerbreeze ~ L ately I've noticed that there has been a lot of news on the web, and particularly on CNN , about Nazis and the evil destruction that they brought to the world. Aside from helping my kids with school papers / reports, etc about the Nazis ( years ago ), I've tried not to think too much about that dark subject. But because of all this attention about that time in history, my mind has gone back to some powerful feelings that I had while living in Germany. My husband was an Army Major and we lived in Schweinfurt , in the center of Germany. We did a lot of traveling during our stay there, thanks to Uncle Sam and his shipping our old Oldsmobile over there, ( not because we were wealthy jet-setters ! ). It sounds gruesome, but we visited several concentration camps. I remember the day that we visited Dachau as if it were yesterday. As we stood at the front gate on a clear sunny day, I looked over at the town of Dachau, which was extrem...

By Rebecca Scharpf ~ I was always told that a relationship with God was the most amazing thing in the world. My mother’s face glowed as she described how the God of the universe personally spoke to her or showed her a vision. My dad smiled as he told me he felt God guiding his direction in life. My friend gushed about how she’d felt God’s physical arms around her. I wanted all of that for myself, and I was promised I could have it—all Christians could experience God’s direction and presence, and I wasn’t exempt. At least, that’s what I’d been told. I spent most of my childhood and teenage years searching desperately for any scrap of God’s presence. I prayed, sang worship songs, even (in desperation) flipped the Bible and jabbed my finger down on a random verse (usually in the midst of a murder scene, which proved amusing but unhelpful). I spoke to my parents, learned to speak in tongues , and even got down on my knees and begged. I remember being around nine years old and paci...

By Being Human ~ S o, it's been a while since I last posted anything. I've decided not to come out to parents yet, but I think I'm going to wait. This isn't me being scared or anything, it's more of a respect thing. I figure that I'm still living under their roof, and if they want me to go to church once a week with them, it's not that big of a deal. I would do this if I was living with people from other religions as well. Now, if I'm fortunate enough to find a girl and get married, I'll start telling them more about what I actually believe in. I think it's pretty stupid having to get marriage advice from people who've never been married, or have had sex before. So, this is the update. As I've been going through my journey, I've been experience more freedom than ever before. However, I've been experiencing more anger than ever before. Maybe this isn't such a contradiction. Once I realized the freedom I missed out on, I ...

By Ronna Russell ~ T he second coming of Christ was presented as a real and present danger of everyday life. Jesus could return at any moment, with one loud trumpet blast by way of announcement. If you were not saved you would be left on earth, which would become hell, complete with Satan, fire and demons, where you would burn forever and ever. Everyone who had followed directions would be whisked away to heaven and it was all going to happen in the blink of an eye. Let’s just say I had some anxiety as a child. Everyone was going to hell when the rapture took place, except for the handful of earth’s population who belonged to the United Pentecostal Church . No other Christians of any flavor, nor even other Pentecostals if they were not part of the UPC sect, would be saved. Period. No salvation for you. Once, when I was a kid, I asked my mother about people in other countries who had never heard about Jesus. Would they go to hell? Missionaries were a big deal, we hear...

I t’s a question that nearly every nonbeliever faces at some point in his or her life: “But what if God exists, what would you say to Him?” Stephen Fry , a well-known British comedian, actor, and writer – who just so happens to be an outspoken skeptic – faced the question with an interview on Ireland ’s RTE television station. The interviewer, Gay Byrne , begins, as they inevitably do, by asking Fry to humor him and suppose that God really does exist. “Suppose it’s all true, and you walk up to the Pearly Gates and you are confronted by God. What will Stephen Fry say to him or it?” At first Fry laughs and remarks that the question is the “oddest thing.” After collecting his thoughts, he gives an answer that leaves the interviewer speechless. Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/01/30/atheist-stephen-frys-response-to-what-he-would-say-if-he-met-god-levels-this-interviewer-video/#ixzz3QS08LjID