By Carl S ~ C ults are fascinating. Every time you look into them, you learn something new. Consider what types of personalities are drawn to them, for example. They are the vulnerable, easily exploited, individuals seeking the “purpose” they're taught they're supposed to have, and looking for someone to give them that purpose. They feel alone and dis-empowered, want someone else to make the decisions for their lives. They are the ones raised to believe there is a god or higher power who gives his instructions via “revelations,” especially to his chosen charismatic individuals, who share in or embody his divinity. The wackiest individuals with the most bizarre credentials are magnets for such needy people. Most of all, these “sacred” ones have a sixth sense of just how to play them. By increments, they test to ascertain just how far adherents are willing to accept perversity as normal. Entrapped, the adherents become unaware of their predicament. What starts for them a...

By Michael Runyan ~ T hroughout the Old Testament, God is highly concerned about tribal issues, government, wars, and the capture of land for his chosen people, including the taking of slaves and property from the surrounding tribes. Everything is focused on this life on this planet, with no concerns about an afterlife or the existence of any eternal consequences. But all of this changes in the New Testament. Now God is no longer concerned about politics, petty rules, land, wars, or anything related to the particulars of this life. Everything is focused on a second life that is to come after this one. He teaches his followers to eschew the material aspects of this life, to not marry, or accumulate possessions. The earthy life is seen as nothing more than a test for entry into the next one. It is more than obvious that the god of the Old Testament is not the same as the god of the New Testament. This disconnect is not a solvable problem for Christianity. If the god of the Old Te...

By Ben Marconi ~ I occasionally miss my imaginary god and best friend Jesus, even 18 years after realizing there probably is no God, especially not any of the surviving desert-folk gods: Jehovah, Allah, Jesus. Of course, these gods do exist in one huge sense—as a construct in millions of human minds. Probably there does exist something like a “god-shaped hole” in the heart that only a god can fill. Novels, movies, gadgets—after creative type people imagine a useful concept, do they not naturally try to make it SO—on paper, on film, in a factory? Seems the Personal Savior-type Jesus has especially evolved to be able to adapt nicely to almost any kind of person. Notice how uncannily some Democrats sport a blue-leaning Jesus while Republicans own a red-leaning Jesus? Then just imagine a Jesus so personally involved that he talks back to us, telepathically through His Friendly Ghost. Therefore, to dismiss and renounce one’s own faith can practically amount to renouncing one’s own brain...

By Carl S. ~ A dd my name to the list of those tired of having another learning experience. (How my wife and friend keep from poking fun at me, I don't know.) My printer failed. I conveniently bought a new one without researching it first. I had to return it. Short story, two more trips back to the store, 15 miles each way. They eventually replaced it with a different model. After a few days, I realized I'd screwed up again; I'd failed to see this third, new model couldn't perform the functions my original did. These learning experiences led me to do a lot of research to get the most capable printer for my needs. I cut my losses, got over it and moved on. You'd think I'd be embarrassed to admit these things, but I don't mind being wrong. You're probably asking yourself “Why is this guy, on this site, wasting my time while I'm looking for serious information?” As a matter of fact, he wants to make a case for learning from” religious” learning ex...

By Carl S ~ S ometimes when I'm trying to get to sleep, or wake up during the night thinking about something, I'm compelled to write it down. Opportunities don't come that often. Just try and sleep! While the river flows, I think, go with the flow, even if it's in the dead of night. (I now realize this particular “sudden insight “ came after years of observations.) But before this begins, let me clarify one thing: What follows is not a judgement of individual Christians, but of Evangelical Christianity. “Evangelists” are the gospel writers. Contrary to the evangelists, “Evangelicals” are not swayed by their gospel messages of compassion and forgiveness, except as these apply to their own members. They judge gays, liberals, those who oppose prayer in schools, the “uppity” women who demand control over their own bodies, any scientist with evidence contradicting their scriptures, etc., as deserving O.T. punishments. The Evangelicals/Fundamentalists are continually pl...

By Illusion Free ~ I use the pseudonym 'Illusion Free' because it has taken many years for me to break free of so many illusions relating to the christian God and religion in general. What an ingenious hoax it is to conquer the mind of humanity by creating temples and churches in which organized religion can receive a paycheck. Every generation that is born is swept into this illusion ... blindly following those before them who make the illusion seem so real simply because they believe in it. Behind it all, the money pots keep spilling over as those who run organized religion benefit from human ignorance. Even more disturbing is the poorer the country or community, the more churches or temples there are sucking the blood of those who have 'faith'. Yes indeed, humankind has capitalized upon God and manufactured God into an entity that most people can relate to... 'God is a He ... God is a she ... God is love ... God has given us commandments to follow ....

By Michael Runyan ~ I t is universally uncontroversial that children are highly vulnerable to being be inculcated with the religion of their parents, and, possessing little critical thinking skills, they rarely turn away from their faith until possibly later in life. However, most, it is assumed, stay with their childhood indoctrination for the remainder of their lives. Here is where Christianity fails an important test of logic and fairness. If the criterion for entry into heaven is as suggested by the Apostle Paul and the Gospel of John, that acceptance of Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross is both necessary and sufficient to spend eternity in heaven, then those children born into hon-Christian homes are at a decidedly unfair disadvantage. Unlike the pre-programmed children, they have to somehow extract themselves from their family faith, often suffering severe domestic repercussions, and discover the ‘truth’ of Christianity. This is like running a race while giving some a b...

By Ann Wilcox (Submitted by Karen Garst) ~ O ne evening I was at dinner with my philosophy discussion group. The talk turned to politics and current events, and the man next to me began to complain that his wife was a “one-issue voter”. “She just votes for the candidate that’s pro-choice, without thinking about their position on anything else,” he said. I could feel my ire rising, but I couldn’t figure out why his words bothered me so much. I care about the economy. I care about education. I care about global warming, and a host of other issues. But I side with that man’s wife. Why? I can argue all day long about how women’s (and men’s) lives are changed by having children, especially unwillingly: changes for their families, their careers, their health, their futures, their finances etc., and all of those things matter, deeply. But when it comes down to it, no issue is bigger to me than my right to chose my own beliefs and act on my conscience. No one else has the right to ...

By Michael Runyan ~ N o one argues the fact that Christian prayers have consistently failed to result in the grow-back of amputated limbs. There is no reputable report of this ever happening. Given this universal agreement, the challenge is to explain why. For an atheist, the explanation is simple- the human body is not capable to regenerate limbs, other than a few minor items like fingertips. This ability was lost long ago in our evolutionary past. Our distant cousins, starfish and salamanders, have retained this capability. For the Christian, the explanation becomes more problematic, especially in the wake of scriptures like this: John 14:13 “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” The stock apologetic answer is that God does not want to perform acts that would not leave doubters a way to remain in their doubt, or remove the need for believers to have faith. So the only prayers he will answer are those that appea...

By Michael Runyan ~ S ometimes the best way to assess the credibility of a story is to distill its elements down and present it in the customary fashion of a fairy tale. This washes away the veneer of authenticity that is provided by the inclusion of multitudinous details. So, for Christianity, its condensed version might sound something like this: A virgin woman who never had sex nevertheless became pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy. This boy grew up to be a man who was at the same time the creator of the entire universe. The man walked on water and talked to demons who obeyed his commands. He could change water into wine and heal any affliction. The man was killed, but he came back to life. Then he flew up into outer space and was never seen again. What part of this does not sound like a fairy tale? What part of this story reflects any semblance of the world that present-day people inhabit? If you had told this story to any person who had not been previously exposed t...

By Dominic Omenai ~ CHAPTER ONE M y late mother was a devout Christian, a Catholic and my mum’s parents were Muslims, She only became a Catholic after marriage. She never missed Sunday mass or weekly devotion. She encouraged us, her children, to attend church regularly with her. It is interesting to note that my mother had to change her religion immediately after marriage, which she did submissively to please my father. Baptism was already done for us when we were babies in my household. We had to attend Saturday Catechism classes for first holy communication classes. I can remember me and my younger brother would be sleeping during the Catholic mass on Sunday. Years later, I will understand, why we were not awake during the mass. The Catechism classes was where I met my first love Helen, although, at that time I have not yet known what love is. I remember attending happily the church harvest and spending the time at the church harvest with Daniel, a friend from my Catechism cl...