By Michael Runyan ~ C hristians luxuriate in the romantic idea that Jesus died on the cross as a way to vicariously accept the penalty for their sins, thus providing them access to heaven. What is commonly overlooked is that by accepting this theology one is by default acquiescing to the legitimacy of the ancient practice of killing innocent animals as a means to gain propitiation from the gods. The Cross blatantly continued a theme that no longer makes sense nor meets modern moral or ethical standards. In other words, to be a Christian and also be consistent, you have to agree that at one time God ordered or accepted the sacrifice of animals as the principal method for forgiving human sin. After all, Jesus was the ultimate ‘animal sacrifice’ that obviated the need to continue the practice going forward. It would seem far more likely that the idea of sacrificing animals to appease the gods originated in human rather than divine minds (and indeed this practice preceded biblical ti...

By Carl S ~ I f a country is “Under God,” the citizens of that country will never be truly free. Not as long as its citizens accept that slogan and “everyone trusts in that god. As long as “the will of God” justifies those who make the legal decisions imposed on its citizens, they are not free. And they are not free to the extent they continue to remain “God-ly.” A murderer's defense based on a claim of, “God told me to do it, and we can't disobey God, can we?” is no different from any other made in history to justify an immoral act. In any court of law. And, “God commanded me,” is unacceptable by law, since, without presence, “God” is not evidence but “hearsay.” “God” is the emperor’s new clothes. Since “supernatural beings” are accepted by a jury as fact, then they must deal with the defendant's claim to justifiable homicide, since “God” commanded the criminal action. The jury looks to the judge. On the wall behind the judge, in dominant letters for all to see, are ...

By Free Unicorn ~ I 've been rummaging through the internet trying to look for answers to my questions and I'm so glad my quest brought me to this platform. I'm currently going through my deconstruction. I didn't even know the meaning of deconstruction from Christianity until I saw a post by the famous Joshua Harris who is no longer Christian. Here's my background. I'm from Kenya, Africa. Around here, religion is literally the foundation of everything - we are a very religious group of people is what I'm trying to say. So, of course, I wouldn't know who to share this with because I know how it would be received. My story is probably all over the place here but please understand that this is the first time I'm trying to gather my thoughts and explain my process. I grew up in an incredibly religious home - born and bred in the Anglican church. We hosted missionaries and church people in our home and I even went on missions at a very young age. M...

By Colin ~ I live in England and since my late teens have been believing in Christ. I recently turned 61 now and I can see that I’ve been fooled. I am or have been angry with myself and with the preachers and the church. I grew up around the Jesus "One Way" movement , including  "Spree 73" with Billy Graham , Johnny Cash and Cliff Richard . I must say I am somewhat thankful that my whole heart and soul was not 100% into all this over all the intervening years, though for the last 18 years I have been a devoted believer. I lost my mum recently. She had a real shit couple of years before she passed away with numerous medical conditions. In and out of hospitals constantly, though I regularly prayed for her to get better. My bigger, much larger concern was for mum to be saved. After all, wasn’t this God's will? However, all the praying never changed a thing, not in healing or in becoming saved. Then after my mum's funeral I was attending the evening...

By Carl S ~ S uppose an original, unexpurgated, ancient scripture was discovered in the monastic library of EinsIedeln, Switzerland . Further on, let's say this fragment was authenticated by biblical and secular scholars as dating from 21 BCE. Let us follow then, the translation of this scripture: “And Peter said unto the apostles, ‘Hear the word of the Lord. On the night before he died, Jesus spoke to me in the Garden of Gethsemane. Others, who pretended to be asleep, also heard his words. Jesus said, ‘I was wrong and Epicurus was right. This is the only life we will ever have. My talk of eternal life and the coming end of this world have been mistakes. Therefore, I adjure you, obey these my last commands. This is the Good News. Live this one life fully, to do no harm to others, and to love one another as I have loved you. This is the fulfillment of the law and my mission.’” Any man who does not write his own words gives up control over what is attributed to him after he...

By Michael Vito Tosto (Ben Love) ~ P RO-LIFER: Abortion is wrong. PRO-CHOICER: Why? PL: Because it’s murder. PC: You get to kill someone if they’re in your house and you don’t want them there. But you shouldn’t be allowed to terminate an unwanted life-form in your own body? PL: People who break into your house took a risk knowing that death could be the result. A baby in your womb didn’t ask to be there. It shouldn’t be punished. PC: Maybe I didn’t ask the baby to be there, either. Maybe I was raped. PL: That’s unfortunate… but you’re still stuck with that child. PC: Since it’s something happening within a person’s own body, that person should have a say in what happens. I don’t have the right to tell someone else what they can and cannot do to their own body. PL: That’s like saying pedophiles should be let off the hook because you can’t decide for them that their actions are wrong. It’s the same thing. PC: No, no, a pedophile is performing an act upon another sen...

By Gladys ~ I was raised in a deeply religious home in the bible belt. Let me first start off by saying that when I was little I genuinely enjoyed church. But as I got older, I began to dislike church. When you're a child, concepts like hell and eternal damnation don't scare you, because you're so young that they go over your head (or at least that's how it was for me). As time passed the concepts of hell became real and I was very scared. I can remember being about 10 and having nightmares about dying and going to hell. By the time I was 12 I knew I didn't want to be Christian anymore. I was also beginning to question a lot of things. For example: If Jesus is so loving why should a person who's lived a good life, been a good person have to worry about going to hell? Its almost like being a good person isn't what matters, it's believing in Jesus that does. Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one gets to the Father except ...

By Carl S ~ A dialog between Reason and Deliberate Ignorance.   Reason (R.): You claim to believe in a god who has always existed, a god who says: Before anyone came to be, “I am.” You've also told me this same god is all-knowing. So, it makes sense to you, based on this claim, this god has always known every human to be, from eternity. This makes each of us just as much sharers of his spiritual nature, as his spiritual sperm, eternal. I'm curious; in your own words, how does this “soul which is of necessity the nature of God” relate to the realities of life and death? Deliberate Ignorance (D.I.): It's true, we have always existed in the mind of God. This is revealed to us in the scriptures. Psalm 139: “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” And psalm 22 states,...

By Chris Highland ~ P eople in many faith communities assure us that “hate has no place” in their circles, their faith or their religion. I’m with them, for the most part. But we have to admit, don’t we, that there is something deeply embedded in religious history that elicits or encourages a fearful defensiveness bordering on hatred of outsiders? This can lead us to wonder whether hate is somehow intrinsic to religion and can be promoted and perpetuated by religious faith. I think most religions and most people of faith are sincerely devoted to a good and loving life. In fact, I think this is exactly the ground where the secular and the spiritual can stand together. So, I’m not suggesting hate is exclusive to religion or that religious beliefs are necessarily linked with hate. What I am wondering is whether or not it would serve all of us better to uncover and understand the origins of hatefulness. If religious teachings, specifically in scriptures, underlie a hateful rel...

By Carl S ~ B reaking News: From the unexpurgated Gospel of Matthew: Then Jesus awakened Peter and said to him, “I command you, tell the disciples I was wrong and Lucretius is right. Preach to them, the good news is, I changed my mind. It is too late for me to tell them.” Feeling driven to the edge of desperation propels rash actions. In the case of organized religions, we can see how they fight recklessly to destroy secular causes. Some humans believe they “solve all their problems” by killing those they hold responsible for their predicaments; so have religions. And then there are those who choose to die rather than change their minds. Human desperation is often driven by revenge, by irrational fears and feelings of hopelessness. It is also driven by very ordinary sexual needs. Many will trash their ethics and morality to get what they want. Really desperate people will put in power whatever system or whoever they see as saviors, and sacrifice all they claim to hold in ve...

By UKCatLover ~ M y story begins as an 8-year-old girl listening to a bedtime story with her dad. I loved story time with dad and always managed to convince him to read two to me. I listened as his calm voice told me about dragons, fairies, mermaids and far away realms. He also read to me stories about Jesus, we had several books about the parables and the life and times of Jesus. These were obviously aimed at children. Dad read these books to me in a slightly different tone, more serious. He explained that all these things happened. At this age I thought Jesus must have been like a superhero and very cool. decided I loved Jesus and God and prayed to them with Dad after the stories each night. At church on a Sunday, there were more stories of God's love and Jesus, I remember being told that the children will inherit the kingdom of heaven. But most of all I remember being told that God loves me and even if I was the only person on earth Jesus would still have come and died for...