GASTONIA, N.C. – A Gaston County pastor will have to register as a sex offender and is facing 18 months probation. Harley Michael Keough, pastor of the King James Baptist Church in Bessemer City , was found guilty on two counts of sexual battery for groping several women at his church's food pantry over a three-year period. The 73-year-old took the stand Tuesday in his own defense and denied everything. Keough testified he's suffered from erectile dysfunction since the late 1990s. He said engaging in any kind of sexual behavior would have been pointless. “If I had done what they allege I had done and I just happened to get one of them excited and be called on to perform, I would be kind of SOL, because I’d stand there looking like an idiot because I couldn’t do anything,” Keough said. But the prosecution argued Keough's medical issues wouldn't stop him from touching people if he wanted to. And prosecutors said the accusers had no reason to lie. “Did any o...

By Sam -- I am a new skeptic and a new atheist . I have always been fascinated with Psychology and Sociology as well as Statistics and Probability. Image by Vidiot via Flickr After seeing many videos on the Psychology of religion by Darrel Ray on YouTube ; I thought I'd do some snooping on my own. I call this... The God ILLUSION Why do Theists think God exists? They claim they constantly see Him manifesting himself in reality all the time. Since I used to be a Christian, I will focus on the Christian version of God. They claim that, Words of Knowledge Prophets Speaking In Tongues Answered Prayer The Holy Spirit , and  Healing are all proof He manifests in reality. We can agree that anything which is within reality is and can be tested by science, yet the claim God can't be tested by science but he manifests in reality.. So aside from their ignorance, we will claim that the above list of claims can be tested. 1. Words of Knowledge Words of Knowledge a...

By Burning in Hades -- T his is my first post, and I just wanted to add a little bit of myself to the forums. I've been reading the posts for about a year, so here goes nothing. I may post more depending and how I feel about how it is presented. Image by jcoterhals via Flickr I was raised in a Christian family home, and my dad is actually a licensed minister, I'm 45. I don't remember ever not believing in god until a few years ago, but the more I asked tough questions the more I was convinced that there wasn't any god, in any religion, watching over us. Someone once posed a question that I have yet to find a valid response to, from any theist. The question was 'If God were to have died yesterday, how would you know? You see, the universe would continue along it's merry path, with or without humans, it has a few billion years left in its life cycle. Be that as it may, that isn't the reason that I don't believe any more. You see, I was married for ...

By Dealdoctor -- I n an article on Yahoo News I read, "Rome's center-right Mayor Gianni Alemanno was in the crowd, along with other pro-Vatican Italian officials. "We want to show our solidarity to the Pope and transmit the message that single individuals make mistakes but institutions, faith and religion cannot be questioned," Alemanno told Associated Press Television News. "We will not allow this." Image by tskdesign via Flickr "Hmmmmm-really." I thought as I read, “institutions, faith, and religion cannot be questioned.” But then the statement of authority and implied force,“ We will not allow this.” I do not think I have ever read a more concise statement of the mindset of someone under the dogmatism of religion. Certainly before the Enlightenment individuals had questioned religious faith but as an era the Enlightenment brought forth a questioning of those things mentioned above which ‘cannot be questioned’ and more and more peopl...

By Victor Webster, (retired surgeon), Sydney -- This is a genuine letter to an evangelical which, against all expectations, made him stop and re-consider: Vic Webster M y apologies for describing your writings as "gibberish". Science does not purport to have the answers to everything. There are many things we just do not know, and many things humans will never know the answers to. What you are asking is the age-old question - "why is there something rather than nothing?" Scientists don't know the answer to that. Like all mammals, our brain power has its limits. For example, you could try to teach, say, a dog the principles of calculus for 5 years non-stop, at the end of which he would not understand any of it. Similarly, understanding why there is something and not nothing - that is the real question -or why the universe exists at all - may well be simply incomprehensible to the human brain - let's hope not. To then say that some god or other ...

By Moving On -- No True Scotsman wears pants! I read in someone's post about KristinaLovesJesus and her video on youtube which states that there can be no such thing as an Ex-Christian. I watched this video and some related videos (one of them being the No True Scotsman video by theTRUTHgroup ). I found myself getting quite angry at their arrogant attitudes toward a subject which they quite obviously know nothing about. They are obviously still in that happy place where they know all and see all (or if they don't, at least god does, and he surely thinks like they do.) I also felt sad and ashamed at having ever been very much like them! :( I watched a few other videos that people had made in response to these, and those people, like me, were quite angry. I'm wondering why this is so? I am very happy to be free from all of the nonsense, the arrogance, the judgment, the false hopes and unanswered prayers and questions that come along with being a Christian. Why ...

By SeageVT -- Y esterday, my husband was admitted into an inpatient treatment center to be put on suicide watch and receive help with his sever anxiety disorder and the PTSD he has from a tour in Iraq where he was blown up by an IED . Image via Wikipedia His mother called me late last night, freaking out about it. Obviously she had been worried, but he had initially asked me not to tell her, because he had guessed what her reaction would be. She is an acclaimed Catholic . She use to preach to me about how I'm being led down the wrong path, yet all she could talk about last night; the money we owe her. Her son is in the hospital, wakes up several times every night in a cold sweat, talks about how he isn't worth anything and no one should suffer him to live, how he hate's himself and that I don't deserve the "stress" he puts me through. Even though I was the first to tell her about these things, even though my husband has asked me not to, all she could t...

by Vyckie @ No Longer Quiverin -- T he twenty-five years I lived as a born-again Christian was not just about living out the Quiverfull philosophy of welcoming all of the babies which the Lord chose to bless me with ~ it wasn't only about homeschooling, home fellowship, modest dress, sheltering our children from worldly influences and faithfully serving as a submissive helpmeet to my husband. When I first experienced the Lord's grace and forgiveness ~ when new life in Christ became my reality ~ I was overwhelmed by His love for me and His mercy toward me ~ an undeserving sinner. I read the story about Mary, the harlot who anointed Jesus' feet with expensive perfume and wiped them with her hair ~ His praise for this unworthy woman touched me deeply, "Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." (Luke 7:47) Given my mixed-up background and all the guilt and sham...

By Melissa -- I came from a Apostolic pentecostal church. The woman had to wear skirts, not cut their hair, and do other things that were meant to make us more spiritual and pure. Image by harold.lloyd (won't somebokeh think of the body?) via Flickr About a year ago i got tired of living that life. I was being a fake person and I hated that church, so I went looking for another church of a different denomination to go to. I got to a point where I just stopped believing all together and became agnostic. I mean, if Christianity is the "truth," then why are there so many different belief systems in one religion? Well, my husband has been awful during this whole experience. He even went to the extreme as to get a vasectomy because he did not want more children with a "heathen." He says I am an embarrassment to him and our two boys; that I disgust him. Even the way he looks at me makes me a little sick. I can see that he does not love me anymore. This all...

By Renoliz -- I just wanted to say how nice it has been to be able to "speak up" on the topic of Christianity. The damn has burst and I have commented on several of the articles. Image by vicsaez via Flickr I have never participated in on-line discussions or made any comments before recently. Since it is anonymous, I do feel that in some ways I can say what is really on my mind. I truly hope that something I say here will be helpful to somebody else who is considering leaving Christianity. However, this has been liberating for me. Reading others thoughts and feelings has allowed me to work through an awful lot of anger and angst. There has been sadness and fear. Knowing that I am not the only one struggling with fundamentalist indoctrination has helped me to no end. Realizing that the "nice" church I went to as a child also instilled a fear of Hell in me has helped me crystalize my feelings that Christianity is not a healthy concept. Truthfully, I...

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama evangelist who authorities say terrorized his family while preaching at revivals has been sentenced to life plus 51 years in prison after being convicted of killing his wife and storing her body in a home freezer. Circuit Judge John Lockett imposed the sentence Thursday on Anthony Hopkins, 39, who showed no remorse during the proceeding. He got the maximum sentence of life for murder and additional time for convictions including sodomy and sexual abuse. Assistant District Attorney Ashley Rich called Hopkins "evil of the worst kind." She said he taught the eight children in his home things about the Bible that were not true and that helped him get away with his crimes for years. During Hopkins' trial in April, prosecutors said he killed his 36-year-old wife, Arletha Hopkins, in 2004 after she caught him molesting a girl, then stuffed her body in a freezer at their home in north Mobile . Investigators discovered the body in 2008 after...

By Riz S -- "Atheism is a requirement for a complete human being. Religion is a crutch that is shackled to you, one you never really needed in the first place, but were convinced by others that you couldn't live without. Once you discover it's only an illusion, that it's not even a real crutch, you discard it gladly." - Brent Yaciw Image by halr75 via Flickr T his quote struck me as of late. Hard. And the more I read it, the more I contemplated it... the more I realized just how true it really is. Everything I thought I ever believed was nothing but an illusion. Even in leaving it behind I tried to find replacement theories and answers, but all of this was just an attempt to comfort a fearful mind. Religion is nothing but another attempt at self-understanding; however, instead of actually learning anything about ourselves, we just make it up as we go along. I don't have a whole lot of motive behind posting this one. I just came across the quote and tho...

By By Martin J Willett -- The next time you're asked to pray over a family meal or at some special event... Let us take responsibility for our own actions, inactions, strengths and frailties and not project them onto ghosts, spirits, stars, portents and gods unseen. Image by Stuck in Customs via Flickr Let us have the courage to accept that one person's faith is another person's bloody-minded pig-headed refusal to accept the obvious. Let us have the courage to accept that the person at the front of all crowds, including this one, doesn't know all the answers. Let us have the wisdom to accept that if our ancestors had fared differently in wars our communities would be holding different absurdities up as sacred truths, and the willingness to accept those absurdities would be seen as the badge of social trustworthiness or even the right to be allowed to draw breath. Let us accept that the difference between a prophet and a madman is not what they say but wh...

FLORISSANT, Mo. -- The former pastor of a Florissant church has been indicted on mail fraud charges. Prosecutors allege that 62-year-old Danny O'Guin exploited his position as leader of the Parker Road Baptist Church to solicit loans from church members, telling them the money was to repair properties he owned out-of-state. He also reportedly told parishioners to "keep quiet" about the loans. When some people asked about getting their money back, officials say O'Guin would borrow money from another church member to pay it off or issue checks that had "mistakes" on them and couldn't be cashed. If convicted of mail fraud, O'Guin faces up to 80 years in federal prison. STORY LINK | RELATED LINK

by Astreja -- Y ou've probably heard various Christians make the following statement, or a variation on it: "God doesn't send us to Hell ; we send ourselves there." Let's take a close look at the above assertion. First of all, there's an implicit assumption that an individual will have an actual choice to go to either the Nice Place or the Not-So-Nice place, somehow overriding the Divine Will of the omnipotent and omniscient Biblegod. This flies in the face of at least one variant of Christianity, Calvinism , which asserts that Biblegod has already picked out the "saved" and discarded everyone else. Secondly, it is also assumed that Biblegod will not only know about this person's "choice" but knew about it in advance , and permits it to happen anyway. The usual excuse given for this is that Biblegod does not want to impose upon our free will . Does anyone else see the problem with this? I present the analogy of the Par...

The pastor of a church in Newark, New Jersey and one of his female congregants are accused of forcing teenage girls to videotape the pair having sex. 55-year-old Moises Cotto and 37-year-old Brenda Pabon were arrested earlier this week. According to investigators, Cotto and Pabon allegedly made the girls videotape them having sex and forced at least one girl to strip and pose for pictures. Cotto also is accused of attempting to sexually assault one of the girls. Cotto is a pastor at the Congregation Yahweh at 20 Chester Avenue. He also is affiliated with Yahweh Congregations in Jersey City and Paterson . Pabon is a member of the congregation in Newark. The two began having an affair in 2008 and would meet regularly at the Benedict Motel in Linden where the alleged abuse took place. It's not clear when the girls first encountered the couple, but the meetings at the motel reportedly continued until about two weeks ago when one of the girls told a parent about the abuse...

The pastor of a church in Aurora has been charged with three felony counts of theft by deception for allegedly bilking three men, including one member of his church, out of more than $470,000. Pastor Howard Richmond The pastor, 49-year-old Howard Richmond, of the 2900 block of Brossman Avenue in Naperville , was taken into custody about 6 a.m. Wednesday without incident after Aurora Police executed a search warrant at his home, according to a release from Aurora police. Richmond heads Life Ministries , a storefront church located at 4054 Fox Valley Center Drive in Aurora. The criminal charges are the culmination of an ongoing Aurora Police investigation that began more than 13 months ago when a 60-year-old Skokie doctor who is a member of the congregation at Life Ministries, accused Richmond of swindling around $400,000 from him between December of 2008 and March of 2009. The doctor said that Richmond approached him following a service about investing money to help purchase t...

By Dan Savage -- Dan Savage is widely recognized as author of the internationally syndicated relationship and sex column Savage Love and the weekly podcast Savage Lovecast . Image via Wikipedia He is editorial director of the Seattle weekly The Stranger , where he was formerly Editor-in-Chief. He is a regular to contributor to PRIs This American Life as well as Out magazine and has been featured as a Real Time Reporter on HBOs Real Time with Bill Maher. Other published works include a memoir entitled The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family and contributions to the collected work Things Ive Learned from Women Whove Dumped Me, among others. Savage Love: http://www.thestranger.com/... Find Dan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pag...

By Lawsinium -- M ost biblical scholars believe in creation accounted in the Book of Genesis . The King James Version of the bible , which is an ancient collection of writings translated from Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, English and into over 500 languages, suggested that an omnipotent and omnipresent Divine Being exercises authority over everything including his gods or saints that serve as guardians of the natural world. With supernatural powers, he even created the universe in just seven days and the story of creation went like this: Image by Roy's World via Flickr 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 5 And God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And the evening and the morning were—the first day.6 And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it divide the waters from the water." —the second day.11 And...