By William Cheriegate ~ I have always been a skeptic, I have not always been a good student. When I became a Christian, I joined in with a thankful heart. I was deeply touched by the love of God and the welcoming by the christian family. It happened at a good Baptist church with a loving pastor. I experienced good friendships and started growing in my christian faith. I never really wondered about theology. William Cheriegate A few years later I had a spiritual experience and eventually joined a more charismatic church down the street. I started feeling more connected with God and his people. The theology was more Pentecostal than before but, again, I never worried much about it. More good friendships developed, one of them led to marriage. Then the children were born. Early on I used to read a few books now and then which tickled my early theological curiosity, but it wasn't until around the year 2000 that I started wondering about the faith I had been in for many years...

By Valerie Tarico ~ A s of Friday, December 6, the Mormon Church has officially renounced the doctrine that brown skin is a punishment from God. In the Book of Mormon , (not the musical but the actual sacred text) dark skin is a sign of God’s curse, while white skin is a sign of his blessing. The book tells of a conflict between two lost tribes of Israel , the Lamanites and Nephites, who journeyed to the New World and made their home in Mesoamerica. The Lamanites sinned against God, and “because of their iniquity....the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them” (2 Nephi 5:21). Later, when Lamanites became Christians, “their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites” (3 Nephi 2:15). These verses were thought to explain the dark skin of Native Americans. In 1960, Church apostle Spencer W. Kimball suggested at the general conference that Native Americans who converted to Mormonism were gradually becoming lighter skinned: I s...

By Joel H. (aka Underground Freethinker) ~ A fter several months of hiding the fact I'm no longer a Christian from my family, I have come out and told them the truth. In June, I told my sister to see if this was a good idea as she is more tolerant of people's differences. Although she does not actively try and "save me for Jesus", she believes I've taken a wrong turn in life. I know I've been quite unstable for the past 3-4 years as I go through this paradigm shift ; but a wrong turn? Maybe a different road perhaps would be a better way to say it sister. Four months later in October, I could no longer take the pain of hiding myself anymore. So when I got a chance to talk to my parents, I took it. First, I told them I was no longer a Christian but in fact a freethinker and an atheist. Second, I had a problem with the bible as it promotes the acts of rape, murder, torture, and slavery to name a few atrocities. Third, the bible contradicts itself on many ...

By David Rosman ~ A t issue: Whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000bb et seq., which provides that the government “shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion” unless that burden is the least restrictive means to further a compelling governmental interest, allows a for-profit corporation to deny its employees the health coverage of contraceptives to which the employees are otherwise entitled by federal law, based on the religious objections of the corporation’s owners. We are well aware of the coming Supreme Court arguments concerning Hobby Lobby and the Affordable Care Act. The question is seemingly simple in its statement but complicated in its answer. Can an owner of a company enforce his or her religious beliefs on its employees by denying benefits required by statute? We know the owners of Hobby Lobby are Christians. They run advertisements on Easter reminding us to “know” Jesus of Nazareth. They are closed on ...

By Slave2Six ~ Pray 1 : entreat, implore 2 : to make a request Synonyms: appeal to, beseech, petition, solicit I prayed to the manager at the tech company to provide me with a job and to pay me for the work that I do, and he did. I prayed to a landlord to allow me to reside in the house he owns in exchange for lucre, and he did. I prayed to the utility companies to provide electricity, gas, and water in return for giving up a portion of my income to them, and they did. I pray constantly to the grocer and gasoline company to provide us with the means to sustain ourselves and our automobile in exchange for a monetary contribution, and they do. When someone in my family became sick, I prayed to the doctors to provide healing, and they did (for a modest fee of course). When we fell on hard times, I prayed to charitable organizations to help us with food and shelter, and they did. Then I found out about a god who loves me as if I was his child, who loves me more ...

By summerbreeze ~ W hat a guy ! This is what the Lord did = English: Saying grace before carving the turkey at Thanksgiving dinner in the home of Earle Landis in Neffsville, Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) ( 1 ) Went to the Bank, withdrew a boat load of money to buy food and drinks. ( 2 ) Drove round and round at several grocery stores, looking for that elusive parking spot ( next to Siberia ) ( 3 ) Stood in L.O.N.G check out lines, usually stuck between people coughing and babies throwing hissy-fits. ( 4 ) Cleaned my whole house top to bottom. ( 5 ) Wrestled with a slippery Turkey, even dropping it on the floor once, only to find out that the inside was STILL frozen and the Turkey roasting pan was too small. ...........The Saga Continues ( 6 ) "He" peeled, shucked, diced, simmered, sliced, stirred, chopped, fried, basted and roasted while balancing 8 entrees plus side dishes to all come together at the same exact time ! I learned that it wa...

By Carl S. ~ O nce upon a time in the Middle East , home to almost every nutty religion, a child was allegedly born of a virgin who was no longer a virgin after he was born, so what‘s the point? Like other gods before him...yawn. It was claimed that this boy would be the earthly presence of an all-powerful deity, packed into his tiny, diaper-rash body. He was to be a long awaited messiah. (You'd be amazed how many messiahs there have been in history - even American Indian tribes had their messiah, to redeem them from you-guess-who.) He was supposed to free the Jewish people from the Romans who occupied their land. A lot of godly claims were made about him; a tremendous amount of hope rode on his potential. And the greatest news ever imparted to humans by a god. So what went wrong? Because, for all of his alleged potential, he did a piddling amount of good, and a lot of harm. This god-man, who was supposed to know everything already, was educated as, and became, a rabbi....

By Fabrizio the sailor ~ When and how I initially became aware of the relevance of conditioning and overcame the primary conditioning: the claim that “The Bible is the word of God.” English: Sacred Scriptures Bethel Edition Bible (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) A t the age of twenty, an unusual episode made me fully aware of how conditionings were working and how difficult it is, for most people, to get rid of them. In Kensington Gardens , London, I had met two Italian tourists, brother and sister. They were waiting for a girlfriend from Florence. D. suggested we play a practical joke on her and I was to be the main actor. All that I had to do was acting like a young Englishman, a Michael Hovel from Brighton, a student of Italian, interested in practicing Italian with my new acquaintance. To make it credible I would have to speak Italian with a strong English accent and from time to time pronounce, as best as I could, only one or two words in English, to avoid the risk of being ...

By Jazzybelle ~ T his was brought on when I confessed my de-conversion to my parents about two days ago. My mom said that she was a little upset and felt awkward, but as long as I can back it up, she won't ever stop loving me. My dad was and still is pretty mad and disappointed by it. He even went so far as to say he doesn't touch atheists when I wished them good night and I went for a good night hug (he and my mom got into an argument about it later and my mom let me stay up a little later because of the issue). Still, something he said bugged me. He had said, "But she's black? How could she be a-a-" Everyone knows that stereotype, right? That if you're black, you believe "Jesus is a brotha"? Keep this in mind as I explain what I found in a brief research session. I first heard this in my English class when we did a daily quote on the board. It was on Thomas Jefferson's famous quote, " life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness...

By SageAtheist ~ M y faith has always been a huge, central part of my life. I grew up in the church, singing songs and happily memorizing verses and chapters of Scripture, got baptized in a river at age 7, recommitted my life to Jesus in high school, attended a Christian university, went on multiple short term mission trips and eventually moved abroad after college to work for a new and growing church plant in France. I broke up with my first love because he wasn't a Christian. I believed in my Christian faith with my whole heart. Following my year-long mission in France, I met my husband through mutual Christian friends back in Seattle. After we got married, we spent time looking for a church that was a good fit for us as a couple and landed at a Presbyterian church that we both loved. It was the perfect combination of old liturgy with the vibrancy of the Holy Spirit ; there were families, couples, people all across the age spectrum- and the service always captured a spirit...