By Cordova ~ M y journey from being a staunch bible thumping x-tian to finally being free of the religious shackles was a long and hard one.  I grew up in a highly religious community and being an illegitimate child born back in the 1940's somehow made me a 'bad' person. Oh, I was good enough to play with on the school-yard but not good enough to invite to anyone's birthday party.  Many times I was told:  "You're nothing but a whore's daughter."   I remember being very confused and hurt because I couldn't understand why I was being punished for something my mother did.  When I was about 16 or 17 years old I caught myself daring to question this 'god' character:  "Who are you to demand I worship you; What makes you better than me?"   I was immediately overcome with fear, shame and guilt - exactly what religion is DESIGNED to do!!!  I begged for forgiveness because I didn't want to burn in hell for an eternity.  I became an o...

By Ben Love ~ T here is such a strong pull in our lives, regardless of what religious roads we walk, to see patterns where none actually exist. Our hearts and minds so desperately want confirmation of some unseen realm, some supernatural plane where “good” prevails. Thus, we will take what are otherwise random events from our life, string them together into some kind of biased motif, and then use that motif to confirm what we want to believe. We all do it, everyone one us. Most of the time, we don’t know we’re doing it. But we can train ourselves to recognize it and then cease it. The point is that we all encounter random phenomena, arbitrary occurrences, chance meetings, and eerie coincidences. When we attach our own meaning to these events, we are feeding meaning into the random; we are choosing something arbitrary and assigning our own deeper purpose to it. The problem, though, is that we do this selectively. How about this scenario: suppose there are two men. Both are prime p...

by WizenedSage (Galen Rose) ~ W e might call this article old news, for two reasons. One, these findings are from a study published in 2011, and two, most of us have suspected the conclusions all along. Still, I thought many of you would still find this “news” interesting. The study, titled, “Divine Intuition: Cognitive Style Influences Belief in God,” was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology , and was performed by Amitai Shenhav, David G. Rand , and Joshua D. Greene all of Harvard University . What these guys did was determine their subjects’ relative propensity to form their judgments intuitively, or through reflection (reason). This propensity they called “ cognitive style .” They tested this using a series of math problems that, although easily solvable, have intuitively compelling incorrect answers. For example, “A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? The response $0.10 springs immediately...

By Ben Love ~ Y ou want to believe in God. You really do. Sometimes you think about how great it would be if there was someone you could bring your cares to, someone who understood you, someone who was willing to take your anxieties and carry them for you, someone whose comfort was…  supernatural . Good Shepherd fresco from the Catacombs of San Callisto under the care of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) To that end, you recall a billboard you saw on the side of the road recently. It showed a picture of Jesus with his hands wide open. Underneath him was a quote: “Come to me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest.” You’ve heard of Jesus before. You’re even familiar with much of his teachings, just as you are familiar with the teachings of the Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius, Lao Tzu , the Dalai Lama , any many other spiritual and/or religious teachers. You wonder why Jesus should be any different from the rest of these c...

By Carl S ~ A fter viewing many " Judge Judy " TV programs, I started to write down some of the things she repeats in her court room . These are helpful in separating fact from fiction in ordinary circumstances, whenever we search for what is true versus what is claimed to be true. I have heard viewers who say they don't agree with her final judgements, and from those who think she was rude or disrespectful to the defendant or plaintiff , but on the other hand, such viewers often believe those who tell them nonsense with smiles on their faces. Judge Judy is not there to catch flies with honey. And with over 20 years of hearings, she has a tremendous amount of experience accumulated in telling truth from the fabricated. Judge Judy Sheindlin (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In no special order, here are some quotes from Judge Judy: "Show me the proof ." Without proof, your claims are just that- claims. We have no way of knowing otherwise, no matter how strongly...

By Johns Shores ~ D uring a "Train the Trainer" session, the leader of the session confided, "When I am asked a question, I answer immediately and with confidence. This doesn't mean that I know what I'm talking about, but it always seems like I do." The human brain has a hunger for certainty. As psychologist David Rock observes: Like an addiction to anything, when the craving for certainty is met, there is a sensation of reward (in the brain). Given this physical need, is it really any wonder that religions would arise? One of the hallmarks of religions like Christianity is that an answer to that which cannot be known is delivered immediately and with confidence. And once you have the answer, that's that. I think it can be successfully argued that the attraction of any religious idea is that it provides certainty in those spaces of our worldview that cannot be tested directly. Throughout history,physical events such as the rising and set...

By Mark Main ~ O ver 3 decades of fundamentalist Christianity definitely gave me a whole lot of things to be upset about, but there were some good times along the way. For anyone raised in church their whole life I think you will appreciate this story. In the end it shows the lengths Christians will go to in explaining things that seem to have no explanation. Jimmy and I were cousins born a month apart. Since we were both raised in the same strict Christian church it was only natural that we would become best friends. It was an arrangement that worked out for everyone. Our parents would much prefer us not hanging out with anyone that didn't believe the way our families did and Jimmy and I genuinely wanted to be best friends. To say that we were bad kids would be stretching the truth. We weren't bad, but we weren't exactly perfectly behaved either. We had a mischievous streak in us that we rather enjoyed letting out. Often on Sunday mornings Jimmy and I would eithe...

By Ben Love ~ Y ou want to believe in God. You really do. The Universe would seem lonely otherwise. To think of all that vast empty space with no Great Architect behind it all feels somewhat … upsetting . As Pascal said, “the eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens” you.  It would be nice to know that someone  bigger  than all that empty space exists, someone who has control of things, someone who gives meaning to what would otherwise seem like pointless nothingness. Nevertheless, so far you’ve not had much success in discovering who that Great Architect might be, or even if one exists at all. It seems likely. But  likely  is a far cry from a  certainty.  And your efforts to turn over every stone have not led to you believe you can conclude anything definitive. The things is, you’re man of evidence, and while you know that extremism in any one direction is probably not the best policy, you can’t help but feel that one can nev...

By Ronna Russell ~ A s a child raised in the extreme isolationism and clamped-down atmosphere of the United Pentecostal Church , I had a deep desire for worldly things.  The state of females’ appearance was rigidly controlled:  dress length to the knees (even for children), no pants or jeans, no sleeveless shirts, uncut hair, (not even trimmed), no make-up or jewelry and I lusted for it all.  My most prized possession as a little kid was a big fat gold ring with rhinestones that I was allowed to wear only when playing “house” in the basement.  Once, some poor soul got saved and turned over her entire collection of costume jewelry to my dad; three boxes full.  I was momentarily ecstatic, envisioning hours of fabulous dress-up play.  My sisters and I got to keep the empty boxes.  I have no idea where the jewelry went; probably into the garbage.  Oh, that just made me feel a little bit sick to my stomach. As I grew towards adolescence, my cra...

By Ben Love ~ Y ou want to believe in God. You really do. Of course you do. Why not? After all, it’s comforting to think of some divine, perfectly loving entity who not only created you, but knows you personally—knows your  name , in fact—and cares about the minutiae of your daily life. It would certainly be great to know that someone like this exists and is accessible in your greatest moment of need, someone you can fall back on, come to, rely on, trust, and look to for guidance. That’s how it  should  be, you reason to yourself, otherwise your existence wouldn’t really be fair. It’s not fair for you to be here all on your own, with no godly Father out there somewhere, watching out for you. But you, as a mere human, are sadly limited in your ability to know things. You can’t just make up truths that feel good and sound nice. If you did that, you’d be insane. No, you know must limit yourself to what can be known. So you ask yourself, “Do I  know  there...