By Rational Logic ~ S ome Christians say that the atheist viewpoint on life is that it is ultimately meaningless. They quote Richard Dawkins in Unweaving the Rainbow who hints at such when he says “We are going to die…. how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state…? That prior state he is referring to, is of course is nothingness. If you ultimately return to nothingness and the whole universe will one day be nothingness does that mean life is ultimately meaningless? To many Christians, William Lane Craig included, feel that if there is no god with no ultimate purpose then everything is ultimately meaningless, even “depressing” according to Dr Craig. And yet, when you look at a beautiful red sunset and a tear rolls down your eye, or you listen to music that uplifts your spirit, or watch children at play and smile, do you feel that life is meaningless? Of course not. It is these very things that give life meaning. Christians have a different problem on their hands....

By Carl S ~ D o fundamentalist Christians buy vibrators, condoms, birth control pills, pornography? Amazon, ebay, Paypal and Home Shopping Network won't tell. Do they have abortions? But they'll show up in force when they want to make public statements against their own personal choices. After mass tragedies, families and community members buy huge amounts of stuffed animals and flowers, purchased in mourning, to honor the victims. Those are primal responses, originating long before the burial practices of ancient Egypt! And not one Christian is aware the pagans initiated this response: toys and implements were originally buried with the deceased to be used in their afterlives. Now, thousands of years later in a market economy, lamentation, grief, and loss are sales opportunities for businesses taking advantage of the lucrative business of religion. (Doesn't this remind you of Christmas?) After these things, comes the ceremonial praising of a god by survivors, the prattl...

By Carl S ~ I 'll never back off from saying that churchgoers, “are only telling each other stuff.” I once told a man in his church's parking lot, “You don't really believe a man standing here can float right up into the sky, do you?” But the one thought sticking to me like a burr, means more than any other: “Life is too important to be wasted on religion.” You'd think that's ridiculous, coming from me, one who has written on religion both here and in letters to the editor, for years. Have I been wasting my time and energy, better spent on just about any other activities, esp. pleasurable ones? Maybe. Do “true believers” have problems wasting their lives on their beliefs? Or are they only exercising their imaginations in mental masturbations? It's like wasting bottles at a shooting range in innocent fun. I may offend and anger believers. I criticize, disrespect, and mock their beliefs, but I've never incited or encouraged them to torture, deprive...

By Carl S ~    I live in a country with a motto “In God We Trust” on its currency. It's a stupid motto, since the “God” it refers to, as every Christian child is taught, out of all the gods, is the only one who is “creator of Hell,” and therefore, never to be trusted. Any nation which unquestionally accepts this slogan is an unthinking nation. Let's just take a look at this “Hell.” Have those who claim to believe in Hell really thought about Hell? Have they thought of what it's like to suffer intense unremitting pain, so the only ways out are in pain killers, opium, inebriation, and if it goes on, insanity and/or death, even by suicide? You'd do anything to escape pain like that. Some pet owners, when the only future for their pets will be hopeless suffering, choose to have them euthanized. Those who get bored with inflicting torture will kill their victims. The objects of torture eventually become used-up pieces of crap to them, They're no more fun. So ...

By Rational Logic ~ T ime and again common questions are asked of non believers by Christians. I answer these in this section. Note, many of these questions contain a personal perspective so answer from non believer to non believer will vary. 1) Are you absolutely sure there is no God? No. When you dig deep into the philosophical nature of knowledge (Which the phrase “are you sure” implies) we cannot honestly say we absolutely know anything. You might be very convinced, but that doesn’t mean you know in an absolute sense. This question also reeks of a pascals wager inference which basically says you should believe in God just to be safe. If you believe and there is no God, no harm done, if you don’t believe and there is God then you spend eternity in hell. There are massive problems with Pascals Wager that I explore in detail in other sections. So while I am not absolutely sure there is no God, I am fairly confident there isn’t one. Certainly not the God Christians propose, as t...

By Rational Logic ~  Religious History I was a Christian from birth for 32 1/2 years of my life. When I was born my parents were in a non denominational church which followed the teachings of a Pentecostal (Ex Baptist) divine healing preacher. Several years after I was born my parents left the church over doctrinal disagreements and started house meetings. This continued for some years with the group being a lose affiliation. After sometime my father felt the leading of the spirit to become the pastor of this small group and thus founded the church that would influence my entire adult life up to this point. Over the years the church dynamic has changed, but has maintained its basic identity as what is best described as a non denominational Christian church heavily influenced by the doctrine of the afore mentioned Pentecostal preacher. First Doubts While I would have never considered myself a very religious Christian e.g. I have never religiously read the b...

By MarkStephen ~  M y name is Mark. If I move to Mexico my name does not become Marcos, it will always be Mark. I understand that Jesus’ name was Yeshua in the Hebrew language, which translates to Joshua in English. Where did the name Jesus come from? Jesus, this supposed all important figure in the history of Western civilization, and yet Jesus was not this man’s name in his native tongue. This man, Jesus, the alleged word of God, the Bible, states that he was the Only begotten son of God. It seems to me, that if this were true that his name would be extremely important. So, even before any critical investigative inquiry of the Christian religion, the name Jesus is fraudulent from the start.  I believe, of course I don’t know, that there very well may have been a man, Yeshua, but he was no Christian and probably had no intention of starting another religion. According to the biblical account he was a Jew. He transcended his own religion. But he was no Christian and...

By Carl S ~ G ot some emails from a Fundamentalist Christian woman recently. They were products of fundy organizations. I couldn't download them, and told her so, adding: “If you voted for a man who ordered children must be torn from their parents arms and imprisoned, then shame on you.” Her response told me I had no business talking about voting for compassion (as I said in a letter to the editor),when I voted for a man who okayed “252 babies torn from their mothers wombs at birth, and having their limbs torn off.” I asked her to show me evidence for that, adding, “Don't send me any more b.s.” She answered, We are through; don't bother her any more. I responded, again, asking for evidence, and added, “666 children. Shame.” I understand she's another victim of a lie her president kept repeating. It's a shame she's suffering because of bullshit. She's very vulnerable because she's high-strung, and Christian media makes a hell of a lot of money by keep...

By OnlyAGhost ~ I was an Apostolic Pentecostal who left Christianity after 30 years. I was born and raised in it. Now being a bit of a nerd and antisocial I had a hard enough time making friends and acquaintances, but, growing up, the amount of people in my life were limited. I was mostly homeschooled and spent high school in a small Pentecostal private school. My limited social network (and the possibility of some personality disorders) had caused me to live a fairly lonely life. It made relationships difficult to find, and even more to keep. I was definitely an oddball amongst them, and I never actually dated until I was about 24. By then I was able to live my own life, but I was still indoctrinated. However, loneliness drove me to look outside my denomination. My first girlfriend was Baptist. At around 30, I went to prison. I don't want to talk about what I did. I am quite ashamed. I spent 5 years locked up while almost every one of my Christian friends aband...

By Harmonic Atheist ~ T oday I spoke with Susan, a friend whom I have known for over 30 years. We met in kindergarten, and remained good friends for many years as we attended Christian school together, where part of our indoctrination occurred. We were also heavily involved in Bible quizzing, when we memorized hundreds of verses. We discussed Susan's deconversion from Christianity, including the ways that the Christian worldview--especially the fundamentalist Christian one--hurts and emotionally scars people who grow up in it. We talked about the cracks that appear early in life, which are painful to work through, but which ultimately help people to think more rationally, to realize that Christianity is mythology and that the Christian god is not actually real, and to truly begin to live their lives for the first time. We have lots more to share! Stay tuned for part 2, coming shortly. Thanks to Susan for her vulnerability, realness, wisdom, sensitivity, and love for life....

By FlyingOverTr0ut ~ I was raised under the backwards teachings of Christianity which, when I took them seriously, left me confused, alone, sick, and disabled. I talk about how painful it was to leave, how necessary that choice was, and how it had many consequences for me.