From Linda W Tomorrow is the funeral of a young man. He died at age 21 in Iraq. He was a childhood friend of my daughter. The funeral will be at a church, of course. His parents were very religious. I am very saddened and yes, angry that a young man had to die. The funeral will have the usual messages of how great and good God/Jesus are, how this young man was called home, how he now is in the loving arms of Jesus, etc. I think to myself of how I would cope with the death of one of my children. I know that regardless of the depths of my despair, I have come too far in my rational, logical worldview to resort to the supernatural for comfort. Knowing that the deceased is not suffering and honoring the life he had here on earth would bring me peace. I understand the comfort it brings people to believe the dead are in a better place, but with that belief comes the belief in hell. How many people suffer needlessly wondering if loved ones passed on are in hell? The funeral will be mostly ab...

A letter from Jonah S I don't know exactly who or what is God or Godess but do believe that there could be a high being or creator. Maybe as many you say there might not be, but my question to you people is this: Why do you come so strongly against people believing in God? Why attack people who believe different than you? Science is just as factual as many religions. I mean both evolution and Islam are based on man's ideas and experiences are they not? You people have every right to make fun of those who do believe in a creator but don't you think it's kinda silly? Science has been wrong a lot over the years just as religions have been too, but there could be some truth found even though there were mistakes too.

From THE ACE This is not a testimony, but something I wanted to bring to bring to everyone's attention. My parents recently e-mailed this Christian propaganda; I've read it through several times, and it still confuses the heck out of me. Would some of you comment on this so I can give them some logical answers to whatever this is trying to say? Science vs. God 'Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ.' The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand. 'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?' 'Yes sir,' the student says. 'So you believe in God?' 'Absolutely.' 'Is God good?' 'Sure! God's good.' 'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?' 'Yes.' 'Are you good or evil?' 'The Bible says I'm evil.' The professor grins knowingly. 'Aha! The Bible!' He considers for a moment. 'Here's o...

from Lori I'm currently trying to find out what is the truth in this world and am having a hard time dealing with the splitting of myself. On one hand I know what I have been taught, but on the other hand I have so many questions that are unanswered, such as why would God tell us "Thou shalt not kill" and "Thou shalt love thine neighbor as thy self", but then command people in I Samuel 16 to kill of a nation that was Israel's neighbors (children, women, cattle, everything)? Part wants to say, "Well, they weren't following the will of God." but the other wants to say "Well, can I go and kill people today because they are not following the will of God"? I don't know. I'm on this journey and need some words of wisdom. Can someone help me without the brutal comments? Can't handle that right now. Thanks

A letter from Charles M Hello, I was impressed by the webmasters testimonial and all the work he did over the years for the Bible. I understand that there is a lot wrong with the churches in America and elsewhere. There are to many stumbling blocks put there by people in churches. Also lots of churches dont accept what the Bible says and dont understand it. I dont see the point of investigating the Bible if you dont check out the basics of what it says. For instance if evolution is true then the Bible is not. Simple. If this question is not satisfactorily settled it does not matter how well you know the Bible or how much someone wants to be a christian the whole thing is just going to self destruct at some point in the future. So check out the claims of evolution - do they really stand up ? are they really 'scientific' ? or is the seemingly implausible idea of creation more logical ? These are the issues that individuals must work out to their satisfaction. Also, what about ...

From Dakota L I'll be honest. I haven't given up on Jesus, but church makes me wince. I've been very hurt by religion. I've made my own mistakes as well. I've grown up in church my entire life. I found this site after "Googling" Masters commission, as I was a first year student. I feel it created a lot of insecurities in people; I know it did for me. The no dating policy was more like "no looking in the opposite sex's general direction." I was even "confronted" for doing so in a large group of people. I had hardly had any communication with the opposite sex and was shy for the most part. Then I'm suppose to be made to feel like I am doing such an ungracious deed? I swear, it screwed me up psychologically. Even to this day, although I am happily married, I have trouble with the opposite sex. I feel very uncomfortable after being conditioned in Masters Commission. That is one thing I think was unhealthy. I was also pray...

A question from Dominick How do we handle it when someone we know and care about dies? The reason I ask this question is because a good friend of mine died today. I guess it would have been easier if she had died from some kind of illness, but she died in a house fire at 6:45 a.m. this morning. I saw her on Friday and we spoke a bit on Sunday and I was planning on going to see her at work on that day, just to mess with her a bit :) I am not telling you about my friend’s death to make you feel sorry for me or anything like that, it is just that I have to go to her funeral , when I find out what day it is, and i don't think I can handle that very well. I have never had anyone this close to me before dying, plus the fact when I last saw her, she was smiling and laughing and now she is gone. I am sure some of you asking why I am posting about my friend's death on an ex-Christian site. It is because I am a lifelong atheist and I wanted to know how other atheists handle it when so...

A letter from Linda W I am an ex-Christian; my brother is a fundamentalist Christian. We were discussing evolution again... He believes that animals evolved, but humans did not -- they were created. So, he believes in evolution, just not for people. I had never heard this viewpoint before and I thought I had heard them all. Is the new way for fundamentalist Christians to accept the fact of evolution, but just not for people? Has anyone else ever heard this explanation?