By Houndie Image by Alanna@VanIsle via Flickr So, this morning taking my old doggie to the vet for a little procedure I noticed a sign in front of a church that is enroute. It's one of those churches where they always think they have something clever to say and post it out front for all the world to see. Today's little gem: "Dear God, I have a problem. Its me." I saw red! I wanted to turn the car around and go back and change it to read "Dear God, I have a problem... with You!" How aggravating that churches sell such a mantra of low self esteem! It as if to say "Hey! Not only are you part of a doomed race, but you suck too" I would love to convince those people that they are NOT a problem. That the problem lies in a ridiculous dogma that tries to tell them they are a problem. They need to know that they are worthwhile on their own merits, not because of some god. Truly, when I look at the amount of people who are still ruled by fear, sup...

A letter from Mike Image by SnippyHolloW via Flickr A lot of content and study on this site. According to you an educated Christian would have to go to great lengths in order to "interpret" the Bible and still believe. Deconstructionism is a beautiful thing, isn't it? Truth is, deconstruction is much simpler than construction... a house can come down quickly but it may take months to build... you get the point. Your conclusion is Christianity is all about faith and only fools would believe it... you celebrate those who reject the Bible and make insinuations that people who believe in Christ as being the Son of God and follow his teachings are foolish. Any one can do that. Your response, according to what I've read on this web site, is to completely discount the Bible and blow holes in Christ's words while slamming biblical "interpretation" of educated Christians (this, of course, according to your "interpretation"). My point is in...

Dear Friend, Thank you to everyone who answered our call for donations to support the American Humanist Association's Humanist Charities project and Sebastian Velez's efforts in Haiti to bring food, water, and supplies to the people of Jacmel, a city also devastated by the earthquake but received little media attention . Thanks to the generosity of our members, Sebastian's team of volunteers and Dominican Republic NGOs were able to work through the night to pack food, water, medical supplies, and rescue tools to send to Haiti. Yesterday, th...

By Master 's of Nothing At the age of forty-something I’ve spent over half of my life engaged with, supporting and preparing to work in the xtian church. About three years ago I read Richard Dawkins ’ God Delusion and from the day I finished the last page, I’ve not looked back. Indeed, I’ve found atheism to be the most honest, refreshing and liberating experience of my life. That said, I now have a bit of a dilemma. When I was in college I decided that I was going to study to become a xtian pastor. I went to school and obtained a Masters of Divinity degree. Recently my employer asked a number of workers at my company to submit standard “resume type” information because they wanted to re-evaluate our pay scales and, because of a computer problem, files for employees hired before thus and such a date had been lost. When it came time to fill out that paperwork, I found myself stuck between a rock and hard place. It’s not that I don’t believe in god. It’s that I now know t...

A letter from Autumn This would probably be better posted in the forums but, I know there are some brilliant minds on here that could help me work though this puzzle. My in-laws are challenging my husband on his lack of belief, and I struggle to understand what they're saying, let alone where they're coming from, and therefore I cannot deconstruct what they are trying to argue. They've started discussing it on his Facebook (great idea, since most of our friends don't know about his lack of belief) and I don't really have a lot of time before all our other religious friends (we attended a bible college) jump in and make a huge mess of things. It's from a website, http://www.christcenter.net/ godisnot.htm . What I think the gist of the argument is, is because god is god, god does not have to prove it's existence... or something like that. Reading it hurts my brain. This is the part my FIL posted: "And what kind of proof is required? The answer of...

by eveningmeadows Recently I ran into a woman I knew from my last church. We really weren't friends, just acquaintances. We talked for awhile, and when asked, I said I didn't go to church anymore, and I didn't believe in god anymore. After the look of shock, I explained to her the frustration of not being able to ask questions, and the stupid responses from the elders of the church when I did. I shared the frustrations over what I saw in the church. We exchanged email addresses, and to my surprise, she actually did email me. When emailing back and forth, she kept thinking over and over that I left the church because of the idiots in the church. She said that we are all working out our salvation, and we shouldn't blame god for what people do. Yes, they make god look bad, but we should keep our eyes on god only. Yup, that's easy. I would take the time to explain over and over that I didn't leave for that reason. I left because none of the teaching made sense t...

by Confused Kate Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr I will try to keep it short and simple. I am a faux-baptist and my fiancee is a faux-catholic. We are both atheists and want to get married soon. My family wants him to be baptized. His family is not as demanding (yet). I've been thinking of coming out instead of doing this whole circus act. I'm not financially stable enough to move in with my fiancee, but when I am, I think I'll move in with him, come out, and live my own life, and get married whenever. I want this more than anything, but I'm scared. My family is physically abusive, and while they are against physical abuse, they feel justified in my case. (Weird, I know.) How do you come out with the least about of battle scars? Do you just leave and never even officially come out? I think I would prefer the latter. I have no need to yell my beliefs from rooftops. I just want to live a peaceful life where I can make decisions for myself. Please help.