A friend not long ago, explaining to me why he became a Christian said: I felt a powerful need for forgiveness, and Christianity is the only religion that offers this.

Of course I can understand the appeal of forgiveness. I am, as you are, a social animal. I have evolved as a member of a tribe who must "play well with others" in order to survive and thrive. Part of playing well with others is treating them as I would like to be treated and, failing in this ideal (which we all do from time to time), seeking reconciliation.

Thus my conscience pricks me when I cause pain to others and I feel guilty and I feel a need for forgiveness.

What I do not feel, and have never felt even as a Christian, is the need to be forgiven for offending a Creator.

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Debunking Christianity - 7.30.10 by John W. Loftus

This list was sent to me (John) by Ed Babinski:

1) Find an attractive prisoner of war, bring her home, shave her head, trim her nails, and give her new clothes. Then she’s yours. (Deut. 21:11-13) [About the command that her nails be trimmed, you wouldn’t want her to scratch your eyes out, would you? "When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and they Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou has taken them captive, And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldst have her to wife, Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare [trim] her nails." (Deut. 21:10,11,12)]

2) “Lay hold on” a virgin who is not betrothed to another man, and have sex with her, but afterwards pay her father a sum of money. Then she’s yours. (Deut. 22:28-29)

3) Find a prostitute and marry her. (Hosea 1:1-3)

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"For more than 1500 years Christians saw the Bible as the primary source of knowledge, but in the 17th Century a scientific revolution challenged the Christian view of the world. Eminent scientist Colin Blakemore interviews scholars and churchmen in order to understand how science transformed Christianity over the last four centuries. He shows how scientists born of the Enlightenment realised that the laws of the universe were there to be discovered, not read about in the Bible. He argues that science is the biggest challenge Christianity has ever had to face, and that it will eventually make religion unnecessary."

Compass

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Via AtheistCartoons.com

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Internet Monk - 1.27.10 by iMonk

I’m not a Prophet or a Prophet’s Son. I can’t see the future. I’m usually wrong. I’m known for over-reacting. I have no statistics. You probably shouldn’t read this. The “Gracious God” post depressed me.

Part 1: The Coming Evangelical Collapse, and Why It Is Going to Happen
Part 2: What Will Be Left When Evangelicalism Collapses?
Part 3: Is This A Good Thing?

My Prediction

I believe that we are on the verge- within 10 years- of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity; a collapse that will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and that will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West. I believe this evangelical collapse will happen with astonishing statistical speed; that within two generations of where we are now evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its current occupants, leaving in its wake nothing that can revitalize evangelicals to their former “glory.”

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You can't have a definition of right and wrong without God. So the apologists' argument goes. And yet when the Christian says "God is good," is he not judging God's character on the basis of a standard independent of God? Otherwise he would be stating a tautology, like "Single men are unmarried."

Further, if God is the source of all standards of goodness, then anything God did or does or commends must be good by definition. So if God told you to kill and eat your child, would you assume that was good behavior? Hardly. Unless you are a lunatic.

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Within Christianity there is controversy about what day to worship (Saturday or Sunday?), what name to worship (Jesus only? Jehovah? Father/Son/Holy Ghost?), etc. But the Muslims have taken it one step further: What direction to worship?

CNN - 7.19.10 by Andy Saputra

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- Indonesian Muslims have been praying in the wrong direction, the country's highest Islamic authority has said.

The Indonesian Ulema Council told the country's Muslim populace in March to turn west when they offered their daily prayers. Muslims are supposed to face the Kaaba, the religion's most sacred site in the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

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The Bible and Interpretation - May 2010 by Robert R. Cargill, Ph.D.

Many people have contacted me about the recent claims by a group called Noah’s Ark Ministries International. The evangelical organization claims to have discovered Noah’s ark. I have responded on several occasions to these dubious claims on my blog. And still, this group has stood behind their claim, insisting that what they have found is real based largely on the belief that because the Bible says the flood and the ark are historical, it must be so. So, instead of addressing their spurious claims yet again, I thought I would approach the issue from a different angle: forget about Noah’s ark; there was no world-wide flood.

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I don't know if anyone else will ever read this. But I'm writing for myself, anyway, mostly, so I write, regardless. I've not posted here in a long, long time because, simply put, my atheism seems to hurt people I care about. Family, loved ones.

A solution, one that allows me to write without hurting people, seems obvious: Keep this blog from coming to their attention. But is that being underhanded, dishonest? I'm not sure.

In any case, it does me good to put my thoughts on this topic on paper, metaphorically speaking, and doing so on a blog on the Internet preserves my writing, makes it accessible to me from any connected device, and may even earn me some much-needed funds, so I write again.

I have no illusions about or desire to de-convert anyone from theism. I know that almost no one is converted by rational argument, so it stands to reason that no one can be de-converted by rational argument. If one is disposed to question their faith, for whatever reason, then and only then can rational argument play a helpful role in their de-conversion.

Thought I'd pass along a wonderful series of videos that describe the de-conversion of a former evangelical Christian. The first in the series is posted below.



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