To me, one of the most frustrating debates in this country is between evolution and creationism, and it's frustrating because it's completely unnecessary. Evolution is not something that factored into my deconversion. But after leaving Christianity, I became interested in learning more about it, since I had left my past ideas on how we all… Continue reading Why Evolution and Religion Don’t Have to Be at Odds
Category: Culture
Rules on How to Be an Atheist? Really?
The other day, I ran across a poll on whether Christmas should be a government holiday, and one of the commenters said this: No matter how you slice it, xmas has roots in religion. Atheists celebrating xmas is not merely inane, but shows weak conviction. Atheists should celebrate real, important events, like the date of… Continue reading Rules on How to Be an Atheist? Really?
How It Happened: My Deconversion Part 11
The first post in this series can be found here, or you can just keep scrolling down the page till you find it. Once my wife and I were officially withdrawn from, we were simultaneously relieved and devastated. It was nice to no longer have to pretend to believe or worry what people might do… Continue reading How It Happened: My Deconversion Part 11
How It Happened: My Deconversion Part 5
Links: Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 I'm reaching a part of this story that's very difficult to write about. In my last post, I mentioned that my doubts about my faith had reached a point that I knew I needed to talk to my parents and my wife's parents… Continue reading How It Happened: My Deconversion Part 5
How It Happened: My Deconversion Part 3
Links: Part 1 // Part 2 For most of 2009, I remained unsure of some of my beliefs. Doctrinally, I had a firm foundation -- I knew what I believed and why. But when it came to the subject of who would be saved and who wouldn't, I felt like I was at a loss.… Continue reading How It Happened: My Deconversion Part 3
How It Happened: My Deconversion Part 2
Part 1 can be found here. In studying the doctrine of Hell, I found some interesting things. First, Hell is not talked about in the Old Testament. The King James Version mentions "Hell" a number of times, but that's just a translation issue. The actual word used in the Old Testament is Sheol. Now, we… Continue reading How It Happened: My Deconversion Part 2
How It Happened: My Deconversion Part 1
Lately I've been reading The Bittersweet End, and I've been quite engrossed in the way his story is unfolding. He began the blog as a place to gather his thoughts about a few doubts he was dealing with. Over the last year, he has moved further and further away from belief, until he now pretty… Continue reading How It Happened: My Deconversion Part 1
Tecumseh the Prophet
I just finished reading The Frontiersmen by Allan Eckert, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't realize how little I knew about this period of American history, until I read this book. Eckert's book is not historical fiction, it's an actual history covering the settlement of the areas around Kentucky and Ohio. It centers mostly… Continue reading Tecumseh the Prophet
Absolute Morality
There are certain things that we all know are wrong -- child molestation, for instance, or murder. But how do we know those things are wrong? Many religious people (and I'm mostly gearing this toward Christians, since they're the group I'm most familiar with) believe that we must appeal to a higher authority in order… Continue reading Absolute Morality
Purpose
For many theologians, their biggest complaint against atheism is that it would mean there is no grand purpose to our existence. I can understand why they would find that depressing, though of course, that doesn't have any bearing on whether or not such a purpose really exists. The truth just might be sad. Nevertheless, let's… Continue reading Purpose
Finding Truth 