Freethought for Children

• No one can tell you what to think.
• Not your teachers.
• Not your parents.
• Not your minister, priest, or rabbi.
• Not your friends or relatives.
• Not this book.
• You are the boss of your own mind.
• If you have used your own mind to find out what is true, then you should be proud!
• Your thoughts are free.

from Just Pretend: A Freethought Book for Children, by Dan Barker

Godless: Dan Barker Lecture

Last night I attended a talk by Dan Barker, of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and author of Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists. It was a great night shared friends that were believers, past-believers, and non-believers. Dan shared his story of deconversion from Christian to Atheist/Agnostic. It is a very compelling story and I recommend watching the video below of a similar lecture.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is an educational group working to maintain separation of church and state. This past spring they celebrated a large victory in the case against National Day of Prayer. A U.S. District Judge, Barbara Crabb, ruled that National Day of Prayer violates the establishment clause of the Constitution's First Amendment. In her ruling, she wrote: "The same law that prohibits the government from declaring a National Day of Prayer also prohibits it from declaring a National Day of Blasphemy."

Religion News Weekly!

" Good people will do good things, and bad people will do bad things. But for good people to do bad things -- that takes religion." - Steve Weinberg

Like I said, I will try not to focus on the evils of religion, the harm that faith can cause. But this week I just couldn't help it. Read the linked articles below for the full story.

1. Catholics, it's you this Pope has abused

The Pope's arrival to England was met with harsh criticism over all the recent scandals of the Vatican. The Rally Against the Pope drew at least 10,000 people. Here is a most wonderful speech by Richard Dawkins shreding Ratzinger apart.

2. Protests against US Koran-burning sweep Afghanistan

Long story short. A pastor in florida is upset about the possibility of an Islamic Mosque being built near the site of the World Trade Center. So he trys to rally a 'Burn the Koran' day on the anniversary of 9/11. No one supports him and even officials warn him this may be a bad idea. He eventually doesn't go through with it because of a 'sign from God' claiming he made a deal with an Islam leader to not build the Mosque near the site. This was found to be a lie. Regardless, protesstors in Afghanistan sweep the streets eventually leaving three shot dead. Need I say more?

3. Officials awaken to Forced Marriage, Conversion of Pakistani Girls

Talk about wrong. There is a current movement right now of kidnapping young Christian girls, raping them, subjecting them to a forced marriage, then converting them to Islam.

4. Followers of Christ couple indicted in death of a child

I don't even know what to say about this one. This of course an extreme example of the dangers that irrational faith can play on the human brain. It's not the first time his has happened and surely not the last.


While cartoons may lighten the mood, the consequences of faith can have is down right devastating. While most religious moderates don't take these actions, their support of the church only allows extremism like this to go on in the name of their deity.

Gotta love religion.........

Dear Believer

"When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is Religion."- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Dear Believer,

You have a belief, a position of faith. You have a neatly packaged model to base your life on. A lens to view everything from the meaning of life, morality, history, enlightenment, love, guidance, to what the future will bring, and how the world works. But guess what? So does your next door neighbor. And theirs is the absolute truth, according to them. How do you feel about that? And guess what? The neighbor on the other side of you has another belief, another model that conflicts with yours. And this neighbor claims that both of your beliefs are wrong and theirs is the one true path to salvation. How can this be so?

I propose something for you to think about. Now, don't just give it a few minutes. I propose you give it a few days of thought, maybe weeks. Possibly turn it into a journey. I want you to think about the origins of your faith. Why do YOU believe what you believe? What got you started on this path? Of all the religions in the world, what makes you think you have the right one?

“The unexamined life is not worth living .” - Socrates

No one has ever been able to come to an agreement of how many religions have existed in the world. There could be 8 core religions of the world, 42 common practiced religions, a possible 42,000 religions have existed in history. Hindusim is considered the oldest written religion at around 6,000 years old. There is evidence that Aborigines held religious ceremonies around 16,000 years ago.The three Abraham religions are relative new comers to the scene. Judaism around 1,800 B.C.E. Christianity around 30 C.E. Islam around 610 C.E. There is between 2,000 to 4,000 different denominations of Christianity. Say what? Yes there are a few thousand interpretations of the teachings of Jesus Christ. So what is this, a multiple choice exam? a) Christianity b) Judaism.... ah crap the right answer was c) Mormonism! I guess you have to play the lotto to be saved huh? Maybe you believe what you believe because of your upbringing? But think about this, there also many possibilities here. Dawkins pointed this out beautifully! You see, just based on probability, if you were:

a) born in America, you would be a Christian.
b) born in Israel, you would be Jewish.
c) born in Salt Lake City, you would be Mormon.
d) born during Viking times, you would believe in Thor.

e) born in ancient Greece, you would believe in Zeus.

f) born in Afghanistan, you would be Islam.
g) born in India, you would be a Hindu.

h) born in Thailand, you be Buddhist

Get it yet? Your religion is no more than a geographical hereditary accident. Period. Your neighbor, neighbor in state, neighbor in country all have the 'truth'. So think about the chances that you were born of a different faith. Walk yourself through the thought process and also what it would be like to look upon your religion from the opposing view. It is amazing when you actually let this idea sit in your head how easy it is to debunk a single religion just based on probability. Yet, humanity is still plagued with one of the last great illusions. Religion.

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." -Stephen F. Roberts

"A bad idea embraced by millions of people, is still a bad idea."

Worrying Out Loud

There seems to be a taboo in this country where you're not allowed to talk about others religious beliefs. You can debate everything such as politics, medicine, and everything in between. But as soon as you bring up religion, it's taboo. You have to be careful as you don't want to 'offend' the person. My aim is not to deliberately offend anyone. More so, I am worrying out loud. I am concerned that the progress of civilization is being stalled by outdated dogma from the bronze age. A majority of people are not only taking moral guidance from a book that is a couple of thousand years old, but also using it as an ample explanation of how natural orders work.

You ask why am I attacking God? I ask, why are you looking the other way? A majority of religious people, moderates as well, tend to stick their fingers in their ears and go La, La, La, as if the evidence were there as some sort of inconvenience to their belief. I realize I may offend some people but as I am coming to find out there is no easy way to tell a person that what they have based their life on may very well be wrong. You may also say I have no right to tell a person that they are wrong. From their point of view I can see this. People hold their beliefs very closely to the heart as it gives them a security blanket. When you tell someone they are wrong, you are immediately touching on their self sense of security. But I say oh boo hoo. Who cares if your wrong! You have to be open minded about the possibility of being wrong. Who cares if your offended. Sure, I am offended by things as well. Like Dawkins, I am offended when children are denied a proper education. I am offended when children are indoctrinated and told they might spend all eternity in hell. I am offended when medical science is compromised and has the potential to cure many diseases. But how else are we supposed to progress as a society if we first don't nuke the foundations?

You may also tell me that religion isn't all evil and it does so many good things for humanity. I would agree. In this blog I will not focus on the evil of religion, as there are plenty of other resources that point it out clearly, and I do realize religion does do a lot of good things and in many ways promotes peace. So what is my problem with it? The surrender of the mind. The alienation from nature into a dogmatic worldview.

So here it is, this is what we're up against: We have people like Ken Ham founder of the Creation Museum, who claims the Grand Canyon was the result of Noah's Flood and people roamed among the dinosaurs. Michael Behe of the Discovery Institute, who leads the Intelligent Design movement making an embarrassment of science by wanting equal time in the classroom against evolution. It's just bad science. Luckily the Supreme Court saw right through it in the Kitzmiller vs. Dover case. Then there is Patrick Henry College near Washington D.C., whose main goal is to train fundamentalist evangelical Christians to become political leaders. We have homeschool children being told to deny science as it cant explain anything. Once we can move past these outdated views and road blocks, we can focus on really important topics in science and moral civilization. There are many diseases to be cured and many many questions in science we can put our efforts into.

You will also say, but you haven't been to my church, they don't teach that. Yeah it may not where you are, but it may be happening in the church across the street from yours. Or it may be happening in the home next to yours. And this is why... I am worrying out loud.

"Nothing is more dangerous than a dogmatic worldview - nothing more constraining, more blinding to innovation, more destructive of openness to novelty." - Stephen Jay Gould