When I get an email from someone who is more of an acquaintance than a friend and their email is asking me and others to pray for their friend, what do I do.

Karen has indicated that letting them know by replying to their email is not appropriate, I get that. But then when, out of the blue, randomly?

This question popped into my head the other day and it defines my position on everything. I question everything.

More than anything else this question applies to the bible, a book that claims to have answers.

Tags: Bible

I just finished watching this show that I thought was going to be about evolution when it was really about creationism. I knew it wasn't going to be a science show when I realized it was on TBN. The show is hosted by David Hames and Dr. Jobe Martin.

Dr. Jobe Martin attempts to legitimize himself by saying he went to college for biology and was an agnostic and claims to have been an evolutionist. You can tell the direction the show is going by the way he discusses the Big Bang Theory. He discusses study he did against evolution that led him to believe in God but doesn't indicate how long ago it was.

He regularly says that things had to be created whole because they wouldn't work otherwise. He's talking about "irreducible complexity", and science had proven that something that doesn't appear to be able to work when any part is missing will in fact serve a purpose.

Interestingly he repeatedly says "scientists don't know" when it comes to how some things work, yet when he does have an answer it's a scientific one. Unless of course he doesn't have an answer and says "God did it".

At one point he discusses that they are teaching things in school about evolution that are not accurate. There is some truth to this, however, it has more to do with the school system reprinting books with information that has changed than the teachings themselves. It would be as if schools still taught with a school book that said the Berlin wall was still standing, it's not the Berlin wall's fault the school is using an out of date book.

Dr. Jobe Martin can't conceive that these animals evolved (natural selection) into what we see today over the period of millions of years given we have proof of just that. Yet he doesn't have any problem believing in an invisible God that he only knows about from the translated text of a two thousand year old book.

I might be a Brand New Atheist but I am not a moron. I can see right through his apologetics. If you want me to believe in what your saying show me some proof, I don't care how you feel. I would believe in God if there were any proof, as it stands right now, there is more proof for Bigfoot than God.

1. Do you believe the bat is a bird? No you don't, you know it's a mammal. Science one, bible zero.
2. Do you believe the Earth is flat? No you don't, you know it's round. Science two, bible zero.
3. Do you believe the Earth is the center of the solar system? No you don't, you know the sun is. Science three, bible zero.

For you to truly believe the bible you need to believe that the Earth is flat. If you do not believe the Earth is flat then you deny the teachings of the bible. If there is a single error in the bible then any part can also be in error. If the bible were the word of god then he would have known the Earth is round and the bible would not state the contrary.

There is enormous amounts of evidence for evolution. Why, if your bible is wrong about so many things do you not believe the same science that tells you about evolution?

This is how religion retards intelligence, it forces you to deny evidence.

Fractal Wrongness is defined as your idea as a whole is wrong and also equally wrong at any resolution.

What I'm trying to say is that if you build your entire knowledge base of any given topic on one idea that's wrong, then all of your proceeding conclusions on that topic will also be wrong. For instance, if you believe in bible then you can't believe in evolution. If you believe in the bible then you must also believe the Earth is flat.

The Theory of Evolution is a scientific fact. Yet your belief in the bible (your foundation) is wrong therefore making your conclusion about evolution to also be wrong.
Religion has retarded your intelligence about evolution.

The Theory of Gravity is a scientific fact. Since this theory doesn't cause some type of conflict with your religion you will accept the scientific answer as fact.
Science has made you smarter about gravity.

The Atomic Theory is a scientific fact. Since you probably don't even know what this is you will accept the scientific answer as fact.
Science has made you smarter about atoms.

The Cell Theory is a scientific fact. Since this theory doesn't cause some type of conflict with your religion you will accept the scientific answer as fact.
Science has made you smarter about cells.

The Theory of Heliocentrism is a scientific fact. This theory goes against the teachings of the Bible yet you accept the scientific answer as fact.
Science has made you smarter about the sun, in spite of your bible.

At the top and bottom of the list we have theories that conflict with your belief in the bible, yet you don't believe the first one and you do believe the last one.
Can you come up with a logical reason that your own beliefs aren't consistent? You shouldn't believe either because of your bible.
This is what religions do, it makes people stupid. Religions makes you stupid in the face of proof and evidence.
At one time they taught in schools that the Earth was flat and the center of the Solar System, thanks to science you don't believe that.

Religions and your bible retard intelligence because it makes you abandon evidence.

What do all of these theories have in common, proof evidence, testability and they are all scientific facts'

This morning I was sleeping when all of the sudden I woke to my house shaking. My first thought was my wife was washing something and the washing machine was off balance during the spin cycle, only the vibration was about 4 times that. When I sat up to understand what was happening the house had been shaking for about 15 seconds, then all of the sudden it got about 10 times worse. I stood up and headed down stares with the house shaking and by the time I made it to the bottom of the stairs it was over.

Is God angry with me for being an atheist? What was God trying to tell me? Should I sacrifice a goat? What? These are questions you and I would have been asking ourselves 1000 years ago. This something that religious people don't get, God was created by man to answer questions they couldn't. Science has continued to answer every question the Gods were created to answer.

As it turns out this is the 21st century and we are all aware of what an earthquake is. The goats are safe.

Can you be considered rational and still believe in something that remains unproven and in many cases disproved? I don't think you can. Once you've been shown that what you believe in is false you have two options, ignore them completely or do some serious homework. If no one has ever questioned your own personal beliefs to your face then you probably believe whatever you were taught as a child and took it as truth.

Sometimes I consider using the shock factor and saying something so outrageous about their God that they would seriously think he would strike me down where I stand. But I am 100% confident that long after they had that thought I would still be staring them in the face with a condescending look. Your God can't touch me because he is imaginary, which means I can whatever I want to him or about him and nothing will ever happen to me. Here's the kicker, so can you.

The reason I don't use the shock factor is respect of the person, not their beliefs. I made a joke to my nephew that I had killed God and he could worship me now. He took that as a personal attack and asked that I refrain from such things, I doubt he would have felt the same if I made a similar comment about his choice for president, etc. I agree 100% with Richard Dawkins about people thinking that their religious beliefs are above criticism. Why do believers think their religion deserves a level of respect that puts it outside of criticism?

Typical believers view God as something that watches over them, like a parent watching their kid through a window playing in the back yard. Most believers think God has a hand in their daily lives, helping them make the right choices. Almost all believers think God answers prayer, which is why they spend so must time praying. All believers think God made the universe, but they rarely consider the universe outside Earth's atmosphere.

So what happens when I tell you that the universe is so big you can't even understand it, you're not able to comprehend it's size? Does your mind play tricks on you and try to convince you that God is powerful enough control the universe? Do you make your God as powerful as he needs to be for you to believe in him? Let's take for instance this image of the Omega Centauri. This is a tiny image through a tiny pinhole of the universe. And it contains hundred of thousands of stars. You can't actually see the stars with your naked eye, but you can see the cluster of them which is Omega Centauri.



When scientists refer to the universe they use phrases like millions of billions of stars. Millions of Billions, not only can you not convince me of God here on Earth but take into account the Million of Billions of stars, those star's planets and those planet's moons and you don't have a chance. There isn't anything that made this, their isn't anything controlling this and the universe will still be here when humans no longer exist.

Here's the original article with higher quality images of Omega Centauri. Want to be reminded daily of just how small you really are?

Tags: Omega Centauri

This is my first Easter as an atheist.

First I'm going to explain what Easter means to me now, then I'm going to look it up online.

Before Research: Easter is the one day a year that children hunt artificial or boiled and painted eggs. It seems to have no relevance to adults. Why does Easter exist? I have no idea. Is Easter related to some other event? None that I'm aware of. I look at Easter and Halloween as very similar. Kids gets candy. Easter has never meant more than kids and candy to me.

After Research: Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus three days after he was killed. I didn't know that but it doesn't really surprise me. Easter is also linked to Passover. As far as I'm concerned Easter will remain about kids and candy. If I can age 36 years in America and not know what Easter meant then it doesn't deserve more than a colored goose egg.

This is my first Saint Patrick's Day as an atheist.

First I'm going to explain what Saint Patrick's Day means to me now, then I'm going to look it up online.

Before Research: Saint Patrick's Day is the one day a year that Americans pinch each other for not wearing green. People also like to make things green that normally wouldn't be. Why does Saint Patrick's Day exist? I have no idea. Is Saint Patrick's Day related to some other event? None that I'm aware of. I assume Saint Patrick's Day is something they celebrate in Ireland and we do it here just for fun.

After Research: Saint Patrick's Day turns out to be religious. Are you serious? I thought it was about a place or a thing, it never occurred to me that it was an actual person. I was partly correct, it's celebrated in Ireland. The story of Saint Patrick's Day isn't very interesting either. The day was mostly over before I even knew it was Saint Patrick's Day. And it still doesn't mean anything to me.

Last night Karen and I watched "Stargate: The Ark of Truth", this was the first time I really noticed how much religion plays a part in Sci-fi. Most of the bad guys in Stargate are false Gods. But they have people worship them and they have books to live by. The Gauld were more hands on but the Ori were more inline with the religions in the world today. They had their holy book and if you didn't worship you would spend eternity in hell fire. Very original.

I think what amazes me most is how I watched this show for 10 years and never thought about it's relationship to real religion. Now it seems almost comical. The crazy stuff they come up with isn't any less crazy than the real stuff. Have you seen the drama with Scientology.

Even the robots in Battlestar Gallactica "Praise the Gods."

I wonder if almost all Sci-fi writers are atheists? One of my favorite Sci-fi writers, Joss Whedon, is an atheist. He produced the awesome TV series Buffy and Firefly.

I sometimes am judgmentally challenged. I tend to think that many high level politicians actually make decisions with my best interests in mind. That is their job, right?

It doesn't matter if you're atheist, christian or muslim, the more I learn about our government the more I realize these high level politicians aren't as concerned about my rights, as they are their inflated salaries. It's amazing that politicians live a better life (financially) than 99% of the people they are making decisions for. Even after receiving an inflated salary from the tax payers the same high level politicians will make decisions favoring big business rather than the people.

Not only are they paid well, but they do it without having to do their job. Their job is to do what's right for the people. It's only a small number of them but it's enough when one of them is the President.

So who are these high level politicians? We can start with the President of the United States of America. If Homeland Security reads that they will probably flag me as a Domestic Terrorist. Simply for speaking out against the government. Yes, Homeland Security violates many of your inalienable rights.

You see, as American citizens you have your constitutional rights (inalienable), those rights are not given to you by the government. Many people willing give them away because they don't understand what government is doing or how the government works. Most people believe their rights are provided by the government, this is false.

So who are the rest of these politicians that are not doing what's best for the people? (here I go again) It's probably a relatively small group, the Clinton's, it's certainly not the majority but it's enough to mess with your state of living.

I get the feeling the only reason we went to war in Iraq is because they walked on George W. Bushes Daddy's face at the Al-Rashid Hotel.

I try to vote for the one that I think is concerned for the right of the people. I'm so glad Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are out, I guess God didn't want them to be president or have Huckabee change the constitution. I voted for Ross Perot twice because he made sense to me. This time it's a toss up between Ron Paul and Barack Obama. John McCain, does the constitution change meaning when read by a christian? McCain thinks so.

I voted for Bush twice, so sometimes I'm definitely Judgmentally Challenged.

It doesn't matter how you say it, The Son of God, The Sun of God, The Sun God, God of the Sun, God's Son or God's Sun.

I haven't done much research on this but it's crossed my mind several times. Many civilizations worshipped the Sun. It seems to me that the Sun may be the most worshipped item ever. If you think about this coincidence it's almost seems farfetched. Of all the things Jesus represents, he just happens to be called the son of God. Think of the things he or she could have been called or referred to as. Mother, Father, daughter, King, Queen, proper name. There are many more examples of what the name or reference could have been. But of all the possible references it just happens to phonetically the same as Sun. That's a pretty big coincidence.

Christmas was the hijacking of an existing Winter celebration (The Winter Solstice). Jesus' life is littered with plagiarism from previous prophets. Unicorns, really?

Now take into account that Mary was not a virgin, but a maiden (mistranslation, look it up) and you have a man, "Jesus", who was born to a man and a woman (if in fact this individual ever existed) not the immaculate conception (a product of the original mistranslation) that is claimed in the current translations of the Bible.

You can begin to see that the current beliefs of Christians are founded in plagiarism, mistranslated text and Bible books that have been selectively removed (Book of Judas and Book of Jasher).

Why can Christians read the Bible and see the mistakes (the Earth is not the center of the universe) yet think other parts are without error? Even a simple story of the Bible will be taken as a exact representation of the real story. This doesn't make sense, if any part of the Bible is in error, then that proves that any other part of the Bible can also be in error.

I've begun to understand that Karen doesn't care what the Bible says. What I mean by that is she's not concerned about the accuracy of the Bible. She believes in a personal God. I'm not really sure how you can separate God from the Bible because without the Bible there is no God. Regardless of any inaccuracies I point out in the Bible it doesn't affect her relationship with her personal God. I understand it but I don't think it makes sense. The only way I can relate is to imagine an imaginary friend that you love like a real person.

Now we have the problem of God and Jesus. If you can only speak to God through Jesus and the Bible is wrong about Jesus then how do you know what to believe? What I've found is that most Christians simply believe whatever comforts them. So the nuances between two Christians beliefs are small and the main difference is that each is comforted by something different. I don't think it's even possible to convince a Christian that something they take comfort in could be in error.

So who or what do you believe in?

Which one? From which religion? Which translation?

No. I have never read the Bible from beginning to end (though I tried in the Army). I have never read the Bible entirely (every single page). I have never read the Bible to prove a point. I have looked to the Bible for wisdom. I am reading the Bible online.

I'm not a book reader, I could probably list all of the books I've ever read in under 60 seconds. Karen couldn't list all of the books she's read in 2007 in 60 seconds.

I do, however, spend about 8 to 12 hours a day on my computer, I read more online in a year than most do in a lifetime. I'm a research fanatic and since becoming an atheist I have researched and read the Bible online. I still can't bring myself to read it from beginning to end or try and memorize it for the sake of knowing it.

Since becoming an atheist I know more about the bible than my prior 36 years. Because I now have an interest in why it's so messed up and why people believe it. If I could quote the Bible like some can, I would be a horribly obnoxious atheist.

I'm bothered by people who trust the Bible yet discount the Old Testament because of the New Testament. If the New Testament changed the rules then why hasn't God updated the Old Testament and removed the unnecessary rules? Imaginary characters can't make real changes, that's why. There isn't another single book I can think of that would leave in the old rules after changing them. If God was real, and he wrote a book, it would be the best damn book ever written and everyone would read it. But he's not. The Bible is not a good book, it's schizophrenic, hard to understand, contradicts itself and difficult for people to agree on the meaning.

Now that I'm and atheist I don't really care that I never read the Bible. I know people who have and they don't understand what they read. Besides, now that I'm an atheist I'm well aware that the Bible was written by men for men. So I don't really feel like I missed out. Had I read the Bible before now, I would have become an atheist much sooner. I believe we have so many christians in America simply because they haven't read their Bible.

Never accuse me of simply passing along or believing what I've been told by others about any subject. My opinions are mine, after my own research. If I simply believed what I was told I would still be a christian and I would believe banks are looking out for my financial interests.

Most of the time when someone ask me how I'm doing, I reply, "I'M BEAUTIFUL!". It's nice to invoke a pleasant reaction from someone. It makes people smile.

I say "I'M BEAUTIFUL!" instead of "I'M DOING BEAUTIFULLY!" because the reactions are funnier. And it's easier to blurt out.

I've been doing that for about 8 years now and "I'M BEAUTIFUL" represents how I feel on the inside.

I'm quite happy, with my wife and girls, with my job, with my things, but I definitely strive for more.

People think that I was never very religious because they didn't see it. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Even my own wife has learned more about my previous spirituality since I opened up in this journal than she knew before. People who know me think they knew what I was about when it came to God, but they didn't, because I kept it to myself. As I do with most things, it's part of my personality. It's been quite liberating to actually share information on this blog that I would have never shared before.

As little as two years ago I would listen to the same christian music tape in the car everywhere I went and I would sing along out loud. When I was by myself of course. I really believed and wanted to be surrounded by Gods love. It's fortunate that when I realized God doesn't exist it didn't have a detrimental affect on me, I can see how it would on others.

I'm not trying to contradict myself at all. I may have said in the past that I wasn't very religious but the truth is I was never openly or outwardly religious. I believed in God, I prayed almost daily for someone other than myself, I occasionally broke out the Bible to look something up. I didn't spend my days reading the bible. I know more about the Bible now and have read more of the Bible now than I did in my previous 36 years.

I sent an email to about 12 of my friends today to share this new blog. The first response was a good one. My friend Rob (a pastor), asked "Why I waited so long to come out of the closet?" Excellent question.

First of all let me explain that when I was a believer I kept it to myself. So when I became a non-believer I kept it to myself. Fortunately I began writing everything down. Even when I thought I might share this new part of me there was an obvious concern. How will friends treat me, will they suddenly become afraid of me somehow?

In "The God Delusion" Richard Dawkins says, "The status of atheists in America today is on par with that of homosexuals fifty years ago." Thats' a scary thought, are people going to fight me because of this? It's reason enough to be concerned or take precautions. In my previous post, I thanked several individuals for their help. They helped by indicating what it's like to be a known atheist in America today. They all said hate mail is virtually non-existant. So if christians only occasionally get animated then should I worry about Muslims? Then I realized, they view christians and atheists as infidels, so we are no different to them.

Now that I've ruled out threats and harm, who am I afraid might know that I'm an atheist? No one.

Christians openly show what they believe with their Jesus fish on their cars, and their crosses hanging from the rear view mirror. If they can openly share their personal beliefs without fear of harm then so can I.

To answer your question Rob, "Why did I wait so long to come out the closet?" Fear of the unknown, I really didn't know what would happen when people found out. I wanted to wait and get some answers from seasoned atheists about whether or not I was endangering my family (because my family come first). It was only 5 months ago yesterday that I decided I was an atheist, so it really hasn't been that long.

It dawned on me the other day that for 1800 years after jesus, women were property and black people were slaves.

If you give that any serious thought, you realize, 1800 years after Jesus, women were allowed to be the property of a man and slavery was encouraged.

And if you read your bible you'll see that it was not only allowed, but encouraged. These are the bibles teachings.

My would women and black people even chose to believe in a God that would allow them to be viewed as worth so little?

I think the answer is education. We still have people on the Earth today that can't read, how many slaves do you think could read?

What did a slave who could read think, when he saw in his bible that slavery was encouraged? I would imagine so few slaves could read that any real knowledge of what the bible says, was simply passed on from other people. And I'm certain they only heard the parts that eased their minds.

What about women? 150 years ago my wife would be my property, like my bicycle. The bible says that women are property of men and women lived that life.

Here's my point. If it weren't for a few enlightened people in power 150 years ago, women would still be property and black people would still be slaves. This was not the work of God, Jesus or women and black people fighting for rights, but a few people who saw faults in the way humans treat humans.
Why would a black person pray to a God that encourage the slavery of their ancestors for 1800 years after Jesus?
Why would women, who were told by the bible, that they were the property of men, want to have anything to do with the God that encouraged this behavior?

If it wasn't for these few enlightened people in power who changed the rules about women and black people, you wouldn't be able to spend your Sundays worshipping a God that allows you to be property. If you're a women, in an Arab country reading this today, you are the property of a man. Because they still take those damn holy books literally.

This will mess with your God fearing head. I don't believe in God, yours, or anyone else's.

Yet, I'm part of your God's plan. WHO ARE YOU TO QUESTION GOD'S PLAN?

See what I mean. As much as you may dislike my point of view, it's beyond you to question it.

Now that's messed up, isn't it?

God is no more real than any other fairy tale character that can't prove it exists.

I exists and I can prove it. Ask your God to do the same, nothing will happen.

And don't accept or ask for that feeling of God or thoughts in your head BS.

Tell him to appear out of thin air in front of you like he's done in the past. And have your video camera ready. Stop accepting that he can do whatever he wants or that he has a plan.

I have a plan and it doesn't include starving children. But I'm not omnipotent so I can't just feed them all at once. But your God claims to be able to, yet children are hungry.

If I was omnipotent I would feed all of the children, doesn't that make me better than God?
If I was omnipotent I would cure disease and pain, doesn't that make me better than God?

My point is, if any of us were omnipotent we would immediately do things that God has neglected, that would make us better than him.

If God loves starving children, it must be tough love.

I believe as time passes I'm going to become belligerent to the belief in God. Yesterday I saw a video of a man who got out of his truck, his dog put the truck in reverse and it traveled safely through heavy traffic to the other side of the road. Everything was going fine until he said "It was God" that saved his dog. I immediately closed the video and said out loud "God did not save your dog."

You see, there are starving children all over the world, yet this gentlemen believes that starving children take a backseat to his dog. Seriously?

So many people in America, live with this notion that our country is similar to to the rest. They seem to think their little bitty problems are being managed by God while people in other countries would simply like God to stop the guerillas from killing them for no reason. Neither one is being overseen by a omnipotent being.

It's in the dictionary, look it up. I don't have faith in anything, I'm not sure I ever have.

I certainly don't have faith in science. For me to have faith in science, I would have to believe whatever they said and be ignorant to any proof.

You can't have faith in something that has proof.

Have you noticed that manuals get updated when new information is learned. You certainly couldn't use a 1967 auto manual to repair a 2007 auto.

But the bible doesn't get updated. Many people claim to use it as a manual for their lives. But why would you use a 2000 year old book to decide how to live today.

In the same way that a 1967 and 2007 auto has 4 wheels and a steering wheel, humans 2000 years ago and today have two legs and two arms. But what runs them (auto engine/human brain) is profoundly different. In reference to our brain we don't think the same way, work the same way or live the same way as humans from 2000 years ago. We are significantly smarter than humans 2000 years ago, why would you use a book written for a 2000 year old human mind on today's mind? "You shouldn't."

The bible still refers to the Earth as the center of the universe, this is incorrect. Yet the bible has not been updated to reflect this new information.

Therefore the bible is not a manual, it is a novel.

After a conversation with my wife earlier I realized, had she been born 500 years ago she would believe the Earth is the center of the universe.

This is important because today she does not believe that. Why? Because of the empirical evidence that science has proven. You would be considered a lunatic today if you believed the Earth is the center of the universe. The bible has many references that have been dis-proven through science. Realistically speaking it's only a matter of time before science dis-proves even more of what the bible teaches it's followers.

"Think of all the answers we have today that once was a scientific answer and was replaced with a proven religious one. You won't be able to think of one, but turn that around and the list gets very long. Think of all the religious answers we once had that are now explained by a scientific one." Sam Harris

I heard Mike Huckabee say that he would always refer to the bible answer if it conflicted with science, in which I told my wife, "Mike Huckabee believes the Earth is flat and is the center of the universe." In reality he probably (I use that word loosely) doesn't, which means he picks and choses what to believe is true.

Just as many people ignore the bible referring to the Earth being flat, 100 years from now believers will fully believe in evolution and ignore that part of the bible that it conflicts with. They will reject Genesis and focus on the parts of the bible science has yet to dis-prove.

An example of religion interfering with and holding back science is Galileo's discovery of the Heliocentrism in 1616 (the theory that the sun is at the center of the Universe). The Catholic Church banned the reprinting of Galileo's work for 100 years because they contradicted the Bible. On 31 October 1992, Pope John Paul II expressed regret for how the Galileo affair was handled, and officially conceded that the Earth was not stationary, as the result of a study conducted by the Pontifical Council for Culture.

This example is exactly the reason evolution is not being taught properly to our children today. Religion still has a tiny hold over this evolution, but it will fall through and evolution will be taught in the same way Heliocentrism is.

Side Note: Heliocentrism is a scientific theory as is the theory of gravity and the theory of evolution. All of these theories have enough evidence to be considered facts.

The people today that don't believe in evolution are tantamount to those people 500 years ago that thought the Earth was the center of the universe. And they will be replaced with people who do believe in evolution. And so on and so on until bible believers have nothing left to cling to and the bible is little more than an ancient novel.

It's only a matter of time until science disproves almost every aspect of the bible and people are capable of living without a God.

The very interesting thing about that question is, the question itself is proof that God's existence is questionable. Why would you need to question somethings existence if there were any empirical evidence? You Wouldn't.

Here is a question that doesn't exist, "Does the Sun really exist?" The reason that question doesn't exist is because of the empirical evidence. Have you ever heard anyone ask that question? No, you haven't.

If there were any empirical evidence of God's existence there would only be one religion. Since there isn't, we have many different religions and many different Gods.

I know what you were thinking when you read that. What it means to me is an entirely new respect for thinking without knowing where to find the answer.

I feel as thought my brain has been set free and it's exploring entirely new areas of thought.

Those areas previously stifled by the Bible. Not that I read the Bible before becoming an atheist. But by those people I listed too who did read it. What I've come to find out is that they focused on the fluffy parts and left out the insane parts.

I've learned more about religion and the bible in the last 5 months than I knew in my previous 36 years. You would think if God existed I would have found him, but it's exactly the opposite. When you look for something that doesn't exist you find nothing.

Back to me being born again (since it's OK for the bible to borrow many of it's stories I'm borrowing born again), my mind has been set free. Until you have a free mind you will never know what I'm talking about.

I know, you're probably thinking what do gay people have to do with atheism. When I was young I didn't have a problem with gay people. In my late teens I even had a gay friend. When in the Army they promoted acceptance and tolerance towards gay people. But I came out of the Army and had a problem with gay people. I don't understand it either. For 12 years that problem persisted. The problem itself was like a small thought in the back of my head that said, "Gay is not right, keep your gayness to yourself."

Flash forward 12 years after I discover that God isn't real and all of the sudden gay takes on a whole perspective. When you're a God believer, gay is wrong and marriage is between a man and a woman. When you're not a believer all of the sudden gay isn't wrong, its just not natural. Meaning a gay couple can not procreate. But they can be together if they want to be. And their isn't any reason they can't marry if they want to. Marriage is legal bond between consenting individuals. Marriage doesn't have to have anything at all to do with religion.

Now I have to figure out if marriage is a religious thing or if it's secular.

The brain is fascinating. It can make you see, hear and feel things that aren't there.

In test cases, the placebo effect has proven to cure people with the use of inert medicines.

What does that mean? The way I see it, this is the same way people believe in God.

When enough people around you are telling you there is a God, it makes it easier for you to believe.
When a trusted doctor is telling you that this pill will make your headache go away, it makes it easier to believe it will.
So for a portion of the people, their brain will treat the pill as if it had the same effect as real medicine because they believe it will.

And then there are people like me that the placebo doesn't work on because I don't have blind faith in anything.
Even when I take store bought medicine I don't think they will work. I take them hoping they will work this time. And some times they do.

So where's the problem? Even if you tell the person that took the placebo (who had a cured headache) that it had no effect whatsoever, they will still believe something in it worked. They will deny the fact that their brain was tricked into believing something that wasn't true. This is the same with believers.

God is a placebo. It's something with no power to make changes at all but your belief in it will effect how your brain treats it.
Believing in God is a trick your mind plays on you because you allow it. It's all in your head.

I always thought that if any prayers were answered they would most likely be those spoken from a child. That's when I believed anyway.

If the prayers of a child were answered:
My wife's knees would be better.
My business would be out-of-control successful.
Our adopted daughters birth mother wouldn't be defective.

I heard these and many other prayers for years and do you know what happened? Nothing.

I proved it to myself and it's been proven throughout the world that prayers aren't answered.

Why? It's simple, the only being that hears all of your prayers (spoken aloud or in your head) is you.

And unless you have magic powers (which I'm certain you don't) then your time praying is wasted when you could be doing something about it yourself.

When I made my decision that God didn't exist, it was final. I didn't need any convincing or additional proof.

When I told my wife, I had yet to do any research online. Yet the information online is so compelling I wonder how people are capable of believing?

I've since done dozens of hours of research online and it's been good in the fact that I can answer questions better now.

Many people who are atheists have posted elaborate messages online, many of which are extremely well educated and thought out.

It's like when I made my decision I had walked through the door and closed it behind me and I just keep walking further and further away from it.

I've been thinking about this seriously. I've been wondering how different the world would be without God.

Let me try and explain my meaning.

In many peoples world with God they have cancer, love and soft drinks.
In my world without God I have cancer, love and soft drinks.

Where's the difference supposed to be? Isn't there supposed to be a benefit to worshipping a God? And I don't mean after your dead.
I mean right here on Earth. Yes, men and women make decisions based on their beliefs, but that doesn't really affect the world.
The problem with the question is that worshippers will tell you that either payment comes later (which means we live in exactly the same world and they receive no benefits while here on Earth) or that their prayers are answered when it's Gods will.

Since people don't come back from the dead with heaven or hell answers, there isn't any (and there never will be any) proof that worshipping is anything more than a mind game.
Perpetrated by who? I don't know who started it but they would be perplexed that modern man still believes something they made up a thousands of years ago.

Back to my original question. There isn't a single difference in the world today between a worshippers life and mine. In a way that seams unfair for them. They put all of this effort into their beliefs and they still have cancer, love and soft drinks just like I do.

I was thinking about evolution today and one of the things that really struck me is that man has been evolving for millions of years.

We have evidence on 3, 4, 6 and 7 million year old human bones that appear to be bi-peds.
Scientists believe the dinosaurs are hundreds of millions of years old.

If man, was walking upright on Earth 4 million years ago, then what are the chances that the Earth is coming close to an end?
If the Earth has been supporting life for 4 billion years then, what could possibly stop it from doing so?

So then where does all of this life go? I was thinking about that too.

If you look at the most recent Tsunami, it literally changed the landscape and anything that wasn't heavy enough to withstand the pressure was washed away.
It makes me wonder about the ruins that we look at today and the only thing left are heavy stones that could have withstood a Tsunami.

Of all the civilizations that have lived on Earth, we may be the most advanced. We base it on what they left behind.

If man has looked relatively the same for thousands of years then how long does it take for you to see evolution?

I posted this article two days ago and just today found a new and excellent book from The National Academy of Science. Science Evolution and Creationism

This is my first New Year's Day as an atheist.

First I'm going to explain what New Year's Day means to me now, then I'm going to look it up online.

Before Research: New Year's Day isn't actually celebrated I don't think. It's the first day of the year.

After Research: New Year's Day is the first day of the year. But is not a holiday at all.

This is my first Wedding Anniversary as an atheist.

Today is my 16th wedding anniversary. As I watch the video of my wedding I have trouble listening to myself say things that I no longer believe. I hear the preacher sayings that I no longer agree with. Sadly, it takes a bit of the fun out of watching the video. I like the video better without the preacher in it.

If I was married for 16 years under God. Then why am I married now? Because I love my wife and children. Even though the "why" has changed, the reason for staying married hasn't. Family. I can be married without God. Marriage is actually a state thing now and the ceremony is just tradition and has no affect on the marriage license.

Would I change anything? My answer to that question is always no. Changing the past changes who I am today, I have no need to be someone else.

I always preferred "Man and Wife" vs "Husband and Wife", I think I just like the way it sounds.

Here's to 16 more wedding anniversaries as an atheist.