There are bloggers who write daily and there are authors of books. It seems most people fall into one or the other category. I'm happy to be categorized among the people who both blog and write books. I have blogged daily for seven years and have published five books in five years. It has been a massive time consuming effort. It's been a huge uphill struggle and a giantic challenge. I've fought many battles along the way. But it's been worth it. People have asked how I find the stamina to continue on. I like Tevye's answer, said with his deep voice in The Fiddler on the Roof: "I'll tell you. I don't know." The bottom line is that I'm a passionate man. I don't listen to the naysayers when I think I'm right. I'm not afraid of failing either, especially if I think I can succeed (I have succeeded, haven't I?). ;-)
You would think that if God knew me he would find a way to keep me in the fold, just like others whom he let go. He could've done for me what he supposedly did for Moses, Gideon, Joseph (the supposed father of Jesus), James (the brother of Jesus), and Paul the Apostle. He could show me he exists without abrogating my free will, just like he did for them. Or, he could have snapped his omnipotent fingers and took away my critical thinking skills so I would continue to believe, and not do what I have done since leaving the fold. Instead, he was a shepherd who was asleep on duty, taking a whiz or something, while this lone sheep wandered off away from the fold, contrary to the Parable of the Lost Sheep. Now that's a caring shepherd, right? This scenario repeats itself daily in the lives of other sheep who leave the Christian fold and go on to argue against their former faith. If God wants believers to remain in the fold he continually keeps shooting himself in the foot. That's an intelligent thing for an all-wise God to do, right? But wait, in response to this, here come the Bible thumpers who mindlessly quote-mine from the Bible or the theology based on it, which is the opposite of actually thinking about these issues. *Sigh*
After six years of posting articles and answering comments and rebuttals from believers at DC , I’ve reworked Elizabeth Kübler-Ross’ five stages of grief into five stages of losing faith. Depending upon a believer’s religious educational level, this process may begin as late as stage 3.
With my recent activity on Facebook I have roused a few of my Christian friends there. They liked a Loftus who was basically dormant for a few years so we could be friends. But since I've been active lately I'm getting some push-back. Okay. One of them was a student at Great Lakes Christian College, the one I graduated from in 1977. He reminded me of this as if that means anything. Well it does. Many of these friends of mine usually start out by asking me to remember this past of mine. The fact is that I do. So here's what I wrote:
Upstate pastor suspended from church after allegedly beating daughter (Wait for news video to load)
Don't withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with a rod, he won't die. (Proverbs 23: 13)
You've heard it a million times - the stupid shit that your Christian friends and relatives say to atheists. Join us for Part 2 and crack a smile as we look at what's really going on in those devout minds. Let's wipe out the nonsense and flush their crappy arguments right down the toilet.
“Deep down you know there is a God, it’s just that you hate him.”
Translation:
“Because I’ve never questioned my beliefs, using reason and logic, I can’t imagine that you would have any actual reasons why you reject the idea of a God. What’s that? Of course I don’t hate Santa. Don’t be silly, he’s not real. How could I hate something that’s not real?”
This symposium scheduled for April 12-13th at Columbia State University is on "The Human Prospect and the Fate of Our Planetary Civilization: Science, Humanism, Ethics, and the Task Before Us."
Nathan Bupp, the lead organizer, writes about it in these words:
It has been over 35 years since I published my first article debunking the Bible. After leaving
Bob Jones University in 1972 where we had to learn our
King James Bible verses verbatim (Capitalizations and punctuations)for our Bible exam, plus giving up my license to preach by a small independent Baptist church (
Stamp Creek Baptist Church in Salem, S.C. because I told the adult Sunday school class I taught that Jesus and the apostles did not use the
1611 King James Bible as the first century is not 1611 and Greek is not English . . . deacon’s meeting was called that night and I was asked to leave the church).
My forth coming post (ready in several more weeks) will be the most extensive I’ve ever written at DC. I would venture to say that most Christians (who have their theology limited by the orthodox term
canon along with a God / theology defined by the popular 66 Biblical books) have no idea of the intense "inspired" scribal activity of this period.
One of the oft-used justifications for religion is that it provides moral guidance and personal transformation. Now, a new study led by Volkan Topalli – professor of criminal justice at Georgia State University presents scientific proof that religion helps criminals…
helps them justify their crimes, that is!
Almost all of the criminal offenders studied (involved in crimes such as car-jacking, drug-dealing, robbery, and burglary) self-identified as Christians, and professed belief in God.
You’ve heard them over and over - all those clichéd, annoying questions and silly statements that Christians throw in your face. Well, let’s have a little fun at the expense of fundamentalists and translate what they
really mean. After all, as the Good Book says: “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.”
"You’ll think differently when you stand before God at the final judgment!"
Translation:
"I really don't have any reasoned rebuttals to your arguments so I will comfort myself by imagining you burning in Hell for all eternity."
I've decided to expand to Facebook. Not that I don't already have a presence there, 'cause I do. I'm just making my presence known. ;-) Come join me. You know my name. You know the drill.
... here follows an except from my book The Little Book Of Unholy Questions. Heaven is such a commonplace idea, even cornerstone, of Christian thinking. In the opening to this section, I talk about how the concept of heaven is stolen by late Jews just before the Christian period. This evolution of ideas undercuts the notion that it can be a cornerstone of Judeo-Christian ideology. If heaven and hell did not exist in the ideology of early Jews, and it is that crucial a set of principles, if it does not exist in the early tracts of the Bible, then something needs explaining! Anyway, here goes :
Robert Ingersoll was interviewed in the Pittsburgh Dispatch, December 11, 1880, where he was asked about miracles in one part of it. This is must reading, the end of it is funny, really funny.
This is once again sent to me by Julian Haydon.
Hell yes! Or, do you live in a cave? Valerie Tarico tells us of six kinds of web content that are like, well, electrolysis on religion’s hairy toes, or more like Kryptonite to the Superman of religion.
I recently read the
horrifying news story of a 20-year-old mother who was tortured with a branding iron, doused with fuel, and then burned alive in Papua New Guinea on the accusation that she was a sorceress. Police and firefighters were unable to intervene because of the angry crowd. Ironically, the news story also contained this:
Local Christian bishop David Piso told the National that sorcery-related killings were a growing problem, and urged the government "to come up with a law to stop such practice".
I found myself wondering if bishop Piso is aware his Bible contains this verse:
You shall not permit a sorceress to live.
Exodus 22:18 (ESV)
The Great Infidel, as he was known everywhere in the last half of the 19th century, was often called upon to speak at funerals – no better occasion to reflect on the greatest mysteries of life. And no one could do it better. He said no one knew or could know whether there was a life after death; but he was absolutely certain that if there were, the notion of eternal punishment for anyone was an ghastly priest-made libel upon a “loving and merciful” God. In some of these tributes he shows signs of hope for an afterlife -- the source being a longing to one day be reunited with those we have loved and who have loved us. -- Compiled by Julian W. Haydon.
In October a good Hispanic friend of mine named Juana learned I was an atheist. She is the captain of our pool league team in Ft. Wayne. I told her I couldn't play the following week because I was going on a speaking tour of four Colorado Universities. She asked why, so I told her I was speaking about my books. She asked about them and learned for the first time I was an atheist. Then she said, "I can't believe you're an atheist." She went on and on about it as if this was an extremely bad thing. She went to a few other people and asked them if they believed in God, almost as if to determine by majority vote whether God existed or not. I don't think she ever met someone she liked so much who was an atheist. You see, we have known each other for over six years and the subject never came up. I do not force my views on people I personally know and I do not get in anyone's face about what I think. I'm not afraid in the least to tell people I'm an atheist if the subject arises. But when it doesn't then there is nothing to say.
Today I'm going to hang out with my brother-in-law Kim (his name), who is a right-wing Obama-hater and Rush Limbaugh fan. Our wives are getting together for a girl's day out. Usually when Kim and I are together the girls forbid us from talking religion or politics. But whenever we're out by ourselves we do, and we have a great time of it. Over a beer or two we'll shout out, "Hey girls, we're talking about religion and loving it." It's sort of a passive aggressive rebellion I suppose. But he's a great guy even though we disagree quite vehemently. And he likes getting together with me just as much as I like being with him. Almost all of my personal friends are Christians, just in case anyone wants to know. Online people paint me with broad strokes as if I don't care about Christians. If I didn't care about them then I wouldn't have any personal friends at all.
and am now making it available below for free as an ebook. I am doing this for two reasons. One is that since so many others have put good information online for free I want to pay it back so to speak. The other reason is that I am convinced it makes good business sense. Think of it as a pay what you want system, but where you don't have to pay a thing to get it. I’m hoping you’ll donate whatever the book is worth to you (or my work in general). No matter how little or how much, here's your chance. Regardless, I’d be happy if you read my book, like it, and tell others about it along with my work in general. 
When I first went online I was repeatedly told by Christians that I was never a Christian. At first I got upset because it was personal with me. In my mind it was as if they were calling me a liar. I answered pretty much as former pastor's wife Theresa did right here, by trying to express my devotion to Christ and his church. Over the years I have developed better answers. Here are the five definitive answers to such drivel:
