DM (a.k.a.) Dennis or Dave Mabus, Here Kitty Kitty

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Just another reminder that you've been had.

The Outsider Test for Faith (OTF) Again *Sigh*

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A trial is a good example of an outsider looking in. No thumbs should be on the scales of justice. If there is a conflict of interest a judge or a lawyer should recuse themselves. The jury represents people who are uninvolved peers. None of this describes believers who examine their own faith. The OTF demands the impartiality of agnostic, which is worse on one's own religion but better on the religious faiths one rejects.

A Cognitive Dissonance Theory Prediction

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Now that 60 Minutes did a program exposing the misinformation about the Muslim center planned to be built near ground zero, cognitive dissonance theory predicts that people who have participated in the rallies against it, or donated to stop it, or spoken out publicly against it will only become MORE entrenched. Stay tuned. Watch it happen. And then see a parallel with the Christian faith. That's how it works when encountering the facts after a commitment has been made. Get. Point. The. Please spread the news about this.

Ground Zero Mosque Debate Answered Decisively

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The thing about last night's 60 Minutes segment is that it answered all of the questions we needed to know. After watching it why would any reasonable person be opposed to it?

The Problem of Divine Miscommunication: Does God Love Us All?

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A question that is closely related to the Christian debate over salvation, but is rarely discussed, is whether God loves all human beings...at least one Reformed Christian apologist is brave enough and has the intellectual honesty to follow the Calvinist line of reasoning to its logical conclusion. Link.
There's a reason why I say Calvinism is bullshit!

We're Done With DM (a.k.a.) Dennis or Dave Mabus ♪♫•.¸¸♫•*¨*•♫♪

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Aratina Cage sent me the HTML text to ban DM even though Google wasn't any help. ♪♫•.¸¸♫•*¨*•♫♪ Happy Birthday to me...♪♫•.¸¸♥♪♫•*¨*•♫♪ Happy Birthday to me...♪♫•.¸¸♫•*¨*•♫♪ Happy Birthday to me...eee... ♪♫•.¸¸♫•*¨*•♫♪ Happy Birthday to me! ♪♫•.¸¸♥♪♫•*¨*•♫♪

Now to read through the comments without having to scroll past DM's long farts just click on a post title. Then if you want to make a comment do so, although there you will still find his farts. To see how this works and read about "Mabus the Nutcase" click here.

To get the HTML click here. Thank you Aratina!!!

Faith is Equivalent to Irrationality

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Yep, that's what I've concluded. I was talking to a Catholic today about Stephen Hawking's new book where he says God doesn't exist based on science. So he responded, "That's why they call it faith." Yep, faith doesn't need scientific evidence. It's irrational. I want everyone to think "Irrational" whenever someone says the word "faith" because that's what it is.

VIDEO: The End of God? (in 4 parts)

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Thomas Dixon, this program’s host, is Senior Lecturer in History at Queen Mary University of London, and author of Science and Religion: New Historical Perspectives.

Quote of the Day, by Isaac

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I have been able to pose the Outsider Test for Faith OTF to a few Christian friends of mine... and this has shown to be very well accepted as a means of seeking and questioning. They agree with the approach, and some have even admitted that they've never given so much as a minute of thought to the outside religions and faiths of the world. The quote "when you understand why you reject the gods of other religions, you'll understand why I reject yours." Powerful quote... because people don't know why they reject the other gods and faiths... so now, the question is brought to their attention... and either they must continue in their blissful ignorance, or begin an honest examination of WHY they believe what they believe.

For me, this is the most honest, non-threatening approach to discussions with a theist.

Help Get Blogger's Attention with Regard to the Christian Nutcase DM

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Just go to Blogger's feedback forum and post something like the following note as often as you can in as many related fields as you can and spread the word for others to do likewise (modify as needed):

Quote of the Day by Stephen Hawking: "Philosophy is Dead"

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Yep, those are among the first words in his book, The Grand Design. He and Mlodinow continue: "Philosophy has not kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics. Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge." I agree. This is never more true than when it comes to the failure of natural philosophy/theology.

The Best Way to Bolster Your Christian Faith is to Read Skeptical Books!

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I have a friend named Bill who was a member of a church where I preached and who recently read my books. Afterward he wrote me this: "The deeper I get into the 'meat' of your material, the more solidly grounded I get in my faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ." Now I've heard that before. So maybe I should just accept what they're saying. Hey, why not? Surely they wouldn't be liars for Jesus, right? So take what they say as recommendations for my books. If you want to become more grounded in your faith then you need to read more of these types of books! If my books do this for some Christians then others should take the Debunking Christianity Challenge.

Or, they're fooling themselves. Fooling themselves? Could it be? Yep. This is exactly what social studies predict.

Why Christianity MUST Pass the OTF

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You already know the Outsider Test for Faith (OTF) that I've proposed. It asks believers to test their own adopted religious faith from the perspective of an outsider with the same level of skepticism they use to evaluate other religious faiths.

If Christianity is the correct faith it should have been made by God to pass the OTF, especially if people will be cast into hell because it doesn’t. And this will happen according to Christian theology, for there are people who will end up in hell who could not be convinced to believe because of their non-Christian upbringing as outsiders.

Dawkins Responds to the Pope

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Video footage of Richard Dawkins giving a speech to a crowd of around 10,000 at the Protest the Pope rally in London:

James McGrath Takes on Mythicism Again

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If he continues he'll end up writing a book about it. Link.

My last statement on the topic can be found here.

The Outsider Test for Faith (OTF) is a New Argument Against Religion

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Yep, I think I have basically come up with a new argument in the history of religious criticism, even if there are a few prototypes of it to be found in the past. You already know the Outsider Test for Faith (OTF) that I've proposed. It asks believers to test their own adopted religious faith from the perspective of an outsider with the same level of skepticism they use to evaluate other religious faiths.

Here's the argument: If one's own religious faith cannot be sustained due to consistently applying the skepticism of the OTF, then believers must either abandon their faith or come up with good reasons why they should not have to take the OTF because it is faulty in some way. But they cannot come up with any good reasons why they should not be consistent in evaluating all religious faiths.

What Darwin Never Knew, a PBS Nova Program

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Nova produced this program first aired in December 2009. I watched it last night. It's wonderful. How many Christians understand evolution and the evidence for it? I doubt many do. While I watched it I thought to myself Christianity has been debunked a long time ago, that what I do is superfluous. And yet, here I am doing the dirty work with a lot of ignorant people who rail against me for simply telling them the truth. Watch it when you get the chance.

Quote of the Day, by Dude I'm Free

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@Marcus,

Is There Such a Thing as a Humble Christian? What is it?

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For discussion. As a Christian I remember wanting people to see Christ in me. I wanted to be like Christ as an advertisement like a billboard for Christ. I was conscious that people were watching me. Of course as a preacher I did live in a so-called glass house.

In any case, Christian, do YOU do that? Are YOU a self-promoter in the sense that you want, desire, hope, and pray that people will see what a good person you are so they can see Christ? "See what a good person I am" you say, or you secretly hope others see it without saying so?

And this stuff about humility. Scrap it. It's worthless stuff. Christian simply do not know what it is. Moses reportedly told everyone he was the most humble man on earth (Numbers 12:3). What a joke. Of course I don't think he wrote that, but some Christians are stuck explaining it away.

Christian, are you more humble than others? Sort of a catch-22 eh?

Freethinkers: A source guide to atheists, humanists and other nontheists

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It looks to me that this site is the most up to date comprehensive online list of resources about freethinkers I have found. There is a great deal of information here. Check it out. My books are even mentioned in it!

Quote of the Day, by Erkki

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Punishment has to serve a purpose, other than satisfying the punisher's lust for vengeance, in order to be of use. However, the Biblegod's version of punishment means that if you don't believe, your punishment never stops. It's pure vengeance. Unconditional love means that you use punishment only to correct and reform the wrongdoer. It's still tough love enough, for punishment is always tough to go through, but of course temporary, corrective punishment for sins is "too vanilla" or "too soft on sin" to please the conservative/fundamentalist segment of Christianity, heh. There's that lust for violence in the believers who adamantly preach that anyone who doesn't believe as they believe go to hell. It's a perversion, really.

I'm an atheist and I'm opposed to any religion that teaches the monstrosity of everlasting hell. So revolting is this concept that I can't see why any rational human being could accept this fear-mongering nonsense. But I'm sure if God exists, he's much nicer than the religious fanatics portray him to be. And more willing to correct even the worst villain ever and punish him only to cleanse him of his sins altogether. Because this is true love: to redeem even the worst among humans. Otherwise Satan or whoever is responsible for making humans sin is more powerful than God himself.

Even if Christianity Ends Up True There Would Be No Reason to Believe

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Bertrand Russell was asked what he would tell God on judgment day why he did not believe. Russell reportedly said: "Not enough evidence, God, not enough evidence."

So even if the Christian faith ends up being true there was still no reason thinking people should accept it, because only claims that can be reasonably justified should be embraced. You see, we have to reject a lot of true claims because they have not met their own burden of proof. This is both obvious and non-controversial. Aliens from space might have abducted someone, but without sufficient evidence commensurate with such a claim there is no reason why anyone should believe the person who asserts it. There are surely cases in which someone murdered another person but no one suspects he did the evil deed, because there is just no evidence to lead anyone to think he did. There are many hundreds of claims that we should never believe, even if they are true. That’s the case when it comes to Christianity. Even if it’s true, thinking people cannot believe it because it’s wildly improbable.

Quote of the Day, by PhysicistDave

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The Christian theory that Jesus was God, as expounded by Lewis, has been refuted. The result has been deeply embarrassing attempts to prop up the discredited theory: I have in mind, for example Ed Feser’s horrible “The Last Superstition,” which pretends to justify Scholasticism by giving examples from modern science, examples which he gets horribly wrong.

Feser is a joke.

The Role of Persuasion Rather than Arguments With Brainwashed People

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If brain studies mean anything people are persuaded into thinking differently. They aren't just reasoned into it. Persuasion. So in the interests of persuading people rather than continually following up on what seems to me to be a dead end with my opponents I simply try a different tact. People can claim what they want to about how I roll. It's just that I can better persuade my opponents by using several different ways of seeing the same truth rather than following them down the rabbit hole where we will not agree in the end anyway.

What Evidence Could Possibly Convince People God Walked the Earth?

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Christian, just think one time for yourself without leaning on what your mother told you on her knees. What would you think if someone told you he met a person who was God incarnate in India last week? What would it take to convince you of his testimony? Let's say he was a personal friend of yours whom you knew would never lie. Pause and think about this and it's clear YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE HIM!

Now, what we find about Jesus is the same kind of testimony but this time we don't know anyone who claims to have met him. It's all written down in the ancient past. We don't know the authors nor can we adequately judge their honesty (honest writing can be faked).

But we do know these authors lived in an era where people believed demigods walked the earth and they believed there were many sons of gods who had virgin births.

So what kind of evidence could possibly lead you to think some man in the first century was an incarnate son of God? Since there can be none you don't believe because of the evidence! You believe because you were raised to believe, and now you defend what you prefer to be true.

The Future of (Secular) Humanism (or "So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades")

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This is a good essay by David Silverman the new President of American Atheists. There's more he could've said, but it's very good. It's along the same lines as what David Mills said on ten reasons why we are approaching a "Golden Age of Atheism."

A Mind of Its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives

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In her book A Mind of Its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives, Cordelia Fine cautions us when it comes to the conclusions of our brains. I claim that believers ought to take special heed of this and become agnostics. Believers retort that my brain may be deceiving me too. Let me say two things in response:

One) Okay let's all agree with the scientific data and become agnostics. I'm game if you are, otherwise dispute the data. Two) I do not affirm any religious beliefs. I am a non-believer. I don't think the evidence is there to believe in a three headed eternally existing God who created this particular world and became one of us to die on a cross for our sins in one lone part of the ancient world who bodily resurrected from the grave but was only seen by a few people, thereby forcing the rest of us to take their word on what they saw or spend an eternity in hell because we did not see this event for ourselves since we were born in a different time and place and were taught to think critically based in the modern sciences. Again, I do not believe this. It does not represent an intelligent plan from a perfectly good, all powerful God. If our brains deceive us when it comes to important issues like this then it's best not to be gullible and to demand evidence, hard evidence, positive evidence before we'll believe, especially since there are so many other believers in this world who are certain they are right about such matters too. Since there are so many different people all certain they have the answers to existence I can look at them all and say that until one of them steps up to the plate and offers something more by way of evidence than the others do then I cannot believe in any of them, and that's what I do.

Video of the Day, Suggested by Andre

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I'm trusting him on this one:
How anyone can watch this video of NT Wright about Adam and then read the comments and walk away with a "Jesus Loves Me" feeling I don't know. Absolute insanity.

Quote of the Day, by Russ

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Christian Apologetics is nothing more than making up answers that then become boilerplate, pat responses to hand out in lieu of thought.

Noteworthy Items

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Check out Mike D's blog The A-Unicornist.

What percentages of atheists vs Christians are in prison? Who's better now?

Check out Dan DeMura's blog Discussions of Doubt.

James McGrath writes a note about the Christian troll DM.

Info on DM (a.k.a. Dave Mabus) Internet Troll and Nutcase

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Link. He'll show his face here soon enough.

Atheism is Not Culturally, Historically Conditioned

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Atheists today subscribe to a variety of philosophies, ideologies, and viewpoints. The critiques which any one atheist makes of religion, theism, or politics can reasonably be deconstructed to get at that atheist's own personal viewpoint. Their viewpoint can also be examined to get a better understanding of why they don't believe in any gods and why they reject the religious traditions of their culture. At no point, though, will such critiques tell us anything about mere atheism by itself. Link

ExChristian Former Pastor on the Fate of American Christianity

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American Christianity is under assault from every side. Science, archeology, and history constantly push at the claims of the Bible. (and let me make one point very clear. A Christianity without the Bible is no Christianity at all) Seismic shifts in social and cultural norms continue to raise numerous questions about the value of the Bible and its teachings. Very often the modern world is a paper shredder and the Bible is the scrap paper. American Christians respond to this assault in one of two ways. They either entrench or retrench.
What Bruce Gerencser says is a very worthy read. Check it out.

The Crimes of Protestant Pastors are Many

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I don't post stories about the crimes of Protestant pastors. I leave that up to others. Who does the best job of documenting these stories? I think Dave at exchristian.net does. Check back almost daily for more and more and more crimes of pastors. Is there any wonder why we can't take Christianity seriously when even their leaders don't seem to be any better for their faith? We're told that by their fruits we'll know them. Yep. We're told there are tares as well as wheat in the crops. But at some point there is just too much bad fruit and too many tares to believe the Christian faith produces fruit or wheat at all.

Catholics AND Bob Jones University: We Both Have Our Pedophiles!

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A man who was a staff graduate assistant at Bob Jones University is accused of sex crimes against a child. Link
What is it with these idiot pedophiles? If there is no difference between the behavior of the general population and Christians then I see no reason to believe. It's especially bad when it seems sex crimes are more prevalent in the church. Christian, do you understand this?

Hat Tip: Harry McCall, an alumnus of BJU.

Quote of the Day, by Mike D

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God is nothing more than the biggest argument from ignorance ever devised – an attempt to hastily dismiss mysteries by appealing to a bigger, by-definition-unsolvable mystery.

Is Skepticism Incompatible with Mystery?

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There is a popular perception that skeptics are all just cynics who are unable to tolerate the existence of mysteries while believers — whether in gods or in the paranormal — are more open minded and willing to embraces the mysteries of life. Atheists are often accused of being unable to say "I don't know" and appreciate mystery in their lives. This is not only false, but it's exactly the opposite of the truth: it's the believers who reject mystery while atheists and skeptics accept it. Link

The Clergy Letter Project

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There are 12,672 signatures from clergy as of 9/12/10. The Clergy Letter Project has been officially endorsed by The United Methodist Church, the Southeast Florida Diocese of the Episcopal Church and the Southwestern Washington Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Soooo, what I want to know is that if evolution is a godless "theory" then would some intelligent person tell me why these sincere Christians embrace it? Could it be because the evidence for evolution is there and that it has the capability of convincing even people of faith? Read at least one book on it, Why Evolution Is True.

Larry King Live - Stephen Hawking, Leonard Mlodinow...

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Link. Hawking: "We don't need God to explain the universe." This is something he argues for in his #1 selling book on Amazon, The Grand Design.

Stephen Hawking's New Book, The Grand Design "is a Great Read"

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Hawking's book is out and from what I've heard it's a great book sure to be talked about in the coming months and years ahead. Dan Barker said,
...this morning I finished Hawking's newest book, The Grand Design (while others were in church), and he makes the case even stronger than before. Since time is a dimension, it no more needs a "beginning" than any other dimension . . . what is the "beginning" of any of the three spatial dimensions? Ancients would have thought that the earth was flat and had an edge, so what kept the water from falling off? But we now see things better than that, through better models . . . and it all comes down to mental models.

The Grand Designis a great read!

Belgium Church Sex Abuse Report, a "Body Blow" to the Church

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Harrowing details of some 300 cases of alleged sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy in Belgium have been released by a Church investigator. Peter Adriaenssens said cases of abuse, mostly involving minors, had been found in nearly every diocese, and 13 alleged victims had committed suicide. [The] findings were a "body blow" to the Church in Belgium. Link. HT: Harry McCall.

Yep, the Church is a divine institution all right! And in other news a cow flew over the moon.

Did You Know That Krishna is the Father of Christ Jesus?

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Yep, check it out. While you're at it read The Truth About the Gita. Christians just can't see it can they? Religion is bunk so Christianity is likewise bunk!

On the Anniversay of 9/11 American Atheists Call for an End to Religious Intolerance and Persecution

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Dr. Ed Buckner, President of American Atheists, issued the following statement to commemorate the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and the pressing issue of religious intolerance:

Religious populations are down all over America

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Check this out below:

"Guys like Loftus, Oppy, Carrier, etc. are the real deal."

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So says someone at Christian apologist Douglas Groothuis's Blog. The full quote is this:
Do you have plans to review John Loftus' Why I Became An Atheist? Or Loftus and Richard Carrier's The Christian Delusion? Two reasons to inspire your potential reviews of their books:

1.) They are inspiring many deconversions (check Loftus' blog for the deconversion testimonials).

2.) They are equipping and encouraging these deconverts with better intellectual tools to combat Christianity than any of the New Atheists.

The New Atheists are the strawmen.

Guys like Loftus, Oppy, Carrier, etc. are the real deal.

William Lobdell is Looking for Stories About Sex and the Christian

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Yep. Bill is the author of Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America and Found Unexpected Peace, and he's working on another book. Here's the scoop from him:

Heads Must Roll Before Islam is Integrated Into the Global Community

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People have performed symbolic acts to protest ideas and policies for as long as anyone can remember or document. The prophet Isaiah walked though the streets naked (chapter 20). Lady Godiva rode through the streets naked. Then there was the Boston Tea Party. People have burned national flags and effigies of people in protest. And they have burned books for the same reasons. It's just what we do. And it is legal to do. In the past, churches have burned different Bible translations and they still do today. So what's all the fuss about some dumb preacher named Terry Jones who wants to burn the Koran?

Quote of the Day, by exreformed

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I spent over a decade studying systematic theologies, apologetics, and hard core Bible study. I even learned a good deal of Greek so I could translate the N.T. for myself. I spent many, many, hours in prayer to no avail. Finally after years of vigorous study, and unanswered prayer and an outsider test of faith, I became an agnostic.

It is so liberating not having to defend Christianity anymore. Not only do you have to accept the ridiculous story of Noah and his ark, but you also have to defend eternal conscious torment, and of course you have to defend against all of the cults: Mormonism, J.W.'s, Muslims, Catholics. No wonder I had a nervous breakdown.
See his new Blog.

Thanks to My Buds and Buddesses, I Love Ya Men and Women

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Yep, that's how I feel, gratitude, a great deal of it. I appreciate skeptics who can help argue with the Christians here. I do not have the time nor patience to do this myself, so here's to you! And for Christian commenters who are tempted to watch porn I have a special gift for you, some hot stuff (you must be 18 to see more):

Losing My Religion by Gina

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John Loftus has a chapter in his book called the “Outsider Test for Faith,” where you basically look at religion from a skeptic’s point of view. My ability to easily accept, and then abandon my religion with such ease, I believe, partly stems from this concept of the outsider test (and the theory of the accidents of birth)....I realized that once I began asking “outsider” questions, I was no longer capable of believing in what my peers believed. Link.