One of the crappy things about being a fairly recent religion is without the benefit of long stretches of time, the claims made in your religious tomes can usually be tested. Take for instance the Book of Mormon and its claim Native Americans are descendants of Lehi, a prophet who immigrated from Jerusalem to the Americas. Despite the fact there is no archeological evidence to support this claim, many Mormo ...

Last week, the Nation Secular Society in England was busy debaptising over 1500 people. If you are like me and wonder what the hell happens at a "debaptism", Religious Intelligence has the story: The recipient of the certificate declares they "reject all [the Church's] Creeds and all other such superstition in particular, the perfidious belief that any baby needs to be cleansed by Baptism of alleged Origina ...

Imagine you're Muslim, and you want to show people that your religion isn't the violent, backwards faith the mainstream media portrays. Starting your own English TV station centering on your religion is probably a reasonably good start. Bridges TV was such a project. It featured shows such as Democracy Now, a cooking show called Veggie Table, and the saccharine sounding Talking Peace. In a twisted bit of ir ...

As some of you may know, I decided to invite all of you to share your stories about being an atheist. I hate to admit it, but my own story is just not that interesting. Atheist parents and their wisdom to let me chose for myself what I would believe made me the man I am today. But not every atheist life is as plain. I think there are compelling stories that have yet to be told, and this new section is inten ...

Well, it turns out a biblical scholar wrote a book trying to answer this pointless question, and concluded the diet expounded in the Bible isn't a very healthy one. He argues that although the Israelites did not consume much meat, they didn't eat a lot of vegetables and fruit either, and their diet lacked essential vitamins and minerals. It seems silly to us anyone should really care about this, but his boo ...

If you live in Mississippi and you care whether or not your kids grow up to be smart and well educated, you should be outraged by House Bill 25, which aims to introduce this disclaimer on all biology textbooks: The word "theory" has many meanings, including: systematically organized knowledge; abstract reasoning; a speculative idea or plan; or a systematic statement of principles. Scientific theories are ba ...

I get a kick when one religion claims another belief system is totally stupid and illogical. The gargantuan effort of trying to make someone else seem silly when your own beliefs are farcical never ceases to amaze me. It's akin to saying "that guy's is freakin' crazy, man! He eats his poo raw. Everyone knows you have to cook it!" Brother Harry Hardwick argues that Travolta neglected to seek treatment for hi ...

With the holidays coming up, I'm going to be holed up in a cottage with my family far away from the civilized world. This of course means during the next week, there will be no posts while I enjoy the yuletide celebrations. If you're on the Internet looking for my words of wisdom, you're fresh out of luck. After the holidays, I'll be recording a special podcast. I ask all of you fans to write in and submit ...

I don't have any children, although like any young adult, I've often contemplated how I would raise my own. I never particularly liked Christmas, and I always felt it unwise and deceitful to teach my children the rather silly notion of Santa Claus. The big bearded guy stands for many of the values I do not believe in; mainly the capitalist, consumerist attitude I feel is quickly destroying our planet. Recen ...

Vampires have been part of human folklore in almost every culture and civilization. Creatures who suck life blood, energy, or souls have a long history of being cautionary tales against trusting strangers, against eating the dead, or simply an excuse to fear the dark. Although some cultures have very different ideas about how vampires operate, the modern Nosferatu legend is almost exclusively based on 18th ...