One day in August, Mr. Finley decided to answer an ad in the paper and to become a psychic. When you guess whether someone is married or single, has children, or is ill, you've got a fifty-fifty chance -- so what have you got to lose? No special powers are needed to be a psychic: just reason, probability, and luck.

The existence of both hell and God's love and mercy cannot easily be justified, and neither can the appropriateness of substitutive sacrifice. In wanting to hide or soften the repugnant ideas of hell and human sacrifice, the theologian resorts to "double-talk".

Consider that Chachapoya never had access to the Judeo laws and morals as handed down by Moses. They had never heard of Vishnu, Brahma, or Maheshawara (Hindu), nor did the angel Moroni bestow revelations to anyone in their culture as far as we know. How, then, did they manage to manage for so long?

David Cortesi offers up the results of his research into whether or not Fydor Dostoevsky, in his brilliant novel The Brothers Karamazov, actually wrote the words: "If God does not exist, everything is permitted." Cortesi challenges the widely-propagated myth further by questioning the relevancy of attributing such a statement to the author regardless if it is, indeed, an accurate description of the belief espoused by one of the fictional characters in his novel.

Dr. Massimo Pigliucci challenges creationism on all fronts, including the latest brand of intelligent design theory. Referring specifically to the work of William Dembski and Michael Behe, the author highlights the fatal flaws in the ID arguments and renders a crushing blow to the pseudoscience that underlies creationist claims.

We are being drowned today in biblical ignorance, religious illiteracy and historical stupidity by the religious and political right in this country. In no other place is this so visible as in the prostitution of the "Ten Commandments." There is no need to ever fear aliens from outer space moving in with us. They would take one look at Congress and know, without a doubt, that we had not evolved past a Neanderthal mentality. They would give their space ships full throttle and head for home and sanity.

Do the theological faculties of Germany's state universities serve only the church, or do they also serve the broader needs of a pluralistic culture? This is the central question in the debate surrounding biblical scholar and George-August University faculty member Gerd Luedemann who, after announcing his nonbelief publicly last year, was then denied his academic rights in his teaching position. This second letter, provided to us by an interested third party, responds to the Dean of George-August and defends Luedemann against the charge that he is unfit to prepare students for ordination in the Lutheran Church.

We rail against supernatural faiths, not just for their palpable falsity, but for their sanctified cruelties, their crippled imaginations, and their all-too-common suspicion of human efforts to better our lives.

There's a bunch of stuff going on in your brain about which you know nothing. In times of need or at some critical moment, sudden knowledge and inspiration often seem to come from the spark of the divine. Kirkland explores the question, "from where comes inspiration?"

When Cupid's arrow strikes, is it mere molecules in motion or have we finally found our soul mate? Carrier explores nature's greatest mystery -- amore! -- as well as the notion of physical beauty, impulse, biology, and Hollywood's obsession with sex.

1 Corinthians 15 is a biblical chapter often referred to in discussing the Resurrection of Jesus. David Friedman explores the literalist claim of a physical resurrection by presenting evidence that shows the authors of Corinthians, and the witnesses to the resurrection, were referring solely to a spiritual rebirth, not a physical one.

Exploration of the "myth" of the Columbine Martyr, along with apology.

Most people don't care what other people believe, so long as it doesn't affect them--so long as it's "no skin off my nose!" But what about those times when other people's beliefs ARE affecting you and you don't even know it? Times when other people use their religious beliefs to decide what medical services will be available to you?  Times when your nose is being skinned and you don't even know it!

Dr. Steven Weinberg is one of the true, authentic, Renaissance men of our time. He has been called the "Einstein" of our day.

Providing evidence from US, Canada and Britain, Auda Burrumgee proposes a radical new political science theory that offers insight into campaign considerations and the election process while simultaneously lifting the mask off of the voting public, and showing just what makes us tick.

Some pandering presidential candidates would do well to reacquaint themselves with basic civics. In a society which values freedom of religion the last thing we need is intentional blurring of the lines between church and state.

As we celebrate Independence Day across America it is worth publishing once again an accurate history of the philosophy of government that underlies the US Constitution. In The Unchristian Roots of the Fourth of July, Michael Buckner sets the record straight.

Theoretical physics and philosophy join forces in this masterly crafted essay on determinism and metaphysical freedom. The author, along with many great minds throughout the centuries, is fascinated by the problem of free will, for it encourages us to ask ourselves if we are the masters of our own destiny. As science continues on the path of discovery we may be approaching our answer.

In protest against the recent Supreme Court decision against Santa Fe High School, Christian organizers at the school called for a "spontaneous prayer" to begin immediately after the school band played the national anthem. The plan fizzled and few participated in the prayer. Still gives two reason why he thinks it failed.

What is a well-educated atheist? Martin distinguishes between educating someone about atheism and educating him or her to be an atheist. The question of atheistic education, he argues, is not so much how people come to be atheists, but rather what they should learn once they are atheists.

The punishment suffered by Jesus, that of the crucifixion, gave rise to multiple interpretations to explain how and why God allowed His Son to suffer so. The concept of Original Sin became one of the central tenets of the Christian religion to explain God's actions in sacrificing His Son. Jesus is said to have born the sins of the world in an effort to cleanse humanity from sin. The author explores the concept of Original Sin, the idea of sin transferal, while questioning the notion of whether Jesus' fate was indeed a sacrifice as claimed.

An irreverent, mildly satirical look at ending the clash between capitalism, communism, socialism and radical repressive fundamentalist religious theocracies; done in the style of the French philosophers, this essay will give you most of the intellectual tools you need, the author hopes, to finally put communism, socialism and repressive religious fundamentalist theocracies where they belong; in the dustbin of history. In this endeavor the author employs relentless logic, evolution, passion, common sense and an offbeat sense of humor to complete the task.

Biblical criticism, often applied to Judeo-Christian texts, is here applied to the Qur'an. What is often assumed by Muslims to be the word of Allah, or by many critics to be the word of Muhammad, is proposed by the author to be a compilation of variant traditions, possibly with multiple authors. Mr. Giron addresses the many contradictions and conflicting statements found within the Qur'an, the tendency of Muslim apologists' to sacrifice their intellectual integrity in order to salvage their cherished beliefs as found within other religions, and examines many multiple stories within the Qur'an itself, all which differ in detail.