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People often say that atheism is a belief in the same way that theism is a belief and that agnosticism is therefore the only rational position. The purpose of this article is to show that, insofar as we share a naturalistic (scientific) worldview, this agnosticism is unfounded.

"As atheists and humanists we must question the term 'perfection,' and ask it what it is doing for us. Is it damning us? Is it limiting us? Is it some impossibly high standard meant to keep us humble? Or can we say, 'Perfection is honestly doing one's best'"?

Jeremiah's prediction of the New Covenant is a double embarrassment to Christians. The author of Hebrews erred in reading this passage as a prediction of the Christian Gospel. And Jeremiah erred in writing this passage as a prediction of Israel's eternal blessings after the Babylonian Exile. Jeremiah's prophecy has been misused by New Testament authors, and falsified by subsequent history. These twin problems impeach the claims of the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible to be the inerrant, inspired Word of God.

On a secluded ranch deep in the rural expanse of western Texas, over five hundred people have lived for years in an environment choked by ideological indoctrination and autocratic control of access to the outside world. The blinkered worldview which ranch leaders imposed upon their subjects, and the sexual crimes which they apparently inflicted, are not--according to the owners of the ranch--merely the caprices of depraved human beings. On the contrary: they were commanded by God Himself.

As time passes we become more and more aware of the contributions of Charles Darwin, not only in the world of biology but also in the disciplines of psychology and sociology. Darwin's book The Descent of Man is a goldmine of understanding, not only about the similarities and differences between animal and human minds but also about the different stages of the evolution of the human mind.

"The curious thing about the old Arabic tale of the kind and considerate camel owner is that we never seem to get it. The compassionate owner, who permitted his camel to warm his nose under his tent, was victim of his own tolerance, which eventually cost him his abode. Now it looks as if we have to confront another camel--and it's all about the elective study of the Bible in high schools."

"This is presented as science. There is no method to it. There is no predictivity, no falsifiability, no plausibility, no consistency. It is not science. It is not a philosophy. It is not even a theology. It is a waste of my time."

"There is a noticeable reluctance among scientists to grapple with the question of life. All are happy to speculate about the conditions that need to exist for life to originate, but none seem inclined to actually define life itself. The attitude of the scientific community seems to be that this is a difficult subject. I hope to show that perception to be misplaced."

Think you know the details regarding the New Testament Empty Tomb and Resurrection stories? Check your knowledge with this short, twenty-two question quiz. The answers may surprise you! You will likely find that the details are so inconsistent from one biblical source to the next that the picture that we are typically given of the events surrounding the alleged Resurrection is necessarily a composite of carefully selected verses which exclude other verses where the details differ.

"I had always thought that the original sin that Adam committed was having sexual intercourse with Eve--or something like that. Now, I finally get it. It took me a long time and a lot of research, but now I know; 'Original Sin' has nothing to do with sex. Here's my new understanding, based partly upon my rereading of Genesis and also on what I have read about one of the pillars of Christendom, 'Aurelius Augustinus, Augustine of Hippo,' or Saint Augustine."

"The Ten Commandments (Really!)" is a casual, sometimes sarcastically humorous, but honest, review of the story of the Ten Commandments in the book of Exodus. Do you think that you know the Ten Commandments? The author doubts that you do.

The author explains to a younger friend from her old church how and why she went from fundamentalism to disbelief. It is the story of her deconversion.

This is an ironical reading of the popular "Frosty the Snowman" song, looking at the metaphysical and ethical implications of a snow golem bestowed with an instant personality.

"We face a profound choice: either to stay forever in our limited humanist world, constricted by ourselves and society from fulfilling our purported affirmations, or enter the broader world of political engagement, empowering ourselves in the process and making Humanism a living, working philosophy in our country."

God is propaganda. And to narrow the term, God is a rhetorical device of propaganda. "Godisms" are the rhetorical use of God to justify a claim, affect cheap profundity, or instill instant importance to any bit of trash.

Have you ever seen those nature documentaries where the narrator describes how perfectly designed, say, the cheetah, the polar bear, or the chameleon is for its environment? Of course, calling an animal perfectly designed is just shorthand for saying that the slow processes of evolution have led to that animal's well-adapted features. Yet evolution hasn't always generated the best designs, or at least not the best from an engineering perspective. In fact, some features seem downright poorly designed. This should come as no surprise when we understand a little about how evolution works.

If the establishment clause is good enough for some of us then it is good enough for all us. The presidential candidates and the American public would do well to keep this in mind when they contemplate the meaning and applicability of the establishment clause in the 21st century.

Conspiracy theorists learn to compartmentalize their beliefs, to swaddle their worldview in self-perpetuating delusions, to think in terms of loose associations, and to mistake coincidences for revelations, from the example of religious faith. The Christian belief system is evidently motivated by the most colossal conspiracy theory ever to have been imagined and swallowed whole by great masses of gullible humanity.

What is "atheism" as a movement? What should it be? While atheism does not necessarily entail any particular social values, there are nevertheless distinct values that outspoken atheists can--and should--rally around!

"Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens are among the most intellectually formidable, witty and persuasive atheists currently writing. Although Harris tends to attack theism from a philosophical standpoint, and Hitchens prefers consulting history and using religions' own texts against them, both have elegantly articulated a sound, unanswerable argument against Christianity (and every other religion currently vying for adherents among people who ought to know better). I shall call it The Argument from Mundanity."

"I have found the best source to confirm the nonexistence of God is the Bible itself. Following is a typical example of how utterly ridiculous the God of the Bible actually is." - H. A. Zach

So you've come to understand that you are an atheist. Now what? To the uninformed, it might seem that there isn't much to do as an atheist. Well, in fact there is quite a bit to do as an atheist that encourages community, support for church/state separation issues, and the national understanding of atheism.

Darwin was clear in his heart and mind that man was an evolved ape rather than a fallen angel and that life could be understood without divine revelations, but as far as his wife's feelings were concerned he could not change her mind and heart, and had to live with that conflict and sadness all his life. The pain he experienced is evident from the note that was found at the bottom of his wife's letter.

"Since leaving the LDS religion, my eyes have been opened to the horrific effect Mormonism has had on Utah's culture. Brigham Young University is a case-study of how pervasive this religion's effect has been, even in what should be an institution of higher learning."

"I picked up Al Gore's new book, The Assault on Reason, with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Excitement, because it was a case of a prominent public figure delivering a much-needed defense of reason in the public square. Anxiety, because the figure was, well... a politician."

"In this profoundly affecting memoir, Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West" (book description).
"It is quite interesting. It makes a useful addition to the growing literature critiquing Islam, and emphasizing the need to reform its narrow and restrictive approach to life" (Mohammad Gill).

"I often find myself humbly suggesting that it is possible to raise children every bit as ethical, caring, loving, humane, inspired and well-adjusted without religion as with it. I don't believe parenting without religion is merely "as good" as parenting with it--I think it is immeasurably better. I think it blows the doors off religious parenting in every respect--powerful inquiry, reasoned ethics, ecstatic inspiration, cosmic humility and profound humanity. No need to waste time raining reason on the deaf ears of the faithful. Let the baby have his bottle. Our time is better spent clearing a space for the rest of us to dance with our children."

Although radical Islam is spreading, not much is known in Western countries about the Koran, and there seems to be an unwillingness to have a closer look at the book. Yet without this, informed discussion is impossible, and what debate does take place is no more than an exchange of opinion and ignorance. Amongst other things, the Koran is said to call for holy war and to sanction domestic violence. But when asked about this, Muslims and Western apologists flatly deny this. They maintain that the Koran does not preach violence, only compassion and justice (and one should well ask whose justice)--yet the Koran does not support their claims. One cannot rebut them without precise quotes. I have gone through the Koran and precisely referenced some very disturbing passages to bring these issues out into the open and to stimulate much-needed discussion, issues raised which need to be addressed openly and publicly, in the West and in Muslim countries alike.

"Controversies over the display of the Ten Commandments on public property generally do not focus on religious issues. More often, the justification is based on the supposed role of the Ten Commandments in the secular development of Western, and specifically American, legal principles. But did the Ten Commandments really play any role in the founding principles of our legal system? The obvious conclusion is that the Ten Commandments of the Hebrew Bible do not form any part of our Western legal heritage."

In Atheism in the Third Millennium, Kim Walker argues that atheism would benefit from having its own culture, its own songs, stories, heroes, celebrations, rituals, sanctuaries, symbols and monuments reflecting the atheist lifestyle. Walker says that a "lack of cultural depth" holds atheists back, despite the intellectual merits of atheism itself. Kuchar thinks this view of atheism rests on some confusions, that whether a culture is called atheistic isn't nearly as important as whether the culture is in fact a counterpart of atheism.