It's curious.All over Facebook, people beg for prayers for their loved ones, often describing horrific and near unthinkable accidents and illnesses with life-and-death outcomes.My mom is in Intensive Care at Hospital X. Please pray! I have a spot on my lung and I'm going in for further tests. Please pray! My sister miscarried at 12 weeks. Please pray. A baby's body is ravaged with cancer. Please pray. Ask yourself what all of the prayer posts really imply. If God tru...
Read MoreI've become a casual student of childhood indoctrination, and I hear stories from those raised to accept the religions of their parents as Truth without question. I, myself, see my own childhood cloaked certainly in the security and sacrifice of two loving parents, but also growing up to the constant drumbeat of the Christian religion. We children were taught what to think much more than how to think, and the stories of Jesus, Noah, Moses, Adam and Eve were taught to us on the same factua...
Read MoreAlex Nunn. He loved computers. He loved cars. He is survived by his parents, two brothers and a sister. I’m often struck by the sterility of newspaper obituaries…the clumsy consolidation of a vibrant, complex and nuanced life into a tiny text box with a single photograph. This is the deceased. He was born. He went to school. He worked. He lived. He died. Funeral services to follow. I didn’t know Alex Nunn personally. His name popped up occasionally on The ...
Read MoreYou’ve failed as a parent. That’s what you’re thinking, I’m sure. If only you’d attended church more regularly. If only you’d prayed more and emphatically taught your child the power of prayer. If only you’d have opened the bible more instead of leaving it so often on the nightstand. If only you’d demonstrated God’s love in a meaningful way. If only you’d been a better mentor…a better example…a better Christian. If only. Nonsense. It’s imperativ...
Read MoreI was in a discussion with a theist recently, and she tossed out a zinger. She informed me that (paraphrasing) "the scientific community is largely rejecting the idea of Evolution and embracing the biblical Creation account." When I picked my jaw up off of the floor, I reminded her that 93% of the National Academy of Sciences rejects any god. She, of course, brushed that statistic aside as a biased, false, obviously contaminated sample (no doubt influenced by that crafty devil). My a...
Read More(Editor's note: In a recent podcast entitled "Woman, Be Silent," the story of Lilith came up, prompting a litany of requests from our users for more information. TTA guest blogger "Meg" has provided an in-depth look at this fascinating legend in this post. Many thanks to her for the long hours of research on this one. -Seth) “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” To the faithful of both Christianity and Judaism,...
Read MoreAnyone else think it’s ironic when Christian women spout instructional and inspirational scriptures on Facebook and elsewhere? I saw several examples only yesterday, including a ditty from one friend (I’ll call her Julia) which read in bold text, “YOU WERE MADE BY GOD AND FOR GOD, AND UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND THAT, LIFE WILL NEVER MAKE SENSE!" The comments that followed from her religious friends were the same, predictable litany of bumper stickers we’ve come to expect, but I decided to...
Read MoreArguing with theists on Facebook is usually like telling your grandmother how to set the digital clock on her microwave oven. No matter how carefully you give the directions, she ignores you and blathers on about the good ol’ days of wind-up watches and wood-burning stoves. I try to resist those kinds of Facebook exchanges. I try to remember that I’m a solitary atheist surrounded by devoutly religious family and friends, remembering that their posts will naturally reflect the allegi...
Read MoreThis week, we've talked quite a bit about tactics that the religious use against atheists in a debate. One of the most inflammatory charges of the believer is that Hitler was an atheist, and the influences of Darwin were responsible for Hitler's atrocities in the mid-20th century. I heard this very argument from my theist mother. A (German) friend and page fan has experience with this subject. She asked for permission to correct the record on Hitler, and to give ammunition to the rest o...
Read MoreA Letter to Our Subscribers, Users and Fans To all TTA page fans, subscribers and supporters: In May of 2009, when my YouTube page was created, I could count the subscribers on one hand. I had just written and produced a video called \"The Invisible God\" in my spare time, not really having an audience for it. It was mostly an exercise...a bullhorn to amplify some of the freedoms and frustrations I was experiencing. I just needed to get it out. "The Invisible God" wasn't a masterpiece by any ...
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