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Is every type of religion bad?
by sirious, posted: 16 May 2013 69 - Category: Religion
Hey guys, I'm pretty new here. I apologize in advance for my lack of grammar (I'm Swedish...) I have a question for you, that I would be very glad if you could help me with....
Did religion help give primitive civilisation certain moral values?
by WezleyPetez, posted: 11 May 2013 128 - Category: Religion
Hi all, I'm pretty new to religion and I have just recently shed my religious blindfold. I have a question that probably has been answered countlessly before but I couldn't find the...
Historical fact vs Faith Reasoning
by karatematt, posted: 10 May 2013 113 - Category: Religion
Presupposing the historical veracity of the Christ figure as a teacher, a religious leader, an iconoclast, and (most importantly) a human man, what evidence acutally exists for assuming the supernatural miracles ascribed to this one man based...
When "Respectable" Supernatural Beliefs Come Home to Roost
by Jumped Up Chimpanzee, posted: 01 May 2013 39 - Category: Religion
Earlier this week, Richard Dawkins questioned whether a journalist could be taken seriously for believing in supernatural entities (specifically a winged horse capable of commuting between Heaven and Earth).   ...
Irreducibly Complex
by karatematt, posted: 23 Apr 2013 13 - Category: Religion
I basically just need some quick references to some works on the NOT SO irreducibly complex bacterial flagellum. 
Should we actively dissuade our children from being involved in religion?
by Lar, posted: 16 Apr 2013 40 - Category: Religion
I have two children. One has declared herself a Humanist. The other has mixed beliefs in Christianity and Buddhism. Should I allow them to explore their beliefs or actively persuade them to become atheists?
Revival of Richards excellent demonstration of Evolution from The Blind Watch Maker
by krakjoe, posted: 16 Apr 2013 11 - Category: Religion
So, with a bit of time to kill, I thought I'd revive a demonstration I saw on The Blind Watch Maker documentary ... http://pastehtml.com/view/cyw0ntivg.html Reasonable minds can only come...
Religious scripture in classrooms
by Powell_Daniel, posted: 13 Apr 2013 23 - Category: Religion
Hi Everyone. I am a recent atheist, and at school we are basically forced to do religious scripture once a fortnight. I recognise that Atheism is not a religion, but the only...
Religion, culture and dirty looks.
by flutePlayer3, posted: 11 Apr 2013 32 - Category: Religion
I am in the early stages of applying to be a foster carer. At an initial meeting with our assessor amongst all the things that were discussed, I was asked if I...
Conspiracy Road Trip: Creationism (new TV show/series)
by itraining, posted: 11 Apr 2013 13 - Category: Religion
There is a great new TV series titled "Conspiracy Road Trip". Comedian Andrew Maxwell presents his serious side as he takes 5 British "believers" on a road trip top confront their beliefs. The Conspiracy Road...
A.A. is not treatment.
by simplyMark, posted: 09 Apr 2013 18 - Category: Religion
My first post. I'm a recovering alcoholic & drug addict. 20 years of my life spent getting wasted. I've been to rehab 3 times & in group therapy I spent most of my time arguing...
Fundamentalist Christians discrediting science
by Nash33, posted: 08 Apr 2013 23 - Category: Religion
I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian church. In the 1940s when I was a teenager, I remember the preacher from time to time would make statements discrediting scientists. Two examples I still remember are:...
How does one prove reason?
by tjmapa, posted: 08 Apr 2013 46 - Category: Religion
In order to figure out anything, we need reason. Where did reason come from though? How can we prove the existence of reason? It seems we cannot prove reason with reason, which is circular...
Your Film Reviews, Life of Pi
by Stephen of Wimbledon, posted: 06 Apr 2013 19 - Category: Religion
Hi, I was recently dragged to a screening of the film Life of Pi (in 3D).   In an early scene the main character says he...
Frustrating Conversation with Christian Fundamentalist! Please help!
by skeptic149, posted: 06 Apr 2013 51 - Category: Religion
Lately I have been wearing my scarlett letter "A" button in support of The Out Campaign and today one of my co-workers asked about it. Knowing he was a bible-believing christian fundamentalist, I knew it...
Regarding Historical Veracity of the Bible
by Thoughtfull, posted: 04 Apr 2013 28 - Category: Religion
I'm sure the title may have taken quite a few of you in. To explain a bit of the background as to why I'm writing, this, I have a couple of firends...
Ishtar Vs. Easter
by EnigmaticSkeptic, posted: 01 Apr 2013 22 - Category: Religion
Hello everyone! In light of today's misunderstood and pointless holiday (Easter), I was curious to see how many of us involved on these discussion boards came across this whole Ishtar Vs. Easter...
On Good Bits of the Bible, and of Religion generally.
by Zeuglodon, posted: 30 Mar 2013 19 - Category: Religion
According to the online version of the Skeptic's Annotated Bible, there are only 511 good verses or passages in the whole of the Bible, Old and New Testament inclusive. Given that there are about 1189...
Religion and sex
by kbala, posted: 28 Mar 2013 18 - Category: Religion
Hallo zusammen, I have always wondered why religions demonize sex and often depict women as subordinates. Any one who has visited ancient temples in India would have come across...
The trick on Ontological Argument
by baaltzebub, posted: 28 Mar 2013 37 - Category: Religion
Hi, guys !English is not my native language. I never made a class on this language. Thus, i know that this text is poor in grammar and vocabulary. I don't know if it is relevant...
What evidence would be enough?
by Chipmunk, posted: 22 Mar 2013 306 - Category: Religion
Before I start, I would like to say that I think that most of what Dr. Dawkins thinks about religion makes very good sense. I understand and agree with the idea of not believing in what there...
Either you're with us, or you're with the Evil ones
by The Buachaill, posted: 16 Mar 2013 90 - Category: Religion
No this isn't a discussion about George Bush and his McCarthyesque attempts to frame anyone who disagreed with him as a terrorist.Rather this is a disappointing, and yet hardly unsurprising, look at the divisive and...
Pope Francis' views on science
by Sjoerd Westenborg, posted: 15 Mar 2013 20 - Category: Religion
There's a new Pope in town, and even though most of us probably don't give a damn about his theological qualities, it might be of interest to us to know his views on scientific matters. The...
Is evidence all that matters?
by bjchiaro50, posted: 12 Mar 2013 183 - Category: Religion
I, as I am sure many other atheists do, always cite the lack of evidence for a god as one of the main reasons for my disbelief. However, I often wonder if that's sufficient enough...
Queen to sign new charter backing gay rights: The irony of the U.S.
by MANintheMIDDLE, posted: 11 Mar 2013 22 - Category: Religion
I was pointed to this article, by a friend, in an online discussion: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9920238/Queen-to-sign-new-charter-backing-gay-rights.htmlYou know, there's a certain irony in this. The U.S. was born partly due to discrimination felt by groups like the Pilgrims. They...
A statement of faith
by GlenNeuro, posted: 09 Mar 2013 27 - Category: Religion
Is it legal for an employer to ask you to sign a statement of faith?I recently started a new part time job whilst studying for my Bsc (Hons) Neuropsychology. Before being a student I was...
New TV Series (coming soon): The Bible
by itraining, posted: 08 Mar 2013 13 - Category: Religion
The news.com.au web site posted an article about a new 5 part television series screening soon on The History Channel. The official web site is here: http://www.bibleseries.tv/From news.com.au: Introducing, The Bible: Ten hours of dramatic TV re-enactments of history’s most...
I'm a16 year old and i do not want to be "force fed" theistic beliefs
by tim2142, posted: 05 Mar 2013 37 - Category: Religion
Recently my parents have started taking me to a baptist church and forcing me to accept this new concept of an omniscient omnipotent being which cannot be proven to exist, and I'm not trying to...
Daniel Everett Lost Tribe Lost Faith
by zennonanon, posted: 02 Mar 2013 13 - Category: Religion
Hi RDF,I hope this is the correct place to let you know about the fantastic story behind the you tube videohttp://youtu.be/Zju5YwsP8GEI could not find anything on RDF about Daniel Everett and I'm sure everyone will...
Does anyone else go through difficulty growing up
by uncertain18, posted: 28 Feb 2013 26 - Category: Religion
My entire 18 years of life I've never felt the "divine spirit" or the voice that everyone seems to go on about at congregations or any other things of the sort that uplifts people... I always found myself...
Prove there's no god
by paxpoker, posted: 27 Feb 2013 135 - Category: Religion
When I say to a christian ,provide proof there is a god,the answer is often,provide proof there is no god.How do we prove that there is no god?.If we say that based on science I BELIEVE that...
Religious fundamentalists & capital punishment
by kbala, posted: 24 Feb 2013 30 - Category: Religion
Hi,I was quite ambivalent about capital punishment before moving to England. But after listening to my colleague (gulping few pints at the pub) at the university where I was studying, I got convinced that...
Why is it okay to believe in a God?
by Liam91, posted: 22 Feb 2013 40 - Category: Religion
If I said to someone that I believe in Father Christmas or the tooth fairy for example, any right-minded person would laugh in my face. However if someone said that they believe in a God,...
What if I am not planning to "convert" a J.W.?
by Dianne M. Leonard, posted: 18 Feb 2013 38 - Category: Religion
I have gotten into an on-going discussion with a Jehovah's Witness at the laundromat (me doing laundry, him handing out his tracts.) He seems to be a very nice young man, about half my age,...
What impact will the internet have on Religion?
by Eliot, posted: 14 Feb 2013 16 - Category: Religion
Many of the 6th graders at the the school where I teach now carry smart phones.  Often times when I present them with information that they consider remarkable, or perhaps suspect, out comes the iPhone...
Religion's impact on the initial creation and spread of morality
by spaik, posted: 11 Feb 2013 21 - Category: Religion
I was watching a documentary of an interview of Professor Dawkins with Al Jazeera in Oxford University. (Here is the link for those interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U0Xn60Zw03A#!)There was an interesting question in it which was the following:(with a bit of...
Homeless Atheist
by bumphilosopher, posted: 08 Feb 2013 66 - Category: Religion
As a homeless atheist, the Christian Shelters and Kitchens barred and banned me after objecting to hour long sermons in order to receive a meal or bed. There really is no help other than the...
When did gods become immortal, infallable and immaterial?
by Nebelmann, posted: 04 Feb 2013 30 - Category: Religion
When you look at the properties of gods you will soon notice that the more gods you have in a pantheon the more fallable they are, the more gods, the more human the gods. The...
Women suffer from Gandhi's legacy
by kbala, posted: 29 Jan 2013 27 - Category: Religion
Few have been quoting Gandhi & his views recently. I would like to shed some light on Gandhi's view on women. Mohandas Gandhi held India back when it came to women's rights – and...
Alone in New York
by GPWC, posted: 28 Jan 2013 19 - Category: Religion
I have been in contact with a 16 year old (let’s call her Y) who is a member of the ultra orthodox and insular Jewish community “The Chassidim”. She is appealing for...
Clearing some doubts about religion
by siladityaaich, posted: 22 Jan 2013 45 - Category: Religion
Hey,i'm an atheist from India. While having a discussion with my muslim friend on religion,he told me that the qurran talks about the big bang theory and things about embryology and that the qurran even talks...
Help - Letter to a Girl (Believer) from a Guy (Nonbeliever)
by GentlemanX, posted: 16 Jan 2013 32 - Category: Religion
Strangers, colleagues - I'm in a bit of a crisis. This past year I fell in love with a girl who happened to be a devout Christian. I am myself an agnostic, but because of how...
End time stories
by mikenlynn, posted: 12 Jan 2013 11 - Category: Religion
I was wondering what other world religions, besides Christianity, has an end-time narrative?  It doesn't have to be apocalyptic. It can be anything that is a course of events which culminates in the world as...
Conservative Laestadianism
by Halla, posted: 10 Jan 2013 41 - Category: Religion
Hi everyone.First off, I want to apoligize for my relatively weak english.I'm a 17-year-old female high school student in Finland. When it comes to religion, I'd say that out of all the young finnish people...
Pro evolutionary Islam
by TheRationalizer, posted: 08 Jan 2013 36 - Category: Religion
Many of you may already be familiar with Usama Hasan, a UK Imam who received quite a negative response for suggesting to a Muslim audience that humans share a common ancestor with modern apes.Seemingly undeterred...
The Herd of Elephants In The Room - Sustainable World Population.
by CdnMacAtheist, posted: 01 Jan 2013 83 - Category: Religion
One of many websites on this issue http://www.worldpopulationbalance.org/3_times_sustainable I have not seen much discussion here on RDFRS on the subject of sustainable population projections, ...
Atheism, Divorce, and Choices
by Jogre, posted: 01 Jan 2013 11 - Category: Religion
I shall endeavour as much as possible to keep this topic on point, avoiding all unnecessarily heavy descriptions that seem to ask you to be 'free psychologists' (although I am fairly certain that some among here...
Deconversion and Family
by tardisride, posted: 31 Dec 2012 41 - Category: Religion
Just this year a personally sad event caused me to acknowledge my absolute rejection of the fundamental Christianity of my parents, and to seek understanding and knowledge partly through forums like these. In the last eight months...
Grieving as an Atheist
by Kimberly Danner, posted: 27 Dec 2012 29 - Category: Religion
Death, Funerals, Church, and Loss by Suicide.Experiencing the whole process of loss and death is quite different as an Atheist. The obvious difference is we do not believe in an "afterlife" whether it be good...
Oxfam unwrapped
by jasonmannell, posted: 26 Dec 2012 13 - Category: Religion
I was wondering if Oxfam is a good charity to donate to. I am not sure of their affiliations to religious organisations. I have read some negative comments about their "Oxfam unwrapped" program ( http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/4180/ ). Do...
Would you admit you are an atheist??
by voiceofarabi, posted: 06 Dec 2012 110 - Category: Religion
Majority of people on this website seems to be well informed and pioneering, which drove me to ask a question thats burning inside of me...   here goes.If you lived in a country were rejecting your...
Would you admit you are an atheist?
by voiceofarabi, posted: 06 Dec 2012 1 - Category: Religion
The majority of people on this website seem to be well informed and pioneering, which drove me to ask a question thats burning inside me. Here goes.If you lived in a country where rejecting your...
Local paper publishes letter from Rev, associating Hitler and Darwin!
by Julieana, posted: 26 Nov 2012 75 - Category: Religion
Hi Everyone, I'm no huge fan of newspapers at the best of times, but surely it's the job of a local paper to report local news?Every week on the letters page, the Maidenhead Advertiser prints...
Is finding the truth worth potentially breaking the hearts of those close to me?
by western84, posted: 19 Nov 2012 79 - Category: Religion
I am an LDS medical student in my late twenties and for the past few years I have been doubting the beliefs that I have held for most of my life. I want to know...
Church refuses to baptize our child, mother becomes Atheist
by spire123, posted: 12 Nov 2012 23 - Category: Religion
I am a South African citizen and an Atheist. I was baptized and accepted in a Christian Church as a child and young adult but "awoke" from the ...
Religion and the presidential election.
by Daniel Williams, posted: 12 Nov 2012 14 - Category: Religion
Obama has just won the presidential election and as expected many republicans are blaming hurricane Sandy.However by all accounts, including the republicans blaming the hurricane for the loss of the election, it was an "act of...
Tom Holland live with Q&A
by TheRationalizer, posted: 12 Nov 2012 3 - Category: Religion
Tom Holland is the author of In the shadow of the sword and producer  of the recent Channel 4 documentary Islam - The untold story.Tom will be a guest panelist on The Jinn And Tonic...
Religion as child abuse
by FredSki, posted: 12 Nov 2012 25 - Category: Religion
I live in the Netherlands and many many years ago I had a coworker who was deeply religious. I used to have long discussions with him about religion. One day I told him children should be...
Will "Our thoughts and prayers are with you" ever leave human commentary?
by PY, posted: 06 Nov 2012 41 - Category: Religion
With pre-disaster fear, disasters taking place and post-disaster commentary (to name just a few reasons) the web seems full of comments such as 'we are praying for you', 'our thoughts and prayers are with you', and ' I will...
Poetry, Myth & Metaphor and the Wonder of Science
by Aguazul, posted: 06 Nov 2012 8 - Category: Religion
I witnessed a handful of stones move some 300m up a mountain the other day. Actually it was me that carried them up. "So what?" you may say, but you must know that this is...