In my youth group days, we had a skit we would perform in which someone portraying Jesus would follow the protagonist around wherever he went, silently accompanying him throughout his daily routine. Jesus would sit invisibly beside him in class, walk with him through the halls, and even go out with him on dates (creepy), but he’d never say a word. He just stood there, watching. The point of the skit was to drive home that Jesus is there all… Read more
March 12, 2019
Captain Marvel and the Evangelical Male Ego
March 12, 2019 By Neil Carter
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I remember once venerating “the gospel” as a sacred message with which you weren’t supposed to tamper. In fact, I recall reading somewhere that even if an angel from heaven were to appear delivering an alternative message, faithful Christians should disregard it. Given how precisely that comment anticipated the Mormons (I mean Latter-Day Saints), I sometimes wonder if Joseph Smith wasn’t just trolling everybody. In context, Paul was berating the gullible residents of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) for accepting… Read more
March 5, 2019
Why I Chose the Atheist Label
March 5, 2019 By Lori Arnold
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Back in 2014 when I finally came to grips with the fact that I was no longer a Christian—and in fact, an atheist—I made the decision to “come out.” A number of reasons supported this decision, even though I knew by doing so I’d be causing pain and anger and risking rejection and disapproval from family, friends, co-workers, and even possibly future employers. (I was both right and wrong, by the way. While a number of people did react just… Read more
March 4, 2019
Projects in the Works
March 4, 2019 By Neil Carter
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I’ve got about a dozen blog posts in the queue waiting to see the light of day, but life hasn’t yet afforded me the time I need to get them finished. I feel like I’m zeroing in on some seminal ideas, too—maybe not new to everyone else but still new to me—so I’m eager to get the chunks of time I need to get those done. My current crop of students is dramatically accelerating the aging process, plus I think… Read more
March 1, 2019
Kissing Hank’s Butt
March 1, 2019 By Neil Carter
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**Originally this story appeared under a slightly different title, but I’ve altered a couple of words so people can share it with a wider audience.** This morning there was a knock at my door. When I answered the door I found a well groomed, nicely dressed couple. The man spoke first: John: “Hi! I’m John, and this is Mary.” Mary: “Hi! We’re here to invite you to come kiss Hank’s butt with us.” Me: “Pardon me?! What are you talking about?… Read more
February 27, 2019
And Now the Methodists…
February 27, 2019 By Neil Carter
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Yesterday the United Methodist Church decided to revert back to a hardline stance against same-sex relationships, and many of my friends are heartbroken by this move by the second largest Protestant denomination (trailing only my own family’s Southern Baptist Convention, which has never accepted gay marriage). Backtracking like this almost certainly means a major split is on the way, and I’ve gone through a series of conflicting emotions as I read their expressions of pain and sorrow. Witnessing their pain… Read more
February 26, 2019
Faith and Reason Are Not Really Friends
February 26, 2019 By Neil Carter
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You may not find this as fascinating as I do, but I recently came across a video put out by The Gospel Coalition, a think tank for Calvinists co-founded by Tim Keller, a Presbyterian pastor and author who herein verbalizes his own reservations about human evolution. What stands out most to me is that while Keller has used up a great deal of ink over the years arguing that science and the Christian faith need not be mortal enemies, he… Read more
February 20, 2019
The Stubbornness of God
February 20, 2019 By Neil Carter
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I’ve struggled a lot with precisely how to view religion, but I may have finally turned a corner on one particular facet of the question. My opinion of religion is perhaps more complicated than that of most people. I don’t subscribe to any particular religions (anymore), but I also don’t agree with those who talk as if religion is something than can be eradicated from the planet. I think it’s more a feature than a bug; at this point I… Read more
February 17, 2019
Where Do Morals Come From?
February 17, 2019 By Lori Arnold
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Quite often I find myself in conversations with folks who feel that I left my religion simply because I wasn’t asked the right questions. Two of the most common questions I (still) receive are “How do you cope with the difficulties of life without believing in God?” and “If you don’t believe in God, how do you determine what’s right and wrong?” That first subject was most recently brought up at a vulnerable moment by someone who had no idea… Read more
February 15, 2019
The Christian Finish
February 15, 2019 By Neil Carter
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If you are like me and you’ve got years of writing as a Christian out there to remind you of just how much your mind has changed about, well…everything…then you know how cringey the experience of reading your old stuff can be. It’s not that what you said before wasn’t intelligent, because it was…in its own way. And yes, I know there are plenty of atheists out there ready to ridicule those who believe in talking snakes, floating axeheads, and… Read more
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