Godless in Dixie - Skepticism with a bit of a drawl.

Outgrowing Our Religion: Are We Ready?

November 18, 2018 By Neil Carter

An old friend from my church days pulled me aside one day to ask me a few questions about why I left the faith. I appreciated her willingness to talk to me, especially given that her husband, with whom I had been closer, hadn’t spoken a word to me since he first heard the news. After grilling me about a handful of topics, she quipped that she didn’t see any horns sprouting out of my head. I didn’t at all… Read more

Husband to Wife: Without Jesus You’re Unlovable

November 4, 2018 By Neil Carter

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I interact almost daily with friends who no longer buy the Christian story but whose families still do, and you wouldn’t believe the things they hear about themselves from their loved ones. Or maybe you would. If you’ve ever been the only skeptic in a sea of devout believers, it’s quite possible that nothing will surprise you. One friend who kept her atheism from her evangelical Christian husband for years finally told him the truth just a few weeks ago,… Read more

What the Great Pumpkin Teaches Us About Faith

October 31, 2018 By Neil Carter

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Like every year before, last night my girls and I dusted off our copy of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown to watch while we carved our own pumpkin to greet trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood. I love watching how my daughters’ faces squinch up as they grope around inside the gutted gourd, extracting seeds and goop to make room for the little candle we’ll put inside. I also enjoy watching Linus van Pelt perennially gushing about The Great Pumpkin, a fictitious being… Read more

What the Church Is Doing Right

October 18, 2018 By Lori Arnold

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I work for a humanitarian network, so I spend a lot of time talking about service in the community. At work recently, I participated in a number of meetings with different individuals discussing ways to increase service delivery and the engagement of volunteers. Unsurprisingly, what came up over and over again was people’s involvement in their churches. They shared the different missions and ministries their congregations are involved in, and these conversations made me want to turn the page a little… Read more

Smallfoot: Following the Evidence Wherever It Leads

October 12, 2018 By Neil Carter

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“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” –Upton Sinclair This past weekend I went to see the movie Smallfoot, and I gotta tell ya, it hit me in the feels. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a cinematic masterpiece, and if you’re not much for animated flicks, you’re probably not going to care much for this one, either. But with four daughters I’ve been a… Read more

You Do It, Too: How Whataboutism Teaches Us Not to Trust You

October 4, 2018 By Neil Carter

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People use a lot of bad arguments online, but few frustrate me more than the tu quoque fallacy, otherwise known as whataboutism. It is, of course, one of the most commonly used methods of changing the subject, dating back as far as grade school when we used to win arguments by shouting “I know you are but what am I?” and “I’m rubber, you’re glue…” Sadly, most of us don’t outgrow this. But here lately it’s become a virtual epidemic,… Read more

My Struggle: A Black Atheist Wrestles with Anti-Intellectualism and Low Expectations

October 2, 2018 By Guest Contributor

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Guest post by James Murray A few months back after recording my podcast interview with Black Nonbelievers, Inc President Mandisa Thomas, I had the misfortune of experiencing the divisive nature of religion when an older cousin called me to discuss the interview. “I just don’t understand! Why don’t you believe?” she repeated, unsatisfied with the reasons I gave her. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get someone who has never talked to an admitted atheist to understand skepticism toward… Read more

Screen Doors and Porch Swings

September 23, 2018 By Lori Arnold

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When I first came out as an atheist online, it was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. I still remember how my heart pounded, how I kept the post in my drafts folder for days, trying to decide if I should publish or not. How I asked my then-husband repeatedly if he was okay with me outing us. How I worried about all the people who would be upset, about all the doors that would slam in my… Read more

What I Lost When I Lost My Faith

September 16, 2018 By Neil Carter

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Despite the fact that I’m knocking on the door of a full decade without faith in Jesus, from time to time I’m still surprised by the surges of emotion that accompany a memory of what life was like back when I still believed. At one particular moment last weekend I was nearly consumed by the feels still associated with a Christian song I hadn’t heard in nearly twenty years. It was from an old album by The Kry, an alternative… Read more

Did God Send This Storm? A Handy Guide

September 13, 2018 By Neil Carter

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“Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?” –Amos 3:6 “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.” –Isaiah 45:7 Storms have a funny way of exposing people’s belief systems, like airborne inkblots onto which people can project their worldviews. During the days of the Old Testament, pretty much everyone believed storms were acts of judgment perpetrated on deserving creatures by whichever deity… Read more