When evangelical Christians first began debating the issue of abortion, they were nowhere near as unified about the topic as they appear to be today. Shortly after the Supreme Court made their landmark decision on the issue in Roe v. Wade (1973), influential Baptist minister W.A. Criswell, pastor of First Baptist in Dallas, TX, and predecessor to FOX News darling Robert Jeffress, said: I have always felt that it was only after a child was born and had a life separate from… Read more
September 28, 2019
Episode 17: What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?
September 28, 2019 By Neil Carter
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September 25, 2019
Episode 16: I Drew the Line at Canaan
September 25, 2019 By Neil Carter
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I quit attending church nearly a decade ago, and up until that point I had already been an atheist for a couple of years. Let me tell you, it’s not easy attending “big church” as an atheist, much less attending Sunday School as one. Today, I’d like to tell you about the last time I was able to stomach going because that was a major turning point for me. [ iTunes | spreaker | youtube | pdf ] For me, this was the… Read more
September 25, 2019
Episode 15: Father Abraham Had Many Psychoses
September 25, 2019 By Neil Carter
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It’s funny how you can read a story or watch a movie at two different times in your life and see it in two completely different lights each time. The second time around, you notice things you never would have caught before. [ iTunes | spreaker | youtube | pdf ] I recently watched a favorite Bond movie and found myself saying, “Were his lines always this corny? And was the action always this…cartoony?” I also remember the first time… Read more
September 10, 2019
Episode 14: Why We Make Gods
September 10, 2019 By Neil Carter
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This past Sunday I spoke at the Universalist Unitarian Church in Ellisville, Mississippi (and yes, that’s the correct order for the name of this church), and we managed to get a recording of the talk (sorry, audio only). I’m including it here as the next episode in the Godless In Dixie podcast, soon to be followed by the next posts in the blog series. [ iTunes | Spreaker | YouTube ] Stay tuned for more episodes and posts to come!… Read more
September 7, 2019
Are You Godless in Southeast Mississippi?
September 7, 2019 By Neil Carter
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If you live in the Deep South like me, you always want to know when a group of freethinker types are getting together. And as it turns out, tomorrow morning (Sunday the 8th) at 11am I’ll be speaking at Our Home Unitarian Universalist Church in Ellisville, MS. If you’re looking for something to do tomorrow and if you live in the general vicinity of southeast Mississippi, you should come on out and get to know some new folks! I’ll be… Read more
August 23, 2019
Episode 13: What Lot’s Wife Tells Us About the Bible
August 23, 2019 By Neil Carter
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Years ago Robert Fulghum wrote a best-selling book entitled All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. It was a clever title, even if a bit hyperbolic. I certainly hope he learned at least a few more things since those first few years of his life, but I still like his title. In fact, I like it so much I’m going to follow his lead and offer a perspective of my own: All I really need to know about the Bible… Read more
August 20, 2019
Episode 12: None of This Really Happened
August 20, 2019 By Neil Carter
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When I first started writing and speaking to groups about my departure from the faith, I spent the bulk of my time trying to make the still-devout realize how dehumanizing is their image of apostates. I talked about the ways Christians misunderstand us, putting words into our mouths and motives into our hearts that we are not willing to own. [ iTunes | spreaker | youtube | pdf ] But these are all highly subjective discussions and, while they serve a… Read more
August 9, 2019
It’s Not Just a Phase, Mom!
August 9, 2019 By Neil Carter
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Anyone with the nerve to “come out” as an atheist to religious friends and family knows how much it grates to be told: “We all go through periods of doubt. It’s just a phase. You’ll come back around.” When you look up the word “patronize” in the dictionary, this comment should be one of the first examples they give. But then again, Christianity has never been very good at respecting personal boundaries. Why would they value the opinions of a… Read more
July 28, 2019
Help Me Do What I Do
July 28, 2019 By Neil Carter
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The school year is fast approaching, and for my day job I teach high school Algebra. Then I write in my “spare time” when I probably should be doing something else to help pay the bills (have you ever seen what teachers in Mississippi make?). Aside from a full panel of Daddy duties, I try to use any free time I get to catch up on the writing I haven’t had the time to do during the rest of the… Read more
July 26, 2019
Episode 11: The Absurdity of a Perfect Bible
July 26, 2019 By Neil Carter
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Even on its own terms, an inerrant Bible is an absurdity. I’ll explain what I mean in just a second. [ iTunes | spreaker | youtube | pdf ] First, not everyone feels obligated to give the Bible the benefit of the doubt. They will first look at the external evidence, and when they do they will find that major elements of the biblical narrative go astray from the facts as we know them. For them, that’s enough to warn them… Read more
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