Punch Thy Neighbor

Last updated on: September 16, 2014 at 5:01 pm By Ryan Bell

I went through my share of fights as a pastor: battles with stubborn church board members more interested in preserving the status quo than moving the church forward into the 21st century; fights with denominational hierarchy about my doctrinal bona fides. But that’s not what the pastors featured in this documentary mean by church fights. They’re talking about literal cage matches, mixed martial arts, and brutal street fighting. Out on DVD and video on demand platforms like iTunes and Amazon.com today is a... Read more

Waking Up: A Review

Last updated on: September 9, 2014 at 7:47 am By Ryan Bell

In the preface of Sam Harris’ new book, Waking Up, out today from Simon & Schuster, he tells us, his readers, that this is the book he’s wanted to write for more than a decade. It is almost as though his earlier books were so much brush clearing to give him the time and space to write this book, which I suspect will come to be regarded as vintage Sam Harris. After all, he has given his entire life, not... Read more

Philosophy of Religion: who needs it?

Last updated on: August 29, 2014 at 4:22 pm By Ryan Bell

Last month, John Loftus called for an end to the Philoshopy of Religion as a discipline taught in secular universities. This led, in the comments section, to overwrought declarations that philosophy as a whole, is a waste of time. I was surprised to see someone like Loftus call for this moratorium because it was, in large part, philosophy of religion, that got me to where I am today, questioning the validity and utility of religion and a faith-based approach to life.... Read more

Atheism is like trying hard drugs, right?

Last updated on: August 27, 2014 at 10:05 am By Ryan Bell

It’s always interesting when someone new, or an entire group of new people, discover my journey. The conversation starts all over. How does someone “try on” atheism? You either believe or you don’t! Is he trying to trick believers or atheists? What a jerk! It’s fun to be able to smile and send folks the link to my blog now. The way I’ve described my journey has evolved over the months, but I’m still completely happy with the “try on”... Read more

Why Frank Schaeffer is a Christian who has doubts about God’s existence, like everyone else

Last updated on: August 18, 2014 at 12:16 pm By Ryan Bell

I first heard of Frank Schaeffer’s latest book, Why I Am An Atheist Who Believes in God, when he posted an image of the cover on Facebook and solicited feedback. Because my Newsfeed is now pretty evenly divided amongst ‘people of faith’ (mostly Christians, many Jews and a few Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists) and atheists, the results could not have been more split—strongly worded opinions in polar opposite directions. The Christians thought it was brilliant and couldn’t wait to read... Read more

From where will our salvation come?

Last updated on: August 14, 2014 at 11:44 am By Ryan Bell

It’s remarkable how quickly my interest has shifted from the single question of whether God exists—or doesn’t ‘exist’—to issues of much greater, practical concern. This is not to say that the answer to the God question is irrelevant or inconsequential. In fact I think it is deeply consequential. It just isn’t ultimate in the sense of most important or the question at the bottom of all questions the way most theists (and many atheists) think it is. This in and... Read more

Thin places and the experience of beauty

Last updated on: July 30, 2014 at 11:58 am By Ryan Bell

A friend brought this RELEVANT article to my attention. You’ll have to be the judge of whether it is, in fact, relevant, but it does give me the opportunity to talk about something I don’t think I’ve explicitly written about. In the article, entitled, “How Being an Atheist Made Me a Better Christian,” Mike McHargue writes of his loss of faith when, one day while praying, he realized God was not there. Many of us can relate to this. I... Read more

BREAKING: White Evangelical Protestants among least compassionate on immigration crisis

Last updated on: July 29, 2014 at 9:10 am By Ryan Bell

A new report published today by Public Religion Research Institute found that white Evangelical Protestants are among the least willing to extend shelter and support to children arriving from Central America without their parents. Thirty-nine percent felt they should be deported immediately. In fairness, a majority of white Evangelical Protestants (56%) still do believe that these children should be offered shelter and support while their cases are being decided, which is super sweet of them. You certainly wouldn’t know that 70%... Read more

How we help each other grow

Last updated on: July 25, 2014 at 8:09 am By Ryan Bell

Several rich conversations converged today and it’s too good not to share. In a Facebook thread today I read this quote. When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European, or anything else, you are being violent. Do you see why it is violent? Because you are separating yourself from the rest of mankind. When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence. So a man who is seeking to... Read more

Rejecting faith in righteousness

Last updated on: July 25, 2014 at 8:18 am By Ryan Bell

Yesterday I read this very moving story, by the intelligent and courageous Lala Stone entitled, “How I Went from Being a Southern Baptist Preacher’s Daughter to an Open Atheist.” It’s a heartbreaking story that I hope atheists and Christians will both read, for the same reason in different directions. Through the telling of stories we deepen our understanding, empathy and compassion. Ms. Stone’s story is her own and while many people, myself included, trace similar themes in our own stories,... Read more