Quotes from Dan Barker

The Gospel writers wanted to make of their hero nothing less than what was claimed of saviors of other religions: a king born of a virgin.

The Gospel accounts cannot be considered historical, but even if they were, they tell us that the earliest biography of Jesus contains no resurrection!

Before returning to heaven, Mithra celebrated a Last Supper with his twelve disciples, who represented the twelve signs of the zodiac.

Whatever country you live in, any law based on "glory" instead of real harm is dangerous. The glory of the nation, or the glory of the monarchy, or the glory of the superior race, or the glory of the church have been the cause of horrible wars and legally sanctioned discrimination. Any laws based solely on these glories should be morally denounced. They cause unnecessary harm.

To sum up: 1) There is no external historical confirmation for the Jesus story outside of the New Testament. 2) The New Testament accounts are internally contradictory. 3) There are many other plausible explanations for the origin of the myth that do not require us to distort or destroy the natural worldview. 4) The miracle reports make the story highly suspect.

According to believers like Craig who are unhappy with blunt reality, life needs to be more than it is, otherwise it is absurd, and since we can't possibly allow life to be absurd, then life must be more than it is! As an atheist, I think that is absurd.

How happy can you be when you think every action and thought is being monitored by a judgemental ghost?

Mere Morality can be summarized as: using instinct, law, and reason as guides, try to act with the intention of minimizing harm.

The Christ in Paul's writings is a different character from the Jesus of the Gospels.

We atheists do want justice. Why would you imagine we don't? As with purpose, justice doesn't have to be ultimate to be meaningful. We want justice in our world, not in a pretend supernatural realm. Since there is no ultimate cosmic justice, we have all the more reason not to put it off to an uncertain future. We had better do it now. We

If salvation is the cure, then atheism is the prevention.

It appears that in order to win favor in the eyes of the God of the Old Testament, you have to be an obedient and heartless ethnic cleanser. Otherwise, step aside.

Though most scholars (pro and con) agree that the current edition of the Book of Mormon is a trustworthy copy of the 1830 version, few Christian scholars consider it to be reliable history.

Perhaps Matthew was right, or perhaps Luke was right, but both could not have been right. (See Chapter 13 for the exact citations.)

Believe it or not, many Christians can make these statements with a straight face.

It could also be applied to the Moonies, Jehovah's Witnesses and many other successful religious movements. If smoke is evidence of fire, are they all true?

An idea does not need to be true in order to be believed, and the same could be asked about any other myth: Santa Claus, William Tell or Zeus.

Billions of tax dollars have freely flowed to undisguised religious organizations that openly laud faith to accomplish their mission.

Faith Works' only tools were prayer, bible study and church attendance

Love is not blood and suffering. Love is not murdering your son to appease your own vanity. Love is not hatred or wrath, consigning billions of people to eternal torture because they have offended your fragile ego or disobeyed your rules. Love is not obedience, conformity or submission. It is a counterfeit love that is contingent upon authority, punishment or reward. True love is respect and admiration, compassion and kindness, freely given by a healthy, unafraid human being.

Lord Jealous.

evangelical Christians

Mark Twain said the same thing better: "Heaven for climate; hell for society.

The next February I had a daughter born. She lived only 12 days. There were some things very strange connected with the birth of this child, which I do not think best to write, but I shall never forget, which I never shall know the meaning of until the first resurrection, when I shall clasp it again in my arms.