My name is Mark and I am an atheist.
I was born and raised in the rural area of Missouri just around 30-40 miles west of St. Louis, back in the 1960s when Martin Luther King Jr. was conducting peace marches all over the South. I remember mumbling the words of the Pledge of Allegiance during class in elementary school, but most of it never meant much to me except the phrase “under God”. I was around eleven years old then. I kept that particular phrase in mind and mulled over it for several years. The rest of the pledge seemed appropriate, but “under God” made no sense to me at all. It just “didn’t sit right” with my views of what the United States was all about. I became a fan of American history at an early age and the U.S. Constitution was of interest to me, so I scoured the law of our nation, but I could not find the word, “God” or “Jesus” or “Bible” mentioned.

During my preteen and teenage years I was required to attend Sunday School, Sunday morning worship, Sunday evening worship and Wednesday night prayer meeting at a local Assemblies of God (Pentecostal) Church. It wasn’t all bad. I had friends there like most kids would, but I never could fully participate in the rituals of prayer, baptism or speaking in tongues. I truly thought there was something wrong with me because of my involuntary lack of understanding and faith. I tried to be like everyone that attended and attempted to be a part of those rituals, but it made no sense to me, making me feel extremely pretentious and illegitimate. A sense of self-betrayal haunted me.

During my childhood, I learned much about the Bible and like many other books I had read, I found “the good, the bad and the ugly” within its cover. “The good” was in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. It’s a good moral story, but the same type of moral content can be found in other writings as well. “The bad” was in the way God often punished or murdered his so-called “creations”. How can God do this if he loved us? “The ugly” was the unbelievable happenings of virgin births, Jonah living inside the stomach of a great fish and other outright lies. To me, lying to sway someone is very immoral. “The bad” and “the ugly” outweighed “the good”.

It wasn’t just the Bible that I found to be fictitious, but also the idea of “God”. At around the age of sixteen, I realized that I did not believe in God or any god for that matter. I felt that the existence of the Abrahamic God is no more valid than the gods of Roman, Greek and Norse mythology.

Yes, I suppose sixteen years old may be rather young for someone to assume they do not believe in deities and such, but that is what I knew at the time. I knew I was an atheist as much as I knew I did not believe in Santa Claus. That was thirty-four years ago and I am still an atheist.

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The 30-minute worship service, complete with individual doggie beds, canine prayers and a tray of dog treats for the offering, is intended attract new members who are as crazy about God as they are about their four-legged friends.
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I ran across this story on MSNBC and just had to share it.

When the Rev. Tom Eggebeen took over as interim pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church three years ago, he looked around and knew it needed a jump start.

Most of his worshippers, though devoted, were in their 60s, attendance had bottomed out and the once-vibrant church was fading as a community touchstone in its bustling neighborhood.

So Eggebeen came up with a hair-raising idea: He would turn God’s house into a doghouse by offering a 30-minute service complete with individual doggie beds, canine prayers and an offering of dog treats. He hopes it will reinvigorate the church’s connection with the community, provide solace to elderly members and, possibly, attract new worshippers who are as crazy about God as they are about their four-legged friends.

* Does this pastor actually think that most people do not attend church because of their dog?

* I guess this is no more wackier than the pastor of a Kentucky church encouraging his members to bring guns.

* Maybe someone should inform the pastor that dogs are atheists.

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A friend of mine, Candace sent this to me.

Any comments?

George always told it as he saw it. Too bad he isn’t with us any longer.

Trevor Keezer is shown in front of The Home Depot in Okeechobee, Fla. Keezer says he was fired from his job as a cashier at The Home Depot in the rural Florida town because he wore an American flag button that read, ‘One nation under God, indivisible.’

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A former cashier for The Home Depot who has been wearing a “One nation under God” button on his work apron for more than a year has been fired, he says because of the religious reference. The company claims that expressing such personal beliefs is simply not allowed.

“I’ve worn it for well over a year and I support my country and God,” Trevor Keezor said Tuesday. “I was just doing what I think every American should do, just love my country.”

The American flag button Keezer wore in the Florida store since March 2008 says “One nation under God, indivisible.”

Earlier this month, he began bringing a Bible to read during his lunch break at the store in the rural town of Okeechobee, about 140 miles north of Miami. That’s when he says The Home Depot management told him he would have to remove the button.

Keezer refused, and he was fired on Oct. 23, he said.

“It feels kind of like a punishment, like I was punished for just loving my country,” Keezer said.

More from Yahoo News

In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words “under God,” creating the 31-word pledge we say today.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

This young man was wearing a button that had a reference from the Pledge of Allegiance, “one nation under God, indivisible“.

* Why is it that people tend to either ignore or not publicize the other parts of the pledge? Why is “under God” the most emphasized phrase?

* Should an employee of a private corporation be able to wear visible religious references/symbols?

* Is the “One nation under God, indivisible” button a religious or political statement?

* Why didn’t The Home Depot prohibit this guy from wearing this button the first day? He had worn this button well over a year. If this is against their policy, then why enforce it over a year later?

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HLN’s Joy Behar: Christianity vs. Atheism – Atheist Christopher Hitchens And Pastor Douglas Wilson Are Interviewed – 10/26/09

The origin of human morality and burden of proof seem to be the main topics in this discussion.

* From where or how did human morals come into being?

* Who should bear the responsibility of providing proof for the existence or non-existence of supernatural beings or gods?

As I was watching the World Series baseball game tonight, I noticed that a Phillies pitcher named Pedro Martinez when leaving the pitcher’s mound looked up at the sky and pointed upward toward the sky, very similar to the photo below.

Other baseball players have done this in the past.

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Even football players participate in this ritual of public display.

* Why are they thanking God?

* Does God pay them their multimillion dollar wage contracts?

* Do they feel that God favors them in some way over the millions of starving and diseased?

* If their God knows all, why would a Christian athlete require a public display of thanks or praise? You may notice that this public display of praise is from Christians, not those of other faiths.

* Why does praising or thanking God need a public forum?

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I want to clarify any misunderstandings about myself and my atheism…briefly

1. I am an atheist. That means I do not believe in gods, devils, demons, spirits, ghosts, souls, angels or any other beings that controls humans. Other atheist’s views may differ from mine on this. Some are spiritual and some are not.

2. As an atheist, I do not accept prayers, spells, curses, invitations to your theistic site for debate, scriptures, books, videos and other “God” media as proof of “existence of God”. Although you may find them inspirational, they are man made and only support a belief, not proof. Call it being closed-minded if you wish, but I contend that closed-mindedness is believing in unprovable holy texts.

3. It is not my responsibility as an atheist to provide proof for my non-belief in your God or gods. However, if you claim to believe that elves and other supernatural phenomena exist, the burden of proof is on you. Without proof, you will be deemed as deluded in my view.

4. Guess what? You are not required to accept my personal views nor my atheism, nor do I really care. I’m not here to win souls for atheism, as atheism is not a religion or doctrine and has no collective dogma. Souls or spirits do not exist.

5. I am not miserable or empty inside because of my atheism. I am a happy upper 40s, American male, in good health with no regrets of “not believing in God”. Are you miserable because leprechauns do not exist? I do not “hate God” nor did I become an atheist by hating or refusing “God’s love”. I realized my atheism back when I was a teenager.

6. I am not obligated to respect your religion, as most religions do not respect atheism…or critical thought for that matter.

7. Atheists do not eat babies or take oaths to become atheists. However, I would wager that most babies are atheists, since they are not born with mythological beliefs.

Another great video by askegg

So I read the biographies of all 265 (or so) Popes. Wow – what a continual list of violent, bigoted, murdering, back stabbing, cruel, bastards. Nailing the list down to the worst 30 or so was really hard work, but here is my selection. I will post my notes about each Pope on my blog once I clean it up a little.
I have tried my best to verify these facts about each Pope by referencing multiple authoritative sources.

A very enlightening video regarding the evil actions of the person sitting in the throne of Roman Catholicism.

What if God did exist?
Here are a few questions that many of us just might want to ask:

Would you ask God… to cure all illnesses and end all physical pain?

Would you ask God… to prove that he/she is all-knowing and omnipotent?

Would you ask God… to remove Christianity and Islam from this world because they are not good examples of his/her love or at least punish them for murdering their non-adherents?
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Would you ask God… which religion is consistent with his/her views?

Would you ask God… if Heaven and Hell are real?

Would you ask God… why he/she allowed Christians and Muslims to torture, harass, persecute and kill your “chosen” (Jews)?

Would you ask God… if the Bible really is “his word”?

Would you ask God… to prove his credentials?

Would you ask God… “why did it take you damned long to show up??”

Would you ask God… were we actually created as we are today or are we the result of human evolution?

Would you ask God… if he/she likes George Carlin’s edgy humor?

Would you ask God… if he/she likes this blog?

What other questions might an atheist ask?