Comments- Pro + Con

12/31/07

Hi,

I just wanted to say that I can understand your aversion
against religion, but that it is a shame that your way of
giving your opinion is not helpful. You have some good
points there, but with nuance you'll reach a lot more. I
find it a pitty that often Christians and non-Christians
both have a way of "spreading their message" which only
enlarges the seperation between religious people and
non-religious people. And I think that's not what you want
to state, is it? Regards,

Roel ( who is, by the way, not a Christian ;-) )

Mark here: Thank you Roel. I am in the process of making the site less, er, unfriendly.

12/1/07

hey. im atheist too and i just told my mum and dad and now they wont leave me alone about it. my mum pulled out her bible and was like" what is this all just a bunch of bullshit to you" and my dad has been trying to get me in church an every body at school thinks im crazy and worship the devil and im not quite sure what to do. i want to stand my ground and tell my parents to leave me alone and ive already told the dudes at school to shutup that there's nothing wrong with me.it sucks that people think your wrong if your not the same. im also a pacifist which doesnt help either. think you could help me figure out what to do?

-shakes.

Mark here: It sounds like you're already on the right road: you are thinking for yourself. That skill is worth whatever crap other's throw your way. You are safe from religious hucksters and bullshit artists. Keep up the good work.

10/31/07

How do you do it? I just browsed a bunch of pissed off bible thumping emails to you followed by your

response. I'm amazed how you figuratively smile through this ridiculous shit. You're having fun, aren't you?

Well somehow a missionary holy-roller got wind of my input into this spooky brainwashing ancient religious

stuff, and I had more Jesus loves me crap dealt out than I could handle. I had to break it off. But you: You seem to

eat this stuff up.

I'm a retired old buck now just having a little fun with this unbelievable medium while waiting for the grim

reaper to harvest my nasty ass. But owing to my professional career in the Science of Telephony where

logic is boss, my brain can't adjust to buy into spooky religions. And I've yet to hear any logical argument

to support this believe or go to hell stuff. As a matter off logic, there's not even any reason for argument.

Johnny Putt

10/12/07

Mark,
From:
http://www.jcnot4me.com/Items/Misc%20Topics/Sept%2011/response_sept_11.htm
“Mark Smith here}Please notice the callous disregard for human life. This is
yet one more piece of evidence that Christianity kills off normal human
kindness, and replaces a warm heart in people with a heart of stone. This
religion is a pain and suffering cult, and doesn't give a rats ass about the
quality of life here and now.”
Actually Christians have a heart of “gold,” it is ‘yellow and hard.’

Lee Bowen

"WWJD"

Mark,

Here in Alabama I think the real meaning is “We Want Jack Daniels.”

Lee

9/24/07

Hey Mark

I stumbled onto your website while perusing for anti-church of christ info I must say you have hit the nail on the head so to speak.

BUT Since Ignorance, greed, and hypocrisy rule the Christian faith, I would not waste time praying to their deity for any change.......

But for the good of Mankind , Keep up the good work and I will look more at your website

THANKS

Jaret

8/24/07

Great Great Site. I'll email you at later date. Too much to say.

But for now if you don't know about this site, put it up on yours:

http://www.jesusdressup.com

Later

Bobby

7/5/07

Came across your page while looking up Jonestown….

Do check out www.richarddawkins.net

& www.thebrights.com

and of course spread the info.

Yours,

Gerrie Ferguson.

5/27/07

Long time viewer, firt time e-mailer. Love the website.

You know what I have noticed around Southern California? More and more people are putting their church affiliation on the back of their cars in the form of stickers. Why?

Do i care what church you go to? Do members of the same church pull up, honk, and give each other a thumbs up?

No. It seems this is more of an image issue than anything. I think these stickers, at the most basic level, say the occupants of the vehicle go to a "better" church. Its not an invite for the driver behind to attend their church. Just a note to tell you that THEY go there and you dont. And of course, the idea that you are better than someone else or that everyone else is wrong, leads us to the millions of lives lost over religion in the last 3000 years.

Just my thoughts, and i'm sicking of seeing the stickers.

Matt

Mark here: I think I might agree with you. It seems to be more of a pride thing. If all they cared about was Jesus, then that's what would be on the car. But oft times what I see is a license plate frame that only says "SADDLEBACK CHURCH". Not a word about Jesus etc. I guess that says what their priority is.

5/16/07

Mark,

I am a devout ( yet deeply flawed Christian). I can't tell you how helpful your studies have been to me. I am married to a preterist and I do not agree with the doctrine but your words will prove most helpful on alot of levels.

What most impresses me is that an atheist could provide something so helpful to me! I had to just skim over some of the more insulting parts...there was no offense taken though.

I was baptized at age 7, and afterward as I walked down the middle aisle of the church building, (it had emptied out), I heard what sounded like thousands of angels singing. The sound only lasted about 10 seconds. I have always been 4JC. God Bless You, Brother.

Debbie

Mark here: Hi Debbie. Thanks for the email. Yeah, I gotta work at being nicer (that's what my significant other tells me). So sorry if I hurt your feelings any. And good luck with the Preterist (you'll need it!)

4/25/07

jc is not for me either. I thought you were based in Price Utah? anyway keep up the works, not that you'll be saved or anything LOL :) Christianity is a bunch of BULL SHIT!

I support your web site indeed!

3/8/2007

Hey Mark,

I just had to drop you a line and tell me how much
I've been enjoying reading over your site. Sometimes
it has made me laugh so hard.... and thanks for all
the ammo I can use the next time one of these bullshit
Fundy freaks shows up at my door. In fact, I'm looking
forward to such an opportunity to try out all this
great material.

Your section on pranks reminded me of a friend I had
in college. He was an Atheist and LOVED tormenting
Christians. I swear it was his whole life (he was a
great guy but didn’t have a lot going on, you know?)
He loved having Fundies come to the door. Before they
even got a chance to start on their bullshit, he’d ask
them what “improvable theological opinions” they
planned to share with him that day. He said they’d get
real worked up and start to stammer. When they argued
that their faith was not “improvable”, he’d just ask
them to prove by scientific means that everything in
the Bible was true. He could argue for hours, and of
course his visitors eventually got frustrated and left
because (of course) they couldn’t prove their
nonsense.

Over time I guess the word got out and they stopped
coming to his house, so he started calling churches in
the area (especially fundamentalist and Catholic) and
asked them the same question. He said no one could
ever figure out how to answer that one. He usually
just got shocked silence, but one time some woman at a
Pentecostal church started speaking in tongues over
the phone at him – or at least he assumed that’s what
the "mindless cult-shit babble" coming out of her
mouth was. He just laughed hysterically. She went on
for a few, he kept laughing, and she eventually hung
up.

On the subject of pranks, my best friend and I broke
into a church and stole the communion grape juice
once. (We were young, drunk and bored… what can I
say?) I don’t recommend stealing, of course, but I
always wondered what the good folks of the church
thought happened to their holy grape juice.

One final thought – I’ve never understood why Biblegod
is so insecure that he gets pissed off if you use his
name wrong. I mean, it's so frigging important it's #3
on his supposed list of rules? Hasn’t he ever heard
that one about sticks and stones? Geesh. Even kids
know better!

Love the site… keep it up!

Ellie

Thanks for writing Ellie. Sorry for the ridiculous time in getting back to you. Enjoyed your email, and hope some of my stuff comes in handy. I like your friend's tactic- good one.

--Mark

In a message dated 2/26/2007 3:12:35 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, writes:

Mark:

I'm getting ready to do a sermon series called "Dare to Doubt." I'm using
the stuff on your website as good examples
for coming to the conclusions you have.

Could you tell me a bit about what cultural form of Christianity you grew
up with?

Thanks.

Jeff Stewart

Hi Jeff;

I was in the non-instrumental Church of Christ for about 20 years. As you know, they are the TRUE church, unlike all the OTHER churches that make the same claim :)

Good luck in your sermon, and, as I tell all my Christian friends, and you may pass this on to your flock:

STUDY YOUR BIBLE. Don't just read it- you wouldn't "read" a math textbook, would you? Study it and learn it inside and out.

And why would I, an Atheist, say such a thing? Because Biblestudy is what eventually got me out of Christianity.

Yours NOT in him,

--Mark S.

Subject: Religion Date: 1/12/2006 3:54:23 A.M. Pacific Standard Time From: --- Reply To: To: JCnot4me@aol.com

Hi Mark, I spent quite some time on your website, a very informative site, also had some good laughs. You have quite a sense of humour. What I can't understand is how come you haven't been lynched yet? You must realise you are dealing with myriads of brainwashed half wits? It's quite clear the Christian bunch (and myself for this matter), started the brainwashing process the second school began, drawing pictures of Noah's ark etc. The guys that drowned were the bad guys and when you are 6 years old that's ok. As if this was not enough, these suckers took it another step further when they thought they could think for themselves, they took Christianity to the next level of stupidity and got born again or got suckered into joining a church which promised all kinds of crap, everlasting life etc. Anyway Just thought I'd let you know I support your logic 100%. If I was you I'd watch my back, there are plenty of loonies out there. Regards, M--- D----- (quite ironical my surname)

Subject: greetings, sir Date: 1/8/2006 7:45:28 P.M. Pacific Standard Time From: Reply To: To: JCnot4me@aol.com

Hello, Mr. smith.

I am an avid reader of your fantastic site and I'd like to share this article with you:

http://us.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/01/04/italy.jesus.reut/index.html

What is your take regarding this? Who do you think might win?

Thank you, and good day sir.

- Joseph

Subject: Achhhh no Date: 1/5/2006 7:06:10 A.M. Pacific Standard Time From: Reply To: To: JCnot4me@aol.com

You are gonna be going to hell where you will be surrounded by Creationist T-Rex's who will nibble at you night and day until you have no skin left at all!

Damn good work

Matt ------------------- http://www.ihategod.net

Hey Matt;

Thanks for the compliment.

I had a good time putting the Christian T-Rex together on the computer- ha ha ha. I don't know why I never thought of doing that before. Just take what the xtians are saying, and make it easier for all to visualize- thus hanging the xtians with their "own rope".

Subject: Brilliant, informative website Date: 1/3/2006 6:59:16 P.M. Pacific Standard Time From: ric Reply To: To: JCnot4me@aol.com

Was referred to your website by someone who swears by it, and apart from some places where bush or politics gets mentioned (I don't vote for idiots so I don't read about them or talk about them. bad view I suppose but better than having to vote for someone you'd rather see crushed by a tractor), your website is beyond merely good reading. It's highly informative, you back up every point you make and you keep your points concise (unlike the Bible?).

It's great reference material for arguments with my devout christian friends who don't seem to tag on to the hypocracy they follow blindly (one has because of me, and actually does thank me for it. Has her life suffered? no, its improved).

Keep up the amazing work

Subject: Thanks Mark Date: 12/21/2005 8:45:22 A.M. Pacific Standard Time From: Reply To: To: JCnot4me@aol.com

Mark,

I have to tell you that your website has really been an inspiration to
me. I live in the heart of Missouri and I feel I am surrounded by the
constant yammering of the holier than thou Christian. The information
from your site has really been useful to me in dealing with these
people. Keep up the good work.

Roger

Mark here: Hey Roger;

Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad to be of service, and feel free to print out anything in the site you may find useful. I especially recommend printing out the website business cards and sbrading the "seed" around.

I try to come up with arguments and reasoning the xtians can't answer. It makes me sad that it isn't that hard to do, when I remember I spent 20 years as a Christian who was all imbrssed with its "logic".

Subject: Some advice. Date: 12/12/2005 10:33:26 P.M. Pacific Standard Time From: Reply To: To: JCnot4me@aol.com

Mark,

As a recent de-convert, what do you suggest for getting completely rid of the religious brainwashing? Initially (and perhaps you went through this too), there is still an ingrained fear of hell... does time make it go away?

Mark here} I recommend you study like hell, to give yourself a firm foundation showing you how foundationless Christianity really is. You need to have the facts in your head to resist any lingering emotional ties that might suck you back in. It also helps when you see how stupid and empty the arguments are that are used by the great theologians- the emperor really doesn't "have any clothes on".


Subject:	a short essay or email
Date:	12/8/2005 11:49:12 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:	Magus Solitudo

Hello Mark

I've enjoyed your site for many years now, and think it's a very practical way to deprogram oneself from religious flapdoodle. (Flapdoodle is in most dictionaries by the way) Thanks for all the excellent material exposing the Bible and Biblegod. Here's what I have to say:

Fear of the Unknown (and certainly death is the great unknown) is the primal motivator in religion. Those who clue into this learn to manipulate others through fear of punishment and promise of reward. Yes, it is in fact THAT childishly simple. "Believe this nonsense and you'll go to heaven when you die, reject this flapdoodle and you will burn in hell!" (Or be destroyed in Armageddon, or wind up in a hell-bardo, or be reincarnated as a sex slave in Buggerland)

Priests and ministers are quite good at this. Scare the beejesus out of them because people love being scared if the threat is not immediate. In other words, the danger is not real, like enjoying a roller coaster ride or a spooky movie. It isn't a real threat, we're safe, we aren't cut and bleeding, so we can relax and enjoy the scary show. We love being scared because we arent in danger. Then, dangle the Big Carrot in the Sky in front of them. In the JW''s this is the paradise earth. In mainstream Christianity it's Heaven. In Buddhism it's the extinction of selfish desire and the sense of a separate self.

So many people here threw off the chains of bondage around their minds and spirits, stepped into Freedom, only to become fearful and uncertain of all that Freedom and promptly scurried into another form of bondage. Another form of Christianity, where the threat is even worse than in Jehovahland: hellfire and eternal damnation. I too did this and was a mainstream Christian for 15 years. My brain FINALLY kicked in and I bailed out.

The fact is, though, that Jehovah Madness was still in me when I left the JW's. I still believed in the Bible, that I am a sinner in need of "salvation" etc. So naturally I hooked up with more religious lunacy. I was AFRAID of DEATH, UNCERTAIN. I feared life without my Invisible Friend Mister God. I feared death without my Invisible Fiend...er, Friend.

FEAR! (Oh no! Here comes Mister Monster! )

PUNISHMENT! (OOOOO them nasty ol' bad guys are gonna GET it! Heah cum de JUDGE!)

REWARD! (All this! And heaven when I die!)

EXTRAORDINARY CLAIMS WITHOUT PROOF! (There was a Talking Snake and a Magic Tree in the middle of an Enchanted Garden, then Mister Jesus got up from his deader place and he flew off into the sky and rode a cloud to Glory, and if you believe in that with all your heart..close your eyes and repeat it after me and we can all save Tinkerbell..I belive I believe I believe...Mister God will set you up in a Mansion in the Sky with streets of Gold!)

APPEALS TO THE CHILD IN ALL OF US! (You hafta become as a gullible child sans critical thinking skills to be born again! "Unless a man be converted and become as a child he shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven")

EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS W R O N G! (Yes the world LOOKS like a closed system, but really, axeheads float and all sorts of miraculous things happen. I heard about a guy who knew this gal whose second cousins's brother was in the service with a dude whose grandmother knew a bracher whose sainted grandfather actually shook the hand of a guy who knew someone who had heard of someone raised from the dead! So see, the world ISN'T a closed system, even though you don't see any of this stuff happening! The world is really invaded EVERYDAY by Things From Beyond)

Whatever. Peeps gonna do what peeps gonna do.

Yours NOT in Joe Hovah,

Nate

Subject: My Amazon.com Review of "Rescuing the Bible From Fundamentalism"
Date: 11/26/2005 9:27:33 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From: xxx

This book is the CURE for the ignorant infuriating boobs who want to enforce their delusional "reality" on the rest of us, but are too d***** cowardly, stupid, and lazy to actually study anything more difficult than a comic book or a magazine. Simple, direct, and brief, this marvelous little volume delivers broadside after broadside to the fundamentalist fantasies about the Bible. It takes the dogma of an "infallible bible" and explodes it into the stinking little pieces of superstitious flapdoodle that it really is.

This is extremely important in today's world when an ever-growing angry mob of Bible-thumping bigots seek to chase science out of our classrooms and replace it with fundamentalist religion under the guise of "intelligent design" or the oxymoronic "scientific creation." Having once been a fundamentalist, I know all too well how these people "think" (not very often and very poorly when they occasionally do), and what their agenda really is. For those of you who feel safe and smug that such medieval throwbacks will never succeed, think again. These nut jobs are already succeeding on the grassroots level. They have already convinced EIGHTY PERCENT of the American public that humans are the Special Creation of God, and they are the majority now on most school boards across the country. These people follow a theology that until recently was called "Dominion theology" but is now known by other less obvious terms. Just as the creationists tried to hide what they were really up to by changing the name of their pseudo science to "intelligent design." Dominion Theology breeds the desire to conquer the nation and the world for "Jesus" and enforce the barbaric laws of the Old Testament on all of us. Lunatics such as Pat Robertson (Who was a brsidential candidate not that long ago) smack their lips and salivate at the prospect of Power, power to slap you around, torture you, kill you, in the name of their fiendish god. Fundamentalists are THE BORG! "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."

Fundamentalists WILL NOT REST until they have once again subsumed the world back into the darkness of their willful and savage ignorance. Are you, the reader, aware of what the world was like the last time Bible-believing screwballs were in charge? We call that foul period in Western history The Dark Ages. Fundiots wish to plunge the Western world back into those charming times when anything that couldn't be backed up by Book, Chapter, and Verse was an invitation to torture and murder.

Fundiots are so insecure in an uncertain world, they will do and say almost anything to silence those who keep intruding into their cozy little religious delusion with science and facts. They need their Invisible Friend the same way you and I needed Santa Claus when we were credulous children. You and I grew out of it, these sorry excuses for humans never did. Instead, they merely inflated Santa to infinity and renamed him God.

This book lets the air out of all the huff and puff these metaphysical quacks keep spouting. If your fundiot tormentor is someone at work, in your family, on your local school board, or anywhere else, you NEED this book to throw the light on the darkness of their minds. Watch them and laugh as they puff up in impotent rage. See clearly who and what they really are when you behold your death in their eyes as you explode their fantastic claims with Book, Chapter, and Verse. (Thoughtfully provided for us by Bishop Spong) Bible fundiots are dangerously delusional. They murder gays and bomb abortion clinics, and they have threatened the life of Bishop Spong on many occasions.

For all their talk of "Jesus loves you" and "Have a nice eternity" these people are nonetheless potential terrorists and murderers every bit as psychotic as their Muslim counterparts. The only difference is that most of the fundamentalist kooks in our midst have not yet had their buttons pushed in the right combination to set them all off on a Killing Sbre For Jesus.

Give up and let these people take over and you can kiss your rights and modern world bye-bye.

ARM yourself so you can effectively expose these people as the delusional liars they really are. Inoculate your children against the mental virus of fundamentalism, whether Christian or Jewish. Amuse yourself by observing what the ruckus is all about; a silly collection of boring, primitive ravings with no more claim to authority than the knife or gun the fundamentalist cracker is willing to use to force you to submit. Rescuing The Bible From Fundamentalism should be in every home in the United States of America. It should be left in every motel and hotel room across this great nation of ours, right next to the very Bible it exposes.

JEHOVAH UNMASKED should be there as well, taking the job even further and finally destroying all vestiges of the fundamentalist fantasy.

Subject: Finally!
Date: 11/23/2005 9:19:48 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

This is some of the most intelligent and hard core anti-bibiliean
reading I have come across on the net! "Biblgod Can't Be Perfect" is
pure genius!

I have not read through your whole table of contents yet...but if you
have not yet done this, here is something I have thought about doing for
quite some time. Perhaps you have the time & skill to write it:
"The Sermon I Dare Them To Give"
As you well know, the bible is full of some rather graphic scenes of
rape, incest, murder etc... So, the idea is to put together a sermon -
perhaps a couple of sermons - that use quotes from the bible that are
almost never used and then dare the sermon to be brached. I suppose you
could even offer a hundred bucks to the charity of choice for the church
who follows through - with you in the congregation to shout
"hallelujah!" during the rape scenes.
Have fun & keep up the great work,

- Chris

PS - Is there a way to make your animation of the "Darwin fish" eating
the "Christian fish" conclude with a little fishy bowel movement? After
all, it is only natural.

Places to start for a nifty sermon:
Hosea 13:16 (New Living Translation) - The people of Samaria must bear
the consequences of their guilt because they rebelled against their God.
They will be killed by an invading army, their little ones dashed to
death against the ground, their brgnant women ripped open by swords.
Or how about this:
Ezekiel 23:45-48 (King James Version)
45: And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of
adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because
they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.
46: For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them,
and will give them to be removed and spoiled.
47: And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with
their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn
up their houses with fire.
48: Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women
may be taught not to do after your lewdness

Subject: (no subject)
Date: 11/23/2005 8:36:35 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me

Holy fuck, I love your site! My favorite part isn't anything textual,
it's the 'Kiss Hank's Ass' movie -- or maybe the Christ braining the
lamb. Either way, it's funny.

DMW

Mark,
Hey I just wanted to let you know that I really like your site. I quit Mormonism over the last yera, and my friend linked me to your site and it's been brtty fun to read it, especially since I'm getting kicked out of BYU at the moment. Ahh....fundy mormons.

Anyway, just thought that i'd hit you with some fan mail, since it looks like you get a lot of hate mail. ^_^

-Lindsey

Subject: Great web site!
Date: 11/15/2005 6:22:04 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me@aol.com
CC:

As a former heavily committed christian of 24 years (boy does it suck to lose all those years) I'd like you to know that unless you've personally been in religious bondage - you have NO idea how truly brainwashed the religious are, I've "experienced" it first hand. What saved me from a life of guilt & fear was a sincere desire to believe what can be tested objectively as true....When I mustered the courage to ACTUALLY test my own religion, I had no choice but to renounce christianity as a myth - The evidence demanded it! So now I'm an Atheist, the most despised, rebrhensible creature to the theistically superstitious. I live a life free from guilt & fear now, one where I no longer have myriads of unanswerable questions about Biblegod, his inconsistencies, wicked judgments, and HATE for mankind....I love your web site. Hugh Brennan

Subject: Your Site
Date: 11/11/2005 1:50:11 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From: ----
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

Outstanding site. I enjoy reading it particularly on Fridays...my weekends always include brssure from my wife and her Christian friends to bug me about going to their dumb-ass church. My wife "Found Christ" this year...I laugh whenever she brings up tithing! I guess you'd better get yourself a job, sweetie! 10% of MY money for sbrading bullshit? I don't think so! Her best friends husband is coming by at LEAST once a week to ask me attend weekly fairy tale study or church. He always keeps it up, answering every single objection I have with "I'm not the one to answer that". Great, run to your pastor, be told how to think and get back to me.

I'm rambling, sorry. Thanks for sbrading TRUTH.

D.M.

Below is an e-mail I sent to my wife's friend's husband today. I thought you might enjoy it. I'll forward a response if I get one.

--DM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: ---
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 1:02 PM
To: x
Subject: Biblegod

D-:

I wanted to drop you a line because I do genuinely like you and respect you as an individual, not to mention our wives are very close and the last thing I want is any animosity between us. I would like for you to know that your nearly weekly attempts to involve me in your Bible Group and church are growing tiresome.

I know I’m welcome and I don’t need constant reminders. To be truthful, I actually somewhat want to attend but my primary concern is damaging my relationship with L. She has also let me know that I’m welcome and tells me that my points of view won’t be found offensive, but I know that they would be because our own discussions at home have caused conflict and hurt feelings. She was upset at some of the things I asked one of your church’s pastors when I met with him. If I were to attend Bible study, and even church, I would have to speak up to everything that I think is bullshit and why I feel as such.

When you stopped by the house, I only scratched the surface with my objections to Christianity and you responded at least twice with “I’m not the one to answer that”. Why not? Can’t you think for yourself on these things? I’m sure that you do in every other area of your life. Something either makes sense or it doesn’t.

I find Christianity offensive. Your own church’s web site states their belief that the bible is the authoritive word of God, without error. Really? It’s full of errors and contradictions. Genesis is an outstanding example of this. We know that the earth is millions, if not billions years old, it dates the earth about 6,000 years. The whole idea of creation in 6 days is absurd. Many Christians, including one of your pastors, argue that they didn’t mean a literal day. Bullshit. It’s quite clear when describing the sun and the moon to divide the day and night.

Even if this could be explained to fit with reality, Biblegod is not fit for worship, nor is the false prophet Jesus. I have read the bible. Not in one sitting, but I do not take things out of context. Biblegod allegedly created Adam and Eve, they defied his order not to eat the fruit, and mankind has been paying the penalty ever since with ETERNAL TORTURE??!! My, Biblegod sure holds a grudge, doesn’t he? Since they were his creation, he didn’t see this coming? He should have, as he created Satan too!!! If Biblegod were truly what claimed, how could any of this be?

Getting past creation, we have mass genocides, condoning slavery, murder, rape! Biblegod ordered babies killed in the womb! He ordered virgins to be taken as plunder! I don’t think it was because maybe they bake better cookies! Noah’s Ark is associated with children’s bedroom decorations, how sick! Biblegod drowned everyone like rats!

At this point you might be thinking that I’m concentrating too much on the OT instead of the NT. Well, the OT prophesized the NT and Christ said it was legit, so I don’t see how so many Christians can just sweep it under the rug.

The biggest objection is that one has to accept Christ to go to heaven, otherwise suffer eternal torment. Huh? Child molesters that accept Christ go to heaven; good humanitarians that follow the “wrong” God suffer forever? How is this God loving and just? Your own church teaches that we are all born as sinners, removed from the glory of God and not worthy of heaven. THEN WHY CREATE ME?

I can’t disprove Biblegod any more that Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny or Zeus, but that doesn’t make them real.

You should also know that there was a time I asked Jesus to come into my heart. He never did. My doubt just wouldn’t lift. I’m glad too, because like most “Christians”, I knew very little about the bible. The more I’ve learned, the more convinced I am that Christianity is sick. Look at mentally ill people and how the teaching of Biblegod makes them worse. Look at that woman in Texas, or several other examples of people that killed their children because Biblegod ordered it or they wanted to make sure that their kids went to heaven. And if the bible is correct, how can we say what they’ve done is wrong?? Look at all of the sexual deviants bred by the Catholic and Baptists church. It’s because Biblegod teaches natural urges are sinful.

I could go on and on and probably would if I had time, but my lunch hour is nearly over. D, I mean no disrespect toward you, my tone is harsh but it’s toward Christianity, not you. But hopefully you have a better understanding of where I’m coming from. And just as you hope I “come around”, I wish the same for you…to free thinking.

Regards,

DM

More from D.M. .... 12/5/05. He responds to an email from his Christian friend. I've added a few comments of my own.

>Mark,
>I'm sure you get a million vicious emails, so rest assured this is NOT one
>of those! I just wanted to tell you that I think your site is well-done. I
>love the way you have researched and cite sources, etc. As you said, it's sad
>that atheists like us know far more about the bible and it's teachings than the
>average xtian. ugh! How can they base their entire lives on something they
>don't even fully understand (cuz if they understood it, they would see all the
>inconsistencies and stop believing like I did). Anyway, just wanted to give
>you a much-deserved pat on the back.
>Peace
>A-

Subject: Hey
Date: 10/12/2005 10:22:10 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

Hey,
I came across your site and found it very interesting. Though I myself am a Christian, I was glad to see someone standing up for what they believe in (even if contrary to my own beliefs). Much of what you have posted is common problems and issues every Christian faces, but I would be careful about posting people that don't really know what they're talking about (just dissing Christianity). Some of these people are retracting from your logical thinking and making your website seem childish. Stick to backed up fact and knowledgeable people,
It'd be great to talk sometime,
Joseph Delaney

Subject: Inquiry regarding web page.
Date: 10/10/2005 4:51:46 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
From: ----
Reply To:
To: jcnot4me@aol.com

Dear Mark,

Allow me to sincerely give you a heartfelt thanks for establishing a fabulous web page that has helped me tremendously in my effort to walk away from a deceptive past which I have only recently done. I freely admit that I do not know much of anything about you aside from the small bits I have read on your web page. Judging from that I have come to a conclusion that you and I possibly share a similiar past of being raised as Christian for a good portion of our early lives, then walking away from it upon realizing its deception.
My question to you, Sir ,would be whether or not you could give any good advice regarding how to fully and completely feel free from all of the brssure of family and "upbringing" and be content with who, and where you are. As odd as it may sound I am finding it extremely difficult to separate the "me" from the "Christian" that I have always known. I cannot honestly say that I know who I am because I never was anything but Christian.
I do thank you for reading this and hope that in this letter I have not come off as to cooky for a reasonable thinking person such as yourself. I would however deeply apbrciate any information that you may have, be it articles, websites,books or personal experience that I may learn from in order to progress. Again I thank you for reading this and wish you a wonderful day.

Sincerely,
R. D.

Subject: questions
Date: 10/8/2005 1:29:09 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: jcnot4me@aol.com

Thanks again for doing this. My teacher wanted me to remind you that this is going in a school newspaper, so please keep it clean.

What is your opinion on the current condition of the educational system in the U.S.?

Once again, keep it clean. PLEASE!!! If it gets to dirty, I'll probably get jumped on my home from school!

Mark here} Justin, I hope that helps out. And gosh gee willikers, it sure was hard keeping my writing safe for all the Ned Flanders out there!

Subject: JESUS CHRIST
Date: 10/7/2005 9:25:45 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

It isn't creative, but " FUCK JESUS CHRIST" sums up my belief. blasphemousBrent aka Brent Boren.

Subject: da Bible
Date: 9/29/2005 11:58:54 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From: G.
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

Mark,
Nicely done. I am not Christian, rather I brfer Theravada Buddishm in its
most minimalist sense. However, My las name's meaning (in German) is deacon,
and at one time when I professed agnosticism, a close friend said, "George,
that is bullshit, because you are the most religious person I know." Maybe,
maybe not. I was raised Catholic, but refused confirmation because I did not
feel ready since I lacked the abilty to understand so much (and was tired of
being ridiculed in catechism for my ignorant questions). It did not stick,
when at a Jesuit university I found eastern religion (Taoism, Hinduism,
Buddhism) in a comparative religion class. (And at the same time dating a
very Catholic girl, named Mary of course, and trying to reach my hand up or
behind her dress).
FFwd, I married another Catholic girl, got divorced, etc., etc. And then I
got angry after I was 'let go' from a job I had poured my heart and soul
into, committed a property crime(?) (by Biblical standards, who knows, and
the so called victims acted far more heinously), betrayed by a live in, and
spent 45+ months in the California prison system. Of course, I read the
Bible from front to cover (in four languages) during that time because I was
still in shock over what had happened, and well, needed something to read. I
took a fundamentalist; Bible course (and have a certificate to show I
completed it).
Well, I was shocked to see what it really said (what you have pointed out).
Such unsupportable bullshit. If, as some of the fundamentalist inmates tell
me, the death penalty is supported by ACTS (10-10 I think), 'the state shall
yield the sword'), then rape, murder, etc. and all other foul human acts
must find equally solid footing. Despite "Thou shall not kill.!" Give me a
break, does GOD need a professional writer (I am one) to make his though
clearer that that? Dah!
Gruesome aside, but I now work as a checker in a supermarket. One day,
(August 5th) a client asked me if I knew what day it was. I did. But he was
so delighted that it ws the day we dropped the A-bomb on Nagasaki, and said,
"The second best thing Truman did, the first was hIroshima." What a ghoul, I
saw the film called, "The boys and girls of Nagasaki", where the little
three year old girl, who was picking flowers for her mother that day, has
her fingers come off on the cotton swab the nurse is applying antiseptic to.
Same God. I guess, or maybe Oppenheimer was right, "Now I am become death,
the destroyer of Worlds."
Of course, Christianity allows no other gods.

Subject: I was dismayed at some of the responses to you..
Date: 9/22/2005 11:58:16 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me

Subject: Your statement here is hilarious!
Date: 9/21/2005 11:54:59 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me

Subject: Hello Mark Smith from the New Orleans suburbs
Date: 9/21/2005 8:09:17 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

Good morning Mark Smith.

I was recently directed to your web site by an e-mail I received in an ex-Xtian mail list. I'm really not an ex-Xtian as I have been an agnostic all of my life, but between November 2000 and November 2004 I made the jump to atheism. I just wanted to let you know that I am enjoying your site, and I thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts, essays, and arguments with many deluded religious believers.

Regards,
Mitch Williams
Destrehan, LA

I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death. ~George Carlin

Subject: Set free from Jesus page
Date: 10/13/2005 10:43:33 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From: BG
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

Christ I loved it! Took more than an hour my first time through, and I may be nuts, but downloaded the whole page and I'm going back for more.

Twenty-nine years a devout Jehovah's Witness. Knocked on a gazillion doors through blazing sun and knee-deep snow, and conducted many home bible studies. I couldn't do enough as the end was coming any day now, and ran myself into the ground over and over and over. This completely ruined my health. I am disabled with chronic fatigue for the past 18 years, and believe I will never get well again. My "unshakable faith" over the years drained thousands and thousand of dollars from my ragged and needy family.

Due to my "heartfelt dedication," I have been evicted from two homes, worn nothing but second hand clothes and drove jalopy cars one after another with leaking radiators and recapped tires, struggling to court every six months for the last five years that I was a Witness to stand before the judge and try to answer for debts I wasn't able to pay. Through it all I was a happy man, for I had "Jehovah's rich blessing" in my (imagination) life.

I'm a sincere guy Mark. And a straight shooter. I started life with a fire in my belly and a hell of a lot of talent. In 1970 I read one of the Watchtower's little (narcotic) books, and didn't wake up for 30 years. That was six years ago I'm just now clearing the fog out of my head. You must take a lot of shit from people with a site like this, and I'm here to tell you from experience, everything I've read is right on the money. Also, you've got BIG BALLS. I'm ordering Jehovah Unmasked tomorrow. I'm going to devour it.

Keep up the good work my friend. And don't let the bastards get you down.
Please don't publish my name - if word gets around, the people I'm trying to get out of the local congregation here will cover their ears and run like hell. One is 9/10ths out now, and I hope she'll be pointing out a few more weary souls.

Thanks for a great site,
BG

Subject: Love your site.
Date: 10/14/2005 8:43:43 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

Mark,
I browsed over your website and loved it! Your right on the money. Keep up the good work. Religion is stupid, pointless, and has screwed up our world in more ways than I can think of. Christianity is the most destructive (next to Islam) religion there is. I dream of what a better world it would be if Science, logic and clear headed thinking were the norm and not idiotic religious fanatics. It is so sad. Again keep up the good work.

_Craig Harvey

Subject: Thank you for JCnot4me.com
Date: 9/6/2005 6:13:34 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From: -----
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

For 16 years (maybe longer - the exact date escapes me) I was a devout,
fundamentalist Christian. I worked with kids at my church, helping to
indoctrinate the future fundies. Friends and family alike would come to me
for religious insight. I rarely if ever lost a battle of words with a
non-Xian friend due to the imbrssive array of brpackaged rebuttals my
church outfitted me with to be a warrior for the good lord. My family
practically coined me the "defender of the faith." I have no doubt that, had
the whole business with God were true, I would have had a spot in heaven. I
was, without a doubt, a true believer and follower of Mr. Well-hung Himself.

To cut a long story short, a little education in logic and astronomy here, a
little exposure to foreign gods there, a bit of comparison of these ancient
religions to "Biblegod," combined with the appalling use of politics in the
church and the church in politics, I now stand happier than I have ever been
in my life, a born-again atheist. No longer do I live in constant fear of a
righteous fury from my heavenly father; I can make my own path. I am
Nietzsche's perfect nihilist. It took over a year and a half to weaken
myself into the late stages of doubt. I was scared at first; what if I'm
wrong? What if the dictatorship of Saddam Yahweh is a real threat and I
suffer at the hands of a capricious, whimsical deity's fallen
angel/scapegoat forever?

Then I realized that I would seriously rather burn in hell for eternity than
to spend that time with the likes of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, George W.
Bush, and the rest of those sick fucks. From there, it was easy to give up
the teddy bear and crutch that is religion.

Thank you for your efforts in making this site as thought-provoking and
interesting as it is. Rather than mere eye-rolling and philosophical facts
that mean nothing to Christians, you hit them right where it hurts: in their
own sense of security with Teddy Jesus. I have not had the courage to break
the news of my apostacy to my family, who would wail in grief for years, and
I wonder if I ever will, but it is comforting to know that this country,
lost as it is in the throes of self-induced, orgiastic, religious frenzy, is
not without allies in the "service" of the Invisible Pink Unicorn, the
official "goddess" of atheism (www.invisiblepinkunicorn.com). I come from a
red district in California myself, so I know how it can be. There are more
Christians there, yes, but a helluva lot more drunk driving and theft than I
expect would be elsewhere.

Thanks a lot,
(name deleted)

Subject: Man
Date: 9/6/2005 10:14:24 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

you must get a ton of hate email!!
I am an assertive atheist so I know he was a false prophet and not the son
of god. If he even exsisted, he may have brached a radical way of treating
others(kindness) but his divinity was created by man.

Brian

Subject: Re: Set Free
Date: 9/3/2005 9:40:34 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

Subject: They'll never get it, will they?
Date: 8/31/2005 4:36:15 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

Subject: about your page
Date: 8/29/2005 1:21:29 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: jcnot4me@aol.com

Subject: Thanks
Date: 8/23/2005 3:11:50 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

Subject: JCnot4me rocks!
Date: 8/14/2005 12:34:55 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me

Hey Mark! You must get this all the time but your site kicks ass! I was turned onto it by a random business card I found, and have since made my own. Thank you for your commitment to sanity in this country!

Steve G.

Subject: (no subject)
Date: 8/5/2005 12:03:03 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
From:
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

hey man, i have to say i agree with you 100 percent! i mean god/jesus
whatever never made sense to me ever... i mean if you think about
it... we're on earth, in this universe, which is extremely large... i
mean how could us humans have the audacity to think that we can fathom
and know personally some all-knowing, unseen, unheard of god? it's all
just a fantasy... it's only feeble answers for life and death... which
is what is on everyone's mind, be it muslim, hindu, christian,
whatever, religion is all a farce. I don't know what we came from, but
I am most certain it wasn't some divine being. Anyway, thanks for
having the courage to put up something like this! Can you send me some
of those business cards? my address is:
Ben Perea
(address removed by webmaster)

thanks,
Ben

Mark here} Thanks for writing Ben. It is true- this universe is WAY too big for something alive to be occupying the entire expanse.

Good news on the Business Cards- go to my home page, and you can download a PDF file and print out your own supply! Works great. Save the file to your own computer if your wish.

Subject: have any advice?
Date: 7/31/2005 12:44:47 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
Reply To:
To: JCnot4me@aol.com

dear mark,

hello mr.smith, I have discovered your site a little while ago, it came up when I searched for christian brainwashing, and boy was that a fateful night but anywasy lemme get to the point, there is this christian family that keeps harassing me and my friends,we have proved them wrong on their religion too many times after their attempts to convert us, but after that they have started going around the neighborhood telling people that I do drugs and I worship satan and I am a bad kid know 1. I am almost 15 and I will admit I have experimented with weed but that’s it. 2 how can I worship anything if I don’t believe in anything? and 3. I am an AB student at my highschool so anyways I need advice, what should I do to get them off my back? I menai think you are an awesome guy, and very intelligent from your articles so im asking you for help. what should I do to get them of my back, because they are really getting on me and my friends last nerve well I hope you can help and great site , I love it

sincerely,
(Name Withheld)

Hi Mark. Could you tolerate a little friendly literary criticism from a fellow atheist ? I like your assertive

"in your face" writing style. It's forceful, even emotional, without sacrificing intellectual content. My ONLY

observation would be a humble plea for you to restrict the use of profanity when brsenting your arguments and editorials.

Eliminating the profanity would have NOTHING to do with social etiquette, being nice or because some

people believe such language is "naughty". IMHO the profanity is negative only because it tends to make your well thought out discourse sound too much like a simple rant or an angry outburst. My single criticism is that the " Fuck-Shit-Hell-Damn" writing style undermines the seriousness of your message. It weakens the effectiveness of your articles because it distracts the reader from the overall content. It's like imagining the late Carl Sagan giving a lecture on cosmology, " As you can see, the god damned accretion disk surroundind the mother fucking black hole will pull all surrounding celestial matter apart..." The "colorful"

language has great entertainment value but it pulls the focus away from the more important ideas.

I understand what it's like to feel seething rage and the emotional release that comes from spewing

out some choice words. My favorite phrase when I've smashed my thumb with a hammer is :

As you can see, I am not trying to take some alledged moral high ground or to come across as some smug elitist. Anyway, let me be clear that I enjoy your web-site and that if I wasn't truly interested in it I wouldn't

bother to contact you. I support you no matter what your brferred writing style is and I acknowledge

I wish you continued fucking success with your god damned, mother fucking web-site.

I just had a fight with religious kooks knocking at my door. I told them this is a "NO SOLICITATION" neighborhood, and would call the cops if they knocked on one more door. But I was afraid to report them to the police because what would I say, that they were trying to sell religion? Although it is true, I see religious nuts all around me and the dispatcher is probably one of them! They seem not to be afraid to voice their opinions anymore, which makes me nervous that there are more of them than there are of us. I really needed to see your website to reinforce the fact that I am not alone. Thanks again, I loved it... and will pass on the link to others in the know.