Intelligent design class upsets some. A University of Kansas religion professor apologized Monday for a recent e-mail that infuriated religious conservatives already upset about his decision to teach a course that equates intelligent design and creationism with mythology. Also Monday, faculty approved the course but dropped the reference to mythology. The course, originally called "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationisms and other Religious Mythologies," will instead be called "Intelligent Design and Creationism." The class was added to next spring’s curriculum after the Kansas State Board of Education decided to include more criticism of evolution in science standards for elementary and secondary students. In the e-mail, Paul Mirecki, chairman of the university’s Religious Studies Department, called supporters of the teaching of intelligent design and creationism religious "fundies" and said it would be a "nice slap in their big ...

Scott Stephens – Plain Dealer Intelligent design went on trial this year, and the verdict could soon put Ohio's new biology standards under a microscope. The six-week federal court trial, which ended earlier this month, was the result of a decision last year by the Dover, Pa., school board that teachers must mention the controversial concept to high school biology students. Eleven parents in the small agricultural town about 100 miles west of Philadelphia sued to block the policy. A verdict is expected by early January. The case marks the first time that intelligent design, which maintains that life is so complex that a higher being must have had a hand in its creation, has gone to trial. It comes 80 years after the famous "monkey trial" in which Tennessee teacher John Scopes faced criminal charges for teaching evolution, Charles Darwin's widely accepted theory that life on Earth descended from common ancestors. A verdict declaring intelligent design warmed-over crea...

Some leading thinkers have strong opinions about God, while others are reserving judgment By Matt Donnelly Science needs God. Or does it? Together, the four contributors below — Steven Pinker, Daniel Dennett, Michio Kaku and David Deutsch — are some of the most influential thinkers and writers on science. Dennett and Pinker are listed as numbers 24 and 26, respectively, on Prospect magazine’s recent list of the top one hundred public intellectuals in the world. Some of the contributors are open about their atheism, while others are more agnostic. None profess to be theologians, but in their writings they all express a sense of wonder at the natural world. We offer their comments as a semi-representative snapshot of how those who influence our culture think about the relationship between science and religion. No. There is no concept of God that strikes me as remotely worthy of belief. — Daniel Dennett I don’t believe in God, and I think the question is backwards. I don’t believe in Sa...

Proposed religion class labels creationism as 'mythology' LAWRENCE, Kansas -- Creationism and intelligent design are going to be studied at the University of Kansas, but not in the way advocated by opponents of the theory of evolution. A course being offered next semester by the university religious studies department is titled "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies." "The KU faculty has had enough," said Paul Mirecki, department chairman. "Creationism is mythology," Mirecki said. "Intelligent design is mythology. It's not science. They try to make it sound like science. It clearly is not." Earlier this month, the state Board of Education adopted new science teaching standards that treat evolution as a flawed theory, defying the view of science groups. Although local school boards still decide how science is taught in the classrooms, the vote was seen as a major victory for propone...

Original Article I believe that there is no God. I'm beyond Atheism. Atheism is not believing in God. Not believing in God is easy -- you can't prove a negative, so there's no work to do. You can't prove that there isn't an elephant inside the trunk of my car. You sure? How about now? Maybe he was just hiding before. Check again. Did I mention that my personal heartfelt definition of the word "elephant" includes mystery, order, goodness, love and a spare tire? So, anyone with a love for truth outside of herself has to start with no belief in God and then look for evidence of God. She needs to search for some objective evidence of a supernatural power. All the people I write e-mails to often are still stuck at this searching stage. The Atheism part is easy. But, this "This I Believe" thing seems to demand something more personal, some leap of faith that helps one see life's big picture, some rules to live by. So, I'm saying, "This...

PHOENIX (AP) — The former vicar general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix was arrested Monday on charges he fondled boys and young men and asked them prying questions about their sex lives that he pretended were part of confession. Monsignor Dale Fushek, 53, becomes one of the highest-ranking priests to be charged in the sex scandal that has engulfed the church. The vicar general is the highest-ranking administrator of a diocese next to the bishop. Fushek was charged with three counts of assault, five of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and two of indecent exposure. All are misdemeanors, punishable by no more than three years and nine months in all. At his initial court appearance, Fushek was placed under house arrest and ordered to wear an electronic ankle bracelet for monitoring. He also was ordered to surrender his passport and not have contact with anyone under age 18. Fushek's arraignment was set for Dec. 6. Fushek "used a relationship of trust to perform...

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Police say a Savannah youth pastor's confession led officers to his wife's body, which he had buried on the outskirts of town after killing her. A man called police Sunday to say his brother-in-law, Eric Brian Golden, 35, had confessed to killing his wife, DeeDee Marie Golden, and was on his way to jail, Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Sgt. Mike Wilson said. Golden, youth pastor at Southside Assembly of God, was taken into custody after he arrived at the jail. Golden then led police to woods about six miles west of Interstate 95, where they found DeeDee Golden's body buried in a three-to-four-foot grave on the outskirts of Fort Stewart. The man told detectives he killed his 35-year-old wife Thursday during a fight at their home. Police are waiting for the results of a Georgia Bureau of Investigation autopsy before saying how the woman died. Golden is being held at the jail. Savannah Man Confesses to Murdering Wife Eric Golden told i...

In April, Herb Silverman, a professor of mathematics at the College of Charleston and president of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, challenged readers of the Charleston Post & Courier to find God in the Constitution. Skip Johnson, an author and former Post and Courier religion writer, took on the challenge in a column in the Oct. 2 issue of Faith & Values. This is Silverman's rebuttal. When I offered $1,000 to anyone who could find the words God or Jesus in the U.S. Constitution, I hoped it would inspire many citizens to carefully read our wonderful founding document. I commend local writer Skip Johnson for doing exactly that, and for making the best case he could for claiming the reward. Johnson could not find either the words God or Jesus in the Constitution. Therefore, he did not meet the condition of the challenge. But, reluctant to admit it, Johnson tried several inferential or interpretive arguments from the words he did find in the Constitution. He also brou...

by Warren Parish The longtime managing director of Community Ministries of Rockville was arrested last month and charged with three counts of second-degree assault and resisting arrest after a disagreement over a refund at the Best Buy on Rockville Pike turned violent, city police reported. Police hauled Agnes Giovanna Saenz, 41, of Rockville out of the retail store on Sept. 25 after they fought to arrest her, according to the charging document in Montgomery County District Court. Saying The Gazette had only one side of the story, Saenz said on Tuesday that she retained an attorney who advised her to decline comment until the matter is resolved. ‘‘It’s unfortunate that this happened,” she said, speaking from the Community Ministries offices. According to the court charging document, Saenz grew irate, threw two MP3 players and a CD player from the counter, striking an employee, when a refund on an MP3 player she brought to the store was refused. A crowd gathered as Saenz refused to leav...

Linthicum, Md. - Baltimore County police have charged the pastor of the Redemption Christian Fellowship in Woodlawn with sexually abusing children he was counseling. Police say 39-year-old Gerald Fitroy Griffith, of the 1300-block of Peach Tree Court in Bowie, is charged with several counts of child abuse. Police say they were contacted by five victims about alleged sexual abuse. Police say an investigation found that Griffith was sexually abusing the victims during counseling sessions in the church office. Griffith was arrested Tuesday while waiting to board a flight to London at BWI. He has been charged with sexual abuse to a minor, perverted practice, sodomy, second-, third-, and fourth-degree sex offense and second-degree assault. Bail was set at $600,000. link

By Monisha Bansal Among the many thousands of American veterans who served in conflicts from World War II to the Iraq War and marched in the nation's capital on Friday was a group of atheists seeking to debunk the familiar slogan, "there are no atheists in foxholes." "What better day than Veterans Day to show that we served our country, too," said Rick Wingrove, the Virginia director of American Atheists, who also served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. "People deny our existence, and that's just bigoted, ignorant, puerile and childish," Wingrove told Cybercast News Service. Many people believe that when confronted with the horrors of war, soldiers -- even those with no previous religious experience -- turn to religion as a coping mechanism. But some of the atheist veterans at the march Friday carried signs reading, "Do adults really need an imaginary friend?" The atheists said they were motivated to march in Washington after seei...

Photo by Matt Edwards National group plans first parade, rally of its kind in nation's capital By JEANNINE F. HUNTER It's an old canard: "There are no atheists in foxholes." But it's not true for thousands of current and former military personnel such as 80-year-old Donald Peterson, an atheist who flew in 39 combat missions during World War II. Service members of no faith deserve the same respect as those espousing one, he said. In America, religious overtones surround patriotism, said Chris Lugo, an organizer for Nashville Atheist Meetup, which meets every other week. He is nonmilitary but honors his religious father's military service. "Service, no matter the form — military, the Peace Corps or volunteerism — is about serving the greater good of the people of the United States, not of a particular religion," said the 35-year-old man who has visited the Atheists in Foxholes memorial in Fearn Park, Ala. "For those who choose to believe, it can h...

Eight 'intelligent design' school board members lost election Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson told citizens of a Pennsylvania town that they had rejected God by voting their school board out of office for supporting "intelligent design" and warned them Thursday not to be surprised if disaster struck. Robertson, a former Republican presidential candidate and founder of the influential Christian Broadcasting Network and Christian Coalition, has made similar apocalyptic warnings and provocative statements before. Last summer, he hit the headlines by calling for the assassination of leftist Venezuelan Present Hugo Chavez, one of President George W. Bush's most vocal international critics. "I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city," Robertson said on his daily television show broadcast from Virginia, "The 700 Club." "And d...

Monty Python's flying creationism. By William Saletan "There is an elephant in the roomful of scientists who are trying to explain the development of life," wrote Michael Behe, a professor of biochemistry, in his 1996 book Darwin's Black Box . The elephant was ubiquitous evidence of "intelligent design" in nature. Darwinian evolutionists, Behe argued , were unable to explain life's origins and its emerging complexity because they couldn't see the elephant. Behe has the same problem, but worse. Last week in a Pennsylvania courtroom, he testified in defense of a school board's requirement that biology teachers mention ID. (For Hanna Rosin's reports from the trial, click here .) Behe offered a number of interesting criticisms of Darwinism. But it's impossible to focus on any of these criticisms, because they were so completely overshadowed by the brontosaurus in the room: ID's sophomoric emptiness . What makes Behe's non-explanati...

Original Article BAMBERG, Germany -- A U.S. Army chaplain has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of forcible sodomy against enlisted men. Capt. Gregory Arflack, a 44-year-old Roman Catholic priest, apologized at his court-martial in Germany. He sobbed and said, "I've had a lot of time to pray and consider what I've done as a priest and an officer and I'm ashamed." One of the victims, whom Arflack had been counseling about homesickness and family troubles, told the court, "I don't understand how a person of the cloth could do something like that." He added, "I didn't believe God would allow something like that to happen." Arflack confessed to plying three soldiers -- ages 18, 19 and 20 -- with alcohol and making unwanted advances. He forced oral sex on one soldier in the bathroom of a bar and on the other two at his home, where they had passed out on his sofa.

Ripon congregation again shocked on heels of church-sale allegation - ( click here for the previous story ) By MELANIE TURNER RIPON — A minister accused of selling his congregation's church was arrested Friday and accused of another shady real estate deal — selling the church-owned house where he lived. Police arrested the Rev. Randy Radic shortly before 8 a.m. after he left his fiancée's house on Van Dyken Way, Sgt. Ed Ormonde said. Police said they learned this week that, in 2002, Radic allegedly forged documents to obtain the deed to the modest home where he has been living. County property records show the house was valued at $150,763 in 2004. First Congregational Church members said they had assumed the house at 137 N. Elm Ave. belonged to the church. It was the second shock this week. Earlier, Radic was charged with felony embezzlement on suspicion of selling the church for $525,000 without the congregation knowing. First Congregational is the city's oldest church, b...

LAFAYETTE TOWNSHIP -- A Medina pastor and father of 17 children is in jail Monday night charged with rape. Leonard Robertson was arrested for rape and gross sexual imposition for allegations involving two of his adopted children. Both were teenaged girls at the time of the alleged attacks. They are both now adults and out of the home. Investigators say the couple served as a foster family and adoptive family for many years and still have six kids living at home. The sheriff fears there are more victims out there. Robertson is also a pastor with the Prepare the Way Community Church in Medina and he served as a volunteer chaplain for the Medina PD. He was terminated from the police department following his arrest. link

The High Court at Whangarei has heard that a Northland father on trial for the manslaughter of his baby son, had little faith in doctors but trusted God to heal the child. David Tribble is accused with his wife Catherine of failing to provide the medical help needed by their baby, who died at four months. The court has heard the baby was ill with a stomach bug for about three weeks, but died of septicaemia from a kidney infection discovered at the post mortem. In a police video interview, David Tribble says he saw the demonic spirit of death on Caleb's face four days before he died, and he and his father prayed for the baby - who then improved. He said he was prepared to take Caleb to hospital two days later on the advice of the public health nurse, but after hearing the baby had improved she said to wait and see. Mr Tribble said if anyone had told him he must take the baby to hospital now, he would have. link

Original Article By JOHN HANNA, Associated Press Writer TOPEKA , Kan. - Revisiting a topic that exposed Kansas to nationwide ridicule six years ago, the state Board of Education approved science standards for public schools Tuesday that cast doubt on the theory of evolution. The 6-4 vote was a victory for intelligent design advocates who helped draft the standards. Intelligent design holds that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power. Critics of the new language charged that it was an attempt to inject God and creationism into public schools in violation of the separation of church and state. "This is a sad day. We're becoming a laughingstock of not only the nation, but of the world, and I hate that," said board member Janet Waugh, a Democrat. Supporters of the new standards said they will promote academic freedom. "It gets rid of a lot of dogma that's being taught in the classroom today," said board mem...

A federal judge has ordered a former Greenville minister to start making payments to the estate of a Florida woman years after he was convicted of stealing from her. U.S. District Court Judge Malcolm Howard last month ordered the Rev. Jim Whittington, 64, to pay $5,500 a month. Whittington _ who had expensive high-speed boats and a Rolls-Royce _ owed wheelchair-bound Valeria Lust $848,532. The minister, formerly of Greenville and now living in Atlanta, and four other people were convicted in 1992 of stealing nearly $900,000 from the woman while he was the on-air presence for Fountain of Life ministries. Lust has died and the Oct. 13 said the payments would be made to her estate. Prosecutors said the minister kept his luxury lifestyle after leaving prison in 1995 and in 10 years had repaid less than 2 percent of the money he owed. They said his ministry paid for a country club membership, cars and jewelry. "It is extremely disappointing that he has chosen not to pay this restitutio...

Purpose and Posting Guidelines: The ExChristian.Net/Ex-Christian.Net websites are open to all with the stipulations that they not be used for a SPAM medium or a place to verbally abuse Ex-Christians. Personal hate campaigns leveled at non-Christians are not appreciated; such postings may be deleted. This blog exists for the express purpose of encouraging those who have decided to leave religion (Christianity) behind. It is not an open challenge to Christians to avenge what they perceive as an offense against their religious beliefs. Having said that, all people are welcome to join the discussions and post their ideas, thoughts, or even well thought out arguments. Discussions are permitted even if they become heated. If a topic degenerates into nothing but name calling, posts may be deleted. Posters can expect to have all their posts deleted if they simply copy and paste the same basic message on multiple pages. Spammers and those who regularly post acidic, angry rhetoric against non-Ch...

A congregation has lost faith in their pastor, after he sold their church without telling them, and scammed them out of more than half of a million dollars. A for sale sign never went up in front of the First Congregational Church in Ripon. Local police say the pastor peddled it on the sly and was spending the proceeds on big ticket items. It's no doubt an understatement to say church members are shocked. "It came out of nowhere, we didn't have a clue", says Church Leader David Prater. Church members didn't have a clue that their church, which has stood on the corner of Main and Acacia streets in Ripon for over 50 years had been sold. Police say the church pastor sold the church and a small cottage next to it for $525,000 dollars and pocketed the money. Church Council president David Prater said the news left them stunned. "We were devastated, we didn't know how to explain it to anyone. People were hurt. People were crying", says Prater. Sergeant Ed ...

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS A jilted Long Island husband is suing his pastor, the Presbytery of New York City and one of its largest churches, saying that the pastor seduced his wife and destroyed his "faith and trust" in the church and in the institution of marriage. The husband, Joseph Vione, 43, who had been living in Garden City, says in papers filed last week in State Supreme Court in Manhattan that the Rev. Thomas K. Tewell, 56, the senior pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Midtown Manhattan, used confidential information obtained during marriage counseling to seduce Mr. Vione's wife, Rachel, 42. Mr. Vione has filed for divorce. To cover his tracks and to further his relationship with Ms. Vione, court papers say, Dr. Tewell encouraged the couple to join couples clubs and family ministries and attend marriage retreats that he presided over. The suit also says that officials of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, which has nearly 4,000 members, knew of all...