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Gregor Mendel failed his test…
Gregor Mendel, the father of modern genetics, failed his test to become a science teacher. Mendel’s abbot at the monastery arranged for Mendel to attend the University of Vienna to get a teaching...
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Deadly Caffeine?
Caffeine can be deadly. A lethal dose of caffeine for an average adult is about 10 grams; the equivalent of 100 cups of coffee. Extreme overdose can result in death. The median lethal dose is...
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Omitted Gospel of Judas
Many parts of the Bible were intentionally left out, including a Gospel of Judas, which stated that Judas turned Jesus over to the Romans because Jesus asked him to. Different religious groups include...
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Easter’s (Pagan) Namesake
The word “Easter” is derived from the name Eostre, a pagan goddess. A great many Christian holidays are derived in whole or in part from local paganism. Easter eggs, Christmas trees and Halloween all...
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Cover the Fire
The word “curfew” comes from the French phrase “‘couvre-feu’” which means “cover the fire”. It was used to describe the time of blowing out all lamps and candles. Curfew law in the United States is...
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Honor Thy Parents
In seventeenth century Puritan societies it was illegal to violate any of the Ten Commandments, including the fifth commandment to honor thy father and mother. Anyone over the age of 16 convicted of...
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IN GOD WE TRUST
The words “In God We Trust” were only put on US currency after the Civil War. “The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing...
View ArticleCan an atheist still enjoy Christmas?
Dear Darrel, I’m coming up on my first Christmas as an out and out atheist. I absolutely love Christmas as a holiday for being with family and promoting peace. However I have many religious friends...
View ArticleMy family is keeping me from my sibling
Dear Darrel, I am a teenager living with my parents and two siblings. My older brother and I have decided that we are both atheists. We told our very religious mother and now she will not allow us to...
View ArticleHow do atheists handle the fear of death?
Dear Darrel, I have recently decided that I am an atheist. The problem is that I am now much more anxious about my own mortality, and the mortality of the people I care about. It is scary to suddenly...
View ArticleWhat should I do as an atheist in a theocracy?
Dear Darrel, I am an Iranian teenager attending a very Muslim high school. How can I announce to the teachers and students that I am an atheist? From Dr. Ray Thanks for your question. It is...
View ArticleHow to I keep my child from being indoctrinated?
Dear Darrel, I am a divorced parent of a young child. My ex and her family have already succeeded in convincing my daughter that everything in life is thanks to God, and nothing I have told her to...
View ArticleHow do I get my parents to stop dragging me to church?
Dear Darrel, My parents know that I am an atheist, but they keep dragging me to church with them every week anyway despite my protests and frustration. Listening to the sermon makes me want to stand...
View ArticleHow do I communicate when atheism is or isn’t “just a phase”?
Question 1 Dear Darrel, I told my friends at school that I am an atheist, and pretty soon they all decided they were ‘atheist’ too, and they’re all being really obnoxious about it. My parents think...
View ArticleWhat do I do when my parents freak out about masturbation?
Dear Darrel, My parents are very religious and very conservative, especially about sex. They caught me masturbating the other day and grounded me for eight months. I am not religious and think...
View ArticleWhat do I do after I came out as an atheist and it didn’t go well?
Dear Darrel, I told my best friend recently that I was an atheist, and she was really angry about it. She’s told our entire social group, and now I’m a pariah and none of them will talk to me. I’m...
View ArticleHow do I ease other people’s fear that I am going to Hell?
Dear Darrel, Someone I love very much, and who loves me very much, is extremely unhappy because she is sure that I will go to Hell when I die, and that we will be separated because she will go to...
View ArticleAre atheists angry people?
Dear Darrel, I told my friend recently that I felt like I was heading towards becoming an atheist, and she said that atheists are angry people, and that I was too nice a person to be an atheist....
View ArticleWhat about New Age beliefs?
Dear Darrel, I was raised in a traditional religion and I no longer believe in it; but I think a lot of Buddhism, Wicca, Eastern Medicine, and New Ageism makes sense to me. Is there a reason I...
View ArticleWhat would be “Proof” that God Exists?
Dear Darrel, I understand that the argument against religion is that there is no proof that God exists. What would a religious person, or God, have to provide to constitute proof of His existence...
View ArticleHow do I convert someone to atheism?
Dear Darrel, I am an atheist, and am friends with a lot of religious people. How can I convert (or de-convert) them to atheism? From Dr. Ray First, atheism is not a religion and we are not in the...
View ArticleWhat if I believe in God, but not the Bible?
Dear Darrel, I subscribe to the theory of evolution, and the big bang. I view the stories of Genesis and The Great Flood as metaphorical. I am in favor of gay marriage. I also believe in God and...
View ArticleWhat do I do when I’ve been kicked out of the house for being an atheist?
Dear Darrel, I recently came out to my extremely religious parents about my atheism. They didn’t take it well at all – in fact, they told me to pack a bag and leave and not to come back until I...
View ArticleWhere do atheists get their morality?
Dear Darrel, On the kids half of this website, Darwin the dog tells us to “Be nice to people, just because it’s the right thing to do!” but I was raised to believe that morality was given to us by...
View ArticleWhat is a humanist alternative to prayer?
Dear Darrel, What do you do when you feel bad about things that are happening to other people but aren’t able to help them. If I were Christian I would pray for them. What is the humanist...
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