Rejected by his own Jewish people, the Romans brutally crucified him. But, that didn’t stop Jesus. At his crucifixion the bible tells us the heavens and earth affirmed his deity, causing a three hour eclipse of the sun over all the earth, an earthquake causing Jerusalem’s temple curtain to be split in two, and graves were opened with many Jewish saints resurrected and appearing to the people in Jerusalem. Within three days, the Son of God, defeated Satan the prince of darkness, rose from the dead, appeared to his disciples, then ascended into heaven. How can anybody not love such a story and want to believe it?

The problem sincere, objective-minded inquirers of history have with this astounding story is why the historical record is virtually silent about the Jesus of Nazareth story in the writings of non-Christian Jewish, Greek, and Roman writers. Certainly news of such events, if true, would have spread throughout the Mediterranean world. Yet, the surviving writings of some 35 to 40 independent observers of the first one hundred years following the alleged crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus give virtually no confirmation of Christianity’s Lord and Savior. These authors were respected, well-traveled, articulate, thinkers and observers, the philosophers, poets, moralists, historians of that era. Some of the most prominent writers whose interests would presumably be aroused by the alleged events of the Jesus story include:

Seneca, 4 BCE-65 CE Rome’s most prominent writer on ethics, philosophy, morals, natural scientist who tracked eclipses & quakes; the alleged correspondence between Paul and Seneca was later exposed as fraudulent.

Pliny the Elder, 23-79 CE, Natural History 37 books on natural events such as earthquakes, eclipse and healing.

Quintilian 39-96 CE, authored Instituio Oratio 12 books on morals and virtue.

Epictetus 55-135 CE, former slave who became a recognized moralist, philosopher and wrote about the “brotherhood of man” and the importance of helping the poor and oppressed.

Martial 38-103 CE Poet, wrote epic poems about human foibles and the diverse characters of Roman Empire

Juvenal, 55-127 CE Rome’s most powerful satirical poet, wrote about injustice and tragedy in Roman gov’t

Plutarch, 46-119 CE Greek, traveled Rome to Alexandria, wrote Moralia on morals and ethics.

1st Century Jewish authors of great significance are:

Philo-Judaeus, 15 BCE-50 CE of Alexandria, a Hellenized, Jewish theologian-philosopher, and intimately acquainted with Jerusalem because of family ties. He wrote extensively on the Jewish religion and coming Jewish Messiah years before the epistles and a generation before the gospels were written.

Philo wrote John’s Gospel or Paul’s Epistle states:

God and His Word are one < > In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God Jn 1:1

The Word is the first-born Son of God < > The Word is the only begotten from the Father Jn 1:14

God created the world thru His Word < > All things came into being through Him Jn 1:3

God holds all things together thru His Word < > In Him all things hold together Col 1:17

God draws people through the Messiah < > The Father…draws him Jn 6:44; I will draw all men to myself Jn 12:32

The Word is the fountain…drink that stream for eternal life < > The water I give…a well of water…eternal life Jn 4:14

The Word dwells in and walks among us/in us < > the Word…and dwelt among us Jn 1:14, Christ lives in me Gal 2:20

The Word is appointed judge < > The Father committed all judgment to the Son Jn 5:22

Without divine grace, immortality is impossible < > By grace you are saved, it is the gift of God Eph 2:8

God sharpened His Word, divider of all things < > The Word of God, sharper .. two-edged sword..divides s/s Heb 4:12

God is a Trinity

Jews who sin will go to hell, Gentiles who come to God will be saved and go to heaven,

God’s Son, the Word procures forgiveness < > In whom we have redemption…even the forgiveness of sin Col 1:14

The likeness of Philo’s writings to the bible so closely replicate the bible as to suggest plagiarism by later New Testament writers.

Yet, Philo, a Jew in nearby Alexandria, whose writings corresponded so closely with Paul’s epistles and the Gospel of John, and who was a contemporary of Jesus, never once mentioned anybody named Jesus, nor any miracle working Messiah crucified and resurrected in Jerusalem, nor an eclipse, or an earthquake, or graves opening with resurrected Jewish saints walking the streets of Jerusalem. How could Philo have never heard of Jesus? Philo’s total silence about a historical Messiah named Jesus is deafening!

Justus of Tiberius was a 1st Century Jewish writer. The writings of Justus of Tiberius have been lost, but Photius, the patriarch of Constantinople, 878-886 CE, wrote Bibleotheca in which he reviewed the writings of Justus of Tiberius. Photius records “of the advent of Christ, of the things that befell him one way or another, or of the miracles that he performed, (Justus) makes absolutely no mention.” Justus’ home was Tiberius in Galilee (Jn 6:23). Justus’ writing preceded Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews 93 CE, so it is probable he lived and wrote during or immediately after the alleged era of Jesus, yet remarkably “makes absolutely no mention of him”.

Josephus, 37-103 CE, a Jerusalem born Pharisee, living in Rome wrote History of the Jews, 79 CE and Antiquities of the Jews, 93 CE. Christian apologists (defenders of the faith) consider Josephus’ Jesus testimony the one sure non-Christian evidence of a historical Jesus of Nazareth. This Jesus Testimony is found in Josephus’, Antiquities of the Jews. Contrary to those Christian apologists, the Jesus testimony is considered by many scholars including the Encyclopedia Britannica’s scholars as “an insertion by later Christian copyists.” This Jesus testimony states:

Now, there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.

Why is this Jesus testimony considered a later fraudulent insertion?

1. Josephus was a Pharisee. Only a Christian would call Jesus the Christ. Josephus would have had to renounce his pharisaical beliefs to say Jesus was the Christ. Josephus died a pharisee.

2. Josephus’ writing style is to write chapter upon chapter about the most insignificant people and events. The Jesus testimony consists of four sentences. Why would Josephus’ Christ (the Jewish Messiah) deserve only four sentences?

3. The paragraphs before and after the Jesus testimony describe Romans killing Jews. The paragraph following the Jesus testimony begins: “About the same time another sad calamity put the Jews in disorder”. Would “another sad calamity” refer to the appearing of the “doer of wonderful works” or Romans killing Jews? Such a negative statement is clearly out of context. It is indicative of a later insertion.

4. Finally, and most convincing, had Josephus actually written the Jesus testimony, church fathers in the following 200 years would surely refer to it in fending off critics of Jesus’ being just another myth. But, not once does Justin, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, or Origen ever refer to Josephus’ Jesus testimony. We know Origen read Josephus because Origen’s writings criticize Josephus for attributing the destruction of Jerusalem to the killing of James. The church fathers made no reference to Josephus’ alleged Jesus testimony because it was not in Josephus’ writing.

In addition, Josephus’ historical accounts both contradict and omit other New Testament bible stories:

1. According to the bible John the Baptist was killed about 30 CE at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. In Josephus, John the Baptist is killed by Herod when Herod is at war with King Aertus of Arabia in 34-37 CE.

2. Josephus makes no reference to: the celebration of Pentecost in Jerusalem when allegedly devoted Jews of every nation gathered and all received the Holy Spirit evidenced by speaking in new tongues; a Jewish fisherman Peter who is head apostle of the new church; a fellow pharisee named Saul of Tarsus who becomes the apostle Paul, or of the church’s alleged explosive growth throughout Palestine, Alexandria, Greece, or Josephus’ city of residence Rome. Peter and Paul’s alleged martyrdoms in Rome about 60 CE is unknown to Josephus. It bears noting that Christian apologists so determined to rely on the veracity of Josephus’ Jesus testimony excuse his later oversights.

Is it probable that Christian copyists distorted truth by inserting the Jesus testimony? Eusebius (265-339 CE), acknowledged as “Father of Church History” was the Emperor Constantine’s overseer of doctrine. Eusebius’ states in his Evangelical Demonstration, “Certainly the attestations I have already produced concerning our Savior may be sufficient. However, it may not be amiss, if, over and above, we make use of Josephus the Jew for a further witness.” (Book III., p.124) Eusebius’ concern for historical truth is demonstrated in his The Preparation of the Gospel published by Baker House (a Christian publisher) on page 619 “it will be necessary sometimes to use falsehood as a remedy for the benefit of those who require such treatment”.

Eusebius, one of the most influential Christians in church history, condoned fraud as a tool to promote Christianity! The probability of Constantine’s Christianity being a product of fraud is directly related to the desperate need of evidence to support a historical Jesus. Without Josephus’ alleged “Jesus Testimony” there is no first century non-Christian confirmation of a historical Jesus, a devastating blow to the historicity of the Jesus story.

Early 2nd Century Non-Christian Roman writers with references to a Christ, Chrestos or Christians are:

Pliny the Younger, 61-113 CE Governor of Bithynia. In a letter in 112 CE asking Emperor Trajan about prosecuting Christians who “met regularly before dawn on a fixed day to chant verses alternately amongst themselves in honor of Christ as to a god.” Some eighty years after Calvary, somebody was worshiping a Christ (Hebrew equivalent for Messiah)! But, nothing is said as to whether this Christ was Jesus, a teacher and miracle working man who was crucified and resurrected in Judea or just another of the many mythic Christ’s of pagan mystery religions. Even Jesus allegedly said there would be many false Christs, so Pliny’s statement lends little if any credence for Jesus of Nazareth historicity.

Suetonius, 69-122 CE Lives of the Emperors, a history of 11 emperors; writing in 120 about Emperor Claudius 41-54 CE who “expelled from Rome the Jews who under the influence of Chrestus, did not cease to cause unrest.” Who is Chrestus? No mention of Jesus. Is this Chrestus a Jewish agitator, one of many false Messiah’s or a mythic Christ? This statement proves nothing for a historical Jesus of Nazareth.

Tacitus, 56-120 CE noted Roman historian, in his Annuals 14-68 CE Book 15, chapter 44 written about 115 CE gives the first non-Christian reference to Christ as a man executed in Judea by Pontius Pilate. The pagan Tacitus states “Christus, the founder of the name, had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate.” Scholars point out several reasons to suspect this statement was not from Tacitus or any Roman records, but instead a later insertion in Tacitus’ Annuals. #1) Pilate is referred to as “procurator” which is appropriate in Tacitus’ day, but in Pilate’s day the correct title was “prefect”. #2) If Tacitus obtained his information from Roman records, the records would have referred to a Jesus son of Joseph or Jesus of Nazareth, not Christ. The word Christ is a title not a name and strongly suggests the Tacitus quote was a later insertion based on Christian tradition. #3) If Tacitus’s comment was written in the early 2nd Century, why didn’t later church fathers who all sought to find proofs for Jesus historicity such as Tertullian, Clement, Origen, even Eusebius (Father of Church History) once quote Tacitus? #4) Tacitus is not quoted by any Christian writer prior to the 15th Century. This quotation’s inaccuracy and lack of use strongly suggest it is a later insertion by an anxious apologist.

The clear and indisputable fact is 80 to 100 years is a suspiciously long time after alleged events of such magnitude for such minimal credible written recognition. Further, the brevity and scarceness of substantive fact in these three writings relative to the claim that this was about a miracle working Jewish Messiah named Jesus who was God in human flesh, crucified, and resurrected clearly calls into question the credibility of these writings.

Rabbinic literature would logically be the one final inquiry for the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible’s New Testament alleges Jesus is the fulfillment of Jewish prophesy for the Messiah, having been crucified on Passover Day. On that day allegedly Jerusalem had an earthquake, its temple veil was split in two, there was an eclipse of the sun, Jesus is resurrected, even resurrected Jewish saints walked the streets of Jerusalem. A few days later on the Day of Pentecost Jews gathered from every nation to witness the Holy Ghost descending with tongues of fire, and the Christian church growth exploded with both Jewish and Gentile converts, signs and miracles being unleashed in abundance. In 70 CE, Jerusalem is besieged by the Roman army and Israel as a nation is destroyed and dispersed. Regardless of Rabbinic rejection of Jesus as Messiah, the historical impact of events surrounding Jesus would logically be noted in Israel’s Talmudic commentaries known as the Midrash. Jewish oral traditions and history recorded in the Midrash were updated and given final form by Rabbi Jehudah ha-Qadosh around 220 CE. Quoting Frank Zindler’s The Jesus The Jews Never Knew, “Remarkably, not a single early rabbinic source so much as hints at the events of a 1st Century false Messiah, of the events alleged surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, or for that matter of anyone identifiable with the Jesus of Christianity.”

The Holy Land’s historic landmarks do not confirm the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth. Local monks, priests, and tour guides pointing Christian pilgrims (donations accepted) to the locations of events described in the Bible can hardly be considered as objective. Again paraphrasing portions of Zindler, Unbiased confirmation of these locations is severely lacking. Nazareth is not mentioned once in the Hebrew Old Testament. The Talmud mentions 63 Galilean towns, yet never mentions Nazareth. Josephus mentions 45 Galilean towns or villages, yet never once mentions Nazareth. Josephus does mention a Japha which is a suburb of present-day Nazareth. Lk 4:28-30 describes Nazareth having a synagogue and a “brow of a hill whereon their city was built” presumably steep enough to kill Jesus had they succeeded in throwing him over it. But, present-day Nazareth occupies a valley floor and the lower half of a hillside. There is no steep hill. Further, present-day Nazareth has no 1st Century synagogue ruins. Origen 182-254 CE who lived in Caesarea 30 miles from present-day Nazareth does not mention Nazareth. The first solid reference to Nazareth comes from Eusebius in the 4th Century. The best archaeological guest-i-mates are that Nazareth did not come into existence until the 2nd Century. This historic evidence strongly suggests why no 1st Century non-Christian Roman, Greek, Jewish historian, or Rabbinic literature mentions a Jesus of Nazareth, i.e. there was no 1st Century Nazareth.

Time and space do not allow for discussion of other significant New Testament towns. The historical and archaeological evidence for 1st Century Capernaum (mentioned 16 times in the New Testament), Bethany, Bethpage, Bethabara, and Calvary, like Nazareth is equally unconvincing or even counter-indicative.

The mark of an objective, critical thinking mind is to seek contemporaneous independent confirmation of alleged facts. When the only available evidence of an event or product is, not only suspiciously questionable, but is what the event or product’s promoters want you to believe then “Buyer Beware”. The facts are that non-Christian Jewish, Greek, and Roman writers of the decades following the alleged events of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection are silent about any person named Jesus of Nazareth. Though the fair-minded critical thinker is always willing to consider further evidence, today 2,000 years later, Christianity has no better objective, contemporaneous unbiased evidence for the historicity of Jesus than for other religions had for Zeus, Krishna, Dionysis, Horus, Mithra or any of the other mythical savior-gods of history.

References:

The Origins of Christianity and the Bible by Andrew Benson

The Jesus the Jews Never Knew by Frank R. Zindler

Encyclopedia Britannica

Deconstructing Jesus by Robert Price, Ph.D.

Josephus’ Complete Works translated by William Whiston, Ph.D.

The Jesus Puzzle by Earl Doherty

The Jesus Mysteries by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy

The study shows twenty-eight percent of American adults have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion — or no religion at all. Forty-four percent of Protestant adults have switched Protestant affiliation. Catholicism has experienced the greatest net losses. While thirty-one percent of Americans were raised in the Catholic faith, today twenty-four percent describe themselves as Catholic. Catholicism’s losses would be considerably greater were it not for the offsetting impact of Latin American immigrants.

The survey found that the sixteen percent of people (42 million) who say they are unaffiliated with any particular faith today is more than double the number who say they were not affiliated with any particular religion as children. Among Americans ages 18-29, an even greater twenty-five percent say they are not currently affiliated with any particular religion.

The dissatisfaction with Christianity is certainly understandable. Its allegedly omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent god has recently proven to be totally indifferent, if not completely inept. Where was this god on 9/11, or when Katrina struck New Orleans, or when tornadoes obliterate so many predominately Christian towns like Greensburg, Kansas?

Why didn’t this god alert Minnesota’s Christian Governor Pawlenty that the I–35 bridge was about to collapse? America’s dollar proudly proclaims, “In God we trust” yet under Christian President George Bush the dollar has lost 50% of its God entrusted value and America appears headed for a serious recession with 1,000,000 homes in foreclosure.

The track record of the Christian god, whose major attribute is purportedly love and faithfulness for his people, shows he is no more caring than Allah, Vishnu, or any of the dozens of other savior-gods of history. (Maybe if this god were a she, things would be different) A bible full of contradictions, inconsistencies and errors plus no credible 1st Century historical confirmation of a Jesus of Nazareth or for that matter a town called Nazareth compounds Christianity’s credibility.

Why is secularism growing and Christianity declining? Perhaps because Christian faith demands unquestioning allegiance to fantastical stories and mind numbing dogma which squashes an intellectually stimulated mind. More and more people are asking questions that demand rational evidence-based answers. Christianity like any religion provides nice philosophical platitudes, but they are shallow and dissatisfying to a mind free of “don’t dare ask” religious restraints. The free thought mind-set is like a butterfly hatched from its cocoon, free to think, reason and explore any and all there is to discover. Thus, cosmologists and astronomers find the cosmos to be 13 billion years old and biologists find the theory of evolution unites all fields of biology under one theoretical umbrella. As a college student said, “a man without religion is like a fish without a bicycle.”

Does this mean religion and Christianity are useless? I do not think so! However, it does mean people need to put religion and Christianity in proper perspective. All religions are simply the institutionalization of mythology. Mythology is valuable in the sense that its heroes, whether Jesus, Zeus, Dionysis, Horus, Mithra, or Zoroastrianism’s Ahura Mazda have magnificently inspirational stories that inspire us mortals. Their humble beginnings, miracles, teachings, deaths and resurrections are allegories that inspire and teach life’s lessons.

Seen in this light, our attitudes should appreciate myth’s allegories, yet give greater credence to everyday nature’s rhythms of existence. Winter is the time of death. Nothing grows, all appears dead. But, winter is always followed by spring. Resurrection time happens year after year, soon trees will blossom and birds sing. No matter how bleak life appears, a resurrection of a new start is on the way. The vast majority of us humans need new starts from time to time.

Where religion and its adherents inevitably foul things up bringing division and animosity in society is when they declare their particular brand or denomination of religion the one and only true religion. This childish exclusivity sending heretics and non-believers to an eternal hell and damnation exposes its true man-made fabricated origins.

Fear is the tried and tested motivator of the ignorant and gullible masses. Clergy who preach love, mercy, grace, hope, and forgiveness benefit society. Clergy who preach prejudice against blacks, women, Jews, gays, and non-theists are a detriment to society.

After a long history of religiously motivated wars and two World Wars that killed 40 million people, Europeans have largely rejected Christianity. Europe’s churches are museums mirroring outgrown meaningless traditions. Even in Italy with its Vatican and Papal splendor, only twenty-seven percent of Italians consider religion important.

Like Europeans, Americans too are wising up. They have had it with the condescending divide and conquer tactics fomenting religious and political polarization.

As with Daniel’s King Nebuchadnezzar myth, the handwriting is on the wall. The question is: which Christians will wake up to reject the literalized myth and which Christians will faithfully hang on to their spiritual fire insurance policies hoping for an afterlife of heavenly bliss of eternally strumming harps and singing How Great Thou Art?

I must admit my astonishment at West’s proposition. He reminds me of the preacher who proclaimed, “You don’t need to read nuttin but the bible.” Dr. West verges on suggesting ignorance and stupidity produce good morals. When talking about the theory of evolution that is essentially his position. The Discovery Institute’s mission is to fabricate reasons to deny the 150 years of research that stands behind the theory of evolution because it contradicts a literal interpretation of the book of Genesis. Has Dr. West ever heard of Galileo?

Dr. West and his Discovery Institute constituents are among the less than 1% of Ph.D.s in science combating the 99% of Ph.D.s in science who consider evolution a fact. West is scrambling for a reason that the Intelligent Design (ID) idea might be credible. Thus, Dr. West asserts that science and particularly Darwin ’s theory of evolution must be responsible for the corruption of morals.

West goes on to make the incredible claim that Darwin ’s evolution is responsible for anti-Semitism. Darwin’s Origin of Species first appeared in 1859. If West’s assertion is true then there could not have been any anti-Semitism prior to 1859.

On the contrary, anti-Semitism goes back at least 1,500 years. It has ranged from individual Christian expressions of hatred and discrimination against individual Jews to organized violent attacks by mobs on Jewish communities. Extreme instances of persecution include the German Crusade of 1096, the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290, the Spanish Inquisition, the Jew’s expulsion from Spain in 1492, the Jewish expulsion from Portugal in 1497, various pogroms, and the 20th Century’s most infamous Holocaust under Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany.

Martin Luther, student of the bible and namesake of Lutherans, wrote a pamphlet in 1543 entitled “On the Jews and Their Lies.” Luther sets forth the Christian obligation to destroy the Jews. Luther states Christians should “set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them.” . . . “Their houses also be razed and destroyed.” . . . “Their prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them.” . . . “Their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb.” . . . “safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews.” . . . “usury be prohibited to them and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them.” . . . “If we wish to wash our hands of the Jews’ blasphemy and not share in their guilt, we have to part company with them. They must be driven from our country” . . . “we must drive them out like mad dogs.”

Martin Luther was a virulent anti-Semite long before Darwin was born. Luther’s hatred of Jews was grounded in the loving words of Jesus and Paul written centuries years before Darwin.

The Discovery Institute has all the appearances of respectability. They are Christians whom one assumes would never violate God’s Commandment against lying, “Thou shall not bear false witness.” Yet, they lie with abandonment. They are the victim of what happens when ideology supersedes common sense. The Discovery Institute is so consumed with their ideology that they have lost all concern for honesty and truthfulness. They have no scruples and depend on the gullibility of their constituents to propagate their nonsense.

All the immorality Dr. West ascribes to Darwin is undeniably justified in and by the bible. West’s problem is not the fault of science, but of blind allegiance to religious ideology.

Further, West’s reasoning illustrates the logical fallacy of “appeal to consequences.” This fallacious argument concludes a premise (typically a belief) to be either true or false based on whether the premise leads to desirable or undesirable consequences. It is an appeal to emotion and is a logical fallacy since the desirability of a consequence has no bearing on the truth-value of the premise.

The scientific method of thought ascribed by Aristotle, reinvigorated by the Enlightenment and paid with the blood of many martyrs made possible our deliverance from the Judeo-Christian doctrines justifying slavery, oppression of women and anti-Semitism. America’s enemies are not external but within our midst and must be exposed at every turn.

State laws instill and perpetuate this attitude. Article IX, Sec. 2, of the Tennessee constitution states: “No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments shall hold any office in the civil department of this state.” Arkansas, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas have similar laws.

George H. W. Bush while campaigning for President in 1987 exhibited this same attitude, “I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.”

Apparently all theists good and all atheists bad. If this is the case, atheist and agnostic businesspersons like Microsoft’s Bill Gates, investment guru Warren Buffet, Apple’s Steve Jobs and CNN founder Ted Turner should all be exiled for their unbelief. Don’t forget to include the 93% of National Academy of Science members who lack belief in a personal deity. What about atheist Pat Tillman, Arizona Cardinal football star, who left a $3,600,000 salary to enlist in the U.S. Army and subsequently got killed in Afghanistan? The oft-repeated theist claim, “there are no atheists in foxholes” insults a true American hero.

Is there a rationale for this prejudice against atheists or is this just plain theist bigotry? Why are atheists more “despised and distrusted” than any other minority? Why do theists promote this malicious slander? Has it ever occurred to theists to judge themselves by the same standards they judge others? Didn’t Jesus say something about taking the log out of your own eye before you take the splinter out of another’s eye?

How about the theist record? Theist Roman emperor Constantine had 3,000 Christians plus a wife and son murdered. Roman Catholic theists instigated the murderous Crusades and the Inquisitions. Theist Charlemagne had 4,500 Saxons beheaded all in one morning. Protestant theists arbitrarily tortured and burned at the stake tens of thousands of women because of the Bible’s admonition against witches. Luther, Calvin and Zwingli advocated death for heretics. Christian theists have persecuted Jews for the past eighteen centuries–most notably by the Roman Catholic theist Adolph Hitler who murdered 6,000,000 Jews.

Naively, many Americans assume theists never act immorally nor lie for fear of their God’s anger. Yet a recent study by The Center for Public Integrity finds that President George Bush and his top administration officials (all theists) issued 935 false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attack. The study concludes these false statements “were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses.” That’s 935 good reasons to question god-fearing theist morality.

The January/February 2008 Psychology Today magazine contains an article, “An Atheist in the Pulpit, what happens when religious leaders lose their faith.” The author interviewed Lutheran, Pentecostal, Catholic and Episcopalian clergymen and recorded theism’s cognitive dissonance in their own words. “We tend to ignore how much cognitive effort is required to maintain extreme religious beliefs, which have no supporting evidence whatsoever.” “The disjunction between what clergymen say publicly and what they believe privately is so common that serious cognitive dissonance comes with the territory.” “We spend our lives impersonating who we think others want us to be and end up living as impostors. So when someone comes to me and tells me they are losing their faith, I congratulate them. You’re starting to embrace your own thinking self – the essential, immutable, immortal self – as opposed to the accidental criminal you have been made to think you are.” Integrity and cognitive health are theism’s real sacrifice.

So why this centuries-old acrimony against atheists? Granted some atheists have committed atrocities too. Communists Joseph Stalin and Mao Tse-tung are two heinous examples. Does such justify the entirely one-sided bigotry and prejudice commonly accepted among Americans? America, the land of intellectual freedom, has granted hard-core theists free reign to preach their bigotry against Jews, Blacks, women and homosexuals. However, the deep-seated prejudice against atheists merits special attention because atheism challenges theism’s very existence.

A question seldom asked is what does the prejudice against atheists tell us about those who hold that prejudice? Are theists fearful that their god may not really be omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent? Does the cognitive dissonance experienced when trying to explain their god’s indifference to events like 9/11, Katrina, and the 2004 Christmas Tsunami trouble their psyche? Maybe their religious fire insurance has been shaken. When theists must struggle with the ineptitude of their god, who better to lash out at than atheists?

Has religious tolerance for prejudice and bigotry toward atheists so intimidated Americans that they do not even recognize it? Evidently yes, especially when one might be branded one of those terrible atheists. Nevertheless, an intellectually free America, as intended by our founders, remerges as more and more atheist/agnostic freethinkers come out of the closet and stand against theism’s last bigoted prejudicial stronghold of intolerance. As one astute college student said to me, “a man without religion is like a fish without a bicycle”— who needs it?

Creationists usually have two basic assertions: 1) that they are the ones who know true science and 2) that it is they and they alone who are the guardians of true faith in the written and revealed word of their deity. Both are of concern as surely as they are false, but it is the first assertion that we must deal with here.

Creation “science” rejects every fundamental precept upon which actual science functions, from empiricism to falsification. Creationists reject empiricism, the very heart of science, and instead embrace fanciful biblical legends of a ‘talking snake’ and a 6,000-year-old solar system all in a vain attempt to justify their immutable doctrinal beliefs. They are no different than the Roman Catholic clergy of 500 years ago persecuting Galileo because he declared the sun did not revolve around the earth.

Creationist buffoons know their a priori conclusions in advance, independent of any scientific inquiry. They then massage their superficially scientific assertions to justfy their desired answers matching their religious doctrine. The circularity and philosophical bankruptcy of this perspective is obvious. They beg the question, presuming to be true the very thing they claim. In other words, they are going to believe what they are going to believe regardless of the facts, i.e. religious fanaticism.

The major creationist concern is they’re afraid evolution may prove they’re not created in the image of the Bible’s God. It seems these poor folks have never read their Bible objectively. The Bible’s God is a serial murderer, He endorses stealing and lying, institgates gang rape, and finally declares that all (virtually 99% of all humanity) who do not believe in his Son will be condemned to Hell to burn forever and ever. But, that’s okay cause He really loves you? Tell that to the 6,000,000 Jews who perished under Adolph Hitler.

Over the past 149 years since Charles Darwin’s 1859 book On the Origin of Species, scientists of relevant disciplines such as cosmology, astronomy, geology, biology, zoology, and paleontology repeatedly confirm evolution a valid theory having the same reliability as the theory of gravity. According to a 1991 Gallup Poll there were about 480,000 scientists working in the relevant fields of earth and life sciences. Of those, only about 700 consider creationism valid. This means 98% of relevant scientists accept evolution and less than 2% of relevant scientists consider creationism good science. In the world of science, creationism does not even qualify for fringe of the fringe.

Scientists arrive at their conclusions by the scientific method of extensive trial and error testing of hypotheses until results produce a verifiably testable theory, in this case the theory of evolution. In contrast to creationist/religious theory, scientific theory is always tentative and subject to change as new evidence dictates.

It is bad enough that creationist churches are freeloaders, taking advantage of the public’s good will by skirting their fair share of real estate taxes. But, worse yet, they use creationism as a rhetorical facade, as a lever through which to influence public policy. Creationists exploit the faith of well-meaning Christians (and those of other religions) to further their own purely self-serving goals at the expense of reality. Creationism is nothing more than an ancient regurgitated ideology bereft of merit, and loathsome in its intentions.

America ’s 29th ranking in science education can, in part, be laid at the feet of our creationist/biblical literalists parading about as those righteous souls who would never “bear false witness.” James Madison saw through the charade saying, “During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits?More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution.” A Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, addressed to the Virginia General Assemby, 1785.

Make no mistake, creationism intends to redefine science, and replace it with a meaningless shell of supernatural speculation and deceit. And why, you might ask? The answer is not hard to fathom. Religion has ever been a sanctuary of those who seek to secure their eminence at the expense of others. History is unequivocal in teaching this lesson, and yet as blind as we are we seem to have failed to learn it. The creationist attack on the teaching of evolution devalues science, cheapens theology as well as condemning America’s students to an inferior education, ultimately hurting their professional opportunities, not to mention diminishing America’s leadership in science and technology.

Creationists aim to not only destroy science in an effort to protect their creationist fairy tales, their mission is to redefine the United States of America, eviscerate the Constitution, and effectively dismantle American democracy by instituting religious indoctrination in the schools and halls of public policy making. They mean to supplant all of these things with a form of oligarchy wrapped in the shrouds of a dumbed down science and legalistic religion. And if one doubts this, one need only consult the web sites and publications of such notable creationist organizations as the the Creation Museum, the Institute for Creation Research and the Discovery Institute. Creationists are quite explicit in their stated goals, and there is little room for doubt their true intentions. The true mission of creationism is theocracy. Thus exposed, the need to fight it on all fronts, scientific, philosophical, theological, administrative and judicial, is made even more clear. There is no higher imperative if we mean to preserve America’s intellectual freedom.