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In its own words: I consider myself an atheist and a skeptic. I care whether my beliefs are true or false. I believe I have good reasons for being an atheist, and that those reasons can stand up to the scrutiny of Christian apologetics. But – as Christians are so often fond of saying – what if I’m wrong? So this blog represents my effort to take Christianity seriously; to engage with the best Christians have to offer and see how my general Case for Atheism stacks up by comparison. I deliberately chose a gerund as the name for this blog; I view this as a process, and not an end goal. If you’re a Christian, my goal is not to “convert you to atheism;” my goal is to engage with, understand, and evaluate the best arguments you have for what you believe and see how that affects what I believe. At the end of the day, all I hope is that you will come away with a bit more understanding of (and hopefully, respect for) what makes someone an atheist.

Luke Muehlhauser ("lukeprog") is an atheist and naturalist who arrived there via a journey as a devout pastor's kid. His story is moving. The tone and discussion here is sympathetic and friendly, and the writing almost always thought provoking. The site includes some impressive resources, like an evaluation of all of William Lane Craig's debates and a voluminous list of debates about God. Luke's site is a beacon of thoughtful and respectful dialogue. Highly Recommended. About itself: "See, believers have two ways of thinking. In most situations, they think with the same logic as most people do: this is our 'common sense.' Tell a believer that the bank stole his money, or that an ancient book says you can heal disease by dancing around a fire, and he will ask for evidence. That is common sense. ... The whole point of my website is this: If a believer applies his special thinking to any other area of life, it becomes clear how irrational that special thinking is. And if he applies common sense to his religion, it becomes clear how irrational that religion is."

In its own words: Navigating through life can be complicated.  We do well to check ourselves with trusted and tested sources as well as to learn methods to reliably test our worlds.  All beliefs are fed by our emotions, our dispositions and our environment.  For this reason, triangulation is always of utmost importance. ... I use the pen name “Sabio Lantz”  since  I work and live in a predominantly Christian community where many patients of mine would stop coming to me if they knew how I felt about religion.   Further, many casual, but useful relationships may be damaged if they knew what I write here.  Several families who we are friends with us would stop meeting with us and stop their children from playing with ours.  People can get ugly when it comes to religion (or politics, or sex ...   OK, people can just be plain ugly).

Tagline: Analyses of God beliefs, atheism, religion, faith, miracles, evidence for religious claims, evil and God, arguments for and against God, atheism, agnosticism, the role of religion in society, and related issues.

In its own words: I want to know why some people believe in gods, and what the psychological and social consequences of those beliefs are. I read the research, and when I find something juicy I write it up and post it here! Who am I? Well, I'm a medical writer by profession, living and working on the south coast of England (Hove, actually). I have a PhD in biotechnology, and an interest in what makes people tick.

In its own words: Over the past several years, I have observed to my dismay the forces of militant religious fundamentalism gaining in strength, both in my home country, the United States of America, and worldwide. This ominous development, driven by those who are dedicated enemies of all the progress and enlightenment that has been achieved over the past several centuries, threatens the liberty and happiness of all people everywhere. As a result, I have been compelled to grow more involved in political causes to help oppose it, and to defend the human rights that once more need defending. This process of awakening led to my writing the essay "Unapologetic", but did not stop there. We need as many voices as possible calling attention to the evil of the religious right and shining the light of scrutiny on their true goals. Only by doing so can we hope to stop them, and I hope to play some small part in that. The final motivating factor is the fact that there are not nearly as many good atheist weblogs as there should be. There are many blogs written by atheists, but relatively few that are about atheism, relatively few that are well-written and address the subject frequently and knowledgeably.

In its own words: Vridar is my doppelganger. The name comes from Vardis Fisher’s fictionalized biographical two-part novel “The Orphans of Gethsemane” and is a near-anagram of the author’s own name. To read this novel, or even his 1939 Harper prize winning “Children of God”, is to read my life too. Everything from boyhood, religion, women, fatherhood, personal growth to atheism is there. For info on who Vardis Fisher is check out Vardis Fisher (American Atheists site), Vardis Fisher (VardisFisher.com) and Vardis Fisher (wikipedia article). But if you’re really wanting to know where I’m coming from it might be easier to simply read my own odyssey from heavenly thrones down to earth. My background is in history teaching, postgraduate educational studies and information science, academic librarian, metadata specialist with a project building regional university repositories in Australia and New Zealand, and digital repository manager. Currently I am a Principal Librarian and Bibliographic Consultant to the Singapore National Library Board. So the biblical studies interest is a hobby, although a serious one. I do like to check out the foundations of significant beliefs as thoroughly as my real-life commitments will allow.

Tagline: Sex, atheism, politics, dreams, and whatever. Thinking out loud since 2005.

In its own words: Rationally Speaking is a blog maintained by Prof. Massimo Pigliucci, a philosopher at the City University of New York. The blog reflects the Enlightenment figure Marquis de Condorcet's idea of what a public intellectual (yes, we know, that's such a bad word) ought to be: someone who devotes himself to "the tracking down of prejudices in the hiding places where priests, the schools, the government, and all long-established institutions had gathered and protected them." You are welcome.

I study the bible, with bits of Christian origins and early Christianity thrown in. I’m also an atheist, both in the sense of not-believing-there-is-a-God, and believing-there-is-no-God. I’m fascinated by all kinds of things, from typography to chess, from conlangs to competitive swimming, from creative cartography to the mathematics of music. This is my bible and religion blog. I have been studying the bible for 20 years now. I’m particularly interested in New Testament criticism, although I have a soft spot for non-canonical Christian literature and try to dabble and keep up with the broad movements in Hebrew Bible scholarship and early church history." ~ Ian

I grew up in a liberal progressive agnostic family, became a christian in college, and left the faith nearly two decades later. Leaving the faith was a gut-wrenching process over a long period of time, but in the end was painful but rather quick, sort of like pulling off a band aid. It has proven more difficult to untangle myself from the web of religion because of the relationships involved. I am not here to disuade anyone from Christianity. I am happy to help dissuade anyone from an unexamined faith, though to be honest, when I examined my faith, it pretty much crumbled away. I believe contemporary american evangelicalism is woefully inadequate in this regard, and I seriously question whether it is intellectually compatible with modern thought. I strongly believe people need to be allowed and encouraged to think for themselves, and my experience of evangelicalism was that it only promoted that within very limited parameters. I know there are others forms of Christianity out there, but an experience with conservative christianity can make it very difficult to honestly consider them."

I'm an ex-Christian, but I think some part of me still clings to Christianity in a very loose, irrational sense, but I do not believe anymore and consider myself an Agnostic Atheist. I think spirituality is a personal thing and should be between the individual and whatever he or she chooses to focus on. In that regard, I respect others views regardless of whether or not I agree with them. I simply do not experience anything in my life that I would identify as God, but wouldn't ignore a grand revelation."

The Center for Naturalism promotes science-based naturalism as a comprehensive worldview - a rational and fulfilling alternative to faith-based religions and other varieties of supernaturalism. The under-standing that we are fully natural beings is the foundation for an effective approach to personal and social concerns, and highlights our intimate connection to the awe-inspiring universe described by science.  Through its educational activities and initiatives, the Center develops constructive applications of naturalism, supports progressive social policy, and in collaboration with other secular groups, helps to build a community of naturalists."
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Also see, http://www.bowness.demon.co.uk/map.htm.

From Richard's Website: Richard Carrier is a nationally-renowned author and speaker. As a professional historian, published philosopher, and prominent defender of the American freethought movement, Dr. Carrier has appeared across the country and on national television defending sound historical methods and the ethical worldview of secular naturalism. He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University in ancient history, specializing in the intellectual history of Greece and Rome, particularly ancient philosophy, religion, and science, with emphasis on the origins of Christianity and the use and progress of science under the Roman empire. He is best known as the author of Sense and Goodness without God and a major contributor to The Empty Tomb, as well as writer and editor-in-chief (now emeritus) for the Secular Web, and for his copious work in history and philosophy online and in print. More

John on his motivation for the site: "I backed into what I’m doing right now. I initially wanted to explain to people who knew me why I rejected the Christian faith, because several people were surprised about this and they wanted to know. To do this I self-published my first book to explain my reasons. At that point in my mind I was done with the Christian faith. I fully expected to get on with life. Unexpectedly though, I got noticed as a former student of William Lane Craig’s. It hadn’t occurred to me this was important, but people on both sides took notice of it. So I began engaging in the debate online and found the Christian reasoning lame and offensive in the circles I frequented. I was personally attacked by these Christians. This challenged me to no end. It made me want to go for the jugular vein of the faith that justified their abusive treatment of me. I wondered to myself whether they would light the fires that burned me at the stake in a previous century when the church had the power to do so. This made me think about the many heretics who suffered at the hands of Christians because of this same mentality. I decided at that point I would not let their blood be shed in vain, so I took up their cause. It became personal with me."