Tag Archives: christianity

Oldest Bible now on display

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What happens when you take a bunch of scattered pages of a 1600 year old Bible written in Greek, scan it and put it on the Internet? You get this, the Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest surviving Bible on the planet. It’s now available for you to scrutinize, analyze, and generally geek out if you’re into this sort of thing.

The most fascinating thing about this particular Bible is it allows us to trace the changes and evolution that have occurred since the early days of Christianity. This version apparently doesn’t even mention the resurrection of Jesus, so you can bet once this becomes a little more mainstream, there will be a bunch of Christian apologetics who show up to save their faith.

Is it any surprise the King James Version of the Bible everyone likes so much would be radically different from early texts? I suppose when you are naïve enough to think the KJV is the word of God, then yeah, this older book would probably be pretty shocking, especially when you realize religious traditions are no better than ‘Chinese Whispers‘ at keeping the integrity and accuracy of a message.

I’m looking forward to seeing the reaction of hard line Christians, and seeing how they explain these huge inconsistencies away. Things are about to get a little more interesting for us atheists…

There’s a sucker baptized every minute!

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You know what I like about the guys who wrote the Left Behind series? They aren’t afraid to admit they fucking love making money. These guys have made millions from their terrible books and movies (starring none other than everyone’s favorite ‘ex-atheist’, Kirk Cameron), selling to the easiest demographic in the world: gullible evangelical Christians.

They’ve already released 16 books, with no real plan of stopping the flow of moneys and book signing/selling tours that follow. There’s no real information out there about just how rich Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins have become since putting pen to paper, but I don’t doubt it’s very substantial.

They have also made a video game, which they released in 2006. It didn’t do so well, but that hasn’t detracted them. They are now creating an affiliate network to get churches to sell an average of 50 games a year. They are courting some 3000 churches, so if they sell the game for even 30 bucks a pop, that would net them a cool 4.5 million dollars in revenue a year. Who wants to play a game your pastor forced down your throat? Beats me. I doubt anyone even cares whether it gets played or not. The key here is the continuation of the money train that is the Left Behind Series.

I find it interesting that the self proclaimed experts on Rapture bother to accumulate wealth, since the End Days, according to these deluded fools, is coming any day now. I seem to recall their own beloved man-God, Jesus, saying it was harder for a rich man to enter heaven than to fit a camel through the eye of a needle. It’s probably the part of church they always skipped. Besides, they’ve learned the most important lesson of all from being lifelong Christians: there’s a sucker baptized every minute!

Attending church just got a little more dangerous

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I visit the US fairly regularly, but there are definitely places where I wouldn’t dare go. It’s not that I’m afraid of Americans; I’m just afraid of some of your scary habits. Take, for instance, this church in Louisville, where congregants bring their guns to celebrate the fact these devices can be used to kill people. It’s not a place a liberal pinko atheist like me should visit. Here are some choice quotes from the service:

This country was started by people gathering together in churches and complaining about taxation and about their current government, King George III, taking armaments that they had.

But for a deep-seated belief in God and firearms, this country would not be here today

I don’t suspect anyone living in the deep south will stop loving guns, and as far as I’m concerned, you can do whatever you want in your own home (including accidentally shooting your own family members if you like). It’s when people bring them out in public places that I get nervous. We don’t live in a society that requires pistols to ‘defend ourselves’. The truth is the high homicide rate in the US (latest estimates put that number at 13,000 a year, 88% of which are by firearms) could probably be reduced if everyone didn’t go for their gun at the first sign of trouble. In other countries, we try talking first.

If you really love guns, you should go check out Russia. There, almost every farmer has an AK-47, but they actually need theirs. That’s because some places are so remote and corrupt that you have to police yourself. It’s a miserable place, made all the more miserable by the huge proliferation of small arms.

I actually don’t want to see guns banned. In Canada, our gun registry is a billion dollar waste of taxpayer money. It forced already legal gun owners to register, and has done nothing to reduce firearm deaths (criminals don’t need to register theirs). I do get nervous, however, when people start actively merging guns and religious services. No, it’s not a good idea, and there are enough wackos out there who think God ‘invented’ guns in order for them to shoot anyone they don’t like.

Pray for me, Doc!

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I received a few emails this morning asking me to discuss this BBCNews article. Some doctors in Britain are worried spiritual issues aren’t being addressed, and care is suffering as a result. They are demanding that staff be given the right to talk about religion, as well as allow them to offer prayers to patients.

The problem here is there is always a fine line between talking about religion, and proselytizing it to people. Sure, many of these patients may actually like being offered to be prayed for (especially as the aging population find themselves increasingly in their care), but it’s impossible to distinguish between individuals who want it, and those who feel obligated for fear their care could be affected if they refuse. Besides, all of the best studies on prayer suggests patients who are told they are being prayed for have more complications than those who aren’t prayed for. Presumably it’s because they might construe prayer as an indication their conditions are more serious and life threatening (prayer is often the last tactic of the desperate).

The NHS already pays for chaplains to be on call (in fact, the cost of these preachers could hire an additional 1,300 nurses in the country), so the spiritual needs of patients can be met if they so desire. The real issue here is these people hate the fact they cannot talk about religion at all at their workplace. One nurse complained the staff would not allow her to wear her cross, but this was because of health reasons. There’s a very profound reason why we secularize public services; bringing religion into the mix causes conflict, and there is no room for ideologues in hospitals. Their priority is to heal the sick, not pray for them.

The real concern of patients is getting better; not being proselytized to. Sure, there are those who undoubtedly would find such a thing comforting, but you’ll usually find family members and friends can more easily provide spiritual guidance and needs better than a stranger can.

Just don’t pray in my hospital and I won’t try to teach medical science in your churches. That’s fair, isn’t it?

Phil Kidd is a “gentleman”

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Have you ever awakened in a cold sweat, terrified a woman’s business suit was the tool of Satan, and society would invariably fall into chaos if we didn’t put our women in line? If you have, then you needn’t worry; you aren’t the only sexist in the world. In fact, you’re part of a special club of ‘gentleman’ that includes this man, Dr. Phil Kidd. He’s an evangelical minister with a prescription for salvation who’s had enough of rebellious women and the pussy whipped men who let them have opinions about things. Can you imagine that?

The entire rant needs to be read, but for you people in a hurry, here is the real juicy stuff from his brilliantly titled article: Hey Lady, Shut Up:

The Bible says everything that has breath has a right to praise the Lord. But there are some times when the Scripture commands women to shut up!

What a sad day, seeing women open the bible and expound the scriptures. Eve, in the Garden of Eden, in a perfect surrounding could not even quote on [sic] verse correct. I sure would not trust a woman to expound truth in this sin cursed mess we live in.

It makes me sick to watch a woman stand on a platform and lead a choir with men in it, or even worse to see a woman lead the whole congregation!

I know what you’re wondering ladies, but I’m sorry to report this stud is married! It seems like the good ones are always taken, am I right? Well, don’t worry about all this relationship trouble you might be having. Phil has some great advice to give you:

So, you good-for-nothing, hen-pecked men that have been laughing your way through this article, you need to get off your lazy back-side and do something for God. Your wife runs the home because you are too sorry to run it yourself Lady, when your sorry husband dies, please marry a man next time.

It’s pretty incredible these sexist dinosaurs are still around, and doubly surprising they are bold enough to quote scripture asking women to shut their big fat mouths. You know, ever since we started giving equal rights to women, something wonderful happened; we stopped being so fucking violent. A peaceful society necessitates women become a fully integrated part of society, enjoying the same rights and privileges men do, and properly expressing their political will. Societies which are exclusively run by men have the worst records in terms of human rights abuses, are usually far more violent, and less stable. Let’s face it guys, if we don’t have women around to talk some sense into us, we go a little crazy. It’s probably the testosterone.

Still, you always have some extreme conservative asshole who can’t stop yelling at us to ‘keep our women in line’, as though somehow their behavior is my responsibility. It isn’t, and I don’t want my mother or my two sisters to live in a world where they are only half citizens who have to be kept ignorant, uneducated, and sequestered. I personally pity any woman directly or indirectly associated with him. If I was a woman in his surroundings, I seriously would have kicked him in the balls for writing that post.

On a different note, have you ever noticed how often women get away with that shit? I bet they plan that stuff ahead of time. Maybe that’s why they always seem to wear pointy shoes around me. I should probably be more careful with what I say…

Glenn Beck`s idiotic special on Biblical prophesy

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What was Glenn Beck doing before he started crying like a bitch on national television? Well, he was busy inviting crazy preachers to talk about End Days on CNN. What fun! In this clip, Glenn Beck is asking pastor John Hagee to confirm or deny some of the claims of the return of the 12th Imam, and to try and correlate it with Christian’s favorite fictional character after Jesus: The Anti-Christ. Presumably I think that means they want him to be a Muslim guy..man, they would love that!

Christian Action League supports bullying of gays

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When I was in elementary school, I was bullied by a giant idiot named Clay. Clay had failed a few times, and as such, he was significantly bigger than everyone else in the same grade (he was roughly twice as big as I was). His obvious stupidity and lack of brain power made him detest anyone who appeared intelligent or interested in school. His favorite tactic was to hold kids upside down and shake them until their money fell out of their pockets, which he would invariably steal.

In some schools, bullying is so bad that the law needs to get involved to protect students trying to learn. This is especially true for homosexuals, who are routinely tortured and tormented in schools due to their sexual orientation. In North America, they are attempting to amend existing anti-bullying laws to include protection for gays and lesbians.

That’s something the Christian Action League is attempting to fight. That’s right; the group opposes laws that would protect kids of a different sexual orientation from being bullied. They claim these types of protection only encourages children to express their sexual identity, and eventually, their precious marriages will be threatened.

This is your typical bigoted bullshit being masked as some kind of crusade to ‘save’ marriage. It’s just another way of saying they don’t mind a world where homosexuals are flogged, ridiculed or demeaned. As far as they are concerned, these kids don’t deserve the same protection as everyone else.

Now I know there are a few people out there who wonder why the atheist movement so strongly supports gay rights. This is part of the reason right here: so long as religions continue to treat other human beings as inferior simply because of their hate and bigotry, atheists opposed to these types of institutions will defend the rights of homosexuals. Our goal is to expose the racism, intolerance and hatred of groups like the Christian Action League and their ilk.

Tired Christian claim #3: evidence for Jesus is overwhelming

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I’ve been seeing this argument popping up more and more often these days. It’s a relative newcomer in terms of claim, but it certainly is one that’s worth discussing. Last article, I mentioned how the word ‘faith’ is a misnomer; I’ve never actually met a Christian who did not think there was a mountain of evidence supporting their claim that Jesus of Nazareth was a God. Really the only time you’ll actually hear the “it’s my faith, and I believe it despite what you say” excuse is whenever you paint them in a corner.

In the early days of Christianity, there really was no debate as to whether Jesus was a real person or not. Most accepted the view that the story of Christ was a parable for living one’s life. Paul of Tarsus, who laid the foundation for Christianity, never referred to Jesus as a real person. As far as he understood it, the story of Christ was an allegory about redemption, forgiveness and finally absolution.

For a long time, Christianity developed many different branches. Some favored a more allegorical approach to the religion (see the Gnostics for more), but in 325 AD, Emperor Constantine convened the First Council of Nicaea, which would be responsible for ‘organizing’ the religion. There, a committee decided what books would eventually become the Bible. The council decided a historical Jesus was needed to codify the religion. The books of Luke and Matthew, which laid the foundation for his genealogy, were included to provide evidence of his blood relation to King David in order to fulfill Old Testament prophesy. Predictably enough, both conflict with one another (with some Christians getting really creative with their explanations).

The Council had succeeded in establishing their creed, but there existed little (if any) historical corroboration of the actual existence of a man by the name of Jesus. Since the Bible was largely considered the only real necessary historical document, there was little attempt to prove his existence outside of Christian doctrine. Why would they bother? Standards of evidence in the 4th century were not the same as they are now.

Despite the extremely flimsy evidence for the historical Jesus, Christians still maintain that the New Testament is a historical document, despite the fact even the books themselves offer contradictory stories as to the origin and lineage of Jesus. The only evidence that suggests he might have existed are the writings of Josephus, a Jewish historian who makes a brief reference to a Christus figure (which translates literally to ‘Anointed One’), but even this passage is disputed. Clearly, if someone had indeed performed the supposed miracles Jesus did, there would be more corroborating evidence for multiple sources. Of course, if St. Paul and his ilk had simply made it up, it would explain everything.

I can only imagine the need to prove the existence of Jesus is a way for Christians to feel that their religion is not entirely a fabrication. Perhaps they feel if Jesus were in fact a real man then everything else in the Bible must also be true. If you’re familiar with logic, you can quickly understand how flawed this type of thinking is.

Lots of Christians believe the evidence for Jesus and their religion in general is overwhelming. In fact, it’s far too flimsy to even qualify as proper history. It demonstrates, however, human beings need more than faith to believe in something; we demand evidence. It just so happens it’s the standards of that evidence which tends to differ with Christians. They feel that by barely proving his existence, they have somehow proved he was a God.

I might be willing to go on a limb and say Jesus may have been based on a real person (the best candidate is Apollonius of Tyana), but it’s not enough to convince anyone with a sound mind this means a virgin gave birth to an all powerful savior who sacrificed himself on a cross to absolve humans from having eaten a sacred fruit in a mythical garden. Honestly guys, is that the best you can do?

Religious wacko facing dismissal sues school district

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You can’t keep a good psycho down, apparently. John Freshwater is an eighth grade science teacher who denies evolution, used a high voltage lab tool in class to burn crosses on the arms of students, and told them homosexuals are evil sinners. The district first suspended him after hearing the allegations, and announced last June (yeah, the story isn’t exactly “fresh” here) they were canning him. Now Freshwater is suing them for violating his freedom of speech.

They still haven’t been able to get rid of a guy who clearly violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by trying to force his religious beliefs in a secular institution. This guy has the balls to then turn around and deny the allegations against him, claiming the school purposefully discriminated against him due to his religious beliefs. Too bad there are a bunch of pictures of burnt flesh to prove him wrong.

First off, he’s in Ohio, so odds are every single board member is a Christian, so I strongly doubt they fired him on purely religious grounds. You can’t burn crosses into students’ arms and then assume getting fired somehow violates your rights. When you work for a public school, there is a code of conduct you must follow, and trying to teach creationism in science class is a big no-no.

I want to know who actually hired him in the first place. I have to assume it’s almost impossible to find any decent science teachers down south, since he somehow passed muster. Here’s my advice to any school administrators: when employing a science teacher, it’s normally a good idea to see where they stand on science. If they have a big Bible in their hands at the interview, odds are there isn’t a lot of valuable information in their heads. I think asking a simple question like “do you believe in evolution” is a pretty simple way to find out just how qualified they are. Don’t you?

EA pisses off Christians, everyone else ignores them

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Guerrilla marketing is all about tricking people into learning about your product. Most of the time, you don’t even know it’s going on around you. Sometimes it’s as subtle as a person at the bar strongly encouraging you to get shots of Jägermeister, and sometimes it’s a bunch of glowing ‘litebrights’ that cause massive panic (do you remember the Mooninites debacle?). This time, the devious minds at EA are attempting to use Christian fundamentalism to create buzz about their new game, Inferno.

Their tactic was simple: pretend to be a bunch of fundies, and make outrageous / cheap looking picket signs and make yourself visible. I have no doubt they were hoping other right wing Christians would jump in on the hate bandwagon. Any publicity is good publicity, and anytime the religious right boycotts something, it’s a good day for everyone’s bottom line.

The problem is that the game (which looks like a gigantic ripoff of God of War), based very loosely on the book The Divine Comedy, isn’t the kind of thing fundies are really concerned about these days. Sure, maybe 15 years ago it would have caused an uproar, but I have never in my life met a Christian who has bothered to read the actual book. It may have been required reading 400 years ago, but nowadays, only Liberal Arts students bother to pick it up. I’ve only read about 1/3 of it myself before passing out due to boredom. Then again, poetry was never really my thing.

Hilariously enough though, it seems to have generated a little bit of vitriol from a few Christians. Here’s a funny post over at Catholic Video Gamers:

Ok, look Electronic Arts, as much as the hardcore gaming community is full of the risible self-parodies known as the “freethinking” – the Richard Dawkins-loving, fundamentalist atheist, “I’m-so-much-smarter-than-you-are-because-I-don’t-believe-in-God” types, I doubt that even they would actually be more likely to buy a game because they *think* that their ideological foes (the equally risible Fundamentalist Creationist, anti-Catholic, evangelical “Christians”) happen to hate it. Gamers of all varieties will buy this product if its, well, actually a good game. So instead of engaging in a shamelessly anti-Christian stunt to promote your poor excuse of a product, maybe you ought to work on making this game, you know, something better than a blatant God of War rip-off and make it, ya know, something worthwhile?

Well, I guess the ad campaign did work a little, eh?

Who Wants to go to a Book Burning?

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I’ve heard of some pretty stupid lawsuits in my day, but this one takes the prize as most insulting and intellectually bankrupt. The case involves a number of plaintiffs who are suing a library in Milwaukee for their decision to allow a controversial book to be in the Young Adult section. The book, Baby Be-Bop, is the story of Dirk and his struggle to come to terms with his homosexuality.

The group is suing the Library for $120,000 in emotional damage and scarring. Presumably, the mere presence of the book at the premises made these individuals lose considerable sleep. They are also suing for the right to burn this book in public. What is this, the Middle Ages?

Perhaps the book will offend a few people, but so what? Do they really think their outrage gives them the right to burn books and sue non-profit institutions? We aren’t living in a fascist dictatorship, so hopefully this frivolous lawsuit will end with the members being exposed for the bigoted, anti-intellectual morons they are.

Hey, conservative Christian guys, stop trying to burn books you don’t agree with. Stop trying to tell everyone how to live their lives, and for your God’s sake, can you all just leave the rest of us who don’t buy into your bullshit alone for a while? Find a hobby that doesn’t include burning literature, please. I highly recommend thinking; it seems you’ve neglected this activity. These jerks just made the ‘Wall of Shame‘.

Tired Christian claim #2: Without God, Morality is Impossible

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Most of you are probably familiar with this argument. It’s inevitable that at some point in the conversation, a genuinely confused Christian may ask you how you can have a definitive moral system without the benefit of a higher power telling you what is right and wrong. As far as many Christians are concerned, the denial of God also means the denial of an absolute system of ethics.

I can understand their confusion. They have been led to believe the Bible is the absolute authority when it comes to ethical behavior, and our society is the product of Christian teachings and values. However, unbeknownst to them, western society has been influenced more by contemporary philosophers and thinkers than theologians. The reason is simple: as a moral treatise, the Bible is far too inconsistent, cruel, and incomplete to serve our needs. What are we supposed to do with the Book of Numbers, which says:

Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. Numbers 31:15-18

You don’t exactly see a lot of foreign policy being dictated by Biblical scholars, do you. Or how about this passage on how to properly raise your child from Deuteronomy:

If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him . . . and all the men of his city shall stone him with stones that he die. Deut. 21:18-21

I’m not trying to suggest all parts of the Bible are vicious or incompatible with how we live our lives today. The ‘Golden Rule’ of treating others how you would like to be treated is something all human beings can agree on. It’s also why this rule appears in many other religious texts which predate the New Testament. The idea that people should live peacefully and love thy neighbor is not a new concept, and it certainly isn’t limited to Christianity.

The Golden Rule, however, does not necessitate the existence of a God in order for it to work. It’s a rule that deals only with how human beings interact with one another, and there is no need to invite a supernatural element to it. Treat me kindly and I’ll do the same; that’s it.

In fact, you’ll find our entire society is built on the premise that human beings have a responsibility to act in the best interest of their fellow man. When you harm, steal, or kill someone else, you will be punished by people, not by a sky God. For a long time we have realized the only way to have an orderly society is by taking matters in our own hands. We’re not waiting for God to punish the guilty. We handle that ourselves.

All laws are man-made. They are designed by humans, for humans. When drafting any new law, we look at the impact it will have on people; not how a mysterious sky God will react. Long ago, before there was any real orderly structure of society, religion was one of the few ways to keep people lawful. But because clergymen are above reproach, abuses were inevitable (can you say Inquisition?). Western society only became modern when we wrestled these responsibilities away from individuals who could not be held accountable, or who claimed divine providence.

I would rather place my trust in other human beings than in a God who answers to no one. If ‘He’ decreed all Canaanites must die, there isn’t a lot of room for debate, and that in itself is fairly frightening. Christians may wonder how we can be moral without God, but I ask you this: how can you be moral when you can’t even understand how he operates (don’t you always say he works in mysterious ways)? Let me put this another way for anyone who claims the Bible is the infallible word of God: since you obviously pick and choose what you think God wants you to do (see above quotes), how can you be sure you picked the right rules to follow?

I’d rather trust in the inherent goodness of people than some tome of highly dubious origins. Why should we entrust our morality to a book that was written during a time when genocide, war, murder, and slavery wasn’t a big deal?

This guy thinks atheists are “childish”

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Here’s a new argument: we are apparently too silly, and don’t take atheism seriously enough. So, in a nutshell, atheists are both way too uptight according to some, and too frivolous according to others. Have any of these clergymen speaking on atheism spent more than 15 seconds talking to one? Barron is calling us childish and ‘frivolous’ for the ad campaign started by a few organizations in the US, Canada, and Britain. I wasn’t a big fan of them initially, but seeing as these are pissing off Christians, I can’t help but feel they are succeeding.

I’m not going to go into too much name-calling here, since there really is no point. Barron is convinced his religion, Christianity, is somehow much more serious than atheism. I agree. It’s deadly serious. When you take the stories of Noah, Lot, Job, and Abraham at their word, you must invariably conclude Yahweh is not someone you fuck around with. If God was real, I would be worried. Luckily, he isn’t.

Father Barron, I don’t want to insult you, but what makes you believe your claims are less childish than the reasonable stance that the evidence for God is non-existent? The Bible, perhaps? Weak. You may find comfort and even some eloquence in that book, but you cannot suddenly forget this same tome condones slavery, genocide, and incest. Anyone who is neutral on the subject of religion will tell you that when read front to back, the Bible reveals itself to be a disturbing book filled with conflict, terrible deeds, and chilling callousness on the part of this God figure.

Notice the entire time this guy doesn’t even defend the Christian notion of God? Hey Father, you’re making more than a simple claim he exists. You’re also claiming that hundreds of other religions are wrong, and your interpretation is right. You are, in essence, trying to prove two things at once. Even if atheism was wrong, I highly doubt your Jewish God is right. No offense.

Bush and his insane beliefs

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Now that former President Bush is no longer in the White House, his ability to control public opinion has waned, and frightening new facts are being revealed that demonstrate the kind of fanatical, dangerous ideas George believed in. When trying to form his coalition shortly before the war, Bush spoke to French president Jacques Chirac, informing him the forces of Apocalypse were amassing in the Middle East. He said that:

“This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins”

The story has now been confirmed by Chirac, who was disturbed by Bush’s view. He wondered how anyone could have such a naïve and disturbing world view. This was the most powerful man in the world, literally believing Gog and Magog were gathering their armies in preparation of the Second Coming of Christ. It’s absolutely insane. Bush isn’t the only president to believe so strongly in God. Reagan had similar views, believing that within his presidency a mushroom cloud would engulf Israel. He was often noted as being giddy when thinking about the possibility of the Rapture.

The most important position in the world is being arbitrarily given to men of little intellect, who literally believe in the fairy tales of religion. In fact, the ability to become president is contingent on the fact the candidate must believe in Jesus, and all the baggage that belief comes with. Men of reason, moral fiber and free thought are not welcome here. Instead, they want candidates who believe the world will end in a fiery war that will consume all of mankind. How fucking insane is that?

Christian chiropractor fires employee for being an atheist

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What is more Christian than discrimination? I wonder. It seems like every day I hear about someone being fired from their jobs, or losing a big promotion simply because their bosses discover they do not believe in God. I don’t normally give my belief (or lack thereof) a second thought, but that’s because I am lucky enough to live in a city where my religious beliefs have never been a contentious issue. Not everyone, unfortunately, is as lucky as I am.

Amanda Donaldson did not benefit from the kind of tolerance I am acclimatized to. She recently got fired by her Christian boss specifically because she is an atheist. After Dr. Scott Dawson read her husband’s atheist blog, he confronted her about the fact she had been identified as not believing in a God. Even though she expressed clearly the fact that her beliefs were private and not related in any way to her job performance, Dr. Dawson became upset that his worker did not believe in his bearded sky god. As a consequence, he gave her the old pink slip, meaning that she lost her medical insurance. This is especially worrisome because Amanda is currently fighting aggressive breast cancer.

Let’s recap here: a Christian boss fired his atheist employee for no other reason than his simple bigotry and intolerance of other world views, and did this knowing full well she was sick and in need of medical treatment. Yep, that’s some of that good old fashioned Christian love for you!

Unfortunately, there isn’t much Amanda can do about this. At this point the best thing everyone can do is help either by contributing to the cost of her treatment, or helping find her another job. There’s no real legal precedent that would allow her to fight this injustice. They’ve already collected over 1k in donations, so if you’re feeling generous, than I suggest giving what you can (no matter how small, it will help!).