Expelled and the Non-Believers

So this movie Expelled is getting some interesting attention. Some positive, some not so positive. I haven't see it yet, so I'll reserve judgement on the film, the info, and message, etc. I did see the preview and was uninspired - but then Ben Stein hasn't ever inspired me. I do have some friends who've seen it and I'm hopeful they'll comment on it. Was it filled with facts and valid data, or hype and fluff? Do the non-Christian reviewers treat it fairly, or is it being bashed for no good reason? Here is a response I got when I asked some friends if they'd seen it and if they were watching with an open mind - in case it was filled with fluff (I asked them to be cautious and not sheep!):

I went to see this movie today because I knew I would be asked about it. After reading a blazing review in the Gazette about how full of garbage it was, I went expecting it to be a “You must Believe” film made by Fundamentalists. I was both wrong and moved to think deeeeeply about the freedoms we have or don’t have in this country. I have begun to wonder over the last couple of years whether America is truly the free-est country on earth. Stein makes it a point to say that regarding science, Poland is freer than we are! Ugh!

Whereas the reviewer had made the part about Nazi Germany out to be hogwash, I found it very interesting and even frightening.

I used to be more open to the idea of Darwinism than I am today. When I viewed another Intelligent Design film that detailed what a single cell contains, it shook the evolutionary theory to the bones.

After seeing the film “Expelled”, I went to see that Yahoo reviewers had to say. After noticing that Yahoo won’t even let their reviewers review the film, I read 20-30 user reviews and found them very balanced and including agnostics, atheists and Christians, are more upset about what they deem a lack of freedom or “being told” what to think, than about the issues of evolution.

I think Ben Stein might have put his finger on something that is bothering the American people but they haven’t known how to articulate it up until now. I think we are nervous about being told what to think. I think we are fearful that we might be losing freedoms we have held dear. I could imagine that a movie like this and a follow up, could be a movie(s) that could shape the American mindset in years to come. I definitely think Ben has the potential for a “cult classic” on his hands.

I am considering having our church go to see this movie. It strikes at the heart of what I stand for, questions! I WANT PEOPLE TO THINK! I DON’T WANT PEOPLE TO SHUT OFF THEIR MINDS JUST BECAUSE THEY MIGHT BELIEVE IN JESUS OR IN GOD!

I came away from this movie being challenged to really think.

Greg

Wow - good insight and perspective. What do the rest of you think? What do Muslim's think? Jews? Hindus? Is this just a Christian topic, or do other faiths struggle with creation vs evolution?

Can’t we just agree to disagree?

No! That’s the resounding answer I tend to get from friends, family (oh man do I get it from the family), newscasters, religious leaders, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindu’s, Scientologists, sports fans, etc. We can’t both have an opinion that’s valid. I’m right and you’re wrong! Bill O’Reilly thinks so. Keith Olberman thinks so. Sean Hannity thinks so. Pat Robertson thinks so. Mugabe thinks so. Al-Sadr thinks so. Kim Jong-il thinks so. Red Sox fans, Yankees fans, Red State / Blue State people, Obama, Clinton, McCain – they all think so. They’re right and if you don’t agree you’re wrong. There is no dialogue – just debate.

In America, at some point during this century, we went from being able to have healthy dialogues to having debates. People feel the need to have to prove themselves right, many times by beating someone down. If I hear someone’s opinion it’s not just good enough for me to understand it, I have to agree with them. If I don’t agree I’m not intelligent. Or I’m close minded. Or I’m uninformed. Maybe they turn up the decibel levels of the conversation. Maybe they get emotional with me. Maybe they decide to talk about me behind my back. When did this happen? Why can’t opinions be different and both be correct? They are opinions after all.

I started this blog as a way to get dialogue going about my brother the Atheists book. Some of the anecdotal feedback has been good: “thanks for letting me know about your brother the Atheists book”; “interesting questions your brother the Atheist is raising”; “good insight into the wackiness that is organized religion – thanks for posting it”. However some has been confusing: “Why are you so angry about your brother the Atheists book?”; “why is your brother the Atheist so angry with your blog?”; “why can’t you see that’s he’s right and you’re wrong?”

Lets get this down in print right now – I’m not angry about the book! I’m not angry with my brother the Atheist! Heck – I want him to sell a million copies, write another book, sell another million copies, get on Oprah and decide to share some of the wealth with me (if he doesn’t share the wealth I’ll be forced to tell all of those embarrassing stories related to bed wetting, fear of spiders, experimentation with cross dressing, etc…. whoops, maybe I just did!). He and I are great friends – at least from my point of view. We travel together, our wives are close friends, we do business together, we make each other laugh, we talk regularly. I don’t think our relationship has changed at all over the past several months/years. The book was not a surprise to me, nor was it a surprise that my brother is an Atheist. He and I have talked about this since we were teens. And for all of my close minded readers, I’m not going to have an issue with his beliefs – sorry. It’s his decision to believe what he wants to. It’s a well informed decision.

Now, hopefully everyone is on the same page here. It’s ok to be different, to like different things, to believe differently. Here are some of the things I believe:

I believe in global warming (sorry Dad) and that it’s our responsibility to help the planet. I believe that Obama would make a better president than either McCain or Clinton. I think Rush, O’Reilly, Hannity, etc are all full of crap and tend to lie or embellish to get their points across. The same goes for Al Franken who’s the same as Rush only left leaning. I think Pat Robertson and Dr. Dobson should retire before they open their mouths the next time. I don’t believe there’s any news agency that’s not biased, and therefore everyone should watch / read multiple sources (not all conservative or all liberal) to get a true picture of what’s going on out there. I disagree with the war in Iraq. I don’t think we should have gone to war in Vietnam. I think ice cream is disgusting. New born puppies smell nicer than new born babies. U2 and REM are the greatest bands of this and most other generations. Dave Mathews Band is overrated. Tequila is the greatest drink invented, next to a Flaming Moe. Baseball on TV sucks. The NCAA tournament is the greatest sporting event in the world. Popeye’s fried chicken is proof of a god. Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino are mailing it in during the late stages of their careers. The Office is currently the best show on TV. Reality TV sucks (all of it) and dumbs’ down all of us. The electric car was a great idea killed by big auto and the government. Frank Caliendo is not funny. The band of gold in the song is a wedding ring.

If you don’t agree with my opinion, ok. Tell me why. Post a comment. I won’t get mad. I might not agree with you… and that’s OK. So what? It’s just my opinion, right?

Ape shall not kill Abe!

I digress from the standard entries to take a moment to remember Charlton Heston. A favorite actor of mine and my brother the Atheist, we'll miss him. Of course we loved him in all apocalyptic movies he made: Planet of the Apes, Omega Man, Soylent Green. Quotes from these movies and others permiate our communications and have for years. "SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!" Just sitting around some days one of us will pop off with some reference that our wives will cringe over.
And he was the voice of God. We grew up watching the Ten Commandments every Easter - it was how we learned a lot about the bible, watching Chuck transform from a pretty boy Egyptian to a studly yet dirty Jewish slave. My brother the Atheist personalized my copy of his book with quote from Planet of the Apes, and he refers to the Ten Commandments in the text. If you haven't seen these movies you should buy them today at Amazon.com or get them from Netflix! Is it interesting that he was both a man who made all of those movies related to God and scripture, and he also was the face of how humans will be destroying the earth during the 60's and 70's? Of course he also was the face of the NRA for a lot of years, which was very sad to me - I couldn't ever get on board with his "we should all be allowed to own guns" rhetoric. Yes people, I'm a Christian who believes the NRA is a waste of time and that the gun lobby is evil. Write it down, print it out, and of course feel free to send me hate mail. Guns are bad, people with guns can be bad, and mixing the two together is not a good idea!!

We'll miss you Chucky - and I guess they will have to pry that gun from your cold dead hands!

The Devil made you do it

Chapter 3 of my brother the Atheists book starts with a discussion of the cop out a lot of people in the world take when it comes to personal responsibility. “I sinned because Satan deceived me”; “I killed that group of Jewish people to fulfill my jihad as outlined by Mohammed”; “I shot at those Muslim’s because they’re on land given to me by God”; “I decided to molest those boys because that’s what I learned in Catholic school”. Ok, that last one was a cheap shot – I might want to leave the cheap shots to my brother the Atheist. But you get the point. Do we really do things without knowing we’re doing it? When I lie, is it really a surprise to me? What about when I commit another sin? If someone cheats on their diet is it because they didn’t have self control, or did some other worldly being temp them? I’m one who believes people make their own decisions – right or wrong. For Christians it’s called free will. For everyone it’s called having a brain and thinking for yourself. Even if someone tells you to do something, you still have to act. His chapter on this starts light and funny, and then gets into a scary story related to why he wrote the book in the first place. It’s an awesome example of misguided Christianity, or a person deciding to justify their behavior by blaming Satan. C’mon, do these people really still exist? I guess so. When I think about it we all probably do it to some degree – it’s a form of self defense so we don’t have to admit that we’re basically evil beings on this planet with our own agenda’s. No matter how hard we try we’re still sinful beings.

Where have I been?

Sorry faithful readers – travel took me away from the blog for a little while. But I’m back and better than ever! I got a chance to reread the book, and I've decided that while my brother the Atheist is angry towards organized religion, and organized Christian religion in particular, he’s really quite funny. When you pull back the layers and emotion, he’s a crack up! I talked to a friend the other day in the grocery store about the book and she commented that parts made her laugh so hard she “wet herself” a little bit! This bit of information is important for two reasons:

1. It made me realize that she not only is a good enough friend to tell be she peed in her pants when reading the book, but also that it’s really quite funny.
2. The book is growing in popularity – she’s not someone who I gave a copy of the book to. Rather she heard about it through another friend, ordered the book and has been reading it.

So we've got some good momentum going on with word of mouth communications. My friend has been reading the book in church which will lead to more readers as she’s asked questions about it. And as more people read and respond I’m hopeful the world will take notice of this first publish work of art from my brother the atheist. Have you purchased your copy yet? If not get to Amazon and get one today!

Why No Cartoons of Mohammad or Allah?

In my brother the Atheist’s book, “the why do I have toenails?” he’s got several pithy comments about Christianity. He’s got quite a few cartoons about old and new testament historical figures and stories. But in all of his discussions he doesn't bother to take on Islam – not even one cartoon making light of the extremists he’s concerned about. I find it interesting that while he’s railing on all things Christian, he skips Muslim’s completely. Heck, the Dane’s published a cartoon of Mohammad (http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=12146&offer=&hidebodyad=true), and several newspapers got together to defend the artist. If all religions are dangerous, as stated in his book, then why not take on the Muslim’s that are touting fear and killing based on their religious beliefs? Mock Mohammad! Question the church leaders in Muslim countries for not stopping the madness! Ask hard questions about why they believe that Mohammad had a vision, the way he asks how anyone can believe that Joseph Smith had a vision. Why leave this large (and growing) religion off the table? I’m OK with asking questions, questioning beliefs, and disagreeing with my beliefs. But the more I dig into this book the more I think the subtitle should be “How to be the best non-Christian you can be”, vs “How to be the best Atheist you can be”.

And since we’re asking the question about Muslim’s, what about Scientologist's and L. Ron Hubbard? He was a wacky sci-fi writer who came up with a religion on his own. Something about space ships coming to earth and dropping people off near a volcano (sorry to paraphrase, but you can visit http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/what-cos.htm or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology for more details). Doesn't this sound like something you can really make fun of? South Park mocked them quite a bit (one of my brother the Atheists favorite shows). I’m sure other people have taken shots at them. But not this book. Why?

So after rereading the first couple of chapters I'm starting to conclude that my brother the Atheist might not believe in any supreme being, but he's really mad at Christianity. I'll need to look deeper into this as I read and talk to him, to gauge what this is all about. Although it's reminding me of the anger some people felt when George Bush was elected last time - there was this weird anger at all republicans and people who voted for him. Not disappointment in not having John Kerry win, or frustration with the process, but an out and out anger at people (including little George) over the results. Is there a link here, or is this a coincidence?

How did organized religion begin?

There's a great song from the '80's by XTC called 'Dear God' (it's been covered by Sarah McLachlan and others). It starts as a rant about humankind and how we've let the world go to pot. Then it changes course and becomes a rant at God - ending with the singer singing that he doesn't believe in God. In the chorus there's a line that has always struck me as very poignant - Did you make mankind after we made you? Interesting question, especially for a non-believer (like my brother the Atheist). Before I was a believer it's something I pondered quite often. When you look at all of the wacky religions out there that are clearly man made (Scientology comes to mind, along with any religion that asks you to cut off your own genitalia, kill your parents, eat garbage from a dumpster, live under the sea, etc), so many are easy to define as having a Deity that was created by the worshipers. But for the big 3 (Christianity, Judaism and Islam), how did they originate? Of course I believe that Christianity and Judaism are real in the sense that God communicated with man after creating the world. And I know the roots of Islam are in the old testament with Mohamed having a revelation from God. But somehow we all got organized and moved our beliefs forward, while Greeks and Romans, Norse and Egyptians all lost their faith... why? Why did these 3 take off? I know I'm leaving off Hinduism and a few others. But focusing on these 3 you've got 5000+ years of history - what the heck else has lasted some statically for 5000 years? It's almost a basic part of society. Doesn't that help (logically) with the relevance of Judeo-Christian beliefs? Surely if it was all made up people wouldn't be as passionate over the years to keep them alive and thriving. Whole empires have risen and fallen during the centuries, yet these 3 religions stay strong... it's interesting to me.

Does this work both ways?

In my brother the Atheist's introduction and throughout his book he talks about his negative perception of Christians spreading the word of God... why do they do this? Why don't they leave us all alone? Who cares about God? Please don't pray in public or say grace over dinner in a public place! Don't trash my beliefs - just leave me alone! It goes on and on. Yet in the introduction he's fast to say he's not trying to convert anyone away from their belief system, just to explain his own. But then he says "Of course, part of explaining my beliefs is to tell you why I think you're wrong and why I think your religion is false and deceitful". Hmmm... seems like he's using the same techniques he's opposed to to drive his own beliefs into the readers mind. I mean why is it OK for someone to use this technique and not for someone else to use the same technique? Hypocrisy is a strong word - so maybe it's not that. Maybe he's not aware that he's basically doing the same things in this book that he despises Christians for doing? I see that a lot these days from politicians, "news media", left/right leaning people, etc. More and more are angry and mean spirited in their disagreements. Something happened in the 90's where people stopped disagreeing and instead decided to belittle each other when they didn't land on the same page. It's amazing how many news shows (Fox News, MSNBC, CNN) trash other shows for something and then do the same exact thing. Have you ever watched O'Reilly and Olberman? These guys are the same - except one is left leaning and one is right leaning. But both spout gunt across the airwaves.

And yes, I used the word Christians previously because after reading through the book I really think the issues discussed are all related to Christians and not other faiths. I don't see much commentary on Scientology, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc... not even much commentary on Judaism. It's pretty slanted as a negative discussion about Christians. I've got to dig deeper into this, but the main point I'm getting from the introduction is that Christianity is made up, my brother the Atheist is mad that anyone would believe in Christianity, and therefore he's going to spend the next 200 pages making light of people's beliefs while sharing his own, and pointing to several examples of Christians who have gone out of their way to misrepresent the truth OR have upset him with their methods. I have to reread the book to get a better grip on some of the points, but this is my initial view. Of course, after you read the book feel free to tell me if I'm off base.

A little angrier than expected - and so am I!

Well, the book was a surprise to me. It's angrier than I expected. Some of it is funny, and some asks good questions. Of course there are differences from what I believe throughout the book - but that's OK. I'm not one to think everyone needs to think like me (although I am the smartest man I know - just ask my wife!), so that's OK. I was surprised by some of what I'd consider mean-spirited-ness in the book. But the more I reflect on what his experience with Christians has been it seems to support why my brother the Atheist has a real issue with Christians. So many Christians seem to miss the boat on the whole evangelism thing. Yes, you should spread the word of God. Yes, you should share your beliefs. I'm in total agreement here. No, you should not SCARE anyone into believing what you believe. No, you should not HARASS anyone if they don't believe what you believe. No, you should not become a BAD EXAMPLE and forget that Jesus is about loving everyone... man, Christians and others who feel like it's a contest to get someone to "be saved" drive me crazy! Notches on your belt; points of light; saved souls; you're not being judged by how many names you come home with after being out in the world. You're being judged by being true to your beliefs and faith. You're being judged by being Godly in your daily walk. You're being judged by your willingness to follow Christ. I can tell from his book that the Christians he's run into where some bizarre number crunching zealots who pushed and pushed him and his wife until they get tired of the rhetoric. When they politely said "no thanks" the backlash began. It reminds me of the old time track people used to leave for me before I was saved - the one with the picture of Hell on the back and the warning to repent today "lest ye be cast into the burning lake for eternity". While I believe in Hell and Heaven, what's the point in scaring someone or pissing them off (that's going to make my wife happy)? Man, what's wrong with people? It reminds me of Michelle's favorite bumper sticker (seen a lot in Colorado Springs near Focus on the Family) - "Lord, protect me from your followers". How real is that? Dudes on TV (Pat Robertson, Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Falwell, Benny Hin, John Ankerberg, etc) that make our lives harder. They say wacky stuff, say they're the spokes person for all of us, and then we're left to clean up their messes. Just shut up and let us be real people to real people and maybe through relationship non-Christians will see we're pretty much like them. Sometimes confused, sometimes not good, sometimes scared, sometimes we don't have all of the answers (again not me - refer to the smartest man comment)... most of us are normal people with normal problems and normal issues. Where people after all. And all people are flawed. I'd love to actually live my life showing the world what kind of a man I am, and then when asked I can tell them what I believe. Heck, I might even share it with someone as I'm building a relationship with them. But forcing my beliefs on someone is not going to be well received. I don't like tomatoes. Never have. No amount of pressure from some dude on the street selling tomato's is going to change my mind. However if a friend, or brother, or my wife says "try a tomato", it carries some weight and I just might try it (of course tomatoes are a bad example since they're pretty slimy inside - but hopefully you get my very simple point). Well, I could rant all day about this but I'm going to take a break, maybe I'll have a beer, and then I'll write a little more about the book and my thoughts.

The book has arrived!

That's right - after the long wait it's finally here. You can order it through Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1434830241) or through my brother the Atheists' website (http://toenailsbook.com/). It's a fast read (200 pages) but it's chock full of interesting thoughts and ideas. I read it last week and am reading it again to process through it a little more. I'm going to start with my impressions under a separate entry - hopefully others will read the book and comment or at least reply to my entries. A little teaser - he is definitely not a believer in Christianity or Judaism. Read the next entry for more...

Evolution vs Creation

As is the norm for most of my non-Christian friends (and even some Christian friend), my brother the Atheist does not believe in Creationism. He's a firm believer in Evolution. Here is an excerpt from chapter 4 in his upcoming book:

"...I see proof every day that we weren’t literally plastered together from clay and dirt by some magical sculptor’s hands, but instead evolved from more primitive life forms. I’m reminded of this every time I trim my toenails, which sadly, according to my wife, isn’t often enough... My wife is convinced that I have toenails solely to torture her when we sleep. But I say they’re not long and sharp, it’s just the angle at which they grow that makes them feel long and sharp when they brush against her leg in the middle of the night. ...Could it be that toenails are proof that we are descended from some other animal, a creature that used its feet to climb trees, dig in the dirt, and defend itself? And if they are proof of such evolutionary beginnings, does that mean we weren’t crafted from clay? And would that mean the Bible is inaccurate?"

What am I to say about this? Clearly his logic drops off a bit - but for those who do not believe that the bible is more than a book written by men over the years, or that the Koran is simply a book a nice guy put together years ago after wanting to split away from the religions of the time, how do we engage in an informed discussion based on scientific facts to help rationalize our belief in Creationism? I tend to fall down on these points quite a lot - and easily say things like "I'm not a religious scholar nor have I studied theology, so I go by faith". Ok, that sounds good to Christians and probably people of other faiths, but to non-believers it's a bit weak. I know many books have been written on these subjects, but most that I've read (don't get me started on Ken Ham - talk about weak writing!) make painful jumps in logic about as credible as my brother the Atheist's jump in logic from chapter 4. What scientific data exists to support Creationism? Is there any? Can anyone really refute Evolution?

Atheist Friends? Muslim Friends?

I have a lot of friends who don't believe in God. Is that a big deal? Not really. It helps me remember that we're all different in this world, starting from different places and points of view. And it helps me stay sharp in my beliefs, and it forces me to revisit what's important to me vs what's legalistic vs what's not a big deal. As I think through my closest friends, its probably split between Christians and non-believers (not necessarily all Atheists - some folks who are of other beliefs). My mother is Arabic but she's not a Muslim, nor is any of our immediate family. But I don't have any close Muslim friends. Odd? I don't know that I even know any Muslims. I find it odd that I know a lot more Atheists than I do Muslims, Hindu's, Mormon's, etc... is that unique to me? Is it the circles I run in? I might have met a few Muslims but I'm not sure. Maybe it's the regions I've lived in (Dallas, Texas; Indiana, Denver/Colorado Spring, Colorado; Phoenix,Arizona) in the US. But I've worked all over the place and traveled all over the world. You'd think I would have run into more Muslim's. I will say most of my non-believer friends are very opened minded willing to discuss a lot of diverse topics - and they tend not to rant and rave when they disagree with me (except for some of my family members :) ). They are (get ready for this!!) VERY Christ-like in their behavior. Most care about the downtrodden, most focus on social programs, most love all kinds of people, most care about the world and where it's headed. But a lot of them get fired up when talking about Christians - not when they talk about anyone else. We're kind of polarizing, aren't we. But seriously - why do such compassionate, caring, forgiving people turn into angry, disparaging, mean spirited people when talking about Christians? What triggers this response? I need to ask my friends - or maybe they'll read this and respond. What about you readers - where do you fall in all of this?

Mohamed Bashing?

I'm not an expert on religion at all - but I do know that around the world when Mohamed is disparaged or even drawn in a political cartoon, there tends to be serious repercussions. However, is this response true in other faiths? If I draw a cartoon making fun of Vishnu, do Hindu's come looking for me? I know when people speak ill of Jesus it bothers me, but not to the point of jihad. So what's the deal? If Mohamed sacred to the point of killing other human beings? What about Alla? What about the other prophets in Islam? Is it just the one guy, or all guys are untouchable when it comes to humor? The Simpson's make fun of all faiths - except Islam. The same with South Park. Is it because if they cross the line and depict Mohamed in a negative or humorous light a jihad will be declared on them and their families? Can we have firm political discussions about faith without it leading to violence? For example, if I believe that Christianity is the true faith, and have this discussion with a Muslim, is he expected to get violent if I think Mohamed was just a guy vs something more? Man, getting clarity on this would help go a long way to preventing my Brother the Atheist from getting killed for things he's putting in his book about Islam and Mohamed...

Faith / Belief Poll

OK - not everyone thinks they have a belief or faith. That's crap! You believe in something - whether it's believing in a god, or believing in evolution, or believing in some cool cosmic mistake, at your core you must have some kernel of logic, hope, information, etc that drives you. If you don't - wow! I want to know you more!! Take my poll on beliefs and let me know you answered the way you did.

What is an Atheist?

Here is the definition from dictionary.com:

a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.

—Synonyms: Atheist, agnostic, infidel, skeptic refer to persons not inclined toward religious belief or a particular form of religious belief. An atheist is one who denies the existence of a deity or of divine beings. An agnostic is one who believes it impossible to know anything about God or about the creation of the universe and refrains from commitment to any religious doctrine. Infidel means an unbeliever, especially a nonbeliever in Islam or Christianity. A skeptic doubts and is critical of all accepted doctrines and creeds.

Hmmm - sounds like my brother. Do you know anyone like this? Is this definition accurate?

Back Cover - Hilarious?

I found the back cover art to be funny - probably a little bit of a surprise to some readers here. But come on - you gotta admit you smiled a little bit, right?

Now I'm not sure that quoting Mohammed was a good idea - some folks make take offense and response negatively. But Abraham talking about having a BLT??? HA! And book burning parties - that's comedy.

The creativity alone should have impressed you - and it leads me to wonder about the content even more.

Thoughts / comments?

A book for all people?

My brother has written a book. I'm not sure if it's a good book or not. I've seen excerpts, seen the front and back cover, the table of contents, etc. It's supposed to be humorous - which I don't doubt - he's a funny guy (a favorite past time at family gatherings is for he and I to get everyone else laughing so hard tears are flowing and "accidents" might be happening).

He's an atheist - is that supposed to be capitalized, like Muslim or Christian? I don't know, so to prevent anyone from getting upset with me I'll capitalize it from now on.

OK, he's an Atheist. So, what's the big deal? Not much - unless you're worried about his eternal soul. Obviously I'm a Christian - my wife and I are the only ones in my immediate family. Again, not a big deal for our regular interactions - we love them and have no doubt they love us. We don't agree on some things, we agree on others. Our core difference is a big one.

So this book he's written - it's funny (I hope). It's not a slam on Christianity specifically - it's a humorous poke at all religions. Islam - he mocks it. Scientology - he mocks it. Judaism - he mocks it. Christianity - he mocks it. The list goes on and on. Some might be over the line, some might be funny. But he's also raises hard questions - many that most of us believers (regardless of what we believe in) probably don't want to address.

It seems like the kind of book where in one chapter I'll be cheering him on, while in another I'll be railing against him. Discussion is bound to be spurred on by my Atheist brother.

His book will be available within a week. You can visit his website at http://toenailsbook.com/. I've put some of the content up on this site as well. Comments and feedback are appreciated - of course if you read his book I'll value your feedback a little more!

I'm trying to get some pages posted, along with the cover art and table of contents. I'm having trouble with the TOC, but the rest should help you better understand what we're getting into. WHen the book is published I'll get a few more pages online. But you can always buy the book yourself to read it in its entirty -like reading any book you'll want to get the complete view before commenting too much. And I'll review the comments - not for content but for spam - before allowing them to post. No point in letting the spam machines fill up the cyberspace any more than they already do!