Renee Hendricks

When I was a Christian there were some things that were just easier to deal with. Illness, disease, and death are listed among those items. As a believer, there seemed to always be a "Godly" reason for these things and it was always a flip of the coin. If the person afflicted managed to beat their illness or disease, it was because "God" had ordained it to be so. On the other hand, if they did not make it, it was "God's" will. There really was no in between, no extenuating circumstances, no mention of secular or scientific reasons for the ultimate decision. Two specific incidents in my life come to mind while thinking about this topic. First being when my step-father died. He had cancer and it was fairly late when the doctors found it. He battled for quite some time before it just got the better of him. I recall well-meaning relatives and friends telling me that he was with "God" now. This set off a minor red flag in my brain. Not due to unbelief (as I was a believer still at that... - Renee Hendricks

As an atheist/skeptic who participates and watches quite a few conversations online, I'm rather used to reading "teh stupid". Some fundamentalists have some rather hilariously ignorant things they tend to put out on the 'net. Usually, I don't expect that sort of thing to happen with too many skeptics. However, on occasion, I am disturbingly surprised. Case in point, one EllenBeth Wachs. According to her Twitter account, she is the president of Humanists of Florida and the founder of The Atheist Empathy Campaign. And yet, she actually stated this the other day: I pointed out what utter shit this was and I didn't reply directly to her as I know how her little group tends to deal with discenting opinions. And, predictably, she reacted exactly in that matter (it seems she runs a "vanity search" on herself so just the mere mention of her name pops up and I'm sure plays a whining baby sound for her). It is interesting to note that she in no way supported her little bit of vomit. She just... - Renee Hendricks