These days dogs are vacationing at posh pet resorts, serving as ring bearers at weddings, and now they’re even having their faith celebrated. This video shows us the new trend of the bark mitzvah.

In this canine equivalent of the bar and bat mitzvah we celebrate a puppy’s journey into doghood. The pooches don’t need to recite any Hebrew, but they do get to wear adorable dog-sized yarmulkes and indulge in some cake. And that’s what’s important, right?

Not according to one rabbi who declares the whole ceremony “degrading,” but we say he needs to lighten up. How could anything so cute be wrong?

Bishop Eddie Long’s wife, Vanessa Long, filed for divorce from the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church preacher on Thursday.

“After a great deal of deliberation and prayer, I have decided to terminate my marriage to Bishop Eddie L. Long,” Vanessa said in a statement released Friday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

However, just a few hours after issuing the statement about her plans to divorce the bishop, Vanessa withdrew her petition to split from the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church preacher.

She released a follow-up announcement Friday afternoon explaining that she and her husband have agreed to “find healing,” CBS Atlanta reports.

Something smells bad with this…

Colton Burpo believes he saw Heaven and sat on Jesus’ knee when he almost died during surgery. His story became a bestseller called Heaven Is For Real, and it has now been turned into a book for children.

Do I believe this story? Not literally as it’s told by a four-year-old child, no. I don’t think he made it up either, I just think he interpreted what happened to him while he was being operated on according to what he had been taught.

If this kid had been brought up as a Muslim or Buddhist then he would have interpreted thing differently. And if he’d been brought up as an atheist then I suspect he would have had a very down-to-earth experience.

I like to remain open-minded on these things, and I certainly don’t think this whole thing is the invention of the parents in order to make money. As to the rest of it, well, it’s down to what you believe and whether you have faith or not.

To get the best effect: Switch to fullscreen and allow the annotations to pop up. The little square speech bubble in the bottom right should be on red, not grey.

Wow, it’s like being in a chat room full of thirteen year olds.

I must admit that I watched the whole thing and got maybe 10% of what that guy was saying. The speech bubbles were making me laugh too hard to hear him.

But, as for the original intent for the video…

I’ll provide a solid argument that God doesn’t exist when you provide a solid argument that he does.

There, no one wins.

I don’t know about you but Judgment Day for me was pretty painless. And Hell seems to be much like Earth. It’s not even that hot. Unless, of course, Harold Camping got it wrong again. No, that couldn’t be.

Do you remember that old guy who predicted the world was going to end in May? Well, when it didn’t, he claimed he didn’t mean it literally, and that the actual end of the world was going to happen on Oct. 21, 2011.

I’m sat writing this on the morning of Oct. 22, 2011, and guess what? The world didn’t end. It is still, as far as I can see, in one piece. There were no fireballs killing non-believers. In fact, it’s bloody cold.

I can;t wait to hear what Camping’s excuse is this time. And he will set a new date, no doubt, because if he doesn’t then people may stop listening to him and, crucially, stop giving him money. Now that would be a shame.

That isn’t me saying Steve Jobs was spawned from the devil, but it’s what the Westboro Baptist Church appear to believe. Or perhaps they’re just suggesting as much in order to gain publicity.

That’s the truth of it, and unfortunately we all (me included) react by paying attention to these religious bigots.

One of the members of the religious extremist group tweeted about Steve Jobs just hours after it was announced he had died, saying they would be picketing his funeral as “he gave God no glory and taught sin.”

When questioned why this tweet had been sent from an iPhone, the reply came back that God gave us technology. That has to be the stupidest response to an argument I have ever heard.

The guy in the video sums up my feelings pretty damn well.

Google has placed the Dead Sea Scrolls on the Web, and regardless of your belief system these are fascinating and strangely beautiful documents to lay your eyes on.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, as their name suggests, were discovered in the Dead Sea area near Jerusalem after World War II.

After being brought out of the caves they had lain hidden in for centuries, the Dead Sea Scrolls were taken to The Israel Museum. That is where you would have had to go to see them live. Until now.

Google has put the Dead Sea Scrolls online for the first time, meaning everyone, rather than merely biblical scholars, can peruse the ancient documents. And even the most vehement atheist would surely want to do so.

Young Kanon Tipton has been dubbed the world’s youngest preacher after leading congregations at the tender age of four. This pint-sized evangelist is adorable, but he’s also more than a little creepy.

His doting parents obviously believe in Kanon’s gift, but I’m not so sure. Kanon is the grandson of a reverend, so it seems to me that he’s just emulating what he’s seen. When it garners as much attention as this, it’s not easy to see why Kanon continues to “preach.”

Call me a cynic, but this looks more like the case of an ordinary kid that’s a pretty good mimic than any real religious gifts. What do you think?

Before watching this video I didn’t think that religion had any place at a NASCAR race. But that was before I was introduced to the sensational Pastor Joe Nelms.

The good pastor doesn’t just deliver any sermon to fire up the race car drivers and their fans. This is prayer is perfect for the revhead crowd, with nods to major race sponsors Goodyear and Sunoco, and even his “smoking hot wife”! I’m sure she appreciated that very public praise.

No wonder they call this guy the Rocking Reverend. He’s just what the crowds in Nashville need at their race meets. Religious or not, it’s impossible to not appreciate his enthusiasm.

I’m sure there are some very funny Christians out there. But they probably didn’t work on The Waiting Game, the new Christian comedy flick about the “lighter side” of abstinence.

In the film some poor sap gets psyched about losing his V card, only to be jilted by his bride to be at the altar. If this movie sets out to encourage more of us to wait until marriage to do the deed, it’s a dismal failure.

And if it sets out to make us laugh, it probably fails there too. Except of course in that way we giggle over things that are so incredibly god awful.

It’s May 22, 2011. Hooray, we’re still here, the world didn’t end, the Rapture didn’t take place, we’re all fine! What do you say about that Harold Camping?

The real Harold Camping has gone missing, and I assume it’s not because he’s ascended to Heaven along with 200 million other people as he predicted. Instead, he’s licking his wounds over getting it wrong AGAIN.

This video is genius, mocking what Harold Camping was probably doing yesterday afternoon when the world failed to implode. That’s right, he rang Jesus to find out what went wrong.

After Jesus informs Camping he forget after a big night out the Family Radio preacher declares he’s going to give Satan, or maybe even Thor, a chance to prove they’re worth following.

Or maybe not. I certainly won’t be panicking or even changing the way I live in light of this prediction by Harold Camping. This video sees a caller to Family Radio challenging Camping on his pronouncement.

Harold Camping has predicted that the end of the world is going to begin on May 21, 2011. By the end of October it’s going to be all over. Apparently.

Camping previously cited September 6, 1994 as the day when Christ would return and the end of the world would begin. When that didn’t happen he changed his mind and looked toward 2011 instead. Which is handy.

This is one of the many problems I have with some quarters of some religions. It’s used to control people by fear, with pronouncements stating that if you don’t believe then you’re be left behind come Judgment Day.

AP: Pastor Chad Holtz ministered to a congregation in Oxford, North Carolina until he stated that he no longer believed in hell in a blog post to the church website. Holtz told his story to the AP. (March 24)

It is quite a scary world when you are required to believe eternal damnation in the fiery pits of hell to be a Christian. What, not quite sure you can hold onto your followers without the promise of eternal torture if they misbehave?

Okay, so that’s not nice of me to say, but come on! Of all the things they could disagree over, not believing in hell is going to get him the boot?

Sheesh.

“Part 1 of A History of God, a subseries in Evid3nc3’s broader Why I Am No Longer A Christian series.

Based on the same titled book by Karen Armstrong, he presents the history and rise of the God of Abraham from being one of a group of polytheistic gods into the one God.”

This is quite the impressive compilation of basic history that will take you through how the Bible that people are reading today is far from what was out there back in the day.

And he hasn’t even really touched on the First Council of Nicaea yet!

I know this video is going to piss some people off, but I am happy to see people asking the questions I’ve had since childhood.

If this video doesn’t leave you either lost for words or spitting with rage then I’d be surprised. And if you agree with this terrible viewpoint then I worry for your sanity, quite frankly.

Just days after the tragedy in Japan, this woman posted a video to YouTube claiming the earthquake and tsunami were God’s answer to atheism, and as a direct result of prayer.

She has since claimed she was trolling, and doesn’t believe what she was saying in the video. But I don’t quite believe it, and actually think she got scared at the reaction she received to such an extent she backtracked.

So this woman is either a religious nut who loves seeing people getting killed and losing their homes (because it demonstrates God’s power) or a stupid woman who thinks the Japanese earthquake and tsunami is a good excuse to make a name for herself as some kind of prankster. Either way, I hate her. With a passion.

I don’t wish ill on anyone but I have to say I’ve come close with this horrible, horrible person.

Gay marriage is a hot button issue at the moment, with most opposition coming from various churches. So it’s refreshing to watch this video recorded by a Mormon woman supporting homosexuals in their pursuit of equality.

She speaks plainly and from the heart about the issue, with a Christian morality unblemished by the current debate. Her words resonate, reminding Christians of the underlying religious principle of love.

I was saddened to read that there was such backlash to her original posting of this video that she removed it from the web. I’m glad she reconsidered that decision. This is the kind of message that deserves to be heard.

This video shows Jeremy Jahns reviewing The Rite, a new movie starring Anthony Hopkins and, erm, some guy no one seems to have heard of.

OK, his name is Colin O’Donoghue and he has been in a few other things. But he definitely has one of those faces you forget in a hurry. I mean no offense by that because I have a similar face.

I really don’t know why anyone would bother making a movie dealing with exorcism at this point, as it’s been done to death. Hell, there have even been spoofs. And they’ll never beat The Exorcist anyway.

Still, bad movies always make for good movie reviews. The rule is that the worse the film is the better the review is, as the reviewer can go to town on the film and rip it to shreds with humor and bile.

Kevin Smith’s new movie Red State premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last night. The actual screening got mixed reviews, but it was what happened outside that was arguably more interesting.

The Westboro Baptist Church and its cronies decided to picket the film and the festival because free speech is obviously a bad thing. At least it is when what is being said isn’t something you believe in.

I just wish the media wouldn’t give these idiots the time of day; take away the publicity and they would slink back to whatever hole they emerged from.

The only reason I’m posting this video is to support the other side, those brave souls who protested the protesters. And to support Kevin Smith, who is never afraid of tackling a difficult subject matter.

Even if Red State is crap, which I doubt it is, I’ll go and see it so that Smith and others like him keep on doing what they’re doing.

The Westboro Baptist Church are at it again, speaking out about the deaths of those shot in Tucson, Arizona recently. According to Fred Phelps and his followers these deaths were an act of God.

If you haven’t ever heard of the Westboro Baptist Church then I envy you. I wish I’d never heard of these right-wing religious zealots who feel it’s right to march up and down at funerals with foul-mouthed banners.

The Church, and I use the word lightly, believes that God hates gay people, that homosexuality is a sin, and that our tolerance of this evil way of life is what’s causing wars and death.

It’s one thing to protest at the funerals of soldiers killed in action, but the Westboro Baptist Church is now also planning on protesting at the funeral of the completely innocent 9-year-old girl shot dead last week.

Something must surely be done to stop this happening.

Yes, let’s kill people for committing crimes, because that’s the really decent and Christian thing to do, isn’t it.

I’m against the death penalty for any crime, but I respect the opinions of those who are for it for the most heinous crimes. We’re talking serial killers, serial rapists, child abusers, and that’s about it.

However, according to conservative right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, people who mistreat animals should also be killed by the state, starting with Michael Vick.

Vick did a truly horrible thing, but does he deserve to be executed for his crime? Of course not. And it’s quite frankly shocking to hear a man who claims to be a committed Christian to be calling for a state execution.

What happened to Thou Shalt Not Kill? Or how about forgiveness and giving people a second chance? And I though Hannity was bad.