Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 10:07     Subject: Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The Bible has proved remarkably accurate. By scholars and historians, people who love to find inconsistencies and errors.


The bible is loaded with scientific errors: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Biblical_scientific_errors

The bible is loaded with historical errors: https://thirdmill.org/answers/answer.asp/file/39817

The bible is loaded with internal contradictions: https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/

In addition to being loaded with immoral stuff about slavery, the rights of women, incest, rape, and many other things we have covered here many times. Happy to cite again if you need.

So there's a whole bunch of evidence your post is incorrect.


This link doesn’t identify the author of the page. It isn’t annotated. There are no sources, footnotes, links, or citations.

Nothing at your link can be verified. None of the information could even be submitted as a paper at your local community college for credit in a college course because the professor would need the sources annotated and the information credited to the people who verified the information.

Your professor might give you a chance to add what was necessary so they could grade your paper but that is doubtful because by the time you are in college they expect you to know that information and to do what was expected independently.

The professor would already have give you a set of instructions about annotation and crediting sources and you would have failed to do those things.


I'll do the homework for you, as you ask. Tell me specifically which points you disagree with.


The author should have identified their sources and provided the exact place to find the information. That is standard across all scholarship.

How about you identify the author?

Each point needs a source, annotated and detailed in the footnotes.

You can provide that, as the author (who is anonymous and unknown) did not.

Every work of scholarship must have ab identified author and list their education, degrees, etc.


Since you won't list the points you disagree with? You won't accept that I will provide the citations?

Why not?


I would like to know the author of this link and where they found their information?

You can provide it here, no one is stopping you from providing it. Please proceed.


The first post, https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Biblical_scientific_errors, has citations for every single claim. It even contains mathmatical proof therein.

The second one https://thirdmill.org/answers/answer.asp/file/39817 as an example:

One such example is that of Acts 5, where Luke writes of the Pharisee Gamaliel's speech (vv. 34-39). This speech would have taken place around AD 35-40, yet it refers to Theudas' revolt of AD 46-47 as a past event.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theudas#:~:text=Theudas%20(%2F%CB%88%CE%B8ju%CB%90d,in%20a%20short%2Dlived%20revolt.

Furthermore, Gamaliel is made to say that "Judas the Galilean" raised a revolt which followed that of Theudas - but Judas' revolt was in AD 6 or 7! We know these dates from Josephus, most notably, as well as from other records.


Josephus good enough a source for you? Unless you think Josephus was a forgery, which is fine with me, but opens a lot of other discussions.

Maybe these are better historical inaccuracy links for you:

https://religions.wiki/index.php/The_Bible_is_not_a_reliable_historical_source
https://biblefails.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/scientific-and-historical-inaccuracies-in-the-bible/

I have many more if you need them.

The third one: https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/ is self citing as it is simply textual criticism of a single book.

There you go!


So you don’t know the author of the page?


Which page you are talking about? I have listed multiple. What issue do you take with what has been cited? You wanted citations, you got them.

So until you provide equally cited contradictions, you can't even dispute, let alone settle, the points made, and they will stand.

Why can't you just have your book as a wonderful metaphor for your life? Why do you have to make it literal?

Don't you wonder what shrimp tastes like? I am certain you have never eaten it, since it is explicitly forbidden, just like gay sex.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 10:05     Subject: Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:“Homophobia” literally means “fear of homosexuality/homosexuals”.

I don’t know a single person who fears them, or their lifestyle.

But the Bible is quite clear that it is a Sin. All peoples are deserving of love and are able to receive the mercy of God if they seek it. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t sinners.

Homosexuals are sinners. But I don’t know anyone who fears them.

See the Bible doesn’t say anywhere that being homosexual and loving another adult of the sane sex is a sin.


Lust is a sin, regardless of the sex of the subject of the attraction. Sex between men, between women, or between people and animals, are all explicitly defined as sin in the Book of Leviticus.

This really isn’t subject to argument or interpretation.

You can choose to agree or not, but the text itself is perfectly unambiguous.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 09:59     Subject: Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

Citing/Documenting Resources
Learn about: Why and how to cite sources, plagiarism, citation style guides, and citation generators.

What does citing a source mean?
Citing or documenting information sources is an important part of the research process.
Once your research paper is complete you may need to create a Bibliography or List of Works Cited.
To cite a source means to give credit for the original source of information, an idea, or way of articulating an idea. It is a standardized method of acknowledging resources used in your research.


Why cite sources?
Scholarly discourse
Scholars cite their sources and provide lists of the sources to give credit to the work of other researchers, and so that colleagues and others can locate the source.
Document your research
Instructors are interested in knowing which ideas stem from the student and which ideas are built upon those of other writers. Citing sources gives your instructor a sense of how much work you've done on a paper -- what have you read? what have you thought about on your own?
Ethics
If you don't cite your sources, you are not giving credit for the work of others. This is called plagiarism and is considered a serious offense by all universities.

How does one cite a source?
There are many different ways to cite sources using different citation styles.

Several standards have been created by different academic fields and publishers for documenting sources; MLA, APA, Chicago.

Check with your instructor if you are unsure which citation style is appropriate for your research paper.

Citation style guides provide the correct format to use for creating your Bibliography or List of Works Cited. Additional information pertaining to every aspect of the research process is also discussed at length.

No matter which citation style you select, the basic bibliographic citation information required is the same. Be sure to collect this information as your research progresses.

For books: author, title, place of publication, publisher, and publication year.
For articles: author, title of article, title of journal, volume, issue, date, page numbers, and doi or permalink.
For web page resources: author, title of page, Web address or URL, and date of access.
See the Citation Styles Guides & Tools page for links to books and websites that will teach you how to cite both online and print sources using APA, MLA, and other citation styles.


https://library.uaf.edu/instruction/readings/citing-documenting-resources#:~:text=For%20books%3A%20author%2C%20title%2C,URL%2C%20and%20date%20of%20access.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 09:56     Subject: Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:“Homophobia” literally means “fear of homosexuality/homosexuals”.

I don’t know a single person who fears them, or their lifestyle.

But the Bible is quite clear that it is a Sin. All peoples are deserving of love and are able to receive the mercy of God if they seek it. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t sinners.

Homosexuals are sinners. But I don’t know anyone who fears them.


Maybe haters is a better word. Or bigot.


As long as it’s also applied equally to the militant atheists who hate people of faith, and to the members of the LGBTVQIA+ community who revel in the desecration and sexualization of religion (Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and other similar groups). As long as those people are also called “haters” and “bigots”, I can accept it.

But we all know they won’t be, don’t we? Of course. Such derision is a one-way street.


And that’s fine. Hell has unlimited room. As they will one day come to find.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 09:53     Subject: Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

https://biblefails.wordpress.com/about/

Who is the author of this source? They don’t provide any information about their education or scholarship, and they don’t have a name?
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 09:51     Subject: Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The Bible has proved remarkably accurate. By scholars and historians, people who love to find inconsistencies and errors.


The bible is loaded with scientific errors: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Biblical_scientific_errors

The bible is loaded with historical errors: https://thirdmill.org/answers/answer.asp/file/39817

The bible is loaded with internal contradictions: https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/

In addition to being loaded with immoral stuff about slavery, the rights of women, incest, rape, and many other things we have covered here many times. Happy to cite again if you need.

So there's a whole bunch of evidence your post is incorrect.


This link doesn’t identify the author of the page. It isn’t annotated. There are no sources, footnotes, links, or citations.

Nothing at your link can be verified. None of the information could even be submitted as a paper at your local community college for credit in a college course because the professor would need the sources annotated and the information credited to the people who verified the information.

Your professor might give you a chance to add what was necessary so they could grade your paper but that is doubtful because by the time you are in college they expect you to know that information and to do what was expected independently.

The professor would already have give you a set of instructions about annotation and crediting sources and you would have failed to do those things.


I'll do the homework for you, as you ask. Tell me specifically which points you disagree with.


The author should have identified their sources and provided the exact place to find the information. That is standard across all scholarship.

How about you identify the author?

Each point needs a source, annotated and detailed in the footnotes.

You can provide that, as the author (who is anonymous and unknown) did not.

Every work of scholarship must have ab identified author and list their education, degrees, etc.


Since you won't list the points you disagree with? You won't accept that I will provide the citations?

Why not?


I would like to know the author of this link and where they found their information?

You can provide it here, no one is stopping you from providing it. Please proceed.


The first post, https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Biblical_scientific_errors, has citations for every single claim. It even contains mathmatical proof therein.

The second one https://thirdmill.org/answers/answer.asp/file/39817 as an example:

One such example is that of Acts 5, where Luke writes of the Pharisee Gamaliel's speech (vv. 34-39). This speech would have taken place around AD 35-40, yet it refers to Theudas' revolt of AD 46-47 as a past event.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theudas#:~:text=Theudas%20(%2F%CB%88%CE%B8ju%CB%90d,in%20a%20short%2Dlived%20revolt.

Furthermore, Gamaliel is made to say that "Judas the Galilean" raised a revolt which followed that of Theudas - but Judas' revolt was in AD 6 or 7! We know these dates from Josephus, most notably, as well as from other records.


Josephus good enough a source for you? Unless you think Josephus was a forgery, which is fine with me, but opens a lot of other discussions.

Maybe these are better historical inaccuracy links for you:

https://religions.wiki/index.php/The_Bible_is_not_a_reliable_historical_source
https://biblefails.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/scientific-and-historical-inaccuracies-in-the-bible/

I have many more if you need them.

The third one: https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/ is self citing as it is simply textual criticism of a single book.

There you go!


So you don’t know the author of the page?
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 09:45     Subject: Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The Bible has proved remarkably accurate. By scholars and historians, people who love to find inconsistencies and errors.


The bible is loaded with scientific errors: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Biblical_scientific_errors

The bible is loaded with historical errors: https://thirdmill.org/answers/answer.asp/file/39817

The bible is loaded with internal contradictions: https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/

In addition to being loaded with immoral stuff about slavery, the rights of women, incest, rape, and many other things we have covered here many times. Happy to cite again if you need.

So there's a whole bunch of evidence your post is incorrect.


This link doesn’t identify the author of the page. It isn’t annotated. There are no sources, footnotes, links, or citations.

Nothing at your link can be verified. None of the information could even be submitted as a paper at your local community college for credit in a college course because the professor would need the sources annotated and the information credited to the people who verified the information.

Your professor might give you a chance to add what was necessary so they could grade your paper but that is doubtful because by the time you are in college they expect you to know that information and to do what was expected independently.

The professor would already have give you a set of instructions about annotation and crediting sources and you would have failed to do those things.


I'll do the homework for you, as you ask. Tell me specifically which points you disagree with.


The author should have identified their sources and provided the exact place to find the information. That is standard across all scholarship.

How about you identify the author?

Each point needs a source, annotated and detailed in the footnotes.

You can provide that, as the author (who is anonymous and unknown) did not.

Every work of scholarship must have ab identified author and list their education, degrees, etc.


Since you won't list the points you disagree with? You won't accept that I will provide the citations?

Why not?


I would like to know the author of this link and where they found their information?

You can provide it here, no one is stopping you from providing it. Please proceed.


The first post, https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Biblical_scientific_errors, has citations for every single claim. It even contains mathmatical proof therein.

The second one https://thirdmill.org/answers/answer.asp/file/39817 as an example:

One such example is that of Acts 5, where Luke writes of the Pharisee Gamaliel's speech (vv. 34-39). This speech would have taken place around AD 35-40, yet it refers to Theudas' revolt of AD 46-47 as a past event.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theudas#:~:text=Theudas%20(%2F%CB%88%CE%B8ju%CB%90d,in%20a%20short%2Dlived%20revolt.

Furthermore, Gamaliel is made to say that "Judas the Galilean" raised a revolt which followed that of Theudas - but Judas' revolt was in AD 6 or 7! We know these dates from Josephus, most notably, as well as from other records.


Josephus good enough a source for you? Unless you think Josephus was a forgery, which is fine with me, but opens a lot of other discussions.

Maybe these are better historical inaccuracy links for you:

https://religions.wiki/index.php/The_Bible_is_not_a_reliable_historical_source
https://biblefails.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/scientific-and-historical-inaccuracies-in-the-bible/

I have many more if you need them.

The third one: https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/ is self citing as it is simply textual criticism of a single book.

There you go!
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 09:38     Subject: Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

It’s not merely the passages that are explicitly stating that men having relations with other men (or as some might argue—other boys) us a sin.

The other challenge for proponents of the idea that the practice of gay relationships is “sinful” and that God does not bless “gay marriage” is that marriage itself is Biblically described as an institution designed by God to join a man and a woman (male and female) together with him in the covenant of marriage.

So I can get behind “acceptance” that gayness maybe isn’t a sin in the eyes of God due to some mistranslation or differing interpretations …..
But it’s a bit more than a stretch to say that God intended to include same sex couples under the “marriage covenant” since that’s a completely different definition. You can point to any mention in the Bible of marriage that doesn’t specify man and woman, make and female, or husband and wife.
Those words have actual meaning—despite what the current trends attempting to redefine them would suggest.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 09:34     Subject: Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The Bible has proved remarkably accurate. By scholars and historians, people who love to find inconsistencies and errors.


The bible is loaded with scientific errors: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Biblical_scientific_errors

The bible is loaded with historical errors: https://thirdmill.org/answers/answer.asp/file/39817

The bible is loaded with internal contradictions: https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/

In addition to being loaded with immoral stuff about slavery, the rights of women, incest, rape, and many other things we have covered here many times. Happy to cite again if you need.

So there's a whole bunch of evidence your post is incorrect.


This link doesn’t identify the author of the page. It isn’t annotated. There are no sources, footnotes, links, or citations.

Nothing at your link can be verified. None of the information could even be submitted as a paper at your local community college for credit in a college course because the professor would need the sources annotated and the information credited to the people who verified the information.

Your professor might give you a chance to add what was necessary so they could grade your paper but that is doubtful because by the time you are in college they expect you to know that information and to do what was expected independently.

The professor would already have give you a set of instructions about annotation and crediting sources and you would have failed to do those things.


I'll do the homework for you, as you ask. Tell me specifically which points you disagree with.


The author should have identified their sources and provided the exact place to find the information. That is standard across all scholarship.

How about you identify the author?

Each point needs a source, annotated and detailed in the footnotes.

You can provide that, as the author (who is anonymous and unknown) did not.

Every work of scholarship must have ab identified author and list their education, degrees, etc.


You keep repeating yourself, so I will also.

Provide the points you disagree with, and I will provide all the citations therein.

Maybe you can't because you know those points are true, and you are trying a desperate ad-hominem defense? Prove me wrong by accepting the challenge. You'll get all the citations you need, done properly, and will have the chance to challenge them with your own.

That's how it works when you are being honest.


Who is the author of the link you provided? Start there.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 09:33     Subject: Re:Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

Anonymous wrote:
That is what is required when scholars evaluate the Bible.


The vast majority of Bible "scholars" are biased. They aren't really relevant to serious discussions.


That’s why other scholars criticize and critique their work.

That’s why there are established standards for scholarship and criteria needed to be considered serious and reputable.

Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 09:32     Subject: Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The Bible has proved remarkably accurate. By scholars and historians, people who love to find inconsistencies and errors.


The bible is loaded with scientific errors: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Biblical_scientific_errors

The bible is loaded with historical errors: https://thirdmill.org/answers/answer.asp/file/39817

The bible is loaded with internal contradictions: https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/

In addition to being loaded with immoral stuff about slavery, the rights of women, incest, rape, and many other things we have covered here many times. Happy to cite again if you need.

So there's a whole bunch of evidence your post is incorrect.


This link doesn’t identify the author of the page. It isn’t annotated. There are no sources, footnotes, links, or citations.

Nothing at your link can be verified. None of the information could even be submitted as a paper at your local community college for credit in a college course because the professor would need the sources annotated and the information credited to the people who verified the information.

Your professor might give you a chance to add what was necessary so they could grade your paper but that is doubtful because by the time you are in college they expect you to know that information and to do what was expected independently.

The professor would already have give you a set of instructions about annotation and crediting sources and you would have failed to do those things.


I'll do the homework for you, as you ask. Tell me specifically which points you disagree with.


The author should have identified their sources and provided the exact place to find the information. That is standard across all scholarship.

How about you identify the author?

Each point needs a source, annotated and detailed in the footnotes.

You can provide that, as the author (who is anonymous and unknown) did not.

Every work of scholarship must have ab identified author and list their education, degrees, etc.


You keep repeating yourself, so I will also.

Provide the points you disagree with, and I will provide all the citations therein.

Maybe you can't because you know those points are true, and you are trying a desperate ad-hominem defense? Prove me wrong by accepting the challenge. You'll get all the citations you need, done properly, and will have the chance to challenge them with your own.

That's how it works when you are being honest.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 09:31     Subject: Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The Bible has proved remarkably accurate. By scholars and historians, people who love to find inconsistencies and errors.


The bible is loaded with scientific errors: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Biblical_scientific_errors

The bible is loaded with historical errors: https://thirdmill.org/answers/answer.asp/file/39817

The bible is loaded with internal contradictions: https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/

In addition to being loaded with immoral stuff about slavery, the rights of women, incest, rape, and many other things we have covered here many times. Happy to cite again if you need.

So there's a whole bunch of evidence your post is incorrect.


This link doesn’t identify the author of the page. It isn’t annotated. There are no sources, footnotes, links, or citations.

Nothing at your link can be verified. None of the information could even be submitted as a paper at your local community college for credit in a college course because the professor would need the sources annotated and the information credited to the people who verified the information.

Your professor might give you a chance to add what was necessary so they could grade your paper but that is doubtful because by the time you are in college they expect you to know that information and to do what was expected independently.

The professor would already have give you a set of instructions about annotation and crediting sources and you would have failed to do those things.


I'll do the homework for you, as you ask. Tell me specifically which points you disagree with.


The author should have identified their sources and provided the exact place to find the information. That is standard across all scholarship.

How about you identify the author?

Each point needs a source, annotated and detailed in the footnotes.

You can provide that, as the author (who is anonymous and unknown) did not.

Every work of scholarship must have ab identified author and list their education, degrees, etc.


Since you won't list the points you disagree with? You won't accept that I will provide the citations?

Why not?


I would like to know the author of this link and where they found their information?

You can provide it here, no one is stopping you from providing it. Please proceed.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 09:29     Subject: Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:RationalWiki is an online wiki which is written from a scientific skeptic, secular, and progressive perspective. If you want to provide a source that is reliable from scholarly sources or historical sources, that’s acceptable. The source you offered is not from scholarship or historical sources, data, or records.

Who is the author of the information at your link?


Which points are you disputing? Then I can provide the citations you seek. Happily.


This link doesn’t identify the author of the page. It isn’t annotated. There are no sources, footnotes, links, or citations.

Who is the author of this link, and where is every claim sourced and cited?


You just repeated your point, and did not do as asked. Tell me which of the points you disagree with and I will provide the evidence and citations.


It’s not my personal disagreement.

It’s the well known fact that claims must be supported and the information cited and annotated.

Look at wikipedia and note how even that website sources and links information.

If a claim or statistic or piece of data is unsourced on wikipedia, (citation needed) appears in brackets to let the reader know there is no source provided.

Everything needs an author, a source, citation, and annotation.

Wikipedia even provides those things, while your link doesn’t even provide an author.

Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 09:28     Subject: Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The staff at your 3rd link:

Nick Fish
President

Nick Fish is a seasoned civil rights and civil liberties activist with more than a decade of political, organizing, and leadership experience with many of the nation’s most prominent political organizations and progressive non-profits. A native of Michigan, Nick studied political science at Albion College before working in Raleigh, North Carolina, managing a voter outreach office that registered more than 5,000 new voters and knocked on 25,000 doors in the two months leading up to the 2008 election.


Alison M. Gill
Vice President, Legal and Policy

Alison Gill manages American Atheists’ federal and state advocacy for religious equality and litigation activities to protect the separation of religion and government. Alison is a nationally recognized expert on civil rights law and state advocacy.

Prior to her work with American Atheists, Alison worked as a consultant to nonprofits focusing on advocacy strategy and systemic change and as Senior Legislative Counsel at the Human Rights Campaign, where she managed state-level advocacy on issues such as conversion therapy, bullying prevention, education discrimination, health and wellness, youth homelessness, and data collection.

Debbie Goddard
Vice President, Programs

Debbie Goddard has over two decades of experience as an organizer and activist. She became involved with the secular movement as a college student in 2000 and attended atheist, freethinker, humanist, and skeptic group meetings in Philadelphia, New York City, New Jersey, and central Pennsylvania. Her involvement increased over time: she served on local advisory boards, started a student group, edited a monthly campus freethought email newsletter, and held a work-study position at the Center for Inquiry’s office in Rockefeller Center. In 2002, she was recognized in a Beliefnet “Godless Who’s Who” list as “The Student Activist” and in the Washington Blade as an “out” nonbeliever.

She began working in the Department of Campus & Community Programs at the Center for Inquiry in Amherst, NY, in 2006. After serving as a field organizer and as campus outreach coordinator, she became Outreach Director in 2012 and managed CFI’s U.S. branches and the international student outreach program. She also directed African Americans for Humanism. In 2012, she led a notable billboard and ad campaign featuring black atheists, and in 2009, she coordinated an international campaign highlighting blasphemy laws and free expression. Additionally, she was the lead organizer for the Women in Secularism 4 conference and the annual CFI Leadership Conference.

Debbie is also engaged in LGBTQ activism, civil rights work, and training new organizers in her community.



Martina Fern
Senior Director of Development

Martina Fern is a seasoned development professional with more than 20 years of experience in fundraising for a wide range of groups, including human services, animal welfare, public media, and healthcare.

Known in the atheist community for building relationships and community, she approaches fundraising from a Humanistic Management perspective.

She is a native of Germany, where she studied languages and political science, and is engaged in civic groups including Rotary International and Zonta International.

She also advocates for such diverse topics as Holocaust remembrance, the rights of women in the caring professions, and organ donation.


Sam McGuire
National Field Director

Sam McGuire has a varied background in counseling, education, event planning and volunteer management. As National Field Director, she works with local grassroots activists, volunteers and affiliates to help them engage on emerging local civil rights issues, advocate for state level legislation, and build thriving communities.

Sam became involved in secular organizing and activism following the 2012 Reason Rally, first becoming a founding member of the Southern Maryland Chapter of the Washington Area Secular Humanists (WASH) and later President of the regional organization. Sam has volunteered for the American Humanist Association, Camp Quest Chesapeake, and the Secular Coalition for America. In 2016, she was the volunteer coordinator for over 200 volunteers for Reason Rally, as well as helping coordinate on-site logistics. She was elected to the Board of Directors and as President of the Reason Rally Coalition. Sam previously served as a volunteer regional director overseeing the local activism in the Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland areas for American Atheists, earning her the Atheist Activist of the Year award in 2019.

McGuire has a Bachelor’s of Science in Neuropsychology from the University of Massachusetts and a Master’s of Science in Counseling from Johns Hopkins. She is a National Certified Counselor and a Certified Humanist Celebrant.


Melina Cohen
Communications Director

A country kid from the start (and still at heart), Melina Cohen grew up in rural Iowa and was an outspoken advocate for the separation of church and state from an early age. Prior to joining American Atheists, Melina spent six years fighting harmful school privatization legislation in Nebraska, developing a deep understanding of education policy, a highly effective style of advocacy communications, and a strong aversion to the outsized influence of the religious lobby on government. In 2020, Melina co-founded the Abolish Slavery National Network and guided a constitutional amendment ballot measure to a landmark and landslide victory, making Nebraska one of the first states to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude without exception.

Melina holds a Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies in Criminal Justice, History, and English from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. When she isn’t advocating for evidence-based policies that promote the common good, Melina is an avid pun-maker, piano-player, and photo-taker.


Rob Hofmann
State Policy Manager

Rob Hofmann has been an activist and organizer for civil liberties and climate justice since 2016, fighting on issues from the campus to the federal level. Previously, Rob served as the Policy and Advocacy Director for Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a youth-led organization fighting to the end the War on Drugs, providing guidance to campaigns to administer the life saving opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone (Narcan) on college campuses and working to legalize cannabis at the federal level. Rob has also held several leadership roles with the DC ‘Hub’ of the Sunrise Movement, working to establish a carbon-neutral public housing office in the District to expand affordable housing and promote a Green New Deal.

Rob also currently serves as a Steering Committee Member of DC’s Police Out of Transportation Coalition, seeking to develop a traffic enforcement alternative to police for most traffic stops. From Upstate New York with a few years in Providence, Rob has been based in DC since 2019.

Geoffrey Blackwell
Litigation Counsel

Geoffrey Blackwell joined American Atheists in September 2016. As litigation counsel, he responds to reports of possible violations of the separation between religion and government, works with government officials to find mutually acceptable solutions to potential issues, and manages litigation if issues cannot be resolved amicably.

Prior to joining the staff of American Atheists, Geoffrey served as Associate Counsel in a New Jersey civil litigation firm. Every year, he volunteers as a judge for the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, in which law students from 87 countries compete in a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice. He previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Humanist Network.

While earning his JD from Rutgers School of Law, he participated in the school’s Human Rights Advocacy and Litigation Clinic, served as the President of the Rutgers-Camden International Law Society, and independently researched religious discrimination in employment. Prior to law school, he received a Bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia College.


Anthony J. Crincoli
Program Manager

Anthony J. Crincoli is a program manager for American Atheists. They are a proud New Jersey native and Rutgers University graduate with a degree in Psychology and Evolutionary Anthropology. As program manager, Anthony supports American Atheists’ programs and projects by filling a variety of production, administrative, and creative roles.


Emily Stinson
Membership Services Coordinator

Emily Stinson has happily served as the Membership Services Coordinator for American Atheists since early 2024. She is excited about advocating for secular values, fostering a sense of belonging within the organization’s diverse membership base, connecting with like-minded individuals, and supporting the nonreligious community in various ways.

Outside of her professional endeavors, Emily is deeply passionate about animal rights and LGBTQ+ activism as a firm believer that all living beings are deserving of equal rights. She loves horror movies (the worse they are, the better!) and enjoys spending time in her kitchen, creating unique and delicious cocktails, and outdoors, hiking and taking in everything nature has to offer with her loving pitbull mix, Jasper.


Sonia Fisher
Finance Manager

Sonia Fisher has worked with American Atheists since 2015. She oversees the fulfillment of orders from the American Atheists store, handles accounts receivable and payable, and serves as the primary point of contact for vendors and contractors who work with American Atheists. Sonia manages American Atheists’ state registrations, auditing, and inventory. Before joining American Atheists, Sonia worked with Operating Engineers Local 825.

There is not a single degree in history, Bible, ancient language, etc, among them.

If you want to provide information from scholars and or historians, or professors, that would be great. That is what is required when scholars evaluate the Bible.


https://www.atheists.org/about/staff/

This organization is concerned with advocacy and civil rights, not Biblical scholarship.


One point that is both Ad-hominem and Non-sequitur fallacy. Please specifically respond to the points that you feel are incorrect, and we can discuss.



There are no scholars or historians in the organization.


Nor are there here, and yet we can discuss intelligently. Why will none of you do as asked? Name the points in those links you disagree with and the citations will be researched and provided.

I'm beginning to think you won't do so because you know can't and the citations will be solid and plentiful. But you can disprove that quickly by doing as requested.


+1

What are the specific points that PP disagrees with?
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2024 09:24     Subject: Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The Bible has proved remarkably accurate. By scholars and historians, people who love to find inconsistencies and errors.


The bible is loaded with scientific errors: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Biblical_scientific_errors

The bible is loaded with historical errors: https://thirdmill.org/answers/answer.asp/file/39817

The bible is loaded with internal contradictions: https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/

In addition to being loaded with immoral stuff about slavery, the rights of women, incest, rape, and many other things we have covered here many times. Happy to cite again if you need.

So there's a whole bunch of evidence your post is incorrect.


This link doesn’t identify the author of the page. It isn’t annotated. There are no sources, footnotes, links, or citations.

Nothing at your link can be verified. None of the information could even be submitted as a paper at your local community college for credit in a college course because the professor would need the sources annotated and the information credited to the people who verified the information.

Your professor might give you a chance to add what was necessary so they could grade your paper but that is doubtful because by the time you are in college they expect you to know that information and to do what was expected independently.

The professor would already have give you a set of instructions about annotation and crediting sources and you would have failed to do those things.


I'll do the homework for you, as you ask. Tell me specifically which points you disagree with.


The author should have identified their sources and provided the exact place to find the information. That is standard across all scholarship.

How about you identify the author?

Each point needs a source, annotated and detailed in the footnotes.

You can provide that, as the author (who is anonymous and unknown) did not.

Every work of scholarship must have ab identified author and list their education, degrees, etc.


Since you won't list the points you disagree with? You won't accept that I will provide the citations?

Why not?