This list includes websites and other online resources which offer a skeptical view of traditional organized religions and their belief systems. Some of the owners of these sites have received hate mail and even threats.
The word "skeptic" can refer to agnostics, atheists, free-thinkers, and secularists. Many political progressives and liberals in the United States are also religious skeptics who put their trust in science and logic rather than so-called divine revelations. Their voices are needed on the web to help in the fight against Christian fundamentalists who repeatedly try to impose adherence to their beliefs on the rest of American society.
Skeptic Friends - The goal of this site is to promote logic, critical thinking, and science as the optimum way for a person to arrive at his or her personal beliefs and moral values. For this purpose Skeptic Friends invites inputs from people who have a variety of viewpoints and experiences. The site also conducts polls and permits anyone to submit articles for possible publication on the site. Various forums allow visitors to discuss current issues relating to the world's religions.
Christian Atrocities - This website contains a long list of atrocities committed by Christians from ancient times up to the present day. Among the hundreds of entries in the list are many instances in which Christians mass-murdered tens of thousands of people at one time.
Rational Response - This content of this site is designed to encourage rational thinking in all matters, especially with regard to ethical and moral questions. Various articles consider some of the ethical and philosophical issues which arise in everyday life, and take a skeptical view of the answers provided by major religions. The site also opposes any attempts by organized religious groups to inject their agendas into official public and government policies.
Religious Tolerance.Org - This website tries to promote mutual understanding and tolerance among people of all beliefs. It argues that every individual should have total freedom to form his or her own opinions, and it opposes attempts by any one group to impose its practices or beliefs on other groups. The site tries to present different viewpoints on major issues of our times, and to this end it contains more than three thousand articles and essays on a large variety of subjects, including the life and teachings of Jesus, inconsistencies in the gospels, strange religious rituals, why people do evil things, and whether hell really exists.
Skeptical Quotes - This is a long list of quotes from famous skeptics.
American Humanist Association - Humanists believe that reason and science are the best approach to an understanding of the world around us. They also believe that dignity and compassion should be the fundamental basis for how a person acts toward others. The mission of the American Humanist Association is to promote humanist activities throughout the world, with the goal of making it a better place for everyone. Based in the United States, its specific activities include advocating for the full separation of church and state, improving public education, promoting scientific and medical research, and creating a true American democracy. It also publishes the award-winning magazine, the Humanist.
Freedom From Religion Foundation - This organization works for the separation of church and state. It also opposes attempts by religious groups to use taxpayer money to pursue their own agendas in schools and public properties. It monitors attacks on public schools and resists attempts to limit the rights of non-theists.
Daylight Atheism Article on Faith Healing - Here is a good article about fake faith healings, and their potentially tragic results.
Dark Bible - This website focuses on some of the darker aspects of religion. It discusses the numerous acts of violence committed by the biblical Christian God, and by Christians themselves. It also takes a skeptical view of the Christian explanation for why Jesus had to die on the cross before God would forgive humankind's sins. It also questions why this same God has condemned millions of people to eternal torment in hell merely because they didn't accept the usual Christian explanation for the crucifixion, or in many cases lived and died without even knowing about it.
20 Reasons to Abandon Christianity - This is an online copy of a short book of the same name. The book's stated purpose is "to list the most outstanding misery-producing and socially destructive qualities of Christianity in one place." The 20 reasons to leave Christianity include its long history of torture and murder, its intolerance of other religions, and its dishonesty. Also on the list are its arrogance, its cruelty, its past association with slavery, and its misogyny.
The article about misogyny discusses such matters as biblical verses requiring that women submit to their husbands, exclusion of women from the clergy, and the traditional tolerance of wife-beating in Christian countries. A section about the era of the witch hunts identifies misogyny as one of the main causes. It describes the witch hunts as a centuries-long orgy of torture and murder carried out under the direction of the highest church authorities. Their supposed justification for this can be found in the bible at Exodus 22:18, which says: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" (King James Version). The final result of the persecutions was that tens of thousands of women were brutally executed.
Ancient Skepticism - This scholarly article details the history of skepticism in ancient times, and how the thinking of the skeptics of that period has affected subsequent developments in philosophy, science, government, and religion.
http://www.jesuspolice.com - The purpose of this site is to correct some of the mis-information and misconceptions about the life of Jesus. Corrections discussed on the site include:
... His name wasn't Jesus Christ.
... He wasn't born on December 25.
... He wasn't born in Bethlehem.
... His mother wasn't a virgin.
... He wasn't an only child.
... He had more followers than is commonly believed.
... His family may not have been poor.
This site also includes a timeline of important events in the history of Judaism and Christianity.
Christian Quotes - This is a list of quotations in which famous Christians applaud mass murder, torture, witch burnings, and other heinous crimes. Here are two sample quotes:
Martin Luther said:
"Make short work with heretics, they can be condemned unheard. And while they are burning at the stake, the faithful should destroy the evil root and branch and bathe his hands in the blood of the bishops and the pope who is the devil in disguise."
Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt said:
"I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn't like to inquire too closely in the case of the tenth."
Burning Times (Auto-da-fe) - The article describes the Auto-da-fe, a Christian "ceremony" in which dozens of heretics or witches were simultaneously burned alive in front of a crowd of spectators. It served as a warning of the probable fate of non-believers, and raised income from the property that was confiscated from the victims and their families.
Skeptic Wiki - This is an encyclopedia of skepticism, science, and reason created through the collective efforts of many anonymous individuals. It is an ever-expanding encyclopedia because the wiki software allows anyone to create a new article or edit an existing article. Subjects include frauds and scams, pseudo-history, logical fallacies, and paranormal phenomena. Many of the articles are enhanced by the presence of images and videos.
Alternative Encyclopedia of Religious Beliefs - This encyclopedia brings to light many interesting historical facts not mentioned in most religious encyclopedias. The thousands of entries cover such unusual topics as the Aryan Religion, the Church of Fire, Cannibalism, Cat Worship, the Church of the Most High Goddess, and Crucifixion Re-enactments. This is also an excellent resource for anyone looking for information about obscure religious cults.
http://www.the-brights.net - This is the website of the Brights Movement, which is an attempt to rid the world of superstitions and false religious beliefs. Participants in the movement generally have a view of the world that is free of supernatural and mystical elements. They believe that this viewpoint leads to higher moral and ethical standards, and they want to spread these higher standards to society as a whole. For this purpose, members are encouraged to speak out as activists in their local communities in an effort to raise the awareness of the problems caused by superstitious beliefs.
http://www.religiongonecrazy.com - The crazy actions and weird beliefs of religious lunatics often seem harmless, even funny, yet they can sometimes lead to horrible tragedies. The main purpose of this website is to report on contemporary examples of both types, and as the site's creators point out, they have had no difficulty finding material. In fact, anyone may submit a story for consideration, and new stories are posted almost everyday. Unfortunately, the general public is usually quite tolerant of strange behavior if it is associated with religious belief, so that actions which initially appear to be harmless may have an opportunity to develop into a horror story. Websites such as this one can increase the public's awareness of this possibility and make it less likely.
The Skeptic's Guide - This website offers a weekly podcast from the New England Skeptical Society in association with the James Randi Foundation. Each podcast discusses the latest news from the world of the paranormal, fringe science, religious belief, and controversial claims, but always from a scientific point of view. The site also contains an article called the "Top 20 Logical Fallacies", which describes various logical errors that people sometimes make, as well as tricks that people sometimes try to use in their arguments. There is also an archive of images, videos, and past podcasts.