It's a truly heartwarming story, showing us that there is hope, no matter how bleak things may seem at times: James Randi's Swift - July 27, 2007 - Reality Can Be Rough ..if this link doesn't take you directly to the UPDATE: The low-IQ idiots who run myspace have decided to strip all number signs from URLS and even postings! So I have corrected this URL. To view this post, you must now go to the item titled "Reality Can Be Rough" in the sidebar, after clicking the URL above. Thanks a lot, MySpace morons.

Just three months ago, a sincere Christian reader did the forbidden; he dared to open his eyes. Quote from reader: "(I) ... have believed in some form of fundamental Christianity my entire life. I've always considered myself a rational/objective person, yet for all these years, my beliefs in an afterlife were stronger than ever, and I simply accepted things such as Jonah surviving his dubious swallowed-by-a-fish... However, after months of arduous, objective, and scholarly study, I came to a conclusion that I wasn't prepared to come to. Christianity is an outdated, whimsical and washed-up canard and needless to say, no match for science, rationalism & materialism – or simple logic, for that matter. ... I had been duped, and worse..."

I can see that the newly aware reader is a bit depressed right now. As I have said, the fear of death is the ultimate club that religion uses to scare people into keeping their eyes closed. If that reader ever finds his way here, I hope he will read my discussion on the nature and reality of death as well as an earlier overview of truth about death and dying on my art site. It could help him deal with his fears in a more rational way.

And thank you for being brave enough to join the reality-based community.