I'm an athiest; that is, I believe it is probable there is no theistic being 'out there' creating and controlling our lives, let alone the universe.
Ordinarily I wouldn't publish this, but feel compelled to respond to those who preach about Jesus as if it is the truth, particularly when they claim the Bible is the 'Word of God.'
The Bible is full of contradictions and examples where 'God' tells man to kill children. It represents tribal religion and is entirely man made. To believe otherwise is to abandon logic, science and reason. When you abandon these fundamental tools used to arrive at truth, you can believe anything, no matter how preposterous.
To Chrisitans, if they even pretend to be interested in intellectual honesty, I suggest they start with Hitchens' God is Not Great, or Carlson's list of New Testament contradictions.
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/paul_carlson/nt_contradictions.html#*
He concludes with:
"When Jesus was changed from a Jewish "son of David" sitting on David's throne to a divine "son of God" sitting on a heavenly throne, it became necessary to invent a godlike biography for him. Thus the troublesome virgin birth, miracles, resurrection, etc.
The list of contradictions in this paper is by no means complete, the examples being chosen primarily from the gospels. The examples given above, however, more than prove the point that the Bible is most definitely not, in any sense, the Word of God. The church has made imaginative (and often absurd) attempts to reconcile these contradictions. None of these attempts have the ring of truth - instead they have the ring of desperation."