DVD Contest, Starts Today

With the election growing near, I thought that it would be nice to get your take on some questions regarding it. The winning writer will receive a copy of the 2 disc DVD set of The Atheism Tapes.

As part of the making of the ground-breaking series “A Brief History of Disbelief,” Jonathan Miller filmed conversations with some very distinguished minds. Jonathan, of course, could not resist the temptation to make these conversations wide ranging and so – naturally enough – their final contributions to “A Brief History of Disbelief” are only a small part of the original interviews.In these off-the-record interviews, neurologist turned playwright, filmmaker and self-described atheist Jonathan Miller filmed conversations with six of today’s leading men of letters and science: biologist and New York Times best-selling author Richard Dawkins, philosophers Daniel Dennett and Colin McGinn, distinguished playwright Arthur Miller, theologian Denys Turner and Nobel Prize winning physicist Steven Weinberg, who discuss their personal intellectual journeys and offer illuminating analyses of nontheism from a wide range of perspectives.

So, here are the questions that I would like to see your opinions on.

1. Does your faith, or lack thereof, sway you one way or the other when voting? Why/Why not?
2. Does a candidate’s faith, or lack thereof, play a role when deciding who you will vote for?
3. Are you concerned that a candidate’s faith may play a role in shaping future policies?
4. Do you plan on voting this year? If not, why?

And there you have it! All essays should be sent via email. Comments to this post will be turned off. The contest begins at the time of this posts’ publication and will end at 9:00pm CST on October 4. Here is the email address: election(@)thejesusmyth.com

After the submission period ends, all essays will be published simultaneously and the voting period will begin. Votes will be taken until 9:00 PM CST on October 11th.

Good Luck!

New Contest, New Prize

Now that we have gotten some of the issues with speed resolved, it is time to post up a new contest for all of you that wish to participate! Up for grabs this time around is a copy of “The Atheism Tapes.”

In these off-the-record interviews, neurologist turned playwright, filmmaker and self-described atheist Jonathan Miller filmed conversations with six of today’s leading men of letters and science: biologist and New York Times best-selling author Richard Dawkins, philosophers Daniel Dennett and Colin McGinn, distinguished playwright Arthur Miller, theologian Denys Turner and Nobel Prize winning physicist Steven Weinberg, who discuss their personal intellectual journeys and offer illuminating analyses of nontheism from a wide range of perspectives. THE ATHEISM TAPES is a ground-breaking series that will challenge your basic beliefs.

This 2 disc DVD set has a total running time of 180 minutes. Your task? Simply write and submit an original piece and submit it! The limitations? The subject matter should be on the same order as the content here at TJM. Sure, it can be a short story, as long as it is about religion or atheism. And, while the last contest was open to atheists alone, this contest is open to all. (Yes, theists, you can join in on the fun.) The deadline? You have until June 21, 2008 to submit your material. the email address for submissions is dvdcontest [@] thejesusmyth.com. Comments will be turned off in this post so that there is no confusion as to where to submit your material to.

Thank you and GOODNIGHT!

Contest Winner: Tyler Clark

With a solid showing of 3.96 out of 5, Tyler Clark’s essay entitled “My Journey to Reason” is the winner of the book contest. I have already contacted Tyler to verify his address and congratulate him. Congrats, Tyler!

Contest Update 3

We are approaching the final stretch! At 8:00 PM CST, all entries will be automatically published. Find all the entries and info on how to cast YOUR vote here.

Contest Update

With one day left to go, the response to our book contest has been great! (I would like to thank those that linked to the contest: Pharyngula, Debunking Christianity and a host of others that I simply must add to the blogroll.)

The contest section that we are building for this contest (and the others that may come down the pipe) will have a healthy dose of reading material for you to digest over the next couple of days. I will not be publishing the entries until tomorrow night so that all entries have a fair shot at the voting process. All will be posted at the same time and voting on all will end at the same time. I plan on posting them all at 20:00 CST May 6. Voting will end on Sunday, May 11 at 20:00 CST. Good Luck and fill up that inbox!! The address once again is bookcontest@thejesusmyth.com.

Contest Update (Oops)

Yeah, well…..my apologies. In the original post for the contest, the email address for entries was incorrectly spelled. The correct place to send your entries is bookcontest@thejesusmyth.com. I do apologize for the misinformation.

Autographed Book Contest

UPDATE FOR THOSE COMING LATE IN THE GAME: All entries are in and have been published for your review and vote. Find all the entries here.

Thanks to our friend at Debunking Christianity, John Loftus, TJM is holding a small contest. We our looking for your story. What were the triggers that led you down the path of skepticism? Did you forsake a religion? What is your de-conversion story? Have you always been an atheist? Why?

Yes, these are the things we want to hear about. May the best article win. Win what? An autographed copy of the book, ” Why I Rejected Christianity: A Former Apologist Explains” by John Loftus. Don’t know about John? Allow me to give you some background info on him.

How have I gone from being a defender of Christianity to an atheist? That is the question of this book. I was a Christian apologist set for the express purpose of defending Christianity from intellectual attacks. I was not afraid of any idea, because I was convinced that Christianity was true and could withstand all attacks. Now I turn that same intellectual muscle into questioning the things I formerly defended.

I graduated from Great Lakes Bible College, Lansing Michigan, in 1977. Afterwards I became the Associate Minister under Eddie Bratton in Kalkaska, Michigan, for two years. Then I attended Lincoln Christian Seminary, Lincoln, IL, and graduated in 1982 with M.A. and M.Div. degrees, under the mentoring of Dr. James D. Strauss. After this I attended Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and graduated in 1985 with a Th.M degree, under the mentoring of Dr. William Lane Craig. I also took classes at Marquette University in a Ph.D. program with a double major in Philosophy and Ethics, but didn’t finish. At Marquette I studied with Dr. Ron Feenstra, Dr. Marc Greisbach, and Dr. Daniel MaGuire. I have taught extension classes for Lincoln Christian College, Lincoln, IL, and I taught for Great Lakes Christian College, Lansing, Michigan, for the College of Lake County, in Grayslake, IL, for Tri-State University, Angola, IN, and for Kellogg Community College, Battle Creek, MI. I was in the “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers” in 1996.

From December of 1987 to December of 1990 I was the Senior Minister of the Angola Christian Church, Angola, IN, and for a year was the President of the Steuben County Ministerial Association. Before that I had several ministries in Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois. I was in the ministry for about fourteen years, or so, and wrote many articles for the Christian weekly magazine, The Christian Standard.

I have a copy of this book, and it is a great read. Entries will be taken until Tuesday, May 6 2008. All entries will be posted in a new section on the site for peer review. Sunday, May 10, the winner will be announced. The winner will be chosen by you, the readers. There will be a rating with each essay, highest rating wins.

Pleases send all submissions to bookcontest [@] thejesusmyth.com. This email address will be invalid after may 6, so get writing! This contest is open to current authors on TJM and everyone.