Even though I am still a theist, I would also like to say thank you!  I have learned so much in my short time here!  I look forward to what the furture will bring! 

To Brian, Kelly, Rook and everyone at RRS

     I just want to express my admiration for the rapid growth and tremendous success of RRS. I just now watched the Nightline broadcast.
What a fabulous job both of you did!!! I'm jealous as hell of the wide exposure and great publicity you're getting! You are my new freethought heroes and the most effective speakers for atheism I've heard. Your
Dawkins interview was likewise incredible -- a comment I'm sure you've heard a thousand times already. But I just wanted to add my voice to the
chorus of praise you're receiving. I just made a $100 contribution via PayPal to support your site. If you ever need a guest for the program, please do keep me in mind.

David Mills
Author of "Atheist Universe"
http://www.DavidMills.Net

Right on, praise from David Mills means quite a bit to me.

"Atheist Universe" was the first out and out atheist books I read, and it gave me that sense of "no, you're not crazy, other people think like this too" when I needed it the most. So, let me just say that the kudos and thanks most certainly go both ways, David.

It sincerely means quite a bit to me that you support what we're doing. Keep up the good fight on your end as well, you most certainly made a difference in my life, and look what is coming from that - it snowballs. What we do and what we stand for does change the world, and the more we keep at it, the bigger legacy we will leave.

Hey guys, I just want to say thanks too.  Though I've always been an atheist, without this site and without the knowledge that you guys and all the other members offer, I don't think I could have stood up and been confident and proud in my beliefs (or lack thereof).  You have all given me such a thirst for learning and I cannot thank you enough.  This site is truly innovative and essential. 

Thanks to all RRS donors who are helping to make this possible:  www.MargaretDowney.com

I love you and Kelly so much! Thanks for letting me adopt you both. Thanks also for helping me. I needed a good team--young, energetic, and innovative! That's you! Your surrogate mom, Margaret Downey  

I was atheist before I came to the RRS, but it is helping me grow tremendously in my atheism.

It gives me a place where I can engage theists and fellow atheists in debates or mere discussions, exposing me to new ideas and new ways of looking at things. I also feel like I've been learning to examine arguments more carefully since I've arrived and that I've been given great motivation to study more on my own.

Most of all though, this site has shown me how many atheists are actually out there while exposing me to some of the bigger names I hadn't heard yet.

I was an atheist before I came, but every day I stay, I feel more comfortable and motivated in my atheism.

Keep doing your thing!

--"Misspelled Dinosaur" 

I was an atheist long before RRS came along but I have to say in having discovered the falsehood in the beliefs I grew up with I did always feel lonely. This site, and specifically these forums, have created an awesome community of support and thought. I learn a lot here and meet more intelligent people here than do in my offline life. I can say without a doubt that time spent in these forums increases my personal ability to fight theism here, at a local level. Sure, there has been one thing here or there that I didn't like but I support the RSS and I really applaud your efforts. It's about time someone did this.

We are all just one prayer away from being nuked off the planet. Religion is more than just dangerous and if we all logically thought about its threat to the future of humanity every atheist would drop what they were doing and follow in your footsteps. Rook, Kelly, Sapient, Rick, Mike... thanks for stepping up to the challenge!

From: Tufty the Squirrel

Date: 27 Sep 2007, 09:55 PM

Just a quick message. I just wanted to thank you for all of the help that you and the rest of the RRS have given me. Before I found out about you guys I was almost ashamed to be an atheist, and I thought that it was something that I should keep to myself if at all possible.

You have helped me to learn that atheism is something to be proud of, because it shows rationality and clarity of thought. Also you have given me the counter arguments to all of the cases put forward by religious types and helped me to strengthen my convictions. For this I thank you.

I have written a blog about my conversion to atheism, and my reasons for non-belief if you ever get bored and want to read it.

Your fan and supporter,

Alex Ryan, South-West England

This is another one I got in my PM box from somebody on Myspace.  This person deconverted because of my videos, it's such an awesome feeling to know I helped somebody personally to reason.  This is just another example of why we do what it is we do.

 Thanks so much corp, you make us happy too. 

From this page of our site...

 From latincanuck

    I would like to say thank you for all your work, and for what you have formed and are trying to spread. I have been pondering the last few weeks, how this website has affected me personally, and it's effect of it's message to others. I have encountered many websites, and organizations. However what I find unique about this website and for the most it's members is that it shows that atheists are a diverse group, made up of all types, intellectuals, scientifics, your average joe, and people who want to make a difference to have their voices heard. Many of the organizations that I am aware that are pro-atheists are usually but not always full of scientists, philosophers and intellectuals. This is where most of the average people tend to avoid usually these groups (from what many have told me, and personal experience) out of fear of rejection (they are intellectually superior) of shyness due to their ignorance on many topics.

    Throughout this world that I have had the pleasure to travel, I have encountered many reactions towards atheists views, many are neutral, however many are not and are towards the more violent/verbally abusive. In many parts of the world atheists do not have a voice and are by societies standards worthless of a citizen than a believer, even if that believer is of another religion. Even in the US where FREEDOM of speech supposedly exists, many churches and many people would want nothing more than to have atheists cencored, and many in the US consider atheists not even worthy of citizenship (considering the freedom of the pursuite of happiness doesn't state that one has to be a believer, then of course there is the freedom of speech thing and various other articles that are protected by the consitution) I applaud you for you stand, for your hard work and for pusuing what you believe to be right.

    In the end of it all, theists and non theists have the right to their opinion, to excercise their freedom of speech and their freedom to religion (or lack of). Not all atheists are intellectuals, many are just normal every day people with every day jobs, although i am grateful for the many known atheists, it both a boon and a curse and they tend to be part of the better educated (scientific/philosophic community i mean) and many people in society tend to associate atheism with these types (not that there is nothing wrong with this), however this website shows that it is not true and that we atheists/non religious/brights or whatever else they wish to identify themselves as are just like everyone else, we may not always understand the principles beyond many scientific theories or even understand what the heck they are talking about, however we can understand why we don't believe in god(s), in the most basic of terms, those beliefs make no sense once just a little bit of critical thinking occurs.

    Again thank you for it all.

P.S. I know it's long winded it's 3:43 AM and out of my sleep decided to write this...

I just wanted to second everything Tim Cantrell said. You think you hate these Christians with their hypocracy and lack of supporting facts? how do you think i feel as i Christian. i can't stand them either. If more people were rational about their beliefs whether they be atheistic or theistic, this world would be a little better place. despite what atheists think, God does actually tell us to use these brains he gave us, research the facts for purselves, and not just blindly follow the Bible. unfortuanately, you have a very easy job of making most modern "christians" look like idiots.

Hey Sapient,

I only joined like two days ago but I've been a fan of RR for a while.

I was never too good with words and debating religion was always hard for me.

I can honestly say that after reading your posts and watching some videos I feel much more confident to challenge religious people while once I wouldn't even bother and things like Pascals Wager would totally shoot me down - I had answers in my head that I didn't quite know how to express.

Debating religion gave me the confidence to debate on other subjects as well, with my physics teacher for an example - before that, challenging anyone with higher education than my own seemed like suicide.

So thank you Sapient, for your work and dedication.

I'll be sure to donate whenever I get the chance, I'm just a highschool student but yeah, as soon as I have the chance

I got this on myspace after updating my status to "pretty fucking sick of everything." Actually, I got about 20 messages from concerned people, but this was the best of the bunch. Gave me all kinds of warm fuzzies.

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Introspection
Date: Dec 27, 2007 8:22 PM


Brian,

My name is Mike and I'm currently residing in TN and have been here for about nine years. I finally got around to writing you!  I just have to comment on what a great job you did debating Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron.  I watched it on YouTube and happened to stumble across it while I was searching for evolution/creation debates.  I would have to say my favorite part is when you offered to pay for Ray and Kirk's tickets to the Museum of Natural History.  Did they ever take you up on that???  Anyway since then I have seen you and Kelly in many interviews and debates both individually and together. You both do a great job in debating creationists.

Keep up the good work! 

Mike

P.S. I loved the reply you gave Kirk when he said that he would be praying for you.  "You pray for me, I'll think for you."  If you don't mind, can I use this statement if I'm told that I'm being prayed for?  LOL 

From:
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 7:48 AM
Subject: [Letters supporting our efforts!] You guys rock!!!

Abigail Aza sent a message using the contact form at http://www.rationalresponders.com/contact.

I have officially stopped being a Christian since watching your awesome debade against Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. Mr. Brian and Ms. Kelly, you rock. You defended your beliefs well and kicked arse. I just wanted to thank RRS for freeing my mind. If you have any, ANY, info, please send it my way!!!

Robert sent a message using the contact form at

http://www.rationalresponders.com/contact.

I've taken a look at your site and I like what it has to say....and can you believe that I'm a God-fearing person, but I won't say that I'm a Christian.

One of the things that drove me away from the faith is the double-standard that most religious people have (not just Christians).  I slowly came back into a relationship with God, but I don't have a literal view of the Bible.  I believe that God, like science, has certain laws that are there and can't be broken, but 99% of the stuff you hear from churches is "man based" and made up for the idea of control.  I guess that the word that sums up my belief is "Deiest".

Keep up the good work and even though I believe in God, I don't believe you are going to Hell....even though you probably get that idea from many God-fearing people.

_________________________________

Jacek Kustra sent a message using the contact form at
http://www.rationalresponders.com/contact.

Hi! I'm Jacek and I currently live in Portugal, less precisely in the world
I just watched the Face-off show on google video and simply wanted to
congratulate you for your patience... Unfortunately the greatest arguments
believers find, are the ones that try to turn atheists into blind
believers. This is always the part of the conversation when I show how
angry atheists can become..

Keep on the great work!

Jacek

_________________________________

Teddi  sent a message using the contact form at
http://www.rationalresponders.com/contact.

Hi,

I just saw faceoff from May 2007.  I was so glad to hear a national debate
about the hipocracy of religion!

I did not hear any evidence for a god in their declarations....basically,
they said that the existance of the bible is proof that god exists??!!

Just so I can get this off my chest, this is how I feel about religion (in
point form!).

- athiests have morals......as your partner said, these morals are
developed by the majority of the present society.  In my opinion, athiests
follow morals INTERNALIZED and therefore have a stake in upholding them.
Religion puts fear into people to get them to adhere to standards/morals
"molded" from the 10 commandments that serve the religious leaders
presently in power.  I do not believe in god, but I follow some of the
commandments.....because I BELIEVE IN THEM, not because I am threatened
into acting that way.  I 'do unto others', I give blood, I work in child
welfare and I help animals by socializing feral cats at a local shelter....
these actions reflect my values and morals.

- in my view, religion is just another means of removing the individual's
self-determination by wielding power over believers. (one is not supposed
to think for themself, they must do as they're told).

- I have always said "if god were to stand before me with his id card,
then I'd believe in him".  According to your opponents on Faceoff, we have
to believe in him for him to show himself to us.  That makes NO sense to me
at all.

- why is it that god is responsible for all the good in the world but we
are responsible for all the bad?

- it is my observation (not scientifically proven!) that religion "sucks
in" the very people who are at a low point in their life or believed to be
"lesser" in society.  This gives them a sense of power and hope (if this
life is so crap, heaven will make up for it).  I am assuming that the
majority of believers are poor, or black (in western culture), or are
otherwise the "have nots" in a given society.

- if leaders of faith organizations are so good, why is there such a high
incidence of sexual abuse in the school?

- from what I understand (I have not read it in it's entirety) the bibles
promotes abusing/dominating women, children and animals.  As an animal
loving woman, why would I agree with what it says.......... cause they tell
me I have to .... NO WAY.

thank you so much for giving letting me say this!

Teddi Pappas
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

______________________________

Patrick Mason sent a message using the contact form at
http://www.rationalresponders.com/contact.

I have not read anything on your site yet except Atheism vs Agnosticism. If
the rest of your site is as rational as that article though, I think I will
enjoy it. I often have to explain to people the difference between the two,
and I thought you all did an excellent job.

I am a devout theist (Roman Catholic), but I respect true (rational)
Atheists completely (not so much atheists that are atheists for no rational
reason), and look forward to rational discourse. However, I do not have
much respect for true agnostics due to the reason that they escape all
rational discussion of the immaterial due the fact that they hold a belief
(emphasis) that it is unknowable. To me that is a cop-out, and just as bad
as people who refuse to have rational discussion about the existence of God
(or similar) just because they hold a belief (emphasis) that he exists.

_____________________________

summer sent a message using the contact form at
http://www.rationalresponders.com/contact.

Hello, all, I have recently watched your tv program face off does god
exist:  I thought the responses from kelly and brian was like a breath of
fresh air, if it isn't known http://johnallegro.org/  had deciphered the
dead sea scroll, his findings were astounding, the scrolls said that jesus
was a mushroom, when he took his findings to the church, the church did
everything they could to discredit Allegro, but truth speaks louder than
the churchs supposed god, so Allegro found out that jesus was a mushroom,
not many people can handle that,
Terrence Mckenna once said, If the truth can be told so that i can be
understood then it will be believed

Jordan Maxwell is an Occult Historian and has a lot of information on the
New World Order and the controlling families who's families blood line
created the revised version of the bible,
All religions are based on the worship of the sun and astrology, the sun
cross is every where, they use religion to control the masses, they are the
sheep herders to the sheeple

__________________________

Monica Stewart sent a message using the contact form at http://www.rationalresponders.com/contact.

I just looove your site! I've been an athiest all my life and now at 40, more than ever.  What I absolutely abhor is the arrogance of the theists - thinking it's ok to try to recruit people to their church and beliefs, or otherwise imposing their beliefs on us.  Moreover I can't tell you how much I hate them for trying to instill the fear of death in us. They claim  they're so 'worried' that we'll burn in hell for not believing, that out of compassion for us they try to convert us.  What bullshit! Believing that is THEIR sick assumption and conclusion, not ours. 

Keep up the great work and you have all my support!

Athiest and proud

__________________________

 Mathew Gregg (JitterBob) sent a message using the contact form at
http://www.rationalresponders.com/contact.

You guys a pretty brave for what you're doing. The entire idea of God is
like an infection of the mind. I am living proof that this "god" idea can
cause a lot of mental corruption, frustration, and confustion if a person's
life. I never questioned god until I was about 12 and then I reolized I had
never really based my belife on anything more than blind faith. Anyway, I
don't want to bore you guys with my life story. The idea of "God" makes me
sick now because it is a huge outlandish claim supported by nothing, and
yet it is passed down like a genetic deformation from one generation to the
next. I have a couple anti-religion videos up on my youtube if you are
interested. Keep up the dedication, there are a lot of people who love what
you are doing including myself.

Peace,
Matt

Http://www.youtube.com/jitterbob

_________________________

Phil Merchant sent a message using the contact form at
http://www.rationalresponders.com/contact.

Just an observation from the recent debate, Kirk Cameron mentioned several
learned men: Galileo, Copernicus amd Sir Isaac Newton, as examples of
God-believing scientists.  

I've often felt that the most appropriate challenge for this argument is
that these men could only be educated and practice science through a
religious organisations.  The Church would have had these men
excommunicated, tried for heresy, and posssibly tortured if they had made
claims to refute the organised religious powers of the time.

Well done in the debate!  Isn't it funny how t Kirk and the other man kept
trying to use the bible as evidence to prove the existence of itself.  The
bible says it is true therefore, It is true.  Even on a very limited scale,
this would not be permitted in any sort of academic work as it doew not
refrence outside sources.  Most of the quotes they used were normally from
aetheist writers.  It appears that they have very little new evidence to
provide to support their argument.  Unfortunately for their argument,
personal belief is not a documented source.

Must be the reason that a religious trpe has to go to a seminary rather
than a university - different educational and academic standards.

Keep up the good work! 

_____________________________

kevin burke sent a message using the contact form at http://www.rationalresponders.com/contact.

I recently saw the replay of a TV interview with members of the RRS and I felt prompted to write and say thank you for your efforts to change the way we think (if we do) about the world and our place in it.

I have long realised that god is a personification of how we like things to be and as a result god is almost anything we want 'IT' to be. Regardless or our version of god 'IT' seems to be ineffective or inactive, so what happens in the world is really up to us. 

And why shouldn't try to improve things for ourselves. We seem to be able to make up all these different religions, rules and rituals that govern how we behave however we only follow them if we think that we haven't. If we are clever enough to make up these great stories surely it is worth the effort to try to create something better. 

The big names Harris, Dawkins etc. have done a good job in renewing the debate but it is people like yourselves who do the daily grind to change the mindset. Most of us (myself included) rely on the 'stories' that dominate the culture and we need people such as yourselves to help create the climate for change. There is a danger of trading one set of gurus for another but I 'reason' rather than 'believe' that we are smart to do a lot better.

Once again congratulations and thank you - kevin

________________

Kenneth A. Gilliland sent a message using the contact form at http://www.rationalresponders.com/contact.

Hi! Thank Goodness for people like you guys and gals.I'am sooo glad I found this site,Great Job. Anyway,as I'am typeing this I'am Listening too Rook Hawkins give his lecture on jesus mythicism and reading his blog ,and I was wondering if he ever read Howard Zinn book "A People's History of the United States,or Noam Chomsky many books like" Manufacturing Consent",also Necessary Illusions"and Fritz Stern a very good Historian and I almost forgot another great Historian,Scientist -Jared Diamond book "Gun's Germ's and Steel"the Fate of Human societies and Derrick Jensen book "The Culture of Make Believe" he can be a little difficult to read,because he keep it REAL,take care and keep up this very good noble work.

________________

Nicholas sent a message using the contact form at
http://www.rationalresponders.com/contact.

Hallelujah brothers & sisters!   Its so wonderful to come across your
site  & see there are people in the world who fight to keep reason alive 
  against what can seem blind almost impossible odds.   Maintain the rage!

From: Havenfall
To: Sapient
Subject: Thanks
Date: December 8, 2008 - 7:21pm

 I fully realize that you may get a lot of messages and may not read this, but oh well. I was never really a fundamentalist christian, but my parents were. Luckily they were lazy and quit going to church when I was about eight years old. So for the most part I was a moderate christian (I realize now maybe moderate christianity is even more irrational).

This site kinda put me off at first, I did a lot more reading than posting. I do consider myself a logical person, so logic did win out in the end. I am now a full fledged atheist. I call myself an atheist because of what you wrote, rather than agnostic. I do not have a belief in a god, but I assume its entirely possible our existence was constructed by an alien being. I just have no reason to specifically believe that we were, and that belief would only hold me back from finding out the truth one way or the other.

Soooooo thanks Time to spread realization.

Matt sent a message using the contact form at
http://www.rationalresponders.com/contact.

I just recently discovered your organization through the almighty
Wikipedia. As soon as I heard it existed I immediately watched the debate
and it was absolutely amazing. While there were a couple points that I wish
you guys had made and didn't, I'd say 90 percent of the points I would want
to see made were clearly, logically, and intellectually presented. The most
frustrating thing about it was how the other two absolutely refused to
stick to the subject of science, instead constantly referring to the Bible
and other matters of faith. The Jesus Myth Hypothesis was something I wish
would have been touched on much more, although I understand the time
constraints. I would like to join this cause in any way possible. And not
in the solidarity sense, or doing what I can to spread logic and intellect
to a nation greatly lacking in both, I am speaking of the actual sense. I
don't care, anything you guys will allow me to do through this site or
others to help, I want to do it. Thank you, and keep up the excellent work.
You should challenge Kirk and Co. to another debate!
 

'The members of RRS aren't 100% rational 100% of the time (who can be...), but I find them to be high functioning, super-intelligent, and productive members of society (*the latter one I envy somewhat). I say... DAMN the spineless, group-thinking, and fundamentalist worms who try to stifle them.

-self

 "Besides the acerbic humor these folks aim at their guests (which I thoroughly enjoyed), I wonder how many people actually realize just how well informed, educated and amazingly articulate these four are. Whoever is of the opinion that the youth of today are lacking need to listen to these four. I would put them up against any previous generations intellectuals. Well done folks!"