Move over Jesus, Mithra got there first

The religion of Mithra preceded Christianity by roughly six hundred years. Mithraic worship at one time covered a large portion of the ancient world. It flourished as late as the second century. The Messianic idea originated in ancient Persia and this is where the Jewish and Christian concepts of a Savior came from. Mithra, as the sun god of ancient Persia, had the following karmic similarities with Jesus:

http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen048.html

Dan Dennett: A secular, scientific rebuttal to Rick Warren

Prayer at an Inauguration is still a silly idea. There is NoOne out there to hear that prayer or do anything about our desperate situations. Might as well have an elf appear to beg Santa for goodies. Dan Dennett, one of my favorite authors, spoke at TED in 2006, right after Rick Warren spoke. He makes an important point: teach religion to all students.