Atheists, be honest. We know it, you know it.

I didn't even know what Atheism was until I was in my mid 20s.. I was raised Protestant but was also briefly involved in Baptist church and when I was dating my ex, switched to Catholicism .. it was my time in church that made me realize I didn't buy into it .. the people I encountered seemed hallow and were only doing it out of guilt, or to get that shiny heaven reward at the end.. at least that's how it felt.. if you're going to church for that reason, you're in it for the wrong thing.

reply to post by Lionhearte


jesus.

Urm no i don't believe in the bible because it was written by man to control man.

In a thousand years if humans are still on this earth they will look back and laugh at all religion.

Cant go about my day the way i want to.

Please .

Take your nonsense elsewhere.

Originally posted by Lionhearte
The real reason you will not believe in Christianity is because it would interfere too much in your daily life. You'll feel like you're being forced to stop drinking and smoking and all the things deemed "wrong" by the Bible that you'll soon start to think that it's nothing more but "control".

That is one of the dumbest things I have ever read.

Do some people really convince themselves thoughts like this are true?

Since this is only a rant I will address it as such.

What a bunch of babbling nonsense.

I smoke and drank when I WAS a christian. Now that education and free-thought have become my priorities I have no time for it. You are the typical theist that thinks people cannot possibly think differently than you, anyone who does is just in rebellion against god. The contradictions that you mention that are "taken out of context" are only that way in your view because you rationalize and read christian apologetics. Get over yourself.

reply to post by reesie45


What you are describing is nihilism.

Atheist simply means without god.


Without gods would be better since the op seems to think christianity is the only religion that exists.

My belief in God and no desire to be a Christian has nothing to do with my lifestyle choices. The OP needs to care less about what others believe, stop judging people and deciding that the reason people don't wan't to be Christians is sex, drugs and rock n' roll - so to speak.

I was born into Christian faith and I remember being as young as nine years old, thinking to myself that what I was being taught didn't resonate in me at all and frankly, I simply didn't believe what I was hearing.

I don't believe in Christianity at all, but my contempt for Christians - not all, but a lot - comes from observing them through my entire adulthood, bragging about walking in Jesus' shoes, yet judging, condemning, going to war in his name and ANYTHING that doesn't stack up or appear in the bible, is automatically condemned or branded as the work of satan - another spiritual cat I don't believe in.

reply to post by BrianC


Admittedly there are some atheists who are extremely arrogant when debating the religious. However, many of them try to remain civil. Many atheists, such as myself, view religion as a societal poison. We as a species need to move away from such superstition. We have the ability to destroy all complex life n this planet and it does not sit well with some of us that our leaders look forward to apocalyptic scenarios since that means their god is going to return.

Religion is not some 'sacred cow' that we have to tiptoe around. It is just as good of a target for criticism as anything. To those who are offended, its just too bad. Richard Dawkins says it better than myself.

Originally posted by reesie45
Theres a big difference from being religious and believing in a god. One is completely poisonous and one isn't.

I don't believe in atheists. To be an atheist would be to deny the sky doesn't exist. Theres no explanation for anything in this life, so for someone to claim to hold these truths is lying. Thats the bottom line. None of you exist!

Oh EDIT: Ive been there and done that, to be honest being a christian was the most miserable time of my life. To teach children they will be raped by demons in hell and they will burn forever and ever is evil in my opinion. Forcing things upon kids is wrong. Also don't judge me, something Christians love to do. You don't know why i became one or when I did or why I stopped being one. I have my reasons.

edit on 28-6-2011 by reesie45 because: (no reason given)

i think maybe you meant to use the word "catholic" instead of christian? Catholics love to teach of hell and eternal damnation. But that does not make it a christian view. Christianity encompasses more than one religious order. In the protestant church hell is almost never ever mentioned. After all, it barely gets a passing reference in the Bible, so it shouldnt make up a big part of christianity. Christianity being the act of following the Bible and Christ. Jesus also taught us to love even our enemies, judge not, blessed are the meek, and exactly how to pray. If you were a "christian" yet in a congregation of judgemental people telling everyone they were bound for hell, maybe you werent aactually in a "christian" church at all. There are so few of them to be honest. But churches and doctrines aside, I do not believe that the absense of a church makes anyone less of a Christian - so if you ever feel the need for some peace and goodness in your heart, all you need is dialogue with God and Jesus, a Bible, and a few honest to goodness Christians to have fellowship and discussion with.

Originally posted by miniatus
I didn't even know what Atheism was until I was in my mid 20s.. I was raised Protestant but was also briefly involved in Baptist church and when I was dating my ex, switched to Catholicism .. it was my time in church that made me realize I didn't buy into it .. the people I encountered seemed hallow and were only doing it out of guilt, or to get that shiny heaven reward at the end.. at least that's how it felt.. if you're going to church for that reason, you're in it for the wrong thing.

edit on 28-6-2011 by miniatus because: (no reason given)

I was raised protestant too - but also breifly attended a babptist and catholic religion. I was astonished at how three groups of people - all with the same Bible - could have such different churches. The protestants were laid back, friendly, non-judging (at least in my church) and not too afraid of either God or hell. The baptists seemed uber serious about it all - i actually felt very awkward and out of place there - and so many people kept asking me how i liked it and when i was ocming back - felt like i was fresh meat. The catholic church...well, it was ornate and elaborate, gold and statues everywhere. But the thing that caught my attention the most and summed them up for me even in my young age, was the fact that they sold ad space on their church bulletins! I was shocked. On the front, nice Godly picture, on the back: get your tires from Andy's tire palace. Seemed awful to me, like a money making business, so i never went back.
currently, it is just me, the internet, debates and discussions and my Bible. I am open to new ways of seeing thigns, but not about to be duped (one guy tried very hard to tell me jesus lives in space and works in utah). When I have grown a bit more spiritually then I hope to find a church that i can belong to. I must admit, life without a church is lonely. I dont think people realize the fellowship, support and community that comes from belonging to a good chruch.

reply to post by OptimusSubprime


Atheism = a-without theos=god

Atheism is a lack of belief in gods, that is it. Most of us are open to the idea of a god if we are presented with evidence.
I can't believe how many times these things are said and it never gets through the head of the religious. They try so hard to brand atheism as a religion so that they can present it as something taken on faith. Even the archbishop of canterbury denied that atheism is a religion.

Atheism is as much a religion as not collecting stamps is a hobby. If it makes you feel better you could call humanism a belief system but not atheism.

This video should easily clear it up for a reasonable person.



Since you probably won't watch the video I'll quote something for you,

"Pretending that those who lack your belief also have a faith-based position demands much less intellectual discipline than facing up to the burden of proof you give yourself when you insist others believe as you do."

Originally posted by tombangelta
reply to post by Lionhearte

 

jesus.

Urm no i don't believe in the bible because it was written by man to control man.

In a thousand years if humans are still on this earth they will look back and laugh at all religion.

Cant go about my day the way i want to.

Please .

Take your nonsense elsewhere.

That's what they said a thousand years ago...

I understand exactly what you mean, but this is precisely why I recommend everyone starts off with a mindset that they are wrong. For one, if you believed yourself to be right, in the end, you're going to find out you were right. Don't take this next analogy the wrong way - but if you were guilty of a crime and were, obviously, found guilty, in your mindset you would find as many ways as you can to prove yourself innocent, because you feared prison. The problem is, when you actually ARE guilty, there's no evidence to prove otherwise, so obviously, the truth would stand out after all.

I do my research as well, I've spent countless hours doing personal research, and many more hours debating against others, and I've tried to disprove my beliefs many times. I could talk about how I believed the grand canyon was formed over millions of years, as it was something I was taught in school - but again, truth has a funny way of sticking out. Then I was taught, "the great flood created the grand canyon, and Noah's ark was real" - "What!", I said to myself, "how can anyone believe in this?"

Turns out, the Huvusapai Indians are just one example of a tribe of Indians who live where the Grand Canyon is today, and they have stories apart of their culture that teach of a great flood that covered the world, which created the Gran Canyon - one example of over 270 stories globally.

Ultimately, Truth stands out above all else. Evidence for Truth exists through all time, and it cannot be kept hidden. I've learned this the hard way, take my word for it.

i do not understand the point you try to make
but i appreciate that at least we're debating in a sensible way
this is becoming scarce so: appreciated!

as you might have guessed, i'm using scientific methods to try to start some understanding of reality,
being inspired by the ideas in Poppers' Falsification Theory. Basically i "know" i will never know what is true. contrary to belief, science (in theory, the daily practice - i admit - is different, unfortunately) aims at getting rid of temporary "truths", tries to kill its theories, which gives it a very dynamic nature, a nature that corresponds better with what i think is a feature of reality: it's dynamic.
So basically science can't tell you something is "eternally true", but it can tell you when things are wrong. If a stupid book tells a story of a guy that was killed by roman soldiers and that guy rose from the dead, science comes in very handy to dismiss this story as non-factual. If it's presented as fact, count on my verbal response. If it serves other purposes... well, fine, just don't bother me with it as it distracts me from my attempt to further understand reality.

reply to post by Sinny


Yes but there is no need to invoke a deity for the unexplained or mysterious. That would hinder science and discovery and is intellectual laziness. I as well am open to the possibility of a god but I would need evidence. As of now there is not a shred of evidence but there are a of of contradictions and falsities in all the holy books of the world's religions. I am also open to spiritual experience. Religion does not have a monopoly on the spiritual.

reply to post by Soldier of God


No that is not what they said a thousand years ago in the medieval world.

Religion has been slowly going extinct since the enlightenment and as we gain more and more knowledge it will increasingly disappear.

reply to post by Soldier of God


Actually it is done all the time with impressionable children. You can play the psychological card and deceive people into converting to a religion. It is done all the time in churches. I have done it myself. Of course I didn't realize it at the time but I have in a way forced people to convert by playing off their emotions. It was an unconscionable way to live.

reply to post by StereoInferno


i totally see where your coming from here but have to say that these christians who you have contempt for well frankly.............................................should they really call themselves christians for the bare fact that they go to war in Jesus' name and make you feel judged? its so clear what Jesus thought about war when he told Peter to return his sword to it's sheaf after slicing the ear of one of the guards that came to arrest him. and who said 'do not be trying to remove the splinter from your brothers eye when you have a rafter in your own'? yes! Jesus. does that sound judgmental? no so in fact the very things that make you feel contempt for these so-called christians is the very things Jesus warned us not to do, Its obvious that you've become disillusioned because of the hippocracy you've experienced. I hope you can see that there is no co-relation between christianinty from the 1st century and christendom of the 21st.

Originally posted by megabytz
reply to post by Sinny

 

Yes but there is no need to invoke a deity for the unexplained or mysterious. That would hinder science and discovery and is intellectual laziness. I as well am open to the possibility of a god but I would need evidence. As of now there is not a shred of evidence but there are a of of contradictions and falsities in all the holy books of the world's religions. I am also open to spiritual experience. Religion does not have a monopoly on the spiritual.

everyone is an absolute genius when it comes to denying god, until there is a crisis. then the amnesia goes away.

Originally posted by megabytz
reply to post by Sinny

 

Yes but there is no need to invoke a deity for the unexplained or mysterious. That would hinder science and discovery and is intellectual laziness. I as well am open to the possibility of a god but I would need evidence. As of now there is not a shred of evidence but there are a of of contradictions and falsities in all the holy books of the world's religions. I am also open to spiritual experience. Religion does not have a monopoly on the spiritual.

genuinely out of interest, what evidence would be sufficient for you to believe in a God?

I will not be part of any religion, is has more blood on its hands than anything in mans creation. I believe in God and as for religion, they can shove it up their ass.

Religion is a tool and that is all. I love God and I have haven't done anything wrong in my life. Oh wait, I have .. .sorry I don't read a book and follow the church. I'm sorry.