I am not an atheist by choice

originally posted by: Develo
No, I updated my post above with sources to show you you are the one making incorrect assumptions about religions, like most so-called "atheists".

Unless you can post a link to something showing your "99%" figures I'll guess you pulled this out of somewhere dark and moist between your buttcheeks.

Seems your talking from within your buttcheeks....you posted a link to wiki talking about personal gods, there was nothing about whether or not those gods were supernatural.

This is a Shia description of god. Tell me what is supernatural or personal about it? Or maybe it's only you who thinks so?

Anyone with half a brain can understand this is all symbolic to say god is infinite, unknowable, transcending physical reality, and that's it. If you get more from this text, you are imagining it.

lol wth......are those attributes natural in your world?

a reply to: ScientificRailgun

Really touching man. Its sad what people will do when you dont have a similar point of view.

But heres my take on it.

1. I grew up in a Methodist Christian family.
2. I grew up in a small and close minded town.
3. Although I was once an atheist, I have only chosen to believe in a model of creationism only recently.
4. I have experienced much of the same difficulty expressing my view points, not only as an atheist but as a religious man as well.
5. This has caused me to not only grow a deeper bond with friends who understand, but also even my family.

I have learned that I have some of the most accepting friends and family in the world. Even my church has led me and expressed the importance of individual belief and individual thought process. Knowing that a more powerful faith will stem from the formation of individualized thought and belief system. What works for me may not work for others.

However, I have also learned that if a person is intolerant* of your choices then they are probably not a very good person to be around. It is with these notions that I want to tell you that it is okay. Who cares what you believe? Everybody has a different story, and therefore everyone is more inclined to have an individual set of beliefs. If people cant handle that, then forget about them. Work on building a healthy life my dude.


*Intolerant- Intolerance to the point that it affects you in a negative way. There is an intolerance that may come off as care and concern, but this is not that.

Love and Respect

a reply to: Develo

Wrong
How come there are tons of cult leaders today who get followers without any miracle?

because they piggyback on the "credibility" of those who do invest in miracles or "perform" them.

Exactly, apples and orange. So why you keep insisting religions never explained the Big bang? They don't have the same objective nor same means.

so the objective of spirituality is NOT to know the facts. got it.

Why studying subjective experiences instead of simply living them? Do people study "love" or do people simply fall in love?

some people choose to enjoy cake rather than perfecting its manufacturing process. but that does not change that fact that it came from a factory and not a tree.

originally posted by: Prezbo369

originally posted by: poncho1982

They are. The tactics are the same.

You think the threat of incredible violence, torture and suffering for all eternity is comparable to mockery and satire?

Is this why places get blown up when a god is mocked?

If you don't believe, what is your problem with this "threat"?

And, it's islam doing the blowing up for mockery.

originally posted by: ScientificRailgun
a reply to: BlueMule

I have considered Peyote or Ayahuasca. I would probably be more into Peyote considering my Native American blood. Sadly, I live in Japan and cannot experiment in such things. Thank you very much for the offer. Perhaps when I visit my family in the U.S. I'll give you visit.

lol, isn't it a trope in manga and anime to go out and pick some mushrooms, and then get the "wrong type"?

‘Men, finding no answers to the sunnah [the ten thousand religious questions from the Shari-a] now apply their own reasoning. All men seek to be enlightened. Religion is but the most ancient and honorable way in which men have striven to make sense out of God’s universe. Scientists seek the lawfulness of events. It is the task of Religion to fit man into this lawfulness.’

‘Much that was called religion has carried an unconscious attitude of hostility toward life. True religion must teach that life is filled with joys pleasing to the eye of God, that knowledge without action is empty. All men must see that the teaching of religion by rules and rote is largely a hoax. The proper teaching is recognized with ease. You can know it without fail because it awakens within you that sensation which tells you this is something you’ve always known.’

-The Commission of Ecumenical Translators. [C.E.T.]

***
‘We should’ve realized we weren’t supposed to introduce uncertainties into accepted belief, that we weren’t supposed to stir up curiosity about God. We are daily confronted by the terrifying instability of all things human, yet we permit our religions to grow more rigid and controlled, more conforming and oppressive. What is this shadow across the highway of Divine Command? It is a warning that institutions endure, that symbols endure when their meaning is lost, that there is no summa of all attainable knowledge.’

‘Religion must remain an outlet for people who say to themselves, “I am not the kind of person I want to be.” It must never sink into an assemblage of the self-satisfied.’
-C.E.T. Chairman Toure Bomoko [Zensunnis Ulema]

all quoted from: Dune by Frank Herbert, APPENDIX II: The Religion of Dune

by a shamanist

a reply to: ScientificRailgun

Maybe its because you never understood what the word Faith meant. The greek word that we translate faith in our english Bible's is the word pistis. It means to have trust or confidence in someone or something. Trust and confidence is something that is built within a relationship. It is not something that is just there. You use of faith seems to be synonymous to belief without proof. If you pray to God without trusting him to answer you, why would he? because lets face it how can you trust whats not there?

It seems to me it was easier for you to trust in yourself rather than to trust in God. If you sincerely want to know God I think he will find you one day. All I have to say is the Bible say prove all things, hold that which is good. God encourages you to seek for answers to your doubts.

If the Christian God existed, he would be undeserving of my trust.

a reply to: WakeUpBeer

And if that's how you feel he would never force you into his presence

originally posted by: ServantOfTheLamb
a reply to: ScientificRailgun

Maybe its because you never understood what the word Faith meant.

I hate when the religious do this. We are not idiots.

Many, probably most, atheists found there way through religion not in spite of it.

Many atheists know the bible better then believers.

a reply to: Annee

In what way did I imply he was an idiot? I simply gave him a fact about Biblical language. He may or may not have known that but based on his usage of the word it seemed incorrect.

originally posted by: ServantOfTheLamb
a reply to: Annee

In what way did I imply he was an idiot? I simply gave him a fact about Biblical language. He may or may not have known that but based on his usage of the word it seemed incorrect.

Its extremely condescending to suggest lack of believe in a god comes from not finding Faith or understanding what Faith means.

Faith is belief. It is not some magical state of being.

It is incredibly annoying: "If you'd just . . . tried this . . . or done this . . . or let God into you heart . . . blah blah blah.

I was raised Christian - - so don't go telling me I don't understand.

a reply to: Annee

Your upbringing tells me nothing about your knowledge of the Bible. I didn't just arbitrarily assume he had the wrong understanding of faith.