Atheism/Theism thread

[ELRayford]

The internet is the only place I run into religion. I tend to avoid all things religion. I believe that it is a huge waste of time.

Also,

[Nullifidian]

Originally Posted by JJTrixX

One thing science will never teach you is 'faith', whereas religion does. The ability to unconditionally believe in something that you can not prove with hard concrete indisputable evidence is far more beautiful and enlightening then any science can ever accomplish.

And I take it you think that's a virtue?

Originally Posted by JJTrixX

Love and be loved. The Bible truly is a work of art and there is a reason why it is the greatest story ever written regardless if its content is accurate or fabricated. The Bible's purpose isn't to justify its validity as most naive people suggest, but rather to express the meaning of what 'love' really is and God's overwhelming abundance of it.

"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:17

"We love, because He first loved us." John 4:19

A perfect example to understand this concept would be to imagine if you had a son or a daughter. Wouldn't you love your child? Wouldn't you do anything to protect your own flesh and blood and try to do what's best for them? That natural love that you feel for your children comes from the love that God has for us, for we are all children of God.

Everything is connected. Do not deviate from one another, instead try to understand that we are all pieces of a whole. We must work together as a team if we are to ever experience true bliss. Isn't that what we all seek in life?

So you're implying someone couldn't feel these emotions (minus all the higher power crap) without the stories in the bible?
And even so, there's nothing in your statement that proves that you're right about the existence of a god (or your reasoning for that matter). It's circular logic.

edit: There's just so many things floaty about your statements I don't even know where to begin to counter it.

[JJTrixX]

Originally Posted by _.Spitfire._

And I take it you think that's a virtue?




So you're implying someone couldn't feel these emotions (minus all the higher power crap) without the stories in the bible?
And even so, there's nothing in your statement that proves your point.

“There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12)

The Bible tells us to place our faith in God and not in ourselves. Man’s way is a road to death and God’s way is a road to eternal life.

This is good enough for me because my faith creates a 'peace of mind' . This peace of mind leads to my happiness

Do you agree that when ones mind is not at peace, one can not be as happy as one whos mind is at peace?

[ScylaX]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

So you consider having a spirituality and believing in a supreme being leads to sanguinary circumstances or something ?

[ELRayford]

Top Ten Signs You're a Fundamentalist Christian


10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."

3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.

2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.

[Nullifidian]

Originally Posted by JJTrixX

“There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12)

The Bible tells us to place our faith in God and not in ourselves. Man’s way is a road to death and God’s way is a road to eternal life.

You realize this cannot be verified whatsoever? As far as we know, it all leads to death. Using the bible as evidence for your belief is the same as using your imagination for your belief. It does not make it correct.

Originally Posted by JJTrixX

This is good enough for me because my faith creates a 'peace of mind' . This peace of mind leads to my happiness

"But knowledge is preferable to ignorance. Better by far to embrace the hard truth than a reassuring fable." -Carl Sagan

Originally Posted by JJTrixX

Do you agree that when ones mind is not at peace, one can not be as happy as one whos mind is at peace?

Ignorance is bliss I guess, but I disagree with your ways, because you're living in a fairytale full of assumptions.

[0]

[Riotpolice]

Damnit, this thread was getting juicy too....
0, you had to derail it you bastard...

[JJTrixX]

Sanguinary circumstances will always exist because religion will always exist. Religion will always exist because humans are by definition capable of free will. Whether you believe in one God, multiple Gods, or no God, a belief is still a belief and when you get multiple people together who share a similar belief, that is what essentially makes up a religion.

[Nullifidian]

Originally Posted by JJTrixX

Sanguinary circumstances will always exist because religion will always exist. Religion will always exist because humans are by definition capable of free will. Whether you believe in one God, multiple Gods, or no God, a belief is still a belief and when you get multiple people together who share a similar belief, that is what essentially makes up a religion.

read:

Originally Posted by _.Spitfire._

Atheism is a belief/religion:
Atheism is as much a belief/religion as non-existence is existence. The non-existence of a deity is implicit and inherent, the existence of one is yet to be proven. Believing in the presence is just that; belief. There's no belief required to not believe (herp derp).

[JJTrixX]

You say, "The non-existence of a deity is implicit and inherent, the existence of one is yet to be proven."

I say, the non-existence of a deity is also yet to be proven.

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by JJTrixX

One thing science will never teach you is 'faith', whereas religion does. The ability to unconditionally believe in something that you can not prove with hard concrete indisputable evidence is far more beautiful and enlightening then any science can ever accomplish.

Love and be loved. The Bible truly is a work of art and there is a reason why it is the greatest story ever written regardless if its content is accurate or fabricated. The Bible's purpose isn't to justify its validity as most naive people suggest, but rather to express the meaning of what 'love' really is and God's overwhelming abundance of it.

"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:17

"We love, because He first loved us." John 4:19

A perfect example to understand this concept would be to imagine if you had a son or a daughter. Wouldn't you love your child? Wouldn't you do anything to protect your own flesh and blood and try to do what's best for them? That natural love that you feel for your children comes from the love that God has for us, for we are all children of God.

Everything is connected. Do not deviate from one another, instead try to understand that we are all pieces of a whole. We must work together as a team if we are to ever experience true bliss. Isn't that what we all seek in life?

And yet none of that requires religion. As an atheist, I can have science and things like meaning/love/etc coexist -- no God or belief in the supernatural is needed.

[Nullifidian]

Originally Posted by JJTrixX

You say, "The non-existence of a deity is implicit and inherent, the existence of one is yet to be proven."

I say, the non-existence of a deity is also yet to be proven.

The burden of proof lies on those making the claim. You claim a god exists, prove it.

[Choofers]

Originally Posted by JJTrixX

You say, "The non-existence of a deity is implicit and inherent, the existence of one is yet to be proven."

I say, the non-existence of a deity is also yet to be proven.

it doesn't work this way though

edit: "God's love" is killing millions of people in the bible due to their using of free-will (which he gave them) and sending countless people to spend eternity in hell, also for using free-will.

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by ScylaX

So you consider having a spirituality and believing in a supreme being leads to sanguinary circumstances or something ?

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

-Steven Weinberg


Also see the video I posted earlier about why faith is a pretty dangerous concept

[Nullifidian]

Asking someone to disprove something as a deity is virtually impossible btw
but so is proving a deity

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by JJTrixX

You say, "The non-existence of a deity is implicit and inherent, the existence of one is yet to be proven."

I say, the non-existence of a deity is also yet to be proven.

The non-existence of Thor has yet to be proven. The non-existence of peanut-butter creatures from Mkgdggd have yet to be proven.

But do you have any good reason to believe in them?

How do you "prove" something doesn't exist?

And once you answer that question -- what good is a belief in something that can't be disproven? Do you realize why this is worthless as a truth claim?

[UserNameGoesHere]

I would say most people are whatever religion they are because it's what they were brought up as and it's the religion their parent(s) is/are.

They may like to think they would have eventually converted to whatever current religion they are were they born in a different place and time, but it's more likely they would have had whatever religion was dominant in that place and time.

Also I think there are two very different questions in "Is this particular religion correct?" vs. "Is any religion correct?". To answer the first question, one may read the religious texts of a particular religion, speak with authority figures in the religion (priests/etc...) and study the religious beliefs, evaluate them, and see how they hold up under critical analysis. I don't think the second question can be answered as there can theoretically be an unlimited number of religions and new ones could appear at any time. There just don't exist the resources to tackle it.

[Ohaider]

Originally Posted by 0

pic

das cute

let's make yahweh seem as insignificant as all the other gods we don't believe in when in reality all we do is whine about yahweh on the internet

brought to you by stereotypical athiest

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by Ohaider

das cute

let's make yahweh seem as insignificant as all the other gods we don't believe in when in reality all we do is whine about yahweh on the internet

brought to you by stereotypical athiest

They're all equally insignificant because they are all completely without evidence.

What makes one better than another?