RW: My personal experience is that those I have encountered chose not to believe, not based upon any empirical evidence (for most haven't delved into any Christian apologetics - that is what an intellectual honest person would have done before making that decision - they have merely concluded [some out of bitterness toward God - at least the ones I have met]
Well that's unfortunate that you are living in a particular area where the only atheists you encounter don't have very solid reasons for not believing. That shouldn't be your one and final impression of non-theists though, because your small group certainly does not represent us on the whole. Good thing we have the Internet to expose you to a much wider pool of freethinkers.
The internet has a larger pool of people for sure. However, just for the record, I have encounter atheists that fall into these categories all across the US and Overseas as well.
[quoteI, for one, am an example of an exception to your impression. I wasn't raised religiously and couldn't see any evidence for this Jesus character some spoke of in my everyday life, therefore I labeled myself an atheist before I was a Christian. Because I knew my only reason for not believing in god was a lack of evidence in my daily routine (a very good and obvious reason, but not quite enough definitive ammo), I decided to give god a try in the same nonchalant manner one might decide to take a new route home from work. I got the warm, gooey, prideful feeling after I did this and soon after had those trippin' hallucinations. I also found a FUN church which sucked me in quite nicely. Their sermons were MODERN and seemed to make so much sense, dude![/quote]
It would be interesting to find out what kind of church it really was - modernism has redefined the Biblical church in many ways.
RW: I have yet to meet any atheist who actually looked empirically at the evidences for Christianity, and God, and the arguments against those evidences, and then made a decision based upon this research. In fact, I have found just the opposite. Atheists decide to be atheists then they go and research the arguments against God to justify their emotive decisions.
Whilst I was in the fold, I was a devoted little believer! I hit up all of the major fundie websites for scientific "proof" of god, witnessed to others, and even started a book, "There IS a God: Ruminations of a Former Atheist". I was very shocked the day I confirmed it was all a sham because I had sincerely believed in the Christian god just as much as you do.
Really!? I am waiting with baited breath for all the evidence for the "sham."
RW: You obviously know better, and have created your own set of morals. How do you know what you have created is right or wrong? Do you toss a coin?
It's not just me who knows better. Are you to say that humanity at large is wrong for ending slavery, for example?
No, I do not. Slavery is not wrong, in and of itself. American approach to slavery is wrong. Moreover, if you are not independently wealthy, you live as a slave to some degree.
Because your god sure loves it.
So, what is wrong with Biblical slavery?
Christianity had to be dragged kicking and screaming from the days that ya'll would TORTURE people to get them to convert.
There is no doubt that those who claimed Christianity has mocked their God. Is this supposed to be some kind of evidence that God doesn't exist?
I have no doubt that if your religion could, it would try to get atheists thrown in prison. Good thing we have a government that is SECULAR and does not stand for that bullsh*t.
Some of those who claim Christianity might fall into this category. Is this supposed to prove something?
Nothing is absolutely "right" or "wrong", but if the goal is what's most ideal for the health and happiness of the most people, we can have certain standards. I would rather not get killed and you would rather not get killed, so let's agree not to kill each other, k? That's how society freaking works. We would collapse and our species wouldn't survive very long if everyone was just running around raping, murdering, and pillaging. That's not god, that's COMMON SENSE.
And this proves that there is no God? Hmmmm... I hope you have some deeper criteria for your atheism?
RW: First of all it should be clearly noted that there isn't ANY evidence whatsoever that homosexuality is a choice.
Uh, did you mean to say NOT a choice?
Yes
RW: The diseases that are passed merely by the germ cesspools created through rectal sex, fecal ingestion, and golden showers places people at unnecessary medical risk.
And I don't deny that, however, these things are not exclusive to homosexuals as I've seen plenty a Christian source that speak fondly of *bleep* sex/other kinky sex acts.
This is true, but neither are justified.
RW: 70% to 78% (depending upon which study you read) of gays reported having had a sexually transmitted disease. The proportion of intestinal parasites, such as worms, flukes, and nasty amebas, have been reported as high as 59% with homosexuals. This doesn't even include those who also contracted hepatitis A and B.
This is more of an issue of a person not being smart about WHO they have sex with and HOW they go about it. If two dudes are STD-free, in a committed relationship, and are careful with their hygiene, clean up, protection, and/or speed of thrusting, it can be perfectly healthy and fine, just like it is perfectly healthy and fine for heterosexual to go about it in this way if such an act is appealing to them.
1. Lust overwhelms solid thinking.
2. Condoms are not reliable in the studies I have seen concerning truly preventing HIV.
3. Homosexual sex is neither healthy or fine - even with one partner. I don't want to get into all the biology here, but I will bring up just a few points:
*Tearing and ripping of the *bleep* wall is very likely at some point.
*There is a high risk of older homosexuals being required to wear colostomy bags.
4. It should be noted that by their own admission in various studies, over 80% of homosexuals engage in *bleep* licking, thus ingesting medically significant amounts of feces. I will not even go into the health risks with even with a couple who "claim" they are faithful to one partner. Some very significant studies have revealed that one the average gays fellated 108 men and swallowed semen from 48; exchanged saliva with 96; full penetration with 68; ingested fecal material from 19 - no wonder over 78% acquire HIV
5. Heterosexuals that are involved with this kind of behavior are at medically at risk as well.
6. It is a strange coincidence that how so many medical problems are caused by violating simple Bible passages, don't you think?
RW: Do you know that the median death for gays is 39 years of age.
That is a flat-out lie! In order for that phony statistic to be true, "one would have to assume wildly pessimistically, given current incidence data, that half the gay male population is destined to catch the AIDS virus and die of it. The actual average age of AIDS patients at death has been about 40. For the number 43 to be the true average death age for the entire population of gay males, HIV-negative gay men would, on average, have to keel into their graves at 46. Looked at another way, if even half the gay male population stays HIV-negative and lives to an average age of 75, an average overall life span of 43 implies that gay males with AIDS die at an implausibly early average age (11-years-old, actually)." ~ http://www.indegayforum.org/news/show/26857.html
The facts have been gathered by a very simple means. You can research it yourself. This may help you to get beyond the propaganda forum.
Compare the obituaries from all the homosexual journals (over 16) with the obituaries from regular newspapers. The obituaries from regular newspapers are similar to the national average for longevity. However, the obituaries of homosexuals are significantly different. Oh, btw, I didn't say that they all died of HIV problems. It seems that their very lifestyle creates early death.
RW: The death penalty under the Old Covenant was actually an act of mercy.
Are the Old Testament gays not burning in hell right now? You call that "mercy"?!
Some Christians believe in eternal fire, but not all. Some Christians believe in annihilationism - I am one of those, btw. Yes, annihilation is very merciful.
RW: Just because you disagree with what is written in the Bible does not make it a higher morality.
Of course it does if we're going off of the goal of what's best for the most people.
This is a very omniscience statement. Your faith in your own analysis is profound based upon how little an average human really knows.
Of course it doesn't when I think murdering people for bogus reasons is wrong and your god doesn't.
Merely because you disagree with those reasons does not make your disagreement the correct way of looking at the situation. For example, you embrace homosexual behavior that is the direct cause of some the most horrid ways of dying on this planet, yet have the arrogance to accuse God of murder. Strange indeed!
Of course it doesn't when I think a law like forcing a woman to marry her rapist is sick and cruel and your god commands it.
This might actually have been an act of mercy. Most men in those days would not marry a person who had had sex before marriage. So, this would mean that the woman would die of starvation.
Of course it doesn't when life is nothing but a cosmic joke/test and your god is far worse than all of the infamous dictators combined!
Interesting assessment from one so omniscience!
RW: Yes, I have read the entire Bible many times.
You've made peace with the fact that Bible god is a tyrannical monster then?
I have made peace with the justice of God.
RW: To deny the existence of God now would be to deny my own existence.
And for me to believe your Bible god is real would be like believing the sky is purple, when it is clearly blue. The world looks and operates exactly like it should if there are no gods.
Just because you disagree with His justice is not a reason to not believe in God. This merely points out your heart, not His lack of existence!
RW: The Bible is lived out in my life. I experience many of the things the Bible authors write about.
Cool, so have you seen water turned into wine? Have you seen someone walk on water? Have you seen five loaves of bread and two fishes feed 5,000 people? Have you seen someone raised from the dead or cured from a blindness they were born with? No? Darn.
You act like these are the only things that were done in the Bible, and that if I do not see those
BTW. it almost appears that your "non belief" is really nothing more than someone who is bitter at God for Him doing things she disagrees with - perhaps weven personally. Talk to you soon!
Community Forum
Topic: The Faith of Atheism (Read 24542 times)
July 12, 2010, 10:23:17 am
