Post: #76

I'm atheist and I don't like many atheists because of all this. They all want to be more accepted in society yet are totally unaccepting of religious viewpoints. Personally I could give two shits if someone is a devout follower, more power to em. I also hate, HATE when atheists claim there was no Jesus. Come on, Jesus was a man, a man that existed, one of the greatest men to walk the earth and atheists are walking around saying he didn't exist... Ignoring the historical fact that he did.

Post: #77

(05-24-2013 10:52 AM)Gopher Wrote:  I'm atheist and I don't like many atheists because of all this. They all want to be more accepted in society yet are totally unaccepting of religious viewpoints. Personally I could give two shits if someone is a devout follower, more power to em. I also hate, HATE when atheists claim there was no Jesus. Come on, Jesus was a man, a man that existed, one of the greatest men to walk the earth and atheists are walking around saying he didn't exist... Ignoring the historical fact that he did.

Did he perform the miracles he is claimed to have performed?

Joseph Smith (Prophet of Mormonism) also was real, but did what he says about the "Book of Mormon" actually ever happen?

These are the problems.

Post: #78

No, but he was a man. A great philosopher. A great leader of men.

What I've heard from many atheists is that they think Jesus the man is all made up as well. Not just that he didn't turn water into wine.

Players talk about being a great man. Jesus was one of the greatest. Two thousand years after his death people worship him on a daily basis. That's baller.

Post: #79

(05-24-2013 11:32 AM)Gopher Wrote:  No, but he was a man. A great philosopher. A great leader of men.
Players talk about being a great man. Jesus was one of the greatest. Two thousand years after his death people worship him on a daily basis. That's baller.

Sounds like a great conman, to be more accurate.

Post: #80

If he was a good conman he probably wouldn't have been poor.

Post: #81

I'd be carefully about saying anything about the historical Jesus. It seems to me a lot of the historical facts about him were discovered by hardcore Christian archaeologists in the early 20th century. I think they made some progress on who he really was, but naturally old 'facts' die hard.

Read The God Evolution by Robert Wright to get a better understanding of what Jesus was really like. The entire thing about him being a great philosopher...yeah no, his followers made him into the man we know now. He was pretty ordinary and a dime a dozen (there were tons of prophets like him in his time).

Post: #82

(05-24-2013 06:40 AM)Exactaking Wrote:  

(05-23-2013 10:32 PM)Wutang Wrote:  I also notice a lot of these specific types of atheists seem to "fucking love science" and post Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson quotes constantly. I think for them being into atheism is akin to how some people claim to be super into quantum physics, string theory, or whatever: basically another way to show how they are more intelligent then the idiot masses.

This is what my idiot friend does, the future podiatrist who claims to have an IQ of 130. Funny thing is, he spent a year going out with a catholic chick, even went to mass, then bitched to me about it.

The weirdest thing is how militant athiests believe society is too religious. Our society is probably the most secular and materialist it has ever been, I think like other non-mainstream groups, they care more about trolling than actually becoming a majority.

Have to agree with this. Either they are just mostly just interested in pissing religious people off or they are horrible at any sort of public relations and at attracting people to their cause. For every guy like Carl Sagan there's a 10000 people posting Youtube comments along the lines "lol God doesn't exist you sheep - evolution, string theory, Boson Higgs particles etc. etc. etc." They are basically the equivalent of the guys you see ranting on street corners about how God is going to smite all you whores dead in that they most likely have never actually successfully convinced someone to come over to their side and they probably don't actually care about doing so - it's just about them getting to wave their dicks around in public.

Post: #83

I believe in the gods of game: Mystery, El Mechanico, etc.

Post: #84

How come atheists never hate on Islam?

Post: #85

(05-24-2013 01:01 PM)Samseau Wrote:  How come atheists never hate on Islam?

They don't want their heads chopped off.

Post: #86

(05-24-2013 01:01 PM)Samseau Wrote:  How come atheists never hate on Islam?

Are you joking? Hitchens, Dawkins.. those guys destroy Islam.

Post: #87

^^^ The common response to that is that Christianity is over-represented in the US.

The curious thing is that even in Europe where Christianity is pretty much on it's death-bed, it still gets hated on way more. I've noticed that a lot of the New Atheist types tend to be English and they seem to hate on Christianity disproportionately compared to other religions. You would think that if anything that's be more concerned about Islam which is way more political and aggressive; especially when compared to the Church of England. I'm willing to bet there's probably more practicing Muslims and Hindus in England then Christians so if they really wanted to take the biggest bite out of religion you would think they'd go after those faiths instead. Same thing with the Northern European countries. Those nations have national churches that only exist because of tradition and are pretty mild yet it they seem to get as much hate if not more then Islam.

Post: #88

(05-24-2013 01:03 PM)soup Wrote:  

(05-24-2013 01:01 PM)Samseau Wrote:  How come atheists never hate on Islam?

Are you joking? Hitchens, Dawkins.. those guys destroy Islam.

Bill Maher has also been pretty critical of Islam lately on this show "Real Time with Bill Maher."

Post: #89

(05-24-2013 01:01 PM)Samseau Wrote:  How come atheists never hate on Islam?

Yeah, as others have mentioned, Dawkins and Harris openly say Islam is the worst of the three Abrahamic religions, and have called it a "great evil" amongst other things. However, those two are scientific heavyweights... The average atheist on TV is usually a SWPL I suppose (in America), so they struggle with the notion of supporting women's rights, gay rights, freedom of religion etc...at the same time as criticising a religion that opposes those things, because it isn't multiculturally correct or whatever. It fascinates me. There's many articles online about the Left and it's cosy relationship with extremist Islam. Extreme, extreme leftists are probably using radical Islam to destroy the Western civilization they hate so much, but that is a debate for another day, that we can have about radical socialism and the internationalism it advocates.

On a side note, in relation to the OP, I'm an atheist myself but not because it's trendy. It's trendy to lambaste Christianity at every turn, yet say nothing about Islam. In fact, it's trendy to spew hatred at people who are critical of Islam, AFTER a man was beheaded in the name of Islam in the capital of Great Britain. My facebook feed is full of that kind of shit.

Edit- I'm atheist in regards to the Gods described in every religious book known to man. To believe in those Gods (in my opinion) is insane. They are just humans with magical powers; jealous, arrogant, egotistical. Hardly attributes of a being responsible for the universe. However, I am agnostic in the sense that there could be some sort of engineer who kick started the big bang or something. Perhaps our entire universe is in an alien's petri dish. Who knows.

Post: #90

Left aren't pro-Islam. That's bullshit. They were just against the Iraq war and Bush and Fundamentalist Christian retards.

Post: #91

(05-24-2013 03:36 PM)soup Wrote:  Left aren't pro-Islam. That's bullshit. They were just against the Iraq war and Bush and Fundamentalist Christian retards.

I'm mainly talking from my experiences in England. The left are, lets say, apologetic about Islam. Which is confusing as I mentioned American SWPL's in my above post, so perhaps I should have phrased it better. The Muslims in America are far, far different to the ones in Europe.

Post: #92

I'm an atheist, but not a Christ-basher. I do not think that Jonah lived in a whale, but I do believe in the golden rule of treating others like I would want to be treated.My thought is that religion is necessary because morality is not innate; human nature is to take whatever you want by any means necessary . In present day there are crimes that are only solvable by circumstantial evidence; I cannot begin to imagine the large opportunity for a "perfect crime" considering the relative sparsity of resources and people when these texts were conceived. The idea of an all-seeing being and a second life(purgatory) is a psychological construction that manipulates people into thinking that they cannot escape punishment for even the most perfect of crimes. Faith is just a manifestation of will-power. Noah is a guy who had this inner drive(God's voice) that told him that he was to advance society, so he busted his ass and stuck to his vision(faith) of building something extraordinary.

Post: #93

(05-24-2013 10:38 AM)kosko Wrote:  I don't buy the idea that fear is the reason religon exists. Fear is not a real emotion it's a manifestation of a bunch of emotional triggers but it is not a single emotion. Religion exploited fear to gain control by using social and power constructs to shame people for not buying their jive.

Fake positions of control work of fear. If humans realized fear was not real every phony power complex we have would crumble overnight.

Humans used to embrace these things like struggle and "fear", and the idea of "religon" is not that old. Prior humans would face these perceived "fears" almost daily. The classic cultures would meditate and have awakenings as a way of balancing their energy and emotions with the earth and the stars. This is an important thing to do as it keeps people balanced and healthy. Our current society is "unhealthy" simply because we has lost this old craft. Every species on earth still does his except for humans, and the fear is just a symptom of how far of the path we have gone.

Fear is fake, It has no reality. Risk is real as risk represents danger and you have to rationalize how much risk is worth whatever the reward your faced with.

But people don't realize that, hence the term "Opium of the people"

Post: #94

(05-24-2013 07:20 PM)jmoney29 Wrote:  My thought is that religion is necessary because morality is not innate; human nature is to take whatever you want by any means necessary .

I don't agree with you that religion is necessary for morality to exist in this world (although it can help).

Post: #95

(05-24-2013 01:01 PM)Samseau Wrote:  How come atheists never hate on Islam?

If you're referring to the average SWPL atheist, I think that they won't touch Islam because that would be an affront to their own religious practices. While they might not believe in God they still have their religion of 'Multiculturalism'. And because they're pussies who bully Christians knowing that it won't get them into any trouble.

Post: #96

I was raised Catholic, did my first communion at the age of 13 and even then I PERSONALLY didn't believe in God.

The whole "what happens after death?" is 50/50 for me, we won't ever truly 100% know what happens after we die. You may go to heaven, venture into a void of endlessness, go to hell, etc.

I respect all religious people and atheists as long as they don't try to rub it in my face, say what I believe is wrong, etc.

In the end, religion is a never ending arguement. You can't win nor lose. It's a belief system.

Post: #97

(05-23-2013 08:07 PM)yb13 Wrote:  I don't mind atheists. I know some that are atheists...just can't stand the ones that outwardly proclaim it excessively...like in every sentence..good for you. I was raised Catholic..and am a very apathetic one...yet I don't proclaim it every second I get.

...come to think of it..I'll mention the Catholic part when I'm around Brazilian or Polish chicks...cause it's beneficial

Nowadays there are lots of protestant girls in Brasil,many of them are the crazy type who get "married" at 14 and have 2 kids by the time they are 19 but there are some not so crazy ones in the middle

Post: #98

.............

Post: #99

I'm an Atheist. But here is a question I never hear believers answer...

Let's say there is a God. Great.

Now what?

What is this God like? Is he good, bad or indifferent?

My point is this. The issue of God's existence is separate from what moral qualities such a God may have.

As such - you are taking a gamble if you wish for there to be a God. Since there is no logical reason why God shouldn't be Evil, and is just laughing his head off before condemning us all to an eternity of torment and misery in hell.

Or he could be totally indifferent - neither good nor bad.

Or he could be good.

The point is that we have no way of knowing. And that the Goodness and Badness of a Creator is a separate issue from whether or not such a Creator exists.

Yet everyone continues to think that one implies the other.

It doesn't.

Post: #100

(05-26-2013 09:30 PM)cardguy Wrote:  I'm an Atheist. But here is a question I never hear believers answer...

Let's say there is a God. Great.

Now what?

What is this God like? Is he good, bad or indifferent?

My point is this. The issue of God's existence is separate from what moral qualities such a God may have.

As such - you are taking a gamble if you wish for there to be a God. Since there is no logical reason why God shouldn't be Evil, and is just laughing his head off before condemning us all to an eternity of torment and misery in hell.

Or he could be totally indifferent - neither good nor bad.

Or he could be good.

The point is that we have no way of knowing. And that the Goodness and Badness of a Creator is a separate issue from whether or not such a Creator exists.

Yet everyone continues to think that one implies the other.

It doesn't.

Wasn't it the Gnostics who believed in a Demiurge, the creator of the material world who was malevolent? Another possibility is the Spinoza idea of there being a God who is indifferent. The Buddha refused to talk about "God" or metaphysics because he thought that speculation on the subject wasn't relevant to the central question of how to eliminate suffering. In my personal opinion, Buddhism probably comes the closest to the actual reality. Particularly interesting are the writings of Nagarjuna, who is sometimes referred to as the second Buddha.

I do think there is a connection between religion and morality because the bottom line is that if someone doesn't believe in an afterlife there is no reason to be good. Religions have the notion that if you do bad it will follow you in an afterlife. In the West you are judged by a god, and in the East you reincarnate until you work off your bad karma. Bottom line - you can't escape from your bad deeds. If you are an atheist and you want to die with huge debts and murder a few enemies - bottom line - it won't make a damn bit of difference to you in the long run. As the quote attributed to Dostoevsky says "If God does not exist, everything is permitted".