Question for Atheists

[Mr Sparkle]

You want Christians to tell you something different

I actually want Christians to just shut up.

 

[Kritish]

I actually want Christians to just shut up.

Quoted For Truth.

 

[squeekness]

I actually want Christians to just shut up.

Not all of us are bad.

 

[batnkevlar]

No, not all Christians are bad...

i think it basically comes down to this... i think the Bible is a tool to learn to become a better person... when taken literally, people close their minds to everything else... i mean, how can you refute carbon dating? That's moronic...

 

[Symbiotic]

Not all of us are bad.

yeah really.

 

[Mr Sparkle]

Not all of us are bad.

we agree upon that.
I have Christian and Catholic friends, and we get along pretty well.
I have issue though, with their religion, whether by their doing or not, when it begins to affect the lives of others.
hence "separation of church and state" is super important to me. they get to keep their religion and I get to keep my freedom.
I think it's a win/win.
plus, I've yet to tune in on a sunday to my local station and see a program on the wonders of being an agnostic.

 

[Logan's Runt]

Not all of us are bad.

You don't go on and on to people who don't want to hear it about your beliefs. You add to the conversation when its warranted but nothing more, and that's why we (I guess technically I can only speak for myself.) actually like you. :heart:

 

[Symbiotic]

I can say I'm actually against that aspect of the religion.

 

[squeekness]

No, not all Christians are bad...

i think it basically comes down to this... i think the Bible is a tool to learn to become a better person... when taken literally, people close their minds to everything else... i mean, how can you refute carbon dating? That's moronic...

And I don't refute it. I think science reveals the work of God, not desputes it.

I just get very tired of being lumped in with the more vocal, rabid, foam at the mouth Christians who shout that everyone is going to hell. I am a very liberal Christian, I don't condemn anyone. I think it's sad that so many of my fellow Christians spend so much time pointing the finger at others, they forget to look at themselves. It sets a bad example and only makes the atheists so angry, they aren't even interested in taking a closer look at Christ.

 

[squeekness]

You don't go on and on to people who don't want to hear it about your beliefs. You add to the conversation when its warranted but nothing more, and that's why we (I guess technically I can only speak for myself.) actually like you. :heart:

Thanks, hon. :heart:

 

[batnkevlar]

Squeekness, you my friend, are a good Christian... and I mean that as a compliment...

Jesus was a teacher, not a fanatic... I look up to him like I do Gandhi or Buddha or Martin Luther King Jr.

They're all teachers, teaching people to be better people...

 

[squeekness]

Squeekness, you my friend, are a good Christian... and I mean that as a compliment...

Jesus was a teacher, not a fanatic... I look up to him like I do Gandhi or Buddha or Martin Luther King Jr.

They're all teachers, teaching people to be better people...

Thanks. And I agree with you about Ghandi and Martin Luther King.

 

[batnkevlar]

Thanks. And I agree with you about Ghandi and Martin Luther King.

Not Buddha? He taught "not too much, not too little"... kinda like gluttony and greed in Christian teachings...

 

[squeekness]

I actually don't know enough about him to feel qualified to comment about him one way or the other. Wouldn't be right. I try to stick with what I know. I have heard enough Buddists speak to respect thier culture and way of life.

 

[batnkevlar]

Yeah... I know what you mean...

I'm pretty pick-and-choose myself... I don't believe in dogmatic principles, but i believe in a Heaven and Hell... i believe if you're good, you'll be rewarded and if you're not, you'll be punished, whether on this world (kinda like karma) or on another (the Heaven/Hell belief)...

 

[squeekness]

Yeah... I know what you mean...

I'm pretty pick-and-choose myself... I don't believe in dogmatic principles, but i believe in a Heaven and Hell... i believe if you're good, you'll be rewarded and if you're not, you'll be punished, whether on this world (kinda like karma) or on another (the Heaven/Hell belief)...

I agree with that, too, though I don't quite buy the whole roast in Hell bit. I'd like to think God wasn't that cruel. I would hope his punishments would be more instructive than just simple pain punishment.

 

[psychocheeseman]

Yeah... I know what you mean...

I'm pretty pick-and-choose myself... I don't believe in dogmatic principles, but i believe in a Heaven and Hell... i believe if you're good, you'll be rewarded and if you're not, you'll be punished, whether on this world (kinda like karma) or on another (the Heaven/Hell belief)...

So do you believe that the bible is the word of god or man's interpretation of god?

How do you determine which parts you want to believe?

What other sources do you have for your belief (ie cause you mentioned "heanve" & "hell" which aren't really described in depth in the bible, and i'm guessing you have a picture of them in your mind.)

 

[Superhobo]

And I don't refute it. I think science reveals the work of God, not desputes it.

Funny. That's a main principle of Hinduism, in regards to science.

Here's how I see it: Squeekness = Vicar of Dibley (the nice part, not the fat part.) Moviefan = Fred Phelps, and Ring Deacon = that crazed preacher from Carnivale (HBO series).

 

[batnkevlar]

So do you believe that the bible is the word of god or man's interpretation of god?

How do you determine which parts you want to believe?

What other sources do you have for your belief (ie cause you mentioned "heanve" & "hell" which aren't really described in depth in the bible, and i'm guessing you have a picture of them in your mind.)

Meh, i don't know either way... I don't take the bible literally, that's all I'm saying...

 

[psychocheeseman]

Meh, i don't know either way... I don't take the bible literally, that's all I'm saying...

so how do you discern the "facts" in your mind from the fictions?
do you use rationality or other historical evidence, or is it just a feeling?

 

[Hyper Venom]

And I don't refute it. I think science reveals the work of God, not desputes it.

I just get very tired of being lumped in with the more vocal, rabid, foam at the mouth Christians who shout that everyone is going to hell. I am a very liberal Christian, I don't condemn anyone. I think it's sad that so many of my fellow Christians spend so much time pointing the finger at others, they forget to look at themselves. It sets a bad example and only makes the atheists so angry, they aren't even interested in taking a closer look at Christ.

Well said. This reminds me of something a Christian woman once told me when I was a child.

"If you point the finger at someone, just remember that all your other fingers are pointing at you."

 

[Ring Deacon]

Thank You.
ExActly.

That's why I've always been bugged by this crap where you bring up all the hideous, unspeakably sadistic atrocities committed by God in the Old Testament....how he commanded rape victims to be put to death if they didn't scream during the attack, and commanded rape victims to marry their rapists, and said that a woman's hand should be cut off "without pity" if her hand accidentally brushed against a man's genitals during a fight, and.....I could go on for hours....and Christians say, "
Mmm, well....that doesn't count because Jesus came and he was peaceful."

Balogna! He's the exact same guy who did all those unspeakable things.
There's no way I'd worship a baby-killer, just because he USED to kill babies but now he's stopped!!!

I can understand your confusion. Yes those things did happen in to Old Testement, and in the New Testement they don't. The reason for this is simple. God didn't change. Yes these things happened but not because he wanted them too. They happened because of leaders at the time twisting the word of God. There was a time when the average man wasn't even aloud to read the word of God for the leaders at the time said it was sinful to do so. The people relied on their leaders (religous and political) to tell them how to live. So these things happened. But once Jesus came here to tell us all we were doing it wrong things changed for all religons. Even if you were not a follower of Christ at the time you knew he was right. He came and basicly told the world that this was not his father's (his) way. It was one big slap upside the head from God saying "what were you thinking?" And the whole world changed after that. So what i am saying is God doesn't change, we do.

 

[Ring Deacon]

Funny. That's a main principle of Hinduism, in regards to science.

Here's how I see it: Squeekness = Vicar of Dibley (the nice part, not the fat part.) Moviefan = Fred Phelps, and Ring Deacon = that crazed preacher from Carnivale (HBO series).

LOL don't want to preach. even though my church wants me to be more active in the church. heck they want me to run for a politcal office, which that I wouldn't mind. But I know I would make them made when I don't conform to all of their ideas. I am christian but there are some things that when in government can't be 100% christian. I believe in separation of church and state. But you can still have faith and state, that is completely different. I think the world needs to get back to some better values, but I don't think we all need to be the same. That my friends would be boring.

 

[SCORPINOK116]

ok...lets say there is a heaven and hell..god and devil and the whole world rests on wether more ppl believe vs. more ppl not believing.....if this is true...and both the devil and god know that this is wat the fate of the world rests apon...why dont they both make themselves known to all mankind right now and make us choose right now instead of making us decide for ourselves....its stupid to put the fate of the world and all its creatures in the hands of one perticuler species and then give them the option to distroy it all by not believing that u r the one that created them in the first place

 

[Fried Gold]

ok...lets say there is a heaven and hell..god and devil and the whole world rests on wether more ppl believe vs. more ppl not believing.....if this is true...and both the devil and god know that this is wat the fate of the world rests apon...why dont they both make themselves known to all mankind right now and make us choose right now instead of making us decide for ourselves....its stupid to put the fate of the world and all its creatures in the hands of one perticuler species and then give them the option to distroy it all by not believing that u r the one that created them in the first place