to the OP, i think there are many people who stil believe in their heavenly father and i also think your question is too broad and misleading.

 

Whoa. Way harsh.

(Yes, I have been lurking on the thread.)

They are not logical, rational people. There's the rub.

They have your vitriol coming to them, but this is the attitude I'm referring to in my posts. People cannot be dragged kicking and screaming to rationalism.

When someone challenges me with something on the order of, prove God is not love, I stop right there and wish them a good life. They can't be reasoned with or argued with.

I am an atheist, and within that minority group, I arguably ascribe to the coldest, most dispassionate variety (namely, the sort that holds that words like 'God' are not worth arguing about, and that the people who ascribe to them by faith or whatever are themselves lost causes). Yet that dispassion has a silver lining of mercy: their faith is essentially useless, but since I do not fight it, I essentially leave them free to embrace it. Yes, they would be better off without it, but they are not ready to trade it in, and there is no use forcing them.

In short, -S-, you could just tone it down and let them be confused.

 

Then I apologize . . .

I only meant to convey that I thought I had made a valid point . . .

 

But yelling, "I made a valid point!" is nowhere near as much fun.

 

They are not logical or rational when it comes to their faith. Most of them are logical and rational in other areas of their life. They just invent excuses about why logic doesn't have to apply to their god belief and why that's perfectly acceptable, i.e. cognitive dissonance.

I don't participate in these sorts of discussions because I think NewtonInk or acook will suddenly see the folly of their believing ways. No, I participate in them because for every one person commenting, there are several who are just reading. And their minds might not be made up and cemented in dogma. And having someone present a reasoned argument against religious silliness may be what they need to either question their faith or abandon it. It is possible and all it takes sometimes is a little nudge. People can be reasoned out of faith, they just have to do it i their own way. That doesn't mean that others can't help them along the path, though.

-S-

 

Religion is another form of mind control, and a spiritual dead end. God is a man made concept, and is null and void. Life is a beautiful Mystery, we are all Life unfolding whether as chaotic debris or gentle strolling. I have never believed in God, and never will. What I go with is the Oneness of everything, we all come from the One Source, whatever that Source is. I'm not going to hazard a guess at what the Source is, that is way beyond our comprehension.

Being restricted to a religion with the toxic dogma and rituals is suffocating and pointless. Men control religion and deem women to be second class citizens - which they are not; women are wiser and more spiritual than us men!

I have been fortunate to have a Near Death Experience(NDE)and I am able to incorporate that wonderful experience within all that I do. I didn't see God or any other so called religious figure! Where I went to was beyond words, such beauty and vibrancy. We are all wonderful beings, sadly we have lost sight of this Truth through the various religions; men like to complicate the simple things!

Enjoy Life and do no harm. Live from the Heart. That is the purest religion.

 

The stupid kind.

-S-

 

Why is it one or the other?

Why does no one say, "I don't fucking know"?

 

I say I don't know. Like I said, I'm an agnostic atheist. They are not mutually exclusive, nor are they interchangeable. the gnostic portion of that title deals with knowledge. What do I know concerning the existence of god or gods? Nothing. I do not know. The atheist portion deals with my beliefs on the subject. I do not believe that any such creatures exist because no evidence has been presented to demonstrate otherwise. It's the believers who claim absolute knowledge, more often than not. They claim to KNOW that god exists. Not only do they KNOW that, they also KNOW exactly what god wants of them and of us.

The difference between most atheists and most believers is that when we don't know, we don't run around making shit up.

-S-

 

Snort!

The difference between most atheists and most believers is that when we don't know, we don't run around making shit up.

Agreed.

 

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THAT was an easy answer . . .

try speaking

 

i grew up in strict moslem family...i have come to this conclusion that there is propably no god and people make gods...

 

Jews

The bible can be proven true with two words!

 

See, I told you it was the stupid kind.

-S-

 

I pity you!

The Jew!!

 

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Good Lord . . . You destroy every point I think I make.

 

I never posted Mr.T