Comment

Comment by D R Hosie on September 13, 2013 at 10:44pm

(Sam Harris)

Beliefs hazardous to World Health

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Comment by D R Hosie on August 24, 2013 at 2:43pm

For anyone still in the dark about Bradley Manning.

Bradley Manning's still a Good ol' Girl.

Comment by Stein Erik Ulekleiv on May 31, 2013 at 1:19pm

Lets imagine for a minute that God exist and that all violence, deaths, rapes, wars and som on are caused by humans and are not at all Gods will because of our free will. Even tornados, floods and other disasters caused by nature are also our faults because of what we've done to the ozon layer etc. But, and there's a big BUT, please then explain to me how it can be humanitys fault that we have earth quakes that cause millions of deaths to innocent people. Is it really humans that push the continents so that they cause thes disasters? How can a religious person say that this our fault and not Gods? If God exists then it cant be anyone else than him who decides that its about time to kill innocent people in earth quakes. but God loves us, doesn't he, so why does he want to kill so many men, women and children? Or can it just be that God does not exist... I'm 100 % sure. What about you?

Comment by Gerry Rival on December 21, 2011 at 1:41pm

@bill owen

I am quoting bill owen then following his statements with my rebuttals.

"I am sponsoring a child from a poor Indian family named Daktar through a faith based organization. He is a Christian and so is his family. Many others are doing the same. The word of God is becoming available to the entire world. In the past, however, there were those who never got the chance to hear about Jesus. We know that Jesus saves people who accept Him, but we do not know that He does not also save those who have never heard of them."

 For an omnipotent all powerful god he sure took along time and long winded way to go about informing the rest of the world about "his word". not to mention all the people that were killed and tortured to bring it to them.

"Countless people have their own beliefs that they were not born into, even many of you who read this."

Some of us did smarten up while others traded one belief in a particular mythology for another for various personal reasons but it's nowhere near the numbers of those born into a particular religion and continue to live, believe and feel theirs is the true religion. Also i would like to point out that most of those who say turn to christianity or catholicism later in their life after a life of non commitment generally live in countries where christianity is the predominant religion.

"There are also the universal constants that, if changed by the slightest fraction, would make life impossible anywhere."

lots of places in the universe that could never support life

"In this case one cannot use the argument that if you repeat something an infinite amount of times, the impossible becomes possible, because these constants DO NOT CHANGE. They are what they are once and only once."

We do not know how many universes there were or are. There could be and have been infinite amounts of universes where there has not been any life for one reason or another.

"These universal constants do not vary, and therefore must have been fine tuned to allow life, unless by the smallest chance, they just happened to be the way they were. "

It's not they were fine tuned therefore... the conditions were right and life was then a possibility. we could easily have not existed.  that's what makes it all so amazing and precious and to not be taken for granted. which also presents a higher sense of why morality and ethics are even more important. Life and existence is so much more amazed at and appreciated by (thinking) atheist. plus we try to understand it while you guys go... uh... god did it.

"God gave you a sense of morality whether you believe in Him or not. He has written the law on our hearts. The Word is there simply to feed your sense of morality..."

See the thing is... we already very well understand where our sense of morality comes from. It's an evolutionary trait. other social animals also have their own sense of morality as well. it is not limited to humans. I'm also sure a almighty god could've come up with a better way to keep morality up other than "the word". took him along time to bring it to us by the way. Also because it is an evolutionary trait, it also needs to now be upgraded to our current state of existence. ie what once work and was relevant is'nt necessarily so today; religion doesn't allow for this. though many religious people pick and choose which tenants they choose to follow and they'll call true to their religion. Hence demonstrating that it has nothing to do with god. being almight and so on he would've already preemptived this. such as slavery would not have been condoned in the bible; amongst rape and genocide. some moral word from am almighty god.

"No. No. No. No, you just made him up. Because I’m not an idiot. Ok. I’m glad we had this conversation."

That was partially his point (i think). they are all made up; hence why would you believe in em.

"The inexistence of God isn’t an extraordinary claim?"

no it isn't. there simply is no evidence of a god therefore we don't believe in one. the claim there is one on the other hand is a hugely extraordinary claim, since there's no rational reason to believe one exists, therefore requires extraordinary evidence.

"He wants you to choose Him out of your own free will. He wants you to love Him because you want to, not because He forced you to."

Why does he even need this or want this? Must be pretty insecure and awfully human for an omnipotent god.

"In a game of musical chairs, one boy had no faith in the chair he was about to sit on, so instead he studied it to make sure it would support him.  He lost."

What a dumb argument. should i even bother... ok... years upon years of experience has taught the child that the chair will support him. Not faith, experience.

"He has revealed Himself through scripture.."

what a terrible way to do it. also, there is nothing in that book that could not have been written by anyone living in that century. nothing to indicate someone who knew anything about anything outside of their meek and small existence.

"I can see His work being done in my life and the lives of those around me."

i am always dismayed when the work and goodwill of people and the contributions of science get attributed to god. this is so disrespectful and just a plain shitty thing to do. shame on anyone who does so.

"He LIVES through the church; the body of believers."

wow, really. you have seen, or at least heard, the things the church and believers have done and are still doing? lots people dead, dying, suffered or suffering. it's not just in the past but in the present too. not to mention how much progress has been held back for centuries and on goingly so. f@#k the church.

oh of course, they were the "false" church or not "true believers". and who makes that call anyway and why are the interpretations "of the word" so varied?

"Countless prophecies of the Bible have been fulfilled."

Curious on this one. pretty sure most have been self fulfilling.

Jesus didn't even really fit prophecy either.

Comment by Jay on August 2, 2011 at 12:35am

"A universe with a god would be a completely different kind of universe from one without, and it would be a scientific difference."

 

-R. Dawkins

Comment by Axcella Marie Zelensky on May 3, 2011 at 10:42pm

well if i can get the airfare for two to Norway I would gladly go to Hell, by the way I don't think it gets that hot in Hell to burn.

Also hell in the Hebrew means hole in the ground, as in a place you bury the body.

Comment by Derek on May 3, 2011 at 10:02pm

Religinut: "You are going to hell"

 

Me: "It's better to burn in hell than to spend a life of abject servility."

Comment by bill owen on March 14, 2011 at 5:56am

Mine goes like this (assuming I'm talking to a christian): Your religion teaches that if you do not accept Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior you will burn for eternity in hell. More or less. No matter if you are a good person, or are equally devout in another faith. The religion you have as an adult is hugely dependent on the time and place of your birth. If God chose to have you born today to a poor family in India, your chances of converting to christianity to be saved are near zero. If you were born in South America before the conquistador's came, you were not going to hear about Jesus. In essence, God chooses certain people to burn for eternity and they have no say in the matter.

I am sponsoring a child from a poor Indian family named Daktar through a faith based organization. He is a Christian and so is his family. Many others are doing the same. The word of God is becoming available to the entire world. In the past, however, there were those who never got the chance to hear about Jesus. We know that Jesus saves people who accept Him, but we do not know that He does not also save those who have never heard of them.

 

Religion is like football. Everyone wants to believe their home team is special, but the fact is they only think so because they were born there.

Countless people have their own beliefs that they were not born into, even many of you who read this.

 

there is no credible evidence for the existence of god. two things are generally proffered as evidence of god, scripture and the natural world (argument from perceived design).

Because the natural world isn’t credible? The heavens declare the glory of God. I urge you to watch a presentation called the Star of Bethlehem. There is also the Law of Nature described in C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. There are also the universal constants that, if changed by the slightest fraction, would make life impossible anywhere. These universal constants do not vary, and therefore must have been fine tuned to allow life, unless by the smallest chance, they just happened to be the way they were. In this case one cannot use the argument that if you repeat something an infinite amount of times, the impossible becomes possible, because these constants DO NOT CHANGE. They are what they are once and only once.

 

I like to play the morality card, e.g. what motivates you to be a good person? If the answer is religion, cue argument about people with different religions (or no religion) still being good people, thus morality does not come from religion. So, what's the point of religion then?
If they bring in heaven and hell, I counter by saying that if there is a god, I would hope that he would judge people on their actions (i.e. morality) rather than their superficial beliefs/practices.

The answer is not religion, the answer is God. God gave you a sense of morality whether you believe in Him or not. He has written the law on our hearts. The Word is there simply to feed your sense of morality and keep it healthy, it is not the source. Additionally, God does not judge based on superficial beliefs/practices, nor the superficial actions that you wished to be judged by. God judges people by what is in their heart. That is more genuine than either of the two things you mentioned.

 

Do you think I'm going to hell? If yes, why? Why would God condemn me to eternal torture just for not believing him in the face of a huge lack of evidence? Why did he create me with my questioning, rational mind if I was going to be punished for exercising it? If no, then there's no reason to bother believing in him anyway.

God does not condemn  people for not believing in him, He condemns people for sinning. I was condemned before, but now I am saved. Would you rather He didn’t create you with a rational mind? He wants you to choose Him out of your own free will. He wants you to love Him because you want to, not because He forced you to. That is the purpose of free will; genuine love.

 

Do you believe in Zeus? Do you believe in FSM? How about unicorns or fairies? How about Xorplax, a god I just made up? Why not?... Well that's why I don't believe in your god, and why you shouldn't either.

No. No. No. No, you just made him up. Because I’m not an idiot. Ok. I’m glad we had this conversation.

I want to believe as many true things as possible and not believe as many things that aren't true as possible. The best way to do this I have come across is the scientific method. I require evidence to substantiate claims, and a preponderance of evidence to substantiate extraordinary claims.

The inexistence of God isn’t an extraordinary claim? I though atheists were a minority?

 

Faith is a weakness. Faith is the excuse we give ourselves to believe something when there is no good reason to. Faith actively stands in the way of looking for evidence and seeking further knowledge. Instead of faith, let us use reasonable expectation based on observation, and use hope for the things we cannot control.

In a game of musical chairs, one boy had no faith in the chair he was about to sit on, so instead he studied it to make sure it would support him.  He lost.

 

All religious beliefs are so far objectively unjustifiable. If you can justify yours, please do so. Personal experience is fine for you, but know that if that is your only basis for belief, you have no footing on which to convince others your religion is valid; it is entirely possible you have misinterpreted your experience, or that your senses were unwittingly impaired at the time.

I believe in God because He has revealed Himself through scripture and through the world. I have had doubts. I have had questions. They have been answered. I can see His work being done in my life and the lives of those around me. He LIVES through the church; the body of believers. Countless prophecies of the Bible have been fulfilled. The heavens declare the glory of God. From where I stand, He is undeniable.

Comment by David Finn on February 7, 2011 at 10:35pm

I loved this article and i think you have excellent points...

 

I especially loved... "Do you think I'm going to hell? If yes, why? Why would God condemn me to eternal torture just for not believing him in the face of a huge lack of evidence? Why did he create me with my questioning, rational mind if I was going to be punished for exercising it? If no, then there's no reason to bother believing in him anyway."

 

This sums up my beliefs to  "T"  Why can't I think for myself? I was a catholic in my early years then i just started thinking for myself.....didnt a athiest turned catholic do the same thing??

Comment by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on February 1, 2011 at 11:09am

Quick response to religious BS:

Theist: You know you're going to Hell, right?

Atheist: [Brings out ipod with speakers... plays ACDC's "Highway to Hell" and laugh's head off]

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