blame_the_gods

Ok, I'll Play!

Seriously, our off-topic visitor... We gather here to fight off the seething hordes of gxxxdslians, find comfort in shared heresy and (in my VERY SPECIFIC CASE) have lots of groovy homo-sex with Jesus.

Non-Bxlief is simply a fairly common point of reference here, nothing more. Frankly, this place hosts about as diverse a collection of evolved apes as anywhere in Cyber-Space. I can say, with full confidence, that MANY here don't agree with little ole' me.

Now, get on board with Miscellaneous topics or mosey on over to one of those Forums where people discuss such absurdly irrelevant things...

-Blameless

Hobbs

I think there is. Correct me if I'm wrong, Media-1, but your question strikes me as being inspired by a rather common evangelical tactic of asking "why would you put so much effort in denying god if god isn't really there?" It's sort of a reflection of most believers' being unable to understand or comprehend that there are people who can honestly and sincerely believe that there is no god.

If I'm right about that, I hope some of the responses here demonstrate that there can be other reasons than obstinate denial of what we really know deep down in our hearts for us having an interest in this topic.

Senlathiel

I understand his question.

Here is an answer, for whatever it is worth.

1)If there isn't a God, then your belief, Media-1 is damaging to not only yourself, but to others you preach to. Therefore, it is important to me, as an atheist, to help you realize the faults in your theology. In that way, I am helping you because--believe it or not--atheists care.

2)Because you vote. I may not like it, but I accept that I am living in a country where for most things the government chooses by majority rule. Because you believe in something (God) which is false, you vote on that assumption and the govenment responds to that. Therefore, I need to help you just for the reason of your voting influence.

3)I have loved ones who, I am sad to say, are not as critical to what people tell them as I am. They are susceptible to brow beating, carefully worded false logic, or wishful thinking. Christians are a major source of that in this country--therefore I would argue with you just to protect those people.

4)Because you are wrong in a very dangerous sense.

I hope that helps

Senlathiel

Hobbs

Oh, come on, that's bullshit and you know it. We all agree with you about everything! So you are just flat out wrong!

Brian63

Ditto to everything that is mentioned above, plus...

To me, it isn't just that many theists are often trying to legislate their superstitutions on to everyone else that bothers me, but also what they do outside of the political realm.

Some people who have belief in God have a nasty habit of doing nasty things to people who don't believe in their God, like crashing things into other things.

Religion has its benefits (even if it is not true), but if it is not true (as I suspect) it has done some serious harm to our civilization throughout history.

Brian

phlebas

Nice enough discussion, but not really ideal for this forum. Off to... hmmm... Misc Religion Discussions.

blame_the_gods

See what BLIND FAITH leads to!?! Endless contradictions, hero worship, inflated egos, and professional figure skating, For Darwin's Sake! I mean if you really want to know, what I THE GREAT ACCUSER, think about all this...

"Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy, Fish! It goes wherever I go, OOOOOOOOeeewwww!"

Oh, wait, it was ME that was openly prostrated to... (and, secretly, I know sex had something to do with it. Jesus must be talking to his new boyfriends, Bastard!) So, I can live with that, please proceed.

Eudaimonist

Does reality matter? Does reason matter? Does truth matter? Sure. These matter to human life, and mistaken ideas and ways of thinking can be a threat.

Echo

<sigh>
Another theist asked this same question just the other day. Why is that theists just can't seem to grasp the fact that some atheists actually find these kinds of discussions interesting and entertaining? Just because I'm an atheist doesn't mean there's some sort of unofficial atheist rule that says I'm not allowed to enjoy debates and discussions on the existence or nonexistence of God. And, of course, the occasional moronic fundy is better than stand-up comedy any day in terms of entertainment value for your money. And who doesn't like to be entertained?

I think what theists *really* mean when they ask this question is "Come on, you talk about God so much, you must really deep down be a theist after all, otherwise you wouldn't talk about it all the time."

Media-1

I don't believe in UFO's visiting the earth from other planets. So, to avoid extreme bordom, I avoid the UFO topic on TV, in books, and in discussion. I wouldn't care if nearly everyone believed in UFO's, but it would truly surprise me to find someone who doesn't believe in UFO's being frequently drawn to the topic of UFO's.

Yes, I do suspect that there are lots of atheists that are drawn to the topic of God partly because they need the reassurance of other atheists in order to "keep the faith" in atheism.

Media-1