Queen of Swords

Originally posted by Magus55
I think atheism is an irrational, stupid stance yet i don't constantly criticize you or laugh at posts made by atheists.

That's a shame. Maybe if you laughed more you would feel better; it can't be fun to be so sour all the time.

SecularFuture

BWAAAHAHAHA!!!!

Family Man

I think I want to follow up on Magus's comment.

I have elderly parents who believe much as he does. In fact, from conversations we had a long time ago, they must be pretty surprised to still be residing on Earth right now. They know how I feel about their beliefs, and I know how they feel about mine. They also know that, if it ever becomes necessary, I'll be happy to drive them to church on Sunday. But I won't go in with them, and they have enough respect for me not to ask.

This is an atheist message-board, Magus. This is where I get to come, let my hair down, and say what I think. I respect everyone's right to believe what they wish, but if you have the right to express what your beliefs are then I also have the right to express how stupid those beliefs are. The Rapture is a puerile fantasy not worthy of the religion it sprang from. Anyone with a modicum of common sense ought to see that.

And if you don't like hearing things like that, Magus, I respectfully suggest that this is no the place for you.

SecularFuture

Magus55
Because the stuff just doesn't make any rational sense! In a natural world, why should the supernatural exist? Without complete knowledge of the natural world, how can we know for sure if a supernatural world exists? People many years ago thought rain was caused by supernatural agents. Why? Because they were without very much understanding of our natural world, and they assumed / believed rain must have had a supernatural origin. No amount of belief can turn something into a fact, and fundy-mentalitsts need to realize this. I find it amazing that grown people [ADULTS] take these magical, religious-faith based concepts so literally, without any real reason or evidence to do so. Its down right sickening.

Magus55

And anyone with common sense would realize the Gospels weren't fabricated fairy tales, and Jesus did in fact rise from the dead or Christianity wouldn't exist, yet you all threw that common sense out the window ages ago.

I find it amusing that Atheist call Christians self-righteous and holier than thou, yet all you do is belittle us and laugh at things that you don't even believe in or give a crap about. If you really knew that God didn't exist and its all a fairytale, why waste your time arguing over it?

Queen of Swords

Originally posted by Magus55
If you really knew that God didn't exist and its all a fairytale, why waste your time arguing over it?

If you really knew that atheism didn't make sense, why waste your time arguing over it?

SecularFuture

Magus55
Common sense? Were you there to see all of this stuff happen? No. You just have faith in a book that could have been written by anyone with a little spare time, imagination, and creative writing ability.

For more about my own pesonal search for a god, please visit THIS LINK

This isn’t all we do.

To keep fundamentalists from getting in the way of real progress. Thats my reason.

lpetrich

Because Xtians, especially fundie Xtians, are often very obnoxious about their religion. If followers of other religions started making themselves obnoxious, we'd start laughing at their beliefs. Consider all the people here who have laughed at beliefs of other religions, like the Islamic conception of Paradise.

Opera Nut

There is no logical reason why Christianity should be any better of a path to follow than any other religion/philosophy./belief system, and many reasons why it is worse than many others.

I have found other philosophies that suit my needs better. It is incredibly arrogant and presumptuous of Xtians to tell the rest of the world that they MUST become Xtians. I got news for you people:

Guess what, the Jews think they are the "chosen people".
The Mormons think they have the one true religion.
The JWs think they have the one true religion.
The Catholics think they have the one true religion.
The Muslims think they have the one true religion.
The Church of Christ thinks they have the one true religion.
And several other denominations I can't remember now, think they have the one true religion.

Now, they can't ALL be right.
Or, they could all have a small PART of the truth, whatever that is.

I think different people have different backgrounds and different spiritual needs, and you can't make 6 billion people fit into your cultural/religious worldview. As has been pointed out here, if you Xtians were born in the Arab world, chances you would be Muslim without a second thought, it would seem natural to you as part of your born native culture. But you are horrified at the thought.

If you were born in Africa, you might follow a native religion. If you were a member of many other aboriginal peoples, you would follow the one you were born into. Culture has a great deal to do with religion, and a lot of the Xtians here seem to miss that point.

I now believe that Western culture, and specifically America, is spent of ideas and has a paucity of practical ideas to applied. The culture is not nearly as rich as the ancient cultures of Asia, and I am studying them, and have for many years, because i think their different approach to the world can be very educational for us Westerners. That is why many people are investigating New Age mishmashes of Eastern ideas. They would rather be "space cadets" and believe in pyramids and past lives than suffer from unearned shame, guilt and verbal abuse by Christians.

We need to go beyond the ideas and superstitions of ignorant goat herders in Palestine 2000 years ago. We need to get away from the bloody, gory, punitive death-filled imagery of Christianity and OT Judaism. We need to get past that, because it's not a good metaphor for our modern times. It makes me ill every time I hear some preacher babble about "washed in the blood of Jesus": So primitive, so gross, so utterly pointless, only good for a tasty barbecue.

cydonia

I agree with you Opera Nut.

There was a time when I would read a letter like that and start to feel very nervous about my future. But now to me it seems a little silly, everyone will vanish because they are special. The other people don't vanish, they aren't special. Then you get an e-mail?

I know how it feels to be susceptible to magical thinking like this, I was there. Now I can't even hypothetically think of this as being even remotely possible.

And if I were "proven" wrong, and left alone, the God that made this rapture (which i believe isn't mentioned in the Bible) would still be unworthy of my company anyway.
Hear the thunder.