Godless Apostate

[HPLovecraft]

Concernign the controversy over the resignation of the Pope:

Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone said it was "deplorable" that as the time for the Roman Catholic cardinals to elect a new pope approaches, a rash of "often unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories" has appeared.

[DuffMan]

Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone said it was "deplorable" that as the time for the Roman Catholic cardinals to elect a new pope approaches, a rash of "often unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories" has appeared.

sort of like the Bible.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

I don't think I'm mocking the other side but questioning it. I posted articles that seem crazy to me. How did it become this way? You said you left after 12 years, but other people make it stronger.

If my husband has an affair, it's my fault because I'm ugly.

China is on the opposite side, no religion is allowed unless it's the "normal religious activity" the government sponsors.

Fair enough - we're cool

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by photon

My uncle and his wife call themselves atheists but they also believe in psychics and homeopathy. They're about as anti-science as most hardcore theists and are against vaccines and "chemicals". I find talking to them more frustrating than if they were preaching Jesus.

[TorqueDog]

I'm in the US right now (so wow, do I have an awesome contribution for this thread when I return), but to address DownInFlames, an atheist can believe in absolutely anything - except a god or gods. I too know plenty of atheists who believe in utter nonsense like homeopathy, or think vaccines cause autism; not every atheist reaches their position through rational means.

[Thor]

Its not the belief in God that upsets me, its specific issues that stem from some religious beliefs that I have a problem with, and I try to focus my effort on those things and not just the broad stroke of "all relgious are..."

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

sort of like the Bible.

Well aimed.

Cowperson

[evman150]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

Anyway, the thing is, the universe is a completely overwhelming and scary place for the average mortal being, so having a coping system to deal with just how vast and impossible it all seems is a good thing for the human psyche. I love science and everything that it brings to the table, but even when you get into the theoretical science that tries to explain how the universe was created, currently works, and will eventually expire, it's little more than fantastic imaginations and things that seem like magic (dark matter? Invisible mass that exists to take up space and create gravity and the framework of galaxies...unless of course our math is wrong ), well how is that any better than some of the stories in the bible trying to explain how humanity got to where it is today?

Nope, as far as I can see, it's really just whatever ridiculous explanation you're most comfortable with because nobody really has the answer; and if they tell you they do, they're selling you something.

Me, I will go on being uncomfortable with not knowing.

This is a brutal false equivalence.

Reminds me of some "scientist" in "the secret" video (you know - rhonda byrne BS) who says something along the lines of "do you know how electricity works? I sure don't, therefore nobody does - therefore it's the secret!"

[Cheese]

As an atheist mocking religion is an easy target, for which the religious have no explanation.

I have an Invisible friend
The invisible friend grants me wishes
I have learned magical incantations to bring this invisible man into my life
My religion is the only religion


...because the bible tells me so.


The entirety of atheism is contained in this response. Atheism is not a philosophy; it is not even a view of the world; it is simply a refusal to deny the obvious. Unfortunately, we live in a world in which the obvious is overlooked as a matter of principle. The obvious must be observed and re-observed and argued for. This is a thankless job. It carries with it an aura of petulance and insensitivity. It is, moreover, a job that the atheist does not want.

[flamesfever]

nm

[HotHotHeat]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

Despite it's shortcomings, which are getting to be tired old ramblings by aethists, the Bible is one of the most important books of all time, in terms of its positive influence on western civilization.

EDIT: This quote was removed from the post above mine.

So you're saying it's OK to pick and choose parts that fit a society's norms from a book that was apparently the work of a god?

The bible says some pretty ridiculous stuff. I think your labeling of 'shortcomings' is a very friendly score.




There is just as strong, if not a stronger argument that the bible is the single most destructive piece of literature to be published in the history of the world. It's caused countless wars and deaths, all in the name of something that no one has ever seen/heard from/experienced with the 5 senses.

There is an undeniable link between our growing understanding of the world we live in and the downfall of religion. God was used to explain the unexplainable thousands of years ago. We've now very clearly moved beyond needing fairytales to understand how we came to be.

[Cheese]

http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...mg/1741723.gif

[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

sort of like the Bible.

Nothing gets by you!

[Cheese]

These 10 rules are inherently better than those laid out in the bible...

Ten Rules for Being Human

by Cherie Carter-Scott

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it's yours to keep for the entire period.
2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, "life."
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work."
4. Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning lessons does not end. There's no part of life that doesn't contain its lessons. If you're alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.
6. "There" is no better a place than "here." When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."
7. Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9. Your answers lie within you. The answers to life's questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
0. You will forget all this.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by Trojan97

Ya? well who created the earth if there is no god?

Star dust,gravity and time.

True story bro!

[Thor]

I guess its the science guy in me that is most saddened by people who have no clue about what we know about how we got here, its mindboggling to have people not aware of what physics has learned the last 100 years, so few people know even basic science and say things like Bill O´reilly's famous "tide goes in, tide goes out, you can´t explain that" without even skipping a beat.

In this day in age with easy access to amazing documentaries, the internet and to be this wilfully ignorant about our own existence and place in our universe is deeply saddening.

I am not btw blaming religion for this, albeit it shares a lot of blame since it gives answers so people don't bother trying to find out on their own, mostly its laziness.

[flamesfever]

Originally Posted by Cheese

These 10 rules are inherently better than those laid out in the bible...

Ten Rules for Being Human

by Cherie Carter-Scott

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it's yours to keep for the entire period.
2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, "life."
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work."
4. Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning lessons does not end. There's no part of life that doesn't contain its lessons. If you're alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.
6. "There" is no better a place than "here." When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."
7. Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9. Your answers lie within you. The answers to life's questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
0. You will forget all this.

I agree life is full of lessons, but isn't it useful to have some knowledge of all the lessons learned by those who have preceded us? To some degree, these lessons are spelled out in the stories of the Bible.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

/thread!

[Thor]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

I agree life is full of lessons, but isn't it useful to have some knowledge of all the lessons learned by those who have preceded us? To some degree, these lessons are spelled out in the stories of the Bible.

What lessons in the Bible are only found there, and have not been told before the old testament and new testament?

Also, one of my favorites, Cracked does the top most raunchiest Bible stories.

http://www.cracked.com/article_16546...rom-bible.html

[HPLovecraft]

I love the Bible. The Bible can teach you amazing things, truths that speak to you in ways similar to art, music, or any other great work of literature. When expecting to get empirical truths from it, however, you obviously run into trouble. Looking for a truth of the human predicament, or simply your own predicament? Read well, the Bible, the Koran, whatever, can give you fantastic insights. Looking for the exact date the planet Earth came into existence? Not so much.