Zone1 I've been an atheist for 60 years and have never once been tempted to believe in any god

[Crick]

You missed the point. Your description of a "magical" God is an invention. God is not magic, he is reality.

Do you believe he is as bound by the laws of nature as are we?

 

[Crick]

But he is not [only] "real", he's the creator of reality. Tell me why something is at all and why not only is nothing.

Why does his "Official Word" say it all came to exist 6,000 years ago? And when did he come into existence?

 

[rampart]

He has to clear it with the FSM first. They've all got their territories.

i'd trade my colander for the red and black scales and ....

where do their poisons come from? teeth as in rattlesnakes? or maybe oozable lickable like those poison frogs ........

bye crick, back to a political thread for me. i'm starting to speak in tongues.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Why do you think climate change is mythical?

Because there is no real science behind it. It's actually dangerous. You believe it because you have faith.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

HAHAHAHaaaahhahhahhaha

Told ya

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Why does his "Official Word" say it all came to exist 6,000 years ago? And when did he come into existence?

That's not true.

 

[Crick]

So?

There is a hidden list of instructions in that text that will lead you to a small hidden cask containing an unclaimed Power Ball ticket worth $436 million in a lump sum. Unfortunately, the cask is also filled with a deadly poison which will end your life when you open it. Fortunately, the Power Ball Commission used some of their spare funds to create an after life where you may live for all eternity on kimchee and Hákarl...

; - )

 

[Crick]

That's not true.

Why not?

 

[Crick]

Heisenberg was uncertain. Einstein said it's all relative. A Mandelbrot set shows how growth can occur both spatially and anti-spatially simultaneously and at the same time too. Go ahead and measure it.

Nice Madelbrot video

 

[Crick]

You are Indeed a man of great Faith. Your Faith is in science....Unreligious perhaps but Faith nonetheless. All in all it was a decision made by you should not be exposed to any criticism since it was indeed your own decision. Considering the unspeakably vast reaches of the cosmos that surrounds us we may simply have to settle for the fact that it will always be beyond our ability either to understand it or fully explore it. This too is a form of faith.
Whether or not we will ever have an experience to end the GREAT SILENCE... Faith will still be necessary in whatever form we choose to adhere to it.

I appreciate the thought, but I believe my acceptance of science and the scientific method is the antithesis of faith. Science relies on evidence. Faith is belief lacking evidence. "Seek not to your own understanding...".

 

[Crick]

And yet you're still a religious fanatic.....

Eat the bugs ....your priests command you

It is more than a little disappointing to see the number of people that have followed me here from the Environment forum solely to badmouth me.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Why not?

Because there is no Christian documentation that the world is 6,000 years old.

 

[Crick]

Dogs do not go to heaven they don’t have a soul.

I don't actually believe anything has a soul, but if I were wrong, I am quite certain that dogs would be closer to god than you or I.

 

[Crick]

Hellenistic times were hardly moral... This was a time of widespread slavery, endless war, and on and on. Jesus gained much appeal among common people BECAUSE of His message of morality, His message that an individual's suffering, even a slave's, mattered.

Heck, I recall this famous quote, from those same Hellenistic times: '...since you know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must'. This was not a time of morality, and Jesus and His message (along with other religious figures) helped to improve those societies morally.

Small problem with your famous quote: The Hellenistic Era ended in 32 BC.

 

[Crick]

Absolutely.

Religion had to be displaced by superior, secular ideas.

Like classical liberalism, evidence based thought, and secular government.

All quite in spite of religion.

Try to remember: we had religion for 400,000 years.

Then refined reason came along. Things sure starting happening, then?

And I am supposed to credit religion for that? Please.

Homo Sapiens appeared 200,000 years ago.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Homo Sapiens appeared 200,000 years ago.

I always go with 400,000 years, since it is possible (and maybe likely) it was 400,000 years.

The oldest fossil found is about 300,000 years old.

 

[Crick]

Why is it so important to libtard atheists to denigrate the beliefs of others?

You denigrate mine far, far more often than I make any comment about yours.

Why would they give a fuck if a person happens to believe in God or in miracles?

The OP makes no such comment. I only did make such a comment here when I was asked.

Does it impact their shallow lives?

Do my beliefs impact yours? Prior to (let me guess) this morning, had you ever read a single word anywhere concerning my atheism?

 

[Crick]

There is no such thing as atheism.

I disagree of course.

I have never, in my life, seen someone who proclaims they do not believe in God that weren't so mad at God that they spend their lives attacking a thing that, according to them, does not exist.

1) Have you met every self-described atheist on the planet? No, you have not.
2) I strenuously suspect that far more atheists are pissed at organized religions than at their deities.
3) I suspect you are not a good source for this information. I have posted in this thread many times today and have not expressed anger at your deity. I refute your claim.

Atheists absolutely do believe in God but have hurt feelings because at some point in their lives God answered their prayer in a way that didn't align with what they had hoped for so they are choosing to take their anger out by attacking God.

Your belief is without evidence but it makes you feel much better, doesn't it. But, were he to exist, what would your god think of you holding such opinions? On one hand you seem to be forgiving their disbelief but on the other hand, you are critical of them for what you perceive to be dishonesty about their own feelings.

I do not believe in the Gods of the Asians who inhabited America before Columbus and I do not believe in the Gods of the native African tribes that were worshiped before the arrival of white men - and I have no idea if they still worship, that's why I said it like I did, but I assume that there might be some remote tribes who still do. But, in all cases where I do not believe in the Gods which others worship, I do not make it the focus of my life to criticize or tear down those Gods to the people who believe in them. That's how civilized non-believers act. No, those who make it their life's work to attack God and those who love God are definitely believers.

I have not made it the focus of my life to tear down others religious beliefs. You seem awfully sensitive to criticism, however. Has anyone ever told you to "cowboy up"?

 

[Crick]

I always go with 400,000 years, since it is possible (and maybe likely) it was 400,000 years.

The oldest fossil found is about 300,000 years old.

Do you have evidence of religion from 400,000 years ago? I believe there was a mother figure found not long ago that set a new record. Let's look.

This says the oldest carved figurine is 33-43,000 years old.

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/unesco-world-heritage-ice-age-artworks/index.html#:~:text=This%20female%20figurine%20%2D%2D%20named,figurine%20of%20its%20kind%20worldwide.&text=Most%20of%20the%20objects%20uncovered,were%20carved%20using%20stone%20implements.

A wooden structure was recently found and there was reason to believe it was constructed by Neanderthals.

 

[beautress]

When I was 10 years old, we had a dog named Silver. A sealyham - sort of a largish Westie. He had been struck by a car when I was much younger and that had left him blind in one eye. We adapted. He adapted. But whenever he entered an unfamiliar space (the furniture moved, for instance) he would collide with things. I felt bad for him. Like most children my age I believed what I was told was the truth by my parents and the church they took me to. So I prayed as fervently and selflessly as I could manage that God would restore his vision. But, as would happen in any bad movie, his poor vision led Silver to wandering out in front of another car where he suffered another concussion which left him completely blind. Now all dogs go to heaven because all dogs are innocent. Every non-human form of life is innocent of the many sins the Bible spells out. Initially, I was angry. How could God cause my innocent dog to suffer, regardless of his motive or intent? The standard "mysterious ways" line didn't help at all. What did help was the realization that the best explanation was not that god was mysterious or unknowable, but that he simply wasn't there. The existence of the god described by the Bible and by our preacher and the believers I would talk with was simply not possible; not only because it violated all the laws of nature but because absolutely no evidence I could find supported the idea. Every thing I could learn about the world and how it worked refuted the idea of a caring, personal god who had created miraculous humans and a miraculous Earth to be their home and was everpresent, watching over us and, on proper supplication, violating the laws that he himself had set in place - if he felt like it.

As the years went by I simply became more and more convinced that there is a great deal about the working of the universe we do not yet know, but the basics - the principal of uniformitarianism, holds, everywhere and everywhen. Nothing is supernatural. No will directs or inspires the stream of events taking place over the passage of time. Only physics.

What signs or signals should I have caught that might have lured me back to my childhood faith? And how might my life have been different had I done so? I have lots of friends and I'm pretty sure most of them think I'm a nice guy. I buy fully and heartily into the Golden Rule. I believe it to be the sole basis of human civilization. How do you think my complete lack of divine faith hurt me? Will your god throw into a lake of fire because I led a good life but failed to do him obeisance? That is, of course, precisely what scriptures tells us. Why would ANY of you believe, much less WORSHIP such a god? He seems a monster. Would anyone care to correct me?

What signs or signals should I have caught that might have lured me back to my childhood faith?
You judged God because your dog got himself blinded by not paying attention to the road, and God did not intervene the breach of a law of nature by upending the laws of velocity, impact, and pain caused by the doggie's experience. You, on the other hand, endeared yourself to the dog, which likely gave the poor little fella a lot of joy that you cared for him. God didn't stop the dog from appreciating your acts of love and kindness you gave, even if it was out of pity. Your protective instinct is the proof that God gave the klutzy pup a reason to be cheerful. For the dog, you made his life a better place out of your love. All God did was to let the experience give the dog all he wanted to have--your love, your pity, your caring, and your protection. God let you be the good guy. Can't you see the good that you did for your fuzzy friend? The experience turned you into that canine's hero, and he needed one. You did a good job, and so did God because he knew ahead of time that precious canine would soon be friended, loved, comforted, and the dog would never forget to love you for the rest of his life. You won the heart of what has long been known as man's best friend. You got to be his best friend. Lucky you! Even I thank God for your kindness to a poor little fella who wasn't paying attention to reality. There's more, but you're a smart guy. You'll figure it all out some day.