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

[ding]

It's literally a made up story sprinkled with some historical facts

Link?

 

[Blues Man]

Link?

The link is the Bible itself.

Anyone with half a brain can tell lots shit in that book is made up

 

[ding]

And once again I do not believe in the biblical god but I am not an atheist.

But you just don't seem intellectually capable of grasping that concept.

Not only are you an atheist. You are a militant atheist. You condemn respect for people of faith. You mock them and their beliefs. You actively and consistently combat religion. You see nothing good from it. You tirelessly work to subordinate it, discredit it and seek it's end.

You're one of the top five militant atheists on this forum.

 

[ding]

The link is the Bible itself.

Anyone with half a brain can tell lots shit in that book is made up

Do you have a link to back up your silly and unsupported opinion?

Because the Torah itself does not support it in the slightest.

 

[Blues Man]

Not only are you an atheist. You are a militant atheist. You condemn respect for people of faith. You mock them and their beliefs. You actively and consistently combat religion. You see nothing good from from. You tirelessly work to subordinate it, discredit it and seek it's end.

You're one of the top five militant atheists on this forum.

OK so quote the post where I ever said anything other than I don't know if gods exist or not.

It should be easy if I'm such a militant atheist right?

 

[Blues Man]

Do you have a link to back up your silly and unsupported opinion?

Because the Torah itself does not support it in the slightest.

Like your silly unsupported opinion that everything in the bible is true?

 

[Meriweather]

Religion has usurped morality and claimed it as the law of gods when in fact morality always belonged to humans

Keep in mind that can be said of any institution.

• Religion (including Buddhism and atheism))
• Schools
• Government
• Corporations
• Wall Street and Banks
• Etc.

It is in the purview of each of us individuals to avail oneself of the treasures offered by these institutions without becoming part of the bureaucracy that runs them. Would you give up your education because school bureaucracies can be insane? (I love teaching, but the bureaucracy around teaching has so much to be desired.) I am not going to give up teaching because of that.

We all avail ourselves of the roads, commerce, and protections government provides, while the institution itself can be another example of insanity.
Religion, education, business and its benefits to our lives should not be discounted simply because, like gold and diamonds, they must be dug out of the mud. Without the mud, we wouldn't have the riches it provides.

 

[ding]

I don't hate people.

I hate institutions that control people.

I'm pretty sure you hate every thing about Christians including the Christians themselves. You can't condemn respect for people without some animus towards them.

As for controlling people, I suggest you join the army or serve some time in jail to gain the proper perspective of what controlling someone actually looks like.

 

[ding]

Like your silly unsupported opinion that everything in the bible is true?

That's not my opinion. The bible is full of embellishments and lore. They serve a purpose much as the lore of George Washington chopping down a cherry tree did.... to accentuate that he was honest and to make the account more memorable so it could be passed down orally more easily.

 

[ding]

OK so quote the post where I ever said anything other than I don't know if gods exist or not.

It should be easy if I'm such a militant atheist right?

I literally just listed the behaviors that define militant atheism.

You condemn respect for people of faith. You mock their faith. You seek to end their faith.

 

[Meriweather]

another concept. i am quite old and think i must have experienced every possible emotion from relief to terror. perhaps i have been confusing "joy" with "gladness"?

Gladness of heart is comparable to a rejoicing heart. The difference is that joy can still be present in devastating circumstances. Ten years ago, this time of year, I lost my best friend and four family members. I was grieving, and the worst part of that grieving is that I didn't know who I was grieving for. Each of the five, I told myself, certainly deserved their own grief! Underneath this grief, I was conscious that joy was still present--which annoyed me. Surely joy could take a vacation and let me grieve. (That's what I mean that joy is like a birthmark. My birthmark was still there during grief, too.)

 

[Blues Man]

Keep in mind that can be said of any institution.

• Religion (including Buddhism and atheism))
• Schools
• Government
• Corporations
• Wall Street and Banks
• Etc.

It is in the purview of each of us individuals to avail oneself of the treasures offered by these institutions without becoming part of the bureaucracy that runs them. Would you give up your education because school bureaucracies can be insane? (I love teaching, but the bureaucracy around teaching has so much to be desired.) I am not going to give up teaching because of that.

We all avail ourselves of the roads, commerce, and protections government provides, while the institution itself can be another example of insanity.
Religion, education, business and its benefits to our lives should not be discounted simply because, like gold and diamonds, they must be dug out of the mud. Without the mud, we wouldn't have the riches it provides.

I don't think Buddhism is a religion but rather a philosophy for living. There are no gods, no sins no canonical laws. In its inception Buddhism was nothing but a man's search for a way to be free from suffering and it is a human solution not a divine one. All The Buddha ever said was "This worked for me. Try it"

All those institutions you listed are double edged swords and none of them should be trusted to know the single way to anything.

Religions have been corrupted by the power they sought
Schools no longer hold free thinking in high esteem
Government is no no longer concerned with the well being of the governed
Corporations have brought consumerism to a fever pitch and care not about the society in which they exist in their quest for infinite growth

Banks (see corporations)

 

[rampart]

The clergy and the government were in cahoots so it was the power structure that was torn down and of course the clergy was part of that power structure

the mutual support of government and religion is a constant of history since the early egyptian dynasties and beyond.

revolutionary france and the early post colonial period (late 18th centuiry until the second great awakening ) in america might be among the rare examples of secular government.

 

[Blues Man]

I literally just listed the behaviors that define militant atheism.

You condemn respect for people of faith. You mock their faith. You seek to end their faith.

And yet you cannot find any post where I ever indicated anything but agnosticism

 

[ding]

And yet you cannot fine any post where I ever indicated anything but agnosticism

Except for when you say you know the God of Abraham doesn't exist, right? You are an atheist towards the God of Abraham and a militant one at that.

 

[Blues Man]

the mutual support of government and religion is a constant of history since the early egyptian dynasties and beyond.

revolutionary france and the early post colonial period (late 18th centuiry until the second great awakening ) in america might be among the rare examples of secular government.

Exactly which is why claiming the French Revolution was an atheist uprising because some clergy got caught up in it is ludicrous

 

[Meriweather]

Anyone with half a brain can tell lots shit in that book is made up

What some don't realize is that the Bible uses so many forms of literature: Fables, Just-so stories, hyperbole, apocalyptic literature, metaphors, allegory, folklore, legends--and more. Those can be a distraction, and often are when one takes their eyes off the lesson(s) being taught. Our ancestors were brilliant at weaving stories around truths and lessons. They would have been proud of Aesop, but probably not so much of modern novelists.

You appear to be one of those who take the Bible literally--so much so that you believe you are superior to God (at least the way our ancestors worked to present the unknown). They would be dismayed that the way they presented God made it impossible for your to worship. They thought differently. They made their points differently. And they used a visual language with only a few thousand words. Interpreting and translating that language into subjective languages with many thousands of words....They worked within their own language, not ours.

 

[Blues Man]

Except for when you say you know the God of Abraham doesn't exist, right? You are an atheist towards the God of Abraham and a militant one at that.

I do not believe the god of the bible exists and that in no way is equivalent to saying no gods exist which is the definition of atheism

Once again we see you don't realize that words have definitions

 

[ding]

I do not believe the god of the bible exists and that in no way is equivalent to saying no gods exist which is the definition of atheism

Once again we see you don't realize that words have definitions

You condemn respect for Christians and seek to subordinate their faith.

 

[Blues Man]

What some don't realize is that the Bible uses so many forms of literature: Fables, Just-so stories, hyperbole, apocalyptic literature, metaphors, allegory, folklore, legends--and more. Those can be a distraction, and often are when one takes their eyes off the lesson(s) being taught. Our ancestors were brilliant at weaving stories around truths and lessons. They would have been proud of Aesop, but probably not so much of modern novelists.

You appear to be one of those who take the Bible literally--so much so that you believe you are superior to God (at least the way our ancestors worked to present the unknown). They would be dismayed that the way they presented God made it impossible for your to worship. They thought differently. They made their points differently. And they used a visual language with only a few thousand words. Interpreting and translating that language into subjective languages with many thousands of words....They worked within their own language, not ours.

So touting the historical accuracy of the bible is a little ridiculous.

It's a religious text produced with the express purpose of propagating a religion