[inthebox]

What sins have we committed to deserve what he's done to us? If there really was a God, I'd think we'd know by now, there'd be no doubt. Science explains much more than religion ever will. There is NO proof that God exists, prove me wrong. It IS possible to have morals and values without religion. If you weren't brought up to believe in God, would you still have faith?

What sins has mankind NOT committed to deserve what He's done to us - sent His only Son to die for our sins?

If you do not sin, does that mean you think you are perfect? Never lied, or lusted, or gotten angry, always followed your parents, etc..

Consider this, there are three major religions probably accounting for the majority of the world's population [ I don't have the exact figure on hand ] that believe in ONE GOD. At the beginning, all those religions started with people who were not brought up to believe
In what they believe now.

Also notice that on this thread on 'what atheists believe,' God dominates.

If atheists common denominator is that they don't believe in God, why do they spend all this time "proving" there is no God and wanting believers to prove their faith?


For example, I don't believe in witches. If you want to believe in them, fine, does not matter to me, because I don't believe they exist. I'm not going to waste my time researching them trying to prove they don't exist or demanding that those who believe in witches show me proof.


Grace and Peace ---- these we don't deserve, but for Him.;)

[NeedKarma]

Also notice that on this thread on 'what atheists believe,' God dominates.

Certainly not. How do you come to that conclusion?

If atheists common denominator is that they don't believe in God, why do they spend all this time "proving" there is no God and wanting believers to prove their faith?

This thread was started by a very religious person who is trying to understand people who are not like himself. No atheist ever wants to spend time disproving god, they really don't care. Christians however will spend an inordinate amount of time telling that God is everywhere and quoting scripture. To each their own.

[inthebox]

Jilleanleab:

If you don't believe in sin - was that tongue in cheek? - do you believe in right and wrong?

Are not rules and laws made to define right and wrong? Whether in a secular or religious context? And if you break the law, in general, there is judgement and punishment.

Now, I know that no one likes to be told what to do, or be told what is right and wrong.
And no one, in general, likes to be punished. This seems to be what keeps people away from "religion." That and hypocrisy - but I digress.

But rules and laws are there, whether from God and or man. No escaping that.
Isn't that what civilization is based on?


Now imagine this, someone realizes they have done wrong, they also acknowledge that they have to pay the consequences , and fear that.
Imagine how they would feel if someone else took their punishment [ fines, jail, a caning, the electric chair, whatever.] and they were set free.






Grace and Peace

[inthebox]

Certainly not. How do you come to that conclusion?

This thread was started by a very religious person who is trying to understand people who are not like himself. No atheist ever wants to spend time disproving god, they really don't care. Christians however will spend an inordinate amount of time telling that God is everywhere and quoting scripture. To each their own.

NK

Then why do you actively rebut believers in various threads?


Maybe those same Christians have that inner joy and want to spread the "good news.":D




Grace and Peace

[NeedKarma]

Maybe those same Christians have that inner joy and want to spread the "good news.":D

I truly hope you see the hypocrisy in that statement. :)

[MOWERMAN2468]

What is sad here is that they will find out that God does exist, and it will only be after it is Everlasting Too Late. Then they will have the perils of Hell for the rest of etenity.

[excon]

what is sad here is that they will find out that God does exist, and it will only be after it is Everlasting Too Late. then they will have the perils of Hell for the rest of etenity.

Hello Mower:

What I think is sad, are people wasting their entire lives, NEVER thinking for themselves...

excon

[jillianleab]

Jilleanleab:

If you don't believe in sin - was that tongue in cheek? - do you believe in right and wrong?

Are not rules and laws made to define right and wrong? whether in a secular or religious context? And if you break the law, in general, there is judgement and punishment.

Now, I know that no one likes to be told what to do, or be told what is right and wrong.
And no one, in general, likes to be punished. This seems to be what keeps people away from "religion." That and hypocrisy - but I digress.

But rules and laws are there, whether from God and or man. No escaping that.
Isn't that what civilization is based on?

Now imagine this, someone realizes they have done wrong, they also acknowledge that they have to pay the consequences , and fear that.
Imagine how they would feel if someone else took their punishment [ fines, jail, a caning, the electric chair, whatever.] and they were set free.

Grace and Peace

Of course I believe in right vs wrong. Haven't we been through this before, that just because someone is an atheist doesn't mean they have no morals? "Sin" and "right and wrong" and two different things. It's wrong to beat children, it's right to donate to charities. But "sin" on the other hand tells us various things are wrong which I don't believe are wrong. I don't think premarital sex is wrong, I don't think birth control is wrong, I don't think lying (in some instances) is wrong. So what you might consider a "sin" I do not. That's why I say I don't believe in sin.

Additionally, have you even read the entire thread to understand why the atheists here have come to their beliefs? It's not about not wanting to follow the rules, being punished, fear of anything. So to say, "That seems to be what keeps people away from "religion"" is just, well, wrong.

[Synnen]

I would just like to point out that I am a witch.

The followers of the religion of Wicca are referred to as witches.

I've just proved to you that witches exist. I know you didn't demand it... but hey! There's something you didn't previously believe proved to you!

I, too, do not believe in sin. There is a difference between right and wrong and sin, as Jillian has said. I also don't believe that some guy who lived 2000 years ago dying for me is going to save me from any consequences of my own when I die. Simply believing in something isn't going to save my butt!

As far as reward or punishment after death... well, your god says "heaven or hell", my goddess says "your reward or punishment for your actions in this life will be what you experience in your NEXT life"

What most of the Christians aruing here aren't quite getting is that regardless what you say, you're not going to change the minds of the atheists (or those of another religion) here. Most of us non-Christians did a LOT of research and spent a LOT of time thinking before turning our backs on Christianity - and for myself, the absolute hypocrisy of Christianity was the main reason I couldn't be a Christian. I'm sure that the others posting here have their own reasons for not choosing Christianity, reasons that because you have blind faith, you will never understand.

My favorite joke starts with a man being approached by a Christian and asked "Have you found Jesus?" All hell breaks loose when he, sick of this question, asks in return, "Have you people lost Him again?" and then goes into a tirade about how if you can't find your own god, how do you expect others to find him? He gives suggestions about where to find Him, including a synagogue (Jesus was Jewish, you know).

Christians, for some reason, don't find that joke very funny. Those of us who are constantly getting the pressure to convert to Christianity (because--funny thing here--Christians just can't understand how anyone could be happy without their god) find that joke hilarious.

I don't see a lot of questions from Christians trying to understand atheism in this thread. What I do see are a lot of Christians trying to convert others, and a lot of Christians disparaging something they don't understand, whether they mean to be or not. Not everyone is happy with blind faith. I was raised Christian, but never found the satisfaction and happiness with it that I find with Wicca--I'm assuming that the same is true for most atheists. That they are happier without a God in their life than they were with one.

Live and let live, I say.

[cal823]

Karma, maybe you need to see the hypocrisy in your statement of atheists minding their own business.
If you like, I can link several threads where you, and other atheists, have gone in and categorically stated things like "there is no god" or other things that go against the religious nature of the thread.
Such as the "will i go to hell?" thread, where he was asking if homosexuality is a sentence for hell, and you said "we were created by our parents" when you know full well that christians believe that god created us before we were even in the womb.
Seeing as how he wasn't asking "does hell exist" your atheist viewpoint on the matter was not required, because it was a question about hell, on the assumption that it does exist.

[NeedKarma]

I thought my answer was excellent from my viewpoint. It was to say that basically 'there is no hell so don't let that part bother you'. I'm not trying to convert him or anyone else, nor am I slamming all those who have other beliefs. If you read carefully the OP also adds in his original question " Also what if i kind of do not believe in god?" so my viewpoint fits right in thank you very much.

And yes, we are made by our parents, that's how sexual reproduction works. I'm not sure how many christians follow your view that a child is conceived before a sperm hits an egg.

[jillianleab]

If I were impolite, I would point out that this thread specifically asks for the opinion of atheists, so why are there Christians posting here? Of course, I'm not impolite, and I welcome people of all or no faiths to participate in conversations and express their views. Good thing I'm not impolite! :D

[retsoksirhc]

I was planning to stay out of this, but I just thought this post was so cute, I wanted to comment.

If you do not sin, does that mean you think you are perfect? Never lied, or lusted, or gotten angry, always followed your parents, etc...?

Yes. You will think you're perfect, and that still won't be a sin. Because whoever said that pride was a sin? NOBODY. Sarcasm, by the way.

Consider this, there are three major religions probably accounting for the majority of the world's population [ I don't have the exact figure on hand ] that believe in ONE GOD. At the beginning, all those religions started with people who were not brought up to believe
in what they believe now.

I'm not sure where you're getting your figures, but I can think of a few popular religions that have mre than one god. Ancient and modern alike. Hinduism comes to mind. And there are plenty of people who believe in something they aren't brought up to believe. Some of them like to drink kool-aid. SPECIAL kool-aid.

Also notice that on this thread on 'what atheists believe,' God dominates.

Yep. I see that in a thread where someone asks the opinion of atheists, Christians see the need to argue against the opinions we offer. What I DON'T see in the original post is anyone asking for an explanatino of why Christians believe what they do. Simply, the other way around.

If atheists common denominator is that they don't believe in God, why do they spend all this time "proving" there is no God and wanting believers to prove their faith?

Did you ever want to think something was true, but were skeptical? Like maybe it was unbelieveable, and you wanted it to be true, but you had no proof? If someone told me they finally made an interstellar spaceship, I would think it was awesome. Of course, that's an outragous claim. I'd look into it for myself before I decided to believe it. Or, for example, if someone told me that there was this 'God' fellow, and he was omniscient, and could help me find piece of mind and give life more meaning, well, I would probably want to look into that myself before believeing it blindly.

For example, I don't believe in witches. If you want to believe in them, fine, does not matter to me, because I don't believe they exist. I'm not going to waste my time researching them trying to prove they don't exist or demanding that those who believe in witches show me proof.

Do people tell you regularly that you should believe in witches? If you posted on this site asking why people didn't believe in witches, do you think those who DID believe in witches would come in and post all hell-bent about why witches absolutely positively do exist? I get told that I need to go to church, that I have to find god, and get invitations to church regularly. I don't want to go, and wish those people leave me alone. They know I don't want to go, yet they feel the need to "spread the good word".

[nicespringgirl]

Some of them like to drink kool-aid. SPECIAL kool-aid.

LOL, that's EXCON check this outhttps://www.askmehelpdesk.com/members/excon.html :D

[Wangdoodle]

And yes, we are made by our parents, that's how sexual reproduction works. I'm not sure how many christians follow your view that a child is conceived before a sperm hits an egg.

I think Cal is referring to Jeremiah 1:4-5

4 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:5 “ Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

[cal823]

That's the one! Thanks for reminding me where in the bible it is :)
Karma, you have a valid point :)
And also, the atheists here are right about the whole "this question is about the views of atheists"
And seeing as how I am not an atheist, and not some kind of expert on what atheists think, I admit I do not really belong in this thread :)

[firmbeliever]

I thought my answer was excellent from my viewpoint. It was to say that basically 'there is no hell so don't let that part bother you'. I'm not trying to convert him or anyone else, nor am I slamming all those who have other beliefs. If you read carefully the OP also adds in his original question " Also what if i kind of do not believe in god?" so my viewpoint fits right in thank you very much.

And yes, we are made by our parents, that's how sexual reproduction works. I'm not sure how many christians follow your view that a child is conceived before a sperm hits an egg.

NK!
I am a she, a female and you keep referring to me as a he... :D

And " Also what if i kind of do not believe in god?" where did you get that idea from...
I do not remember saying such a thing, but if I did that is very out of character for me, so if you could let me know the exact thread.

Thanks

[cal823]

He was replying to my post I think firm, the one where I made reference to the "im gay, will i go to hell?" discussion.
Didn't know you was a chick firm! Lolz

[firmbeliever]

Surprise, Surprise ;)

[ordinaryguy]

NK!
I am a she, a female and you keep referring to me as a he....:D

I'm backing you on this one, firm. I've noticed that you've pointed this out more than twice, and he still seems to firmly believe (get it?) that you are a HE. NK! Pay attention here! It matters!