Seen on an old tombstone in an old (US) frontier town cemetary.
"He lies ................athiest.
All dressed up and nowhere to go".
I Am No Longer an Atheist
by OnTheWayOut 171 Replies latest members adult
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cofty
haha good one!
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OnTheWayOut
One more go around for Tammy. Only because it fits the OP.
Do you look at Christ to know the truth about God, OTWO? (regardless of whether you think God is real or not?)
Then: "Yes."
Then what about Christ convinces you that God is 'bad'?
If Christ has shown us the love and the power of God, if Christ shows us what His kingship is like, then God and Christ have shown us that they very much so could easily have spared the children of the tsunami and the earthquake.
All they had to do was cause the events to not happen.
Adamah: Hard/soft atheist. Somehow, that seems to lead to sex. Anyway, I stray. I can say with 100% confidence that the God of the Bible does not exist.
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adamah
OTWO said-
Adamah: Hard/soft atheist. Somehow, that seems to lead to sex. Anyway, I stray. I can say with 100% confidence that the God of the Bible does not exist.
Well, I don't go THAT far as trying to quantify my belief (and I describe myself as a hard atheist), as I'm willing to re-consider the possibility that I'm wrong, should compelling new evidence arise. That willingness to demonstrate open-mindedness is often only misinterpreted as a sign of weakness by believers, since they dogmatically state with 100% confidence that they're right, relying on some people's preference for statements of absolute certainty (even if it's wrong) over an honest statement of a lack of certainty.
Such dogmatic statements are often toxic to a debate, IMO, since both sides need to at least to pretend like they're willing to change their position, as a battle of dogmatic beliefs often just leads to wasted breath.
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KateWild
believers, since they dogmatically state with 100% confidence that they're right,-Adam
Since you are open minded Adam. Is your mind open enough to see this is a sweeping generalisation?
I believe in God, but I do not insist I am dogmatically correct. You cannot prove to me in scientfic terms with my topic that God does not exist. You state I am filling the the gaps when I actually study science and discover gaps.
I disagree with you Adam, I am not dogmatic nor do I try to convince you to believe what I believe. Kate xx
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zed is dead
OTWO,
I prefer soft atheists to hard ones. Better for snuggling.
zed
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OnTheWayOut
OTWO said-
Adamah: Hard/soft atheist. Somehow, that seems to lead to sex. Anyway, I stray. I can say with 100% confidence that the God of the Bible does not exist.
Well, I don't go THAT far as trying to quantify my belief (and I describe myself as a hard atheist), as I'm willing to re-consider the possibility that I'm wrong, should compelling new evidence arise.
If there is a creator (and there isn't), I could still say He is not the God of the Bible. C'mon Adamah, take your stand. Even assuming everything before Abraham was a myth, clearly the Jews were polytheists whose books were refined to suit their circumstances and Yahweh wound up on top of the heap during/after their captivity in Babylon. Nobody (Absolutely nobody) ever lived by the Mosaic Law until the priests tried to do so after the captivity, and it was easier for priests than for citizens. They weren't stoning people just for infractions of that law, they weren't refraining from work on the Sabbath, etc. etc.
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tenyearsafter
Hi guys...sorry I have not had a chance to check in since the early part of this thread, so I have some catching up to do!
OTWO and braincleaned - I wasn't trying to be overly simplistic with my parent analogy, but I guess it came across that way. I guess my thoughts run with Marvin Shimler's regarding that absolute proof can not be offered by either side, so the gap has to be filled with some type of faith, be it in a collection of scientific facts or a belief in the supernatural. I am not arguing either side of the argument, but rather questioning the passion and proselytizing that goes on from both sides. I have tried to leave that type of "I am right" mode with my departure from the JW's...I have my positions, but I have tried to avoid smugness and condemnation of other positions so as not to fall back in to that JW mindset of superiority. That is my personal choice...
With that said, I do enjoy the discussions and arguments put forth in the many topics covered on the Board!
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KateWild
I have tried to leave that type of "I am right" mode with my departure from the JW's...I have my positions, but I have tried to avoid smugness and condemnation of other positions so as not to fall back in to that JW mindset of superiority.-tenyears
I agree, well said
Kate xx
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
JW: "Look at the evidence of design all around us! This couldn't have come from nowhere without a superintelligent and powerful creator--Jehovah! Look at my cell phone. Would you believe me if I told you that if just happened and wasn't carefully designed and built by a company?"
Me: "So, tell me about the company..."
JW: "Duh, everybody knows that cell phone manufacturers are INVISIBLE and have existed FOREVER!"
Thus, the creationists problem of infinite regression. Believers insist that EVERYTHING had to be designed and created by a super-intelligent, all-powerful diety. Everything had to be CREATED. Yet, when asked who or what created God, they do a 180. Suddenly, something does exist that was never designed or created. As an indoctrinated JW, I was instructed to believe that a watch must have a creator, but a super-powerful, all-wise, eternal sky-daddy came from absolutely nothing. That is completely illogical.