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2. Yes, but as social occasions rather than religious ones. It's an excuse to feast.
3. No.
4. No. The bible's depiction of Jesus is much different than the person of peace and love many people say he is.
5. Because I'd rather be honest with myself. Atheist is the word that best describes me and I don't give a rat's wit if someone has problem with the label.
6. It doesn't matter to me as long as no one tries to convert me. Evangelism and conversion tactics are what bother me.
7. No more than I wish it was a theocracy. I'd rather America be a society that values science and reason above faith and dogma.
8. Nothing, as long as they don't try to convert me. Simply believing in god, praying, wearing crosses etc. doesn't bother me. It's when someone tries to have me do it that it bothers me.
9. No. I've found that relying on myself and other people are much more productive than relying on any god. God was about as useful as a clipped toenail.
10. Doubt and questioning are what lead someone to the truth. I'm not going to turn off my ability to think because it pleases other people.
11. Sometimes, although, like most people, I don't use them as a religious phrase.
12. Whichever one didn't have people trying to convert me.
13. Neither. I'd rather jump in the ocean and swim to Antarctica than live in any kind of theocracy.
1. Does anyone in your family/friends know you are an atheist/agnostic?
2. Do you celebrate Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter?
3. Will you baptize your child if your spouse wanted?
4. Do you consider Jesus as a great person and philosopher?
5. Why can't you just call yourself for "secular" rather than atheist, agnostic or nonbeliever?
6. How do you feel being surrounded by churches, God mentioned all the time, etc. in your daily life?
7. Do you wish America was officially an atheist country?
8. What if your children or spouse want to believe in God, pray, wear cross, etc.? What will you do?
9. If you get serious sick / old - will you start believe in God and ask for prayers?
10. Why can't you just believe without questioning/be in doubt about God's existence without going to church, pray, etc.?
11. Do you use any religious terms such as "bless you" e.g. when somebody sneeze?
12. Would you rather live/buy a house next to a mosque, synagogue or church if you had to pick/choose?
13. If you had to pick, would you rather live under Christian or Islamic theocracy?
14. What do you think about Islam?
1. Does anyone in your family/friends know you are an atheist/agnostic?
All of my friends and some of my family members know of my nonbelief (bro is a fellow atheist).
2. Do you celebrate Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter?
I still celebrate holidays because they're fun, and mostly pagan in origin anyway.
3. Will you baptize your child if your spouse wanted?
I would not baptize a child for a spouse, but would allow the child to be baptized if they personally wanted to do it.
4. Do you consider Jesus as a great person and philosopher?
Meh.
5. Why can't you just call yourself for "secular" rather than atheist, agnostic or nonbeliever?
I have referred to myself as all of the above. They are all accurate descriptors.
6. How do you feel being surrounded by churches, God mentioned all the time, etc. in your daily life?
The religious speak is unrelenting and occasionally wears thin on my patience, but I make do and avoid engaging in religious based conversations with people.
7. Do you wish America was officially an atheist country?
No, I wish it were an atheist country in practice.
8. What if your children or spouse want to believe in God, pray, wear cross, etc.? What will you do?
My spouse does believe in God. He can believe whatever he wants to believe. Any future offspring are free to do the same. I don't own my spouse or kids. and can't control their thoughts.
9. If you get serious sick / old - will you start believe in God and ask for prayers?
Who knows what I'll do when I'm at death's door? Even if I get super religious, would it really "count" if my conversion was done in the spirit of desperation?
10. Why can't you just believe without questioning/be in doubt about God's existence without going to church, pray, etc.?
Huh?
11. Do you use any religious terms such as "bless you" e.g. when somebody sneeze?
Occasionally.
12. Would you rather live/buy a house next to a mosque, synagogue or church if you had to pick/choose?
Synagogue, I guess. Why not.
13. If you had to pick, would you rather live under Christian or Islamic theocracy?
Your guys should really get caught up: Jesus is quite possibly the most documented human being who ever lived on the earth. If you are an atheist, to deny totally that He existed is simply denial; to not know the truth is inexcusable. Agnostics are on somewhat less shaky ground.
No, there are writings in a book about Jesus, nothing more.
There are writings in books about many people that never existed, I don't believe that they are real either.
Well ... you go right on squinting your eyes shut and believing god into existence. And thanks for pointing out that your motivation for doing so is the fear that both you and the god you're projecting will disappear.
1. Does anyone in your family/friends know you are an atheist/agnostic?
They might, but I don't discuss atheism with anyone in a direct way. I only talk about science and my fascination with it.
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2. Do you celebrate Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter?
No, but I like the festivities during the holiday season. I enjoy many Christmas songs especially.
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3. Will you baptize your child if your spouse wanted?
No.
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4. Do you consider Jesus as a great person and philosopher?
I tend to think that Jesus was a mythical person - much like Mohammed, Buddha or Krishna.
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5. Why can't you just call yourself for "secular" rather than atheist, agnostic or nonbeliever?
I don't believe in a supernatural God of any kind. Therefore, I'm an atheist.
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6. How do you feel being surrounded by churches, God mentioned all the time, etc. in your daily life?
It feels normal to me. People are free to believe what they want.
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7. Do you wish America was officially an atheist country?
Absolutely not and I would fight against that if it were to happen. I believe in the freedom of religion as it is guaranteed in the United States Constitution.
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8. What if your children or spouse want to believe in God, pray, wear cross, etc.? What will you do?
I would let them believe what they want. But I would continue to encourage them to have a scientific view of the world.
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9. If you get serious sick / old - will you start believe in God and ask for prayers?
No.
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10. Why can't you just believe without questioning/be in doubt about God's existence without going to church, pray, etc.?
I don't see any reason to willingly believe in false things.
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11. Do you use any religious terms such as "bless you" e.g. when somebody sneeze?
Yes I do - as a courtesy and sign of respect as it is in this culture.
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12. Would you rather live/buy a house next to a mosque, synagogue or church if you had to pick/choose?
I would prefer a church or synagogue.
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13. If you had to pick, would you rather live under Christian or Islamic theocracy?
Christian
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14. What do you think about Islam?
Islam is a religion that has a characteristic of breeding extremists almost wherever it is in the world. Think 9/11.
1. Does anyone in your family/friends know you are an atheist/agnostic?
All my friends, and most of my relatives know.
2. Do you celebrate Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter?
I celebrate them, but not specifically as a Christian holiday. Most of my family is very religious, so if I am with them during the celebrations, and most times I am, there will be a religious overtone to them. I just go with the flow, they know what I think.
3. Will you baptize your child if your spouse wanted?
We don't have kids and will not have any, so a non issue for us. If we had one, I would allow it, but I would also want it to be the child's choice, done so at an age where he/she has the capacity to make that decision.
4. Do you consider Jesus as a great person and philosopher?
For the most part, I do think Jesus was a person who lived. And I do think he was a person of good intentions seeking to help people, and to stand up to the corruption in those times. I do also think people greatly inflated/distorted who he was.
5. Why can't you just call yourself for "secular" rather than atheist, agnostic or nonbeliever?
I don't see why this matters. People can call themselves whatever they want. Labels don't mean anything. What would be the purpose in calling myself secular instead of atheist or nonbeliever?
6. How do you feel being surrounded by churches, God mentioned all the time, etc. in your daily life?
I live an area where there is quite literally a church in nearly every neighborhood. Plus, the dominant religion here has a a very strong political influence. I hate both aspects.
7. Do you wish America was officially an atheist country?
Yes.
8. What if your children or spouse want to believe in God, pray, wear cross, etc.? What will you do?
No kids. My spouse is religious. She does her thing, and I stay out of it. She knows to not try to bring me into it.
9. If you get serious sick / old - will you start believe in God and ask for prayers?
No. Several years back I came close to dying due to a medical issue. No such thought entered my mind.
10. Why can't you just believe without questioning/be in doubt about God's existence without going to church, pray, etc.?
This makes no sense to me at all. I am someone who ALWAYS questions. I will always question authority, question popular trends/thoughts, claims, etc. I am at my core a skeptic. I can not respect anyone who blindly follows without questioning. They are like a dog graveling before some master: pathetic.
11. Do you use any religious terms such as "bless you" e.g. when somebody sneeze?
No.
12. Would you rather live/buy a house next to a mosque, synagogue or church if you had to pick/choose?
If I had to choose one, a church. Only because I spent most my life in one, most of my family attends church, and I've lived near one before. I simply would not live near a mosque for any reason whatsoever.
13. If you had to pick, would you rather live under Christian or Islamic theocracy?
If I absolutely had to choose one, Christian. I am one that would do anything in my power to prevent myself from doing so, however.
14. What do you think about Islam?
Despise it. I am very liberal on most things, but one area where I part with a lot of other liberals is the free pass they give to Islam. I see it as a great threat, hell bent on turning back the hands of time at any cost. It's an insidious religion. Most will stay peaceful while the numbers are small, but once they start to gain enough to have any political influence, they will try to force their ways upon the rest of society with more fervor than any other religion, including christianity.
Your guys should really get caught up: Jesus is quite possibly the most documented human being who ever lived on the earth. If you are an atheist, to deny totally that He existed is simply denial; to not know the truth is inexcusable. Agnostics are on somewhat less shaky ground.
Other than a hundred forty three words in Josephus which have probably being added later, what other extraneous source documents Jesus outside of the Bible?
1.) Yep. I'm quite shameless and vocal. As vocal as they are about their jesus-ism.
2.) Nope.
3.) Thankfully, my husband is an "on paper" Christian that does not attend the meetings. So, no. He would not press the issue of a ceremony for our kids. I think I'd express my concerns if he was adamant. If he was devout, we probably would have never had kids. Or gotten married...
4.) Uh, I think Jesus *may* have been an historical figure of great importance in the ancient ME. However, I don't feel that ancient greatness merits worship in the here and now.
5.) I don't care much for religion/god(s) of any stripe or flavor. I don't feel secular describes me well, as I don't have much love for or adherence to the crap culture of today, either. You can call me what you'd like, but don't call my house with the "good news" on Saturday at 8 AM.
6.) I'm used to it. I've lived in the "Bible Belt" most of my tenure in the US, so I'm very much accustomed to the "climate" here. I don't like it, though. Especially the power that Church has on State when the law clearly says the two are to be separate. Makes for some interesting observations.
7.) YES.
8.) My husband identifies as "Christian", my pre teen is confused at the moment (claims to be an "agnostic Christian"?), and my youngest has not really explored this in earnest yet. I've told all of them, "Believe what you want, just don't try and make me believe it with you and I'll return the favor." Peace is kept.
9.) Nope. I have more faith in mushrooms healing me from a health crisis than some mass delusion/imaginary friend. In short...I'd turn to what is tangible if I still had a chance. When my end comes, I hope I go with dignity and a smile on my face.
10.) Like my husband? Ha ha. I think some people are afraid to take the "training wheels" off because they are weak mentally. I mean no offense. Some very brilliant people wrestle with their personal beliefs. They have allowed themselves to be brainwashed by religion as a child, or etc. and they let the "fire and brimstone" keep them trapped by fear to some degree, so they never explore other thoughts or ideas. This is why many atheists (myself included) see religion as a form of child abuse of the mental sort. It's a way of poisoning young minds indefinitely in many regards. Not all of us break free. Many do, but not all.
11.) I won't lie...I've been known to say "OMG" especially during nookie's big moment.
12.) Synagogue. Most Jews seem to have a laissez-faire view about their religion in relation to the world and its "heathen" population and tend to leave others alone for the most part. Christians and Muslims...don't seem to get on too well with unbelievers.
13.) That's a toughie. Being a female, I'd have to say Christian without a doubt. Islam really seems to have it out for humans with vaginas.
14.) Ugh. I tolerate most religions, I am intrigued by a few, but Islam has rubbed me the wrong way since I was a child and saw how my favorite Auntie was treated by her Muslim husband. If Islam could be banned in civilized nations, that would make me very, VERY happy. I'll leave it there.
1. Does anyone in your family/friends know you are an atheist/agnostic?
2. Do you celebrate Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter?
3. Will you baptize your child if your spouse wanted?
4. Do you consider Jesus as a great person and philosopher?
5. Why can't you just call yourself for "secular" rather than atheist, agnostic or nonbeliever?
6. How do you feel being surrounded by churches, God mentioned all the time, etc. in your daily life?
7. Do you wish America was officially an atheist country?
8. What if your children or spouse want to believe in God, pray, wear cross, etc.? What will you do?
9. If you get serious sick / old - will you start believe in God and ask for prayers?
10. Why can't you just believe without questioning/be in doubt about God's existence without going to church, pray, etc.?
11. Do you use any religious terms such as "bless you" e.g. when somebody sneeze?
12. Would you rather live/buy a house next to a mosque, synagogue or church if you had to pick/choose?
13. If you had to pick, would you rather live under Christian or Islamic theocracy?
14. What do you think about Islam?
Thank you so much.
1. Yes
2. Christmas for the free stuff, Easter is just another day for me now.
3. As long as they don't try and rope me into it, whatever floats their boat.
4. The sayings attributed to him are fine and dandy, but the key word is ATTRIBUTED. The NT is historically dubious to say the least.
5. That would imply I still believe.
6. Doesn't really bother me.
7. I believe in Freedom of Religion, I wish we were like Western Europe where people don't take things to stupid levels.
8. They can do whatever they wish, however don't expect me to follow suit.
9. If being deployed twice to a remote corner of Eastern Afghanistan didn't convince me otherwise, then no.
10. So I can be a sheep and be herded to salvation right? I'll keep that in mind, you're really selling me on the concept.
11. Yes
12. A Synagogue if I had to choose.
13. IF I were forced to choose, Christian.
14. I dislike Islam and leave it at that.
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Questions to atheists....
