Prominent Atheist blogger converts to Christianity... (Buddha, Commandment, believing, verses)
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i don't care what the bible say. it is a collection of myths written by superstitious people
non-believers know more about religion than the believers
According to you it is a myth, but not for billions of others' worldwide.
I believe that atheists don't exist, just bunch of few arrogant people who are Anti-God and Anti-religion just like Mao, Pol Pot, Stalin and other mass murder leaders who killed hundreds of millions of religious people because they hated religion and religious people.
what evidence do you have other than hearsays? hearsyas are not evidence and if somebody has a PHD or doctorate while still believing in ancient superstitions their brain is malfunctioning.
Atheists, agnostics most knowledgeable about religion, survey says
Report says nonbelievers know more, on average, about religion than most faithful. Jews and Mormons also score high on the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey.
what evidence do you have other than hearsays? hearsyas are not evidence and if somebody has a PHD or doctorate while still believing in ancient superstitions their brain is malfunctioning.l
Umm did you know Richard Lynn is linked to the Pioneer Fund, eugenics, and spoke at a conference backed by the racialist American Renaissance? Doesn't mean he's wrong, but you might want to consider who/what your using there.
As for some of the others one of your sources agrees with me that Jews and Mormons scored well on knowledge of religion. They agree because they did. And if you look close at that study where atheists/agnostics scored best was knowledge of non-Christian faiths and the laws on church and state. Christians should know more about non-Christian religions, but still the study didn't show atheists/agnostics know their religion better than all Christians do. White Evangelicals and Mormons scored better on knowledge of the Bible and Christianity. Jews scored better on questions about world religions.
And to be honest that study was of twelve or so questions. Atheists may understand some basics better than non-Evangelical Christians without necessarily knowing religion better in general.
The Psychology Today deal is largely an unproven hypothesis from what I can tell.
But I think you're likely not wanting a real conversation. You're just wanting to feel superior. So engaging is maybe an error, but what the heck.
Last edited by Thomas R.; 07-11-2012 at 10:09 PM..
Very insulting. It's difficult to discuss something with nonbelievers unless you act like childish.
sorry your were so emotionally hurt, tell me which specific parts of my comment bothered you so that I can sensor them from any further discussion with you. idols are idols are they not? Reading your chosen idol is important is it not? Thinking your idol shouldn't be insulted is common among idol worshipers, is it not? the inky figures in the many versions of the christian books say more than just "pretend you believe in Jesus as Christ and that he agrees with you"
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And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
~Jesus in Matthew 18:3
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All churches (Except Westboro) uses the Bible and preach. Good Luck with opening a fake cult ''church'' and enjoy your tax exemption
LIES? Does your God want you to lie? Is your God Satan? Is your God one of the trillion "transcendental" beings which allows confusion?
Do you enjoy the corruption of religion? Is that why you think the property tax exception of corrupt people is correct?
How many versions of the Bible are there? Have you even read one of the Christian idol scriptures? Have you read any version of any single book/letter within a version of some Bible?
It seams more like you trust in yourself than that you trust in God.
Please, In God We Trust, your religion (self-congratulating lies) is what is insulting. You should really clean up your act, you are embarrassing God with your confusions.
All Churches preach, and Jesus will tell them "I never knew you, depart from me ye doers of evil [such as ignorant lies]" Mormons have extra books, Baptists have different believes than Methodists, Catholics have different books in their bibles, there are lots of versions of what the books in the bibles came from.
Last edited by LuminousTruth; 07-11-2012 at 10:16 PM..
You have posted this word for word on who knows how many threads. Please get some new materiel.
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Originally Posted by In God We Trust
The existence of God cannot be proved or disproved. The Bible says that we must accept by faith the fact that God exists: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). If God so desired, He could simply appear and prove to the whole world that He exists. But if He did that, there would be no need for faith. “Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (John 20:29).
I believed in the concept of god and never received a reward. I diligently prayed, worshiped and spread "The word of God" to others, I tithed, and did everything I thought I was commanded to by this god. Never have I received a reward. It was actually quite the opposite, I lost/quit good jobs because they did not mesh well with my beliefs, I broke up with girls, stopped being friends with good people, because it went against my faith. I can actually say that religion played a direct role in me losing everything in my life. I slowly gained it all back and sadly gave all the credit to god but I saw I was heading in the same direction. I did some soul searching and guess what I found? No soul, no god, no reward.
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That does not mean, however, that there is no evidence of God’s existence. The Bible states, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4). Looking at the stars, understanding the vastness of the universe, observing the wonders of nature, seeing the beauty of a sunset—all of these things point to a Creator God. If these were not enough, there is also evidence of God in our own hearts. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us, “…He has also set eternity in the hearts of men.” Deep within us is the recognition that there is something beyond this life and someone beyond this world. We can deny this knowledge intellectually, but God’s presence in us and all around us is still obvious. Despite this, the Bible warns that some will still deny God’s existence: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1). Since the vast majority of people throughout history, in all cultures, in all civilizations, and on all continents believe in the existence of some kind of God, there must be something (or someone) causing this belief.
Looking at the stars, understanding the vastness of the universe, observing the wonders of nature, seeing the beauty of a sunset- non of these things point to a creator god. There is no evidence for god in our hearts either. You use the bible to back up your claims, the bible is inaccurate in so many ways.
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In addition to the biblical arguments for God’s existence, there are logical arguments. First, there is the ontological argument. The most popular form of the ontological argument uses the concept of God to prove God’s existence. It begins with the definition of God as “a being than which no greater can be conceived.” It is then argued that to exist is greater than to not exist, and therefore the greatest conceivable being must exist. If God did not exist, then God would not be the greatest conceivable being, and that would contradict the very definition of God.
This isn't evidence for god and it is illogical. The belief in god is evidence of god? Really? Then that means because people believed in Ra, Zeus, and other gods that Ra, Zeus, and all other gods actually exist. Now how can this be if there is only one god?
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A second argument is the teleological argument. The teleological argument states that since the universe displays such an amazing design, there must have been a divine Designer. For example, if the Earth were significantly closer or farther away from the sun, it would not be capable of supporting much of the life it currently does. If the elements in our atmosphere were even a few percentage points different, nearly every living thing on earth would die. The odds of a single protein molecule forming by chance is 1 in 10243 (that is a 1 followed by 243 zeros). A single cell is comprised of millions of protein molecules.
I highly suggest you watch The Secret Life of Chaos, this will show you how your argument is invalid.
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A third logical argument for God’s existence is called the cosmological argument. Every effect must have a cause. This universe and everything in it is an effect. There must be something that caused everything to come into existence. Ultimately, there must be something “un-caused” in order to cause everything else to come into existence. That “un-caused” cause is God.
This makes no sense.
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A fourth argument is known as the moral argument. Every culture throughout history has had some form of law. Everyone has a sense of right and wrong. Murder, lying, stealing, and immorality are almost universally rejected. Where did this sense of right and wrong come from if not from a holy God?
We have moral codes and laws because we developed them over time. Not all cultures had moral codes and laws. Heck even the bible, with all it's inaccuracies, says this. We developed these moral codes and laws because we are a social species. We rely heavily on others for survival and we eventually realized that if we stand together we will have a better chance at surviving.
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Despite all of this, the Bible tells us that people will reject the clear and undeniable knowledge of God and believe a lie instead. Romans 1:25 declares, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” The Bible also proclaims that people are without excuse for not believing in God: “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).
The bible is irreverent it is inconsistent and unreliable.
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People claim to reject God’s existence because it is “not scientific” or “because there is no proof.” The true reason is that once they admit that there is a God, they also must realize that they are responsible to God and in need of forgiveness from Him (Romans 3:23, 6:23). If God exists, then we are accountable to Him for our actions. If God does not exist, then we can do whatever we want without having to worry about God judging us. That is why many of those who deny the existence of God cling strongly to the theory of naturalistic evolution—it gives them an alternative to believing in a Creator God. God exists and ultimately everyone knows that He exists. The very fact that some attempt so aggressively to disprove His existence is in fact an argument for His existence.
People who believe this are just afraid to own up to their own mistakes and deal with it. Giving your problems to god is a from of giving up on your responsibilities. Without a belief in god we must face the consequences for our actions and deal with them in this lifetime. People accept evolution because it is the most valid reason for the development on life on this planet and possibly other planets. Claiming that one day some invisible being molded us from dirt and then took a rib from man to create a woman. Sorry to break it to you but Men come FROM WOMEN through birth.
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How do we know God exists? As Christians, we know God exists because we speak to Him every day. We do not audibly hear Him speaking to us, but we sense His presence, we feel His leading, we know His love, we desire His grace. Things have occurred in our lives that have no possible explanation other than God. God has so miraculously saved us and changed our lives that we cannot help but acknowledge and praise His existence. None of these arguments can persuade anyone who refuses to acknowledge what is already obvious. In the end, God’s existence must be accepted by faith (Hebrews 11:6). Faith in God is not a blind leap into the dark; it is safe step into a well-lit room where the vast majority of people are already standing.
Things that happen in your life appear to have no explanation because you refuse to accept or look for them. If all those people standing in that room jumped off a bridge, would you also jump?
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Jesus said: "Blessed are those who have not yet seen me"
Because they will never know the message of hate and intolerance my followers spread.
According to you it is a myth, but not for billions of others' worldwide.
I believe that atheists don't exist, just bunch of few arrogant people who are Anti-God and Anti-religion just like Mao, Pol Pot, Stalin and other mass murder leaders who killed hundreds of millions of religious people because they hated religion and religious people.
HAHA!! and how many people have been killed by the hands of Christians who were spreading "The words of god". Such a peaceful religion, nobody has ever been killed in the name of Christianity. Did you never learn of the Crusades? OR the vast number of other religious wars?
If it weren't for the vast number of religious wars during the Middle ages, the black plague could have been prevented. We could have had colonies on other planets by now for all we know.
You have posted this word for word on who knows how many threads. Please get some new materiel.
I believed in the concept of god and never received a reward. I diligently prayed, worshiped and spread "The word of God" to others, I tithed, and did everything I thought I was commanded to by this god. Never have I received a reward. It was actually quite the opposite, I lost/quit good jobs because they did not mesh well with my beliefs, I broke up with girls, stopped being friends with good people, because it went against my faith. I can actually say that religion played a direct role in me losing everything in my life. I slowly gained it all back and sadly gave all the credit to god but I saw I was heading in the same direction.
I think this could be taken as a sign your particular denomination, or understanding, was at fault. I can't think of a single person I cut off due to my religion. There was a time I might have considered cutting off people who leave Catholicism, but I've never actually done so. Not even my lesbian cousin who got married in an Episcopal Church.
As for people who were never Catholic I don't think cutting them off ever entered my mind. I've gotten along pretty well with Baptists, Orthodox, a Buddhist, Atheists, at least one Communist, etc. I think on my "friend list" here I have a Muslim, an atheist, and so forth.
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Originally Posted by raison_d'etre
Looking at the stars, understanding the vastness of the universe, observing the wonders of nature, seeing the beauty of a sunset- non of these things point to a creator god.
But from my perspective a full understanding of them is forever impossible without an omniscient God. Even if you could travel at the speed of light you'd only experience 122 light years of the vast Universe. (Unless the time-dilation affect messes up what I'm thinking) This Galaxy alone has a diameter of maybe 700 times that.
The limitations of our nature and of nature means our knowledge is likely to always be very limited. Unless there is some "greater observer" who can be communed with or learned from.
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Originally Posted by raison_d'etre
I highly suggest you watch The Secret Life of Chaos, this will show you how your argument is invalid.
I highly doubt one video can contradict the numerous studies, many by atheists, on the concept he was discussing. On the biological side it's kind of weak, but there's plenty of cosmological reasons to make the "fine-tuning" argument better than your more militant atheists will admit. Less militant ones, I've seen, argue for either multiple Universes or for some mathematical reason constants had to be a certain way.
And you can do that, but both of those are unproved and maybe unprovable notions.
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Originally Posted by raison_d'etre
HAHA!! and how many people have been killed by the hands of Christians who were spreading "The words of god".
I believe ex-Catholic, turned anti-Catholic, atheist writer Joseph McCabe placed the Catholic toll at 3 million. As Catholics represent half of Christianity that might be 6 million overall for Christians. Even taking that figure at face value Stalin killed at least half that many in a thirty year period. Granted the Tai'Ping Rebellion complicates that as they killed upwards of 20 million and were a Christian-influenced millenarian movement.
That said I don't agree with "In God We Trust" claim that there are no atheists or that Stalin or Lenin are typical of atheists. Still it is true an anti-theist and anti-religious ideology, and I think at least some of you have that, can be murderous. You can see that in the War in the Vendee and the Chinese Cultural Revolution among others.
And I intended to limit myself to Sundays so I better absquatulate.
Umm did you know Richard Lynn is linked to the Pioneer Fund, eugenics, and spoke at a conference backed by the racialist American Renaissance? Doesn't mean he's wrong, but you might want to consider who/what your using there.
As for some of the others one of your sources agrees with me that Jews and Mormons scored well on knowledge of religion. They agree because they did. And if you look close at that study where atheists/agnostics scored best was knowledge of non-Christian faiths and the laws on church and state. Christians should know more about non-Christian religions, but still the study didn't show atheists/agnostics know their religion better than all Christians do. White Evangelicals and Mormons scored better on knowledge of the Bible and Christianity. Jews scored better on questions about world religions.
And to be honest that study was of twelve or so questions. Atheists may understand some basics better than non-Evangelical Christians without necessarily knowing religion better in general.
The Psychology Today deal is largely an unproven hypothesis from what I can tell.
But I think you're likely not wanting a real conversation. You're just wanting to feel superior. So engaging is maybe an error, but what the heck.
Your misgivings - which I share - about Richard Lynn are noted. There is of course the knotty problem of going with what the facts are, politically correct or not, but that's another discussion. And just by the way, Mr Lynn has never come to my attention before as a noted speaker on either atheism or science.
This reverse appeal to authority, or a variant on the great atrocity count is always going to become more acrimonious than productive, though it does bring up some issues which need to be addressed.
Of course, it is a ploy that might appeal to those who don't actually have much left to support their religious preferences and so adopt the reverse policy of making the opposition look so bad that religion looks the better option by default.
Oh, and just as a passing observation, I believe the surveys were of generally of information about religion knowledge. Dominicans might be expected to score higher. It's their job.
And I might also suggest {If I take your comment about 'religious understanding' -as distinct, I suppose, from religious knowledge -correctly) that unbelievers might actually understand religion better than believers, because they are able to appraise its claims more dispassionately.
No you don't believe in God. There's nothing greater than one and truly God.
Sure there is : two great and true gods. And three great and true gods are even greater. Simple math 1 < 2 < 3.
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