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15 out 15. I do research religion quite a bit. I'm also atheist.
09-08-2015, 11:55 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AREQUIPA
Contentious thread. Matt Dillahunty hit the nail on the head - as he does repeatedly - when he said that he didn't get smarter when he became an atheist - he just got better informed.
I suggest that those who identify as atheist came to realize they were because they studied the Bible more - and pretty frequently (so I read in conversions stories) in order to believe better and refute disbelievers more effectively and found that the book made no sense.
They ended up as atheists because they now knew more about the Bible than they did before.
Contentious thread. Matt Dillahunty hit the nail on the head - as he does repeatedly - when he said that he didn't get smarter when he became an atheist - he just got better informed.
I suggest that those who identify as atheist came to realize they were because they studied the Bible more - and pretty frequently (so I read in conversions stories) in order to believe better and refute disbelievers more effectively and found that the book made no sense.
They ended up as atheists because they now knew more about the Bible than they did before.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiloh1
That's pretty much my route out of Christianity.
This simply reinforces the old adage a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. But the corollary one is that not enough knowledge is also a dangerous thing.
This is based on an average. As in, the vast average of Christians barely know about their religion. The average of atheists has some world religion, as a result of defecting from their church, trying other churches, and then trying other religious.
This is an average, as in, few atheists are religious scholars (if you have a distaste for something, you don't study it extensively). But they do know more from experience than the average Christian. The average Christian is somewhat christocentric. The extremes of this average are idiot xenophobe who thinks Methodist is "another religion" as one backwater Baptist church put it, and the religious scholar that studies not only Christianity but other religions too (no, you don't have to become stupid to be a Christian, my dad has two masters). The extremes of atheism are actually lower, but the average is higher. Also, this statistic involves Atheist/Agnostic. This means people who have consciously questioned their fault or gone without. People who are "nothing in particular" either not really churchgoers but not really "atheist" either score lower than any but Black Protestant and Roman Catholic.
For the record, I don't think my test had 32 questions, but it was from the same site, and I was in the top 1% (got all 15 right).
I'm also going to take this one, and probably do at least okay. Here goes... I answered 13 of 13 questions correctly (I looked it up on fracking, so we'll say 12). Most of the "Christians" don't know much period, not about religion, not about science. I know about science, and I'm still religious.
Last edited by bulmabriefs144; 09-08-2015 at 09:26 PM..
This simply reinforces the old adage a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. But the corollary one is that not enough knowledge is also a dangerous thing.
What is more dangerous is valuing a lot of invalid knowledge and rejecting the valid.
It's not so unexpected given the using of quote by some extremists..They refuse to consider some portion yet twist other's to suit their agenda.....However..It will always come down to"Right from Wrong"..Justice sought for the underlings..At Least Christians seem to suggest live a "Christ-like" life..Yet constantly do and say things totally against his teachings...
Please correct me if I am wrong "Christianity" was born out of Jesus and his teachings..Am I getting these extremist wrong?? Because all I hear is Old Testament quotes to justify their agenda???? Even the latest Pope understands that and is showing moderation under the "Christ-like" life and teachings..Far and away from OLD TESTAMENT Teachings....But Pope Frencis is a no body unless he preaches to those narrow minded OLD TESTAMENT Types!! Then again..Pope is not backing of Catholic Tenets....But what he is saying..Tolerance..Forgive..etc!!~~
Quote:
Originally Posted by AREQUIPA
Contentious thread. Matt Dillahunty hit the nail on the head - as he does repeatedly - when he said that he didn't get smarter when he became an atheist - he just got better informed.
I suggest that those who identify as atheist came to realize they were because they studied the Bible more - and pretty frequently (so I read in conversions stories) in order to believe better and refute disbelievers more effectively and found that the book made no sense.
They ended up as atheists because they now knew more about the Bible than they did before.
Many who QUESTION become more informed..That's no secret..However those who only listen to their narrow info source never evolve much less get informed...I do think many here exhibit such
Quote:
Originally Posted by JB from NC
According to the article, protestant Christians knew the most about Christianity, while athiests/agnostics and Jews and Mormons scored the highest overall (last I checked, Jews and Mormons fell into the 'believers' category). Jews did slightly better in regards to world religons, while athiests and agnostics did slightly better on the topic of religion in public life.
As for why, the literature on the subject points to education- formal and informal, religious and secular. Those who attended college, as well as those who discussed relgion regularly with others, tended to score higher overall than those who did not.
Religion does not start with a Priest, Pastor, Minister or some Evangelical Ministry...It's something that required nurturing..and learning outside of that box in order to be well rounded..But unfortunately....Many are CONTENT to rely of singular source..bang the drum for SOMETHING!! ignoring societal ..true life actual life..I find it Sad..I actually felt sorry for Kim Davis who has made herself accessible to Politicians who will take advantage of her..then DUMP her when no longer a HELP to their campaign!! It truly is SAD!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by LuminousTruth
Quran. Get to it. No head knowledge please. Just Faith.
Wait a second..Are you suggesting the BRAIN that the good lord gave us is mute..reasoning, ability to ascertain values of informations and decisions?? Faith just like love and trust MUST be earned..NOT GRANTED..If someone bases their faith of mis-information usually leads to distractions..Jim Jones as an example.. preying on that FAITH..taking their worldly goods to promise eternal SALVATION...Yep..."Snake oil Salesman" to be sure..Satan's messengers will always DUPE the naive ( aka Ignorant/inexperienced/Un-informed) or worse..spewed and directed to do or say something that actually contradicts facts....Too bad more of some of these folks don't avail themselves of access to INFO.. Anyone wonder why Internet access is kept away for followers/nations Citizens?? You guessed it..Propagandize whatever to promote false narrative...
Bottomline~~ Whether Religion or Country/State/Province/locality..If you Control the message..it's a given you will CONTROL they who can!!
14 of 15 and the one I missed was a dumb, brain-fart sort of mistake.
I think a lot of believers forget that many atheists WERE once believers. It's not something they like to remember.
@Tzaphkiel, no one is saying knowledge = practice, that's not the point of the thread. Certainly, lacking knowledge, there's nothing to put INTO practice. The ignorance of many believers, of their own faith ... and of the faith of others ... is a practical problem.
14 of 15 and the one I missed was a dumb, brain-fart sort of mistake.
I think a lot of believers forget that many atheists WERE once believers. It's not something they like to remember.
@Tzaphkiel, no one is saying knowledge = practice, that's not the point of the thread. Certainly, lacking knowledge, there's nothing to put INTO practice. The ignorance of many believers, of their own faith ... and of the faith of others ... is a practical problem.
The bolded is a very good point. Many former believers may have felt uneasy, or whatever, about their faith, and upon further investigation, came to their current position.
It's these additional studies, of their religion and other worldviews, that make them overall better educated in religious matters than the typical believer.
Add to this that they're more likely to study atheism than a non-questioning believer, that makes former believers-turned-atheists one of a religious apologist's greatest challenges.
A wishy-washy believer stands hardly a chance against ones with such extensive background knowledge and experience.
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