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They don't believe in Allah or Muhammed his prophet . Don't believe in Krishna or Vishnu or Brahma or Shiva. They don't believe in the God of the Baha'is , or Amal Purakh, or Ahura Mazda . And we haven't even mentioned the Geek, Roman, or Norse gods . There is a ton of gods Chritians don't believe in and feel perfectly correct in not doing so.
Yet they get very upset if atheists take it one step , just one more little step , further and don't believe in theirs either .
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All gods of all peoples show a belief in something bigger than themselves - a higher power. A place where judgement, forgiveness, mercy and miracles come from.
What is/are an aethiests higher power?
Also:
Quote:
Originally Posted by wallflash
They don't believe in Allah or Muhammed his prophet . Don't believe in Krishna or Vishnu or Brahma or Shiva. They don't believe in the God of the Baha'is , or Amal Purakh, or Ahura Mazda . And we haven't even mentioned the Geek, Roman, or Norse gods . There is a ton of gods Chritians don't believe in and feel perfectly correct in not doing so.
Yet they get very upset if atheists take it one step , just one more little step , further and don't believe in theirs either .
What kind of sense does that make ?
Could you expand this so it relates remotely to your title? Thanks.
They don't believe in Allah or Muhammed his prophet . Don't believe in Krishna or Vishnu or Brahma or Shiva. They don't believe in the God of the Baha'is , or Amal Purakh, or Ahura Mazda . And we haven't even mentioned the Geek, Roman, or Norse gods . There is a ton of gods Chritians don't believe in and feel perfectly correct in not doing so.
Yet they get very upset if atheists take it one step , just one more little step , further and don't believe in theirs either .
What kind of sense does that make ?
Any theist, anywhere in the world, takes it personally if you dishonor THEIR god ... whichever god that may be. The difference is that it's THEIRS. Their ego investment, their immortality project, their inflation. When you attack their belief -- or even just don't pay sufficient respect to it -- you diminish them and their potency and significance -- even if only symbolically or indirectly. Your very existence diminishes them if they perceive you as successful, enjoying life, happy, and/or confident. It's the exact same dynamic that was common during segregation -- when the first black family moves in, there goes the neighborhood. How uppity of them. They don't deserve to have as much money / success / comfort as I do!
After all, the Abrahamic religions especially are all about correct belief and escaping the wrath of the deity. It simply won't do for some idiot to point out that you can not worry about the deity or its wrath and get away with it. Or to live just as moral a life but not give credit to the deity. Or be just as happy and effective in life. Intolerable! It must not be!
All gods of all peoples show a belief in something bigger than themselves - a higher power. A place where judgement, forgiveness, mercy and miracles come from.
What is/are an aethiests higher power?
Are atheists required to have a higher power ?
Quote:
Also:
Could you expand this so it relates remotely to your title? Thanks.
Expand on it in what way? Do Christians believe in the gods I listed but just choose not to worship them all , or do they disbelieve in them , as atheists disbelieve in the Christian version also ?
Or maybe it's worded better this way . If there are 1000 different gods , how many do Christians disbelieve in and how many do atheists disbelieve in , and what percentage of all the gods there are that are being worshipped do Christians believe in ( but maybe choose not to worship )?
Location: Subconscious Syncope, USA (Northeastern US)
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A Palestinian cab driver once explain to me that the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran are a trilogy.
He said a Jew can deny a Christian and a Muslim. Makes sense - they had the first book.
A Christian cannot deny a Jew, but can deny a Muslim (although it is not in the true spirit of Christianity to deny anyone. Who did Christ ever deny?). Also, makes sense. The second book uses the Torah (Old Testament) as a reference to the New Testament.
A Muslim cannot deny either a Jew or a Christian, as their's is the last book in the trilogy. The previous two books represented what led up to the third.
Where does one get the idea that a true Christian does not accept someone of another faith? Is that what Christ would do in your opinion?
Location: Subconscious Syncope, USA (Northeastern US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wallflash
Are atheists required to have a higher power ?
Expand on it in what way? Do Christians believe in the gods I listed but just choose not to worship them all , or do they disbelieve in them , as atheists disbelieve in the Christian version also ?
Or maybe it's worded better this way . If there are 1000 different gods , how many do Christians disbelieve in and how many do atheists disbelieve in , and what percentage of all the gods there are that are being worshipped do Christians believe in ( but maybe choose not to worship )?
No. However, that means they believe nothing?
You say in your title that Christians are largely atheist. What does that mean to you?
All gods of all peoples show a belief in something bigger than themselves - a higher power. A place where judgement, forgiveness, mercy and miracles come from.
What is/are an atheist's higher power?
If you define "higher power" as a deity, we don't have one. If you simply mean "something greater than yourself" it could be any number of things. Service to your fellow man. Engagement in one or more projects that require cooperation with others. Promoting an idea, writing a book, supporting a political candidate even. Many things are greater than myself ... the usual omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent creator and ruler of the universe is just one extreme (and in my view, made up) example. Meaning and purpose can be found in many things.
I know someone who went to AA who is an atheist and chose "other people" as their "higher power".
Quote:
Originally Posted by ConeyGirl52
Could you expand this so it relates remotely to your title?
There is an old saying that an atheist believes in one less god than (say) a Christian. Or put another way, if there are 1,000 gods, a Christian believes in 1 of them and an atheist believes in zero of them. So a Christian in that scenario is 99.9% as much of an atheist as an actual atheist. It's just a difference of one god.
In reality of course by definition if you believe in 1 god, or 10, or 1,000, you're a theist. And if you believe in none, you're an atheist. So the point being made is that not believing in a deity is easy for a believer to relate to, except with respect to THEIR deity. In contrast to how many believers demonize atheists for not believing ... when in fact there are MANY things god-believers don't believe in. Unbelief in THEIR god is just the fallacy of special pleading.
Where does one get the idea that a true Christian does not accept someone of another faith?
From fundamentalist / literalist / inerrantist ideology, which always thinks it's right (and NEEDS to be right) about everything. Which makes everyone else wrong. Such ideology denies that multiple paths to god exists, and, in fact, considers it a pernicious idea.
They don't believe in Allah or Muhammed his prophet . Don't believe in Krishna or Vishnu or Brahma or Shiva. They don't believe in the God of the Baha'is , or Amal Purakh, or Ahura Mazda . And we haven't even mentioned the Geek, Roman, or Norse gods . There is a ton of gods Chritians don't believe in and feel perfectly correct in not doing so.
Yet they get very upset if atheists take it one step , just one more little step , further and don't believe in theirs either .
What kind of sense does that make ?
It actually makes no sense at all. Atheists don't believe in any Higher Power. Christians do. The fact that they believe certain things about this Higher Power, things which may be different from the Higher Power recognized by certain other groups is irrelevant. If you believe in ANY Higher Power, you're a theist. If you don't, you're an atheist. There's no need to complicate it.
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