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You mean, honest answers? Only if you'll return the favor!
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Originally Posted by Yuma, AZ
Hello,
I have few questions for atheists so please answer.
1. What's your reaction when you see a cross and churches everywhere?
No problem. I don't see them everywhere, only where they belong for the most part. If I saw them on non-religious locations (hanging above the check-out at my local grocery store, for instance) I'd be very much upset.
2. Does the government favor Christians only/a lot?
The government, rather sneakily, and depending on the State or Federal Agency, does try to increase the level of faith-based actions.
3. Do you wish America was not predominately a Christian nation?
No. I wish, fervently, that in terms of it's governmental actions, it were strictly secular. As defined in our Constitution, btw! As to folks' spiritual needs and activities, of course that is entirely their own agenda and options.
4. Do you tell people you're an atheist? What's their reaction?
Doesn't ever come up in my recollection. Atheists certainly don't go about bragging or "in your face"-ing.... It's only appropo on an anonymous forum such as this, IMHO. Avoids fist fights.
5. Do you vote on president candidates, since they are all Christians?
Of course. We still need a leader, though I wish politicians could be honest in their spiritual acknowledgements. (or in anything, for that matter.... ) BTW, I'll probably vote for Mitt this time around purely based on his Mormonism. I sorely want to see how the greater Christian community reacts to that little shocker. They would lose influence & power, and they won't like that one bit!
6. Why are you afraid of Christian theocracy?
Afraid? Probably in terms of it's vaguely hidden agenda to influence our daily lives, ethics and interactions. Not to mention the influence they truly want to have on our kids' educations, as in: the rote-chanting dumbing down of those naíve minds even before they get a snowball's chance to think for themselves.
7. Do you have plans on moving to another country since you don't trust in God and that's our national motto?
Nope. After all, this is, more or less, a voter's democracy, and we change things. Would you move out if we enforced our Constitution and put secularism firmly in charge? Or if the Mulsims had their way and inflicted their ultra-chauvinistic Sharia Laws on our population?
8. Why don't you want to be saved and go to heaven?
A mandatory five point deduction levied against your side, and a permanent mark noting your obviously biased point of view.
Of course, there certainly is no heaven, silly! Only in your frantic death-obsessed dreams! (There. I get to be just as biased, only my ideas are based on objective reasoning and observable facts...)
But to answer: saved? From what, pray tell? I mean, since there is no heaven or hell, what would be the true final destination of my evaporated & carmelized hydro-carbon soul?
You need to see that video. hmmm.... I'll go find it and append it here. Don't go away!
________________________
OK: Here it is. Please take the time to honestly listen to this guy. And then, give me a quick read on how you feel about what he said. as in: tell me, honestly if you can, if he seems to be dishonest or disingenuous, or if he fails to make ANY points with you. Let's see, shall we?)
2. I think the government is often more in favor of christianity.
3. I wish America was prominently based on reason and sceptism.
4. I only tell people I am atheist if they ask what I am. Some of them don't care while others are in denial or try to 'spread the word.'
5. I vote for a president based on what they would do in office. I don't care what their faith is as long as they don't try to implement laws based on their religion.
6. Look at Iran and you'll know why I don't want to live in a christian theocracy. Theocracies favor a single faith and persecute those who don't follow that faith. Would you want to live in a country that would prohibit you from practicing your beliefs and make you follow the practices and beliefs of Islam or Hinduism?
7. 'In god we trust' isn't our national motto. It started to be put on money and the pledge of allegiance in 1954 in order to combat communism.
I have few questions for atheists so please answer. NO, I'm not troll. I wonder this because I never met an atheist in my entire life.
Oh I bet you have, many of them, see, we don't have horns or a tail, the difference is in the mind, for we don't believe fairy tales, we don't have irrational fears of invisible things in the sky, we don't quake at the thought of lakes of fire and sadistic gods that would send us there, for ever and ever and ever because he loves us.
Or you have live in the basement of a seminary since birth.
1. What's your reaction when you see a cross and churches everywhere?
non-issue, for it is private property, and I support property rights
2. Does the government favor Christians only/a lot?
for the simple reason 99%+ of elected officials are christian, to some extent
3. Do you wish America was not predominately a Christian nation?
would prefer that intelligence and reason over this absurdity of any ancient superstition
4. Do you tell people you're an atheist? What's their reaction?
yes, depending on my mood, some of the looks you can get here in the buy bull belt are priceless
5. Do you vote on president candidates, since they are all Christians?
I vote for their ideas and character, as it turns out that means I vote against the bible beating born again loons running on their beliefs instead of their intelligence and character.
6. Why are you afraid of Christian theocracy?
for the goal is to impose the utter ignorance of the bronze age upon society, our children, into our schools, into our laws and has started the last two wars that have destroyed the future of this country
7. Do you have plans on moving to another country since you don't trust in God and that's our national motto?
no, it is only a slogan on the other god many worship, the almighty dollar, yet I intend to stay and be the voice of reason in opposition to the stupidity of any religion, for it is the greatest threat to mankind future. One would have to leave the planet to escape the threat that religion poses to mankind's future.
8. Why don't you want to be saved and go to heaven?
You should have quite while you were ahead, for this proves your willful ignorance even prohibits your understanding of what an atheist believes, or your years of religious brainwashing has seriously limited your ability to think outside of the perspective of your single book of irrational concepts.
Is it the fear of your imaginary god, or has the 'programming' destroyed your ability to reason and more importantly question anything.
So why would I want to go someplace I know does not exist? That my friend is the ultimate in stupid questions, yet you are just another theist throwing out the silly Pascal's Wager to frighten us into becoming willfully ignorant?
Last edited by Asheville Native; 01-29-2012 at 12:34 PM..
Reason: tpyo
I have few questions for atheists so please answer. NO, I'm not troll. I wonder this because I never met an atheist in my entire life.
1. What's your reaction when you see a cross and churches everywhere?
No reaction to crosses as long as they're not on fire in my front lawn. As far as churches all that I see is money wasted that could have gone to help people.
2. Does the government favor Christians only/a lot?
The only issue I see is the government's repression of gays due the the religious right in our government.
3. Do you wish America was not predominately a Christian nation?
Not really. I would like to see public life to be more secular in general.
4. Do you tell people you're an atheist? What's their reaction?
My close friend know. I make no secret of it. I also will let people know my beliefs if it comes up in conversation.
5. Do you vote on president candidates, since they are all Christians?
I don't take into account their beliefs as long as those beliefs stay out of their policies. I will however NEVER vote for a religious fundamentalist. (Santorum)
6. Why are you afraid of Christian theocracy?
No. Stupid bigoted blind unthinking theocracy scares and angers
7. Do you have plans on moving to another country since you don't trust in God and that's our national motto?
Do you plan to move since there is a separation of church and state? I can recommend a good mover.
8. Why don't you want to be saved and go to heaven?
There is no such place. I have nothing to be saved from other than the stupidity of some that think that they have the answers to my salvation or that salvation is even necessary.
Why don't you want to wake up and stop living in a bronze fantasy land and become enlightened and be freed from fear.
I have few questions for atheists so please answer. NO, I'm not troll. I wonder this because I never met an atheist in my entire life.
1. What's your reaction when you see a cross and churches everywhere?
Churches are voluntary organizations. I think members of churches are misguided, but I have no desire to stop people joining the organizations they want to join.
2. Does the government favor Christians only/a lot?
The government favors Christians in particular and religion in general. The trend seems to be getting worse, from not only ceremonial favoritism, like insertion of "under god" into the Pledge of Allegiance, to government agencies like school boards and legislatures working to insert religious indoctrination like creationism into public schools.
3. Do you wish America was not predominately a Christian nation?
The country and the world would be better if religious people could see the error of their ways. What I would like to see, though, is for America to live up to the secular principles upon which it was founded.
4. Do you tell people you're an atheist? What's their reaction?
Yes, I am totally open about it. Almost everyone I spend time with is either an atheist or nonreligious, and they are very supportive. I don't know what the religiuos people I know think about it.
5. Do you vote on president candidates, since they are all Christians?
I'm not voting for a religious leader, I'm voting for a political leader. It is a happy coincidence that my political party is less inclined to impose religious doctrine on public institutions than is the Republican Party.
6. Why are you afraid of Christian theocracy?
Theocracy is inimical to American values and contrary to the Constitution. In addition, the experience around the world and through the centuries, from Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella to Iran under the ayatollahs, has demonstrated that theocracy is synonymous with oppression, especially oppression of women, narrow-mindedness, and intellectual decline. This is exactly what Christian dominionists in the United States are trying to bring about here.
7. Do you have plans on moving to another country since you don't trust in God and that's our national motto?
Of course not. This is the greatest country in the world.
8. Why don't you want to be saved and go to heaven?
In all seriousness, this is a really stupid question. Like most atheists, I dispute the idea that there is any entity, or soul, that would survive my death. I am confident that the end of my life will be the end of my existence, there is nothing for me to be "saved" from, and no heaven to go to.
I have few questions for atheists so please answer. NO, I'm not troll. I wonder this because I never met an atheist in my entire life.
I'd bet money you've probably met more than one; a huge number of us feel absolutely no need to openly advertise it.
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1. What's your reaction when you see a cross and churches everywhere?
I burst into flames and run away screeching? I was raised Christian and live among a majority of Christians; why should seeing crosses or churches bother me any more than seeing a synagogue would register with a Christian?
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2. Does the government favor Christians only/a lot?
The government is just what it is; a secular government can no more favor Christians than it can a brand of tuna. The courts have consistently upheld the separation of church and state, but individuals have individually favored what individuals will favor (sometimes in groups, sometimes not).
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3. Do you wish America was not predominately a Christian nation?
Me personally? I don't mind it at all as long as they keep it out of the public sphere.
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4. Do you tell people you're an atheist? What's their reaction?
If somebody directly asks, I tell them. If somebody tries to aggressively proselytize, I tell them. Most of the time I don't tend to feel it's anyone's business, but sometimes it comes up in the course of a conversation. How they react depends completely on the person; to some it isn't an issue all. Others feel the need to try to tell me what I believe and why its wrong without ever asking what I believe in the first place. Many people simply can't fathom that not believing in god isn't the same thing believing there IS no God.
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5. Do you vote on president candidates, since they are all Christians?
You realize that there's a possibility that the next Republican presidential candidate may be a Mormon, and a large number of Christians don't believe Mormons are Christian. Do you suppose that all Christians who hold that belief will decline to vote?
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6. Why are you afraid of Christian theocracy?
Why are many Christians afraid of Islamic theocracies?
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7. Do you have plans on moving to another country since you don't trust in God and that's our national motto?
Although I think the motto being added (by law) in 1956 was unconstitutional, it no more affects my plans to move than merely seeing a copy of the Koran in a bookstore would make you convert to Islam. It's just words on currency.
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8. Why don't you want to be saved and go to heaven?
It's a really difficult concept to wrap your mind around when you've been brought up believing that there MUST be some sort of god and aren't even able to fathom the possibility that you may simply be wrong. I don't believe in an afterlife at all, so the question is more "be saved from what?" from my end. The idea of heaven or hell simply holds no weight. I find the Christian version of heaven pretty hard to wrap my mind around; if we're "perfect" after we die, we lose all that made us individuals in the first place. Meet our loved ones again ...which version? The father I grew up with was a very different man than the one who died two years ago; it was his bad traits as well as the good that made him human. Eternal life seems more like "eternal stagnation" to me, and I'd much rather fully live this life than worry about the possibility of something that makes no logical sense to me.
I have few questions for atheists so please answer. NO, I'm not troll. I wonder this because I never met an atheist in my entire life.
As others have said, you probably have met some atheists, but don't know it. Most of us don't go around advertising or proselytizing.
1. What's your reaction when you see a cross and churches everywhere?
I have no problem with seeing them though I think the cross is an awful symbol. There have always been lots of churches around. I have even been inside some of them as I belonged to groups that used the rooms and have friends who are active in their churches.
2. Does the government favor Christians only/a lot?
In the US, unfortunately, it favors Christians a lot. There are laws in some states that say that an atheist cannot hold office, for example.
3. Do you wish America was not predominately a Christian nation?
If Christians would keep their religion out of other people's business I would have no problem with them. I do think that it is a good thing that non believers are becoming more predominant.
4. Do you tell people you're an atheist? What's their reaction?
I haven't had much occasion to tell people. When I have here in Texas though the reaction is not very good. People try to get me to come to Jesus and their church which is quite annoying.
5. Do you vote on president candidates, since they are all Christians?
Since I vote on issues not on religion, of course, I vote on the presidential candidates.
6. Why are you afraid of Christian theocracy?
If you are serious and you are not afraid of *any* theocracy, you are nuts. Look back at history. Do you want another Inquisition? That is what Christian theocracy looks like.
7. Do you have plans on moving to another country since you don't trust in God and that's our national motto?
No, this is MY country. I don't let those who are actually trying to make the country into something it was not founded on chase me away. We may get that national motto changed yet.
Note that the original motto was E pluribus unum - out of many one. That makes sense since we are a nation of immigrants with many cultures and religions. We should come together as a nation in peace and tolerance.
8. Why don't you want to be saved and go to heaven?
There is no evidence that heaven exists, but seriously, if it did, I would not want to be there with the vengeful god described in the Christian Bible. Nor do I want anyone to *die* for my supposed sins. I prefer to live a good life here and then return to the earth when I die.
I don't believe I need saving from anything.
There was a good video posted in another thread, but I can't find it atm.
Yuma, I sincerely hope you will actually join this discussion. We have a had a lot of people claiming not to be trolls, asking a bullet list of questions and then never engaging in any conversation. It gets a bit tiresome to feel like one is shouting into a void, so I encourage you to respond.
That being said, here you go...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuma, AZ
1. What's your reaction when you see a cross and churches everywhere?
As long as it is not a government endorsement of religion, which is a violation of one of America's foundational principles, I don't care. It affects me no more than someone with a Dallas Cowboys poster on their wall. It is just a way of declaring your "team" allegiance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuma, AZ
2. Does the government favor Christians only/a lot?
Currently, I think the government favors theists in general, and Christians specifically. Government funding for "Faith-based initiatives", funding of Catholic charities, political figures stating that atheists are un-American, Intelligent Design being taught as science, the inequality of legal status for homosexuals, and our imposition of our sexual morality on other nations through restrictions on contraceptive and family planning aid are just a few examples.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuma, AZ
3. Do you wish America was not predominately a Christian nation?
If we would embrace our founding principles and maintain a strict legal separation, so that government is secular and religion is a private matter, I would not care in the least.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuma, AZ
4. Do you tell people you're an atheist? What's their reaction?
I don't tell many people. Those I do tell are often very interested to hear my deconversion experience, since they often come from a significantly different religious background. If I think there is going to be a problem, I don't bring it up unless specifically asked.
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Originally Posted by Yuma, AZ
5. Do you vote on president candidates, since they are all Christians?
I do, however I prefer to vote for politicians who will openly state that their religion guides their personal life, while their politics are governed by rational thought and the Constitution. Based on these criteria, the only major Presidential candidate I can get behind is Ron Paul, the only one who is not pandering based on religion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuma, AZ
6. Why are you afraid of Christian theocracy?
Because historically, when Christians get to shape the rules, people like me get hung, beheaded, or burned at the stake. I don't think Christianity has fundamentally changed over the last couple centuries, so of course I am wary. I feel the same way about ANY theocracy, so it isn't just Christians, if it makes you feel any better.
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Originally Posted by Yuma, AZ
7. Do you have plans on moving to another country since you don't trust in God and that's our national motto?
No, this is kind of a dumb question, and if you had done a little looking around on this forum you would realize it. The additions of "under God" and "In God we trust" are not foundational to our nation, and are in most cases recent additions. These pious additions were almost always added during a time of war or potential conflict as a way of demonizing the enemy. They have nothing to do with religion, and everything to do with politicians' cynical manipulation of the gullible faithful.
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Originally Posted by Yuma, AZ
8. Why don't you want to be saved and go to heaven?
Why don't you want to eat chocolate with the Easter bunny, and live with Santa at the North Pole? I understand for you, this is an important question. For us non-believers, the question I asked was just as meaningful as yours.
I hope this gives you a better understanding of various unbelievers. We are not all the same. The only thing we really have in common is that we don't believe in a deity.
So in return I have a couple of questions:
1. Is it important to you to display crosses and other symbols of your faith? If so, why?
2. Do you believe the government favors Christians ?
3. Do you believe America is a Christian nation? In a demographic sense or in some more profound way?
4. Do you make a point to tell people you're a Christian? If so, why and is there a time or place when it is not appropriate?
5. Does a candidate's professed religious views matter to you, or are you primarily concerned with political positions?
6. Are you afraid of a secular society or any non-Christian theocracy? If so, why?
Anyway, I hope you are interested in a real conversation about some of these things.
NoCapo
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You mean, honest answers? Only if you'll return the favor!
) BTW, I'll probably vote for Mitt this time around purely based on his Mormonism. I sorely want to see how the greater Christian community reacts to that little shocker. They would lose influence & power, and they won't like that one bit!
