Christian morality: an atheist's point of view (hell, suicide, quote)

[cupper3]

Originally Posted by Vizio

How do you know that?

I was born an atheist. And never got baptized. Went to a Catholic school for 7 years. Had a 45 minute discussion with the priest in grade 12 that either Mary committed adultery or Jesus was a bastard. I was still an atheist at that point. Took comparative religion classes in university partial to understand the woo and partially because of the history. Became more convinced I'm an atheist. Move forward many decades, I'm still convinced I'm an atheist.

I was born an atheist, as were you, and as were your children. You were susceptible to indoctrination, I was not.

[Vizio]

Originally Posted by cupper3

I was born an atheist.

How do you know that? And how do you know that you're typical?

And never got baptized.

That has nothing to do with belief, but ok....

I was born in atheist, as were you, and as were your children. You were susceptible to indoctrination, I was not.

I'll ask again. How do you know that?

[cupper3]

Originally Posted by Vizio

Because he is? Because he gave himself up as a sacrifice to redeem us?

He was a criminal. Likely rebelling against Rome, possibly a murderer.


Jesus died on the cross for that criminal on the cross next to him. One of them did repent and is in heaven now.

That same salvation is available to you, if you repent of your sins and trust Christ.

Yeah, really love that part of confess your sins, go to heaven.

Even in cases like this:

[mordant]

My name is Bob.

Viz: how do you know that?

Because my mother gave me that name, I was born with it, and everyone calls me that.

Viz: that has nothing to do with your name, but ok ...

I was born with my name, as were you, and as were your children.

Viz. I'll ask again. How do you KNOW that?

???

[TroutDude]

Originally Posted by mordant

My name is Bob.

Viz: how do you know that?

Because my mother gave me that name, I was born with it, and everyone calls me that.

Viz: that has nothing to do with your name, but ok ...

I was born with my name, as were you, and as were your children.

Viz. I'll ask again. How do you KNOW that?

???

It's his oh-so-clever debating technique learned at the foot of his Master Slick.

[MartinEden99]

Originally Posted by Vizio

Because he is? Because he gave himself up as a sacrifice to redeem us?

Circular logic much? Why couldn't the devil have played the ultimate trick on mankind by having them buy that load of BS?

And let me get this straight. The being that can start & stop time, created the entire universe, and knows all the sins I'm going to commit thousands of years before I commit them "sacrificed" himself?

How is it a sacrifice if he suffered no irreparable harm? Thats like Donald Trump sacrificing $1 to your church. He could theoretically recreate himself tomorrow because...you know...HE'S FLIPPIN GOD DUDE!

I'm starting to find much more consistency in the idea that Satan has tricked you into believing he is your god than the idea that the most powerful being & creator of all things is as lackluster as his followers keep suggesting.

He was a criminal. Likely rebelling against Rome, possibly a murderer.

Jesus died on the cross for that criminal on the cross next to him. One of them did repent and is in heaven now.

So why wouldn't God-incarnate stop crying long enough over his self-mandated pain, which he could neutralize without anybody knowing mind you, and save that man next to him? Too busy admiring his own work of torture for him?

That same salvation is available to you, if you repent of your sins and trust Christ.

Sorry....your bogeyman does not scare me. And if he chooses to send me to hell, I will have been justified in not worshiping him.

And if he is the kind of god to do such things...that means he can't be trusted. Don't be so sure you're going where you think you are going by promulgating an evil-doing god.

[cupper3]

Originally Posted by Vizio

How do you know that? And how do you know that you're typical?

That has nothing to do with belief, but ok....


I'll ask again. How do you know that?

Well, it is obvious that your mental state is such that you are susceptible to the indoctrination of those that imparted their religiosity upon you.

Wonder what your kind of woo you would be susceptible to being indoctrinated in if you were born in Iran?

[mordant]

All kidding aside, though.

I don't really agree with cupper that everyone is "born atheist".

Here's a thought experiment. Go get your wife pregnant and then banish the child at birth to a sealed environment where he is cared for by robot nurses and nannies programmed to feed the child and provide it with instruction only in language with zero sociological or historical background, no religious ideology or philosophy of any kind, on even an education in science because that would teach them about the scientific method.

Repeat this experiment 100 times.

How many of those children will be so lacking in confirmation bias, agency inference, and various forms of existential angst, such that they will not invent some sort of religious or magical beliefs all on their own? How many of them will claim to have had powerful subjective experiences validating their beliefs?

I would guess that at least half of them will have all sorts of unsupportable ideas at the end of such an experiment.

I would like to think that they naturally and organically would all be little scientists but apart from a grounding in hard-won philosophical insights and debates and critical thinking, they would at least in some compartments of their thinking and probably most of them, have all sorts of magical beliefs and rituals. A minority of them would have the brain wiring to start going through the systematic philosophical musings that the human race codified from thousands of years ago, but most would invent comforting lies to soothe their existential questions.

It is my view that growing beyond reflexive magical thinking is something that is only beginning to be possible to any kind of scale in the past few generations because it is only now that enough of humanity has moved up the hierarchy of needs and the ladder of scientific knowledge of reality to be able to divorce itself from the perceptual quirks that have kept it mired in religion.

"Things are the way they are because they got that way". If unbelief were the automatic default, religion would never have arisen to indoctrinate generation after generation since the dawn of man.

[Vizio]

Originally Posted by cupper3

Well, it is obvious that your mental state is such that you are susceptible to the indoctrination of those that imparted their religiosity upon you.

Wonder what your kind of woo you would be susceptible to being indoctrinated in if you were born in Iran?

So you don't really know? You're just assuming. gotcha.

[kab0906]

Originally Posted by mensaguy

I think it is astounding that you interpret a temper tantrum of a 2 year old as evidence if sin from birth.

Originally Posted by Vizio

I find it astounding that you DON'T.

Oh my .... that's the worst post I think I've ever seen on this site. What a horrific attitude for a human, and someone who is supposed to be a leader of people. I have to wonder if any of his community knows he thinks this about children.