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Well you're entitled to your opinion but when I read The God Delusion by Dawkins I found it to be very logical. He can sound a little condescending towards believers, I'll grant you that much, but he put together a compelling case that God does not exist and on the flip side I've never in my life heard any logical reason that would support the believe in a God or any supernatural event. Also, I very much agree with the statements by ptsum. If you ask the question as to whether or not European Christians had a detrimental impact on Native Americans the answer is obviously yes. I have heard Christians say that the religious beliefs of Native Americans were just primitive superstitions and their only salvation was to become Christians. I think that's demeaning and disrespectful.
If you haven't seen "Expelled" by Ben Stein, it's worth the price of admission to see Dawkins backpedal and admit that yes--life could very well have a designer.
Hold on a minute Ptsum, we gave you stuff for this land of America..We gave you smallpox, measles, fire water and guns for this land..
We were good enough to also allow you and yours to settle on land we thought was useless, and we even escorted you, as you and yours walked to that land..Sorry so many froze and starved on the way, but...well..ummm...
Hold on a minute Ptsum, we gave you stuff for this land of America..We gave you smallpox, measles, fire water and guns for this land..
We were good enough to also allow you and yours to settle on land we thought was useless, and we even escorted you, as you and yours walked to that land..Sorry so many froze and starved on the way, but...well..ummm...
You forgot all them casinos , because apparently that makes it all OK ! Never mind the damage done to the people, the land, the culture, languages and dialects, religion , rituals, a wealth of humanity mostly eradicated, never mind the fact that most Native Americans ( And First Nation Canadians) live in utter poverty, in squalid conditions, that the mortality rate and infant mortality are shameful in a so called civilised modern society, poor health, terrible access to education, healthcare etc... Never mind all that.
Never mind all the traumatic consequences of a near genocide , all should be forgiven and forgotten because heck some people have got some of their land back.... Funny how we can always take away land and natural riches when and where we want them but heaven forbid that the actual original inhabitants could actually maybe make a few bucks. " 'Cos let's face it them redskins just ain't got the same rights as us under the glorious banner of the one true God ! " After all if you don't worship the one true God then let's face it you are pretty expandable...
After all God did lead the Pilgrims to the promised land of the USA just so its one and only true religion could expand and develop great wealth at the detriment of many....
Or did he ? I'm getting confused now, time to sit down and nurse my little mind, it's making me all dizzy all this thinking Atheist thoughts and all that...
Can anyone imagine being given a "reservation" to live on when they were there first ? Can anyone being told their ancient ways, beliefs , languages and cultures were not considered good enough and told to either get with the programme or die ? The sheer arrogance and damn right condescending behaviour does not bode well for the proponents of our white forefathers as people who should necessarily been seen as beacons of righteousness and well doing and whose Christian foundations are a byword for justice and what is right. And the irony of it all is that the people who first came to America were escaping religious persecution from other.... Christians ! Not Muslims, Not Hindus or Atheists but their own faith.
Interesting how much they forgot about what it felt like to be repressed and denied freedom of thought and conscience, freedom to live in peace and not fear for their lives.
Preterist and to the rest of the Christians on this thread, as a Native American and a practitioner of my native culture I hold no grudge against you, I do realize that you are not personally responsible for the deeds of your forefathers, what is in the past, is in the past and we cannot go back and change it, however we can learn from it, and recognized the truth as to what really happened to the native people/my people, of this land, the native people of this land only ask to be respected for their culture and their belief, we do not try to change the way you worship your God or your belief in your holy book, we only ask that you accord us the same respect for our culture and our belief and to be allowed to worship our Creator in our own way and we feel that you should also respect and allow others to do the same whatever their belief or non-belief may be. We all want to live in peace, harmony, and respect and it can only be done if we learn to respect one another. osay
Actually, it baffles me how Christendom as a whole refuses to do some serious thinking on Jesus' commandment to go and teach ... and into what belligerent hands and minds such teachings have fallen!
May this misunderstanding end, the sooner the better!
Peace is not just another word for indifference and laissez-faire.
If you haven't seen "Expelled" by Ben Stein, it's worth the price of admission to see Dawkins backpedal and admit that yes--life could very well have a designer.
Oh great.....here we go with this nonsense and mischaracterization again.
This is the opposite question from the thread regarding the influence of religion in society. I'm curious what religious people really think of atheists like myself, not so much as individuals but our overall influence and impact in society. I realize that religious people and atheists have totally opposite points of view regarding the existence of God but are there some of you who honestly feel that atheism is detrimental to our society? And if you think it is please explain why. Thanks.
In answer to the original question ,is atheism detrimental to society , I think atheism can be a healthy counterpoint to religious fanasism but I would not like to live in a world devoid of any spirituality at all. I think that would be a very ascetic, cold kind of world. Just as much as a world ruled by religious dogma would be. A perfect world for me would be one where there were no labels, where if people wanted to follow a religion or another form of spirituality they could do so without anyone shouting them down or telling them there beliefs are wrong.Conversely if people chose not to follow or believe in anything no one would be shouting them down or telling them they are evil. The problem with society is not what people believe or don't believe, it's their insistance that they are right.
To Christians And Other Believers, Do You Think Atheism Is A Bad Influence In Society? No, because I believe the power of God is strong enough not to be influenced or hurt by Atheism. And you and some other Atheist here have been a good influence on me
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Funny how we can always take away land and natural riches when and where we want them but heaven forbid that the actual original inhabitants could actually maybe make a few bucks. " 'Cos let's face it them redskins just ain't got the same rights as us under the glorious banner of the one true God ! " After all if you don't worship the one true God then let's face it you are pretty expandable... 
it may not be Religion, but the legions ...
