Atheists - prove it.

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I asked atheists on WP to explain why they feel they must ridicule Christianity. Most of you answered either that you-

1. believe my beliefs are ridiculous, hence the ridicule or
2. you feel persecuted by Christians and must, I guess, defend yourselves.

I hope you can all agree that I respected your beliefs in that post. Also, I hope that you respect me enough from the replies I made. You can see, I hope, that they are logical and openminded.

I have a new challenge - convince me. Prove to me that your beliefs are the right ones. Something, at some point, convinced you that this was the right way to go. I want to know what it is.

I don't think I posted either of the things you say. I'm atheist, but I have no reason to ridicule Christianity, so I don't.

I'm atheist because I find I can only come to believe things through objective rationality, and I haven't seen any argument with rational weight that a god or gods exist. Occam's razor causes me to conclude there are no gods. However, Occam's razor is a heuristic to which others may give less weight, so they may come to different conclusions.

To me, the existence of evil is also evidence against the existence of a benevolent, omnipotent god, but that isn't a conclusive argument either.

I don't consider myself an atheist, but for a brief troubled time in my early twenties I flirted with a non-denominational evangelical Christian church. What bothered me was they spent as much time bashing other denominations of Christianity (Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons) as they did preaching the Gospel.

What bothered me even more was their denial of the fact of evolution, based not on any scientific evidence (because no such evidence has yet been found that either supports their view or falsifies evolution), but instead based entirely on what I see as a flawed way of interpreting Scripture. Fundamentalism may have other faults as bad theology besides denying the fact of evolution or the age of the earth.

So yes, I WILL ridicule creationists, but only because they are spreading proven LIES trying to force their beliefs into places they don't belong. N.B.: by "creationist" I don't mean those who believe in a supreme being or creator. I refer specifically to those who insist that a literal reading of Genesis (or the Koran, or whatever) is just as much science as evolution is, or that evolution is just as much religion as creationism is.

Most people who argue against the fact of evolution don't know what science is or how it works, and are genuinely unaware of the incredibly overwhelming massive amounts of evidence from all branches of science that all point to the same reality. They argue against a strawman caricature of evolution (cat-dog, half an eye, still monkeys). It not only offends me that these lies and distortions are being spread, I fear for the future of America, humanity and our planet if these well-meaning but badly misinformed people manage to legislate ignorance, repeal the Enlightenment, and return us to the Dark Ages.

Last edited by TheBicyclingGuitarist on 08 May 2011, 1:21 am, edited 5 times in total.

1) The utter failure of Christianity to deliver on its promises.
2) The hypocrisy of Christian leadership when condemning lesser members for their indiscretions.
3) The smarmy condescendancy of Christians when questioned.
4) The exclusionary practices of Christians with regards to needy believers.
5) The inclusionary practices of Christians with regard to wealthy visitors.
6) The rampant judgmentalism of Christians with regard to those less fortunate than themselves.
7) The constant use of subjective validation when Christians 'interpret' the Bible to fit their personal agendae.
8) The insidious ways Christians have of blaming those whose prayers are never answered.
9) The intolerance Christians show for any suggestion that their religious dogma may be arbitrary and not Bible-based.
10) The contentious and confrontational methods that Christians have for challenging others' beliefs.
11) The malicious ways that Christians have of laying the sole fault on victims for the disasters that befall them.
12) The lack of compassion Christians have for 'outsiders', when those are the very people that need it the most.

"I do like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ." - The Mahatma, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

What would India be like today if Gandhi had been treated by Christians the way that Christians want to be treated themselves?

Possibly the term you want is "young earth creationist".

maybe the most known redicule:

omnipotens.

even young children make fun of this by posing the simplest catch-22 question:

if he can create such a stone ... and thus can not lift it, he is not omnipotent...

if he can not create such a stone.... he's not omnipotent either.

conclusion: god can not be omnipotent.

simple prove that a god as described in the bible does not exist.




to that christians usually answer:


....... [fill in some bad excuse why this is not a valid question to ask about god]....

Last edited by aspi-rant on 08 May 2011, 2:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

I don't care whether you believe the same thing i do.

You do things your way, I'll do things my way.

But if you start arguing that i should do things your way, there will be trouble.

They can't prove it.

Man kind knows hardly anything about the universe.

Hey, I tried being a christian. Did you ever try being an atheist?

I don't believe in the supernatural. I just don't.

All that i have observed, all the information I've collected, gives me the impression that there is no design, no plan, no controls, no intention, no pretense, no reason.

I cannot escape the conclusion that this is all there is.

You go ahead and believe what you want. I believe what i have to.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyOCjo4wU4I[/youtube]

I haven't tried being an atheist or a Christian. Neither of them are any interest to me and none of their preach is relevant to my beliefs. All I see is some half arsed human research and pedantic rambles of a bunch of beings who think they know more than they do. In both directions.

Last edited by hale_bopp on 08 May 2011, 4:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

Over the years I learn one fact of life the more I learn about the universe the less as really know about the universe. Its a lot like the Zen Buddhist concept of Shoshin.

They're onto something. All I know is I don't know enough to act like my opinion is the be all end all.

Humans and their "re-search" is no way more credible than a teapot orbiting a distant solar system. There are probably Grey aliens pissing themselves laughing at what humans think is science.

I didn't just "pick" a religion, I researched and researched and chose the belief system I think relates to my life experiences, and what I feel has the least amount of holes.

Also I have a lot of respect for agnostics, too.

as i have stated before in an other thread:

the dubious title of atheist is forced upon me by theist.

it is not something i believe... i have no interest in some stories about some god(s) or so, other than it is just what it is: a story. religions and beliefs are simply not part of my world if it weren't for the religious people who continually push there beliefs in other peoples throats... including mine.

so i HAVE to have an opinion about it.... wether i like it or not.

so i have to accept that i am called an atheist and don't share theistic views - which they proclaim is very bad and i will or even have to be punished for that.

i also have to tolerate that the theists can call me whatever they like, and that my views upon the universe are wrong.

Humans did not get into the knowing business seriously until about 500 years ago. The cosmos is vast, we are small and our life span is limited.

ruveyn

It may have some basis on truth, but 99% of it is un-understood by us.