75 replies to this topic

[Alex]

Atheists are the close minded ones lol.
Why do fervent theists act like atheists have no moral guidance, and lead very sad, bitter lives because they don't believe in God?
Now I mostly believe in God but these guys piss me off.

"They don't have God in their lives and that makes me sad for them."
Why do they think living a life without having God constantly in the back of your head is any different and worthy of sympathy?

I don't like Ben Stein.

Edited by Alex, 29 April 2008 - 11:04 PM.

[Tetiel]

We feel sad for people who do not have God in our lives because we feel happiness from Him. Many Christians believe that true believers are happier than those who do not believe just for the relief factor. You know that you are going to heaven and doing good. It's tranquil sometimes, really. I think about it and it's like a brick lifted off my shoulders because I feel trust. Trust that I'm taken care of. We assume that athiests would feel the same if they believed in Him. So, yes, that is our logic.

I think athiests can be perfectly moralistic, but I think without religion there is a little less motivation not to do things that are not illegal but considered by us to be sins. Some christians and athiests fortunately know that there is a reason behind every single sin and it's a good one so typically it's in your best interest to obey them christian or not. And I don't think athiests are happier people, but I think people can be happier if they have a trust in God. The argument against it is blissful ignorance, but honestly if there's studies which say that prayer actually gives the person hope and helps the patient recover better than patients who do not pray well... perhaps it is better to believe in something. Have hope in something no matter what you believe in.

The difference between Ben Stein and myself I suppose is... I try not to rub it in athiest's faces just like I appreciate them not trying to rub their beliefs in mine I'm only stating my beliefs so that you can understand kind of the mentality. Ummm unfortunately though I feel I'm a very liberal Christian and some of the very conservative Christians won't really agree with my philosophy

[Alex]

To be honest, the whole idea of living your life knowing you're going to heaven, doing good things just for that purpose, and feeling happiness from it is very alien and kinda coockoo to me. =/ Suppose that is because I was never very religious. It all felt kinda forced.

Edited by Alex, 30 April 2008 - 12:40 AM.

[Cataliste]

Atheist aren't sad immoral people...

Me and Brooke are extremely happy we have each other, it's only our families that bring us down. And I don;t think believing in God would help any in that situation.

And morality? I have a better moral compass than half the Christians I know. I mean, I don't (nor have ever) go get drunk every weekend and have random sex with girls I may/may not even know. Which is something a lot of (young) Christians I know do.

[Frizzle]

Morality is opinon based anyway. Who is to say that drinking is evil, and praying is good?

[Tetiel]

To be honest, the whole idea of living your life knowing you're going to heaven, doing good things just for that purpose, and feeling happiness from it is very alien and kinda coockoo to me. =/ Suppose that is because I was never very religious. It all felt kinda forced.

Initially that's why people want to do good things. Then they realize the effect that those things have on the people that they are helping. Then it becomes intrinsic because it makes you happy to make them happy and their lives better. You don't have to be a Christian to have that either.

And Cata it's unfortunate, but that happens a lot with young Christians because they were just raised Christian probably in a really restrictive household so they weren't allowed to explore. We see it all the time in WA with the Mormon kids. They can't even drink caffeine so when they go to college they go NUTS. They have all this freedom and don't know how to take it I have a problem with that because it's from the authoritarian style parenting where they don't explain why those activities may harm them so... they just don't know better... only thing they know is that dad and mom are assholes and don't know what they're talking about - or so they think.

[Will]

Morality is opinon based anyway. Who is to say that drinking is evil, and praying is good?

QFE

Looks like a shitty movie to me.

[redlion]

Its just disappointing that in an enlightened age, people still do good works in the name of religion, instead of doing good works for the sake of doing good works. Why should God be the reason I help my neighbor? I'm moral without the guidance of God.

And like Lee said, morality is an opinion. We may have prevailing opinions, but that doesn't make them any more right than the minority.

[Jewbert]

Atheist aren't sad immoral people...

Me and Brooke are extremely happy we have each other, it's only our families that bring us down. And I don;t think believing in God would help any in that situation.

And morality? I have a better moral compass than half the Christians I know. I mean, I don't (nor have ever) go get drunk every weekend and have random sex with girls I may/may not even know. Which is something a lot of (young) Christians I know do.

You're totally right sir. It's almost -always- our families that get us down//depressed. And even when I WAS religious//Christian//active church goer, I was always depressed because of the person I was dating/family/school/life.

Either way, I don't go off doing whatever I want because I'm not religious. I'm Atheist, but I still have a very good sense
of what's right and wrong. I think a lot of Christians see Atheist as being bad people who don't give a shit about anything.
They probably think we all steal, are big drugs heads, drink all the time and have promiscuous sex. Nope. Not here.

Bah. There's my thoughts on it.

((I was one of those people who was "raised" in a Christian home and pretty much forced into all of it.))

[Waser Lave]

All atheists are evil, drug-dealing, kiddy-fiddling, baby-killing sex maniacs with no sense of right or wrong. End of story.

[Sweeney]

All atheists are evil, drug-dealing, kiddy-fiddling, baby-killing sex maniacs with no sense of right or wrong. End of story.

But wait! If we kill all our babies, where will we find kiddies to fiddle?
The priests get all the catholic children...

[Waser Lave]

But wait! If we kill all our babies, where will we find kiddies to fiddle?
The priests get all the catholic children...

We kill our own children so we can still fiddle the religious children. You also know where to find them every Sunday around the same time too...

[nox]

We kill our own children so we can still fiddle the religious children. You also know where to find them every Sunday around the same time too...

omnomnom nom

[pyke]

Its just disappointing that in an enlightened age, people still do good works in the name of religion, instead of doing good works for the sake of doing good works. Why should God be the reason I help my neighbor? I'm moral without the guidance of God.

And like Lee said, morality is an opinion. We may have prevailing opinions, but that doesn't make them any more right than the minority.

Oh well, better than a good deed not done at all right?

[harlequin]

Sounds like a really crap movie indeed. I won't watch it for sure.

[Frizzle]

Personally, I know I'm going to hell, if it exists. I mean, I no morales or ethics and I can't change that, so why should I bother trying to be a better person when I could be a shitty person and enjoy the perks now?

[Cataliste]

Amazingly some people believe God actually exists, and therefor it's only right for them to do good works for the All Mighty Creator. You shouldn't do it of course, because you don't (Correct me if I'm wrong) believe in God.

My 2 cents.

I am confused. Are you saying Atheist should not follow their moral compass?

Are you trying to say (please correct me if I am wrong, because I sure as hell hope I am) that, unless you are Christian, there is no reason for you to be moral or kind? Because that is a load of shit. Don't get me started on Christianity/morality.

(And to come back on what you said, the Catholic Church [ie, Christians], silently approved of the oppression of Jews by Hitler. )

Personally, I know I'm going to hell, if it exists. I mean, I no morales or ethics and I can't change that, so why should I bother trying to be a better person when I could be a shitty person and enjoy the perks now?

I've tried that, I just never felt good being mean towards a person. I only feel good if I make someone else feel, conversely, I feel bad if I make someone else feel bad.

[Melchoire]

Ben Stein is a douche

lol at the end the interviewer calls the movie "Exposed"

[Sweeney]

Oh, and the Catholoc Church (i.e not Christians) is not Christianity. So why would I care what they did?

Catholics aren't Christian?
You better tell them, because they're under a serious misapprehension

[Shadiel]

lol Fox News.

[pyke]

I've told many of them before

My mom would only be so delighted to hear that, she hates the catholic church

You all worship the same god and really, I think all these little different sects only serve to divide people. I can serve a god by being a good person. If they exists, I'm sure they can be happy with that.

[pyke]

Not if it's the God of the Bible

Not to be offensive, but if there was a god and they were upset with me for not reading the right book, they're a pretty shitty person (thing?). I'd tell it to go piss off

[pyke]

Well the Bible is His Word. So basically you're saying He's a "shitty" person for asking you to read and obey His Word

Yeh, basically. There are too many texts to know which one is right, so why bother?

I wasn't born into anyones servitude.

[Melchoire]

Nor was I Reason I bothered was because I was seeking the truth. I knew that there was a God, too much faith for me to believe there isn't. I took that and then looked at Pantheism, Agnosticism, and Theism and ended up going with Theism. Finally I took a look at Islamic, Mormon, etc. texts and concluded that Christianity is the truth. Now I just take what I learned from all the other cults and what moved me to Christianity and share it with others

Define truth.

[pyke]

Define truth.

I'm assuming he means it is the true book of god?