I know there was lot more before and after this—I agree with Ricky 100% by the way—but this little bit is what trips up most people. It's easy to mock churchy people, but hard to remember: Who gives a crap? Most people who are regular churchgoers are not the bad examples that we're all familiar with. But more important, what the hell does it matter what you believe in, as long as it doesn't have anything to do with me?
Altho it does seem sometimes like most religions are founded solely to mess with me.
Unfortunately, it seems that most religions are, indeed, pretty much predicated on the idea that messing with you (and me, and anybody else who worships the wrong or too many or not enough gods) is necessary.
If it helps you in any way, then that’s fine with me.
I know there was lot more before and after this—I agree with Ricky 100% by the way—but this little bit is what trips up most people. It's easy to mock churchy people, but hard to remember: Who gives a crap? Most people who are regular churchgoers are not the bad examples that we're all familiar with. But more important, what the hell does it matter what you believe in, as long as it doesn't have anything to do with me?
Altho it does seem sometimes like most religions are founded solely to mess with me.
I was raised as a fundamentalist Christian. I remained one for most of my adult life. After many years I began to question my faith. After much soul searching I left what I had believed unquestioningly for most of my life. It wasn't something that came easily for me.
At this point in my life I am exploring the beliefs of my deep Celtic heritage. My own personal experience tells me that there is far more to our existence than we are capable of fully understanding. I'm okay with that.
Eactly. Agnostics get a lot of heat for being fence sitters - I like to think we're realists. Pragmatic. If others need faith to survive I applaud them,and even envy them at times because of the benefit they get from it. There are also times when I think there are those that are shackled by their faith and they do harm to themselves and others. But those types of people exist across the spectrum of faith from non-believers to believers, so there is something else wrong there.
On the other hand, I would be lying to myself if I blindly let myself belive.
I only need be present with my prayers and thoughts in harmony to survive. Faith is a byproduct, not a prerequisite.
Neither side can prove their case with total certainty. An absense of data does not prove something does not exist.
Eactly. Agnostics get a lot of heat for being fence sitters - I like to think we're realists. Pragmatic. If others need faith to survive I applaud them,and even envy them at times because of the benefit they get from it. There are also times when I think there are those that are shackled by their faith and they do harm to themselves and others. But those types of people exist across the spectrum of faith from non-believers to believers, so there is something else wrong there.
On the other hand, I would be lying to myself if I blindly let myself belive.
An absense of data does not prove something does not exist.
James Randi explains why you can not prove a negative. The burden of proof is on the person presenting the claim. He then goes into an example of how you can't prove that Reindeer can't fly.
And what is Rev. Tatum afraid of anyway? If his flock's faith is as strong as he claims, he should laugh off a few silly atheist ads on the side of a bus. His fear says a lot more about his own faith than it does about atheism.
I've never feared Atheists. I have just resented those that try and proselytize their unbelief as well as those that try and proselytize their religious beliefs.
Neither side can prove their case with total certainty. An absense of data does not prove something does not exist.
It seems that at least one prominent Christian pastor in Fort Worth, Texas doesn't believe the First Amendment applies to atheists. It came to light because Fort Worth banned all ads with religious or atheist content.
We've all been having fun watching the back-and-forth "battle of the ads" on Fort Worth buses. For years, various Christian organizations bought ad space with no controversy. Then those darned atheists messed it all up. They decided to show their "Good Without God" and similar atheist ads, sponsored by the Coalition of Reason, on those same buses.
Well, those ads upset the deeply religious people of Texas – we're talkin' about Baptist country! So they started chasing the buses around with their own god-mobile. It was a truck with a big billboard on it saying "I still love you – God," and "2.1 Billion People are Good With God." A couple of bus drivers even refused to drive the atheist-ad buses and took sick days.
Up to that point, it was all good fun. There's nothing that says "America" better than a wild controversy that's aired with vigor and passion in public. That is what our First Amendment is all about.
But here's the real kicker. The social activist Rev. Kyev Tatum thinks that only the atheist ads should have been banned. Why? Because "religion is not about divisiveness but about love," whereas the atheist ads fall into the "offensive" category.
Got that? We're a Christian nation, so anyone who isn't Christian is "divisive." Well, duh. That's the whole point of the First Amendment! Minorities are always divisive when they assert their rights, because the majority is always the oppressor. That is the very reason why those bus ads are so necessary! That's why we have a First Amendment.
It's time for bigots like Rev. Tatum, whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim or any religion, to get over the idea that they have a monopoly on their American citizenship and American society. The last time I checked, I was an American too.
And what is Rev. Tatum afraid of anyway? If his flock's faith is as strong as he claims, he should laugh off a few silly atheist ads on the side of a bus. His fear says a lot more about his own faith than it does about atheism.
Some can, some Kant. I'll defer to your life experiences and interpretations of the world around you when it comes to your choices and realizations. All things working together as they somehow do, in spite of the flux we often find ourselves encompassed by.
"Creation and conscience certainly point beyond themselves to the knowledge that there exists something greater than this physical world, something that philosophical naturalism cannot adequately explain, though try as they might."
If only we could all be as certain as the pastor...
Science is correct and right. Belief in god is irrational and silly. I'm perfectly comfortable with my irrational belief in silly things I can't design tests for. It's OK I can deal with the dichotomy and separate them.
RichardPrins wrote: "Creation and conscience certainly point beyond themselves to the knowledge that there exists something greater than this physical world, something that philosophical naturalism cannot adequately explain, though try as they might."
Simply suggests than an open mind can serve rationality and all its encumbrances.
