Need questions for Christians for my apologetics website

[GSOgymrat]

I'm puzzled by people who were atheists well into adulthood and are now Catholic, Mormon or Muslim. Believing in God is one step in thinking but believing in a dogmatic religion seems like several additional steps. I'm also skeptical when someone decides to convert to a completely different religion to marry someone. How seriously does someone like that take their faith?

[SGOS]

I'm puzzled by people who were atheists well into adulthood and are now Catholic, Mormon or Muslim. Believing in God is one step in thinking but believing in a dogmatic religion seems like several additional steps. I'm also skeptical when someone decides to convert to a completely different religion to marry someone. How seriously does someone like that take their faith?

My sister became a Catholic to accommodate her husband's religion, and if she is representative of those who change religions, I would say the key to being able to do this, is not to think about it.  Not thinking about what you are planning to do is not that hard.  It is simply an extension of how you weren't  thinking about what you were doing when you were doing the first thing.  You simply transfer not thinking to the new thing.

[GSOgymrat]

My sister became a Catholic to accommodate her husband's religion, and if she is representative of those who change religions, I would say the key to being able to do this, is not to think about it.  Not thinking about what you are planning to do is not that hard.  It is simply an extension of how you weren't  thinking about what you were doing when you were doing the first thing.  You simply transfer not thinking to the new thing.

[SGOS]

That's the ticket!  It's the key to maintaining a constant state of bliss, and we could all learn a thing or two from those believers.

[PickelledEggs]

To be fair though; no bacon.

Bacon is good. But street truck Halal is still better than Chick-fil-a.

Also, why is mr. Former atheist asking us to come up with questions?
If he doesn't remember what bugged him 'back when he was an atheist', he's got a shit memory.

Yeah.  This is why I'm not taking his post seriously. He either lying about being an atheist at one point or he's lying about not being one now.

[SGOS]

Also, why is mr. Former atheist asking us to come up with questions?
If he doesn't remember what bugged him 'back when he was an atheist', he's got a shit memory.

It does sound suspiciously like there is an ulterior motive behind the request.  He can certainly remember his questions.  And the part about Christians not having answers flies in the face of all my experience with believers.  First, of all there aren't that many questions that need to be asked.  Really, beyond asking for proof of a god, what more does there need to be?  Second, his stated project has already been done.  I've seen these sort of sites before.  They are just sites using the FAQ format.  Maybe they don't answer every conceivable question, but they answer the main ones.  The fact that the answers rely heavily on bullshit is another topic.

So it sounds like this will be some Mega FAQ site, which will answer all questions, even stupid questions, as well as questions that have never been asked.  I'm not going to offer any questions, but here's a useful answer he is welcome to use:  "We cannot understand all of God's plan, but we know he has a plan, and it's a good plan.  In fact, it's a perfect plan, because God is perfect and all knowing.  His son died for our sins, and you should pray to him."

[Unbeliever]

You need your god to protect you from their god.

Maybe that's why gods were invented in the first place. If so, then we don't need the One God, since there are no other gods from which He needs to protect us.

[Unbeliever]

He didn't understand the Bible.

Often, it's not that he didn't understand the Bible, but that he understood it all too well.

[Unbeliever]

That's the ticket!  It's the key to maintaining a constant state of bliss, and we could all learn a thing or two from those believers.

Hell, I've been in a constant state of bliss for quite a while, by simply not trying to achieve a state of bliss. The universe takes care of me just fine.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Hell, I've been in a constant state of bliss for quite a while, by simply not trying to achieve a state of bliss. The universe takes care of me just fine.

I was in a state of grace every time Grace would let me.

[Unbeliever]

[Baruch]

I'm puzzled by people who were atheists well into adulthood and are now Catholic, Mormon or Muslim. Believing in God is one step in thinking but believing in a dogmatic religion seems like several additional steps. I'm also skeptical when someone decides to convert to a completely different religion to marry someone. How seriously does someone like that take their faith?

More bio ... when I got married I was 30, not a kid.  I had a casual interest in religion, as anthropology.  I married a Christian woman, and she brought me into her church.  It had nothing to do with theology ... she exemplified what a good Christian was to me then, so the whole package was attractive ;-)  But I have continued to develop over the last 30 years, as did she.  At this point a freethinking Jewish mystic ... not a Christian, more of a pre-Christian ... and still with a casual interest in religion as anthropology.  Some things change, some things stay the same.  If I had been strong atheist 30 years ago, the marriage would have never happened.

[Baruch]

Maybe that's why gods were invented in the first place. If so, then we don't need the One God, since there are no other gods from which He needs to protect us.

Right .. today we can use nukes to protect ourselves from aggressive believers.  The outcome was more chancy back then, so you needed a god of your own, as an ace in the hole.  Typically a tribal god represents the tribe as a whole, think of a small nation, with the spirit of George Washington fighting for us.  This is how Athenians felt at the Battle of Marathon, in fact they saw Theseus fighting among them against the Persians ;-)

[Baruch]

Hell, I've been in a constant state of bliss for quite a while, by simply not trying to achieve a state of bliss. The universe takes care of me just fine.

That is real bliss, if you know your Buddhism.  Any attempt to force a situation, kills the situation.  One can only walk the path of un-achievement.  Not achievement, nor failure.