Insults, Misunderstandings and Surprises: How Christians react to the A word

Started by Bluewind, January 13, 2017, 12:01:12 PM

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widdershins

Quote from: Atheon on January 17, 2017, 08:02:52 AM
From a brief conversation the other day:

Me: I'm an atheist.
Her: Jesus loves you anyway.
That one's just a total dick move.  My old pastor loved to use it, if that tells you what kind of guy he is.
This sentence is a lie...

Gawdzilla Sama

Quote from: Atheon on January 17, 2017, 08:02:52 AM
From a brief conversation the other day:

Me: I'm an atheist.
Her: Jesus loves you anyway.
Me: How about your other imaginary friends? Do they love me too?
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

Unbeliever

Quote from: Bluewind on January 14, 2017, 02:51:40 AMIt's not like I go about screaming it from rooftops, but as religious as my area is, it can't be avoided.

I wish we didn't have to find new words at all. Their hate is so misguided and illogical. We aren't hurting anyone.


Whenever anyone does try to preach at me about God or Jesus (which, as I say, is very seldom), I just ask them if they've read the Bible - the whole Bible - and when they invariably admit they have not (apparently only atheists ever read the whole Bible...), I tell them to do so, and then come talk to me again: they've never come back to talk to me again.
God Not Found
"There is a sucker born-again every minute." - C. Spellman

Gawdzilla Sama

What amuses me is the glares I get when someone says "God bless you!" and I don't respond. Friendly to evil in the blink of an eye.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

Bluewind

widdershins: Lol! Oh my goodness. Sounds like the conversation I had with my dad. Apparently we are all anti religion wanting them all abolished and try to get people to give up religion at every opportunity XD

Journey_To_Mars: I have yet to figure out why that is the first question Christians normally ask upon finding out someone is an atheist.

fencerider: Very true, but the existence of spirits and such would add validity to certain religions and provide data that may or may not prove the existence of a deity, multiple deities, and/or a powerful spirit who would appear godlike to early man.

Atheon: lol! Oh I love that. I wonder if she meant it as a kindness like when someone says they will pray for you or as the last word in a close minded argument? Poor people know no better. I've had people try to convert me before because they thought I was too good of a person to end up in hell.

SGOS: Very true. Sometimes I want to tell them that I imagine Jesus was probably once looked at like the founder of Scientology and their holy text is an insane contradicting mess with thousands of interpretations including which books are actually real. I don't scream that I'm an atheist from the rooftops, but I try to be open if it comes up. I had a guy who really scared me once who followed me to my car just because he found out I had a broken infinity tattoo to symbolize the importance of today (I was showing it off to a cashier I knew. It's in my signature). He fussed and argued the whole time talking about god and the afterlife while giving me a scary look. I'm kinda glad I didn't bring up the A word during the conversation with the cashier.

Unbeliever: Oh yeah. There is some crazy stuff in there if you read the whole thing. There are however a lot of people here who have read the whole thing cover to cover and stayed Christian though. I'm not sure how as I did myself at a very young age and found so many flaws and contradictions. If it really is god's word and a holy book, shouldn't it be all inspiring and strengthen faith if read in entirety instead of in short bursts? And why are some things metaphors, some outdated, and some 100% true and holy law? It shouldn't need so many notes and excuses just to make sense in the modern world if it was written by man at the instructions of a timeless deity.

Gawdzilla Sama: Ever been at a family meal when everyone closes their eyes to bless the food and you stand there with eyes open? It's always neat to see who else doesn't pray like it's a secret between the two of you.
There is beauty in a finite life.

Gawdzilla Sama

Quote from: Bluewind on January 18, 2017, 12:26:50 PM

Gawdzilla Sama: Ever been at a family meal when everyone closes their eyes to bless the food ...
Nope.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

Unbeliever

I heard this on NPR the other day, thought it might be of interest here:



QuoteCaleb B: What is it about the idea of a soul that even people who confess to not have one are hesitant to sell it? I have been trying, for the better part of ten years, to buy a soul. I’ve offered a dollar amount, between $10 and $50, for someone to sign a sheet of paper that says that I own their soul. Despite multiple debates with confessed atheists, no one has signed the contract. I have been able to buy several people’s Sense of Humor and one guy’s Dignity, but no souls. Additionally, will any Freakonomics reader take me up on this? I’m willing to spend $50 on souls.

QuoteBRUCE HAMILTON: One of the first things when I realized that there was a guy out there that would produce real money, my first thoughts were wow, if there’s a guy who’ll pay fifty I wonder if there’s someone who will pay fifty-one. I even noticed that eBay has a policy against selling intangible items, so you can’t go auction your soul off on eBay.



Soul Possession: A New Freakonomics Radio Podcast

What is the Worth of Souls? About $50?
God Not Found
"There is a sucker born-again every minute." - C. Spellman

Gawdzilla Sama

We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

Journey_To_Mars

Quote from: fencerider on January 17, 2017, 01:25:53 AM
en contraire the existence of the devil or any other evil spirit does not constitute any kind of proof that a god exists. *

*Journey I believe you mean mathematics. Maths isn't a real word.

I'm sorry, I'm afraid that I've been listening to English mathematicians too much and have picked up their phonics on the English language.
"It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." - Voltaire

Maths is a game where you make the rules and play around within them.

Baruch

Quote from: Journey_To_Mars on January 19, 2017, 11:36:37 PM
I'm sorry, I'm afraid that I've been listening to English mathematicians too much and have picked up their phonics on the English language.

Book on teaching phonics in GB ... "Hooked on Yorkshire Pudding" ;-)  No need to apologize, unless you are a Christian apologist ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Bluewind

Gawdzilla Sama: Lol! That was quick XD

Unbeliever: Oh my god XD

I'm pretty sure if he offered a real amount, more would have. How about a month's pay? There's also the fact that being an atheist doesn't always mean the person doesn't believe in a soul or even an afterlife. Atheist don't believe in a deity or deities. That's it. The rest is open to individual interpretation.
There is beauty in a finite life.

Heisreal

It's true that Christians are quick to condemn, I'm also guilty as charged. But I learned that not a single Christian has the power to fulfill a single promise found in scripture. We Christians are not perfect, we make mistakes everyday, especially when dealing with the differences of unbelievers. There is only One who is perfect, the rest of us are a work in progress.

I don't condemn you for not believing, I wish you the same that the great Apostle Paul wished his audience, "that you may come to the knowledge of truth." The truth is that Christ came into this world to deliver man from his problem, the problem of sin and it's consequences. 

Baruch

You can talk the talk.  But can you walk the walk?  Anyone can memorize talking points.  Even believe them.  But to have understanding, you have to live them.  I wish you good speed with that ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Blackleaf

Quote from: Heisreal on January 26, 2017, 11:08:09 PM
It's true that Christians are quick to condemn, I'm also guilty as charged. But I learned that not a single Christian has the power to fulfill a single promise found in scripture. We Christians are not perfect, we make mistakes everyday, especially when dealing with the differences of unbelievers. There is only One who is perfect, the rest of us are a work in progress.

If you Christians were a "work in progress," then you would be better than the average unbeliever. But you're not. Christians have always been late adopters of what the secular people have already figured out. They were for slavery until well after everyone else figured out how evil it was. They were against medicine when everyone else knew that it saved lives. They stood in the way of science, and continue to do so today by denying evidence that the earth is millions of years old. They promote the use of corporal punishment, despite the fact that it was proven several decades ago that the practice increases aggression and bad behavior, lowers IQ, and is damaging in other ways. Today, they condemn homosexual people for being the way their god supposedly made them in the first place, and are almost single handedly responsible for abusing and oppressing these people. Christians are below average in human decency.

Quote from: Heisreal on January 26, 2017, 11:08:09 PMI don't condemn you for not believing, I wish you the same that the great Apostle Paul wished his audience, "that you may come to the knowledge of truth." The truth is that Christ came into this world to deliver man from his problem, the problem of sin and it's consequences.

You mean the truth that God, with his omniscience, knew every possible universe that he could possibly ever create, including an infinite number of universes without sin, but he decided not to use his omnipotence to make one of those, instead choosing to make one where 1/3 of the angels and the vast majority of people spend eternity in Hell? The truth that God would create people without knowledge of the difference between good and evil, allow Satan to tempt them, and then punish them and ALL of their offspring for doing evil? The truth that he'd choose to make faith in him the single qualification for Heaven, but then hide himself and allow hundreds of thousands of false religions to pop up, making it nearly impossible to find the right one? If the God of the Bible is real, then he's the closest thing to an objective evil imaginable. I would never worship that piece of shit.
"Oh, wearisome condition of humanity,
Born under one law, to another bound;
Vainly begot, and yet forbidden vanity,
Created sick, commanded to be sound."
--Fulke Greville--

Heisreal

Quote from: Blackleaf on January 27, 2017, 11:18:13 AM
If you Christians were a "work in progress," then you would be better than the average unbeliever. But you're not. Christians have always been late adopters of what the secular people have already figured out. They were for slavery until well after everyone else figured out how evil it was. They were against medicine when everyone else knew that it saved lives. They stood in the way of science, and continue to do so today by denying evidence that the earth is millions of years old. They promote the use of corporal punishment, despite the fact that it was proven several decades ago that the practice increases aggression and bad behavior, lowers IQ, and is damaging in other ways. Today, they condemn homosexual people for being the way their god supposedly made them in the first place, and are almost single handedly responsible for abusing and oppressing these people. Christians are below average in human decency.

You mean the truth that God, with his omniscience, knew every possible universe that he could possibly ever create, including an infinite number of universes without sin, but he decided not to use his omnipotence to make one of those, instead choosing to make one where 1/3 of the angels and the vast majority of people spend eternity in Hell? The truth that God would create people without knowledge of the difference between good and evil, allow Satan to tempt them, and then punish them and ALL of their offspring for doing evil? The truth that he'd choose to make faith in him the single qualification for Heaven, but then hide himself and allow hundreds of thousands of false religions to pop up, making it nearly impossible to find the right one? If the God of the Bible is real, then he's the closest thing to an objective evil imaginable. I would never worship that piece of shit.

God is not far away from you, Blackleaf! He is very near waiting to make Himself real to you. He didn't create you or anyone else to be a robot. He created you in His own image with a specific purpose that no one on earth can fulfill but you. He gave you free will to accept Him or reject Him, He will NOT over-ride your free will.

Jeremiah 33:3
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

That's a promise from the Almighty God!