So you're an atheist. Ok, what next?

[joobz]

Do you really think Martin Luther King whose holiday we recently celebrated would have been a Christian pastor if he thought Jesus and God approved of slavery. And do you really think Barack Obama would go out of his way to let people know he was a devout Christian if he or blacks believed Jesus and God approved of slavery.

DOC, MLK was against segregation. By his time, we had already abolished slavery, so I do not see how he's relevant to this discussion.

Again DOC, you are forgetting that the new testament gave rules on how to treat your slaves. That's a tacit approval of slavery.

So as I say

Either Ungodly means things that are not approved by god, which means that slavery is godly.

or

Ungodly means things which do not involve god, which means that you must apologize to me for falsely accusing me of misrepresenting your position.

You have to either apologize or you defacto admit that your god holds immoral views.

 

[joobz]

That's because He said Love your neighbor as yourself. And do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It's a very obvious inference.

So do you aree that advocating for gay rights is the morally correct christian position? Do you not view homosexuals as your neighbor and that they are not being treated as you would perfer to be treated?

 

[Nogbad]

You forget that the Bible is a Human Book with Human Characteristics. Yes, the Bible is divinely inspired but it goes through 40 different human authors with 40 different personalities and literary styles to get to us. If all the Old Testaments authors had complete revelation of God, Christ would have never needed to come.

And we still only have partial revelation from God. Christ said in the Gospel of John 16:8 and John 16:13 that after He was gone he would send the Holy Spirit who would teach all truth. That process of the Holy Spirit taught Mohammed and Joseph Smith.

A fair point well presented.

 

[Furi]

Jesus Loves you, but not in a gay bishop way

That's because He said Love your neighbor as yourself. And do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It's a very obvious inference.

So do you aree that advocating for gay rights is the morally correct christian position? Do you not view homosexuals as your neighbor and that they are not being treated as you would perfer to be treated?

Or worst of all an atheist. or an atheist of a different religion, or same sex marriage between atheists, surely DOC would love them all.

_{Where is the sarcastic dripping italics of doom, font}

 

[Sunstealer]

This is my fave to quote in these situations with regard to morality and the bible. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-2_LqOS3uo

It just shows how much of a buffet religion Christianity is. Take the bits you like discard the bits you don't like the look of.

 

[Irony]

That's because He said Love your neighbor as yourself. And do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It's a very obvious inference.

If it's a "very obvious inference" why did it take people 1800+ years to make it?

 

[X]

You have to either apologize or you defacto admit that your god holds immoral views.

He can't.
It would short-circuit his whole world.
I wonder if he realizes that the Bible was used as support of slavery in early America?

Or worst of all an atheist. or an atheist of a different religion, or same sex marriage between atheists, surely DOC would love them all.

_{Where is the sarcastic dripping italics of doom, font}

That'd be (colon)sarcasm(colon)

 

[sackett]

The Gospel According to Plummy

Well….What…?…stupidity…. Ok. Then what?…I don't think…Well….What next?… yeah, nothing… nothingness… Really,…?… do you remember entering a lotter…. truth and facts does not….the clue is in….it's identity… That's all fine….moral exhortations… any individual atheist is…more immoral… moral systems … have proved to be disastrous…. unkempt Irish single fatherhood….I'd never heard of it… homeless…people…are so inspired….I don't give God credit….Theism…has tended to reduce my feeling…of empathy and compassion…. no central dictat…needed…. Yeah. Some…. IMO is basically a big nothing…. there is massive…dangers…I don't believe this… atheists…would be horrified…off the ground…honestly… that's great.…society has been hiding all this from me…God will approve….

 

[joobz]

He can't.
It would short-circuit his whole world.

I just wonder if he is aware of how bad it makes him look (to us and to his god) to avoid apologizing while simultaneously demanding one. And he's doing to to a person who is more than willing to admit error when an error is made.

Indeed, I had even apologized to him before to which he proved to be rather ungracious.

Well, DOC. I apologize. You have indeed admitted to mistakes.
my statement that You NEVER admit errors was wrong and I fully admit it. You'll notice that this wasn't the first time I've been willing to change my statements based upon new and truthful information.

Well thanks, but if you don't do personal attacks, you won't have to worry about apologies.

Does Randi have the three strikes and your out rule?

 

[Mister Agenda]

yeah, but the point is that neither of you were so inspired by atheism that you chose to go into working with the homeless, whereas some people who wouldn't otherwise have dreamed of doing that are so inspired by theism that they go into that area.

What has theism inspired you to do, Plumjam? I maintain that it has never inspired anyone to do anything.

 

[edge]

The only thing to top that was when the Southeast was having a drought, and the preachers were talking about how it represented the "end times." Oh, those Baptists...

I seen that on the news and then they prayed.

Uh oh DOC. You've just revealed a gaping hole in Christianity's armor. The Holy Spirit is still teaching? Wouldn't that imply that some of the things you thought were true haven't actually been taught yet?

They just haven't been learned yet.

Supoose you later learn that the vegetarians were right and killing any animal for food is murder? Better put down that hamburger, just in case.

That time will come and it will be the same as quiting smoking.
Any one up for a vegy burger and a beer?

That process of the Holy Spirit taught Mohammed and Joseph Smith.

Yes it did, they just didn't learn enough did they.

 

[billydkid]

I seen that on the news and then they prayed.

They just haven't been learned yet.

That time will come and it will be the same as quiting smoking.
Any one up for a vegy burger and a beer?



Yes it did, they just didn't learn enough did they.

This isn't edge the dowser is it? Is it a new edge?

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

See guys?
Now that was a nice answer. No facetiousness, no ad hom against me for asking the questions, no trying to be clever or sarcastic. Just a nice straight answer.
Thanks Fanboy.

I wish you luck on finding out where your morals come from.

Excuse me? No ad hom against you? Your OP was as insulting as they come against all the skeptics who happen to be atheist or agnostic and have been giving you examples of your less than critical thinking.

This is so typical of theists who are threatened by logical and evidence based belief systems which question god beliefs. If you don't have a shred of evidence to support your beliefs, make up some other value for those beliefs. Even though there is no evidence morality or altruism are the direct result of god beliefs, that is essentially what your OP claims in a most sarcastic way.

If you don't like attention called to your irrational beliefs then maybe you shouldn't hang out in skeptics' circles. Or perhaps you should just put people like me on ignore so my discussion of your god beliefs won't bother you.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Lest you try to claim you posted an innocent OP that is being misconstrued, here are a few of your follow up comments from the 1st page:

so it's basically an emptiness, a nothingness

as I expected, entirely negative

Originally Posted by m_huber
Arguably, there is no truly good endeavor.

Folks, this is where atheism, taken to its extreme, leads you.

Really, need I say any more?

....of course it's a belief system, commonly it's a belief in exclusive materialism

...sorry, but that's just naive. Lack of belief in certain things, such as the spiritual, commonly promotes beliefs and values based on a world view based on their opposite.. i.e. materialism

You are the naive one, PJ. Your view that atheism is equated with materialism and religion presumably is not is a stereotype promoted by some of the most materialistic religious leaders in the country.

And it is a complete fallacy.

(edited to add, I see sackett noted the same PJ BS.)

 

[Civilized Worm]

What has theism inspired you to do, Plumjam? I maintain that it has never inspired anyone to do anything.

Annoy us?

 

[delphi_ote]

So you're a Christian. Ok, what next?

Let's say you've lived at least a couple of decades, you've examined the options, and you've arrived at Christianity.

Well.
Here you are.

What do you do now?
Let's say you then spend a few years trying to rescue other humans from what you (not they) regard as sin.

Ok. Then what?

What can you do that is positive?
Are there any specifically Christian 'values'?
Are there any specifically Christian charities that endeavour to improve the plight of individuals?
(I don't think I've heard of any. Whereas non-religious charities there are thousands.)

Well, it's up to you. What next?
Preferably positive.

 

[Robin]

Let's say you've lived at least a couple of decades, you've examined the options, and you've arrived at atheism.

Well.
Here you are.

What do you do now?

If you examine a proposition and fail to find sufficient evidence (or any evidence) that supports the truth of the proposition then what else is there to do with regard to that particular proposition?

What you do next is up to the individual, but I would recommend you go on to live a rich and full life that is available to us thanks to Enlightenment philosophies and scientific thinking.

And you can do so free from the worry that every single action you make must be bent towards the unstated purpose of an undefined entity.

 

[Foster Zygote]

Let's say you've lived at least a couple of decades, you've examined the options, and you've arrived at atheism.

Well.
Here you are.

What do you do now?

Live my life as best I can.

Let's say you then spend a few years trying to rescue other humans from what you (not they) regard as stupidity.

From the context it is clear that the "stupidity" that you refer to is theism/superstition. I feel no call to mission regarding the "conversion" of others to my way of thinking.

Ok. Then what?

Live my life as best I can.

What can you do that is positive?

What can't I do that is positive?

Are there any specifically atheist 'values'?

No.

Are there any specifically atheist charities that endeavour to improve the plight of individuals?
(I don't think I've heard of any. Whereas religious charities there are thousands.)

Why should there be? Are there charities run by people who have only a lack of belief in the Easter Bunny in common? An atheist can just as easily give to one of the many secular or religious charities.

Well, it's up to you. What next?
Preferably positive.

Living my life as best I can has been working out quite nicely, thank you.

 

[Olowkow]

And we still only have partial revelation from God. Christ said in the Gospel of John 16:8 and John 16:13 that after He was gone he would send the Holy Spirit who would teach all truth. That process of the Holy Spirit taught Mohammed and Joseph Smith.

Never heard that one before! Are you sure this is a claim of Christianity?

 

[Mister Agenda]

Annoy us?

I think that's just his personality. There's nothing in believing that some god or another exists that logically leads to being annoying to atheists. In fact, theism is empty. It doesn't tell you how to live, give you any morality, or fill the aching void in the center of the theist's existence. They may adopt some moral precepts derived from some religion or other, and that's because they can't derive them from 'mere theism'. Theism is ultimately meaningless, a bare assertion that the supernatural exists, and if you're a theist and can't justify the meaning of life based on theism and nothing else, you are just kidding yourself and skipping around the central contradiction of your life: theism has nothing to do with morality or meaning.