God is an outdated concept

[Complexity]

'God is an outdated concept'

Not round here - at the various online forums I frequent, and in my offline social circle, work environment and community activism, gods are noticeable by their absence. Except here, where some science-minded atheists seem to devote a disproportionate amount of their time to discussing something they insist doesn't exist.

I said it elsewhere, I'll say it again - if the message of no-god is so important to you, spreading it here is mere self-aggrandisement. If it's important to the world, picket churches, mosques and temples - knock on doors and introduce people to Dawkins - stand on street corners and let everyone know what everyone should know.

Gods and other supernatural creatures don't exist, but their followers and believers do and they cause a great deal of harm.

Many of these religious types wander in expecting to triumph over the nasty atheists. They can't, of course, having nothing to offer but superstition, but that doesn't stop them.

Thank you for your advice, but I'll stomp on the foolish when and where I choose.

 

[qayak]

But wait you mocking skeptics! There's more! Now demonstrate the worthiness of your brilliant critical thinking and dismiss this:

Already refuted and dismissed by bible scholars.

 

[qayak]

Would you throw me to the lions?

No, lions hate the smell of troll ****.

 

[Complexity]

No, lions hate the smell of troll ****.

As do I.

 

[qayak]

I'm not being silly . . .

Yeah you are.

The evidence of verifiable and observable mathematical precision is drivel? Uh-huh.

Your problem seems to lie in the fact that you don't understand the difference between mathematics and numerology.

Oh, He's real. Is this the best of your muster? Jesus Christ is Incarnate Goodness.

Really? Let's do a little experiment. I am driving about an hour each way for a dinner party tonight. I challenge your god or, Jesus in his stead, to a fight to the death anywhere along the way. I will post again this evening when I get home and let you know how the battle went.

Personally, I doubt your god or, Jesus, will have the guts to show up.

"Woe to those that call good evil and evil good."

That is a quote you should consider very carefully. Your god is one of the most evil bastards to ever have a myth created in their honour and you take their word to be the epitome of good. Best be sure the quote isn't refering to asshats like yourself.

But you will have your chance to tell Him face-to-face, who knows, maybe 50 years from now, maybe 10 years from now, maybe even tomorrow.

If he has any balls, I'll see him tonight.

You hope I'm offended? I'm not, but I know you are. You are but another example in fulfillment:

Romans 1:21-32

You get to have it just as you wish. As You Will. Your Will be done.

Then let's hope your god shows up tonight. I look forward to having my way with him.

 

[Complexity]

qayak rocks!

 

[Nursedan]

You fool no one but yourself. You will not because you cannot refute the irrefutable, and then you would be left with the most uncomfortable cognitive dissonance.

Not surprisingly, homosexuals are often the most virulent God-haters.

Shake your impotent fist at the Almighty Creator. Enjoy your days among the living. How many days do you have left?
[]]

Thanks for responding to the thread - I was wondering if you could answer my question in the OP directly. I hope you don't think I'm mocking you - I have nothing to gain from that. I think I'm to understand from your posts that you believe in God?

 

[Trent Wray]

Then just call me Mr. Humanist! Is that the same as an Ayn Randist?

It would still be great to hear from some believers about my original question.

Thanks

Here's an interesting question ... would you care to post a list of those who answered your OP and say whether or not you think they are believers or not, based on their posts in this thread alone? I'd be curious as to how close you were to identifying the believing posts from the non-believing posts.

I agree. An interesting study shows that the way to change someone's mind on this level is not to argue with them. Instead, get them to explain their position and as they do, they will see the errors in their reasoning and will change their mind on their own. Laws don't change emotional beliefs, critical thinking, without emotion, does.

What if, after critical thinking has taken place in the absence of emotional bias, the individual still does not "see" their errors? Is it right to assume they are either incapable or do not want to see it? Are these the main options ton conclude I'm wondering?

As long as they don't think too hard about it.

Call me a sucker for a good soap opera

Not surprisingly, homosexuals are often the most virulent God-haters.

Really? You want to read some of this gentlemen's posts and say whether or not your assessment is that he's is a virulent god-hater? He was on these forums defending his faith and god.

Personally, I doubt your god or, Jesus, will have the guts to show up. If he has any balls, I'll see him tonight.

The Old and New Testicles.

 

[firecoins]

The concept of God expires on 4/30/10 unless you send the $75 renewal fee.

 

[Trent Wray]

The concept of God expires on 4/30/10 unless you send the $75 renewal fee.

Plus, for Western countries you must be 12 years or older with a parent or guardian's permission. Eastern cultures have no age restrictions.

 

[154]

Thanks for responding to the thread - I was wondering if you could answer my question in the OP directly. I hope you don't think I'm mocking you - I have nothing to gain from that. I think I'm to understand from your posts that you believe in God?

I don't care if you and everyone here mock me. Yes, I believe in God. I believe Jesus Christ.

How can those on this board who believe continue their belief in God when the questions the people had who originated the Bible and Christianity have been thoroughly answered using methods that are indisputable?

I disagree with your vague and imprecise premise. What questions "the people" had were "indisputably" answered?

Really? You want to read some of this gentlemen's posts and say whether or not your assessment is that he's is a virulent god-hater? He was on these forums defending his faith and god.

Why? I said "often," as in "some" or even "many." I didn't say "all" or "every" or "most."

Your problem seems to lie in the fact that you don't understand the difference between mathematics and numerology.

The problem is not mine. My quoted examples were the simple mathematics of multiplication and addition on the calendar. Just because numbers were mentioned does not mean numerology was used or I have any use for it. Now insult me some more. It's the typical tolerant and kind-spirited response from your "ilk."

By the way, your heart continues to beat in your chest and you can breathe in again only by His allowance.

 

[Twiler]

154, what does this verse propheise?

2 Corinthians 7:1: 'Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.'

 

[154]

If you have a point, just make it plainly.

 

[Twiler]

If you have a point, just make it plainly.

If you are unable to extract a prophecy from every part of the bible, isn't your interpretive method incomplete?

 

[154]

If you are unable to extract a prophecy from every part of the bible, isn't your interpretive method incomplete?

Therefore what?

 

[Complexity]

Therefore what?

No, what's on second. Who's on first.

 

[jiggeryqua]

Gods and other supernatural creatures don't exist, but their followers and believers do and they cause a great deal of harm.

A confident assertion...followed by another one. I backtracked in my post to add the word 'some' (since [some] atheists here are self-styled defenders of their faith) - you might have stopped to think critically about your own post and done the same.

Many of these religious types wander in expecting to triumph over the nasty atheists. They can't, of course, having nothing to offer but superstition, but that doesn't stop them.

Perhaps they do - they have an important message (as far as they're concerned). I'm not sure they expect to 'triumph' (well, I suppose *some* of them do - the ones that expect to triumph, at a guess), but perhaps your positioning yourself as being in the impregnable fortress of your world view makes anyone outside it appear to be your enemy, and their motivation, necessarily, to 'triumph' over you. What's the SI unit of triumphant motivation?

Thank you for your advice, but I'll stomp on the foolish when and where I choose.

And to sum up, you choose to do it from the safest place you can find, where a paltry, insignificant and unrepresentative fraction of the forces you stand against occasionally wander in. You 'stomp' on mental patients and the intellectually inadequate. Again, if the message is that important, if what you are (clearly) fighting against is as dangerous and damaging as you believe, why are you here? They're mostly not. If they cannot triumph, how are they harmful? If what they peddle is supersition, and nobody wanted any, there wouldn't be a problem.

I've just been working with adolescents on a field trip, as it happens - yes, of course, you get to choose how you behave. You're a big boy now. The next step is to critically appraise your own thinking...and make intelligent, informed decisions. Hide here, repeat the atheist creed and pretend you're as fearless as Dawkins, or take real action against what you perceive to be a real threat. The willingness to knock on the doors of strangers and individually try to change minds is no measure of the worth of an idea, but it is some measure of the values of the message-bearers.

 

[Malerin]

Welcome, Nursedan! I agree with that. I also think about how we are all born atheists. Nobody is born a god/s believer. It has to be indoctrinated or learned somehow.

Nobody is born a materialist either. Or a doctor. Or a teacher. Everything we know is "learned somehow".

 

[Complexity]

jiggerqua - My, but you do go on.

You know nothing about what else I do in life. I've only been back here a week after an absence of nearly two years. I've been busy and having fun, things that I'll continue to do while I'm here squooshing woos.

I fight battles in ways that I am comfortable with, that I think effective, and for which I feel qualified. You know nothing of what I do apart from post here.

I hate people who come and knock on my door. They never do it twice. Why in the world would I proselytize and annoy people who haven't attracted my attention by misbehaving?

As to my own thought, its correctness, its sanity, its appropriateness, its direction - I think about this far too much as it is - one of the manifestations of my ocd and a consequence of my own mental illness.

I'm a lousy advocate for myself (though I have been working on that), but I usually am fearless when it comes to acting on behalf of others.

You might be surprised what I'm like when interacting with someone who I regard as mentally ill or intellectually challenged.

I think your remarks are uninformed and hastily expressed - they missed the mark.

We'll see how things develop.

 

[Malerin]

I believe that the concept of God is obsolete by at least 1000 years. When people did not have the proper technology, it was essential to create myths about the origin of the universe, the Earth, and life in general. We know factually now, through science, that the universe began at a definite point. We know now what stars are, what the sun is and it's function etc etc. The point is, in archaic times, these concepts were unexplainable without some deity to "lord" over them. The sun and stars were themselves worshipped at some point.

A-theism is the only rational viewpoint, in my opinion. It regards the physical world as it is. It doesn't throw up it's hands and say "let God sort it out", or "God works in mysterious ways" when a valid question is asked - Atheism seeks the answer through scientific reasoning. There is nothing that has happened or that ever will happen that isn't explainable through the filter of the world as we know it. The concept of God is so far from rationality that it is self-insulating. "Blind faith" indeed.

How can those on this board who believe continue their belief in God when the questions the people had who originated the Bible and Christianity have been thoroughly answered using methods that are indisputable?

Is your post about God or Jehovah?