How atheists became the most colossally smug and annoying people on the planet

erowe1 said:
Faith isn't just necessary in the areas you don't have expertise. It's necessary to be able to have any beliefs about anything at all. No atheist is able to get to their atheism without taking a leap of blind faith. It is not possible to have any beliefs at all based solely on reason without faith.
Click to expand...

I think I suggested many beliefs are not based purely on reason alone, because you can't know everything about everything.

As for Atheism and Blind Faith? Well..... let's back up a bit and start with the Big Question. How did the Universe, Galaxies, Solar Systems, Planets, and Life get here?

To me, a person who says obviously this all came from a God is jumping to conclusions. I think most Atheists are thinking "let's not be so hasty here". This is a complicated question that deserves a lot of research and investigating. Such people would rather never have the question answered than have one provided that they were not satisfied with.

To be a little fair, what I'm describing should be called a Non-Theist, but it seems like all such people get lumped into the Atheist banner so I use Atheism in a broad sense that way which is kind of unfortunate.

I actually think Non-Theist probably describes most people who self label as Atheist.
 
"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours" - Stephen Roberts
 
VIDEODROME said:
I think I suggested many beliefs are not based purely on reason alone, because you can't know everything about everything.
Click to expand...

What I'm saying is that that doesn't go far enough. No beliefs, zero, can possibly be based on reason alone. It's a logical impossibility.

VIDEODROME said:
As for Atheism and Blind Faith? Well..... let's back up a bit and start with the Big Question. How did the Universe, Galaxies, Solar Systems, Planets, and Life get here?

To me, a person who says obviously this all came from a God is jumping to conclusions. I think most Atheists are thinking "let's not be so hasty here". This is a complicated question that deserves a lot of research and investigating. Such people would rather never have the question answered than have one provided that they were not satisfied with.

To be a little fair, what I'm describing should be called a Non-Theist, but it seems like all such people get lumped into the Atheist banner so I use Atheism in a broad sense that way which is kind of unfortunate.

I actually think Non-Theist probably describes most people who self label as Atheist.
Click to expand...
I'm saying to back up farther than that. The dependence you want have on "research and investigating" is based on blind faith. Not only that, but I would further argue that you have borrow from Christian theism in order to have the reasonable world that you want to have where research and investigating count for anything.
 
Saint Vitus said:
"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours" - Stephen Roberts
Click to expand...

But you believe you are your own god, so that quote isn't even accurate.
 
Saint Vitus said:
"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours" - Stephen Roberts
Click to expand...

Great quote.

Roberts gets how the religions of atheists belong in the same broad category as the religions of monotheists and polytheists.
 
Saint Vitus said:
"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours" - Stephen Roberts
Click to expand...

Their counter statement would go something like this, "I contend we both know of the one true God of the bible. I just choose to accept God and Jesus and believe what he did for me. When you understand why you don't accept God, you will understand why I have faith.
 
erowe1 said:
What I'm saying is that that doesn't go far enough. No beliefs, zero, can possibly be based on reason alone. It's a logical impossibility.
Click to expand...

Didn't I just say that beliefs must necessarily incorporate some Faith?
 
erowe1 said:
You said "many beliefs."

I inferred that you meant something less than "all beliefs."
Click to expand...

All beliefs is a lot of beliefs. Maybe I just said many because I hesitate to generalize that far.


All beliefs would include stuff like Yoruba / Vodun which is completely foreign to me for example.
 
VIDEODROME said:
All beliefs is a lot of beliefs. Maybe I just said many because I hesitate to generalize that far.


All beliefs would include stuff like Yoruba / Vodun which is completely foreign to me for example.
Click to expand...

That's why I said you didn't go far enough. It's all beliefs. I was trying to be as clear as possible that I meant it that absolutely.
 
Well, I can only imagine people deal with their beliefs in many ways.

Some tribes visit with their deities by taking hardcore psychedelics. Such people are not messing around with prayer, they're busting open their consciousness.

If you are regularly on drugs and hallucinating, I don't think Faith is necessary. You are bombed out of your freakin mind and the Spirits you talk to seem more real than your neighbors.
 
eduardo89 said:
No, if you are Catholic but then reject certain dogmas or doctrines of the Church you are breaking your Communion with the Church. Being Catholic is not a pick and choose situation, you either accept all the teachings of the Church and submit yourself to Her authority or you are not Catholic. It's as simple as that.
Click to expand...

And, how exactly is all this bullshit non-sense you are spewing not subjective and exclusionary? How is it any more true that those who claim to be Catholics but not Roman, One, Holy, etc?

You are full of shit. If the religion carries the name Catholic, it is Catholic, even if it isn't your particular brand of Catholicism.

It's a lot like saying Protestants are not Christians, or Jews and Muslims are not members of the Abrahamic faiths.

It's also like saying that a blue Ferrari is not a real Ferrari because everyone knows all real Ferrari's are red.
 
Frank Lee Seaux said:
And, how exactly is all this bullshit non-sense you are spewing not subjective and exclusionary?
Click to expand...

It is not subjective, the Church teaches objective and absolute Truth.

Frank Lee Seaux said:
How is it any more true that those who claim to be Catholics but not Roman, One, Holy, etc?
Click to expand...

To claim to be Catholic means to claim to be the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Those are the four marks of the Church.

Not every Catholic is a Roman Catholic, the Latin Church is one of 23 Churches within the Catholic Church. However, to reject communion with the Bishop of Rome and the authority of the Church automatically means you are not Catholic.

Frank Lee Seaux said:
You are full of shit. If the religion carries the name Catholic, it is Catholic, even if it isn't your particular brand of Catholicism.
Click to expand...

There is only one 'brand' of Catholicism. There is only one True Church.

Frank Lee Seaux said:
It's a lot like saying Protestants are not Christians, or Jews and Muslims are not members of the Abrahamic faiths.
Click to expand...

I fully accept that almost all Protestants are Christians. I wouldn't consider some religions such as Jehovah's Witnesses, non-Trinitarian Pentocostals, and Mormons to be Christians. Jews and Muslims certainly are Abrahamic faiths.

Frank Lee Seaux said:
It's also like saying that a blue Ferrari is not a real Ferrari because everyone knows all real Ferrari's are red.
Click to expand...

No, it's like saying a Fiat Punto is a Ferrari because Fiat shares connection to the Ferrari brand. They might have some links and some things in common, but they are fundamentally different.
 
Sola_Fide said:
Wrong. The Roman Catholic apologetic is wrong because it is not a defense of Christianity, it is a defense of "theism" in general, which is not Biblical.

The Bible defends Christianity alone. Roman Catholicism isn't Christian and doesn't defend Christianity at all.
Click to expand...

It is possible to simultaneously say that Allah as the Muslims worship him is not the God of the Bible, and to still admit that Arab Christians would call God "Allah."

Let me ask you a question:

Is the god of Mormonism the Biblical God?

Do Mormons refer to their god as "God"?

Do Christians refer to their God as "God"?

The answer is, while the Mormon god does not really exist, they do refer to their god as "God." We refer to God, the real God, as "God." Even though they aren't the same God, we still happen to refer to them by the same name.

A similar dynamic would exist between Arab Christians and Muslims, IMO.
 
FreedomFanatic said:
It is possible to simultaneously say that Allah as the Muslims worship him is not the God of the Bible, and to still admit that Arab Christians would call God "Allah."

Let me ask you a question:

Is the god of Mormonism the Biblical God?

Do Mormons refer to their god as "God"?

Do Christians refer to their God as "God"?

The answer is, while the Mormon god does not really exist, they do refer to their god as "God." We refer to God, the real God, as "God." Even though they aren't the same God, we still happen to refer to them by the same name.

A similar dynamic would exist between Arab Christians and Muslims, IMO.
Click to expand...


God's name is not Allah, Muhammed was a false prophet. God is not one of countless Gods. Joseph Smith was a false prophet.

It is irrational to see no distinction between the conceptions of deities and just say "God" generally.

God is not just God, ever. The Bible doesn't present that and Jesus and the apostles never presented that.
 
Sola_Fide said:
God's name is not Allah, Muhammed was a false prophet.
Click to expand...

The word "God" in Arabic is "Allah." So when an Arab Christian says they believe in God, they say they believe in Allah. When an Arab Christian talks about God the Father he says "Allah al-ab." When he talks about the Son of God he says "Allah al-ibn" and when he talks about the Holy Spirit he says "Allah al-ruḥ al-quds."

It has nothing to do with Islam, it is simply the Arabic word for God. The same way a Spanish speaking Christian calls God Dios, or a German speaker Gott, Arabic speaking Christians call God Allah.
 
Sola_Fide said:
Haha...when did this happen? I don't believe you for a host of reasons.
Click to expand...

Buy a house in the South.

Being a homeowner in the South, you will quickly realize that a home attracts the religious NUTS like shit attracts flys.

Mostly Christians, but you also get your Jehovah Witness types, Muslims, Mormons and the iike.
 
What is an atheist, really?

Just someone who doesn't buy into the bullshit being shoveled by the Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc.

Why is that bad?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top