Ask an atheist!

Okay, and can you produce these tablets for us to see?

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Yeah, cause I was using that as evidence and not an illustration of a point.

The point is the God you're supposed to obey is the God the command is attributed to. e.g. the 10 commandments and Jesus's 2 greatest commandments being attributed to the God of Abraham. Whether that God actually exists or made that command is another matter entirely.

Blackguard_ said:

Yeah, cause I was using that as evidence and not an illustration of a point.

The point is the God you're supposed to obey is the God the command is attributed to. e.g. the 10 commandments and Jesus's 2 greatest commandments being attributed to the God of Abraham. Whether that God actually exists or made that command is another matter entirely.

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Okay, yes you're right about that. Thanks.

no problem.

Drosophila1 said:

Hehe, yes but now you're explaining why arbitrary commandments make sense by giving an example of Jesus being strange after he resurrected. It's still strange.

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yeah but none will deny that Christainity is very strange indeed

I'm glad they don't, but where then does one draw the line? My answer would be that we draw the line where our conscience tells us to. "Let's see, is this part nice? No... Okay, let's not obey that stuff". If I'm wrong about that, which parts of the Bible have more merrit than the others?

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naw your right about that my point earlier was that the bible isn't there so God can use it to make slaves of us. Personally when i read my bible I'm not thinking "what must I beleive today". I'm usaully thinking "what peices of wisdom is God gonna give me today?"

You define true christians as those who have all those nice attributes and then conclude that this is what true christians have always believed. This is a circular argument, surely. People do what they believe, and so people who are nice believe in being nice. That's all you have established.

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naw you got a point there. As a side note though I wasn't saying what true Christains "should be" because it's by grace we're saved. I was saying what God intended humans to be. thats why I used the word "Complete" instead of "holy". I think I'm gonna end this here this is sooo much easier to show by example rather than to try to explain

Drosophila1 said:

What a strange thing to say. I doubt that the theologian can provide a better answer. I can look into it, if you want. There are papers on the evolution of glycolysis. The difficult thing is aquiring them for free.

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I can look for myself, thanks, though I appreciate the offer greatly.

I think the theologian provides an answer that would be just as valid.

Blessings and love.

Omar

Steelerbred33 said:

In what positive ways does Christianity affect the community and self? What about atheism?

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Christianity has helped a lot in our society.. Namely, by giving to charity, and helping the poor, which many Christians do.
Christianity has also helped in other aspects.. Namely, if someone used to be a drug user, but find Christ while in jail, they usually come out as a totally different person.. Usually a positive, happy person.

So Christianity has really helped "clean up" a lot of people who were wasting their lives, as well as has contributed a ton to our society in means of charity. I have many friends who cleaned themselves up by finding christ.

As for atheism - Well, atheist is not an organized religion or anything. We do not have a set of rules, nor some book to abide by. Atheism is about an individual. I could never say "Thanks to atheism, this or that has happened."

I CAN however say that thanks to atheism, many people have opened up to new ideas, and new thoughts. I can say that most atheists are very tolerable people who generally do not look down a certain group of people.

But, it is different then Christianity, in the sense that we do not have a book or instruction to tell us to be more tolerable, and open up to new ideas.. That is just how an atheist generally is. But they are not that way because someone or something tells them to be!

So I can not really say how atheism has benefited our society, since atheism is really a much more broad term then Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, etc. But I can say that many ATHEISTS have benefited in our society, in many ways (mostly by having an open mind, to new ideas and such.)

I think Christianity has benefited society in many ways, and has harmed society in many ways. Perhaps without Christianity there would be no bigot homophobes.

But, perhaps without Christianity there would be a lot less respect in our scoiety for others.

So Christianity has brought many great postives, but also many negatives. I do however, believe the positives outweigh the negatives.

Atheism is so broad, so I can not really say. But I can say that most ATHEISTS have contributed to our society, but not because of their beliefs.. But because of who they are as an individual. That is one thing I love about atheism.. We are not set to stereotypes.. We are mostly about being an individual person, and respecting our identity as an individual. But, since we do not have some book to follow, I can not say that all atheists are expected to be a certain way, or hold certain beliefs. Which is why it is hard to put a generalization on an atheist.

I have a major headache so sorry if my response is really repetitive or jubberish.. That happens a lot when I have a headache. But, I hope you get what I am saying!

Drosophila said:

Is there a question you've been wanting to ask an atheist? Well, I'm one so you could ask me if you want. I'll try to provide an answer that you would hear from many atheists instead of just me. Ask me here or send me a private message.

Why do I do this? Well, there are many gross misunderstandings about atheism and atheists. I just want as many as possible to know what it's really all about.
Like... Do atheists drink the blood of puppies?
The answer is of course: only on Tuesdays

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i'm curious of the atheist's perception of agnostics. now i know you cannot speak for all atheists but how about just your own perception.

tattedsaint said:

i'm curious of the atheist's perception of agnostics. now i know you cannot speak for all atheists but how about just your own perception.

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I know this was not directed towards me, but I think I will answer (the more perspectives you get, the better!)

Anyways, there is nothing wrong with Agnostics. Agnostics are merely people who are open to the idea of god, and do not deny, but do not affirm.

I mean I think that all atheists, before officially becoming an atheist, go through a time when they were agnostic.

Agnostics are like an offshoot of atheism lol. And there is nothing wrong with someone who is agnostic at all!

To me atheism is also the belief that life has frequent and extreme coincidences. How do you explain so many coincidences?

RyanLeeParis said:

To me atheism is also the belief that life has frequent and extreme coincidences. How do you explain so many coincidences?

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What do you mean by coincidence? Like The lincoln/Kenedy assasination thing, or the 9/11 plane numbers and codes, or the Torah having the words Torah every 49 letters in the beginning and end, and in the middle having Yahweh, and the qu'ran saying days 30 times, and month 12?

Coincidences they are. But certainly not godly. And it certainly does not prove a god. It just proves how amazing science is, and in my opinion gives me even more reason to doubt religion

français;40158824 said:

What do you mean by coincidence? Like The lincoln/Kenedy assasination thing, or the 9/11 plane numbers and codes, or the Torah having the words Torah every 49 letters in the beginning and end, and in the middle having Yahweh, and the qu'ran saying days 30 times, and month 12?

Coincidences they are. But certainly not godly. And it certainly does not prove a god. It just proves how amazing science is, and in my opinion gives me even more reason to doubt religion

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one thing I always thought was intresting about Jesus cricifixion is that the people saw it as a massive massive tragedy. they had no idea he was gonna rise! When it comes to natural disators and other evils in the world I think the same principal can be applied, only on a larger scale. I honestly think evil is never a reason to doubt God because we hardly ever know the whole story.

^^^
He wasn't talking about doubting because of evil, he seemed to be talking along the lines of Ockham's Razor.

(or were you not responding the post and just quoted it for some strange reason?)

It just proves how amazing science is

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How?

another question is... why did you post this???
is it because you are looking for answers for this life...and also its very encouraging that you wanting us to ask you...
another thing i want to mention...you have a choice no one else can make it 4 u...
so some of our statement...you can choose to accept them or not...up to you...
ok dat all i had to say..

underthesouthercross said:

another question is... why did you post this???
is it because you are looking for answers for this life...and also its very encouraging that you wanting us to ask you...
another thing i want to mention...you have a choice no one else can make it 4 u...
so some of our statement...you can choose to accept them or not...up to you...
ok dat all i had to say..

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ummmm Peter says to be ready for anyone who askes us a quistion about the hope we have. To be honest.... atheists don't beleive in God and we do! So we are the closest thing they have to go by [scary thought actully]. I know we don't have all the answers... but thats no excuse to simply ignore the quistions in general. Jesus tells us to not worry about what we're gonna say because the Holy Spirit will give us the words we need. All we have to do is try our best on answering the quistions.

another question is... why did you post this???
is it because you are looking for answers for this life...

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So when a politician has a question answer session, they are in doubt about their own views they are promoting so they do that?

Or when a jew tries to promote interfaith dialog is it because they are doubting?

Sorry, but I respectfully disagree. One can start a "ask a _________" thread simply to promote more understanding, answer misconceptions, etc.

The world has a major misconception of atheists. The OP's mission was to just clear those misconceptions up. Doubting has nothing to do with anything.

Now if you think we are in doubts, then let you and me have a debate. Send me a PM, start a topic, and you and I will have a one on one discussion. We will discuss whatever you want to discuss. Sound like a deal?

What kind of evidence do you need in order to believe in God?

Yekcidmij said:

What kind of evidence do you need in order to believe in God?

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That question is fundamentally flawed in the fact that when someone professes to be an atheist they do so because they believe there is no such thing as evidence proving there is a God. So to ask them what kind of evidence proves the existence of God is moot because they obviously haven't (that they would admit) seen any such evidence.

Further, people see what they want to see, you could present them years worth of arguments and solid proof and it wouldn't change their mind unless they are open to it. So there is no single key piece of evidence as yet unrevealed to them, some miracle proof that you could show an atheist and convince them ... it has to do with where they are in their walk through life.

K
O
f

kingoffools13 said:

That question is fundamentally flawed in the fact that when someone professes to be an atheist they do so because they believe there is no such thing as evidence proving there is a God. So to ask them what kind of evidence proves the existence of God is moot because they obviously haven't (that they would admit) seen any such evidence.

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Well, there might be some type of evidence that would convince someone or a cumulative collection of evidences that would convince them. Just becasue they haven't seen any yet doesn't mean there doesn't exist any type of evidence that would convince them. Maybe, as you say, they do believe that there is no evidence possible, but that would be an answer to my question. So my question isn't flawed and still stands.

heres one that iv never heard a good answer to. why are you an atheist? have you genuinely looked into religion (not specifically christianity) and found that it held nothing for you? and do you have an argument against christianity other than 'if god is so great why are there wars' ?

Drosophila said:

Is there a question you've been wanting to ask an atheist? Well, I'm one so you could ask me if you want. I'll try to provide an answer that you would hear from many atheists instead of just me. Ask me here or send me a private message.

Why do I do this? Well, there are many gross misunderstandings about atheism and atheists. I just want as many as possible to know what it's really all about.
Like... Do atheists drink the blood of puppies?
The answer is of course: only on Tuesdays

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So when youre upset, feeling hopeless, and backed into a corner by life...how do you cope? It just seems like putting on some nice music and sipping a cup of hot cocoa just doesn't work sometimes. Don't you feel like something is missing at times?