(Christians especially) What do you think of "Brights"?

[MQTA]

When I first saw the poll, I heard Andrew Dice Clay's voice saying "Bright Man"

 

[MQTA]

I think that's an IRC sound .wav file too.

 

[excreationist]

Who's calling who Bright?

Some philosophical naturalists are calling themselves "Brights" (noun)... not Bright (capitalized adjective). I mean in the sentence "I am a bright" it is used as a noun... "That person is bright" uses an adjective.

 

[MQTA]

Another Bright idea, eh? Everyone wants to come up with a cutesy name.

 

[Dennis Moore]

Of course, you'll probably want to be careful not to say anything blasphemous, because blasphemy is against the rules.

I know. Lucky for you that the rules don't extend the same courtesy to the baseless slander of other faiths or philosophies, eh?

 

[Green Man]

I abstained from voting because I've never heard the phrase before. As many people here have noticed, I don't really mind other religions very much, but I find it impossible to be tolerant of atheism. Now this is just my personal opinion, and you don't have to agree with it. But I think atheism is devil-worship.

Why do you consider atheism as devil worship.There is no devil.

 

[The Seeker]

I don't even believe that Satan has any supernatural powers of his own. I don't think you understood what I mean when I say that atheism is devil-worship.

Well its fairly reasonable to assume that you are saying that atheists worship the devil. Which we don't, because being an atheist and believing in the devil (a supernatural quasi-deity) are mutually exclusive. And if you don't believe that something exists, you cannot be said to worship it.

 

[Green Man]

Well, I said you don't have to agree with it, because I realize that statement is quite controversial. Nonetheless, I think that atheism is a false religion built on worship of the devil. That isn't the kind of belief that can be proven or disproven, so I would argue that your statement is false (unless you also state it as an opinion).

On what do you base this belief?

 

[lunamoth]

Appears that if you are looking for a name that irritates believers and unites atheists, you've missed the mark with Bright.

Labels tend to divide, rather than create harmony. Are you sure you want to go there? No matter what one believes maybe our goal should be to work together to feed some hungry people.

 

[arunma]

On what do you base this belief?

Well first of all, I don't really believe in the devil in the same sense that extremist Christians and Muslims do. I don't believe in any sinister being who acts independently of God, who is capable of accomplishing his own will by supernatural means. The Bible says that there's an angel named Satan who tempts humans, but it never says that he's capable of acting apart from God's will. So while I do believe that a literal Satan exists, I tend to think of the devil as more of an allegory for human sin, which opposes the perfect will of God (as opposed to his permissive will).

Atheism is perhaps the worst of all sins, because it's a rejection of the Holy Spirit. And as you may know, blasphemy of the Spirit is the unforgivable sin. To deny the creator is a sin, and sin is "of the devil" (so to speak). Because atheists do that which is contrary to the will of God, I believe that to accept the religion of atheism is devil-worship.

 

[Krysia]

I abstained from voting because I've never heard the phrase before. As many people here have noticed, I don't really mind other religions very much, but I find it impossible to be tolerant of atheism. Now this is just my personal opinion, and you don't have to agree with it. But I think atheism is devil-worship.

Maybe you guys can figure out from this how I would have voted if I knew what a "bright" was.

wor·ship
n.

1. 1. The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object.
   2. The ceremonies, prayers, or other religious forms by which this love is expressed.
2. Ardent devotion; adoration.

a·the·ism

n.

1. 1. Disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods.
   2. The doctrine that there is no God or gods.

There is no way that atheism is akin to devil-worship as, by definition, atheists do not believe in the existence of God or gods (resulting in a disbelief in the existence of the devil, much less his supremacy), and therefore do not show "reverent love and devotion according to a deity," nor do they perform "ceremonies, prayers or other religious forms" to this, according to them, nonexistent deity or idol.


Your argument is completely flawed.

 

[The Seeker]

Atheism is perhaps the worst of all sins

So of all the bad things in the world, child abuse, genocide, murder, torture, rape, all the billions of horrible things that exist, you believe that making an error of judgement* as worse than all of these things?

*An error in your opinion, obviously, not mine.

 

[morningstar2651]

I believe that magic is part of nature...and if it is a part of nature -- therefore not supernatural.

Many Christians would argue that homosexuality is un-natural -- that makes homosexuality supernatural!

Wonky! That means I know supernatural people!

 

[Krysia]

I believe that magick is part of nature...and if it is a part of nature -- therefore not supernatural.

I completely agree. It's a channeling of the Divine energy present within all of creation. Completely natural.

Many Christians would argue that homosexuality is un-natural -- that makes homosexuality supernatural!

Wonky! That means I know supernatural people!

LOL

Bright Blessings,
Krysia

 

[arunma]

So of all the bad things in the world, child abuse, genocide, murder, torture, rape, all the billions of horrible things that exist, you believe that making an error of judgement* as worse than all of these things?

*An error in your opinion, obviously, not mine.

I would argue that atheism leads to all the things you've mentioned. If someone really feared God, he wouldn't commit any of those sins. The worst part about atheism is that atheists can falsely claim to believe in God while sinning (and thus showing their unbelief). That curses the name of God, because it causes others to believe that the fear of God doesn't cause one to stop sinning.

 

[The Seeker]

I would argue that atheism leads to all the things you've mentioned. If someone really feared God, he wouldn't commit any of those sins. The worst part about atheism is that atheists can falsely claim to believe in God while sinning (and thus showing their unbelief). That curses the name of God, because it causes others to believe that the fear of God doesn't cause one to stop sinning.

Funny, because it wasn't atheists who touched up all those alter boys. It wasn't an atheist who led the third reich. It wasn't an atheist who beat Matthew Shepard to death. It wasn't atheists who sanctioned the Spanish Inquisition. It wasn't atheists...(cont. on page 96)

 

[Krysia]

Funny, because it wasn't atheists who touched up all those alter boys. It wasn't an atheist who led the third reich. It wasn't an atheist who beat Matthew Shepard to death. It wasn't atheists who sanctioned the Spanish Inquisition. It wasn't atheists...(cont. on page 96)

This is a great post with very good points

 

[arunma]

Funny, because it wasn't atheists who touched up all those alter boys. It wasn't an atheist who led the third reich. It wasn't an atheist who beat Matthew Shepard to death. It wasn't atheists who sanctioned the Spanish Inquisition. It wasn't atheists...(cont. on page 96)

Atheists under the leadership of Joseph Stalin killed 43,000,000 people in the Soviet Union. And the atheist Mao Zedong killed 14,000,000 more. As for HItler, if you think he wasn't an atheist, you should read Hitler's Secret Conversations. But you can read some of his greatest anti-Christian quotes here:

http://www.answers.org/apologetics/hitquote.html

In my opinion, atheism is responsible for the corruption of religious institutions. The Catholic Church started persecuting Jews around the same time it started offering indulgences to rich people. Neither of those is in the Bible; in fact the Bible makes no secret of God's wrath against rich people. No person who feared God, as he is revealed in the Bible, would ever support such a policy. But I suppose if you stop believing in God, it's much easier to pervert the church by using it to support the rich.

Atheist doctrines are also responsible for promoting the advancement of slavery. Atheists in seventeenth century Britain, who knew that the Christian faith was popular, misrepresented Biblical passages concerning Roman slavery in order to suggest that enslavement of Africans was Biblical. In fact, it was British Christian politicians such as William Wilberforce who fought for the abolishionist cause.

Oh, by the way, the Spanish Inquisition was carried out independent of the Pope. So I'm not even sure that atheists weren't responsible for these events too.

 

[morningstar2651]

...Are you actually saying that athiests are responsible for the inquisition?

 

[arunma]

...Are you actually saying that athiests are responsible for the inquisition?

Yes, I am. I don't see why this is all that surprising. Atheists who claim to be Christian have always corrupted the church. Be honest, if someone fears God, do you really think they will commit the sins that others here have described?