Hi! first Blog. What about the value in placebos that actually help. Sugar pills therefore are medicine then. In that way 'faith' is really the miracle. Self-healing perhaps. It does not mean it isn't real. Like the sky to a blind man. There is not a sky for him but the sky is still truth. Don't get me wrong, I respect your beliefs, I just don't see what the big deal is. Whatever works is good. I appreciate feedback. Thanks!
asufi

[MOD EDIT - removed quoting from original blog post as it is not a quote]

My reading, on Thursday, of a missive concerning my dis-belief was met with the reactions I had expected. There were a few people who were a bit shocked, some people who were more on the apathetic side of things and those who were happy that I said what I said. This being Western Washington (it really does make a difference) no one was particularly offended. All in all, it was great!
Most of all, it was interesting to see the eye-brows raise and a few whispers tip-toe around. I was a tad nervous when starting off, but everything set in nicely and it felt good to throw myself and what I think out into the open. I have not been directly confronted by anyone yet; somewhat disappointing, but I suppose the lack of confrontation could be interpreted as a good sign.

Originally Posted Here

On Atheism

Author: Matthew (aka Mordagar)

    My friend Mark has posted a great deal of blogs here concerning his thoughts on God, so I thought I would post one as well. I mostly agree with what he says, though I don't always agree with how he says it. In the following essay, I will lay out a bit of my beliefs and why they correspond with atheism as opposed to theism. I didn't come to atheism lightly; it took a fair bit of searching on my part to arrive there. It started for me at about age 16; I began to realize there was more and more to Christianity that just wasn't tenable. My parents had raised me as a Christian, though even as a child I had trouble believing. I sincerely wanted to however, as I surely didn't want to end up in hell, and didn't want to face more immediate consequences such as my parents' chastisement.

[i]Chris,

Thanks for your prompt reply. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to respond right away. Sometimes it may take a day or so before I can clear my docket and get down to offering the kind of answer you deserve.

Here’s my understanding of your remarks:

I. No True Scotsman Fallacy

I believe I gather what you’re aiming at here, but I’m not sure it accurately applies. There seems to be to be some ambiguity in the premise regarding what constitutes a Christian society (or nation), but the main thrust of your comment is well taken. Still, I don’t see how there can be any equivocation when there hasn’t been a bona fide “shoring up” of the challenged original. Be that as it may, it isn’t really germane to our discussion. (As an aside, some Supreme Court decisions have denominated the US as a “Christian” nation; other decisions do not so presuppose).

Due to some odd circumstances, the reading has been postponed until Thursday. I'm still not completely sure as to why. Though, It will still happen, as it always does. I still plan on writing a blog entry to explain how it all unravels. I may even post the actual missive as a blog post. But, it is a bit personal, so I will decide that later. It is also somewhat large, so I think I would have to post it to a separate webpage and link to it in a separate blog post here. We'll see.

Cheers! And Good Night.

See my earlier blog entry for part one. If you see anything here you think you've read before, it's because I plucked it from the great minds of other atheists.

[i]Chris,

Hello. My name is Michael, and I'm happy to discuss these issues with you. It appears that you and Josh have been exploring some pretty interesting subjects!

As to your question – it's a very good one. (I could argue about whether contemporary Western society is indeed "Christian", but for our purposes given the historical Christian roots of Western culture we can stipulate to that fact). Taking "punishments" in its broad sense I think you are right to reason that the prohibtions and penalties (e.g. execution) were not meant just for ancient Israel. I do think, however, that in some cases the Scriptures give flexibility and indicate the maximum allowable penalty. The Mosaic code has a high form of victim's rights embedded within it. For example, the maximum penalty for adultery is death for both the man and the woman (Lev. 20:10).

I just finished a portfolio for Creative Writing. Due to the theme of this particular portfolio, it was an enticing opportunity to express my dis-belief.
At the end of each portfolio, the class holds a reading so students can present their work to an audience; it is very enjoyable and I always try to participate. The piece I plan on reading (it is actually an excerpt of a much larger missive) lays bare much of what I think about gods and religion and I know there are a few very dedicated Christians and Mormons in the class with directly opposing viewpoints to mine. I do not wish to create a powder-keg though and I am hoping it will remain calm and reserved. I simply want to explain my standpoint on some things.

We've been debating via email. I realize I'll probably never change this person's beliefs, but if I can tackle arguments from one of the 'big boys' I can probably tackle any religious argument.
I've already picked up on mistakes I've made, things I wished I'd said differently, but the more I debate the better I'll get.
Here's the first part. I'm Chris, and Michael is the pastor.

Hi,
My name is Chris and I'm a friend of Josh, who attends your church. I've indicated to him I'd be interested in debating religion with you, and from what I've gathered, I think you're interested too.
You helped him out with a question I posed, which was 'Why aren't Christians killing gays now, as indicated in the laws of the Bible?'

Study
Learn
Reveal
Advance
Evolve
Create Change and
Rid your mind of the plague of oppression that is organized religion..

The Human Race will always be one capable of good and evil acts. No religion will ever put an end to that fact. Taking responsibility for our human actions and making humans responsible for their actions is all a civilization can do. Obviously the fear of a god hasn't stopped the evil. But, oh yea, they have their built in excuses for that. They had to invent a devil to blame it on. Right not the individual and his/her CHOICES, but the work of a demon. We can never expect the human race to live cooperatively with a true sense of compassion and responsiblity if we continue to allow heinous behavior to be excused in this manner. It does however, keep the sheeple coming back for more and the cash flowing.

The path to my atheism has been a somewhat long one. But, I won't go into it too much for the first post.

I was born into a Christian family like most children in the United States. I was exposed to the bible (presented as truth, of course). I even had children's books telling the major stories of the bible, such as the flood and exodus and Jonah. Even so, I had never prayed the acceptance pray (don't know what it's actually called).
I remember one day when my dad and I were driving home from a Men's Fellowship church group. He was obviously distressed due to my long-running non-acceptance. He told me all the things a Christian parent would tell a child. Though, I won't get into that as most of you probably already know what that is like.