Hey guys,

I feel so sorry for athiests in the US. It must be very frustrating having to deal with the bible belt and all that goes with it. Don't get me wrong, I'm from Australia and we are still a typically christian country, but it seems that there are so many more fanatical christians over there. Plus I've noticed that there is a lot of press on how insular the average American is. This would seem to only fuel the problem more. Over here, there is a general sense of apathy towards religion for the most part, and fanatical christians dont make it into office as frequently. So my question is, is it harder to express your opinions towards theism in the US, even with free speech?

S.

...but I have yet to meet one. Truth be told, the idea of the true believer is quite a pleasant fiction. Indeed, it helps to explain the bitterness most religious people have in that they themselves know that their human falibility keeps them from ever achieving the status of true believer.

After having read the torah, bible, koran, and many other related texts, I think I have a fairly good understanding of what is required of the religiously oriented. Indeed, being a fairly conservative individual, I am not opposed to certain pragmatic aspects of the ancient or shariah laws - in a chaotic world, if we are to all live together, there must be some manmade order so that we can get on with our own existence, without having worry about having our personal rights trampled upon.

However, on a daily basis I am inundated by hypocrisy on the part of people claiming a religious bent. I suppose I could go on and on, and there are many other posts available here on related topics, yet I wanted to throw in my two cents as it were. I simply wished to say that if someone says he is religious, then he must live by those tenets, and if he does not, then the rules he supposedly subscribes to say he is going to Detroit...sorry, I mean HELL.

Why is it that atheist seem to need to disprove god, please enlighten me.  My rationale is that you hate the idea of

not controling your own life, that living for a higher power scares you.   Thats called ego, Easing God Out thinking

your a drop of water when you are in the middle of the ocean.  You wonder why youve never experinced GOD your ego

is in the way, let your barriers down and trust christ, except him in to your life.  

Try the book Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren it's $15, reflect on it for 40 days.  If your so sure nothing will happen try it consider it a challange.

So I notice a lot of "theists" here who make these giant long text posts about how they're proud of God and they're standing up for what they believe in and how all of you people are going to burn in hell and you'd all change your mind if you'd just listen. And then the poster of said topic disappears. I'm not going to theorize as to why because I did my own disappearance and eventually when college starts back up I'll probably do it again what with needing to spend my free time with people and not computers and all. But hey, I figured I'd say my little piece. This way atheists can have fun, and theists can read how you SHOULD approach people. (Some of these "Christians" posts infuriate me)

I am a Christian. I gladly say Premillennial Dispensationalist, Calvinist, Free Grace(ist?), non denominational. I say that because I A) believe it and B) find that it's a hard line to walk in theology, and not that many theologians let alone people do. But hey, back on point. Yes I believe that God created us, we messed up, Jesus came to save those who believe, and so on and so forth. Yes I am proud of it. Yes I'm sure that many of you will in fact go to hell (or maybe not, who am I but man?). HOWEVER, in all of my Bible studying and so forth, I have yet to find where Jesus and the twelve disciples made signs, pamphlets, and took their kids to parts of Jerusalem simply to yell at people "YOU'RE GOING TO HELL". So, it's not my job to do it and it is NOT the job of any theist or self proclaiming Christian here.

No other thing or creature that we know of has an awareness like mankind. No thing or creature has consciousness like mankind. Isn't consciousness among an unconscious world evidence of a divine nature from a divine creator? Among all the unconscious natural world isn't the very fact that we are able to deny God a supernatural act in favor of his existence.

Humanity's awareness of ideas makes us unlike any thing or creature that we have evidence of. From what we have evidence of our ability to understand and manipulate the forces of the universe does not appear natural. Isn't it likely that our reason and science is itself an example of the supernatural? That our ability to manipulate the non-material realm of ideas that governs the material realm is in fact supernatural. Don't our cities, space satellites, and atomic bombs smack of a kind of sorcery and hint that science is in fact the one true, genuine witchcraft?

I have heard that most atheists are materialists in that they believe the universe consists of a material realm only and that therefore there are no realms beyond matter that one could label as potentially supernatural or spiritual. But ideas exist and are beyond the material realm. In fact ideas seem to be more real, or at least more powerful, than the material realm in that they control and manipulate the material realm. Since ideas exist beyond the material realm doesn't that suggest the likelihood of a spiritual/non-material realm of existence and very possibly the existence of an omnipotent Creator who is also beyond the material realm of existence?

I have a question regarding Aquinas' five proofs for God's existence. Could you please point out the logical fallacy in the first three proofs (which I believe to be slightly reworded cosmological arguments, maybe he thought three wasn't a big enough number??).

I have been a member here for a long time. I stopped posting after a while just cause I got tired of A) Keeping up with a forum and B) The atmosphere. I just decided to check back in and see whats going on. Well, since two years ago it seems like nothing has changed. I highly doubt more than a handful of people have jumped ship in their beliefs about God, I'm fairly sure most of the theists are just coming and going while I still recognize a lost of the atheist posters. So to all my "theists" and atheists I have a question. Why do this whole debate thing?

 Hey guys,

Been watching this forum for a little while. I've been thinking, since pretty much all theists and athiests I've ever met are very stubborn about their beliefs, are there any people on this forum who have been converted to athiesm from coming to this site? Or even people who have been converted to theistic beliefs?

Also, why are people so damn stubborn about this issue? I mean, from scientologists to athiests, everyone is convinced they are correct. I'm kinda wondering whether its because of indoctrination, or whether its just human nature. But I digress!

S.