Our server costs ~$56 per month to run. Please consider donating or becoming a Patron to help keep the site running. Help us gain new members by following us on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook!
Current time: April 25, 2024, 4:24 pm

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Atheist surprised when god answered his prayer
#11
RE: Atheist surprised when god answered his prayer
(March 11, 2015 at 6:29 pm)Sionnach Wrote: ... And of course this former atheist got his fifteen minutes of fame.
And I suppose you have a litmus test for No True Atheist...You're just incensed by the idea that maybe atheism isn't as compelling as YOU think it is.
Reply
#12
RE: Atheist surprised when god answered his prayer
The fact that he had a Christian wife who wanted him to attend church probably played a large role also. She wanted him to be a member of her religion and encouraged religious interpretations of what happened. I am sure when he told his wife how the little girl spoke about her abuse, his wife was more than happy to attribute everything to god's power.

It is weird that he doesn't ask why this onnipotent god didn't stop the abuse BEFORE it happened.
Reply
#13
RE: Atheist surprised when god answered his prayer
(March 12, 2015 at 8:47 am)ChadWooters Wrote:
(March 11, 2015 at 6:29 pm)Sionnach Wrote: ... And of course this former atheist got his fifteen minutes of fame.
And I suppose you have a litmus test for No True Atheist...You're just incensed by the idea that maybe atheism isn't as compelling as YOU think it is.

Oh, let him have been a true atheist, we don't know... but not one with a lot of critical thinking skills. Why would he attribute this whole situation to the christian God?

But what makes us more suspicious is the way the entire text is worded. If I were given the task to write propaganda drivel intended to give believers the warm fuzzy feeling that all that rational smart thinking is not a threat to their religion, that's exactly what I would write. It's by now absolute christian propaganda boilerplate, actually - stories of this type are a dime a dozen. You can find the standard propaganda characterizations here:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Ma...oodAtheist

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Ma...rthAtheist

has overlap with

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StrawVulcan

In our case here the functions seem to be

1. I used to be sooooo logical and rational and wanted proof for everything (establishing the fact that the main character was of the sort the listener is most afraid of, and supposedly the hardest to convert - we wouldn't want to pit Jesus against too easy an I-can-win atheobot)

2. but then I met Jaaaayyyysus, and now I'm back in the fold (reassuring the listener that all this rationality business is either just an easily defeated abnormality or perfectly compatible with their religion)

When such a real life example checks all the boxes of straw atheist tropes, one gets suspicious, although of course it's not proving that the story hasn't happened like this exactly.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition

Reply
#14
RE: Atheist surprised when god answered his prayer
I'd never say anyone is or isn't a "true atheist", it doesn't mean anything. I can say that someone is or isn't a good sceptic, though. And this guy is not, if the story happened as described.
Feel free to send me a private message.
Please visit my website here! It's got lots of information about atheism/theism and support for new atheists.

Index of useful threads and discussions
Index of my best videos
Quickstart guide to the forum
Reply
#15
RE: Atheist surprised when god answered his prayer
(March 12, 2015 at 8:47 am)ChadWooters Wrote: And I suppose you have a litmus test for No True Atheist...You're just incensed by the idea that maybe atheism isn't as compelling as YOU think it is.

Atheism is only compelling when it's reached for the right reason, and if this was all the evidence he needed, I don't think he was as rational and logical as he thinks he was.

His conclusion is extremely self-centered given that God was inactive when it came to stopping the molestation, but all of sudden god feels the need to intervene when it comes to bringing him into the fold by having a little girl speak up about abuse.

This is just another case of ego overriding rationality and a man claiming to be rational but willing to abandon reason at a moment's notice.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
Reply
#16
RE: Atheist surprised when god answered his prayer
(March 12, 2015 at 1:02 pm)Faith No More Wrote: Atheism is only compelling when it's reached for the right reason, and if this was all the evidence he needed, I don't think he was as rational and logical as he thinks he was.

His conclusion is extremely self-centered given that God was inactive when it came to stopping the molestation, but all of sudden god feels the need to intervene when it comes to bringing him into the fold by having a little girl speak up about abuse.

This is just another case of ego overriding rationality and a man claiming to be rational but willing to abandon reason at a moment's notice.

Yes, yes! all of that QFT
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition

Reply
#17
RE: Atheist surprised when god answered his prayer
I just love how he speaks about being rational as if it was something bad.

"I was a reasonable adult... but then I decided to go full retard" is all I gather.
Reply
#18
RE: Atheist surprised when god answered his prayer
I used to be one of you poor saps who thinks about stuff, now I strap on a blindfold and run screaming into a motorway.
Feel free to send me a private message.
Please visit my website here! It's got lots of information about atheism/theism and support for new atheists.

Index of useful threads and discussions
Index of my best videos
Quickstart guide to the forum
Reply
#19
RE: Atheist surprised when god answered his prayer
(March 12, 2015 at 1:11 pm)robvalue Wrote: I used to be one of you poor saps who thinks about stuff, now I strap on a blindfold and run screaming into a motorway.

Can I get an Amen? Tongue
"I was thirsty for everything, but blood wasn't my style" - Live, "Voodoo Lady"
Reply
#20
RE: Atheist surprised when god answered his prayer
What?! An atheist abandoned his lack of beliefs? We should stone him to death... Oh, no - I forgot we don't do that.

*Sigh* - religious lunatics get all the fun... Tongue

(March 12, 2015 at 12:35 am)Godschild Wrote: You can prove your statement , right. You can read their minds and know exactly what happened with each of them. Just think God may have you targeted to us in someones life. Never know, and you can't prove He doesn't.

Yeah... About that - God just... errr... "targeted" me to tell you, that you're a dumb-ass. You can't prove He didn't. So there, Dumb-ass. Tongue

Using people as tools for communication with your imaginary friends is one of the stupidest results of religious indoctrination. If God wants to speak to you, or me, or anyone - He can bloody well do it personally. He doesn't have to have a child raped by a family member and then tell you about it. What kind of psychotic god would do that? Is that who you pray to? Well, then - good luck with that.

Child gets raped - an opportunistic zealot takes the attention. Who cares what he believes? It's his damn business. F*** him.

***God's message over***
"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." - George Bernard Shaw
Reply



Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Cult leader encouraging his followers to starve to death. Rev. Rye 2 467 April 28, 2023 at 10:13 pm
Last Post: Anomalocaris
  Please help prayer to get maaried soon for my mom heath.! meboxem166 21 2767 April 1, 2023 at 5:52 am
Last Post: arewethereyet
  Why doesn't God love his enemies? Fake Messiah 16 1330 November 30, 2022 at 12:17 pm
Last Post: Fake Messiah
Rainbow (He/Him/His) No penis, identifies as a male Nihilist Virus 25 1944 April 17, 2021 at 10:37 am
Last Post: Gwaithmir
  The Catholic Church has a prayer app zebo-the-fat 5 649 January 21, 2019 at 11:00 am
Last Post: zebo-the-fat
  Jesus’ Failed Prophecy About His Return DoubtingHerFaith 107 15103 January 15, 2019 at 4:29 am
Last Post: Fake Messiah
  Intercessory prayer is pointless RobbyPants 93 10083 October 27, 2018 at 6:33 pm
Last Post: Minimalist
  Pope Fuckface Is Either Losing His Mind Or Remembered How The Church Traditionally Minimalist 12 2146 October 10, 2018 at 2:20 pm
Last Post: Minimalist
  Group prayer on Skype on behalf of our Christian members I_am_not_mafia 132 16154 May 26, 2018 at 1:22 pm
Last Post: I_am_not_mafia
  Can a Chrisitan lose his/her salvation? Jehanne 130 30901 July 26, 2017 at 10:25 am
Last Post: drfuzzy



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)