(April 21, 2011 at 8:39 pm)Sarcasm Wrote: This thread seems to have gotten a little off topic...also from reading the original post I still dont get what the OP was trying to point out...

(April 14, 2011 at 12:24 am)bliss Wrote: If atheism is simply a non-belief in God, then no one is an atheist. I don't mean that "everyone believes in God, they just don't know it." I mean that atheism is an attribute of an ideology, but it isn't an identity in itself.

I've had several conversations with atheists that goes something like this:

"God doesn't exist. He's a fantasy just like the tooth fairy or santa claus."
"Well, what do you believe, if you don't believe in God?"
"It's not about what I believe, the burden of proof is on you. You are the one who believes."

I may be the one who believes in God, but I am not the only one who believes. All people believe. Making inferences about reality is a necessary part of survival for humans. Atheism is just a general term for belief systems not based upon God.

IMO, if you can't admit that you have your own beliefs, you are a coward. You are afraid to have your beliefs questioned, put under the same skepticism that you use against those that believe in God. Marx was a communist. Bertrand Russel was a rationalist. The Dalai Lama is a Buddhist. All these men are atheists, but they all have a specific system of ideology that is debatable in reasonable terms. To just call yourself an atheist without saying what you do believe in a debate is to have the discussion drowned in irrationality.

This is mostly what I've seen so far on this forum. Most of you don't have a formulated idea on anything, you just hate. It's the same kind of prejudice that many religious people function under. If that's what truly disgusts you about religion, perhaps you could realize that you don't need a religion to be a bigot. You also don't have to be a bigot to be religious.

(May 1, 2011 at 5:34 pm)thesummerqueen Wrote: Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!!










ps - that was the perfect 1500th post.

(May 1, 2011 at 6:44 pm)thesummerqueen Wrote: Dear AF'ers... Does anyone under the age of ...oh... 50, we'll say, get that reference?

(May 1, 2011 at 7:30 pm)thesummerqueen Wrote: I'm 26, but apparently I'm part of a dying breed schooled in old movies.

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The original is from Treasure of the Sierra Madres, a Bogart film.

I prefer this one though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lj056ao6GE