For what it's worth there is Talk Origins list of Creationists arguments: link

Go real and make the times work for you. Take notes:

This is the age of information.
We know that mankind has, in its folly followed almost three thousand different gods.
They are all false and made up either by man our the devil.
Only the Christian god is most god, most fair, most knowledgeable.
Only the Christian god can account for how the universe's constituents have any kind of regularity. Without god, the universe would be a chaos, a cacophony of nothingness. God brings order, peace and love.

(January 5, 2014 at 4:27 pm)pocaracas Wrote: Go real and make the times work for you. Take notes:

This is the age of information.
We know that mankind has, in its folly followed almost three thousand different gods.
They are all false and made up either by man our the devil.
Only the Christian god is most god, most fair, most knowledgeable.
Only the Christian god can account for how the universe's constituents have any kind of regularity. Without god, the universe would be a chaos, a cacophony of nothingness. God brings order, peace and love.

I brought order to my room this morning, I cleaned it. I'm just here to tell you that I'm tired of answering your prayers. I'm tired of listening to the prayers of you and millions of others at the same time. It's giving me one hell of a headache. Please stop. Thank you.

Your God

(January 4, 2014 at 3:48 am)ChildOfReason Wrote: So, within this month, I'm going to get confirmed into a presbytery. I'm not out to my parents as I'm atheist, so I have a bit of a problem here. I have to write a "statement of faith", an essay basically stating why I believe in god. I have another problem, I'm bad at making up arguments for my opposite viewpoint, even though I tend to lie pathologically. I may feel strongly about it, but I'm not actually going to mind the confirmation, it's just this "Statement of faith" that I'm going to have a lot of trouble with.
Coming out to my parents as an atheist is NOT an option, because they're these ridiculous, irrational, fundamentalists.
I still don't know how I love them.

What do you think they're going to do to you? Tell them in a loving and tactful way what your feelings and beliefs are. Have an honest conversation with them. You probably love them because they love you.

CoR,

I know of what you speak. My family disowned me because I disagreed with some concepts of their theology, which was well before I lost faith. Yes, some families are like that. The good news is that the worst thing they can do is disown you, which, if they're willing to do that, is the best thing they can do.

But being honest, and living with integrity is the best thing you can do for yourself.

(January 4, 2014 at 3:48 am)ChildOfReason Wrote: I have to write a "statement of faith", an essay basically stating why I believe in god. I have another problem, I'm bad at making up arguments for my opposite viewpoint, even though I tend to lie pathologically. I may feel strongly about it, but I'm not actually going to mind the confirmation, it's just this "Statement of faith" that I'm going to have a lot of trouble with.

My guess is, try and find theologians in your denomination, find the arguments they use and bullshit around that. I know when I had to do mine, I decided to just bullshit for about a page some stuff from Luther's Small Catechism. My pastor loved it.

Fortunately, after I got confirmed, I wound up having as little as humanly possible to do with the church. It helps that my family were never regular churchgoers, our church turned out to be insanely corrupt, and I wound up going to a Catholic High School.

(January 4, 2014 at 2:37 pm)ChildOfReason Wrote:

(January 4, 2014 at 9:09 am)Godschild Wrote: You know ChildofReason you can lie to people but, never to God, you might want to rethink what you're doing, things could get a lot worse than you might believe.

GC

I love how all you can do is try to scare me with Hell. I'm sorry, YOUR Hell. You know there are tons of other Hells that you should be afraid of if you expect me to be afraid of YOUR Hell?
Here are the Hells you're going to.
Mictlan, Irkalla, Naraka, Annwn, Mag Mell, Diyu, Aaru, Duat, Neter-khertet, Amenti, Toonela, Hell (Germanic), Nilfheim, Asphodel, Tártaros (Might I add that the abrahamic religions ALSO have a Tártaros, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartarus#New_Testament), Echeide, Guayota, Yamalako, Patalo, Maski, Alvilág, Uka Pacha, Adlivun, Jahannam, Naar, Barzakh, Araf, Naraka, Adho Loka, Yomi, Jigoku, Sheol, Gehenna, Abaddon, Ji-Ok, Aizsaule , Alam Ghaib, Hawaiki, Rarohenga, Pellumawida, Degin, Wenuleufu, Ngullchenmaiwe, Metnal, Xibalba, Bulu, Burotu, Murimuria, Nabangatai, Tuma, Gimlé, Hel, Niflheim, Vingólf, Ekera, Duzakh, Kasanaan, Avaiki, Bulotu, Iva, Lua-o-Milu, Nga- Atua, Pulotu, Rangi Tuarea, Te Toi-o-nga-Ranga, Uranga-o-Te-Ra, Shipap, Inferno, Avernus, Orcus/Hadēs, Pluto, Nav, Podsvetie, Peklo, Dilmun, Kur, Irkalla, Hubur, Erlik, Guinee, and Hiyoyoa.

Still think I should fear your hell?

All non-believers should fear hell, and I like it how atheist always and I mean always believe Christians refer to hell when they make a statement that doesn't say anything about hell. Know what that says about those who do that, hell scares them with a fright they can't let go of.
I wasn't saying anything about hell, I actually had no thought in that direction, you never considered that I was speaking of getting caught in the lie did you, getting caught in a lie not only makes things worse but, the truth also comes out. If you lie and get caught how do you think your parents who love you, whether you love them or not, will feel. Do you really care about how they feel, apparently not if your willing to lie. Take what I said with a grain of salt and go on, after all it's your life, why should I care what happens to you, I don't know you nor probably ever will. The one thing you can take from this, I did not mean you were going to go to hell.... but is I don't see you in heaven.

GC

GC's condescending, churlish reply aside...

I know what you're going through to an extent; my family is concocted of fundamentalist Southern Baptists and Catholics, when I came out of the atheistic closet I expected World War III... but what I got was acceptance from my parents, proselytizing from my southern baptist preacher grandad, arms-length distance from my aunt and uncle and World War III from my ridiculous sheltered step sister who called me atheist trash among other things. It went better than expected!

So you never know what's going to happen, but you might want to try telling the truth because family can surprise you.

On the other hand if you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your parents will flip absolute shit and do something dramatic then do what you need to to survive and bullshit your way through this man.

(January 4, 2014 at 10:59 am)ChadWooters Wrote: Integrity's a bitch isn't it.

It is when maintaining your integrity will make your family hate you in the name of Christ.

Godschild Wrote:All non-believers should fear hell

There are so many actual things to be afraid of. Inventing fake ones seems kind of pointless.

(January 6, 2014 at 6:19 am)Ryantology Wrote:

Godschild Wrote:All non-believers should fear hell

There are so many actual things to be afraid of. Inventing fake ones seems kind of pointless.

Like spiders. *shudders*

Creepy crawly little bastards. >.<