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RE: I went to church
June 20, 2013 at 9:01 am
(June 19, 2013 at 9:29 am)Doubting Thomas Wrote: Lutheran church services aren't much different from Catholic masses, though I think Catholic masses have much more chanting & ritualism.
That's the problem with most Christians, they assume that we atheists just haven't visited the right church, and if we go to their church all the time then we'd be converted. They don't seem to understand that it's not the church that is the problem, it's Christianity that we don't agree with.
That's the problem with most atheists. They think that just because they visited a church (or went to one for 20+ years) they have any clue as to what Biblical Christianity actually is.
The Church is like a copper wire used to conduct electricity, it is a medium that allows for a connection. Just because one has copper wire, does not mean electricity is present. Like wise just because one spent 20+ years in a church means he/she knows God. (or even has experienced God.) One has to be "Plugged in" in order to have that experience.
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RE: I went to church
June 20, 2013 at 9:19 am
(June 20, 2013 at 9:01 am)Drich Wrote: That's the problem with most atheists. They think that just because they visited a church (or went to one for 20+ years) they have any clue as to what Biblical Christianity actually is.
The Church is like a copper wire used to conduct electricity, it is a medium that allows for a connection. Just because one has copper wire, does not mean electricity is present. Like wise just because one spent 20+ years in a church means he/she knows God. (or even has experienced God.) One has to be "Plugged in" in order to have that experience.
*fap, fap, fap*
Huh? Sorry, I missed what you were saying. I was just... uh... flossing or something.
Everything I needed to know about life I learned on Dagobah.
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RE: I went to church
June 20, 2013 at 9:23 am
I like churches and their architecture, living in europe, we can admire the work done by men that worked in getting them together. It was a work using science after all. Wanna give me proof about god? Show me a church that doesn't need pillars to hold the nave 
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RE: I went to church
June 20, 2013 at 10:53 am
(June 20, 2013 at 9:01 am)Drich Wrote: That's the problem with most atheists. They think that just because they visited a church (or went to one for 20+ years) they have any clue as to what Biblical Christianity actually is.
That's the problem with most christians. They think that just because an atheist disagrees with them, they must not have any clue as to what christianity is.
It's this tremendous ego at play: "It's not that they have a point, they just don't know what they're talking about. Because anyone who truly understands christianity would agree with me." You're just sealing yourself away from ever having to critically examine your own position; the implication is that your position is absolutely correct , sight unseen of any objections or problems others might have with it, and those who object, by dint of objecting at all, must be wrong.
Silencing debate isn't the same as winning debate, though. This is just a way to not play the game while still pretending you came out victorious.
"YOU take the hard look in the mirror. You are everything that is wrong with this world. The only thing important to you, is you." - ronedee
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RE: I went to church
June 20, 2013 at 8:39 pm
(June 18, 2013 at 11:15 pm)LeoVonFrost Wrote: Great story thanks. It is really close to what I went through on easter a while ago, I was brought up baptist now atheist and my wife was Lutheran asked me to go and I wanted to appease her so I went. It is a different world, isn't it? The way they talk to each other and chant and eat the blood of christ, I thought it was ritualistic. At the end they all shook hands and said "he is risen" "he is risen" "he is risen" to each other. The repetition stuck with me, do they need to repeat it so they believe it? I heard an argument that there is a great amount of atheists going to church every day being fooled.
Congrats on keeping your lack of faith in the face of peer pressure, we deal with it every day. My heavily religious co-workers avoided me for weeks after one of them got a "NO" when asking if I believe in God. When I went to a friend who I thought was an atheist I told him about it and he said "What the Hell is wrong with you?" There is a lot of forced shame and rejection against our views. But stick with it, reason is our hammer and we shall make it ring loudly. It's hard to feel lonely with the good people here, I hope you find what you are looking for, email me anytime.
thanks for the reply! It definitely is a different world compared to what I've been used to. and thanks I hope coming here will help me be less lonely. The peer pressure at times can be annoying.
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RE: I went to church
June 20, 2013 at 8:53 pm
(June 20, 2013 at 9:01 am)Drich Wrote: (June 19, 2013 at 9:29 am)Doubting Thomas Wrote: Lutheran church services aren't much different from Catholic masses, though I think Catholic masses have much more chanting & ritualism.
That's the problem with most Christians, they assume that we atheists just haven't visited the right church, and if we go to their church all the time then we'd be converted. They don't seem to understand that it's not the church that is the problem, it's Christianity that we don't agree with.
That's the problem with most atheists. They think that just because they visited a church (or went to one for 20+ years) they have any clue as to what Biblical Christianity actually is.
The Church is like a copper wire used to conduct electricity, it is a medium that allows for a connection. Just because one has copper wire, does not mean electricity is present. Like wise just because one spent 20+ years in a church means he/she knows God. (or even has experienced God.) One has to be "Plugged in" in order to have that experience.
What precisely is a Biblical Christian?
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RE: I went to church
June 20, 2013 at 9:01 pm
Drich Wrote:The Church is like a copper wire used to conduct electricity, it is a medium that allows for a connection. Just because one has copper wire, does not mean electricity is present. Like wise just because one spent 20+ years in a church means he/she knows God. (or even has experienced God.) One has to be "Plugged in" in order to have that experience.
Too bad there's no wall plug to be plugged in to. Instead, you plug it into a bicycle, and through ASK, you feed yourself.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" ~ Aristotle
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RE: I went to church
June 20, 2013 at 10:44 pm
(June 20, 2013 at 10:53 am)Esquilax Wrote: (June 20, 2013 at 9:01 am)Drich Wrote: That's the problem with most atheists. They think that just because they visited a church (or went to one for 20+ years) they have any clue as to what Biblical Christianity actually is.
That's the problem with most christians. They think that just because an atheist disagrees with them, they must not have any clue as to what christianity is.
It's this tremendous ego at play: "It's not that they have a point, they just don't know what they're talking about. Because anyone who truly understands christianity would agree with me." You're just sealing yourself away from ever having to critically examine your own position; the implication is that your position is absolutely correct , sight unseen of any objections or problems others might have with it, and those who object, by dint of objecting at all, must be wrong.
Silencing debate isn't the same as winning debate, though. This is just a way to not play the game while still pretending you came out victorious.
Rare is the man who has seen the face of God and still claim to be atheist. I'm just playing the odds.
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RE: I went to church
June 20, 2013 at 10:51 pm
(June 20, 2013 at 10:44 pm)Drich Wrote: Rare is the man who has seen the face of God and still claim to be atheist. I'm just playing the odds.
I see the face of God all the time, as my grocery store sells those tacky candles with Jesus on them. I manage to hold on.
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RE: I went to church
June 20, 2013 at 10:51 pm
(June 20, 2013 at 8:53 pm)cato123 Wrote: (June 20, 2013 at 9:01 am)Drich Wrote: That's the problem with most atheists. They think that just because they visited a church (or went to one for 20+ years) they have any clue as to what Biblical Christianity actually is.
The Church is like a copper wire used to conduct electricity, it is a medium that allows for a connection. Just because one has copper wire, does not mean electricity is present. Like wise just because one spent 20+ years in a church means he/she knows God. (or even has experienced God.) One has to be "Plugged in" in order to have that experience.
What precisely is a Biblical Christian?
A Christian who uses the bible to define their faith and their God. (Not some convention, gathering pf leaders, special prophets, living apstoles, man in a funny hat, or any specific form of worship or a given tradition for the sake of traditional worship.) no filter, just an individual's best effort to worship and love the God of the bible with all of their being, whatever that may look like or lead them.
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