juts done

[Esquilax]

If it is guilt from leaving the faith then it is the Holy Spirit, if it is hope it doesn't stop.

GC

Oh, what a surprise: GC sees someone reaching out for help, and his only response is to try and threaten them into doing what he wants, with all the malice he can muster.

How very Christian of you. And I say that without a hint of sarcasm.

[Lek]

Yeah, that didn't come over the way it was intended KUSA

---

Maybe a better question would be why feel guilty just because religion wants you to?

Do atheists ever feel guilty or do they just never do anything wrong? Of course, who's to say what is right or what is wrong? If I was an atheist, I'd just say that whatever I do is fine, then I wouldn't feel any guilt at all. No sweat. Actually, society is always trying to make us feel guilty about something. We don't need religion to do that.

As for you Over, don't keep feeling guilty. Go to Chist, be forgiven and throw away the guilt. You may always feel bad about some things that you've done, but you're not guilty anymore.

[The Valkyrie]

10 years...all my intellect...everything changed.
i was so certain about the christian faith.
i can even defend it to this today.

BUT - this feeling of perpetual GUILT can NOT be right.
help

Biblical Christianity is freedom from sin. Which means it is also freedom from guilt.

But it spends so much time telling people they're worthless sinners.

---

Yeah, that didn't come over the way it was intended KUSA

---

Maybe a better question would be why feel guilty just because religion wants you to?

If I was an atheist, I'd just say that whatever I do is fine, then I wouldn't feel any guilt at all. No sweat.

Then you have no understanding what it is to be an atheist.

Tell me. Would you go out and rape and kill IF you believed your god said it was okay to do so?

[Popsicle]

10 years...all my intellect...everything changed.
i was so certain about the christian faith.
i can even defend it to this today.

BUT - this feeling of perpetual GUILT can NOT be right.
help

i Agree, its best to confess

[Esquilax]

Do atheists ever feel guilty or do they just never do anything wrong?

The former.

I would also point out that, in the event that we do feel guilty, atheists don't have a proxy escape mechanism in Jesus to let us forgive ourselves without having to do anything. We actually have to, you know, make amends to the people we've harmed.

Of course, who's to say what is right or what is wrong?

Reality, and the harm we might do to other people.

Are you really so bereft of morals that you need someone else to tell you that hurting people is bad? Did god's moral commandments not come about because they had practical applications? Are you saying that they were just a list of opinions with no effect on the real world at all?

You'd have to be, if you think an atheist couldn't reason their way to morality based on the world around them.

If I was an atheist, I'd just say that whatever I do is fine, then I wouldn't feel any guilt at all. No sweat.

This says more about you than it does about atheists. I don't think it's actually true, I think you're just bullshitting to try and puff up your own position, but since it's demonstrably true that atheists are moral, often to greater degrees than the religious, and you're sitting there admitting that the only thing keeping you moral is god, well... I think it's pretty clear where morality really comes from, in that hypothetical.

As for you Over, don't keep feeling guilty. Go to Chist, be forgiven and throw away the guilt. You may always feel bad about some things that you've done, but you're not guilty anymore.

Yep, that's the problem: don't bother repaying debts or making amends, just think you're forgiven in your head, and you are! The christian way!

[Cato]

Biblical Christianity is freedom from sin. Which means it is also freedom from guilt.

This reminds me of the anti-malware software peddlers that want your money to remove the malware that they placed on your computer.

[Ryantology]

Do atheists ever feel guilty or do they just never do anything wrong? Of course, who's to say what is right or what is wrong? If I was an atheist, I'd just say that whatever I do is fine, then I wouldn't feel any guilt at all. No sweat. Actually, society is always trying to make us feel guilty about something. We don't need religion to do that.

Is your belief in God the only reason you don't go around killing and stealing and raping?

If not, you've discovered one more reason that belief is worthless.

If so, seek help.

[Lek]

This says more about you than it does about atheists. I don't think it's actually true, I think you're just bullshitting to try and puff up your own position, but since it's demonstrably true that atheists are moral, often to greater degrees than the religious, and you're sitting there admitting that the only thing keeping you moral is god, well... I think it's pretty clear where morality really comes from, in that hypothetical.

I think some atheists are moral, but you can't say that all or even most atheists are moral and the same applies to christians. That's why we need a savior. Atheist regimes have a terrible human rights record, i.e. the Soviet Union, People's Rep of China, North Korea and[/quote] Cambodia to name some.

Yep, that's the problem: don't bother repaying debts or making amends, just think you're forgiven in your head, and you are! The christian way!

Jesus preached the need to repay debts and make amends. That goes along with repentence. If you're not willing to do that, then you're not truly sorry. Living the life that Christ taught and demonstrated is a necessary element of faith in him.

[Esquilax]

I think some atheists are moral, but you can't say that all or even most atheists are moral and the same applies to christians. That's why we need a savior. Atheist regimes have a terrible human rights record, i.e. the Soviet Union, People's Rep of China, North Korea and

Cambodia to name some. [/quote]

It's not a matter of who is or isn't moral, because I don't really have much interest in comparing our demographic dick sizes, in that regard. It's a matter of where morality comes from, and why you think that without a god you wouldn't feel the need to feel guilty at bad actions, or perform the same moral deeds.

Don't you feel good when you do good? Can't you see the benefits in such things? That's why I said I don't think you really believe what you said above, because you're not a sociopath and you've surely got to be smart enough to see the benefits of a moral life; I think what you did was make a contrived shot at atheism without really considering the full scope of the corollaries.

[DeistPaladin]

As for you Over, don't keep feeling guilty. Go to Chist, be forgiven and throw away the guilt. You may always feel bad about some things that you've done, but you're not guilty anymore.

...and you just summed up one of many reasons why secular morality is superior to theistic morality.

When you do bad things as a theist, you look up in the sky, put your hands together and say "sorry about that" to your imaginary friend and all is magically made right.

When you do bad things as a freethinker, you have to apologize to the person you wronged, gain forgiveness from a real person or people and then work to set things right.