(March 22, 2013 at 6:57 pm)John V Wrote: People have struggled with conscience and guilt throughout recorded history, and you just dismiss this as an imaginary illness. I didn't think it deserved a serious reply. I still don't. Bye-bye.
Of course they have.
But you didn't say "guilt and conscience" did you? You said "sin". These are not the same thing.
If I were to treat someone bad, or steal something, I would feel guilty and my conscience would bother me. But that is because I mistreated another human.
But sin is something completely different. Sin is something that is supposedly wrong just because a god says so. Sins are not necessarily something that is the mistreatment of other people. Apostasy, for example.
Quote:No, I deserve to be shot for my sins.
Yes, because your thought process has become so poisoned because of your beliefs.
Do you believe that us atheists, if we die atheist, are going to hell?
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
