The Reasons why "Just Following Jesus" Doesn't work

[abentwookie]

I'm sure that you have met some of those Christians that say they aren't like the "bad Christians" they throw out the old testament and just follow the words of nice cuddly Jesus, well that doesn't work either.

You made some good points but I do have to disagree on a couple of them. One thing I want to say is that I wish Atheists would tone down the "You're just a stupid creatard!" type of comments. I agree with what Matt Dillahunty said about that subject. It is okay to say an argument is stupid as long as you can show WHY that is the case but we shouldn't say religious people are stupid. I think it reflects negatively on atheists. I understand it can be frustrating but it is important to remain civil when discussing these issues because we need to be the ones who appear to be rational and calm. When I debate people, I often have the urge to ask if the other person is an idiot and it can be difficult to resist saying it. However, it is better to let your opponent be the one who does the name-calling if your goal is to try to convince people who are either on the fence or already question their views.

It also isn't accurate to say they are stupid or at least it doesn't appear to be the case from my point of view. Many have just been manipulated into believing something ridiculous. I have debated a lot of religious people and most of them were not stupid. Naive? Sure. Ignorant about certain topics? Usually. However, I will point out that we're all ignorant about certain things so this isn't just something that is exclusive to religious people. I could point out several quotes from Atheists that sound exactly like something a religious fundamentalist would say.

I think Dillahunty summed it up perfectly when he said that he didn't get smarter when he became an atheist, he just became more informed about certain subjects.