A reluctant atheist

[Blam!]

You have me interested, KichigaiNeko.

Edited: corrected my past/present tense mistakes.

[KichigaiNeko]

You had me interested, KichigaiNeko.

Had Blam! ?

This forum is not a place for me to vent my feelings on the cruelty inflicted on innocent children by religion.

Heindallr...the guardian of the Bifrost bridge?? Norse mythology IS a fascinating topic

[Blam!]

You had me interested, KichigaiNeko.

Had Blam! ?

This forum is not a place for me to vent my feelings on the cruelty inflicted on innocent children by religion.

Heindallr...the guardian of the Bifrost bridge?? Norse mythology IS a fascinating topic

Oh, crap. Isn't "had" the present tense? My apologies. I'd love to hear your thoughts over this religion indoctrination in the suitable thread.

[KichigaiNeko]

You had me interested, KichigaiNeko.

Had Blam! ?

This forum is not a place for me to vent my feelings on the cruelty inflicted on innocent children by religion.

Heindallr...the guardian of the Bifrost bridge?? Norse mythology IS a fascinating topic

Oh, crap. Isn't "had" the present tense? My apologies. I'd love to hear your thoughts over this religion indoctrination in the suitable thread.

English grammar is hard enough for those who are born to the language..(hence my question) Had is past tense (implying that your interest in my comment waned) Have is present tense (as in you would like me to expand my views now)

[Norfolk And Chance]

I’ve lived the last 30 years of my live happily applying common sense and reasoning to the existence of a deity. Until recently the Agnostic label suited me well as I could never conclusively argue that there was no high being responsible for life as we know it.

I’ve lived under the ignorant belief that anyone with an ounce of intelligence will question their belief; not to disprove it but to understand it better. I thought that those that do believe do so for comfort and social acceptance but no one in England really believes that non-believers go to hell and that every newborn baby is a sinner!

I enjoyed my Richard Dawkins DVD box set, watched a few Louis Theroux documentaries on Youtube, love Ricky Jervais’ and Eddie Izzard’s take on Religion but never found the need to explore Atheism as to me it was an extremist, militant view.

However, this year a seemingly intelligent 21 year old ‘born again Christian’ joined our team at work. His views and level of indoctrination scared the heck out of me and to say it was an eye opener would be an understatement.

His defiance to appreciate science and nature annoyed me, his claim that my 14 month old baby girl was a sinner wound me up and telling me I was destined to go to hell come judgement day tipped me over the edge…

…and so here I am

I’m still not a hardened militant atheist and don’t plan on taking that route. I still appreciate the merits of belief and I don’t believe you can necessarily call religion the route of all evil because if you removed belief you’d still have warring factions and hatred built up around the colour of a flag or skin.

However, I am desperate to learn more about religion and an uncovering of the truth. I’m currently listening to a Christopher Hitchens audio book called ‘God is not Great’ and enjoyed John Humphrys’ ‘In God we Doubt’. But nothing I’ve found so far gives me a basic uncovering of the truth and lies behind religion.

So after my long winded rant of an introduction I would like to ask if anyone could point me in the direction of a non militant, easy going and reasoned guide to debunking religion.

Thank you for listening and I very much enjoy engaging in some open minded conversations.

Chris

Hi Chris, welcome to the war.

You need to be militant when you meet some of the theists swirling around the 'net. Not what you want to hear, but you'll discover it in time.

[Chriswt]

Hi Chris, welcome to the war.

You need to be militant when you meet some of the theists swirling around the 'net. Not what you want to hear, but you'll discover it in time.

Thank you and thanks to everyone else for you warm welcome.

I've only merely glanced at a few posts buy believers trying to put their argument across and already I feel the need to stock up my munitions in readiness for the war!!!! (all hypothetical of course)

[Cinjin]

There are SOOO many ways to use his own Bible against him.

Where to begin is all dependent on what stupidity he throws at you. Regardless, don't try to argue against the Bible. Use it. Bar none it is the best defense against the idiocy of christianity.

Biblical Contradictions are a beautiful start. This is one of many sites to visit for a list of absurdities.



EDITED: Or if you really want some good shit. Read Minimalist's historical posts. Gold.

[Minimalist]

It's tough to use facts against religious assholes because they are not interested in facts. They are interested in propping up their own absurd beliefs and any facts which are inconvenient are simply dismissed.

I know one idiot who denounces every archaeological find which shows the OT to be a work of late fiction as the archaeologist being "biased" but every preacher who tells him what he wants to hear is speaking god's own truth. The purpose of knowing facts, therefore, is not for them but for yourself.

Get hold of a copy of Israel Finkelstein's "The Bible Unearthed" and start from there.

And welcome, btw.

[Chriswt]

There are SOOO many ways to use his own Bible against him.

Where to begin is all dependent on what stupidity he throws at you. Regardless, don't try to argue against the Bible. Use it. Bar none it is the best defense against the idiocy of christianity.

Biblical Contradictions are a beautiful start. This is one of many sites to visit for a list of absurdities.



EDITED: Or if you really want some good shit. Read Minimalist's historical posts. Gold.

Fantastic, this is what I need. I loved lego as a kid so this stick in the mind whereas just reading about the old testament bored me to tears.

[Don Bonbon]

From your text there is no question of faith...basically Christianity asks "what good do I get, if God exists", i.e. they don't want to believe in God, they want God to worship them, to deliver them service, Eternal Life.
Take Eternal Life out of the equation, and you'll get 20 christains around the world.

Now let's assume for a moment that God does exists. If he is stupid enough to accord eternal life for those who regard Him as a mere servant, He does not that super intelligent creature which is God. If he is intelligent, no chance He will accept and grant Eternal Life for that cheap gesture of weak people who try to force Him to save them...