Where do atheists turn in times of crisis?

[reverendjeremiah]

Here is my comment, its #2 top comment right now -

Atheist - "Then he's not all powerful then

Christian blond - *pauses and thinks "oh shit, he's right!...Ive got to change the subject quick!"

Fox news hosts argue that praying is what we ALL should do during a hurricane, and that atheists are stupid because they dont do it. When asked good questions, the fox news hosts admit "God cant stop the hurricane"... so the atheist points out "why pray then?" . Silverman spanks the faux noose hosts raw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6tczCwtI...y_received

Here are the comments that followed, along with some randoms-

God doesn't stop hurricanes etc because that is not his job and maybe Haarp created that Hurricane who knows. Its our job to not have any lust in our heart. People say well what is the point of God if he won't fix anything but the answer is he is coming back to fix everything. I believe all of these earthquakes have served as warning. God will only save those worth saving. In other words those who have love/humility in their hearts and not lust/pride/arrogance.

Lol, I've left my body as a spirit, and know at least 3 other people who have done this as well. This Atheist is a dumb shit. The 3 other people who have left their body are Agnostics by the way. No matter what religion you believe in, I can assure you, Atheism is wrong.

Yeah but let's face it. David Silverman is a shitty atheist leader-guy. His goal is to ''get atheists to come out of the closet''. To do so he offends Christians, calls their belief a myth, and by doing so he alienates the entire atheist community. No wonder American Christians hate atheists. Even the first line was an embedded insult. ''Hands that help are better than lips thay pray.'' If he would take a more respectful stance toward the great majority maybe atheism wouldn't be such a big deal.

typical, all the theist can bring to the argument is a louder voice and the stomping of there feet like a child when they get offended with reason.

[KichigaiNeko]

Where do atheists turn in times of crisis???....Science and critical thinking and they end up as problem solvers..so all the useless twerps can get on with the bowing and scraping and praying grrrr

Also noted was the fact that some pastor was "boarding up his church while he was praying for the safety of his parishioners" What he had no faith in his god to save his church?? hock:

[Ace Otana]

For some reason this quote popped into my head - "Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?".

Also yeah, prayer is fucking useless. It's delusional to think it's going to change anything. Comfort maybe but you can get that from drugs (which actually does a better job). People are most efficient and strong when they see problems they're going to face and prepare for it by using all USEFUL means. Not being on your knees with your eyes shut mumbling to your imaginary friend. If we did that every time we had a problem mankind would of gone extinct fucking centuries ago.

Good point about the whole 'can god stop the tornado?' thing. If he can but doesn't then he is malevolent. He'd be committing the immoral of inaction. If he can't then he isn't all powerful. Both are good reasons to question god. Why worship a being like that?

[reverendjeremiah]

I agree Ace. Im so sick of these fundies saying how ultimately powerful and loving their god is... but once the topic of a hurricane comes up, suddenly their god seems less powerful than humans.

Then again, we are atheists...we saw this obvious flaw in the belief a long time ago, and therefore we are atheists because of it.

How some of these people can say "god is good and powerful and perfect" and then turn around and say "God cant stop the hurricane, he will come back later to fix everything" is just outrageous.

[The Magic Pudding]

Where do atheists turn in times of crisis???....Science and critical thinking and they end up as problem solvers..so all the useless twerps can get on with the bowing and scraping and praying grrrr

Yes hopefully they prepare before hand, impose building standards, don't leave stuff laying around out side. Much loss of life can be prevented if people take responsibility and don't rely on sky man to save them. In a secular society people are free of a Sunday to participate in such things as volunteer fire hazard reduction, and emergency services work.

For a personal crisis such as an ill loved one, well threats just have to be faced, losses have to be suffered, it's not easy but it seems the grown up thing to do.

[KichigaiNeko]

A personal crisis?? Nothing can prepare you for that.... and no amount of praying will help...again science to the rescue!!

As you say Puddin...some things just have to be suffered. But no one here (atheists) is going to give you the whole god's will, mysterious ways bull crap.

You ok mate??

[Ace Otana]

I agree Ace. Im so sick of these fundies saying how ultimately powerful and loving their god is... but once the topic of a hurricane comes up, suddenly their god seems less powerful than humans.

Then again, we are atheists...we saw this obvious flaw in the belief a long time ago, and therefore we are atheists because of it.

How some of these people can say "god is good and powerful and perfect" and then turn around and say "God cant stop the hurricane, he will come back later to fix everything" is just outrageous.

Yeah there are a couple of points I should highlight for those sick fundies.
1. If god is not powerful enough to stop a hurricane then obviously god wasn't the one who created the universe. There is a contradiction when god cannot cause nor stop certain events. Either he is all powerful or he's not.

The other thing is the immoral of inaction. If theists don't think god is immoral for not taking action then they must be perfectly fine with letting a child drown in a swimming pool despite having the power to save the kid. A nasty natural event will constantly highlight the problems with their god. Is god willing but not able? Then he isn't all powerful. Is he able but not willing? Then he is malevolent. With their god, they have to pick which god they have, the malevolent or the powerless?

[The Magic Pudding]

You ok mate??

Ye I'm OK, no crises to suffer at the moment.

[KichigaiNeko]

You ok mate??

Ye I'm OK, no crises to suffer at the moment.

Same here then..usual summertime stuff.

[reverendjeremiah]

I know something that is much more effective than God during times of crisis.

A social safety net for your fellow citizens always helps.

Strange, though, how most christians poo poo the idea of welfare and social help. Its almost like they are actively trying to fuck humanity over by making them rely on ghosts and goblins and not on each other.