If Atheism Is A Religion.....

[Sword of Christ]

But there is no shortage of gods, demons, and fairy-tale creatures that have been "proved" through that method. All you need is to be crazy and/or hallucinating. BAM! God exists!

If you actually met an angel or a demon you would know they exist and some people may well have done though I haven't myself. God isn't like a person you met in that sense though he is present everywhere within the universe as well as being transcendent beyond it.

[Psykhronic]

But there is no shortage of gods, demons, and fairy-tale creatures that have been "proved" through that method. All you need is to be crazy and/or hallucinating. BAM! God exists!

If you actually met an angel or a demon you would know they exist and some people may well have done

Funny, it seems hard to tell the difference between psychosis and meeting an angel or demon.

[Faith No More]

Funny, it seems hard to tell the difference between psychosis and meeting an angel or demon.

Are you recycling my material?

[Doubting Thomas]

So let me see... the thing to do is make yourself believe in God, then he will become real and if you're lucky he'll send an angel your way and then you'll really believe in him.

My problem is the first step. I can no more make myself believe in God than I can Santa Claus.

[Tonus]

If you actually met an angel or a demon you would know they exist and some people may well have done though I haven't myself.

Me either. One of the things I noticed over time was that there were no shortages of stories of such experiences with ghosts or demons or angels and so on. Yet I cannot recall any that were first-person. Lots of third and fourth-person accounts of amazing experiences that had happened to a friend-of-a-friend or a distant relative or someone else who you probably wouldn't ever get the chance to speak with directly.

And all of them sound preposterous to anyone who isn't already primed to believe in such things. Even the people who told those stories (and clearly believed them) would scoff at any fanciful story about things that they were not primed to accept, such as space aliens or Bigfoot. And even the ones they accepted were conditional; if a person from another denomination or religion spoke of seeing an angel, this was likely to be scoffed at or attributed to demons.

I don't think any of the people relaying (and judging the veracity of) these stories realized just how carefully they were filtering the information in order to confirm their beliefs. Magical creatures that fit into their worldview? Definitely happened as was claimed. Magical creatures that didn't fit? Person must be mistaken, or seeing things, or fooled by the magical creatures that they know exist.

[Psykhronic]

Funny, it seems hard to tell the difference between psychosis and meeting an angel or demon.

Are you recycling my material?

Nope, just making an observation I feel justified in making as someone who was once psychotic

[Minimalist]

All you need is to produce evidence that your particular variant of the magical sky-daddy exists, pal.

I doubt you are up to the challenge.

Evidence can be provided though it is somewhat subjective.

The brain farts of believers are not evidence.

[Sword of Christ]

Me either. One of the things I noticed over time was that there were no shortages of stories of such experiences with ghosts or demons or angels and so on. Yet I cannot recall any that were first-person. Lots of third and fourth-person accounts of amazing experiences that had happened to a friend-of-a-friend or a distant relative or someone else who you probably wouldn't ever get the chance to speak with directly.

I've read plenty of first hand experience accounts. You could say they were hallucinating it if you want to presuppose material naturalism and consciousness as a secretion of the brain and all that business.

And all of them sound preposterous to anyone who isn't already primed to believe in such things.

Same goes if you're primed to believe that anyone who ever encounters one of these entities is hallucinating because the physical world is all that exists. There would have to be occasions when people hallucinate the being as well, they may well manifest within consciousness rather than physically or that's the most common mode of appearance.

Even the people who told those stories (and clearly believed them) would scoff at any fanciful story about things that they were not primed to accept, such as space aliens or Bigfoot. And even the ones they accepted were conditional; if a person from another denomination or religion spoke of seeing an angel, this was likely to be scoffed at or attributed to demons.

Different religions may interpret the beings differently, though they all believe in good and evil spirits of some form. There is another world out there.

I don't think any of the people relaying (and judging the veracity of) these stories realized just how carefully they were filtering the information in order to confirm their beliefs. Magical creatures that fit into their worldview? Definitely happened as was claimed. Magical creatures that didn't fit? Person must be mistaken, or seeing things, or fooled by the magical creatures that they know exist.

You have to assume what you're assuming to begin with. It could easily be that these things are real in some way, or at least some of them are. A great many people have seen or experienced something very odd and otherworldly over the course of human history and these things are still seen and reported today.

[Angrboda]

All you need is to produce evidence that your particular variant of the magical sky-daddy exists, pal.

I doubt you are up to the challenge.

Evidence can be provided though it is somewhat subjective.

Did you forget something, Christian? Did your fellow pigeons order you to return and proclaim your imaginary victory and your imaginary god some more?

I think I've covered everything here. You can continue deny the logical conclusion of Gods inevitable existence if you like. Sure it isn't inevitable that the God who exists is the Christian God of the Trinity, but I have also covered the arguments for that specific faith in God in relation to all the alternatives available including deism. So...

---

Prove it... within myself... a being that cannot be proven with science...

Nah, not gonna waste my time thanks.

You can at least make an effort surely?

Are you going to make an equally sincere attempt to believe in and worship my god?

If not, then fuck off, hypocrite.

[freedomfromforum]

The creator of this ridiculous thread
wishes to extend his sincere smiles
and gratitude to the following forum
member for carrying this thread into
the fourth page....

"Sword Of Christ"

Were it not for you hilarious and often
highly illogical contributions, this thread
may have ended long ago. Good work
soldier - I think you got some.... NOT!