Hi There

[Whateverist]

Hello AJ and welcome. I'm currently posting over at Craig's ReasonableFaith forum. Good for you for widening your horizons. Do you post at any religious forums?

I'd encourage you to spend a little time in purely social threads to see how people are when they're not arguing for anything. That doesn't seem to be an emphasis at RF but here, there is no imperative to remain irenic at all times. Also the choice of language is fucking up to you. You're also not required to be nice but as anywhere cordiality will always take you further.

I'm guessing you are a protestant of some sort if you're in the USA. Can you guess what denomination one of our most popular theists, Catholic_Lady, might be? Kingpin is another example of a theist who mixes well and is well liked and respected here. But there are several more including Drich, ChadWooters, Godschild and MysticKnight.

Feel free to PM me if you need any help finding your way around.

[AJW333]

Welcome. We always welcome honest, open-minded debaters. Please try to keep your assumptions about how we think to a minimum; ask, instead. For instance:

Is it possible that you have a "sneaking suspicion" because that's what practically every preacher on the planet uses to "explain" why people are leaving the faith in droves, rather than admitting there might be people who simply choose not to continue to wear their rose-colored glasses when examining the scriptures the religion claims was written by an almighty and loving deity rather than by the mere humans who did the writing?

There is no such thing as "the atheist mind". We are as diverse as any group you could imagine, except for the fact that we have no preset reason to reject scientific discoveries nor do we think that there are magical causes for mundane occurrences.

My sneaking suspicion is based on the responses given by many atheists, in particular with respect to perceived injustices perpetrated by a "loving God." It seems to me that for some atheists at least, there is more of an issue with the nature and character of the Christian God than the fact that we believe that one exists.

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Hello AJ and welcome.  I'm currently posting over at Craig's ReasonableFaith forum.  Good for you for widening your horizons.  Do you post at any religious forums?

I'd encourage you to spend a little time in purely social threads to see how people are when they're not arguing for anything.  That doesn't seem to be an emphasis at RF but here, there is no imperative to remain irenic at all times.  Also the choice of language is fucking up to you.  You're also not required to be nice but as anywhere cordiality will always take you further.

I'm guessing you are a protestant of some sort if you're in the USA.  Can you guess what denomination one of our most popular theists, Catholic_Lady, might be?  Kingpin is another example of a theist who mixes well and is well liked and respected here.  But there are several more including Drich, ChadWooters, Godschild and MysticKnight.  

Feel free to PM me if you need any help finding your way around.

Thanks for the welcome. Protestant from Australia. Haven't been on any forums for years. Last one was arguing with Catholics which was pretty much futile, though it did make me think more carefully about what I believe. I'll be sure to have a look around. Cheers

[Alex K]

@AJ

Those atheists are pointing out inconsistencies in your worldview. If I say "your God is a not nice person", I do not assume that he really exists, I merely adopt that stance for the sake of the argument. Understand the difference or don't understand anything at all.

[ignoramus]

Welcome matey.

Do you think Jesus was a folder or a scruncher!
I know it's not that important in the grand scheme of things, but as atheists, we always end up overanalysing most things.

PS, We love talking about objective morality! We can't get enough of it! hehe Do you have any thoughts on the matter?

[Expired]

Good morning sir.

[pocaracas]

Welcome aboard, AJ.
Make yourself comfortable, because you're in for a bumpy ride!!! BUHAHAHAHA!!!

Allow me to reiterate what uncle Alex said - usually, when atheists point out some of god's features, they are simply trying to show you, the believer, how strange, inconsistent, inconsiderate, immoral or evil that god is... and usually, you, the believer, follow that belief on nothing more than "you were raised like that".
Also... ultimately, many of us are well aware that belief is a psychological state... and, as many such states, it can be ingrained into you, regardless of the veracity of the claim on which the belief is based. And it is well known that ingraining works best during childhood. Once ingrained, the belief is very difficult to shake off, no matter how irrational it is (this applies to any belief, not just religious).
Because it's difficult to shake off, those more rational believers delve into apologetics and find a myriad of ways to justify their beliefs... oblivious to the fact that they all rest on the unverifiable.... to them, it IS verifiable! but it's not really...
And old texts mean simply that some people wrote stories way back when. The veracity of those stories is debatable, specially being aware of the existence of many more similar stories which didn't make the final cut... a final cut also made by none other than people.
And people is all there is. People is all we see. People and people's observations on other people - how they behave, how they act, how they come to think about certain subjects...

People and their minds. Religion works as a mind control technique... it works quite well, I may say. And some people are truly better off as believers.
Atheists who take the time to go online and talk about these things, however, tend to have a clear picture of how their minds work and what psychological exploits exist in the religious discourse, making it easy for them (us) to disregard many claims which, to the believer, make absolute sense.
Do learn about logical fallacies... that's a good start.... then see how they are constantly applied by the religious. robvalue's blog (I think you can find it in his signature) has a nice list with a short description of each... I'd check it out, if I were you.

[brewer]

Howdy AJ.

I've never been to Egypt.

[Whateverist]

Welcome matey.

Do you think Jesus was a folder or a scruncher!
I know it's not that important in the grand scheme of things, but as atheists, we always end up overanalysing most things.

PS, We love talking  about objective morality!  We can't get enough of it!    hehe   Do you have any thoughts on the matter?

Naturally that would be immaterial.

[Whateverist]

Welcome aboard, AJ.
Make yourself comfortable, because you're in for a bumpy ride!!! BUHAHAHAHA!!!

Allow me to reiterate what uncle Alex said - usually, when atheists point out some of god's features, they are simply trying to show you, the believer, how strange, inconsistent, inconsiderate, immoral or evil that god is...

Speak for yourself Poca my boy. I just do it to fuck with them a bit. All in good fun of course.

[pocaracas]

Welcome aboard, AJ.
Make yourself comfortable, because you're in for a bumpy ride!!! BUHAHAHAHA!!!

Allow me to reiterate what uncle Alex said - usually, when atheists point out some of god's features, they are simply trying to show you, the believer, how strange, inconsistent, inconsiderate, immoral or evil that god is...

Speak for yourself Poca my boy.  I just do it to fuck with them a bit.  All in good fun of course.

Oh... that's just a secondary goal