Hi There

[TheRocketSurgeon]

You truly are welcome, Christian person. It's true. There are other Christians here. Hold on to your socks, because you'll be surprised. 

  nah! Welcome. It's cozy here. Grab a onesie and make yourself comfortable. Just don't forget that you aren't allowed near the off topic section if you don't rep me first. Oh, and you can't use the words "fact", "theory", or "Bible" unless you give me a rep. Welcome, truly.

Thanks. What's a rep?

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You truly are welcome, Christian person. It's true. There are other Christians here. Hold on to your socks, because you'll be surprised. 

  nah! Welcome. It's cozy here. Grab a onesie and make yourself comfortable. Just don't forget that you aren't allowed near the off topic section if you don't rep me first. Oh, and you can't use the words "fact", "theory", or "Bible" unless you give me a rep. Welcome, truly.

Thanks. Not sure what you mean here. Could you elaborate?

Rep = Reputation Points. You can score people for good posts, or if you really like the quality of their work. In fact, for a while (he decided to stop coming here, sadly), the highest-repped person I knew on an atheism board was a Christian. But he was honest, respectful, and did not treat us as inferior, the way most Christians do, nor saw us as enemies in some ideological war. That's a big start. Mamacita was just pulling your chain. 

The reason she used the terms "fact", "theory", and "Bible" is that we have many, many, many Christians come here (briefly), and sling the first two terms around incorrectly, to our extreme annoyance, and then use "Bible" to justify their beliefs when they get called out on some BS. The same goes for the earlier reference to "Objective Morality", which is the latest fad for apologetics fans, claiming they have the lock on "objective" morality, while all of us have "subjective" (and thus inferior) moral codes... essentially, it is a claim that Christians are inherently more moral people than non-believers. If you can't understand why this sticks in our craw, well, this may not be the place for you. Here's a made-up example of the type of exchange I'm talking about:

"Well DNA had to have a Designer because DNA is information, and it's a fact that information only comes from intelligence."

"That's not a fact, that's just an assertion. We absolutely don't know that for a fact, and from what we've seen of how DNA operates, it seems to be a try/fail/succeed system that operates blindly, with the ones that don't have better information losing to those who do. This suggests that it is a blind, unintelligent process that only looks deliberately ordered, at first glance, to our pattern-seeking hunter-gatherer brains."

"I believe I am the intelligently designed masterpiece of the Creator because the Bible tells me so."

"Ooooooooooooooooohhhhhh, I see. Impervious to reason. Got it." 

So, stick around long enough and you'll figure out the tone of the place, so to speak, and it'll be harder to jerk your chain. Don't take it personally; we do it to one another constantly.

[The Valkyrie]

Welcome.

I'm not spiritual but in denial.

I don't believe in deities - any deities, which just happens to include the Abrahamic one.

[Angrboda]

Welcome to the forum.

May you find many answers.

[The Grand Nudger]

Welcome aboard.

[AJW333]

Welcome matey.

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

Hi Ignoramus,

Yes I have lots of thoughts on morality! This is probably not the thread to discuss them but I will no doubt get to it soon. 

Cheers

AJ.

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Thanks. What's a rep?

---

Thanks. Not sure what you mean here. Could you elaborate?

Rep = Reputation Points. You can score people for good posts, or if you really like the quality of their work. In fact, for a while (he decided to stop coming here, sadly), the highest-repped person I knew on an atheism board was a Christian. But he was honest, respectful, and did not treat us as inferior, the way most Christians do, nor saw us as enemies in some ideological war. That's a big start. Mamacita was just pulling your chain. 

The reason she used the terms "fact", "theory", and "Bible" is that we have many, many, many Christians come here (briefly), and sling the first two terms around incorrectly, to our extreme annoyance, and then use "Bible" to justify their beliefs when they get called out on some BS. The same goes for the earlier reference to "Objective Morality", which is the latest fad for apologetics fans, claiming they have the lock on "objective" morality, while all of us have "subjective" (and thus inferior) moral codes... essentially, it is a claim that Christians are inherently more moral people than non-believers. If you can't understand why this sticks in our craw, well, this may not be the place for you. Here's a made-up example of the type of exchange I'm talking about:

"Well DNA had to have a Designer because DNA is information, and it's a fact that information only comes from intelligence."

"That's not a fact, that's just an assertion. We absolutely don't know that for a fact, and from what we've seen of how DNA operates, it seems to be a try/fail/succeed system that operates blindly, with the ones that don't have better information losing to those who do. This suggests that it is a blind, unintelligent process that only looks deliberately ordered, at first glance, to our pattern-seeking hunter-gatherer brains."

"I believe I am the intelligently designed masterpiece of the Creator because the Bible tells me so."

"Ooooooooooooooooohhhhhh, I see. Impervious to reason. Got it." 

So, stick around long enough and you'll figure out the tone of the place, so to speak, and it'll be harder to jerk your chain. Don't take it personally; we do it to one another constantly.

Ok thanks for the heads up. My aim is to be respectful and patient. That said, I do enjoy robust debate.  And DNA is a topic I'm interested in so  I look forward to some discussion on this.

AJ.

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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".

Hi Pocaracas 
Thanks for the welcome. Your statement here is very much what I'm interested in discussing, perhaps I'll start a thread on it once I've had a look around. 
Cheers
AJ

[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".

Hi Pocaracas 
Thanks for the welcome. Your statement here is very much what I'm interested in discussing, perhaps I'll start a thread on it once I've had a look around. 
Cheers
AJ

Can't wait!

Also, I forgot, I (and some others around here) consider this god I speak of as a fictional character.
Just like I can try to understand the motivations behind Darth Vader in Star Wars, or what makes Prof. Snape behave as he does... it doesn't mean I think these are real entities.
Just like the gods of the tales of old.

[TheRocketSurgeon]

Welcome.

I'm not spiritual but in denial.

I don't believe in deities - any deities, which just happens to include the Abrahamic one.

This is a good point we should have added to your introductory question. A good quotation, from the early days of internet atheist boards, to help you understand comes from Stephen Roberts:

"I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."


http://freelink.wildlink.com/quote_history.php

[robvalue]

I'm not any more mad at God than I am mad that superman hasn't come down and defeated all my enemies.

I assume you don't believe Sauron from lord of the rings is real. Good, neither do I. But let's say I really did think he was real. And further to that, I was worshipping him and spreading the message of how wonderful he is, contrary to the fact that he's blatantly evil. Even though his existence isn't even a question for you, you'd likely be a bit concerned and confused by my choice to worship such a thing. You'd wonder what that said about me.

Maybe. Then again, maybe you wouldn't. I don't like to make assumptions.

[ignoramus]

AJW333, before we can agree or disagree on whether we are "spiritual in denial", you'll need to define the word spiritual for us.

Do you believe in astrology?

[robvalue]

Sure, I can't be in denial about something when I don't know what it is.