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RE: Bravery of peaceful belivers.
February 6, 2017 at 8:55 am
(This post was last modified: February 6, 2017 at 9:02 am by purplepurpose.)
(February 5, 2017 at 1:21 pm)Stimbo Wrote: Yeah, those believers have it really tough.
I mean, such bravery in sticking to their guns regardless of evidence, all so they don't risk getting coal for xmas.
That is what we're talking about, right?
To follow the instincts of self preservation and simply await death in comfort is even worse, no matter how you look at it. Evidence is just a probability, atheists like to present it as a fact.
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RE: Bravery of peaceful belivers.
February 6, 2017 at 9:00 am
That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence. Evidence is only a problem for someone who has none.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
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RE: Bravery of peaceful belivers.
February 6, 2017 at 9:13 am
(February 6, 2017 at 9:00 am)Stimbo Wrote: That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence. Evidence is only a problem for someone who has none.
That's strictly rational positon. But we posses irrational feelings as well. And I fell that atheism is much weaker than theism in terms of ideas.
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RE: Bravery of peaceful belivers.
February 6, 2017 at 9:21 am
Atheism is the rational rejection of theistic claims until they satisfy their burden of proof. As such, it is the null hypothesis to whatever ideas theism purports to have. It's at least as strong, whatever that means in this context, as theism. Yes, I too have irrational feelings. They are surprisingly irrelevant to my atheism; unless you want to insinuate that I take the atheist position for irrational reasons, which you have to demonstrate.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
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RE: Bravery of peaceful belivers.
February 6, 2017 at 9:33 am
(This post was last modified: February 6, 2017 at 10:19 am by Homeless Nutter.)
(February 6, 2017 at 8:55 am)purplepurpose Wrote: To follow the instincts of self preservation and simply await death in comfort is even worse, no matter how you look at it.[...]
LOL... And who the f*ck does that? Why exactly do you feel the need to straw-man atheists in pretty much every post? Did your wife run off with a non-believer, or something?...
There are plenty of ways for atheists to find meaning and purpose in life, beyond self-preservation and hedonism, which don't involve subjecting one's life to a convenient fantasy and substituting fear and blind obedience for empathy and reason.
On the other hand - most nominally religious people don't seem to have a problem with living empty and self-centered lives, only using their beliefs as a means to avoid thinking about death and suffering of their neighbors and to claim moral superiority regardless.
"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." - George Bernard Shaw
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RE: Bravery of peaceful belivers.
February 6, 2017 at 10:11 am
Case in point - I've mentioned before about a certain church-going, bible-thumping, tongue-speaking (literally; I've heard the idiot babbling like a loon, totally unhinged) prick who has no qualms about cheating on his wife or defrauding children's charities. He's literally said that all he needs to do is confess his sins at his church and it's all good.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
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RE: Bravery of peaceful belivers.
February 6, 2017 at 11:13 am
Yes, it's so brave of them to hold the beliefs of the majority around them.
Such courage it must take to go with the flow!
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: Bravery of peaceful belivers.
February 20, 2017 at 3:17 pm
(February 5, 2017 at 11:07 am)purplepurpose Wrote: Its much easier to live as a non believer because there is no extra weight of following the harsh standards or religion. You live and enjoy your life and there is no expectation of "Judgment Day" along with ideas of hells tortures.
I don't know of any believer that has changed their behavior for their faith. That's what's great about American Christianity. It's costs you nothing but your critical mind (which you weren't using much if you go this way), you can do whatever you want because, well, we're ALL sinners, and you have all these people to look down on and judge. And god hates the same things and people you do! Glory Be!
"The last superstition of the human mind is the superstition that religion in itself is a good thing." - Samuel Porter Putnam
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RE: Bravery of peaceful belivers.
February 20, 2017 at 5:09 pm
(This post was last modified: February 20, 2017 at 5:15 pm by paulpablo.)
Surely peaceful believers are the least brave people, unless they're Christians in a Muslim country then that's fairly brave.
Probably the bravest people are violent believers.
Strapping a bomb to your chest and blowing yourself up or flying a plane into a building is pretty much textbook bravery.
Are you ready for the fire? We are firemen. WE ARE FIREMEN! The heat doesn’t bother us. We live in the heat. We train in the heat. It tells us that we’re ready, we’re at home, we’re where we’re supposed to be. Flames don’t intimidate us. What do we do? We control the flame. We control them. We move the flames where we want to. And then we extinguish them.
Impersonation is treason.
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RE: Bravery of peaceful belivers.
February 21, 2017 at 10:44 am
(This post was last modified: February 21, 2017 at 10:45 am by SteveII.)
(February 20, 2017 at 3:17 pm)Harry Nevis Wrote: (February 5, 2017 at 11:07 am)purplepurpose Wrote: Its much easier to live as a non believer because there is no extra weight of following the harsh standards or religion. You live and enjoy your life and there is no expectation of "Judgment Day" along with ideas of hells tortures.
I don't know of any believer that has changed their behavior for their faith. That's what's great about American Christianity. It's costs you nothing but your critical mind (which you weren't using much if you go this way), you can do whatever you want because, well, we're ALL sinners, and you have all these people to look down on and judge. And god hates the same things and people you do! Glory Be!
Judging by several of your posts in multiple threads, you are inventing a religion that you can then criticize. That is a classic straw man argument. Congrats.
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