Still a Christian - ask me questions/tell me about yourselves

[Aoi Magi]

Agree CL, but do you think it's a coincidence that a certain type usually ignore the rules about posting links. In my experience, if a new user is here 5 minutes and posts links, it usually means their spruking wares and not here to join in and engage in any meaningful way with the other members here....but let's  hope I'm wrong...

I violated that rule twice when I first joined bc I didn't understand it/wasn't aware of it. I don't think he did it on purpose. Give the guy a chance.

I'd assume it was just a mistake if he hadn't gone through the trouble of posting a link like that.

Anyway, welcome new guy, please read the rules and don't try to bypass them. might I ask how old are you?

[brewer]

I violated that rule twice when I first joined bc I didn't understand it/wasn't aware of it. I don't think he did it on purpose. Give the guy a chance.

You were just after the spanking.

And we all know what follows the spanking.

[Brian37]

Hey all,

I'm a Christian, actually, still - well, I wasn't always. I'm a former atheist, and having now been on both sides, I can say I like this one a whole lot more. So, mine is more of a re-conversion story, in a sense, as a former Christian Scientist (blech) who became atheist and is now Christian. Go ahead, ask me questions and tell me about yourselves!

I always find these types of titles of threads over my 16 years of seeing them on a variety of social media, not just at this website, to be naive.

The only question that matters when discussing ANY and all religions is "Where is the evidence?". And the truth you don't want to face is you have as much for yours as any Muslim, Jew, Hindu or Buddhist.

I could care less if you say you were a former atheist. I was a former Christian.

I'd say someone unfortunately snowed you with some slick apology and you fell for it.

Our species was around long before any written religion.
Our planet is 4 billion years old.
Our universe is 13.8 billion years old, with an estimated 2 trillion galaxies in it, with 100s of billions of suns each.

NO, this was NOT put here for humans and in 5 billion years human invented fantasies will not be remembered after our planet dies and sun dies.

Religions are nothing more than human invented constructs reflecting the social norms and superstitions of those of the societies they live in. 

I hope you didn't stupidly think you'd be able to walk in here like a used car salesman, smile and say, "Hey look, this rust bucke logic I slapped some new paint on, even though it has no engine." Because that is not what we do here.

[Pat Mustard]

How did you suffer brain damage, that you left atheism for an obvious fantasy?

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Well there's a more obvious observation here, that like, say Lee Strobel, you were never atheist, just lying about it to bolster your credentials

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The staff already made a warning post here about following the rule to be nice in intro threads.

So, not alone are you acting as cheerleader for people like Wooters and ATheist, you want to engage in a little back seat moderating as well.

Nice to know that no matter how low my opinion is of you, I'm still aiming way too high.

[speedyj1992]

So, I ended up getting way more posts here than I had initially expected - and you guys are right, I didn't know about the 30 posts rule, though I certainly do now. Aoi Magi asked how old I am, the answer is 25 - I'm curious, of all the questions to ask, why that one?

Regarding what Brian37 said - it's clear you have a lot of animosity toward the Christian community. I'm so sorry for whatever you went through, and I'm not disillusioned that there are Christians who are like that: it breaks my heart that this happened to you and happens to people like you around the world. It's something I want to try and help change, even if you don't agree in the way which I want to change it. Ignoring your comments about the age of the earth and all (because I do not consider myself a flat- or young-earther), I want to address your questions on the evidence. I will say that there actually is significant evidence for the events of the New Testament, and that the Old Testament has a lot of prophecies that were fulfilled, sometimes really specifically, between two (in the case of the fall of Nineveh) to several hundred (in the case of the 30 pieces of silver that Jesus was sold for, the fall of Tyre by Alexander the Great) years later that were very specific. Scientific prophecies, including the water cycle and isostasy, were also mentioned in the Bible hundreds of years before they were discovered, so I would encourage you do some of your own research in this area and really discover just how deep this rabbit hole goes. I wish more Christians would know about and promote some of this stuff, because it is FASCINATING, and people not knowing about it really makes it seem, like you said, that the Bible doesn't have any evidence behind it, when in fact the opposite is true.

[Astreja]

Regarding what Brian37 said - it's clear you have a lot of animosity toward the Christian community.

No, it's the Christian belief system itself where I direct my animosity.  I have occasional run-ins with particularly obnoxious believers, but there is no need for you to apologize for them as I do not accept second-hand apologies.  Certainly they had nothing to do with me never believing the Christian mythology -- that ship sailed in 1963/64 after I had read the Bible.

Scientific prophecies, including the water cycle and isostasy, were also mentioned in the Bible hundreds of years before they were discovered, so I would encourage you do some of your own research in this area and really discover just how deep this rabbit hole goes.

Sounds rather like the Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy, wherein vaguely-worded scripture is reinterpreted as a prophesy after a discovery is made.  The cultures surrounding ancient Israel were also quite literate and scientifically advanced at that time, so it's entirely possible that the water cycle had already been described elsewhere.

[Brian37]

So, I ended up getting way more posts here than I had initially expected - and you guys are right, I didn't know about the 30 posts rule, though I certainly do now. Aoi Magi asked how old I am, the answer is 25 - I'm curious, of all the questions to ask, why that one?

Regarding what Brian37 said - it's clear you have a lot of animosity toward the Christian community. I'm so sorry for whatever you went through, and I'm not disillusioned that there are Christians who are like that: it breaks my heart that this happened to you and happens to people like you around the world. It's something I want to try and help change, even if you don't agree in the way which I want to change it. Ignoring your comments about the age of the earth and all (because I do not consider myself a flat- or young-earther), I want to address your questions on the evidence. I will say that there actually is significant evidence for the events of the New Testament, and that the Old Testament has a lot of prophecies that were fulfilled, sometimes really specifically, between two (in the case of the fall of Nineveh) to several hundred (in the case of the 30 pieces of silver that Jesus was sold for, the fall of Tyre by Alexander the Great) years later that were very specific. Scientific prophecies, including the water cycle and isostasy, were also mentioned in the Bible hundreds of years before they were discovered, so I would encourage you do some of your own research in this area and really discover just how deep this rabbit hole goes. I wish more Christians would know about and promote some of this stuff, because it is FASCINATING, and people not knowing about it really makes it seem, like you said, that the Bible doesn't have any evidence behind it, when in fact the opposite is true.

No I do NOT have animosity towards fictional beings anymore than you hate Yoda. I do get annoyed by bad logic. Are you mad at Apollo or Poseidon? 

I will always be for human rights, but I would also be annoyed if you were a family member, friend or co worker and kept repeating every day "The New England Patriots beat the Chicago Cubs in The Stanley Cup."

And yes it annoy's me that you missed the point where I said there no religions at all 200,000 years ago, yes, it does annoy me that you think I am singling you out. 

I can value the likes of Martin Luther King Jr but not think his deity claims are credible. I can like Ann Frank and not find Yahweh to be a credible claim. I can like Malala too without thinking Allah is a credible claim. 

You are going  to make yourself miserable here if you confuse rights with logic. My objection is to your logic, not you the person and not your rights. 

Instead of thinking I am out to get you maybe you need to consider that "that was then and this is now".

[Losty]

Moderator Notice
As this thread wasn't really an introduction, we have moved it to Off Topic.

[Alisa]

Hey all,

I'm a Christian, actually, still - well, I wasn't always. I'm a former atheist, and having now been on both sides, I can say I like this one a whole lot more. So, mine is more of a re-conversion story, in a sense, as a former Christian Scientist (blech) who became atheist and is now Christian. Go ahead, ask me questions and tell me about yourselves!

I believe that individuals have the right to make their own choices, but what really made you convinced that a divine being truly exist? I was theist myself, I was born in a Muslim family and studied the religion for approximately six years and last year I renounced Islam. What is your view regarding your god mercilessly allowing the torture and murder of his son so sinners can gain access to paradise? If he did that to his son and was not willing to save him from all the torture, then why should we expect anything from that imaginary sky man?

[Astreja]

What is your view regarding your god mercilessly allowing the torture and murder of his son so sinners can gain access to paradise? If he did that to his son and was not willing to save him from all the torture, then why should we expect anything from that imaginary sky man?

Excellent question.

For that matter, how can we trust a god that would even think of creating a hell?  An entity that would resort to doing such a thing is dangerously untrustworthy and possibly even insane, and in that context I don't think that believers would be any safer from its wrath than non-believers.