I went back to church, but I just DON'T believe...

[Minimalist]

When you think of it, one of the (stupider) arguments used by creationists is "how do you know what happened at the Big Bang....YOU weren't there."

Then they blandly sit there like lumps on a log and read their silly book which makes the same claim.

[Lethe]

When you think of it, one of the (stupider) arguments used by creationists is "how do you know what happened at the Big Bang....YOU weren't there."

Then they blandly sit there like lumps on a log and read their silly book which makes the same claim.

"Was too man, everything was there. Every particle in my body was totally there, in one form or another. So suck it creationist."

[Anomalocaris]

When you think of it, one of the (stupider) arguments used by creationists is "how do you know what happened at the Big Bang....YOU weren't there."

Then they blandly sit there like lumps on a log and read their silly book which makes the same claim.

Is there a less stupid creationist argument?

[Minimalist]

How about 'god put fossils in the ground to test our faith?'


I always thought that one was the gold-standard of stupidity.

[Anomalocaris]

god needs to test our faith? So much for omniscience

I think nature put the ability to believe in god into our heads to get a good laugh.

Notice how much more fun an athropamorphized concept of supernatural overlord becomes if you don't go all hysterical in attributing such infantile concepts of goodness, omnipotence and omniscience to it?

That's why Greco Roman pantheon deserve to be preserved while Jesus and Yahwah do not.

[Minimalist]

Chuck, did you ever read Dawkins' take on religion as a bad by-product of a good evolutionary idea?

[Anomalocaris]

Chuck, did you ever read Dawkins' take on religion as a bad by-product of a good evolutionary idea?

I read his take of it in the God Dilusion. But just causal observation of simpler components of human behavior such as thrill in social dominance, subservience for personal social gain, delight in the make belief makes it very easy to construct possible evolutionary reasons of the complex behavioral idiosyncracies of religion.

Nothing disproves the notion that humans were intelligently designed by god, but is rather the frankensteinian end product of evolutionarily derived components mostly shaped by factors other than civilization, then the fact that humans were so unsuited to civilization as to believe god.

[LWP17]

The Pocket Atheist by Christopher Hitchens is an excellent book.

[dave4shmups]

Well, these are some of the major problems that I have with at least Christian theology:

1. The idea that disease and disasters occur on this earth because of sin. Now, I'm not going to deny that we as humans can negatively impact our environment-the recent BP oil spill proves otherwise. But, this idea that there are diseases and disasters because (and I'm just using one example) gay people have sex, is as ridiculous to me as the ideas put forth by astrologers that the alignment of the stars plays a role in people's lives. I simply do not see the evidence in either case.

2. The idea and concept of hell. I simply do not believe that those who believe differently then I do are going to spend eternity suffering for that. Now, Christian theologians have different ideas as to what hell is like-some say that you burn alive, some say that god is present, some say that hell is simply the absence of god's presence. But it doesn't make any difference, because, even if it's just a nasty waiting room, as C.S. Lewis described in his book "The Great Divorce", it is still eternal torture-not a million years, not a billion years, not a trillion years-it lasts forever. I was with a church group who visited a mosque, and we met a young lady there who went on some college trip around the globe and said that she choose Islam because she thought that it made sense to her and was the religion that she thought fit her best, and she was very happy about that-but according to church doctrine, if she doesn't repent and receive christ, she's going to hell!! That's outrageous to me!

3. The church view of morality and the value of human life. Christians argue that morality had to come from god, but it doesn't make any difference if it does, because even if people exercise it, again, they all go to hell if they haven't received christ. Secondly, they accuse atheists of having no value for human life, when they believe that we ALL deserve hell-and they don't think that THAT is an extremely low view of humanity?!

[Statler Waldorf]

Hah, that's true! But I cannot use alcohol, because of my anxiety medication. And you're right, a "god" would find a more effective method.

Well this assumes that God is trying to save everyone, which is not a Biblical teaching. Everyone God wills to save, He saves. Hence, why it's called Grace, it is unmerited favor. Rather than only reading Atheistic literature, I would encourage you to also pick up Christian literature and go from there. I would recommend, “The Holiness of God” by R.C. Sproul. I give you props for seeking answers though.