Serious question about thoughts on theists

[Deesse23]

Atheism is a single line item.  An atheist is completely free to believe in meaning, justice, and hope - objective or subjective truths.  

What do you think it would mean for meaning, justice, and hope..if god didn't curse a fig tree?

If there is no God, there is no ultimate morality, meaning, justice or hope.

So what?

[KerimF]

Sorry, it seems they have rules, but you didn't tell me what will happen to a Jew if he disobeys them.

I just know that Jesus was crucified for not respecting the Jewish rules. But this may be wrong too.

You know Jesus was crucified for not following Jewish rules yet you said that the Jews have no rules to follow.

Pick a side, you fraud, any side.

I said it after hearing that Jews are not supposed to be punished after death and no one mentioned there are earthly Jewish punishments.
Doesn't this mean there have no real rules to obey?!

[awty]

Atheism is a single line item.  An atheist is completely free to believe in meaning, justice, and hope - objective or subjective truths.  

What do you think it would mean for meaning, justice, and hope..if god didn't curse a fig tree?

If there is no God, there is no ultimate morality, meaning, justice or hope.

Do you really think that your morality only exists because of a god?

That's kind of sad.  

And without god you would be without hope?

Again, sad, really.

[The Grand Nudger]

@Kingpin
Seems like the fig tree incident is as irrelevant to you as it is to me. That said, you may be right. I don't know what you think ultimate morality is. It may not exist..and it may not exist even if a god does exist. This one seems to weigh on alot of theists minds. Usually in the form of an incomplete statement. "If my god did not exist then morality would not exist"........-and that would be bad.

[awty]

You know Jesus was crucified for not following Jewish rules yet you said that the Jews have no rules to follow.

Pick a side, you fraud, any side.

I said it after hearing that Jews are not supposed to be punished after death and no one mentioned there are earthly Jewish punishments.
Doesn't this mean there have no real rules to obey?!

C'mon, you are a fake and a fraud.  And not good at this at all.

[Belacqua]

I grew up with no religion at all. I remember in college thinking that believers just needed some kind of "crutch" to make the world more tolerable, but that stronger or wiser people can do without that support. 

This opinion didn't survive once I'd met some very brilliant religious people, and read books by others. 

Also once you notice that there are just as many silly and moronic atheists as theists, it sort of levels the playing field. Religious belief is no longer a way to separate the moronic from the non-moronic.

Knowing the part of the country that you grew up in I'm pretty sure that you were exposed thru the community at a mininum. The 'no religion at all' claim is a bit of a stretch.

There was a church on every corner, but we didn't go to any of them. I have still never attended a ceremony (even a wedding or a funeral) in a church. (Since I've lived in Japan most of my life this isn't surprising.) I've been in churches to see the architecture and art.

I'm 63 years old. When I was little it was still considered rude to talk about religion or politics in social settings. Religion hadn't been weaponized politically yet. I knew that religion was around, but I knew nothing of it, or who belonged to which church.

I remember that in about 4th grade some kind of researcher came to my class and asked us what religion we were. She named the different ones and we were supposed to raise our hands when we heard our group. I knew my best friend went to church so I just looked at him and raised my hand when he did. I don't know what I got counted as. 

When I got home and told my dad about this, he asked what religion I said I was, and when I said I thought Christian he gave a kind of cynical grunt and that was the end of it. 

There was one family who tried to proselytize me and my brothers. We quickly learned that they lied -- they'd invite you over to watch a film about football and then the film was really about saving your soul. So we learned to avoid them.

My first exposure to serious religion is when we read Paradise Lost in high school English class. That was a revelation, and in a way set the tone for my engagement with religion ever since. I admire the beauty.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

You know Jesus was crucified for not following Jewish rules yet you said that the Jews have no rules to follow.

Pick a side, you fraud, any side.

I said it after hearing that Jews are not supposed to be punished after death and no one mentioned there are earthly Jewish punishments.
Doesn't this mean there have no real rules to obey?!

There ARE real rules to obey - the mitzvot -, but the payoff for obedience is to live a good earthly life (there's a lot of ambiguity about what constitutes 'heaven' in a Jewish afterlife).

It took Christians and those plagiarizing Muslims to come up with the notion that not following the rules means you have to be punished forever. In Judaism, the punishment is to be lousy in the here-and-now, which seems punishment enough.

Boru

[Anomalocaris]

So you consider yourself less informed because you think their religion is false?

I disagree with your general statement about every Christian believing he is more informed and smarter.  It's plain not true.  I'm a Christian.  I don't believe that at all.  I'm confident there are smarter and more informed people than me.  You may even be one of them.

Just think,  we are atheists and you are Christian because we are smarter and more informed than you.

[Kingpin]

If there is no God, there is no ultimate morality, meaning, justice or hope.

Do you really think that your morality only exists because of a god?

That's kind of sad.  

And without god you would be without hope?

Again, sad, really.

Yes I do believe that.  I believe morality (in the sense of pure objective, ground in truth morality) only exists if God exists.  Otherwise it is purely human desire/preferences.

Yes, what hope is there in a naturalistic framework?  Konrad Adenauer told Billy Graham that outside that resurrection of Jesus Christ he sees no other hope for mankind.

[Kingpin]

I disagree with your general statement about every Christian believing he is more informed and smarter.  It's plain not true.  I'm a Christian.  I don't believe that at all.  I'm confident there are smarter and more informed people than me.  You may even be one of them.

Just think,  we are atheists and you are Christian because we are smarter and more informed than you.

Of this I have no doubt.