This guy is how I imagine a reasonable atheist to be, just like I imagine true christians are a lot like a friend of mine.
A preacher turned atheist shares his message non-belief - CNN Video
He gave up everything for what he didn't believe in.
He gave up everything for what he didn't believe in.
I expressly forbid the use of any of my posts anywhere outside of FG (with the exception of the incredibly witty 'get a room already' )posted recently.
Folks who'd like to copy my intellectual work should expect to pay me for it.:-6
Folks who'd like to copy my intellectual work should expect to pay me for it.:-6
He gave up everything for what he didn't believe in.
Kind of sad and pathetic really. feeds in to the myth that not believing in any gods is merely picking some other belief system or something else to worship. (can i have a darwin oh pleaasse get a life). Turns discussion in to what people believe and missing ratherthe main point (IMO) - prove there's a god any god that is. Still a priest wanting to tell people what to believe.
He gave up everything for what he didn't believe in.
gmc;1477213 wrote: Kind of sad and pathetic really. feeds in to the myth that not believing in any gods is merely picking some other belief system or something else to worship. (can i have a darwin oh pleaasse get a life). Turns discussion in to what people believe and missing ratherthe main point (IMO) - prove there's a god any god that is. Still a priest wanting to tell people what to believe.
Belief in a God is way more than picking from what is there; it IS what has been there and is there now! The point is that unbelief is pathetic, not belief. Or unbelief is FAR different than the normal way of discussion. Unbelief in God is abnormal; not belief. Unbelief is uncommon; its a walk away from the natural.
Importance of religion by country - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
But what impresses me is the growing , even smaller number as compared to unbelievers, of believers who are walking away from the common belief, but still believe.
Belief in a God is way more than picking from what is there; it IS what has been there and is there now! The point is that unbelief is pathetic, not belief. Or unbelief is FAR different than the normal way of discussion. Unbelief in God is abnormal; not belief. Unbelief is uncommon; its a walk away from the natural.
Importance of religion by country - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
But what impresses me is the growing , even smaller number as compared to unbelievers, of believers who are walking away from the common belief, but still believe.
He gave up everything for what he didn't believe in.
So, I believe in my Gods, the Flying Fluffy Pink Elephants. Therefore, by your logic not to believe in them is abnormal. I can no more prove the existence of my Flying Fluffy Pink Elephants than you can prove the existence of your God, therefore they are both on equal ground.
It is the very nature of the Human Mind to want to understand more & more. However, as with a computer, there is only so much it can understand before it goes into overload. This has been the way since the beginning of understanding & once again, just as with a computer, when it reached the point that man could no longer comprehend 'x' was brought in as the Unknown Factor. That 'x' was referred to as 'God'. It had no meaning in itself, but covered everything thus far unknown, such as the origin of Man & life in general. Once Man began to learn of things such as Evolution (despite the crazy Creationists who refuse to accept that much) the notion of everything being "Zap - Powed" into existence over a matter of a 6 days became less plausible & has generally been recategorised as nothing more then mythology as have most of the Biblical 'facts'.
Just because we don't yet know the answers doesn't mean that the answers aren't there. They are to be found in that variable 'x' but just because it is as yet unknown doesn't mean that 'x' is some all seeing intelligent divinity who is the answer to everything.
The desire to learn & understand is the primary way that Humans have evolved over the rest of the animal world & we will continue to learn & understand, but with an infinite number of things out there to learn & understand it's obvious that we will never learn & understand everything.
To believe in a God is simply a non-acceptance of Man's ability to learn - to believe that we already know all the answers inasmuch as all the answers are written there in that one book, despite the massive libraries throughout the world. It is the non-belief of hard evidence - the non-belief of all this learning that is abnormal - not the non-belief of some imaginary being.
It is the very nature of the Human Mind to want to understand more & more. However, as with a computer, there is only so much it can understand before it goes into overload. This has been the way since the beginning of understanding & once again, just as with a computer, when it reached the point that man could no longer comprehend 'x' was brought in as the Unknown Factor. That 'x' was referred to as 'God'. It had no meaning in itself, but covered everything thus far unknown, such as the origin of Man & life in general. Once Man began to learn of things such as Evolution (despite the crazy Creationists who refuse to accept that much) the notion of everything being "Zap - Powed" into existence over a matter of a 6 days became less plausible & has generally been recategorised as nothing more then mythology as have most of the Biblical 'facts'.
Just because we don't yet know the answers doesn't mean that the answers aren't there. They are to be found in that variable 'x' but just because it is as yet unknown doesn't mean that 'x' is some all seeing intelligent divinity who is the answer to everything.
The desire to learn & understand is the primary way that Humans have evolved over the rest of the animal world & we will continue to learn & understand, but with an infinite number of things out there to learn & understand it's obvious that we will never learn & understand everything.
To believe in a God is simply a non-acceptance of Man's ability to learn - to believe that we already know all the answers inasmuch as all the answers are written there in that one book, despite the massive libraries throughout the world. It is the non-belief of hard evidence - the non-belief of all this learning that is abnormal - not the non-belief of some imaginary being.
He gave up everything for what he didn't believe in.
Mickiel;1477222 wrote: Belief in a God is way more than picking from what is there; it IS what has been there and is there now! The point is that unbelief is pathetic, not belief. Or unbelief is FAR different than the normal way of discussion. Unbelief in God is abnormal; not belief. Unbelief is uncommon; its a walk away from the natural.
Importance of religion by country - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
But what impresses me is the growing , even smaller number as compared to unbelievers, of believers who are walking away from the common belief, but still believe.
He is then one I was referring to as sad and pathetic - he still needs some kind of structure to tell him what to believe and has the compulsion to convert others to his cause and the convioction that he has the answers.
Religion has no argument against not believing in god all they end up saying in different ways is I believe there must be something so it must be true an after stamping their little feet in frustration they try and convince us that what they beliv (is opposed to their right to believe it ) should not be laughed at or criticised in any way.
If you could prove god exists there would be no dissent but you can't. Belief is not about discussion it's about stopping thinking or using your intelligence. In the stone age there were probaly those who said we don't need fire - god gives us the sun only god can create fire luckily there have always been those who will argue with the religious.
Belief in god is not rational that's why the bible keeps mentioning you should believe like a child without question, the writers realised they had to stop people questioning what they were being told or the authority of those god supposedly put in charge.
Importance of religion by country - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
But what impresses me is the growing , even smaller number as compared to unbelievers, of believers who are walking away from the common belief, but still believe.
He is then one I was referring to as sad and pathetic - he still needs some kind of structure to tell him what to believe and has the compulsion to convert others to his cause and the convioction that he has the answers.
Religion has no argument against not believing in god all they end up saying in different ways is I believe there must be something so it must be true an after stamping their little feet in frustration they try and convince us that what they beliv (is opposed to their right to believe it ) should not be laughed at or criticised in any way.
If you could prove god exists there would be no dissent but you can't. Belief is not about discussion it's about stopping thinking or using your intelligence. In the stone age there were probaly those who said we don't need fire - god gives us the sun only god can create fire luckily there have always been those who will argue with the religious.
Belief in god is not rational that's why the bible keeps mentioning you should believe like a child without question, the writers realised they had to stop people questioning what they were being told or the authority of those god supposedly put in charge.
He gave up everything for what he didn't believe in.
I must admit I didn't take that much notice of the article, but from what I saw of it the impression I get is that he lost his faith in the fantasy aspect of his Religion & realised the truth of what Jesus might have really been about. Nothing to do with magical non-existant deities, but to promote a lifestyle of moral living with a policy of leading a peaceful life, with respect for everyone else. I believe that Jesus existed, and it was these teachings that was so radical that his followers erroneously elevated him to a deity figure, which he never was & never claimed to be. Furthermore, not only do I have no problems with these teachings, I fully support them. It seems ironic that by turning away from the superstitious side of Religion he is only just starting to continue in Jesus' footsteps.
He gave up everything for what he didn't believe in.
That's the impression I got to. FourPart;1477250 wrote: I must admit I didn't take that much notice of the article, but from what I saw of it the impression I get is that he lost his faith in the fantasy aspect of his Religion & realised the truth of what Jesus might have really been about. Nothing to do with magical non-existant deities, but to promote a lifestyle of moral living with a policy of leading a peaceful life, with respect for everyone else. I believe that Jesus existed, and it was these teachings that was so radical that his followers erroneously elevated him to a deity figure, which he never was & never claimed to be. Furthermore, not only do I have no problems with these teachings, I fully support them. It seems ironic that by turning away from the superstitious side of Religion he is only just starting to continue in Jesus' footsteps.
I expressly forbid the use of any of my posts anywhere outside of FG (with the exception of the incredibly witty 'get a room already' )posted recently.
Folks who'd like to copy my intellectual work should expect to pay me for it.:-6
Folks who'd like to copy my intellectual work should expect to pay me for it.:-6