^^^^^^^^^ I like that. Many atheists waste their energy on proving a negative...but I guess it's their energy. I was once there, but I relieved myself from that 'negative' position. Now... I like many Christians, actually...not all of them are dicks. I'm fine with almost any belief system, unless it passes reasonable boundaries.
Regardless of Tapion's age, immaturity, and lewd language... i agree with him. Religion is no different from a child's belief in santa, except for the fact that is tremendously more believable because the parents teaching it to their child actually believe it. I think the spread of technology will lead to the end of religion. It's hard to seriously argue that a man was born of a virgin, never made any mistakes, died, came back to life, and now sits on a cloud watching all of us.
Tapion's words are rather "out of order". His choice of words are simply not welcomed. But, I do agree with him on the fact that religion will not be a major force in near future. Atheists simply do not believe in this "divine" "after death" "god" (not specifically saying God from Christianity), etc. Atheists simply believe in the fundamentals of the world. The mechanics/science/physics behind the world. Although atheists cannot yet prove how the world came to be, although the Big Bang Theory seems somewhat correct, along with the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, they have, through science, proven many parts of religion just simply incorrect. It's just a matter of time before people realize that religion is simply a superstition. People thought that witches exist. Does anyone now believe that witches exist? No, because it was a superstition to begin with and it was simply proven. KalvinB mentioned an important point about how technology has to do with religion. First off, when our technology actually develops to an extent where we will be able to find accurate dating for artifacts, simply the timespan asserted by various religions will be disproved. Carbon dating is a rather "unreliable" technology, but it still gives us a rather estimate. If we can develop something more precise, we possibly may be able to find artifacts (if any still exist) that are actually older than... let's say god or the beginning of time stated in religions. Now, I'm no expert atheist or anything so I am open to criticism for my post. Hopefully no hard feelings for any of you as I'm a nice guy outside of these topics. Anyways my 2c. - Static
Of course religion is on the decay and will not be a major force in near future, but you must know one thing: Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship. Christianity will never decline. It will only grow.
Interesting though. Could you explain further on the "relationship" part? From what I know, a religion is a belief on the existence and the worship of some sort of a deity.
What a load of crap. Christianity was a religion last time I checked. And its fundamental beliefs that a lot of extremist Christians seem to follow is just plain stupid/crazy. Religion as an institution requires people not to be able to find god themselves in order to convince them that they need churches, priests, rabis, etc. In order to find god you must turn your back on religion and look to your heart. Funny enough, atheists are halfway there.
For example? What's the craziest/stupidest fundamental belief that extremist Christians have and is it actually in the Bible?
Don't know if its the craziest or the stupidest but ever heard of James Charles Kopp? Let me remind you he was the one who shot an abortion provider. Ever heard of Eric Robert Rudolph? He was the one who bombed a gay nightclub in 1997 and bombed the Centennial Olympic Park in 1996
That answered one question. You failed to answer the second question however. The answer to that question is "no."
Answer to second question: Yes- In the old testament, but for some strange reason Christians seem to refuse to believe anything in the Old testament.....Why?
and how does the old testament say to a Christian to go kill a homosexual? (oh it doesn't) If Jesus was here today, I don't have any doubt he would be forgiving to a repentant homosexual. He went to the sinners, that is what made the pharisees so mad. The pharisees just didn't see their own sins. Jesus lived out the law perfectly, He loved His neighbors (fellow man) and treated them with love and respect. He didn't say that the sins were ok, he would say "sin no more" the ones that were not forgiven were the ones who thought they had nothing to forgive.
do we have any atheists in any major public office in the US? when was last time you've seen a "Atheist proselytizer" on television, outside of tiny blips of dawkins on cable news?
- Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. Have you actually read the bible?! Only God has the power to forgive not Jesus, Jesus delivered Gods message he wasn't acting as his PA.
That punishment was given to the rulers. The law is given to all. According to some state laws murderers are to be put to death. So why aren't citizens killing murderers? Or do you think we should just start giving each other speeding tickets and throwing people we accuse of stealing into jail? The key problem with Islam is that lack of authority. That's why Muslims think that because the punishment is put in writting, anyone can dole it out. And that is the root cause of terrorism. It's pathetic, to put it bluntly, to have to explain this concept. The Jews of the OT would bring those two people to the judge and the judge would decide if they should be put to death of if mercy should be shown. Just like it is in all civilized societies.
So only rulers who were homosexual would be killed, but if you were homosexual and not ruler then its fine? He said that no where in the OT does it state for Homosexuals to be killed, i merely provided a link! How many muslims carry out the punishments?- Only the extremists i.e. the minority. Just like it is in christianity-the guy who shot the abortion person.
I don't know. I don't keep track of peoples religions, because I refuse to discriminate on that basis. This is America. I don't watch TV, it rots the brain. However, I do see a steady stread of Atheist proselytizers on the Internet. Including... in this thread!