I think it's an integral part of being human--a part of our psyche--to resist new information that threatens our current paradigm. That is why it is so important to use logic and--most importantly--the scientific method, so we can be sure of new data before we incorporate it into our worldview. Unfortunately, too many people in this world haven't been taught logic, or how to identify fallacies (Carl Sagan's bullshit detector!)...or, even worse, they've been trained by religion to resist logic strongly in favor of appeals to emotion.
Holy Koolaid Oh yeah, I too loved the "with out deep throating your dogma" and cracked up at "wiggly bits"! I'd like this 10 times if I could. Love and Peace
I've had many friends dump me because they find out that I've never believed in any gods, ever. But there was this one, where I got to ask her why she was so upset with me. She said it was because I was "lying, because it's IMPOSSIBLE to not believe in god." I think the idea of not believing terrifies them. They cannot afford to have their beliefs challenged. My mere existence, as someone who doesn't believe, does just that. They ditch our friendship out of fear. This is sad, considering it's the only life that we've got.
I once had a coworker from El Salvador. He was raised hardcore Catholic but felt disillusioned and wanted to explore other beliefs. He asked me what my religion was. I told him I was Atheist and he gave me this look of wide eyed terror and yelled, "You worship the Devil!?" I suppressed a bit of laughter and explained, "No, I don't believe in the Devil, or god. I have no religious beliefs." He said, with 100% sincerity, "You can do that?" It was this insane revelation to him.
DrumWild - That's about as ridiculous as the people who stopped being friends with family and lifelong friends because they voted for Donald Trump. Real news... smh
DrumWild It runs the other way for me. I had a terrible experience with friendship and religion in college and I now use religion as a lithmus test as to whether I'll build up a friendship. I am an atheist and when I encounter a born-again I run the other way. I'll tolerate just about any other aspect of a person but born-agains have made it such a big part of themselves I can't get through a 2-minute conversation without dogma getting shoved down my throat.
But you're not the first to come up with the idea. "I be crazy too, little buddy, but at least when I be craziest, I be floating all alone in space and the crazy, she float out of me, she soak into the walls, and she don't come out till there be battles and little boys bump into the walls and squish out de crazy."
I would love a rant about how some Christians claim that everyone including atheists know that God exists and that atheists are just rejecting God because they hate him.
stupidluvdisc If I tell christians, that I'm an atheist, I often hear them asking "So what happened? - What scarred you so much that you decided to reject god?" It's like in christian logic you HAVE TO HAVE something that hurt you in life so you start to hate and reject god. And if I tell them that "no, I just don't see enough evidence" they completely ignore that and think that I''m liying, cause definitelly something must've happened to me! When I told a nun that works in my school (I go to a christian school) that I'm an atheist, she took me to an empty classroom, sat me down and said "So what happened, how can I help you with your mental wounds?" and I actually started laughing. These people are nuts!
david johnson Yep. I can remember the specific moment that opened my eyes. I was in sunday school, and we didn't have a teacher, so I grabbed a bible and opened to a random page, pointed at a random place on the page, and started reading. It was a passage that said something along the lines of "those who dash babies heads on the rocks are blessed." Sure, it was probably out of context, but for such a "perfect book", it certainly has that problem way too much.
Very good point. When a belief becomes an identity, that effectively makes you close minded. Unfortunately I wonder if it's inescapable on some level. After all, we're all human.
Yep! As Neil Degrasse Tyson said, and since I can't recall the exact quote I'm paraphrasing here, "Everyone can become attached to ideas, it's a natural thing. Everyone does it at some point. But what matters is that we recognize when we do it, and learn from it. Even scientists can hold to ideas that are either entirely disproven, or based on pure conjecture." Just look at string theory for instance. It's okay to believe something you haven't proven yet. If nobody did, no discoveries would be made by scientists willing to try new ideas. But you can never let an unproven idea control you. If you do, then it does just that, it controls you. Ceding reason to imagination is to become the slave of the first storyteller you meet.
Yes, but beliefs empowered by emotion can perform near miraculous feats. Even though gods and the like are not real, humans have evolved believeing in them. Therefore emotionally charged ritualism can be used to the practitioner's advantage. Placebos work, even when the patient knows for fact before hand that it is just a sugar pill. My belief system defines magic as the symbiotic balance between science and art that can cause an alignment between reality and want. Science deals in predictable results and art deals in creations that evoke emotion.
+Evert van Dalen Nope, It's actually true, placebos have been demonstrated to produce an effect even when the person knows it's a placebo. I know that's not how placebos are 'supposed' to be used, nevertheless, it's true.
"As an atheist i can rationally sift though your holy books and accept these ideas without deep-throating on your dogma' (Holy Koolaid 2:45) .... love it XD
Evolution actually points towards an intelligent creator.In a universe ruled by entropy,where disorder is constantly increasing,why did disorder lead to order to create life?Why did molecules become complex molecules,complex molecules cells, cells -tissues and so on inspite of entropy? Why do most people , saperated by culture, language and geography believe in some kind of power larger than themselves? What is consciousness?Why did we develop it? Evolution is very good proof that some kind of an external intelligence is at work.
"Evolution is very good proof that some kind of an external intelligence is at work" Absolute bullshit. I you throw a thousand marbles on the ground several thousand times, eventually those marbles *will* fall in such a way to form letters and even complete words - does that mean you threw them in such a way to create/form those letters or words?? No, it simply means that random acts, repeated enough times, will randomly fall in a pattern, nothing more. That's evolution in a nutshell and unless you have some actual proof of a creator or design, then to our best knowledge it has nothing to do with a creator... anything else is just nothing more than your opinion/belief. "Why do most people , saperated by culture, language and geography believe in some kind of power larger than themselves?" Because those people, separated by culture, distance, whatever.. are still human and as humans we instinctively want to 'belong' since that sense of belonging brings us perceived value... i.e. we as human beings are social creatures and don't want to be alone, therefore we look for something more.
vitaly roman I believe you have mis interpreted the law of increasing entropy, 1st this is a universal thing, a star forms adding form on one place, meaning that there will be more disorder somewhere else because there is just random particles floating in empty space 2nd as atoms become bonded as they lose potential energy and therefore must release energy into their surroundings increasing entropy slightly in the local area, entropy has nearly nothing to do with evolution, even if it did, having a random bundle of atoms of differing varieties would result in more chance for bonding as more options would be available. People believe in a larger power because it adds closure to their lives. Ever have a ooohhh!! Duh!!! Moment well that is closure and it's pretty great when that happens, be creating a "higher being" it give people to ability to have the ah ha moment thus god was born of man. Conscious is not well understood but science has made fantastic leaps in the recent 20 years to solve this question. Being able to measure brain activity when someone is thinking about something is amazing, being able to pinpoint he set of group of neutrons that control your muscles in any particular part of your body, we know where memories are stored we know what controls what and conscious is just beneath our grasp. If you think god explains something like consciousness then you must believe that god is what we can't explain, thus he is an ever receding pocket of scientific ignorance How did we develop? We where the best of the random variation that is natural selection and after over a billion years for random microbes to evolve, the and continuously form and randomly try new things we are here, there is a lot of data on this and I employe you to get a undergrad in biology if you wish to learn more I can only explain so much
@ Zareth - yes, I have done the experiment I mention as have many others... Have you done it to disprove it??? Or are you just assuming and making a fool of yourself? Is that your estimate or are you quoting?? If so, I want to read the original source material, please link me to a peer reviewed paper that says "the probability of life arising simply by chance out of inorganic matter is estimated to be 1 in 10 raised to the 100." "Comparing that probability with probability of marbles making words is like comparing a millimiter to a light year." Wow.. you've never heard of an analogy??? Most people have trouble dealing with the actual numbers, so I used an analogy.. which does not make the point any less accurate or relevant.
9753flyer it ks also to specify the time period and space required for 1 event to occor, if we are cknsidering 1 in 10^100 and considering the interaction of a grpup of atoms to be different every atoseccond then for 2 particles it wwould take 5x10^82 secconds to complete 10^100 interactions but with 10^80 atoms in the univers it will take onlt seccond to compelte our interaction limit between all the different atoms, and thats assuming they interact in pairs which they dont need to be more specific
"you have to have faith" -typical christian What does that even mean? Glad you're pushing back. I'm with you man. Though I'm not so nice and eloquent.
Holy Koolaid "Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being" (Genesis 2:7, N.I. Version). Yeah, according to them we actually came from dust. Self awareness just isn't their thing.
Loved it! I like what you said about Buddhism too.. I love Buddhist philosophies but consider myself an Atheist, so I think you were spot on in your rant bro!
I accept the theory of evolution. If someone finds fossil bunnies in the precambrian, thereby disproving the theory completely, my reaction will be this: "Huh. That's interesting." I accept the universe is approximately 14 billion years old and the big bang theory. If it's ever discovered that space only goes out to a few thousand kilometers and ends where it hits a gigantic fishbowl, my reaction will be this: "Huh. That's just fucking _weird."_ I don't believe our planet has been visited by aliens. If tomorrow a spaceship lands and we finally make official contact after decades if secret visits, my reaction will be: "Huh. That's neat." I don't believe in ghosts. If they're ever proven to exist (and no, shitty grainy videos of a bug stuck in a strand of spider-webbing waving around in front of a camera don't count), my reaction will be: "Huh. How the hell does that work?" Theists often don't seem to understand how rational people can detach themselves from their beliefs. "But if you don't believe in God, there's literally nothing stopping you from going out and murdering everybody!" is the kind of thing they say, as if an appeal to consequence or plain ol' fearmongering makes any sort of difference to Reality. Never mind the existence of _society_ as the only explanation for why casual self-genocide doesn't happen, even when religions try *_really really really hard_* to suicide a tribe (coughInquisitioncoughCrusadescoughJihadcough)... The reality is, hypothetically someone could conclusively prove to me today that everything we know about science is wrong (I'm using a computer, so obviously not _everything_ but play along) and it wouldn't affect my life in any significant fashion. Apologists are often caught repeating Corinthians: "[...]if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.", and this to an apologist is the winning play. It's the ultimate sunk cost fallacy; they've wasted so much of their life on something, and they'd feel bad if it really _was_ a waste, so it can't be a waste, therefore it's not, it just isn't, *it can't be.* But it is. There's never been a jew with infinite buoyancy on his feet. There's never been a horde of zombies tromping through Jerusalem, or a loaf of bread and a couple fish that turned into enough food for an army. That revelation (which should be about as shocking as suddenly becoming wet when you knowingly walk out into the rain) should be accepted with the same "Huh. Oh well." dismissal rational people can accomplish, but like HK says, it's part of their identity. That's dumb. It means when you finally discover you're wrong that you're wrong _as a person_ instead of simply being mistaken. It's not a question of being unattached or afraid of commitment, as I've been accused of on a few occasions by slightly less unsophisticated religious ignoramuses; it's just that you should never be afraid of not knowing something and admitting it. It's really not a big deal: you can either assert that you know FOR SURE something or that you simply aren't sure. In both cases you might be wrong, and which one makes you look like less of an arrogant tool when you are? Protip: if you want to be known as an insufferable know-it-all, that's the cheat. Don't be sure about anything unless you actually _are._ It's like being a psychic: nobody remembers the misses and everybody remembers the hits, so you don't actually have to be a know-it-all but people will think you are. Because people are dumb like that.
EdwardHowton The fact of the matter is that a lot of People identify with certain ideas it really not exclusive to religions. Like believing your country has a good reason to exist, and that it's existence should be defended. The truth value of a statement is not always as relevant as the cost/benefit analysis. There is nothing wrong with some Tradition. I'm Christian and as of now I don't think my life would be anymore interesting if I were not. It's an interprétative lense that has been that has yielded the Best results so far.
Christians who say 'but whats stopping you from murdering everyone" are not educated enough about God. Gods laws of morality are inherent in everyone from birth whether you believe in him or not. Thats what stops you from murdering everyone. Well.. it doesnt stop everyone. People who do usually do it because they are angry at God.
@@teratokomi8731 I have two things to say about this: 1) if god had given every living person a lawful and just moralities from birth, then how can you ever hope to justify every single egregious act committed by one human being to his fellow humans? and you cant honestly expect me to believe that those who do are just "angry at god" when a majority of these heinous acts have been and still are done both in the name of Christianity and any other possible reason that has absolutely nothing to do with religion at all 2) wasn't it god himself that had made man in his image? so how can man be gifted with a lawful and just moral compass from birth, when god himself fails to exhibit these very same moral rights and wrongs that he fully expects his own creations to live by?
Omni-Conversion Missionary Christian: I obstinately observe God as the answer to it all, therefore I'm obligating you all to do the same or else you'll have answer to and face the wrath of God!
I was fed up too. I moved out of a red state to a blue one. No one is pulling on my arm to go to their church anymore. And no one wishes me burning in hell for saying that I don't want to go to anyone's church because I'm not religious.
Well son, that will not save you. Unless you believe in AmunRe, the crocodile-god, Sobek, will eat your heart after it has been weighted against a feather on the day of judgment;). (No, I did not make this up after too much LSD, it is ancient egyptian religion)
I went to a Baptist Christian school when I was in Kindergarten to 3rd grade. My parents were Lutheran Christians but the public school in my area was SO bad that they sent to a private Christian school. We did learn how to read and write and math and all the normal stuff, but we still had bible studies. I couldn't imagine the high school or middle school curriculum to be good at all but for elementary it wasn't so harmful to learn about the Bible in addition to classes. Anyway we would have to memorize bible verses, and the chapters of the Bible's in order. There was a church across the school that we would go to a couple times a week for praying and whatnot. I have such a vivid memory of a priest holding a speech thing talking about how God loves us all and whatnot. Well he then said everyone close your eyes and raise your hand if you don't believe in God. (Or something to the similar effect.) I as a 6 year old kid figured that "hey, I trust this guy and everyone's eyes are closed so I can raise my hand." I did and then the priest finished the speech and on my way out the door, my teacher pulled me out of the line and started saying " why don't you believe in God, how often do your parents go to church, God is real, you should pray and ask for forgiveness from God etc..." I was embarrassed and scared because all of the other teachers were standing there like just staring, and I thought I did something wrong. I caught back up with my class and I remember crying. I didn't tell my parents because I thought there was something wrong with me and that they would be mad too. THANKFULLY my parents took me and my siblings out of that shit school for another reason
i remember when i was around 5-6, we had a scripture class telling us the story of moses. THE MOST RIDICULOUS STORY I HAVE EVER HEARD! first moses was wondering the desert and came across a burning bush??? told him to free slaves and lead them to the desert plentiful of milk and honey??? Came back and SPLIT THE NILE!! while god killed all first born sons, GREAT LESSON killing innocent people :_( .... After all that jazz happened Moses when up a mountain ALONE and came down the mountain with 10 commandments ALONE!? and this grown woman fully believed this happened. there and then I was VERY weary of religion. Because of that i wanted to learn more about it, it's been face palms ever since.
Reminds me of a cartoon where God tells Jesus the real story of the burning bush : God did nothing, Moses was just near a bush of weed then a lightning enflammed the bush and Moses got high from the smoke of the burning bush.
@@whilryke funnily enough, a bush burning in a desert enviourment isnt a rare occurence. And to add to that, there are plants that grow in the area where Moses was supposed to have existed, that have Psychoactive effects if consumed. So there actually could have been a bush that burned and that made moses high.
@@chadrasmussen6127 People that opine and pontificate God is real are real, I bore witness to you. People that opine and pontificate God is real and then opt to provide factchecked backing to ensure to themselves and others this is an informed opinion may not be, what I've bore witness to thus far has been subpar.
Reading the Bible is one of the best cases for at least rejecting the God of the Bible. My mother started a project to read the entire Bible and while she did not lose her faith, she often commented on how brutal it seems to be with all of the killing commanded by God.
@God IS Love Except that very same god condoned murder, slavery and rape. The mere act of condoning it puts him on the same level as those "evil people". And lets not forgot all the innocents he had murdered in his name becasue they didn't believe. Your god is a psychopath and the bible explains such in great detail. So no, god is not love. Far from it.
@God IS Love Yeah, no. The apologists copy paste paragraphs wont work here. Exodus 21 It literally gives instructions on how to bypass the seven year limit on owning slaves. Seems odd that a god that dose not condone slavery would add a loophole like that. Deuteronomy 22:28-29 Literally gives instructions on how to buy the victim of a rape and force her to be your wife. And only 50 shekels of silver? god dosent seem to have a high price for rape victims. Deuteronomy 17:12, Exodus 22:17, Leviticus 20:13, Leviticus 20:27, Exodus 21:15, Proverbs 20:20, Leviticus 20:10, Leviticus 20:9, Exodus 22:19, 2 Chronicles 15:12-13, Zechariah 13:3, Deuteronomy 13:13-19, Deuteronomy 22:20-21, Deuteronomy 13:7-12, Deuteronomy 17:2-5, Leviticus 24:10-16, Deuteronomy 13:1-5, Deuteronomy 18:20-22, Romans 1:24-32, Numbers 1:48-51, Exodus 31:12-15. All "capital punishment" for the non-crimes of: homosexuality, working on the sabbath, hitting your father, adultery, not being a virgin on your wedding night as a woman, walking to close to the tabernacle, being a "false" prophet, blasphemy, following another religion, cursing parents, being a fortune teller, being a witch, not listening to priest, and other ridiculousness. 2 Kings 2:23-24 god made two bears kill forty kids becasue they called a priest balled. Isaiah 14:21 God thinks the sons of sinners should be murdered. Exodus 12:29-30 god killed all the first born of Egypt for...reasons? Honestly I dont feel like writing anymore down, because I know you'll just find a way to tap dance around with apologist reasons and disregard all those direct qoutes. And what you typed is an exact reason that god is not loving. So your saying that becasue I have pride and want to live my live by truth and reasoning he'll keep me from understanding thus forcing me into hell? Why would a loving god do that? The answer of course is that a loving god wouldn't. The abrahamic god is far from it, and the bible is a great source of info as to why. A long history of subjection and murder en masse is cataloged in great detail in it, and continuing to defending it makes you morally bankrupt.
@God IS Love Your post literally prooves my point several times, and the irony is that you don't even realize it. You start off with threats, apologize for murder, more threats, no comment on how the bible itself contradicts your "god is love" stance, and then defend the murder of children. Litterally, you are literally defending the murder of children because they called someone balled. You said that, the level of cognitive dissonance you suffer from is insane. Hey wait a minute, I prophesied that you would make excuses and tap dance around the truth, and you did! Does that make me a prophet? I mean I was pretty spot on about it. My batting average is better than the bibles too, I'm one in one. All joking aside I wasn't heavily indoctrinated at a young age, so I'm not predisposed to believe the nonsense. So your petty threats mean nothing to me. So please, by all means keep trying to peddle your fairytales, the constitution allow you that right. Buy dont think for a second those of us with a working sense of critical thinking to buy it.
@God IS Love So ad hominem attacks now? Really as a person a faith you shod be better than that. Then again you did just justify murdering children for a vocal insult. So....yeah. ffrf.org/legacy/books/lfif/?t=contra And how that for reading? A slimmed down list of the contradictions in the bible. So no, it's not "completely ture". It it was faith would not be required, but as we both know it is. So yeah, thanks for acting out exactly as I assumed you would. Apologist tap dancing and everything. The turly sad part is that I'm not the one justifying murder, that would be you. Yet you have the gall to assume of me that I dont believe merely becasue I want to sin. To assume that simply becasue I'm not afraid of some sky wizard that I'm somehow amoral is sickening. I've given you all the proof you need, direct qoutes from your bible. If you still want to use the strawman fallacies and appeals to authority to justify your irrational beliefs then this is over. Suddenly you have a job and can't be bothered? Not very Christian of you. Then again I know people like you. You slap on a pro Christian username then troll atheist videos like your somehow winning an imaginary war on christianity. If you really had something better to do you wouldn't be posting in the first place. But you just use that username to copy paste replies against opinions you dont agree with. It's pretty sad really, and if your god was turly as just and understanding as you claim he would not look kindly on your actions. Then again you seem to base your entire theological life on your dreams. That's a pretty lousy way to find objective truth. But when have Christians wanted to find actual truth. Thats the great hypocrisy of Christians isn't it?
One thing I'll never forget is my parent's reaction to me coming out as an atheist publically. They were so offended that they were going to legally disown me, but only stopped when they got social backlash for that. Now they try to call me and ask why I don't see them anymore and why I don't go to church or anything like that. If religion is that engrained in you where you are willing to disown your kids just based off of that, something is really wrong.
It's like you read my mind. This is EXACTLY how I feel. I hate it when people are taken advantage of and encouraged to kept ignorant, and religion is guilty of this thousands of times over.
it took a long time for me to accept the fact that there are no such a thing as gods, it sucks knowing i'm not going to an eternal bliss after I die, but I have accepted that cold hard fact and knowing there is no hell after death gives me comfort as well.
It is a bit scary to know that my life will end and me with that. I was going to go to hell anyway because I'm gay. So what difference would it have made anyway.
And part of the problem is discussing atheism with theists because they far too often assume that it's as much the identity of atheists as religion is of themselves. It just doesn't seem to occur that religion--even its absence--is not the all-consuming driving force behind how one sees the universe, sees existence, and chooses to behave. ...which makes discussion on the topic very, very difficult sometimes, because of such radically different paradigms.
I think SOME atheists are in a religion. As a thiest I respect a lot of atheists, and I hang out with some of my agnostic or atheist friend’s. (Spoiler, not all of them are agnostic or thiest, but 3 of them do support either 2 cause’s.) I think some atheists are in a religion because when they see a depressed person that lost their mom and desperately want’s to see them in heaven, they just think it’s their journey or quest to tell them they will never see their family. Honestly, I think most of atheism is not a religion, but sometime’s with different people it turn’s into a religion. I know this had nothing to do with what you said- but still, this is my point,
@@jimmygranato8070 *_"... they just think it’s their journey or quest to tell them they will never see their family."_* **raised eyebrow** Exactly what atheists have you been talking to? Cuz I don't know ANY atheist who would say anything even remotely similar to that. Also, define "religion", because I don't think you and I define it the same way. At all.
@Sasha Stone well its not all religions, a lot of them seem to keep to themselves, the only religions that seem to be causing a lot of problems is islam and christianity
You can see this identity association among sports fans when they talk about their favorite teams as though they themselves were members; "We have to play the Patriots this weekend" or "We lost a tough one to the Yankees last night." Any slight or criticism of "their" team is taken as a personal affront. I think this predilection for making our passion part of our identity must stem from the fact that humans are social creatures that have a desire to belong to, to be a part of something. It's a hardwired, pack mentality found in our reptilian brain which predates rationality; something very difficult to overcome or see beyond.
If a religion were true, and the universe(s) are endless then there are infinite religions. So, the odds of any being correct is infinitesimally small. Now, what happens when you add faith to everyone with those different beliefs? It stops them from believing the truth if one religion were real, in substitute for their almost zero chance at being correct. If a hell were real the concept of faith would cause almost everyone to go there if it was as simple as not accepting christ as savior due to ignorance for one example. Faith is a failure, and if you are an open minded skeptic you simply accept whats true when its shown to be true, and don't stubbornly gamble on a near zero chance.
+Mims Zanadunstedt From which religion did you get the doctrine that the universe is endless, and isn't it atheists who tend to bring up the multiverse idea?
My wonderful boyfriend is a fairly recent convert to Islam, while I’m Atheist. We love each-other deeply. We’re living proof that Theists and Atheists can get along just fine. Respect for each-other as individuals is key. He is still the man I fell in love with (before he converted).
@@user-pw6ei2mn7x we broke up a while ago now - Due to other issues. I’m now back with an old flame, and, due to our differences, respect is still key. Though us both being Atheists certainly makes things easier. However, my point still stands.
Holy Koolaid, Thank for this. I appreciate that you don't straw man religion as many others do. Your critique is completely founded and everyone should listen to this for ways to both critique their own belief structure and how to discuss beliefs with others. Keep up the good work.
Today my mom ratted me out to my dad and told him I was an atheist. He told me I will unleash hell onto my life for entering a dark path. Sooo like...I'm gonna unleash hell for simply not believing in something???? What type of fear mongering bullshit. I love my father with all my heart but he does this a lot and doesnt even realize it. When he first learned that I stopped going to church a few years back he told me that I must spiritually prepare myself because the end times are coming and he followed it up with 'im not trying to scare you but-' yes dad, yes you are trying to scare me
This is a beautiful articulation of s wall (so to speak) that I have run into with friends and family without understanding the origin! Thank you for sharing!
Lately, I'm very quiet about it, realizing a small revival thing going on around the area with coworkers, friends, and family. And in my silence have discovered there are more people just auto religious than I thought. One guy who prior comments about death made me think he was agnostic, asked over Easter if I didn't see family did I at least go to church. Did I even know what Easter was about, I joked the bunny who poops out chocolate right? Anyway, I think silence is golden... for now. Religion just brings out the stupid in people, won't talk about or mention it. And just act dumb when they start their conversation, and artfully change the subject tying it in with something else. I'm realizing I live in a society full of delusional nut bags with only a thin layer of sanity. I want to enjoy their sanity parts.
Though it is amusing indeed, I'm afraid it sounds terribly condescending. I do advise against using this in a debate with a theist, for the sake of a fruitful outcome.
I could not think of a good username yea but you know the debate is going to go to shit either way. it's a Christian they've decided that they're right and you're wrong before it even began.
There is much truth and facts with the bible and science together. Most of it is over everyones heads. Basically, the truth is stranger than fiction, but so few people can understand it.. so most people dismiss it. And no I will not explain it. If you were capable of understanding the mysteries, I wouldnt need to.
@@teratokomi8731 literally nothing in the bible had and truth, or facts. If I'm correct, only 1 person, in the entirety of the bible, has any exists they existed, and it's not jesus or moses. Most, if not all the stories in the bible, can be found in older texts, meaning you're whole book is just copies of older religious stories. You follow a scam religion that stole all its stories
I think what's happening, in this case, is that religious people are getting overly defensive due to particularly aggressive Atheists who genuinely *do* make a habit of attacking people on a personal level over religion. Let's not pretend that there's not a loud voice of angry atheists that habitually attack religious people.
So if "particularly aggressive Atheists" are responsible for "religious people getting overly defensive" how do you account for the age-old and continuing propensity of the religious to persecute, whenever they have the power, those who do not subscribe to their religion? Were Giordano Bruno, Thomas Cranmer, the Salem "witches", the Yezidis, the Jews killed in passing by the crusaders, etc., etc. and the list goes on and on and on "particularly aggressive Atheists"?
I identify as a pagan but my belief system falls in line with your quiver analogy; I value science immensely and thus I have no problem switching out one belief arrow with another. Gotta find the honest truth, right? And if anything, science has made me love nature even more! The idea that our planet's been around for so long, much longer than even the human race, makes the Earth so much grander and more mysterious to me. Thank you for what you do!
You can't argue with a creationist... their ego's attached to their belief... they couldn't let go if they wanted to... a dead ego gives so much grief...
I always hear "I an religious but i don't believe in some of the dogmas". That made me think: no one says "I believe in God but I don't agree with him on something", they say that God is mysterious and that he thinks exactly the way they do and that the others are wrong. How presunptous. I came up with a conjecture: many people project their identity onto the idea of a supernatural beeing for legitimate themself while continuing to use the religius label to share the idea of a common identity with the community their are raised in, wich feels safer and rightful. That's why they get angry when one says to be an atheits as if their identity was under attack: because God IS them.
Made friends with one of the shoppers that comes into my work about two months ago. We have had many a wonderful conversation in that time, mainly about aviation as he is an ex pilot. In a recent conversation he learnt I was an Atheist. Found out today he doesn't want anything to do with me. Another of many many reasons why religion is poison.
Underrated wit on your part. Those we bow to bear their own interests inclined to be served, of which may include doing a gross disservice to those of our own and/or others.
Well said. Any honest religious person should be able to see that devout beliefs like their own are not unique or a reliable path to truth as every other religion in human history had devout believers in exactly the same position, yet somehow only they are allowed to be offended if someone doesn't "just believe" while rejecting all other beliefs the same way. Becoming part of ideologies, applying labels to yourself and basing your identity on any of them is bound to cause problems with dogma.
+A.J. Reed. Reading posts like yours is like watching a newborn animal stand for the first time. Welcome to Freedom my friend. The whole universe awaits.
Love your rants. From my point of view you seem to be a kind and rather gentle person. I don't have your tolerance for professional liars. If I could, I would gather them together and machine gun the whole lot of them. They lie for a living and do it tax free. It's wrong.
• “In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth.” • Q. Who says there was a beginning? • A. The unknown authors of Genesis say so. • Q. Who is “God”? • A. “God” is a Hebrew tribal male entity named Yahweh. He is invisible and unknowable and lives in his kingdom in the sky above the Sinai Peninsula. • Q. How did Yahweh make the heavens and the earth? • A. He formed them out of nothing, using his unlimited power. • Comment: • I do not know if the Cosmos had a beginning • or if a god or gods exist • or who wrote the Bible • or if the Bible is true or false. • I just don’t know any of these things and neither do you
You see us as made from star dust cooked in the hearts of stars that have exploded. You're clearly a glass-half-full guy. I, on the other hand, see us as all being made from nuclear waste!
The golden rule is good, but has limitations. For example, if you like your buttocks being whipped but I do not, whipping my buttocks is unlikely to get me to reciprocate. A much better way of expressing it is this: Be excellent to each other." Pretty much sums it all up.
+Holy Koolaid Hmmm, interesting. At first sight it looked like the negative form of the golden rule, but it's not. That would be "Don't do to others what you don't want doing to yourself." Even so, it's passive (as is the negative form of the golden rule). Good advice, but limited in scope. I think Bill & Ted's advice goes a stage further than either variant of the golden rule or the rule you just gave. Then again, take it to extremes and you get a potlach (although the intent of a potlach was not to be excellent to the other party but to attempt to humiliate them).
The "golden rule" has lots of limitations. Even if I accept that "humans" should not be tortured, I may argue at the same time that only some people are "real" humans whereas everyone else is just cattle. Or I may claim that torture is ok as long as it is employed for the "greater good of the people". In case of any doubt about whether the "greater good of the people" justifies torture just apply "common sense" and see everything go downhill from that point onwards;).
To be fair, part of this self/identification the believer has with their faith, is a direct result of the religion itself. It is inbuilt and made even stronger when religion is imbibed in childhood. It's not even a conscious decision on the believer's part, they are victims in this.
I'm a Pantheist and I believe EVERYTHING you just said to be spot on. Good man! I wish some of the more grumpy Atheists (Dawkins) would talk like this instead of condescending the religiously-minded. That would be really nice. That door swings both ways though, obviously, and so I'm going to be a NICE theist and tell you that you're absolutely right and that I'd love to have a cup of joe with you while we discuss this. In another life, perhaps...
No disrespect intended...but as a converted religious person I am curious what people from the other side you have engaged? I feel like this dismissal of religion (for the most part) is definitely getting into strawman territory. Have you looked into Jordan Peterson or Bishop Barron at all? This perception of religious people as shying away from questions is something I have rarely encountered from thoughtful Catholics or People like Peterson. I appreciate your separation of your love for a person and disagreement...but I think there is a whole side you are missing that gets a lot more interesting and deeper than simply "no scientific evidence". I think you'll find that some of the most religious people are the ones who have wrestled with these questions much longer than either of us have and are usually much more dedicated to the Truth than most people.
Are "truth" and "Truth" two different things? Each religion uses the word 'Truth' to fit their own belief system, yet they seem to be different and often contradict each other. Is it capitalized because it's a special kind of truth? Like, "why are we here" kind of 'Truth'? Doesn't flowering up a word--especially one that deals with absolutes--to make it seem more meaningful kind of defeat the purpose of its definition? How do we show that this type of language is a valid, objective reflection of reality?
There’s a different between mathematical, quantifiable, repeated, logical rational truth, and holy, omnipotent, unobtainable, transcendental Truth. The first truth is what all people seek. The second truth is what the lost seek.
Zimy IX: Idk, I've talked to many Religious folks now...and most don't really like their beliefs being challenged, from what I can deduce. And almost every single time they end the conversation with "I hope you seek the Truth in God someday." acting as if they know the Truth and I know nothing....it's annoying....but then they don't listen to a single word I say to show them how wrong they could possibly be. At least Atheists are willing to admit they don't know and they don't mind seeking answers. I at least listen to them when I talk to them or I at least I try to be as open minded as I can....and I never end the conversation with "I hope you learn the real Truth someday." God that's annoying. :/ The Bible is full of stories that just don't add up when stacked against the evidence. It's really hard to ignore that stuff....but Religious people do it so easily....and it can be frustrating at times. But I get it...it's apart of their identity, which is not easy to part with at all and I can understand that. I'm a punk rocker, I listen to punk rock, play in punk rock bands and most of my friends are from that scene as well. It's a huge part of my life, so it is a part of my identity. So I could never part with that, even if somebody came with clear scientific evidence that punk rock was melting my brain from the inside out...I'd probably still hold onto it, because it's apart of who I am. Anyway, it's not a very good comparison, but I do understand a little bit why they hold onto their beliefs with such stubborn tenacity....it's just a little frustrating. xD But I try to be respectful. I find faith to be a very Noble practice actually. I was talking to a Sikh man who had the best way of doing things I feel. He said that people kinda get Jesus wrong...Jesus would never have gone around telling people they were wrong not to practice their given faiths or lack there of. Jesus loved us no matter what we believed, he wasn't going around telling people they were wrong or stupid...he never once did that. This was a Sikh...telling me this. He had great respect for Jesus and I think I do as well. Cause I think he was right. I don't think Jesus would have cared...live your life as you have and will and allow others the same courtesy. Just be a good person for Christ's sake. xD Jesus said the kingdom of God was inside us all, I think all he meant was that we create our own heaven or our own hell inside of ourselves, right here, right now, by the choices we make in life. We can all go to that kingdom, so long as we live a life by his example. Just being good to each other, treating each other with respect and dignity and living as good a life as we can. This makes a lot more sense to me then a God that would punish us for Eternity....just for not believing in him....that's such a petty God if that's what he really stands for. Now, I realize a Sikh man is no authority on Christianity or Jesus...but you have to admit, he's got somethin goin there. I have my reasons for not being Religious...my biggest reason being, I just can't respect a God that gives me no choices. Essentially holding me at gun point telling me to worship or suffer for eternity...then has the audacity to say he loves me. Suffer for Eternity....but he loves me......when does this line of reasoning EVER make sense in any other context? Don't ya think torturing me for eternity is a bit much? Especially if his only reason was...because I had my own integrity and I wasn't afraid of him enough to kneel to him. I talked to an Atheist Gay man, who said he had left Christianity, but he still had nightmares about going to hell....it tortured him to think that he could be wrong and that he could go to Hell for his choices......THIS MAN DID NOTHING, AND HE WAS AFRAID FOR HIS VERY SOUL!! I felt bad for him...he was going through some real trauma, trauma that was put in his head....through Christian Dogma...it was sad really. And then I talked to another Christian man that was arguing that Christianity wasn't a Religion based around fear....ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?! That other man is afraid every day of his life....and he's trying to get over that fear and the trauma it has brought him, still to this day. :/ I'm sorry, but I just can't respect a Religion that uses fear as a tactic to keep it's people in line....it's just not right. I think God is testing us indeed....testing to see how much of a coward we are. :/ But again...believe it and love it if you so choose. It's fine, as long as it's not harming others....though I'd argue that it does, even if you think it doesn't. I do try my best to respect your choices regardless. There are some great spiritual teachings in the Bible and I've met a lot of really honestly good Christians, so ya, it's not all bad....just annoying at times. xD
i just love how the ratio of of like to dislike shows that people who refuse to accept change, or have their ideologies questioned; are a miniscule minority, and don't pose a threat to people with a logical, and skeptic way of thinking.
I feel that the reason I (as a religious person) have developed this concept of emotional attachment to my belief is because the reason I believe it is not due to scientific evidence it's because of what some may call "paranormal" events that I simply couldn't explain. It's because I felt something that resonated so deeply with me that it immediately became a part of me. That being said, I don't get mad about atheists saying they disagree with or don't believe in my religion. My only issue is when people try to restrict my rights as a religious person. I also am a strong advocate for allowing children to decide their religious (or non-religious) beliefs for themselves
Authoritative ideologies are harmful for humanity. This goes both for religions and governments. "We have all the answers and if you don't follow then you will suffer." That suffering can be in the form of threat of hell, being thrown in jail, or even killed. All religions based on Yahweh qualify here. Dictatorships, fascism, and extreme nationalism also qualify. These are just some examples.
Read a lot of fiction from various genres from a very young age. That's the best inoculation from being drawn into worlds, belief systems, histories, and characters and taking them as absolute truth and manual to life instead of appreciating the concepts presented within them. It's a good way to explore social interactions and human psychology in a relatively short amount of time. The more stories we are exposed to, the more we understand that the setting, the characters, and the events in these stories are a means to store and example a concept. It becomes problematic when the person does not arrive to a discovery of the concepts in a text or a story, but rather gets lost in the set, the costumes, and the dialogue. I like what you said about not personifying the belief. For example, I like the concept of pineapple in pizza, but I'm not pineapple pizza. I wouldn't be offended if you do not like pineapples on your pizza. At the same time, I don't like the concept of head scarves (because I live in a hot and humid country and have zero fashion sense) but I am not myself the very concept of a scarf-less head so I will not be offended should you want to wear one. My family has all sorts of religions. I even have an uncle with a PhD in Physics who also happens to be a pastor. We have not gone for each other's necks because... we respect each other's comfort zones and belief systems. For as long as the key concept is understood and adapted to the current iteration of the world, then we can all enjoy the stories of Krishna and Christ and Mariam and Mary.
Love the video and the points you make, found it a very new and extremely true view that I haven't seen before! Good job on the writing! However, you should try doing some sort of animation, and not use goanimate. Goanimate sucks.
I find it extremely difficult to stay close friends with religious people. I often wonder if I should work on that, but usually I err to keep them at a distance because I find their illogical reasoning to be extremely discouraging. You're a better man than I, sir.
My parents don’t know I’m non religious but they do know I’m not a big fan of religion so they make me go to church when they go and one of the youth pastors told a story about a guy that had kidney failure, got baptized, then a few days later was cured of his kidney failure and doctors were surprised. I didn’t believe a word of what the youth pastor said and everyone else was complaining oblivious about how stupid that sounded
Okay but... it was really satisfying to have the groveling/humiliation/worship thing brought up, even for a single sentence. When I was Christian (I stopped believing in 7th grade and started identifying as an atheist in the 8th), even when I was a child and at my most Christian, I hated the idea of bowing to god. I never bowed my head when I "prayed" (I also never really prayed) and I never folded my hands, and I was never even remotely comfortable or willing to "subjugate myself" or let myself be "shaped to god's will" or whatever else. You're the first person I've seen mention how deeply fucked up that is, and it was incredibly pleasing to know I'm not the only one who took/takes issue with it.
I see this a lot in other fields as well. Mental illness in particular. I have depression, I am not depressed. I have adhd. I am not hyperactive. It is something that I have, not part of my identity. I choose to own these things, not have them define me.
You kind of answered this when you mentioned "love the sinner, hate the sin" and wondered why they can say that and not accept such an attitude when it comes to how an atheist can love a believer and reject their religion. It's because they _can't_ "love the sinner, hate the sin" (unless they are sins they themselves commit); not on any level beyond the perfunctory, anyway.
“If you can love the sinner and hate the sin, I can embrace the religious without accepting the religion.” The problem is that you cannot love the sinner while hating the sin. This is a concept found nowhere in the scriptures. It is ultimately impossible because we constantly find ourselves ostracizing the sinner until he meets our sinless standards. And the bigger problem is that focusing on the sin misses the entire purpose of the New Testament. To focus on the sin, which far too many denominations do, is false teaching. So, your comparison fails here. In fact I find it fails miserably in practice. In every since case with all the atheists I encounter, at the point where they find out you are a believer, they are just as guilty of judgement and ostracization as the false teachers of Christianity are.
Well put! It's also worth saying that the level of "personal discomfort" felt by a believer who sees his beliefs questioned can often be much broader than even what you stated. Most times it's not just about themselves. Since they are usually the product of indoctrination, an attack on their beliefs is also an attack on their family, on their deeper sense of belonging. It's a way of shaking the entire grounds of reality they have been standing on since always. The same way people will often not bother to react if *they* are called names, but will respond with fury and even violence if the (target of) insults escalates to their parents, so will cringe a challenged believer who sees religion as the most sacred gift he received from mom and dad...
I once commented on an atheist experience video that mentioned mithra by giving a bit more info on his connection to Christmas & some random Christian immediately got heated that I was "calling Christians stupid" (I didn't even mention christians in the post beyond mentioning that they're actually celebrating mithra on christmas). when I pointed this out they and another Christian threatened to find me to "punch out all [my] teeth for jesus". in a tumblr post I once pointed out that by the logic of "the universe is complex and complex things need a creator" argument God needs to have a creator too, and again I was accused of calling Christians stupid (I never even mentioned them in the post).
I would love to have your feeling of truth. As a physics student I used to had the seek of truth as a great motivator, but after lots of thinking I realized that actual truth (apart from that we perceive what we perceive) is unreachable, and we must content with aproximate it. Wich its still pretty nice, but its just not the same
This is the main problem with not just religion, but includes politics these days. People have wrapped their identities so closely with a politico or policy or party, that no amount of reasoning will make them abandon it. It's scary and dangerous. Much like religion, political cultism can also lead to the gallows for 'unbelievers' or 'nonfollowers'.
When I started losing my faith, I read the entire Bible. That just sped up the process. I did everything I could to cling on. I would be so happy if there was a god. That would secure an eternal afterlife.
I never have, nor have I ever really could have been religious; for one reason, I lack the ability to have faith. I don't have faith in myself, in my friends/family, in the world, or life in general. I do, however, have trust that I form based on science, observation, rationality, and person experience. It used to be a problem for me, I lacked faith in myself and had little to no self confidence as a consequence. However, after I started to see what I was capable of when I actually applied myself to any given area, I started to trust that I was smart enough or capable enough to do most things if I truly wanted and applied myself to that area. I feel that faith is a form of gullibility that I lack, that may be a good thing; but they do say that ignorance is bliss.
