Most don't belong to atheist organizations. And those organizations are not like churches, they are more like the ACLU. Likewise, religious people should go about their business and not try to constantly impose their beliefs on others. Churches should pay taxes like any other business.
this really doesnt mean that there is no god or that religious dogma is wrong. but it does mean that the masses are stupid and emotional. even if you think there is a god, why would you think he likes that you do stuff because you are scared. thats like a father that beats his kids being proud of how obedient they are.
I agree. Why should I join somebody's religion just because a couple of guys on bicycles knock on my door? I think its mostly Mormans and a few offbeat sects that publicly proselytize and try to accost everybody they see. A number of years ago I was in New Orleans during the Mardi Gras season. I had bought a draft beer from one of those beer booths they set up in the alley on Boubon Street. I was walking down Bourbon Street when a guy with a boom box and a microphone started following me and yelling that I was a sinner and that I was going to hell for drinking a beer. I told the guy several times he had better get away from me but he kept it up. Finally I threw my beer in his face. Two plainclothes cops grabbed me and thew me up against a wall. I thought I was going to jail but the cops just made me apologise to the asshole. He should have apologised to me for making me waste a beer but I was in no position to argue about it.
Not just the fear of hell. Also the promise of the eternal reward of heaven. Sort of like the carrot and the stick
You don't see them much anymore, but in the seventies Hari Krishnas were everywhere handing out a brochure and a stick of incense and asking for a dollar "donation". They were persistent and brainwashed, immune from caring about being scolded or threatened. I got to where I would take out a dollar and tell then that they all have to sing the Hari Krishna song to get it. Most of them would just smile and sing it until I handed over the buck. A few understood that they were being fucked with and would just walk away.
oh my friend they were still around in the late 90s on LSU and UF campuses. A Friend of mine and I had this conversation about these folks not a week ago.
Not a religious guy but a sort of mentally challenged panhandler frequently comes into a coffee shop where I go sometimes and asks people "Can I have a few dolllars for some food?" Once I gave him the loose change I had in my pocket, about 60 or 70 cents. He asked if I had any more money. I said all I had was a $20. He asked me if I would break it to get more money for him. I told him to get the hell away from me.
There is a Mormon church about 1 mile from me and my next door neighbors are Mormon. Kids from the church knock on the door every few months. Sometimes they approach if I'm walking my dog. I know how to quickly shit them down but they are all very polite. The only fear I have about my death is that it might happen after that of my children's. I couldn't survive that.
In my 37 years on earth, not once has an atheist spent time trying to convince me or anyone I know of anything. Knowing what I know about you on this forum, I'm sure you're the reason for that response. You have a way of pushing people's buttons just the right way to get a response. For the most part and almost without exception, atheists just want to be left alone and not have religious views forced upon them. Why does anyone form groups? I will say that the one thing that I miss most about attending church is the fellowship and community. It's almost certainly the one reason that I attended for so long. I wasn't necessarily raised religious. The fellowship was my hook. My parents didn't care that I attended. I'm sure they were thrilled that I took to going every time the doors opened, that I could recite bible verses the way they recites Beatles songs. I was a good kid, brought home good grades and wanted to attend church. Who cares why I wanted to attend? I studied the Bible for a very long time. My comnversations as a teenager were with very knowledgable people. My questions were genuine as I had not yet really considered the idea that this was all bull****. The more I questioned things that didn't make sense, the more I was given answers like "this is the way it's been for centuries" or that "faith means not asking so many questions". However, if faith is to be tested and God is perfect in every way, how could it not stand up to a mere human's questions? Testing your faith is what Jesus did in the wilderness, so how could this be bad? The willingness of scholars to simply "leave well enough alone" and accept that this was just the way it was seemed foolish. That was probably when I began to really see the cracks in the foundation. Responding to your post about the Bible not saying anything about "covering your bases", it does. The verse in Ephesians I posted earlier lays clear the path to salvation. In the book of John, Jesus famously says “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." There is no middle ground with Christ and God. You are either for them or against them and that includes your faith. This is made clear many times throughout the Bible as is faith in Christ as the sole means of salvation. In the first few chapters of Revelations which were letters to the seven churches, John says (on behalf of Jesus) "So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth" clearly acknowledging their lack of sincerity and their actions not being in sync with their true hearts. This is in reference to the churches filled with people who simply fill the pews. Make no mistake about it, according to the Bible (if that's what you really believe) "covering your bases" isn't going to get you to heaven. Now, a lot of people will say that it's not necessarily how they interpret the Bible and to me, that's a fatal flaw. How can something as important as eternal life be left to the whims and and interpretations of the ignorant masses? With so many differing views of the same verses, someone has to be wrong. Not everyone can be right. That so many people ignore this simple line of thinking yet devote so much time, energy and money to the religion of their choosing s what I find most maddening. It's a blind bet that people make and no one calls them on it for fear of being pointed out as equally foolish. With religion drawing commitments from billions of people around the world, for it to not be real would make billions of people feel stupid. As such, the ruse keeps perpetuating generation after generation because no one wants to admit they're suckers. The funny thing about my knowledge of the Bible is that if I didn't know so much about it, I'd probably still be religious...
I do not believe in religion. Not science, not evidence do I have, but I do think there is a God. In what form this God is does not really matter to me. Probably something out of a Tolkien novel. 1st: it seems false that there is "one true religion". If that is true, about 2/3's of the world is doomed. Doesn't seem right. If it is, God is a giant douche. 2nd: I see that earth is filled with all types of life that recreates, creates "and" evolves. 3rd: I do question the subconscious and the feelings of joy, sadness, love, etc. It is odd to me, however my dog experiences these same feelings....
