Sorry, but we are not so gullible as you to believe your stories are valid in any way. You make them up like you make up everything else, it's just a lot of baloney, dude. Just like you claiming to be a scientist. Pure bs.
Any atheists here who were once believers?
- Thread starter wegs
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Sorry, but we are not so gullible as you to believe your stories are valid in any way. You make them up like you make up everything else, it's just a lot of baloney, dude. Just like you claiming to be a scientist. Pure bs.
Key word being "maybe" LOL.
At first glance, I thought you wrote it, but it's by James Henry Leigh Hunt
Ah, very nice!
Robittybob1 this thread moves so fast that I assume you did not see the 2nd paragraph of my post 1178, added as you replied to the first and other more hostile posts, instead of are ignoring the question there - I think you may like to know about Bishop Berkley's POV.
Are you trying your hardest to never be taken seriously at all?
But please continue with the voodoo.
No! But I did say it was feasible, just not something that I had to accept as truth.
No! I accept a story for it's truth value, if it sounds to far fetched, then it is discarded, but remains perhaps a good story.
That's great, but as said once the story asks me to suspend belief, I discard it. As do most reasonable critically thinking people.
Seattle
Valued Senior Member
Atheism is just a lack of belief of God due to insufficient evidence. Atheism doesn't describe someone's entire being however any more than not being a football player describes someone's complete personality.
Yes, of course in one sentence I can't refer to every religion and every concept of God. That's part of the problem
Everyone is sure that they know the supernatural, their views are all very different, and they can't all be right.
I have an open mind but not an empty one. It is open to anything for which there is sufficient evidence. There may be aliens visiting from Mars. I'm open to that. I just haven't seen sufficient evidence for it yet.
I think you are missing my point. I'm not discussing the concept of "love" particularly. I'm using that concept as an example of something that some compare to religion as another intangible. In other words, you are getting hung up on "love". It would be like me getting hung up on you not eating meat in the example above. Not eating meat wasn't your ultimate point.
I won't belabor this point as it's not really important. It's just a matter of shifting from a scientific discussion of "love" to a philosophic discussion.
I was in agreement with you until the last sentence
It's not hard to "willfully ignore" a concept that is supernatural (or man made) with no evidence for all the reasons that you list.(for clarity this referred to my point that people don't become "unbelievers" in love.)
Again, if you can make this comment you missed my entire point. Either that or you are being insincere as I stated earlier.
Obviously I'm not saying that people don't fall out of love. Since that is obvious why would one think that maybe I was saying that? I was saying that unlike the concept of religion, the concept of love isn't something that people quit believing in.
When some gets a divorce they may quit loving their spouse. They don't become "an atheist" with regards to the concept of love.
Of course I do. If someone says that believing in God and being an unbeliever are both just belief systems and therefore comparable that's wrong. It doesn't matter how many people say it or how intelligent they are.
Having a hobby of playing chess isn't comparable to having a hobby of not playing chess.
I'm not sure of your actual point here. What I see is part of the natural process, sure. Is what I think part of the natural process...maybe you're saying "no" ? I'd say "yes". What I think isn't tangible of course. Maybe this isn't where you were going as that would be a bit silly since we all have to interact with the natural world through our brain.
We are talking about the supernatural here though when we speak of God. There is no getting around that. Whether someone gets something else from associating with any God or religion (historical texts, communion with their fellow man, good works, etc) that is beside the point. Doing those things or having certain codes to live by...none of that requires believing in the supernatural which is a delusion. It's a delusion in the clinical sense if it's due to any reason other than religion.
Religion is an exception only because so many people are so deluded. I can make that statement without questioning anyone's intelligence. Religion is a cultural affliction. Human sacrifices were a cultural affliction as was slavery. If you and I were living during those time periods you could very well be making your same arguments to me.."are you saying that everyone else is uncaring, stupid, deluded just because they believe in human sacrifice and you don't...etc"
Seattle
Valued Senior Member
What exactly do you hope to accomplish? You dream. You see a town in flames and two years later there is a fire.
You go to the fire chief (and he is a Bob believer) and you say "your town will have a fire". So he is on the lookout due to your dream. However, nothing happens for two years.
How is your dream helpful to anyone?
You see planes crashing into buildings. You don't know when or where or what building so every government official in the world is on the lookout for airplanes crashing into buildings.
Again, how is your dream helpful to anyone?
If someone "gave" you this power I think "he" was messing with you.
When I am deadly serious everyone treats me as a joke, and then when I joke people take me seriously. Can't win, but I prefer playing with my voodoo dolls.
@ Jan;
Just an observation, I've noticed you don't waver in your faith. I've had exchanges with you elsewhere, and you remain steadfast and constant. I may not agree with your beliefs, or why you believe what you do, but you have unshakeable faith, as they say. Who am I to judge you? It's just...well, interesting to me. And, while you can be dogmatic at times, your message comes across with respect.
FWIW, I just wanted to say that it's neat to see someone of faith like you, still exists. You really believe what you believe.
Just an observation, I've noticed you don't waver in your faith. I've had exchanges with you elsewhere, and you remain steadfast and constant. I may not agree with your beliefs, or why you believe what you do, but you have unshakeable faith, as they say. Who am I to judge you? It's just...well, interesting to me. And, while you can be dogmatic at times, your message comes across with respect.
FWIW, I just wanted to say that it's neat to see someone of faith like you, still exists. You really believe what you believe.
Well that is a start, you read and understood the problem. No doubt, if it was going to be taken seriously like I think we should, it will be a matter of refining the questions when? and where?
You have to nip them in the bud a bit earlier than that too. If you see them flying toward the buildings is is nearly too late.
Who is training to be pilots that want to fly but are not interested in take off or landings? This was a feature that could have alerted to the WTC and Pentagon attacks
In the fire situation. Prevention: making sure vegetation is removed from close to houses. I wonder if there was lack of prevention in Marysville?
Seattle
Valued Senior Member
I agree with you Wegs that Jan is one of the few with that point of view who at least appear to be intelligent with their views and ways of expressing themselves.
I'm not as impressed by the idea of "faith" as you are however. "Faith" sounds more noble than "pretending to know something that one doesn't know".
Is it faith? Is it learned recital. You could recite a poem perfectly but not understand it or be emotionally moved by it.
Faith to me is buying the oil and doing the mileage, then knocking ... that takes faith.
You should check out the thread in this section whereby the topic centers around if one can believe in God and still be a Darwinist. You'll see what I mean. It's a pretty interesting thread.
Re: faith. We all have faith in something. Some have faith in a Deity, some don't. Some have faith in humanity. Some have faith in self. Some have faith in love. Everyone has faith in something....
The neat thing about life is getting to a point where you just take an approach of... live and let live. That's all I really want. :m:
No desire to convince someone to understand why I've taken a different path, now. They can accept me or not.
I think if I could say one thing to you..it would be that you don't need to try so hard to get ppl to see your faith in Jesus. If Jesus is who you wish to be like, do it well and people will see it.
You believe and that belief is your own...You need to just accept that ppl will not think or believe as you do, and they are not "bad" for feeling the way they do.
I accept that. What I have learned though is that if you want a job done right sometimes you've got to do it yourself. (story on the BCS thread about this later)I think if I could say one thing to you..it would be that you don't need to try so hard to get ppl to see your faith in Jesus. If Jesus is who you wish to be like, do it well and people will see it.
You need to just accept that ppl will not think or believe as you do, and they are not "bad" for feeling the way they do.
I might seem pushy but I am discussing the subject with 5 or more people on different levels. With you, I tend to refer to historical things, which have no meaning to anyone else but you.