Atheist here, religion isn't the reason for war

[Dr.Drock]

It is often the EXCUSE but not the reason, very different in my opinion.

If tomorrow all religions disappeared man would still kill each other, still go to war, still take advantage of each other etc etc etc. I don't think more war would happen without religion, but it's certainly not the reason war happens.

War is about power, money and land and many military leaders will motivate using religion. "Go risk your life and kill the other guy because our government needs more land and our bureacrats need more money and power!" That wouldn't motivate too many soldiers I don't think.

 

[uscitizen]

Yep, as I said in the other similar thread on this. Religion is just a tool of those in power.

 

[Dr.Drock]

Yep, as I said in the other similar thread on this. Religion is just a tool of those in power.

Correct, the main reason I'm an atheist is science. Morally most religious books say good and bad things that just contradict each other so that's not near the main reason for me. I can be a good person as an atheist and when I was a kid I think I was a good kid and I was a christian.

 

[Sheldon]

Yep, as I said in the other similar thread on this. Religion is just a tool of those in power.

True. That what I think is the big difference between a religion and a belief system. Religion is collective and institutional, a belief system is individual and not dictated by a third party.

 

[uscitizen]

Yep, as I said in the other similar thread on this. Religion is just a tool of those in power.

Correct, the main reason I'm an atheist is science. Morally most religious books say good and bad things that just contradict each other so that's not near the main reason for me. I can be a good person as an atheist and when I was a kid I think I was a good and I was a christian.

I had a preacher friend tell me once that he just wished that all of the members in his church was as good of a people as I was. But said I was still going to hell
I just replied that I would have the company of a lot of his church members in hell. He just smiled and shook his head yes.

 

[Dr.Drock]

Yep, as I said in the other similar thread on this. Religion is just a tool of those in power.

Correct, the main reason I'm an atheist is science. Morally most religious books say good and bad things that just contradict each other so that's not near the main reason for me. I can be a good person as an atheist and when I was a kid I think I was a good and I was a christian.

I had a preacher friend tell me once that he just wished that all of the members in his church was as good of a people as I was. But said I was still going to hell
I just replied that I would have the company of a lot of his church members in hell. He just smiled and shook his head yes.

Well as long as he's not judging lol.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Yep, as I said in the other similar thread on this. Religion is just a tool of those in power.

True. That what I think is the big difference between a religion and a belief system. Religion is collective and institutional, a belief system is individual and not dictated by a third party.

That is rather naive, unless you are trying to claim that communism and socialism are religions.

 

[Midnight Marauder]

Yep, as I said in the other similar thread on this. Religion is just a tool of those in power.

Correct, the main reason I'm an atheist is science.

Careful you're not replacing one religion with another. So much of what they are passing off as "science" today, actually isn't. But they call it that, and the faithful minions follow.

Quick question, from one Atheist to another: Do God, Gods and Deities exist?

 

[amrchaos]

Yep, as I said in the other similar thread on this. Religion is just a tool of those in power.

Correct, the main reason I'm an atheist is science.

Careful you're not replacing one religion with another. So much of what they are passing off as "science" today, actually isn't. But they call it that, and the faithful minions follow.

Quick question, from one Atheist to another: Do God, Gods and Deities exist?

I am going to downgrade the description of myself to agnostic. (notice--there is no such thing as a downgraded Christian, Muslim or Buddhists. Thus the difference in a lack of an actual belief system.)

The reason is quite simple---I do not know What a God, Gods, or Deities are.

Science is not the reason why I disbelieve. Nor is it the actions of a person/people in a certain faith that led me down that road.

I am naturally skeptical of people and their claims. The more fantasy like, the more I disbelieve.

My favorite fanciful stories come from the Testimonies in the New Testament. They say that Jesus raised the dead and risen from the dead--but the Pharisees did not see this because Jesus was hiding and wearing disguises. I do not understand why Jesus wore disguises and hid since before he tried to convince everyone and their momma that he was the messiah. Maybe it was because Jesus was actually dead!

 

[Dr.Drock]

Yep, as I said in the other similar thread on this. Religion is just a tool of those in power.

Correct, the main reason I'm an atheist is science.

Careful you're not replacing one religion with another. So much of what they are passing off as "science" today, actually isn't. But they call it that, and the faithful minions follow.

Quick question, from one Atheist to another: Do God, Gods and Deities exist?

Personally I never know what to label myself as, atheist or agnostic. I'm 99.99999999999% sure there's not a god, but not 100% I'm also 99.99999999999999% sure there's no dancing unicorn in a far off galaxy who's responsible for creating the universe. So what does that make me? I'm not concerned with the label, it's just easier to call myself atheist than type out that paragraph every time.

 

[Midnight Marauder]

Correct, the main reason I'm an atheist is science.

Careful you're not replacing one religion with another. So much of what they are passing off as "science" today, actually isn't. But they call it that, and the faithful minions follow.

Quick question, from one Atheist to another: Do God, Gods and Deities exist?

Personally I never know what to label myself as, atheist or agnostic. I'm 99.99999999999% sure there's not a god, but not 100% I'm also 99.99999999999999% sure there's no dancing unicorn in a far off galaxy who's responsible for creating the universe. So what does that make me? I'm not concerned with the label, it's just easier to call myself atheist than type out that paragraph every time.

It's a simple thing really, at least to me. Deities, "gods" and all associated and related characters DO exist. To deny such would be obstinate and bull headed. They exist, created by man in his own image, for man's own means be it entertainment or whatever. "God" exists -- in the human heart.

But like Batman, Jim Rockford, Steve McGarrett or any other fictional character you can name, you wouldn't deny the existence of these, would you? Same thing with the various deities, "gods" and all related components. They exist, it's proven, we are talking about them -- but they are fictional characters in some great literary works.

Now, we don't berate people because they like Batman. Why then should we berate them for being a fan of the bible? We shouldn't. I respect people's choices, their religion and right to have such, and am not in any way threatened or offended by any of it.

Any more or less than I would be threatened or offended by teletubbies.

 

[westwall]

Yep, as I said in the other similar thread on this. Religion is just a tool of those in power.

True. That what I think is the big difference between a religion and a belief system. Religion is collective and institutional, a belief system is individual and not dictated by a third party.

That is rather naive, unless you are trying to claim that communism and socialism are religions.

In a way they attempt to be. They replace religion with a secular religion based on the State.

 

[Dr.Drock]

Careful you're not replacing one religion with another. So much of what they are passing off as "science" today, actually isn't. But they call it that, and the faithful minions follow.

Quick question, from one Atheist to another: Do God, Gods and Deities exist?

Personally I never know what to label myself as, atheist or agnostic. I'm 99.99999999999% sure there's not a god, but not 100% I'm also 99.99999999999999% sure there's no dancing unicorn in a far off galaxy who's responsible for creating the universe. So what does that make me? I'm not concerned with the label, it's just easier to call myself atheist than type out that paragraph every time.

It's a simple thing really, at least to me. Deities, "gods" and all associated and related characters DO exist. To deny such would be obstinate and bull headed. They exist, created by man in his own image, for man's own means be it entertainment or whatever. "God" exists -- in the human heart.

But like Batman, Jim Rockford, Steve McGarrett or any other fictional character you can name, you wouldn't deny the existence of these, would you? Same thing with the various deities, "gods" and all related components. They exist, it's proven, we are talking about them -- but they are fictional characters in some great literary works.

Now, we don't berate people because they like Batman. Why then should we berate them for being a fan of the bible? We shouldn't. I respect people's choices, their religion and right to have such, and am not in any way threatened or offended by any of it.

Any more or less than I would be threatened or offended by teletubbies.

This sounds like apples and oranges to me. People rarely, if any, devote their lives and morals to a comic about Batman or the character himself such as they do with God and the Bible.

I could go to bed thinking in my brain I'm 6 foot 5, that doesn't mean a 6 foot 5 version of me exists just because it's a thought in my brain. My brain exists, my thoughts exist, the taller version of me doesn't.

So in my view thoughts in people's brains about God exists, doesn't mean he exists, just the brain and the thought.

 

[Midnight Marauder]

Personally I never know what to label myself as, atheist or agnostic. I'm 99.99999999999% sure there's not a god, but not 100% I'm also 99.99999999999999% sure there's no dancing unicorn in a far off galaxy who's responsible for creating the universe. So what does that make me? I'm not concerned with the label, it's just easier to call myself atheist than type out that paragraph every time.

It's a simple thing really, at least to me. Deities, "gods" and all associated and related characters DO exist. To deny such would be obstinate and bull headed. They exist, created by man in his own image, for man's own means be it entertainment or whatever. "God" exists -- in the human heart.

But like Batman, Jim Rockford, Steve McGarrett or any other fictional character you can name, you wouldn't deny the existence of these, would you? Same thing with the various deities, "gods" and all related components. They exist, it's proven, we are talking about them -- but they are fictional characters in some great literary works.

Now, we don't berate people because they like Batman. Why then should we berate them for being a fan of the bible? We shouldn't. I respect people's choices, their religion and right to have such, and am not in any way threatened or offended by any of it.

Any more or less than I would be threatened or offended by teletubbies.

This sounds like apples and oranges to me. People rarely, if any, devote their lives and morals to a comic about Batman or the character himself such as they do with God and the Bible.

I could go to bed thinking in my brain I'm 6 foot 5, that doesn't mean a 6 foot 5 version of me exists just because it's a thought in my brain. My brain exists, my thoughts exist, the taller version of me doesn't.

So in my view thoughts in people's brains about God exists, doesn't mean he exists, just the brain and the thought.

Fictional characters DO exist. As exactly what they are.

Your attempt to create a false dichotomy notwithstanding.

 

[Dr.Drock]

It's a simple thing really, at least to me. Deities, "gods" and all associated and related characters DO exist. To deny such would be obstinate and bull headed. They exist, created by man in his own image, for man's own means be it entertainment or whatever. "God" exists -- in the human heart.

But like Batman, Jim Rockford, Steve McGarrett or any other fictional character you can name, you wouldn't deny the existence of these, would you? Same thing with the various deities, "gods" and all related components. They exist, it's proven, we are talking about them -- but they are fictional characters in some great literary works.

Now, we don't berate people because they like Batman. Why then should we berate them for being a fan of the bible? We shouldn't. I respect people's choices, their religion and right to have such, and am not in any way threatened or offended by any of it.

Any more or less than I would be threatened or offended by teletubbies.

This sounds like apples and oranges to me. People rarely, if any, devote their lives and morals to a comic about Batman or the character himself such as they do with God and the Bible.

I could go to bed thinking in my brain I'm 6 foot 5, that doesn't mean a 6 foot 5 version of me exists just because it's a thought in my brain. My brain exists, my thoughts exist, the taller version of me doesn't.

So in my view thoughts in people's brains about God exists, doesn't mean he exists, just the brain and the thought.

Fictional characters DO exist. As exactly what they are.

Your attempt to create a false dichotomy notwithstanding.

Agree to disagree, we're already at a point of repeating ourselves.

Fictional="An imaginative creation or a pretense that does not represent actuality but has been invented."

 

[Midnight Marauder]

This sounds like apples and oranges to me. People rarely, if any, devote their lives and morals to a comic about Batman or the character himself such as they do with God and the Bible.

I could go to bed thinking in my brain I'm 6 foot 5, that doesn't mean a 6 foot 5 version of me exists just because it's a thought in my brain. My brain exists, my thoughts exist, the taller version of me doesn't.

So in my view thoughts in people's brains about God exists, doesn't mean he exists, just the brain and the thought.

Fictional characters DO exist. As exactly what they are.

Your attempt to create a false dichotomy notwithstanding.

Agree to disagree, we're already at a point of repeating ourselves.

Fictional="An imaginative creation or a pretense that does not represent actuality but has been invented."

And that's exactly what it is. A creation. Therefore it DOES exist. To deny it would be obstinate.

And to your earlier point, about people not devoting their lives to Batman? Irrelevant. The success of the creation does not alter the fact that is IS a creation. Some fictional characters are simply more successful than others.

I don't think we disagree at all. If you really stop to think about it.

 

[Dr.Drock]

We disagree on the title of our views, maybe we have the same views.

 

[Midnight Marauder]

We disagree on the title of our views, maybe we have the same views.

The definition of "Atheist" is silly and way simplistic. NO thinking person would ever try to deny the existence of the 1000s of deities Man has fashioned. Any more than one would try to deny the existence of the Green Hornet.