Zone1 I've been an atheist for 60 years and have never once been tempted to believe in any god

[Crick]

So you wanted a genii. Do you believe God loves the blind any less? Did you believe you could love your dog more if only he could see?

I believed - accurately - that my dog was suffering needlessly and god's apparent response was to give him more needless suffering. Allow me to repeat that I and my family were actually completely responsible for both my dog's accidents. OUR failures led to his blindness and I'm certain some portion of my initial anger was directed at myself for it.

 

[Blues Man]

Where do you draw the line?

What line?

this is an informal discussion. To you make sure you include footnotes in all your informal discussions?

 

[BackAgain]

You said "I haven't made any designating [sic] comments about YOUR lack of belief" ( emphasis mine). You claimed you had not criticized ME. Get YOUR stories straight.

I got the story straight. You fucked it up.

I said I hadn’t denigrated your lack of belied.

I did not claim that I hadn’t criticized you. I have no reason not to criticize you. You’re not immune to being criticized.

Get your shit together.

 

[Blues Man]

You didn't even read the short blurb....the rituals have meaning, it has no authoritarian elements, it is not like a religion!!!
C'mon at least pretend to read it

John C.H. Wu​

“To my mind, if the cosmos does not know the significance of life, then it is not God; and if there were no God beyond the cosmos, then all human history would be like dancing to the blind and singing to the deaf; and all noble thought and action would be like kissing a cold statue. I believed in a personal God, not because I wanted to project my personality upon God, but because to deprive Him of this attribute would be making the effect greater than the cause.”
― John C.H. Wu, Beyond East and West


“I maintain that all spirituality must be founded on moral life; but on the other hand, moral life must, so to speak, bathe itself in the ocean of contemplation. Without contemplation, the moral life would tend to degenerate into a dry and narrow humanism. Without the moral life, contemplation would be empty and degenerate into quietism.”
― John C.H. Wu, Chinese Humanism and Christian Spirituality

Rites and Ceremonies

Despite his disinterest in ultimate questions, Confucius was a strong advocate for ritual. He believed that participation in ritual served to unite people and strengthen the human community.

www.patheos.com

Confucianism Beliefs: The Four Tenets

Confucianism beliefs include four tenets: Rites and Rituals, Five Relations, Rectification of Names, and Ren. All are essential for social harmony.

www.learnreligions.com

• The four tenets of Confucianism are Rites and Rituals, the Five Relations, Rectification of Names, and Ren.
• All rites and rituals are intentional acts of social unification.
• Relationships all fall within a hierarchy that must be observed to preserve harmony, and every person must understand their role in this hierarchy.
• The goal of Confucianism is to exercise Ren, or true altruism.

 

[Libby von H]

Whether you acknowledge it or not that is exactly what you are doing. Your denial only serves to prove you know what you are doing is wrong.

He says 'tempted' and is in almost all his posts, there is no true or false, just whatever I want is how I am, the perfect way to show he isnot moral. And that word 'tempted' must have been a Freudian slip. He meant to say something about the mind but said something about the will, and that is exactly his problem, everything is just will
Known a ton like him. A TON

 

[Blues Man]

He says 'tempted' and is in almost all his posts, there is no true or false, just whatever I want is how I am, the perfect way to show he isnot moral. And that word 'tempted' must have been a Freudian slip. He meant to say something about the mind but said something about the will, and that is exactly his problem, everything is just will
Known a ton like him. A TON

Where have I ever used the word "tempted in this thread ?

Please, quote the post

 

[Frankenstein]

Didn't write what? The OP?

You're going to have to identify to what text of mine you refer.

I see. Do you have witnesses? Signed statements? Photographs or audio recording of me being god?

It's okay, it's the same for all christians. It's okay, it's the same for all jews. It's okay, it's the same for all muslims. It's okay, it's the same for all buddhists. It's okay, it's the same for all hindus. It's okay, it's the same for all taoists.

It's okay. It's your ignorance that leads you to your anger and you're certainly not alone.

Yes!
Who is angry, why is the one that comes to the religion section to debate something he doesn't believe in thinks people angry? You prove my point by purposely coming in this forum, and saying you don't believe, like we are suppose to give you some sort of award. Congratulations you get to go to hell!

 

[Crick]

JTBC: The post of mine to which you're responding was directed at poster ReinyDays, with whom I have issues.

Debating if a God created us must have been wonderful up until Moses came down from the mountain and said he visited him and told him 10 commandments.

I bet there were plenty of folks who doubted his story. And I bet those Mosaic Covenant displayed some pretty Mosaic handwriting.

I love discussing this topic. It certainly does seem perfect. The moon, the plants and animals we need to eat. Not too hot or cold. Seems built for us. But I tell my dad it hasn't always and won't always. Millions of years before it was meant for dinosaurs and before that Trilobites.

It's not the planet that formed to support us. It was we who formed to live on the planet.

So we agree all god did was plant the seed of life and we evolved from creatures that once lived under water, right? Well, sort of. He will accept the seed theory because of Trilobites and dinosaurs, but he believes god made 1 man and 1 woman who populated the earth. I tell them that's impossible and he sort of agrees that it couldn't have been 1 man and 1 woman, but then that would mean he believes we came from monkeys, and he can't accept that.

Rather than coming from monkeys, try monkeys and humans coming from similar ancestors.

Their beliefs make no sense but when faced with that, they'll change their beliefs, but not if it conflicts with another belief. It's called Cognitive Dissonance.

One time my dad went on and on about how god made all the different types of dogs. Then I informed him they all came from wolves and we made those breeds of dogs in just a short amount of time. Now imagine evolution over millions of years.

They are dumb. I believe the people who run the country, the rich and corporations, are in partnership with religion. Religion keeps us dumb. If you'll believe this crap you'll believe global warming isn't real. How can it be? The bible never mentioned it being how we go extinct. So it can't be true. If it were it'd be in the bible.

The Bible is often interpreted saying that God created the Earth and all life within it to serve the needs of humans; that there is simply nothing we can do that will harm that arrangement. That is at the basis of many a claim that humans lack the ability to harm the planet.

 

[sealybobo]

JTBC: The post of mine to which you're responding was directed at poster ReinyDays, with whom I have issues.

I bet there were plenty of folks who doubted his story. And I bet those Mosaic Covenant displayed some pretty Mosaic handwriting.

It's not the planet that formed to support us. It was we who formed to live on the planet.

Rather than coming from monkeys, try monkeys and humans coming from similar ancestors.

The Bible is often interpreted saying that God created the Earth and all life within it to serve the needs of humans; that there is simply nothing we can do that will harm that arrangement. That is at the basis of many a claim that humans lack the ability to harm the planet.

And the more I realize about humans, the less I believe we are God's chosen species on this planet. We simply are at the top of the food chain because we collectively are smarter than the other animals. We learned to ban together and kill off anything that was a threat.

But today I have to wear glasses. Even 20 20 isn't as good as an eagles eyes.

I deer hunt. Wish I could run, jump, smell, hear as good as a deer.

Wish I could fly. Seems like Gods chosen species is birds.

And 71% of the planet is under water. Maybe the dolphins are smarter

It's estimated that dolphins have an IQ of around 45, this makes them one of the smartest animals in the world, and probably the smartest animal in the ocean. It's estimated that the dolphin's brain size is almost five times bigger than is usual for a creature of their size.

They aren't destroying the planet. Maybe their smarter in more important ways that don't show up on a IQ test.

 

[Crick]

That's because there's never been any proof that there is one.

And never will. But, more importantly, there is a great deal of reasonable and rational evidence that DOES point towards that conclusion that there is no supernatural.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Can you name another institution that shaped Western Civilization more than the HRCC?

I'm not your assistant. I don't play this game. Sorry. Just state your point.

 

[Crick]

Because there is no real science behind it. It's actually dangerous. You believe it because you have faith.

There is an enormous amount of science behind it. Why do you believe otherwise?

 

[Crick]

Because there is no Christian documentation that the world is 6,000 years old.

Are you aware of the source of that figure? Read up.

James Ussher - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Crick]

I don’t recall ever suggesting otherwise. And, your comment is beside the point, dud.

I’m still wondering why so many of you atheists imagine anybody needs to hear how you don’t believe in God.

How many threads do you see in this forum with my name? Go to the Environment forum and see how many threads and posts I've put up.

Why did you change your avatar?

 

[Crick]

Emmons & McCullough, 2003
Slatcher& Pennebaker, 2006
Babyaket al., 2000
Shapiro & Schwartz, 2005
Achor, 2010

These aren't links, they're text. Do you not know how to post an active hyperlink? Do you require instruction?

 

[Crick]

Not from me you haven't.

You haven't been bad, but you haven't been perfect.

I can't speak for others.

No one asked you to.

Nor am I responsible for them.

No one asked you that either.

Personally I couldn't care less what you believe.

Then why did you try so hard to get me into a moral argument?

Or don't believe. That's between you and God.

There is nothing between me and any god.

 

[Concerned American]

When I was 10 years old, we had a dog named Silver. A sealyham - sort of a largish Westie. He had been struck by a car when I was much younger and that had left him blind in one eye. We adapted. He adapted. But whenever he entered an unfamiliar space (the furniture moved, for instance) he would collide with things. I felt bad for him. Like most children my age I believed what I was told was the truth by my parents and the church they took me to. So I prayed as fervently and selflessly as I could manage that God would restore his vision. But, as would happen in any bad movie, his poor vision led Silver to wandering out in front of another car where he suffered another concussion which left him completely blind. Now all dogs go to heaven because all dogs are innocent. Every non-human form of life is innocent of the many sins the Bible spells out. Initially, I was angry. How could God cause my innocent dog to suffer, regardless of his motive or intent? The standard "mysterious ways" line didn't help at all. What did help was the realization that the best explanation was not that god was mysterious or unknowable, but that he simply wasn't there. The existence of the god described by the Bible and by our preacher and the believers I would talk with was simply not possible; not only because it violated all the laws of nature but because absolutely no evidence I could find supported the idea. Every thing I could learn about the world and how it worked refuted the idea of a caring, personal god who had created miraculous humans and a miraculous Earth to be their home and was everpresent, watching over us and, on proper supplication, violating the laws that he himself had set in place - if he felt like it.

As the years went by I simply became more and more convinced that there is a great deal about the working of the universe we do not yet know, but the basics - the principal of uniformitarianism, holds, everywhere and everywhen. Nothing is supernatural. No will directs or inspires the stream of events taking place over the passage of time. Only physics.

What signs or signals should I have caught that might have lured me back to my childhood faith? And how might my life have been different had I done so? I have lots of friends and I'm pretty sure most of them think I'm a nice guy. I buy fully and heartily into the Golden Rule. I believe it to be the sole basis of human civilization. How do you think my complete lack of divine faith hurt me? Will your god throw into a lake of fire because I led a good life but failed to do him obeisance? That is, of course, precisely what scriptures tells us. Why would ANY of you believe, much less WORSHIP such a god? He seems a monster. Would anyone care to correct me?

That's OK, He doesn't believe in you.

 

[Crick]

There are no perfect thermodynamic processes in any matter to energy or energy to matter conversion. So usable energy was lost along the way as a cost of creating order from disorder.

You were claiming that there were matter-energy conversions required between a subatomic soup and hydrogen and helium. I asked you to identify those reactions and perhaps you have. This thread has become ridiculously large and awkward to navigate.

 

[Crick]

That's OK, He doesn't believe in you.

What a clever comment. I am so put in my place. I'll prolly ne'er be able to hold my head up again.

 

[BackAgain]

How many threads do you see in this forum with my name? Go to the Environment forum and see how many threads and posts I've put up.

Why do you ask? Of what concern would that be to me? How does it relate to anything we’ve discussed?

Why did you change your avatar?

I felt like it.