This is not a good look for you but it's your mistake to make. Behaviors are not like a light switch. They can't be turned on and off easily. But whatever consequences come from it, are for you and your family. The law of compensation never sleeps. It's very Darwinian like that.
I do think you are are angry. You ''read'' angry toward those who don't believe in your religion. I think you make the mistake of assuming that those who don't shard your religious belief are somehow deficient. I do find some arrogance in that believers are often quick to point out that their conception of their religious belief is true and inerrant in comparison to the conceptions of others.
Fair enough. I'm now understanding better how Calvinists such as yourself tend to scare the bejesus out of other God botherers[sic] in general. It saddens me that atheism doesn't satisfy your apparent requirements because you certainly seem bright and educated enough to finally let all that silly childishness go and start living your own life for a change. Waste of a good mind, if you will.
Letting silly childishness go and living your life by discussing God. Like that?Fair enough. I'm now understanding better how Calvinists such as yourself tend to scare the bejesus out of other God botherers[sic] in general. It saddens me that atheism doesn't satisfy your apparent requirements because you certainly seem bright and educated enough to finally let all that silly childishness go and start living your own life for a change. Waste of a good mind, if you will.
Imo, religion simply remains an extremely lazy tool. Perfect for busy parents to quickly grab and use to easily manipulate their kids into compliance with minimal guilt, because societies have generally approved it for such usage. The cycle then naturally repeats all the way up to mutually assured destruction. Childishness. Immaturity writ large.
But it is what it is. They'll be no do overs having so thoroughly addicted ourselves to grabbing and using it willy nilly, so now what? How to make the best of this bad situation? Arguably, it does still help many with alcoholism and other drug addictions, tending to be less self-destructive. Maybe?.. I don't know. FFRF seems always ready and designed to help if you ever change your mind. I consider myself fortunate to have never needed it, having had parents who never grabbed for the religion bludgeon, but FFRF has helped me stay calm upon occasion
Why would you use the terms ''holy ground or sacred places'' which have religious connotations? I think you’re making a break from “reasoning” when you claim that the non-religious have space dedicated as ''holy ground or sacred places''. How, exactly, would that apply to the non-religious? I'm not aware that any of the non-religious have a specific place (a ''not holy, not sacred place'') where they gather to ''not believe'' and ''not seek rewards from the gods''.
Whereas I always believed that atheism is an intellectually lazy tool. There's nothing intellectual about criticizing the beliefs of others to arrive at your beliefs without ever examining your beliefs. That's just plain lazy.
The authors of the Bible have a different opinion about who attends that eternal party in heaven. It's a rather exclusive club with identifiable requirements.
That is not forcing you to do anything. That is someone's opinion.
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Are you pretending you believe in Jesus now? Pretending a belief is not being yourself. Being accepting of ourselves as we truly are is always a freeing experience. It opens doors to opportunities to be who we truly are and what we can do to create the best possible version of that self. If you are saying you will just pretend to believe in Jesus because that will satisfy others, you might consider a quote a stumbled across a long time ago: He who whittles himself to suit others soon whittles himself away.
As I have mentioned before, Hollie, you project what isn't there. I know what I believe, what my own experiences are. I am interested in what others believe and why they believe it. That is how I learn, how I grow.
Has anyone ever tried to make you feel less because you are an atheist? This occasionally happens to atheists in my family. Holy ground, sacred place is where they stand, who they are. No belief is not a reason to assert that by definition, something needs to be fixed, and they are just the ones to fix it. It is about simple respect. People shouldn't go to a Chinese Temple, Native American Holy Ground, Synagogue, or Mosque and begin telling people of other beliefs how wrong they are.
This seems odd. If you don't believe Christianity is true, why be a Christian? To suggest I am telling you what you believe is something of a projection on your part. When you make statements about heaven, for example, being a ''place of many dwelling places, and all are welcome.'', that is in contradiction to what can be found in the Bible. You may believe that but it is not consistent with what is in the Bible.
When Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God, he wasn't speaking of the afterlife, but a way of living this life. Remember the verse where he said sinners and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God ahead of religious leaders? Jesus often said, "The Kingdom of God is at hand", meaning within the reach of everyone, right now.
Where are these holy grounds and sacred places where atheists stand? You have made that statement before and I am not aware of what ground is holy or sacred to a non-believer. There is an obvious religious connotation to the the terms holy and sacred so such terms seen misplaced.
That may be your subjective interpretation but the verse from the Bible is in contradiction to your interpretation. What is your basis for such absolute authority on the matter?
