Reply To: eeeeeeeeeeeeeeestir

[the unlucky platypus]

[quote1206920586=madamadam]
[quote1206909312=the unlucky platypus]
[quote1206684545=Jeanie]
[quote1206682882=Desensitized]
It's not that hard to be tolerant or ignore assholes.

It really, really isn't.
[/quote1206682882]

Amen to that! Being a good, accepting person really takes no effort on your part. Just the urge to not have a conflict.

And I think I read all the posts completely, but I don't think anyone mentioned the word faith. Of course there is no proof that God exists, but true believers don't need proof. Faith is all they need to believe. It is impossible to explain that faith to non-believers, this is why an argument based on pure logic will never be resolved. I have a degree in Biology, I believe in the scientific process: observation, hypothesis, experimentation, data, conclusion. But I'm also a Lutheran. I certainly don't believe God is a puppet master; determining ball games, starting wars, having a say in gang violence, etc. But, ultimately, proof or no proof, I have faith that, in my last hour, I will know that there is something to look forward to. But, anyone who knows me also knows that I believe in making the most of your life while you're here, so cheers!

OK, I'm ready, rip me apart!
[/quote1206684545]

you know…faith has had many additional meanings added over the years. the root originally meant trust. what you're talking about is blind faith. the trust in something without proof. it's kinda like how opinion has changed from merely intangibles like taste into matters of politics and claiming ideology is an opinion when it faces strong opposition or to deflect opposition in the first place. similarly, using the term faith is a deflection from skepticism and criticism in the mainstream. if it's your faith or if it's your opinion or your belief, you can't be touched. but the bottom line of it is "is this something that cannot be measured but we have proof it exists". we can prove the process of taste exists and experience it every day. there is no proof of god beyond the religious systems themselves and their stories. so…we just skipped the first step of the scientific method: observation. first you have to observe something that indicates a deity. and there is no such observation…unless you really put your trust into people a few thousand years ago that they could know for sure that god was god and not just some guy playing messiah out in the streets. life of brian actually depicts a semi-accurate representation of the time period with many messiahs all vying for attention and disciples.

now…would any of those messiahs and their miracles stand up to the randi foundation million dollar challenge? i dunno. but the archeological and historical evidence points against it and the ever increasing lack of "miracles" as science can better explain the world around us points more and more assuredly to the negative. as i said before: people who didn't have the technology or were too lazy to investigate further just claimed god and called it a day. man created god, not the other way around.

and again, burden of proof goes back to those making the claim of the presence of a deity. faith is not proof, it's a placebo.
[/quote1206909312]

The funny thing is, I completely agree with what you say on the whole 'man created God' thing what with that being a pretty good summary of what I've come to believe recently.

However you're still an asshole because you still take a derogatory tone towards believers.

This is where what Jeanie said comes in because, again, it's a pretty good summary of what I've come to believe recently.

Put simply: I think the whole God thing is a crock of shit BUT I could easily be wrong, I won't ever know, so I'm just gonna do what I think is right and see what happens when I die. But I won't [i]ever[/i] try to make anyone feel stupid about believing in God or about believing what ever it is they believe.

I [i]will[/i] tell people that they're stupid if they come out with a high and mighty "my belief is right and your belief is wrong" approach (what you're doing).

You sir, are stupid.

That is all.
[/quote1206920586]

how come christians can say they believe in god all they want but if i stand up for my beliefs and say there is no god all i want, i'm an asshole? fuck that, that's societal programming and religious followers playing the part of the victim when they've never been the victim in their entire fucking life.

way to buy into their game and give them more power, stupid.