Don't shoot the messenger. Just reporting... :hide:
Could you be wrong about God?
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You first assertion is mostly correct, which is fairly hilarious, though not actually irony ("The use of words implying something other than their literal intention" - the only irony in the Alanis Morrisette song "Ironic" is that it contains precisely zero examples of irony).
Those of us non-religious folks who do spend a lot of time discussing religion often do so because we simply can't make sense of the devout and zealous who are utterly and unshakably convinced of the truth of their beliefs which generally fly in the face of reason, because they make us very nervous... and because those same religious people love to make a point of throwing their beliefs in everyone else's faces, often as a means to judge or insult them by, and thus make it an issue of contention we have to concern ourselves with, because it's not enough for them to keep their religion to themselves and the people who want to hear about it. Instead, we have those who genuinely believe that the United States should be declared to be a Christian nation, and should be governed by Christian laws, for example. I actually, seriously, had one person tell me he DID think un-wed non-virgins should be stoned to death in the street, and would do it himself if it weren't for the commandments to obey secular laws (Romans 13:1-2; 1 Peter 2:13-14; Ephesians 6:5-8; Colossians 3:22-25; 1 Timothy 6:1-2; 1 Peter 2:18-20; Titus 2:9-11; more...) Therefore, those of us who aren't religious have every reason to be concerned about the behavior and actions of those who have blind, unthinking faith in their religion, especially from those who are otherwise uneducated, which leads to the sorts of atrocities we see in the backward and ignorant Middle Eastern nations, and which has only been largely absent from Christianity for the last century or two.
And I have a feeling a lot of the religious people reading this thread think said thread is aimed at - or solely about - them and their religion when it in fact isn't, and was instead aimed at the religious and non-religious alike, presumably in an effort to get to get a feeling for the strength of conviction for those on both sides of the equation. Never mind the fact that a lot of us are responding directly to the assertions being made by the religious about why those of us who aren't religious are wrong and going to hell for being sinners, whereas I can say with a great deal of certainty that not a single agnostic or atheist in this thread has suggested to anyone that they they are bad or evil people, or should be jailed, beaten, or abused - much less tortured for the rest of their lives, or all of eternity - solely because they are religious. Yet how many times have I been told in this thread alone I'm going to hell for not having the same beliefs someone else does?
Besides, since when have the religious ever been any different? They sure aren't shy about preaching to everyone else about how wrong they are and how they're going to hell for not believing the exact same thing they do, nor about wearing their religion on their sleeves. Or how the historically civil and secular institution of marriage is sacred and the domain of religion alone and that its an insult to them and their own marriage and everything they believe in to allow equal rights and privileges to gay people by allowing them to marry.
Personally, I've never seen an atheist group protesting outside a church... never even heard of such a thing - though those jerkbags at Westboro Baptist deserve exactly that. But religious people regularly protest en masse outside places or events - or people's homes - that have never directly done or said anything to harm or insult them personally, all because their religious beliefs are offended by those people not living up to their particular ideals... never mind how offensive I find it when people I don't even know walk up to my child in the park and start trying to talk to him about G-d and his eternal soul, asking when he was baptized and why he isn't wearing a cross, and what church do your mommy and daddy go to, as if that's any more acceptable than a random stranger talking about sex to my toddler.
There's a REASON the following meme image exists, and it's 100% due to religious people behaving in precisely the manner you're accusing some of us here of engaging in:
Post something about non-Christians talking more about God than Christians.
Watch butthurt ensue.
Mission accomplished.
Everyone thinks they are somehow enlightened above someone else, but the reality is you all come off as the same type of zealous lemming they accuse others of being.
Both sides crack me up at this point. So much for a bunch of "if they aren't depriving you of liberty then leave them be" preachers. Oh no, someone rang your door bells or said something mean about going to hell. Better get bent out of shape about it.
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Watch butthurt ensue.
Mission accomplished.
Everyone thinks they are somehow enlightened above someone else, but the reality is you all come off as the same type of zealous lemming they accuse others of being.
Both sides crack me up at this point. So much for a bunch of "if they aren't depriving you of liberty then leave them be" preachers. Oh no, someone rang your door bells or said something mean about going to hell. Better get bent out of shape about it.
The God revealed in Scripture never murdered children.
https://carm.org/bible-difficulties...-god-order-destruction-men-women-and-children
If He does indeed exist (I pose this as an "if" since you do not believe He does), will you accuse Him to His face? Are you more righteous than Him?
https://carm.org/bible-difficulties...-god-order-destruction-men-women-and-children
If He does indeed exist (I pose this as an "if" since you do not believe He does), will you accuse Him to His face? Are you more righteous than Him?
Yes, things like "instructions on slavery" and "deities murdering children" and the like... good reads....
There's killing for food, and there's homicide. Homicide is either justified (self defense or defense of others) or the deliberate and unlawful killing of one person by another; murder.
So, I have to ask, who was God so afraid of that he killed in self defense?
As for entering the Kingdom of Heaven, what makes you think I'd want to spend a moment with a capricious god that puts so much evil into 'his' creation?
If there is a god that created more stars than there are grains of sand on all the beaches of the world and worlds beyond number, then we are utterly and completely beneath his notice.
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