I Don't Understand Atheism

[SweetMonkeyLove]

At no time did I insinuate perfection.

[Gman]

At no time did I insinuate perfection.

Then you can't rely on yourself for perfection.. You have corruption. Plain and simple.

[SweetMonkeyLove]

Life taught me that long ago. At least we agree on one item. lol edit: we are all the same in that respect.

[Gman]

Life taught me that long ago. At least we agree on one item. lol

Yes.. Then Psalm 14:1 is correct...

[SweetMonkeyLove]

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds;
There is no one who does good.

All people are corrupt on some level. This verse proves nothing other than you are looking for a way to make me say I am a fool, or to assert it yourself. 'I do not consider myself corrupt' I am fallable like any other human. I have my moments of selfishness and self gratification like any other. So do you. Does this mean that I am a corrupt fool? Does this mean I should try to find a way to call you a fool for the same crime? Just because I do not consider myslef corrupt is not the same as saying I feel I am perfect. You keep trying to twist my words.

[DannyM]

I do not believe that there is a person or deity sitting around watching us kill each other and expecting us to live solely for Him. I do not believe in a heaven or a hell. I consider myself an atheist. I do not mean to say that the lives of Christians are empty I grew up a christian. I have met some absolutley amazing people through the church. I mean to say that as a society we tend to worry less about our worlds problems because a lot of us think this space is temporary and therefore needs no care or attention. This world view is a threat to us all. IMO

But do you believe that God does not exist or are you saying you just lack belief in God? If it's the former, you're an atheist; if it's the latter you're an agnostic.

A question: where is atheism when disaster hits a country? Christians and Christian aid do more to help those parts of the world in need than ANYONE. I'm not attempting to point-score with impious grandstanding, SML, but your assertion that Christians "tend to worry less about our worlds problems because a lot of us think this space is temporary and therefore needs no care or attention" is just baseless and wrong. Atheism offers very little at times of disaster and tragedy. Atheism has no compassion. Christianity is full of love and compassion and it springs into action to help others at times like these.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

Atheism as hatred towards God, some verses:

Ps 10:4 God not sought by the wicked,

1 Jn 2:22 atheists as liars,

Ps 50:17 hating instruction,

Isa 5:24 rejecting God,

Jeremiah 6:10 ears closed; unable to understand,

Mt 7:6 pearls to swine,

Ro 8:7 atheists hostile to God,

Eph 4:17-18 carnality (the sin nature) opposed to God.

I've chosen verses that don't need too much understanding or context for atheists to understand. Even so, I'm sure somebody will say, «but I don't hate God!» To those, please refer to Proverbs 14:1.

+ + +

Hatsoff,

You're an enigma for me. I'll have to think a while.

FL

[Gman]

All people are corrupt on some level. This verse proves nothing other than you are looking for a way to make me say I am a fool, or to assert it yourself.

Did I say that?

I do not consider myself corrupt' I am fallable like any other human. I have my moments of selfishness and self gratification like any other. So do you.

Wait a minute.. You were the one that said you had some corruption. So do I. So we are not perfect. Let's face it, we all have some corruption in our lives. What looks silly is when we imply that we don't. That's just being ignorant or arrogant..

Does this mean that I am a corrupt fool? Does this mean I should try to find a way to call you a fool for the same crime? Just because I do not consider myslef corrupt is not the same as saying I feel I am perfect. You keep trying to twist my words.

Stop being so defensive... Let's put it this way. Can you say with 100% accuracy that there isn't a God? I mean, come now... Really?

[SweetMonkeyLove]

I do not believe that there is a person or deity sitting around watching us kill each other and expecting us to live solely for Him. I do not believe in a heaven or a hell. I consider myself an atheist. I do not mean to say that the lives of Christians are empty I grew up a christian. I have met some absolutley amazing people through the church. I mean to say that as a society we tend to worry less about our worlds problems because a lot of us think this space is temporary and therefore needs no care or attention. This world view is a threat to us all. IMO

But do you believe that God does not exist or are you saying you just lack belief in God? If it's the former, you're an atheist; if it's the latter you're an agnostic.

A question: where is atheism when disaster hits a country? Christians and Christian aid do more to help those parts of the world in need than ANYONE. I'm not attempting to point-score with impious grandstanding, SML, but your assertion that Christians "tend to worry less about our worlds problems because a lot of us think this space is temporary and therefore needs no care or attention" is just baseless and wrong. Atheism offers very little at times of disaster and tragedy. Atheism has no compassion. Christianity is full of love and compassion and it springs into action to help others at times like these.

I believe that God does not exist. So far.

Now there is a great question DannyM and I have often thought about this myself. Here is what I believe.
1. Atheism is not a religion. It has no church, no meeting place, no denominations, and no leader. This makes organised anything nearly impossible. If ever we do 'band together' people will just use that as a way to say that we are a religion, rather than an organised group acting for the greater good.
2. Atheists, because they generally act independantly of any organisation does not have large powerfull marketing tools at their disposal like religous charity's do. Thus they get less attention and do not have the capital required to respond to massive tragedy's
3. Atheist charitys tend to get little support because the subject is taboo among many.
4. Atheist charitys tend to work towards helping people who have been harmed by religous practices. forced marriage, AIDS in africa etc.
5. Atheist charity's tend not to advertise their beliefs because they do not wish to push away potential volunteers or donators with what they know is a touchy subject. ie They can be low key.
6. Christianity has been long accepted as the standard in western civilisation. Of course atheism has been seen as 'evil' and 'wrong' by the general public (this is slowly changing) and so opening an atheist charity could be compared to shooting yourself in the face because you will have much opposition and little support. I can tell you that I donate to several non religous charitys.
Quote DannyM your assertion that Christians "tend to worry less about our worlds problems because a lot of us think this space is temporary and therefore needs no care or attention" is just baseless and wrong.
I never intend to paint with broad strokes.

Christian charitys do do a lot of good in these situations. My sister does missonary work. I know what these people do for us. It comes down to large scale organisation. Christians have it. Atheists don't.
One cannnot say in honesty that atheists are without compassion. We do not have a face as a whole. We are a large group of individuals. There are good and bad. And in between. Can the same not be said for Christians?

[SweetMonkeyLove]

All people are corrupt on some level. This verse proves nothing other than you are looking for a way to make me say I am a fool, or to assert it yourself.

Did I say that?

You insinuated it on several occasions but thats IMO People tend to get defensive when they feel they are being called a fool. I know you have a sense of humour somewhere in there so I will let it go. lol
Can you say 100% that there is a God?
If yes then how?

[Gman]

You insinuated it on several occasions but thats IMO People tend to get defensive when they feel they are being called a fool. I know you have a sense of humour somewhere in there so I will let it go. lol

Again, I wasn't talking about you specifically.

Can you say 100% that there is a God?
If yes then how?

So can you? If you can, prove it..

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

God - the creator - says that atheists are fools in Proverbs 14:1. Gman idn't say it. I didn't say it. Danny didn't say it. When you meet God, take your beef up with Him and tell Him that He's wrong.

FL

[Gman]

Athiesm is not a religion. You know that.-SML

How so? If you deny the authority of God, that He created all things, you haven't denied the concept of authority, you simply transfer it to something else...

I think all faith is blind. That is the point of faith

Atheism is not faith based? How so? Where is your proof that there isn't a God?

[Gman]

God - the creator - says that atheists are fools in Proverbs 14:1. Gman idn't say it. I didn't say it. Danny didn't say it. When you meet God, take your beef up with Him and tell Him that He's wrong.

FL

FL.. I love ya bro, but I'm not sure if atheism could be considered a "hatred" of God since they really don't believe in God. I would call it ignorant however..

[DannyM]

I believe that God does not exist. So far.

Okay, you're an atheist...But I like you

1. Atheism is not a religion. It has no church, no meeting place, no denominations, and no leader. This makes organised anything nearly impossible. If ever we do 'band together' people will just use that as a way to say that we are a religion, rather than an organised group acting for the greater good.?

That's debatable- it's certainly a system of faith.

2. Atheists, because they generally act independantly of any organisation does not have large powerfull marketing tools at their disposal like religous charity's do. Thus they get less attention and do not have the capital required to respond to massive tragedy's.?

Atheists have plenty of money and the capabilities and have organisations in many countries. The capital is certainly at atheism's disposal.

3. Atheist charitys tend to get little support because the subject is taboo among many.?

What are these charities, SML? What principles are they are founded on?

4. Atheist charitys tend to work towards helping people who have been harmed by religous practices. forced marriage, AIDS in africa etc.?

Again, could you give me the names of these organisations and the principles on which they were founded? I'm not saying they do not exist, SML, but am just curious...

5. Atheist charity's tend not to advertise their beliefs because they do not wish to push away potential volunteers or donators with what they know is a touchy subject. ie They can be low key.?

But what ARE the "beliefs" of these charities?

6. Christianity has been long accepted as the standard in western civilisation. Of course atheism has been seen as 'evil' and 'wrong' by the general public (this is slowly changing) and so opening an atheist charity could be compared to shooting yourself in the face because you will have much opposition and little support. I can tell you that I donate to several non religous charitys.?

I'd say that atheism has been accepted for centuries now. I think most Christians would probably view it as pitiful rather than evil.

One cannnot say in honesty that atheists are without compassion. We do not have a face as a whole. We are a large group of individuals. There are good and bad. And in between. Can the same not be said for Christians?

I'm not saying YOU, SML, as an atheist do not have compassion; I'm saying that ATHEISM itself has no compassion.

Dan