[quote]Brother Chris wrote:
[quote]Charlie Horse wrote:
[quote]Brother Chris wrote:
[quote]Charlie Horse wrote:
[quote]Brother Chris wrote:
[quote]Charlie Horse wrote:
[quote]GCF wrote:
[quote]Charlie Horse wrote:
LOL
I know more believers than non-believers and I can’t say there is any difference as far as being a good person.
My dad is a believer and was totally accepting of me not being.
Maybe I just hang out with better believers, also I’m not American, so I guess those studies don’t apply to me.
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That may be true but I know who I would rather have as my phone a friend on who wants to be a millionaire. [/quote]
I sometimes think that not all who claim to be believers really are, like politicians and people who only attend church during special occasions. As an atheist I have difficulty believing believers really believe. If that makes sense. lol
[/quote]
I know what you’re saying, but no. I think most are believers, but I think they just don’t follow it.[/quote]
LOL
So basically you think most are believers (even atheists) and I think most are atheist (even believers)?
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No, I think that there might be some believers who say they are atheist (not sure why), but I think most atheists are genuine. What I am saying is that most believers are actual believers they just don’t take their own medicine.
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I thought maybe you were referring to that “no atheists in a foxhole” expression, or however it goes.[/quote]
Actually I do know about 15 atheist that lived in ‘foxholes’ for 8 years, now. I think there is a good reason for the saying though, it does seem that when people learn their fate, they look for something bigger than them to appeal to. It is natural, that does mean that there isn’t any, though.
[quote]
I was not raised in a religion so my exposure was limited, friends, summer camps, etc. I wonder if I was raised in a religion if I would still be an atheist.[/quote]
Never know, I wasn’t raised religious, either. I am sure if you were raised that way and unless someone gave you unsurmountable proof you’d leave (but then again I have unsurmountable proof that atheists are wrong ;)) that you’d probably be theist because you do seem like a smart lady.
I personally didn’t grow up religiously, at all. We prayed before meals…that was it. No church, nothing. I sure didn’t have an experience of G-d (at least not physically, unless you count when I had the cognitive reaction of knowing someone was lying to me). I sat down with a blank slate (it was so bad at one point I honestly couldn’t answer if 2+2=4), and figured things out from the ground up. Started with the question “Is G-d Real?”
I am sure you can figure out what happened after about four months of going through the logical arguments. (I’ll put the reasons at the end)
Maybe I should read everything before answering. Yes, I would be a believer if I was not raised with religion, because I was not raised with religion.
Four Reasons why G-d is Real…that I can explain in a weekend (because I have a lot more, just not that much time).
- The Universe began to exist.
- The Universe is finely tuned.
- Objective Morality exists.
- Jesus of Nazareth. [/quote]
My dad would pray before meals too. My real experience, on my own, was at 11. The rule at my friends house was if you wanted to sleep over on Saturday you had to go to church with them on Sunday. I can’t remember the church (not catholic) but basically I learned that you were supposed to just feel god’s love and some crazy stories about christians being killed for their beliefs and a true christian would not lie even if it meant death. There’s more to it but that summer was a very negative experience.
I feel that when I finally learned what atheism was it was a relief.
As I don’t really understand the Big Bang(something from nothing) or DNA etc (I have some reading to do this summer) I can’t say I have proof of no intervention but I also don’t have proof of intervention.
Although as far as the universe being finally tuned(for us?), I would be more convinced if we were living on a planet that should not be able to support life.
The dice example: If the die is rolled and you get a 6 that doesn’t mean intervention (or a lack of intervention either) it just means a 6 was available(chance). You would have to prove that the universe and earth are the equivalent of rolling a 7, this would indicate intervention. I’m not sure how you would do this though.
