Holy shit you stupid fuck, I tell myself, read it before you post. I’ll edit this mess up.
I read the Bible. I thought perhaps I could debunk the Bullshit religion that hypocritically judged me in the small midwestern town I grew up in. I found they had little to do with one another.
Why not? The objective to a true believer is to introduce a teaching so that, if there be interest, it can then be pursued by the one who is presented with it. It’s up to them. The point isn’t to convert it’s to inform so that the possible student can make an informed decision to accept or reject the proposal. Either outcome is satisfactory. But I’m not here for that so much as I am to learn what makes y’all think. I’ll throw stuff out there to see your reaction and discuss it but that’s about it.
That’s mostly ideological fixation, though, isn’t it. All people are like that about everything. My team, my country, my politics, my music, my art, my wine, my education, my class . . . . . the phenomenon isn’t exclusive to religion. That sort of thing with atheists and especially theists may be in the guise of personal concern, but it isn’t really. It’s just bullshit. Which is why I think pretty much everything is bullshit. And when I look into it I almost always discover it is.
Believe it or not, Mr. Semm, that got me tickled a little. Because, if I’m being honest with myself, I am subject to doing the same thing now and then, depending on my mood and the situation.
That may be true in your case. It may not be. I don’t think we should judge others harshly in that regard. It’s up to them. I hate math. And grammar. And directions. I just can’t get it. Don’t want to get it. Well, that’s a weakness that I sometimes have to reconcile with. On a somewhat related note, if a person doesn’t want to evaluate the evidence for something they think is nonsensical or irrational that’s their business.
A lot of times, though, people say one thing when they mean another. It’s a poorly thought out expression of an emotional nature. If I start complaining about math, grammar and directions it isn’t those things I’m complaining about. Honesty and self awareness may not fix one’s problems but it can be constructive in other ways.
Yeah. We are almost always wrong.
Okay. That’s good. Fair enough.
You mean the people who invented them presented them as if they wanted fame and glory? Was this a reflection of themselves or society at large? For instruction? So, then I would look at how people react to various deities. Sacrificing their children by fire for a bountiful crop; killing two birds with one stone? What is a modern equivalent that would have been prevalent then as well? War.
I’m trying to differentiate my perspective as a believer from your perspective as an unbeliever and then addressing this from the latter. But first, from the former, just an aside. There is no Old and New Testament. The traditional terminology and subsequent distinction is based upon a faulty premise from a Latin mistranslation. That isn’t relevant, I’m just pointing it out. I sometimes use the terms myself for distinction.
I think it’s important to recognize that the Bible narrative in this context was temporal and geographically limited. So there was this alleged division of people into a nation for specific reasons. All of it’s settlers are gathered in one place and read the law and unanimously agree and swear to uphold it. So, your allegation is that the deity in question, Jehovah, was created to control the people? Who, by the way, failed miserably in upholding the aforementioned laws.
So, the control was unsuccessful, the deity was imagined, the events were manufactured mythological manifestations of the deity’s fabricator’s frustration? These remain useful today and it is counterproductive to educate yourself on these but you have them all figured out nonetheless? Just dismiss them as nonsense?
Lucifer is a Latin word meaning light bearer. A metaphoric application to people who prophetically herald a new day. Dawn. Jesus, for example, or Nebuchadnezzar as representative of the Babylonian empire. Lucifer, like luciferase, an enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of a luciferin, causing it to produce a visible glow. Lightning bugs, glow worms, Bill Gates vaccine tattoo. The word only appears once in poor translations. It isn’t Satan, it’s Nebuchadnezzar. (Isaiah 14:4, 12)
But, anyway, riches aside, it doesn’t really matter if you believe in the alleged deities or not in that you could, like the demons, know and yet shudder. Believing isn’t necessarily acceptance.
You problem is with theocracy, isn’t it? If the evidence were presented to your satisfaction it wouldn’t constitute trust or acceptance of said deity, so the point is moot. Unless it is an ideological fixation and sociopolitical frustration with theocracy. Mostly ideological.
No you don’t. You just know it won’t be provided and if it were you would deny it more vehemently than you protest the fictional manifestation. Like I said, it’s a moot point anyway. Just a bunch of complaining about something other than what you’re complaining about.
Aw, HELL no! Me and Straw Boy use to be best buds, ya know. But ever since he got that damn diploma from the “Wizard” dude, he started becoming more and more snobbish, as if he’s too good to hang out with us anymore. Apparently, I’m no longer “intellectually advanced” enough to interest him… … Okay, I confess. I DO borrow that “brain” of his sometimes. But ONLY for important purposes. You know, like getting discount tickets to the tractor pulls. Or maybe when I need to figure out how many cases of beer I’ll need for a big party. Otherwise, I don’t bother with him much anymore. He became such an annoying Mr. Know-it-all.
If the monster you allege was created by superstitious primitives were demonstrated, by evidence to your satisfaction to be real, your rehabilitation would only lower your position to that of the monster.
I don’t really see it that way. Have you ever done Online dating before?
I used to do this thing when I matched with woman I liked on Tinder. I would imagine what she would be like in person. Would she be nice? would she be a bitch? Would she be good in bed?
Sometimes I was absolutely surprised when I met them. Most of the time, these girls weren’t at all what I imagined. Some of them were liars, some of them liked to play games, and some of them were more than I deserved.
My point is. If there’s evidence of a deity and the evidence blows up in my face. So what? It doesn’t have to be exactly as I imagined it or wanted it to be. Life is full of things that happen unexpectedly. It doesn’t have to be to my exact standards. Just like when I matched with women I liked. They weren’t at all that I “imagined” them to be like.
It just has to be obvious and compelling. You make it sound as though that it has to be according to my imagination. No, that’s unrealistic.
Fair enough, but, it’s better not to imagine the worse unless having good reason, especially if you are going to publicly announce those unfounded suspicions and promote an adversarial position. You wouldn’t badmouth the prospective companion so why badmouth the deity or the dating process itself - symbolic for religion?
I see what you did there. But this is a bad comparison lol.
I have to gather evidence of this woman’s existence. I meet them in person within a week to acknowledge they exist and that they’re not a catfish. This is all past tense by the way. I’ve been off the market for a while.
I have concluded, not claiming, that gods do not exist. That the Christian deity is one big school of catfish wanting tithes & handouts on Sunday. It’s for the same reason most everyone concludes that unicorns, undead vampires, robots from the future, flying pigs, zombies, and Eric the God Eating Penguin do not exist.
Honestly though, I have met Christians who do believe in the existence of undead vampires. There’s this dude at my work place that’s really disturbing about it. He buys garlic and everything. He even made a stake! I always just thought that was all in the movies, you know? I didn’t think anyone still believed in that stuff lmao.
Yet athests are not the ones believing in magical dieties that can waggle their fingers and create universes. The end of all knowledge and inquiry is to assret, ‘God done it.’ The most pitiful words from the mouths of the faithful, ‘Leave it to God.’ Followed closely by; ‘It’s a miracle.’
Atheists are broken? Let’s see what you’ve got. My impressions as well is that you do not understand atheism. Let’s find out why atheists are broken,. The new thread is just for you,
You are going to send me packing anyway. You know it, I know it and everyone else knows it. And they know why. It isn’t talking shit like the shit you all talked in my other thread. It isn’t me doing the same thing you’re doing. It’s being on the wrong side. No, it’s more. It’s being an effective opponent. You have to cheat. And you will. And you will lie to yourself. And everyone will lie along with you. And you will congratulate yourselves on a decisive victory.
But . . .
Deep down you will know the truth. And you will learn over and over and over that that is the way to win. And our children and our children’s children will either learn from this and replicate it or rebel. And they will get dumber and dumber but better and better at cheating. And then it starts all over again. And again.
The details of the dispute aren’t nearly as significant as you would imagine.
So this is a presuppositional assertion and nothign more. We all know God exists and are juist lying to ourselves? Thank you for your inane assertion. You are wrong. I actually do not believe in God or gods. Deep down I know that you are making unfounded and unevidenced claims. Can you demonstrate that I believe in a god., Do you have any evidence at all for that claim?
… Okay, I confess. I DO borrow that “brain” of his sometimes. But ONLY for important purposes. You know, like getting discount tickets to the tractor pulls. Or maybe when I need to figure out how many cases of beer I’ll need for a big party. Otherwise, I don’t bother with him much anymore. He became such an annoying Mr. Know-it-all.