Atheists....whats your story?

No matter how you feel about the Judeo-Christian explanation for the existence of the world a point you might have to concede is that the Christian value system, though based on belief rather than reason, is humanitarian. Abuses of Christian values are always rooted in rationalization and "logic". Logic is hardly a guarantee of human decency. Communism was "scientific government" and responsible for the greatest genocidal incidents in history.
 
Too often, discussions about God are posed as a choice between a particular religion and atheism. I don't see it that way. My wife follows the traditional Christian religion. I do not, though I accept the possibility that there may be some higher intelligence or order to the universe. Quantum physics presents us with endless possibilities. Unfortunately, most of them are not provable (or even testable) with current technology. That leaves me with many questions and very few answers.
 
Its all about power, always is. Noone is criticizing good works however they're inspired. Drawing a parallel between atheism
and any imagined motivations of it advocating to bring down charity is just off the chart. I dare say Bill Gates isn't religious
and I don't have to tell you of the monies from the Foundation.

No exclusivity to moral high ground. I applaud any and all good works including from religious origins. It seems Morality is of a primarily higher order than religion ...on the ground.
 
Quote from Hansel H:

have to concede is that the Christian value system, though based on belief rather than reason, is humanitarian.
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This is entirely false. Sure, the cherry picked verses from the Bible (ie, the foundation for the Christian value system) often quoted are usually "humanitarian", but a more than surface level study of the book shows that it is filled with hate, decisiveness, oppression, genocide, racism, sexism...just to name a few.

If you really want to find out what the Bible espouses, look for a book titled "God Hates You, Hate Him Back"...it goes through the Bible book by book...Old Testament and New. Sadly, most people never really study what they claim to follow.
 
Quote from peilthetraveler:

Wow...quite a stretch there blaming it on Christians. But hey...I got one better for you. Atheistic north korea...3 million dead in the same time period that the genocide of what....30-40k people killed in bosnia? If you want to look at genocides, we can do this all day. I promise you that Atheists are responsible for more deaths in the last 100 years than catholics, muslims, or Jews put together in the last 5000 years.
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No stretch, fact. Unless you don't consider them to be "christians."

As for atheism killing people, well, that is illogical. Atheism itself isn't a principle, cause, philosophy, or belief system which people fight, die, or kill for. Unlike theism which uses gods and appeasement of gods for justification. Being killed by an atheist is no more being killed in the name of atheism than being killed by a fat person is being killed in the name of fatness.

So on that account, theism has killed more than any other ideology, cause, philosophy or belief system since men adopted religion.
 
I think you are asking one central question, which is why so many human beings embrace certain beliefs without subjecting them to a logical test or an evidence test.

I think the answer is efficiency.

The human race is wired for most people to just accept what is popular without rigourous questioning so that human beings can take existing ideas and go out and do stuff with them without reinventing the wheel. Only a minority are wired to think about and question what is set before them.

This is a successful division of labour - we only need a few critical thinkers, a few energetic leaders and lots & lots of willing labour in order to get shit done.

All societies who didn't have this mix basically got eliminated by those who did.


Quote from Ghost of Cutten:

I'm interested in why people believe the things they do, especially when it seems to clash with the evidence (or lack thereof) from reality. Why are there still marxists or even socialists in this world. Why are there anarchists, or astrologers, or believers in ghosts. Why do the public consistently prefer both higher government spending and lower taxes, or rack up large amounts of credit card debt to purchase useless consumer goods. Why do the vast majority of people follow the religion of their parents, when this clearly has nothing to do with its veracity (if you are born in Mexico you are likely to be a catholic; if in Saudi then a muslim. Yet clearly both cannot be true at once, and clearly one is not more or less likely to be true just because you were born there. Yet the vast majority act and think as if that were so.) Why did people in the past believe in slavery, or think the world was flat, or that alchemy could turn lead into gold. Why do people sell stocks when they get cheaper and safer, and buy when they get more expensive and risky. Why does Jim Cramer have an audience etc.

I have a strong interest in finding out the nature of reality, and religion is one of the biggest areas where people appear to believe things not based on facts, evidence, and logic, but various other illegitimate reasons, such as the beliefs of their parents or host culture. So it is naturally something which stimulates my curiosity. I realise that most people don't change their views, even if you proven them wrong, but I find it interesting to examine the reasons they give for believing the way they do. It teaches you a profound scepticism towards the beliefs and reasoning capabilities of most of humanity, which is a trait that comes in useful in the markets, and life in general.
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Quote from CaptainObvious:

This story just about sums up the whole atheist religious/cult movement. Bunch of whiney bitches looking to be "offended" over some chicken shit deal.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/...s-to-sue-over-state-funds-spent-on-cross.html
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I like it. As an atheist, I too would be outraged if my tax dollars were being spent on.......a giant cross? $20,000 to renovate a cross? Surely there are better uses for $20,000!

The church is already tax exempt... Not only do they not pay taxes, but they want to use those tax dollars as well?!

Pay for your own fucking cross, leeches.
 
Quote from Kassz007:

I like it. As an atheist, I too would be outraged if my tax dollars were being spent on.......a giant cross? $20,000 to renovate a cross? Surely there are better uses for $20,000!

The church is already tax exempt... Not only do they not pay taxes, but they want to use those tax dollars as well?!

Pay for your own fucking cross, leeches.
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I hear ya'. Government money is much better spent on welfare queens spitting out kids every nine months. Maybe great social experiement in public education. How's about some free heath care for illegals.
Tell ya' what. When the government quits blowing my tax dollars supporting every f'n dead beat, I'll be in full support of your position. Until then, I'd rather the money be spent on a cross than on some shine with 15 kids who will then have 15 kids each and those will spit out 15 more each, and grandma is all of 29 years old.
 
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