First of all, I hope I don't offend anyone, seeing it is insanely easy to "offend" people these days.
Second, I'm an atheist myself, but I have respect for religious people, except for the fundamental nutcases who'd probably like to set me on fire because I believe in evolution.
And come to think of it I'm not too fond of the concept of organized religion either. Anyway, not the point.
It's all about this image; (note: it aren't really public opinions when you think about it; most self respecting Christians these days realize that the Bible is nothing more than a book filled with parables etc.)
Fact is: the "why?" question really got me wondering.
There is a possibility that a lot of stuff in the Bible is true (possibility, again, possibility), just like there's a possibility that all or a lot of Greek myths are true.
Still everybody accepts that the Greek myths are nothing more than myths, because let's face it, what are the odds of them being true? So why do so many people still think that the Bible is entirely non-fictional?
In my opinion that is a bit silly.
Also I didn't post this to make people bash the Bible or bash Bible bashers but to make people think and/or let them explain in a decent manner why they do or do not believe in the Bible/Quran/whatever religious text they believe in.
they're raised with it starting from such a young age that the normal reasoning process is pretty much bypassed. they don't ever really get to the point of questioning whether it makes sense or not
you're completely right though, there's no more evidence supporting the stories in the bible than there is evidence supporting greek myths or the flying spaghetti monster.
Last edited by Phigure on Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
rayman612 wrote:well if you said greek myths were false in Greece 2000 years ago, they'd probably kill you
That is true too. But one would've thought that in more than 2000 years our reasoning would've progressed a bit.
I wonder if in 2000 years we will think that the Bible is bullshit too and that there will be another flavor of the millennium that will be seen as the one true religion.
Last edited by NilsFG on Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
rayman612 wrote:well if you said greek myths were false in Greece 2000 years ago, they'd probably kill you
That is true too. But one would've thought that in more 2000 years our reasoning would've progressed a bit.
I wonder if in 2000 years we will think that the Bible is bullshit too and that there will be another flavor of the millennium that will be seen as the one true religion.
rayman612 wrote:well if you said greek myths were false in Greece 2000 years ago, they'd probably kill you
That is true too. But one would've thought that in more than 2000 years our reasoning would've progressed a bit.
I wonder if in 2000 years we will think that the Bible is bullshit too and that there will be another flavor of the millennium that will be seen as the one true religion.
i think religion is pretty close to becoming obsolete. actually, it's already obsolete, and it's on its way out. it's a really obvious trend, especially in the last couple years. religion was once a purposeful function of society when we were more primitive. it gave people an explanation for why things are the way they are (for which we now have science), it provided a moral code (for which we now have had law and a justice system), etc. some of the aspects have been replaced for a long time, but something like religion tends to stick around.
basically, in 2000 years, we're going to look back at christianity (and other religions) just as we look back at greek mythology today, except that I think there won't be another religion to replace it in 2000 years. perhaps there will be some extremists who follow some sort of religion, but i'm fairly certain they'll be a tiny minority and looked down upon by the rest of society and considered "crazy", unlike the religious majority nowadays. and instead of 2000 years, I think it'll all be much sooner. with the exponential growth rate of technology and information (and its spread), it's all happening faster and faster. just look at how much of the youth today is atheist compared to the years before. once the older generations die, you'll be left with this generation and the ones coming after it, which will all be pretty secular. repeat that for a couple generations and you'll see a pretty steady thinning of the religious "herd"
rayman612 wrote:well if you said greek myths were false in Greece 2000 years ago, they'd probably kill you
That is true too. But one would've thought that in more than 2000 years our reasoning would've progressed a bit.
I wonder if in 2000 years we will think that the Bible is bullshit too and that there will be another flavor of the millennium that will be seen as the one true religion.
Nah, they wouldn't. They didn't really care, most of their gods would come and go based on popularity. It was a system of "hey what's going on? you're worshipping a god? is he a cool guy? yeah? nice, let's build a temple". Hesiod just organized all that mess and even though he ended up with more than one hundred gods and titans et coetera.
I can absolutely rage on those overly religious people. I have all respect for the people who choose to believe in 'something heavenly' and therefor keep on going in the situation they may find themselves.
But those tnuc's with those 'god hates cigarettes' signs on a funeral can rot in the deepest hell (pun intended).
I honestly believe that religion is the cause of 70% of all war/anger/violence in this world.
And I'm not even talking about those extreme arabs that destroy anyone that doesn't believe in Allah.
I can absolutely rage on those overly religious people. I have all respect for the people who choose to believe in 'something heavenly' and therefor keep on going in the situation they may find themselves.
But those tnuc's with those 'god hates cigarettes' signs on a funeral can rot in the deepest hell (pun intended).
I honestly believe that religion is the cause of 70% of all war/anger/violence in this world.
And I'm not even talking about those extreme arabs that destroy anyone that doesn't believe in Allah.
FUCK
Yeah, it's ridiculous that the arabs would want to do that since the XX century, because europe didn't rape and pillage their cities for money under a religious banner for a few centuries and they didn't start a war that split the middle east back in the 60s, nope.
A better question is if you don't believe in God, why the h3ll do you care. You don't believe in Him, right?
I don't believe in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny... But I don't make JPGs of me texting "HI, I'm a Bunny-ist!" and start self righteous internet threads asking people why they eat Cadburry Chocolates.
That image got me wondering too, now, why Athiests are such ^ssholes themselves.
ketamine wrote:A better question is if you don't believe in God, why the h3ll do you care. You don't believe in Him, right?
I don't believe in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny... But I don't make JPGs of me texting "HI, I'm a Bunny-ist!" and start self righteous internet threads asking people why they eat Cadburry Chocolates.
That image got me wondering too, now, why Athiests are such ^ssholes themselves.
translation, "I'm offended"
what gets me is when religious people tell you, "If you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything". right, because I choose to not believe judeo-christian mythology I must be without morals or bearings...
either way, it's silly to let our beliefs divide us.
Anyone honest enough with themselves can see that Atheism is a religion in its own right, with the same self righteousness and finger pointing they claim to be against.
how is it a religion not to follow a theistic dogma? aside from the fact that we don't ascribe to religion, what other traits do we share? it's like saying that everyone who likes the color blue is the same.... only a handful of people (religious and atheist) are self righteous finger pointers. let's not let them become the majority of people just for the sake of argument
ketamine wrote:A better question is if you don't believe in God, why the h3ll do you care. You don't believe in Him, right?
I don't believe in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny... But I don't make JPGs of me texting "HI, I'm a Bunny-ist!" and start self righteous internet threads asking people why they eat Cadburry Chocolates.
That image got me wondering too, now, why Athiests are such ^ssholes themselves.
Well people believing in Santa Claus doesn't really affect anyone else... but when religious people genuinely interfere with the progress of society, then yeah, it's a problem.
• Blocking of scientific progress. Latest example: Stem cell research.
• Blocking efforts to act against global dangers like mass species extinction and global warming.
• Preference for prayer and other hocus-pocus over proven medical intervention.
• (unconstitutional) tax paid funding and state support for faith based initiatives. Do courts ever refer alcoholics to sobriety programs that are not faith based?
• Harrassment of people of another faith, including people of no faith.
• Interference by religious groups in political processes.
• Politicians (allegedly) basing far-reaching decisions on "messages from God" rather than solid information. You know who told Bush to invade Iraq? Can't argue with God, right?
• Circumcision. Wholly unnecessary, involuntary mutilation. "Standard" medical practice thanks to religion. Though not so much in the USA, I've been asked to mention Female Genital Mutilation, which is horribly inhumane.
• No booze sold on Sundays. In fact, all kinds of stuff not done on Sundays, starting with no mail. No elections, although that works out just fine in other countries.
• Medieval attitude on all things sexual:
• Private sexual activities among consenting (but not married) adults can lead to losing one's job, a dishonorable discharge from the Armed Forces or even jail time.
• Production, sale or possession of pornography (of/by/for adults) can lead to criminal prosecution.
• Prostitution, which along with pornography is an effective pressure relief mechanism for sexual urges, is criminalized.
• Attacks on the rights of homosexuals, up to and including criminalizing their consentual activies.
• Preventing people from obtaining means for contraception. Millions are dying in Africa and elsewhere, while overpopulation keeps getting worse.
• Abstinence only education, leading to horrendous rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. You won't like to hear this, but abstinence only education and denying contraception are leading causes of abortions!
• Harrassment (and occasional killing) of people involved with abortion.
• "Honor killing" and mutilation of women. This is more an "Arab country" problem but it's happening more often lately in the US too. And it's practically always religiously motivated.
• A puritan attitude toward harmless drugs (e.g. pot) and victimless "crimes" associated therewith. 1% of the US population is in jail, mostly for that. Could there be something wrong with a society that leads the world in locking people up, ahead of, say, China and Uganda?
• Exorbitant funding support of Israel, which continues to perpetrate crimes against humanity.
• Introduction of false information in school textbooks.
• Inhumane decisions on life support for people so ill they wish to die or are not even mentally alive any more.
• Indoctrination of the idea of congenital guilt in children, with psychological problems resulting sometimes for the rest of their lives.
• Unfair privileges and leniency toward people of faith. How's the prosecution of pedo priests coming along? Are you aware that prisons grant meal and holiday privileges to Christians, Muslims and Jews that they don't grant people of no faith?
• Children are routinely beaten black and blue based on Biblical concepts. Some of them die.
• Children, in fact, are frightened with visions of hell and humiliated with concepts of sin. This indoctrination translates to enormous psychological damage to helpless young humans.
• Many states use "religious freedom" as an excuse to medically deny abortion services.
ketamine wrote:Anyone honest enough with themselves can see that Atheism is a religion in its own right, with the same self righteousness and finger pointing they claim to be against.
"Atheism is a religion like abstinence is a sex position"
Last edited by Phigure on Tue Feb 28, 2012 6:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.
