Atheist parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever somebody brings up Thor, Zeus, fairies, etc, I really can't decide if they are just extremely stupid or extremely rude. Do you really think modern religious belief is equivalent to believing in fairies? Do you really have such a very low opinion of us, and such a very high opinion of yourself? Do you just enjoy denigrating people? Or can you really not see there is a difference? When you typed those words, did you feel clever or cruel?

There is no difference between believing in Jesus and believing in Zeus. Absolutely none.

But you didn't answer my question. Could you answer my actual question? I'm guessing you are feeling very intelligent, from this answer. But I can not tell.

anyway, can you tell me: what are you feeling about me when you typed that? And what are you feeling about yourself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever somebody brings up Thor, Zeus, fairies, etc, I really can't decide if they are just extremely stupid or extremely rude. Do you really think modern religious belief is equivalent to believing in fairies? Do you really have such a very low opinion of us, and such a very high opinion of yourself? Do you just enjoy denigrating people? Or can you really not see there is a difference? When you typed those words, did you feel clever or cruel?

There is no difference between believing in Jesus and believing in Zeus. Absolutely none.

But you didn't answer my question. Could you answer my actual question? I'm guessing you are feeling very intelligent, from this answer. But I can not tell.

anyway, can you tell me: what are you feeling about me when you typed that? And what are you feeling about yourself?

There are at least two people responding to the "there is proof of God" point. I am the pp who responded with Thor and Zeus and then answered your question by saying that I felt curious.

I also feel that you're uninformed and seem defensive -- asking people who place your god and other gods and supernatural beings in the same category to explain their motives and feelings instead of directing your attention to the information they present.

As for Jesus being different because he existed -- while there some evidence that a first century Jewish teacher existed, there is no (and there can't be) any evidence that he is the son of god -- or that there is a god. There is also evidence that the supernatural aspects of the Jesus story (born of a virgin, resurrected, etc) are borrowed from earlier myths and that the wisdom of Jesus is similar to wisdom from more ancient teachers.

There are plenty of educated people who are aware of all of this and remain Christian, choosing a metaphorical interpretation of Jesus and God that they are comfortable with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever somebody brings up Thor, Zeus, fairies, etc, I really can't decide if they are just extremely stupid or extremely rude. Do you really think modern religious belief is equivalent to believing in fairies? Do you really have such a very low opinion of us, and such a very high opinion of yourself? Do you just enjoy denigrating people? Or can you really not see there is a difference? When you typed those words, did you feel clever or cruel?

There is no difference between believing in Jesus and believing in Zeus. Absolutely none.

But you didn't answer my question. Could you answer my actual question? I'm guessing you are feeling very intelligent, from this answer. But I can not tell.

anyway, can you tell me: what are you feeling about me when you typed that? And what are you feeling about yourself?

There are at least two people responding to the "there is proof of God" point. I am the pp who responded with Thor and Zeus and then answered your question by saying that I felt curious.

I also feel that you're uninformed and seem defensive -- asking people who place your god and other gods and supernatural beings in the same category to explain their motives and feelings instead of directing your attention to the information they present.

As for Jesus being different because he existed -- while there some evidence that a first century Jewish teacher existed, there is no (and there can't be) any evidence that he is the son of god -- or that there is a god. There is also evidence that the supernatural aspects of the Jesus story (born of a virgin, resurrected, etc) are borrowed from earlier myths and that the wisdom of Jesus is similar to wisdom from more ancient teachers.

There are plenty of educated people who are aware of all of this and remain Christian, choosing a metaphorical interpretation of Jesus and God that they are comfortable with.

Then they aren't true Christians. We don't get to construct the Gospel into a form that we are "comfortable" with. The very essence of being a Christian is following Jesus into places in which we are very uncomfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever somebody brings up Thor, Zeus, fairies, etc, I really can't decide if they are just extremely stupid or extremely rude. Do you really think modern religious belief is equivalent to believing in fairies? Do you really have such a very low opinion of us, and such a very high opinion of yourself? Do you just enjoy denigrating people? Or can you really not see there is a difference? When you typed those words, did you feel clever or cruel?

There is no difference between believing in Jesus and believing in Zeus. Absolutely none.

There is a huge difference. For one thing, Jesus actually existed.

So did Thor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:See, atheists can judge with the best of them!

Oh we all judge. I just think we should judge each other from a rational basis, rather than "my God said what you are doing is immoral".

How is judging someone for their pseronal belief rational?

Of course it's rational. If a full grown adult came to you and told you that he believes the earth is flat, what are you going to think about him?

What you may be confused with, is belief vs preference. It's irrational to judge people for having preferences, like the color blue, or spicy food. But belief is different. You can absolutely judge someone for their belief. You are free to believe whatever you want, and people are free to judge you for what you believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever somebody brings up Thor, Zeus, fairies, etc, I really can't decide if they are just extremely stupid or extremely rude. Do you really think modern religious belief is equivalent to believing in fairies? Do you really have such a very low opinion of us, and such a very high opinion of yourself? Do you just enjoy denigrating people? Or can you really not see there is a difference? When you typed those words, did you feel clever or cruel?

There is no difference between believing in Jesus and believing in Zeus. Absolutely none.

But you didn't answer my question. Could you answer my actual question? I'm guessing you are feeling very intelligent, from this answer. But I can not tell.

anyway, can you tell me: what are you feeling about me when you typed that? And what are you feeling about yourself?

There are at least two people responding to the "there is proof of God" point. I am the pp who responded with Thor and Zeus and then answered your question by saying that I felt curious.

I also feel that you're uninformed and seem defensive -- asking people who place your god and other gods and supernatural beings in the same category to explain their motives and feelings instead of directing your attention to the information they present.

As for Jesus being different because he existed -- while there some evidence that a first century Jewish teacher existed, there is no (and there can't be) any evidence that he is the son of god -- or that there is a god. There is also evidence that the supernatural aspects of the Jesus story (born of a virgin, resurrected, etc) are borrowed from earlier myths and that the wisdom of Jesus is similar to wisdom from more ancient teachers.

There are plenty of educated people who are aware of all of this and remain Christian, choosing a metaphorical interpretation of Jesus and God that they are comfortable with.

Then they aren't true Christians. We don't get to construct the Gospel into a form that we are "comfortable" with. The very essence of being a Christian is following Jesus into places in which we are very uncomfortable.

There's very little evidence that Jesus existed. Furthermore, Christ (or Yeshua) was a very common name.

So devout Christians do follow Christ, but with the assumption that Christ actually did exist.

lots of evidence to show that he's a story - like Zeus or Hera or Thor

[Anonymous]

A

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever somebody brings up Thor, Zeus, fairies, etc, I really can't decide if they are just extremely stupid or extremely rude. Do you really think modern religious belief is equivalent to believing in fairies? Do you really have such a very low opinion of us, and such a very high opinion of yourself? Do you just enjoy denigrating people? Or can you really not see there is a difference? When you typed those words, did you feel clever or cruel?

There is no difference between believing in Jesus and believing in Zeus. Absolutely none.

But you didn't answer my question. Could you answer my actual question? I'm guessing you are feeling very intelligent, from this answer. But I can not tell.

anyway, can you tell me: what are you feeling about me when you typed that? And what are you feeling about yourself?

There are at least two people responding to the "there is proof of God" point. I am the pp who responded with Thor and Zeus and then answered your question by saying that I felt curious.

I also feel that you're uninformed and seem defensive -- asking people who place your god and other gods and supernatural beings in the same category to explain their motives and feelings instead of directing your attention to the information they present.

As for Jesus being different because he existed -- while there some evidence that a first century Jewish teacher existed, there is no (and there can't be) any evidence that he is the son of god -- or that there is a god. There is also evidence that the supernatural aspects of the Jesus story (born of a virgin, resurrected, etc) are borrowed from earlier myths and that the wisdom of Jesus is similar to wisdom from more ancient teachers.

There are plenty of educated people who are aware of all of this and remain Christian, choosing a metaphorical interpretation of Jesus and God that they are comfortable with.

Then they aren't true Christians. We don't get to construct the Gospel into a form that we are "comfortable" with. The very essence of being a Christian is following Jesus into places in which we are very uncomfortable.

There's very little evidence that Jesus existed. Furthermore, Christ (or Yeshua) was a very common name.

So devout Christians do follow Christ, but with the assumption that Christ actually did exist.

lots of evidence to show that he's a story - like Zeus or Hera or Thor

Ah, the DCUM Resident Atheist is back. Again. Don't you have something better to do tonight? Truly, your one-man-band missives here get tiresome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:See, atheists can judge with the best of them!

Oh we all judge. I just think we should judge each other from a rational basis, rather than "my God said what you are doing is immoral".

How is judging someone for their pseronal belief rational?

Of course it's rational. If a full grown adult came to you and told you that he believes the earth is flat, what are you going to think about him?

What you may be confused with, is belief vs preference. It's irrational to judge people for having preferences, like the color blue, or spicy food. But belief is different. You can absolutely judge someone for their belief. You are free to believe whatever you want, and people are free to judge you for what you believe.

And we're free to judge you too. You're a tiresome bore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever somebody brings up Thor, Zeus, fairies, etc, I really can't decide if they are just extremely stupid or extremely rude. Do you really think modern religious belief is equivalent to believing in fairies? Do you really have such a very low opinion of us, and such a very high opinion of yourself? Do you just enjoy denigrating people? Or can you really not see there is a difference? When you typed those words, did you feel clever or cruel?

There is no difference between believing in Jesus and believing in Zeus. Absolutely none.

But you didn't answer my question. Could you answer my actual question? I'm guessing you are feeling very intelligent, from this answer. But I can not tell.

anyway, can you tell me: what are you feeling about me when you typed that? And what are you feeling about yourself?

There are at least two people responding to the "there is proof of God" point. I am the pp who responded with Thor and Zeus and then answered your question by saying that I felt curious.

I also feel that you're uninformed and seem defensive -- asking people who place your god and other gods and supernatural beings in the same category to explain their motives and feelings instead of directing your attention to the information they present.

As for Jesus being different because he existed -- while there some evidence that a first century Jewish teacher existed, there is no (and there can't be) any evidence that he is the son of god -- or that there is a god. There is also evidence that the supernatural aspects of the Jesus story (born of a virgin, resurrected, etc) are borrowed from earlier myths and that the wisdom of Jesus is similar to wisdom from more ancient teachers.

There are plenty of educated people who are aware of all of this and remain Christian, choosing a metaphorical interpretation of Jesus and God that they are comfortable with.

I am not going to direct myself to the information, because you have posted that many times before, so I think I already know what you are going to say on that point. Now I'm just curious as to what kind of person you are. I'm trying to figure that out. I feel in one way I know you, as you have posted so many times. You have very very strong feelings about religion. But where those feelings are coming from, I haven't figured out yet, and am curious. Frankly, I suspect you are male, but am not even sure about that. I picture an elderly male of the type I think of as having "important things to tell people". Or maybe you are a 15 year old male with aspergers. Or maybe I'm completely wrong

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever somebody brings up Thor, Zeus, fairies, etc, I really can't decide if they are just extremely stupid or extremely rude. Do you really think modern religious belief is equivalent to believing in fairies? Do you really have such a very low opinion of us, and such a very high opinion of yourself? Do you just enjoy denigrating people? Or can you really not see there is a difference? When you typed those words, did you feel clever or cruel?

There is no difference between believing in Jesus and believing in Zeus. Absolutely none.

But you didn't answer my question. Could you answer my actual question? I'm guessing you are feeling very intelligent, from this answer. But I can not tell.

anyway, can you tell me: what are you feeling about me when you typed that? And what are you feeling about yourself?

There are at least two people responding to the "there is proof of God" point. I am the pp who responded with Thor and Zeus and then answered your question by saying that I felt curious.

I also feel that you're uninformed and seem defensive -- asking people who place your god and other gods and supernatural beings in the same category to explain their motives and feelings instead of directing your attention to the information they present.

As for Jesus being different because he existed -- while there some evidence that a first century Jewish teacher existed, there is no (and there can't be) any evidence that he is the son of god -- or that there is a god. There is also evidence that the supernatural aspects of the Jesus story (born of a virgin, resurrected, etc) are borrowed from earlier myths and that the wisdom of Jesus is similar to wisdom from more ancient teachers.

There are plenty of educated people who are aware of all of this and remain Christian, choosing a metaphorical interpretation of Jesus and God that they are comfortable with.

Then they aren't true Christians. We don't get to construct the Gospel into a form that we are "comfortable" with. The very essence of being a Christian is following Jesus into places in which we are very uncomfortable.

There's very little evidence that Jesus existed. Furthermore, Christ (or Yeshua) was a very common name.

So devout Christians do follow Christ, but with the assumption that Christ actually did exist.

lots of evidence to show that he's a story - like Zeus or Hera or Thor

Ah, the DCUM Resident Atheist is back. Again. Don't you have something better to do tonight? Truly, your one-man-band missives here get tiresome.

I'm a different poster, and I agree with your resident atheist.

No good response to his/her point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever somebody brings up Thor, Zeus, fairies, etc, I really can't decide if they are just extremely stupid or extremely rude. Do you really think modern religious belief is equivalent to believing in fairies? Do you really have such a very low opinion of us, and such a very high opinion of yourself? Do you just enjoy denigrating people? Or can you really not see there is a difference? When you typed those words, did you feel clever or cruel?

There is no difference between believing in Jesus and believing in Zeus. Absolutely none.

But you didn't answer my question. Could you answer my actual question? I'm guessing you are feeling very intelligent, from this answer. But I can not tell.

anyway, can you tell me: what are you feeling about me when you typed that? And what are you feeling about yourself?

There are at least two people responding to the "there is proof of God" point. I am the pp who responded with Thor and Zeus and then answered your question by saying that I felt curious.

I also feel that you're uninformed and seem defensive -- asking people who place your god and other gods and supernatural beings in the same category to explain their motives and feelings instead of directing your attention to the information they present.

As for Jesus being different because he existed -- while there some evidence that a first century Jewish teacher existed, there is no (and there can't be) any evidence that he is the son of god -- or that there is a god. There is also evidence that the supernatural aspects of the Jesus story (born of a virgin, resurrected, etc) are borrowed from earlier myths and that the wisdom of Jesus is similar to wisdom from more ancient teachers.

There are plenty of educated people who are aware of all of this and remain Christian, choosing a metaphorical interpretation of Jesus and God that they are comfortable with.

Then they aren't true Christians. We don't get to construct the Gospel into a form that we are "comfortable" with. The very essence of being a Christian is following Jesus into places in which we are very uncomfortable.

There's very little evidence that Jesus existed. Furthermore, Christ (or Yeshua) was a very common name.

So devout Christians do follow Christ, but with the assumption that Christ actually did exist.

lots of evidence to show that he's a story - like Zeus or Hera or Thor

Ah, the DCUM Resident Atheist is back. Again. Don't you have something better to do tonight? Truly, your one-man-band missives here get tiresome.

Not a one-man band -- at least two, maybe more, but how many "true christians" are out there versus the "supposedly phony "metaphorical" ones

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever somebody brings up Thor, Zeus, fairies, etc, I really can't decide if they are just extremely stupid or extremely rude. Do you really think modern religious belief is equivalent to believing in fairies? Do you really have such a very low opinion of us, and such a very high opinion of yourself? Do you just enjoy denigrating people? Or can you really not see there is a difference? When you typed those words, did you feel clever or cruel?

There is no difference between believing in Jesus and believing in Zeus. Absolutely none.

But you didn't answer my question. Could you answer my actual question? I'm guessing you are feeling very intelligent, from this answer. But I can not tell.

anyway, can you tell me: what are you feeling about me when you typed that? And what are you feeling about yourself?

There are at least two people responding to the "there is proof of God" point. I am the pp who responded with Thor and Zeus and then answered your question by saying that I felt curious.

I also feel that you're uninformed and seem defensive -- asking people who place your god and other gods and supernatural beings in the same category to explain their motives and feelings instead of directing your attention to the information they present.

As for Jesus being different because he existed -- while there some evidence that a first century Jewish teacher existed, there is no (and there can't be) any evidence that he is the son of god -- or that there is a god. There is also evidence that the supernatural aspects of the Jesus story (born of a virgin, resurrected, etc) are borrowed from earlier myths and that the wisdom of Jesus is similar to wisdom from more ancient teachers.

There are plenty of educated people who are aware of all of this and remain Christian, choosing a metaphorical interpretation of Jesus and God that they are comfortable with.

Then they aren't true Christians. We don't get to construct the Gospel into a form that we are "comfortable" with. The very essence of being a Christian is following Jesus into places in which we are very uncomfortable.

Never heard that -- as a long term Christian, I learned that being a Christian meant believing that Jesus Christ was the son of god and our savior who died for our sins so those who believed in him could have eternal life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever somebody brings up Thor, Zeus, fairies, etc, I really can't decide if they are just extremely stupid or extremely rude. Do you really think modern religious belief is equivalent to believing in fairies? Do you really have such a very low opinion of us, and such a very high opinion of yourself? Do you just enjoy denigrating people? Or can you really not see there is a difference? When you typed those words, did you feel clever or cruel?

I felt curious. I know there are differences, and also that they all have something important in common -- they are all supernatural and were once (or currently) believed in by many people . A major difference is that "God" is the supernatural being that most people believe in currently and even the the currently popular God is defined differently by different people. God has different traits and different demands depending on which religion he represents and sometime depending on an individual's perception.

There is nothing denigrating about mentioning Zeus or Thor or any other god, unless you think some ancient people were stupid to assume that there was a supernatural being looking over them, protecting them and having certain expectations of them. We can't prove there is no God and we can't prove that one is better than the other -- only that different people believed in them at different times.

Exodus 20:2 - 3 reads
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shall have no other gods before me.

This is the word of Jehovah, the god of the Jews (and later Christians), in giving the 10 commandments.

That is God. There is no other. How different people "define differently" is irrelevant.

Finally, the conclusive evidence we've all been waiting for!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If scientific knowledge and philosophical inquiry reveal to you that you don't believe in a diety, lovely.

But if I showed the same I information to a believer and they continued to have faith, we couldn't say they had made a mistake or failed to understand the arguments.

That's what I mean by "proof." Maybe we are in agreement if I restate it like this?

I'll admit that I'm a bit lost in this conversation. In hopes of not confusing things more, I'll say that "information" doesn't necessarily have the same impact on people of faith (believing in some religion) and people without faith (atheists). Faith, from what I've seen, can happily co-exist with reason as well as outside of reason. Faith supersedes reason. I've seen very intelligent, well-educated people take great pride in the fact that their understanding of science, etc, does not interfere a bit with their ability to have faith in their religion. I've seen it here on DCUM and IRL

The definition of faith is belief without proof. You seem to not be keeping that in mind

Besides, what science harms faith? Unless you literally believe that God created the earth in 7 human days, there's no conflict. The conflicts between science and faith only come in the details, which a believer is often free to reject, or in reading the bible or other text literally, which many many don't.
(Still an atheist here)

I think science is incredibly harmful to faith. I am not a scientist by any stretch, but I am generally fascinated by it. Science drives or inspires my choices around medical care, education, nutrition, fitness, hobbies, and interests. I care what the studies say, knowing full well they may be in conflict with each other or later disproven. But I appreciate the effort to study an issue and quantify and explain the results.

I absolutely believe the depth of my interest in science drives my atheism. How could I believe in a deity when it has no foundation in anything we have come to understand about the driving forces in the universe? That said, I know plenty of educated people who certainly accept scientific tenets (but don't have the underlying interest in them) who are also able to embrace faith.