"What Do Atheists Have Faith In?"

LOL!!!

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OK,,,,,,Now........was that polite?

 

Well it seems they can have faith in a lot of things and believe in reincarnation, ghosts and the paranormal as long as no "GOD" is involved.

 

It is still a mystery to me.

Inv, I learned a new term, scienceism . It is the practice of spending more time trying to refute God than being involved in the investigation of the universe.

Well it seems they can have faith in a lot of things and believe in reincarnation, ghosts and the paranormal as long as no "GOD" is involved.

 

It is still a mystery to me.

 

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THAT would be a mystery to someone that believes a man that has always been here created a man out of dirt and a woman out of one tiny bone, and when they die they're going up in the sky to live in mansions and walk streets of gold?? Talk about a mystery!!! BTW, I guess "believers" that believe in ghosts are really buddhists. Or is that atheists? Or is it? Heck, I give up, none of it makes sense to me.

 

We are on the same page in this thinking.  However, when your post tells us, "Granted, there are many good atheists who are simply searching for the truth" -- I have to wonder how one can search for the truth with their eyes closed.  And, here, I am speaking of "spiritual eyes." 

 

When your post tells us, "We must pray for them" -- I can only add, "Amen!  Amen!  Amen!"

 

And, when your posts concludes, "They put too much “faith” in the scientific method, and too little in the power of intuitive knowledge" -- we must realize that this IS their religion.  Their religion, although called atheism, is really "science" -- "self" -- "intellectualism" -- or just "the world."  They do believe -- but, in all the wrong things. 

 

Our prayers should be that they will divest themselves of ALL RELIGIONS and seek a saving relationship with the only One who can save them, Jesus Christ.   He tells us, in John 14:6, "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life -- NO ONE comes to the Father, but through ME."     In John 3:16, He tells us, ". . . NO ONE comes to the Father, but through ME." 

 

Then, He assures us, in John 6:47, ". . . he who believes HAS eternal life." 

 

How many ways does He need to tell us -- whoever believes and receives Him become children of God and HAVE eternal life in Christ (John 1:12, John 3:16, John 5:24, John 6:40, John 6:47, John 10:9, John 10:27-28, John 11:25,26, John 14:6, John 20:31, Revelation 3:20).  And, in John 14:1-3, He promises to come back to "catch up" -- i.e., snatch up, rapture, remove (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) all who believe from this earth and take us into heaven to be with Him during the Tribulation.

 

Over and over, in the Bible, we are told, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear"  (Matthew 11:15, 13:9, 13:43, Mark 4:9, 4:23, 7:16,  Luke 8:8, 14:35).    

And, we are told, "'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says. . ." (Rev 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:29, 3:6, 3:13, 3:22, 13:9).

 

So, I believe we should be praying for ALL for our non-believing Friends -- that they will allow the Holy Spirit to open both their spiritual eyes and spiritual ears; that He may lead them into eternal life in Christ. 

 

Now, is this "bashing folks over the head with my Bible"?  Only if speaking the truth, in love, can be seen as bashing.

 

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

 

Bill

I find it interesting that you use Einstein in your argument, since he was a Jew and therefore doesn't believe in Jesus the Son of God.

BeeG, who are YOU to say who is wrong?

 

Don't even hand me crap about "better to err on the side of caution and profess belief and be wrong than not believe and be dammt to heck."

 

That's called "fear" plain and simple.  And to fear "magic" is simply ridiculous. It's primitive.....and kinda funny..

 

Why do you feel that you have something to fear?  Are you afraid that you won't get your crown if you don't collect enough "soul points" in the time you have left here?  Are you afraid you won't get a good enough parking space if you haven't hammered religion into "X" amount of people before ya croak?

 

Are you ever afraid that you might be fooling yourself?  You're obviously not fooling anybody here-and if we can see though ya that easy-well.....if god is the badass the book says he is...you ain't fooling him for one second.

 

I'm not the least bit afraid and I'm hardly an "intellectual."

 

 

As an atheist, I have faith in people who have proven themselves worthy of trust.  Good friends who've always had my back and who would, if I needed it-Give me the shirt off theirs-just as I have done the same for them. 

 

A Franciscan nun once told me that "god understands that it's hard to have faith in someone you've never met" and it's true.  For me, it is pretty much impossible....but the penguins expected me to profess that faith anyway. 

 

That's called "blind faith" and it's foolish-with people or anything else.  You might as well roll some dice or read tea leaves for all it's worth.  It's the same as saying "Because I say it-It's so" only it's even worse because "somebody else said it-It's so."

 

I remember asking that nun, "how would you know?  You've never met him either!!"

 

OK, so I got sent home a lot from CatLick school. But you already knew that.

 

"God" only exists in a book. Without the book, nobody'd know about god.  The book gives directions on how to live a better life.  The guy that wrote the book "Why Not Run?" thought he was promoting a better lifestyle through jogging.

He died early from a heart attack which was determined to have been brought on by..........uh.......(yyyyyyyeeeeah....)...........jogging.

 

Ain't gonna spend the rest of my life building my coffin and hoping the book is right.

That would be a colossal waste of time and a perfectly good life.

 

Would it be better to err on the side of caution?  Yes.

 

I am doing just that. 

 

See, I figure that there is no god, but should there happen to be the all-knowing being the nuns say he is, he'll already know why I don't believe and understand.

 

I have and continue to live a decent, righteous and honorable life without any need for a "god" ANYWAY, because I believe that IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

 

THAT, I think is the best any god could hope for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Invictus, I have a deal for you. If you will demonstrate with scientific proof that unicorns do not exist, I will demonstrate with scientific proof that God does not exist. I'll wait.

If you didn't notice, the fact that someone can ask for "scientific proof that God does not exist", shows a complete lack of critical thinging skills. It is impossible to prove that Santa Claus doesn't exist. In fact, there is a lot more evidence for Santa than there is for Jesus. The point is that a negative cannot be proven.

Einstein believed in a higher power, and he was a half breed sorta,

a Chrisjew, if you will.

.

Einstein did not believe in a god. You need to read a bit more about him before making such a claim. Perhaps this quote of his will help you put this issue to rest.

 

"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it." (Albert Einstein, 1954, The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press)

Einstein belirved in God.

Don't get confused. When scientists such as Einstein or Hawking mention a god in their writings, they're referring to Nature. It doesn't occur to them that simple people can't understand this. The claim that Einstein was religious is ridiculous and embarrassing. It shows how desperate some theists are.

1. "It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it." - Albert Einstein, 1954

2. "I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it." - Albert Einstein, 1954

3. "The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this." - Albert Einstein, 1954

4. "For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions." - Albert Einstein, 1954

5. "It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." - Albert Einstein, 1930

Here's one quote they won't print on catholicexchange.com, while they're lying to you about Einstein:

6. "I am convinced that some political and social activities and practices of the Catholic organizations are detrimental and even dangerous for the community as a whole, here and everywhere." - Albert Einstein, 1954

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Maybe you should find someone to pray for you, Bill, for the "Holy Spirit" to open your eyes & ears.
You wouldn't know love if it walked up & bit you in the butt! I feel sorry for you.

 

Post your proof of your claim. Oh wait, you don't have any. 

If all of the quotes here do indeed belong to Einstein, I would say that he was not afraid to explore any and all explanations.  Well, he was a genius after all.  I'd have to know the time sequence of those quotes to know his final conclusions, but I do appreciate that he tried to remain open minded.

Wrong again.

Looks like invictus is good at ignoring challenges, especially when he is going to be on the losing side.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...%27s_religious_views

 

In his 1949 book

The World as I See It, he wrote: "A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty

I'm not an atheist. I don't think I can call myself a pantheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws. Our limited minds grasp the mysterious force that moves the constellations. I am fascinated by Spinoza’s pantheism, but admire even more his contribution to modern thought because he is the first philosopher to deal with the soul and body as one, and not two separate things.

Skippy

 The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws. Our limited minds grasp the mysterious force that moves the constellations.

 

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 To me he is explaining why he thinks people need to believe in a god, not that there is a god. If there is no obvious explanation for something that happened most people will make up their own causes/explanations. Some don't make up stories or accept other's, and say they have no idea how it happened but it would be great to actually know. I know we will never know how we all came to be. I do wonder but it doesn't consume my thoughts or force me to accept any theory unless it makes complete sense to me. So far nothing has.

Vic,

 

You want scientific proof god does not exist?  OK.

 

Hypothesis:  God exists.

Evidence for hypothesis:  None

Conclusion:  Hypothesis fails.  With no reason to think god exists, it can be safely said that god does not exist.

 

Our friend Jimi has already explained this to you, but I want you to think on this carefully:  If your evidence for the existence of X is that there is no contradictory evidence, you've already admitted that X is a figment of your imagination.  You have no rational reason to believe in X.  You may have emotional, political, manipulative, psychological, or other reasons beyond the simple truth of the matter to believe in X, but the existence of X as a real thing of matter or energy is a scientific/rational question.

 

As such, you are perfectly within your rights to believe in X, but don't expect anyone else to, don't expect respect for your belief in X, and for Pete's sake, don't shove X down the public's throat with legislation and social pressures.  That would be as wrong as your belief in X.

 

DF

 

There is a fool here and invictus is his name. He also has a reading problem.

We cannot prove that God exists, but we have Faith he does. Athiests cannot prove God does not exist, but they believe he does not. Neither side will ever be convinced to change their beliefs. Why waste time arguing about it? Why not just enjoy each other's company? 

My question is who cares?  You think what you want and I will think what I want.  Why do people feel the need to prove others wrong and be right all the time?

 

And for the record, most atheists couldn't care less whether believers can prove anything to them.  Really, they don't sit around and get all worked up over whether anyone here thinks there is a God or not.  I guess some might, but the majority think what they think and don't care whether someone else chooses to believe there is or not...lol.  So no worries...you do your thing and they will do theirs

The blue part..who said you can't believe in God or anything else you want?  I don't see it in that post you quoted at all?  I tend to think we can all show respect for others' even if we deeply believe it isn't true, but really who said you can't believe in God?

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Makes sense to me.  Believing in an omnipotent being who rules, totally controls, steers, manipulates, punishes, rewards, creates, destroys, etc., isn't at all the same as saying there can be more to the universe than we see with our eyes alone.  I don't think any atheists say that there can't be anything but totally tangible objects in the universe...that is a bit silly, actually.  Different atheists believe different things other than the no God part, but really there is obviously more to the universe than what our five basic senses can detect, so who knows what else is out there?  

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I don't really see how you can compare someone's belief in God to a little child walking into a huge library filled with books in many languages. That little child wouldn't know those books were filled with other  languages unless an adult told him/her.

If this little child didn't learn all those other languages, it's unlikely he/she would be punished to the point that God punishes people for not walking the line. This little child probably wouldn't be punished at all.

 

Catholic exchange...that explains a lot...lol.

 

And really, the comment, "in love" is interesting.  It isn't in love that anyone tries to control another's beliefs or tells them they are going to hell if they don't do as the person wants.  It is desire for control and power and not love to treat others' beliefs with disrespect.  No one on this board is absolutely right about everything and seriously who gives a crap if one of us thinks everyone else is wrong???

 

Canade is right.  How about we all stop making snarky comments and rude little snipes at each other??  And we wonder why the world is in the shape it's in?????

 

Number 8 in the original post...the comment section is ridiculous.  You have no clue why atheists choose what they do, and frankly since you are clueless about their morals and where they got them how about you focus on your own choices?  I can't prove there isn't or is a God, none of the rest of you can either, and who cares what someone else thinks anyway?  Why do people start threads that have silly statements like what atheists or Christians want anyway?  If you aren't one you have no clue anyway why or what "they" do, so why start a fight to prove something?

 

Yes, I have had two children arguing and I was hoping to find adult conversation here...but nope.  Instead I see we have "I got you!!!!" here too.  "I know the right way" "I'm smarter than you are...neener neener" here too.  "She looked at me funny and I know she was going to take my toy"

 

If you can't prove it and no one else can either what are you getting out of sniping and arguing?  What is the payoff?

 

There IS no payoff. But whenever a Christian tries to have a discussion with other Christians,rather than letting these Christians have their discussion, the atheists have to jump in and start ridiculing them.

 

The day I joined this forum, I wanted to share a thought I had had earlier that day, about the way I view my walk with God. Bill Gray posted one of his big blue sparkly "AMEN"s, and then the rest of the thread was filled with snarky posts from atheists, telling me how deluded I am.

 

I came here innocently thinking I could discuss some of the joy I have found through my faith, but I soon found out that the atheists would not allow a civil discussion. It's kind of hard to have to scroll through fifteen posts filled with "You're weak", "You're deluded", "You aren't intelligent enough to understand science", ad nauseum, before you get to a comment about the actual topic.

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Tell me something frog, what gives DF the right to come down on me

out of the blue with his rant about no God. He told me to be quite.

If you can't read his post and understand what the coward said you should

read it again.

 

atheist exchange.........that explains a lot....lmao

You forgot my favorite: You are sad and desperate.

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Who are you talking to b?

Sorry invic, that was to ONO's post above yours.

We cross cyber paths.

I agree that anyone jumping in to ridicule another's faith or make snarky comments keeps people from having civil discussions whatever view one happens to hold.  I may not agree with someone's views, but I don't have to make nasty comments making fun of it.  

 

It isn't okay for the Christians to bash anyone or the atheists or the whoever we have ...I see those two groups mentioned the most so I listed them.  NO, I don't think it's okay for anyone..whatever group...to treat others like crap.  No one...it isn't necessary and it doesn't help anyone have a civil discussion or hear what anyone else is saying.

 

 

Invic, you started this thread aimed at atheist. When DF answered you and gave you his opinion on the questions you said you wanted answers to you got insulted. Read it again yourself, no where in that post does he tell you to be quite. He also said you had every right to believe in a God.

 

Frog, what I have found is that our (atheist) views and opinions are very upsetting to many of the Christians here. I have not been able to find any way to be honest with my thoughts or opinions without it being taken as a personal attack.

 

I understand it is a very touchy subject for many people. Sacred if you will. What I really don't understand is why any one that holds their belief in that regard would want to discuss it on an open forum and then expect everyone else to not have their own opinions on the subject.

 

I have not even attempted to answer invic on this one because as you can see by his reaction to DF there will not be an acceptable response. Sometimes I am not in the mood to go in that circle.

Who is forcing you to read this stuff? You can always start your own forum for only those who agree with you.

So said DF

You want scientific proof god does not exist?  OK.

 Hypothesis:  God exists.

Evidence for hypothesis:  None

Conclusion:  Hypothesis fails.  With no reason to think god exists, it can be safely said that god does not exist

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I've never asked for scientific proof of God or no God.

So stop forcing your atheist beliefs on me. I sure don't care if you what believe.