Donkey's never-ending atheism thread (page 4)

Blueblades

God can end all life. The living cannot end God's life. Blueblades( btw)read my response to your epicurean response then get back to me. Thanks

CornerStone

Hello,

You know, I was just thinking,..now I might be wrong, but, I don't believe you can find any atheist on a raft in the middle of the ocean.

I think people like to be atheist, for the most part, not because evidence of creation does not exist, but, because it gives the person a sense of control over their own lives.

Puting "GOD" in a little bottle and looking at him on the shelf can make a person "feel" better about himself, his fears, his bleak destiny of returning to the ether from whence he came.

When we are strong and capable we say.................

"WHAT GOD!!!?" "I DON'T SEE NO STINKING GOD" "DO YOU SEE A GOD" "HA HA HA, NOT ME!!!" "AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA........................."

But when we are weak and feable we wisper in a hushed tone................

"Please God, if you are there, don't forget me, please help me................

It has nothing to do with shame or pride, it simply is the human condition.

CornerStone

CornerStone, in my case you got it wrong. I will never pray when in dire straights. Recently, my wife had a stroke and had to be rushed by ambulance to emergency at the hospital. Praying never even crossed my mind. I made it a point to do what I could for my wife on my own with no plea for any divine intervention.

COMF

The living cannot end God's life.

Truly spoken. To end a life, there must first be one.

But when we are weak and feable we wisper in a hushed tone................
"Please God, if you are there, don't forget me, please help me................

Better stick to speaking for yourself. You clearly haven't got a clue what goes on in my mind.

CornerStone

Larc and COMF,

I tried to use generalities and I don't think I had either of you two in mind when I posted that reply to the thread.

By the way, just because I don't know your every thought does not mean my reply had no merit.

Larc, I'm sorry to hear about your wife. Doing the best you can for her is all God would expect of us anyway.

COMF, I seemed to have hit a nerve with you by what I wrote. That was not my intention. My post was about challenging ideas as donkey pointed out.

However, as a member of the human race I am qualified to make observations not only about myself but about humanity in general.

When men are in trouble they absolutly DO turn to God, by in large. This is a fact to me.

Now, I'm not the oldest, or wisest, or best looking guy on the planet, but I've been around long enough to observe this.

CornerStone

Edited by - CornerStone on 30 November 2002 17:15:59

larc

Brother Corner Stone, I am not offended by your comments, and I doubt if COMF is either. Both of us are crusty old birds. Now, regarding your statement as a generality, I have no idea how many exceptions to this rule there are, but clearly you have met two of them. At any rate, I think this is an interesting thread.

COMF

When men are in trouble they absolutly DO turn to God, by in large. This is a fact to me.

CornerStone: please distinguish between repartee and emotional exchange. You did not "strike a nerve". You simply made a blanket statement, using an all-inclusive "we", which is false by virtue of the fact that it is not true in my case; nor, I know by discussion and observation, is it true in the case of the agnostics and atheists I know.

You have a speaking habit of turning isolated instances into absolutes, which may be a communication problem for you. For example, in the quote above, you use the term "absolutely" and immediately after it the phrase "by and large". This is the equivalent of saying "genuine imitation". "By and large" means "for the most part" or "in typical cases" whereas "absolutely" means "in every single case". It's either one or the other, Stone, but not both.

You also say, "This is a fact to me." It seems you need to brush up on the definition of the term "fact". The thought you seem to want to convey with this sentence is, "This is my opinion," and that is perfectly fine. But please acknowledge that it is simply an opinion, unsubstantiated by any documentation.

Now, here is some documentation for you: I do not respond in the manner you described when in the circumstances you described. Therefore it is not a fact ("Knowledge or information based on real occurrences" - American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language) that men absolutely turn to God when in trouble.

Emotion has nothing to do with this. We're discussing facts.

Edited by - COMF on 30 November 2002 17:35:17

crownboy

Hey donkey, I love Ingersol's writing's as well. He had a quote that in effect said that religion does not civilize man, but rather man civilizes religion. That's as true a statement as there can be.

freedom96 said:

What I meant is that if indeed we do go to heaven, (which I do) what would we say for ourselves if we didn't believe? Ooops? Just seems to me that we would have some explaining to do.

Well, if your god is as resonable as you guys claim he is, he will understand that I meant him no malice by not believing in him. He would know that I all he needed to do was provide me with sufficent evidence and valid reasons as to why I should worship him while I was on earth (being an all mighty god, he knows what that would entail). I wouldn't feel bad in anyway, because I was honest and sincere in my (non) belief; my decision being a product of logical reasoning and a genuine search for truth. If he's as loving and reasonable a guy as believers claim, this should be enough for him to let me into heaven .

Solace

Awwwww,,,,

What a sweet & thoughtful thread to start for the holidays. Just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Seriously, Like WE know EVERYTHING about what exists in the entire universe and beyond? Puhlease.... I think not. As long as it isnt hurting anyone, people should be free to believe whatever they choose, be it God, pink unicorns, or whatever without being judged, ridiculed, or taunted.

Merry Christmas everyone!

or should I say X-Mas?

larc

Heaven, I don't see ridicule and taunting here. I think the discussion has been pretty reasonable and rational. But perhaps I am obtuse.

Donkey's never-ending atheism thread

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