Is my friend correct on this theory...

Originally Posted by NisoCrew

Oh, I thought that was a picture of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit break dancing.

I thought it was the left over space in the mind of a believer.

Originally Posted by BRUTL TA

Thats what im hoping. Thats why I have it on my liscense plate. I realize that by being open and proud actually motivates many others to come out of the proverbial atheist closet. The fury that the word invokes in so many religious people actually exposes vast insecurities in their own beliefs.

Our society looks at atheism in a very interesting way, I personally think having a criminal record may be more accepted than atheism for example. It's pretty crazy but I seen people actually get offended/mad if I tell them that I'm not buying into the jesus ducktales... I don't think there are many beliefs out there that can evoke this type of reaction. Worst part is, no one wants to have a logical discussion about it either... its just a knee jerk reaction that seems to be fairly prevalent from my experiences. I'm honestly not sure how you have that license plate, I don't think I would feel comfortable to advertise like that around work for example just following the general trends of behavior that I've observed.

Originally Posted by NisoCrew

Yeah, what's funny is that if you say agnostic or even non-theist, people are generally ok with that. I think that it stems from the basic misunderstanding of what atheist even means. I get fairly tired of hearing people refer to atheism as a religion or saying that atheists are devil worshipers. I know more about what is actually in the Bible than most Christians, yet they can't even do me the favor of learning what atheist even means. When I describe myself as an anti-theist I usually get asked what that means.

Ignorance is strong. It seems like people are pre-conditioned to believe that one must be afraid of some higher power in order to lead a good life.... so they associate atheism with that trend in logic and develop their views.

I'm curious to know where this attitude toward atheism stems from... usually generalizations become accepted in society after the same trend is observed over and over.... where is history have atheists shown to be bad people?

[quote=dniper71;10865243] . I'm honestly not sure how you have that license plate, I don't think I would feel comfortable to advertise like that around work for example just following the general trends of behavior that I've observed.[quote=dniper71;10865243]

Luckily I am very respected at work, Probably converted close to a dozen people Alot of other people came out after they saw that I wasnt attacked or harassed. Most dont dare to debate the issue, we have all the facts. As far as the tag. Its worth it to show that i am not ashamed of my philosophy. Being a big guy and a world class handgunner doesnt hurt either


[quote=dniper71;10865243]
Ignorance is strong. It seems like people are pre-conditioned to believe that one must be afraid of some higher power in order to lead a good life.... so they associate atheism with that trend in logic and develop their views. [quote=dniper71;10865243]

I guess thats because they only do the right thing out of fear of god. They figure if we dont believe in god, we are likely to do anything. They dont understand the difference between being RULED and being PRINCIPLED.

Originally Posted by dniper71

I'm curious to know where this attitude toward atheism stems from... usually generalizations become accepted in society after the same trend is observed over and over.... where is history have atheists shown to be bad people?

Here is an interview with the first pres bush. To this day, he still wont recant his statement.

Sherman: What will you do to win the votes of the Americans who are atheists?

Bush: I guess I'm pretty weak in the atheist community. Faith in God is important to me.

Sherman: Surely you recognize the equal citizenship and patriotism of Americans who are atheists?

Bush: No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.

Sherman (somewhat taken aback): Do you support as a sound constitutional principle the separation of state and church?

Bush: Yes, I support the separation of church and state. I'm just not very high on atheists.

Originally Posted by BRUTL TA

Bush: No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.

Yeah, that's a favorite of mine. When people ask what my problem is, I like to bring up that quotation and ask them to replace atheists with blacks, or women, or jews, or etc and imagine the outcry. However, no one bats an eye when atheists are insulted on such a level.

Originally Posted by BRUTL TA

Its worth it to show that i am not ashamed of my philosophy. Being a big guy and a world class handgunner doesnt hurt either

Yea, must be nice... I like to discuss this type of stuff but I don't think we're there yet in terms of time where atheism can be talked about openly without worrying about possible repercussions... like you obviously can't get fired for being an atheist but there is a possiblity that you open yourself up to some unfair treatment if people find out... thats what I meant in terms of being careful around whom I choose to discuss this topic with. Its really easy to discriminate indirectly... one day you may start getting the bad shift for example... I think being openly atheist can open you up to this type of discrimination. Very similar to what other minorities faced in the past and may still face.

Originally Posted by BRUTL TA

Here is an interview with the first pres bush. To this day, he still wont recant his statement.

Sherman: What will you do to win the votes of the Americans who are atheists?

Bush: I guess I'm pretty weak in the atheist community. Faith in God is important to me.

Sherman: Surely you recognize the equal citizenship and patriotism of Americans who are atheists?

Bush: No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.

Sherman (somewhat taken aback): Do you support as a sound constitutional principle the separation of state and church?

Bush: Yes, I support the separation of church and state. I'm just not very high on atheists.

Politicians pander to their base... unfortuantley, the anti-atheist base is huge so these "say anything to get elected" politicians win votes by either openly discriminating against atheism or simply not saying anything... thats why these behaviors have a long way to go before they're eradicated from our society. I mean, if someone is running for public office and admit that they're an atheist, it would be political suicide.

I would like to think that once you get elected to the highest office in government that you would take some responsibility and try to curb any behaviors that result in discrimination.... but these guys just don't care. I would argue that if George H. Bush was running for president in a homosexually dominant area, he would be getting sworm into office with his right hand on Chaz Bono's nuts.

^ That last line was great. I think a great number of people could face problems if they were as open as I am. Its really sad. It may sound corny, but I feel like its my responsibility to help pave the way. As far as my job, they know everything about me. I am one of the most respected employees in the company. I just recieved the biggest promotion of my life this week. And the best part of being an atheist is.......that I get to take credit for all of my accomplishments

Originally Posted by Green_Shine

He's just overly enthusiastic... I don't see him as being any more nutty than any other religious person in regards to his belief system.

Originally Posted by BRUTL TA

^ That last line was great. I think a great number of people could face problems if they were as open as I am. Its really sad. It may sound corny, but I feel like its my responsibility to help pave the way. As far as my job, they know everything about me. I am one of the most respected employees in the company. I just recieved the biggest promotion of my life this week. And the best part of being an atheist is.......that I get to take credit for all of my accomplishments

"I'd like to thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster for helping me through the tough times. At times I saw the prints of His Noodely Appendages along my footprints and at times only the prints of His Noodely Appendages. That's when he carried me in the meatball sauce."

Originally Posted by NisoCrew

Oh, I thought that was a picture of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit break dancing.

Originally Posted by 6spzhp

Is that the trinity? Which one has the idea?

Originally Posted by NisoCrew

Oh, I thought that was a picture of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit break dancing.

Originally Posted by BRUTL TA

I thought it was the left over space in the mind of a believer.

zing

Biggest problem with believing that the bible is "the word of god" is that mortal men somewhere back in history (with true motives unknown) decided what portions of the bible you were allowed to read and which you should disregard.

There were many people throughout history who claimed God spoke to them and recorded their accounts on paper. There are a lot more versions of the gospel than just Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John's accounts. Many books of the bible were simply slashed out of history at different times and for various reasons. If you believe that the bible contains information about how god wants you to live your life then (I would think) you owe it to yourself to make an effort to read everything he had to say and make up your own mind.

Thumping on the "King James" version of the bible and telling me it is the only way to salvation when you can't even tell me who "King James" was or how this almighty grouping of text came to be does nothing but make me laugh.

^ Very solid points

Originally Posted by BeRzErKaS

Biggest problem with believing that the bible is "the word of god" is that mortal men somewhere back in history (with true motives unknown) decided what portions of the bible you were allowed to read and which you should disregard.

If that's the biggest problem, then that is the problem with everyone. Every Christian picks and chooses the parts of the Bible that they want to follow. There aren't too many out there adhering to the Old Testament. Humans know what parts of the Bible are right or wrong without needing any other reference. We aren't stoning misbehaving children...that's in there. There are moral standards innate in all of us by which we judge the Bible. That makes it practically useless as a moral compass in my opinion. On the good side, there is nothing in there that I, as an atheist, haven't arrived at without any deity's help, and there is an absolute metric buttload of garbage that I would never imagine doing to anyone for any reason.

It's a work of fiction, and not even a good one. Start treating it as such.

Originally Posted by NisoCrew

If that's the biggest problem, then that is the problem with everyone. Every Christian picks and chooses the parts of the Bible that they want to follow. There aren't too many out there adhering to the Old Testament. Humans know what parts of the Bible are right or wrong without needing any other reference. We aren't stoning misbehaving children...that's in there. There are moral standards innate in all of us by which we judge the Bible. That makes it practically useless as a moral compass in my opinion. On the good side, there is nothing in there that I, as an atheist, haven't arrived at without any deity's help, and there is an absolute metric buttload of garbage that I would never imagine doing to anyone for any reason.

It's a work of fiction, and not even a good one. Start treating it as such.

God made us that way...

Originally Posted by Owtlaw333

God made us that way...

1. How do you know that?

2. If he did make us that way, why waste time writing a book that humans are just going to mis-translate and misinterpret until you turn back into a man and come to destroy the whole shebang?

If I were the creator, I would've just genetically implanted my arbitrary moral code that I wanted my minions to follow. No writing, no error. But, that's just me. I don't work in quite such mysterious ways.