well u guys are aethiests so i figured it best to ask you.... As a Christian i always wondered why some aethiests debate about Christ so much. why do some of you(not all of you) even bother to question or prove his non existence/existence? surely it isnt a concern of yours anymore. Similarly i dont debate Gods non existence as it just isnt a factor anymore... however, i once was an aethiest so... Roly.xxx
Roly False... Occam is not an athiest. There are , in occams experience ...very few athiests. This forum should actually be called AGNOSTICISM. It's about the rational understanding that we are ignorant. And should not call 'wish,myth or speculation' FACT. Occam
Well I don't consider myself aethiest, but I'm not christian, so I figure it applies to me as well. I get bombarded (and I mean bombarded) with christianity daily. I constantly get stupid little godly spam emails about someone's miracle or how the ten commandments have to be taken off some building's lawn. Every time someone find out I am not christian they look at me like they never met me before. I have to hear a lecture about god from my boss seconds before she makes a joke about her lotion looking like semen. I see on the news the latest crap Falwell said or how Bill O'Riley thinks that the secular crowd has some conspiracy to steal christmas (like christmas wan't originally stolen by the christians anyways). It irks me, annoys me, and it sometimes straight up pisses me off. So I have two choices, explain my position (since everyone else loves to shove theirs in my face) or shut up. Most of the time I shut up and take it with a smile. Occasionally I get in the mood to debate, or are aggrivated enought to. I think most of us debate because we want to be seen from our point of view, since it is rare that a christian has any concern for it.
what is an "aethiest" ? i think that an "a-the-ist" is someone who can live just fine without worrying about "god"... ~ now, the existence of "god" & the deity of jesus christ are 2 seperate debate topics for most of us (or at least can be considered as 2 seperate questions)... ymmv...\ i was raised a christian (lutheran) & have always had an abiding interest in "god" and jesus christ (yeshua ben yosef) & the many other sacred stories shared by human around the world & across time... but yes, even in a (nominally) secular society such as the united states, the common assumption is the "everybody" is pretty much christian (though how many of those who count themselves amongst that majority are "C&E christians" (show up for christmas & easter, mmmkay?) hmmmmm?) & often public behavior rides roughshod over the beliefs (or lack of belief) of the many folks who are "other"... ymmv...
didnt rele answer my question but ta for your attempt at dodging the question, much appreciated. Roly.xxx
Well it isn't like it is killing me or anything. I realize that I am living in a christian culture and I am pretty much used to it. It is just they way things are. But if I put out even 1/10 of my beliefs compared to how much I have to hear about god and christianity I would be suprised. But this is all to answer to your questions, I hope I didn't come off all bitter about the religion (even though I might be slightly) that was not the impression I wanted to give. My family is christian, most of my husband's family is, and I have a number of friends who are, as I have friends from a plethera of religions. To me we are all just people.
While I'm neither atheist nor agnostic, and probably only check these forums every now and again because I'm a lurker (=P), I'll give this a shot. I was born to a Christian family (Protestant, I believe), baptized Christian, and also went through the confirmation class ritual and such. Before I was confirmed, I was pretty distant from my family ... every time I saw them, there was something they ended up arguing with me about ... be it morals, responsibilities, what's for dinner, or what have you ... I kind of grew away from them. While I was being confirmed, I noticed a lot of the things in my parents that I didn't like that were in other people who went to the same church. I took special notice to the hypocracy that I saw, particularly when the church's announcements every Sunday started sounding like, "We can't do this because we don't have the funds to maintain the church, and since this church's only income is through events and donations, we'd like to encourage all of you to donate." I thought it was rather selfish how people just kept passing the donation plate back and forth, with few people actually contributing. Long story short, after dealing with the hypocracy and seeing people turned into sheep by the minister (not that he's a bad man or anything, he's definately a nice guy), as well as asking enough difficult questions to make our minister default to things like "because God wills it to be so," I decided that Christianity just isn't for me. There were just way too many flaws. And don't get me wrong ... I don't inherently dislike or not respect Christians, and a shining example of a devout and intelligent Christian (who I have NOT managed to defeat in an argument yet ) would be Jatom here from our own forums. But after having my dad on the child abuser's list for a year (I could have had him jailed if I had told the school about EVERY fight we had, but I only mentioned one), constantly fighting with him, being backstabbed by my mother (who will no longer co-sign my college loans), and having neither of them contribute a dime to my college education despite the fact that after I went to college, my dad bought a $7,000 motorcycle all for himself ... and I'll be coming into the "real" world with $150,000 in debt ... well, I'm nowhere near about to follow in their footsteps. Anyway, that's my story. The reason I debate with other people about the existance of God, the deity of Jesus Christ, and so on, is typically for a few reasons ... most often because someone has confronted me and tried to make me feel ashamed of not being Christian, but also with a few people just to come to some kind of logical conclusion (those are the ones I like ... the non-heated ones). I'm always up for a good discussion, but I resent being battered around by words like "non-believer" and "atheist" from Christians, which is the group I hear those words from the most ... come to think of it, from them entirely. =P
It's because it's an interesting topic and it helps you to back yourself up. Being athiest, epecially for ex-believers, is really hard but you (I mean the common athiest not literally you) have to understand that the whole religon-thing is a fairy tale made out of fear.
I don't think many atheist, agnostic, or "non-believers" will decline a nice, friendly discussion sharing eachother's views. Most people who fall into those categories tend to be sensible people who don't like to argue, so if you ever want a good discussion or you're ever interested in hearing what other people believe in and why, look me up (or countless others here).
Hikaru Zero, Have you investigated grants? Through my experience with my wife's and daughter's education, I have found that there are numerous grants available first-come-first-served. And some of them are ridiculous with the qualifications! Do yourself a favor and go talk to a financial advisor at your college/uni to see what grants you qualify for - just by breathing! Sorry for the breach in topic, folks.
Yeah, done it. Unfortunately, my parents make a fair amount of money, so I don't really qualify for much in the way of grants from my college, and I do apply for many scholarships; I just don't get any. =P
Are you old enough to go the "without-my-parents" route? And if you can show that your parents aren't contributing to your education, I can't see why grants would be unavailable.
I got $4,000 in grants, but that's all the school is willing to give me. =( It's a pretty high up school, the Rochester Institute of Technology. Not quite ivy league, but it's way up there, especially for computing (my specialty). And while I am more than old enough mentally and emotionally to go the "without-my-parents" route, I wouldn't be able to go at all if my dad wouldn't co-sign my loans. =\ Believe me, I've tried already.
If you party for 5 years and wait 'til you are 23, I think you get a lot more federal (and possibly state) money.
Now that is some very dubious advice. I would advise great caution, and doubt it is your bast option. Unless partying is really important to you. After 5 yrs., you may simply be too far removed to want to get back into the edu. system. I have seen it happen often.
I only replied out of formality, and knew you wouldn't follow such a path. If you did, I would have been shocked.
I started partying and didn't stop. I don't recommend doing anything you don't want to do. That would be utterly stupid. Carpe momento. Seiser drogue, or thee rogue shall sieze you.
