What do you tell people when they ask you why you don't believe in God?

"When i was little we learned about the Indians(native americans) and their worship of false gods like the river god and mountain god, and they ended up being wrong, so one day when an alien civilization comes here they will laugh and say "oh no no no, it's not Christianity/muslim, it's 'so and so' and they'll have some other stupid explanation that they all believe.

Be open to the spiritual aspects of our world, but god/gods are not actually real.

 

:rofl:
SO TRUE! SO GODDAMN... I mean... So dang true...

Just doesn't have that ring to it.

 

I'm a Christian, and I'm glad you do--i.e.,discuss your lack of belief online. I don't learn much from discussing things with people who agree with me.

 

I usually only talk about it online...I like to...it's just that most people don't like any sort of reasoning. Plus I went to christian school for 10 years and then went to seminary where I became an agnostic and quit lol. I started learning new testament greek when i was in 1st grade and intern'd under a pastor....but it's like this... I live in a very evangelical town where i dont go out much so when i do people will ask...
"are you a christian?" No "Why not" (or a plethora of other leading questions to begin proselytizing) Because nobody knows whether there is a god or not and the only way to find out if there is an afterlife is to die. I can't accept the Bible as the word of God because it is written by humans and different sects include different books that they decided upon from a council of humans....then if they want to press me i have an answer for ALMOST everything - because I used to be them.

 

i get that. but it's not always true. i'm an atheist and most of the conversations about god i find myself in are initiated by someone else. i'm not in the habit of being in a company and going 'so what does everyone here think about god?'. i really don't care. but i do give my opinion on the subject when someone starts talking about it and that's when i usually get in trouble.

also, a lot of atheists (including me) are anti-religion, and since religion and god are inextricably linked with one another it might leave an impression of atheists being concerned with god to some people.

i've also tried to filter out the 'oh god's and the like from my vocabulary. in bed i use the guy's name i'm with or just go with 'oh fuck'.

 

Beliefs, opionions, they are the same and everybody has thier own and they are entitled to it. I do believe that God does exist, am I going to cram that down your throat? no. I believe you have the right to what you beleive in also. Who ever wrote the Bible sure concocted a very long story if it isn't real.

 

...yeah war and peace is a pretty long story too....but its a novel.

 

i have loadsa a friends that believe in god an they know i dont,but they have never once asked me why i dont believe in god.they just do an i just dont.its no big deal.

 

And how old is war and peace?

 

EXACTLY TAZER...how old is war and peace? off the top of my head i think it is a little over a century old - so there have been less translations and is in a more modern language and its meaning isnt lost.....dude im telling you - you dont want to go down this road with me. lol I don't feel like expending the mental energy to carry this on, but if you want to lets do it man....i went to liberty university and took christian apologetics and did about a semester at the church of god seminary.

 

So you think you can change my beliefs? That would be like you trying to change my underwear. You can't do it and I can't change yours. Everybody has thier own opinion and you know mine and I know yours, let it go. Hell, some still think the world is flat. You sure get defensive fast!

 

I dunno. Everybody is legally entitled to his/her opinion, and it's damn hard to change people's opinions--especially those who are afraid of going to hell if they change. It's kinda similar to politics. Trying to convert the True Believers is probably impossible. But there are the independent voters and "moderates" to consider. By arguing with the fanatics and exposing weaknesses in their positions, there's hope that some of the independents and the less zealous believers might be persuaded. Some of those "opinions" people hold are downright scary. I'm debating a couple of dudes in the Christian Sanctuary who are fundies--but opposed to each other's positions. One is a King James Only believer, who thinks the original KJV is the one God chose as His preferred English translation. The other rejects KJV because he favors the Jehovah's Witnesses and rejects the Trinity. Both of these dudes have their own version of Science with a 6.000 year old earth. One insists that the Grand Canyon is the product of the Great Flood, and purports to have scientific evidence to that effect, which means condemning most geologists as tools of Satan. The other believes there were no humans on the earth before 4,000 B.C., which means condemning most archeologists and historians as tools of Satan. And of course they both condemn evolution aws a tool of Satan. These are more than opinions. They're mind crippling diseases. And they preach this stuff on street corners. Some poor souls will probably believe them. Trying to reach them is impossible, but it might be possible to do some damage control by showing people there are other points of view. The scary thing is these viewpoints seem to be gaining ground, and people holding them are running for President.

 

i never said i could change your beliefs - you inferred that....no you cant change many christians minds because their religion is based on faith not reason....Im just saying you dont want to go down that road with me because I can refute the things i dont believe in the bible WITH the Bible.

 

i tell them that i DO believe there is something too big for anything else to arm wrestle over the seating arrangements, that i believe its friendly, well meaning and invisible too, but that its not obliged to be infallible, to have created everything, or even anything, nor to resemble anything anyone thinks they know about it.

even our own true selves, which are also without visible or physical form, if they were given physical form, they would not look like anything anyone would recognize (not even recognize as being ANY form of living organism).

and just as there is an unimaginably vast and diverse physical universe (or multiple of them), there may be an invisible one, just as full of neat fun interesting things, most of which have no more idea of our existence then we have of there's

and if anything all that big and powerful wished us any real harm, what is the likelihood we would exist in the first place at all?

and i do believe there are unseen wonders, just that i seriously doubt any shared belief really knows what its talking about.

there are more details, and most people aren't that interested even this far.

and of course the honest disclaimer that i, like anyone else, am perfectly capable of being mistaken about anything and everything.

(the main problem with dominant beliefs is their unwillingness to admit that same disclaimer applies equally to them as well)

 

Its non of there business hate when people get up in your business

 

that much is of course true too. whatever anyone believes is between themselves and whatever it is they believe. not between themselves and anyone else.
(hate, on the other paw, is needless and self destructive. i have to admit though, that i have little love for fanatics and none at all for bigots)

 

I don't know any fanatics who aren't also bigots, is that even possible?

 

many things are possible which are not common.

 

The original meaning of bigot was a religious hypocrite, or ignorantly religious. LOL, what a fucking redundant phrase...
But I'm a bigot, I have zero tolerance for the religiously ignorant.

 

The fear of being a Bigot oneself IS the purpose for the existential realm and He is ultimately blessed by Christianity as the peacemaker. The peacemakers has no business for work this past weekend though.:smilielol5: