I can't believe.

[Yes Man]

I'm not sure where to put this but I'll just put it here.

I was talking with a friend lately and our subject of conversation managed to wander into religion. Me and her are both non-religious and I was saying how unfair some religions (or religious people) are to people like me. I simply can't place faith in a higher power because I have no way of being entirely sure that there is a god, divine entity, whatever. Yet certain religions are fit to condemn me to a hell because of this. I guess I'm ranting but I just wanted to hear some input.

 

[snakeblood08]

I agree with the indignation you feel. :149:

I think it's pretty ignorant how some religious people automatically equate nontheism with immorality. I also think it's kind of funny how I can turn the ball around on them and equate theism with intolerance, nonsense, and faith without evidence.

 

[Father Heathen]

It's all about cultural subjugation. Their god is the projection of their own egos, so atheism is seen as a defiant slap to their face.

 

[uss_bigd]

I'm not sure where to put this but I'll just put it here.

I was talking with a friend lately and our subject of conversation managed to wander into religion. Me and her are both non-religious and I was saying how unfair some religions (or religious people) are to people like me. I simply can't place faith in a higher power because I have no way of being entirely sure that there is a god, divine entity, whatever. Yet certain religions are fit to condemn me to a hell because of this. I guess I'm ranting but I just wanted to hear some input.

1 Corinthians 5:13
God judges those outside. "Purge the evil person from among you."


-Meaning you are not condemned, especially if you are misled or misguided.

Is there a God?

- What is more complex a video camera or you? a video camera actally copied the function fo your eye. but since you also have a microphone( vocal chords) it makes ou more complex.

so let me ask you, can you imagine a playstation appearing out of thin air without anybody creating it? ot you actually believe intelligent people studied the technology, planned, implemented plans and made contingincies.

if so, why wouldn't you believe that someone created a complex human being, so much more his complex environemnt.

I hope this helps.

 

[gnomon]

My input....

such things don't phase me at all. Maybe because it's the crap I've been through, most of it self-inflicted, that statements such as "You're goin' to hell" have no meaning for me at all. I don't even find it worth my time to respond to someone who says that. Which happens so rarely that it may be that I don't notice it anymore.

I do take strong exception when a child is told that. In such a case I would not hesitate to tell such a person what I think.

The only thing to remember is that such a point of view does not come from stupidity. Everyone learns cultural values to some extent and it is a mistake to pass off a differing opinion on the sole basis of them being ignorant. I have friends who firmly believe I am going to hell but the amount of respect they give me is tremendous. They also don't try to save me, though.

 

[.lava]

Their god is the projection of their own egos

so true, yet that is not the only kind

 

[texan1]

I don't think the original post is asking for proof of God, but rather input on why he is treated unfairly by religious people.

I think it's because people wrongly assume you cannot have a moral center if you aren't religious. Maybe if you'd stop killing puppies Yes Man, they would be more open minded about you.

 

[Father Heathen]

You can't compare organisms to machines. Life gradually forms, changes, adapts, self replicates, etc. on its own.

 

[.lava]

I'm not sure where to put this but I'll just put it here.

I was talking with a friend lately and our subject of conversation managed to wander into religion. Me and her are both non-religious and I was saying how unfair some religions (or religious people) are to people like me. I simply can't place faith in a higher power because I have no way of being entirely sure that there is a god, divine entity, whatever. Yet certain religions are fit to condemn me to a hell because of this. I guess I'm ranting but I just wanted to hear some input.

hi,

i never questioned God but i was not religious at all. the only reason for me being away from religion was religious people, how they treat people around them. i did not want to be like them because they were loveless. they were even insulting their mates, children cos of mistakes they make, had greed over disbelievers and even had greed over animals because they are animals, looking at people as they were victims who belong to hell and they, themselves, were absolutely heavenly people with their dark faces, with their eyes without spark in it. yea...that's what i've seen my entire life my friend.

never mind for those who play God to you, while they are nothing more or less than what a single human being could be. an ignorant! if you knew you are, you are on the right direction, yet if you don't that is evil.

 

[Sola'lor]

I'm not sure where to put this but I'll just put it here.

I was talking with a friend lately and our subject of conversation managed to wander into religion. Me and her are both non-religious and I was saying how unfair some religions (or religious people) are to people like me. I simply can't place faith in a higher power because I have no way of being entirely sure that there is a god, divine entity, whatever. Yet certain religions are fit to condemn me to a hell because of this. I guess I'm ranting but I just wanted to hear some input.

The LDS don't condemn you to hell. You will go to heaven.

 

[Dunemeister]

I'm not sure where to put this but I'll just put it here.

I was talking with a friend lately and our subject of conversation managed to wander into religion. Me and her are both non-religious and I was saying how unfair some religions (or religious people) are to people like me. I simply can't place faith in a higher power because I have no way of being entirely sure that there is a god, divine entity, whatever. Yet certain religions are fit to condemn me to a hell because of this. I guess I'm ranting but I just wanted to hear some input.

"Entirely sure"? There's no way to be entirely sure about anything. Perhaps you've set the bar too high. Atheists can't be entirely sure, nor can believers, nor can agnostics for that matter. Whatever your worldview, it will always stop short of 100% certainty.

However, you can be sure enough to make a decision even if you're not sure enough right now. But it will take letting go of an unreasonable standard of belief.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Is there a God?

- What is more complex a video camera or you? a video camera actally copied the function fo your eye. but since you also have a microphone( vocal chords) it makes ou more complex.

so let me ask you, can you imagine a playstation appearing out of thin air without anybody creating it? ot you actually believe intelligent people studied the technology, planned, implemented plans and made contingincies.

if so, why wouldn't you believe that someone created a complex human being, so much more his complex environemnt.

This type of argument from complexity is illogical at best and intellectually dishonest at worst. It asks you to assume a maker for everything complex, and conveniently stops short of assuming a maker for the most complex thing of all.

Nobody who believes in evolution believes that any complex creature ever appeared out of thin air. IMO, the only people who believe anything close to that are those who believe that a God complex enough to create the universe from nothing could exist without a creator of His own.

I don't think the original post is asking for proof of God, but rather input on why he is treated unfairly by religious people.

I think it's because people wrongly assume you cannot have a moral center if you aren't religious. Maybe if you'd stop killing puppies Yes Man, they would be more open minded about you.

For many people, moral teaching and religious teaching have been given to them wrapped together for their entire lives. I think that if you only ever view morality through the lens of religion, it's hard for you to see it when that lens is removed.

 

[Yes Man]

"Entirely sure"? There's no way to be entirely sure about anything.

Precisely.

 

[Hema]

I believe in Karma Yoga and so by doing good actions, one is rewarded now and in the hereafter, whether you believe in God or not. Love is most important. There are people who believe in God but they have hatred - that to me is hypocritical.

 

[Draka]

Yes Man, you won't get any condemnation from me or people who believe as I do. Though, I have gotten the same types of condemnations as you from the same types of people. People like that tend to have themselves on a pedestal as they have been told over and over that that is where they are by "leaders" in their faith. They are not happy unless they point out that fact to others by denigrating them. It boils down to a self-indulgent ego trip. That is all it is. All one can really do, short of smacking the stupid out of them, is to pity them.

 

[Yes Man]

Maybe if you'd stop killing puppies Yes Man, they would be more open minded about you.

SO much fun though.

 

[Dunemeister]

Precisely.

Yeah, but that's no excuse for radical skepticism (an epistemological form of cowardice).

 

[Father Heathen]

Yeah, but that's no excuse for radical skepticism (an epistemological form of cowardice).

"Radical"? yeah, I guess using reason and logic is kind of fringe these days.

 

[GadFly]

I'm not sure where to put this but I'll just put it here.

I was talking with a friend lately and our subject of conversation managed to wander into religion. Me and her are both non-religious and I was saying how unfair some religions (or religious people) are to people like me. I simply can't place faith in a higher power because I have no way of being entirely sure that there is a god, divine entity, whatever. Yet certain religions are fit to condemn me to a hell because of this. I guess I'm ranting but I just wanted to hear some input.

For me to believe I had to unlearn what I thought I knew. With everything that was taught me from youth up through adulthood, my information decreased, if that makes sense.
I finally realized that everything that "was" did not have to be 100% known and that it did not require a lot of knowing to make me happy. For example, my children and my wife, I love them. Even if I can't prove it to anybody, I don't care. I believe it enough to satisfy me.
Don't be reluctant to believe in something if it makes sense to you. Don't let anybody talk you into missing something good in life because they don't understand it. I believe we all were made for understanding. Hang around here long enough and you'll probably know everything. The main thing is to stay cool. It will happen and if not it will not make a differenc.

 

[Super Universe]

I'm not sure where to put this but I'll just put it here.

I was talking with a friend lately and our subject of conversation managed to wander into religion. Me and her are both non-religious and I was saying how unfair some religions (or religious people) are to people like me. I simply can't place faith in a higher power because I have no way of being entirely sure that there is a god, divine entity, whatever. Yet certain religions are fit to condemn me to a hell because of this. I guess I'm ranting but I just wanted to hear some input.

Well, for starters, try to find a way to completely separate religion from God because religion hasn't got a clue.

Look at a fruit tree that blooms after the spring rains when the weather warms and there are bees to help polinate it so it can provide us with food. But you think it's all just coincidence upon coincidence, upon coincidence. "Thank God for coincidences!"

It's too easy to be negative and bitter about every little imperfect thing in life, it's like a child that gets angry when he has to clean up his toys as if he didn't get to play with them at all. The hard part is enjoying the work, whatever it is.