I find it hard to believe you aren't afraid of anything. Everybody is afraid of something.
I didn't say you feared a question. I said the questions that we ask or perhaps you've asked yourself lead to answers that can be very scary to a religious person... at first. But later, you realize the fear you held was, just like the belief, irrational.
I don't hate you or any other Christians for their beliefs. This is a misinterpretation on your part. My entire famly is Christian, do you think I hate my entire family? It's simply a disagreement, a disagreement I feel is due to the lack of critical thought and logical reasoning.
I understand why you would feel this way, but again, this is a misinterpretation on your part. All I can tell you is I don't hate people for the things they believe, I enjoy talking about why people believe what they do and how they got there. It frustrates me when someone can't defend their beliefs, especially if it's being used in such a selfish manner at the cost the rest of us pay.
How have I, or anyone else, "belittled" anyones beliefs? Give me some examples please.
You have already decided to take the cowardly route. Questioning ones beliefs, discovering where they're flawed and changing them accordingly to fit with reality and not what we want reality to be is the only true way to, as Socrates put it, genuine self-mastery.
You can't enter into a debate with the stipulation "my beliefs will never be changed". It kind of defeats the whole purpose.
That's a very selfish statement to make.
Take a look around the world, it would seem it's a consequence of nationalism which usually corresponds with high levels of belief, but that's just a personal theory of mine, but the majority of people living in the world are not afforded the luxury of comfort like you are. Does this not matter to you? Do you at least get a little glimpse into the reasoning behind why belief can be so selfish?
Well, I don't know YOU personally, so I can't answer that. But you are a believer, and I can tell you how the believers mindset affects me personally.
-it enables governments to implement policy based on religious ideologies simply because a majority of the population believes it's the right thing to do, this leads to increased poverty, increased taxes, increased debt, increased military spending, decreased education and medical spending, decreases in NASA, decreases in innovation and R&D
-it allows a platform for prejudice to exist
-it produces people ignorant of basic fundamentals of science, reality, existence
I could go on and on and on... but will you try to counter any of these points? Of course you wont, because I don't think you can, if you could, you would. Instead you'll just make another post saying we hate you, saying we belittle believers.. I mean come on man, that's getting old.. If you have something to say, that's how you say it, point by point reply, just like the rest of us are doing. If you are so concrete in your beliefs, and aren't afraid of anything, what's to stop you?
I promote proper education, science, logic and reason.
I am a little confused by that second statement. I'm not sure why someone would decide to go out and shoot people or kill themselves because of anything I had to say, like I mentioned before, if that were to happen, it was going to happen anyway.
Yet you fail to point out any examples of bias. You read the rules, anyone can make a claim and if it gets 5 votes, you just earned a point for your side.
So if you're making the claim someone has been biased, point out the post # and the rest of us will see for ourselves.
That's why it's even more important to stay calm and collected when you talk about it. Think of it as a challenge for yourself. See if you can keep calm and make your points clearly without getting upset. Personally, I take it as a sign of weakness when someone starts throwing out insults or attacks. It just means that's all they've got, I've intellectually defeated them into submission and all they can do is walk away tail tucked between their legs. It's a much more satisfying feeling than calling someone a bunch of names.
No, we think believers use inconsistent logic to get to a conclusion that isn't substantiated by any evidence that hurts other people around the world.
Can't really make it much more simple than that..
...and the sick twist that tops it all off - even if the shit WERE true and it hurt people around the world like I feel it does, I'd be just as against it as I am with no evidence.
Actually, it seems to be "you vs. you" at this point, the rest of us are having a pretty good discussion. I'd like you to join in and start answering some of these questions the right way, as directed in the OP, to kind of get things moving along in the right direction and give you some practice at keeping cool when we talk.
Don't pass up this opportunity man, how often do you come across a board full of atheists open and willing to talk to you about beliefs?
