Quote from: BADecker on December 13, 2014, 02:33:55 AM

Quote from: Buffer Overflow on December 12, 2014, 08:54:57 PM

Quote from: BADecker on December 12, 2014, 08:08:39 PM

Quote from: Buffer Overflow on December 12, 2014, 07:41:09 PM

Quote from: BADecker on December 12, 2014, 06:31:46 PM

Quote from: Buffer Overflow on December 12, 2014, 05:15:38 PM

Quote from: BADecker on December 12, 2014, 10:42:20 AM

Atheism is a religion. It is a religion of hate for God.

Atheists don't hate god. They simply just don't believe he exists.
I don't believe in Santa Claus, by your logic I also hate him.

Wrong. Rather, there aren't any true atheists. Why? Because everybody knows in his heart that God exists. Why? Because the Spirit of God is in the heart of everybody, holding every person alive. All know Him instinctively - "no atheists in the foxholes." Extreme joy, or extreme fear or pain in the life of anyone, shows him/her that he/she believes in God.

Those who claim that God doesn't exist are liars. Because of this, essentially there aren't any atheists. Those liars who adamantly claim they are atheists, do so because they think that their claims will make Him go away. They hate Him.

I don't believe anyone can be 100% atheist, as there will always be that little bit of doubt however small.

But....

I also don't believe anyone can be 100% religious, as there will always be that little bit of doubt however small.

What does "100% religious" mean? If you mean like I said, that atheists are liars, this is a statement that they are not 100% believers in their religion.

As in 100% belief in whatever god they believe in exists. There will always be that little bit of doubt that their god might not exist.
Just because you don't want to hear what the atheists have to say, doesn't mean they are lying. Their views are just as valid as yours. This is a rather childish if you ask me.

Why do you think I don't want to hear atheists, at least somewhat? I read what they have to say, here. Others just hit "Ignore."

Everyone, as a person, is just as valid as any other person. This means that they have a right to hold their views as being valid. It does not mean that the views themselves are valid.

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Interesting isn't it when your highly suspect lies spaw out such as "believe in god or you'll burn", you gloss over those little gems. Interesting.

Yes, my beliefs. You have the right to consider them to be lies.

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Quote from: BADecker on December 12, 2014, 10:42:20 AM

Quote from: Buffer Overflow on December 12, 2014, 05:15:38 PM

It works both ways you see.

Your comments suggest to me, that the possibility of god not existing is terrifying to you. Why is that? The only hate I am picking up on is your hate of those that have a different opinion to yourself.

A blind man is walking along on a bridge, tapping away with his cane. Suddenly his cane taps on emptiness. He doesn't realize that he took a wrong turn somewhere in his crossing of the bridge, and he is now standing at the edge of the chasm below. No fear, because he doesn't realize.

A man that can see, standing at the same spot, might be wetting his pants out of fear.

That isn't hate. It is the fear of a seeing harm come to a blind person, actuated by empathy. If the blind man doesn't heed the lack of tap from his cane, or doesn't heed the warning call of the seeing person...

Well, you get the picture.

However, in addition to the above allegory, when people sincerely move in the direction of believing in God, God appreciates that. He is a merciful God. He definitely would turn from His anger about people denying Him, to giving them special blessings for turning to Him. Blessings that come to the nation, come also to me a little.

Selfish, ain't I?

LOL, can't help but chuckle when believers claim to be "saving" non-believers. Let me tell you the real reason people come knocking on your front door to "save" the occupier from their sins.

Yes, this is something that believers can't do. Only God can save anybody. Why? Because no believer can keep even himself from dying. Only God who created life in the first place has the power to raise people from the dead.

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Think of a drug addict going to a few parties one night.
At the first party, out of the 10 people attending he's the only one doing drugs. He feels awkward as everyone else is enjoying their drug free night. He feel isolated, doesn't fit in with the crowd. Starts questioning if he should be doing the drugs or not. Quickley leaves.
At the next party everyone is on drugs. Much better. Feels confident now everyone is "on his side". Doing drugs was the right choice because everyone else is doing it right!

Same thing with religion. The more people they can "get on their side" the better. Proves they are right, because everyone else is believing. Better in a crowd. Safety in numbers. More the merrier. I know, let's go out and get more members to make us stronger.

It is true that "birds of a feather flock together" and "there is strength in numbers." It is also true that most people of any religion don't have logical reasons for the basic points in their religions, like why they believe in God, or why they don't believe in God.

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Let's make one thing quite clear ladies and gentlemen. They are certainly not trying to save anybody apart from themselves.

The point isn't saving anyone. With regard to life, nobody can save anybody else except temporarily - doctors and hospitals do this temporary saving quite often. The people they save still get old and die sometime.

The thing that is being done is, ideas are being scattered out among the unsaved so that they might consider their options for being saved.

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Quote from: BADecker on December 12, 2014, 10:42:20 AM

Selfish, ain't I?

Yes. See above.

Quote from: Buffer Overflow on December 12, 2014, 05:15:38 PM

Your comments suggest to me, that the possibility of god not existing is terrifying to you. Why is that?

You didn't answer this question.

I don't know why my comments suggest such things to you. I am working on finding out. I am guessing that you have fewer answers than I do. And until your answers satisfy you and make you comfortable, you are trying to push off my answers which make you uncomfortable... even scare you. I didn't answer because I didn't want to push you into examining your inner fear too closely, for fear of frightening you. Now that you are pressing the question, I have answered.

I think Buffer Overflow is referring to this: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/secondary+gain

In a more general sense of the term, almost everyone seeks some type of secondary gain from even what they consider to be virtuous actions. For example, I post as I do in this thread because, through now almost 13 years of deep exploration into the topic and having affiliated with at least 6 different spiritual beliefs throughout my life, I genuinely believe that others can benefit from what I've learned and that what I'm saying is generally correct (though admittedly not as precise as I would like, which in itself suggests something).

But my secondary gain is that I'm a narcissist and I like talking about things I feel (key word) confident about so I can assert a dominant perspective.

I think it's okay to acknowledge these things about ourselves. Maybe it's these 'deficiencies' that give us the necessary motivation to continue, and most importantly to learn from the results.