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10 Questions for Atheists from a Xtian bible college student

Started by Sandra Craft, November 05, 2016, 06:40:17 AM

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Pasta Chick

Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on November 05, 2016, 06:58:41 PM
Quote from: Pasta Chick on November 05, 2016, 02:48:45 PM
Quote from: solidsquid on November 05, 2016, 02:24:20 PM
I should go and collect answers to these questions:

1) Have you ever been to a Heathen hof?
2) Do you have any Heathen friends or family members? If so, what do you think of their faith?
3) What do you think of Heathenry?
4) What do you think of Odin?
5) What do you think of the Havamal?
6) Has anyone ever offered you mead to tell a tale of bravery and battle personally?
7) How would you feel if someone tried to persuade you to believe in Odin? Would it make a difference if that person were a stranger or if they were close to you?
8 ) What are your biggest objections to Heathenry?
9) Hypothetically speaking, if the claims of the Heathenry were proven true beyond a shadow of a doubt, would you become a Heathen?
10) Describe your beliefs about Odin, mead, Valhalla, etc.

Ya know, for comparison.

I am now very upset that I would have to answer "no" to #6.

You can't even get mead around here. My friends and I once drove like an hour and a half to get to the closest liquor store selling it.

I wonder how difficult it is to make mead?  Isn't it basically a honey wine?

I imagine it's similar to making any booze, in that the process itself ought to be relatively simple, yet it turns out that if you don't blow anything up the end result tastes awful.

Sandra Craft

Quote from: Pasta Chick on November 06, 2016, 02:00:24 AM
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on November 05, 2016, 06:58:41 PM

I wonder how difficult it is to make mead?  Isn't it basically a honey wine?

I imagine it's similar to making any booze, in that the process itself ought to be relatively simple, yet it turns out that if you don't blow anything up the end result tastes awful.

:beer:  I guess there'll be none of that, then.
Sandy

  

"Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet."  Sarah Louise Delany

solidsquid

Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on November 06, 2016, 01:20:38 AM
Look what I found: Great Society Cider and Mead Bar.  It's right across the street from the grocery store I use most often, in what used to be the Peppercorn Cafe.  This is one of those time I wish I was a drinker.

I'm intrigued by the "Kill All the Golfers" mead they have on tap...

Icarus

My young friend from Lithuania brought a bottle of mead as a gift when he was my house guest. It is one of the more expensive ones in his country and he presumed that it would be appreciated. The damned stuff is awful tasting brew that is akin to swamp water. I do appreciate the thoughtfulness but I am not likely to consume it.  The name on the fancy bottle is Suktinis. It is labeled as 50% alcohol content. It contains blueberry and red currant juices and honey along with some straight ethyl alcohol according to the label.

Icarus

I will wager that more than one of us would be pleased to spend an hour with the bible college student.  Not to disparage them of demean them, but to explain in the friendliest possible way, what it is like to be an atheist. We could show the student that we are intelligent, moral, charitable, and happy. The author of the questions would be shocked to learn that many of us know more about the history of the bible than the vast majority of xtians do.   The ten questions are painfully juvenile. The author of the questions has much to learn. She is not likely to learn these facts at bible college.

Tom62

Quote from: Icarus on November 06, 2016, 04:32:53 AM
My young friend from Lithuania brought a bottle of mead as a gift when he was my house guest. It is one of the more expensive ones in his country and he presumed that it would be appreciated. The damned stuff is awful tasting brew that is akin to swamp water. I do appreciate the thoughtfulness but I am not likely to consume it.  The name on the fancy bottle is Suktinis. It is labeled as 50% alcohol content. It contains blueberry and red currant juices and honey along with some straight ethyl alcohol according to the label.

It seems to go well with spicy meat dishes. It is used in cooking, marinating. Suktinis won several prices, like Lithuanian Product of the Year in 2004.
The universe never did make sense; I suspect it was built on government contract.
Robert A. Heinlein

Sandra Craft

Quote from: Icarus on November 06, 2016, 04:47:10 AM
I will wager that more than one of us would be pleased to spend an hour with the bible college student.  Not to disparage them of demean them, but to explain in the friendliest possible way, what it is like to be an atheist. We could show the student that we are intelligent, moral, charitable, and happy. The author of the questions would be shocked to learn that many of us know more about the history of the bible than the vast majority of xtians do.   The ten questions are painfully juvenile. The author of the questions has much to learn. She is not likely to learn these facts at bible college.

I'm hoping that's what she'll get from reading the answers, which will be passed on to her.  I noticed the vast majority of them were straight-forward and detailed about atheism and being an atheist, very few dismissive or harsh.
Sandy

  

"Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet."  Sarah Louise Delany

Arturo

One thing I always suspected was that Christians lie, and they propagate those lies. And that was semi-affirmed in the first episode of "Sex, Death, And The Meaning Of Life" on Netflix.

I won't go into detail but it talks about porn habits between religious and non-religious people and that the older religious people got, the more they viewed porn. And when they were asked to raise their hand to see if they did so, they did not. On the other hand, non-religious people raised their hand, which goes with the data that they also watched more porn the older they got.

So yes, Xitians lie, and perhaps much more than any one of us would. But one thing the show contributed to the cause of lying though was having guilt about impure thoughts.
It's Okay To Say You're Welcome
     Just let people be themselves.
     Arturo The1  リ壱

Sandra Craft

Quote from: solidsquid on November 06, 2016, 03:58:45 AM
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on November 06, 2016, 01:20:38 AM
Look what I found: Great Society Cider and Mead Bar.  It's right across the street from the grocery store I use most often, in what used to be the Peppercorn Cafe.  This is one of those time I wish I was a drinker.

I'm intrigued by the "Kill All the Golfers" mead they have on tap...

Some things should just give their backstory automatically.
Sandy

  

"Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet."  Sarah Louise Delany

Eugeny Anatolievich

1) Have you ever been to church?
Yes.

2) Do you have any Christian friends or family members? If so, what do you think of their faith?
No. I lost my Christian friends.

3) What do you think of Christians?
They are normaly people if they don't speak about religion.

4) What do you think of Jesus?
It's a personage of one old book.

5) What do you think of the Bible?
The collect of myths of ancient Jews.

6) Has anyone ever preached to you personally?
Sometimes Jehowists try.

7) How would you feel if someone tried to persuade you to believe in Jesus? Would it make a difference if that person were a stranger or if they were close to you?
I'd say 'Stop, please.'

8 ) What are your biggest objections to Christianity?
It's not truth.

9) Hypothetically speaking, if the claims of the Christian faith were proven true beyond a shadow of a doubt, would you become a Christian?
Why not.

10) Describe your beliefs about God, salvation, the afterlife, etc.
I'm an atheist.
I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle.

Icarus

I would very much like t answer that students questions in a respectful but authoritative manner, since I am a long term atheist. It would be a long shot but I, or we, might just save a functional mind from the practice of cerebral absurdity.

Recusant

It's good to see you here again, Eugeny Anatolievich:computerwave:
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


Eugeny Anatolievich

I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle.

existentialcrisis

Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on November 05, 2016, 06:40:17 AM
I thought this was fun -- I've been having a good time skimming thru the answers:  Ten Questions for Atheists About Christianity.

What really strikes me most about the questions is how astonishingly naive they are, makes me wonder how thick the bubble is that student is living in.

If you're just interested in knowing what the questions are, here you go:

1) Have you ever been to church?
2) Do you have any Christian friends or family members? If so, what do you think of their faith?
3) What do you think of Christians?
4) What do you think of Jesus?
5) What do you think of the Bible?
6) Has anyone ever preached to you personally?
7) How would you feel if someone tried to persuade you to believe in Jesus? Would it make a difference if that person were a stranger or if they were close to you?
8 ) What are your biggest objections to Christianity?
9) Hypothetically speaking, if the claims of the Christian faith were proven true beyond a shadow of a doubt, would you become a Christian?
10) Describe your beliefs about God, salvation, the afterlife, etc.

You can see what I mean about naive, esp. since these questions are coming from an American.  #1, 2 and 6 are particularly jaw-dropping.

It does make me wonder what questions I, as an atheist, would ask a Xtian (or any theist).  I can only think of one thing that baffles me: what convinced you that the supernatural is real?

1. Yes
2. Yes, their faith is their business. However Christian faith in particular is based on mythology and superstition.  Benjamin Franklin said: "Blind faith shuts the eye of reason".
3. Very broad question, there are many different types of Christians. Christians are people, Christianity is the faith. Two different things.
4. I never met Jesus, so I don't know. From what I have read he is a noble, kind man with the intention to reform the Jews.
5. There are no clear authors, it is not scientifically based, it has been edited an innumerous amount of times, it is laden with intolerance and violence. No hollywood movie could compete.
6. Yes.
7. People are free to do as they wish as long as they don't harm fellow humans.
8. Too many to list here. Some stem from blind faith, intolerance, mythology taken seriously, concept of original sin, mix with paganism to allow it to survive, etc.
9. Impossibility.
10. None.
There are no facts, only interpretations. - Friedrich Nietzche

The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason. - Benjamin Franklin.

Asmodean

Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on November 05, 2016, 06:40:17 AM
I thought this was fun
Yup. Me, I like.

Quote1) Have you ever been to church?
Four or five times. Hard benches, crappy stories... Mostly old people. Didn't like it much.

Quote2) Do you have any Christian friends or family members? If so, what do you think of their faith?
Some family. I don't care what they believe as long as they keep their beliefs away from me. All my friends are atheist with varying degrees of caring.

Quote
3) What do you think of Christians?
I do not.

Quote4) What do you think of Jesus?
At best, some two thousand years or so since dead guy. I don't care.

Quote5) What do you think of the Bible?
Toilet paper of the fiction genre.

Quote6) Has anyone ever preached to you personally?
Yes. Occasionally, people do try.

Quote7) How would you feel if someone tried to persuade you to believe in Jesus? Would it make a difference if that person were a stranger or if they were close to you?
I would suffer through the nonsense, call that person an idiot, then preach back some science and knowledge and such. The identity of the person in question is irrelevant.

Quote8 ) What are your biggest objections to Christianity?
The biggest one is its central premises being false, I suppose. It's a primitive ancient religion though, and it would be wrong for me to expect anything else of it. My beef is not with Christianity the old desert religion, it's with Christianity the Bullshit Coalition of Gullibility in this day and age.

Quote9) Hypothetically speaking, if the claims of the Christian faith were proven true beyond a shadow of a doubt, would you become a Christian?
If YHWH did some time for raping that chic, crimes against humanity, terrorism, etc... Maybe. #notmyYHWH

Quote10) Describe your beliefs about God, salvation, the afterlife, etc.
None.

I do not believe in gods; there is no good supporting evidence for their existence. I do not require salvation I can not provide myself with; I'm not in that much trouble. As for afterlife, I can't put it much better than prof. Dawkins when asked what happens when a person dies; "You do the thinking with your brain, and your brain will rot."

On a more general note, what I think about these concepts, is that they are a product of instinctive pattern- and reward-seeking behaviour of primitive men. Instincts are powerful, but most of us are in no immediate danger of being eaten by a higher predator at any time, so... Recognizing patterns where there are none is no longer the more dangerous of the two options. As for reward-seeking? Smoking, heroin, booze, afterlife... Most of us have our drugs of choice. Suck it in in the privacy of your home though. It's not polite to recruit others into your addictions.

Quote
It does make me wonder what questions I, as an atheist, would ask a Xtian (or any theist).  I can only think of one thing that baffles me: what convinced you that the supernatural is real?
Hmm... I might give this a try later.
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