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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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Skeptik

I know the OP wasn't asking us to answer them, but I think I will just for fun.

1) Have you ever been to church?
I was born into a preacher's home in an extremely conservative form of the pentecostal faith.  Not snake handlers but not far from it.  I went to church every time the doors opened for the first 20 years of my life.

2) Do you have any Christian friends or family members? If so, what do you think of their faith?
Nearly all of my family.
As far as friends, most are believers and most do not know that I am not.

3) What do you think of Christians?
They are like any other group of people really.  Most are good hearted enough and a few are assholes.

4) What do you think of Jesus?
I hear he's a swell guy.  It would be great if his followers actually acted like him.

5) What do you think of the Bible?
The same thing I think of any other book of mythology.

6) Has anyone ever preached to you personally?
I literally cannot count how many times.

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?
Like I said it happens all the time.
It would matter if I knew them or not.  If I did know them, I would likely grin and bear it.  If I didn't, I'd likely tell them to fuck off.

8 ) What are your biggest objections to Christianity?
Oh not much really other than the suppression of women and homosexuals, the crusades, condoning slaver and the systematic fucking of children.

9) Hypothetically speaking, if the claims of the Christian faith were proven true beyond a shadow of a doubt, would you become a Christian?
I don't think so.
As horrible as the god of the bible is, even if he existed I would rather burn in hell than worship him.

10) Describe your beliefs about God, salvation, the afterlife, etc.
I don't believe there is a god so obviously I don't believe in any salvation outside this life.
As far as an afterlife, the atoms that make up my body will one day return to the earth and will make up something else eventually.
The certainty with which I know another man's religion is folly makes me suspect my own is also - Mark Twain

Dear Religion,
Today we safely brought a man back from outer space, while you shot a child in the face for wanting to go to school.
Sincerely,
Science

MariaEvri

sure. I dont post much but I like answering stuff

1) Have you ever been to church?
Two times at easter, and every wedding and christening till I turned 20, Then I stopped all together. At weddings and christenings I will go to the receptiion afterwards.

2) Do you have any Christian friends or family members? If so, what do you think of their faith?
My entire family except my bro who is atheist and my dad who is nonreligious. Idon;t have any friends but when I did they were xtian.

3) What do you think of Christians?
Depends on thep person. However I consider them "false" christians because they are not following their bible rules (e.g. they are not trying to kill me and women are teachers)

4) What do you think of Jesus?
Non existant

5) What do you think of the Bible?
extreme boredom and violence

6) Has anyone ever preached to you personally?
Once but I droned it out so I forgot about it. It's  a superpower of mine

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?
If it was a stranger I would say no thanks and walk away. If it was a person close to me I would start avoiding him

8 ) What are your biggest objections to Christianity?
The way it treats women. The way it wants to treat unbelievers. The priests. Their god. Everything

9) Hypothetically speaking, if the claims of the Christian faith were proven true beyond a shadow of a doubt, would you become a Christian?
No. I would pretend to worship out of fear because the god of the bible is a monster and he doesn;t seem to know what's in the human mind so he propably wouldn;t know I was pretending

10) Describe your beliefs about God, salvation, the afterlife, etc.
created by peple who tried to explain the world before science and somehow those fairytales stuck around
God made me an atheist, who are you to question his wisdom!
www.poseidonsimons.com

Bad Penny II

Quote from: MariaEvri on January 31, 2017, 07:17:19 PMIdon;t have any friends but when I did they were xtian.

Of course you do, we've been friends for years.
No I suppose not proper friends, I never helped you move.
I would have if god hadn't fucked up designing my back.
Take my advice, don't listen to me.

Icarus

Maria: you definitely have friends even if only virtual ones. It is almost a certainty that you would have actual living and breathing friends if we met you in person.

Tom62

Quote from: Icarus on February 02, 2017, 03:28:29 AM
Maria: you definitely have friends even if only virtual ones. It is almost a certainty that you would have actual living and breathing friends if we met you in person.

^Hear, hear!
The universe never did make sense; I suspect it was built on government contract.
Robert A. Heinlein

Recusant

Fourthed.  :) 

I'm always glad to see that you've stopped by here, MariaEvri!
"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


Arturo

It's Okay To Say You're Welcome
     Just let people be themselves.
     Arturo The1  リ壱

MariaEvri

Quote from: Bad Penny II on February 01, 2017, 12:54:44 PM
Quote from: MariaEvri on January 31, 2017, 07:17:19 PMIdon;t have any friends but when I did they were xtian.

Of course you do, we've been friends for years.
No I suppose not proper friends, I never helped you move.
I would have if god hadn't fucked up designing my back.

I moved 8 years ago, where were you then :(
God made me an atheist, who are you to question his wisdom!
www.poseidonsimons.com

MariaEvri

God made me an atheist, who are you to question his wisdom!
www.poseidonsimons.com

Harmonie

1) Have you ever been to church?
Yes, my family made me go to church when I was younger. I never felt what they did, so it was always boring.

2) Do you have any Christian friends or family members? If so, what do you think of their faith?
Kind of hard not to when you live in the Bible Belt. lol. The vast majority of my family and friends are liberal Christians so it's less of a point of contention. Not that I could have a point of contention, I'm not out.

3) What do you think of Christians?
They are people. They can be good or bad.

4) What do you think of Jesus?
He seemed to have some ideals that were ahead of his time (in general, not altogether), but he also had plenty of issues, and he still couldn't condemn slavery. Most certainly not a perfect individual.

5) What do you think of the Bible?
It's interesting as set of documents from an ancient culture, showing their mythological beliefs and cultural 'values' and norms. As a guideline for how to live and base one's morality from it's absolutely terrible. It should be seen from a historical standpoint, nothing more.

6) Has anyone ever preached to you personally?
I can not think of any really strong cases. I'm not out to the majority of people, so the majority probably just assume I'm a Christian.

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 understand that they have that belief deeply ingrained in them, and they think that it's the right thing to do. They only do it because they care. However, I'd prefer them to not, because I don't want any rifts to form between us.

8 ) What are your biggest objections to Christianity?
The texts from which it is based on combined with the Christian claim that they are the bastion of morality. The Bible is NOT the "good book". It is full of blatantly immoral atrocities and the "morals" it prescribes are barbaric and absurdly wrong going by any standard of morality we could base out of avoiding what really harms other people. And no, the New Testament not only does not right all of these wrongs, and for a supposedly all-knowing, all-good God, it doesn't even make sense.

The Bible has no place in modern society aside from being material to research the mythology and ethics of an ancient culture.

The way that the religion twists people's minds also really bothers me. The fact that they throw away value for this life for Heaven (this can go much severe than one might imagine). The fact that when a natural disaster kills a bunch of people, the survivors are praising God that they weren't taken. The fact that God is praised when doctors using human knowledge save someone's life. The fact that my past oboe teacher who did so much for me and got me back into school does not at all take any credit for it as she's part of a church which tells her that she has absolutely no value without God.

Also, the way which Christianity provides a cloak of protection for sexist and homophobic individuals. Absolutely disgusting.

9) Hypothetically speaking, if the claims of the Christian faith were proven true beyond a shadow of a doubt, would you become a Christian?
Well, I would naturally have to become a believer, but I would not become a worshiper. As I said above, the Bible is too immoral. I stand for what is right.

10) Describe your beliefs about God, salvation, the afterlife, etc.
There is no reason to believe in God, salvation or the afterlife. I have looked carefully at the world and universe around me, and they do not even begin to suggest a deity or an afterlife.

Icon Image by Cherubunny on Tumblr
"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony

Icarus

Harmonie, that is a well done set of replies.  That you live in the "Bible Belt" is a bit of a problem but you seem to be handling it satisfactorily.

It may not be a practical matter for you to read books by Dawkins, Hitchens or other of the  in your face types of books. Judging from your answers above I think that you would like, and perhaps profit, from a book titled: The God Virus, by Darrel W. Ray. He is a shrink that writes very well. The book is not an accusatory screed. It is an insightful and educated exposition on the whys and how's that cause people to be religious. The book is innocuous and it might even be read by a hard shell Christian without  him/her having a spontaneous cranial aneurism.  Throughout the book, the author urges the reader not to antagonize or challenge  the ones that are suffering from the virus. The author is cool and his council is somewhat comforting to we secularist types.  The guy is plenty good at what he has done.

One admonition though....The book is peppered with little side bars. They are quotes from famous or infamous, as the case may be, people some of  whom are actually known in the Bible Belt.   example:" Most people would rather die than think; in fact they do so"; Bertrand Russell.  One of the tidbits is from Carl Sagan. This is a heavyweight Sagan reality that Doctor Ray is all about. " you cannot convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it is based on a deep seated need to believe."

Never mind all that stuff Harmonie. Please continue to pursue your musical ambitions. The world needs expression of art forms just as much as it needs science.

Harmonie

Quote from: Icarus on February 07, 2017, 12:57:48 AM
Harmonie, that is a well done set of replies.  That you live in the "Bible Belt" is a bit of a problem but you seem to be handling it satisfactorily.

Oh, I wouldn't say I'm handling it so well, actually. I'm beginning to snap. Both because of the political/religious climate and the weather climate.

Anyway, enough about that, before I go off on another rant about that (and boy could I - the imbalance of the seasons is taking a toll on me. And then I saw my state government trying to push forward a bill to put the 10 commandments in schools and on the lawns of courts. The people of the state voted against this by the way.), I'm not much of a reader. I do like to listen to the Atheist Experience, though. I believe they hosted him on their show some time ago to talk about The God Virus. It does sound interesting.

I really do love the people of that show. Listening to them really helped ground me from the kind of atheist I was as a teenager. lol

Icon Image by Cherubunny on Tumblr
"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony

Skeptik

Harmonie, I'm also in the bible belt (Arkansas) and I share your frustrations.
It is very exhausting sometimes.  There is a lot to like about living here, but that is a major drawback.
The certainty with which I know another man's religion is folly makes me suspect my own is also - Mark Twain

Dear Religion,
Today we safely brought a man back from outer space, while you shot a child in the face for wanting to go to school.
Sincerely,
Science

Dave

Quote from: Skeptik on April 30, 2017, 09:31:23 PM
Harmonie, I'm also in the bible belt (Arkansas) and I share your frustrations.
It is very exhausting sometimes.  There is a lot to like about living here, but that is a major drawback.
Arkansas? Isn't that the place where they execute people because the drugs they use have nearly reached their "Use by:" date? OK, I am not entirely anti-capital punishment and at keast "due oricess" as the law stands has been done but - a bit of an uncivilsed rush?

What are they going to use next I wonder? Seems other companies are refusing to supply drugs for this purpose.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74