Wow. Lots Of Atheists In Here.

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Permalink Reply by Jezzy on July 28, 2008 at 5:08pm

I agree.

It reminds me of what Penn Jillette (sp?) said, about how you have to be kind or giving for other people's sake....

I think if you do things because you're afraid that a God will punish you if you don't, you're not really the best sort of person. Good will should be from your own wish to help others, not of your fears or fantasies of the afterlife.

And if you live that way, and you're a good person, does it matter if you're wrong or right about God?

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Permalink Reply by Undo on July 28, 2008 at 11:55am

Well said, sir.

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Permalink Reply by vjack on July 27, 2008 at 9:56am

I certainly don't hate them, although I do hate how some of them behave. I tend to pity the ones who were raised to believe all that nonsense. As tempting as it may be at times, the one thing I really don't think we can afford to do is give up on them.

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Permalink Reply by Az on July 27, 2008 at 10:50am

Yay godless people!!!

As for god people and church goers... for the most part they are just trying to make sense of the world around them. And I suspect that the idea of gods is a naturally occurring notion to our psyche and in fact a natural outcome of how we come by the notion of identity. So I don't hold it too hard against people that they come to the conclusions they do.

Where I do have a problem is when dogma comes into play. Note dogma is not just for religions. Dogma can be a part of political systems too. So next time someone tries to throw Communism in your face just whip out the dogma card and repel them.

Dogma is the thing that causes division in our society. It is the thing that causes people to go to war with one another. It is the thing that can easily set brother against brother. And it is the thing which must be opposed.

Now not all religions or churches come with strong dogmas. Heck the UUs here can attest to the fact that there are churches with no dogmas. Some religions in practice favor connectivity over doctrine. Humanity over dogma. These religions are not so bad and need not be seen as the enemy of society.

So it takes a little more effort to find out what sort of beliefs a particular individual follows. I think the effort is worth the time. You can find all sorts of beliefs out there. And while they may be based on some misplaced presumptions they often come up with some interesting insights. And those can often be worth quite a bit.

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Permalink Reply by Dawn K on July 27, 2008 at 1:43pm

I definitely hate the behavior of some, the extremists and those that can't just leave each to his own. I pity those whose lives are so caught up in religion that it sometimes seems like all they have. I do find that in order for me to have some type of ongoing relationship with someone they have to 1. not believe I'm going to burn in hell, and 2. not drop god into our conversations all the time. Beyond that, I don't really care.

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Permalink Reply by vjack on July 28, 2008 at 3:47pm

Good point about the not believing you are going to burn in hell. I have real trouble figuring out why a freethinker would maintain such a relationship. Seems like a fairly minimal requirement.

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Permalink Reply by Jezzy on July 28, 2008 at 5:12pm

My momma says all Atheists are terrible people and going to hell and all that. She's so funny. ...Even though she doesn't mean to be.

Still love her, of course.

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Permalink Reply by vjack on July 29, 2008 at 8:17pm

Yeah, I think this is entirely different when it comes from family. One can't really walk away from these sort of relationships even if one wanted to. I just don't know if I could continue to date someone who felt this way. At least, when I have done this before I didn't end up liking myself very much.

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Permalink Reply by Jezzy on July 29, 2008 at 8:29pm

I have a friend who has been having that problem. The girl he's seeing is pretty religious and while he's fine with it, later on, it could cause problems...

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Permalink Reply by Goz on August 31, 2008 at 5:21pm

yes it will,especially when children arrive and the brainwashing ,praying at the table,etc. starts.

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Permalink Reply by Goz on August 31, 2008 at 5:20pm

Why would she think we are terrible people?
I,as one, have a high moral and ethical code and am a caring person.

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Permalink Reply by Matt on July 27, 2008 at 5:38pm

The term "godless" (note lower-case g) kinda suggests that we're at a loss for somthing, like something is missing as opposed to some thing is extraneous.
I really believe that religious people, how deluded their beliefs are, should be allowed to hold and practice their beliefs.
However, inflicting their beliefs on others and especially inflicting them on kids in schools therefore indoctrinating children into this piffle-paffle is tantamount to child abuse.

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