Atheism Verses Christianity

[MrsLulu]

Since joining AB I have followed the threads regarding the above. Am I right in thinking there are more non-believing Abers than believers, or do the believers prefer not to get entangled with this subject. I myself believe.

[Theland]

Well there are many passages in the bible that refer to God creating the universe. Adam and Eve are anecdotal containing truth about our inability to be selfless. So the God of creation is the God that inspired the prophecies that today demand explanation. If he is working in the world now, then why not at the very beginning?

[society]

I'm a believer and I did take part in the poll. :)

[LazyGun]

Well to refer to the bible as a method of proving the validity of something from - the bible- is a circular argument, and not a good argument to conclude anything.

I also find it interesting how frequently those believers veer between a literal interpretation of the bible and a metaphorical or anecdotal one. And for every "truth" or anecdote that may have some trivial sense, there are plenty of examples of sheer boneheadedness.

All the prophecies you are proud of are interpretations after the fact, and are vague enough that they can be applied, at a stretch, to virtually anything. And there is no independent evidence to support creationism as described in the bible - Indeed the contrary is true - the consilience of evidence supporting an old earth and an ancient universe is overwhelming.

[wildwood]

What transpires in this R&S category is that many non-believers know more about religions than the believers. This is probably why they are non-believers.

[society]

Wildwood, you think they (no-believers) are on to something? :)

[sandyRoe]

Any newcomer to R&S could hardly fail to notice that the Goodly unGodly present their case with a zeal that wouldn't be out of place in a JW hall while many of the believers take an altogether lighter approach.

[LazyGun]

Thats one- biased-way of looking at it, Sandy :)

[naomi24]

Wildwood, I can't speak for other non-believers, but studying religion was certainly my salvation. ;o)

[jomifl]

Let's cut to the chase.. All (theistic) religions are an irrelevance if they cannot demonstrate the existence of their god. ergo...

[barney4444]

It is undeniable that a lot of people find comfort and strength in their belief that there is a god and that it is a good thing to try and live your life as well as you can without causing harm to others. Why people who have no such beliefs get so bitter and nasty I cannot understand..

[naomi24]

Barney, //Why people who have no such beliefs get so bitter and nasty I cannot understand//

Who? Where?

[barney4444]

Well some of the posts on here are quite bitter and nasty.

[naomi24]

Which ones? I haven't spotted them.

Got to go to bed. I'll look back here tomorrow.

Night all. x

[jim360]

Well a couple of examples include some comment about "clinging to cuddly blankies of imaginary god" (http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Society-and-Culture/Religion-and-Spirituality/Question1223527.html comment 7) and .. well actually I can't find another one which really demonstrates the sort of bile and anger/ nastiness I was looking for. By no means an exhaustive search, but suggests that I was being OTT earlier.

I don't know if the wildwood's point about ABers who are religious knowing less than atheists about the faith holds for me with some of my friends, who have definitely studied their faith in greater detail than I have and will. So they certainly can't be accused of being ignorant about it. What puzzles me, though, is on what they end up basing their faiths. Earlier in this thread I talked about how never having had a religious experience was one of the main reasons I am an atheist. It is surprising therefore when Christian friends, too, have also had no such experiences to speak of. Given some of the challenges people of faith have to face just in coming to terms with what their Good Book says - with apparent gaping holes/ contradictions/ disturbing or outdated moral codes to deal with, for example - given all those, the least I'd need to overcome them is a fairly convincing hint that my God actually existed and was in contact with me. Oh well.

[Theland]

I too always wanted to see some hint of God before I could believe, and I got it from Bible prophecy and watching the news.

[Theland]

here's an example http://adventist.org.uk/__data/assets/text_file/0011/10910/1260days.txt Media URL: http://adventist.org.uk/__data/assets/text_file/0011/10910/1260days.txt
Description:

[Theland]

special offer - two for one

[Theland]

.... and this about Jerusalem
http://www.cai.org/bible-studies/1967-%E2%80%93-last-date-bible

[mibn2cweus]

Yeah, well I suppose that's one possible interpretation . . . http://farm1.staticflickr.com/7/7014443_ef95d5e7ee_z.jpg?zz=1

[RATTER15]

//I too always wanted to see some hint of God before I could believe, and I got it from Bible prophecy and watching the news//

Classic example of how gullible people are sucked in by the Bible!