Atheism, not religion, is the real force behind the mass murders of history

originally posted by: windword
Catholicism is no different, except that it adds a crucial and special dash of guilt to the mix.

Is that why they have those license plates that say: "I survived Catholic guilt"?

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: windword
Catholicism is no different, except that it adds a crucial and special dash of guilt to the mix.

Is that why they have those license plates that say: "I survived Catholic guilt"?

How does he know? He (or she) was raised Pentacostal.

a reply to: NavyDoc

I don't hate anybody.

I hate divisive hypocrisy and coercion. I hate that young children are being taught that they were born wretched sinners that need to be saved from a Hell that a supposed loving God created for them.

I hate that religion is passing off hated and bigotry disguised as love.

I hate that Christians rely "Pascal's Wager", which threatens eternal punishment in Hell, when all else fails.

I hate that religion blames non-believers for their obvious mischief.

a reply to: NavyDoc

I guess you missed the part about my aunt who was a nun? I didn't grow up in a Pentecostal/Assembly of God vacuum. LOL

I had a big family and got a full smattering of Christianity from all its crazy angles.

originally posted by: windword

I don't hate anybody.

NavyDoc tells me the same thing.

I'm a 100% separation of church and state atheist.

Religion is a belief that I don't think should be politically telling me what I can and can not do.

What people do in their own lives, I don't care ---- as long as it doesn't force itself on me.

originally posted by: windword
a reply to: NavyDoc

I don't hate anybody.

I hate divisive hypocrisy and coercion. I hate that young children are being taught that they were born wretched sinners that need to be saved from a Hell that a supposed loving God created for them.

I hate that religion is passing off hated and bigotry disguised as love.

I hate that Christians rely "Pascal's Wager", which threatens eternal punishment in Hell, when all else fails.

I hate that religion blames non-believers for their obvious mischief.

Yet you do the exact same things.

Look at the thread. Who became angry? Who brought in someone's family for rude comments? Who is using absolutes and ignorant generalizations?

originally posted by: windword
a reply to: NavyDoc

I guess you missed the part about my aunt who was a nun? I didn't grow up in a Pentecostal/Assembly of God vacuum. LOL

I had a big family and got a full smattering of Christianity from all its crazy angles.

One crazy aunt does not a religious education make. Second hand knowledge is not much better than any knowledge at all.

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: windword

I don't hate anybody.

NavyDoc tells me the same thing.

I'm a 100% separation of church and state atheist.

Religion is a belief that I don't think should be politically telling me what I can and can not do.

What people do in their own lives, I don't care ---- as long as it doesn't force itself on me.

Of couse I do because you are for exactly what you say you are against--using the coercive power of the state to force your belief system on your fellow man.

originally posted by: windword

I guess you missed the part about my aunt who was a nun?

My gramma was Catholic and did her damnedest to raise me Catholic.

My best childhood friend was Catholic. I used to go to church with her and her family. She also did her damnedest to make me Catholic.

originally posted by: NavyDoc

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: windword

I don't hate anybody.

NavyDoc tells me the same thing.

I'm a 100% separation of church and state atheist.

Religion is a belief that I don't think should be politically telling me what I can and can not do.

What people do in their own lives, I don't care ---- as long as it doesn't force itself on me.

Of couse I do because you are for exactly what you say you are against--using the coercive power of the state to force your belief system on your fellow man.

Atheism is not a belief.

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: NavyDoc

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: windword

I don't hate anybody.

NavyDoc tells me the same thing.

I'm a 100% separation of church and state atheist.

Religion is a belief that I don't think should be politically telling me what I can and can not do.

What people do in their own lives, I don't care ---- as long as it doesn't force itself on me.

Of couse I do because you are for exactly what you say you are against--using the coercive power of the state to force your belief system on your fellow man.

Atheism is not a belief.

Actually it is, in a sense it is a way of looking at the universe and life. Also, some people do take it to the level of intolerance and fanatacism that are equal to the most religious fanatic.

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: windword

I guess you missed the part about my aunt who was a nun?

My gramma was Catholic and did her damnedest to raise me Catholic.

My best childhood friend was Catholic. I used to go to church with her and her family. She also did her damnedest to make me Catholic.

And did they do that because they hated you and wanted you to be miserable or because they cared for you and sincerely thought they were helping you?

a reply to: NavyDoc

Look at the thread. Who became angry? Who brought in someone's family for rude comments? Who is using absolutes and ignorant generalizations?

Uh, you did. Not me. I'm not angry! LOL You're the one projecting.

You're the one who got personal first. You''re the one who got rude. Not me.

originally posted by: NavyDoc

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: NavyDoc

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: windword

I don't hate anybody.

NavyDoc tells me the same thing.

I'm a 100% separation of church and state atheist.

Religion is a belief that I don't think should be politically telling me what I can and can not do.

What people do in their own lives, I don't care ---- as long as it doesn't force itself on me.

Of couse I do because you are for exactly what you say you are against--using the coercive power of the state to force your belief system on your fellow man.

Atheism is not a belief.

Actually it is, in a sense it is a way of looking at the universe and life. Also, some people do take it to the level of intolerance and fanatacism that are equal to the most religious fanatic.

No it isn't. Atheism has no one universal outlook. There are as many "atheistic beliefs" as there are atheists.

originally posted by: windword
a reply to: NavyDoc

Look at the thread. Who became angry? Who brought in someone's family for rude comments? Who is using absolutes and ignorant generalizations?

Uh, you did. Not me. I'm not angry! LOL You're the one projecting.

You're the one who got personal first. You''re the one who got rude. Not me.

Now, now, you know that untrue and quite a bit dishonest.

originally posted by: windword

originally posted by: NavyDoc

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: NavyDoc

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: windword

I don't hate anybody.

NavyDoc tells me the same thing.

I'm a 100% separation of church and state atheist.

Religion is a belief that I don't think should be politically telling me what I can and can not do.

What people do in their own lives, I don't care ---- as long as it doesn't force itself on me.

Of couse I do because you are for exactly what you say you are against--using the coercive power of the state to force your belief system on your fellow man.

Atheism is not a belief.

Actually it is, in a sense it is a way of looking at the universe and life. Also, some people do take it to the level of intolerance and fanatacism that are equal to the most religious fanatic.

No it isn't. Atheism has no one universal outlook. There are as many "atheistic beliefs" as there are atheists.

Right. Which makes it a belief system--exactly what I said in the first place.

originally posted by: Annee
a reply to: adjensen

Atheism, not religion is the real force behind the mass murders of history is the title of this thread.

I have a personal 60 year experience in the Christian religion, I gave a bit of my opinion in that area. I am not going to justify it to you.

I stand by my personal experience. You don't agree, fine ---- but, I am not changing my opinion of my personal experience.

Fair enough. How many mass murders did you personally witness then?

originally posted by: NavyDoc

originally posted by: Annee
a reply to: adjensen

Atheism, not religion is the real force behind the mass murders of history is the title of this thread.

I have a personal 60 year experience in the Christian religion, I gave a bit of my opinion in that area. I am not going to justify it to you.

I stand by my personal experience. You don't agree, fine ---- but, I am not changing my opinion of my personal experience.

Fair enough. How many mass murders did you personally witness then?

You should have kept reading.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: NavyDoc

Howdy,

While I tend to enjoy your posts for their logic, I think you are mistaken in this matter.

Atheism is not a belief system, it is merely the rejection of a single belief. That is, atheists do not believe the claim that a god/gods/higher powers (deities) exist. This is not a system of a belief, it is not even a belief.

I know there are common examples of why this is the case in logic, so let me roughly paraphrase one. If I make the claim that I own a living unicorn, that is a singular claim. If you reject my claim on grounds of insufficient evidence, that is a rejection of my claim. This does not require a system of belief, it does not even require you to say that no unicorns exist at all.

See, there are lots of different reasons for being an atheist. Some people favor geological evidence, biological evidence, psychological evidence, any kind of science, while others simply use logical evidence or historical evidence. Those might require some systems of basic belief (like the existence of logical rules or a well recorded and studied history...) but the point is that there are many reasons to reject a claim (even if you disagree, the logic stands that there are multiple reasons to believe that there are) and this means that no two atheists have the same "beliefs" about anything. The only thing that all atheist hold common is the rejection of one claim made by others.

Sincere regards,
Hydeman

originally posted by: hydeman11
a reply to: NavyDoc

Howdy,

While I tend to enjoy your posts for their logic, I think you are mistaken in this matter.

Atheism is not a belief system, it is merely the rejection of a single belief. That is, atheists do not believe the claim that a god/gods/higher powers (deities) exist. This is not a system of a belief, it is not even a belief.

I know there are common examples of why this is the case in logic, so let me roughly paraphrase one. If I make the claim that I own a living unicorn, that is a singular claim. If you reject my claim on grounds of insufficient evidence, that is a rejection of my claim. This does not require a system of belief, it does not even require you to say that no unicorns exist at all.

See, there are lots of different reasons for being an atheist. Some people favor geological evidence, biological evidence, psychological evidence, any kind of science, while others simply use logical evidence or historical evidence. Those might require some systems of basic belief (like the existence of logical rules or a well recorded and studied history...) but the point is that there are many reasons to reject a claim (even if you disagree, the logic stands that there are multiple reasons to believe that there are) and this means that no two atheists have the same "beliefs" about anything. The only thing that all atheist hold common is the rejection of one claim made by others.

Sincere regards,
Hydeman

Valid points all. However, I would humbly point out that rejecting a hypothesis based on insufficient evidence is a belief system in that it is a way of looking at the world around you and the evidence for various things therein.

One does not have to have a single person in the World to agree with you to have a belief system. My belief system is not accepting a premise without supportive evidence, be it of god or Bigfoot.