Hey theists! I am an atheist. But I am not your enemy.

a reply to: HarbingerOfShadows
Yes, I went through the atheist stage myself, and it never occurred to me to get all angry and frothy at the mouth because other people were not atheists.
If they tried to convert me, I argued back,but otherwise I left them alone.
In fact, as a fresh seventeen year-old atheist, I posed the question, recorded in my diary, "How far is it ethical, in arguing what one thinks is the truth, to raise doubts in a man’s mind and deny him the security he finds in his faith."
I still don't understand where some of the atheists of ATS get all their aggresssion from.

a reply to: HarbingerOfShadows
I'm very surprised, My friend, I truly expected you to be Attack and Attack by the Fanatic Religious I've encounter here at ATS, just maybe it's to late their all still asleep or getting their Holy Water and Scriptures Highlighted.

Maybe they've Mellowed,,,,,, No, I don't think so,,, they just haven't found you yet
Except for our good friend DISRAELI, he's always in with some wisdom and a smile and I've never heard of him Attacking another for having a different point of view.
Thank You!

a reply to: HarbingerOfShadows
You coming over to the Hideaway for a cup of coffee and some thing to eat?
The papers are in.

a reply to: DISRAELI

I know precisely where it's coming from.
You hear their names fairly often I am willing to bet.
They do tend to be quoted often around here in such a way that it reminds me a of a theist quoting their scripture.
Dr. Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett.

a reply to: guohua

I doubt I will get noticed very much if at all.
And I am doing the exact opposite of perputating the conflict quite a few have devoted their internet time to.

a reply to: HarbingerOfShadows

There isn't much reason to making a post about something you don't feel involved with. I say this not to have discouraged you from posting or insulting you, but it is the idea behind a number of phenomena that are, for example, in the media.

In Fox news, there aren't very many people there who calmly and rationally explain that they don't hate all the evil atheists, because in fact some of them are nice people. It would be fairly boring to listen to someone explain things that are otherwise common sense. Even sitting here, writing this, seems like it's common sense.

At the cost of the truth, we get stereotypes that reinforce everything we already believe so that we can just live our lives and die in peace.

It's generally assumed that people do not believe in unicorns, so no one becomes famous for talking about the reasons they do not believe in unicorns.

a reply to: zackli

The daily religious versus antireligious battles waged on this site alone.
Not to mention across the internet.
Strongly argues otherwise.

Common sense from what I have noticed, isn't all that common.
And greatly depends upon where you are coming from.

a reply to: HarbingerOfShadows

The daily religious versus antireligious battles waged on this site alone.
Not to mention across the internet.
Strongly argues otherwise.

Common sense was probably the wrong word to use. I actually don't like it. What I should have said was "obvious" but that also falls apart when your statements are subjected to it.

Common sense from what I have noticed, isn't all that common.
And greatly depends upon where you are coming from.

Yes. That too. The very things that reveal the way the world works are the things people are the worst at... Statistics, logic, science...

a reply to: HarbingerOfShadows

In college when friends and I would get together and drink the conversation would often turn to religion. We were a couple Protestants, a Catholic, one Jew, one mormon, and two atheists. We got along fine and had very interesting (in our collective opinion) nights. A person's beliefs are valid even if they are wrong; but they are beliefs and cannot be demonstrably proven.

As a Christian proselytizing is a very important thing. The thing I hate the most is when people (both sides) try to make it some kind of a sick contest. When I tell people about Christ it is because I truly believe and that belief makes me want others to end up in the same place as I believe I am going. I dislike anyone having a superiority complex. A Christian should be humble as we are saved through grace, so that none may boast. Thinking you're better than someone else misses the entire point.

Your stance as an atheist, in my opinion, keeps hope alive. You keep an open heart. A hardened heart cannot know God.

Hitchens saying "Religion Poisons Everything" is a ridiculous statement. He and those who continue on in his stead are not Atheists they, again in my opinion, are Anti-theists. They have an unnatural hatred towards God and it is most often demonstrated as hatred towards Christians.

a reply to: HarbingerOfShadows

Underlying the language we use, there are relationships and correspondences between letters and words. When the Bible says, "The fool hath said in his heart there is not God," it is giving you a clue for a location to look in the language patterns for both words, fool heart. The words foolish and heart both appear on the same branch and give you the reason and proof you need that you are incorrect in your conclusion. I started to write that thread as a reply here, but decided it was important enough to use as a thread. Deny ignorance. The evidence comes from the encrypted language. I have given you the keys to the kingdom so to speak. What you do with it is your business.

a reply to: AlephBet

I'm not sure I understand............
o.O
Are you actually telling me I am hostile to religion?
And that some sort of bible code told you this?

If so....
There are no words...................


And, either way, kindly do not advertise on my threads.

a reply to: HarbingerOfShadows
You see, I do believe there are truly people out there that takes the Bible and believe and live by it's every word and they do their very best to interpret the Bible and in doing so, ( interpreting ) they create a reality that they believe is by the word of GOD when it actually their on interpretation.

You see what I'm getting at?

originally posted by: HarbingerOfShadows
But anyway, I just wanted to put this out there.
I am extending the courtsey, someone has to.
But if you want respect.
Give me some.

As a theist with many many atheist friends I am always amazed at how the forums create a very severe us vs them mentality.

I have non believing friends who cant stand religion of any sort, yet have no issues that provoke the sentiments that we see here, within our friendship.

Anyway respect is earned, courtesy is given because its how we relate and reason.
I respect your thread, its how we as civil people should act.

I fully support your agenda here, though its destined to fail.

originally posted by: borntowatch

originally posted by: HarbingerOfShadows
But anyway, I just wanted to put this out there.
I am extending the courtsey, someone has to.
But if you want respect.
Give me some.

As a theist with many many atheist friends I am always amazed at how the forums create a very severe us vs them mentality.

I have non believing friends who cant stand religion of any sort, yet have no issues that provoke the sentiments that we see here, within our friendship.

Anyway respect is earned, courtesy is given because its how we relate and reason.
I respect your thread, its how we as civil people should act.

I fully support your agenda here, though its destined to fail.

You're the author of the threads:

I thank God for hell.

and

Are there bigger HYPOCRITES on this planet then atheists???

are you not?...

originally posted by: DISRAELI
In fact, as a fresh seventeen year-old atheist, I posed the question, recorded in my diary, "How far is it ethical, in arguing what one thinks is the truth, to raise doubts in a man’s mind and deny him the security he finds in his faith."

You really wrote that down when you were seventeen?.....



Regardless, that depends on whether or not you care what you believe is true or not. Raising doubts in someones mind that would lead them to at the very least think about what they believe is entirely.....ethical.

Indulging people in their delusions and encouraging others is completely unethical imho.

originally posted by: Prezbo369
You really wrote that down when you were seventeen?....

Yes, seventeen years and just short of eleven months. Why should that be doubtful?
Here is the full entry;

Friday December 26th

By the time of the service yesterday I had formally abandoned in my mind any real belief in religion. Ironically, the final turning point was in the middle of the sermon. The priest was telling us in very unctuous tones about “the little baby in the manger”, and it seemed to me that he was talking to the congregation in exactly the same way that he would have addressed an audience of children. My reaction to all this was to think to myself “I don’t believe in this stuff”.

Although in the universe as a whole there may rule some force of whatever kind, I cannot believe in the God made in man’s image, the tribal god confined to this planet alone. More important, I do not have the powerful motives which drive men to religion. The origin lies in the desire for some kind of security, to offset the dreadful weakness of man alone inside the vastness of the universe. The faith in religion gives comfort, but since I have not any strong faith, I felt there was little point in maintaining nominal adherence to it, in pretending to have faith. I would not have the comfort of religion, but I would not have it in any case. I was reminded of the time when, one night lying in bed, I consciously and deliberately renounced belief in fairies, though fully aware of the warning in Peter Pan.

The decision raises further problems. How far is it ethical, in arguing what one thinks is the truth, to raise doubts in a man’s mind and deny him the security he finds in his faith? Only a few people are actively doubting the validity of Christianity, most people will prefer to pay lip service to it whether they go to church or not. Whatever the sincerity, children are brought up in an atmosphere of Christianity if only that taught at school. If I had children, I would have nothing to fill that vacuum, and it would not do any good to confuse them with apparent splits between authority figures, myself and school. In fact, if their mother was a devout Christian, it would be better to leave them to be brought up that way, so that they could opt out later if they wanted to.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
Yes, seventeen years and just short of eleven months. Why should that be doubtful?

Oh you quoted yourself.....again? then it must be true?

I didn't claim or even insinuate it wasn't true though, in fact if anything I found it to be quite typical and a little tragic.

But after reading the larger quote....i'm now starting to doubt.

But that doesn't change the point I was making, the one you so typically decided to ignore.

originally posted by: Prezbo369
But after reading the larger quote....i'm now starting to doubt.

Preumably because it was literate? Literacy doesn't come with age, you know, despite the impression you might get from living in a world of illiterate teenagers and literate older people. It comes from going to the kind of school which makes people literate, so that they are literate teenagers and remain so for the rest of their lives. Soham Grammar School was a good school.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
Preumably because it was literate? Literacy doesn't come with age, you know, despite the impression you might get from living in a world of illiterate teenagers and literate older people. It comes from going to the kind of school which makes people literate, so that they are literate teenagers and remain so for the rest of their lives.

Oooh it burns.......I must've hit a nerve.....or perhaps the truth?

a reply to: Prezbo369
Ho, hum. I would go to the trouble of making up a diary entry which presents the atheist view so forthrightly?
But it's not worth debating, so I won't bother any more.

You have, though, succeeded in illustrating the OP's point that some modern atheists have an attitude problem.