LIE

hmmm, are you joking? I just kinda assume that I cannot. Do you know how?

It is not possible to do so as a mod.

I have noticed this as well, though more as a general phenomena than specific to this forum. That is, I know a few Christians who've told me they consider atheism a religion--and this is clearly meant to be pejorative. Sometimes it comes out then that they don't view Christianity as a religion, though I've never gotten them to explain what they mean by this...

It puts me in an uncomfortable position, because, while I don't believe that atheism, or secular humanism, or materialism, or scientism, or whatever are religions, I also don't have strongly negative feelings towards religion. Thus, if someone wanted to start an religion that incorporated these ideas, I wouldn't have a problem with that (or alternatively, if she just became a Unitarian). Furthermore, I don't object to already existing religions because they are religions (because of the things that make them "religious") but rather to specific claims they make or specific practices they encourage or discourage.

I was joking. That's why I had the winking smiley face. If I had to guess, I would think you could NOT see who has who on ignore. I can't imagine why they would build that into modding abilities.

edit: btw- I think its ridiculous that someone would think the purpose of a mod's job is to confirm stuff like this. My response was just a silly model of someone elses post in the thread (which also didn't make much sense)

I'm not an "atheists are religious" person, however I've always figured that the point being made is that atheists are being inconsistent. That is, I the theist don't think religion is bad but you, the atheist, do - and yet you are yourself religous!

I wonder if this is true. I know Pascal's Wager is popular with newcomers - but are there any longtime theist posters who consider it still a good argument for following their religion?

Similarly there is the occasional appearance by a new atheist poster along the lines of "God can't be omnipotent since if he were he could create a rock so big he couldnt lift it. Morons. LOL"

And I presume there's only one semi-regular poster who believes that we should be atheists since most physicists with nobel prizes are?

Just because a mod may be able to do something, doesn't mean it is the purpose of a mod.

Well, yeah, that's why I said it is sort of difficult for me to respond. After all, I also don't think religion (in general) is bad for you. But when I point out that atheism is does fit the usual criteria of "religion," that is generally assumed to be my point. But what I find really weird is when I run into Christians that are anti-religious. I don't know, maybe this is just a result of growing up around hippie Christian types who dislike "established" or "organized" religion.

lol

I am a Christian, and I do not think that atheism is a religion. Many atheists have what might be called a "religious zeal" for their point of view, but that doesn't make atheism a religion.

you're about to create a religious schism in the forum.

I was afraid that would happen.

Some religions are atheistic religions. Some atheists are religious in their atheism.

This does not mean that "for some people," atheism itself is a religion. That requires a specific definition of atheism and a matching definition of religion, neither of which are generally accepted.

By the way: forming a religion on the basis of atheism does not make atheism a religion. It makes atheism the basis for a religion. Big difference.

Is a person who is 80% sure there is a deistic or no god at all, an atheist?

define:religion
# a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny
# an institution to express belief in a divine power
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn



Jib, you fail at trying to say anything remotely intelligent.

As far as the OP goes this seems dishonest to me. I think OP knows that the only arguments there are for religion are the crap arguments given in the nonstampcollector video. I also think he knows that this is why religion is a joke to those who claim mental competence. These are my reasons for thinking that the original post is somewhat dishonest.

Christians can't honestly say 100% there is a Christian God otherwise there will be no reason for faith (i.e. there is no faith in heaven).

Those who reasonably say they are 100% sure probably have had personal revelations, but those might be hallucinations so it's never 100% imo.

So quantifying it into a % is less important than living the life of a Christian, and labels such as 'athiest' or 'Christian' are meaningless because in the end, only true Christians will get to heaven and we won't know if we are a true Christian until that time.

It depends. Do they believe in God?

I have to disagree with this. I know 100% God exists. But faith is still heavily required because i still have to trust that He knows what's best. There are many times throughout every day where i know He wants me to do/not do something, but if i don't have faith, i'm not listening. Even the disciples knew God existed, but there were things they could not do due to lack of faith. I think one of the mistakes people make is comparing believing in God, to trusting in God. To me those are two different types of faith.

I do agree with your bottom statement though. There are a lot of people who claim to be Christian who will not make it into Heaven. Matthew 7:21-23. (May be referring to religious people who deny Christ, not sure)

I don't know for a fact that i will make it into Heaven. Even though i try to devote as much time and effort as i can to learning about Him, and changing my ways to become more like how He would like me to, there is always that feeling like i may come up short.

I would say that an atheist is someone who believes strongly that there is no God, deistic or otherwise. I think that someone who thinks that it is slightly more likely that there is no God, is an agnostic. Someone who is 50-50 is a textbook agnostic. I guess everyone else is some sort of theist. (Although I'm not positive that someone who thinks that there is a 53% chance that God exists is a theist. Such a person might be an agnostic.)

What about those of us who think we're to dumb to give a percentage?

As a practical matter, I don't think we can assign ourselves a specific percentage, unless it's clearly 100% or 0%. I guess all we can do on a practical basis is figure out which way we are "leaning."

Meh i dont have enough knowledge to lean one way or the other or even know if im standing in the middle. I dont even know if the question, is there and God or not, is the right question. Maybe there is a third way to lean my mind cant comprehend.

Put it this way the question to me is like asking a one year old what the power ball numbers are going to be on his sixtieth birthday. All you will get form me is a blank stare hun wat?

This is good, I thought this but never put it into words. Some people have trouble trusting God and some people have trouble believing - you are a saint if you 100% trust and believe in God.

I am one of those who has trouble accepting something without proof and there is no definite proof I see of God right now, but I'm finding more and more proof everyday I live and I'm trying not to hedge my bet on God and live a good Christian life.

The Christian lifestyle is very consistent and rewarding, but it takes a leap of faith to get there. I leaped and am now trying to find a bridge, for myself and others.