How atheists are portrayed by Churches.

[cassierae]

My old church down the way from my work and close to my home put up an electronic sign a in which every day they have a new 'inspirational' Christian message. I went to this church years ago and have since diverted away from the commercialization of religion and choose not to categorize myself. Well, the sign yesterday said "Pity the atheist who thanks and has no one to thank." Who says an atheist doesn't have anyone to thank in life?! My sister is an atheist and I side more with them than any other. It offended me because it makes it seem like atheists and people who don't believe in a God or who choose not to make it part of their lives are sinners and loners who are angry and have no purpose. That's just not true and I hate it how people who are so religious try to make it seem that you are deemed a bad person if you aren't like them. How fair is that to the rest of us who are living out normal lives, working, going to school, raising families and supporting our communities without the need to have religion be a part of our daily lives if thats not what we believe in? I just thought i'd start a 'touchy' subject because I was a little taken back by the sign.

[youthpastor73]

church signs are, indeed, stupid..... I make it a game to find the most ridiculous ones I can and call my friends about them.

I work for a church....I hate church signs.... I have atheist friends.... where's the support group for me?

[mudroomdonna]

church signs are, indeed, stupid..... I make it a game to find the most ridiculous ones I can and call my friends about them.

I work for a church....I hate church signs.... I have atheist friends.... where's the support group for me?

I work full time for an agency of our Diocese, but my parents and brother are athiest. We can start our own support group. Now all we need is a catchy arconym!

[hotzester]

What I don't understand is this. I could be wrong, I'm just not sure I follow. Cassierae, it seems you're shunning the churches for calling athiests bad people, but in reality, you're calling churchgoers bad people. It seems the intolerance is going both ways.

I mean let's face it - there aren't many religions that will tell you "Go ahead and believe in the other guys, we don't mind." At the end of the day, they all would rather you follow their core beliefs.

I'm like you - at the root of it, I'm a Christian. But I don't subscribe solely to any one school of thought. Truth be told, I actually borrow bits from Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism...I'm a churchy salad.

[cassierae]

I agree Hotzester, i'm the same way. I like to see things from all groups perspectives. I'm a mutt :-)

[derek]

I go to a church, I go to a christian college, and yes I would call myself one. But that doesn't mean I agree with what other signs say or what christians say about other people. All people are entitled to their opinions, and I respect them. It's just when churches put up signs like that, religions get a bad rap.

Just my two cents

[xxsloshxx]

Has anybody been to http://zeitgeistmovie.com? Go there and skip to 19 minutes in if you are confused about religion. This movie explains everything.

[Wiener Poopie]

I'm a atheist for the record

[hotzester]

Hey, if that's your thing, that's cool. Personally, I could never be an athiest. I'd much rather believe in something and be wrong than NOT believe in it and be wrong. lol

[Wiener Poopie]

Hey, if that's your thing, that's cool. Personally, I could never be an athiest. I'd much rather believe in something and be wrong than NOT believe in it and be wrong. lol

Im not pushing anything on anyone, im just suppling humar to the subject (hopefully)

[derek]

Haha that is a good one

[mudroomdonna]

My brother said to me last night, "the worst thing about being athiest is that I'll never know I'm right".

[cassierae]

How do you know your right? It's not that atheists would be wrong, how do you know YOUR not wrong for believing in God? It doesn't matter. What really matters is how you live, not how you die.

[youthpastor73]

"What really matters is how you live, not how you die."

this is exactly what my faith in christianity is about - at it's core it's the thing Jesus sought to bring. We tend to focus on the Crucifixion and the "eternal life" side of things way too much. Personally, I find it hard to believe that jesus has only eternal life to offer nothing to offer me on how to live. the jesus who only gives me something after death to look forward to isn't much good to me while I'm alive

Too bad people worship one of the greatest "humanitarians" of all time (the dude healed blind people after all!) and claim to "follow him" but spend all their time complaining about abortion, gays and democrats. I'm not sure jesus would be a Christian today...

[cassierae]

Jesus was Jewish, wasn't he? Well in any case, morals and religion sometimes get mixed up. There's a difference in leading a good life because it's morally right as a society and doing good things because a book told you to or trying to get your one way ticket to 'Heaven.'

[hotzester]

Perhaps, but at the end of the day, if you're doing a good thing, that's all that really matters.

[speedbump]

"What really matters is how you live, not how you die."

this is exactly what my faith in christianity is about - at it's core it's the thing Jesus sought to bring. We tend to focus on the Crucifixion and the "eternal life" side of things way too much. Personally, I find it hard to believe that jesus has only eternal life to offer nothing to offer me on how to live. the jesus who only gives me something after death to look forward to isn't much good to me while I'm alive

Too bad people worship one of the greatest "humanitarians" of all time (the dude healed blind people after all!) and claim to "follow him" but spend all their time complaining about abortion, gays and democrats. I'm not sure jesus would be a Christian today...

Did he? Really? I wouldn't be so sure.

[Titan!]

My old church down the way from my work and close to my home put up an electronic sign a in which every day they have a new 'inspirational' Christian message. I went to this church years ago and have since diverted away from the commercialization of religion and choose not to categorize myself. Well, the sign yesterday said "Pity the atheist who thanks and has no one to thank." Who says an atheist doesn't have anyone to thank in life?! My sister is an atheist and I side more with them than any other. It offended me because it makes it seem like atheists and people who don't believe in a God or who choose not to make it part of their lives are sinners and loners who are angry and have no purpose. That's just not true and I hate it how people who are so religious try to make it seem that you are deemed a bad person if you aren't like them. How fair is that to the rest of us who are living out normal lives, working, going to school, raising families and supporting our communities without the need to have religion be a part of our daily lives if thats not what we believe in? I just thought i'd start a 'touchy' subject because I was a little taken back by the sign.

I saw that same sign, and had the exact same thought.

There's another sign at a church not too far from me.

"Does your life shed light or cast shadows?"

And my thought was, ALL light casts shadows.

I have never been compelled to enter a church because of what's written on the sign in front.

[shaggytheclown17]

Well you know the belief in God is a personal thing, if you don't believe in him and instead think you came from a rock and a monkey, that really means you believe you have no greater purpose than to die n that good/evil have no meaning, so then that is one generalization you can make to decide if an atheist is a good person or not.

All my life I have met only one who was relativly nice n actually cared about what was going on in the world.

To believe in God is a very good thing.

[shaggytheclown17]

What I don't understand is this. I could be wrong, I'm just not sure I follow. Cassierae, it seems you're shunning the churches for calling athiests bad people, but in reality, you're calling churchgoers bad people. It seems the intolerance is going both ways.

I mean let's face it - there aren't many religions that will tell you "Go ahead and believe in the other guys, we don't mind." At the end of the day, they all would rather you follow their core beliefs.

I'm like you - at the root of it, I'm a Christian. But I don't subscribe solely to any one school of thought. Truth be told, I actually borrow bits from Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism...I'm a churchy salad.

I can see that as a good way, I myself am Luthern, a type of Christian, er born into it.
I believe in Jesus n I believe the universe is about 6000 years old.

[Titan!]

Well you know the belief in God is a personal thing, if you don't believe in him and instead think you came from a rock and a monkey, that really means you believe you have no greater purpose than to die n that good/evil have no meaning, so then that is one generalization you can make to decide if an atheist is a good person or not.

All my life I have met only one who was relativly nice n actually cared about what was going on in the world.

To believe in God is a very good thing.

WTF ? ? ?

If I don't believe in God, or specifically your particular concept of God, then you're saying I don't have a higher purpose, and I don't have to be "good"

This is the most ignorant idea i've ever heard. You should be banned for stupidity.

Morality is not the sole property of Christians.

[Wiener Poopie]

[hotzester]

Well you know the belief in God is a personal thing, if you don't believe in him and instead think you came from a rock and a monkey, that really means you believe you have no greater purpose than to die n that good/evil have no meaning, so then that is one generalization you can make to decide if an atheist is a good person or not.

I've always wondered - if people evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?

[Wiener Poopie]

Well you know the belief in God is a personal thing, if you don't believe in him and instead think you came from a rock and a monkey, that really means you believe you have no greater purpose than to die n that good/evil have no meaning, so then that is one generalization you can make to decide if an atheist is a good person or not.

I've always wondered - if people evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?

Life evolved from single cell organisms but they still exist, its all part of nature.

[hotzester]

So the amoebas and paramecia that are still around...they're just lashing out? They're like the teenagers of the microscopic world, rebelling against authority? Or are they just non-conformists, who aren't going to go with the trend to evolve, because they think it's a fad?

[Wiener Poopie]

You can also be an atheist and believe in reincarnation, the rebirth of sprit can be as much nature as an imaginary character.

[hotzester]

That's an entirely different (equally as interesting) debate - My understanding is that reincarnation (in which I completely believe) is mainly an eastern philosophy, and many western faiths don't believe in it at all.

[Wiener Poopie]

So the amoebas and paramecia that are still around...they're just lashing out? They're like the teenagers of the microscopic world, rebelling against authority? Or are they just non-conformists, who aren't going to go with the trend to evolve, because they think it's a fad?

Scientist have known for along time that evolution is relative too their habitats, genes, diet, so on and so forth. Example submarine volcanoes are home to single cell organisms that are thought to be from the near beginning of earth, this because of their harsh environment they can live no were else and are therefore unable to evolve.

[hotzester]

So some single cell creatures can't live in volcanoes, so they turned into people. And others, since they could live in volcanoes, stayed single cell?

[Wiener Poopie]

So some single cell creatures can't live in volcanoes, so they turned into people. And others, since they could live in volcanoes, stayed single cell?

For the most part, but I think you need to talk to a biologist for better answers if interested and not wienerpoopie.

[hotzester]

I'll just stick with my beliefs. Science automatically discredits anything that has no factual, tangible evidence. Faith just believes...

[speedbump]

I'll just stick with my beliefs. Science automatically discredits anything that has no factual, tangible evidence. Faith just believes...

That's kind of the problem. It believes with no basis to its beliefs. Science discredits your faith, so instead of believing the science you turn to ignorance. I don't have a problem with some religions, like Catholics, that at least accept evolution. But if you believe the Universe is 6000 years old you've got a problem. Experiments have been done to show evolution and gene mutations, over a period of about 40,000 generations. If you can turn a blind eye to examples of evolution in our lifetime then there is nothing I can do to help you.

[cassierae]

Wait, so you'd rather believe in something imaginary than something that is well researched and documented consistently? I'm just going to believe there's a giant Ant Queen and worship it because I have faith. I can't see it but it's there because I say it's there!. Sorry for being a complete A-hole this afternoon but you say the universe is 6000 YEARS OLD?! The earth alone is millions of years old, if not billions. Go and research Pangaea, or Out of Place Artifacts (Some of them are a bunch of S) Or how about you look at fossils and ice ages and how long humans HAVEN'T been here...check out the evidence of earth before humans and early primitive life. Sorry to rant, I just woke up and have yet to put together a non-ranting reply...but really. All I'm trying to say after all is, it's fine and dandy to have a belief but never turn your eye to researching something other than what your mom and dad taught you what was "right" growing up. There's a lot still unanswered but it's really interesting all the same. :-)

[hotzester]

What I'm saying is this - In a nutshell, because despite what our post counts may say, none of us REALLY have enough time to debate it properly....

Science can never actually disprove religion. Faith is defined as "belief that is not based on proof". (This is one definition, anyway.) Science may say "People evolved from ants", but faith says "I know that's what you say, but I believe in something else." In the end, one of us will be proven wrong.

The flaw is that science is not infallible. Some scientists say that my SUV is creating global warming. Others do not. Some scientists said the earth is flat. But then science changed it's mind and decided that it was round. To the contrary, faith hasn't so much as batted in eye in over 2000 years.

[speedbump]

What I'm saying is this - In a nutshell, because despite what our post counts may say, none of us REALLY have enough time to debate it properly....

Science can never actually disprove religion. Faith is defined as "belief that is not based on proof". (This is one definition, anyway.) Science may say "People evolved from ants", but faith says "I know that's what you say, but I believe in something else." In the end, one of us will be proven wrong.

The flaw is that science is not infallible. Some scientists say that my SUV is creating global warming. Others do not. Some scientists said the earth is flat. But then science changed it's mind and decided that it was round. To the contrary, faith hasn't so much as batted in eye in over 2000 years.

So all the religious wars don't constitute "batting an eye" to you? Thousands dead because different groups fought over their own believes in various types of faith?

We can't have a debate because you won't use logical arguments.

[hotzester]

No, no...I mean each faith hasn't changed their views, whereas science has. Obviously the various faiths have different philosophies.

[zig]

No, no...I mean each faith hasn't changed their views, whereas science has. Obviously the various faiths have different philosophies.

You're essentially saying that progress is a flaw. Of course science has changed and improved, that's the proper response to new information becoming available. If science ever stops progressing then that would be cause to worry.

[zig]

if you don't believe in [god] and instead think you came from a rock and a monkey

I am very pleased with this entirely accurate, intelligent, and fair summation of the evolutionary process.

[speedbump]

No, no...I mean each faith hasn't changed their views, whereas science has. Obviously the various faiths have different philosophies.

Just like different scientists have different views? Way to make a point.

They vary on some issues, but no real scientists disbelieves evolution.

[Philly Mike]

I am glad to see this post here, I was going to this section to post such a thing. I feel that it seems we try to glorify our existence by creating religion and holding these beliefs so we feel that everything we do has a meaning.
Now that isn't to say that I think you are less than me because you believe, it is just how you feel and what you have faith in. I have no problems with people that are religious just as long as you don't try to convert me, because I am not gonig to try to get you to drop your faith.