Atheism in popular media

Originally posted by josephw
That's because all false religions are all about the self!

How good can I be?, is their focus.

A lot of religions and world views don't have at their core a belief that humans are loathsome and depraved like yours does. Some people think that acheiving a maximum level of individual "goodness" is a worthy goal to strive for. Go figure.

Originally posted by no1marauder
A lot of religions and world views don't have at their core a belief that humans are loathsome and depraved like yours does. Some people think that acheiving a maximum level of individual "goodness" is a worthy goal to strive for. Go figure.

That's easy to figure. Other religions fail to recognise the true condition of the human heart.
Only when one recognises his true condition is he able to make the necessary change to improve his condition.

Go figure!

Originally posted by SwissGambit
Your right to your own view does not include the right not to be criticized, or even insulted, for holding that view.

You're right. We all have a right to think and say whatever is on our minds.

The point is, resorting to insults and name calling is the act of a person who is either unwilling or unable to debate an issue in a way that demonstrates they respect the others right say and think whatever they want without fear of hate motivated responses.

I'm sure shav is a perfectly friendly person in real life. Maybe not.
Either way I'm not offended by him anyway. As a matter of fact I like the spiritedness of his posts. And, if I can, I like to egg him on.

Originally posted by josephw
The point is, resorting to insults and name calling is the act of a person who is either unwilling or unable to debate an issue in a way that demonstrates they respect the others right [to] say and think whatever they want without fear of hate motivated responses.

Again, my counterpoint is that there is no right to say what you want without fear of hate motivated responses. The minute you add that clause [the bolded part], you remove someone else's right to say what they think.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
Again, my counterpoint is that there is no right to say what you want [b]without fear of hate motivated responses. The minute you add that clause [the bolded part], you remove someone else's right to say what they think.[/b]

All I'm saying is that their right to insult and call names is not conducive to a healthy debate.
I support anyones' right to say whatever they want to say.

Could this be just a semantical misunderstanding?

Originally posted by josephw
All I'm saying is that their right to insult and call names is not conducive to a healthy debate.
I support anyones' right to say whatever they want to say.

Could this be just a semantical misunderstanding?

Yeah, could be. The way your original sentence was worded, it sounded like the right to say what one wishes includes the right not to be criticized or hated for it.

Originally posted by josephw
[b]Any idea that contradicts Biblical truth is inherently evil.

Really!!! You know this doesnt sound like a statment from an open minded individual. Are you sure you are ready for a healthy debate? You yourself is calling everyone who disagrees with you to be INHERENTLY EVIL. (a sign of a GOOD Christian, right!)

Originally posted by ivanhoe
"To paraphrase Dawkins, atheists are like stray cats. They don't do anything as a group .... "

..... and this is coming from the Guru of Atheism who has so many followers ..... This really makes my day .... what a joke ......

The reason he has "followers" is because people are tired of being controlled by religious nuts who were never in touch with reality in the first place let alone now. There are no spiritual rituals in Dawkins' honour, people just agree with his world perspective. That doesn't make them followers, they are just logical people too.

I said they are like stray cats because atheists may or may not have common beliefs, there isn't one thing linking them because the only inherent commonality shared between them is a DISbelief in something.

Originally posted by ivanhoe
They don't act as a group, they are like stray cats ...... 🙄

Shav and I have had SHARP disagreements in the recent past too. We are both atheists. This allows us to use logic in a way which can be very dissimilar. Our only SIMILARITY then is our capacity to think in DIFFERENT ways. That's why stray cats was and is a perfect analogy.

Originally posted by josephw
You're right. We all have a right to think and say whatever is on our minds.

The point is, resorting to insults and name calling is the act of a person who is either unwilling or unable to debate an issue in a way that demonstrates they respect the others right say and think whatever they want without fear of hate motivated responses.

I'm sure shav is ...[text shortened]... s a matter of fact I like the spiritedness of his posts. And, if I can, I like to egg him on.

Just for the record. I'm not a very friendly person in real life.
And the reason I resort to name calling when it comes to religious matters is that there's no argueing with religious people. Any argument you come up with, they're so brainwashed, they just wave it away with something along the lines of: "It's in the bible." or "God always was."

Since there is no logic, no reasoning and no reason why God is any different to, say, the flying spaghetti monster, there is no answer more suitable than verbal violence. They won't mind. Their God will forgive me.

As for me verbally abusing capitalists... that's just pure hatred.

Originally posted by ivanhoe
... and what was the result of your deliberations ? .... I bet it was a confirmation of your point of view regarding the moral acceptibility of performing abortion .....

I cannot help what the Holy Spirit may say to me. I am compelled to listen. You might try that some time.

Originally posted by ivanhoe
Then I hope you will not lose conciousness in an atheist hospital .... before you know it they will proclaim you a non-person ... and off you go .....

Actually, of all the atheists on this site, I believe you are the one who thinks me more a non-person than any of them.