Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
[quote]Originally posted by Rank outsider
Theism is the state reached by people abused by their parents who need an alternative authority figure. It is a state which people adopt because they are scared of dying, and is essentially a cowardly one. Without this state to keep them in check, theists would rape and murder without a moment's hesita ...[text shortened]... ism..."
I hoped a few more than two articulate atheists were still contributing to this forum.

I don't know why you keep stirring them up, really.

Originally posted by Suzianne
I don't know why you keep stirring them up, really.

6 thumbs and a place on the rec board. (I live a full and rich life.)

Actually, there was a degree of frustration about how often some theists here make claims about how atheists feel, what they believe etc, which is completely at odds with what we say and, more importantly, what we believe.

It would just be nice to be asked a sensible question about atheism and then have the answer accepted at face value, without the usual drivel about rejecting God, our lives having no meaning, being full of despair etc.

Edit : sorry, your response was to GB. My mistake.

Originally posted by Rank outsider
6 thumbs and a place on the rec board. (I live a full and rich life.)

Actually, there was a degree of frustration about how often some theists here make claims about how atheists feel, what they believe etc, which is completely at odds with what we say and, more importantly, what we believe.

It would just be nice to be asked a sensible question ...[text shortened]... ng no meaning, being full of despair etc.

Edit : sorry, your response was to GB. My mistake.

I made that mistake at first, but nowadays, I just say thanks for your opinion, and drive on. Arguing with atheists is a hobby for Christians with a LOT of time on their hands. It's kind of like politics. Most political arguing, left vs. right, is just a gargantuan waste of time.

Edit: No worries. 🙂

Originally posted by Suzianne

I don't know why you keep stirring them up, really.

Originally posted by Suzianne
I don't know why you keep stirring them up, really.

Suzi, I take initiatives to present accurate biblical information to my atheist friends because I give a damn about the eternal destiny of their souls. Unlike many in online spirituality forums, God's approval matters to me [not the approval of men].
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Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
"Better yet, while your in the shower... " Thread 157261

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

"For by grace you have been saved through..." empirical experience? Nope.
"For by grace you have been saved through..." rationalism? Nope.
"For by grace you have been saved through..." changing my personality? Nope
"For by grace you have been saved through..." giving up some of my pleasures? Nope
"For by grace you have been saved through..." positive thinking? Nope.
"For by grace you have been saved through..." being nice to people I can't stand? Nope.
"For by grace you have been saved through..." joining a church? Nope.
"For by grace you have been saved through..." making charitable donations to worthy causes? Nope.
"For by grace you have been saved through..." making an effort to help God save the planet? Nope.
"For by grace you have been saved through..." doing nice things for other people? Nope.
"For by grace you have been saved through..." arguing with people in online spirituality forums? Nope.
"For by grace you have been saved through..." denying my soul's existence? Nope.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2:8-9 Why? Because faith is nonmeritorious. Christ did the work of satisfying the Father's Justice and Righteousness [Divine Integrity] through His substitutionary spiritual death in hypostatic union [perfect humanity and undiminished deity in one person forever]; Christ's work was done with you personally in mind. A grace gift is being offered [a gift that none of us can ever deserve or earn]. Accept it or reject it: either way, it's a decision with eternal consequences and it's a decision each of us make. There is no second chance or pardon by default after physical death.

"And inasmuch as it is [laid up] appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment." Hebrews 9:27

James described human life on earth is as "a fleeting vapor trail". Even if your eventual obituary reads "___ _____ departed this life at the age of 100 years of natural causes" it's brief. Chances are that some of us here today may breathe our final breath before the calendar changes to January 2, 2015 (as the result of an accident or sudden illness or botched cranial surgery to remove a malignant cancerous tumor). Some of us may be around for decades, periodically publically affirming our rejection of the Risen Christ. Why? It's too simple; it's so simple it's an insult to my high level of intelligence. Please think about these momentous things while your driving alone on an important mission. Better yet, while your in the shower or tub or standing naked before your bathroom vanity mirror. Why? Because within that venue it's virtually impossible to escape an awareness of your physical imperfections, frailities and mortality. Unit of measure of life: one day at a time.

Think about this Red Hot Pawn Spirituality Forum thread and about your clever posts and cowardly Thumbs Down that gained or reinforced the approval of your likeminded friends. Then think again about yourself and the eternal destiny of your soul, which will reside at one of two addresses for all eternity: with God sharing His perfect happiness or alone suffering for eternity in the Lake of Fire. Yes, alone; your only company will be the worm of memory which never dies and which will constantly remind you of the information you've received on this very site, decided was trash and summarily dismissed.

"For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten [uniquely born] Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name [person] of the only begotten [uniquely born] Son of God." (John 3:16-18) "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved. " (Acts 16:31a) "I am the way, and the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but through me." (John 14:6b) The choice is yours."

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
Originally posted by Suzianne
[b]I don't know why you keep stirring them up, really.

Suzi, I take initiatives to present accurate biblical information to my atheist friends because I give a damn about the eternal destiny of their souls. Unlike many in online spirituality forums, God's approval matters to me [not the approval of men].
__ ...[text shortened]... uth and the life; no man comes to the Father but through me." (John 14:6b) The choice is yours."[/b]

I would rather spend my time bringing God and Jesus to people who are more likely to harken unto my voice and accept Him. Trying to teach a pig to sing frustrates you and irritates the pig.

God gave every man free will, the best I can do is present the option to those who may not know about it and for those who have made the informed choice of rejection, the least I can do is accept their free will choice. Continual harassment of them disrespects God's gift of free will, and will not change their mind.

I'm not saying I don't care that they deny God and therefore deny themselves. I weep for them and I pray that they will find their epiphany. But they're not going to find it by listening to me. There are too many other souls out there that CAN be won. We must choose our battles.

Originally posted by Suzianne
I would rather spend my time bringing God and Jesus to people who are more likely to harken unto my voice and accept Him. Trying to teach a pig to sing frustrates you and irritates the pig.

God gave every man free will, the best I can do is present the option to those who may not know about it and for those who have made the informed choice of rejecti ...[text shortened]... g to me. There are too many other souls out there that CAN be won. We must choose our battles.

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby (OP)
One Atheist's understanding of theism and/or Christianity:

You have "One Christian's understanding of atheism;" Thread 157849
Please reciprocate with your understanding of theism? Thanks.

An eight word OP request beginning with "Please" and ending with "Thanks" constitutes "harassment"?
We're all unique human being with different backgrounds and communication styles. I enjoy yours.

The post that was quoted here has been removed

... "suspect" whatever you please, Duchess64; fact is that online we all have acquaintances, friends and almost friends; the proverbial messenger still takes the heat whenever the message grates against an individual's emotional/intellectual grain.

Originally posted by Rank outsider
Theism is the state reached by people abused by their parents who need an alternative authority figure. It is a state which people adopt because they are scared of dying, and is essentially a cowardly one. Without this state to keep them in check, theists would rape and murder without a moment's hesitation. All theists are really atheists in denial, ...[text shortened]... look forward to the day when they can exalt in the eternal torment of others.

How am I doing?

You completely misunderstand Christianity altogether.

Thought you might like to know that.

The post that was quoted here has been removed

Originally posted by Duchess64
"What I was implying is that GrampyBobby would more be likely to have
some real 'atheist friends' here if he began listening seriously to what real
atheists say about their beliefs and not keep misrepresenting atheists as
caricatures..."

Teach me, Duchess64. Teach me please and do it with understanding and restrained passion or don't do it at all. Thank you. "What are some of the other reasons for rejecting the possibility of a Supreme Being and accepting the consequences?"
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Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
"Why Do Men Reject God?" Thread 156534 (18 Pages)

"Most people in the world, throughout the ages of history, have believed in some concept of a Supreme Being. They may have had a perverted sense of Who that Being is, but they were convinced that there is a Personal Power greater than man. Given the evidence available, faith is reasonable. That is why the psalmist declared: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1). The Hebrew word for “fool” suggests one who is not thinking rationally.

Since unbelief is neither reasonable nor the norm, one cannot but wonder why some people become atheists. I am convinced, after reflecting upon the matter for many years, that religious disbelief does not result from logical conclusions based on well-researched data. Rather, generally speaking, emotional motivation of some sort is a primary causative factor.

Consider the following case. In 1996, Judith Hayes, a senior writer for The American Rationalist, authored a caustic, atheistic tirade titled: In God We Trust: But Which One? In this treatise, Mrs. Hayes revealed two clues as to why she left the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) and became an atheist. As a youngster, she had a friend who was a Buddhist. Judith was very close to “Susan,” and she simply could not tolerate the idea that her friend, who did not accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, might be lost apart from the biblical redemptive system.

So, rather than carefully examining the evidence to determine whether or not the claims of the Lord (as set forth in the New Testament record — see John 14:6; Acts 4:12) are true, she simply decided, on an emotional and reactionary basis, that Christianity could not be genuine. Eventually Judith married, but the relationship degenerated. Mrs. Hayes claims her husband was verbally abusive. Again, though, instead of considering the possibility that she might have been responsible for having made a bad choice in her marital selection, or that her husband decided on his own volition to be abusive (in direct violation of divine teaching — Ephesians 5:25ff), she blamed God for her disappointment.

“How could I possibly have wound up married to a tyrant? Why had God forsaken me?,” she wrote (1996, p. 15). God did not forsake her. He honored her freedom of choice, and that of her husband as well. Human abuse of that freedom is not the Lord’s responsibility.

The infidel William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) was known principally for his skeptical poem, Invictus. As a youngster, Henley contracted tuberculosis, and had to have one foot amputated. He suffered much across the years and became quite bitter. He wrote: In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced or cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is bloody, but unbowed. His disbelief, however, was emotional, not intellectual.

The late Isaac Asimov once wrote: “Emotionally I am an atheist. I don’t have the evidence to prove that God doesn’t exist, but I so strongly suspect that he doesn’t that I don’t want to waste my time” (1982, pp. 6-10, emp. added).

In one of his books, Aldous Huxley acknowledged that he had reasons for “not wanting the world to have a meaning.” He contended that the “philosophy of meaningless” was liberating. He confessed that the morality of theism interfered “with our sexual freedom” (1966, p. 19). This is hardly a valid argument for rejecting the vast array of evidence that testifies to the existence of a Supreme Being!

Here is an important point. When men have motives for resisting faith in God, and when — out of personal prejudice — they are predisposed to reject the Creator, they become “ripe” for philosophical skepticism."
(Wayne Jackson) https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/397-why-do-men-reject-god

What are some of the other reasons for rejecting the possibility of a Supreme Being and accepting the consequences?