Originally posted by Agerg
I put it down to binary mentality on the part of fundamentalist Christians. From their perspective the only god that could possibly exist is the one that is associated with their own idiosyncratic interpretation of one (out of many) versions of the Bible. As such if you fail to believe in a 6000 year old earth, and fail to praise Bible-"God" in at least one ou ...[text shortened]... ounds, given that you yourself don't champion the fundie cause, you are seen as an atheist.

So are you saying that in order to be a Christian, you must believe in a 6000 year old earth?

This is as ridiculous as anything you've ever said here.

Originally posted by googlefudge
Sigh, ok noted.

For reference for everyone else for whom link clicking is an anathema,
the link led to a clip of the last line in "Some like it Hot".

It's mainly youtube videos. Links to interesting articles are ok. I gave up clicking youtube links offered by fellow posters a few years ago.

Originally posted by Suzianne
So are you saying that in order to be a Christian, you must believe in a 6000 year old earth?

This is as ridiculous as anything you've ever said here.

It seems you missed the "fundamentalist" modifier I applied to "Christian" - ah well, can't say I'm surprised! 🙁

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
I just gave you a reasonable explanation of why that is not and cannot be the case,
you may make reference to the content, i am too tired to argue with you, you know I
am right.

Forget it, he's always "right". Just ignore him and drive on.

Originally posted by Agerg
It seems you missed the "fundamentalist" modifier I applied to "Christian" - ah well, can't say I'm surprised! 🙁

Well, I think it's clear that I am not one of the "young earth creationists" here and yet some have called me a fundamentalist too. Go figure.

Originally posted by Suzianne
Well, I think it's clear that I am not one of the "young earth creationists" here and yet some have called me a fundamentalist too. Go figure.

Well you believe in some great battle with the minions of hell that's going to take place in the next 50 years or so. Which is pretty fricking insane whichever way you slice it.

Perhaps we can say you're a "diet-fundamentalist": Still the same the bat$hit crazy fundamentalist "goodness" but now with 1% less silly.

How does that grab ya? 🙂

Originally posted by Agerg

So again, what level of thought is needed to meet your criteria of atheist? What IQ do you need to achieve it?
See the response directly above, and please refrain from trying to undermine my character here. Perhaps you really really really want to win this argument but it's still a cheap strategy.

I will come back to this in detail tomorrow, it's getting late.
But I wanted to say I am not trying to undermine your character, I am trying to show you what your argument looks like, (to me at least).

It's entirely possible I went to far doing this however, for that I apologies.

Winning this argument is not relevant to me because word meaning is generally dictated by
use and you are outnumbered.
The major secular/atheist institutions don't agree with you, so who 'wins' this argument is fairly meaningless.

However the issue is still worthy of debate, I just think you are wrong, I will try to demonstrate it with
better arguments later.

Originally posted by rwingett
I've been on this site for ten years and had no idea whether you were an atheist or not.

This admission on your part was quite unnecessary.

Originally posted by FMF
This admission on your part was quite unnecessary.

As is every post on this site.

Originally posted by rwingett
As is every post on this site.

Can't say I agree. For people to spend perhaps a few hours a week writing about their thoughts, reading those of others, and interacting with each other, strikes me as being a fairly major hobby for many of the people in this community. The posts here - good bad or indifferent - are absolutely necessary because without them there would be no community, and without the community there would be no opportunity for people to write as a hobby. I think hobbies are good, in and of themselves. I think hobbies are necessary.

Originally posted by FMF
I am a theist. There you are.

So do you feel as though your religion is aiding to your longevity and helping your overall state of mental health? If so, what aspects? Is it the same as we read in the article?

Originally posted by whodey
So do you feel as though your religion is aiding to your longevity and helping your overall state of mental health? If so, what aspects? Is it the same as we read in the article?

What "religion" are you referring to?

Originally posted by FMF
"In the latest study to link church-going with well-being, researchers find that people who attend religious services regularly are more optimistic and less depressed than their non-religious peers.

Previous research has suggested that people who attend services are also happier and more satisfied and live longer too. (On the other hand, they tend to be fatte ...[text shortened]...
http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/11/study-religious-folks-have-a-sunnier-outlook/

Are any of these religious people studied from the religion that causes one
to blow himself up in order to go to heaven and have 70 virgins to have
his way with them?

Originally posted by RJHinds
Are any of these religious people studied from the religion that causes one
to blow himself up in order to go to heaven and have 70 virgins to have
his way with them?

I'd say looking forward to 70 virgins in the afterlife is pretty optimistic!

Originally posted by RJHinds
Are any of these religious people studied from the religion that causes one
to blow himself up in order to go to heaven and have 70 virgins to have
his way with them?

My Muslim neighbours mostly have a sunny outlook on life. So do the Christians. I cannot personally say how this disposition links to their faith. This is a mutually indulging, gregarious, community orientated culture - with people of different faiths living side by side. It is also a very religious society compared to my native Britain. I don't really see how the research cited in the OP can be applied to where I live. It sampled 93,000 people who go to a church or synagogue, temple or mosque (in the U.S.); I would imagine that a very, very tiny number of these religious people (in the research sample) were suicide bombers of the future. Indeed, in a sample as small as 93,000 there may in fact be none.