The Power of Atheism to Change Lives

Okay, so the title of the page is a little misleading. But it did get your attention. And you immediately reacted to it, because you knew that the title made no sense. Is there any advantage to being an atheist? Testimonies about the power of atheism to change lives are difficult to find. When you do find them, most atheists talk about being free to think critically - being a "free thinker." However wonderful this freedom is, one must acknowledge that the atheist's freedom is not at all complete, but is very much limited by the philosophy of atheism. According to atheism, all phenomenon have a naturalistic explanation. With this as its overriding paradigm, the atheist never considers a supernatural explanation, even when such an explanation makes more sense. In fact, the atheist will believe in wildly unlikely explanations, for example, regarding the origin of life and the origin of the universe. How much "freedom" does an atheist really have?

Most atheists believe that Christianity teaches Christians to ignore the facts and base their entire lives upon some sort of touchy-feely kind of "faith." Contrary to that view, the Bible teaches the importance of knowledge and wisdom and making rational decisions based upon the facts. The Bible challenges believers to "Test everything" and "Hold on to the good."1 God Himself in His revelation to Isaiah stated, "Come now, and let us reason together..."2 The very reason why atheists attack Christianity above all other religions is because Christianity directly challenges the atheist's assertion that belief in God is irrational.

A more complete examination of what the Bible says about knowledge and reason can be found in the page, Christianity is for Weak, Stupid People?

When it comes to morality, atheists tend to be very quiet about what role atheism plays in shaping their personal morality. You won't find atheists saying that their atheism was influential in getting them off of drugs, stopping their alcoholism and ending their addictions to pornography, gambling, or any other personal moral fault. The fact is that atheism has no power at all to change personal morality (in a positive way).

From a societal viewpoint, atheists are generally not involved in helping the economically and socially disadvantaged. Of course, there are some exceptions, but in general atheists tend to be involved in legal/legislative issues, if any at all, to the exclusion of the needs of the poor and uneducated. The truth of this statement was never made more clear to me than last Christmas. A local church, the Dream Center, in downtown Los Angeles sponsored an outreach to the 500 neediest blocks in South Central Los Angeles. Ten thousand Christians volunteered to deliver food for families and toys for their children on December 23, 2000. I cannot be sure that there were no atheists at the event, but all of the 60+ people in our bus were Christians. Where were the atheists? Why should they be involved in helping the poor? There is no atheistic moral dictate that would require or even suggest that atheists should help anyone.

In contrast, Jesus reminded people to provide for the poor.3 The Bible says that those who follow Jesus have the mind of Christ.4 The Holy Spirit, given to followers of Jesus Christ, puts a desire to have compassion for others within the hearts and minds of believers.5 Did I ever do anything for the poor before I became a believer? No! I had no desire to help them. The desire to help those with which you have very little in common is not natural. It is given supernaturally by the Holy Spirit because of His love for all people. I can tell you from experience that the Holy Spirit will change you into a person of love and compassion. Christianity is not just a belief system or a series of rituals that one does at church. It is a living, vital relationship with the Lord Himself. The evidence of the reality of the risen Lord is the work that He is doing right now in the hearts and minds of those who follow Him. You will find below a list of links to testimonies of people whose lives have been changed through the power of Jesus Christ.

See:http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/power.html

I found a random page, and copied it. I guess it is just as relevant as yours!

A pioneering form of gene therapy has apparently cured deafness in guinea pigs, raising hopes that the same procedure might work in people.

"It's the first time anyone has biologically repaired the hearing of animals," says Yehoash Raphael at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and head of the US-Japanese team that developed the technique.

The therapy promotes the regrowth of crucial hair cells in the cochlea, the part of the inner ear which registers sound. After treatment, the researchers used sensory electrodes around the animals' heads to show that the auditory nerves of treated - but not untreated - animals were now registering sound.

Deafness is a major problem in people: millions of people worldwide become deaf or hearing impaired every year. This can occur if a person's inner-ear hair cells are destroyed by exposure to loud noise, to some antibiotic drugs, or simply through old age. The hair cells act like miniature microphones, capturing sound vibrations from fluid in the ear and translating the movement into nerve signals.

Raphael says one future possibility would be to use the therapy to improve hearing in people who already wear cochlear implants. These electrical devices are of some help to people lacking hair cells, but the regrowth of even some hairs could boost their hearing further. Raphael says that the next experiments in guinea pigs will focus on this combination.
Gene smuggler

Raphael's team first gave the guinea pigs antibiotics which destroyed their inner-ear hair cells. They then apparently repaired the damage by injecting them with genetically engineered adenoviruses.

The viruses had been engineered to be harmless while also smuggling a gene called Atoh1 into cells lining the scala media - the key chamber of the cochlea, containing the hair cells. Atoh1, also known as Math1, makes a signalling molecule known to orchestrate the development of hair cells in embryos.

The experiment worked beyond expectation. "The recovery of hair cells brought the treated ears to between 50% and 80% of their original hearing thresholds," says Raphael. Even more surprising, the team found that the hair cells were created from cells lining the scala media which, according to biological orthodoxy - should not be able to turn into other cells.
Stem cells to hair cells

Raphael warns that there are many obstacles to overcome before the procedure could be used in people. For example, the scala media is buried deep within human skulls, making it virtually inaccessible by surgery. And there is also a possibility that human immune systems could react against the viruses.

Another approach to regrowing the hair cells is to use embryonic stem cells, with research in this area led by Stefan Heller and colleagues at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, US.

Heller's team produced the inner-ear hair cells by exposing embryonic cells in the lab to chemical factors which steer the natural development of hair cells. The team then implanted them into chicken embryos and the cells continued to develop just like the native hair cells already present in the chick embryo.

Raphael's work is "extremely important", says Heller, as it shows the hairs can regrow and improve hearing. "There are now at least two possibilities for the development of a cure for deafness. It is highly likely that both approaches or a combination of those will find their way into the clinic within the next decade," he told New Scientist.

See: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7003

Originally posted by dj2becker
Okay, so the title of the page is a little misleading. But it did get your attention. And you immediately reacted to it, because you knew that the title made no sense.

And I stopped reading right there.

Originally posted by nickybutt
I found a random page, and copied it. I guess it is just as relevant as yours!

A pioneering form of gene therapy has apparently cured deafness in guinea pigs, raising hopes that the same procedure might work in people.

"It's the first time anyone has biologically repaired the hearing of animals," says Yehoash Raphael at the University of Michigan ...[text shortened]... e next decade," he told New Scientist.

See: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7003

Wow. So an atheist changed the life of a guinea pig?

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
And I stopped reading right there.

🙂 no you didnt. Read on, its very good.

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
And I stopped reading right there.

Sucka that I am, I just couldn't resist reading the whole thing.

Originally posted by Starrman
Sucka that I am, I just couldn't resist reading the whole thing.

Is it any good?

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
Is it any good?

Not really, just what you'd imagine. A collection of strawmen and appeals to emotion for the most part, coupled with a poor definition of morality within which to maneuver.

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
Is it any good?

it's bollox ..nicky butts post is far more interesting

Originally posted by Starrman
Not really, just what you'd imagine. A collection of strawmen and appeals to emotion for the most part, coupled with a poor definition of morality within which to maneuver.

There must be a good joke about an emotional strawman.

Originally posted by wucky3
it's bollox ..nicky butts post is far more interesting

It's pretty interesting & doesn't seek to CONVERT me, as I assume the other one must do.

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
There must be a good joke about an emotional strawman.

I'm working on it.

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
There must be a good joke about an emotional strawman.

Did you hear about the strawman tailor who had an emotional breakdown?

He lost his needle, and said it was the last straw.

My atheism gives me a warm glow feeling everytime I read one of dj2's or Saint Nic's posts. I think to myself, "There but for the grace of Muffy go I."

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
And I stopped reading right there.

good call bosse i was toally into the thread title and thought maybe the originator of the thread had come to his or her senses
i was wrong