Common Sense Atheism

Ruthanne said:
Yes, I had to go to Catholic school. I begged my mom to let me go to public after 4th grade and she and my dad did. All my other siblings, except one other, went to Catholic schools till 12th grade. The religion made me feel sick a lot of the time--I mean feelings of guilt and shame that were overwhelming. The nuns in the Catholic grade school were very mean and beat the kids, all except for one teacher I had who was very kind and loving. Her name was Sister Gemma. She was wonderful! At the age of 13 I declared I was an atheist. I did not believe any of it anymore.

Over the years I've gone back and forth from believing to not believing and I made the choice that I am agnostic and I'll never know if God exists or not--that is unless I see him/her/it at some point. I have studied a little about other religions--Eastern ones and found them very interesting.

I am content not to know. I do say prayers at times of distress and for others just in case someone is listening, yet I don't know. I do try to send out good vibes, too, when needed.
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Thanks, I’m picking up a few of those good vibrations tonight, far away as I am. Thanks some more!
 

Pepper said:
Joel Osteen does not take a salary and does pay taxes on his book sales. If he did take a salary that is taxable income. It is the church itself which pays no taxes. Although hard for some here to believe, I actually like Joel!
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My Southern Baptist mother constantly watched Joel Osteen. If I hadn't controlled her finances she would have donated our entire estate to him. :ROFLMAO: I've never watched him but I will take your word for it.
 

Madalyn Murray O'Hair​

330px-Madalyn_Murray_O%27Hair.jpg


"Madalyn Murray O'Hair (née Mays; April 13, 1919 – September 29, 1995)[1] was an American activist, supporting atheism and separation of church and state. In 1963 she founded American Atheists and served as its president until 1986, after which her son Jon Garth Murray succeeded her. She created the first issues of American Atheist Magazine.

O'Hair is best known for the Murray v. Curlett lawsuit, which challenged the policy of mandatory prayers and Bible reading in Baltimore public schools, in which she named her first son William J. Murray as plaintiff. Consolidated with Abington School District v. Schempp (1963), it was heard by the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that officially sanctioned mandatory Bible-reading in American public schools was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court had prohibited officially sponsored prayer in schools in Engel v. Vitale (1962) on similar grounds. After she founded the American Atheists and won Murray v. Curlett, she achieved attention to the extent that in 1964 Life magazine referred to her as "the most hated woman in America".[2][3] Through American Atheists, O'Hair filed numerous other suits on issues of separation of church and state.

In 1995, O'Hair, her second son Jon Garth Murray (known as "Garth"), and her granddaughter and adopted daughter Robin Murray O'Hair (daughter of O'Hair's first son, William J. Murray, and Murray's high school girlfriend, Susan), disappeared from Austin, Texas. Garth Murray had withdrawn hundreds of thousands of dollars from American Atheists' funds, and there was speculation that the trio had absconded. David Roland Waters, a convicted felon and former employee of American Atheists, was eventually convicted of murdering the O'Hairs. The bodies were not found until Waters led authorities to their burial place following his conviction.


Contents​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madalyn_Murray_O'Hair#Comments_on_the_Holocaust
 
RFW said:
I'm not saying it's good or bad. It's just human nature. No one is immune to it.
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Really? You've accused people like me of being Christian because we want to feel special and be noticed. I, like most Christians, was raised in a church. I didn't go to church because I wanted to be special and noticed anymore than I went to school to feel special and get noticed. Everyone I knew was doing the same thing so there was nothing special about it at all

 
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Ruthanne said:
Yes, I had to go to Catholic school. I begged my mom to let me go to public after 4th grade and she and my dad did. All my other siblings, except one other, went to Catholic schools till 12th grade. The religion made me feel sick a lot of the time--I mean feelings of guilt and shame that were overwhelming. The nuns in the Catholic grade school were very mean and beat the kids, all except for one teacher I had who was very kind and loving. Her name was Sister Gemma. She was wonderful! At the age of 13 I declared I was an atheist. I did not believe any of it anymore.

Over the years I've gone back and forth from believing to not believing and I made the choice that I am agnostic and I'll never know if God exists or not--that is unless I see him/her/it at some point. I have studied a little about other religions--Eastern ones and found them very interesting.

I am content not to know. I do say prayers at times of distress and for others just in case someone is listening, yet I don't know. I do try to send out good vibes, too, when needed.
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Yes, I can identify with you, @Ruthanne .....I just finally gave up, when it comes down to it, no one knows, but the hypocrisy is the big turn off.
 
Chris P Bacon said:
Most of the time beliefs or lack of them, never comes up with people I meet. I just do what I do and they do as they've always done, life goes on. But when people ask what you believe and your belief isn't what they think it should be, well, yeah, that's a whole other kettle of fish, now isn't it? I just don't think that the faithful should get special treatment or cosideration for something they can only profess and not prove. Religion came about when the first con man met up with the first fool that had money in his pocket. Soon the fool's pockets were empty and the con man was the beneficiary. I'm convinced, I have faith that it happened that a way and no one can tell me any different. Thanks fofr sharing, I appreciate you caring enough and taking time to think things out. Critical thinking is alive and well, there in your neck of the woods I'd say.
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To address your question: other people's experiences may be different, but from my experiences this is relatively new. I'm not accustomed to religion being a general topic-of-conversation, and even less experience with individuals considering it something to discuss, debate, argue about.

As for what you said re: 'religion came about..', I disagree with your viewpoint, but I'm not going to say you're 'wrong' or that you must 'change.' You're 100% entitled to your own beliefs.

I do agree with what you said about not thinking some should get 'special treatment.'
 
Della said:
Really? You've accused people like me of being Christian because we want to feel special and be noticed. I, like most Christians, was raised in a church. I didn't go to church because I wanted to be special and noticed anymore than I went to school to feel special and get noticed. Everyone I knew was doing the same thing so there was nothing special about it at all

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When I said that, I meant everybody. And you would be lying if you said you had never had any of those feelings, about anything ever. See? It's not exclusive to religion.
 
Paco Dennis said:

Madalyn Murray O'Hair​

330px-Madalyn_Murray_O%27Hair.jpg


"Madalyn Murray O'Hair (née Mays; April 13, 1919 – September 29, 1995)[1] was an American activist, supporting atheism and separation of church and state. In 1963 she founded American Atheists and served as its president until 1986, after which her son Jon Garth Murray succeeded her. She created the first issues of American Atheist Magazine.

O'Hair is best known for the Murray v. Curlett lawsuit, which challenged the policy of mandatory prayers and Bible reading in Baltimore public schools, in which she named her first son William J. Murray as plaintiff. Consolidated with Abington School District v. Schempp (1963), it was heard by the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that officially sanctioned mandatory Bible-reading in American public schools was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court had prohibited officially sponsored prayer in schools in Engel v. Vitale (1962) on similar grounds. After she founded the American Atheists and won Murray v. Curlett, she achieved attention to the extent that in 1964 Life magazine referred to her as "the most hated woman in America".[2][3] Through American Atheists, O'Hair filed numerous other suits on issues of separation of church and state.

In 1995, O'Hair, her second son Jon Garth Murray (known as "Garth"), and her granddaughter and adopted daughter Robin Murray O'Hair (daughter of O'Hair's first son, William J. Murray, and Murray's high school girlfriend, Susan), disappeared from Austin, Texas. Garth Murray had withdrawn hundreds of thousands of dollars from American Atheists' funds, and there was speculation that the trio had absconded. David Roland Waters, a convicted felon and former employee of American Atheists, was eventually convicted of murdering the O'Hairs. The bodies were not found until Waters led authorities to their burial place following his conviction.


Contents​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madalyn_Murray_O'Hair#Comments_on_the_Holocaust
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Long ago, when I worked for a newspaper, I did a piece about this person- praising her for her part in helping to get organized religion out of public schools.
I did receive a couple of negative comments on it.
 
This thread is about Atheism, and not Christianity. One thing most religious don't understand is that Atheists don't have a religion. Non- atheists equate Atheism as another form of religion, but because we do not believe in a deity, there's no replacement. We have no liturgy, dogma or tenets. On Sundays, all we do is sleep late. Also religious "believe", while atheists "think". The reason is "belief" connotates having " faith", the word "think" does not. It's tiny difference, but it is a difference. I think for most atheists, we could care less about what you believe, as long as you don't try to impose your beliefs on us.
 
Thread's actual trolling purpose is a game to bait those naive members who just cannot resist trying to defend their religion that then serves as a public platform to endlessly post easily attacked videos and images in the worst light.

For first time just now skimmed through the posts that was predictable given how some also cannot resist pandemic trolling threads. Typical of what one will find on any of several atheist web forum boards that is full of such video and image links members have fun bashing. The problem for some on atheist web boards is they get tired of just posting in an echo chamber while on a board like this, there are actual willing Christians they can truly annoy that try to defend whatever.
 
I think that to get through the day human beings need some thing or some one to answer to. Who or what that is is up to the individual. Bottom line is we all have to serve some thing or some body and we all do.

 
David777 said:
Thread's actual trolling purpose is a game to bait those naive members who just cannot resist trying to defend their religion that then serves as a public platform to endlessly post easily attacked videos and images in the worst light.

For first time just now skimmed through the posts that was predictable given how some also cannot resist pandemic trolling threads. Typical of what one will find on any of several atheist web forum boards that is full of such video and image links members have fun bashing. The problem for some on atheist web boards is they get tired of just posting in an echo chamber while on a board like this, there are actual willing Christians they can truly annoy that try to defend whatever.
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How do you know that's his purpose? Did you ask him?
 
David777 said:
Thread's actual trolling purpose is a game to bait those naive members who just cannot resist trying to defend their religion that then serves as a public platform to endlessly post easily attacked videos and images in the worst light.
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Games are fun aren't they? Aside from that exercising the brain by thinking up a response is like you just did is good isn't it?
 
Chris P Bacon said:
If Jesus ever were to actually return, do you suppose that he'd need money to spread his words? Or his own jet to get around the world in? I'm sure that people would have no problem giving it to him but would he need it as these others seem to?
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God sent Jesus to deliver the message, which he already did. Neither God or Jesus are to blame for the greed and hypocrisy of some Christian denominations and [so-called] preachers.
Some people blame God for the World's suffering, but God's message as conveyed by Jesus, Buddha and others is a guide for living a happier, better quality life, that's all.
 
Nathan said:
God sent Jesus to deliver the message, which he already did. Neither God or Jesus are to blame for the greed and hypocrisy of some Christian denominations and [so-called] preachers.
Some people blame God for the World's suffering, but God's message as conveyed by Jesus, Buddha and others is a guide for living a happier, better quality life, that's all.
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Nathan I do so empathise with your remarks. There was a time when my Roman Catholic upbringing would never question anything that went against, "God's will." Not anymore, but I still believe, however Chris makes a very pertinent point. Why does an ever loving God ask us, or tell us, to endure: Plague, pestilence, earthquakes, tsunamis and every other disaster that has nothing to do with those of us on this planet? It perplexes me.
However, Chris P Bacon, just as it's virtually impossible to explains God's existence, can you explain how the universe got started? Science tells us that it's impossible to create something out of nothing, added to that, since no beginning and no end are not possible in scientific terms, where does the universe end? And, what's at the end of it? Why doesn't the universe fall into that void?

Well, to answer my own question, science has accepted that the universe is infinite, so if the universe is infinite then it's possible that it also had no beginning. No beginning and no end is the basic concept of a deity. I tell you, my head explodes trying to fathom it all.
 
Nathan said:
God sent Jesus to deliver the message, which he already did. Neither God or Jesus are to blame for the greed and hypocrisy of some Christian denominations and [so-called] preachers.
Some people blame God for the World's suffering, but God's message as conveyed by Jesus, Buddha and others is a guide for living a happier, better quality life, that's all.
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Well, I guess that I didn't get the message. I think that quite a few other people didn't get it either.
If he speaks to you, that's a wonderful thing but I kind of like messages that are more personal and
less abstract.
 
dseag2 said:
My Southern Baptist mother constantly watched Joel Osteen. If I hadn't controlled her finances she would have donated our entire estate to him. :ROFLMAO: I've never watched him but I will take your word for it.
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Well, he's rather entertaining.
My ex GF says he's very good looking. My sister says he looks like a rabbit.
I like accents, so I always smile when I hear him.
 
horseless carriage said:
Nathan I do so empathise with your remarks. There was a time when my Roman Catholic upbringing would never question anything that went against, "God's will." Not anymore, but I still believe, however Chris makes a very pertinent point. Why does an ever loving God ask us, or tell us, to endure: Plague, pestilence, earthquakes, tsunamis and every other disaster that has nothing to do with those of us on this planet? It perplexes me.
However, Chris P Bacon, just as it's virtually impossible to explains God's existence, can you explain how the universe got started? Science tells us that it's impossible to create something out of nothing, added to that, since no beginning and no end are not possible in scientific terms, where does the universe end? And, what's at the end of it? Why doesn't the universe fall into that void?

Well, to answer my own question, science has accepted that the universe is infinite, so if the universe is infinite then it's possible that it also had no beginning. No beginning and no end is the basic concept of a deity. I tell you, my head explodes trying to fathom it all.
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It doesn't need my or any explanation as to how it got started. It's there, we're a part of it, who can deny that?
Why or how doesn't matter to me so much as what actually is. Just because we can't fathom something doesn't
or shouldn't mean that the default answer is god. There are many things that were unknown hundreds of years ago
that are accepted as common knowledge now. And although I can't prove it, I can well imagine that many things we
don't know today, will, hundreds of years from now, be common knowledge. Science keeps evolving and explanations
become more and more plentiful. I don't know that science will ever go so far as to either prove or disprove existence
of any gods but I'm sure that we, at this stage of history and time, don't have answers to and for all things.
 
horseless carriage said:
Why does an ever loving God ask us, or tell us, to endure: Plague, pestilence, earthquakes, tsunamis and every other disaster that has nothing to do with those of us on this planet?
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All of those natural events/disasters is what happens here on Earth, we "have to" endure them because...what's the alternative?

My view: we as humans cherish our lives, and God provided that. We will all die someday, some sooner than anticipated. Death hits us pretty "close to home" and some people resent that God would "allow" death to happen. But implicit with the message[of God] is that there is existence after our worldly lives are over.
 

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