I think I can understand your avoiding my questions Dennis, In the first video you offer is "Situational Ethics and Moral Relativism" In the amorphous shifting sands of "Reason"? If the morals and dogma's of Christopher Hitchen's is your "Proof" than it will not do me any good to try to convince you otherwise. The second video was truly …
I think I can understand your avoiding my questions Dennis, In the first video you offer is "Situational Ethics and Moral Relativism" In the amorphous shifting sands of "Reason"? If the morals and dogma's of Christopher Hitchen's is your "Proof" than it will not do me any good to try to convince you otherwise. The second video was truly tragic when he described what happened to that girl in Yemen. Although cults have the same characteristics of "occulting" knowledge away from the masses, (I tend to think of Mormonism for instance) eventually those closely guarded "belief's" do get challenged. Atheism as you've previously mentioned is in and of itself a religion if you wanted to be candid about it.
If the morals and dogmas of Religion is your "Proof" then likewise it will not do me any good to try to convince you otherwise.
For me at this point pretending to respect people’s religious beliefs is an exercise in futility. I do not respect people who CHOOSE to be gullible and uneducated - and try to foist that nonsense onto me
Telling your young children…. “He’s your God. You shall love him. If you don’t, he will torture you forever”. Demanding kids love somebody they fear. The very essence of sadomasochism. How many kids has that screwed up for life?
Most Christians have devoted most of their life to the religion and are very susceptible to the sunk cost fallacy. They hold on to this belief for so long that even if they see the flaws in it, they feel that they just wasted part of their life, so they hold onto it to feel better. If Christians could just state this fact, these discussions would be much shorter. "I believe this Christian theology simply because I was randomly born into this culture and was told to believe it as a child. I have no shred of verifiable data or empirical science-based evidence for any supernatural events or Gods. I just believe it."
Theist: You cannot see, hear, touch or smell my all-powerful God.
Same Theist: YOU have the burden of proof to show me he doesn't exist.
"God exists outside of time and space".
OK…so never and nowhere. I'll go with that.
Outside of time and space - a way of saying "imaginary".
And on the first day. Man created God.
*
The perennial classic: "Isn't atheism just another religion?"
The question is always posed by these gentle, humble Christians as a sly put-down. Its pejorative. It is meant to put atheists in their place (You think religion is so stupid? Well, your atheism is just another religion, so you are also stupid! Hah!).
Or to expose atheists as hypocrites (You condemn religious people, but you atheists are not so different, so there!).
Or at best, it is meant to be snarkily clever (Bet you didn't think of that Mister Atheist Smarty Pants!).
What makes something a religion? Simple: the supernatural. Religions are social movements that maintain a belief in the supernatural. It's members engage in rituals predicated on shared supernatural beliefs. It is belief in God, or angels, or karma, or heaven, or Allah, or spirits, or past lives, or zombies, or Vishnu, or Satan, or Jesus, etc. And the gatherings, rites, and activities that go on as a result of those beliefs.
Thats what makes religion religion.
Atheism lacks a belief in the supernatural. As such, it is not a religion.
Calling atheism a religion is like calling abstinence a sexual position, or baldness a hair color, or not collecting stamps a hobby.
Although your anthropocentric hubris denotes narcissistic intellectualism, Your word salads are lacking substance. But meeting you in the middle, at least we can agree to disagree.
For whom you are lighting a candle, then verily it shall be bloweth out by me. "I didn't ask for a candle to be lit for me, I don't want it, I don't need it. Have your Candle back. Thank you very much. For as long as you insist on believing in the supernatural, we cannot meet in the middle, and we cannot agree to disagree."
It's impossible to argue from logic when your opponent basically claims 'MAGIC.' “Did Jesus resurrect?” “Yep!” “Is he still alive?” “Yep!” “Cool, then can I see him?” “We’ll, it’s complicated…”
Jesus is like Nylon. Man made. The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike.
The believer says NO AMOUNT of evidence could change his mind, the non-believer says ANY amount of evidence could change his mind.
Where did my morality derive from? Frankly I don’t care, it could be derived from tribal utility borne of generations of human evolution, but what I do know is that I see the lack of morality in the actions of professed religious people and movements every day on my TV. Like in Gaza.
In what way is a morality dictated by God "objective". It is the opposite of objective. It begs the question: Is something true or moral because God says it, or does God say it because it is true or moral? In the first case, that makes morality subjective. God could say anything, and it would be true or moral because of his "authority". Thus, truth or morality is subjective to God's position.
In the second case, truth or morality is objective, but independent from God's thinking. If God only says something if it is true or moral, then the truth of that statement must exist prior to God's thinking on it. Therefore, truth or morality has an objective basis outside of God. There is some objective reality greater than God. This is the great dilemma of morality in Religion.
If you concede that only GOD stops you from doing bad things, then you are a bad person who is only kept in check by your own cowardice.
Who is the last atheist that sawed the head off an infidel, or strapped explosives to his belt to kill hundreds in a public square, or publicly hung a homosexual, or drove planes into buildings where people were at work, or committed genocide in the name of a GOD?
Religion - People killing each other trying to decide who has the best imaginary friend. The divided states of delusion, hubris, arrogance, ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity.
Atheism is the only true default position when it comes to the question of “God”. The only way to prove Atheism wrong is by proving that a “God” exist. The brightest minds in history have never been able to do that, Clyde.
Keep you imaginary Sky Daddy in your head, and in your Church please. Much appreciated! That "voice" in your head is not God. It is you pretending to be God. It is your "Ideal" self. Freud called it your "super-ego".
There's no arrogance like Christian humility. There's no ignorance like Christian knowledge, and there's no hate like Christian Love. Religious folk prove every day that arrogance and ignorance go hand in hand.
"Take the risk of thinking for yourself. Much more happiness, truth, beauty and wisdom will come to you that way."
RIP Christopher Hitchens, much of this World misses your words of wisdom.
I think I can understand your avoiding my questions Dennis, In the first video you offer is "Situational Ethics and Moral Relativism" In the amorphous shifting sands of "Reason"? If the morals and dogma's of Christopher Hitchen's is your "Proof" than it will not do me any good to try to convince you otherwise. The second video was truly tragic when he described what happened to that girl in Yemen. Although cults have the same characteristics of "occulting" knowledge away from the masses, (I tend to think of Mormonism for instance) eventually those closely guarded "belief's" do get challenged. Atheism as you've previously mentioned is in and of itself a religion if you wanted to be candid about it.
If the morals and dogmas of Religion is your "Proof" then likewise it will not do me any good to try to convince you otherwise.
For me at this point pretending to respect people’s religious beliefs is an exercise in futility. I do not respect people who CHOOSE to be gullible and uneducated - and try to foist that nonsense onto me
Telling your young children…. “He’s your God. You shall love him. If you don’t, he will torture you forever”. Demanding kids love somebody they fear. The very essence of sadomasochism. How many kids has that screwed up for life?
Most Christians have devoted most of their life to the religion and are very susceptible to the sunk cost fallacy. They hold on to this belief for so long that even if they see the flaws in it, they feel that they just wasted part of their life, so they hold onto it to feel better. If Christians could just state this fact, these discussions would be much shorter. "I believe this Christian theology simply because I was randomly born into this culture and was told to believe it as a child. I have no shred of verifiable data or empirical science-based evidence for any supernatural events or Gods. I just believe it."
Theist: You cannot see, hear, touch or smell my all-powerful God.
Same Theist: YOU have the burden of proof to show me he doesn't exist.
"God exists outside of time and space".
OK…so never and nowhere. I'll go with that.
Outside of time and space - a way of saying "imaginary".
And on the first day. Man created God.
*
The perennial classic: "Isn't atheism just another religion?"
The question is always posed by these gentle, humble Christians as a sly put-down. Its pejorative. It is meant to put atheists in their place (You think religion is so stupid? Well, your atheism is just another religion, so you are also stupid! Hah!).
Or to expose atheists as hypocrites (You condemn religious people, but you atheists are not so different, so there!).
Or at best, it is meant to be snarkily clever (Bet you didn't think of that Mister Atheist Smarty Pants!).
What makes something a religion? Simple: the supernatural. Religions are social movements that maintain a belief in the supernatural. It's members engage in rituals predicated on shared supernatural beliefs. It is belief in God, or angels, or karma, or heaven, or Allah, or spirits, or past lives, or zombies, or Vishnu, or Satan, or Jesus, etc. And the gatherings, rites, and activities that go on as a result of those beliefs.
Thats what makes religion religion.
Atheism lacks a belief in the supernatural. As such, it is not a religion.
Calling atheism a religion is like calling abstinence a sexual position, or baldness a hair color, or not collecting stamps a hobby.
Although your anthropocentric hubris denotes narcissistic intellectualism, Your word salads are lacking substance. But meeting you in the middle, at least we can agree to disagree.
For whom you are lighting a candle, then verily it shall be bloweth out by me. "I didn't ask for a candle to be lit for me, I don't want it, I don't need it. Have your Candle back. Thank you very much. For as long as you insist on believing in the supernatural, we cannot meet in the middle, and we cannot agree to disagree."
It's impossible to argue from logic when your opponent basically claims 'MAGIC.' “Did Jesus resurrect?” “Yep!” “Is he still alive?” “Yep!” “Cool, then can I see him?” “We’ll, it’s complicated…”
Jesus is like Nylon. Man made. The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike.
The believer says NO AMOUNT of evidence could change his mind, the non-believer says ANY amount of evidence could change his mind.
Where did my morality derive from? Frankly I don’t care, it could be derived from tribal utility borne of generations of human evolution, but what I do know is that I see the lack of morality in the actions of professed religious people and movements every day on my TV. Like in Gaza.
In what way is a morality dictated by God "objective". It is the opposite of objective. It begs the question: Is something true or moral because God says it, or does God say it because it is true or moral? In the first case, that makes morality subjective. God could say anything, and it would be true or moral because of his "authority". Thus, truth or morality is subjective to God's position.
In the second case, truth or morality is objective, but independent from God's thinking. If God only says something if it is true or moral, then the truth of that statement must exist prior to God's thinking on it. Therefore, truth or morality has an objective basis outside of God. There is some objective reality greater than God. This is the great dilemma of morality in Religion.
If you concede that only GOD stops you from doing bad things, then you are a bad person who is only kept in check by your own cowardice.
Who is the last atheist that sawed the head off an infidel, or strapped explosives to his belt to kill hundreds in a public square, or publicly hung a homosexual, or drove planes into buildings where people were at work, or committed genocide in the name of a GOD?
Religion - People killing each other trying to decide who has the best imaginary friend. The divided states of delusion, hubris, arrogance, ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity.
Atheism is the only true default position when it comes to the question of “God”. The only way to prove Atheism wrong is by proving that a “God” exist. The brightest minds in history have never been able to do that, Clyde.
Keep you imaginary Sky Daddy in your head, and in your Church please. Much appreciated! That "voice" in your head is not God. It is you pretending to be God. It is your "Ideal" self. Freud called it your "super-ego".
There's no arrogance like Christian humility. There's no ignorance like Christian knowledge, and there's no hate like Christian Love. Religious folk prove every day that arrogance and ignorance go hand in hand.
"Take the risk of thinking for yourself. Much more happiness, truth, beauty and wisdom will come to you that way."
RIP Christopher Hitchens, much of this World misses your words of wisdom.