> I saw a car covered with sacrilegious bumper stickers. It seemed obvious to me that the owner was craving attention
Oddly enough... I saw a car covered with religious bumper stickers. It seemed obvious to me that the owner was craving attention.
I don't believe in athiests...
I think atheists can be some of the most interesting, intelligent people around, as long as it's not Christianity or moral issues being discussed.
I'm an atheist, but I don't have ANY bumper stickers on my vehicles, much less sacreligious ones. It's my opinion that every person's beliefs with regard to religion are that person's beliefs and that they ought to be left alone about them.
I don't encourage anyone to disbelieve, and I don't particularly welcome people encouraging me to believe. My atheism is the product of a great deal of study and thought, and slogans are not going to change my mind.
But I don't mind if others believe in deities. It doesn't affect me.
It was a great book...Read "The Great Divorce" too!
I'd use a hidden P.A. system with lots of reverb and speak in a slow deep voice.
: ^ )
I think the system is smart enough now such that, if we are required to excerpt it and we don't, the system will not let us post it until we do. Unfortunately, it can be discouraging to put a lot of effort into properly formatting the article, only to find out at Post time that either it must be excerpted or cannot be posted at all. ;)
"I still remember the night I publicly declared my atheism. It was April 3rd, 1992. I was a long-haired musician, playing guitar at a bar called The Gin in Oxford, Mississippi. The subject of religion came up in a conversation during one of my breaks. An Ole Miss Law student, who had been an undergraduate with me at Mississippi State years before, asked me whether I was still dating my girlfriend, Sally. Then he asked why I had broken up with my previous girlfriend two years before."
I was at Ole Miss the same time. Not at the Gin, but the BSU.
The Oxford don's book is not for light-weight readers, it takes some intelligence and rationality to read through it. And it's the greatest of all non-Biblical explanations for Christianity, IMHO.
Warning: Mere Christianity makes you think about what you really believe, and why you don't believe what you don't.:)
Well, I am an Atheist... you can talk to me at any time. Nevertheless, let's skip the subject of religion. ;)
I often carry around a camera. When I see these vehicles, I photograph all the graphics, and make us both happy.
She gets the attention she craves, and I get another set for my "whack-job" collection.
The right divine intervention can have that effect on anyone.
(I-think-you'll-enjoy-the-full-article ping.)
I will have to pick up a copy of that book.
I just thank the God Lord that he gave us the free will to worship him or not. I also hope that those whom have chosen incorrectly.... (yes it's a joke... kinda) will come around in due time.
The rule I set for myself is that I treat atheists the same as I would treat an adherent to any other religion, which is, I would not attack their beliefs unless there is something that suggest willingness on their part to converse on the subject, in which case I will explain why I am right and they are wrong.
A car covered with bumper stickers about religion seems like an invitation to speak to the owner about religion. Unless the bumper sticker is an insult, in which case it is a case of hooliganism oddly ignored by the cops who should prevent such things.
But, atheists would say, ours is emphatically not religion. Ours is absence of religion.
Then the question arises: we know what a Christian monument is, or a Muslim one, or a Bhuddist one. What would an Atheist monument be?
What would an atheist bumper sticker be?
The answer is, an atheist monument is absence of a monument. An atheist bumper sticker is absence of a bumper sticker. Since that is not satisfying to some atheists, instead of proclaiming their atheism they need to vandalize my monuments or insult my religion. May be, after all, we should just jail them.
Want to start a fight among atheists? Ask them to state what they believe without using the word "God." They have no trouble telling the world what they don't believe--they have enormous difficulty articulating what they DO believe.
Ping
What uncanny timing, as I participated in similar exchanges on a board for comedians: (Please, be aware that these people do not omit any words in their conversation. Contains Vulgar language. I apologize for any vulgarities that I may have written.)
Religion: http://www.nobodylikesme.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1827&PN=1
Intelligent Design: http://www.nobodylikesme.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1826&PN=1
Free Will: http://www.nobodylikesme.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1809&PN=3
Sounds like a like of missionary of kind to me. Missionaries are answering a special calling. I wonder who this guy is getting his calling from. I'll let Church Lady answer that.
How to talk to an atheist? Ask them, Where did the tree come from? Then, Where did the seed come from? No matter what they answer, you say, And you believe that?