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True unbelievers Events of Sept. 11 have atheists "coming out' to face an unaccepting society
SF Chronicle ^ | 3-10-02 | Sam McManis

Posted on 03/10/2002 4:11:04 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

Edited on 04/13/2004 2:39:50 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

Way in the back of an ornate and dimly lit German restaurant in San Francisco, partitioned off from other Saturday night diners, sits a group packed in two long rows of tables. Chewing bratwurst and the fat, they are as old as 80 and as young as 22. They are black, white, Asian, hailing from as far away as Zimbabwe and Australia or as close as Daly City. Some know each other; some are strangers. All seek support and comfort from those who understand.


(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Philosophy; US: California
KEYWORDS: atheists
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1 posted on 03/10/2002 4:11:05 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
"(But) now, even if I wanted to believe, I no longer can."

"...My spirit shall not always strive with man..." Gen 6:3

2 posted on 03/10/2002 4:22:54 AM PST by nightdriver
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
We do the right thing because we think it's right -- not because we think we'll be rewarded or punished in the afterlife based on our actions.

Where do athesists think their inner voice of what "we think is right" originates? Believers try to do the right thing, not out of fear of later punishment, but out of a longing for an inner peace that comes from obedience to the life God intended for us to live. Christians can release the guilt of falling short in that quest through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ who lifts that burden from our shoulders.

3 posted on 03/10/2002 4:29:13 AM PST by NoControllingLegalAuthority
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
"We're the last group it's OK to bash,"

Malarky.

Smokers
Men
Conservatives
Pro-lifers
Anyone care to add to the list?

What's weird is that they have apparently organized a group around the absence of an organization (Religion and the Church). Makes me think these are your typical bay-area whiners.
4 posted on 03/10/2002 4:30:46 AM PST by self_evident
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
We are very ethical. We do the right thing because we think it's right --

Amazing. Belief in God provides the absolutes of right and wrong. Without God, there is no right or wrong. These intellectual midgets just don't get IT.

5 posted on 03/10/2002 4:32:42 AM PST by newfreep
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
So the God-less want to paint themselves in the same light as blacks in the '50's and early '60's.........or better yet, maybe the gays ["You see? It's HIP to be gay......and you'd better love and accept us and elevate our status to that of 'celebrity' or you're a hateful homophobe, vilified by the media and our sheepish society!"].

Screw 'em.

6 posted on 03/10/2002 4:38:23 AM PST by RightOnline
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
You should have posted a WHINE ALERT!!
7 posted on 03/10/2002 4:41:56 AM PST by alley cat
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To: NoControllingLegalAuthority
atheists -- some prefer to be called secular humanists

Some quote about secular humanism triumphing over the bloody corpse of Christianity has floated around. It was from an NEA article, publication, or speech.

Carl Sagan was a dedvout renouncer of a belief system.

It's easy to be a naysayer and deny the obvious. Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees.

Finding ways to communicate with secular humanists effectively could be the way to present Christianity to the Islamo-fascist crowd. Simply expounding on "beliefs" and "feelings" won't work to convince the unbeliever.

8 posted on 03/10/2002 4:59:40 AM PST by Podkayne
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To: Podkayne
The public school system is being used as the ideal vehicle for spreading this atheistic belief system. John Dunphy wrote (in The Humanist, Jan/Feb 1983):

"I am convinced that the battle for humankind's future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith, a religion of humanity that recognizes and respects the spark of what theologians call divinity in every human being.

These teachers must embody the same selfless dedication as the most rabid fundamentalist preachers, for they will be ministers of another sort, utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subject they teach, regardless of the educational level -- preschool day care or large state university.

The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new -- the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism.

9 posted on 03/10/2002 5:04:43 AM PST by Podkayne
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To: self_evident
Anyone care to add to the list?

Yeah. Caucasians, Christians, and Gun Owners. Oh, and also, anyone who lives in the South or Texas.

10 posted on 03/10/2002 5:10:19 AM PST by roachie
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To: newfreep
People with your attitude don't make being Christian very appealing.

It's funny - I don't begrudge anybody their religion. I think it's just fine to have the Ten Commandments hanging on the wall of a courthouse. I don't have any problem with a nativity scene. I'm Republican, voted for Bush, served in the military, own a gun and am almost always anti-abortion.

I am also an atheist. I'm not interested in "converting" anybody to atheism, and I'm not interested in campaigning against prayer in schools or any other such business. What I'm interested in is pursuing life, liberty and happiness in the Free Republic that is supposed to be America.
11 posted on 03/10/2002 6:02:20 AM PST by NeoCrusade
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To: NeoCrusade
Hey.. welcome my friend.

Be careful not to lump Christians as intolerant. I think you'll find the lot to be very compassionate in their actions and deeds.

I have several friends who are atheistic/or agnostic. I don't quite understand it, but would not stop being their friend.

The great thing about this forum is that we can discuss these things without wanting to act out agression.

Christians are a fierce group of people, very devout in their faith. If you really look deep down they are concerned for the salvation of your soul. (Not a bad thing in my book...)

So... God bless... and welcome to the best forum out there!

12 posted on 03/10/2002 6:14:44 AM PST by Northern Yankee
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To: NeoCrusade
Do you think your professed atheism requires faith?
13 posted on 03/10/2002 6:15:17 AM PST by Windsong
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To: Podkayne
What I find fascinating is atheists somehow see Christianity as some kind of prison when our Christian faith is actually release from prison.
14 posted on 03/10/2002 6:17:28 AM PST by NoControllingLegalAuthority
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
I expect that this will be the next victim group that will be holding seminars at the public schools in the interest of tolerance and acceptance. What would one be called who believed in God - an "athieaphobe"?
15 posted on 03/10/2002 6:43:05 AM PST by 3catsanadog
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To: newfreep
Belief in God provides the absolutes of right and wrong.

No. Belief in God gives you a cop out: Do what God says or else. It's might makes right with a supernatural twist.

16 posted on 03/10/2002 6:50:54 AM PST by TheQuestion
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Comment #17 Removed by Moderator

To: Oldeconomybuyer;WardSmythe...
"Listen," she said, "my family has vilified me since I came out. Now, at age 43, I've finally had enough. I have no contact with my family at all, and it's the best thing I've ever done. I feel free."

If she thinks that is bad ,she should be a Bible Believing Christian here or as we are called "talibornagains". And that is by our "friends" *grin*

18 posted on 03/10/2002 7:04:11 AM PST by RnMomof7
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Though atheists are quick to point out that the United States was founded as a secular nation -- there is no mention of God in the constitution -- they see religion seeping into national policy

This is flatly an unhistoric statement. Not only did many founding documents, including state constitutions, mention God, but Congress and the several state legislatures employed chaplains from the beginning. Religion provides the moral underpinning of our law, a fact symbolized by the use of religious oaths before testimony and the many religious concepts, such as intention, in the commmon law, owing to its relation to the Justinian Code, a legal code that is undeniably religious. The special place that religious bodies have in our society--as mediate bodies--is not allowed in truly "secular: governments, of whicvh the purest examples are the communists states of Cuba and China. The blatant hostility of such states to religion does not make believers feel much inclinted to listed to the whining of atheists about the minor discomforts under American law. Religion is not "seeping" into a"national policy"; rather it is refilling again its natural place by artificial dikes created by secularist bigots like those in the ACLU and other friends of the these atheists that are gathering in SF. What will they do next: petition that the name of the city be changed?

19 posted on 03/10/2002 7:13:41 AM PST by RobbyS
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To: self_evident
Makes me think these are your typical bay-area whiners.

That's the gist of it.

FWIW, I'm acquainted with several atheists here at FR -- and they don't drive everyone nuts whining about how life done 'em wrong.

20 posted on 03/10/2002 7:15:17 AM PST by dighton
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