Posted on 01/26/2005 9:46:21 AM PST by 7thson
When I pulled into the parking lot this morning, I saw a car covered with sacrilegious bumper stickers. It seemed obvious to me that the owner was craving attention. Im sure he was also seeking to elicit anger from people of faith. The anger helps the atheist to justify his atheism. And, all too often, the atheist gets exactly what he is looking for.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
> they have enormous difficulty articulating what they DO believe.
They probably believe pretty much the same as you do, except on the whole "God" issue.
Ping
> Proportionally, the hostility isn't even close.
Oh, indeed. The nasty atheist stickers call Christians morons.The nasty Christian stickers call for the expulsion from the US of atheists.
Name calling vs. a call to action. No comparison.
Can't speak for other theists, but that's not Christianity. Salvation is through faith, not works. True Christians aren't trying to do good in order to be saved. True Christians are trying to do good because we ARE saved.
It is so hard to tell the "True Christians" as you call them, from those other Christians.
The morality (or lack thereof) of euthanasia is not "generally accepted." This one has people on every side fighting.
I have absolutely no trouble articulating my beliefs. I won't even mention such concepts as "original sin" and the afterlife, much less Jehovah. Why that would start a fight is beyond me.
I have never contemplated those two by themselves. Could make for an interesting bible study at some point. I'll have to keep those in mind.
Thank you very much for the reference to ""The Retreat To Commitment". I hadn't heard of William Bartley's book before.
Best regards
"If I am wrong, what have I lost? If you are wrong, what have you lost?"
A common question, I suppose. If you are wrong, then you die and return to dust. Since I already accept that as my eventual fate, I lose nothing.
If I am wrong, then I am wrong. I do not believe or disbelieve based on some promise of some reward or punishment after my death. That concept makes no sense to me whatsoever. I behave in my life as though this is the only life I get. That makes it very precious to me.
You have your belief. I have my disbelief. I suspect that we both behave in our lives in almost precisely the same ways.
I cannot believe just because I am fearful. That is not belief; it's something else. I disbelieve because I cannot believe. It is that simple.
I am doing a presentation on the rich young ruler at our next men's prayer breakfast.
Name one please
Examples?
Maybe I'd see what you see after living another 50 years on the planet....
UNLESS of course you live on a different planet to begin with.
Abortion is "Legal"
> Many murders result in gain for the murder.
Did I say otherwise? No. Read it again: I said it increases risk.
> Were individual Nazis at great risk for murdering?
Actaully, yes. You bust into someone's home with murder on your mind, and whether you're backed up by a couple of thugs or by a batallion of Waffen SS the chance the home owner's gonna blast you in the face with a shotgun is higher than if you decided to stay in bed that day.
> Wrong thread for that opinion.
The topic had drifted to morality. The evolution of morality is thus relevant.
> Liberals love situational ethics too.
So do conservatives. I don't happen to have a problem with US spies stealing documents from the Iranian nuclear program, for example. Do you?
> Impossible to tell what this comment means.
No, it's not. Read it in context. Then read the Old Testament. Murder and rape were hunky-dory so long as those doing it claimed to have God on their side.
Good questions. If you do not define morality by God's laws, then it is truly up to the individual to define it. Without God, there is no "right" and "wrong", "good" and "evil". Everything would be culturally relative.
Yes, those would do as bumper stickers. Although I still don't see why anyone would gunk up his bumper with statements of what isn't. I wouldn't be tempted to have a bumper sticker that says, for example, "I don't have a goldfish".
So what would an atheist monument look like?
Regarding strawmen, -- surely you have seen blasphemous bumper stickers or heard of Christian monuments removed by court decree. They were not made of straw.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.