[xm177e2]

Atheism contradicts itself by belief in atheism.

Atheism - A = without, theism = religion

Atheists don't have religin, we're without religion, we believe in no religion.

There's nothing contradictory there at all...

Now, believing that "God is merciful" and "God damns people to Hell for all eternity," there's a contradiction!

[LarryLied]

Atheists don't have religion, we're without religion, we believe in no religion.

Yes. But by saying there is no God, you have made a categorical statement about the nature of existence as metaphysical, theological and doctrinal as fundamentalists who believe God speaks to them. The only way to avoid making a theological claim is to be an agnostic.

[My2Cents]

Everyone has a religion. For some, their religion is secular humanism -- a faith in man. For others, their religion is politics and their god is the state -- a variation in a faith in man.

To say that it's contradictory to believe in a God of mercy, and to also believe that this God of mercy can condemn people to hell, is a shallow contention, intellectually. The true theological "tension" is a belief in a God of mercy, and a belief in a God of justice -- justice requiring punishment.

It's only because God's justice has been satisfied in Christ's death that anyone can experience God's mercy. There is no reason for anyone to be consigned to hell, not with the provision and the price that God himself paid on our behalf. As C.S. Lewis wrote in numerous places, the only reason people end up in hell is that they choose to end up there. (Read "The Great Divorce.")

[malakhi]

Now, believing that "God is merciful" and "God damns people to Hell for all eternity," there's a contradiction!

Well, we Jews are off the hook, since we don't believe in eternal damnation. ;o)

[ArGee]

Now, believing that "God is merciful" and "God damns people to Hell for all eternity," there's a contradiction!

There is no contradiction in G-d's mercy and the existence of Hell.

Shalom.

[onedoug]

"...we believe in no religion."

That you believe! Therein lies the contradiction.

[Dimensio]

Now, believing that "God is merciful" and "God damns people to Hell for all eternity," there's a contradiction!

I try to avoid such assertions. True, to me the statements seem contradictory, but since I'm an atheist I cannot readily identify all of the properties ascribed to the subject of either statement (God) and as such there might be something within the definition that allows for both properties to be true. Further, there could be additional context for one or both statements that clarifies how they are both true.