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People just want a stupid word/phrase to use when someone asks "what do you believe" or other such stupid questions.
Yeah - sometimes people like to discuss things to some depth. That's why they come up with all those specific terms - they mean different things.
If "what do you believe?" is a stupid question to you, then I fully agree that there is no need for you to worry about stupid things like language and meaning.
I can't really say that I ever was a believer. I did go to church because my friends and some family members did and no one ever tried to force religion on me so I don't have any bad feelings about it. I just realized in my teens that I didn't think it was true and that was a very long time ago and I haven't changed my mind.
I find it humorous that there are xians who have to make comments in a thread clearly to poke at someone who doesn't believe or in order to derail.
It doesn't surprise me at all, juj.
I am not poking fun at all. However, I do believe in truths. Either there is a God or there is not. While I am not an atheist, at least they have shown courage and taken the plunge. But to believe there might be one or He really doesn't care about us or doesn't need worshipping just seems like a commitment or a courage problem to me. Are you just waiting around until you have kids or waiting for your deathbed to suddlenly exclaim.....wait a minute.......I Believe!!!!!!!!!
And the other talk about...."I am good. I don't need someone or a book to tell me I'm good or do the right thing." What they don't seem to understand that they were not brought up in a vacuum. There are good people that were examples that they followed all their lives and I would bet that most of them were Christian. Many of their laws are Christian based. You are the sum of your parts and experiences. You are probably good if the world around you was good and you are probably bad if the world around you is mostly bad.
So here's a toast to the Christian world to teach by example and influence all the atheists and agnostics of the world to be good, productive citizens of the world.
Juj said...."So here's a toast to the Christian world to teach by example and influence all the atheists and agnostics of the world to be good, productive citizens of the world."
I would suggest then that you start soon, because the a lot of the examples I see set by Christians are pretty intolerant of others. You cannot even accept the fact that an atheist does not believe, death bed or not.
That's why they come up with all those specific terms - they mean different things.
Sure they mean different things. But you don't need to create a word for every belief in the world. Saying "I don't believe in god" isn't much harder than "weak atheist" yet the latter is going to create much more confusion.
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If "what do you believe?" is a stupid question to you, then I fully agree that there is no need for you to worry about stupid things like language and meaning.
How does this follow exactly? I think asking people what they "believe" is completely boring, I simply don't care. You are free to disagree.
And the other talk about...."I am good. I don't need someone or a book to tell me I'm good or do the right thing." What they don't seem to understand that they were not brought up in a vacuum. There are good people that were examples that they followed all their lives and I would bet that most of them were Christian.
Apparently you took this from my post but what you ignore is my first sentence which states I was NOT raised in a religious home. My parents were wonderful & taught me values but that did not include shoving a Bible in my face. I did experience the 'christian' example, when I went to VBS with my friends or a brief conversation with an aquaintance. I did go to church when I was younger as a social thing. I had several friends that went to the same place. As a child or young adult, your world is pretty small. All I heard is a lot of gossip & backstabbing from the members- oh, and asking for money. Let's not forget the hate spewing towards homosexuals & non-Christian religions. That did not influence me to be good, sorry. I was already a person of character because of my parents. They were my example.
Even today, I have an aquaintance that group emails me newsletters of the 'Christian Coalition'. I believe the last one I even took the time to read was telling all christians to boycott Ford because they were marketing the Jaguar to homosexuals. Just trash...
And I'm not agnostic because I'm waiting to claim "I believe!" on my deathbed. Frankly, I don't know if there is a god & I don't care. Period. I'm not spending my life here on earth worrying about it. It's that simple. I have many years left & my path may change but I don't ever see that path taking me to Christianity. Too much intolerance, hate & negativity-
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So here's a toast to the Christian world to teach by example and influence all the atheists and agnostics of the world to be good, productive citizens of the world.
Sure they mean different things. But you don't need to create a word for every belief in the world. Saying "I don't believe in god" isn't much harder than "weak atheist" yet the latter is going to create much more confusion.
Again, they mean different things. I'll stop confusing you by trying to explain...
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How does this follow exactly? I think asking people what they "believe" is completely boring, I simply don't care. You are free to disagree.
Juj said...."So here's a toast to the Christian world to teach by example and influence all the atheists and agnostics of the world to be good, productive citizens of the world."
I would suggest then that you start soon, because the a lot of the examples I see set by Christians are pretty intolerant of others. You cannot even accept the fact that an atheist does not believe, death bed or not.
I am not talking about atheists. Again, while I don't agree with them, at least I understand where they are coming from. It's the agnostics I have a problem with.
Apparently you took this from my post but what you ignore is my first sentence which states I was NOT raised in a religious home. My parents were wonderful & taught me values but that did not include shoving a Bible in my face. I did experience the 'christian' example, when I went to VBS with my friends or a brief conversation with an aquaintance. I did go to church when I was younger as a social thing. I had several friends that went to the same place. As a child or young adult, your world is pretty small. All I heard is a lot of gossip & backstabbing from the members- oh, and asking for money. Let's not forget the hate spewing towards homosexuals & non-Christian religions. That did not influence me to be good, sorry. I was already a person of character because of my parents. They were my example.
Even today, I have an aquaintance that group emails me newsletters of the 'Christian Coalition'. I believe the last one I even took the time to read was telling all christians to boycott Ford because they were marketing the Jaguar to homosexuals. Just trash...
And I'm not agnostic because I'm waiting to claim "I believe!" on my deathbed. Frankly, I don't know if there is a god & I don't care. Period. I'm not spending my life here on earth worrying about it. It's that simple. I have many years left & my path may change but I don't ever see that path taking me to Christianity. Too much intolerance, hate & negativity-
What an arrogant statement.
I did say teach by example and not shove Bibles in your face. I don't agree with being in your face either.
Oh and I bet your parents had Christian influences. They didn't grow up in a vacuum either.
As far a Christian fundamentalist groups. If they stay to themselves and do their own thing, I have no problem with them, but when they start pushing their brand of Christianity on me, I don't like it either.
Oh and I bet your parents had Christian influences. They didn't grow up in a vacuum either.
And the ancient Jews from which Christianity eventually branched out from had earlier influences, they didn't live in a vaccum. I think Hinduism has a greater claim to this considering its so old but then again them Aussie aborigines pretty much lived in a vacuum but still managed to make laws such as not killing or stealing. The truth is that most of we humans are predisposed not to do bad things..so..yeah, we can in fact lead moral lives sans christianity
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Just trash... 
