An Atheist's Religious Denial of Faith in Their Beliefs
The worldview of atheists seems to be denial. First, there is the denial of atheists of their worldview actually being a worldview. Even though Atheists have started gathering together and celebrating their ‘Atheism’ with a comprehensive conception of how they want the world to be especially from their specific standpoint that all religions (including those people who follow Christ Jesus) should be disbanded so that all people become disciples of atheism, the many atheists I have encountered deny that they have a worldview. Even when these atheists are confronted with the “American Atheists Aims and Principles” which describes precisely the worldview that the American Atheists are aiming to achieve, the atheists I have encountered deny that there is a worldview in their organization of aims and principles.
The atheists I’ve encountered even deny that the set of fundamental beliefs listed in the guiding principles within the ”American Atheists Aims and Principles” is a creed that they believe. It is clear that the “American Atheists” being a ‘not for profit’ organization, holds atheism as their cause of being and as a principle of their life in which they hold a system of belief that God does not exist. The “American Atheists” seem to hold to that belief with extreme vigor and energy. In fact however, the atheists I’ve encountered deny that atheism can be properly described as a religion to which one has faith in their belief of God’s nonexistence.
Like their denial of God, atheists are also in adamant denial that their non-belief in God is a religious endeavor. Atheism in fact is a lot of ‘denial’ because they not only deny that they deny that God exists, they deny that they believe that God does not exist. Many atheists also deny that they have any faith in their denial that God exists yet many of them will deny that statement is true because many of them also deny that they have faith in their thinking that God does not exist and also many deny that truth exists. Thus in their saying that truth does not exist, they can deny that it is true that their non-belief in God requires of them any actual thought over their motto of, “Atheism is a religion like not collecting stamps is a hobby.” It seems as if atheists have something against both, collecting stamps and Christ Jesus.
Most of the atheists I’ve encountered seem to have a ‘belief’ that is especially strong in what they deny and they show a conviction in that ‘there isn’t any good reason for [them] to acknowledge’ Christ Jesus. A quote from a recent post an atheist replied to me with that describes their understanding of atheism: “Denying a belief does not constitute a belief or set of beliefs itself - it's simply not accepting the assertion of theology which states there is a god.” Notice that they deny even that say that they ‘believe’ in their denial of God in that they just do not accept the assertion that God exists.
Yet when it comes to getting them to actually admit that they have ‘faith’ in their ‘belief’ they deny that they do. By the definition in the Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, faith is: something that is believed especially with strong conviction however all the atheists I’ve asked about their belief that God does not exist by their own testimonies, they deny to actually have strong convictions in their denial of God yet they say unwaveringly that they deny that Christ Jesus is God. This denial atheists do is such a deep rooted stronghold in their existence that I often think that they do not actually think things through that they say because of all the contradiction within their statements.
What is Atheism to an Atheist?
We have seen how atheists deny the dictionary definitions of words to suit their own denials of their denial of their denying that they have a worldview, denial that atheism is a religion, denying any belief in their denying too any faith in their belief of which too they deny in their denial of Christ Jesus. Atheism as I have learned is a pure system of denial in which the atheists deny everything including truth and morals so that they can do so to fit their desires even including denial of dictionary definitions of common everyday words.
So what exactly is atheism to an atheist? Just the other day I had a discussion with a number of atheists on a couple of very popular atheist blogs who adamantly denied that truth exists and insisted that truth changes over time. These atheists also adamantly prescribed to morals as being like feelings which can change over time. One of the atheists during these discussions stated what atheism is; “Atheism is not a religion, there is no faith involved in disbelieving things which have not been demonstrated. We have no rules, atheism is only the lack of a belief in gods.”
The “American Atheists” web site writes, “Atheism does not have a doctrine at all and atheists certainly do not ‘deny’ that gods exist. Denial is the ‘refusal to believe.’ Atheism does not ‘know there is a god but refuse to believe in him’ (or her).” Also, they state on their web site that Atheism is not a belief system or religion by saying, “Atheism is a lack of belief in gods, from the original Greek meaning of ‘without gods.’”
The Truth Comes Out in Atheists’ Actions
From all the evidence I’ve seen, read and have heard from talking with atheists, many of them are not even interested in knowing the truth. Given a method for them to honestly seek and find the truth about Christ Jesus the atheists I have encountered could care less and mock and scoff at it. To me, their mocking and scoffing seems proof enough to me of their refusal to believe that God exists thus they deny, that God exists and that they freely choose to not even find out the truth for themselves.
Many of the atheists I’ve encountered could care less if God truly exists or not because these atheists are only interested in not having any rules to follow and they have focused their attention solely on themselves in their own desires. They in their denial are overlooking the fact that their main focus in lacking a belief in gods is opening them up to a huge problem in that their primary repudiation is focused against Christ Jesus. Yes, they say that they lack belief in any gods yet to their denial is focused squarely upon on the one true God, Christ Jesus.
With denial a huge central part of atheism, in many ways with denial being such a major aspect of an atheist’s way of life, many of them feel left out of the main stream of life in that they want to have celebrations and holidays and such. Because most all major holidays are of some religious aspect with the very primary ones being Christmas celebrating Christ Jesus’ birth; Jewish Passover celebrating death passing over of the first born of those who believed in God’s word including those people following Jesus Christ in taking Communion, Christ Jesus’ last supper prior to His suffering and being placed on a cross to die for our sins; and Easter the celebration of Christ Jesus’ physical rise from death on a cross, atheists are at a loss for any major holiday.
To compensate for their lack of a religious holiday, many atheists have turned to a number of rituals that they have started performing so to fill this desire they have void due to their lack of wanting to know the truth. Of course the rituals that these atheists came up with are a direct mockery of anything that followers of our Lord Christ Jesus use to display their respect for Him. And I’m sure true to their religious denial of everything else, they will deny that anything they are doing is a ritual or religious in nature denying too that Christ Jesus is their primary target.
Although they deny it, atheism is being more and more like a true religion with religious rituals and ceremonies. The newest thing that atheists are performing is a religious ritual they call “de-baptism.” A de-baptism is done at an atheist’s “the Atheist Coming Out” ceremony when a clerical elder of the of atheists dressed in a special robe uses a hairdryer to officially “de-baptize” those who parade by the clerical elder while the clerical elder declares in a chant like manner says that they will not go to Hell and now the person walking by has been “de-baptized” seemingly meaning that they are now officially in the atheist pseudo-church of atheism. Even more evidence of atheism being a true religion comes from their religious de-communion ritual they have also started. The de-communion table holds their “holy Root Beer and peanut butter & honey de-communion crackers.”
Another item of strong evidence pointing to atheism being a religion is the extravagant respect and admiration for and devotion to their symbol of the letter “A” which they hold in great esteem which they call, “Scarlet Letter.” This worship symbol they proudly and broadly display apparently as an idol. You will notice it in many places where atheists congregate as they display it proudly as though it was as significant as the cross that Christ Jesus was crucified upon. Here's a tale of their "Scarlet Letter."
Topping it all off is that the so stated, “New Atheists” calling it “Atheism 3.0” says that religion isn’t all that bad. Even though these New Atheists setting up their Atheism 3.0 religious activities still do not follow Christ Jesus, they do actually say that atheism is a form of religion needing to change the world and make it better. (Like what is their definition of “better” because getting an atheist to actually have a “fixed” definition of any word is as easy as giving a wild cat a bath in ice cold water.) Anyway, these atheists are at least more honest in the aspect of atheism being a religion than any I’ve had encounters with these last few months yet as atheists do not realize is that religion is not what following Christ Jesus is all about.
The Choice Is Only Yours and is a Once in A Lifetime Choice
Anyone who sincerely is interested in discovering the truth about the most important questions of life first must concern herself or himself with cultivating right thoughts about God. We only have one time on this earth to live our life. We only have one choice during our life to make that counts for an eternity. That one choice we each have to make is the one we each have to make to accept Jesus Christ as our savior or not.
There are only two options for us to choose from; one choice is that you can choose to believe that God does not exist and the second choice is the option to choose to see if God really does exist. That choice is yours to make and no one else’s to make for you. There is a time in each of our lives that we have to take responsibility for the choices we make. All choices have consequences and this choice is the most vital choice of your life.
If you are an atheist who is about to contact me about it being my burden of proof to prove to you God’s existence, don’t because that’s not how it works. Your apathy of knowing absolute truth is not my burden to bear. It is up to you to choose for yourself to take responsibility for yourself to know and accept absolute truth or not and it is not up to me or anyone else to choose for you nor is it up to me or anyone else to give to you the proof you need.
The proof you want of God’s existence is the proof you need and only you and God know what that is, not me nor anyone else knows but you and God. Some of the proof I needed to have a personal relationship with God is written in the following article if you choose to read about it. My Personal Relationship with Christ Jesus: http://tinyurl.com/yk8n6jb
There is only one path to God and that is through His only begotten Son, Christ Jesus. When Jesus was on earth he said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6) This was and is a very exclusive claim that Christ Jesus made. No other claim like this was made by Mohammad, Buddha, or any other religious leader. It is something very worth investigating because it has such great implications.
The people (disciples) who were following Christ Jesus who experienced Jesus’ physical body rise from being dead, went through great pain and suffering before they were martyred for their sticking with the fact that Christ Jesus actually did physically die and then physically arise from being dead when it would have been to their favor to have just said that it was all a fake. Unlike the so called martyrdom of people committing suicide with bombs strapped to them which also kills people around them, the disciples who were with Christ Jesus during His teachings and after His physical rise from death suffered cruel beatings, imprisonment, and execution for their commitment to their knowing that Jesus actually did physically rise from being dead to live again. At any point to save their life any one of these men who had followed Christ Jesus could have easily said that Jesus did not truly rise from the dead but not a one of them did because they knew for fact that Christ Jesus did rise from the dead to live thus giving to us all who truly place our trust in Christ Jesus the salvation from our sins to live with Him.
As an atheist, your apathy to not seek and find the absolute truth is a choice you make for yourself and you alone bear burden of on your own. For you to demand evidence from someone of God’s existence is showing just how much you do not want to know nor experience the evidence of God’s existence. Again, this is a choice you make to want to honestly know God or not and not my or anyone else’s responsibility to take for you.
It is Only Your Choice to Make
God respects our freedom. If and only if you love the truth with your heart, your mind, and your soul will you find the truth about God.
The choice to seek for the truth is a free choice. And all seekers find. The verses below come from the Holy Bible and each claim – that all seekers find God – are testable by experience, by experiment.
Deuteronomy 4:29 - But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.
Jeremiah 29:13 - You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
Proverbs 8:17 - I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.
If you are honest about finding the truth, here is a way to see if Christianity is true or not. Tell Christ Jesus that you are seeking the truth. Ask Him to fulfill His promise that all who seek Him will find Him. In His own time, of course. He promised that you will find, but He did not promise a schedule. God’s a lover, not a train.
But; you may reply: I don’t even know whether Christ is God. I do not even know whether there is a God. That’s okay because you can pray the prayer of the skeptic:
Lord Jesus, I don’t know if you even exist. I am a skeptic. I doubt. I think you may be only a myth. I am however not certain, (at least when I’m completely honest with myself). So if you really do exist, and if you really did promise to reward all seekers, you must be hearing me now.
So I hereby declare myself a seeker, a seeker of the truth, whatever it is and wherever it is. I want to know the truth and live in the truth. If you are the truth, please help me.
If Christianity is true, God will answer your prayer. Such a prayer constitutes a scientifically fair test of the Christian “hypothesis” – that is, if you do not put any unfair restrictions on God, like demanding a miracle – your way not His – or certainty by tomorrow – your time, not His. The demand that God act like your servant is hardly a scientifically fair test of the hypothesis that there is a God who is your King.
But all this King asks for at first is honesty, not faking a faith you do not have. Honesty is a choice of the will – the choice to seek the truth no matter what or where. This is the most momentous choice you can make. It is the choice of light over darkness, ultimately heaven over hell.
Warning: If you honestly pray the skeptic’s prayer, it will change your life because you will experience the presence of God and at that time you will know without doubt that God exists and that He wants to have a loving, personal relationship with you. God will not force you to love Him back nor will He force you to accept His only begotten Son Christ Jesus as your savior. The choice is still up to you to either accept God’s love and Christ Jesus as your savior. I suggest that you make a wise choice.
Here are the definitions which atheists deny define atheism. You may have noted during the reading of this article how well each of these definitions fit with describing atheists, atheism and the activities that atheists are doing.
Idol
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idol
1 : a representation or symbol of an object of worship; broadly : a false god
Doctrine
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doctrine%20
1 archaic : teaching, instruction
2 a : something that is taught b : a principle or position or the body of principles in a branch of knowledge or system of belief
Creed
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/creed
1 : a brief authoritative formula of religious belief
2 : a set of fundamental beliefs; also : a guiding principle
Ritual
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ritual%20
1 : of or relating to rites or a ritual : ceremonial <a ritual dance>
2 : according to religious law <ritual purity>
3 : done in accordance with social custom or normal protocol
Religious
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Religious
1 : relating to or manifesting faithful devotion to an acknowledged ultimate reality or deity <a religious person> <religious attitudes>
2 : of, relating to, or devoted to religious beliefs or observances <joined a religious order>
3 a : scrupulously and conscientiously faithful
Religion
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion
2 : a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
3 archaic : scrupulous conformity : conscientiousness
4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith
Faith
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith
3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs
Worship
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/worship%20
4 : extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem
Worldview
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/worldvi...
Worldview: weltanschauung
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/weltans...
weltanschauung: a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world especially from a specific standpoint
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BTW, the name “Scarlet Letter” for the “A” I did not name. I found the name at this website:
I'd love to believe in God. Who wouldn't want to go to think their loved ones that have died are in paradise instead of just rotting? Who wouldn't want to think they could get to paradise, too? Who wouldn't want to think someone exists who will always love them? Who wouldn't want to believe in perfect justice - all bad people punished and all good people rewarded? This stuff sounds fantastic!
I've earnestly prayed a version of that skeptic's prayer. I wasn't asking for a pony, I was just asking to think God was real. It never worked. I could never force myself to think of God as real.
How did you convince yourself that God was real?
I've wanted to believe in God before, for all of those reasons listed up above but I could never get past the myths. Just like I wanted unicorns to be real as a child, but never thought they were, I wanted God to be real as an adult but never thought it was.
So how did you force yourself to believe in this myth, how did you get past the total lack of evidence?
Posted by: Kylyssa Shay | 30 October 2009 at 09:49 PM
In the very strong field of silly writings bashing atheists, this has to be the stupidest. Yikes.
Posted by: Eddie | 01 November 2009 at 10:44 AM
Forgive me if this is some kind of extremely elaborate joke I am not picking up on. But if it is not a joke:
Please explain why you think a way to find out whether God exists is to believe that God exists and see how that makes me feel. How could I "honestly pray" to something I do not believe in, without first changing my mind and believing in it? You are presuming the outcome as part of the method.
Posted by: thoughtcounts Z | 01 November 2009 at 10:44 AM
Gee. If only I'd known you were available to tell me what I'm thinking!
Posted by: mikespeir | 01 November 2009 at 10:58 AM
"This worship symbol they proudly and broadly display apparently as an idol."
Do you honestly believe this? If so, you are greatly mistaken. Let's perform a though experiment. Say you collect a whole bunch of scarlet A's is the form of t-shirts, patches, stickers or whatever. Then let's say you publicly burn them and upload the video to youtube. The worst you'd hear from atheists is derisive laughter for wasting your time. It's not an idol in any sense of the word. It's just an identifying symbol.
Now let's say I gathered up a bunch of bibles, crosses, crucifixes, etc. and I publicly burned them and uploaded the video to youtube. That video would be yanked within hours and I'd get death threats for at least several weeks if not years. For an example, check out the results of PZ Myers desecrating a communion host, Quran, and a copy of The God Delusion. He didn't get any atheist threats for destroying the work of Dawkins, but he got tons of threats from pissed off Christians.
Posted by: penn | 01 November 2009 at 11:04 AM
Thanks. I laughed until the tears came. A superb parody of what religious people think about atheists. You should write for The Onion .
Posted by: llewelly | 01 November 2009 at 12:52 PM
I am an atheist - formerly a very devoted Christian. I am disappointed at the lack of knowledge in this blog. Morality is not tied to religion. I know many atheists who have stronger moral convictions than many of the Christians I have known. Also, I have nothing against Jesus. I do believe he had good teachings, but do not believe he was a deity. This blog only contributes to the ignorance about atheism, and the discrimination that is experienced. Atheists are the most hated minority group. Please stop contributing to the hate. Seek to learn, appreciate diversity, and show Christ-like love.
Posted by: Ashlee | 01 November 2009 at 01:09 PM
Kylyssa, you are dishonest with yourself in that you start off by saying, “I'd love to believe in God.” then you said, “Who wouldn't want to think someone exists who will always love them?” and then you turn around and say, “I could never force myself to think of God as real.” If you really truly honestly pray the “Skeptic’s Prayer” you do not have to force anything because God will provide to you the evidence you seek so that you know beyond any doubts that He truly exists and that He loves you.
Christ Jesus is not a myth as a myth has no evidence to support it whereas there is abundant evidence to support Christ Jesus’ existence and His being God. The evidence someone needs to determine for his or her self comes from the person being truly honest in their search for truth. Overall Kylyssa, I feel you need to sit down and be blatantly honest with yourself as if you cannot be honest with yourself, you cannot be honest with anyone else either. Until you are blatantly honest with yourself and accept that you are not perfect, you are living a lie. Being truly honest with ourselves is a choice each of us must make yet so many people choose to be dishonest with themselves. I went through this myself a few years ago. http://findingtruthtoday.typepad.com/finding-truth-today/2009/08/a-testimonial-of-a-sinner.html
There is no force in placing one’s faith into Christ Jesus as their savior, one only has to choose to be truly and honestly open minded to the facts and evidence supporting Christ Jesus as our God and savior. The evidence that you need to make the choice for you to accept Christ Jesus as your savior is different than the evidence than I needed and is also different than evidence that anyone else needs because God is a personal God who wants a personal relationship with you. You can read about the personal relationship I have with Christ Jesus and of some of the more prominent personal evidences God provided to me which helped me better understand and place my faith into Christ Jesus here if you want: http://findingtruthtoday.typepad.com/finding-truth-today/2009/10/my-personal-relationship-with-christ-jesus-1.html
Placing your faith into Christ Jesus is a wonderful feeling because of the hope you feel and the love you experience. Not everyone wants to place their faith into Christ Jesus. You may be a person who chooses to not freely accept the free gift of salvation from your sins and this is a choice only you make for yourself and for the reasons you make your choice upon. If you want to know more about what it means to have faith in Christ Jesus you can read about it here: http://findingtruthtoday.typepad.com/finding-truth-today/2009/09/what-does-it-mean-faith-in-christ-jesus.html
If you choose to actually honestly pray the “Skeptic’s Prayer” without placing any timelines and demands for evidence, God will provide in His time the evidence you need and at that time you have a choice to make. Not everyone however makes a wise choice. I suggest that you make a wise choice.
Posted by: @GospelToday | 01 November 2009 at 01:29 PM
Eddie, you think that I am bashing atheists because I wrote about my experiences with a large number of them and pointed out how the inconsistencies between their actions and their statements?
Posted by: @GospelToday | 01 November 2009 at 01:30 PM
thoughtcounts Z Honestly praying the Skeptic’s Prayer is not as you put it, “How could I "honestly pray" to something I do not believe in, without first changing my mind and believing in it?”
The “Skeptic’s Prayer” is about someone who is not so in denial of reality that he/she has closed off their mind to the reality that God has not and cannot ever be proven to not exist. It is an honest person’s act of willingness to actually truly seek the absolute truth by opening their mind to the possibility of God’s existence.
Posted by: @GospelToday | 01 November 2009 at 01:31 PM
Mikespeir you seem deluded in your thinking that I know what you are thinking?
Posted by: @GospelToday | 01 November 2009 at 01:32 PM
Penn people may “say” that they are a Christian yet they are not a true follower of Christ Jesus. Anyone making a threat of harm to someone and calling themselves a Christian is not following Christ Jesus. http://findingtruthtoday.typepad.com/finding-truth-today/2009/09/so-you-say-you-are-a-christian.html
Posted by: @GospelToday | 01 November 2009 at 01:33 PM
Llewelly I only wrote about my experiences with atheists and reported the events which happened.
Posted by: @GospelToday | 01 November 2009 at 01:34 PM
Ashlee not everyone who “says” or “said” that they “are” or “were” a Christian “is” or “was” really following Christ Jesus. http://findingtruthtoday.typepad.com/finding-truth-today/2009/09/so-you-say-you-are-a-christian.html
How arrogant of you to say that I hate atheists (or anyone). I do not hate anyone. If I did hate anyone, it would be the person who murdered my dad yet I do not hate him and I do not hate anyone including you. I actually pray for the salvation of the people who were involved in murdering my dad. http://tinyurl.com/dadmurdered
Posted by: @GospelToday | 01 November 2009 at 01:35 PM
@GospelToday -- If all the Christians who accused other Christians of not being real Christians were to disappear, there'd be no Christians left.
What do you think that says -- about Christians, and about Christianity?
Posted by: Scott Van Tussenbrook | 01 November 2009 at 03:28 PM
@GospelToday, how many is "a large number"?
Posted by: Weemaryanne | 01 November 2009 at 04:33 PM
Ashlee didn't accuse you of hating atheists. She accused you or perpetuating misconceptions about the most hated minority.
Posted by: Cyphern | 01 November 2009 at 06:14 PM
You wrote
Just the other day I had a discussion with a number of atheists on a couple of very popular atheist blogs who adamantly denied that truth exists and insisted that truth changes over time.
How about some links to those discussions to we can evaluate your report of what happened.
Posted by: RBH | 01 November 2009 at 07:08 PM
This is a brilliant POE, do you deny it?
Thank you! Hilarious
Posted by: stuff_monger | 02 November 2009 at 12:57 AM
This article is rubbish. All that I could do is laugh when I read the sentence with:
"...denying any belief in their denying too any faith in their belief of which too they deny in their denial of Christ Jesus."
You may have something interesting or thought-provoking in this article, but I can't find it; it must be lost in the gibberish.
Posted by: Aaron | 02 November 2009 at 05:13 AM
Lord Odin, I don’t know if you even exist. I am a skeptic. I doubt. I think you may be only a myth. I am however not certain, (at least when I’m completely honest with myself). So if you really do exist, and if you really did promise to reward all seekers, you must be hearing me now.
So I hereby declare myself a seeker, a seeker of the truth, whatever it is and wherever it is. I want to know the truth and live in the truth. If you are the truth, please help me.
Posted by: unknown | 02 November 2009 at 07:41 AM
Scott Van, seems to be that you do not read well or you forget what you read quickly because it is not me who defines what a follower of Christ Jesus is, it is Christ Jesus who defines it as stated in the article.
Posted by: @GospelToday | 02 November 2009 at 12:05 PM
Weemaryanne a large number in this case is up to around 500 people who call themselves atheist which I’ve talked with and/or read/participated in their blogs over the last eight months.
Posted by: @GospelToday | 02 November 2009 at 12:10 PM
My position is very simple. There is no god.
I don't care if you call it denial of what you believe, a position of faith, or whatever. Your interpretation doesn't change my position.
Posted by: CJ | 02 November 2009 at 12:19 PM
Cyphern what misconceptions were perpetuated?
Everything that is there in the article happened and happens. Do you not deny that atheism is a religion? Do you not deny that you have faith in it? Do you not deny that you hold a belief that Christ Jesus is not God? Did not the de-baptisms happen? Do atheists not have a special letter “A” that they hold dear?
The definitions of the words I used are all in the dictionary and I did not write the dictionary, I just properly use it.
Why do you as an atheist feel hated?
Posted by: @GospelToday | 02 November 2009 at 12:21 PM
RBH here you go:
http://www.dailyatheist.net/?p=673&cpage=1#comment-53
http://www.dailyatheist.net/?p=885#IDComment38965841
RichardDawkins.net is another yet you have to be a member to view the links.
and most every day on Twitter http://twitter.com/GospelToday
Posted by: @GospelToday | 02 November 2009 at 12:32 PM
stuff_monger I do not know what “POE” stands for in your comment so I neither deny or confirm it without knowing what it is.
Posted by: @GospelToday | 02 November 2009 at 12:37 PM
Aaron, so you do not deny that atheism is a religion? You do not deny you have faith in your belief that Christ Jesus is not God? You do not deny that atheism is a worldview being evangelized to spread as a world religion?
Posted by: @GospelToday | 02 November 2009 at 12:44 PM
Sorry unknown, you’ll not get a reply when you are not being honest with your seeking the truth as in scoffing at the true means of you finding truth.
Posted by: @GospelToday | 02 November 2009 at 12:48 PM
CJ do you have faith in your belief that there is no God?
Posted by: @GospelToday | 02 November 2009 at 12:52 PM
@GospelToday: "POE" was, I believe, referring to Poe's Law. You can read more about it there. Basically, the commenter was unsure whether you were being serious or making a parody.
Regarding the "skeptic's prayer": My mind is open to the possibility of God's existence. If I saw any reason whatsoever to think that God existed, I would stop calling myself an atheist and I would believe in that deity. In the meantime, I act on the assumption that God does not exist. That means praying to God would be entirely ridiculous.
Do you open your mind to leprechauns by beseeching them to make their presence known to you? I doubt it -- but why not? I heard if you just ask them with a genuinely open heart, you'll see that they exist, and probably even get their pot of gold!
Posted by: thoughtcounts Z | 02 November 2009 at 12:53 PM
thoughtcounts Z there is no evidence of leprechauns or unicorns so why would anyone open their mind to them? For Christ Jesus being God there is evidence beyond all doubts and there is a means to which a truly honest seeker of the truth can find the evidence he or she needs to confirm that truth.
It seems as though you do as you stated have a mind which is, “… open to the possibility of God's existence.” Yet you do not truly want to honestly seek the evidence of personal proof of God’s existence per your statement, “… I act on the assumption that God does not exist.” From this statement you made it says that you want any evidence of God displayed to you on your terms and within your timelines.
Requesting your terms and it being within your timelines would place your desires above God. Although God loves you just the same, He does not bow down to anyone; including you and me. So for you to choose to act upon the assumption you make without any evidence that proves that God does not exist, to me seems foolish and not a wise choice for you to make.
It is your choice to make to truly honestly seek or not. I do not make the procedures up about how God respects our privacy and how He chooses to reveal Himself to someone; I just follow how it is written in the Holy Bible and disclose the information to people so that they know what to do if they honestly are seeking evidence of God’s existence.
Personally, I’d like for everyone to truly and honestly pray the Skeptic’s Prayer and discover the personal evidence they need so that they too can have a loving personal relationship with Christ Jesus. I know however that not everyone wants a loving personal relationship with Christ Jesus because that is their choice.
Posted by: @GospelToday | 02 November 2009 at 03:43 PM
GospelToday: perhaps you need to phrase your questions as a positive rather than a negative to assist in the conversation. For example, when you ask a question like "Do you not deny X?", it is confusing, especially when it appears possible or even likely that you actually intend to ask "Do you deny X?" but could also be asking "Do you have an opinion on X?" or even "Do you affirm X?"
So, regarding your 12:21 comment, on the assumption that "Do you not deny" actually means "Do you deny"...
"Religion" is a belief in a supernatural force or forces. Atheism, therefore, is not a religion. (I deny that atheism is a religion).
"Faith", in a religious context, is belief without evidence. I do not have faith in atheism, but I do believe it to be the truth based on the balance of evidence for God (extremely poor) and the extraordinary nature of the various described gods, which would require significant positive evidence in the light of contemporary scientific knowledge.
I couldn't work out the "Christ Jesus is not God" question. My opinion on the issue of the Trinity is that it is ridiculous story, even by the standard of religions, that cannot be taken seriously and has to be sheltered behind the "mystery" cloak to avoid being laughed out of church.
De-baptisms just sound like a group having a joke at the expense of Christianity. I would deny that they have the kind of special significance that I think you would ascribe to baptism.
There is indeed a logo for atheism, the stylised letter A, but I again would deny that it is a "worship symbol". It's more akin to an organisational logo, which you might wear with some pride but wouldn't worship.
As for hate... you'd better ask those who are the haters, those who speak with contempt and loathing anyone bold enough to call themselves "atheist".
Posted by: Joffan | 02 November 2009 at 04:09 PM
"For Christ Jesus being God there is evidence beyond all doubts"
Present this. NOW. SERIOUSLY. I WANT THIS. I NEED THIS. I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR THIS AND HEARING PEOPLE SAY THEY HAVE ALL OF THIS 'EVIDENCE', FAIL TO PRESENT *ANY*, AND THEN GET SERIOUSLY CONFUSED AS TO WHY I DON'T JUST ACCEPT ALL OF THIS EVIDENCE THAT THEY HAVEN'T SHOWN ME.
Posted by: unknown | 03 November 2009 at 06:34 AM
Joffan a common tactic that I’ve seen while reading many atheist blogs is that some atheists having nothing to directly dispute or deny the facts presented to them in a comment or within an article turn to criticism of the spelling, style, typos, grammar, etc. within the comment and/or article.
I notice you are a true atheist in that you have deny the dictionary definitions of words and have ignored the dictionary definitions of the words at the bottom of the article. Something you seem to deny is that words in English (and other languages) often have more than one meaning to them dependent upon how they are used and where they are used in sentences. For this reason which you choose to ignore, words within dictionaries have the multiple definitions listed for each word to help people to properly use the wrd in sentences and in meaning.
Posted by: @GospelToday | 03 November 2009 at 07:42 AM