Atheism

How one practices their religious beliefs is a very flexible thing. At root, I consider religions to be a philosophy generally. The extent of the importance of deities is not always the biggest part of religions depending on how the practitioner interprets it, in my opinion. It is why you have level headed folk and extremes in all religions, similar to well, any philosophy or belief really.

Also, I am a theist. I mean, atheist. Wait.

 

i did answer your question. i said that you believe what you want, and then do with it what you will.

 

You are an atheistic theist :b

 

I asked what you did do. Not what you were allowed to do. It was a specifics question. I don't need vagueness.

 

Well, it's not for everyone xD Not all Christians are the same though I can tell you, I know people who are very anti-social or just very shy or extremely extroverted. There are quite a few of the traditional Christian views that I don't agree with like gays shouldn't be condemned and we should accept everyone and we shouldn't judge. That's just my take, then again you don't have to have a religion to have these thoughts.

Sadly, people can't be avoided in this world and so it's just dealing with them in a way you'd want to be dealt with for anyone. It's not troublesome if it's what you want to do, like it comforts me to think there is a God who has a plan for me and who loves me, if it turns out to be a lie then I don't care- it's brought me such happiness in this world so what does it matter?

 

Given how many groups there are it's hard to believe they could be uniform. You're a very modern example of a Christian it seems by the way you talk. Modern meaning fairly mainstream and rational.

It doesn't matter to some people. Some people feel the need for definite truth because they can't fathom unanswerable questions.

 

fix'd

Strike is now [S]text[/S]

 

I love you sometimes.

/would have been rep message

 

It's fine but then aren't all actions selfish? Every good action will give you some form of happiness whether it's the feeling that you've done something good or the person has done something nice to you in return. I have pondered this for a while and I think that what makes the action selfish is the intention- if you do it solely to get something back and not to actually help the person then that is selfish.

Some people require answers and logic and have to have proof. Some people believe there can't be a God and others believe there can't possibly not be a God. That is philosophy, people trying to find answers to unanswerable questions- like you can never prove or disprove the existence of God but you need this because if you could prove it then Faith would have less meaning. A certainty to me is easy, it's a challenge to believe in something you cannot prove exists.

I try to be, I don't like people insisting they are correct when they have no definite proof. I believe what I believe but I accept that it may not be real. I have faith that is does though. No person's opinion is worth more than anyone elses so everyone should be listened to at the least.

 

South park made a great example of Atheism

 

Actually, yes. I have a theory that actually, we are all selfish deep down. You don't want to see someone cry, you don't want someone to hate you, you want to be accepted, you want to feel good, etc.

My thought was that I don't expect to be saved by a deity for something I did :)

 

Why can't people believe what they believe? As long as it's not harming anyone, physically or mentally, then why does it matter?
You have your beliefs, they have theirs.

I for one though am an Atheist, though I'm currently being raised in a Catholic household lol.

 

Oh dude, strict Catholic? If so, I'm so sorry.

 

Oh goodness yes. >.>

Church every Sunday, "pray" every night before going to bed, thanking God for the food on our plate.

And even mention the words "homosexual", "atheist", etc., someone's toosh gets beat. D:

 

Aw, man. That's why I despise parents who brings religion into upbringing... Indoctrination is despicable.

 

i wasn't being vague. i cant define the beliefs and practices every religion with a single statement. if you were looking for what i believe personally, that would be a different matter, but you didn't ask that.

like i was saying earlier about churches. they have a habit of convincing people to not question what they are taught, regarding religion that is. the same thing can be said for parents, but it is as much the childs responsibility to define their own beliefs. its perfectly reasonable for parents to bring their children up in a religion, the problem starts when they refuse to let their children have beliefs that differ from their own.

 

Actually, you can reduce this to pure science, though nobody likes doing it because science is based on the assumption that ll laws and theories can be overturned with new evidence. Because of the way that the scientific method works you need to find evidence for something for it to be considered viable and once it is viable you need to find evidence to the contrary. So, scientifically, there is no god yet. I personally don't see a reason for me to believe in something without proof because I agree with the steps taken in the scientific method. I can look to psychology to know that there are tons of reasons for other people to believe though, so there's no reason for me to argue against them.

Opinions have no objective value at all but people perceive value in them at all, so I guess you could say that they're equal in that sense.[DOUBLEPOST=1345326369][/DOUBLEPOST]

I was asking about you. Not anyone else. That's why I asked what you did, not what all people did. You probably just read my question differently from how I intended you to. Actually, looking back I was being colloquial as hell so I see where the confusion came from. My fault entirely.

 

Reasonable? Not if the indoctrinate. A parent should guide their child, not tell them what to believe. Which is what I said.

 

Yeah, it's sad to see parents forcing their children into a religion- it just pushes them away, it's good that they can make their own choice : D

That is true, but I doubt you will ever be able to scientifically prove the existence of God and that is why people will forever argue about the fact.

Also, people say to me, as I am a science geek, how can you believe in both science and God? And the answer is simple- science explains how stuff happens and religion (to me) explains why stuff happens.

 

I am an atheist, I have been for all my life, raised by atheists too. I believe that you don't need the promise of heaven to see the merit in a good deed.