And had you chosen a different god, you’d have a different set of equally valid reasons that would allow you to feel safe and comfortable with that other choice of gods, no doubt.
“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”
– Stephen Roberts
In addition to what other posters have said above, this quote basically sums up my position.
You’re making god sound really whiny and passive-aggressive. Is this just your perception of him, or is the dude really such a punk that he doesn’t feel loved unless people prove themselves?
This is really confusing. God loved the world, so he gave his son (who was actually God). And you say that people would “perish” if he didn’t do this. Yet, isn’t that a rule created by God? And since Jesus came back to life, could you really say that God “gave” him?
So, to sum up, you’re telling me that God sacrificed Jesus (God) so that God could break a rule that God created? But he didn’t really sacrifice him, because Jesus (God) came back to life after a couple of days.
It sounds like you ain’t worshipping a deity. You’re worshipping a nutcase with multiple personality disorder.
You know, us non-believers feel that presence too. But to us, it’s our own feelings. You know, stuff like love, compassion, beauty and conscience. Why the need to externalize it, when it’s perfectly reasonable to see that stuff as having arisen from within? How about you have some faith in yourself, rather than attributing everything to something else?
Your source actually says that Christianity is about 33% of humanity.
I think there might be one based on the Old Testament. It’s certainly practised in Israel. :rolleyes:
Are you still ‘quite safe’ in your beliefs?
Perhaps you could document the changes in Judaism.
To help you along, do bear in mind that Christianity has split into two major branches (Catholic / Protestant) and then into numerous sects. Which is the true branch of the religion?
It turns out that… Mormonism, yes, Mormonism was the correct answer. Thank you all for playing.
Vague South Park reference.
That’s the humanist viewpoint, and it’s a type of faith. I actually do not see this at odds with a belief in diety. Believers feel that the Creator granted us the power and will to have that faith, and whether you actually attribute that to God or not isn’t the point. The point is that you feel it and use it’s strength.
Believers do not necessarily “need” to externalize it, they just see it that way… just as non-believers feel that internalizing it without diety is “correct.”.
And that 22% are islamic, whose God is my God.
33%+22%=55%
Yep. I believe that Christ is the son of the living God.
I think that catholicism was the first split. I think that it left the true christian religion to become more legalistic and authoritarian and protestentism is an attempt to return the church to the way that Christ intended.
I am not sure whether you understood me correctly. Experiencing emotion isn’t “a type of faith”.
Could you please put a lid on the arrogant (and frankly uneducated) pronouncements about what is or is not “true Christianity?”
I was responding to this statement:
Humanists have faith in the power of the human spirit, but don’t believe that it originates with God. Humanists feel that inner strength and all the emotions with which it’s associated, and believe it comes from within. Isn’t that what you’re talking about?