That assumes that accepting a “statement of faith” ( in other words, an unsupported claim ) counts as progress. Or, for that matter, counts as a debate; a thread consisting of uncontested assertions of faith wouldn’t be much of a debate.
And how does calling her smug advance the debate?
Thanks for answering me, I will go to the site and read more, I am interested in anything that relates to man and his beliefs. What you tell me in your post is about the same as the core of most religions. If we could only follow them, how nice this world would be. In spiritualism the Oneness of everything is paramount, the Unity of all things. We are a part of the whole as the whole is within us. The Pagan religions believe about the same thing also. If we could only join together in the core beliefs and show our love and understanding for each other it would be great. Look for the similarities instead of the differences. A long time ago a bunch of near death experiencers got together and founded the International Association of Near Death Studies (IANDS) with the purpose of uniting the religions of the world through Love. A great idea, but they ran out of money, and the organization still exists, but is now different.
Thanks again for your post, it fits right into this thread. If we could over come our inflated egos all religions could live together in peace.
That can’t be the whole story, because of the nontrivial number of adult converts to religion, but I agree it’s a large part of it.
I think that’s true of pretty much anything. The older you get, the harder it is to change how you see the world.
Okay, but keep in mind that just because you were raised in a religion doesn’t necessarily mean you understand it, any more than growing up going to a school where science, history, mathematics, etc. were ostensibly taught guarantees you have a firm grasp, with no misconceptions, on all of these subjects.
gonzomax, this post is another example of why you seem to me to be all over the place in this thread. As far as I can see, it isn’t directly connected to the OP you started with. Perhaps a better title for this thread would have been “Problems that I, gonzomax, have with religion.” It’s as though you feel the need to justify your rejection of the religion you were raised in, and/or you have the missionary zeal of the new convert to go out and witness to your newfound faith (or in this case, lack of faith). In either case, that’s fine if you want to do it, but you may not accomplish much. Most of the issues you raise have had whole long threads devoted to them here in GD in the not-too-distant past.
Piffle.
It is rare to be raised atheist in North America, but rare is not the same as “never happens.” There are, indeed, persons who have been raised either as atheist or agnostic who have embraced religious belief as adults.
The reason that some atheists are snarky is the same reason that some Fundamentalist Christians, (and some “liberal” Christians), and some Muslims some pagans and some people of other beliefs are snarky: they embrace the very human failing of believing that THEY have the TRUTH and feel quite confident in expressing their “superiority” over the poor people who have failed to find the same TRUTH.
The non-believer who is aggressively hostile to believers, even when those believers are not attempting to push their faith on the non-believers, are simply displaying the same characteristics as the the proselytizing believer.
Different beliefs, same personalities.
Threads about religion are practically continuous on the dope. If we were to eliminate threads that have been discussed previously the dope would disappear. If you had noticed the threads are fluid. The old nailing jello to a wall thing. My last response I thought was a little off thread ,I agree . But, I came to the conclusion the thread had been sufficiently abandoned to justify it. No I am not scatterbrained. I do follow threads but they almost all evolve into something barely related to the thread eventually.
If you did not raise a kid into a religion ,how hard would it be to convince him of a religion at about 17 years of age. (any religion) .I suppose he would be attuned to the religion in his area from TV and friends. But what would his acceptance be.?
Seventeen is a very vulnerable age. In the early seventies many young people became involved in cults at about that age.
But other than the easily impressionable mind of the very young, I have found that my friends, as they have grown older, have diversified their beliefs. Just today I spent time with friends from a moderate Presbyterian college I attended over forty years ago. One in her sixties is entering a Franciscan order in the Anglican church. Another is exploring Judaism. Still another is thinking of taking up the practice of mindfulness. Several were interested in Buddhist teachings. None of them would have had any trouble accepting that Moslems worship the “one true God.”
I don’t think that people turn to stone as they age. Those who are turning sixty now have always been a more flexible generation.
Absolutely not! And I suspect that God doesn’t either. But that’s just my belief. Did you ever consider that some of what you were taught might be true even when all of it is not?
Who in this thread has gotten pissed? Who has been insulting when the other side tried to answer questions? Which side called the other fools? Which side keeps showing up to give answers even though they know they are going to be ridiculed every time?
I sincerely suggest that you go back through the thread to see where the insults are coming from and which side is still trying to give answers.
Remember, we have not promised you evidence of the existence of a God. If you don’t want answers without evidence, don’t ask us questions of belief. For the most part, questions asked by atheists at SDMB are about a very small God. No offense intended to you. That’s about all we are capable of talking about, but that doesn’t mean that that’s all there is.
We didn’t imply that; you inferred it.
God makes himself known to us, but it is not based on who we are or anything that we do. It’s a gift. At least, that’s what I think. Maybe I’m mistaken.
You could be right. You claim to have been raised Catholic and you get really upset when someone challenges your current beliefs. 
The RCC sets its teachings at a high bar. A pope is perfect. The bible is the word of god.The church is a perfect institution.
Once you get old enough to learn a little history , the edifice begins to crumble. For me ,once the history of the church was learned ,crazy popes doing anything to keep their power, crusades building churches in far flung areas that could use help surviving etc. Then so many nutzos representing the christians. Swaggert, Falwell and now David Vitter.
I am not sure there should be churches. Religion should be intensely personal. Keep it to yourself and dont judge.
Is this honestly what you got out of the Catholic teaching you received in your youth?
Tell that to the guy who started this thread.
Are you saying we should not ask questions? That is a church stance if I ever heard one. No I did not get that out of my church training. I was taught that exactly. No translations were needed.
The reason for the thread was a genuine curiosity if the religious on this board have dealt with this train of thought.
Tom I find your concept that atheists are just like deists in their attitudes weak. A distiction is we atheist were trained in the church structure. When we were vulnerable we were trained. If the deists were trained in atheism or at least taught about it you would have some equitability.
By the war Tom. I never get upset about religious arguments. I welcome religious debate. You are miles off about me being upset when challenged.
Plus atheists do not have to defend the universe 6000 years old, the rapture and other completely nonsensical ideas.
Do I, as a theist, have to defend these ideas even if I don’t believe in them?
No but it is part of the religious tapestry that we all see. If every single debater started with a ,this I believe and this I do not accept, the debate would become one on one they stifle education. This government buys into the worst of religion. They are the face of religion . I am sorry for those less radical.
Well I know I’m a little late to answer this but I’ll have a go at it anyway. The Devil made himself. One of God’s most exalted messengers who got a little too big for his britches. And that , is why … well you know the rest.
We had a discussion around this, and someone said the devil did not have free will, and thus could not decide to do something which he knows would make him lose. (I’m guessing that the Devil is a literalist.) That leads to the problem of why God made a devil who had to do evil.
Now, you are saying the devil had free will to revolt, so he should have free will to give up. So why doesn’t he? He’s either psychotic (god’s fault) or stupid (also god’s fault.)
The reason I love religion is that it is full of little catches like this.
No, seriously, I don’t know the rest. But the beginning, as Voyager points out, is pretty out of whack with your whole belief system.
Just in case I’ve forgotten, who made everything according to your religion? Or is anything we consider “bad” not made by that same guy? Better yet, how about the always ready retort of “mysterious ways”…and yet many of you claim ‘knowledge’ of the same mysterious dude…or the parts you like or agree with anyway.
Well, isn’t that just plain convenient. Never mind totally nonsensical.
I can take a certain amount of snark and I can dish it out as long as it is accompanied by serious well thought out points and the person demonstrates they are actually listening and considering the points I am making.
When atheists come off as sarcastic and dismissive with very little content to their argument that indicates to me they aren’t really interested in a serious discussion.
I was just in a thread in which I had a long interesting exchange with one atheist while a couple of others were so ridiculous in their blatant bias and insults that I simply ignored their comments and there was no discussion with them.
The devil made himself. That can not be. God created heaven and earth. He is everywhere and all powerful. If the devil exists ,god made him.
Well he did have free will, BECAUSE HE DID IT! Just like you and I. I’ve been on both teams, my friend, BE ABSOLUTELY SURE! So I know! You can write it off to whatever you like but I WAS AN EVIL FUCKER! You get the choice, you make the decision.Period. As I well know, Satan is a FUCK HEAD of the highest order, so I doubt he would have a change of heart. You know what I’m thinking know? That you think that Angels are better than us! Can’t be my friend! If they were, they couldn’t change THEIR freaking minds! So be sure they have the choice just as we do. Apparently all of them aren’t BIG ASS PUSSYS like Satan! Some have balls like real men do!They know what is right and what is wrong just like the sun rising every damn day does! So call me a nut if you like! There WILL be no proof until you step over that threshold that is death. BOTTOM LINE! Until that happens it’s just a bb in the middle of an eight lane highway. Not a damn thing.