It’s about time you looked at a dictionary since you haven’t gotten any of your other terminology right.
Religious beliefs is the main cause of the several decade long continuous abuse of tens of thousands children by priests, because religious parents are unwilling to openly challenge the perceived divine right of their priests to abuse their children.
It’s still a widespread practice and no secular laws will ever stop it.
Who said anything about life or death decisions? We’re all gonna die someday – maybe tomorrow, maybe not for a dozen decades. (Unless science invents an immortality potion or someone’s imaginary friend discovers the fountain of youth buried deep in their backyard…but let’s remain rational here.)
My point is, the question of whether our souls terminate at life’s end does not matter. It’s not a question of striving to become a righteous man, or following the left-hand path – as long as you remain centered, and pay attention to the “little things which make life worth living” (to paraphrase Hank Scorpio) then it doesn’t matter if you believe in pink fairy scorpions or anything similar.
Call it witnessing if you like – from my vantage point, it’s merely general advice. It’s not like I’m begging Jesus Christ to spare me from my worldly sins by drawing more sheep into the flock; that particular religious faith I used to follow is way, way far in the past. And if Christ still bears a grudge, I’ll sick Karma on his bearded, white-robed ass. 
Are those supposed to be opposing examples? As far as I can tell, one’s a cult member whose actions led to massive death and suffering while the other is a cult member whose actions led to massive death and suffering on a smaller scale.
Ceiling Cat?
You people can’t even agree on whether the hole in the ceiling is round or square. Was the hole always there, and if not, what did Ceiling Cat play with before that?
Technically, I think Jones was a cult leader, not really a member, although that may bring up interesting set theory questions. But, yes, he seems to have worked on a much smaller scale.
It’s tough to disprove that there could be sentient beings that are invisible because their molecules vibrate at the speed of steam and therefore invisible to us. But we are visible to them because our molecules vibrate at the speed of water.
OK, so I had no idea whether there is a god, multiple gods, people that vibrate fast… whatever…
So I’m walking alone in a redwood forest. I’m 21 years old and attending the University of California, Santa Cruz. (This is years ago.)
I say out loud, "God (I mean the god of Israel, not some other god) “if you aren’t there, then I’m talking into the air, and that settles it. If you are there, and give a hoot, just don’t scare me, but it’s going to take something really remarkable to convince me it is you and not some marsian that can hear me and do stuff.”’’
Ok, …so months later I’m camped high in the Canadian rockies. It’s 11 pm, shooting stars are shooting while I stand below a glacier, there looking at it all … when a guy with 4 boys comes up the hill, not on a trail.
He’s a minister. Baptist I suppose, tells me that months ago, was told by a voice he recognized as the god of Israel (that god, not some other god or godess or whatever) to go up to the Canadian rockies and tell somebody about him.
So, ok, “Come on, this is wierd,” I think… of course.
You know what? He hears and he cares. I wish I could describe his voice. His voice isn’t like anything he created, like the wind or John Wayne. His voice is a voice that can say, “let there be light” and a light goes on.
He doesn’t go around doing whatever I want. I’ts not like he’s a servant. But from experience now, I know that if I really mean it, not kidding around, if I need a zebra … somewhere he can tell someone to deliver a zebra to my address. And that someone might be as surprised as I would be. (Unless this person listens to him all the time I suppose.)
And he can tell just by the look on my face when I’m dissappointed and he actually cares that I’m disappointed
Anyway, the god of Israel, (that god, not another goddess or other invisible person) seems to really, really like me and it’s hard to dismiss him when he does so many things that are so unusual and cool.
I don’t know when he cares which football team wins or cares to cheat to make one lose. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t find it funny when someone breaks his neck.
As far as being male or female, huge or what, I’m talking about a very specific god. The one in the Tora, Bible and Koran. That one.
Believe what you want. You can’t see the invisible. But I’m hooked.
“Seek my face and you will find me.” “I will never leave you or foresake you.” “I am as close as your breath.” That god. You know. Eden, Jerusalem … that one.
Whoa, dude, that’s like totally cool.
Can you get him to deliver a zebra to my house?
It should make a huge difference what others believe when they shape public policy. This is also true for anyone that votes. Get enough delusional people together that aligns itself with a political party and it becomes even more of a concern for everyone.
Nice story.
Do you know who else told stories?
The god as a vending machine for human needs. Drop a brain in it, press a button and wait…
As opposed to religious people who oppress and kill people for “spiritual” reasons? It’s people who base their behavior on what “God” wants who have little to no moral standards, because they base their decisions on a delusion. A believer can do anything whatsoever and comfort themselves that it’s OK because “God” wants it. And since “God” is nothing but a lie they tell to themselves, that just translates to “anything I want to do is not only good, but has a divine mandate behind it”.
Or of course there’s the classic religious alternative of following the words written down in a 2000+ year old book written by ignorant barbarians, which is hardly better.
Nonsense,it’s a question that can and has been asked scientifically, if not often. And as far as I know the answer is always the same; when people are classified by their views on God, atheists are the most moral. The most honest, the most likely to perform charitable acts. That’s probably why such studies are almost never done, the answer is taboo.
Mother Teresa was hardly an admirable person; she was a classic believer who went through the motions of altruism while in reality just indulging her religious fantasies and causing great suffering in the meantime.
That’s nonsense. Atheists are as altruistic if not more so than believers. After all, they are concerned with actual people and not sky fairies and imaginary souls. Secular humanism immediately comes to mind.
It’s religion that is selfish. Religion is all about believing in your fantasy no matter what the facts say or who gets hurt. It’s the ultimate in selfishness.
YOU did. You said:
“As long as they’re not blowing up abortion clinics or smearing feces on themselves, who cares what any individual believes?”
Religious beliefs influence behavior in ways both large and small. There are larger effects like blowing up abortion clinics or crashing planes into buildings, and there are smaller effects like feeling guilty because you’re sexually attracted to guys instead of girls. So the argument that we shouldn’t care unless believers are doing something outrageous doesn’t hold water.
Seriously, it’s hard to carry on a debate with you when treat each statement as an isolated utterance and not a specific response to one of your previous points.
God knows you don’t need a zebra.
Good for you Cyningablod. I outgrew it as well, and damn does it feel good to have a clear mind, uncluttered and unfettered by the hypocrisy, lies, and distortions of religion.
Edit: Oh, and not collecting coins is one of my favorite hobbies.
But they’re so tasty!
I like stories, too – even fictional stories, as long as they’re not lies or mythology presented as absolute fact; and especially if the story’s told by a group of bitter, psychotic, desert-dwelling individuals who are craving attention or seeking revenge. ('nuff said…)
I was with you completely, until you succumbed to the anthropomorphic principle. Yes, prayer works – but only because it’s essentially a type of meditation, which means you’re basically praying to yourself. It doesn’t surprise me that your prayer was answered (call it confirmation bias, if you desire); but once you restrict your interpretation to a specific pantheon, you’re basically telling the world that your God can beat up anyone else’s God – and that’s never a smart idea, as you’ve discovered by now. 
Where’s that evidence you promised?