the ones who believe in science over christianity will like this one... any of you self proclaimed highly intelligent atheists or even dualists that search for proof God DOES in fact exist i have something specifically for you guys!!! im sure most of you are familiar with C.S. Lewis.....how many of you know he was an atheist for a portion of his life?......an extremely intelligent atheist i might add....... this was a man that set out to prove God DID NOT exist....i cant say that any of you are or are not as intelligent as this guy..i certainly am not...but for the ones who want to believe there is a God but let their intellect get in the way this will be perfect for you. the ones who wont and cant believe anything unless they have logic or proof to back it up this is moreso for you!!!!!!!! i warn you though...this book is not for the dull minded. it will take some of the sharper minds in this forum to even understand what this man is saying....if you have trouble with advanced grammar useage dont even waste the 12 bucks on this book....youll throw it away...saying, "i dont get a dang thing hes saying!!!!" personally it took me about 2 hours to digest only 50 pages at a time....yeah that sounds more than slow.... keep in mind these are the views and ideas of an former atheist.... once again this book is not easy to follow for just anybody.... the title is Mere Christianity atheists....beware.....you may end up a christian after all!!! hahaha!!!!!
Only if you read Dan Barkers "Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist". A book written mostly as a critique of the arguments found in C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity". By (as the title would imply) a former evangelical preacher. Or to paraphrase you weedseed: Christians beware, you may end up atheist afterall!!! --- Care to quickly explain some of the major arguments of Lewis BTW? Like how there must be a God since Lewis believes in absolute morals?
Man...I sure do feel like the only person in the world who doesn't gives a rat's ass about whether or not god(s) exist...I feel like the only person who isn't trying to prove something. There are too many religions for me to think that I'll be punished for not prescribing to any particular one. I simply don't fucking care. haha! ...does anybody else feel this way??
From what I can tell, C.S. Lewis' initial departure from religion was spawned more from a displeasure with the mechanics of churchgoing and a pseudophilosophical "god wouldn't allow this/that" approach, rather than actually taking a truly postulative look at the world around him. I suppose his return to faith was only inevitable considering the presumably large amount of indoctrinated spirituality still coursing through his veins. And, for the last fucking time, failure to disprove god's existence ≠ proof that god does exist. Also, buttsplatuken, you're not alone. I consider the existence or non-existence of deities to be wholly irrelevant in regards to a human being's personal freedoms, but I still hunger to see dogmatic absolutes, impaired ethics, intellectual digression, and blind faith collapsed. There is a difference between challenging organised religion and actually making a statement about god, I wish more people would recognize the difference.
Almost wish I could (not care one way or the other that is). Religion is though an important subject. One of my favorites actually. But I'm not in the converting business by any means. And I certainly don't run around trying the impossible, proving there is or isn't some god. All I do is ask questions and think somewhat critically before answering. Oh, and ask others to think critically before they answer. I'm not very patient with flawed reasoning.
In lewis's first chapter of mere christianity he goes on about a human some kind of law of human nature, talking about similarities between cultures. The type of thing which he ascribes to god is much more sensically and coherently explained by the number of sciences dealing with this exact thing - the number of sciences that run massive tests and have massive amounts of evidence for their assertions. Lewis is a propagator of bullshit. Lewis also claims some of his reasoning when he was an atheist about how there was no god was about how the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. If he ever was an atheist if thats his primary reasoning, he wasn't a very rational atheist. Not to mention the fact that lewis has a complete faith in the bible's historical accuracy without anything to back it up. Lewis is a hack i'm not sure how anyone could be convinced by his writing. His calling homosexuality an unnatural perversion (unnatural being just as incorrect)
I used to care as well, but because I cared about people believing in delusions and I wanted them to see the light, but now I cannot possibly care less.
I'm sorry to say a book will not move my religious convictions. Not in any way. I learn from life, and then I'll read to brush up, but a book would never change me entirely. It's amusing to see those who are though, are. To each their own.
honestly whats rational about atheism...its too simple and there is nothing to it..no theological points of view or anything.....just a simple "i dont believe in a supreme being" nothing more at all.......theres nothing to challenge there. the first 6 or so chapters of that book make perfect sense and the whole time he reminds you that hes not even mentioned a christian God or even a god at all....and his words on the law of human nature are not opinionate they are fact and not only that, they make perfect logical sense.. for the ones who dont care either way....this isnt something for you ....youre just riding the fence....thats the worst position of all i think.. the ones who have questions non stop .....why ask the questions if you dont want to hear a good explanation?....thats hypocratic...extremely... you certainly dont want an answer from a christian point of view....thats no secret....and now you dont even want atheistic views.... this thread isnt meant for anything more than a means to get answers to scientific questions and reasoning or to reassure as i said the ones who want to believe but let their intellect get in the way... like i already said. either way , its a good read. lewis became an atheist in his teens if i remember correctly (not even a fully developed mind yet) and not because he didnt understand why "God would let such terrible things happen"....its because he had questions with no answers.. he returned to christianity because he realized that atheism was too simple and empty.therefore it must be the wrong road to travel down because nothing good or right in life comes easy.also he was able to rationalize and reason with most of the questions he originally had no answers to. an atheist cant give you a logical or scientific or theological reason as to why theyre atheist...its a one sentence belief... i can already see this thread has lost its purpose....it can be closed anytime now... edit: you didnt paraphrase what i said at all....you flipped it / a little word play.
Actually being an atheist can be argued to be harder, you don't have a big man in the sky to blame everything on, have faith in, etc. When someone dies, you can't just say "they're in heaven" you don't have answers to a lot. So in my opinion, it's a lot easier to have a big man to look up to rather than an empty sky.
so its harder to live life as you want with no consequence in a manner....than to have someone watching over you to see if you earn your way into heaven, to see if you can grow everyday into something stronger... i dont think you understand christianity at all.......i dont even think you understand atheism which is almost impossible.....
Heh. The path to heaven is wide but the gates are narrow, I'd say 90 percent of Christians do things simply so they can be rewarded, , it's so they can get into heaven. I'm a Buddhist, not an Atheist, but I know plenty of Atheists that are good in life not for a doggy treat but because it's the right thing to do. I'd rather be around a person who is good because they are a good person rather than refraining from doing something because they won't get into heaven.
wow.....seems to me youre saying christians are a whole different kind of human.... and that they cant possibly be good people because they only do for something in return... once in Heaven we will spend most of our time worshiping...its not something we do on earth only, so that we can go to Heaven forever and fish all day long or lay under a tree and be careless.... even once we are in heaven we will continue to give and be thankful.....not just here on earth until we get there.... you cant get to heaven by simply doing good anyways.....theres another misconception you have... this isnt a thread for buddist anyway ........which is why youre not making many good points.. you lack in both areas.....both atheism and christianity...... which is exactly why what youve said bears no truth whatsoever im already kicking my own a$$ for this thread anyway....
I bear no truth? Please prove that. I believe we're in a stale mate my friend, after religion has no proof, it's all faith.
weedseed, i look at your posts and laugh. Straight up laugh, there is no other reaction. You come back from your absence as if you been enlightened by books on christianity, but come back with the same mindset and arguement. To me you have learned nothing even if you pick up 50 books on the same subject. To me, you don't have the slightest clue what athiesm is, you argue against something you truly don't understand, since it's outside of your clear formed black and white box. Even though I am not athiest, I tend to agree with them more often because of people like you who call yourselfs christians and flat out attack other beliefs without even being aware about it. There is a big picture out there, it's just that you're focusing on the smaller part of it when thinking this is the whole thing.
Another hilarious joke, I applaud you in your achievements of satire. After all, your "God" is the greatest comedian of all.
Ockham's Razor prevails. Of course there are no theological viewpoints, from an Atheist. Is the root word lost on you? Sure there is, there is the burden of proof. If there was any proof to the contrary, Many atheists would listen. Yeah, those silly people letting their intellect and rationale thought get in the way of blind beleif. Exactly. Lewis was perusing purpose and fulfillment, not truth. In your words. Ever hear of the path of least resistance? path of least action? Ockham's Razor? Why must it be wrong, because of your interpretation of the society? I'd love to debate this, but I'll probably never read the book. Sure they can. Because evidence fails to exist. Because it is a hypothesis with no empirical possibilities. There is no rationale TO believe. Divine beings are flawed in scientific method. God is not more rationale than pixies or fairies or dragons or unicorns. That is no reason to disbelieve, where the essential problems lies with anti-theism, but not atheism. To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today.[SIZE=+1] [SIZE=-1]-- Isaac Asimov[/SIZE][/SIZE]
Ghandi once said "I like your christ, your christians I do not. They are so unlike christ". And its true. Christianity lost its meaning. We have nuclear weapons and stem cell cloning now. Its the 21st century. Get a grip. God does not exist. What does exist is things like love.. feelings and emotions exist. This planet exists. You can waste your life trying to get to your heaven, but I'm happy with Earth. This is my heaven. I look out my window and see the culmination of 3 billion years of evolution and life... Not something an old guy slapped togethor in 7 days. Life on earth IS heaven. There is no life after this. Don't waste it.
atheism is wrong because nothing good or right in life comes easy? I don't see much intellect behind that assumption. how does he know what is "good" or "right?" what questions did he originally have no answers for? what a bold statement