Atheism

What does Thomas mean by "marry"? Have sex with? Telling people to love their neighbour is not telling them to have sex with them.

Didn't mean to upset you chap, my point about the turf thing was exactly that, I am happy to step aside of your atheist discussion so you can get on with it, if you want to continue this discussion you are welcome to take it to one more appropriate.

You arguement regarding the law something that is not contrary to what I stated. Of course Jesus was all for the law, you are right, he was around when God gave it to moses. Although fulfilling it, the law was not to be ignored, however the christian congregation were not tried against the law as the Israelites were. However, anyone claiming to love god would have a love for Gods law, wether punishable against it or not. This meant that the commandments were very much in effect, the law statutes that dealt with punishments etc weren't. Jesus taught the principle of the law, as a physical law made no man righteous, you only have to look at the pharisees and saducees of the time to see that.

Do you want a discussion, or are you merely trying to win an arguement? It can be easy to confuse the two. If the latter, I would be happy to leave you be.

What debt does god owe you when you do love her? If I remember my confirmation school correctly, she owes you nothing either way. That's where the grace thing comes in. Or so I've been told.

Setanta wants to have a discussion but only with those he can handle. So you are right up his street Smilie.

I use to discriminate against homosexuals some what myself it was because of my environment. I would never not alow them their rights but I would joke about them with friends because I was ignorant. Not in their face but who knows who I was talking to," one of them could have been gay!

It was not until a family member was gay before I could see this ignorance. I do think that even the most informed among us will be seen as ignorant by people a few 1,000 years from now.

God owes what God promises. If you fulfill the terms and conditions he/she set out, the sure, God owes you.

Or what?

Or all I get is a decent life.

God owes you nothing; no imaginary omnipotent god can't provide anything. Heaven is a nice imaginary place with gold roads, and a place full of love and happiness, but that's about a boring a place for living forever. After you've learned the names of all your family and friends, and know what they do from day to day, what more is there? Will you still have sex and children? When does this all end?

You assume much, while knowing little sir. Good to see you're having fun tho, thats what these interwebs are all about rite?

When you say I know little, you must back that up with evidence to refute what I've said.

Your post tangents to much that I have not referred to. Your assumption is not with regards to heaven, but that my understanding of "Gods reward" is the same as yours. Heaven could be a boring place, but I sir, shall never know.

smiley
Is this going to be a prolonged conversation? I need to know how much longer to avoid this thread.

If were going to be talking of things related to heaven I thought that this may fit in some where! Sorry if it does not but I thought that it is important to know.


http://www.youtube.com/user/TZMSocialEvolution#p/f/40/wJLaRhTKzw8

What is god's reward? Can that be achieved without the christian god? How about believers who follow the tenets of Buddhism? What will be their "final" solution?

Relative to the thread and said as courteously as I can, I think these arguments should be taken elsewhere. This isn't a thread about the relative merits of theism and atheism, certainly worthy of discussion: it is a thread for us atheists - sans theism being my take on what the word means and I took 4 years of latin - about how we deal in the larger world, including social situations and political situations.

I'm interested in how atheists, in or out of the closet, deal with family get togethers at christmas or channukah and/or other mixed situations.

Me, I remember a loved cousin telling me that my not believing was a sign of personal arrogance. She was the cousin I had felt most close to.

The cousin who is actually most religious and least like me otherwise has a rounder view of acceptance re where people are.



I don't mean to chase people away, but, remember the thread.

Well, that's Phase 1, the thin end of the wedge. In Phase 2, once we've committed ourselves, they start telling us scripture means exactly what it says.

Sorry for the derail, You can have it back now

I'm not surprised that some have missed the point. If scripture does not mean exactly what it says, the concept that it is inerrant because divinely inspired is called into question. You can't have it both ways.

Nobody in my immediate family (to include aunts, uncles and first and second cousins) were sufficiently religious to have cared what my attitude was. Earlier, FART tried to claim that i'm a bitter atheist of the kind who give atheism a bad name. But this was never an issue within my family, and it continues not to be an issue in my day to day contacts with people. I never have this level of discussion of the subject except online. My only contact with religious people in "real life" is with the door to door prosyletizers, and i let them know right away that i'm not interested. How relatively hostile the encounter becomes is entirely dependent upon their reactions.