The great bible book club (a rant/discussion)

Not a single non-stamp collector was drawn into my stamp collecting thread... even though I directly challenged them for their non stamp collecting. I even have declared that non-stamp collecting is in fact a hobby. It seems that no non-stamp collector cared enough to respond.

For some reason non-stamp collectors don't act the way that Atheists act. It is almost as if non-stamp collectors really don't care about stamp collecting. Atheists need to oppose religion on these threads. Apparently non-stamp collectors don't share this need.

There is something about being an Atheist that goes much farther than being a non-stamp collector.

The dictionary definition of atheist is simply a person who lacks the belief in the existence of any gods.

You can lack a belief in any deity without opposing religion. Once you start opposing religion (as most people who claim to be Atheists seem compelled to do) you are going beyond what an atheist is.

I don't believe in any gods. That makes me an atheist. This compulsion to oppose religion is not part of atheism.

you cant force those beliefs onto others or expect others to live by the rules laid out in that religion.

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you cant force those beliefs onto others or expect others to live by the rules laid out in that religion.

Every society has a set of beliefs that are based on the supernatural (i.e. things that can't be proven by natural science). We need these beliefs to function as a society. And, our society forces everyone to live by them or pay the consequences (social or legal). The idea that the values of our society are superior to that of earlier function societies is our modern mythology.

Our society is no different in this regard than another society. Our supernatural beliefs include human rights and equality. People who violate either of these in our society are punished.

I don't think that a non-stamp collector would ever be drawn in to a stamp collecting thread.

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People who obsess about atheists as do you and some others on here get boring and tiresome after a bit.

I love irony. This is not an atheist thread. If you didn't have an agenda, there would be no reason for you to be on an explicitly religious thread. And, you wouldn't feel any need to respond when I tell you that you are acting an awful lot like a stamp collector (or a person who in fact has religious beliefs to defend).

Atheists too, have their religion. That was stated that way intentionally.
Candlelight8

I find too often when discussing the bible, unlike most books, that an interesting proportion of people have a markedly strong opinion on it who a) have not read it, b) do not understand it, or c) have no interest in reading or understanding it.

Why research the book when Google is full of quotes that support your agenda, right?

Of course secular values are based on supernatural beliefs. What else would they be based on? Science and nature have no moral values.

Please explain to me what you think secular beliefs are based on then? The priests of many native American tribes sanctioned a system of child marriage. These societies functioned perfectly well before my European ancestors came to give them good Western values.

Tell me why our our modern rejection of child marriage is any more true than their embrace of the practice?

Of course secular values are based on supernatural beliefs. What else would they be based on? Science and nature have no moral values. Animals rape, kill their spouses, and commit genocide on each other. Volcanoes erupt, meteors crash and viruses evolve with no respect for living things. Somewhere we came up with the idea that human life is sacred and that humans have rights. I happen to agree with this... but this is a supernatural belief. There is nothing in Nature (outside of humans) that gives any importance to human existence. Our modern society has constructed a mythology for ourselves... just like earlier societies did.

Please explain to me what you think your secular beliefs are based on? The priests of many native American tribes sanctioned a system of child marriage. These societies functioned perfectly well before my European ancestors came to give them good Western values.

Tell me why our our modern rejection of child marriage is any more true than the "Shamans" embrace of the practice?

Of course secular values are based on supernatural beliefs. - md

People were a different animal at one time. They relied on instinct and learned a bit here and there and their evolution gradually brought conscious thought. By this time they already had social order. Trial and error, plus what instinct provided, made supernatural wholly unnecessary.