Atheists Angrier At God.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Atheism is weaker today than ever. The image of atheism masks an even stronger belief.

I use a joke to illustrate: A man is in a psychiatric hospital because he suffers from delusions that he is not a man, but rather a grain of seed. After some time of treatment, he is cured from his delusions and allowed to leave. Shortly after leaving the hospital the man returns in utter fear. He says he could not leave the grounds because he saw a chicken on the road and was afraid of being eaten. His doctor tells him "but why are you afraid? you know very well that you are not a grain of seed, you know that you are a man!", to which to man replies: "Yes I know very well than I am not a grain of seed, but does the chicken know that?"



The vast majority of today's atheists fall into a similar trap, they believe God does not exist, but they are afraid that He does not know it. They unconsciously invoke God every time they speak.

[djones520]

Nice point. Carrying it along, what about the endless chain of well-meaning people who say, with regard to their personal good fortune, "The Lord's been good to me". That particular phrase always rings in my ears, and I find myself asking why God would have singled out any one individual for heavenly blessing? The only possible answer is that God rewarded this particular individual for his piousness and loyalty. A bit silly, it seems to me.

An interesting slant on this subject was presented in the movie and book, "The Bridge Of San Luis Rey". In this story a group of travelers, all strangers to each other, is crossing a bridge when it collapses. A priest takes it upon himself to determine whether the victims could have been singled out by God for death at that time as some sort of punishment, or whether they were simply victims. His answer cost him his life. Questioning, in the 16th century, was not allowed.

Every Sunday during the Fall I become more and more convinced that without the personal intervention of God, no touchdowns at all would be scored by running backs. Presumably, all scores would then be 0 - 0 without this divine assistance.:D

On such a topic, I saw a sign that someone posted infront of their house. Said "All Glory Be to God". Made me curious, how the omnipotent creater of the universe needed more glory? Why could man not have some of his own?

Not trying to hate here, I just find some of the sayings a bit odd.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Hmmmm... Then how do you explain repeatedly bowing before the altar of socialism after its repeated failures, if not as an act of faith, devoid of reason?

A further developed understanding of the process of history. Also I never advocated a repeat of 20th century socialist experiments like the Soviet Union. I make this exact same point every time socialism is discussed, and you continue to try to force my words into your own framework of understanding, which is based on presuppositions that I do not accept.

An example: No person can ever find total satisfaction. This is just a fact, there is always something missing, always something not there, always something that prevents you from being totally 100% satisfied. Of course this is precisely what moves us forward day after day, our incompleteness drives us forward forever towards completeness, even if we know damn well we will never be there.

You should know that you will never be totally 100% happy, content, satisified, or whatever, but does that mean you reject the notion of moving in that direction? Of course not. You still try to make the best meal when you cook, you still try to do the best job you can when you work, you still try to be happier even though total happiness will not happen.

All there is in life is failures, repeated over and over.

[Gingersnap]

Let's try to stay with the pointless-anger-in-something-you-don't-believe-in angle. ;)

[Wei Wu Wei]

lol atheists are mad at God? hahah that doesn't make sense they don't even believe in him


There are several atheist organizations around who meet regularly, what a pointless idea! what do they do? "okay for the first order of business, we will vote on whether God exists - we decide unanimously that God does not exist! okay see you guys next week!"

[djones520]

Let's try to stay with the pointless-anger-in-something-you-don't-believe-in angle. ;)

Whose angry at what now? I'm not angry.

[wilbur]

Atheism is weaker today than ever. The image of atheism masks an even stronger belief.

By what measure can atheism be called "weaker than ever"?

In terms of numbers, there are more atheists today than ever.

In therms of serious robust arguments in favor of atheism (or against theism), things have never been better.

[Novaheart]

Let's try to stay with the pointless-anger-in-something-you-don't-believe-in angle. ;)

OK, but God as a metaphor allows that one not believe in Zeus/God and yet Zeus/God is a metaphor for what he does believe in which is nature. While it's irrational perhaps to curse natural forces, we do it all the time when we drop something on our foot or stub our toe.

Wrapping things in God is a habit. We could just as easily wrap stuff in ancestor worship or mischievous little people.

[noonwitch]

When a mother says something stupid like "God was watching out for my child." or "I know her grandmother was helping from above." oblivious to the fact that ten other people died in the train crash, does she think that God wasn't watching over the ten other people or that her mother flew around playing angel only for her own grandchild?

To quote Bill Maher - It's childish. However, it is culturally ingrained. It's a context, a metaphor for understanding as Joseph Campbell explained.

It's childish to think that God watched out for the one person on the train and not the rest, I totally agree with you on that point. It's childishly comforting, though, in a situation that defies logic like that one does.

I know people who swear up and down that God protected them in a dangerous situation. I don't know about that-is that little voice you hear warning you the voice of God? It kind of sounds like my mom's voice, personally.

I do know God can provide comfort through His presence to those who are suffering.

[Novaheart]

It's childish to think that God watched out for the one person on the train and not the rest, I totally agree with you on that point. It's childishly comforting, though, in a situation that defies logic like that one does.

I know people who swear up and down that God protected them in a dangerous situation. I don't know about that-is that little voice you hear warning you the voice of God? It kind of sounds like my mom's voice, personally.

I do know God can provide comfort through His presence to those who are suffering.

There are unquestionably benefits to mental discipline. Whether you calm your brain by "turning it over to God" or by processing it, ultimately you are processing the distressing situation. Screaming "God help me." clears the chatter in your brain. Deliberately clearing the chatter in your brain works too. God training is an excellent tool for dealing with that which is beyond your control, but unfortunately a lot of people wrap it up in guilt tripping and fear. Get rid of the angry desert god crap in the major religions and a lot of human suffering goes away.