Are you an atheist? if so, What is your POV about God?

[Sonofason]

Let me ask. Do you have the choice the ability to turn away from god?

No, I'm sorry, I do not have the ability to turn away from God. That would be like asking me if I have the choice and the ability to deny the existence of the Sun. It's hard to unsee that which you have seen. An experience that is forgotten is an experience that is not worthy of remembrance. And I am very fond of my experiences of God. They are indeed something I shall never be capable of forgetting.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I know this might be a little hard for some people to follow. If I have already made a decision to accept Christ, I no longer have that decision hanging over my head to make. There is no need to decide again that which I have already decided upon. In the past I was faced with a choice, that is to believe in Christ or to not believe in Him. When I was faced with this choice, I made my choice. Now the choice is made, and I no longer have that choice to make. But you do, although it seems as though you have made your choice as well. Thus, we have on the one hand me who has been promised eternal life according to John 3:16,17 and the first portion of verse 18 because I believe in God's Son; and on the other hand we have you, who has not accepted Christ, and who according to the latter portion of John 3:18 is already condemned.

I guess a better way of asking (piggy backing) is I cannot divorce myself from my ancestors and from my family. They literally saved my life and they are doing so now or I wouldn't be here. Every time I want to leave because I'm depressed, they remind me to stay.

However, hard as it is to admit, even though I am blood related to family and cannot leave them in that sense, I do have a choice and have the ability to choose to go away from them. This is a choice I would never do for the life of me and that doesn't mean it's not possible. It's just something I would never consider.

I'm just asking do you have the ability to turn from god not that you want to. For example, god says that those who turn their back on him cannot be forgiven. That's the worse sin. If it is not possible to turn from him, then that scripture is false. However, god does give you-you a choice to turn away. Regardless how much you are close to him, you have that choice.

That is in scripture. Now, I'm asking you, do you feel you have the ability to turn from god? Not because you want to (of course you don't want to). Just the action of rejecting god.

If that can't enter your head, maybe it could be it's hard to feel alive without god? It is possible. Many people who are not christians do it all the time. What is your opinion about it?

 

[Unveiled Artist]

No, I'm sorry, I do not have the ability to turn away from God. That would be like asking me if I have the choice and the ability to deny the existence of the Sun. It's hard to unsee that which you have seen. An experience that is forgotten is an experience that is not worthy of remembrance. And I am very fond of my experiences of God. They are indeed something I shall never be capable of forgetting.

I don't believe people can turn from their ancestors regardless of how far away they go. However, what I believe doesn't mean in their opinion they have not. It is not my place to say my opinion is fact.

On that note, from the other person's view do you think a christian can turn from god? Many Christians do so all the time. Do you call that rejection? If god was the sun in your analogy, then of course they can't reject it. However, god is spirit not the sun and cant be compared to anything physical.

So, with that, is there a way to tell if one can turn from god and if so, is it from their point of view or your own?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I know this might be a little hard for some people to follow. If I have already made a decision to accept Christ, I no longer have that decision hanging over my head to make. There is no need to decide again that which I have already decided upon. In the past I was faced with a choice, that is to believe in Christ or to not believe in Him. When I was faced with this choice, I made my choice. Now the choice is made, and I no longer have that choice to make. But you do, although it seems as though you have made your choice as well. Thus, we have on the one hand me who has been promised eternal life according to John 3:16,17 and the first portion of verse 18 because I believe in God's Son; and on the other hand we have you, who has not accepted Christ, and who according to the latter portion of John 3:18 is already condemned.

Likewise, something that might be hard to you to follow:

I'm not out to make you not a Christian, and so far you've given no hint that you'd be capable of changing my mind on the question of gods. What I'm looking for from you is some way that I can respect your position.

You've made claims that seem like unjustified foolishness to me. When I ask you for your reasons for belief, you respond with evasiveness. You've given me no reason to think that you - or others who believe as you do - are rational in your beliefs.

This may be unreasonable on my part, and it's despite a growing amount of evidence to the contrary, but I'm holding out hope that I'll find some way to recognize that devout theists are rational or close to it. So far, you've gotten in the way of that.

 

[Sonofason]

I guess a better way of asking (piggy backing) is I cannot divorce myself from my ancestors and from my family. They literally saved my life and they are doing so now or I wouldn't be here. Every time I want to leave because I'm depressed, they remind me to stay.

However, hard as it is to admit, even though I am blood related to family and cannot leave them in that sense, I do have a choice and have the ability to choose to go away from them. This is a choice I would never do for the life of me and that doesn't mean it's not possible. It's just something I would never consider.

I'm just asking do you have the ability to turn from god not that you want to. For example, god says that those who turn their back on him cannot be forgiven. That's the worse sin. If it is not possible to turn from him, then that scripture is false. However, god does give you-you a choice to turn away. Regardless how much you are close to him, you have that choice.

That is in scripture. Now, I'm asking you, do you feel you have the ability to turn from god? Not because you want to (of course you don't want to). Just the action of rejecting god.

If that can't enter your head, maybe it could be it's hard to feel alive without god? It is possible. Many people who are not christians do it all the time. What is your opinion about it?

I surely hope that I am incapable of unlearning that which I know is true. The danger for a believer lies in sin.
"For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins" (Hebrews 10:26)

There are many people who profess that they are Christians who love their sin more than they love God. And these "Christians" never find rest, always question their faith, and have no peace with regard to their eternal future and security.

Jesus said, "if you love me, keep my commandments".

 

[Sonofason]

Likewise, something that might be hard to you to follow:

I'm not out to make you not a Christian, and so far you've given no hint that you'd be capable of changing my mind on the question of gods. What I'm looking for from you is some way that I can respect your position.

You've made claims that seem like unjustified foolishness to me. When I ask you for your reasons for belief, you respond with evasiveness. You've given me no reason to think that you - or others who believe as you do - are rational in your beliefs.

This may be unreasonable on my part, and it's despite a growing amount of evidence to the contrary, but I'm holding out hope that I'll find some way to recognize that devout theists are rational or close to it. So far, you've gotten in the way of that.

Well, I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. Perhaps if you could be more specific. Tell me which claims I've made that you find unjustified and foolish, and tell me which responses I've given that you consider evasive, and I will try to appear more justified, less foolish, and less evasive.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I surely hope that I am incapable of unlearning that which I know is true. The danger for a believer lies in sin.
"For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins" (Hebrews 10:26)

There are many people who profess that they are Christians who love their sin more than they love God. And these "Christians" never find rest, are always question their faith, and have no peace with regard to their eternal future and security.

Jesus said, "if you love me, keep my commandments".

There are many of those who aren't christian, like myself, and find our rest and some of us eternal security by other means. I know what scripture says.

My co-worker is like yourself cannot divorce herself from god even hypothetical thinking. It's almost as if she, personally, is making god upset for turning away. It may be love and devotion to her but I find love and devotion comes from a person's choice to be with the one they love. If it isn't a relation-ship and both parties expect the other to love each other, that's not love. That's an unhealthy relationship based on dependency.

In other words, in American culture, we pride ourselves in independence. Instead of wanting things to be food fed to us on a positive note, some of us rather work for our success because that achievement of putting in to one's success makes the relationship with whatever goal aimed for more worth receiving.

I get government checks each month. I've been food-fed all my life due to disability. If the government was god then I'm literally dependent on him for everything-shelter, food, education, everything. I put nothing into it. That saddens me. When I see people depending on the government, a lot of people don't want to and want to succeed in their own riches and careers.

Yet, when it comes to god it's different. I don't see how. If anything, work to build that relationship with god and having that choice to follow is better than being coerced or having an ultimatum to follow and cannot turn away thereafter. It takes the "ever after" away.

I don't understand how people can see god in a positive light under that type of worship and dependency. It's not a sin to have a choice to follow. If anything, I'd assume god would desire your choice in service over your obedience in worship. Your reverence rather than your worship.

But I'm going by how people define god. If I went off of scripture, god is the breathe of life and jesus is the life, death, and resurrection of our spirit. All scripture quoting in the world cannot erase the foundation. So, I always ask people's opinions rather than scripture. Scripture is common sense but seeing how others interpret scripture is so different it kind of shocks me.

I kind of wish Christians as a whole saw things in other people's shoes. Many wars have been caused because the religious can't see the other person's shoes. Believers aren't causing wars but the manner of their language is very oppressive. I don't know if you guys see it, but it's one thing to read it in scripture and toss it aside. It's a whole 'nother thing to hear it from people who I would hope think on their own how their belief affects others.

I mean, Christianity in and of itself is beautiful, but when I see how it, the religion, affects people negatively (not the fault of the person), then I see something wrong with the belief. Yet believers look past that. If someone saved my life but killed someone else, that would change how I see that person. It's a contradiction in actions. So, I don't see how a believer can value his or her own salvation but oppress others indirectly or directly by even offering others salvation without stepping into the others shoes and understanding their belief in their eyes not your own.

Christianity is the only religion I know very well. Any god of abraham religion has a worship-ultimatum factor. It's like seeing people in a locked room telling people who are free they should come in and feel the closeness they have with other believers. To be outside would be a sin.

Never understood that line of thinking. I'm hoping I get to the point I would no longer have to.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

@Sonofason you don't have to reply to everything. Just sayin'

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Well, I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. Perhaps if you could be more specific. Tell me which claims I've made that you find unjustified and foolish, and tell me which responses I've given that you consider evasive, and I will try to appear more justified, less foolish, and less evasive.

Thinking back, I'd say that you've become evasive pretty quickly in just about every interaction I've had with you, or that I've seen you have with people who disagree with you.

Most recently, though, we had you say that the Big Bang and "every single piece of matter" are evidence for God. When I asked you to tell us how these might be evidence for God, first you refused and then you danced around the question.

In the end, you insinuated that the Big Bang only becomes convincing once you've already accepted that God exists... which means that you either did a complete 180 during our conversation or you were deliberately wasting my time the whole while.

 

[Segev Moran]

Life just doesn't seem to originate on stars. I think the climate on stars pretty much prohibits life from existing on them.

I Assume you know better than the thousands of astrophysicists who devoted their life to studying the stars and the universe..

Again, you do not know what caused life to exist here on this earth, so you certainly cannot say where life originates, let alone suggest that you can determine the probabilities of life existing somewhere else.

And you cannot claim any different..
So to sum it up, You just don't know the same as I don't...
So as I cannot claim that life are certainly originating on other planets, you cannot say that God created life on this earth, true?

 

[Segev Moran]

A label for an entity that only exists within religions and religious disciplines that is completely meaningless once outside these fields.

What about deists?
What about people who believe there is a God yet don't think religion has got anything to do with it?
What about those who claim God is everything there is, there was and will evenr be?

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I know this might be a little hard for some people to follow. If I have already made a decision to accept Christ, I no longer have that decision hanging over my head to make. There is no need to decide again that which I have already decided upon. In the past I was faced with a choice, that is to believe in Christ or to not believe in Him. When I was faced with this choice, I made my choice. Now the choice is made, and I no longer have that choice to make. But you do, although it seems as though you have made your choice as well. Thus, we have on the one hand me who has been promised eternal life according to John 3:16,17 and the first portion of verse 18 because I believe in God's Son; and on the other hand we have you, who has not accepted Christ, and who according to the latter portion of John 3:18 is already condemned.

I'm afraid you are having some difficulty with reading comprehension. You said "The Christian the Christian does not have a choice to make. They are Christians. Christians believe in God's Son." And now you are contradicting that by saying "if I have made a decision to accept Christ." Well, then, you did have a choice and you made it. If you had not – prior to making the choice to "accept Christ," then you were not at that time a Christian and you very much had a choice.

But of course, this is all just diversionary tactics so you don't have to acknowledge how, while you may think you are a Christian, you definitely – at least in this thread – behave like one, having announced publicly that you "pray often for [my] destruction."

Now, this “evil atheist” does not care for the idea of anybody's "destruction." I oppose capital punishment, for example. I am a proponent of reparative, rather than punitive, justice. And I certainly do not actively pray for anybody’s destruction, as you have done. And believe me, you are far from the first “Christian” from who I have heard similar anathemas. But by the same token, I have also known many Christians whose views are like mine. Note that I do not use quote marks in calling them Christian.

You see, what I have observed is that Christianity, religion and scripture in general, really do not provide much in the way of moral guidance. You – and other “Christians” and “Muslims” like you – are good evidence of that. Rather, I believe that we are good or bad for our own reasons, and our religious beliefs will do little to change that. And good Christians, good Muslims, and good atheists, are all the evidence I need for that, too.

 

[Shad]

What about deists?

Deism is still a religious concept as it is a theological in nature and monothestic.Thus is my statement is still applicable.

What about people who believe there is a God yet don't think religion has got anything to do with it?

They only display that they are ignorant of what deism is. Merely dropping the baggage of current religions does not make it non-religious. Not my problem if they are uninformed.

What about those who claim God is everything there is, there was and will evenr be?

See the above.

 

[Sonofason]

Thinking back, I'd say that you've become evasive pretty quickly in just about every interaction I've had with you, or that I've seen you have with people who disagree with you.

Most recently, though, we had you say that the Big Bang and "every single piece of matter" are evidence for God. When I asked you to tell us how these might be evidence for God, first you refused and then you danced around the question.

In the end, you insinuated that the Big Bang only becomes convincing once you've already accepted that God exists... which means that you either did a complete 180 during our conversation or you were deliberately wasting my time the whole while.

How ever you want to see it is fine with me. For me, the Big Bang is positive support and possible evidence for the idea that God created everything. Some people might not see that as evidence. If God exists, it certainly is evidence.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

No, I'm sorry, I do not have the ability to turn away from God. That would be like asking me if I have the choice and the ability to deny the existence of the Sun. It's hard to unsee that which you have seen. An experience that is forgotten is an experience that is not worthy of remembrance. And I am very fond of my experiences of God. They are indeed something I shall never be capable of forgetting.

And so now I have a question to ask of you, and it is based precisely on what you’ve said in your post.

I have lived for 68 years now (going on 69, actually), and all of my life’s experience, everything I know, has convinced me that there is no God. How is it, then, that you cannot unsee what you say you have seen – but you think that I should unsee what I have seen?

If it were God’s desire for me to experience him – do you think it impossible that he could arrange it? Am I more powerful than God – able to fend him off at my own personal will, or is God more powerful than me, but just doesn’t give a rat’s tiny hiney whether I’m “saved” or not? How is that even remotely compatible with the majority of Christian claims about God’s unending love?

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

No, I'm sorry, I do not have the ability to turn away from God. That would be like asking me if I have the choice and the ability to deny the existence of the Sun. It's hard to unsee that which you have seen. An experience that is forgotten is an experience that is not worthy of remembrance. And I am very fond of my experiences of God. They are indeed something I shall never be capable of forgetting.

And so now I have a question to ask of you, and it is based precisely on what you’ve said in your post.

I have lived for 68 years now (going on 69, actually), and all of my life’s experience, everything I know, has convinced me that there is no God. How is it, then, that you cannot unsee what you say you have seen – but you think that I should unsee what I have seen?

If it were God’s desire for me to experience him – do you think it impossible that he could arrange it? Am I more powerful than God – able to fend him off at my own personal will, or is God more powerful than me, but just doesn’t give a rat’s tiny hiney whether I’m “saved” or not? How is that even remotely compatible with the majority of Christian claims about God’s unending love?

 

[Shad]

No, I'm sorry, I do not have the ability to turn away from God. That would be like asking me if I have the choice and the ability to deny the existence of the Sun. It's hard to unsee that which you have seen. An experience that is forgotten is an experience that is not worthy of remembrance. And I am very fond of my experiences of God. They are indeed something I shall never be capable of forgetting.

The Sun's existence is not dependent on a religious views nor experience. Your comparison is flawed

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

How ever you want to see it is fine with me. For me, the Big Bang is positive support and possible evidence for the idea that God created everything. Some people might not see that as evidence. If God exists, it certainly is evidence.

Again: HOW is it evidence or support?

 

[Aupmanyav]

Answering OP: Simple. It does not exist.

 

[Segev Moran]

Deism is still a religious concept as it is a theological in nature and monothestic.Thus is my statement is still applicable.



They only display that they are ignorant of what deism is. Merely dropping the baggage of current religions does not make it non-religious. Not my problem if they are uninformed.



See the above.

I Think your definition of religion is a bit off..
A religion is a set of beliefs and disciplines regarding a deity of sort.
Deism has no doctrines, disciplines or any belief that a God of any sort is controlling or have anything that affects our existence..
That's quite far from religion.