I have seen Christians on this site make that claim, then espouse homophobic bigotry, as one example. The bible is a book of vague and even contradictory claims, open to subjective interpretation, which is probably why there over 45000 separate denominations globally. Yet every Christian claims to know what the deity they imagine exists wants, same with every Muslim and the Quran.
As an atheist my primary concern is to avoid and as far as possible prevent unnecessary suffering. I don't need to love my neighbour for that, in fact I can detest them, hate their guts, but still recognise they deserve the same rights as anyone else.
Hi Sheldon.
Yes that’s one of the things that caused me a lot of angst that two sects of Christianity in the same street hated each other’s guts despite supposedly believing in the same Book. I just couldn’t reconcile myself to these contradictions and became an atheist and believed I was more sincere because I walked away from inconsistency rather than turning a blind eye. How can one preach to others to be united and loving when one is divided into tens of thousands of sects?
“Where, precisely, are "Judaism", "Buddhism", "Christianity", "Islám" and the others, since they obviously cannot be identified with the irreconcilably opposed organizations that purport to speak authoritatively in their names?”
So joining one means you axiomatically must reject the others and who speaks authoritatively for these Faiths as none of them speak with one voice? Will the right or true Christianity or Islam or Buddhism please stand up?
So this situation has rightfully led people to become atheists because where is their God if they can’t get along with each other?
For me, as an atheist, I eventually found that there was a way out of this mess but it means moving on, not clinging to outworn shibboleths which have had their time and are not fit for this age and which need to give way to the needs of this time.
