Theists: What would a godless universe look like?

[DNB]

I've met an awful lot of human beings. I haven't, actually, liked every one of them, but that's no matter. Never met a transcendent God -- or any other sort, for that matter.

You will...

 

[DNB]

This is a grammatical error, or you are just plain misled or misleading. The Bible does not have one author, it has many, from different schools of thought, in multiple languages, written over nearly 1,300 years. Thus, your sentence should read:

"You need some wisdom just to see the authors' points of view."

Then you need to see that that is an even bigger difference than it looks like, since multiple authors, over centuries, cannot possibly share the same singular point of view.

Whether reading a single book, or multiple, the over-arching principles of the text, of the authorial intent, has eluded the atheists - wisdom, insight and perception are not their forté.

 

[Aupmanyav]

You will...

Why should anyone take your statement as truth? The Only Truth?

.. of the authorial intent, has eluded the atheists - wisdom, insight and perception are not their forté.

The authors intent is clear (Worship whom I say). Atheist ask questions, they ask for evidence. They are not dumb people.

 

[Little Dragon]

Always fascinated how Christians just love feeling guilty and filthy and covered in sin. Horrible way to live, in my view.

It sounds quite horrible. Seeing everything through the lens of sin. Hoping that they will make the grade, so as a consequence, constantly living in fear, of their beloved God.
Awful.

 

[Little Dragon]

You will...

You make that sound like a threat...

 

[Brian2]

It sounds quite horrible. Seeing everything through the lens of sin. Hoping that they will make the grade, so as a consequence, constantly living in fear, of their beloved God.
Awful.

If Christ is raised from the dead as the New Testament reports, then Jesus is the one whom was promised to destroy the works of Satan and Christians are in the New Covenant and not trying to work towards obtaining our own salvation through our own goodness,,,,,,,, we are forgiven and the Lord is in us to change us to be more like Christ, loving Him and our neighbour more fully through the love that He gives us, and this love casts out fear more and more as we grow in it and into it.
But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

 

[Little Dragon]

If Christ is raised from the dead as the New Testament reports,

IF you believe in the literal word of the Bible, which I don't and never will for obvious logical reasons.

we are forgiven and the Lord is in us to change us to be more like Christ,

No thanks, I prefer being me. You do you though. Whatever that is.

But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Fear is the beginning of failure. I do not fear your Gods or spirits or demons or angels.

PS I have absolutely no interest in a personal relationship with your God or joining your religion. Not now not ever!
So don't waste your time.

 

[Little Dragon]

Whether reading a single book, or multiple, the over-arching principles of the text, of the authorial intent, has eluded the atheists - wisdom, insight and perception are not their forté.

We also just don't care. What your little Bible says, about anything, There is more to the art and science of humanity than your parochial iron age narratives all centered on one tiny part of a much greater planet. So abjectly absurd. So egotistical. So laughable. Such a waste, pouring over that drivel, looking for ways to persecute and demonize others and to justify doing so.
My contempt for those that believe the Bible is literally the word of God, is equaled only by my sincere sympathy for them.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

You make that sound like a threat...

It is. It's the threat he lives under, and therefore he wants us to live under it, too. Otherwise, it's just too unfair!

 

[Ostronomos]

It sounds quite horrible. Seeing everything through the lens of sin. Hoping that they will make the grade, so as a consequence, constantly living in fear, of their beloved God.
Awful.

What a shallow understanding of Christianity and the renaissance humanism it was responsible for. You clearly paint all Christians with the same brush with your overgeneralizations and justify the stupidity of unbelief.

 

[Ostronomos]

The shallow understanding of Christianity is nevertheless a poor substitute for the logic of God.

 

[Ostronomos]

IF you believe in the literal word of the Bible, which I don't and never will for obvious logical reasons.

No thanks, I prefer being me. You do you though. Whatever that is.

Fear is the beginning of failure. I do not fear your Gods or spirits or demons or angels.

PS I have absolutely no interest in a personal relationship with your God or joining your religion. Not now not ever!
So don't waste your time.

Clearly you lack the understanding of the benefits of being on the righteous side of belief.

The righteous do not share your views.

 

[Ostronomos]

God is THE ONE AND ONLY

IT IS ONLY THROUGH GOD THAT ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE

AND ME AND MY LORD GOT AN AGREEMENT Y'ALL AND SO I THANK HIM EVERYDAY FOR MY ACHEIVEMENTS

AND I'M WEEZY!

I'M WEEZY!

 

[Little Dragon]

What a shallow understanding of Christianity and the renaissance humanism it was responsible for. You clearly paint all Christians with the same brush with your overgeneralizations and justify the stupidity of unbelief.

What a pointless comment. I am not painting anyone, just pointing out core dogma, original sin. Certain theists illustrate the tragedy of religious indoctrination.

 

[DNB]

Why should anyone take your statement as truth? The Only Truth?

There can't be more than one truth, obviously.

The authors intent is clear (Worship whom I say). Atheist ask questions, they ask for evidence. They are not dumb people.

They're blind.

 

[DNB]

If Christ is raised from the dead as the New Testament reports, then Jesus is the one whom was promised to destroy the works of Satan and Christians are in the New Covenant and not trying to work towards obtaining our own salvation through our own goodness,,,,,,,, we are forgiven and the Lord is in us to change us to be more like Christ, loving Him and our neighbour more fully through the love that He gives us, and this love casts out fear more and more as we grow in it and into it.
But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

You're wasting your time with that guy, like seriously - don't respond to a fool according to their folly

 

[DNB]

We also just don't care. What your little Bible says, about anything, There is more to the art and science of humanity than your parochial iron age narratives all centered on one tiny part of a much greater planet. So abjectly absurd. So egotistical. So laughable. Such a waste, pouring over that drivel, looking for ways to persecute and demonize others and to justify doing so.
My contempt for those that believe the Bible is literally the word of God, is equaled only by my sincere sympathy for them.

Such oblivion.
BTW: the intent is not to persecute or demonize others, but when called for, you'd be a very likely candidate, like seriously.

 

[Aupmanyav]

There can't be more than one truth, obviously.

They're blind.

Surely, there cannot be more than one truth. But what evidence do you offer for your truth other than a book compiled in 4th Century?
To ask questions, to ask for evidence, is blindness? Not blindly believing in a 4th Century book is blindness?

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

For me, it was the other way around. Tunneling out of Christianity was the wise decision. I have been happier than I was in religion, which is the measure of the wisdom of a choice - it's ability to facilitate happiness, just as the measure of the foolishness of an idea is the degree to which it brings regret.

What a shallow understanding of Christianity and the renaissance humanism it was responsible for. You clearly paint all Christians with the same brush with your overgeneralizations and justify the stupidity of unbelief.

He's telling you what I would tell you - that religion is unappealing. Its legacy is unflattering. Christianity is not responsible for any progress at all. Sure, hospitals were built and tall cathedrals were erected, but neither supernaturalism nor Judeo-Christian dogma were necessary for that or even. Those are the kinds of things people do everywhere in and out of religions. Humanism as practiced today is a reaction to Christianity, not its creation. Humanism makes man central. Humanist ethics are rational and evolved, not received and crystalized.

You're correct that all Christians are not the same. My experience is that the best of them are the ones least affected by the religion. Some are indistinguishable from atheistic humanists in their values and opinions apart from saying that they have a god belief. We have several here on RF that fit that description. Theistic humanist is a good name for such people.

On the other end of the spectrum is the zealous believer. Many seem quite harmed by their religious beliefs.

The problem isn't the Christians. It's what they're taught, which affects believers differentially. As I said, the way I see it, the more that Christian dogma imprints on their psyches, the more intellectual and moral harm if causes. Some denominations promote anti-science and are anti-university. It makes them homophobic. It teaches them that atheists are immoral. Many live in fear of hell. They vote for people to take reproductive rights from women.

As I said, many Christians aren't all of that, and some like the theistic humanists are none of it, but the more the religion controls their choices, the worse those choices are in my estimation, which is why I tell you that the religion doesn't appeal to me.

Oh, the utter ignoration of the atheist.

He's telling you that he is comfortable living outside of religion and without a god belief.

IT IS ONLY THROUGH GOD THAT ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE

What does that mean? That God is the reason I accomplish goals? If so, thanks, God. I guess you don't even have to believe in this deity to get that benefit. If on the other hand it means that nothing can be accomplished without a belief in that god, then I'm here to tell you otherwise. People succeed all over the world every day without that belief.

 

[Little Dragon]

Such oblivion.
BTW: the intent is not to persecute or demonize others, but when called for, you'd be a very likely candidate, like seriously.

Try it, see what happens. I would love a christian to come try and persecute me to my face. I would enjoy that thoroughly. I would welcome your attempts to demonize me also. I love a conflict, maybe I should not, but it is in my blood. So go for it. Give me more reasons to dislike you and despise your religious beliefs, give me that green light, to respond in kind. With unalloyed prejudice.