Dear Bill Maher, stop making atheists look bad

[shadow9d9]

Too bad that it's rather true of famous atheists. I think ones who aren't famous tend to be quiet about it. I'm agnostic myself since the evidence just isn't there to make a definitive statement either way.... I don't get in peoples faces about it because it's not a popular position to have. You can get away with it more if you're famous a lot of times.

derp at me... must adjust calibrate detector

Talking isn't pushing anything. Putting forward legislation or going door to door trying to convert people is preaching.

Btw, agnosticism is a copout. There can never BE evidence of a negative. You only can make decisions WITH evidence. Since there will never be evidence of unicorns, do you assume the agnostic position of not knowing either way? Do you go around just saying you have no idea about anything because you don't have evidence that things don't exist?

 

[cybrsage]

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absense.

 

[cybrsage]

Atheists don't view Christians as those who want to "force" everyone to believe, but evangelizing and spreading the gospel is part of many Christian traditions. It's not part of being an atheist, being an atheist only means you don't believe in a god. It doesn't say others are any worse off then you or need saving if they aren't atheists. My GF is a Christian, and I have no interest in converting her to atheism, it has no bearing on me.

The Soviet Union disagreed with your statement.

The Soviet Union was the first state to have as an ideological objective the elimination of religion[1] and its replacement with atheism.[

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_Soviet_Union

 

[cybrsage]

Which profile is his in here?

Ausm.

 

[TheSlamma]

Since when is Bill Maher an atheist?

When I watched religilous he sounded pretty agnostic to me.

 

[kranky]

Maher is an actor, just like Rush Limbaugh, and they say things that will get attention. That's their job. They developed a gimmick and they play to it.

For no good reason, here's a pic of Rush when he a DJ at a local radio station here.

 

[shadow9d9]

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absense.

To a logical being it is. Especially when there have been 10s of thousands of years worth of so called "gods".. plenty of time for even a shred of evidence to appear.

Do you believe in unicorns or the tooth fairy? Absense of evidence is not evidence of absenses derp!

 

[shadow9d9]

The Soviet Union disagreed with your statement.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_Soviet_Union

Atheism is not a group. It is a lack of a group. You know, individuals... not matter how much you'd like them to have a doctrine that they share in common.. it just isn't reality.

 

[spittledip]

To a logical being it is. Especially when there have been 10s of thousands of years worth of so called "gods".. plenty of time for even a shred of evidence to appear.

Do you believe in unicorns or the tooth fairy? Absense of evidence is not evidence of absenses derp!

Jesus rose from the dead and had at least 12 eye witnesses of his post resurrection appearance who went to their deaths for their testimonies.

 

[Onceler]

VERY painful deaths.

 

[CallMeJoe]

Jesus rose from the dead and had at least 12 eye witnesses of his post resurrection appearance who went to their deaths for their testimonies.

Elvis has had far more witnesses, though fortunately we no longer execute the delusional for their hallucinations.

 

[Perknose]

He did not say do not pray in public and that's it. What he said was not to pray in public just to look good and holy.

Uh, yes, he did say exactly that.

Originally Posted by Matthew 6:5-7
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. [<------ THAT'S IT, no qualifiers, no "but it's ok to pray outside at other times like football games." ] Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

That said, Tebow's public demonstrations of piety and primitive belief in a deity who would care enough to intervene on his behalf in a sports contest while turning his back on entire regions as their young are wiped out by the slow, painful death of famine isn't at all out of step with the general American Christian mores, so he doesn't stand out as someone who particularly bothers me in that regard.

Fundie, insular, primitively retrograde and often hateful and exclusive American fundie "Christianity" SO ridiculously distorts and is SO far from the gentle, humble, loving, accepting, pacifistic and inclusive teachings of Jesus Christ that it should be labeled blasphemy, since it pretty much takes JC's name in vain.

Tebow doesn't annoy me. It's those who would tie his success this year to his religion that annoy me.

 

[senseamp]

The Soviet Union disagreed with your statement.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_Soviet_Union

Yes, Soviet Union was an Atheist equivalent of the Christian Right.

The equivalent of having the government pushing the notion that there is a god, is the government pushing the notion that there is no god, as the USSR was doing. US atheists simply want the government to stay out of religion, period.

Christian right wants: One nation, under god.
USSR wanted: One nation, under no god.
US atheists want: One nation.

 

[child of wonder]

Jesus rose from the dead and had at least 12 eye witnesses of his post resurrection appearance who went to their deaths for their testimonies.

Evidence, please?

The earliest writings of Jesus come from at least 80 CE, almost 50 years after he died. The earliest non-disputed non-Christian account of a Jesus that even slightly resembles that of the Bible comes from Tacitus in 116 CE -- over 80 years after Jesus supposedly was born of a virgin, turned water into wine, wandered about healing the sick, raising the dead, feeding 5,000, being crucified, the entire earth shaking and dead rising when he died, his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension into heaven in a blinding light.

Despite these incredible events no one anywhere bothered to record any of it?

 

[Onceler]

Yes, Soviet Union was an Atheist equivalent of the Christian Right.

The equivalent of having the government pushing the notion that there is a god, is the government pushing the notion that there is no god, as the USSR was doing. US atheists simply want the government to stay out of religion, period.

Christian right wants: One nation, under god.
USSR wanted: One nation, under no god.
US atheists want: One nation.

WTF have you been smoking? You leftists are the ones pushing communism.

 

[senseamp]

WTF have you been smoking? You leftists are the ones pushing communism.

A statement this stupid is its own rebuttal.

 

[mattpegher]

The fact that a talking head makes a statement pointing out the lunacy that if a god exists then it certainly doesnt care about a stupid game, doesnt surprise or horrify me in the least. The statement was a jokingly satirical expression of what people pray for, and how and where they chose to do so. I dont expect this asshole to come out and say it in any other way.

Tebow is no better for flaunting his religion, than Maher is for making outlandish statements.

Problem is when you have assholes on both sides you tend to get a lot of shit in your face.


I still believe that, and chose to continue to engage in these threads, because I feel that I can steal some glimmer of understanding by listening to both sides.

Thanks

 

[shadow9d9]

WTF have you been smoking? You leftists are the ones pushing communism.

1. Communism has never even been tried. Dictatorships with a quasi socialist or socialist economic system? Sure.

2. There is only one "leftist" in the senate, and that is Bernie Sanders. Therefore, unless one person is able to "push" something, your statement is an absolutelaugh.

3. For your reference, our Democrats are to the right of the right wing of europe.

 

[TheSlamma]

Yes, Soviet Union was an Atheist equivalent of the Christian Right.

The equivalent of having the government pushing the notion that there is a god, is the government pushing the notion that there is no god, as the USSR was doing. US atheists simply want the government to stay out of religion, period.

Christian right wants: One nation, under god.
USSR wanted: One nation, under Stalin.
US atheists want: One nation.

The major reason for this was the cult of personality, with no God to worship you looked to Stalin because "what else is there"

 

[sandorski]

The major reason for this was the cult of personality, with no God to worship you looked to Stalin because "what else is there"

A lot more than that. More like, Worship Stalin or suffer the consequences.

 

[senseamp]

The major reason for this was the cult of personality, with no God to worship you looked to Stalin because "what else is there"

I don't think we need to promote a cult leader, be it Stalin or "God", in the pledge of allegiance.
It should be: One Nation.

 

[marincounty]

The fact that a talking head makes a statement pointing out the lunacy that if a god exists then it certainly doesnt care about a stupid game, doesnt surprise or horrify me in the least. The statement was a jokingly satirical expression of what people pray for, and how and where they chose to do so. I dont expect this asshole to come out and say it in any other way.

Tebow is no better for flaunting his religion, than Maher is for making outlandish statements.

Problem is when you have assholes on both sides you tend to get a lot of shit in your face.


I still believe that, and chose to continue to engage in these threads, because I feel that I can steal some glimmer of understanding by listening to both sides.

Thanks

No, I think this makes Tebow the bigger asshole, his job is to play football, period. Bill Maher is a political comic whose job it is to make people laugh or to enrage those who don't see it his way. Like someone pointed out, if some player started praising allah after scoring I think you would see this practice stopped pronto.