Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
First off let me clarify something; Christianity is indeed based by faith but it is supplemented by evidence. Sure you can't see Jesus, but you can see all that he has done around you. Not only that the more we find archaeologically, the more accurate it all seems. Dead sea scrolls solidified that the Bible remained virtually unchanged from the ancient text. The book of numbers traces all these family trees - so much so that you can trace the OT prophets prophesies and see that over a span of hundreds of years that those prophesies came true. The ark of the covenant has been claimed to be found in Turkey.
No. Evidence that the texts have survived unchanged for thousands of years does absolutely nothing to prove the existence of an all powerful supernatural being that has told us how we should live. You've made quite a stretch there.
Again, same goes for the ark of the covenant. Although it has not been found, even if it was, it does nothing to prove theism is correct (or particularly the Christian theism). No one disputes that there are some historically accurate things in the bible but where we differ is on how these prove or don't prove theism. To me, it was simply the people of the time writing down the way they saw the world. Nothing more. That is how all writers have done it since writing was born.
Atheism is widely misconstrued. Atheism is the firm belief that there is no God AND there is no evidence that there ever was/is a God. Most people tend to leave out the second point when defining themselves as Atheists.
No. Check skace's posts above. There is strong atheism and weak atheism. I still define myself as an agnostic to most people though because the term has less of a stigma attached to it.
If anything, I would say you have a wildly miscontstrued notion of theism and its truth. It is one thing to take it on faith but you're actually trying to prove that there is solid evidence to support its validity. Which is kind of sad but I can't blame someone for believes for trying.
One thing that has always bugged me is theism. Not deism or pantheism, but theism. It suggests that not only do you know there is a supreme being, but you know his words, message, and teachings. That unless one believes in this particuclar theism he or she is going to a supernatural place called hell, which we only know about because man wrote about it thousands of years ago. But if they do, when they die they go to a place to spend all eternity (what man can even fathom such a length of time) in peace with their loved ones. Equally ridiculous. This idea was born out of despair the people felt for the times they lived in. I'd want to die and go to heaven as well if there were no cures for diseases, I worked manual labor my whole life, and life expectancy was hilariously low.
Deism I can understand. This theism business is a joke.