Why bash those who believe in God?

[Hyperblaze]

I've never understand why folks bash those who believe in a superior being.

There is no possibly way to prove or disprove God's (or whoever you believe in) exists, however, just by things that have gone through in my life, I have a strong belief that God does exist.

You might not realize it, but God might of affected you or touched your life in some way. I've encountered several instances where I know God's presense was felt.

What do I think of Churches and their rules?

Attending church doesn't make you religious, you could still go through all the motions and not be religious. Having faith does.

The church has been around for centuries, and has a LOT of skeletons in the closet. I'm not even sure that the church we have today is what Jesus had envisioned. They teach a lot of visual material about how Heaven and Earth are. I wish they didn't. It's somewhat misleading in my opinion.

In some circles at church, I would probably be considered a heretic and not a true catholic because I disagree with several of the church teachings and definitely don't follow the bible literally (I find it's more like a guide with stories to show how to live your life. However, there is at least one fundamental truth in it. Jesus died and raised from the dead 3 days later to open the gates of heaven. This is the foundation of the Catholic faith), but I would say that my faith is just as strong as theirs

I find that lots of catholics are hyprocrits. Their version of being a catholic is attend church every Sunday and that's it. Being Catholic is not being catholic for 1 hour a day every week. It's believing and having faith in God 24/7.

Some folks might find mass boring. Hell, if it's a traditional mass, I don't even want to be there. There is too much of a likely chance I'll fall asleep. I want to be there to have fun and praise God. Wait a second? Have fun in church? Is that even possible or allowed? It is at the mass I go to! Singing with actual music (drums, bass, lead guitar).

Take all of this as you will.

I've never bashed non-believers. I've never told anyone that they had to believe in God. I can't stand bible-thumpers either. I'll run away from them faster then you will.

We are all humans with the right to believe what we want. Why can't we all respect each other's right to believe what we please? Is the world such an intolerant place?

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Is the world such an intolerant place?

Yes. Everybody wants to believe that they are better than the rest. "I am a modern man of science, you are a religious nut who belongs in the Dark Ages" is one of the things that has really caught on.

 

[Mucho]

Speaking for myself, I always associate religion with intolerance.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: Mucho
Speaking for myself, I always associate religion with intolerance.

thats the irony of it, isn't it.

 

[puffff]

Wouldn't you make fun of someone who believes in Santa Claus even after they've grown up?

 

[shocksyde]

I've had too many religious zealots look down on me because I'm Agnostic to even give a shit anymore.

Don't start any more threads like this please. You know it will not end well.

 

[moshquerade]

i was just talking with someone who is on his way to becoming a Priest about this. i think the people who like to bash religions because they don't agree with them or don't have any true insight into them are the most outspoken so we hear from them the most. i think there are by far more tolerant people amongst us than intolerant.

 

[Hyperblaze]

Originally posted by: shocksyde
I've had too many religious zealots look down on me because I'm Agnostic to even give a shit anymore.

Don't start any more threads like this please. You know it will not end well.

If I had a "religious zealot" look down upon me, I'd call them a hyprocrit.

 

[Hyperblaze]

Originally posted by: theprodigalrebel

Is the world such an intolerant place?

Yes. Everybody wants to believe that they are better than the rest. "I am a modern man of science, you are a religious nut who belongs in the Dark Ages" is one of the things that has really caught on.

I am a strong believe in science and God.

I just killed that entire theory

 

[aircooled]

I respect anyone's belief as long as they respect mine.

 

[Double Trouble]

I'm Catholic and see nothing wrong with religion and those who have faith. That said, I do bash those who use religion to push ignorance or to defy all rational logic. My religion is between me and my creator, I don't think it should be pushed onto others, into politics, into the classroom etc etc. That's where the problems always begin. When someone tries to push their beliefs (or lack thereof) unto others, people are going to resent it.

 

[Xyclone]

Originally posted by: Hyperblaze

Originally posted by: theprodigalrebel

Is the world such an intolerant place?

Yes. Everybody wants to believe that they are better than the rest. "I am a modern man of science, you are a religious nut who belongs in the Dark Ages" is one of the things that has really caught on.

I am a strong believe in science and God.

...but apparently not in grammar.

 

[Hyperblaze]

Originally posted by: Xyclone

Originally posted by: Hyperblaze

Originally posted by: theprodigalrebel

Is the world such an intolerant place?

Yes. Everybody wants to believe that they are better than the rest. "I am a modern man of science, you are a religious nut who belongs in the Dark Ages" is one of the things that has really caught on.

I am a strong believe in science and God.

...but apparently not in grammar.

I'm a strong believer that humans also make mistakes

 

[DangerAardvark]

Because we can. But seriously, putting the proving of god and the disproving of god on equal footing is ludicrous. I don't have to disprove god. I can start from a blank slate, apply what we know about the physical world through empirical evidence and at no point will the subject of "god" appear. The onus is on YOU to prove god.

It is true that I can't say that god doesn't exist. But I can say that his likelihood is so small as to be negligible; somewhat on par as the likelihood of Thor. Unicorns are slightly more likely than either.

 

[Alone]

It just seems like an unrealistic idea to me. I can't disprove that there exists a dog that speak clear English and has great table manners, but that doesn't mean it exists.

 

[rikadik]

The problem is that the existence of God is an interesting debate, but those who do believe are generally more likely to be genuinely offended. To an atheist, being told that God does exist is just empty prose, but to a believer being told that God doesn't exist is often seems to cut to the core.

 

[Double Trouble]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvarkI don't have to disprove god. I can start from a blank slate, apply what we know about the physical world through empirical evidence and at no point will the subject of "god" appear. The onus is on YOU to prove god.

That's where you're wrong, the onus is not on anyone to prove anything since one can never prove or disprove the existence of God.

 

[rikadik]

Originally posted by: tagej

Originally posted by: DangerAardvarkI don't have to disprove god. I can start from a blank slate, apply what we know about the physical world through empirical evidence and at no point will the subject of "god" appear. The onus is on YOU to prove god.

That's where you're wrong, the onus is not on anyone to prove anything since one can never prove or disprove the existence of God.

I think what DangerAardvark was getting at is whilst we may not be able to prove or disprove God the two possibilities are not black and white or equally likely. If the scientific evidence suggests that it is unlikely God exists then what is needed so some kind of further proof for the other hypothesis to redress the balance.

 

[Spineshank]

I see more religious people creating threads like these then the non religious folk.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I enourage you all to watch the movie "Luther". If nothing else, it offers a fantastic juxtaposition between the church as a political/propaganda entity and the true message of Christ.

Truly a well done movie.

 

[darkswordsman17]

The problem is that we only see the two extremes. In response to televangicals and constant preaching through the years we have people who feel they must be outspoken in the opposite direction. Then people lose sight of the middle ground and argue the two extremes.

Religion =/= God

You don't have to prove/disprove a supreme being in order to criticize religion and some of its followers. That is a point that seems to be missed quite often. Too many religions focus on superficialities. Most people who practice any given religion are in the middle ground, they aren't highly devout and they are for the most part reasonable beings just living in the world.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
Because we can. But seriously, putting the proving of god and the disproving of god on equal footing is ludicrous. I don't have to disprove god. I can start from a blank slate, apply what we know about the physical world through empirical evidence and at no point will the subject of "god" appear. The onus is on YOU to prove god.

I like Russel's Teapot for this one:

If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved...

Emphasis mine.

Just because something isn't disprovable doesn't mean its automatically a legitimate idea worth considering.

I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

--Stephen Roberts

I also don't see a good reason to believe in the Christian god over the Muslim Allah or any other deity. Personally, I don't bash those who believe in a god or deities unless they try to bug the shit out of me about them. As it turns out, this is extremely rare so I've not much experience in religion-bashing on a personal basis. I'd prefer it stay that way; conflict over it all is such a massive waste of time.

 

[endscape]

Originally posted by: Hyperblaze

You might not realize it, but God might of affected you or touched your life in some way. I've encountered several instances where I know God's presense was felt.

For whatever reason, this statement irked me.

I've been up far to long to debate this, so I'll add the rest of my thoughts later.

EDIT: I love that Stephen Roberts quote!

 

[paulxcook]

I read a quote once (this won't be word for word) that the loudest religious proselytizers are the ones afraid that God isn't real, and the loudest atheist proselytizers are the ones afraid that He is.

This probably doesn't add much to this thread, but then neither will most of the responses.

 

[Pabster]

Why bash those who do not believe in God?