So please answer the question: what evidence do you have that these people aren’t “Christian?”
So please answer the question: what evidence do you have that these people aren’t “Christian?”
He said more than that, though. They’re probably following the other Jesus who called a foreign woman a dog, along other things. Let’s take a closer look.
Jesus fails to “turn the other cheek” and instead gets violent: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+21:12-13
He threatens eternal torture in fire to anyone who doesn’t accept his teaching:
https://biblehub.com/matthew/10-28.htm
https://biblehub.com/matthew/7-19.htm
https://biblehub.com/matthew/13-41.htm and https://biblehub.com/matthew/13-42.htm
https://biblehub.com/matthew/13-49.htm and https://biblehub.com/matthew/13-50.htm
https://biblehub.com/matthew/25-46.htm
https://biblehub.com/mark/16-16.htm
https://biblehub.com/luke/12-5.htm
https://biblehub.com/john/3-18.htm, etc.
He kills a fig tree for not bearing fruit that he knew was out of season: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+11%3A12-25
He endorses racism: https://biblehub.com/matthew/15-24.htm
When a gentile woman begs for his help he calls her a dog: https://biblehub.com/matthew/15-25.htm and https://biblehub.com/matthew/15-26.htm
He plays favorites: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark+4%3A10-12
He destroys a village’s livelihood: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+8
He teaches Christians to have a persecution complex: https://biblehub.com/matthew/5-11.htm
He teaches thought crime: https://biblehub.com/matthew/5-28.htm
He disputes the concept of personal responsibility: https://biblehub.com/matthew/6-25.htm
He condemns skepticism: https://biblehub.com/matthew/14-31.htm and https://biblehub.com/john/20-27.htm
He teaches self-harm in the cause of religious purity: https://biblehub.com/matthew/18-8.htm
He sends his disciples to steal a man’s donkey: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+19%3A29-34
He was not a peacemaker: https://biblehub.com/matthew/10-34.htm
He was divisive: https://biblehub.com/luke/14-26.htm and https://biblehub.com/luke/14-33.htm
He was a liar: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+7%3A8-10
Do you have evidence to the contrary?
I hope you checked again and made sure you’re still registered this weekend.
Right. I don’t believe is my position as an atheist. I don’t know is why.
How is this so difficult for you?
That’s pretty weak tea, especially considering how so many Christians (but not all, I know) insist that Jesus and Yahweh are the same person, just different aspects.
Sure, but the text claims he was already dead by that point. So we’re back to my original claim.
You’re using the modified definition of “agnostic” that believers favor. We have no reason to accept that.
“Agnostic” literally means “I don’t know.” “Atheist” means “I don’t believe.” I don’t know that gods are real, and I have no reason to believe they do.
No faith required.
When it comes to the Christian God, that’s easy.
https://biblehub.com/judges/1-19.htm
The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had chariots fitted with iron.
https://biblehub.com/1_kings/6-7.htm
In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.
While the Bible never says what was used to fix Jesus to the cross, tradition says it was three iron nails. There are two reasons why the account of the crucifixion is atypical of normal Roman executions: first of all, they didn’t usually waste good iron nailing victims to their crosses. They tied them to the posts. Secondly, crucifixion victims normally took days to die of dehydration and suffocation, which is why the Romans did it that way. But Jesus allegedly died in hours, not days.
So clearly, Yahweh has a weakness to iron. I fear no gods I know how to kill.
Do you think they’ll go away if Trump fails to take the White House?
They’re using this to provoke challenges against the wall of separation between church and state. They feel confident, with good reason, that the christofascist majority on the Supreme Court will reinterpret our Constitution to eliminate that law.
Religious indoctrination doesn’t promote progress:
This paper studies when religion can hamper diffusion of knowledge and economic development, and through which mechanism. I examine Catholicism in France during the Second Industrial Revolution (1870–1914). In this period, technology became skill-intensive, leading to the introduction of technical education in primary schools. I find that more religious locations had lower economic development after 1870. Schooling appears to be the key mechanism: more religious areas saw a slower adoption of the technical curriculum and a push for religious education. In turn, religious education was negatively associated with industrial development 10 to 15 years later, when schoolchildren entered the labor market.
Atheism doesn’t mean I know there are no gods. I suspect there aren’t, because religious claims about gods and reality don’t stand up to scrutiny. The more excuses you have to make for why reality doesn’t work the way you insist it should, the less inclined I am to believe you know what you’re talking about. Arguing for a prime mover or appealing to consequences doesn’t convince me either. I’m intellectually honest enough to say that I don’t have concrete knowledge that there are no gods the way I know there’s no money in my wallet, but not being able to prove there are no gods isn’t enough for me to believe that there are. Wanting to believe there are gods is no more useful than wanting there to be money in my wallet. It’s still a claim that requires validation, not a default assumption.
No it doesn’t. The only reason I bother calling myself an atheist is because believers keep insisting I have to share their beliefs. If they didn’t, I wouldn’t need the label.
None. Atheism isn’t a religion or philosophy. It’s an answer to one question, and only one: do you believe in gods? The answer is “no.”
Where we go from there is up to us.
I have no idea why anyone would come here and think it’s okay to defend any religion.
I’ve read them, and I used to preach from them. When you read them critically rather than reverentially, Jesus was a dick.
Would you like to see some examples?
The canonical gospels, where thought crime is first introduced into the religion? Where the founder of the religion declares that everyone who doesn’t agree with him is doomed to eternal torture? Are you sure that’s an argument you want to make?
I want to add, this observation really stood out to me:
People feel drawn to religious communities because of that word, “community.” People want fellowship, to have other people who will love and support you. But I was struck by how lonely you seemed when you were in this lifestyle and when you were married. It seems a lot of people feel alone in this community.
People hail religion as a ready-made source of community. But I think this forgets how easily that community can isolate you and create a lonely environment. Just because you’re surrounded by people yelling about how they’re looking after your best interests doesn’t make it true.
Okay, but what about the not-kind things Jesus said? How are the people following those words somehow not Christian?