I'm going to end my participation in the atheism discussion simply because it's no use to try to reason with people who only think in absolutes. "THERE IS NO GOD AND THERE IS NO WAY THERE EVER COULD BE WE ARE ALL A COSMIC ACCIDENT SO THERE" is just as absurd to me as "THERE IS A GIANT GUY WITH A WHITE BEARD AND HE HAS A PLAN FOR ALL OF US AND OF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IT THAN YOU GO TO HELL".
There is no proof of "God". But how could one ever, ever think to disprove a being that is all mighty and beyond the scope of out comprehension?
My belief- my opinion- is that the idea that we simply live and die is bleak. Weather or not Tom J. Atheist is happy doesn't enter into it, his views are still depressing to me. Therefore, I choose to believe that there's something more to our existence than our lives here on earth, and yet I see no reason to adhere to a strict religious code (however I do think people should listen to what Jesus said, which was basically to be good to each other). Not adhering to a religion turns religious people into real dick heads because they believe that not doing so is wrong. However, saying that one does believe in something greater than humanity turns Atheists into real dick faces (see: this thread) because they find it so offensive that someone could disagree with them.
Cookicutter and V5 illustrate this point better than I could, since they refer to belief in God as being "decieved" or "fantastical". Pretty arrogant thing to say- right on the level with saying "If you don't go to church, you'll go to hell". Same exact thing but with less burning. How can you profess to "know" the secrets of the universe?
I'm glad Grinder said this because he is absolutley right. He's also conveniently ignoring (or too dense to realize) that Atheists are just as guilty as religious people in this regard (though Grinder has chosen to forgot that religions other than Christianity exist. Chrisitians may annoy people who don't agree with them, but Muslims kill Jews over disagreements. And you're worried about Christians?). If you mention "God" to an Atheist, you better be fucking prepared to hear how stupid and ignorant you are, how you're a sheep and that you've been duped by religious nuts who just want to control you and that you'd better become an Atheists because only Atheists have the right idea. Same exact thing, except the religious nuts offer you paradise after death and Atheists offer you a hole in the ground. Awesome!
Even though I want this to be the end of my participation in this discussion, I doubt it will be.
