This fits right into my hypothesis that most atheists seek validation from like minded individuals, for their beliefs, instead of seeking truth.
To the atheist: Look I fully understand that truth always is confrontational, there is always someone on the wrong side of truth. This is a very serious and real subject for us all. If I didn't love you enough to tell you the truth, then I wouldn't. If I truly love you, as I do, then I can only keep pressing you to the point of understanding. It takes far more love to confront then to ignore the situation, perfect love is a constant confronter.
I would rather like to receive a slight nod from God then to seek the applause of the entire world. Atheists, on the other hand, seek the validating applause of like minded individuals as seen on this new attack on God.
They are NOT seeking TRUTH they are seeking VALIDATION. There is a huge difference.
bit.ly/promoteAtheism
How can athiests hate something in which they don't believe?
ReplyDeletemost atheists seek validation ... instead of seeking truth.
ReplyDeleteUh, no, sorry. This billboard is instead encouraging fellowship, something which all humans crave, and one of few positive things a church can offer.
People who applaud the sign identify themselves as atheists or as atheist sympathizers, and where this behavior is witnessed, it sparks dialogue and fellowship amongst like-minded individuals. People who bemoan the sign identify themselves as anti-atheists (deists, theists, etc.), and complain, what? That they seek "validation"?
Do you make the same prejudiced judgment when you see a sign which says that abuse victims are not alone? Are abuse victims seeking validation rather than truth?
Stop shoveling your drivel long enough to note its characteristic odor, and open your eyes.
--
Stan
Stan:"
ReplyDeleteDo you make the same prejudiced judgment when you see a sign which says that abuse victims are not alone? Are abuse victims seeking validation rather than truth?"
The difference here is that you are sending the 'abuse' victim right back to the abuser. The abuser is satan don't you get it? You are helping them out of the fire telling them they aren't alone as you shove them right back to the fire. I addressed this subject over at 'another' blog. Read when someone pointed out "We are willing to make an effort to help ease the transition between belief and unbelief." You might understand better.
The difference here is that you are sending the 'abuse' victim right back to the abuser.
ReplyDeleteNo, the difference is in the arguments made.
In the initial case, you claim that this sign depicts hatred of god coupled with a rejection of truth in favor of validation. Neither claim has merit, as my apt analogy quite clearly shows, so now you have changed your argument entirely to suit your purposes.
Sorry, Dan, but I'm sticking to the subject on this one, which is whether or not this sign promotes hatred of god, and whether or not through this sign atheists illustrate a desire for validation rather than truth. The text of the sign and its intentionally blissful background make it clear that no hatred is intended (quite the opposte, in fact: tolerance), and the comparison between your conclusion regarding validation v. truth, when considering a similar sign for abuse victims, shows the absurdity of your second argument.
Or do you think that a sign reading "Are you an abuse victim? You are not alone" is a request for validation while denying truth?
Answer that! The two conclusions are identical, and are based on identical inputs, so the only reason you could draw different conclusions from the two signs would be from your bias regarding their content.
The reason you have been cast out of so many blogs is because of your obvious willingness to use deception, and your equally obvious unwillingness to admit that your lies have been exposed. Admit it here, and you will have regained at least a little of your lost integrity.
--
Stan
“But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.”
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of integrity, you might want to run spell check on your tag line.
I guess they could have make the sign plain and said "If you don't believe in God call 1-800-..." but that doesn't quite catch the eye.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you feel threatened by this? They aren't bashing down your door forcing you to stop believing, they are just putting out the message that not everyone in this country is religious.
I don't think Dan feels threatened. I think he feels envious.
ReplyDeleteAtheists are happy, and are not tormented by guilt. He won't be satisfied until we are cowering in a church pew, submitting our will and desires to the god of his understanding.
Don: "I think he (Dan) feels envious. Atheists are happy, and are not tormented by guilt"
ReplyDeleteSo the fallacy is that Christians aren't happy and tormented? This just isn't true and you know it. Your just being difficult.
I believe we are set free from guilt that I personally held when I found out I was loving sin and sinning against God. The milk was guilt but the meat is salvation and guilt free.
I remember as a former youth pastor trying to not be so hypocritical and condescending towards a belief system I could readily admit not comprehending. I suggest you swallow your pride and do the same.
ReplyDeleteBut then again, you appear to intimate with the Great Deceiver, one wonders whose side you really are on.
Thinking Ape,
ReplyDeleteAre you saying that Christians can't have a hypothesis?
You call it "so hypocritical and condescending towards a belief system"
You probably are saying this with a clear conscience of a belief in no God and evolution, right? Talk about hypocrisy. Tisk Tisk
If you break the Law you will be punished. Have you broken God's Law? God doesn't want this fate for you and neither do I. Ask me and I will be more then happy to help you reach salvation.
Believe it or not, Dan, being an atheist is still a major taboo. All this billboard does is let people who don't believe in God know that they are not alone.
ReplyDeleteThis is America Mike, there is nothing taboo about the religion of atheism. They are organizing and seeking to 'fill the offering plates' being passed around, they plastered the 1-800 number to join there church or whatever. Far from taboo, people are flocking to the new religion. Christianity, on the other hand, is viewed in the atheistic community as a taboo. That is a fact!
ReplyDeleteDan I think we are equally frustrated with each other sometimes. I used to hold similar religious beliefs as you, but that doesn't truly let me know what you are thinking, and sometimes I can't even get close with a guess.
ReplyDeleteTyping "atheism is a religion" a hundred times is not some incantation that will make it so, the same can be said of humanism. There are churches that have atheists and humanists in their congregations, the Unitarian Universalists come to mind, but atheism is not a religion.
Do you know anyone who has been ostracized for coming out as an atheist? I do. Do you know anyone who has had problems at work because someone found out they were an atheist? I do. Do you know someone who has been rejected by their very own family because they came out as an atheist? I do.
And the same can be said for some Christians, who were treated just as unjustly for proclaiming faith in Christ.
Atheists are a tiny minority part of society, who, yes, don't believe in any gods, so that would certainly include Christianity. What most atheists have problems with is religious groups trying to control others and force them to think the way they do. Unfortunately many atheists see someone like Fred Phelps and think all Christians are like that. Then again, many of them were raised in extreme fundamentalist families who taught them to hate gays and people of other faiths.
The sooner both sides stop seeing this as a war, the better off we will all be.
I don't want to take your Christianity away from you. I don't want you to become an atheist. I will also gladly discuss religion with you.
Have you heard the outcries about that one billboard? People are appalled by one billboard. Do you know how many religious billboards are all over the country? I'd bet thousands if not more, yet I've never seen one news article complaining about them.
Here's two cartoons that kind of drive the point home.
http://cectic.com/159.html
http://ecstathy.blogspot.com/2008/06/sign-of-tomes.html
Ok, I'm through rambling for now. ;-)
Mike, for one, I enjoy your rambling.
ReplyDeleteI know full well that you don't believe that atheism is a religion. Secular humanism is a belief system, RCC is a belief system, LDS is a belief system. Christianity, on the other hand, is an understanding of the wickedness of one's self and the "giving up" and submission to God Himself. Would you rather I call atheism a belief system?
Funny how that first cartoon that you provided, where the two kids dressed like the LDS Mormons that knocked on doors, was loaded with blasphemy (the very first two things they said). Evidence or fruit they weren't Christians.
Wait a minute Mike!
ReplyDeleteI may have spoken too soon. This guy wants religious freedom and is suing the government so this case might be interesting. I just read: "An atheist soldier who claims the military violates religious freedoms should have complained through the chain of command instead of civilian courts, the government said in arguing that his lawsuit should be dismissed."
If that man wins the lawsuit then it means atheism would, indeed, be a religion.
This article says that atheism is a religion and the lawsuit states the same.
Well, they were cartoons so they really wouldn't be Christians or anything for that matter. The cartoonist is an atheist so the blasphemy coming out of their lips is not surprising. And you really consider him saying set apart cow as blasphemy. Holy means set apart.
ReplyDeleteAtheism is neither a belief system nor a religion, for one belief does not a system make. Atheism is a belief or rather a disbelief.
You just said "Christianity...is an understanding of the wickedness of one's self and the "giving up" and submission to God Himself."
Even if it's true you just described a system of beliefs.
RCC, LDS, JWs, UCC, Baptists, Presbyterians, all have different belief systems all based on the same source, but they do have some core differences. Regardless of whether they are true or not, they are still belief systems.
As far as the law deciding if atheism is a religion or not, would you agree if a court of law decided that Christianity was a turnip farming commune? Then why would you be excited if a court of law called atheism a religion?
Disbelief is the same exact thing as belief system. I don't believe in loch ness monsters or extraterrestrial aliens, is that not a belief system or part of my belief system? I have proven with evidence, yes court rulings are evidence, that atheism is a belief system, or at the very least, atheism is part of belief system.
ReplyDeleteThe court ruling that atheists have the same right as any other religion, would indeed, constitute atheism as a religion. You cannot have it both ways.
So if they agreed that Christianity was a turnip farm then it would be. Good to know.
ReplyDeleteYes, if our court system, through all of it's appeals processes, allowed monkeys to drive since they are deemed "human" by evolutionists and Christianity was to be labeled as a turnip farm then that would be the case in this society.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am extremely upset by today's courts and political biased. Believe it or not, I still believe in our Constitution as a sound way to run a government. If used properly the checks and balances are very effective. The stupidity of Americans to allow the erosion of a wonderful system will have to be addressed by God Himself. I am a Constitutionalists. A debate of the process to interpret said Constitution would be another discussion to be had.
Legal decisions do not dictate truth for me.
ReplyDelete“To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true” (Aristotle, Metaphysics 1011b25)
I haven't read much Aristotle, I actually got that one from Peter Kreeft, a Christian philosopher, author, and apologist, but it's been my definition of truth ever since.
If you are ever looking for a fun read that defends Christianity I highly recommend Socrates Meets Jesus.
Run through this logic:Does absolute truth exist?
ReplyDeleteI commented on the other thread about proofthatgodexists.org If that is supposed to be logic, then Socrates is rolling in his grave.
ReplyDeleteI guess enough people have covered this, and this post is kinda old by now, but I still want to add my $0.02.
ReplyDeleteYou really missed the ball here. I love electronics. I am facinated by electronics and I am also frustrated that none of my friends are. I would love to have friends who share my passion for electronics. This does not mean that what I know about Ohm's law, the way transisters operate, etc. needs any validation from others.
I understand that you think the eternal well-being of our souls are at stake, but be careful that your eagerness to debunk atheism does not overly bias your ability to judge the motives and beliefs of atheists.