One Who has No Beliefs and Why.......

Well the pastors a child molester and gay, they caught some in a sex webring on the net along with other proffessionals, like teachers and boy scout leaders, and from birth till now i never believed in religion, Im a proud Atheist BUT. I do believe in signs, I mean how things work out for me when i think its time to leave earth, I get smacked up side the head after chewing my nails to the nubs and at the last possible moment, the sign(i don't ask from who) shows up for the better. Don't know how anyone can have faith in a church anymore, it will happen in your small town if it hasn't already, and you still believe in a high power. I for one don't need that and doing fine. I go into debt most months all because i want to buy the animals something and its all worth it and works out in the end. I find personnally if i fret about it long enough it 1,000% works out even if time is running out, so the stress i go through is all worth it. That is a small price to pay instead of leaving my animals behind. Animals pull me through it and it's them i believe in and them in me, because of them I will not leave!

Boy you are openning a big kettle of worms starting a post like that! I'll step out of the way when the war starts. LMAO!!

I agree...things usually do work out in the end. It's just getting there that is the hard part.

Are you confusing belief in religious institutions (i.e., churches) with belief in God?

Saying that there is no God because some ministers/priests were found guilty of abusing children is about like saying that there is no U.S. Post Master General because the Mailman is a child pornographer, mailing his "product," isn't it? I mean one fact does not follow the other by means of logical progression of thought.

Are there horrible people posing as ministers for profit, for access to children, etc? Obviously so, but there are horrid people in all walks of life, and one simply cannot denounce an entire profession (let alone the concept of God's existence) merely because SOME have abused their position of influence. There are many, many more who would never even DREAM of doing such!

As an athiest, and forgive me for the philosophical sidetrack for a moment, do you not find it interesting that in order for you to say that there is no God, you are, of necessity, claiming nearly god-like status in the process? I mean, in order to make the claim of an absolute negative like "There is no God," one is basically saying, "I know everything there is to know, and in all of that, I know that God does not exist." If one is not omniscient (the capacity to know all things), then there may be SOMETHING that he/she does not know, and that ONE THING may very well be that God does indeed exist. It's just a philosophical inconsistancy in the thought process for atheism that I have always found intriguing, and I was wondering what a "proud atheist" had to say on the subject.

I guess if you want to judge the actions of few and blame all. You are no better then the few who ruin the good names of the majority.
As for there being a god. Does anyone really know? Many people think many diffrent things. Maybe thats why we go to war over religion, because no really knows. And thats what makes the debate go on forever and ever.
Just my thougts

The problem with religion is that almost every institution that is in power uses the excuse "in the name of god" or "it is gods will" to do what they wish. For one, the majority of die hard religious people I know will go to great ends to force upon you the views they hold dear. The history of religion, and religious laws that are held as "factually based can be traced back to the current powers at the time of the introduction of that particular law. For example the sin of masturbation came about and was twisted over the years. The original sin was written as this "it is better to cast thy seed into the belly of a whore then on a rock" the belief by many researchers is this was a religious law brought about by a military based society, and what better way to keep young strong soldiers from wasting "potential future soldiers" on a rock, then to make it a sin, and make it better to sleep with a prostitute who he may inpregnate, thus resulting in future soldier "stock". Another example of the twisting that has occured is the Roman Catholic religion, which was created by the ROMANS. It was brought about during the early beginning of Christianity and the Roman ruler saw many of his followers and surrounding regions converting and losing people to this new "fad" religion. So he created the Roman Catholic "christian" religion. In my opinion for a diehard religious person to claim without doubt that God does exist is as pompous and arrogant as an athiest to say he doesn't.

Another twisting of laws/rules was in the bible it says for a woman to marry her dead husbands brother was forbidden, but in other sections of the bible, it is not only acceptable but REQUIRED.. The bible is a great book to read, but for someone to claim that it is all accurate and right, or inaccurate and wrong is trivial, pointless, and a waste of key strokes on the keyboard, or breathes you take.

Later

Another twisting of laws/rules was in the bible it says for a woman to marry her dead husbands brother was forbidden, but in other sections of the bible, it is not only acceptable but REQUIRED.. The bible is a great book to read, but for someone to claim that it is all accurate and right, or inaccurate and wrong is trivial, pointless, and a waste of key strokes on the keyboard, or breathes you take.

Isn't that the truth! They're are unicorns in the bible too.

Oops! "There are" unicorns in the bible.

LOL! I hate it when my kids talk to me while I'm trying to type.

I'm not sure anyone really wants to get into this, but any referrences you might have to support your assertions might be good, especially in light of biblical contradictions.

I think that you'll find that the Bible never addresses a "sin" of masturbation, per se, but that Onan was guilty of spilling his seed on the ground, thereby refusing to impregnate his dead brothers' wife. It was for his failure to follow the law in regard to his duty to his dead brothers that he was punished. Incorrectly then, the act of masturbation is sometimes called Onanism.

The Romans did not create the Roman Catholic Church, but the Roman societal considerations certainly did shape the formation of that religion. There was no single emperor, though, who decided that he would create a church to keep his subjects close to him. Constantine did become a "christian" and legalize "christianity," but that was well after the Catholic Church was established in form and function.

Also, for the Atheist to say that there is no God, he must by reason of thought, say that he knows all and from this complete knowledge he can know that there is no God. For the theist to assert God's existence, he need only have one proof of His existence and no more. Proving a negative is INFINITELY more difficult (if indeed not impossible) than is proving a positive assertion.

Also, to what were you referring (Randy, I mean) when you stated that the Bible specifically forbids the marrying of a woman to her dead husband's brother? I want to make certain I understand you correctly.

Thanks!

Geez, guys, if I wanted to hear this I'd go to my brother in law's. And at least he gives me food!

Erin Benner