can I join?

Pity to those who believe in fairy tales.
I'm with you.
Joe

the notion of being an AETHIEST is a funny one
the second that your car starts spinning on ice or starts rolling off a cliff you are sure to cry out to God
all you need is for some asshole to point a gun at your head, in your helpless state you will pray
or on a more simple level
you could have a child or some children and feel that you will not always be there to protect them
so in an effort to feel more secure, you pray for their protection
none of these work for you?
okay
you go on a road trip
you are with some stellar riders
you hammer out 25 miles of killer singletrack with all sorts of drop offs and other fun stuff
at the end of the ride as you smile ear to ear
rinsing the grit out of your teeth you say, "God that was awesome!"

now I am not a very religious person
but I do believe in a higher power
perhaps that makes me spiritual
not sure

but as clever and fun as it seems to claim to be an aethiest...I doubt that you are

joy... i love religious arguments
first off, the problems religion has caused greatly outweigh the benefits it has given. Everything from the crusades, the jihad, the IRA, the middle east crisis, etc etc, can all be traced to one single source. A group of lower-class, uneducated ppl who can't succeed in this world so they make up a story to make themselves feel better, pretending that sum guy in the clouds mite reward them if they act a certain way... complete nonsense. Religion and the religious dogma it stresses has been nothing but an obsticale for the human race. It is a form of mass mind control that can manipulate millions of ignorant people to do wuteva the "leader" eg the pope, says. It is foolish to believe their will be a reward for u just becuz u act a certain way. i have studied the bible extensively and have found glaring holes in it's basic foundation. Which can be expected due to the fact that most of it was written by primitive ppl who know nothing of modern science. Religion can also be viewed as an inhibitor of human development due to its fundamental conservatism. When Copernicus first insisted that it was a heliocentric universe, the catholic church condemned him. Yet no reasonable person can argue now that the sun revolves around the earth. It is the same problomatic conservatism that plagues science today. Everything from DNA research to space exploration have been hampered and slowed down by religious people who believe we r going against god's will.
In the words of Niccolo Machievlli: One must be irrelgious, amoral, inconisderate, and ruthless to succeed in this world.

Cornbread: Do you really want to put your position of having to argue that everytime we don't understand something we should throw up our hands and say "Magic!".

Do you know how television works? Many people don't. Maybe god is what makes television.  Just because we don't understand everythign doesn't prove there's a God.  At the same time, it doesn't prove there isn't one either.

Cornbread: u look for an intelligent argument yet ur only argument against mines is "Why that was just like a lot of bull".... although this kinda response is quite typical from theists when faced with any type of reason.

that should have said what the heck does that mean "Just because you don't wish to believe in God is no proof that there isn't One".

Well threead, One thing for sure. You're going to have yourself a nice long hunt for intelligent people out there who do not believe in God because, quite frankly, there aren't any intelligent people who don't believe in God.
Brad? You sound like you don't know what you believe. You need to take some time and figure it all out.
Capt. Cornbread? Yeah I believe in the "Big Bang Theory" too... God spoke and "BANG" there it was.
Alot of people are in for a very rude awakening one day. But since the scripture says, "They that are ignorant, let them be ignorant," I will bid you good day and not waste anymore of my time. GCJ

Why do u feel the number will be greater threead/ Because as far as I can see with all these catastrophes -which show no sign of abeting nor have shown any since the beginning of the world itself- i would have thought more people would turn to God,something to believe in. Because thats what religion is all about, isn't it? People need something to believe in, to revive their hope. And without hope u have what? You may be surprised to hear this but the main question of whether there is or is not a god is actually quite immaterial. The point is, should people believe in something, and the answer to that s definitely positive

I think preaching, whether Religious or Athiest, is a silly waste of time in which "Hey, I'm right and you're wrong" is what it all comes down to.
Nothing is that cut and dry. Not even my state that nothing is that cut and dry, isn't cut and dry.
It all comes down to, do you want to believe?
Threead, I like the color green. If you don't, you're wrong.
Cornbread, I like the smell of cantaloupes. If you don't, you're wrong.
How does that help anything? Where does that get us?
Draw your lines in the sand, but when it comes time who's gonna be right and who is gonna be wrong? WE HONESTLY CAN'T PROVE IT EITHER WAY.
By not accepting that someone else has a different viewpoint than us and that it is okay, we cut our noses off to spite our own face.
I hope, beyond hope, that one day the rift gets so big we ruin everything we have right now. That we get so absorbed in this never-ending debate that we wipe ourselves from the face of existance. Maybe then we'll learn our lesson..But what will it matter then if we're not around to act on it?
Look at it this way, Cornbread. Does your God want you to preach and persuade? Or would he rather someone worship him/her/it/they/we/she/he because we believe in our hearts?
Hey Threead, are you any better than a hellfire and brimstone preacher?
You're both wrong. You try to convince, charm, cajole, then turn to force, persecute, demand..
What, your voice isn't strong enough, threead..that you have to rally people up? You must not be happy to believe in the fact you don't believe. You need more people to shout about it. You want capital, you want power..Why? Because you're tired of the majority of society being religious and having control?
Why should the MINORITY control the majority? Maybe one day..(and most likely)..you will be in the majority, but until then..Stuff a sock in it.
Cornbread, same goes to you. Just because you have faith in a supreame being doesn't give you any right to preach to others. Shut up and worship on your own time.

One last thing for both sides of the scales: If a God does exist, how is it God's responsibility to babysit us? Athiests want to blame tragedy and accidents and "bad things" on the lack of a God. "Where was GOD when this bad thing happened to me?"..If that isn't a cop out attitude, nothing is.
Religious Believers also have the "You gotta have faith cause that's all we got"..That's about as unconvincing as Jacko's defense.

Be happy in what you believe in. If you're right, in the end, you will be proven so and with that comes whatever satisfaction you seek.
Stop being a malcontent. You'll only convince "intelligent" people that you're out to screw everything up for the rest of us.

-Have a nice day.

hmmm... i admire ur dedication to ur cause even if i dont believe in it.... although its that same dedication that forces me to publish under a pseudonym whenever i criticize religion just so im not harrasssed. (those southern baptists r PERSISTENT)

Let people do whatever the hell they want. Let us all point out each others hypocracies and instead of getting irrate lets look within ourselves and see if those things said are true. If they are lets not place blame on anyone or anything. Let us work to fix the things that our wrong with ourselves before we try and fix others. Freedom is the ability to live with your religious and/or moral rights intact without conversion. I have nothing against christians. I think as a whole they need to be accountable for their past before they will ever be able to move on. I am the only male in the family who is not a chaplain, pastor or minister. Perhaps if there were more and better examples I would be but that is not the point. If we are all right then we should accept and love people for who they are and just deal with like a mature race. And that should not be hard for religions that preach loving thy enemy all they need to do is follow their own doctrine.

well... i guess it all boils down to the fact that none of us can really prove it either way. I never realli attacked the idea of whether or not there is a creative design behind the universe. I attacked the way humans have insitutionalized this belief and used as an excuse for atrocities, scientific inhibitions, hypocrisy, etc.