God This Makes Me Laugh...Atheists vs Christians.

so i was just reading this article on a thread over at ATS, or above top secret for those that may not know the site. http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/culture/family/2941-heathens-retaliate-against-christian-billboards

anyway...i guess that a christian group of people put up billboards referring to the separation of church and state and how bad it is...so then a group of atheists are putting up a bunch of their own billboards to get people thinking about their side.

is it just me...or do these 2 groups behave in the exact same manner, just supporting opposing extreme ends of 1 spectrum? this is hilarious. who cares what other people want to believe! haha. god, atheism is starting to look like the very thing it hates...a religion.

and im sorry to the religious and atheist folks here, im not intending to be offensive, and im really sorry if my post comes off that way. im just noticing and pointing out some similarities in the 2 very opposing groups...

I'm glad there are atheists organizing. This country would really go to shit if the Christian Dominionists went unopposed.

Why should the Christians even be worried about it, where do they think most of our laws already come from?!
So many laws are religiously influenced.

Your right though, I just don't agree with organized religion at all. To me people just like to be religious because it makes them feel better to "know" the answers, when in reality nobody "knows" shit!
(not talkin down on anyone who's religious just expressing my own opinions, lol)

Riott said:

Why should the Christians even be worried about it, where do they think most of our laws already come from?!
So many laws are religiously influenced.

Your right though, I just don't agree with organized religion at all. To me people just like to be religious because it makes them feel better to "know" the answers, when in reality nobody "knows" shit!
(not talkin down on anyone who's religious just expressing my own opinions, lol)

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i dont think that spirituality is something that *can* be organized. i think that everyone views it differently and everyone forms their own idea of it based on their personal experiences. i just dont understand why the atheists cant see that thats what they're turning into...they really are starting to look like an organized religion. both sides talk like they have all the answers and that their way is the correct way...lol. but no one has all the answers. the hypocrisy of it all just leaves me rolling around with a gut ache its just like with democrats and republicans. neither of them are right but people still fight for their side. so even if we did away with religion completely, people would still find things to argue over and still find things to fight each other over...i've always thought that if religion disappeared it would be a good thing for humanity. but it wouldnt matter. people would just make up something else to fight over.

sarah22 said:

i dont think that spirituality is something that *can* be organized. i think that everyone views it differently and everyone forms their own idea of it based on their personal experiences. i just dont understand why the atheists cant see that thats what they're turning into...they really are starting to look like an organized religion. both sides talk like they have all the answers and that their way is the correct way...lol. but no one has all the answers. the hypocrisy of it all just leaves me rolling around with a gut ache its just like with democrats and republicans. neither of them are right but people still fight for their side. so even if we did away with religion completely, people would still find things to argue over and still find things to fight each other over...i've always thought that if religion disappeared it would be a good thing for humanity. but it wouldnt matter. people would just make up something else to fight over.

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That's like calling someone a stamp collector when they don't collect stamps.

Here Christianity is political, they stuff board of educations with Christian fundamentalists to attack science and to attempt to integrate creationism into public schools. If no one argues that it's wrong to do that; what happens to our country?

I'm more secular agnostic/deist I don't care what people personally believe but I care when they try to impose it on others through government.

sarah22 said:

so i was just reading this article on a thread over at ATS, or above top secret for those that may not know the site. http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/culture/family/2941-heathens-retaliate-against-christian-billboards

anyway...i guess that a christian group of people put up billboards referring to the separation of church and state and how bad it is...so then a group of atheists are putting up a bunch of their own billboards to get people thinking about their side.

is it just me...or do these 2 groups behave in the exact same manner, just supporting opposing extreme ends of 1 spectrum? this is hilarious. who cares what other people want to believe! haha. god, atheism is starting to look like the very thing it hates...a religion.

and im sorry to the religious and atheist folks here, im not intending to be offensive, and im really sorry if my post comes off that way. im just noticing and pointing out some similarities in the 2 very opposing groups...

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I've said this exact same thing to some of the atheists who post here (I'm pretty sure I was ignored). I'm not religious but I am a spiritual person. I don't know if there is a God or a heaven or a soul but I'd like to think there's more than just this life. They act like if you're not atheist then you must be religious. It's so black and white for a lot of these people..........I forgot if I was referring to atheists or religious people! lol!

I think the intensity of the black and white fallacy is brought to us by the way we communicate. The english language is developed with the scientific method in mind, there is in the sense of the language a right and a wrong, you will find this is the languages of most dominator cultures. Where as culture like the Inuit of Nunavut where they have 7 names for snow have almost no real conflict, they employ a style of government never used in any part of the world where the circle is really passionately adhered to.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that they live in such a barren waste land, if they don't cooperate, they die. I think maybe the world really just needs a shell shock to make them see all these ideologies don't really matter, we ALL deserve to live.

Peace

Spirituality, to me, is being so passionate about something that it transcends and changes you/something/someone else for the better. No dogma/unjustification or lack evidence is needed. And not using intolerance to accel change. Like religion does. "The Means Is The End."

Atheism.. or what "I" like to call it; non-theism. Pretty much a skeptic's stance.. why argue 'bout the unprovable. What would we even do if we knew for sure which one was right? Start making Law to abide by it? F that!! so wtshit useless. As long as an individuals religious beliefs don't interfere w/ other people's lifestyle's. Then it WOULD be fine. But it does so bluuhh


GO "atheist" Billboards!! lol

I started multi quoting and saw I was going to pretty much end up quoting everybody's post, in which I agree with as well. But yeah, the same erractic stance taken by both sides, and both completely feel and Think they are not the same .

I believe I said before I was raised in a Christian household, but let me clarify. I was sent to church with Grandma every sunday and lived in an atheist mindset household, but my household was never religious. I used to think my father was a scared sinner, but now I see I'm just like him in regards to spiritual nature. The person above made a good point about language, because for all purposes he would be considered an atheist, humanist, who believed in God (not the fed story God). But hey, some people are hung up on words, and not there implied meaning.

Fungus Gnat said:

That's like calling someone a stamp collector when they don't collect stamps.

Here Christianity is political, they stuff board of educations with Christian fundamentalists to attack science and to attempt to integrate creationism into public schools. If no one argues that it's wrong to do that; what happens to our country?

I'm more secular agnostic/deist I don't care what people personally believe but I care when they try to impose it on others through government.

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i absolutely agree with the political aspect, wanting to keep religion out of the law and out of government, politics, etc. i completely agree with standing up to religious groups when they try to get power and impose their religion on everyone. but...this article is about atheists putting up billboards to impose their message on the rest of the people, simply to have some sort of competition with the christians. their one billboard is "“Are you good without God? Millions are.” thats got nothing to do with a political view at all, if it was mentioning something about "keep religion out of politics" thats different. that billboard is just as preachy as some christian ones i've seen. and thats why i think its funny hehehe

i mean, dont get me wrong...i dont want to see religion in anything that pertains to the whole population. simply because the whole population doesnt subscribe to the same belief. so i dont want religion in public schools unless its an elective for students to choose themselves, i dont want to see it in law or government. but aside from that, people should just leave each other alone. if someone doesnt believe what you believe, or if they believe something that you find strange, just let them. i dont know why its necessary to have to be subjected to religious and anti religious stuff everywhere else...like the side of the road on a billboard. i've also seen atheist ads on buses...really? isnt it time we just left everyone alone to think what they want?

I definitely agree with this.

The atheists have been taking it way too far and dont realize that theyre becoming more and more like the extreme christians. I know a few extreme atheists, you know the ones who make 10 minute youtube videos about how stupid christians/creationists are and how there is no god. Even some in real life. For the most part I find theyre just trying to be rebellious and they want to see themselves as better than christians.

Maybe its THAT negative thinking about "atheists" that motivates us to get our much needed message out even more. Do what you want with the information we provide but don't start w/ the judging. We'll just try harder to make sense out of what should be common sense.. i guess lol


Divide and Conquer Anyone?

There is another atheism thread here that displays exactly what the OP is talking about. A lot of the Pro use the same tactics as the Anti.

Saying you are a spiritual person is just a bunch of gobblygook.(sorry doc..)....what does that even mean?

Seriously.... define spirit without making a religious reference.

I'm not talking about being a good person. There's already a word for that.... good.

When a person says they are spiritual.. and when I say, I'm Spiritual.. It means that I connect with myself, people, my surroundings, life, this universe, in ways that cannot be explained or, quantified, but we are able to still percieve, feel, or sense these things and connect with them in ways that cannot be measured or quantified by our scientific knowledge.

and this was just an opinion, some may have a differ take on what spiritual means to them..

CrackerJax said:

Saying you are a spiritual person is just a bunch of gobblygook.(sorry doc..)....what does that even mean?

Seriously.... define spirit without making a religious reference.

I'm not talking about being a good person. There's already a word for that.... good.

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CrackerJax said:

Saying you are a spiritual person is just a bunch of gobblygook.(sorry doc..)....what does that even mean?

Seriously.... define spirit without making a religious reference.

I'm not talking about being a good person. There's already a word for that.... good.

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Perhaps it was my excessive use of psychedelics at Dead and Phish shows that makes me feel like we are more than what we appear to be. Spirituality doesn't have to mean religious. Religion simply lays down the rules for the masses while spirituality is an individual journey through life, making up one's own mine about morality, religion, creation, god, angels, souls, etc. I readily admit I don't know if any of these things exist but I like to think they do. I spent plenty of time in shitholes patching holes in people, some survived, many died. All the people I know from my days in the military and the fire service are either staunch atheists or they became religious. Many of us realized that we didn't agree with religion but thought there had to be more than what we can see and quantify. I'm one of those people. I can't help how I feel. I've been an atheist and I just don't believe there is nothing more. Either way, I don't push my beliefs onto anyone else and I definitely try not to judge others for their beliefs (or lack thereof).

CrackerJax said:

Saying you are a spiritual person is just a bunch of gobblygook.(sorry doc..)....what does that even mean?

Seriously.... define spirit without making a religious reference.

I'm not talking about being a good person. There's already a word for that.... good.

Click to expand...

spirit: energies coursing through my body that connect to the energies of everything else around me.

nothing religious about it.

i classify myself as simply spiritual because i connect with all the energies around me. energies from other people, animals, plants, the sun, etc lol. i can feel things in these energies. im not in any way religious, i dont follow any rules or believe in any deity, i dont understand how that could be misinterpreted as religious...

iNVESTIGATE said:

Maybe its THAT negative thinking about "atheists" that motivates us to get our much needed message out even more. Do what you want with the information we provide but don't start w/ the judging. We'll just try harder to make sense out of what should be common sense.. i guess lol


Divide and Conquer Anyone?

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my problem is with the need to get the message out there. i dont think that any messages about anything religious shouldnt be put out there at all. i think that we should just leave everyone alone, and if they want to learn, they'll come to you. no need to put up giant billboards and other ads all over the place. i wish people would stop trying to "get their message across" lol

u knnow. thru the years. what i have learned. is too avoid groups of people at all cost. theres a lot of wisdom there....heed it or not