@Ken Anderson My point was that an individual capable of rendering service to mankind ought not be severed from it based on vagaries. That would include decisions of stupidity by Leaders, such as placing one of the most promising young Physicists of their country, Henry Gwynn-Jefferies Mosely, in a combat group during war. Predictably, a lifetime possibility of contribution to Science was abruptly ended when he was killed, as happened with Lavoisier.
The stupidity of leaders is legendary. One of the few sensible things said by von Ludendorff, an early befriender of Hitler was that the British army were lions led by donkeys. In World War I our leaders thought it was perfectly acceptable to send troops out of trenches to attack machine gun posts, at great cost of life. My personal take on it is that any leaders who want a bloody war should be in the front line in the worst of the fighting, with all their like-minded supporters. Leave the rest of us, including the very able at home!
My dad came out on his deathbed at 95, I was with him and he finally could say what he believed all his life... Me, I got More Clear on my beliefs in my mid 60's, I struggled for 30 some yrs.
I googled for the definition of atheism and got this: Atheism is a disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods. I am an atheist if we are talking about gods and goddesses as they exist in Hinduism. There are thousands of them. However, when the word "God" is used, confusion arises because "God" may have different meanings to different atheists. I think it would help the discussion if we could get some definitions of what exactly you mean by God. Please post your definition of God if you are atheist. Thanks.
I've started listening to Frank Sontang on Friday for 2 hrs in evening, he's got a lot to offer about a lot of current events, BUT he is so so so so strong on a Jesus and a faith in a God and I've gotten so far from on that, so I'm struggling kinda hearing him on a strong J.C.and god stuff. But as I said he is good in current happenings.
I continue to hear on the conservative radio stations I have going, "get back to church, get back to god/jesus"....I workded 60 yrs to leave that world and "go back"??? I just don't believe in a god, heaven, hell, etc etc......One guy I like to hear once a week is up from the addiction world, and he pushes religion....otherwise I like what he says.
I lost all belief in the supernatural sometime after college IIRC, gods being supernatural by definition, that includes them too. I had a pretty religious upbringing, attended Mennonite private school from grades 1-7, did Bible study, Sunday school. When I got into high school, my dad wanted us to start attending the Catholic Church. I took formal instruction and was baptized. I still remember being quite religious at that time and really wanted to fully understand things because it was, by religion’s own teachings, the most important thing in life. What bothered me was that there were firm believers in both faiths, despite the fact that they were in disagreement with each other on numerous points. So, I started informally researching things on my own. Somewhere during that search, I was not getting the answers I wanted and decided to have a look at what other religions believed and their origins. What I found was that religions tended to be geographical and cultural. Much like Darwin, who I was reading at the time, it occurred to me if I had been born in India for example, I would almost certainly be a Hindu. So, then I decided to see which religion was true. Hopeless. They all had their holy books and all had their stories to tell. The evidence for one was no better than the evidence for others. While this was going on, I was getting deeper into science. I slowly came to the position, probably sometime in my mid-twenties, that I hold to this day. The universe is ruled by the laws of nature as revealed by the scientific experiments of man. If something is in contradiction to the laws of nature, then I believe it to be false. Gods, soothsayers, magic crystals, etc. all claim supernatural powers or foundations. I believe nothing supernatural so I believe in none of them.
Good thread, brought back memories of a bf I kinda had for some yrs, he introduced me to the Humanist society and I went to some meetings and he said that his parents who were both born in Italy, did not believe in a supreme being like god, but added O and came up with GOOD. .
here is something that baffles me. Why is a person accepted as a Christian by himself and others ,yet when their sin becomes knowledge to others, suddenly They are not Christian. Christians are still sinners just like every one else but are saved by the Grace of God. Look at the number of ministers, clergy of all religions, who have committed some of the worst sins, yet no one claims them not to do Christian. I don't get it.
So many don't know what t hey are, whether they are coming or going and I'm one who avoids labels like "I'm a christian"...I'm a human and doing my best to wade thru it all with all the choices.
"I'm a Christian" is a statement, and if you can't accept "Christian" as a label, then it probably doesn't relate to you. Whether accepted or not, that doesn't mean you have to identify yourself as such, given that no one else gets to make that decision. We can have opinions, but it's not something that is voted on.
Sinners of the worst kind hide , just like hasatan did in the garden, pretending to be a 'light' in the world, or an "angel of light", when darkness is consuming them, and wickedness fills their being totally.
Mainly I think it is because they are not born-again so even if they read the bible, it says that the natural man (and woman) can't understand the Word. 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:9 New King James Version 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. I never could make it through the bible because it was like reading another language I didn't know, but after I was saved, the first day, I opened the bible and started reading and I was just shocked because I understood what I was reading.