Do You Believe In God?

[Bobby Sands]

Christmas has gone from a religious holiday to a cultural holiday. I'm not disgusted by a nativity scene at all, I grew up with those images and they give me a nice feeling when I see a lit tree. I give out presents but I don't put up a tree.

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of jesus christ and nothing more. If you dont believe in that then you shouldnt be celebrating it. You dont see Muslims celebrating Christmas because its nice for them and their family.

If you are an atheist who celebrates christmas, you are a pure and utter hypocrite imo.

And Da Funk is right. we are not going to get far on this topic and it has been discussed so many times before.

 

[Sebastian]

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of jesus christ and nothing more. If you dont believe in that then you shouldnt be celebrating it. You dont see Muslims celebrating Christmas because its nice for them and their family.

If you are an atheist who celebrates christmas, you are a pure and utter hypocrite imo.

Actually i do know muslims who buy christmas trees, gifts for the day, etc..

Plus, you already said that you think we are hypocrites for celebrating christmas. I replied that im not celebrating christs birth...i mean im not celebrating anything really. Maybe myself, yeah.

And Da Funk is right. we are not going to get far on this topic and it has been discussed so many times before.

Just stop saying we are not getting anywhere and continue "debating".

 

[_carmi]

No I don't

 

[Glockmatic]

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of jesus christ. If you dont believe in that then you shouldnt be celebrating it. You dont see Muslims celebrating Christmas because its nice for you and your family.

If you are an atheist who celebrates christmas, you are a pure and utter hypocrite.

Like I said, it has become a cultural holiday. Maybe its different in Ireland, but in Canada almost everyone in every person of every nationality and religious background celebrates giving gifts to another around christmas.

If you want to get technical, christmas was the pagan celebration of the winter solstace. You pagan

 

[Sebastian]

Im curious Bobby, have you ever seen a debate with Dawkins, Hitchens or Harris where they discussed religion and faith with believers (christians, jews, muslims, etc..)?

 

[Bobby Sands]

Christmas as we know it is the celebration of the birth of christ. Thats what i am celebrating.No, christmas was not the pagan celebration of the winter solstace. THese are two different things.

what are atheist celebrating so? fair enough if you want to celebrate the winter solstace i suppose.

 

[Bobby Sands]

Im curious Bobby, have you ever seen a debate with Dawkins, Hitchens or Harris where they discussed religion and faith with believers (christians, jews, muslims, etc..)?

Dawkins has appeared here on national television here numerous times, so to answer your question, yes i have. and no i dont believe or agree with much he says. I base my beliefs of what i feel is correct. From what i see everyday. From what i have seen in my life and so on. You keep bringing up Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris as if to say that their word is gospel. Basically, you believe their word like a religious person believes the word of a holy book.

 

[Chronic]

Props to FlipMo for not being a brickwall in this discussion. No sarcasm.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

Tens of millions of american natives slaughtered
19 million dead in world war 1
72 million dead in world war 2
2 million people die from malaria every year
25,000 people die everyday from starvation

The list can go on, those numbers aren't opinions they're fact. If god cared he/she would come down and say "Guys, stop it." or "Here, I'll help."

Do you expect us to have an infinite life span? People will die. Life is all about change and things come and go. There is a balance to life, When someone leaves this world, someone else comes into it.

 

[Glockmatic]

what are atheist celebrating so? fair enough if you want to celebrate the winter solstace i suppose.

I don't know anyone who celebrates christmas because its jesus' birth day, not even christians. They celebrate it for the presents. In North America christmas has become so commercialized it has lost most of its meaning. It's a good time to hang out with family and friends as well.

 

[Bobby Sands]

^^well thats true, it has become awful commercialized.

Chronic, i hope you dont think that i am being a "brickwall" in this discussion?

 

[THEV1LL4N]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.


lol @ believing in god.



And for the record it doesn't surprise me that half you of seem to believe.

Have you ever tried? Do you notice the little things that have worked in your favour? perhaps not, like most people, you probably only notice the things that go wrong. Miracles wont happen out of the blue. You are not the only person - that being said we will not all be rich etc... (because i know everyone wants to be living a good life and not be broke). so we dont get major things happening like that.

p.s. why doesnt it surprise you? afterall, you are entitled to have your say, like me and everyone else too.

 

[Glockmatic]

Do you expect us to have an infinite life span? People will die. Life is all about change and things come and go. There is a balance to life, When someone leaves this world, someone else comes into it.

Where did I say that I expected an infinite lifespan? I listed those as a reply to the assumption that god cares for us. Hundreds of millions of needless deaths which could have been averted with a simple snap of the fingers.

 

[S O F I]

Lets be rude for a second:

Anyone who watchs debates or conversations with Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris regarding the topic of faith and religion and then finally does not come to the conclusion that the vast majority of what they are saying is simply true, then ive got to say that this person lacks intelligence!

Any man who lets another man decide his faith for him is just as unintelligent.

As I've said before to you, you MISS the point of religion, by a mile.

You want religion to exhibit absolute truth and logic as opposed to hope and guidance for a better life.

I was born into being a Christian Orthodox but my parents never pushed the faith on me or made me go to church. I haven't made up my mind on whether I believe in God or if I'll follow a religion or not. To me, it's a journey. It's not a matter of sitting down with a book, reading what it says.

I don't know if I'll end up believing in God or practicing a religion because at this point of my life, a liberal university education and my adolescence have made me really cynical of everything and I don't want that clouding my judgment. If I do decide to follow a religion, it won't be because I "saw the light" or have proof God exists but because on my path to become a better person, religion could be a help.

All I know is, I won't be stupid enough to let Dawkins, a man I've never met or spoke to and a man I don't relate to, decide my faith and my beliefs for me.

I don't let people pick the color of my car, why would I let them decide my religion?

 

[Sebastian]

You keep bringing up Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris as if to say that their word is gospel. Basically, you believe their word like a religious person believes the word of a holy book.

No i dont. Dumb assumption.

Do you expect us to have an infinite life span? People will die. Life is all about change and things come and go. There is a balance to life, When someone leaves this world, someone else comes into it.

No?!! If the last thing you said were true, the overall population on this planet would not increase, would it?

 

[THEV1LL4N]

I believe in God, it's either you take a leap of faith or not. Simple as that. It feels right for me to believe in him.

I don't believe religion has all the answers, nor do I believe it should control every action in my life. I'm Catholic, and I do believe religion can be a very good thing, but for the most part, its interpreted by fucked up individuals that give it a bad name.

Vote Flipmo. and everyone else. vote in the poll. its easier to see in brief everyone's view.

 

[Bobby Sands]

Dumb assumption? im sorry but thats the way it seemed to me.

good post SOFI btw.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

No i dont. Dumb assumption.



No?!! If the last thing you said were true, the overall population on this planet would not increase, would it?

I never said the population is not increasing. my point was in fact that people come and go - without being specific to numbers.

 

[Sebastian]

Any man who lets another man decide his faith for him is just as unintelligent.

As I've said before to you, you MISS the point of religion, by a mile.

I dont miss the point at all. You somehow do dismiss what some religions (or whoever interprets the holy scriptures) claim to be or want to be. The absolute truth, the word of god, etc.

All I know is, I won't be stupid enough to let Dawkins, a man I've never met or spoke to and a man I don't relate to, decide my faith and my beliefs for me.

I mention him and the other guys because they seem to be pretty popular when it comes to the public debate about religion and faith.

Its what they say, the points they bring up that im aiming at. Obviously i dont expect anyone to change his or her mind because some special person said it but because the point he or she is bringing up and the reason he can give for his or her opinion.

Dumb assumption? im sorry but thats the way it seemed to me.

Then look harder.

 

[S O F I]

I dont miss the point at all. You somehow do dismiss what some religions (or whoever interprets the holy scriptures) claim to be or want to be. The absolute truth, the word of god, etc.

I dismiss it because to me it's irrelevant. I can look past those claims and still see what religion aims to do, or what religion CAN do for a person.

I mention him and the other guys because they seem to be pretty popular when it comes to the public debate about religion and faith.

Its what they say, the points they bring up that im aiming at. Obviously i dont expect anyone to change his or her mind because some special person said it but because the point he or she is bringing up and the reason he can give for his or her opinion.

Why don't you expect anyone to change his/her mind because some special person said it?

YOU DID.