Are religious people stupid, theifs, and murderers?

[Demeter]

yer i guess in a sense i am rebellion against why is a simple case of my mother telling me to do the washing and me not wanting to no its more like why would i follow a book that has been edited through out time so its not even the book of god anymore its more like the book of man why would i follow a book that tells me to do evil things and says doing this is wrong when clearly its not and tells you to do things which are morally wrong (have slaves) and there are some many branches of christanity why are there branches for a start if the book was right and clear there would only be one but there isnt which does beg the question why do people bother and that question has only been partly answered so far

the book is interpreted differently be each person who reads it, which is probably why different branches of Christianity exist.

on morality of the bible:

Recently i went to a debate between a minister and a professor at my school over "does god exist?" the thing that really got me kicking was the minister said that if it was 100% proven that god did not exist then he would go around raping and murdering people, because there would be no such thing as "good" any more as god defines good. im going out on a limb and saying he was just trying to prove a point that society would have no morality with out following the word of god on that one but still, i find it hard to believe that society would drop its morals like a switch if it was proven god did not exist. perhaps we would live good lives just for the purpose of living good lives, get all you can out of life because once its done its done, which will give life meaning rather than giving life meaning for the purpose of the afterlife.

 

[Demeter]

And by the way, I'm not referring to non-believers or people who don't know...we've all been there; I'm referring to those who who take a perverse pleasure in seeking out Christians because they know it's a gentle religion. I strongly suspect most of them wouldn't go to Muslim websites to spew their invective because Muslims won't wait for God's judgement...so atheists, put your money where your mouth is and show your "brave" intellectual stance on Muslim websites. And don't take the "I don't want to offend Muslim sensibilities" line because you've shown no concern for offending Christians, probably because they keep saying that Name you find so offensive.

It is just as He said it would be, and I still find it incredible as I watch prophecy play out.

you probably see atheists attacking Christianity most because it is probably the religion they are most familiar with, i went to a Christian church as a child and now go on a Christian chat site and most of the times when i am questioning god i question the existence of a Christian god, not a god in general. most atheists are probably young white males (complete assumption on my part and from my experiences) and most young white males (in north america anyway ) are probably most familiar with Christianity.

 

[SeekSolace]

Demeter, we have no battle whether you are atheist or not. I was reading several threads by Mr. Zavok and chose to answer on this one. The minister's point was an interesting one but clumsily put. It was essentially a paraphrase of "without God all things are permissible" presented ad absurdum. For instance, the fairly recent practice of butchering random people and then blowing your own brains out at a mall or school might be laid to rest on the idea you can escape justice in death. Or a poll recently taken of high school students who were asked "why shouldn't you steal?" 90+% answered because if you got caught you would go to jail. The right answer in my mind is because it's wrong, and I wish the follow-up question would have been "what if you knew you couldn't be caught?" Perhaps what he was saying is that without God you are ultimately answerable only to yourself for your actions, and a good cover story or alibi might get you off the hook.

Zavok of course knows next to nothing about Christianity and lacks the intellectual curiousity to find out. I feel bad for challenging him, but my nature is reactive to straw men, ad hominum, and projection. I used to think along the same lines, but have my own unique experiences and perspective and sometimes forget that spiritual things occur in God's time and not ours.

And you sir have nothing to apologize for. As previously mentioned thoughtful and polite people who think differently are not an issue to me whatsoever. Because I am Christian I pray for you to come to Christ if you haven't, and if you are atheist just smile and say thanks in recognition that it was done in love, whether you believe it has power or not and you will have earned my respect for your maturity and grace.

 

[SeekSolace]

Demeter, I forgot to address one of your other posts, where you mention a theory on why Christians seem to be a favorite target of atheists. Your suggestion has merit. Sort of like the legal term "attractive hazard." My Christian understanding leads me to another conclusion however; in part based on personal experiences, but not exclusively. I believe in the Christian view of the sinful nature of man, I see fullfillment of prophecy behind (what to me) the illogical and counterintuitive visceral attacks against even the name Jesus Christ. I see the incredible leaps of logic people will use to vilify, the corruption or ignorance of historical facts in order to slander Christians as somehow evil, stupid, or worse. I see spiritual warfare at work...not (for the most part) by people who are aware of what they are doing, but by people who are dupes. I see virtually every cultural portrayal of Christians on movie or tv showing ignorant and evil people, and subtle and not-so-subtle attacks in every venue thinkable and it is difficult for me to see this as a reasoned response by rational people to the gentle beliefs of someone else. Today on the news, a shooter walked into a church and opened fire; yesterday, an investigation into churcdh burnings in Texas, and for what? It is the last remaining permitted prejudice, increasingly enshrined in law where judges have determined that even the public practice is the equivalent of establishing a state religion. It's rediculous on its face, but otherwise intelligent people accept it at face value and defend it in the name of "freedom." In the meantime school children are being taught to chant odes to other religions in the interest of "diversity." No my friend, I see something special in the attacks on Christians and Jews. If you aren't Christian you perhaps are spared what many of us experience.

I don't begrudge it...it was prophesied and prophesy will play out. I sometimes mention that as Christians we know how it ends, but that REALLY brings out the venom, but...so be it. Christ said "before they hated you, they hated me." He also said "if you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you." So I stand up to the bullies and I hold a mirror up to people.

You see, I believe atheism, secularism, humanism, and all the other ism's are also religions in that they espouse a world view. They are jealous religions that don't like competition.

 

[zavok]

maybe that most atheists will attack christians is because christian preach to atheists invade their privacy call them thing like sluts evil etc natural we will fight back and i dont see how this poll attacks christianty i put my view as in to why it may seem like religious people are stupid but you what did you do your first post was an attack on here and then you blindly attack me and assume im this and that and you saying ur standing up against the bulle and hold a mirror to their face heres some advive why dont you turn the mirror around and look at your self. and one more question does atheism hold the same concepts as religion give me your answer and why

 

[aspen]

It depends, are the stupid people, murderers, and thieves religious?

 

[MahogonySnail]

In general religious people are more stupid than non-religious. It's a common argument of atheists/agnostics.

 

[aprilrenee1]

really, there is too much information to draw a accurate conclusion.