Kimihiro_Watanuki
So, I've been browsing the web and found videos, article, etc. on Charles Dawkins' book "The God Delusion" Frankly, my point here is that it doesn't just offend me, it really pisses me off. Richard
Charles Dawkins deliberately puts down any deity based faith, and then uses what is seemingly out going, controversial literature, lectures, and speech to back it up with. And the sad thing is, I've seen his books become a sort a sort of "Atheist's Bible".
Allow me to draw one very important point form his book. Very early on, he calls faith and religion delusions. He says anyone who has delusions, is classified mentally ill. He later on makes the connection. All religious people are mentally ill. God, Allah, Vishnu, and Zeus are no more provable than a orbiting tea cup, or a unicorn.
Now, about the Atheist's Bible part. I frequently use and online chat messenger hybrid called PalTalk. It has voice and video capability, and a wide variety of rooms to search for. Of course, the most popular rooms are the religious ones. I try to stop by an atheist room when I get the chance to, just to listen in. (I'm not exactly Christian. I'm sort of a Deist, with Christian influence thrown in.) When I voice my opinion, it is immediately shot down. And not even in a decent manner. I get met with personal insults, sarcasm, bigotry, and vulgarity. It's like a pack of wolves jumping on a dead rabbit. They immediately regard anything as I say as the wrong opinion. And the worst part is they have a seething hatred for all Christians. Not just the fire and brimstone kind. They hate EVERY SINGLE ONE, and then try to use nothing but the Old Testament and history to back up their claims.
So...to discuss.
1. Does being an atheist make you smarter than anyone else?
2. Are deities and religion nothing but delusions and forms of crowd control?
3. Where did I mess up? Logical errors, etc.
4. Is faith just a crutch?
5. Are you ever skeptical that they might ever be evidence (scientific proof) of a deity?
Adding this to the OP becasue I want to know some opinions on the Bible. Questions include:
Fact or Ficiton and why?
Faith or Delusion and why?
Penn and Teller: The Bible is Bullshit
To answer some of your questions, on what I think and how I feel and believe.
1. Does being an atheist make you smarter than anyone else? No, my opinion is this, anyone who has a closed mind to anything are the ones who are stupid. If you feel the need to only feel that you are right and everyone else is wrong, then that makes you stupid. There are no such things as stupid questions, and no such things as stupid answers, or opinions. Our world is vast, with MANY MANY mysteries, from actual animals, to diseases, to the paranormal. NO ONE has a one true answer for any of the questions about spirituality, so, in my way of thinking no one is either wrong nor right...why? Because we just don't know....and that's what makes us humans great, because there are so many questions out there to be answered, and some of them are great to think upon and ponder on, but no one will ever really know the truth. That's why we LEARN, and it HOW we learn. Not all Atheists are closed minded, just like not all Christians are closed minded, and you will find that once you become open-minded that you can see from another persons perspective.
2. Are deities and religion nothing but delusions and forms of crowd control? No, I feel that the greatest delusion is to not have faith in anything at all. Then why live? We're human, we have to have faith in something. Whether it be to have faith that financial situation will look up, or a child is going to make something of themselves, to have have faith means that you give up completely and there's no reason to live after that. Atheists may say they don't have faith in anything, but they do, it may not be a belief or deity, but they do have faith in something or someone; just like the rest of us.
3. Where did I mess up? Logical errors, etc. If you messed up, and have logical errors...so do MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of people who have a belief. So, that would mean that there are MANY more people who are mentally ill out there, and we all should be locked up, and getting 3 free meals a day, and watching TV....and letting all the hard core Atheists paying for it. Seriously? that's pretty closed minded thinking.
4. Is faith just a crutch? NO, faith is believing in something or a deity, the only time it becomes a crutch is when someone wants to use it as a crutch...and believe me there are A LOT of people out there who do that, and I do find that wrong!
5. Are you ever skeptical that they might ever be evidence (scientific proof) of a deity? Nope, should they ever find pure scientific proof/evidence, then there's no way around that there is a deity of some kind now is there?
Now for yoru other 2 questions about the Bible
Fact or Ficiton and why? There has been Historical Proof of things that the Bible has said that has existed, and has happened. Therefore, we'd be pretty darn closed minded if we were to think that the Bible is fiction. I'm not saying that ALL of is is true, and I feel that the Bible is a great moral guide, and if more people would follow it, we'd have a VERY peaceful world (especially the part about loving thy neighbor, if we did that then we wouldn't be in constant turmoil, and if you love your neighbor as yourself, you're not going to do anything to that person that you wouldn't do to yourself).
Faith or Delusion and why? Faith, because without it I'd have no reason to live. I have faith that my husband loves me, I have faith that our financial situation is going to get better, I have faith that I'm going to wake up tomorrow and it's going to be a good day (granted all those things may crumble, but I have faith that they won't)...and without faith, there's not point in living. Notice I didn't say that I had faith that a deity is going to make it happen I said I had faith that it was going to happen
wink
Now I will state my opinion in beliefs in general:
For the past few months I have been on my own spiritual journey, finding things out on my own. I have been studying Wicca and Buddhism, and I'm raised Christian; and through studying these beliefs, I have found that they tend to point in the same direction; how odd is that?
I feel also like this, regardless of what a person's belief is, I will ALWAYS respect them, whether they are Christian, Buddhist, Wiccan, Atheist, or any other belief, they deserve respect! NO ONE, I don't care how you believe, should put ANYONE down for their belief, but respect it and learn from it. Same goes for culture, race, and sexuality.
This is my opinion, I hope I didn't offend anyone...but at the sametime, I hope that everyone will have an open-mind when crossing each other's paths, and remember no one is right nor wrong, there are only questions with no answers.