Bastage:

It's the religious drones of this world who are always trying to shove their beliefs into the faiths of others who are the problem.

That is a baseless allegation. Christians generally dont shove their beliefs on you. You have a choice to REFUSE to listen. In the US prayer and any form of religions symbols are illegal in public places ditto for many European countries and we havent gone on an outrage just yet.

bawomolo:

here comes the ignorance of some theists, what coming from nothing theories?? for the last time, evolution is not a theory about creation. the big bang deals with all of that hoopla. at least there is room for revision in science.    unlike theists, atheists have no basis for an organized movement. organize for what, to go to atheist paradise??

Lol. Have I mentioned anything about evolution? Why have you suddenly jumped into the conclusion that I believe that evolution is a "theory about creation"? (Or were my thoughts revealed to you by the Atheist Spirit? ). You may think that atheists have no basis for an organised movement but if you look around you, you will notice that atheist publications, tv propagandas, publicity stunts and even evangelism is on the rise, none of which I believe are carried out single-handedly. The London bus evangelism by "British Humanist Association" aka Atheist Charity raising over £100K for their bus evangelism campaign, shows you how many eager candidates you have out there.

Bastage:

It's the religious drones of this world who are always trying to shove their beliefs into the faiths of others who are the problem. The vast majority of atheists are merely countering and defending against this attack. The majority of atheists I've met and talked to certainly do not seem to be "brain-washed". In fact totally the opposite. They make the decision to be atheist without having people shove that view down their throat and whilst actually having to defend against converting religions. Granted, that choice is not one I would pick for myself, but to accuse them of preaching as much as Christians or of being brain-washed does a big disservice to a large part of the human race and is entirely contradictory.

I agree with you that religious fundamentalists outnumber atheist fundamentalists - however, that doesn't mean that atheists are some small, timid forgotten sect, intimidated time and again by theists. At least, not in this day and age. Atheists use their God-given freewill to evangelise, intimidate and argue just as well as theists do.

mazaje:

you make me laughdo you believe all the stories myth in the bible like the noah's ark, tower of babel, adam and eve story, talking donkey, talking snake, turning water into wine how come no body is able to turn water into wine today or make donkeys talk?

Belief in biblical accounts - especially in the New Testament, are not irrational. Read up on some Ancient Greek archaeology, and you will find out that there is no evidence that contradicts these accounts. Instead, there is more evidence in favour of them rather than against them. Take for example the account of Sodom and Gomorrah. (I'm only using this example because it is a story of which I'm a little familiar with the archaeology - and the events could have not only left verbal witnesses, but also archaelogical witnesses - No other reason, I promise!). Recent archaeological findings have shown a portion of the land around the Red Sea which fits perfectly into the position of the 5 cities in the Bible, of which Sodom and Gomorrah were a part. Further investigation in this area by different archaelogists have found portions of ash, sulfur, brimstone, ashpalt and burnt crops. These areas have been said to demonstrate evidence of burning across at least 3 of the cities, with mass grave sites excavated. This is just one of many archaeological findings which fully support the "stories" you hear about in the Bible. . .

naijacutee:

Lol. Have I mentioned anything about evolution? Why have you suddenly jumped into the conclusion that I believe that evolution is a "theory about creation"? (Or were my thoughts revealed to you by the Atheist Spirit? ). You may think that atheists have no basis for an organised movement but if you look around you, you will notice that atheist publications, tv propagandas, publicity stunts and even evangelism is on the rise, none of which I believe are carried out single-handedly. The London bus evangelism by "British Humanist Association" aka Atheist Charity raising over £100K for their bus evangelism campaign, shows you how many eager candidates you have out there.
I agree with you that religious fundamentalists outnumber atheist fundamentalists - however, that doesn't mean that atheists are some small, timid forgotten sect, intimidated time and again by theists. At least, not in this day and age. Atheists use their God-given freewill to evangelise, intimidate and argue just as well as theists do. Belief in biblical accounts - especially in the New Testament, are not irrational. Read up on some Ancient Greek archaeology, and you will find out that there is no evidence that contradicts these accounts. Instead, there is more evidence in favour of them rather than against them. Take for example the account of Sodom and Gomorrah. (I'm only using this example because it is a story of which I'm a little familiar with the archaeology - and the events could have not only left verbal witnesses, but also archaelogical witnesses - No other reason, I promise!). Recent archaeological findings have shown a portion of the land around the Red Sea which fits perfectly into the position of the 5 cities in the Bible, of which Sodom and Gomorrah were a part. Further investigation in this area by different archaelogists have found portions of ash, sulfur, brimstone, ashpalt and burnt crops. These areas have been said to demonstrate evidence of burning across at least 3 of the cities, with mass grave sites excavated. This is just one of many archaeological findings which fully support the "stories" you hear about in the Bible. . .

Some years back I was visiting the areas you were referring and our guide urged us to taste the sand and to my amazement every scoop of sand tasted as salt

naijacutee:

Please now, don't let this thread die. I really would like to discuss this and "enter" the mind of your average Nigerian atheist.

so what would you like to know?

Now I will deal with you AKO. How is it that you have followed Christianity for so long and not seen the plank on the end of your nose? How has Christianity caused death, and genocide, and violence? It would be a waste of time to spell it out to you as others already have. The simple fact is that you have already been brainwashed and you don't even know it. Think of how many times you have read your Bible and seen the mass genocide that the Jewish people thrust on the area tribes of Canaan, and yet you still can't see it. You can't see how Jesus,(yes, I said Jesus because he claims to be the same god(little g) yesterday, today, and forever and also says "before Abraham was I AM", condoned the enslavement of people and actually tells his children how they can beat them and enslave them; condones the rape of women from other tribes in a forced marriage arrangement (which, by the way, is worse than outright rape), and blesses some of the most tyrannical rulers on earth. Yes my friends, Solomon and David would be on death row here in America for some of the things that they did to other human beings. They were dark and evil to the core, and yet your God of love and perfection who loves all people not only allowed them to do horrible things but commanded them to do them.
And yet, AKO, you claim there is no brainwashing on your part. My suggestion, if you want to find truth, (I doubt that you do), is to go to a site called the "Rejection of Pascal's Wager". There you will find the manna of truth that you so hope to find in your Bible. But you won't do it. Why? Because your church has so brainwashed you that you will not search for truth because you have errored from the truth. You live in fear. You shake at the thought of perishing in hell forever. And with that kind of thought you are capable of anything, including oppressing your fellow citizens. This, my friend, is why us, who have searched and found truth will never stop opposing all that you do in the name of Christianity.

Pilgrim,
First of all, the theory of evolution is fact. A theory is not the same as hypothesis. A theory is the fact that scientists have discovered by testing the hypothesis. I am not a scientist but I have studied the history of geology and evolution and have found that the facts that were gleamed from testing the hypothesis' that were discovered by geologists, oil workers, gold miners...ECT...do in fact point to the idea that the earth is 4.5 billion years old and that evolution is fact. Now I know that there are theists that try to debunk the facts by inserting "scripture" into the equations and so look at the evidence through Bible glasses. They then throw great quantities of evidence out of the equations and thus lie to churches and the establishment of the churches. They count on the masses of religion to go along with the lie because they know that the average church member won't go looking for evidence, at least not until they have put their bible glasses on first.
And no, Pilgrim, the geologists of the 1700's and 1800's were not agents of the devil attempting to debunk the Bible. They found certain things in the layers of rock that didn't add up to a 7,000 year old earth. They did experiments and found that the earth had to be much older...much older. Over two hundred years of evidence were found and experiments were conducted. As more and more evidence was mounded up into a great big mountain they were able to use modern mathematics to come up with solutions to those evidences that had puzzled scientists for years.
I agree that this doesn't lead to atheism, but theism? C'mon. Where does it end there? Are we looking at a male god? Female? Spaghetti Monster? Omeba? No one has the clear cut answers to this. The default position, therefore, is to say "I don't know". It's that simple. I, personally, have found deep spiritual power through shamanism. Others have found it through Wiccan, Christianity, Muslimism, Krishna, and a host of other spiritual ideas. However, when one claims to have the only true knowledge and the only true book of that knowledge, then we start running into division, hatred, wars, genocide, retribution...the list is endless. Any religion that claims to have the 'only true way' should be outlawed. Any ideology that claims the same thing should be stopped. They all lead to darkness and the last thing anyone wants to see is a march back to the Dark Ages. This will happen in the twinkling of an eye to any nation that believes any organization that claims to have the only right and true way...there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth in the streets.

This is not true Bastage. Archeologists have found many discrepancies in the Bible. Why won't you do the research? That's scary. I don't think I would ever want to devote my life to anything without searching for the truth of it first. For instance, archeologists searched for years out in the desert for the path that the Jews took out of Egypt. They found nothing. Not even rock drawings, or pottery, or weaponry, or old campfires....nothing. At the same time they found evidence of other tribes that were written about in their own historical accounts. Moreover, archeologists know that if 3 million people wandered around in the desert for forty years there would be evidence all over the place. There is none. This is just one example of the Bible not always sticking to fact. There are many others.
I will concede that there is plenty of evidence for some of the things in the Bible. Yes, it is true, the Israelites did exist. Some of their accounts are true, just as the accounts of the Egyptians are true, and the Sumerians, and many others. What cannot be found, however, is any evidence for any of the so called miracles in the Bible. The Jericho walls have never been found even though the very site where they were claimed to have fallen has been excavated. They have never found the Tower of Babel which would have been there for hundreds of thousands of years because rock doesn't erode quickly in the desert. These are just some examples.
The biggest laugh that I get is when someone mentions that chariot wheels were found at the bottom of the Red Sea, proving that indeed the Israelites were pursued by the terrible Pharaoh’s chariots and that God drowned them in the sea. Would it not seem logical that farmers on one side of the sea traded food products and farm animals with miners on the other side of the sea and that those miners made chariots? And would it not make sense that in hundreds of years of trading, many boats were lost and thus spilled their contents overboard onto the sea floor? You see, this is why I get so frustrated with Christians that see things through Bible glasses and can't look at things logically.