International Atheist Day

[Amigone201]

Making the rounds on Facebook:



Any idea what I should say to the guy who posted this?

[Esprise Me]

Depends what kind of relationship you want to maintain with him.

"Yeah, it's pretty foolish not to say it aloud."
"Well, I'm convinced. If a book written thousands of years ago by people who heard voices says I'm a fool for not hearing them too, it must be right."
"Even fools get it right sometimes."

Or you could just ignore him, maybe remove him from your feed. That's how I usually handle these sorts of posts.

[Mouse]

Always been a little amused by the fundies' obsession with atheists. I mean, if the fundies are so positive they're right and the atheists are wrong and that they'll be laughing their heads off while they're burning in Hell, then why do they spend so much time obsessing over what atheists say and do? Again, for all their bluster there's a defensiveness that rings hollow.

[RobDBlackwolf]

"Better a fool who leaves others alone in their belief, than a buttfedora who forces his upon others and insults them."

[Jahungo]

My heart doesn't speak (or think) much, personally. Mainly pumps blood.

[Buckle Up]

How about, "International Anti-Theocracy Day, December 15, 1791 - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

[Dropbear]

One of our local comedians (Josh Lawson) point out the problem with Christians telling atheists they're going to hell, noting that it fails to recognise some basic ideas about atheism. "It's a bit like a hippy threatening to punch you in your aura".

There are similar problems with relying on bible verses to advise people of the intelligence level of people who don't believe what the bible says.

Dropbear

[Buckle Up]

Originally Posted by Dropbear

One of our local comedians (Josh Lawson) point out the problem with Christians telling atheists they're going to hell, noting that it fails to recognise some basic ideas about atheism. "It's a bit like a hippy threatening to punch you in your aura".

Back in my missionary days, we designed a campaign (posters, sermons, workshops, handouts) to reach out to the atheists on campus, around the tagline, "What if you're wrong?" I suppose it was intended to infuse just enough doubt to scare people into converting in order to get what we called "fire insurance," after which point they would hopefully start learning more and getting more involved and such. But one person who came to one of the Bible studies disrupted everything by asking the leader, "Well, what if you're wrong?" It turned into a 45-minute debate that no one won, and the campaign fizzled after that.

There are similar problems with relying on bible verses to advise people of the intelligence level of people who don't believe what the bible says.

A recent speech tournament I judged was for Christian home-schooled students, and they had a category called "apologetics" where they have to defend the tenets of their faith. Since one of the judging criteria was to assume (g)you are not speaking to a friendly audience, I called out the students who kept using one Bible verse to defend another Bible verse, or to defend anything, for that matter, without corroborating evidence.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Pascal's Wager wasn't convincing when Pascal came up with it.

Centuries later it's still a total failure.

[Singing in the Drizzle]

The bible is correct, I was told it said so. They told me it said God would eventual strike me dead for not believing. Though they could not tell me how this was diffent from any other death other than God would send you to a very hot place.

I do find it funny that believers think that atheist should be scared of something the do not believe in. On the other hand it is just as funny atheist that something they do not believe in will harm them in some way.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Well, there's the widely held perception among such people that everybody believes in god, but atheists and heathens just choose to reject him as their savior. They don't quite get the concept of not actually believing that god is real- I've sometimes wondered if it's at all related to the tendency of the same groups to think that Harry Potter and D&D need to be banned because they contain real magic*.

*Sadly, I'm not making this up.

[Skeptic]

I am an atheist for over 30 years, and my reply depends on the audience, and whether they are keen to have a discussion or are just being offensive.
For annoying Bible bashers, I always liked "I don't believe in god for the same reasons I don't believe in the Easter bunny".
But if it comes up in conversation, I just say that there is no evidence anywhere of a god, plus the fact that there are thousands of different beliefs. I don't mind discussing it, just can't be bothered most of the time. Incidentally, my best friend is a fundamentalist Christian but we don't talk about religion much. (Just don't get us started on evolution).

One question that really annoys me, and I hear it a lot, is "Why don't you believe in god?". There really is no good answer, other than the choices stated above. If you ask the same back to them, they usually just say "because I do believe", but that doesn't really solve anything.

[Dropbear]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

Well, there's the widely held perception among such people that everybody believes in god, but atheists and heathens just choose to reject him as their savior.

Yep. The belief is that "the laws of God are written on the walls of your heart" which is interpreted to mean that everybody secretly knows God is real in their heart of hearts. If this is accepted as true (as it must be because the Bible says so) then it would be true that atheists specifically reject God.

Dropbear

[Squirt]

Originally Posted by Amigone201

Any idea what I should say to the guy who
posted this?

Psalm 15 has a good quote you could respond with :

LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
...
whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbor,
and casts no slur on others;

and suggest that perhaps calling other people fools is hardly a Christian thing to do.

[gopher]

I don't think the Fundamental Christians have ever forgiven the rest of the US for not following the oppressive regime they crossed the Atlantic to create.

[Chloe]

"But I say to you, anyone who is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever says to his brother Raca shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say Thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire."

Some guy named Jesus, in Matthew 5:22.

[fitz1980]

Originally Posted by Buckle Up

Back in my missionary days, we designed a campaign (posters, sermons, workshops, handouts) to reach out to the atheists on campus, around the tagline, "What if you're wrong?" I suppose it was intended to infuse just enough doubt to scare people into converting in order to get what we called "fire insurance," after which point they would hopefully start learning more and getting more involved and such.

Somebody used that one on Bill Maher in his documentary film "Religious." He turned it back on the guy with "but what if you're wrong" as in "what if you're wrong about which religion is the right one?"
What if Jews really are the chosen people and nobody else has a chance? What if Islam is the one true religion?
What if it's Buddhism, Taoism, Mormonism, ect.

[GenYus234]

Which brings us back to the line, "Everyone is an athiest, I just disbelieve in one more god than you."

I guess the only safe thing to do is be like the character Bennie in The Mummy and "believe" (and carry symbols of) every religion.

[diddy]

Originally Posted by GenYus234

I guess the only safe thing to do is be like the character Bennie in The Mummy and "believe" (and carry symbols of) every religion.

I remember that scene - it was very funny watching him pull out one emblem after another and going no? in between each one of them. The Chinese medallion one was the best.

[Spamamander]

Someone fed that crap to my son. He came home and said, "Did you know about the origins of April Fool's Day?" Just... grrr.