You appear to be one of those Christians who feel their ideas and opinions are above critique; please correct me if I’m wrong. But, we can respect you as a human and still think your ideas are insane. If you think that a person’s questioning your beliefs is insulting and a personal attack on you, that’s in your head and has nothing to do with reality.
Ah, Pastor James Miller – paradigm of morality and common sense. Enters the fray with a lie or illogical comment, then never sticks around to attempt to justify it. You do your faith justice. 🙂
I try to base my worldview on evidence because evidence indicates whether a claim is true or false. Making unjustified claims would be contrary to this aim of living a life based on truth. So that is why I have justified beliefs.
Haha I’m just embarrassed that I didn’t realise! You must think I’m a bit of an idiot now haha! In my defence it was late at night and I’ve been dealing with Christians all week so I was probably just looking for someone to rage at. I’m so sorry I took it out on you! I hope I haven’t scared you off my blog! I’m not usually like that haha 🙂 Welcome to WP!! And thank you very much for your comment 🙂
Not at all. Don’t give it a second thought. That’s one of the reasons I was a little confused by the guy’s comment. I read through your blog and you are always respectful in your interactions with Christians. I guess it’s just us atheists you yell at… 😉
Haha! Shhh 😛
I do try to be respectful and they’re usually respectful back. But then you get people like Pastor Miller, who, as you said, can’t really handle criticism. They’re not so nice.
Would it be considered an insult if I said the comment from Pastor James Miller merely hi-lighted the fact that he is a complete dickhead?
If this is an insult then I won’t say it, of course.
But being an atheist and having no morals or ethics I am relying upon someone here to provide a suitable answer.
Thanking you in advance.
Fine. I shall consider myself reprimanded and shall desist henceforth, forthwith and will now retire for a quick session of self criticism, flagellation and beer drinking, so help me Pastor Milller’s god…er..God.
I unfortunately went to visit Pastor James’s blog to find out, after reading your blog and the impressive way you engage in such an open and polite way with others, what kind of person could believe your morality was about insult. Many of the current articles on his blog reflect his belief in the immorality of same-sex desire, all done with great ‘concern’ and ‘love’ as these people always want to be seen doing. He claims “But the Bible doesn’t in any way make room for homosexual practice as a norm in the life of faith.” That kind of shows what his ‘morality’ is. How sad.
Thank you for the encouraging comments. Yeah, I see what you mean about his anti-gay posts. He talks about the love of Jesus being about “dying to yourself out of love for others” but yet he is opposing an institution that is based on love. I just don’t get it. Christians oppose love when it comes to gays, but then they claim to value love above all else. It’s so confusing! I can’t see any moral logic or consistency in it. On this issue, atheistic morality clearly trumps Christian morality.
Hey Critic, It has been a while. School has been crazy and I am studying for finals and looking for a way to procrastinate. So, checked out your blog. haha. I was looking at this post and it definitely has some interesting stuff. I have to say I disagree pretty strongly with the third picture. First, it is a huge assumption to say that believers do good things out of fear and expectation of reward. While that is true for some, I have to disagree with it for the most part. Second, the part many atheist do good simply just because they want to feel better about themselves, just like many Christians.
I was looking at the last picture and the post about the kids protesting abortion and I was thinking:
Pro-choice simply wants the right for the women to chose, right? Well my question is from your perspective “choose what?” I think many pro-life people get pretty heated in the debate because to them pro-choice wants the choice to let their baby live or not let it live. They see it has allowing women to have the power of kings in movies and such. You know thumbs up thumbs down for the person on trial or whatever. Don’t you see how they could get pretty heated in the debate since that is the way they see it? Well my question is how do you see it? From the pro-choice side what would you say is the “choice”? To have a kid or not. I don’t know if I am being clear…
Hey! It certainly has been a while, I’ve been busy studying too. As you may have noticed I haven’t posted anything for ages! But I’m on holidays now (hooray!) so I am catching up on all the comments I haven’t responded to 🙂
Yeah fair point. The third picture is definitely a generalisation. Looking back on it now, it doesn’t really make a lot of sense considering you believe you’re saved by grace, now works, anyhow. And yes, many atheists do good to feel better about themselves. I think for me, the biggest difference between the ‘good’ that I did as a Christian and the ‘good’ that I do now is that I do it because I honestly want to, not to ease any guilt or to fulfil expectations of other people or God. Maybe I was just a bad Christian. I don’t know. Also, I feel like the ‘good’ I do now is kind of a more helpful ‘good’. A lot of the ministries of my church were very much addressing the symptoms of poverty rather than the causes. It was like they were just trying to get these people’s attention so that they would be more receptive to the gospel. It (almost) never felt like they were just doing it to genuinely help others. Maybe it was just my church. I don’t know, but for me, doing good feels so much more real and it’s so much more effective now it’s not primarily about God.
I am pro choice because I believe women have the right to autonomy over their own bodies. I don’t think women have a moral obligation to allow another human to live inside them and cause them serious pain. It would be nice of a woman to do so, but I don’t think she should be forced to. I’m not convinced that a fetus has a right to life, but even if it does, it seems to me that the mother’s right to autonomy would override it because she is a self-aware, developed person with dreams and hopes for the future, rather than a bunch of cells with no sense of self-consiousness or future. It’s not about the mother’s right to choose life or death of another person, it’s about her right to choose whether or not she allows another human to feed off her body and limit her control over it.
We, Christians, should know better that one does not need the Bible nor belief in God to know(epistemology) and to do good. Many atheists’ lifestyle outshine many Christians. Paul of Tarsus himself stated that those without Torah(Old Testaments) knew good and bad n his letter to Romans(2:14-15).
Critic of Christianity
And yet, your morality seems to consist of little more than insulting people.
Not really sure how it’s insulting?
And you can’t really judge my morality without actually knowing me.
You appear to be one of those Christians who feel their ideas and opinions are above critique; please correct me if I’m wrong. But, we can respect you as a human and still think your ideas are insane. If you think that a person’s questioning your beliefs is insulting and a personal attack on you, that’s in your head and has nothing to do with reality.
Ah, Pastor James Miller – paradigm of morality and common sense. Enters the fray with a lie or illogical comment, then never sticks around to attempt to justify it. You do your faith justice. 🙂
Haha oh so true 🙂
Why do atheists constantly try to justify themselves.
I try to base my worldview on evidence because evidence indicates whether a claim is true or false. Making unjustified claims would be contrary to this aim of living a life based on truth. So that is why I have justified beliefs.
“And yet, your morality seems to consist of little more than insulting people.”
What an insulting thing to say.
Agreed.
Ummm… My comment was not directed toward you.
Hahaha I know I just realised! I hoped I removed it before you read it but apparently not! So sorry!
No problem. I was actually a little horrified. I’m new to WP and I like your blog, and that is NOT how I wanted to say hello. 🙂
Haha I’m just embarrassed that I didn’t realise! You must think I’m a bit of an idiot now haha! In my defence it was late at night and I’ve been dealing with Christians all week so I was probably just looking for someone to rage at. I’m so sorry I took it out on you! I hope I haven’t scared you off my blog! I’m not usually like that haha 🙂 Welcome to WP!! And thank you very much for your comment 🙂
Not at all. Don’t give it a second thought. That’s one of the reasons I was a little confused by the guy’s comment. I read through your blog and you are always respectful in your interactions with Christians. I guess it’s just us atheists you yell at… 😉
Haha! Shhh 😛
I do try to be respectful and they’re usually respectful back. But then you get people like Pastor Miller, who, as you said, can’t really handle criticism. They’re not so nice.
Would it be considered an insult if I said the comment from Pastor James Miller merely hi-lighted the fact that he is a complete dickhead?
If this is an insult then I won’t say it, of course.
But being an atheist and having no morals or ethics I am relying upon someone here to provide a suitable answer.
Thanking you in advance.
Haha be nice now, no sneakily calling people dickheads on my blog thank you 🙂
Fine. I shall consider myself reprimanded and shall desist henceforth, forthwith and will now retire for a quick session of self criticism, flagellation and beer drinking, so help me Pastor Milller’s god…er..God.
Hahaha sounds good 😛
I unfortunately went to visit Pastor James’s blog to find out, after reading your blog and the impressive way you engage in such an open and polite way with others, what kind of person could believe your morality was about insult. Many of the current articles on his blog reflect his belief in the immorality of same-sex desire, all done with great ‘concern’ and ‘love’ as these people always want to be seen doing. He claims “But the Bible doesn’t in any way make room for homosexual practice as a norm in the life of faith.” That kind of shows what his ‘morality’ is. How sad.
Thank you for the encouraging comments. Yeah, I see what you mean about his anti-gay posts. He talks about the love of Jesus being about “dying to yourself out of love for others” but yet he is opposing an institution that is based on love. I just don’t get it. Christians oppose love when it comes to gays, but then they claim to value love above all else. It’s so confusing! I can’t see any moral logic or consistency in it. On this issue, atheistic morality clearly trumps Christian morality.
Hey Critic, It has been a while. School has been crazy and I am studying for finals and looking for a way to procrastinate. So, checked out your blog. haha. I was looking at this post and it definitely has some interesting stuff. I have to say I disagree pretty strongly with the third picture. First, it is a huge assumption to say that believers do good things out of fear and expectation of reward. While that is true for some, I have to disagree with it for the most part. Second, the part many atheist do good simply just because they want to feel better about themselves, just like many Christians.
I was looking at the last picture and the post about the kids protesting abortion and I was thinking:
Pro-choice simply wants the right for the women to chose, right? Well my question is from your perspective “choose what?” I think many pro-life people get pretty heated in the debate because to them pro-choice wants the choice to let their baby live or not let it live. They see it has allowing women to have the power of kings in movies and such. You know thumbs up thumbs down for the person on trial or whatever. Don’t you see how they could get pretty heated in the debate since that is the way they see it? Well my question is how do you see it? From the pro-choice side what would you say is the “choice”? To have a kid or not. I don’t know if I am being clear…
Hey! It certainly has been a while, I’ve been busy studying too. As you may have noticed I haven’t posted anything for ages! But I’m on holidays now (hooray!) so I am catching up on all the comments I haven’t responded to 🙂
Yeah fair point. The third picture is definitely a generalisation. Looking back on it now, it doesn’t really make a lot of sense considering you believe you’re saved by grace, now works, anyhow. And yes, many atheists do good to feel better about themselves. I think for me, the biggest difference between the ‘good’ that I did as a Christian and the ‘good’ that I do now is that I do it because I honestly want to, not to ease any guilt or to fulfil expectations of other people or God. Maybe I was just a bad Christian. I don’t know. Also, I feel like the ‘good’ I do now is kind of a more helpful ‘good’. A lot of the ministries of my church were very much addressing the symptoms of poverty rather than the causes. It was like they were just trying to get these people’s attention so that they would be more receptive to the gospel. It (almost) never felt like they were just doing it to genuinely help others. Maybe it was just my church. I don’t know, but for me, doing good feels so much more real and it’s so much more effective now it’s not primarily about God.
I am pro choice because I believe women have the right to autonomy over their own bodies. I don’t think women have a moral obligation to allow another human to live inside them and cause them serious pain. It would be nice of a woman to do so, but I don’t think she should be forced to. I’m not convinced that a fetus has a right to life, but even if it does, it seems to me that the mother’s right to autonomy would override it because she is a self-aware, developed person with dreams and hopes for the future, rather than a bunch of cells with no sense of self-consiousness or future. It’s not about the mother’s right to choose life or death of another person, it’s about her right to choose whether or not she allows another human to feed off her body and limit her control over it.
What a load of Twaddle
Thank you for such an insightful comment David.
We, Christians, should know better that one does not need the Bible nor belief in God to know(epistemology) and to do good. Many atheists’ lifestyle outshine many Christians. Paul of Tarsus himself stated that those without Torah(Old Testaments) knew good and bad n his letter to Romans(2:14-15).
Amen! 🙂 Thanks for commenting!