Experts claim Atheists are now 26% of the U.S. population! Look out Jesus Freaks ...

Now if we could just get leftists to recognize their blind faith in enormous central govts is a religion too.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/religious-people-are-less-intelligent-than-atheists-according-to-analysis-of-scores-of-scientific-8758046.html

Assuming the number of vegetarians and dog owners is the same between the two groups, any increase in the test group compared to the control group indicates the number of atheists.

A great word for the liberal point of view.

Assume nothing and get the facts. Oh wait - facts mean nothing to libs. Never mind and carry on.

I think there's much more than 26% of the population who don't believe in God and they are of the higher IQ status w/ critical thinking skills.

Vikingwoman wrote:I think there's much more than 26% of the population who don't believe in God and they are of the higher IQ status w/ critical thinking skills.

That's the way God planned it.

I have a theory that churches are filled with people who are sitting there during services thinking, "I'll never admit it because I want to preserve my social network here, but I bet I'm the only person in this room who thinks all this stuff is a bunch of horseshit." Yep -- I'm such an atheist that I think you don't really believe, either. I really don't think there are all that many grown-up adult people who actually believe that stuff... they just think it's the price of admission to a group of friends who they think are believers.

Religions are usually good as philosophies. I like Jesus as a philosopher... I just don't think he's a superhero-ghost guy. Belief in actual gods watching over you is okay when you're three and it's thundering outside, but it's kind of an odd thing to drag into adulthood. And even though they talk it up (because there's a whole lot of pressure to do it, especially in the South), I don't think many people really believe any of it. I know that every day I see a whole lot of professed Christians doing things under the eyes of their all-knowing, all-seeing god who could send them to Hell that they'd never do in front of a cop who could only give them a ticket.

Also, I keep running into right-wing Christians who love 'em some Ayn Rand... and she's totally incompatible with Jesus. In fact, the Church Of Satan's website even admits that all LaVeyan Satanism is is Ayn Rand's philosophy mixed with some ritual to make it sexy. So, anybody who likes the Bible and Atlas Shrugged doesn't have any understanding of either book. It annihilates any credibility.

I've gotten knives pulled on me a couple of times because I don't go to church (though none dare speak of "radical Baptist extremism"!), but I still figure the majority of people with a religion get into it with good intentions... which is why I'm not willing to ban people from anything on the basis of religion, and consider people who are willing to do that to be the most disgusting form of fucking coward. If I have the guts to live as an atheist in Mississippi, you can deal with Muslims around. The odds of either of us being killed are small enough to be an acceptable risk, like living around other drivers who might run into you, but probably won't.

But, I have experienced this on a regular basis -- if it comes up in conversation and I tell someone I'm an atheist, invariably the person I'm talking to will say, "So am I... but I can't admit it! I can't say the word!" You do face a lot of backlash, but it's becoming more and more worth it. I'm starting to think we're the real silent majority... it's just that people are too reluctant to let go of the safety-in-numbers that religions provides. But since most of that comes down to sectarian inter-hate, anyway, it's slipping. There's not as much unity outside of an individual church... and even half the churchgoers are judging the hell out of each other, anyhow. It's losing a lot of its appeal. More and more of my church-going friends are giving up on religion as the years go on, and they've all been a lot happier.

Also, I experienced a weird thing -- when I was younger, late teens, I used to claim to be a Satanist. The local Christians were so overbearing and figured everybody who didn't go to church was a "devil worshiper" anyway, especially if they listened to a lot of metal like I did, so I figured, screw it, I'll have fun with it, see if I can scare 'em. Oddly, a lot of Christians loved that. It was weird to 'em because my morals were good -- I don't drink or use drugs and I'm not crazy promiscuous and I'm polite and kind to animals and don't steal, etc. -- but they seemed fine with it. When I eventually decided it was silly and said, "I'm not really a Satanist, I'm just an atheist," THEN they got upset. It's like, if you were a Satanist, you were still playing their little Dungeons & Dragons game of otherworldy supernatural hoodoo. When you said "I don't believe any of it," then they freak out. Not playing the game is scarier to them than being on the other team.

Well if you're not going to root for the winner/creator, why would you root for the loser/destroyer? The funny thing is that they are so child like that they don't even know that they are playing for the other team. Besides that they are so dull witted and regressive that it's easier to come up with a way to destroy what's good than to create something new and advance the lives of everyone. They are the true useful idiots. Sad.

Your collectivist crapola is every bit the religion as the others. The faith in an enormous central authority that will act to your benefit is perhaps a greater leap than faith in a God. There's actually greater evidence against your religion being a force for good than Christianity... there's some reality for you.

Wordslinger wrote:Glad to know you Z.  You and I feel the same, except that I am a strident anti-theist -- I want to bury all religions so there won't be so many reasons for us to hate each other!  You read the Bible, the Quran, the Talmud and the message is clear:  respect people, be a good person, help others, keep the peace.  Only the message doesn't work.  I know Muslims who are kind, generous, honest, hard working family driven folks.  People I'm happy to know and respect.  Not all Jews are cheap.  Not all baptists are stark raving mad Jesus freaks, not all Catholic men molest little boys.

And I hate it when folks argue why their imaginary friend is better than yours.

Z, our numbers are rising fast.  Remember when homosexuals began to come out of the closet?  It's happening with us also.  And it's about time.  What's real, are the decisions you and I and everyone make everyday in our conduct and relationship with other folks.  The God described in the St. James Bible is a cruel, hateful, vengeful and stark raving mad asshole.  

Reality.

Thanks!

Yeah, I'm hoping eventually people will outgrow their needs for gods. If their beliefs actually resulted in the good behavior that they're supposed to, then I'd be fine with 'em even if I thought the god-part was silly... but all too often they just use the religions to organize a lot of hateful, control-freaky stuff over the rest of society. And that's counterproductive. Too often churches just create divisions and try to tell you who your enemies should be.

And, yep, I know a lot of really good religious people, too. They're not all bad, by any means... but, I think they'd still be good without the religion. I know a few jerk atheists, too (mostly the obnoxious ones on YouTube), but most I know are kind-hearted people who most people around here try to claim as Christians until they find out the truth.

And if people actually read the Bible, it's often a turn-off. An atheist friend at work said he used to be the most religious person you'd ever meet... he started Bible-study groups in college and stuff. But then one day he decided he should read the whole book from cover to cover... and he was appalled at it. He started drifting from religion and then some guy came up to him in a McDonald's, witnessing to him, and asked, "Are you a Christian?" My friend said, "Kind of." The guy said, "You can't be 'kind of,' you either are or you aren't." My friend realized the guy was right, said, "You know what, you're right! I'm not!" And he's been happier ever since.

PkrBum wrote:Your collectivist crapola is every bit the religion as the others. The faith in an enormous central authority that will act to your benefit is perhaps a greater leap than faith in a God. There's actually greater evidence against your religion being a force for good than Christianity... there's some reality for you.

You're whackin' the hell out of that strawman, there. You're assuming total adherence to a political party, which you can make into a "religion." But, unluckily for you, such strawmen are harder to find than you think. Yeah, I lean more liberal than not, and I always vote Democrat because Republicans have proven themselves to be idiots (look what decades of electing them has done to the South), but I also own guns and support the death penalty and differ with "the left" in a few other areas, too. I'm not lock-step about any "central authority." Agreement ain't always dogma.

You've been fed a lot of hogwash, religiously possibly but politically certainly. You're railing against a type that you hardly ever actually find out in the wild. And you've been trained to do that. Sun Tzu will tell you that's a real good way to lose your battles.

So, by all means, keep it up.

zsomething wrote:

PkrBum wrote:Your collectivist crapola is every bit the religion as the others. The faith in an enormous central authority that will act to your benefit is perhaps a greater leap than faith in a God. There's actually greater evidence against your religion being a force for good than Christianity... there's some reality for you.

You're whackin' the hell out of that strawman, there.  You're assuming total adherence to a political party, which you can make into a "religion."  But, unluckily for you, such strawmen are harder to find than you think.  Yeah, I lean more liberal than not, and I always vote Democrat because Republicans have proven themselves to be idiots (look what decades of electing them has done to the South), but I also own guns and support the death penalty and differ with "the left" in a few other areas, too.  I'm not lock-step about any "central authority."  Agreement ain't always dogma.

You've been fed a lot of hogwash, religiously possibly but politically certainly.   You're railing against a type that you hardly ever actually find out in the wild.  And you've been trained to do that.   Sun Tzu will tell you that's a real good way to lose your battles.

So, by all means, keep it up.  

REALITY. It doesn't come in a bottle like it does for some.