That's a very bigoted comment. That's bigoted by the definition of the word and it's sickening.

They were totalitarian communists, but they were also atheists. They were mass murderers but they were also atheists. The terrorists you and so many others are always so quick to bring up who you say kill because of religion are mass murderers, but they're also religious. Interesting. Those involved with the communist regime of Stalin believed in atheism and they enforced it, killing people who defied it... So now you--like so many atheists I've talked to before--are trying to slink out of this universally applicable "logic" which isn't really logical in the first place. The whole idea behind this is that individuals are responsible for their own actions--actions like killing. No matter how much "influence" any other person spouting manipulative crap about any one religious doctrine at them may have on them, the final choice is theirs. You can't blame it on the actual doctrine. That's nothing more than a massive scapegoat and it's weak and pathetic.

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"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
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"Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him."
-John Locke

"What worries you, masters you."
-John Locke

I'm sure there are some people who believe it exists or variations of it exist. And you'd deny them that because why? Are you judgmental to the extreme? Do you not like people who are different than you? Do people who think about things in different ways scare you? What exactly is it--if anything--is it that creates such a factor of intimidation or oddity between you and those who choose to believe in things that you would deem "weird," "unusual," or "unprovable?" I don't believe in it, and it's highly unlikely that we'd be able to prove or disprove it--just like any theory, but that really doesn't mean anything, does it?

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"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
-John F. Kennedy

"Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him."
-John Locke

"What worries you, masters you."
-John Locke

Your logic makes no sense. Stalin didnt do what he did in the name of atheism, I could just point out he was also male, should we judge all men for what he did too?

Stalin removed religion from his nation because he wanted to be at the top of his peoples affections. He didnt want them to like their country, then stalin, then god. He wanted to be at the top of everything his people perceived. He didnt remove religion, he merely changed its name and leader.

And bronze medals comment was very true. When was the last suicide attack commited by an atheist?

Did Atlantis the way Plato described it exist?

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Its a book, as is the bible
It has no evidence to prove itself, neither does the bible
Its made up of morals and far fetched stories, as is the bible
It has its heros and villains, as does the bible
Nobodys ever been to middle-earth and returned, just like heaven


HOWEVER logic tells you and everyone else that its not real, so why do people believe what the bible says?

Religion does scare me yes, I find the mindlessness of a cult group doing whatever their leader tells them to do very frightening indeed. Why do you believe in God? have you ever met it? spoken to it? seen it on tv? ever seen a picture of it?

NO!

And yet you are willing to believe without question, the very definition of brainwashed.

This is the kind of ridiculous double standard that you hear every time in these discussions. All of what you just said could be applied to any religious leader... All of it. Yet I'm sure you would deny it and try to find a way to criticize it just for the sake of doing so.
So the type of killing matters now? So we're actually going to analyze what kind of attacks these are? Did you read anything I wrote? The individual is responsible and you're trying to blame religion. How logical. Simply because in radical Islamic culture they are taught and practically brainwashed to believe that suicidal attacks on others lives is beneficial to their cause does not reflect Islam--it reflects the crazy personal ideals of those who teach it. True Muslim doctrine will tell you that those who kill themselves to harm others are violation of the Muslim code, so you can't really consider those people true believers in that religion--they believe in their own political agenda. I can't believe you'd try to associate that. But hey, I've seen just about everything thrown at religion from atheists.

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"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
-John F. Kennedy

"Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him."
-John Locke

"What worries you, masters you."
-John Locke

Iv not read what was described

Logic? Define logic... Your logic... Your logic is by no means a universal logic and "logic" cannot be defined by you and you alone. Ironically, that's illogical. Logic is as seen and believed by the individual. More people on this Earth believe that a God or gods are logical or that they exist in a logical fashion. You don't, but neither side makes it "true." Neither side believing what they believe makes it the one true "objective reality." We will never be able to define one objective reality, because we are all so individual and because our belief systems are all so unique and different. So your saying "religion is illogical" applies to the "logic" in your own little reality (literally) and the reality of those who believe the same thing you believe. You will not be able to disprove religion and there's no reason for you to continue to attempt to do so. It's a pointless battle and it results in arguments, judgment and frustration.

I have faith because not only does it give me a philosophical basis and something to strive to learn more about, it gives me a moral guidance system that exceeds that of society--a moral guidance system that I believe to exist in nature. I believe in a creator because I choose to. I have in no way been brainwashed, I am long past the age and long past the intellectual capability to think beyond what I was told by those that originally guided me in that moral system. I've chosen to live a life of faith because it's practical--because of that moral system and because it gives me something to live for and something to strive for. What exactly is it that you live for? As an atheist, do you not think that you will simply become one with this earth in the form of decomposition? That you will just die and that's that? Then tell me, if that's the case, what's the point of living? You're living and working toward an end that will undo all your work by the principles of atheism.

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"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
-John F. Kennedy

"Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him."
-John Locke

"What worries you, masters you."
-John Locke

Yes I will die and my hardwork will have been for nothing. There is no point to living, but that doesnt mean I want to die either. I enjoy certain parts of my life.

You will die too and your hardwork will have been for nothing.

Religion asks questions,
Atheism answers them.

I see my life as a one off, something not to be wasted or squandered. I try and enjoy myself and experiance new things as much as possible. I dont spend my life trying to get into heaven. Besides I was told by a christian that upon my death im given the chance to accept god, so what have i got to lose by denying it now?

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Being an admirer of John Locker im sure you've looked at other quotes as well, no doubt you've heard this before.

You take two people from history, who had control of an entire nation (two of the largest nations in the world) and blame an idea on the millions of people they killed. They had control of a gov't with the power to do what ever they wished. If you can use that logic, than i can use the fact that Hitler was a devout catholic who believed god spoke to him and told him to kill the jews and lead his master race. Hitler was deranged and by all means evil. the fact that he believed so much in religion and your god didnt help matters. He twisted facts to his liking just as the Islamic Extremists do today.

Lets start naming murders done in the name of god shall we;
The Crusades - wars done in the name of god for the chosen land and the chosen people
The Salem Witch Trial - Killings done by ignorance and fear in the name of god
WWII - Amongst the hundereds of reasons on why Hitler was able to lead about the greatest mass murder in human history he was a christian and believed he was doing the work of god.
Various Middle East wars - the middle east is a religious war torn geographical region. Shites and Sunnis murder eachother because they can't decide on who is the rightful leader of Islam, which family descendent of Muhhammed is in charge.
Isreal and Gaza Strip - The Jews again. Racist ignorance brought on by generations of religious teaching have caused too many wars between Israel and Palenstien (sp?). And the holy city.
Should i go on?

I could name hundreds of big and small battles where the people responsible believed they were doing the work of god. whats the difference between these wars and conflicts and Hitler and Mao Zedong? They believed with out restriction that they were doing the work of god. Those two gov't leaders MIGHT have been atheists but they controlled gov'ts and as i said before, absolute power corrupts absolutely. They never once said they were killing millions of people in the name of Atheism.

You're a little misguided? how is that against forum rules. I simply said you didnt know as much about what you spoke about as you thought you did. It was not an attack by such cheap standards as name calling, i was stating the fact that you didnt know what you were saying.

The bible was written by god through man, at least thats what millions of humans believe. They believe the bible is the work of god who worked through the authors.

Science doesnt look for philosophical answers as your religion might, but it looks for the answers as to why the world and the universe is the way it is.
Unlike religion, science doesnt hide from different view points and unfavorable answers. Atheism, unlike religion, does not have a doctrine to follow that can be mistreated and twsted. Atheism doesnt make people kill others in the name of Atheism. It is a way of life, for those without a god/gods to live free of religion. we don't teach or children or friends sacred documents that when written were racist and 'misguided'

You could say you bible and religion teaches morality, but you worship a bible 2000 years old that against human rights denies homosexuals to marry, teaches bigoted moral teachings. your bible says to stone people who work on sundays, how many people have you stoned today. Do you love your god more than your mother and father. would you kill them if they say they didnt believe in god? well, thats a moral guideline taught by your bible.
we could go on all day long, and all day long i will keep saying your misinformed and unknowing of this topic. so yes, i would say your a little misguided because your are clearly blinded by your faith.

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Give every man your ear, but few thy voice. Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.[Hamlet] -Shakespeare, William
Where there is doubt, there is freedom -Latin Proverb