Is there anything else that needs to be understood about atheism...

I am not picking on all atheists. I am picking on the ones that seek out Christians and try to belittle them or prove them wrong, that is why I used the term "try to debate Christians". I certainly was not refering to Big Vito or even Reznor. I am sorry I can not get more specific than that without making a personal attack.

 

Yeah well looks like the un-named pack the chess board and left. Some case for Entropy. Hell is was expecting a bit more fight, more verve. They(stupid politically correct construct) totally caved. bummer.

 

I fall squarely into this camp. I don't give religion enough thought to make flaming Christians on message boards worth my time. By the way, I have read the bible and did go to catholic school for many years, but ultimately decided I just don't buy it. And to the whole thing about morals that everyone keeps bringing up, I consider myself as moral as the next guy. The difference is that I believe morals are grounded in common sense and good will and not spirituality.

 

I don't want a fight. I don't want to knock people down for what they think, anymore than I want to be knocked down for what I think.

And that's the issue. It seems as if there is a section of atheism that doesn't exist to discuss religion so much as to exert an angst against religion.

 

Apathy would be more Agnostic than atheism.

 

That's exactly where I stand as well.

 

And there are two separate motivations for that.

For those arguing against God Himself, I think they probably fit into the category of people you referred to in an earlier post -- the ones who have suffered terribly in life. Hate is not the opposite of love, as we all know. You have to believe someone exists to hate him.

Then there are those who refuse to believe in God because of His so-called representatives. This, I feel, is much more common.

Either way, the emotional component of their beliefs has closed their minds as much if not more than the minds of those whom they argue against.

 

i'm an atheist in the sense that i don't believe there's a god, but i think the more proper term is probably agnostic because i also don't believe there's NOT a god. depending on the situation tho, my atheist streak flares up and i feel compelled to debate christians.

i don't think reading the bible is that important, really. i don't see the bible as being the direct word of god so reading it is really just reading what somebody else says about things.

should one not debate the merits of communism without reading the communist manifesto? or what about mein kampf? should hitler be given a free pass till you read it?

 

That depends to me. Do you actively seek out communists to debate or do you just participate in the discussion as it comes to you?

 

I don't think it's an all or nothing deal. I think it's perfectly fine to argue from a limited knowledge base (in reality, that's what we ALL have), as long as you're open to considering other options.