Originally Posted by sunnyside

Since I guess we've now moved back to the general discussion of religion.

One comment on the "pink unicorns" bit. This is different because it isn't just something someone pulled out of thin air in a discussion, or made up and said it was just made up.

Something went down in the middle east a little after 0 AD. The Jews aren't fiction. You probably know one, and they were hanging out in the holy land, and there is some archaelogical evidence that supports the bible.

Of course that doesn't mean it couldn't be a con. But it's still definitely something.

Originally Posted by stekim

All religion was invented by someone.

Originally Posted by sunnyside

Bear with me a moment. It is commonly held by atheist that it is a "bad" thing to do to "shove your belief down someones throat" It is also generally considered "bad" to show intolerance towards atheists/people of other religions/really anybody.

And at the surface that seems reasonable. There is a general movement towards respect and tolerance in the country.

However it seems on any board I'm on political or not you can't have a discussion where religion comes up in any form and not eventually get something like this out of the blue:


(That's from these boards).

And that is a double standard. Of course it isn't a double standard if you have a "bring it on" attitude, and, while you wouldn't agree with them, you'd consider it fair play if some people disregarded your opinions and called you a heathen etc etc.

However I think the people posting stuff like that feel it would be unfair if anyone ever treated them that way. And that makes them a hypocrite.

My theory is that they feel this is OK because they feel that they are right and everyone else is wrong. However, obviously, members of every faith believe they are right.

On a side note I'm sure there are people who do treat atheists like that. However. 1. They tend to have a "bring it on" attitude and would feel that turnabout is fair play. 2. Even if someone else does something, if you believe it's wrong and you do it yourself you're still a hypocrite. It would be like saying violence is never the answer, but then when you get punched you come back later and beat them into a pulp with a bat.

Originally Posted by stekim

Not sure what you mean by "can't prove". Every religious text on Earth was written by people and interpreted by other people. Every religion is run by people and followed by people. Faith is not the same as religion. God is not the same as religion. God does or does not exist independent of any faith that worships Him. Think about it, people were on Earth for countless centuries before the God of the Bible was ever worshipped. If said God exists, He went most of human history without anyone worshipping Him. That's why Zeus is pissed right now. He exists, but few believe it. The religion that worshipped him fell out of favor.

If God exists you can bet he's not a Muslim, Jew or Christian.

Originally Posted by Taomon

Faith is an emotional need, like love and acceptance, which is inherent to the human condition. We did not invent it anymore than we invented sexuality.

Religion (any and all), on the other hand, is a doctrine of rules and myths...and therefore, man-made.

Originally Posted by Taomon

Actually, I have had plenty of Christians say just as nasty things to me because I do not accept their dogmatic beliefs. So that is where the double standard actually lies.

Originally Posted by sunnyside

However it would seem some atheists do have that double standard among others.

Originally Posted by C-D-P

Prove it!

You can no more prove that someone invented it than I can prove that someone didn't. So lets leave matters of faith to matters of faith.