Atheist bus campaign

Sasquamo wrote: BaldFriede wrote: Roman Catholicism is not based on fear; that's an obvious misconception. God is forgiving, that's the basic teaching of Roman Catholicism. Have you ever been Roman Catholic?  Maybe it's not based on fear, but it definitely made me scared.  For further support, check out page ten of this thread, where you said that those who believe in God do not worry and immediately three different people said they worried more when they were religious.

I grew up as a Roman Catholic (my mother is Irish), though I no longer am one. I studied the bible; it was one of my favorite readings as a kid, together with ancient Egyptian and especially ancient Greek mythology. the New Testament has many examples of God being a forgiving God; in fact this is basically what the New Testament is all about


Edited by BaldJean - March 15 2009 at 12:53

Sasquamo wrote: BaldFriede wrote: Roman Catholicism is not based on fear; that's an obvious misconception. God is forgiving, that's the basic teaching of Roman Catholicism. Have you ever been Roman Catholic?  Maybe it's not based on fear, but it definitely made me scared.  For further support, check out page ten of this thread, where you said that those who believe in God do not worry and immediately three different people said they worried more when they were religious.

I grew up as a Roman Catholic too, and I never felt scared either.
As to people feeling scared when they were religious: I honestly don't understand it. The only thing I can believe is that they grew up with certain religious teachings (in essence, teachings of a vengeful God). But you can believe in God without having to be of a certain religion. So what you do is confuse "religion" with "existence of God". If God exists he will whether there is a religion or not; it would not change anything about it.
As Jean pointed out earlier in the thread: Atheists don't reject God, they reject a certain image of God. I couldn't agree more with them in rejection of that image. However, that has nothing to do with them rejecting God at all.
Jean mentioned the essay "Is God a Taoist?" by Raymond Smullyan. I highly support reading it; it is very insightful.
And last but not least: Let's get back to semantics: "Faith" actually means "confidence in a person or thing". Why should you be afraid when you are confident?

Sasquamo wrote: OK, fine, the dictionary says one thing, but in practical speech, when someone says they believe in something or have faith in something, it is never assumed that they are 100% that they are right and know that there is absolutely no possibility they're wrong.  Rather, it means that they have an opinion on the matter.  So when someone uses the words "faith" or "belief," just go along with it because you know what they really mean.  Let's try not to argue over word choice.

Sorry, but if someone tells me he believes something then I do assume he believes 100%. That does, however, not mean someone who believes something can't be wrong, it only means that he or she excludes the possibility he or she is wrong, else he or she would say "I have doubts". That's how I use the word, and I expect everyone else to use the word the same way. If you tell your kid "I believe you did not steal $100 from my purse" and then go and check the purse of the kid you did NOT believe the kid; it is as simple as that.

BaldJean being religious does NOT mean one has to be uncritical at all; I have no idea where you get that impression from [/QUOTE wrote:   Exactly Jean,   Catholic Church doesn't admit abortion at all, I believe it's

1. Rape
2. Terminal illness of the phoetus as Tay Sachs
3. Therapeutical Abortion (Already accepted by the church when the mother's life is at risk)

I try to practice all the rules, but I would be stupid if I had sex with a woman i don't have an AIDS test taken the same day without a condom.

Sasquamo wrote: I will never insult a person for having religious beliefs.  I may despise the ideology but that doesn't give me any reason to hold something against followers of that ideology.

Scientologists deserve ridicule for their beliefs. If ridicule = insult, then yes I'm fairly well fine with insulting them.

Ivan_Melgar_M wrote: Rocktopus wrote: Ivan_Melgar_M wrote:   In first place, I believe it's offensive to qualify as BS the beliefs of other persions, and if you hate religion, your opinion lacks of objectivity.   Iván You think your own opinions doesn't lack objectivety?   Of course they may not be 100% objective.   BUT WE CAN DEMAND RESPECT, I HAVEN'T OFFENDED THE ATHEIST OR OTHER RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IN ANY WAY, CALLING MY RELIGIOUS BELIEFS BULL SH!T IS A DIRECT INSULT.   Iván

Sasquamo calls one aspect concerning the Roman Catholic Church bullsh*t, and if you're personally offended by that it is your problem, not his. He doesn't know your personal religious beliefs, and can't be accused of offending it. Everyone knows that the Roman Catholic Church has much blood (and sperm) on its hands and fancy dresses over the centuries. It cannot simply demand respect from anyone, instead they should work hard to earn/regain it.

Criticizing (or hating) something a religious organisation stands for or does, is not a direct insult towards you or any person. I haven't seen Sasquamo insulting you anywhere.

Ashley TisdaleHayley Williams.

So take your pick of who would be the better Atheist Bus Campaign girl to replace that current chick that isn't even that good looking.


(you people have no idea how hard I've tried to at least make this topic remotely on topic)
Seriously, is it only me and about, maybe one other person on this forum that is interested in the f

Sean Trane wrote: Rocktopus wrote: Ivan_Melgar_M wrote: Rocktopus wrote: Ivan_Melgar_M wrote:   In first place, I believe it's offensive to qualify as BS the beliefs of other persions, and if you hate religion, your opinion lacks of objectivity.   Iván You think your own opinions doesn't lack objectivety?   Of course they may not be 100% objective.   BUT WE CAN DEMAND RESPECT, I HAVEN'T OFFENDED THE ATHEIST OR OTHER RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IN ANY WAY, CALLING MY RELIGIOUS BELIEFS BULL SH!T IS A DIRECT INSULT.   Iván Sasquamo calls one aspect concerning the Roman Catholic Church bullsh*t, and if you're personally offended by that it is your problem, not his. He doesn't know your personal religious beliefs, and can't be accused of offending it. Everyone knows that the Roman Catholic Church has much blood (and sperm) on its hands and fancy dresses over the centuries. It cannot simply demand respect from anyone, instead they should work hard to earn/regain it. Criticizing (or hating) something a religious organisation stands for or does, is not a direct insult towards you or any person. I haven't seen Sasquamo insulting you anywhere.    for Christer   Actually I don't think the Vatican is in a position to ask for respect anymore especially after the Brazilian scandal.   How can these bishops be sp stooooooopid????     And then they wonder why they're losing millions of followers to more or less dangerous preaching Evangilists sects or these protestant religions. Humanity is better without these superstitious beliefs.

sorry, but I can't agree with you 2. if we follow your logic we could not have any respect for France because of what France did to the Huguenots, we could not have any respect for the USA because of what the USA did to the native Indians, we could not have any respect for Germany because of what Germany did to the Jews, and I am pretty sure that while we leaf through the pages of history we will find some bloodstained pages for any country. I am not trying to defend the Church, but let's keep on the floor, boys.
of course this has nothing to do with the existence of a deity in the first place; this is merely anti-religious, but not atheistic

BaldJean wrote: Sean Trane wrote:   Rocktopus wrote: Sasquamo calls one aspect concerning the Roman Catholic Church bullsh*t, and if you're personally offended by that it is your problem, not his. He doesn't know your personal religious beliefs, and can't be accused of offending it. Everyone knows that the Roman Catholic Church has much blood (and sperm) on its hands and fancy dresses over the centuries. It cannot simply demand respect from anyone, instead they should work hard to earn/regain it. Criticizing (or hating) something a religious organisation stands for or does, is not a direct insult towards you or any person. I haven't seen Sasquamo insulting you anywhere.    for Christer   Actually I don't think the Vatican is in a position to ask for respect anymore especially after the Brazilian scandal.   How can these bishops be sp stooooooopid????     And then they wonder why they're losing millions of followers to more or less dangerous preaching Evangilists sects or these protestant religions. Humanity is better without these superstitious beliefs.   sorry, but I can't agree with you 2. if we follow your logic we could not have any respect for France because of what France did to the Huguenots, we could not have any respect for the USA because of what the USA did to the native Indians, we could not have any respect for Germany because of what Germany did to the Jews, and I am pretty sure that while we leaf through the pages of history we will find some bloodstained pages for any country. I am not trying to defend the Church, but let's keep on the floor, boys. of course this has nothing to do with the existence of a deity in the first place; this is merely anti-religious, but not atheistic

Sasquamo wrote: Zargus wrote: Ivan_Melgar_M wrote: Sasquamo wrote: Have you ever been Roman Catholic?  Maybe it's not based on fear, but it definitely made me scared.  For further support, check out page ten of this thread, where you said that those who believe in God do not worry and immediately three different people said they worried more when they were religious.   I have been Roman Catholic for 44 tyears and never felt fear, I know God forgives any sin.   If somebody feels fear, well probablt doesn't know too much aboput Catholicism.   Iván   If he does what is hell for then?     Hell is for those who are unrepentant or whose apologies God doesn't accept due to insincerity.  And there's no way of knowing for sure if you're forgiven or not, hence the worrying.  What if you're not sure if you're being sincere in asking for forgiveness?  Is just being sorry enough, or do you need to pray specifically for forgiveness, or is going to Confession the only thing that will work?  After a while when you hurt somebody, concern for the person you actually hurt takes a back seat to concern over getting forgiven.  It's a huge load of BS and one of the many reasons why I hate religion.

I won't even argue whether you are right or wrong about Roman-Catholicism. you do, however, make the mistake of concluding "since Roman Catholicism is BS (as you put it), all religion is BS". that's a rather unfounded assumption.
and, as remarked before, it has nothing whatever to do with the possible existence of a deity. even if all religions were "wrong" (whatever that means in that context) there still could be a deity. this is simple so because all religions create an image of a deity, and that image may have nothing whatever in common with the true nature of the deity