The Case For Christ [Spirituality & Religion]

@Nature3 I hate to tell but there are no such people that are atheists, nor a cult known as atheism. As long as you're alive, you believe in some type of god and put your faith and trust in that god.

@GodSpeed63 Funny how you believers presume to know what is in our heads thoughts wise. Did you bronze age book full of fairy tales tell you that?

@Nature3 What bronze age book? Even though you claim to be atheists, you're really not because you're still alive. The only atheists around are skeptics lying 6 feet under headstones.

@Nature3

[quote]here are no such people that are atheists, nor a cult known as atheism. As long as you're alive, you believe in some type of god and put your faith and trust in that god.
[/quote]

No. We've already had this discussion.
Placing great value on something does not make it a god.
An atheist is one who has no belief in a god. The only way you can claim that an atheist believes in a god is by making the definition so vague that it has no meaning.
I don't know why you insist on repeating this facile assertion.

@Pikachu What little I’ve read from Strobel seemed to be bullshit; however, godspeed63 is right that everybody worships something. As a human being you are constantly changing, constantly transforming. If you weren’t constantly transforming, you’d be dead. So how are you transforming? You’re transforming in response to whatever it is you perceive to be ultimate. You may be an atheist to the extent that you don’t believe in a personal god, but you still worship something. It may not even be something spiritual, for example you could worship money, but worshipping something is part of the human condition.

@JP1119

[quote] but you still worship something.[/quote]

I disagree. I don't worship anything. Again, unless you dilute the definition of "worship" to the point of being meaningless.
Placing value on something does not make thing a god by any recognizable definition.

This directly contradicts the assertion that there are no such people as atheists.

@Pikachu Placing great value on something does make it a god or idol. anything that sits on the throne of your heart other than the one true God, who lives forever, is an idol or god.

@GodSpeed63

[quote] Placing great value on something does make it a god or idol[/quote]

No. It doesn't. Not by any meaningful definition of the word.
But even if you think otherwise, you DO understand that an atheist does not believe in any supernatural creator being so just what do you feel is gained by the assertion that there is no such thing as an atheist?

What do you feel is gained by the simplistic reduction of anything held as valuable as a god?
Why is it useful to use this definition to claim that there are no atheists?

If there were no God, there would be no inclination in man to desire one. The word itself wouldn't even exist. Since we do have the inclination to seek out God inside of us, we will always have the desire to have a god in our lives. This is why there are so many religions and cults around the world today. Mankind is seeking out God.

@Pikachu I would say it’s not just putting “great value” on something, but whatever is your ultimate, your #1 value, you worship that.

I think the point is that since you can’t really not worship anything, then it becomes important to pay attention to what it is you’re worshipping and make sure that that thing or being is actually worthy of being worshipped.

@GodSpeed63 How do you know that? I don’t think it’s that simple. Maybe the need to find a god evolved in us as a coping mechanism to help us not obsess over the fear of death or something, and there really is no God.

@JP1119 If that was the case, where would man get the word god from to describe a higher power? Why would man want a higher power in the first place since it's his desire to solve the issues himself?

@JP1119

That still leaves us far short of any meaningful interpretation of said valued thing which would make it a god and therefore validate godspeeds'63's facile assertion.

@GodSpeed63


[quote] Why would man want a higher power in the first place since it's his desire to solve the issues himself?[/quote]

Because men want answers and when they don't have answers the make them up. Simple as that.
Furthermore, men are afraid of that which they do not understand and by invoking a god they gain some sense of control or understanding over their world.
If you don't understand this impulse simply look at a child as they look to their parents to make sense of a world that is confusing and scary for them.

God is not some amazing fundamental force that all cultures seek.
He's daddy and he's going to explain everything, punish, reward and protect.
It's a very basic human concept.