Would You Hire a Vocal Atheist?

[watson3]

No one who has prejudged an issue can be convinced of anything contrary to what he wants to believe. There are still those who insist the earth is flat and no one can convince them otherwise, no matter what the evidence. There are always folks, no matter if religious or atheistic, who stubbornly believe what they prefer, no matter if reason and fact show otherwise. Someone like this has the unspoken philosophy: Don't confuse me with the facts. My mind is already made up. Ask yourself: Am I open-minded or narrow minded? Am I willing to change my mind if I can be shown atheism doesn't make sense?
You might say, If God is there, let him prove it to me. I don't want to take an irrational leap of faith. Fine. In Isaiah 2:18 God says: come let us reason together. He wants us to reason and He certainly wants us to be be rational, but He will not submit himself to human scrutiny; to do so he would need to stop being God! He will not bow to our perverse judgements. Ask yourself, Would I ever be willing to believe God is there, however strong the evidence? You see, your problem may not be in your head as much as in your heart. Perhaps you've already taken a leap of faith. To assert God cannot exist, despite the impossibility of proving that statement, is the ultimate irrational leap!

 

[watson3]

Originally Posted by zman1
I believe you took that out of context to suit your needs....
Just using what they give me...It is right there in black and white...

 

[watson3]

Atheism tends to exalt reason, but it is actually irrational. One cannot disprove God exists. To dogmatically assert something unprovable is hardly rational! You might reply: But I can t disprove a giant purple frog on Mars controls the universe, either. Granted, one can never disprove any given thing exists, but the existence of God is not only logically possible, it is philosophically essential. (We'll get to that later.) The atheistic position, on the other hand, is logically impossible. Why do I say that? In order to prove the assertion No God exists, one would need to comprehensively know all of reality. Comprehensive knowledge of reality is called omniscience. One would need to be omniscient in order to prove there is no God, but if one were omniscient one would, by definition, already be God! So, logically, the only one capable of disproving the existence of God would be God himself! Atheism is inherently self-contradictory. The evidence for the existence of God is there for all to see, only we refuse to see it. King David wrote: The fool says in his heart there is no God. (Psalm 14:1) In other words, Atheism is irrational. Apart from God there is no basis for truth or ethics. For the sake of brevity, let's simply consider ethics.

 

[hagfish]

Originally Posted by garnet13aj
Here's the thing, people in aren't waiting for marriage to have --- and if they were using contraceptives there WOULD be a decrease in the amount of STD and AIDS.
I thought of 4 people I know within about 30 seconds that didn't have --- until marriage because they were Christians. I'm sure there are plenty more in our church and I just don't know about it, it's not really a subject that comes up often. There actually are people out there who follow this command. And it's probably more than you think. If you don't hang around those crowds, you probably would think it's 0% of the population.
Originally Posted by garnet13aj
People in Africa aren't following the ideas of the bible and they also aren't being taught the benefits of using a condom. I do think the Catholic church is doing more harm than good in preventing that education from getting to a location of the world where it is needed most. I think it is a valid claim and there is no proof that a lack of God couldn't decrease the amount of STDs or AIDS in that region, that is a statement not backed by any sort of proof. Yes, religion can do a lot of good, but so can education and human love not backed by a belief in God.
You are contradicting yourself. You are saying this...
1. People in Africa don't follow the ideas of the Bible
2. The Pope is at fault for preventing knowledge of Condoms to people in Africa.
So somehow these people aren't following any Christian values but since the pope says no condoms that will effect them.
Also, maybe I'm just not educated enough on the subject. But we are talking about a CONTINENT called Africa. I don't understand how the Pope is preventing an entire continent of people from learning about this now common item. You are overlooking some things IMO. The people I would expect to know nothing of condoms have no money AT ALL. They live day to day with practically no possesions. My understanding is these are also the people who are getting raped frequently (---- is a common war tactic in many areas of Africa because of the fear it strikes in people). And many of these rapists have STD's so they are passing it all over the place (even more effective war weapon). So, anyway you are blaming the Pope for people who own practically nothing not having condoms.
Do you realize that many of these people wouldn't even know what an STD was if it wasn't for missionaries? And when was the last time you heard of a missionary killing a bunch of people? I wouldn't really call the migration to America a missionary mission either. Those people did come here partly for religious freedom. But, I don't think one could say that they were generally coming here to convert people to Christianity. They were looking for a country to call/make their own.

 

[watson3]

God's existence is clearly seen in what He has made. The intricate brilliance of the created order reveals the mind of an infinitely intelligent Designer just as surely as a great work of architecture or a complex piece of technology reveals the mind of its designer. Furthermore, our own consciences and sense of justice, though corrupted by our rebellion, still tell us there is right and wrong and a God who has a perfect moral standard. The truth is, if you are an atheist, it is not because it makes sense, it is because you don't want to face up to the fact that there is a God out there to whom you are accountable. You don't like God and are trying to hide from Him. You need not feel this way. God has provided a way back for you.
If you persist in your atheism, one day you will stand before God and you will have no doubt in your mind concerning His existence. His awesome reality will be undeniable to you, even though you won't want to believe it!

 

[catawaba]

In my opinion (hehe) opinions are only valid when the issue has been truly looked at from boths sides. Opinions aren't valid if they can't be defended when challenged.
All opinions are self inherently valid. They are a belief. When one disagrees with someone's opinion, it is a disagreement of opinions. Doesn't make either opinion less valid.

 

[zman1]

Originally Posted by watson3
Just using what they give me...It is right there in black and white...

You literally didn't read between those two lines --

I don't believe she was comparing bacteria evolution to the higher level mammal evolution.
Viruses evolve/mutate all the time

 

[catawaba]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
Yep

Touche.
But you have to give me that one.
Appearance doesn't matter.

 

[watson3]

You know what they say about opinions..

 

[hagfish]

Originally Posted by Jmick
The bible was written hundreds of years after the events actually happened; its accuracy is questionable at best.
This is not true at all. Most of the manuscripts we have today are from the 1st century. Some are from the 2nd century. It has stronger manuscript evidence than probably any ancient writings. There is something like 6000-7000 manuscripts. That is a huge number. All are the same except for small differences in writing style as a reflection of the time they were written.

 

[catawaba]

"What is history, but a fable agreed upon." --Napoleon Bonaparte.

 

[hagfish]

Originally Posted by watson3
I believe these are conflicting statements
I believe you are correct

 

[watson3]

Would love to continue this, but it is five here and I am tired of my taxes for the day going to those of you that do not care what time it is..I look forward to reading responses in the morning...

 

[zman1]

Originally Posted by watson3
You know what they say about opinions..
Yep -- they are like rear ends, everyone has one, just some are bigger than others....

 

[hagfish]

Originally Posted by garnet13aj
Do you have any concept of what evolution is?
I've seen evolution occur. Bacteria replicate at a fast enough rate that it is possible.
All evolution means is a change in allele frequency through time.
Evolution occurs when I storm wipes out half a population leaving people people w/different charcteristics alive.
There may be disputes about whether the "big bang" theory is correct, I certainly don't have any background to support or deny the findings. But evolution is a real thing that is occuring every day.
Also, you wouldn't see monkeys evolving in the zoo because evolution happens at an extremely slow rate.
And by the way, Survival of the fittest, does not mean survival of the biggest and stronger. It means those who produce more babies pass on more genes than those who produce less offsrping.
There is strong evidence to suggest micro-evolution exists. But not so much in the area of macro-evolution. In an age of scientific enlightment we are learning the real reason for most things that were once considered useless to an animal. There is still no significant archeological finding that would suggest evolution exists. And I've yet to see a good explanation for irreducable complexity.

 

[catawaba]

Originally Posted by watson3
You know what they say about opinions..
What?
I do, however, know what 'they' say about assuming.

 

[catawaba]

Originally Posted by zman1
Yep -- they are like rear ends, everyone has one, just some are bigger than others....

 

[reefreak29]

even darwin knows the truth about god now
to bad its to late
john 3:16
for god so loved the world that he gave his only son that who ever believes in me shall not parish but have everlasting life

 

[jmick]

Originally Posted by reefreak29
even darwin knows the truth about god now
to bad its to late
john 3:16
for god so loved the world that he gave his only son that who ever believes in me shall not parish but have everlasting life
I thought only "god fearing" christians go to heaven?

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by Jmick
I thought only "god fearing" christians go to heaven?
your already a step in the right direction