I mean, I’ve been involved in the atheism movement my entire adult life, so I think we have a pretty good idea how to define ourselves, but you do you.
I’m not going to get into Bertrand Russell and his teapot with you because you’ve already tried to mansplain agnosticism to me so I can tell how this is going to go. I’m putting you on ignore now. Feel free to win this argument in my absence. It’s worth 20 internet points!
It works like this: if you had parents who were arbitrary and, um, unstructured in their thinking you might be inclined to believe in a god that is similarly screwy and un-useful. This explains a whole lot.
And, for the sake of the conversation, God might be a petulant teenager who spends far too much time obsessing over his little simulation game. Tomorrow he might decide to turn the f*ing thing off and get a life.
The universe of possibilities is vast and, usually, unexamined in a conversation such as this.
Maybe, but it could also be that they see this as an opportunity, because it means that the people who do believe and see how there is an increasing number of non-Christians, might be easier to recruit into their hateful ranks. Given that the current Christian Dominionist movement WANTS a war, and wants to end the world (because Jesus will come back), they probably see this as justification of their positions, that the world is becoming more corrupt, their god is angry and willing to intervene and start the end times, which is what they want.
And of course, lots of people have been pushed away from faith of any kind because of these assholes. Their kids grew up in their churches, but rejected their parents because of how hateful and bitter it is (not all of course, but enough).
I have to believe that he represents more Christians then these bigots do. I refuse to believe that they are a majority of American Christians, even if they seem to dominate the discourse.
I really appreciate the discussion above about the mobilization of the Black Christian churches to advance civil rights. They were like a refuge for us in DC when we were marching against funneling foreign aid through the World Bank and IMF to despots and dictators and then enstructuring (made up word) the aid into a debt for the entire foreign country to pay. I also attend infrequently Reverend Lawson’s nonviolent communications workshops. He was with King then they were learning from the Indian peace movements. He always opens with a prayer and leads into soul force.
Now, back to the matter of God or not, for those of us on the fence, if we’re cognizant, we can still decide to wager that God exists. I understand now it’s a good bet that God exists, in reference to Pascal’s Wager that I just read from a philosophy book I found at a local bookstore, explained in vast detail here:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pascal-wager/#Back
And, who knows, if there is a God, and I still don’t believe, maybe I’ll wake up on the other side of life and find myself experiencing God’s wonder, anyway.
The angry cranks and shitheads always get the most attention, unfortunately.
I’m sorry you think I’m trying to explain anything to you other than what I think and have experienced. This isn’t a debate. I’m just saying I disagree. I’m sorry there’s a movement that wants to dictate definitions to other people. That seems kind of oppressive and arrogant to me, but they can do what they want. You don’t get to dictate my identity.
Oh, there are, but those people actually listened to Jesus, and don’t throw stones if they’ve sinned, don’t pray in public for attention, and know that their good deeds are better done in quiet, after all, god is omnipotent, and you don’t really have to worry about anyone’s judgement but theirs.
Yes, doubly so in a white supremacist society which consistently puts the needs and well being of white people, especially men, who are straight, cis-gendered, and a certain kind of Christian ahead of everyone else. This particular strain of Christianity is incredibly new compared to other strains of the faith.
But would it? The reason why I ask is because the question “where did God come from” is really a contradiction like “what number comes after infinity?” or “what do you see if you look south from the South Pole?” God† is definitionally self-existent and the ground of all time and space and causation. If you could answer the question, it wouldn’t be God.
That is pretty much what Christian idealism teaches. As C.S. Lewis would describe it, we exist in a (neverending!) story told by God, who alone is “real” in the sense of having non-contingent existence. We are virtual, God is Actual.
† That is, capital-G God of classical theism and the great monotheistic faiths.
But what if our God or my God or their God was created by another more powerful God. What if there is a universe of Gods each with their own universe.
If that’s true then I need to know where that God came from.
Just things I think about knowing full well I won’t know until after I go. I wonder when I meet God if he’ll be offended when I ask where he came from.
I wonder if God wonders where he came from.
I also know it’s all pretty silly but who really knows.
The local Methodist church here sponsored our Pride street fair. Putting their money where their mouth is
I despise proselytizing. Particularly the passive aggressive kind. Like the happy father’s day text my spouse’s boss sent him. Smothered in christianity. I am not entirely sure how he puts up with her godbothering. It’s really unprofessional
Back to the topic at hand- I wonder if similar dips in belief were seen in other times of unhappiness and unrest.
If anything, the correlation goes the other way. Hard, uncertain times drive people towards religion, and the societies with the greatest incidence of disbelief tend to be stable, peaceful countries with well-developed welfare systems.
I KNEW IT 
Well that actually is sort of what Mormons believe, but it is not what “God” means to the great faiths.
Yes, it’s all just guess work. But what if God actually came down and revealed himself to us – maybe lived among us as a human being?
I was tilting a bit more retro, but I will pay it.
Christianity should be called Paulism, as the very first thing Paul did was to take control and make the whole thing into his baby.
Constantine did it again 300 years later. Jesus would not even recognise the church that bears his name.
Hardly surprising after 2,000 years I suppose.
That’s a thing.
… and what if “he” was the wrong sort of God 
Well I suppose the God in question would get to pick their own pronouns and analogies.
