Story here

Seems to me that agnosticism is a bit like a half way house, a mid point from complete blind faith beliefs in religious superstitions to the next most logical conclusion that all gods, every single one of them, were/are man-made for different reasons.   

I recommend "The Rage Against God" by Peter Hitchins, former atheist and brother of the late Christopher Hitchins.

 

Peter Hitchens details a very personal story of how he left the faith but dramatically returned. And like many of the Old Testament saints whose personal lives were intertwined with the life of their nation, so Peter's story is also the story of modern England and its sad spiritual decline. Peter brings his work as an international journalist to bear as he documents firsthand accounts of atheistic societies, specifically in Communist Russia, where he lived in Moscow during the collapse of the Soviet Union. He shows that the world's bloodiest century, the 20th, entailed nothing short of atheism's own version of the Crusades and the Inquisition. The path to a secular utopia, pursued by numerous modern tyrants, is truly paved with more violence than has been witnessed in any era in history. Hitchens provides hope for all believers whose friends or family members have left Christianity or who are enchanted by the arguments of the anti-religious intellects of our age.

 

This is a brutal dog eat dog world through a naturally evolved system called the food chain, we can point to mass murderers either religious or secular, they are still murderers, but if you want to talk about the greatest alleged killer of life, it's your god... you do believe in Noah's flood, right?

As for Peter, he may just have been hitching a ride on his brother's coattails.

As an atheist, I can't go through the week lying, cheating and stealing because the guilt would become intolerable, religious people on the other hand can just go to their weekly houses of worship and kneel, cry, pray for forgiveness and pay a monetary fee so that they can feel 'cleansed' again, it used to take the real spilling of animal blood (sick humans) but now there's the Eucharist... of course the killing of innocent animals continues to this day with the most backwards of spiritual seekers.  Religious superstitions are for the insane so that they can continue their madness.  Sorry if I come across a bit too harsh.

The greatest killer (potentially if not yet in actuality) is either nuclear weaponry or fast food.  Time will tell which one takes the most lives.  Both of these are man-made.

 

Either way, the result will be millions of deaths.

 

God, according to the story of Noah, felt it necessary to destroy almost entirely a human population that had sunk into disbelief and hedonistic living.

 

L:ucky for you and other atheists, God vowed to never do this again.  He must have known He would be tempted to repeat the whole process.

the killing of innocent animals continues to this day with the most backwards of spiritual seekers.

 

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Are you a vegetarian?  The horrors of what is done to animals on factory farms and massive dairy operations is far worse than what ever occurred in any Jewish temple, where animals were sacrificed as humanely as possible.

 

And I am convinced that people who insist on continuing to eat meat and dairy products raised in such filth and hellish conditions are paying a heavy price in obesity and all sorts of degenerative diseases.

 

That is their punishment for supporting businesses that torture and abuse God's creation.

 

 

Are you a vegetarian? The horrors of what is done to animals on factory farms and massive dairy operations is far worse than what ever occurred in any Jewish temple, where animals were sacrificed as humanely as possible.

And I am convinced that people who insist on continuing to eat meat and dairy products raised in such filth and hellish conditions are paying a heavy price in obesity and all sorts of degenerative diseases.

That is their punishment for supporting businesses that torture and abuse God's creation.

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No I am not a vegetarian, though I am eating less and less flesh now... I used to kill many different mammals for my dinner, but I never made them some kind of religious nonsense 'scapegoat' such as those burnt offerings to some made up god of the past to cleanse one's so-called 'sins', maybe you still do that! There's a connection between animals sacrifices to your god and earlier human sacrifices to other gods.  We need to grow up before we destroy this wonderful 'Goldilocks' planet's ability to support diverse life, oh... it doesn't mean much to you obviously, in your head you get raptured away, right?  That's flat out delusional, plain and simple. 

And I am convinced that people who insist on continuing to eat meat and dairy products raised in such filth and hellish conditions are paying a heavy price in obesity and all sorts of degenerative diseases.

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I will agree with you there, but no god had anything to do with it... Guess you've watched Food, Inc?

I can see you're one of those who gets his jollies by ridiculing those who believe in something higher than themselves.

 

Sorry, I just don't have enough faith to believe in atheism.

 

Funny how Nel accuses me of having no respect for Muslims, just because I believe Islam is a false religion.  But when folks on this mesage board refer to people like me as "whackadoodles" she is strangely silent.

 

I guess Christians really are fair game.  Always have been.

I wouldn't call you a whackadoodle, even though you refer to some whacky stuff. I would just say you have a pariticularly narrow view of your religion (which is fine) but a little off-putting given that it isn't the norm.

I can see you're one of those who gets his jollies by ridiculing those who believe in something higher than themselves.

Sorry, I just don't have enough faith to believe in atheism.

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Nope, I don't get my 'jollies' by exposing superstitions for what they are, I love this planet along with the non-human animals and plants within it, I just don't want the likes of you to ruin it for all the living just because you can't get over some ancient sheep herder's bronze age mythical writings and are bent today on such destruction... 'life is what you make it',  but hey... maybe there's a new chapter of Heaven's Gate or Jonestown forming somewhere... that can take you into that 'rapture' that you seek. No offense, of course... just leave me out of it and don't attempt to influence our government that is paid for by all of us, with such.

Wow I had forgotten about Heaven's Gate. Now those were some whackadoodles.

Anthony, there is another group starting in France that is said to be 20,000 strong.

"Upwards of 100,000 people are thought to be planning a trip to the mountain, 30 miles west of Perpignan, in time for 21 December" ! :-)

I would just say you have a pariticularly narrow view of your religion (which is fine) but a little off-putting given that it isn't the norm.

 

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Hearing time after time that all religion is a myth and that those who embrace atheism are somehow SMARTER than the rest of us, is indeed off-putting to me.

 

Do you think Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is below average intelligence because of the "particularly narrow" view he holds of his apocalyptic version of Islam?  He was a top notch student and has an advanced degree in engineering.

just leave me out of it and don't attempt to influence our government that is paid for by all of us, with such.

 

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Christians and other people of faith pay taxes too, and have as much right to push for the kind of government they want as anyone else.

 

That's what democracy is all about.  You want to tell us all to stay home and let the atheists run the country. 

 

No way.

I would just say you have a pariticularly narrow view of your religion (which is fine) but a little off-putting given that it isn't the norm.

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Hearing time after time that all religion is a myth and that those who embrace atheism are somehow SMARTER than the rest of us, is indeed off-putting to me.

Do you think Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is below average intelligence because of the "particularly narrow" view he holds of his apocalyptic version of Islam? He was a top notch student and has an advanced degree in engineering.

 

And there in lies your problem. You are so agenda driven that you just wedge things into the conversation that have no purpose there. First I never said anything about your intelligence or any believers intelligence. Second you have found yet another opportunity to voice your disdain of muslims. So yes when you do this it is off-putting. I have no idea, nor did I comment on your level of intelligence. You seem very well versed in the particularities of the view of christianity you hold implying intelligence. I and the majority of christians just don't believe what you do. However, and I freely admit bias on this one, if a person really thinks the Earth is only 6000 years old then they are completely detached from reality. That is just once concession I cannot make.

Christians and other people of faith pay taxes too, and have as much right to push for the kind of government they want as anyone else.

That's what democracy is all about. You want to tell us all to stay home and let the atheists run the country.

No way.

 

Short of changing the Constitution, religion will never have an official place in the US government. America is and never will be about a theocracy.

Christopher Hitchens - one of the most brilliant men in the 20th Century.  Peter Hitchens - didn't hold a candle to his brother. pun intended.  Peter's book is utter nonsense. Don't waste your time with it. Instead read ANY of Christopher's especially "God is Not Great" much better reading. His brother just didn't get it.