I remember one day when I was still in college a crazy man showed up on campus one day screeching at people from a streetcorner that they were all going to hell for not following the Bible. Being the edgy smart ass that I was I of course asked him why I shouldn’t just worship Zeus and Odin since their holy texts are even older than the Bible. He told me that these were questions I should go ask my own preacher about. I told him I’m not a Christian and I don’t have a preacher and that’s why I’m asking him. He refused to acknowledge me again after that lol
You clearly won that debate.
“Why?” “The lord works in mysterious ways.”
“How?” “The lord works in mysterious ways.”
“But the Bible never says that.” “It implies it. Mysteriously.”
Hey now, don’t be a dick - the polite thing to do is go around to their houses at eight in the christ-damned morning and ring their doorbell a few times.
Why?
Edit: atheism debunked question mark. Nobody wants to have a discussion based logic and reason here? Very sad…
He’s likely being forced to go against his wishes.
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It was through “his word,” (logos). Sorry, I’m reading multiple books about ancient christianity. Check out Jesus the Jew and How Jesus Became God and especially The Passover Plot.
There is no god. There was only an apocalyptic jewish cult. Plus the other religions.
Bonus points if you say WHYYYYIE like Elmyra from Animaniacs every time in the most annoying way possible
Depending on the church, this might actually be welcome. Bible study is supposed to be about interpreting the Bible, so asking why a person read a verse in a specific way wouldn’t be rude.
Just talk to any religious people on the Internet.
I once saw one of the usual creationist comment that the universe and all living things being perfectly fine tuned. I countered that we have so many junk DNA wasting energy we consume to replicate these non-functioning DNA (I know some junk DNA sequences turned out to have some use but for the most part, junk DNA as a whole is non-functional and thus waste of energy to be replicated, and therefore this contradicts the fine-turned argument). An interlocutor tried to trap me by saying I should re-frame my arguments without mentioning junk DNA. I know what he was trying to do but I did not fall for it. Eventually, typical of free speech YouTube, if someone simply did not like what you say no matter the credibility, your comment gets reported and you are not able to reply further. In essence I was kicked out from that comment thread lol.
Well, that argument also isn’t completely true. We probably just don’t know what some parts of the DNA are for, like we did for the appendix.
But having dormant features, which is wasting valuable energy and space, still counter the creationist argument that everything is perfectly designed, fine tuned, and purposeful. Replicating junk DNA is wasteful to energy, and so is having appendix.
“Can God define what’s true or not?”
“No, God always tells the truth”
“If God’s not setting what’s true or not then he didn’t invent truth. Who did create “truth” if it wasn’t God?”
“Ok well maybe he did then”
“So he can change what’s true and what was previously false can become true?”
“…I guess so, but he wouldn’t do that. God is unchanging”
“But what if that’s one of the ‘truths’ he changed? How would you know?”
“God doesn’t lie”
“But what if he used to and now decided the truth is that he doesn’t. How would you know?”
“…”
Sounds like a plan
If you can out wit the pastor on religion and the bible, the whole charade breaks down to a game of politics. Depending on the church you might find yourself in charge of a lot in a short order if you remain smart and polite through the ordeal
Don’t just be difficult. Presumably they’re not affecting others, so why seek them out?
They’re not? Oh that’s nice to hear. Guess all that stuff about restricting womens’ bodily autonomy, persecuting LGBTQ people or downright trying to abolish democracy in the US are just figments of my imagination.
I didn’t say that. I agree with everything you say, but it’s not like “big moves” are happening at bible studies. Normally those are just small groups of people. The religion and the ideals need to be attacked. Not the people who are trying to quietly discuss their book
But those people will vote for the fuckers.
They will and I dont want them to either. Going to their Bible studies and being rude won’t change that. It just changes who you are
I disagree. Think global, act local. The best thing would be for every possible person to question these people’s sanity at every opportunity and to stop normalizing belief in invisible sky daddies.
If you do this then you’re about as mature as an edgy 12 year old and about as politically effective as well.
This isn’t how you change things and it isn’t how you effectively protest against the encroachment of religiosity. This is mostly how you get people to continue to think that most atheists are just assholes and contrarians.
Language and communication can be difficult; let me clarify for you. My statement was hyperbolic. I’m not talking about literally going to their little book club or questioning them at every single moment in every single conversation, I’m only saying that we should take every sensical opportunity to call them on their bullshit,
The de-normalization of basing one’s actions and behavior on the collective teachings, regardless of source, called a “religion”, without following logic and the scientific method is what needs to occur. We can only make that happen if more engagement occurs.
