All the athiests that I know are the most miserable, smarmy, abrasive people I've ever met. Just nasty, unpleasant personalities in general and they're always talking bad about somebody else.
SKARHEAD - All the athiests that I know are the most miserable, smarmy, abrasive people I've ever met. Just nasty, unpleasant personalities in general and they're always talking bad about somebody else.
I take it you're an atheist, then. 
Zed Wayne Zed -SlickPacific - The single best thing about these threads are the "live and let live" professing atheist douches whom will flock and have a circle jerk. They will condemn this, yet applaud the parents of a 4 year old boy to morph into a girl.
The f'n irony in this is too much.
Gimme a break.
You just took a shot at that family with the kid, and unzipped to go circle jerk with your gang of whatever you call yourselves.
Finding Jesus only means something to people who actually think finding Jesus means they found something.
How would you know ?
I'm glad for FG, Hope he doesn't co0nitnue with the Off color twitter jokes.
Good ol' god 
Yancuna island - If he wants to waste his time, go right ahead.
Big fan of Forrest and his fighting careerbut this article makes me feel sorry for him
Why are you sorry for him finding happiness and helping other people? I think alot of critics of Christianity don't realize that smart Christians do exist, and some of us are humble enough to admit that we may be wrong, that maybe there is no God. Even so, whats wrong with following a doctrine of love, forgiveness, compassion, patience, empathy, tolerance, and acceptance?
And most importantly don't confuse flawed, imperfect Christians with Christ himself. We give him a bad name.
Truly intelligent people of faith and truly intelligent skeptics have one thing in common: they both believe that the other can actually exist.
Those blinded by zeal or ignorance (or a combination of both, usually) believe that "only stupid people" believe/disbelieve in God.
frankiscool -Awesome. Thanks for posting. So many people discredit spiritual practices around here and it's a shame they're so closed minded towards others beliefs. Cool to hear ho they effected your life.
Forrest was very religious, for lack of a better word, when he was a kid as well.
He's been back at church for years...this isn't new. I had conversations with Jaime mainly. They've both been very involved, before Ella was born. They have been very generous to their church as well. I mean, amazingly and that's just what I know about. Not only church, but he's done stuff for people you wouldn't believe. I know of a few things, small things...one time around the holidays he was talking to the cashier at WalMart or somewhere and they were talking about getting all their shopping done. She made a comment about having to go to KMart or to get her kids stuff off layaway. He put an extra $100 when he paid. I know it's small, but how cool is that? There's lots of things like that I know he's done and does. Dana talked about the food kitchen, writing check,etc...all while they had no idea who he was.
Forrest, even after his management said no, allowed me to keep Sprawl as his sponsor so I could get paid by them for 3 years. He finally had to allow his management to do the deals. He did a lot for me. Hell, his wife saw my place when I'd just bought it and the walls were bare, etc. She couldn't stand it and went out and bought pics, lamps, mirrors, rugs, curtains, etc and decorated my living room.
Before:
AFTER
^^how they effected
If it brings him contentment and he is a better person as a result, I'm happy for him.
DiscipleDojo -
Truly intelligent people of faith and truly intelligent skeptics have one thing in common: they both believe that the other can actually exist.
Those blinded by zeal or ignorance (or a combination of both, usually) believe that "only stupid people" believe/disbelieve in God.
This! As a Christian, I'm happy to dialogue with non-believers if they keep the conversation civil and acknowledge that you don't have to sacrifice your brain to believe in the Bible. There are many Nobel laureate scientists from different disciplines that believe in Christianity, and it's intellectually satisfied some of the greatest minds to ever walk the earth.
What I've found -- and this is not meant as a dig -- is that often I have read most of what the non-believer has read, but they have not read anything on Christian apologetics, textual criticism of the Bible, etc.
I think that's great.
chicagosmma -DiscipleDojo -
Truly intelligent people of faith and truly intelligent skeptics have one thing in common: they both believe that the other can actually exist.
Those blinded by zeal or ignorance (or a combination of both, usually) believe that "only stupid people" believe/disbelieve in God.
This! As a Christian, I'm happy to dialogue with non-believers if they keep the conversation civil and acknowledge that you don't have to sacrifice your brain to believe in the Bible. There are many Nobel laureate scientists from different disciplines that believe in Christianity, and it's intellectually satisfied some of the greatest minds to ever walk the earth.
What I've found -- and this is not meant as a dig -- is that often I have read most of what the non-believer has read, but they have not read anything on Christian apologetics, textual criticism of the Bible, etc.
Because a Nobel laureate believes in santa clause , shall we now accept santa clause into our life. This is just asinine.
The only thing that would be intellectually satisfying about the bible is if it's read like any other book.
When you believe in the bible you suspend critical thinking. Sorry , it's a cult that is thousands of years old now but it's not the only cult. There were many religion/cults before judeo christian religion and there be many after it.
Weak
Forrest Griffin is a great man.
Filo_Beto -chicagosmma -DiscipleDojo -Truly intelligent people of faith and truly intelligent skeptics have one thing in common: they both believe that the other can actually exist.
Those blinded by zeal or ignorance (or a combination of both, usually) believe that "only stupid people" believe/disbelieve in God.
This! As a Christian, I'm happy to dialogue with non-believers if they keep the conversation civil and acknowledge that you don't have to sacrifice your brain to believe in the Bible. There are many Nobel laureate scientists from different disciplines that believe in Christianity, and it's intellectually satisfied some of the greatest minds to ever walk the earth.
What I've found -- and this is not meant as a dig -- is that often I have read most of what the non-believer has read, but they have not read anything on Christian apologetics, textual criticism of the Bible, etc.
Because a Nobel laureate believes in santa clause , shall we now accept santa clause into our life. This is just asinine.
The only thing that would be intellectually satisfying about the bible is if it's read like any other book.
When you believe in the bible you suspend critical thinking. Sorry , it's a cult that is thousands of years old now but it's not the only cult. There were many religion/cults before judeo christian religion and there be many after it.
Santa Claus = the dude withe the beard and the reindeer fixation.
The Santa Clause = a movie from the 90s starring Tim Allen.
Apparently, the movie has caused thousands of people to think that's how the character's name is written.
^ with the
Serves me right for nitpicking.
Why don't you believe in God? I get that question all the time. I always try to give a sensitive, reasoned answer. This is usually awkward, time consuming and pointless. People who believe in God don't need proof of his existence, and they certainly don't want evidence to the contrary. They are happy with their belief. They even say things like "it's true to me" and "it's faith." I still give my logical answer because I feel that not being honest would be patronizing and impolite. It is ironic therefore that "I don't believe in God because there is absolutely no scientific evidence for his existence and from what I've heard the very definition is a logical impossibility in this known universe," comes across as both patronizing and impolite.
[UPDATE: For more from Gervais, go to Does God Exist? Ricky Gervais Takes Your Questions]
Arrogance is another accusation. Which seems particularly unfair. Science seeks the truth. And it does not discriminate. For better or worse it finds things out. Science is humble. It knows what it knows and it knows what it doesn't know. It bases its conclusions and beliefs on hard evidence -- evidence that is constantly updated and upgraded. It doesn't get offended when new facts come along. It embraces the body of knowledge. It doesn't hold on to medieval practices because they are tradition. If it did, you wouldn't get a shot of penicillin, you'd pop a leach down your trousers and pray. Whatever you "believe," this is not as effective as medicine. Again you can say, "It works for me," but so do placebos. My point being, I'm saying God doesn't exist. I'm not saying faith doesn't exist. I know faith exists. I see it all the time. But believing in something doesn't make it true. Hoping that something is true doesn't make it true. The existence of God is not subjective. He either exists or he doesn't. It's not a matter of opinion. You can have your own opinions. But you can't have your own facts.
Why don't I believe in God? No, no no, why do YOU believe in God? Surely the burden of proof is on the believer. You started all this. If I came up to you and said, "Why don't you believe I can fly?" You'd say, "Why would I?" I'd reply, "Because it's a matter of faith." If I then said, "Prove I can't fly. Prove I can't fly see, see, you can't prove it can you?" You'd probably either walk away, call security or throw me out of the window and shout, ''F--ing fly then you lunatic."
This, is of course a spirituality issue, religion is a different matter. As an atheist, I see nothing "wrong" in believing in a god. I don't think there is a god, but belief in him does no harm. If it helps you in any way, then that's fine with me. It's when belief starts infringing on other people's rights when it worries me. I would never deny your right to believe in a god. I would just rather you didn't kill people who believe in a different god, say. Or stone someone to death because your rulebook says their sexuality is immoral. It's strange that anyone who believes that an all-powerful all-knowing, omniscient power responsible for everything that happens, would also want to judge and punish people for what they are. From what I can gather, pretty much the worst type of person you can be is an atheist. The first four commandments hammer this point home. There is a god, I'm him, no one else is, you're not as good and don't forget it. (Don't murder anyone, doesn't get a mention till number 6.)
When confronted with anyone who holds my lack of religious faith in such contempt, I say, "It's the way God made me."
But what are atheists really being accused of?
The dictionary definition of God is "a supernatural creator and overseer of the universe." Included in this definition are all deities, goddesses and supernatural beings. Since the beginning of recorded history, which is defined by the invention of writing by the Sumerians around 6,000 years ago, historians have cataloged over 3700 supernatural beings, of which 2870 can be considered deities.
So next time someone tells me they believe in God, I'll say "Oh which one? Zeus? Hades? Jupiter? Mars? Odin? Thor? Krishna? Vishnu? Ra?..." If they say "Just God. I only believe in the one God," I'll point out that they are nearly as atheistic as me. I don't believe in 2,870 gods, and they don't believe in 2,869.
I used to believe in God. The Christian one that is.
I loved Jesus. He was my hero. More than pop stars. More than footballers. More than God. God was by definition omnipotent and perfect. Jesus was a man. He had to work at it. He had temptation but defeated sin. He had integrity and courage. But He was my hero because He was kind. And He was kind to everyone. He didn't bow to peer pressure or tyranny or cruelty. He didn't care who you were. He loved you. What a guy. I wanted to be just like Him.
One day when I was about 8 years old, I was drawing the crucifixion as part of my Bible studies homework. I loved art too. And nature. I loved how God made all the animals. They were also perfect. Unconditionally beautiful. It was an amazing world.
One day when I was about 8 years old, I was drawing the crucifixion as part of my Bible studies homework. I loved art too. And nature. I loved how God made all the animals. They were also perfect. Unconditionally beautiful. It was an amazing world.
I lived in a very poor, working-class estate in an urban sprawl called Reading, about 40 miles west of London. My father was a laborer and my mother was a housewife. I was never ashamed of poverty. It was almost noble. Also, everyone I knew was in the same situation, and I had everything I needed. School was free. My clothes were cheap and always clean and ironed. And mum was always cooking. She was cooking the day I was drawing on the cross.
I was sitting at the kitchen table when my brother came home. He was 11 years older than me, so he would have been 19. He was as smart as anyone I knew, but he was too cheeky. He would answer back and get into trouble. I was a good boy. I went to church and believed in God -– what a relief for a working-class mother. You see, growing up where I did, mums didn't hope as high as their kids growing up to be doctors; they just hoped their kids didn't go to jail. So bring them up believing in God and they'll be good and law abiding. It's a perfect system. Well, nearly. 75 percent of Americans are God-?fearing Christians; 75 percent of prisoners are God-?fearing Christians. 10 percent of Americans are atheists; 0.2 percent of prisoners are atheists.
But anyway, there I was happily drawing my hero when my big brother Bob asked, "Why do you believe in God?" Just a simple question. But my mum panicked. "Bob," she said in a tone that I knew meant, "Shut up." Why was that a bad thing to ask? If there was a God and my faith was strong it didn't matter what people said.
Oh...hang on. There is no God. He knows it, and she knows it deep down. It was as simple as that. I started thinking about it and asking more questions, and within an hour, I was an atheist.
Wow. No God. If mum had lied to me about God, had she also lied to me about Santa? Yes, of course, but who cares? The gifts kept coming. And so did the gifts of my new found atheism. The gifts of truth, science, nature. The real beauty of this world. I learned of evolution -– a theory so simple that only England's greatest genius could have come up with it. Evolution of plants, animals and us –- with imagination, free will, love, humor. I no longer needed a reason for my existence, just a reason to live. And imagination, free will, love, humor, fun, music, sports, beer and pizza are all good enough reasons for living.
But living an honest life -– for that you need the truth. That's the other thing I learned that day, that the truth, however shocking or uncomfortable, in the end leads to liberation and dignity.
So what does the question "Why don't you believe in God?" really mean. I think when someone asks that they are really questioning their own belief. In a way they are asking "what makes you so special? "How come you weren't brainwashed with the rest of us?" "How dare you say I'm a fool and I'm not going to heaven, f-- you!" Let's be honest, if one person believed in God he would be considered pretty strange. But because it's a very popular view it's accepted. And why is it such a popular view? That's obvious. It's an attractive proposition. Believe in me and live forever. Again if it was just a case of spirituality this would be fine.
"Do unto others..." is a good rule of thumb. I live by that. Forgiveness is probably the greatest virtue there is. But that's exactly what it is -? a virtue. Not just a Christian virtue. No one owns being good. I'm good. I just don't believe I'll be rewarded for it in heaven. My reward is here and now. It's knowing that I try to do the right thing. That I lived a good life. And that's where spirituality really lost its way. When it became a stick to beat people with. "Do this or you'll burn in hell."
You won't burn in hell. But be nice anyway.
-R. Gervais