To Atheists, just a question? I'm curious :)?

You'll get all kinds of crazy excuses, because they don't want to believe the truth.

You go, girl! Represent! ♥

If you take the time to review history in its fullest context, then you will understand that many people have done things for what they believe was valid/true. It doesn't make the belief true.

Examples:

1. Where the Nazi's correct?(6Million Jews Killed. 6.Million other undesirables killed).

2. Where all the killings from the Inquisitions true, heretics and witches?

3. Was the Earth flat like a plate, the Moon a cheese block, and the Earth the center of the Universe (poor Galileo).

4. Was Jim Jones, David Kuresh, Charles Manson, Hale Bopp, and Harold Camping correct?

You will find that people will believe in anyone that preaches some type of hope to them. You take the time to read a historical account of Christianity and the Bible.

Be warned, it is much different than what is taught in sunday school.

Because they were ignorant deluded fools is my first choice.

So, when did you meet the authors of the various books? You should write a book detailing these meetings. It's fiction of course but you knew that already.

You have no clue where, exactly when or who wrote the Bible. Every book of the NT were written long after Christ's alleged life. You don't know if the authors were poor, if they gave anything up or what they received. All you have is supposition and faith yourself. To this day people still fall for religious con men from Joseph Smith to Jim Jones to David Koresh. Sad but true.

@ Mike Williams: Hale Bopp was a comet.

Here is your grown up,fair answer.

I never said they were a bunch of crazies.

I never said it was all for nothing.

The fact that people do things for faith is no proof of the truth of what they say.

In WWII Japanese civilians who believed the Emperor was a living God willingly jumped off cliffs to their deaths holding babies in their arms rather than submit to the will of the godless invaders.

Pagans were tortured and killed by CHRISTIANS for their beliefs.

I hardly think the depth of the convictions convinces you they were right.

The human mind is a remarkable thing. It is not perfect.It is subject to a lot of things. Not the least of which is the ability to be manipulated.

If you look at the work of B.F.Skinner (and others) regarding "conditioning" you realize this is a fact.

People can be conditioned to do and believe anything given the right conditions and the longer the conditions exist the deeper the indoctrination.

If you convince people they have only one thing of any value (a soul) and that one thing is in jeopardy (Satan wants it) and there is a way to defend it,that also absolves you of guilt AND responsibility, at no cost of anything except humility and conformity, then what do you think people will do ?

You have faith. It fulfills a need in you and provides a grounding in a moral code that allows you to navigate the complexity of living in society. That's fine.

It obliges you to "witness" to the unconverted. That's bordering on intrusive. Kept to a respectful "introduction" a polite person can overcome any sense of offense at the "invitation".

When it becomes a plank in a political position that is meant to govern non-believers in accordance with the values of believers,then it crosses the line of civility and becomes assaultive.

I hope you did not find this offensive, I was trying to be "adult" about it.

Delusion is a powerful thing. Why do young, healthy Muslim men strap bombs to themselves and detonate them in public places? Same thing. If you're that brainwashed into thinking that you'll get some great reward at the end of it all, you'll do just about anything.

There is no reason to think any of the stories in the bible are true. There are no independently verifiable sources of the information. There are no eye-witness accounts as the gospels were written decades after the supposed events took place by people who were not even born when they supposedly occurred. The gospels are written in the 3rd person...

If you admire them for sacrificing their lives for what they believed in then what about the years of torture that Giordano Bruno suffered from the Inquisition resulting in his having a spike put through his jaw so he couldn't speak while the Christian church was slowly roasting him at a stake? His crime was that he was a scientist who refused to conform to Christian teachings by saying the sun went around the Earth instead of proclaiming that the Earth went around the sun. He is just one of thousands who were tortured and murdered by the Christians for their "beliefs".

There are only 4 gospels in the bible, but there were more than 50 gospels before the number was reduced to 4. Why? It was decided that the other gospel stories WERE NOT TRUE, so they were not included. What if they got it wrong, and some that were rejected were true, and the ones now in the bible were not true? If most of the gospel stories about Jesus were not true, then perhaps ALL of the gospel stories were NOT TRUE. Although there are many contradictions in the 4 gospels that were chosen, they were similar enough for making a new testament better than the one Marcion of Sinope had made about 200 years earlier.

According to Eusebius of Caesarea he was given the task by the Emperor Constantine of constructing the 4th century New Testament. Eusebius is known for stating that he felt it was permissible to lie to help promote Christianity, and he is the number one suspect in the forged passages that were added to the works of Josephus. Considering his attitude toward "alterations" it is possible that he edited the 4 gospels in order to make them more consistent with each other.

There are many who have given up their lives for their beliefs in other religions. Does that make all the other religions true? You accept and believe the bible, but what about the Enuma Elish or the Zend Avest or the many other religious texts? Why do you reject all of them? Have you read them?

Did you seem them get abused and ridiculed...it seems like they had followers if it is the number one religion..talking smack about Jesus would get you killed back then.. Never got beaten..

Make one book? Too bad there is a LIST of contradictions that make no sense..

You know you pretty much described a homeless vet from Nam? No disrespect to them but they gave a lot only to get abused and hated on by the very people they were protecting.. All gave some, some gave all..for what? NOTHING..

Just cos people are prepared to die for something doesn't mean it's true.

Think Kamikaze...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze

God is imaginary... to nullify atheism all you need do is produce a god.

Like that's ever gonna happen ;)

Penn Jillette: There is no god, and that’s the simple truth. If every trace of any single religion were wiped out and nothing were passed on, it would never be created exactly that way again. There might be some other nonsense in its place, but not that exact nonsense. If all of science were wiped out, it would still be true and someone would find a way to figure it all out again.

~

I'm not an Atheist, but what makes you think the Word of God is the Bible, or in the Bible? Where is it exactly in the Bible? In the binding? The ink? The pages? The Word of God is the imparting of the Spirit into the world, and is certainly not to be found exclusively in a book, even if it is scripture. Look inward, to the Spirit, to the great I AM, to find it.

God bless

The people at the onion do the same thing. Plus they gave up time they're famous now but so is JRR tolkin and Stephen king. And most writers of fiction did the same thing as the bible writers George Orwell.

When the Christians took power in Europe, they turned around and did it to the Muslims, who died much the same way (read about the Crusades).

When the Muslims took power in the middle east, they did it to those of every other faith (read about the Battle of Badr and the war between Medina and Mecca), who died much the same way.

Hindus did it to the Sikhs.

Buddhists did it to Catholics in Vietnam (after the Catholics did it to the Buddhists)

Jews and Muslims do it to each other every, single, day.

If we were to join a religion based solely on the persecution of those who followed it, we'd be in a LOT of religions.