Atheists

[24HourNut]

Although I am Agnostic, I found this video interesting. At the very least, it was cool to see all the famous people who are atheists and their contributions. Many I was not aware of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdVucvo-kDU

[Millennium]

It's amazing how many of them are foreign born and were influenced by communism....

[Brian]

Although I am Agnostic, I found this video interesting. At the very least, it was cool to see all the famous people who are atheists and their contributions. Many I was not aware of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdVucvo-kDU

Here's the problem I have with this: Name-dropping doesn't serve any purpose. There are a lot more Christians in the world than atheists, and if you did a video like this for accomplished Christians (particularly living or dead), the list would be a lot longer. And I don't even think the video has the atheist list 100% correct. I'll need to look it up, but one of them, either Watson or Crick, is a believer.

And seriously, the video touts Seth Green? Seth Green? Talk about a stretch... And I'm not so sure Angelina Jolie is a plus on our side, either, unless we're talking pure aesthetics.

[Millennium]

Although I am Agnostic, I found this video interesting. At the very least, it was cool to see all the famous people who are atheists and their contributions. Many I was not aware of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdVucvo-kDU

Here's the problem I have with this: Name-dropping doesn't serve any purpose. There are a lot more Christians in the world than atheists, and if you did a video like this for accomplished Christians (particularly living or dead), the list would be a lot longer. And I don't even think the video has the atheist list 100% correct. I'll need to look it up, but one of them, either Watson or Crick, is a believer.

And seriously, the video touts Seth Green? Seth Green? Talk about a stretch... And I'm not so sure Angelina Jolie is a plus on our side, either, unless we're talking pure aesthetics.

The sad part is a lot of ATHEISTS sure spend a lot of time trying to convince others how intelligent they are...when in reality, most Christians don't care.....Who are they really trying to convince?

[Greeneyes]

Every Atheist I've ever met was incredibly insecure. They tend to be angry too, but that also comes from the insecurity.

[Millennium]

Every Atheist I've ever met was incredibly insecure. They tend to be angry too, but that also comes from the insecurity.

I'll bet the video for dimwit's that don't believe in God is pretty big too...

Example:

[Brian]

The sad part is a lot of ATHEISTS sure spend a lot of time trying to convince others how intelligent they are...when in reality, most Christians don't care.....Who are they really trying to convince?

I think it's kind of natural, really, Mill. First, it's natural because some Christian apologists do use the "fool" line in their arguments. And second, because atheism is so counter-cultural. A great many people will say that they're not religious, if asked, but most people do, in fact, believe in a God of some type. Disavowing a belief in God requires one to have a reason for it, because believing is the cultural default. In a lot of cases (but not all), the objections are intellectual. "Intellectual" doesn't necessarily mean "intelligent", though. As I said, some of the objections in the video aren't well thought-out. But there are other objections that are harder to knock down.

My personal experience has been that most debates about the existence of God in the universe (as defined by Christianity, at least) inevitably end in a deadlock. Christianity isn't a belief system that was devised by a guy out of his basement trying to scam people. It's a system of thought that goes back 2000 years. You're not going to undo Christianity with simplistic arguments like these. On the other end, you're not going to "prove" Christianity. The existence of God is a metaphysical question, not a scientific or historical one.

[Millennium]

The sad part is a lot of ATHEISTS sure spend a lot of time trying to convince others how intelligent they are...when in reality, most Christians don't care.....Who are they really trying to convince?

I think it's kind of natural, really, Mill. First, it's natural because some Christian apologists do use the "fool" line in their arguments. And second, because atheism is so counter-cultural. A great many people will say that they're not religious, if asked, but most people do, in fact, believe in a God of some type. Disavowing a belief in God requires one to have a reason for it, because believing is the cultural default. In a lot of cases (but not all), the objections are intellectual. "Intellectual" doesn't necessarily mean "intelligent", though. As I said, some of the objections in the video aren't well thought-out. But there are other objections that are harder to knock down.

My personal experience has been that most debates about the existence of God in the universe (as defined by Christianity, at least) inevitably end in a deadlock. Christianity isn't a belief system that was devised by a guy out of his basement trying to scam people. It's a system of thought that goes back 2000 years. You're not going to undo Christianity with simplistic arguments like these. On the other end, you're not going to "prove" Christianity. The existence of God is a metaphysical question, not a scientific or historical one.

Brian... don't you know some intelligent people that are fools? or at the very least have done some foolish things? I certainly have.

[Brian]

Every Atheist I've ever met was incredibly insecure. They tend to be angry too, but that also comes from the insecurity.

Is it any wonder that they're insecure. I'm sure you'd be insecure, too, if the common perception of you was that you were amoral (at best), selfish, and (usually) unpatriotic.

A typical example of the attitude towards religion in society can be seen on any crime documentary show (e.g., "Forensic Files"). Frequently, when they want to portray someone as an unlikely criminal, they mention church involvement before they describe the person's crime, as if going to church is in contrast to the crimes they committed. In other words, religiosity = good. The corollary to that, of course, is that non-religiosity is bad.

It's societal bias that makes atheists defensive.

[Brian]

Brian... don't you know some intelligent people that are fools? or at the very least have done some foolish things? I certainly have.

I know some people with Master's degrees that can barely tie their shoes in the real world, but I don't equate education with intelligence. I think an intelligent person can't be a fool, by definition. An educated person can be a fool, and I suppose everyone has episodes of foolishness, but I think the clear implication of saying "the fool says in his heart their is no God" (or words to that effect), is that such people lack intelligence. (Whether that's an accurate translation of what the original text actually says is a different question.)