Atheists: Time to Come Out of the Closet!

My parents you clot.As for the rest, well, same bollox for the last 20 years.

But evil lying priests are what you are. These are facts.You all proselytize your creeds as does any coven of priests. You lie about some old dead dude still being alive preparing the afterlife and your fantasy religious thinking creates evil actions in societies all around the world.This is not hate of people. This is fact with a great big rock of hate for religion and religious thought devoid of reality. We can burn down the temple without hanging the priest. Though we must keep in mind that we as a species can progress so much further so much faster when the last billionaire capitalist is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.That may sound hateful, but Phatman, this is fact.

What's ironic is that your way of thinking is also prophetic. The only problem is that you and your "reality-based thinking" will pave the way for the man of sin. Of course, I would only be lying if I knew that none of this was true. And I don't know that.You have no facts that Jesus and the antichrist are myths. The only evidence that you show me is that you have strong feelings against these teachings.Which is why I rarely discuss them with you. At the end of the day (or of time, perhaps) one of us (or maybe both of us) will be proven wrong.There is no proof at the current time.If you would prefer to accept the reality that our species will die out through purely natural (and theoretically preventable) ways, knock yourself out. Your alternative thinking is no more attractive nor persuasive than my "fables from days of yore." And yet you cannot prove it. You have no corner on the market of reality. Your scientific AI sharp minds can not gather any evidence that the mythicists themselves don't lie about. You define your reality. Maybe someday you could stroll into the Temple and declare yourself (and humans) as the I AM, at which time you could outlaw all public displays of religion as harmful to humans. Let's see how that world would play out!

If you define prophetic as extrapolating reasonable expectations from present configurations under varying assumptions to foretell the future then, yes, I am a secular prophet: AZProphet3. So is every other science mind on the planet. That’s one of the things science teaches you; looking into the future to see what our models say should be and then find out if we were right or not and adjusting our models accordingly. We get better and better at divining the dark hidden future. So, yes, I am AZProphet3, Minor Science Prophet, Retired. Sin is your priest-imposed relative morality trying to impose its will on others. Any concept of sin you may have is religious evil, imposed on your mind to control YOUR behavior unrelated to actual humanity.The strictures of secular society on social behavior and common mores is more effective at defining a viable humanist social morality than any imposed religious one. Religious morality is evil at its core and must be rejected on its face. See genital mutilation, AIDS treatments, witch burnings and wars of religious retribution all here in our modern times. Phat, it doesn’t matter whether your ghosts are myth or not. You are the one who insists they are real and effective in this universe. You are trying to prove their existence to us. You are the one who is supposed to show us your proof, your evidence, your facts that this ghost thing of your fantasy world is real. If you can't then it's bogus. They aren't real. They don't exist. If profuse religious bloodstains on our history are that blind to you then I question your humanity. Oh, yes, I have strong feelings against the evil religion has caused in humanity for millennia. You do see Gaza? Most profoundly pointed of religious wars. I don’t give a flyin’ flip what you teach. Religion's evil is in the priest's blood-soaked actions. Doesn’t matter. That kind of absolute is not necessary. All that is necessary is the preponderance of the evidence and on that score religions, all of them, can’t even begin to compete ‘cuz they have all of zero evidence of anything their creeds fanaticize. You all lose the intellect/logic/evidence requirements battle and are easily and rightfully dismissed. My alternative thinking is the natural consensus of the scientific community. Well, as close to that as my research, knowledge and understanding will allow expecting I will be corrected if I get too far from the ballpark. We are not the same.And attractive means nothing. Reality doesn’t do attractive. Our reality is fucking ugly. Life sucks and everywhere is pain. This universe is not a happy place to play in but it’s the only game in town. I cannot prove that I don’t hate people? Really, Phat? I think you lost track of the conversation.If the confusion was from the evidence I presented about you all being evil lying priests, well then again, proof isn’t necessary just evidence, which I did give. Each point in turn. You weren’t paying attention. Oh yes I do. Science is the only store where reality can be found. Your religious bs is as a knock off house pushing a bogus product. OK. Ummm, no. No friggin idea. No. The universe defines my reality. And yours. Science helps me discern what my reality is. Religion keeps you fogged in fantasy so to avoid this rather unpleasant reality. Unfortunately religion also leads to killing over the wording of the catechism and other such significant life defining events. Well, I have already declared we humans are the one and only gods and there are none that come before us, but you haven’t made me emperor so I can’t hang the last capitalist billionaire with the entrails of the last priest. I’m ready to enact the most draconian measures against religion and all pseudoscience but you gotta give me some help here to make this happen.

My genes end with me. I have no biological children. All I hope for is a passing memory of memin the next couple of generations. My parents and grandparents live on in my memories. If that happens after death, I did good.

What is "adult, rationally-minded" about faith, about believing in something without evidence? What's to understand? It isn't complicated. Where's the mystery in not accepting the existence of things that have no evidence, and especially those things about which there is a huge variety of mutually incompatible thought? If Tangle said this then I don't agree. I do think that those believers in discussions with atheists are often working very hard at not understanding something very simple that many believers find quite straightforward. The evil part derives from ignoring the history of religion illustrating that the road to hell is lined with good intentions while still thinking that your particular religion is different and that you've found the one, right and true set of beliefs that if only everyone joined you would fill the world with joy and happiness.The most rational thing any believer could say about their religion is that it makes them happy or that it satisfies a need they have. Meanwhile the Middle East is proving once again that nothing motivates murder more efficiently than religion. You do realize, I hope, that this contradicts your earlier comment about "adult, rationally minded" beliefs. This isn't one of those types of judgments that one makes about oneself. Remember the Dunning-Kruger effect where one's confidence is inversely proportional to one's competence? "It just happened" and "I uncovered evidence" are arguably opposites. This is another of those types of judgments that one doesn't make about oneself. I'm sure the Hamas members who slaughtered innocent Israeli civilians in cold blood don't believe themselves any more evil than before. If anything has changed it isn't your ignorance but your willingness to accept ideas with no evidence, your gullibility. We're awaiting your presentation of evidence that doesn't require us to refuse to "grow up."
​ What you described happening to you was all in your head. If it happened anywhere else, show us the evidence.--Percy

I saw Percy respond to this and thought I would comment further. I think you are mistaken to think we (the atheists here) have refused to consider the possibility of a higher power. In reading what they have written here, for years, it is quite clear that every one of them has considered that possibility deeply. If any of you had any evidence we would look at it. At least the guys here would, because we're science nerds, we're curious about everything.In my experience religious folks, try to treat atheism like they think of other religions. They ignore that at its basic roots atheism is related to religion in the same way that NOT collecting stamps is a hobby. Now, sometimes atheists aggressively reject religions because of the atrocities perpetrated throughout human history because of religious differences, but I think of that as activism rather than atheism.Atheist often get fed up with being discriminated against in this society, and if you don't think there is discrimination, please explain why even candidates for U.S. President who are obviously NOT RELIIOUS, have to pretend to be religious to be elected.I have to disagree with Percy about the religious people here at EvC understanding atheism. Over in the Choosing a faith GDR must have gotten it wrong more than 100 times and he certainly isn't the only one. They do it repeatedly just like ICANT posts the same strawmen misrepresentations evolution every time he shows up here. Dredge and candle2 and all the rest do it It's always part of the Christian Bullshit.

Welcome to the shallow, dishonest mind of the atheist. The truth is, puny science can't explain or define reality. It's utterly clueless when confronted with evidence of the supernatural - miracles, for example - which atheists wilfully deny, since they're incompatible with their godless fantasy world. Do you have "strong feelings against the evil" atheist (Communist) regimes of the 20th century that were responsible for more bloodshed that all the centuries of religion combined? Atheists are the biggest killers in history, by far. Career criminals are all atheists too. Evil begets evil. What we've got here is a full-blown, neo-Communist psychopath. He gets on his moral high-horse about racism, but seethes with murderous hatred for anyone who believes in God or has more money than he does (probably hates Jews too). Ol' misery guts ... hates life so much he can't wait to die.What you need to do is, wake up and realize the obvious logical implications of your belief system: If this life is all there is and is the result of mindless evolution, everything is meaningless, so why get angry and upset about things that are meaningless, such as religion and perceived injustices visited on other people? Evolution doesn't care about religion, justice and injustice, good and evil, so neither should you - it's all meaningless. Atheists are so dumb. Right, you mean "morality" like gay marriage and abortion ... LOL. Atheists also introduced the madness of feminism and multiculturalism - products of their idiotic egalitarian morality.The secular society of Pol Pot (more of your Communists mates here) was particularly "effective at defining ... morality" - it thought it moral to murder 25% of the population of Cambodia in the name of equality - anyone in society who wasn't a lowly peasant had to die (oh, except for the guiding elites, of course). Atheism is evil.

I don't think unsupported derogatory comments improve the quality of arguments. And especially as the lede they immediately make suspect what follows. Puny science? Between science and religion, which is most responsible for the heat in your home, your indoor plumbing, your hot water, your TV, your computer, the Internet, the software you used to compose and submit your message, your car, all the content on streaming and broadcast TV, modern medicine, coal power, oil power, gas power, wind power, solar power, rockets, satellites, the James Webb Space Telescope, guns, bullets, grenades, missiles, atomic bombs, etc. "Puny" might not be your most appropriate adjective choice. While I wouldn't phrase it this way, your meaning is clear. But what you say about science and the supernatural is true by definition. Science studies the natural. "Evidence of the supernatural" is a contradiction in terms. It isn't so much that science denies the existence of miracles as that it questions the existence of any claims unsupported by evidence. Gee, I don't know about that. Are you maybe leaving out a few religious wars? Take the Tiaping War led on one side by someone who proclaimed himself the brother of Jesus Christ. Around 15 to 20 million were killed in that war. Hitler killed around 6 million Jews. Many of Stalin's murders were religiously motivated because he was trying to stamp out religion.But does it really matter whether communism or religion caused the most deaths? Whichever way you cut it, each were responsible for a horrendous number of deaths. He does sound extreme. I can't endorse his comments. Seems to be a bit of hate on your side, too. No one understands your argument that the nonexistence of God means "everything is meaningless." It is the people in our lives that give life meaning, as well as the other things in our lives, like community and art and sports and so on. It doesn't bother you that neither chemistry nor plumbing care about religion, so why do you care that evolution doesn't? What would you say about someone who offers arguments, sees them rebutted, then keeps repeating the same arguments while ignoring the rebuttals? So you're anti-gay, you're against women having control over their own bodies, you're against equal rights for women, you're against non-white Christian cultures, and you're against equality.Atheists in general accept all people, all cultures, all religions. They're against murder, discrimination and coercion. There's a good example of the evil of religion in Texas right now where a women obtained a court order allowing her to get an abortion because her baby had a fatal genetic disease that if carried to term would cause sickness until birth and followed by risks of sterility and even death. The Attorney General has vowed to go after doctors who perform that or related procedures anyway. Religion sounds just lovely. Atheists no more supported Pol Pot, who happened to be an atheist, anymore than you support a murderer who happens to be a Christian. Crimes by those who happen to be atheists indict atheism no more than crimes by those who happen to be Christian indict Christianity.--Percy

This is bullshit. Atheists don't believe in God because they don't want God in their lives. It's got nothing to do with "evidence" - atheists see the same evidence of God as believers, but unlike believers, atheists wilfully choose to ignore that evidence.When I tell atheists about the two miracles that I personally experienced, they conclude I must be suffering some form of insanity - they don't believe me bcoz they don't want to believe me.Atheists use all the negative things in life to argue against the existence of God, while believers accept the existence of God despite all the negative things in life. No, they reject religion because they reject God, then they use the unfortunate history of religious wars as a rock to hurl at those who do believe in God. Boo hoo, that's so sad. Thankfully, there are still people know instinctively that atheism is inherently evil.P.S. Stop eating insects, they're damaging your brain.

You have no idea what you're talking about. Atheists know that there isn't a god; it's got nothing to do with wanting anything. It's ALL about evidence. There is absolutely no evidence for your god, if there was we'd all be believers.
​ Nobody believes you because you're not believable.
​
It would be good if you started listening to atheists when they tell you why they're atheists instead of inventing stuff that's just wrong. Atheists are better sources of information on atheists that you are.

There are some things people don't want in their lives, like abusive parents. But given all the wonderful things religious believers say about God, who wouldn't want God in their lives? There's just one problem: there's no evidence of God, just like there's no evidence of dragons and unicorns.It has been pointed out innumerable times that religious believers are very similar to atheists. Atheists reject all religions while religious believers reject all religions but one. That's the only difference. There's one religion that you've deemed the one, right and true religion, and to you that one is okay, but all the rest you ignore, just like atheists. We all know there's no evidence. Were there evidence the world would flock to that religion and the others would fade away. They don't believe you because you have no evidence. Your personal testimony in support of your particular set of religious beliefs has no more weight than that of anyone of any other religion. Religious believers of all faiths should come together at a world conference where they work out all their differences and disagreements until they can present the one, right and true set of beliefs. And the evidence behind them, of course. And since there's a recent case in Texas, let me ask how Edwards syndrome (trisomy 18) argues for God. From Trisomy 18 - Wikipedia:

Wikipedia:

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Survival beyond a year of life is around 5–10%.
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Children born with Edwards' syndrome may have some or all of these characteristics: kidney malformations, structural heart defects at birth (i.e., ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus), intestines protruding outside the body (omphalocele), esophageal atresia, intellectual disability, developmental delays, growth deficiency, feeding difficulties, breathing difficulties, and arthrogryposis (a muscle disorder that causes multiple joint contractures at birth).

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And that doesn't even mention the health risks to the mother. This is not the work of a loving God. It's the result of imperfect natural processes. Justifiably so. The knuckleheads on one side believe one set of fictions, those on the other side a different set of fictions, and they set about murdering each other over whose fiction is true. Obviously neither is true. Evil? How is classifying God and the Bible as fiction any different from classifying the Koran or the Bhagavad Gita or A Tale of Two Cities and so on as fiction? Why do you think one evil and rest not?--Percy

"atheists see the same evidence of God as believers" Yep, and it is all obviously fictional. If there was evidence of god we would believe it, but we don't want assholes like you in our lives. Santa Claus. Believers accept the existence of god despite it being an obvious genocidal monster. I reject religion because I refuse to associate with evil assholes like you. Fuck you and your pedophile cult.

So in other words, you place a small value in the present moment. You are apparently miserable or unfulfilled today but would only claim to be happy if God were with you for another 1000 years! A wise saying applies to this.
The Past is History.
The Future is a Mystery.
All that anyone has is the Present Moment. And to be Present. If you don't walk with Jesus in the present, you won't be any close in eternity.

While I dont think that most people want just any god in their lives or church or religion, I think that most people would accept Jesus in their lives. As Percy and others have said before, sure we would if we were certain. Show us the evidence.And I can respect that.