The Rapture of the Atheists

Still here wrote:

<quoted text>
Well Bob...I think I am fairly well educated - BA in History with Minors in Psychology and Modern Languages (German specifically)

Still here wrote:

Getting back to the point...Faith: noun
1. confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.
2. belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
3. belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims.
4. belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.
5. a system of religious belief: the Christian faith; the Jewish faith.
EXPAND
6. the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.: Failure to appear would be breaking faith.
7. the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, allegiance, etc.: He was the only one who proved his faith during our recent troubles.
8. Christian Theology . the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved.

Cpt Jack Sparrow wrote:

these Christian's are so obsessed with so Called Christian ethics and ten commandmants What happened to "thou shalt not kill" when 80 million Native people were slaughtered in North America alone and subjected to sub Human conditions on reservations religios groups administed from 1900 till recent times ,But those people weren't real Christians they say. We didn't have religios freedom till 1978 and were still fighting christian thugs and converts to get the law enforced thru fedral intervention in to the mid 90s I split heads in that scrap Meself, yet they holler about Murderous Athiests of which there've been noticably very few on the North or South American Continent. Violent Southern Rednecks Who opposed Civil rights were overwhelmingly Christian. Today a black person or an Indian can walk through even most backward districts without much problem due to harsh laws concerning discrimination seperation of Church and state and racialy motivated (hate crimes) acts. Which Christian's overwhelmingly see as an erosion of thier values and a threat to thier way of life. where are the good Christians and what are Christian values? <quoted text>

Still here wrote:

by Marilyn Adamson:
"I was an atheist at one time. And like many atheists, the issue of people believing in God bothered me greatly.

Still here wrote:

<quoted text>
Well Bob...I think I am fairly well educated - BA in History with Minors in Psychology and Modern Languages (German specifically). I also have a fairly extensive military education, and will be working on my Master's degree upon my return. Your academic pedigree??
Getting back to the point...Faith: noun
1. confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.
2. belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
3. belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims.
4. belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.
5. a system of religious belief: the Christian faith; the Jewish faith.
EXPAND
6. the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.: Failure to appear would be breaking faith.
7. the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, allegiance, etc.: He was the only one who proved his faith during our recent troubles.
8. Christian Theology . the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved.
Also...check this blog out: http://www.everystudent.com/features/isthere....
I found Marilyn Adamson's point of view very interesting.

Still here wrote:

by Marilyn Adamson:
"I was an atheist at one time. And like many atheists, the issue of people believing in God bothered me greatly. What is it about atheists that we would spend so much time, attention, and energy refuting something that we don't believe even exists?! What causes us to do that? When I was an atheist, I attributed my intentions as caring for those poor, delusional people...to help them realize their hope was completely ill-founded. To be honest, I also had another motive. As I challenged those who believed in God, I was deeply curious to see if they could convince me otherwise. Part of my quest was to become free from the question of God. If I could conclusively prove to believers that they were wrong, then the issue is off the table, and I would be free to go about my life.
I didn't realize that the reason the topic of God weighed so heavily on my mind, was because God was pressing the issue. I have come to find out that God wants to be known. He created us with the intention that we would know him. He has surrounded us with evidence of himself and he keeps the question of his existence squarely before us. It was as if I couldn't escape thinking about the possibility of God. In fact, the day I chose to acknowledge God's existence, my prayer began with, "Ok, you win..." It might be that the underlying reason atheists are bothered by people believing in God is because God is actively pursuing them.
I am not the only one who has experienced this. Malcolm Muggeridge, socialist and philosophical author, wrote, "I had a notion that somehow, besides questing, I was being pursued." C.S. Lewis said he remembered, "...night after night, feeling whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England."
Lewis went on to write a book titled, "Surprised by Joy" as a result of knowing God. I too had no expectations other than rightfully admitting God's existence. Yet over the following several months, I became amazed by his love for me."

Bob of Quantum-Faith wrote:

<quoted text>
Indeed.
"thou shalt not kill" contains a hidden clause: "unless, of course, you really really want to --then kill away! Jewsus will forgive you, after-- so long as you make a DONATION, of course"

Bob of Quantum-Faith wrote:

<quoted text>
And I am the personal educational descendent of Albert Einstein's brains-- he left them to me in his will.
Moreover?
I have 5 different degrees from Yale, two from Harvard and one from Cal-Tech (in my tinkering years).
I was also an assistant to Thomas Edison, and helped Iaasic Newton to write his first treatise on Calculus.
See? <laughing>
In the internet, you can sling BS as much as you like-- just as YOU DID above.
<laughing harder>
Anytime someone begins their "argument" by claiming to be "Edumacated--a whole bunches--no, really!" it is more likely that they are not at all.
You are a proven liar.
So your false claims of "edumacation" without a single actual... FACT to back them goes unbelieved.
You lost your credibility long, long ago, godbot.

NightSerf wrote:

<quoted text>
Yes, indeed, it's foolish for any of us to put up our alleged credentials on Topix because no one who disagrees with what we write will believe us anyway. Resumes are illusory at any rate. The anonymity of the internet is a great equalizer--none of us are any better than the quality of our posts shows us to be. We cannot assert authority based on superior credentials, so we have to establish ourselves with the quality of our reasoning, our grasp of the matters at hand, and our ability to find relevant data. Those who can organize all of that into coherent posts will inevitably rise to the top of the forums where they write.
That's how we know that Hiding, polymath, and IANS are for real and that certain other are mere posers.