"Why Do Men Reject God?"

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
[b]Bull. Show me this evidence please, because I currently not only think it doesn't
exist but that it cannot exist.
Genesis ring a bell?

How do you think Moses knew what happened in the Garden, if not for the testimony of God Himself?

pre-written accounts must be and are open to huge interpretation and cannot be
as definitive as you are ...[text shortened]... t.
Wut?
Where did I reveal a missing of such aspects?
And what is the relevance, exactly?[/b]

pre-written accounts must be and are open to huge interpretation and cannot be
as definitive as you are making out.
Oh, so now you're the expert on the very thing you insist doesn't--- cannot--- exist?
You seriously don't take yourself, um, seriously?
Do you?

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
Do you have the values?

Just for the record: atheists bury their dead.

Originally posted by twhitehead

It depends what you mean by 'rejection'. Are you talking about rejecting something you believe exists, or rejecting the possibility that it exists. They are very different meanings.
For example, if I say that GB rejects fairies, how would you interpret that? Do you see yourself as rejecting fairies?
What if I said GB rejects the Queen Fairies' love? Would you accept that statement as true?

Originally posted by wolfgang59
Just for the record: atheists bury their dead.

Originally posted by googlefudge
Oh. You're a YEC, I hadn't got that.


Genesis is a fairy tale and is not evidence of any kind for what has actually happened in our history.


[quote][b]pre-written accounts must be and are open to huge interpretation and cannot be
as definitive as you are making out.
Oh, so now you're the expert on the very thing you insist doesn't--- cann ...[text shortened]... s.

Thus when dealing with this particular question the distinction should absolutely be made.[/b]

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Originally posted by Pianoman1
[b]"Why Do Men Reject God?"

A Loaded question, GB! To reject something implies that there must be something there in the first place to cast off or refuse. Atheists do not "reject" God; they do not believe in his existence.

"Most people in the world, throughout the ages of history, have believed in some concept of a Supreme Being."

It ...[text shortened]... view that without substantial evidence, agnosticism is the only intelligent and logical stance.[/b]

The primary reason for my atheism right now is that god seems extraneous to any interesting or valid arguments. I can come up with a host of reasons why I'm glad a god probably does not exist, and a few reasons it makes me sad, but the etiology is separate and has more to do with the fact that, when I was a child, I thought "God" referred to my mom's landlord, who's name was "Rod."

Various answers to questions I had reinforced this phonetic misunderstanding: "Where is God?" "Above us." Rod lived on a hill overlooking the church. "What does he do?" "He answers our prayers, and helps us throughout our lives." When my mom had a problem with the house, or needed some help with something, she'd call Rod -- those were the only prayers that ever seemed to be answered (or that made any sense, as no one ever told me what a soul was -- how am I supposed to tell if it's being "kept," as in the "now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep" prayer I said before bed every night?). I figured these were rituals, like being respectful to my parents and grandparents, that showed honor to a respected person. I figured that Rod/God was a respected person in the community as a whole, like my grandfather was a respected person to me.

When my grandfather died, I was so angry at him. I was told that he had moved in with Rod, and was watching me but wouldn't come see me. Eventually I realized what death was, after my brain had matured enough to get past magical thinking, and I realized that I shouldn't be mad at Rod for having flooded the Earth and killing all the animals (I knew that animals died -- the connection to people, once made, was terrifying) because he was just an old man and had no power over the weather.

By the time I figured out that Rod wasn't God, I had no idea what people were talking about. I figured they must all just be talking about something I hadn't met yet, but perhaps they had met it or knew someone who did. And when I realized that wasn't the case, I figured there must be something wrong with them or wrong with me, because it didn't make any sense at all. I evaluated various religions, looking for something reasonable, before realizing that they all had the problem of being philosophies declared immune to reason, all incompatible and all extraneous, as far as I could tell.

Dealing with mortality and morality has since been fascinating and enjoyable. Since I finished my confused search, which was around the end of middle school, I've engaged with many philosophers, and some of the best make reference to divinity. However, it's often extraneous (especially in Aristotle) to the point being made, and so I've not had a problem accepting the arguments that make short reference to god as decent with no reference to all. Either way, you didn't ask for my life story, but I can guarantee that I tried very hard to see reason in belief, and it cost me a lot of emotional pain to admit to myself that there was no God, and probably no afterlife, and all the people I ever love or have loved simply will not exist one day. But, by the time I realized the claim being made, I'd gone past the age at which I was most prone to indoctrination (and I say that word without trying to invoke its negative connotations -- many type of indoctrination, even into falsehoods, help people live good lives and help society function better). As is, I'm glad to have existed at all, and to have loved at all, and each day is a blessing (in the secular sense). 🙂

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
[b}
Let me recap for you, fudge googler. A fairy tale includes magical creatures and the stories generally involve euphoric experiences, or unusual happiness.
None of this fits the story, strangely.

[/b]

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
"Why Do Men Reject God?"

Originally posted by wolfgang59
Nope ... no magical creatures in Genesis.
except .. er ... a god, a talking snake, a man without a father or mother,
a woman made from a rib, a Cherubim, a flaming sword ...

Originally posted by wolfgang59

Before asking why certain phenomena happen perhaps we should
check that the phenomena in question actually do happen. How many
men do you know that have rejected god? (And by this I do not mean
men you think/assume have rejected god but ones who have actually
stood up shaking their fist and saying "God I reject thee" )

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
[b]Oh. You're a YEC, I hadn't got that.
You hadn't got that because I hadn't dun given it.

I believe the earth is exactly the age as described in the Bible: ancient.
Indeterminately ancient.

Genesis is a fairy tale and is not evidence of any kind for what has actually happened in our history.
Says the expert who opines his[hidden]oh! ...[text shortened]... iousness of man throughout his history.
What makes a limited few consciously buck that trend?[/b]

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
"How many men do you know that have rejected god?" -wolfgang59

We are what we think; our thoughts are reflected in our decisions, words and deeds; we also change over time. God alone knows who has accepted or rejected His Grace Plan to reconcile mankind for personal relationship with Himself.

Originally posted by wolfgang59
Nope ... no magical creatures in Genesis.
except .. er ... a god, a talking snake, a man without a father or mother,
a woman made from a rib, a Cherubim, a flaming sword ...