Scott Klarr Jr

oh that gave me a good laugh, just viewed them all, and me and my gf found them all very entertaining.

1 for atheism

ive only ever seen one pro-religion motivator that had any type semi-inteligent argument and even that one was just a copy of one ive seen here with a the point twisted around

Well now, you a theistics had better hurry. Life on this world is short and allegedly having no future beyond this life leaves you little time to accomplish something more than collecting foolish posters. Good luck to you. Me? I don't have luck. I enjoy divine intervention from my God, who speaks to me and cares for me. Do us a favor. Take some time and consider the marvelous eyeball. What a splendid accident that was, huh? Say, I've often wondered why you folks act as though you have morals when you deny the giver of morality. If there are no eternal consequences for bad behavior, why not rob, rape, and murder your way through life. Indeed, why suffer through this life at all? With no God, why not have a worldwide atheist suicide party? Just wondering...

"Scott K", You sir, may think I am the stupid and ignorant one. It does not surprise me in the least. Go ahead and laugh to your hearts content and think of yourself as the enlightened sensible one. I know precisely what theist means. I separated the two in order to stress the A. As you may know, prefacing with the letter a means without, lacking, against. Learning the facts has absolutely nothing to do theories of any kind, especially not the biopsychological or game kind. No one , except you, said anything about eyes at a simpler state. Each creature has the eyes, or lack of them, that God gave them to fulfill the station said creature was created for. The Holy Bible speaks to us of all manner of good and bad as it must to teach us how to live and how not to. That you once called yourself a Christian, (thanks for properly capitalizing it), doesn't make you one. The FACTS are,in spite of whatever you were taught, a person must be born again of the spirit and have an intimate personal relationship with the Christ, Lord Jesus, to be a Christian. It means caring nothing for this world. It means caring only for the Kingdom of God and taking the message of His grace and love to the lost, like you. I will pray that somewhere, sometime before it is too late, someone will lead you to the Lord. You will be welcomed into His Kingdom and all the host of heaven will rejoice when you surrender you life to the One that paid the price for your sin. Without a life of sin, we would have no witness of the grace of Lord Jesus. I was once a wicked God hater, so I know what you are going through and I feel sorry for you. I do pray that you will wise up and stop wasting the time you have in this life so that you may fulfill your purpose for existence and serve your Creator. God bless you and keep you. J

Oh yeah Scott, You can be my avatar if it makes you feel better. I don't mind. One day, the light of truth will shine on your life and you will find yourself sickened by the nastiness of your ways. I know, it happened to me. I do know that the Holy Spirit of God reveals the truth to every human being and provides an opportunity to repent before death. I hope and pray yours hasn't passed already avatar.

Your have the God given right to choose your destiny. Your opinion ouf me is as irrelevant as where my droppings end up. Now would be a good time for you to post another hateful, name calling, crass reply to further display your ignorance as this is my last visit to this unholy site. Still praying for you! Now shaking the proverbial dust from my feet.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that nature never proves anything except the magnificent glory of God, the Creator. Are you in favor of incarcerating rapists and murderers? God is just. He gave the law, prescribed the penalties, and enforces His law. He also is love. He provided a way for lawbreakers, like me and you, to avoid the penalties and enjoy the benefits of kinship with the King through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ! Saul, the murderous pharisee, who made it his business to seek out and murder Christians, became Paul, the apostle after surrendering his life to Christ. You can, too.

Okay, so he is just, he prescribed the law, that makes it all better, now if you excuse me I am off to stone my fiance for not being a virgin, dispite the fact I am one of those people who have slept with her, of course it doesn't matter as it is God's law. Screw God's law, to hell with it Screw God himself. You heard me.

Have you not realised that God is just a way of explaining things you are to ignorant to understand, I bet you that if you'd have been brought up in a society of people who don't believe in God, you would be Athiest, or at least if you still had turned to God it would be based on your own ideas, not everyone elses, you're a sheep, cattle, you follow because you are too ignorant to lead, and that is why I and all Athiest are better than you, we think for ourselves, you let others do the thinking for you.

all hail the never ignorant, everyone else is stupid godless ones. Your assumptions are false. No one thinks for me! I don't follow man, I lead man. You have no clue concerning the society I grew up in and I am not an animal of any kind. Please do remember to beg God to allow me to touch your desert dry tongue with a half drop of water after several millennium. Sorry, but as with Lazurus, the void will make such kindness impossible for you. Go on, though. Keep believing that you are far too wise for the Deity named Jehovah to exist. Continue to think there is no justice in His law. Call me and those like me ignorant fools. Hey, you might even consider tattooing 666 on your foreheads and taking up arms to massacre us in the name of no god justice. And calling yourselves wise, you became fools. I pray for mercy on you and those like you in God's love. Bless you. May you find Jesus and never want for anything. PEACE, LOVE, and AMEN.

You persons claiming no God are quite mistaken. I have met on many occasions with Him. He has even revealed Him self to a great number of my country men. On my first encounter with God. A bosnian had shot me in the chest with a rifle. I am yugoslav. I reside for a time in Sydney now. When the muslim shot me, I was carrying turnips to market and I fell over. God appeared out of nowhere. I had been alone on the road except for the muslim. I hated and wished to kill this enemy when God touched my chest. I became whole again instantly and hate and vengance left me. My country men and some serbs have told similar truths. I have not been wounded again but God has walked to market with me. He is very good but does not like islam,

You persons claiming no God are quite mistaken. I have met on many occasions with Him. He has even revealed Him self to a great number of my country men. On my first encounter with God. A bosnian had shot me in the chest with a rifle. I am yugoslav. I reside for a time in Sydney now. When the muslim shot me, I was carrying turnips to market and I fell over. God appeared out of nowhere. I had been alone on the road except for the muslim. I hated and wished to kill this enemy when God touched my chest. I became whole again instantly and hate and vengance left me. My country men and some serbs have told similar truths. I have not been wounded again but God has walked to market with me. He is very good but does not like islam,

Hey I don't like no muslims niether

Unfortunately, there's no reasoning with these people, they are the ones that believe in god completely and utterly and even if someone had solid evidence that there is no god they wouldn't believe it, and keep their "faith". In my opinion religion has caused more problems than solutions, their morals are outdated, as are their methods, they justify almost everything they do with their religion even though the topic probably has no real concrete meaning to it, religions also clash with each other frequently, such as two civilizations justifying their ownership of land through their religion (hint hint). These people will just drink the kool-aid until the world's crackpots stop their mindless preachings and civilizations advance to a point where people don't accept "Becuase god says so" or "Becuase god did this" as the answer to everything. Hopefully it doesn't take centuries, but the faster, the better.

Heh, I printed out a buncha these and some religious dumbass started reading them, he crumpled them up along with some other pages of my school work and threw em out angrily. I kicked him. ^.^ *prints off more*

SHUT UP AND JUST LET PEOPLE BELIEVE WHAT THEY BELIEVE! EVEN IF THEYRE WRONG *POINTS AT ATHEISTS*

First of all, I agree that people should respect others' beliefs. Second, John B, what reason do you have for not liking Muslims? Muslims as a whole have done nothing, it is simply the incompetent, brain washed idiots that have caused the war on terror. True Muslims have similar beliefs to Christians, in that they believe in God (or Allah in Arabic), and they believe in many of the sins that Christians do, except they believe that Jesus was simply a prophet and not the Son of God. I know this for a fact because my best friends' whole family is Muslim and they own a copy of the Qu'ran. Also, there is no possible way of proving the existance of God or gods, and if He/They did exist which religion (or lack thereof) is correct. If the Universe came from the big bang or any other natural occurance, and if the Theory of Conservation of Matter/Mass is correct, and matter cannot be created or destroyed, where did all of the matter in the Universe come from? And if God(s) created it, then where did He/They come from?

There's probably no god.
You ought stop worrying and start to enjoy the rest of your life,
peace!

It is amazing how much fighting there is on the topic of religion, (both here and throughout history). Especially when a said religion claims to be one of universal love. If a deity is truly benevolant and "full of love", how much do you really believe (s)he would approve of all the hate and violence that is projected at those of differing DETAILS of faith?
Faith is a beautiful thing, it is healthy to believe in something -and can give meaning to one's life. But blind faith is ignorant (the same could be said for blind lack of faith). Why would God give us the gifts of reason and contemplation if we are not meant to use them. We Should question our faiths. Find what what truly does hold meaning to us and find a belief that best applies to us. We all have lived different lives and have had different experiences and thoughts. It makes sense that the details of what we hold faith in would differ.
If you are a good person doing good things, than you believe in the same thing as myself -the details of those beliefs just may differ. And it is these details that all of the fighting is about. It is understandable to want to share what has brought you joy, but you shouldn't push your beliefs onto another. And, on the same note, you should not let beliefs be pushed on you. Better to truly believe in something and be unpopular than only half believe something to "fit in". Faith should be something we find comfort, and happiness in. Not something forced fed to us.

motivational

or

arrogant and condescending?

I used to be godless, but then I read these posters and decided to convert. Scott Klarr, this website is awesome, you are my new God. I'm going to go drink some fresh lamb's blood now before class.

"Every animal lived within walking distance of Noah's house" "Abstinence" and "Spoiler: Jesus Dies" made me laugh the most, but they're all great. Thanks for sharing these. :)

1) How if God revealed Himself would we know it was him?
2)If God revealed Himself surely the need to "believe" in him would be diminished by the simple fact we all know he existed. Nobody believes in something you see everyday, like cars or other such items, so if we saw God he would become materialistic and nobody would believe, would they?

Dear Scott,

Where do we go when we die?

It is so funny to see theists get so worked up, they can go around shoving phamplets into my hands at the supermarket telling me to get saved but you post your beliefs on your own blog and its like you've crucified THEM.
Seriously, god is not real. Just like santa, just like thor, just like Jedis....ok Jedis are more likely to be real than god.
Either way, people shouldnt NEED god to be good people; if the only thing convincing you to live your life by some ancient, irrelavent mandates is a reward then there is something seriously wrong with your moral compass. I am a good, moral person and I know when I die-I will be DEAD; as in no heaven, no hell, just freaking dead.
sheeesh

So if we r just dead when we die what does it matter to be a moral upstanding person? cuz ultimately in the end of ur life it doesnt matter one way or the other... correct? doing what u please when u please right? im not trying to strike out and aruge, truly curious thou? any thoughts anyone?

I have faced the same struggle as many of the people who have posted here, trying to wrap my head around the concept of death. I think that that is what it comes down to. Try to think about the end of your consciousness... imagine not thinking anymore. It is impossible for us to do. Yes, you can sit on your couch and veg out on crap tv, while not having any significant heigher level thought processes... but you can't shut it off. You can merely distract yourself. I have read several of the holy texts out there, to include; the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Quran. I have met both virtuous and wicked people in each of the associated religions, and wicked and virtuous Atheists and Agnostics. The ability to commit offenses against another person exists in all of us. Whether that be because of evil placed within us by the devil, that whisper in your ear if you will... or the lack of divine intervention in our decision making processes, I think it is impossible to know.

I, as you may have guessed, consider myself an Agnostic. I pussy position by some peoples view. Cast your stones, I shall forgive your trespasses. Agnostics sit on the fence between the theists and atheists.

Websters defines an Agnostic as someone who does not deny the existence of God, but rather the possibility of knowing Him (Her/It).

That is me in a nut shell. I can't fathom the end of my consciousness, nor can I fathom that anyone has gotten in right either. If you hear a synic talk about Christianity, it sounds insane... as insane as Scientology to not just Christians but everyone.

For those of you who came here and said ignorant things baout just shutting up and letting people think and do what they want, (yes I am about to get slightly hostile) are you out of your ever loving mind? Much in the same way that 'all it takes for evil to triumph over good, is for good men to do nothing', all it takes for subjugation ot triumph over freedom, is for opposite minded people to say nothing. This is a healthy discussion. A necessary one as well. Most of the world beleives in some form of higher being, and of that majority, most of them want us all to be governed by the tenants of their various religions. Look at the fanatics in the Middle East, the lengths they go to in order to have a country governed by Sharia law. Look at the debate in the U.S. over Gay marriage, abortion, creationism vs evolution being taught in schools, school prayers, In God we trust on our money... the list goes on and on, and it affects each one of us in our daily lives.

Morality is relative to our socialization process. What we consider socially and morally reprehensable in America is not the same as, well lets say a Ugandan or Congolese 'rebel'. Raping of women is a hobby that receives little to no criticism by ones peers in those circles. That is how they were brought up. Read up on the affects of ones socialition process on ones actions.

To address some other comments made here;

1) though it is a valid point about stoning your fiancee, don't reduce yourself to using obvious extreme arguements in lieu of an intellectual one. No one is going to convince someone else to shut up or give up their point of view on this site.

2) whoever it was that made the comment about not being here for this life, but for the next. You are required by your faith to give up all things worldly, this includes your car, house, clothes on your back, and all of the money in your bank account. In order to live properly by this, you have to stop eating, sleeping, or anything else that would distract you form 'spreading the good word'. Because that is what you believe God asks of you. So, what was the last movie you saw in the theatre? Why were you not out spreading the word now? Why have you spent the past five minutes reading my post on this blog.

Now, my father who is a very evangelical Christian always poses the question of, 'If Christianity turns out ot be wrong, but you led your life according to its values, what harm has been done?' The well articulated arguement for living by a set code of morality. Not a lot of harm I always have to agree. However, in the process, you give up that truth seeking part of yourself, and allow whoever is in control of the religion to control your thoughts. Look of Mormonism. It has done a fantastic job of anticipating turns in the moral majority, and dictating the behavior of its believers for the past century or so. When they had a steady base, they turned form polygamy in order to appeal to the masses. They were ahead of society, but right on target with scientists, about preaching of the dangers of tobacco, alchohol, and caffeine. When the church started, they were not as straight laced as they appear to be now. As science was proving it was bad for you, the church took it as a prompt, and a prophecy was revealed to not use these things. It did take them a bit longer to catch on to the whole civil rights thing, with not allowing blacks to hold their priesthood until the '80's, but aside from that, not a bad track record or dictating behavior.

This is what many Christians, Muslims, Catholics etc... want for all of us. If someone does not agree with the tenants by which you live your life, they should not sit quietly by while you attempt to ammend the constitution to support your beliefs. That would be as wrong as those who beleive Gay marriage is a disgrace to the sanctity of the union not saying anything... (although one is reminded to not cast stones, or make claims to know Gods wishes, and perhaps let God go ahead and decide if he wants to honor that union or not on his own terms. Kinda makes sense to just leave that one alone... unless you are claiming to know what exactly God is thinking right now about the whole thing. Good luck not getting judged yourself for that one).

I digress,

My point is this, a) consider Agnosticism b) continue the debates, but in an intellectual manner that the gravity of the discussion deserves
and c) challenge yourself. So many people hate out of fear. Christians, or rather all theists, far too often try to shut people in order to not have to think about or confront their own beliefs. If what you beleive is trully correct, don't be afraid to listen to and think about the other side of the arguement. Not just for ammunition or a way to spin and convert, but for the actual merit of the view point.

Sorry for the crap ton of spelling and grammatical errors I must have maid in the above post. Trying to write quickly on my lunch break.

Thank u for the above post, very much something to wrap ur mind around :), i do have another question, see what u think on this one.

So why is Satan evil, what makes him so in the wrong? Silly question right? Well look at it in this light. Why would someone leave a home in glory where everything is perfect, wonderful to rebel against ur master? Why is he rebeling, there has to be more than power hungry evil, in satans point of view God is evil, every bad guy thinks they r in the right and the good guy is wrong. However is u live in glory, and u can read and see ur fate of everlasting fire, why do u continue to fight against? makes u wonder, must really have to believe what ur fighting for u to sacrifice everything u r like that... what do u think?

idk but he like wanted to the glory of creating earth and man from god or something im not really sure...

The cake is a lie.

Does anyone else realize that the "Major Schisms of Atheism One", the Occam's Razor one, and then the "The simplest answer is often the cleverest and is also usually wrong" all contradict one another? Just saying...

thanks a lot, scott, for being such a smart guy.

religious people,get over it. honestly, you're delusional if you really believe some crackpot theory concieved 2000 years ago over modern science.

just get over it.

yawn yawn yawn

awesome read. gave me a good laugh. I am spreading it around.

"...you follow because you are too ignorant to lead, and that is why I and all Athiest are better than you, we think for ourselves, you let others do the thinking for you." Wow. Powerful words. Spoken like a true believer. Turning his hate on those who do not follow his ways. Sounds a lot like a religion to me. And it seems, like in all religions, that you have the extremists who give the rest a bad name.
You Athiests throw stones at the Christians only because there's a little, tiny, shred of doubt in your mind that "What if i'm wrong?". None of us are going to know if we're right or wrong about our personal beliefs until the end. And beliefs are personal. And very much like opinions if you know the reference. Why not each of us have our belief and go about being the good person we each want and need to be. Or is it more important to stand around in groups talking smack about the other guy and feeding off the group dynamic? Maybe work yourself into a lather? Nothing good comes from debating politics or religion. If you're ready to find God, you will. If not, so be it.
I for one refuse to believe that all of this was a string of random events that put us here and that we evolved up from mud. The world, the universe is too grand to be a coincidence. If you feel that you should think so little of yourself and us as a species, then whatever blows your hair back. You should find some solice in the approaching darkness of your pending non-existance as nothing follows. Me, I believe that this is not the end, but just one step on the path to eternity.

Durr. Efforts like this simply portray atheism as more fundamentalist than fundamentalists. Atheists are thoughtful and intelligent people. This propaganda makes them seem insular, self-satisfied, and dumb. These pictures just scream "I'm a 16 year old internet atheist who makes nasty comments about Jesus to make me seem rebellious!". Yeah super you are really rebellious and shocking.

OMG!!! Reading this bickering is about as hard as believing in god (yes, I'm leaning to the atheist side in this). A lot of these posters are funny and clever and they made me laugh. Mostly creationist, pro-religion etc posters just aren't very funny (sorry it's just the truth, they are usually kinda lame and if you disagree then you're just being difficult). The point is that "atheism" is really just another religious view when argued in such a way as it is here! Albeit the lack of holding a god as omnipotent and all knowing, but a religious view all the same. A true "atheist" if you want to call it that needs not argue their stance at all since THERE IS NO STANCE TO ARGUE!!! I have no time to worry about bibles, churches and how to properly behave. I treat people well, I am thoughtful of the universe as it is the most wondrous and exciting thing beyond our imaginations and I keep an open mind to anything I hear/read/see.

I really cannot say (nor can anyone on alive, on this earth) what happens after death and where (if anywhere but the ground or a little jar) we go. If I should find myself standing in front of some massive golden gates after my demise, faced with a list of my lifelong sins I shall eat my words then and start praying.

Point is, there's not enough time on earth to worry about what everyone else is thinking. If you believe there is a god and heaven and eyeballs, fingernails and juji-fruits were designed by god then by all means go right ahead. If you want to believe we are a random and common occurance throughout the universe then you should pursue that. As long as your beliefs are not forced upon others and you don't demand others go out of their way to respect them there should really be no problems.

btw, there is no god.

So, just a question.

What if it turns out that in fact Aliens started all life on this planet and it is in fact they that are responsible for everything we know on earth? Would they be this "god" being spoken of?

Also, what is said Aliens in fact thought of earth as some sort of giant, galactic farm and came, knife and fork in hand, ready to eat EVERY LAST HUMAN BEING AND ANIMAL ON THIS PLANET (except pigs of course)??? Would they still be considered god then?

Is god allowed to eat us?

I was just kind of wondering.

Hilarious. Really. Thanks! :)

You do realize that all that aid money has only made the situation in Africa WORSE right? Trillions of dollars have been wasted so that corrupt officials can continue buying themselves nice cars, fancy clothes, and air-conditioned homes. Pat yourself on the back, you're only damaging the situation by throwing money at it instead of actually finding a solution.

Something I read somewhere:

It's natural to think that living things must be the handiwork of a designer. But it was also natural to think that the sun went around the earth. Overcoming naive impressions to figure out how things really work is one of humanity's highest callings.
Our own bodies are riddled with quirks that no competent engineer would have planned but that disclose a history of trial-and-error tinkering: a retina installed backward, a seminal duct that hooks over the ureter like a garden hose snagged on a tree, goose bumps that uselessly try to warm us by fluffing up long-gone fur.
The moral design of nature is as bungled as its engineering design. What twisted sadist would have invented a parasite that blinds millions of people or a gene that covers babies with excruciating blisters? To adapt a Yiddish expression about God: If an intelligent designer lived on Earth, people would break his windows.
The theory of natural selection explains life as we find it, with all its quirks and tragedies. We can prove mathematically that it is capable of producing adaptive life forms and track it in computer simulations, lab experiments and real ecosystems. It doesn't pretend to solve one mystery (the origin of complex life) by slipping in another (the origin of a complex designer).
Many people who accept evolution still feel that a belief in God is necessary to give life meaning and to justify morality. But that is exactly backward. In practice, religion has given us stonings, inquisitions and 9/11. Morality comes from a commitment to treat others as we wish to be treated, which follows from the realization that none of us is the sole occupant of the universe. Like physical evolution, it does not require a white-coated technician in the sky.
-STEVEN PINKER

My only question is... why waste all your time arguing with each other trying to win this long standing argument. Christians, live your lives, praise your God and be joyful. Atheists, live it up and stop worrying about that which you should not want to change. Why does it matter to you if someone wants to believe in a Higher Being? All that should matter to you is that you don't. This constant bickering is what causes wars... the need for every side to be proven right. Can't we all just get along? Get a life!!

thank you =D

I have to agree with what Scott K said on Dec 13th - if god suddenly showed up i'd have to acknowledged he existed, but i dont think i'd follow him. The god of the bible is not a very nice god. He strikes me more a psychotic petulant child.

For those of you that believe in god let me ask you this - can god lie? He's all powerful right? How do you know he didn't lie to you about any of this? Why would any being that's so loving require us to bow down and worship him or suffer for all eternity? Use your brain for a minute - does that really sound like anything that's all loving?

How do you know religion isn't a test? Maybe there is a god - maybe the bible is even his words. How do you know it's not simply a test to see who is willing to defy the illogical and accept the rational? You cant prove it's not a test since you believe god is all powerful and you cant really know his mind. So maybe all the major religions are just his way of weeding out the people who have evolved to the next level - and everyone else maybe gets to go around the merry go round again until they get it right.

That makes a hell of a lot more sense to me then believing the god of the bible is a good god and someone worth worshiping.

Personally i am agnostic, not athiest. You can neither prove or disprove gods existence. So why bother wasting time on him/her/it? My view is if being a generally good person (helping my friends/family, being generally nice to other people and in general trying to leave the world a little better off then it was ) is not good enough for a god to accept me, then he's really not worth wasting any time on.

If you want to believe someone created all of this - fine. I can understand that and maybe even respect it, even if i dont believe in that myself. But i will not respect anyone who thinks the god of the bible is worth worshipping. You could have someone run around and murder and rape a 1000 people but on his death bed say he's sorry and he gets into heaven, whereas i can run around and help a 1000 people but still refuse to believe, so i should suffer forever? And you think that's a system you should believe in and worship? No - i will not respect that.

"why waste all your time arguing with each other trying to win this long standing argument"
Why? Because, if the way we teach our children and progress as a society is dependent on Christian ideas that evolution is a crock and that in fact there is no need to explain what we see (as we can always just say "God did it" if we cant figure it out) then how can progress possibly be made? The only way we progress is by taking something and analyzing it. Take the light bulb for example. A great invention, i think everyone agrees. Would the light bulb have been invented if no one ever considered that maybe "the candle isn't the best way to produce light". And once the light bulb was invented did we just stop trying to improve and make it better? What could possibly be done to such a perfect invention? Well we could use more than 25% of the energy to make light for starters (thus the invention of fluorescent light bulb). Will we stop there in improving this idea? Certainly not. Then why, i must ask you, should we not challenge things so that they work better, are more efficient and further progress rather than restrain it? Just as sun gods and gods of harvest were analyzed and revamped to fit with knowledge, so should the modern religions. I'm not just talking Christianity here, but all religions, religions that lead to things like terrorist attacks, religions that lead to not allowing things like stem cell research, ones that prevent freedom, nearly every religion in fact could stand to be re-evaluated. So that is my answer to why we must argue this (although it would be in the best interest of everyone to keep it civil).
I myself am not an atheist. The best way to describe me would be to say that i am an agnostic. I have gone to a catholic/Christian school my entire life and i have learned in my own time about other religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Muslim, etc. (I have learned at least some about all the "major" religions) Through this study i realize that perhaps everyone worshiping/believing in the same thing. Whether you believe in one god, two, or seven, you are using these gods as a way to explain the unknown. So really you believe in explanations. Why then should you not, instead of creating a puzzle piece to fill in the gap, go find the puzzle piece? Atheists believe that they can find all the answers through science, theists believe that they can find all the answers in God. We all have to have faith in something, why not in what can progress us all as human beings rather than something that slows our progress.

Ok, so the playing field seems to be quite large here, so I'll give my own 2 cents. I definitely believe in an omnipotent, omnipresent "IT" (I don't say God because, let's face it, with all of the religions out there, who's to say what name is to be used?) One of my favorite quotes is, "...(God) is too big of a concept to fit into one religion." If everyone would just stop bashing one another about who's right and who's wrong, and accept that there are always going to be more questions than answers, then we would have an extremely better world to live in. I have studied a great number of belief systems, and if I had to stick to one, my most closely matched would be Buddhism. Although I don't believe in tying myself into one system, I prefer a more broad approach to this subject. I designed my own ideas based on what I've seen, read, and understand, and so far, I live a comfortable life. I guess you would call me "Spiritual" and not "Religious".

We all live our own lives, and it's nobody's place to judge anyone else based on their beliefs. In the Early Christian Era, and leaked all the way down, doesn't almost all forms of the Bible say that Man was given freedom of choice? Then why try to take that away from someone else if they so choose to use it?

I think people need to treat others with respect and decency, and to each his/her own.

To be honest I think both religion and science can have the same positive and negative effects on people and society. On one hand we have religion: each one of them gives people something to believe in, because religion knows that this factor will keep us humans going somehow. It's inevitable, religious or atheist, that at some point we ask ourselves the Big Questions: "why are we here? where will we go? how did we get here? etc....

these questions drive us, make us live and learn. Life is also full of grief at times and most religious books are just full of common sense, giving us indications on how to lead a life the best way possible for us and those around us. Don't steal, don't lie, don't hurt, forgive, understand even when you think it's wrong.... these rules work. The problem with religion is that a bunch of fanatics have taken advantage of the above mentioned questions and played with peoples faith, specially when they were feeling the most vulnerable.... when they were looking around themselves asking: "what the f***ed happened and why?". In those moments you'll be certain to believe anything that gives you hope that life isn't so shit after all.

on the other hand you have atheism. the rejection of an existence of any form of God, or deity. Fair enough. I'm very much like St. Thomas, I believe in what I see or even more what I touch. and I have to say I'm very happy with that. Travel around the world and what you see and hear and feel can be extremely beautiful and sublime to not need a God to believe that life can be beautiful and changes for our well being can be done. I think that lacking faith in a God is easily done and can lead to a much freer life, therefore a life bound to develop and evolve more than one that isn't. Where I think a problem lies, is that most atheists, having chosen or just simply not believing in God, find that science and technology are our solutions. Science will lead us to space, science will give us great technology... But to what use?

Science spends so much of its time trying to cure all our diseases..... people rely on science, almost like religious people rely on God... they both have given us a fake hope. The world will never be disease free, there will always be something that will affect our health and science isn't actually making it better rather making it worse. What doesn't kill us here (i.e. a flu) will kill a tribesman in the jungle... probably many cultures still alive of which we don't know to much of, have fought disease like cancer and HIV in their own way, who knows how many have developed the immunity to them. Science strives to know the unknown, to discover space,and we still haven't finished to discover our planet.... there is a very high percentage of rainforest that we haven't discovered as such, and lets not forget, we are destroying it already....

when we learn maths at school... you need to study sums, multiples, subtractions and all that before you can solve an algebra equation. How is science going to answer anything if it's not dealing with the main issues. Unfortunately, we will never be supermen, no matter how much ultracool things will be created, we will just look like x-men. at the end of the day we are animals, we are here for a certain amount of time, we need to eat, drink, sleep, keep fit, breath, and take care of ourselves. We live and WE DIE. and this is where for me all of it lies, DEATH....

so many of us are just scared of it, science and religion are just not being honest. Some of us are or will be weakened in our lives, some of us will die young and some won't. we should stop trying to fix it. People think that we are different from animals because we have feelings. we are still animals. (and that doesn't mean animals don't have feelings, who will ever know, really!) By me taking my Hiv meds I'm giving myself hope, constant hope. Is that really good for me? wouldn't acceptance be a good thing to remember too. Science gives Hiv people the thought of having their own children :"OH, well, science nowadays can wash the Hiv virus out out of the sperm a certain percentage of the time".... why would you put any percentage of risk on the life of your daughter or son.

essentially we are greedy and foolish.... we focus on all the wrong things sometimes, atheists and religious. Most of you have spent time arguing on who is right and who is wrong, the believers or the non believers.... which one will lead to a faster evolution of the human being

the only thing that will help us evolve and grow is the belief in eachother, the belief in love and friendship, the belief of unity within deifference. There is no right and no wrong, there just is!!!
and till people don't realise this, nothing will be solved, the day a natural disaster will wipe out our planet, our land or home you won't have God nor an i-phone to help, your gonna wish you have even your grumpy and smelly neighbour to hold hands with just to know that you are not alone asking that question: "what the f***ed happened and why?"!!

Some atheists are motivated by empathy and compassion, some by greed and selfishness, this has nothing to do with being an atheist.
I could also say some people with green shoes are motivated by empathy and compassion, some by greed and selfishness.
Motivation and religion are simply not connected for an atheist.

For a theist on the other hand, the two are connected (to varying degrees between followers) and this can and has spelled disaster many times.

There is also an inherent lack of assumed responsibility with theism, as theists feel they are doing the work of a god, thus abstaining from accepting responsibility, again this causes massive problems.

Why not do away with the whole thing and simply blame people for their actions?

"Good men will do good deeds, and evil men will do evil deeds, but for good men to do evil, it takes religion"

"When I was still trying to find truth in religion and mysticism my life was much more defined by these things. When I accepted a more elegant model of the world I became defined by own reasoning and observations, rather than the parroted justifications of other people's faith."

For 'more elegant' read: 'Easier. (I got sick of choosing between theories that other people put forward for the meaning of life and, forgetting to then use my OWN brain to address the question of God, decided to make a series of posters making fun of other people. It felt right.)'

haha thanks for putting this together! its awesome.... I work in a place covered in christian motivational posters.. i only wish i could post some of these up in my office without being fired...

I'm a Persian Atheist.That is awesome page.
All of the religious people believe god because THINKING IS HARD and god is HOLLY !!!!!

Why go out of your way to attack a religion ?

Healthy debate is one thing, but these crass posters just show the creators feel threatened by the idea of God and accountability to something higher then their own convictions.
You can run, but you can't hide from truth. Hopefully you will listen to what's written in your hearts eventually. Don't run forever.

Most of those scientist lived in an age where a disbelief in god made one extremely uncomfortable/persecuted/put to death. Nowadays the majority of scientists and the well educated, ~70% according to the last poll I saw, are atheists, Coincidence?

These are all Hilarious!! ;)) Be even Funnier if they weren't so TRUE!

All ya can do is Laff!!

I do like how most of the comments on here, even from god-fearing peoples, are rather intelligent. That's very refreshing to here from some of you.

"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."

- Albert Einstein

"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."

- Albert Einstein

What is it: is man only a blunder of God,
or God only a blunder of man?

Friedrich Nietzsche (Twilight of the Idols)

Who would be so shallow and low to help someone just because they believe god will reward them for it? Elephants help injured elephants. If elephants can do it without religion then why cant we? Many of our "morals" are innate. No superstition is needed to help someone. And if people help someone because there religion encourages them to, that says nothing about whether the belief system is true.

Theres alot of stuff in this universe that people do not understand.
Modern scientific knowledge appears to be fractal, with each discovery opening up progressive layers of new research to infinatum.
"God" exists in the margins between our knowledge and the "truth" of reality, be that the knowledge we had thousands of years age or the knowledge of the present day.
The greater our knowledge the greater our abilty to define god and our relationship.
I Know that people should accept that everyone has to travel there own path in life in the important things,athiest fundamentalist or somewhere between the two extremes.
I personally find Bible quoters reasonably irratiting because the bible can be used to justify nearly any activity, contradicts itself in a ridiculous amount of places and has been edited, translated and modified so much that to claim its as a direct word of god is just wrong.
Extreme atheiests are more amusing because of the creative quotes they plagarise to support there positions, and because they are good with the intuhweb.

Can one of you religious freaks answer to the Epicurus quote in the posters?

its time i clear this all up. i do exist. and i encourage everyone to molest children and kill each other. in my name. amen.

If gods not real and this life is our only one, whats to stop us from doing everything morally wrong just to further our own joy?

I'll tell you. People only do what they think is right. Hitler thought it was right to exterminate the Jews and the people who instigated 9/11 thought they were doing the right thing. I could go on and on about people doing things they thought were right, but it all boils down to your social upbringing. Society is what tells us what's moral and immoral, not some ancient text (unless you live in a theocratic dictatorship). Your own moral code is based on your social experiences growing up. Friends, family, neighbors, the media, the community, your church. Everything around us influences our view of whats right and wrong. Not God. Now me personally, I have nothing against religion, but organized religion is the biggest scam in the history of mankind. All organized religion has done for mankind is rob them of their money and lives. The bible even tells us we're sheep and and God is our shepherd. If you do not give to the church you are damned to burn in hell. I dunno about you but that sounds like an organization that's trying to control me.
If God is truly omniscient, omnipotent, kind and benevolent then I think you'll go to heaven for just being a good person, not for accepting Jesus and/or going to church every Sunday. Since God sees everything I do and is everywhere I go, it seems kinda redundant to go to church and repent seeing as I could do it in the comfort of my own home.


My ideology leans more towards atheistic agnostisism because, I have never experienced anything divine, the most atrocious acts in history were carried out in the name of religion and science is my main belief system. If you can give me solid proof, an actual scientific theory on the existence of God I'll change my opinion. But until then the ball's in your court theists.

Scott,

I am very thankful for the compilation of posters... that my friend was some very funny stuff. Hope you don't mind, but I'd like to link to you from my blog.

Cheers,
Michael

Thanks for the posters...I can't wait to show them to my friends at work. We are the minority where we work and we get pretty sick of the holy rollers always wearing their Jesus merit badges, etc.

I recently returned from Istanbul and these posters reinforced what I sifted from the history there: religion was/is a bloody, cruel affair. My biggest frustration with organized religion are the interpretations. 1 1 in religion can add up to 44 gallons for one and 3 to the other follower...similarly to how politicians gratuitously use vague words like "justice", "freedom" and "respect"...religion pollutes reason, thus creating emotional, rather than logical reactions. Worst of all, religion tends to attract and promote people with mental health disorders.

I think it's wrong, in general, to persecute anyone on the basis of their beliefs(or lack thereof). Let actions have consequences-not thoughts.

That being said, I don't hear of anymore atrocities being committed by Atheists then I do Christians. If Atheism is 'so' immoral why don't we hear more about massive atheistic crime sprees? There's a significant enough number that if Atheists had no moral compass crime rates would be a lot higher.

Ha, loved it even though I'm not an Atheist.

Though some of those commenting( for all their proclamations of being intelligent and caring people with a moral compass) seem quite closed minded and have an undeniable need to persecute a belief that is not their own and the Christians aren't doing much better.

Try and play nice guys, to you we may all be primitives who worship something that isn't there, but there are a few of us who respect your views and see science as an extension of a greater unknown we'd all like to know more about....also we're biding our time for when the right motivation posters come along to make fun of you :P

This.

Perfect example of why wars start

Fighting over beliefs. Getting angry and aggravated over something some people choose not to believe.

Baptized Catholic, Catholic elementary, Catholic middle, and Catholic highschool, got to college, realized that religion is a bogus and a ploy to control society.

Stop believing when my mom suffered for 3 years with cancer. Don't come on here and tell me it was Gods plan to have her suffer, BULL****, it was cancer that took her, not Gods plan.

Religion = bogus

But the people that do believe....keep believing, it gives you peace of mind, so therefore its not my business, whatever helps you sleep at night.

The movie Zeitgeist may help many of you "believers."

It's sad how people rely on religion to make things better.

Believe what you believe, go ahead, I'm not stopping you. Don't get mad when someone says they don't believe. And what's the point of saying, "You have to have faith in something". Why? I don't understand.

Religion is based on faith and assumption (created to help us understand reality and live happily).

Science is based on theory and the scientific method (manmade belief systems created to help us understand reality and live happily)

Human beings will always have differing beliefs. The only way to make peace in this world is for all of us to acknowledge and accept that.

Loved it, thanks!

love it to no ends.

"And missionaries don't do it just for the reward, it comes from the love of their fellow man. Which granted is the same reason others that aren't Christian do it. To do a good work for the reward is hypocritical and wrong for ANY person regardless of faith or lack thereof."

So if people (Christians and athiets alike) do good deeds just because they want to help others, then we can say that it has nothing to do with religion, right?

Agreed. The desire to do good comes from within, not from any particular relgion.

Dude, where can i find the hi-res version of those pictures?
I'm interesting to print one of them.
Thanks anyway.

Greetings from Indonesia

The Pope picture is the best!

First off, I have no problem with religion. worship what you want, its your life. from an imaginary friend to a rock in your backyard it makes no difference to me (until you try to convert me in which case i will squash you like a bug)

Second, i was raised Catholic, and did extensive research on various branches of Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, Daoism, Muslim and Buddhist religions before deciding to be an atheist.

All religions have their flaws (without exception). but to stick to Christianity, since thats where most of the focus is:

your religion (or branches there of) has caused more deaths over the course of history than ANY other factor.

I realize these are extremists in recent history, and uneducated in the past... but the fact still remains.

that, and ponder this a bit will ya?

You are following a belief (which can be defined as a vague idea in which some confidence is placed) of a group of uneducated, primitive humans.

and while they THOUGHT that god existed, they KNEW (with no doubt whatsoever) that the earth was flat.


The bible is just a nice story book filled with good morals.


I obviously have no proof that your god does not exist, it is merely my BELIEF. Your free to have your own, and i dont have to understand it. but until the extremists and crazies calm down or get put down, you will always be under attack by non-believers who suffer as a result.

"Do you happen to have any scientific means able to read the heart of those religious people that you seemed inclined to construe their actions as reward motivated and not out of sincere compassion and love?"

And do you have any religious means to explain why the non-religious do good for others? Listen, I'm not saying that all religious people help others because of religion, but the first comment that I replied to was stating just that. I'm just saying that people shouldn't need religion as the reason for helping and giving to the world. And by the way, it is psychologically proven that people help others for a selfish internal satisfaction- which in turn is rewarding for both sides.

"I wish you can satisfy his curiosity when your nephew asked where we all came from, justifying the mathematical probability that all what we see living now first came from non living."

My nephew knows all versions of creation and scientific explanations for life (probably better than most people do); he simply chose the one that made the most sense, the one that continues to expand, explore, and make breakthroughs. He stopped believing in Santa Claus a few years back (to partly relate back to this page).

P.S. The apple doesn't far from the tree.
Jepthah sacrifices his only daughter because he gave his "word to God," and Abraham almost sacrifices his son to prove his dedication to God, and not to mention Jesus who sacrifices himself. But since those are in the Bible, of course they're not disturbing.

I believe we are all here for a reason, that we have a purpose. I believe we are here to grow and learn, to become more aware of who we are and why are here. I believe in free will. I don't believe in coincidences.

For me life is like a maze. It's like I'm a mouse in a maze and I'm looking for the cheese. Sometimes I take a wrong turn and get to a dead end. Sometimes I get really close only to take another wrong turn and end up at another dead end. If and when I (hopfully!) get to the cheese I have found my life purpose - I may, for example, realise that my current career is not the one for me and I quit even though the money was excellent and I start a job that I've always dreamed of doing or maybe I finally decide to end a bad relationship that was going nowhere, these decisions will all take me closer to my true purpose. We make the wrong choices because we have free will and sometimes we let our fear guide us.

I believe it is very important to trust our instincts. We should all develop that aspect of ourselves. Some people do this through organised religion, others opt for a more independent option. Whatever you choose make sure you listen to your instincts. Don't let a religion control you and tell you what to think and likewise don't let your atheist beliefs cloud your instincts either. Trust in them, they are always right.

And finally, although I can see some of the humor in the above posters, I find them quite distasteful. It is the kind of thing that will just give atheism a bad name. Not a smart thing to do in my humble opinion.

god is holly. red dwarf.

Yo,
First off Im agnostic, these were entertaining, but most of them just state the same things over and over. and Ive seen them on multiple other sites, sites which also posted the anti-atheism motivational posters, I obviously see your stance but I do believe its a little unfair. Heres my thoughts on religion & atheism (dont bother responding I will probably never come back here, I just stumbled on it anyways)
A) Prayer is not useless, but prayer without action is evil. A study of people meditating to reduce crime in Washington is supposed to have actually reduced crime by about 23% (the murder rates stayed about the same but other crime went down) Meditation is very similar to praying, except more introverted instead of extroverted.

B) Religion is not the cause of war or destruction, or any of these things, they have been around far longer than organized religions have exsisted and to think that religion is the only cause of such things is silly. Religion is normally a "reason" for the uneducated masses for why we go to war, but in actually most organized religions teach peace, or peace was in their original message, it is the fanatics who derange it for their own personal benefit.

C) Science and Religion should have nothing against each other, one is a philosophical view on life and the other is a method for expanding our intelligence as a species.

D) Epicurus was an idiot, I have not personally studied him, but from that single quote of his he acts like if there were some kind of great divine being that this being would stop death and pestilence and all the "bad" things in the world, but this goes on to a deeper philosophical understanding of what is "good?" The fact is that good and bad are just terms which we use to point at things we do and dont like.

E) Final argument that the Christian Dark ages somehow caused the collapse of the roman empire and thus the collapse of all roman technology is completely historically inaccurate. In fact just the opposite is true. Its true that the roman empire did fall, but it wasn't Christians who caused this, it was the Goths, a group of tribesmen who were held under Roman sway and eventually rose up to sack Rome and move on to Spain where they converted to Christianity and became known as the Visigoths. Also by this point Rome itself had already converted to Christianity. Another thing is that writing was kept by Irish monks, allowing scripts & other documents to survive the fall of Rome. completely debunking the idea that Christianity somehow holds people back.

In finality its true that some fanatical religious views hold people back, but so do fanatical atheistic views, or any kind of fanatical view, I mean you spend so much time debating on a forum about whether God exists or not and in the end it is a moot point, get out and live your damn lives, if you wish to be religious then be religious, if you wish to not believe in god then don't. Unless someone physically tries to stop you from living your life then you shouldn't need to argue. But Im making too much sense, carry on debating.

OK, first off, I was not raised religious, I did not, and do not, go to church (honestly, I have better things to do with my Sunday), and I went to public school.

Honestly, most of the comments I see for this article I see people pressing people to believe what they believe with bible quotes taken out of their proper context that, in their context, have no meaning. This is morally wrong, and the people doing it should be ashamed of themselves. There is absolutely no reason for religious people to be angry at Atheists. Freedom of speech, freedom of thought.

You shouldn't need religion in order to do good things.

epicurus lived ~300 BC...

Nice man lol

Join the League of Reason

GUWNO

We created God. Don't see god as a being, god is a concept (I am only trying to explain my point, not trying to insult you in any way). We try to explain things we don't understand by making up a god. I don't know if Christians refer to a god like a part of us which represents something "good". What I only see is Christians talking about Jesus like a Santa.
I also think we should try to know humanity on it. gotta go. will finish this later.

Man is naturally spiritual in nature thus religion in any form ain't going nowhere. And while godless people keep poking fun on everything that represent religion, just like science, religion is maturing too.

Can I not type a 'plus sign'?

Everything boils down to nothing if you leave it on the stove long enough. This is the sort of discussion where that is the only real conclusion you can come to.

So. Yeah. I'm in 11th grade. i dont understand everything you guys say. but i can say.. if thre's a god... what created him? lol.

like really. religion leaves it at. god created the universe. the what created him really? science has no loose ends. everything can be explained. besides, i prefer to think there isn't an all powerful being who has the balls to watch people suffer and go through hell, so to speak, without doing a damn thing. When you can tell me how your "amazing god" can be so great, WHILE watching innocent people perish and disease spread, THEN i will believe you.

Read "I don't have enough FAITH to be an athiest" by Norman L Geisler and Frank Turek. It's an amazing book that will really make you think. it is a hard read tho.

oh and God is infinite. he deosn't have a begining. He created the universe with a thought. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, there has been sin. sin caused disease, pain, evil. God is not responsible for your actions, YOU are. you have a free will. you dont have to go out and, say mug someone for their money. but you also dont have to go out and give to the poor.

God disproof: VELOCIRAPTORS

Logic 1, Religion 0

Religion is just peoples' perception of what will happen after death or what we believe we originated from. I believe that religion was formed from the elderly, close to death, to have something comforting to lie on before they lose all their senses and die. Religion is just the cushion to help us endure the inevitable fate we all will experience.

We all are animals. We all have hearts, brains, muscles, nerves, etc. that all species have. I do not understand why we are believing that we are one some higher ground than other species. Eagles have a heightened sense of sight; dogs have heightened sense of smell; it's just that humans acquired the ability to think better than other species. But that shouldn't be the reason why we separate ourselves from them. If you agree, then answer me this: Why do we believe that humans are the center of everything in the universe - our families, our societies, our world? Why do we believe that this infinitesimal world with one "super-smart and superior" species is the center of the whole universe? Have any of you taken into account how small the earth is compared to the solar system alone? And may I remind you that Earth is infinitesimal to our own star itself? And also notice that the sun is small as fuck compared to other stars in our galaxy alone. The solar system is one out of hundreds of billions in a single galaxy and hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe. Hmm... has it ever occurred to you how small our single planet is? So why do we think we are that important?
We are not, and neither are the religions we make up.

There's no point in arguing with religious people. No matter what logic you use, it won't work. The whole argument has destroyed itself from the start, because you're not arguing with people who value logic and reason. You're arguing with religious people. No matter what the argument is, there's no point. They have an answer for everything, because they can just make it up. Because they can make things up that they will honestly believe, and they will be at rest and satisfied that there are no inconsistencies in the universe.

Sometimes I envy them for that. Here I am, using logic, reason, science, actually working to ensure that I have a full understanding of how things work, of how things should work, of how the universe operates, and all along there are those who don't have to raise a single finger, because they can make up whatever they want to and honestly believe that it solves the issue. Even if there is proof against religion, proof of evolution, paradoxical proofs against an all-knowing and all-powerful sentient being, relativistic paradoxes about sending information faster than light being impossible, destroying any possibility for anything to be "all-knowing", no matter what proof or evidence you use, there's no point. Logic is the work of the devil. Fossils are the work of the devil. Relativity is the work of the devil. Mathematical proof is the work of the devil. When "faith" is involved, there's always an answer, and it always serves whatever belief you want it to. That's the genius of religion and the ultimate power of faith. And that's why it's so difficult to argue against.

So there's no point. Give it a rest, guys, go have a beer or something.

It's funny people say the "crazy" examples of people doing "God's work" (such as killing their children) are made up by the people. Yet, the bible itself and all its stories, etc, which are also "God's work", or word, or whatever, just AREN'T made up! It's so simple! If it's good, it's true, if not, no way! It's selective ignorance. Stop choosing to be naive.

The argument of missionaries doing work being better than other work, and helping because they want to not because of heaven is mute. It's all relative. In my honest opinion, I don't think it's helpful AT ALL to go to underdeveloped countries and teach people a religion and tell them it's the truth and it will save them! That's terrible. So your "work", in some opinions (at least mine), is detrimental because it takes from the constructive lives some people are TRYING to live, and leads them on a path of religious following that they don't even get a opportunity to fully explore. And the most disgusting thing is that they are told "if you know this and do not follow it, you will go to hell and never see your family again after you die." Wow, such thoughtless love missionaries show! Join the Peace Corps.

The problem for us atheists is that we wouldn't care if people were religious, but it encroaches on every aspect of life EVERY day. People bother you about religion. People judge based on religion. People vote for presidents that LEAD OUR COUNTRY because of religion, rather than politics. People kill, steal, hate, hijack planes, and manipulate because of religion.

No one is saying SOME religious people don't do good things, plenty do, but it's just as easy to do good things without it. We all enjoy other people and helping and appreciation, it's the reason for all of it. But religion is the NEVER ENDING, IRREFUTABLE, BLIND, CARELESS excuse for a lot of the BAD things people actually do. Without religion it's hard to see much reason for some of those "crazy" examples, other than the people are crazy! People do bad no matter why, let's not give the bad people a scapegoat.

Like Mark Twain said, "Religion is believing in what you know ain't so"

realy i enjoy.
i love this pic.
the god if able chenge this picture with religion picture!
can god make heavy rock that he can,t move it? yes or no!!!!

WOW lots of comments!! How bout this one: Atheism, we know that science books, theories, and what we absolutely know to be true, changes every few years, but really we got it figured out this time, we are positive!! Matter of fact were so sure of ourselves that were going to make fun of everyone elses beliefs.

Fail. Catholicism is not polytheism, sorry.

I do think it's slightly amusing (but probably more pathetic) that so much is being said about this topic. Atheists and believers are fundamentally in opposition, and nothing is going to change that. Some atheists think that religion is for people with the inability to think for themselves - that's cool. Some people of faith believe that atheists are bound for hell - well, that's cool too. At the end of the day, nothing anyone says will convince a true atheist to start believing in God, nor will it miraculously make a Christian/Muslim/Jew see the error of his/her ways.

It's a moot argument, and it has been since the moment it was conceived.

Atheism is based just as much on the faith that there is no God as the Believer's faith that there IS a God. It's all about Faith, dude. If atheism makes you happy, then so be it. But don't insist on it being the Truth, because you must might be wrong.

Atheism: Because you can't see what's above you when you're always looking down on people.

I figure that whether there's a god or not, its a waste of time trying to convince people one way or the other. if people believe in god, let them do that. If they commit atrocities in his/her/its name, then treat them as you would someone who did it not in god's name. I dont really believe in god myself, but why shouldn't other people be free to do so?
and if people don't believe then why should people try to force them to? if people just stopped trying to force their beliefs on each other the world would be a better place. don't hate on religious people, and don't hate on atheists either.

Hey,

I just found this article while searching for motivational posters.
Well, I couldn't help but read the comments (or at least the beginning of them), and I must say I'm impressed with the quality of arguments I've read so far. Noone has been discrediting someone else.

Anyway, I've been atheist since 2006, and to be frank from 2004 to 2006 I had my own religion (before that time I was too young to care about religion), a belief in God, but differently. I could describe it as simply having God in mind constantly, and sometime ask him for help. Well, you might not believe me, but sometimes what depended on total luck ended up as I asked.
Now, let's get to the point. So, I've been atheist since the middle of 2006, and, well, the only difference I see with Christians is the faith. I listen to music, I'm concerned about problems my country can have and I drink a beer every now and then. Just like everyone else. My point is, apart from believing in an entity or not, we're all the same - that is, humans.
So instead of showing who's doing the most good, who is being correct or not (in terms of what they said, not what they believe in), we should just get it over with.
I mean, who really cares what religion is this guy or that guy? Personally, when I talk to someone, I don't ask them their religion. As an example, I didn't know most of my classmates were atheists until a few months ago. I was seeing them five days per week for two years, and I never cared about their religion. Then again, if they told me they were Muslim or Christians, that would have not made any difference for me.

So, to resume my kind of messy arguments, I think that we should just get religion into the background instead of the foreground. There is no need to change one's behavior with someone because of his belief.

Once again, I must say I was really impressed with the quality of arguments and how the conversation didn't end up badly here, so my arguments might be a little inappropriate, yet I hope some of you will like them and pass them on.

Good night to all.

I think we should all just live and let live the way God or science or whatever it is tells us to live. I personally think the Bible is full of things I'd not like to believe, but if people do good because of that and if people feel comfortable from believing that, feel free. Although Christianity may have a bit more than a dozen faults, I don't think we should find one and bash Christians for that. I also don't think we should argue with/about Atheists. If they give you shit about your religion, walk away. You know what you believe in and they know what they believe in.

I'm sure someone here has heard of co-existence. I think it'd be a very good thing for this world to do. We would be able to focus on new studies instead of making Christians feel worse about themselves. If we all just minded our own buisness when in a negative manner, there would be peace.

Not true at all.

im only 15 and i guess ima atheist but i just read some of the arguments here and thought (seriously not to cause arguments) if the christians god is so omnipotent and stuff why are there other religions and atheism? if someone could answer without takeing my head off itd be apreciated

I just don't understand how you can think all of this came from nothing. can a car be created without someone behind it? can a painting be painted without an artist? No. Everything around you was created by someone else behind. including this Earth that, in your terms, somehow contains all the perfect conditions to support life. There is no way that is just chance.

These are funny, but, assuming that the definition of Ockham's Razor is as the poster describes, it fails to assert Atheism's superiority to Christianity. They are different formulae with different results. Atheism: Cataclysm. Christianity: Afterlife. Regardless, There's no evidence for the existence of a god, so it wouldn't do us much good to assume such.

Hmm, well, I don't know very much about all of this religious and scientific information, or exactly what it all means; I'm a Christian, but I can see what it is on both sides.
Here's my argument- no, my belief, I'm not one to argue- as to why there is a God- or at least, should be one.
I think we just need something to believe in- and I'm not talking about a reason to be good, I'm talking about a reason to continue living. And okay, okay, I understand that not everyone goes through really bad times in life, and not everyone feels depressed about stuff, but some of us need something to believe in for hope. Especially with the world the way it is today; sometimes we just need something to keep us moving forward. I think He's a force, something that's in people- so for you atheists that help people, I think he's still working within you, somewhere...
As for the thing about where He comes from and that the concept of time was created by humans: that's a good point, that there's no such thing as time- infinity itself is a concept, not a thing, so there can't be a "before". So why do we believe that the universe "began" with a speck of dust? That EVERYTHING "began" with that initial explosion? What if that explosion was only the next step in a series of things? We call it "the circle of life," so why doesn't that include EVERYTHING? For all we know- since time doesn't exsist- there actually might've been something before that speck of dust. A a whole other universe could've been created, expanded, and gone before then. Millions of universes. It never "started" because there is no time, so it will never "end" either. God created this universe, the Earth, and us- but no one ever said that this was the first time he'd done this. Things are meant to be born, then die, then start over- and maybe that's just what happened long before us. Then He created another speck of dust and said, "okay, time to do this all over again!" I mean, God must've been doing SOMETHING before, I think that would be boring is he just sat around litearally forever and then suddenly decided to do something. Maybe we- are universe- is merely the next step in the GRANDEST scale of things. Maybe He's just trying out different things each time around and such, like maybe last time the sky was green, the grass was blue, and we all had some shade of purple skin. I don't know- I really DON'T. Nobody does, and I think that's what's so great about it. I can't prove I'm right, you can't prove I'm wrong; the important thing is what goes on inside of us, what our souls are made of... and for those of you who disagree, for those of you who want to argue- be my guest. It's interesting, this whole thing about living and being alive. Life is beautiful, the whole concept of it- even the idea of sorrow and pain and how it kicks us around and is annoying; there's just a wonder to what it's all for...
I'm 15 years old, and I don't know anything about the universe; to me, some things just cannot be explain with human reason. We have limited ourselves and thinking possibilities to what we already know- which could very well be wrong. I think we should all think what we want to think, work for the good of each other, and just see how all our efforts turn out in the end.
One more question, which is not related to this exactly but I would love to have an answer to: WHY is it that we're looking for other planets that have Earth-like life sustaining conditions?! I think that's the DUMBEST thing in the world, that we won't go past that- i mean, what if there are beings out there who live off of breathing helium and and die from too much oxygen, things like that? Why do scientists limit themselves like this, there are beings living in the Earth's most extreme and humanly toxic places? ...But okay, maybe that's not the dumbest thing; with such a realm of possibilties, maybe it's just best to narrow it down to what we're already familiar with... still, though...
Well, that's then end of my insight on these issues, I doubt I've really affected any of you, though. I'm not stupid- I'm a straight-A sophmore heading into the IB program next year, so if you would like to have an intelligent discussion I will try my best. I doubt that anyone will contact me anyways, though. Oh well. :)

So I think we can agree that
a)Atheists have morals
b)They are looking towards bettering mankind, or at least not putting a limit on thought



Atheism on the whole, is a logical belief, whereas most religions are not(I'm not bashing, but faith is the belief, despite lack of evidence)

People keep complaining about atheists always trying to spread their belief, or lack there of, but it is very similar to spreading any other belief. It is spread because we are looking towards the betterment of mankind, religion has caused a lot of harm. Atheists spread there non belief through logical and rational dicussion not through fear of repercussions or violence. Now religion isnt logical but people are, which is why people who already have a religion are usually so set in there ways. For example Judaism vs Christianity when the arguments start they base not changing their belief based on the illogic of the others belief, while ignoring the holes within their own. Now this problem doesn't arise when arguing an atheist because the only defense of their attacks on the holes present in your religion is to justify those faults in the religion. When arguing an atheist you cant attack their belief cause they dont have one, you can only backup your own, which has already been shown to be full of flaws, and not just by atheists, but by practitioners of other religions.

I personally argue for the sake of atheism because it holds no prejudiced against anyone(just against the ignorance shown in other religions, shown through the many evident faults present in almost every religions doctrine). It does nothing to prevent our learning and in fact incourages it in order to further justify our position. The arguments of atheism are always evolving with out changing its whole position this is beacause every new flaw found in religion serves to build up our argument, this cant be said about of a lot of religions which change and further alienate some of their earlier beliefs.eg. stoning
Other religions have kept the same arguments since their inception, but the flaws remain, and cant be explained away and so are ignored. Yet these religions continue to study these texts to the point of exclusion or even arguing against any scientific advancement.

So if we can accept that most athiests are moral people we can argue that logical argument has a much more sucessful chance nowadays to convince people against what they believe, rather than another equally flawed belief. So whereas religion has lead to a number of atrocities and still promote the ideas behind such atrocities, would it not be to the betterment of everyone to drop these religions and embrace atheism. If there were not these religions warring against each other causeing strife across the planet, i think it is safe to say the world would be a better place. And since most religions argue on behalf of improving mankind, how can you justify not doing what is the potentially best for mankind, when sticking to your religion continues to cause strife.

And hey since atheism is based on logic if someday we did discover that your religion was the correct one, well now everybody would be a practitioner of it, and what harm would have been done in the meantime.

Well, I think this whole argument is very intersting, and i have fgreat respect for both sides. I may not be able to prove myself right, but I cannot prove you wrong. :\

All I have, Scott Klarr, is one final question:
We both seem to agree that life should be appreciated. If people do not have souls and all of my thoughts and feelings are merely "brain activity-" which i can make several assumptions about to prove towards the truth of it- why is life beautiful if all of our joy is to be accounted for by something so defined? Beauty is not something to be put in numbers, and though the best have tried, it cannot be 100% accurately put into words. What is beauty? What's the feeling you get when you see it, when you feel it? Why is it there, why does it exist?

I doubt you will ever see it from my point of view. There's just too much to account for, in each individual life. I must thank for this food for thought, though; you never know whatt you belive until someone tries to prove you wrong; then you must first prove to yourself that you are right. The only evidence I have is, of course, not justifiable by facts- by solid, widely accepted and provable facts. All I have is what I trust. This discussion has made me ask questions to myself, and it's all only made my faith stronger. So thank you, Scott Klarr. I wish you a wonderful life.

What is life, anyway?

i like turtles

i like turtles a lot

I honestly think it doesn't matter if we discuss it because in the end since God (if he is real) lives outside of time so we wouldnt know if he is alive or not so im open to everyone else's believes but just don't bash on other peoples religoun cause if they are right and your wrong they are in Heaven chilling laughing at you cause your dumb ass is burning in hell so be open minded listen to other peoples believes if you disagree so what just don't bash on there bieleves

"Andrea Yates is a disturbed woman and what she did is not because of her belief in God, not because she grew up in religious environment but because she is mentally disturbed. Nobody here I think can claim religion taught her to kill innocent children."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the bible, did "god" not tell Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac? Abraham was all too willing to do this in the name of god. Last I checked, Isaac was an innocent child. I'm not saying religion teaches people to kill innocent children, although this is a damn good example. There's another instance in the section of the book pertaining to Moses, where he states that no "women or child will be exempt." I'm too lazy to actually recall the circumstances or actually wording, but I'm pretty damn sure that revenge is no reason to kill innocent children. In this case, revenge being brought about by none other than "god."

nobody gives a fuck about any of your opinons these are just funny

If you need to believe in something, believe in yourself, your children, and the people around you that make your life complete. If you need something more tangible, believe in the Sun, it's there everyday and will be unbiased and glorious. God, he's cool but sometimes takes a long lunch break.

I've got one for you:

"Atheists: the world's hope for the advancement of mankind into the next hopelessly pointless generation."

Or how about,

"Why not Atheism?: Because it's more fun to gripe all day about how stupid all those God-lovers are."

Or,
"Christianity: what have they ever done for humanity? Oh, except for Newton....oh, and Mother Teresa, and those people who run soup kitchens and shelters for the poor and homeless. Oh, and the ones that believe that rape, murder, lying, stealing, cheating, hating, etc.... is wrong. Those guys are ok, except for that they're Christian."

hahaha matt lauer can suck it that damn jew!!!

Seems to me like atheists are attacking the wrong target. I have been fighting the corruption and lies of religion almost my whole life. I think the bible does a much more eloquent job of condemning them than the logic I see in these posters. Doctrines like destiny, trinity, soul are ancient greek philosophy, they are not biblical. The whole idea of a clergy class is not biblical. Nationalism isn't either. Just as ignorance and inability to use the bible is not biblical ignorance of science while singing its dogmas is not science either. I would really love to meet an atheist or a catholic that is even willing to talk. Muslims I know will talk but know almost nothing about their own holy book and from what I can see it condemns their beliefs and actions also.

My definition of religion is encompassing enough to also include things like materialism and nationalism. These things blindly destroy planets and societies. They have gods, people live and die for them, they have high priests, doctrines, arrogance, unreasoning masses of followers and ill informed promoters who spread the culture. Atheism also appears to have some credentials as a religion to me.

Has anyone ever heard of memetics? It seems to provide an interesting perspective regarding this debate, and could potentially lead to some enlightening revelations on the topic of religion. I may however be ill informed and I would be glad to hear some opinions. :)

first, which "holy bible" do you refer to? the one that says anyone who doesn't accept the tooth fairy as their lord and savior will burn eternally in fire? or the one where if they don't believe santa clause is their savior then they are infidels? You religious types all try to make EXCUSES for logical things happening, ALWAYS. As simple as why did the chicken cross the road: a religious person would say to find god, whereas a logical(whether atheist or not) would say that the chicken did not have the mental capacity to know any better. Religious people are sheep, and sheep are Led by a shepherd which in this day and age are televangelist's and people like yourself who claim to "pray for my soul" how about you don't waste your 15seconds at the dinner table talking to your imaginary friend and instead go tell a sensible Psychiatrist the truth. say this: "I find myself talking to an imaginary person/thing every morning, before every meal, before I go to sleep at night, and I go and talk to him in his house every Sunday". Now if anyone said the sensible truth of it, they would be put in a nuthouse or on extreme amounts of medication, am I not correct?

Guys seriously. I think that the best way to go is believe in everything and nothing all at once.God may exist in some form or he may not.You can't prove either cause its a beeing that is infinite which is a concept that the human mind cannot comprehend infinity because the human mind is not equiped for that.There is no infinity in nature.Everything that begins eventually ends.Not counting theoretical mathematics which is exactly that. Theoretical. So imo neither atheists or creationosts ar correct.Because you can't prove either theory. Thats right theory. Thats what both are theories.The oly sure thing in life is that we will all die eventually.Maybe. So live life as you wish believing in what you want.It won't make a difference in the end.

You sir, are a dumbfuck.

I've glanced over some of the posts, so I hope I'm not repeating anything that's been said before.

I'm an atheist, and atheism has brought me no answer as to our purpose, nor has it brought me any inner peace. At this point in my life, I like to think that's because there might not be an answer, and I'm ok with that. I have no inner peace, but I refuse to take the easy way out and let blind faith sooth over this "mal de vivre". I have faith (haha, get it?) that existence as a whole is marvelous enough to be worthy of worship. My God is reality. My inner turmoil can only be conquered by myself.

The real point I want to make however, is to warn atheists. Like most things, religion has good and bad in it. Religion gives peace and harmony to many who - just like you and me - feel this "mal de vivre". One thing I believe everyone can agree on is that we should all strive to lessen suffering, which exists everywhere.

You see the problem is that by blaming religion, you are mistakenly targeting an overwhelming majority of believers who will never force their views on anyone, who do not believe science should be hampered, or religion taught in school. This categorization is a great discredit to your cause, namely freedom of will, research and education. Keep in mind that bringing down religion will only leave a gap to be filled by another entity which may be filled by a greater evil.

Now I'm not saying we should choose the status quo because it may be the lesser of two evils. I am saying: make sure your arguments and debates are properly targeted. Your beef is with hampered scientific research, and freedom of religion (or lack thereof).

Sending flak to religion as a whole makes you no better then those you accuse.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.... So, has an athiest ever stopped to think "hey, what if we're wrong?" Good luck with that after life thing if you are! In the mean time, I will have the respect of Christians AND athiests because of my urge to be good in accordance with Christian doctrine. If I'm worong, Christianity, real or imagined, will have made me the better person and I will be remembered. Athiest, not so much. I have enjoyed a much richer life and have missed nothing because of my belief except more heartache and pain. Nobody tought me, I found out on my own the truth. Good luck and (athiests cover your eyes) God bless.

I don't appreciate these :/

So presumably then good sir you have asked every person you have ever conversed with whether or not they are atheist to be able to voice you comment?

As an atheist it is not religion I have a problem with, I believe that we are all free to believe as we wish. However I have a problem with the education system, science and politics being defined by religion as they are these days. I also have a problem with extremist fundamentalists for obvious reasons.

Lastly have you noticed how religions are one of the best pretexts for wars? For well over 1,000 years christianity has been a pretext or cause of more wars