Comments on: Atheists To Get High Court Hearing

Group's Challenge To President Bush's Faith-Based Initiative Heads To Supreme Court

[cantshutup]

%u201CNot only have the 'followers of Christ' made it their rule to hack to bits all those who do not accept their beliefs, they have also ferociously massacred each other, in the name of their common 'religion of love,' under banners proclaiming their faith in Him who had expressly commanded them to love one another.%u201D
-- Georges Clemenceau, In the Evening of My Thought (Au Soir de la pensee)

[cantshutup]

%u201CWhenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the Bible is filled it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize.%u201D
-- Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason (1792)

[cantshutup]

I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind--that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.

I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious. . .

I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.

I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech . . .

I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.

I believe in the reality of progress.

But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.
-- Mencken's Creed, cited by George Seldes in Great Thoughts

[cantshutup]

%u201CWhat a burden to think one is conceived in sin rather than in pleasure; that one is born into evil rather than into
joy. . . .

It is chilling to think that the same people who persecuted the wise women and men of Europe, its midwives and healers, then crossed the oceans to Africa and the Americas and tortured and enslaved, raped, impoverished, and eradicated the peaceful, Christ-like people they found. And that the blueprint from which they worked, and still work, was the Bible.%u201D
-- Alice Walker, "The Only Reason You Want to Go to Heaven Is That You Have Been Driven Out of Your Mind," Anything We Love Can Be Saved: A Writer's Activism).

[cantshutup]

%u201CLeave the matter of religion to the family altar, the Church, and the private schools, supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate.%u201D
-- Ulysses S, Grant, address delivered in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1875

[cantshutup]

%u201CAtheism is the vice of a few intelligent people.

There are no sects in geometry.

The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power of reasoning.

Sect and error are synonymous.

Common sense is not so common.%u201D
-- Voltaire, Philosophical Dictionary, 1764

[cantshutup]

"Ecrasez l'infame" (crush the infamy--the Christian religion)
--Voltaire

[cantshutup]

%u201CWhenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the Bible is filled it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize.%u201D
-- Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason (1792)

[cantshutup]

%u201CChristianity as antiquity. -- When we hear the ancient bells growling on a Sunday morning we ask ourselves: Is it really possible! This, for a Jew, crucified two thousand years ago, who said he was God's son? The proof of such a claim is lacking. Certainly the Christian religion is an antiquity projected into our times from remote prehistory; and the fact that the claim is believed -- whereas one is otherwise so strict in examining pretensions -- is perhaps the most ancient piece of this heritage. A god who begets children with a mortal woman; a sage who bids men work no more, have no more courts, but look for the signs of the impending end of the world; a justice that accepts the innocent as a vicarious sacrifice; someone who orders his disciples to drink his blood; prayers for miraculous interventions; sins perpetrated against a god, atoned for by a god; fear of a beyond to which death is the portal; the form of the cross as a symbol in a time that no longer knows the function and ignominy of the cross -- how ghoulishly all this touches us, as if from the tomb of a primeval past! Can one believe that such things are still believed?%u201D
-- Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All-Too-Human, 1878

[cantshutup]

%u201CI cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own--a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism. It is enough for me to contemplate the mystery of conscious life perpetuating itself through all eternity, to reflect upon the marvelous structure of the universe which we can dimly perceive, and to try humbly to comprehend even an infinitesimal part of the intelligence manifested in nature.%u201D
-- Albert Einstein

[cantshutup]

Posted by singinrick
"We will both suffer a physical death eventually. The question is where are you going to be spiritually Randal?
I hope for your sake that you come to know the truth before you die, because after you take your last breath, it will be too late. My heart is saddened by your rejection of Christ, but hopefully you'll come to know Him sometime in your life before it's too late".

Athiest are not evil, they are reasonable...As an Agnostic, I feel it is the highest form of arrogance to assume that any human can presume to know anything other than our own reality...How dare someone claim to know what happens after death? How arrogant to presume to know what "god" thinks! How arrogant for anyone to pass judgement on another human being for lacking "faith" or belief in a system of religion! We know the past that we've lived and our own present reality and there is no way on earth to prove anything beyond that. Religion is simply superstition, hope, and fantasy...I wouldn't deny someone the right to believe what they believe, but don't dare try to force your beliefs on me, or judge me for not believing like you do, or expect me to quietly accept your religion creeping and lurking and slowly spreading into my life and that of others who are entitled to live with free will and an expectation that government runs with the interest of everyone involved without bias and with intelligent reasoning! RELIGION OUT OF GOVERNMENT AND GOVERNMENT OUT OF PERSONAL AFFAIRS!!!!!!!!!

[cantshutup]

"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the soul of the souless condition, the heart of a heartless world, it is the opium of the people."
Karl Marx


I for one can't wait till the hypocracy of religion is finally crushed and what a day it will be when churches loose their TAX FREE status...the largest church in my area has a starbucks in it!!! what a crock of ***!...what a bunch of mindless zombies...the more I have to hear of the borish dribble from christians the more I hate them...I don't know which I hate more...religion or george w bush...excuse me while i go vomit!

[gramto7]

singinrick wrote:
Attack me all you'd like RandalDS. But anyone who has read these boards knows of the aggression and pure hatred you have shown on here, unless they are blind, of course.
**
No, Rick, his 'hatred' doesn't come through, because he hasn't shown any. Yours, on the other hand, comes through loud and clear. You started the fight today with your very first post, at least on this particular story.

I am a Christian, and have been for years. I live my life as I believe I am taught to in the Bible. But I do not rant and rale at everyone like you do. That is NOT a Christian attitude.

[btans1]

-You haven't the slightest clue of what you're talking abou btans1.

Posted by singinrick at 06:55 PM : Feb 23, 2007

Ouch!...Snappy comeback Rick

No...I guess you don't think you're superior, do you
Much later

[btans1]

Here's your chance Rick

Explain the difference between what comes out of your mouth day after day on these boards and what came out of the Pharisees mouths every day...and you know what Christ said to and about them.
You stand on this (virtual) corner every day and condem us all because we're not as godly as you think we should be or you are because you can read the Bible.
You truly are the wolf in sheeps clothing that my God warned me about...you're allowed to have your own opinions, but your problem is that you think you have the "knowlege of God" market cornered...Guess what you don't

sorry to the rest of ya'll for giving this guy the chance to spread more of his tripe

[randalds]

RANDLDS..As for the 2 kids you brought up baout being cooked..Shame your dad didn't do that with you..This world would be much better off..

Posted by FARTKNOCKER2 at 04:45 PM : Feb 23, 2007

Less then a troll. His screen name says all you need to know about him. The *** part is the most favoraable part of this guy.

[gurufromhell]

Religion to me seems a lot like the Special Olympics; it's kinda funny to watch and very very important to the participants.

[susanhelit]

I've gotta agree with you there RandalDS. If we were talking about people who live what Christianity claims to be (like my grandparents - deeply religious, never push it on anyone, and set a great example of what a person should be, both in tolerance and in compassion, courage, honor, and goodness) - I think that'd draw people to church. But going to hear sermons about how you should get in the face of people who say "Happy Holidays" (yes, last year at a pre-christmas service!) - hardly any wonder more people are turning their backs on the churches. We're still a small number, but growing!


-----------------------------------
RandalDS posted:
"God" is dying because people like rick are killing him off. His smugness, his self-satisfied holier then thou attitude is the main reason people are running away from Christianity in droves. He oozes slime and slick oil of cheap salesmanship. He dodges legitimate questions then denies he heard the answers to his pitiful trick ones. He demands that people respect his faith, but then ridicules the faiths of others. he is the ultimate hypocrite and bottom feeder.

[gunownerdan]

Separation of church and state HELPS BOTH!
I won't make you believe my fairytales so don't try to make me believe yours and we will get along just fine.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State:
au.org

[susanhelit]

The absence of religion does not equate to teaching atheism - dummies! Come on now - it's just so ridiculously simple. Saying, "There is no god" - that is teaching atheism. Saying, "There is a god, and he came to earth as Jesus Christ" - is teaching christiantiy. Saying, "2+2=4" is teaching math - and is not, as some are positing, atheistic merely because 'god' is not mentioned!

Keeping religion, all religion, out of our government does not make it atheistic, it makes it secular, as the founding fathers most strongly intended, as our soldiers have fought and died to continue. If it was atheistic - you'd know. An equivalent to the faith-based charities would be an atheistic one where prayer is not allowed to qualify for services, and you listen to a sermon on, "I do not believe in god" to get a bed for the night. Huuuuuuuuge difference between that (the true equivalent to faith-based services), and a standard, secular, charity that helps all without pushing any religious belief at all on them.