The Absurdity of Atheism

[inocente]

Waterboarding is compassionate toward the thousands of potential victims, but certainly not to a few evil culprits.

Please stay on topic and try not to lecture others on compassion.

I asked you a question, and anyway you must have thought it was on-topic when you posted your lecture earlier today.

 

[inocente]

I asked you a question, and anyway it was on-topic for you when you posted your lecture earlier today.

 

[Charlemagne_III]

The Good Samaritan, on the other hand, is a model for charity work. He is motivated not by doing good but by compassion. He knows what he’s doing, and when he’s done it he doesn’t hang around but gets on with his own life.

And Jesus chose men revered by His audience, a priest and Levite, to walk on by, and chose a Samaritan, from a tribe despised by His audience, to show mercy, to teach that a person’s beliefs are irrelevant here, which I take it was St Kate’s point.

You really need to read your Protestant Bible more carefully. I assume it says the same thing my Catholic Bible says, since it originated with the approval of the Catholic Church.

Jesus doesn’t say that a person’s beliefs are irrelevant.

Because if you don’t believe what he preaches at the end of Matthew 25, you will find out how terribly relevant they can be.

Matthew 25:45

He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ 46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

 

[DrTaffy]

You assumed I meant Christian as exclusive of non-Christians.
Why did you assume that?

Very simple logic? ‘Christian’ does indeed exclude non-Christian. Law of identity.

And yes, I have read the context, and the inference was very clear. If that was not what you meant, it was very badly worded.

 

[DrTaffy]

"And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

But in no way implying that Christians do good in order to receive eternal life rather than eternal punishment?

 

[inocente]

Jesus doesn’t say that a person’s beliefs are irrelevant.

Because if you don’t believe what he preaches at the end of Matthew 25, you will find out how terribly relevant they can be.

Matthew 25:45

He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ 46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Jesus says the righteous, He doesn’t say anything any beliefs there.

The passage shows that Jesus is concerned with the welfare of all God’s children. He doesn’t mention your interest about where they spend Sunday morning.

As the expression has it, He’s not concerned with who talks the talk, but with who walks the walk. c.f. the atheist Sartre and his expression “bad faith” - a person is his actions, not his wishful thinking.

 

[Charlemagne_III]

Jesus says the righteous, He doesn’t say anything any beliefs there.

What he says is something you better believe. All the more so because you are presumably a Bible Christian?

 

[DCNBILL]

But in no way implying that Christians do good in order to receive eternal life rather than eternal punishment?

You misunderstand the nature of Christian doctrine. A Christian does “the good” as you say not in order to avoid damnation but because it is the will of God to do so.

 

[DrTaffy]

You misunderstand the nature of Christian doctrine. A Christian does “the good” as you say not in order to avoid damnation but because it is the will of God to do so.

I understand the claim. I am just pointing out the repeated references to the eternal punishment or reward.

 

[NM505StKate]

Wasn’t in dispute

Then you don’t need to attach “Christian” to morals.

 

[tonyrey]

The very fact that atheism says nothing implies that it has no explanation which is hardly a rational basis for choosing how to live. In other words it is a defective position to adopt. At least agnostics have the humility to admit they don’t know whether God exists.

I’m not sure what you mean by “that”. Regarding the universe as self-explanatory?

People can be secular humanists and be atheists. That is a bit of a strawman to claim that it is hardly a rational basis to live. Men like Aron Ra and Matt Dillahunty are atheists that show very positive ways of living.

Positive ways of living based on the belief that life originated by chance for no reason or purpose whatsoever? Camus and Sartre were more consistent…

 

[NM505StKate]

I’m not sure what you mean by “that”. Regarding the universe as self-explanatory?

Positive ways of living based on the belief that life originated by chance for no reason or purpose whatsoever? Camus and Sartre were more consistent…

sigh Are you saying that positive living needs to have belief in life originated by God?

 

[clem456]

Then you don’t need to attach “Christian” to morals.

That’s who I am.
Why do you object to me recognizing the commonality in what you said?
What’s the problem.

 

[tonyrey]

**The very fact that atheism says nothing implies that it has no explanation which is hardly a rational basis for choosing how to live. In other words it is a defective position to adopt. **

On the contrary. It implies that there is **no reason **why we exist.

I could as easily dismiss Christianity as absurd because it does not provide a cost-efficient solution for me to get to and from my work-place. But since Christianity does not deal with that sort of issue, I would be foolish to dismiss it on such grounds.

There is a vast difference between a detail of life and the purpose of life itself.

People can arrive at atheism by any number of routes and due to any number of different reasons. Atheism has neither dogma nor doctrine.

To assert there is no God is a dogmatic assertion if ever there was one!

Consequently, atheism does not attempt to provide answers to all of the questions for which theists believe God is the answer. Get five atheists in a room and you’ll probably get six opinions on each issue. For some of these questions, science or philosophy have proposed alternative possible answers. For some questions the honest answer is “I don’t know.” But these answers are not a part of atheism, however much those who argue against it might wish them to be. .

Atheists disagree on details but they are united in their dogmatic assertion that there is no God.

 

[NM505StKate]

On the contrary. It implies that there is **no reason **why we exist.
There is a vast difference between a detail of life and the purpose of life itself.

To assert there is no God is a dogmatic assertion if ever there was one!

Atheists disagree on details but they are united in their dogmatic assertion that there is no God.

There is no proof of God. The burden of proof is on Christians who claim God exists. As for purpose in life, make your own purpose in life. You, yes you make the purpose and the drive. We only have this one life to live so might as well make the best of it.

Clem; Fair but morals themselves are not a strict Christian ideal.

 

[Aloysium]

There is no proof of God. The burden of proof is on Christians who claim God exists. As for purpose in life, make your own purpose in life. You, yes you make the purpose and the drive. We only have this one life to live so might as well make the best of it.

Clem; Fair but morals themselves are not a strict Christian ideal.

There is no proof that you exist as you do in yourself. I am simply giving you the heads up on what I know as you know that you exist. You can do with that information as you wish.

One does not make a purpose, one discovers it. If you don’t believe me, try making one up and bet your life on it. You really think that will fly?

I wonder how much the prevalence of depression these days is related to people having not bothered to look for their purpose, and accepting what society tells them is good. There is no purpose to suffering we are told, as assisted suicide becomes a form of medical treatment.

We do have only this one life to live. Who we are for all eternity depends on what we do. So we should be very sure that we are living it the way it was intended.

 

[Charlemagne_III]

There is no proof of God. The burden of proof is on Christians who claim God exists. As for purpose in life, make your own purpose in life. You, yes you make the purpose and the drive. We only have this one life to live so might as well make the best of it.

Clem; Fair but morals themselves are not a strict Christian ideal.

Kate, I’m confused here. Please clarify. Are you a Catholic, or is there more than one person using your handle at CA?

To say that “morals themselves are not a strict Christian ideal” is not what I expect from a Catholic, at least not from one who has been properly catechized.

 

[NM505StKate]

There is no proof that you exist as you do in yourself. I am simply giving you the heads up on what I know as you know that you exist. You can do with that information as you wish.

One does not make a purpose, one discovers it. If you don’t believe me, try making one up and bet your life on it. You really think that will fly?

I wonder how much the prevalence of depression these days is related to people having not bothered to look for their purpose, and accepting what society tells them is good. There is no purpose to suffering we are told, as assisted suicide becomes a form of medical treatment.

We do have only this one life to live. Who we are for all eternity depends on what we do. So we should be very sure that we are living it the way it was intended.

My purpose is helping people smile. To be a shoulder for them to lean on. Nice belittling a mental illness Sir. That last sentence makes no sense. You seem to still be betting there is something after we die where an atheist doesn’t believe so and makes the most of now. The proof I exist is that I am here and I can trace my roots.

 

[NM505StKate]

Kate, I’m confused here. Please clarify. Are you a Catholic, or is there more than one person using your handle at CA?

To say that “morals themselves are not a strict Christian ideal” is not what I expect from a Catholic, at least not from one who has been properly catechized.

Only one person uses this name here. I also did research and morals aren’t a strict Christian ideal. Many older cultures have had morals. It is how humans have survived.

 

[Charlemagne_III]

Only one person uses this name here. I also did research and morals aren’t a strict Christian ideal. Many older cultures have had morals. It is how humans have survived.

O.K. If you had said “morals themselves are not an exclusively Christian ideal” I would not have bothered you. My bad.