The Honest Atheist?

[Christianbookworm]

The question is... are the bullies being consistent with their belief system?

[lilpixieofterror]

Hey FF, have you actually read what Pascal's Wager says and do you seriously think most of us Christians were 'coercived' into being Christians? Adding onto this, do you think the following things are bad:

- high blood pressure
- heart disease
- heart attack
- lung cancer
- throat cancer
- diabetes

These are all conditions doctors warn us about that can happen if a person doesn't change their habits (such as smoking or their diets), so are you going to argue that a doctor shouldn't warn us about potential dangers associated with certain habits or will you accusing them of being bullies for doing so? After all, that is how your logic seems to be working.

[lilpixieofterror]

Where do I say that Christians are bullies? I said the religion bullies her, not the religious.

And how does it do that FF? I'd love to hear you explain this and I'd also love to hear you explain how doctors are bullies too for telling people the dangers of smoking. I mean, isn't telling somebody they could get cancer from smoking using bullying tactics to get them to change their ways?

[lilpixieofterror]

I think I come across as snarky sometimes when I'm just being humorous. That, and some of my "opponents" seem to have pretty thin skin. I need to try harder to sound as kind and loving "in print" as I really am in real life. After all, how could I be good friends with an atheist lesbian Jew who constantly attacked my beliefs if I were hateful or snarky to her?

Actually CP, I think you are quite humorous when you try to be. Then again, I do have a sense of humor and can take a joke.

[shunyadragon]

No Shuny, but men can be self-deceived, and mistaken. And since I take scripture as authoritative I see no reason why it isn't correct on this subject. After all you believe that all men are created in the image of God like I do - that is true whether others believe it or not. And you and I only know that based on Divine Revelation and we take it as fact - a fact that can not be demonstrated empirically.

The problem is the accusation of lying, self-deceived, cultural conditioning, convenience and comfort of belief what your parents and grand parents believed, or maybe even an intense search for the true belief. The problem is the same regardless of what you believe.

[seanD]

In light of certain scriptures can there be an honest atheist, or do they all suppress the truth in wickedness?

The answer is we all suppress the truth in wickedness to at least some degree. Sometimes we're really good at justifying it too. It's in our natures.

[whag]

North Korea is probably not the best choice for a poster child of freedom of religion. Though the "majority" religion is Buddhism, NK is an atheist state. So, yeah, if you wanna see bullies in action, check out them thar atheists.

North Korea actually heavily promotes and enforces a belief in the supernatural. It is by no means atheist.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/ki...e-media-65590/

[Christianbookworm]

Guess because communist=atheism for many people. Though I've heard North Korea is a weird type of communism that's more of a cult surrounding the original leader or something.

[Darth Executor]

North Korea actually heavily promotes and enforces a belief in the supernatural. It is by no means atheist.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/ki...e-media-65590/

There's nothing about atheism that requires the disbelief in the supernatural in general.

[thewriteranon]

Guess because communist=atheism for many people. Though I've heard North Korea is a weird type of communism that's more of a cult surrounding the original leader or something.

Cults of Personality are pretty common in communist states. Mao, Stalin, etc. It's a sort of religious adherence and idolization to the actions of a certain person. Doesn't necessarily make them any less atheist, though.

[Cow Poke]

North Korea actually heavily promotes and enforces a belief in the supernatural. It is by no means atheist.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/ki...e-media-65590/

Read that carefully, Whag --- it's trying to imply that the "dear leader" was God.

[cite (if it actually worked) = Christian Post]
NORTH KOREA RELIGION

Today, Juche is no longer just an ideology, but a full-fledged religion that worships Kim Il Sung as god, and his son, Kim Jong Il as the son of god. Whether or not Kim Jong Un is now worshipped as the grandson of god remains to be seen.

In 2005, David Hawke, the respected human rights investigator, interviewed 40 North Korean escapees about religion in North Korea. Here are some of their responses about North Korea's religion:

"Juche is the only religion North Korean people can have."

"We learned that there were two lives: one is the physical life and the other is the political life. We were taught that political life was forever along with the leaders and the Party. Therefore, I believed that my political life was more important than my physical life."

"According to party covenant, Article 1, section 1, all North Koreans are required to worship Kim Il Sung with all our heart and might, even after his death. We have to venerate the pictures and status of Kim Il Sung."

"We must hang [Kim Il Sung's] pictures. The pictures indicate that Kim Il Sung is god, as we hang the pictures for the purpose of reminding ourselves that we depend on him."

"Hanging portraits of Kim's family is compulsory for every household. The portraits must be hung on the best wall of every home, and nothing else can be hung under the portraits. Families with high loyalty to the Party bow down under the portraits even when nobody is watching."

"Religious freedom is not allowed in North Korea because it will ruin the deification of Kim Il Sung."

"Having faith in God is an act of espionage. Only Kim Il Sung is a god in North Korea."[/I wish the cite tags worked]

=======================

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religio...tate_Atheism-2

Traditionally religion in North Korea primarily consisted of Buddhism and Confucianism and Korean shamanism. Since the arrival of Europeans in the 18th century, there is a Christian minority. New religions have arisen during the last century, the most prominent one being Cheondoism, based on traditional shamanism. North Korea is officially an atheist state[2][3] North Korea sees organized religious activity as a potential challenge to the leadership.[4]

[Cow Poke]

There's nothing about atheism that requires the disbelief in the supernatural in general.

Correct, and they use that "supernatural" element in NK to make the dear leader God, and all other religions are a threat to the state.

[Christianbookworm]

Like horror movies with demons, but no God to pray to, because involving the good supernatural agents in a horror movie would make it not a horror movie. God is definitely not the sort to hand out a dues ex machina every week.

[Christianbookworm]

ninja...

[TimelessTheist]

In light of certain scriptures can there be an honest atheist, or do they all suppress the truth in wickedness?

Well, there are some who are legitimately, innocently, ignorant of the facts, however, those types of atheists are certainly in the minority. The mass majority of atheists, I would say, yes, they do suppress the truth through their own wickedness and self-deception.