amen

Disco Badger HAHAHAHAHAHA

@@carlosavila4290 xD

@@carlosavila4290 LOL

same

The thing is, the religious only have a few arguments, which are easy to debunk. So they do become boring talking points.

Indeed. I have a hard time now having a general discussion with them. Just two days ago I had a flock arguing the silly points of 'why are there still apes?' But then later that evening I got in to a real discussion with one Christian. Although I was a bit of a snarky ass to him at first he gave it back to me and we actually laughed about the whole thing and asked each other questions.

Great food for thought. I'm guilty of saying many of these things and will strive to overcome and stop taking the easy way out or making the easy argument.

Yes, that is what every arguments boils down to, because that is usually the key difference between atheists(A) and christians(C). Usually, A use more evidence-based approach to the world, while C use more faith-based. That is called epistemology, and CAN NOT be changed through arguments, reason or generally anything you can throw at an opponent, only opponent himself can change it. So, the only thing you can do is give them food for thought, make them think for themselves, and eventually(this can take years) become atheists. For more on this topic, read Peter Boghossian's 'Manual for creating Atheists'.

@@SevinChurch There are still apes because God created every creature according to their kind and ape kind and human kind are two separate kinds, but scientists for whatever the reason choose to merge the two together, but such a thing is wrong to do. If it was actually possible for ape kind to become human kind then eventually ape kind would be phased out of existence due to them becoming human kind, but such a thing doesn't happen.

u still alive?

@@Pomegrandmate bruh

@@jgordan775 he dead

@@Pomegrandmate wtf man

@@Pomegrandmate lmaooo 😂

vanessa benoit only thing i dont understand is why you'd seem to care so much about me coming to "your side". i'd side with agnosticism before atheism personally. so idk, maybe you should also not mention us coming to your side because that kind of reinforces the us vs them mentality that i think you are trying to dismantle. k thanks :)

Yeah he's a breath of fresh air. Very few Atheists like him.

vanessa benoit Most atheists are agnostic.

wallybal1297 technically yes.

wallybal1297 How?

I completely agree with you. I am also a Christian and recently I’ve had conversations with atheists that were not understanding at all. I was just called crazy for my beliefs just the other day. The important thing is that both sides need to respect one another.

I'm Totally Neutrality I'm not Atheist or Agnostic or Theist or any other labeled brand name

@@jillianh7565 really u guys call us sinners

@@aaravkallingal5088 We are all sinners, that includes Christians. I am no better than anyone and vice versa.

@@aaravkallingal5088 I mean yea but they call themselves sinners as well, they think all people are sinners so your not really special

Agreed.

Keep preaching!

Same here buddy

It's nice to see there's good Christians out there...I'm often approached by the unsavory bunch

@@nathanlloyd774 I know, it's disappointing and kinda puts you off right? But that is why it is said to follow god and do your best to be Christ like, put your faith in god. The christians that are so unsavory as you say are the ones who's faith is not strong enough. A lot of people follow christianity as a means of just "making sure they won't go to hell", as an easy way out. But they usually pick out what they want to believe and follow, then do as they please even if it's straight up against the word of god. In the bible, that is the kind of behavior that Satan encourages. You take the word of god and bend it to your own will, or force your will upon someone using the word of god. This kind of behavior is demonstrated and encouraged by Satan in the bible. A great example here: Luke 4: 9-12 Satan brings Jesus to the top of the temple in Jerusalem and says to him, "If you are the son of god, throw yourself down from here. For it is written: He shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against the stone." Such behavior is what I hear a lot of christians doing. Twist the meaning of the word and feed it out to work for them, not for god. Hope that made any sense, and hope it maybe spoke to you in some way?

+James Sarvan Somebody might have introduced you to a religion, but it is still a choice whether you will believe it and live by it. Otherwise I could say that "atheism isn't a choice" if you happened to be born in an atheist household, but certainly it is a choice whether you will be an atheist or if you will adopt christianity, islam or buddhism or whatever else sometime when you are mature enough to make that conscious decision of which path you will follow.

Matheas It's not really a neutral/fair choice since you are taught you're entire life that it is right and that you can't question it. Atheism is all about questioning, so you can't really compare the two.

James Sarvan Nobody has told me I can't question what I've been taught (although people would probably be disappointed if I did leave my faith), but even if it had been the case that I had been told not to question it, that doesn't mean I wouldn't question it. Regardless of our beliefs or what we've been taught, everybody has a mind of their own and the ability to question and choose what they will believe in. If what you say had been true then there would be no former christians, and yet a whole lot of atheists are former christians who were brought up christians but eventually questioned what they had been taught and made up their own mind through questioning and criticizing the faith that they had been brought up with.

Matheas But most people are. Maybe not always word for word, but when you are told that something is the ONLY WAY that things are, then you are not supposed to question it, they leave you no room to do it. No, as I said in my original post, it's a choice to LEAVE the faith, but not to enter it. I was baptized when I was a baby. I went to sunday school the first time before I could even form real sentences. It was not a choice. It was taught to me as truth.

James Sarvan Do you think that you being baptized is what made you a christian? Do you think that just because you were taken to sunday school, you were a christian? To actually believe that Jesus is the son of God, to repent and freely choose to follow in his footsteps is what makes you a christian. A whole lot of people have been baptized, went to sunday school and done every christian tradition when they had no clue what it was even about, that didn't make them christians. It would be the same thing as an atheist child being raised by atheist parents who think that atheism is the truth and that there is no God. Telling their child since he was a kid that there is no God, naturalism is the only way and that life ultimately has no objective purpose. Is it the words of the parents that make the child an atheist? No, it is the child's own beliefs that make him or her an atheist, and human beings can think for themselves and question that which they have been taught. It is one thing to be indoctrinated, it is another thing to come to a conclusion on your own, and it is this conclusion that you make on your own that determines what you believe, not your parents or your friends or your upbringing.

@YHWH>>:Only fools say in their heart “There is no God”. -Psalm 14:1

Nicholas No I wil never convince other. Everyone has their right, their choice. So let them choose what they believe.

Chandra Angela I'm sorry about your past with religious people. I'd like to learn about Buddhism and other religions but I don't know where to start can you help me please.

The Weird Fangirl​ I am sorry. I think there are books about religions. How should I say? Umm I know it but I don't know how to teach or explain someone else. I am really bad at explaining. You should start at studying their fundamental logic. What is it? What do they do? What is the difference? etc... Books are the best. They can't convince you. 

Chandra Angela its buddhist

paul18 parreno ok my religion is buddhism. I am buddhist.

I have to argue against your point, because the reason that churches are tax exempt is not because they are charitable, but for the reason that they are non-profit organizations. Schools that are non-profit get the same tax exemptions, and my best friend's high school, Serendipity Center, is a prime example of a non-charity non-profit with tax exemptions. Public schools, like Centennial High school, from which I graduated, can be for-profit or non-profit. The for-profit schools are NOT tax exempt as organizations, and therefore the people who own the school have to pay taxes on it. Essentially, if a church was for-profit as an organization, it would be taxed. Instead of trying to tax a non-profit organization, we should instead, like was previously explained, force them to report where their donations and other sources of income are used, and for what purposes. Under the premise that we keep track of their use of income, as with all non-profit organizations, if they use their income for things they shouldn't, they would be properly shut down just like any other non-profit. This argument was brought to you by an atheist with a dislike for ambiguity.

高梨六道 My question would be, what exactly does "non-profit" mean? If a pastor buys a car with money from the church, then that is obviously profit, right? But what if they say that his Mercedes is necessary for him to get around and help the organization? How about when a priest gets free accommodations? Usually, people pay for accommodations, so that is also profit, right? To me, "Non-profit" means that you are not getting a monetary benefit. You only have just enough to continue to run things in order to further a positive cause. And I don't see how churches qualify. If a church can be a non-profit organization and pay for food, accommodations, and cars for ministers, then why cant I claim my own job as not for profit, but allow the money I make to pay for food, accommodations, and cars, too? Maybe I just don't know about the nuances of the law, but then again, I think that the law itself is probably misguided and should be changed.

高梨六道 Public schools are for the public good, churches aren't.

Totally agree. Churches should be taxable just like regular companies. Most of them, especially in the US, are in it for the profit anyway. I'd even say they should be taxed *higher* than corporations, as corporations often provide something useful that people need or want, while churches use coercion and blatant lies in order to fool people into paying them. If it was up to me, unethical companies like that should be taxed higher in order to promote a sound, honest business environment.

Ronny Ager-Wick - Right you are! Churches are frauds and should be prosecuted as such. If I sell "magic water" and convince you it will cure your cancer, I could go to prison for decades. If I put on a robe, stick some religious symbols in plain view, I can "give" you a "blessed, red, prayer string" to cure your cancer for a "free will offering" and get away scot free. And, the "charitable" work that churches do isn't a bit charitable. It's advertising, purely and simply. It exists only to gain converts to the religion. It's as if Budweiser claimed tax exemption on the money it spends on Super Bowl ads and the costs of raising the Clydesdales. If that isn't possible, the charity doesn't happen. After the 2002 tsunami, many Christian churches in the US sent "aid" to the victims. When the Muslim government said, "Thank you ever so much. We really appreciate your kindness and your aid but you may not preach Christianity. If you do, you'll be arrested." many of the churches withdrew their people AND their aid. They took their respective balls and went home. I, myself, read on the websites of some of these churches, long screeds about the ingratitude of the Muslims in "turning away help". I also read comments by members of these churches praying that "Jesus would soften their hard Muslim hearts." and allow the "good work" to be carried on. Christian charity is advertising.

Travy CrankdAT Wow, that was rude. And guess what? I'm not going to insult you back, thus proving the incredible truth that we christians are truly moral people. Sorry, but you can't say the same thing about yourself after making a remark like that.

***** Sorry, but you didn't get what I was saying at all. You're obviously one of those people that flock to Dusty. Anyone who has the ability to think for themselves would see that what I said was not disrespectful. The only disrespect that Travy got came from his own words, not mine. What he said tells nothing of me, but everything about him. And by the way, while I do believe homosexuality is wrong, I am still accepting of homosexuals and treat them with the same common decency I show everyone else. That's the beauty of Christianity.

If you've never heard of Dusty, what atheist do you flock to like the mindless sheep you clearly are? Second, I believe homosexuality wrong simply because the bible says so. Who am I to argue with the lord? Third, I never said that common decency is a trait EXCLUSIVE to christians, did I? I bid you farewell, common sheep.

***** No more holding back and feeling sorry for theists!

That’s their problem *****

Why is everyone here a minecraft hater? and WHY does everyone say AN minecraft hater??!!

Bennett Tofner if your an minecrafter, that's okay, too!

I like that. I wish more people had your point of view, the world would be a better place.

Thanks! :)

Ya same here I get myself into trouble though cuz I'm curious on what others believe so people think I'm weird

***** Which is sad since the solution is so simple lol.

You are 100 percent correct. Going back to what he said in number 1 "let's find out their beliefs and criticize that." Why criticize anyone's beliefs? I am a firm believer in everyone has the right to belive what they want to believe and my friends that are of other religions have that same belief. The world would be a lot better if everyone would just accept the fact that we are all different and have our own beliefs. This religious war amongst each other would stop.

Best post I've seen in ages, brother.

Is the certainty on their part that God doesn't exist not a belief?

Boom. No. It doesn't work like that.

Exactly what I was going to say. Thx

Maybe that's true statistically, but that doesn't mean you can apply that to the Individual.

Hat 'n'cloak But it means that you have a very strong justification for assuming that about the Christian or the Muslim that you are talking to. While assuming is not something I myself would promote per se...

For one, that thing about atheists knowing more about religion than the religious was only taken using a very small test group in a few select cities. I guarantee the average atheist would not know more about Islam or Judaism than a person from the middle east. That claim as always bugged me because of the fact that it was never tested on a larger scale after it shows the results on a smaller scale. It just isn't fair to make that assumption. As with his 1st point it is wrong to make assumptions if you expect anyone to take you seriously.

right right

agreed

christian here, so true. Great, amazing, pheonix-rising-from-the-ashes refreshing. we need to have some society where christians and atheist intellectually talk with peace. instead of the society of blatherskite's we all live in.

Ditty kong Go to parts of Europe where they have that figured out. As long as fundamentalists have a stranglehold on society, we can't have much intellectual debate, since they're mostly anti-intellectual.

KyleBuschPackFan that is really funny because some of us Christians think that the secular have a stranglehold on government. You would actually be surprised to hear that fundamentalist are actually intellectual, we just don't really believe in evolution or the big bang because it doesn't have any hard-hitting evidence, not that there isn't any evidence at all. true fundamentalist will actually go into the Greek or Hebrew translation to get the correct translation. (note: when i say fundamentalist, i mean " people who believe in the strict and literal translation" and not the arrogant and/or ignorant people in religion.

I'm gonna you use the feminist logic here: Oh, so you support slavery, handicapped discrimination, discrimination of women, etc.

@@1nv15BL3 Bloody hell?

@@IronWarrior_69 Don't worry, I'm not like that in real life, I was just using the feminist analogy of: "if you don't support this group, then you are against it".

The problem I have with the whole "right christian wrong christian" thing is that most christians don't even follow most of the precepts in the bible, so in a sense, none of them are christians. So yeahhh. When I see one of the christians trying to stone someone for wearing polyester, then we may have found a candidate for a "TRUE" christian.

Ridiculing someone rather than disagreeing and debating it with them shows that you are prone to acting out your resentment in a childish manner. It also stems from the dangerous belief that you are better than them. Long story short, you are part of the problem.

Ahh I tired to debate it earlier, he admitted to not having done any relevant research. So obviously I'm the one being unreasonable. That makes tons of sense. Next time I need an intelligent comment, I'll come straight to you idiots. You guys obviously haven't been around from earlier and are just making comments on my last one. But hey what can I expect from children. They rush into something that they have no idea about and start commenting about it. Like they have any idea what is going on. If you would chastise me for not debating him, realize that I tried, go and read what was written, and see that he himself admits, he has nothing to offer. So yeahhh obviously a bot. You guys are just john come latelys who have no idea what they are talking about :) Have a nice life being blind.

Cortexsaga bro, Christian literally means follower of Christ, and correct me if I'm wrong but Jesus clearly said "let he who is without sin cast the first stone".

I'm sure someone would play the "separation of church and state" card. I can imagine that person claiming that taxing the church would be building a bridge from government to church.

BTC Fanboi no, it's making churches equal to everyone else. A church needs to follow the same rules as any other registered social group.

BTC Fanboi That bridge has already been built. From lobbyist to pastors telling their church members to vote for a specific politician to further that faiths agenda. So if they want to cross that bridge and get involved with politics then they should be expected to pay the toll.

Nerobyrne "If a church wants to be a tax-exempt organisation, they should apply for NON-PROFIT status, like EVERY OTHER ORGANIZATION!" Most of them already *did* apply & *are* registered thus. "A church needs to follow the same rules as any other registered social group." That's literally what Hemant said in the video.

CaptHayfever no, they are not registered as non-profit organizations. They are registered as churches, and thus get preferential treatment when they apply for tax-exempt status. (see Scientology)

i respect the people but not their beliefs, I think there is a problem with religion when they try to enforce their faith in schools and work

***** Uh no. I specifically said "Unless they are attacking people because of their religion."

***** Read my comment.. It says that. Well it says "The exception being..." but it means the same thing...

why?

Pie God so far, I've only read the first scentence in your comment, and I'll i have to say is... *Why can't there be more people like YOU???*

Christian here and I do agree.

you're probably just paranoid

No 😊

Franko Zrilic yes because talking to yourself is not gonna help

I aint talking to myself it's not my fault that ur an atheist and don't believe in God 😊

I thought this channel was supposed to help athiests be more friendly to christians Youre just making more of a bad view

dont expect to be respected by them then

DariusCLP This is not a popularity contest. If and when they come to their senses I may speak to them like they are an adult. Until that day they will receive nothing but venom from me...

I don't think that has anything to do with your views on the subject; rather I think it has more to do with the fact that your are just generally an unpleasant person.

lmao religious people are stupid

like dude said. one question. who created this god?

trust me chick. after seeing the bigotry of religious people being racist. hating gays. knocking other religions. also clear stupidity i might add ive come to the conclusion that ur all retards. educate urself. stop being a follower and be a leader. stop being sheep. the fact that none of you idiots who claims religion will commit the acts of violence in the bible like sacrifices and such and freely claim it was for "god" just shows ur all fake. period. u have idiotic faith in something for 1. then u walk around feeling "proud" because u believe some nonexistent word. u keep doing what ur doing. ima keep doing what im doing. i know my knowledge trumps what ever ur claiming. so u keep being the less educated individual. the fact that people support bigotry sexism and racism then claim their are religious is why religion will forever be a joke to those that have actual sense of reality. u live in a false reality. have a nice day

and trust me. ive said the same thing to my wife

omg i hate when people are this religiously stupid.

They could be told judaism was true but then came to be christian because they thought jesus was god and not just a prophet or whatever.

people convert to Christianity all the time in adulthood, they just don't fully understand what their beliefs entail and that there are better explanations as to how we came to be than that a god did it.

It's cool to see a really positive KZfaq comment! And also see someone step back and admit they were wrong at times. This video taught me a bit too.

Thank you Christopher. It's cool to see a positive reply for once, too! :)

Amen, church doesn't save you, it's the spiritual relationship between you and God that saves you.

Im a christian too and i 100% know god is real aint turnin back

@@itachisucks6693 amen

A church Is not actually a building. It’s a gathering of people who worship and share the word of God.

@@gemb7986 very true 👍

true words

It's hard to respect morons though who believe in bullshit

@@chrismccartney2780 You are the reason this video was made.

@@existing3628 thank you

Respect is earned, having not had my personal atheism respected by Christians when I was younger in the words of their nasty book of bad news, you reap what you sow. And there's a world of difference between tolerance and state sponsorship. They could just do their charitable deeds without any religious influence as they should otherwise it's not really charity, just trying to brown nose their way into heaven. Why should I tolerate their nonsense in a place it doesn't belong? Faith is not a virtue.

Someone's been reading Sam Harris. I agree; I think people can't really be blamed, in any real way, for their religious (or otherwise) beliefs. That just makes it that much more important for others, like ourselves, to change the minds of believers in as nice of a way as possible, instead of degrading them and being vitriolic. It doesn't mean, however, that we can't be tough when we discuss the topic. There's a fine line, but I think it's possible to ride it. I think Seth Andrews is a good example of this. (edit: so is Hemant Mehta)

#forealatheistswag #defsnotsarcasm #PREECHIT

Belief is a choice. We put our thoughts into it and we unconsciously decide what is best to believe in. Seeing the world in a different light usually involves considering dialogue of new possibilities. There have been atheists who've become christians before and most definitely vice versa. Sure, we aren't consciously picking our beliefs but our mind is always leaning towards one thing that we decide we believe in.

But doesn't using the word "choice" or "decide" just muddle the definition? Outside of the context of beliefs, when do we ever talk about choices being an unconscious process? I agree that the unconscious part of the mind could be said to decide what the right answer probably is, but when we allow the word to be used that loosely, many religious people see that as an opportunity to use Pascal's Wager, or worse, simply insist that we "try to believe," which is totally fruitless for those that don't already believe.

Jeremy West I don't understand how you can have "unconscious choice". I'm not in control of my unconsciousness, and I kind of doubt anyone is; thus, where would the idea of "choice" come into play? Belief is *not* a choice. Let's say you wanted to conduct an experiment: to wake up tomorrow determined to start believing in say, for example, Allah. Other than playing the role of a believer (talking the talk, etc), would you actually suddenly believe in Allah? Or course not. You have to be persuaded from external influences to change your mind. Perhaps the issue is semantic; maybe we're not defining "choice" in the same way.

While I agree it's good that he accept scientific facts, I don't think your friend is really a Christian. And if he is, why is he only believing in some parts and not all of it? Does he think that the ones writing the bible were lying about some parts of it? It's what Doug Stanhope says: Christians believe everything in the bible that doesn't directly affect them: "I believe in an after life, Jesus Christ and heaven. But premarital sex, that must have been a typo." I'm sorry, but people like that are bullshit.

Simen Iversen he is young, he has not yet dicide witch direction he want his life to go. he keeps all doors open

It's good, absolutely - maybe he's not Christian but a deist. Maybe he believes in a god without religion. I could respect that much more than believing in a religion "just because". :)

Simen Iversen It could also be that he thinks that some things in the bible are not meant to be taken literally. I know a few (very few) christians much like that. They think that the bible is not 100% literal in its words and more metaphorical. Which I don't really get but hey its a step right?

Simen Iversen worse than a Scotsman pulling a no true Scotsman fallacy is a Cambodian pulling the no true Scotsman fallacy. Look again to Hemat's third point in this video and remember that major Christian churches do not consider the Bible as the source of their faith.

Amen

1.the hell was created by satan 2.God doesnt force you to believe in Him.its your choice 3. if you dont believe in Him and after u die u end up at heaven gate why should he receive you ? if u didnt believe in your creator in the first place and you mocked his name? you wont be received so that means your soul can only go the other way ,which is to hell ..or maybe there is a middle empty dark space or singularity between heaven and hell designed for the people who were atheists but were good people in their life ... a dark lonely place a lil better than hell ...the last thing is my theory only

natalie shinobi 1 Oh wow. God created everything so he created Hell at first just for satan and his demons but later to everyone who do not beleive in him. Ps. read the bible. 2 Exactly, he doesent force anyone but blackmail people and scare them with eternal torture, which is much better? I dont know. 3 i did not get your point, you are forced by god to burn and suffer if you do not beleive in him which is to me so radical it actually makes no sense, this religion is just too brutal for me.

Sooo... I take it no one has read The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis? Or listened to accounts of near death experiences?

-_- really? OH By God... give this man/woman a brain. please.

theblackbull55 When you die the soul becomes detached from the physical. Since you no longer have a physical body you, your soul, will fall downwards like a leaf from a tree unless there is a force which raises you upwards. God is that force. Up or down, the choice is yours.

I know so many ex-atheists now Christian, including me. No indoctrination involved at all.

@@topologyrob saying “no indoctrination at all” is stupid because I guarantee if your parents didn’t teach you Christianity you would not be a Christian

@@cringememes1044 Garbage - you assumed totally wrong.

@@topologyrob point still stands. Many Christian’s wouldn’t be Christian if their parents didn’t teach them it

@@cringememes1044 Your fallacy is assuming that religion is based on beliefs

I have to agree. I know of so many people who are devout Christians and say they believe every word of the Bible and have never read the entire thing.

Anyone can be found to have done this regardless of beliefs. On the flip side, I listen to an apologist who originally was atheist, only because I'm pretty sure he's actually examined what he believes and why. Gotta find an atheist who has put forth that much effort (whether he be a convert or not) and cross reference them sometime...

+The Emo Thingy You're a total inhuman shitstain

elibeth1211 pls watch ray comfort's videos

who also has a deep appreciation for run on sentences

Emotion doesn't change facts, but trying to instigate a fight is a terrible way of having a real conversation. The other person gets defensive and shuts out everything you're saying. Hell, it further entrenches the ideas they have to them because only assholes have the ideas you have, therefore they must be wrong. Which is dumb, but so are emotions.

no. humans and animals came from evelution.

lazyDude77 why do u care in what someone else believes in?

lazyDude77 some questions aren't answerable, that's where beliefs and religion take place, where people can believe (or not believe whatever they want to)

Mother Moth They don't have an answer...yet. That's what we have science for. People who actually "choose" what they believe in are few in numbers. Most are born in to their religion and and get their beliefs carved in to their brains. Apparently people are less likely to have faith when a person hear about a magical being in the sky that is the answer to everything for the first time in their twenties.

+LazyDude77 technically we are animals. just the most evolved.

ShpookyBear369 good for you. Especially with an extremely Christian mother, that was very courageous😉 hopefully she'll be accepting of your choices. Good luck👍🏻

Kaitlyn Luba I am so lucky. She read my messages and then she came to my room and told me that she loves me and that she'll pray for me. I'm just glad she didn't tell me to leave or something like that. It went a lot better than I thought it would. Thanks for your encouragement.

ShpookyBear369 must've been a little awkward when she said she pray for you but I guess it could've been a lot worse!😂 I'm happy she reacted well👍🏻

how is religion tearing apart families

stacy gilbert um....I just said it....because I was scared that my mom would pick "Jesus" (an imaginary creature) over her own living daughter!

Anne Bell Cherish that hour

I'm sorry you had to go through that.

I'll pray for you. It must be hard knowing you wasted an hour of your life.

You taught me a new word today. Irascible. That is an awesome word. Thank you for expanding my vocabulary. Haha. :)

When has the position of atheism been rebutted? Has actual evidence for deities been found?

Very well said! Don't forget the people who get upset the moment they find out someone doesn't have the same beliefs as them.

cobinizer are you aware of the definition of rebut? Atheism is rebutted every day. "Rebut: claim or prove that (evidence or an accusation) is false." This is what he's talking about in this video. We have to learn to accept that our disbelief will be rebutted ..even if we perceive it to be invalid.

***** The majority of atheists aren't making a claim. We simply don't buy the claim that gods exist.

Well, he is known as "The Friendly Atheist." Also, not all atheists are douchebags. That's like saying that all Christians are like the Westboro Baptist Church.

QuantumPolagnus true true. there are douche bags and good people Everywhere. and from what i'm learning, more good people than douche bags

Its not that we are douchebags its just that Christians think that when we insult the church we are insulting them.

Well, to be entirely honest, it's understandable. Imagine you told an avid tennis fan that tennis was shit and makes the world stupider. Of course they would be angry - you've just insulted something they hold dear.

QuantumPolagnus Tennis does not hold back progress like christianity has done and is still doing. Tennis does not get people killed. Tennis players are not forcing kids to believe in tennis. Tennis is not made up. Tennis does not come to your door asking you to play tennis and only tennis. Tennis is real.

Christian here too, this guy used to annoy me, but I have a mutual respect for him now.

Actually, your average pastor nowadays make much less than your average pastor back in the Medieval Ages, or in the Reneissance. There have never been a "life of poverty" rule for priests, only certain monks.

It honestly depends on the different domination of Christianity. the Catholic preists i know dont have fancy cars and focus their lives on the poor, but they are the ones i know i dont have any other perceptive on that, there may be some.

***** True, during the Counter-Reformation the Catholic Church cut heavily in its own wealth. Since then Catholic Priests have only become more and more... Average.

astaiannymph I agree. And, as a point of fact, churches do lose their tax exempt status. One of the most famous cases of this was the Unification Church (moonies), but it happens to other churches as well.

We try to have open dialog, but religious people don't listen to reason. Some TV character said it, and he was right -- "If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people." I've even heard the religious counter-quote to that, which goes something like "Of course it's not based on reason, that's why it's called FAITH." And they say that as though it's a good thing! Now do you understand why there can be no dialog? But it's all right. Reason is winning, religion is losing. By the end of the 21st Century, atheists will be the majority in America.

1. true, you dont. 2. this one you could maybe end up finding proof of, still doesn't prove he was the son of god. 3. who would tell you this anyway? 4. if you believe noah built the arc, god is real, jonah lived in a "big fish" or anything else like that with no evidence to back it, then yes you have no logic. 5. see #4 6. considering most atheist arguments i see are based on facts with many links to sources, i have seen some idiots, but not nearly as many as i have seen religious morons. so it would be idiotic to claim every atheist has no idea what he is talking about.

This is the fault of many Atheist. Speaking as an Atheist, simply denouncing such a large piece of human development as a virus is almost childish. Many things we do as Atheists is make fun of religious believers when they attempt to convert us. In essence, "Alleviating the inflicted" is doing the same. You would simply be no better. Atheism is the lack of a god, not the attempt to convert others to it.

Being a doctor is knowing how to help sick people but you don't have to help them. Being an atheist sometimes is knowing how to help people, not by virtue of doctrine but by virtue of understanding reality, still you don't have to help them.

One cannot simply denounce religions a virus to be cured. It has had too large of an impact on the development of today's culture and morals. Religion has a played an astonishingly large role on morals of people today. I see believers as equals, not in a patronizing faction as one is too look at a patient. I will say religion is no great thing. The Crusades, the Dark Ages, and others all stand testamentary. Radical Christians today display a ignorance of basic science so severe it nears total disillusion. However, without this "disease" our culture would not be as rich, nor would we have had the flourishing periods of the arts like the Renaissance. Music wouldn't exist; It never had to. Neither would art, dance, or much of the fine arts. So, in removing religion, you are removing a large part of society that influenced much of the arts we see to the highest regards not because of it's religious aspects but the other factors to it. So it's a trade off. One benefit, but loose another.

They wont afford you the same respect. To them, you are a sinner and one that is going to hell in need of saving. You might argue the golden rule but I think satanists have it more right- treat others how they treat you. It matters little what religion has done being as now it has become a monster to be slayed. Sure, it gives us a lot of culture but I'm no longer in consensus that its worth it. Perhaps I am wrong, but I don't think I am. The holocaust also gave us some great movies. Where would "Inglorious Bastards" be if it weren't for Hitler? Still glad the motha fuckas dead.

Simply because they won't offer you the respect is not a a valid reason under any circumstance in stoop to their level. We must be the adults in the room, since they shall refuse to be.

Nope. Sorry. Non-profits pay high salaries to their leadership all the time. Being labeled as a non-profit doesn't mean that you don't make a profit. It simply means that you are not selling products to the public and charging them directly for those products.

John Jenkins Nope. Sorry. The definition of non-profit is that they only pay a token salary to members and employees (and often, they use volunteers who get no compensation), but all surplus revenue is put back into the organization. The organizers (they are not even allowed to call themselves owners) are not allowed to profit from the organization's revenue. When members are paying themselves higher than necessary salaries, then they are profiting, and their organization should not qualify for non-profit. If there are any examples of "non-profit organizations" where the members are paying themselves high salaries, then they are either taking advantage of rules that are too loose or they are breaking the rules.

Actually, I work with a not-for-prifit and, yes, they have to pay market wages to everyone who works there. Those employees aren't feeding their families and paying their mortgages with "kindness."

Hence the token salary. What are you arguing, exactly?

I'm arguing that they get paid market wages, and in the market CEOs are well compensated. A token wage implies that they are paid with "whatever is left." Not true. Like I typed before. Their employees have families and mortgages. They do have volunteers as well, but they're mostly fresh out of college.

Immanuel Kant First of all, atheism doesn't automatically lead to nihilism. Secondly, you say it's immoral and stupid from your position, yet I could just as easily say whatever views you hold are immoral and stupid from my position (so basically it's a null statement). And finally, you seem to be suggesting that it makes no sense for an atheist person to be a good person if there is no eye in the sky tabulating their every action. Obviously, that's bonkers...people can and will be nice to one another simply because they want to be nice to one another. And the reverse of that, that you only do good actions because you are scared of the consequences or desirous of the reward, is in and of itself a terrifying thought. Are you a sociopath?

***** Can you explain your comment more? It seems to indicate that your of the mind that if someone were to think about religion enough, they would come to the inevitable view that god is indeed a real entity. Is this what you meant?

Immanuel Kant I'm confused about your assertion that an atheist can't have an objective moral system, and I assume by contrast that you're saying a religious person's morals are object. Religious morals are not objective, they are dogmatic, which simply means that they are asserted from a position of authority. In this case, that authority happens to be whatever god they believe in. Conversely, an atheist's morals can only be based on an objective criteria. In fact, it was Immanuel Kant who set out to create an objective philosophy of morality. However, the only thing you really need for an objective moral value is a basic concept of empathy, and then you can use that to guide your actions.

***** Thank you for clarifying. And I would agree with you when it comes to the many atheists that believe with incredible fervor that there is no god. Most sensible people, most of whom would still call themselves atheists (perhaps a minor misnomer) would simply say that there is no evidence of a god, therefore there is no reason to believe in one. It's not a belief in a lack of god, it's a lack of belief in a god... minor yet important distinction.

***** Gnostic Atheists are as silly as Gnostic Theists, but they are not necessarily the same as Agnostic Atheists. I have not personally met any atheist (including myself) that is not also agnostic because gnosticism is logically disingenuous. Carl Sagan was a very smart man, but on that point, he was simply overgeneralizing about Gnostic Atheism representing the whole of Atheism as a concept, which is flat wrong.

I honestly doubt that.

james weaver Well people in general are more likely to listen to a person whose not insulting them over the ones that are. Talking about flying spaghetti monsters and sky daddies is going to do nothing but make people get on the defensive. Im not saying you have to hold the theist hand and appease them. But leaving out the insults would be more productive. Im not an atheist, but I like this guys channel. I dont agree with him on everything, but his approach makes me more willing to listen. People like the Amazing Atheist just comes off as immature to me. I cant get into it.

Alvin Elmore Different people respond to different things. Tossing out insults or pointing out how ridiculous you think their beliefs are is sometimes the only way to get an idea through to someone and let them actually think about it. It's not pleasant and it's not nice, but it works sometimes. And I don't mean "omg, your stuped 4 being xian," but something like FSM and overt parodies can get people thinking.

Fish Stand A natural human response to insults is to get defensive. Insulting a theist sometimes makes the matter worse. Because all your doing now is making them hold on to their beliefs out of spite. Most christians dont become athiests because a athiest kept insulting them. They become atheist because they had their own doubts about their faith, not because some atheist talked about how stupid they were for believing. I dont like it when theists insult atheists or vice versa. Its very childish and non-productive.

Lol I meant big not bug

The church also killed people that thought the earth was round! If the church controlled what we think we would still believe the earth was flat , and that viruses plagues, and diseases were caused by evil spirits!!!

***** I''m sorry that you can't understand 4th grader English!!! LOL

***** No , but I'd show everyone that you are just a troll ! As soon as you said "owned" it makes it clear to everyone that you are a TROLL , and not to believe anything you have to say !

A a

James Silvey Sin? Did I ever mention the word "sin"? You put it in italics as if you were quoting me, but I never once said my friends committed a "sin." I don't even believe in the inherent existence of "sins." I told you I'm a Christian, but in a different way. No, I haven't. Do you know how many religious texts exist? And there's no need to do so. Has every atheist read every single religious text to ever exist and decided all of them are bullshit? No, there are simply too many to read. What if there's a religious text out there that cannot be argued against and actually makes a lot of sense? (Hint hint, many Taoist and Zen Buddhist texts are perfectly legitimate scientifically-- have you read them? Probably not.) What I'm saying is simply that not all atheists have read even a single religious text, much less all of them, so that's not a valid assumption. Nor is assuming that I believe my friends are "sinners." Don't quote me on things I never said. By your logic, if you haven't read EVERY SINGLE LAST claim or belief to ever exist in the history of mankind, anything you believe or claim is invalid. It's basically just the rejection of any form of belief or knowledge. Maybe some sort of extreme form of nihilism.

James Silvey Hold up hold up, who said I'm ignorant regarding many religious texts? You are just making assumptions. You don't know anything about me as an individual- you are simply assuming that anyone who identifies him or herself as a Christian is ignorant of other religions. People are very quick to classify people with a religion as closed-minded, but atheism can be equally as closed-minded if the person who practices it is very presumptuous and refuses to entertain any ideas not scientifically proven (I'm not talking about wild ideas like creationism that are simply unsupportable). Now, I'm not going to make assumptions about you either, and it seems like you are not one of those people and you are knowledgeable regarding the world's spiritualities, but you sure as hell are being presumptuous about me as an individual. I personally would consider myself fairly knowledgeable when it comes to religion and spirituality. I've studied various religions and philosophies and the ones I end up identifying with the most are Buddhism and Christianity. Not everything is black and white. I don't believe that I need to agree with everything in the Bible or everything that has occurred throughout the history of the Church in order to consider myself a "Christian." I call myself a Christian because I personally find value and identify with the teachings of Jesus. I also find tremendous value in the teachings of Gautama Buddha and of Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching. I'm not a creationist or a fundamentalist, nor do I believe that God looks like a big human sitting in the sky. I have read a lot of philosophy and spiritual works and I have used them to adjust my religious beliefs to match reality, science, and other philosophies that I find value in. Beware of making assumptions about a person just because of some label. I can call myself a "Christian" but it doesn't mean I believe the exact same thing another Christian does. Not all Christians are the same. It's a frightfully broad term just like any other. Not all "atheists" find the need to go around hating on religious people, and not all religious people find the need to constantly speak against atheism. Nothing is ever black and white like that. Labels can be very deceptive. I would also like to suggest that there's a world more to religion and spirituality than "fairy tales." I encourage you to take a deeper look at religion and realize that there's more to it than what's written in the words. Read between the lines. Those who can find value in their spirituality are the ones who end up as very lovely people. I choose to interpret Jesus and Buddha's message as one of love, peace, self control, and faith. Once again, not everything is black and white. It's all in the way you strive to live.

James Silvey Then what are you even trying to argue? I wasn't criticizing my friends, I was refuting the guy in the video's claim that atheists are only atheists because they have read religious texts and deemed them false. That's all.

James Silvey This discussion is going nowhere fast LOL. Everything always ends with "not all ___ are ___" etc. anyway, so let's just go back to our lives. Honestly, there's no need for us to worry about what each other believes. I think it's safe to say we're both pretty reasonable people as neither of us have been making any wild claims or attacking each other, so why don't we just call it a day? :)

Those two also ignore the meta-arguments of Christianity, I hate it when people say those, it means to me that they're not interested in a discussion about whether the discussion is functioning on the correct terms or not, much less the discussion itself, only in shutting down the religious person so they can be "right".

Gino Vincenzini If you hate it when people say those, present some evidence then. Do something no theist has ever been able to do: present evidence for what you believe. Then you'll no longer hear those statements.

+Justin Porteus definitely would help with faith based healers

+Roedy Green I can assure you that that is absolutely false. But I have a question for you: why do you hold your worldview?

True

So I believe in God because of the experiences I've had during and after meditation...but I'm not a Christian though...

I go to a Christian school, only because of its education (I am an atheist) and everyone hates me and they are SO over the top about God and must include God in every sentence. I always get in trouble because I want pray and stuff. I asked them, and none could answer why they believe in God.

Won't - not want