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 Some atheists may ask questions on the Internet that they wouldn't have asked in church.
August 1st, 2012
12:03 PM ET
'Where was God in Aurora?' comments show Internet as church for atheistsBy Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor (CNN) - The Internet has become the de facto global church for atheists, agnostics and other doubters of God, who of course don’t have bricks-and-mortar churches in which to congregate. We see this phenomenon in motion every day on the CNN Belief Blog, where atheists/agnostics/humanists are among the most zealous commenters. Recent string of posts around the question of “Where was God in Aurora?” (such as this and this) drew especially large waves of comments that show atheists are using the Internet to commune with one another and to confront religious believers in ways that they don’t usually do in church. Atheists and other secularists have offline organizations that stage in-person meetings - the Secular Student Alliance has seen its number of campus chapters quadruple in the last five years, to 368 - but the Internet has probably played a bigger role in the rise of the so-called New Atheism. The movement’s adherents evangelize their godlessness, just as many religious folks evangelize their God, often taking to the Belief Blog to do so. “A lot of millennials who are coming of age have found that the Internet is a fantastic place to talk about their doubt,” says Jesse Galef, communications director for the Secular Student Alliance. “Before the Internet, there was no place for young people to do that. The only place to go was really church, and that wasn’t always a welcoming place. “But they can go online and discuss these ideas without being judged by friends and families,” Galef says. For closeted atheists, the Internet’s anonymity is a big draw. A coalition of national atheist groups recently launched a program to transition doubting clergy to lives of open atheism by first having ministers come out anonymously in a closed online community. Plenty of other atheists, though, are using the Internet to connect with real, named people through Facebook and other online social networks. “It’s the ability to access a larger community, particularly for people growing up in religiously conservative areas,” Galef says. “There is nobody they can point to to discuss their atheism or their doubts about the Bible or their morality, and the Internet provides that.” On Sunday, a guest piece from a Colorado pastor argued that it’s possible to reconcile the idea of a sovereign God with the existence of evil and tragedy. The post has drawn 4,239 comments as of Wednesday morning, largely from atheists. One of those comments - a letter from God penned by an atheist commenter named Colin - caught fire online. Here’s how his letter opens:
The letter has been posted on reddit, where it attracted another 1,000-plus comments. (Warning: The reddit comments includes foul language.) The vast majority of comments come from sympathetic atheists and other secularists (the discussion is reddit's atheism thread), a striking example of such folks doing church without God online. Many of those comments are deeply personal, confessional and poignant. Here are five of the best ones. Some respond to Colin’s letter from God, others to the Colorado pastor who wrote for the Belief Blog last weekend.
That comment, which has been truncated above, provoked an outpouring of sympathy and support on reddit, including this comment:
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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It seems like any time someone has a violent, inexplicable prejudice they always turn out to be religious.
I would like to make a proposal to all the catholics, protestants, religious Jews, Muslims, on this site. Since we have been "soundly defeated by reason" (however defective it might be), lets retire from posting on this page and just read it. The believers here seem to bring out the worst in the atheists. Let's see what they are like when left to themselves.
@PrimeNumber,
didn't you already post this earlier??
I know this article is linked from the CNN front page now so the post rate has skyrocketed, but really, reposts of something that is really trite to start with is pretty narcissistic.
@notaGOPER I attempted to paste it before, but I thought it had been censored. That was my error. Your error was to suggest I'm a narcissist.
@PrimeNumber,
fair enough. I accept your explanation.
There may actually be something to that question, "where was God in Aurora", when you really think about it. After all, God is supposed to merciful, loving, caring and all those characteristics that normally accompany a deity of some form or another, right? In fact, why does He allow any of us to die ever, a true compassionate God would put an end to that sort of thing. Well, I guess it would get pretty crowded around here if no one ever died so He could make a couple of new rules. Let's say people that are handicapped can die, that would take a little pressure off and people over the age of 72. I mean come on, if you haven't accomplished everything you wanted to do with your life in 72 years then you have just been wasted your time. That would even come with a bonus, if He say we have an experation date of 72 years it would certainly ease the burden of the beleaguered social security issue that the government wrestles with so often, particularly on election years. Yes, where was God to prevent this sort of thing from ever happening? I think He was in all of our hearts helping us to cope with the tragedy of losing some many of His children. I think He was helping us stay sane in world that resembles chaos. I think He is with us right now offering us hope that we can pick up the pieces of this and all the other catastropic events that plague the earth, allowing us to move on and not just rot in the sorrow of a terrible act of violence. Atheist can believe anything they want, but don't try to place blame for God for the evils of mankind, we took up that mantle all by ourselves, He helps me live with myself when I go home at night and think of what I've done or not done to help mankind, His forgivesness keeps me alive.
atheism grows because you constantly tout it, and run ad's on here. while every article concerning christianity is shown in condescending or negative light. you're propogandists, and no better than the naz is.
Jeffer, you forgot the sarcasm tag on your post.
You have such great confidence in your fellow beliebers. (Is that what you call "faith" ?)
A lot of people find comfort in the fact that others are non-believers. They breath a sigh of relief knowing it is not just them who don't buy that they will roast in a fiery h-ll if they don't believe in Jesus. Moreover, Hitler was a Christian.
Sounds right about the internet. I’m a blog junkie and have always been amazed at the amount of atheist chat, talk about coming out of the closet, and so on.
And I realize that my amazement comes from my being in a peciular way provincial. I’m an academic. I grew up unchurched and in all my life I’ve always lived and worked in situations where atheism was the norm. To me talk about “atheism” seems peculiar because in my world people talk about “theists”—since religious believers are rare.
So for quite a long time it seemed to me that the atheists on the internet were faking or playing games—particularly since their anti-religious screeds were almost always directed against the sort of conservative Evangelicalism that I’ve never personally encountered. I assumed they were faking, playing a role.
Now I’m prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt. Reading about the anti-contraceptive campaign, Chick-Fil-A and such I’ve come to believe that there really are places where it isn’t healthy to be an atheist. I would hope though that they recognize that there are also places, even in the US, where religious believers are in a minority and Evangelicals are completely unknown. I wish also that they’d realize that many liberal Christians like myself do not buy into Creationism or “Christian ethics,” detest Evangelicals and are not somehow enabling or supporting them.
So what exactly does your brand of Christianity teach?
@Dan, it doesn't teach. It maintains buildings, and does liturgy for the enjoyment of all who care to participate (no questions asked) and provides an atmosphere conducive to religious/aesthetic experience. As member in good standing, when it comes to ethics as well as science I don't believe anything different from what any atheist believes.
Well gee, after watching religions allow themselves to be used politically in exchange for "donations" for decades on end, I can't imagine why Americans have soured on religion. Sorry but these "spiritual" groups are whoring themselves out and NO, intelligent people don't find it attractive.
In other words, atheists use the internet to troll anonymously because they are to cowardly to speak out in the open.
So do you go to atheist meetings and call them cowards for not walking into churches and doing the same, or are you a coward by your own standard?
Carl. I guess you're right. I wouldn't want to be slapped to death by a bunch of effeminate men.
Here's the deal. If indeed God exists and did in fact create us, then he knows full well that he created us with the ability to think for ourselves and form our own opinions.
If so, then how can he banish us to eternity in Hell for not believing in him? I mean, he gave us the skill to form opinions, yet we're to believe a ridiculously far-fetched thing as his existence? And if not, we burn forever?? Wow, some nice guy he turned out to be.
If he indeed created the universe, why wait so long to make humans? What's the deal with dinosaurs? Surely, dinosaurs are not myth, not legend. They're not unicorns, or leprechauns...we have incredible proof of dinosaurs' existence. What was God's plan before he decided to make humans?
For all of the people on here that are just blantaly disrespecting the only one True Living God, you ought to be ashamed. Jesus died on the cross that we may have the right to eternal life with him and dwell with him, his prescious holy spirit and GOD the father. GODs love and mercy endures to all generations and I love and I am proud of the fact that he loves me so much that he died on the cross for my sins and I will gladly and willingy accept him into my life to show me a better way. The bible sais that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of GOD. If you are an atheist that is fine but please dont disrespect GOD. He is GOD. Just as though true Christians dont disrepct other humans because they are exactly that. Humans.
JPIV, you obviously have never thought through the (specious) claims of your religion. Christians, think this through a bit: how come your ‘omnipotent’ creature couldn’t do all that supposed saving without the loony son sacrifice bit anyway? And for that matter, how was it a sacrifice at all, when an omnipotent being could just pop up a replacement son any time it wants with less than a snap of its fingers? Pretty feeble god it is that you’ve made for yourself there.
Give that some thought and maybe it will help you leave your delusions behind. You will remain a laughingstock otherwise, and the more you dwell in your silly delusion and ancient myths, instead of keeping up with advances in medicine and technology, the more America slips downward relative to the rest of the world in science and other fields.
A poster child for "blind faith".
First of all Bob. I am not delusional. The only laughing stock i see is you. I am a intelligence analyst and Staff Sergeant in the US Army. I say that because GOD has blessed me with a beautiful wife, great job, and great family with a great family also in the Army. You can insult me all you want and call me every name in the book. The fact is GOD has been there for me time and time again and has bought my family from a might long way. His love and goodness endures to all generations. And it just disgusts me to read some of the posts where people are just cursing GOD.
Dear Bob,
It is rather arrogant to assume that Christians have not already thought these questions through.
JPIV:
[citation needed]
I understadn your sentiment here but , hammering them about what is right or wrong in your eyes is ineffective.. 🙂 clearly ..
Dear Christians and Atheists:
God Here.
I thought I would take the time to personally explain my absence during The Jewish Holocaust, every Murder, Massacre, Ethnic Cleansing, and Crime that has ever taken place in every War in world history, and in all the various Famines, Droughts, and Earthquakes, and Floods.
"You see, …I am Not who you think I am, I never was.
Some of you believe Me to be this, Some of you don’t Believe in Me At All.
Who I Am has nothing to do with your dogmas or Beliefs, Religious or Atheist, all of you “think” you know me, and while we have been going out together for about 3,500,000 Million Years ( I have been working the Universe with its Trillions of Stars, Billions of Galaxies, Billions of Billions of Planets for about 13,700,000,000 years ), you have to understand that for me, that is about 4.5 Months, so as far as I am concerned, none of you ( Believers or Non-Believers ) know me at all!
From the messages I have been getting from you, that is quite clear.
You see being God I am infinite in every respect, ….every aspect you can think of.
“No” I did not make all of this for that for a few Jews, Mormons, Catholics, or Muslims!
I am not some “Old White Guy” alone somewhere else with a beard checking out who has been naughty or nice and why and then rewarding or punishing them, ….that is either your Dad ( or Santa Claus and Santa Claus does not exist ) and I am not your Dad.
I Am What I am, and created everything that Is, …everything that has ever lived.
All the wondrous Trillions and Trillions of wonderful, beautiful, joyful, and conscious living forms, I loved every single one of them and then I killed every single one of them.
And while you want to be Soooo special, don’t expect me to stop loving Them, just so You can feel better about being who you are.
I created the Sun, and it shines life into all your food, lights your way, and warms you every day, and yet you receive only a tiny portion of the Sun’s work, and I shined that light on Christ, Krishna, Buddha, Mohammed, Zoroaster, Plato, and Mother Teresa, ..I also allowed that light to shine on Hitler, Ted Bundy, Ganges Kahn, and Joseph Stalin, …that is just the kind of God I Am.
I Am Here, if I wasn’t neither would You.
@Blanchjoe
Hmm...sounds a lot like 'Conversations with God'... 'Neale Donald Walsch, yes...?
Peace...
you shoudl have identified yoursefl as a prophet rather than God.. by calling your sald God ... well, you lost all credibility... I stopped reading yoru power as soon as i saw that glaring error... 🙂 🙂
How many people have died in the name of atheism? And how many have died in the name of Christ, or an other major religion for that matter? I would venture to guess that the statistics there are staggaring.
Oh, cry me a river. Why are atheist such pu$$ies?
The only p[ropel who really died for Jesus were the Martyrs of Christ written of befoe they were even become Christians...They are writtenof in the Book of revelation 6:9-11...funny you shoudl mention this ..in the same chapter the 14-17 verse it describes what must be Kings and Armies and what not but no Christians there..there is a difference between Christians mention in the bible and those who presumte themselves adn do indeed go to war..in spite of what Jesus says in matthew 26:52... he that lives by the sword must did by the sword..
In before the obligatory Stalin and Mao references. What they did was not in the NAME of atheism. They were totalitarian dictators, not shining examples of atheists.
I don't know, why don't you ask those who were slaughtered by the Crusades, or those killed during the Spanish Inquisition, or those who were burned alive because the church decided that they were witches, or those that were burned alive for believing that the Earth revolves around the sun.
As said, totalitarian dictators did not kill their citizens in the name of atheism, they did it in the name of keeping them fearful enough to remain obedient. You know, like the church does.
Christian !
The only p[ropel who really died for Jesus were the Martyrs of Christ written of befoe they were even become Christians...They are writtenof in the Book of revelation 6:9-11...funny you shoudl mention this ..in the same chapter the 14-17 verse it describes what must be Kings and Armies and what not but no Christians there..there is a difference between Christians mention in the bible and those who presumte themselves adn do indeed go to war..in spite of what Jesus says in matthew 26:52... he that lives by the sword must did by the sword..
--
Confused...I could not find that in my Harry Potter book. Is it in Alice in Wonderland?
Not as staggering as the statistics for death by patriotism, or death from political ideology. Most wars are fought over the acquisition of resources, and have nothing to do with religious differences. Religion is USED by the leaders as a means to motivate their followers to go to war, but the actual war is not usually about religion.
Are the current struggles between the West and the Middle East about religion, and not oil? Are the motivational speeches given by George Bush about liberty, freedom, and democracy religiously inspired? Aren’t these words (Liberty Freedom Democracy) more about politics and less about religion?
Politics between wealthy and powerful men have been the cause of more wars in modern times then any issue of faith. (Both Mohammed and Jesus would be pretty upset at how their teachings have been twisted to fool people into killing each other.)
Was WW1 fought over religious differences?
How about World War 2.. the single most bloody conflict in all of the 20th century.
How about Vietnam? Korea? Were these religious wars? Did religion motivate Nixon to invade Cambodia? More effort has been put behind any modern war effort to prevent the spread of Communism (which is a political ideology and not a religion) then any other reason.
This is all about the acquisition of resources, and the acquisition of power, and NOTHING to do with religion or God.
If religion was truly the cause of all this violence, then you would expect this violence to spill between boarders. It doesn’t. You really do not see Muslims and Jews fighting in the streets of large North American cities and continuing the war that was started in the Middle East. You do however see American troop fighting Iraqi troops.
Our wars are politically divided, and politically motivated.
I am not defending religion by any means, but we all need to stop blaming religion for things it is not responsible for.
My wife, a rather traditional Christian – meaning, she goes to church when she can, tries to led and be a good person, thinks our children should at least be exposed to Christianity, etc. – was somewhat surprised after coming home from church with one of our daughters. Our daughter asked, "If GOD is everywhere, all the time, why do I have to get all dressed up and go to church to see him?" My wife was somewhat dumbfounded, as this just came unexpectedly. She did manage a rather weak response, and said, "Well, the church teaches us that we should keep holy the sabbath and attend church every Sunday."
Our daughter, of course, was not really buying all of that, so she continued to question. My wife could not think of much else to say, except to continue to repeat what the church was teaching. After about 5-minutes of this nonsense – it seemed like an eternity – I said, "The church needs you to go there so you can give them $$$, and that is difficult to do if you just stay home..."
A lot of silence followed that... It did seem to satisfy our daughter though...
I am just a good Humanist…
Brilliant! ... From the lips of children ...
Sometimes children are the clearest thinkers.
Couldn't you just be honest with your children and tell them that we dress up for each other at Church....not really for God...:)
The way I always saw it, it was more an appreciation thing. Like how you technically don't NEED to visit your parents or call or send cards or anything, but it's nice every once in a while. Just to show them that you do in fact care, and are appreciative of the love and support you've been given.
That said, I really doubt God'd mind too terribly much. Our parents weren't exactly all-knowing and all-present.
For Catholics the answer is easy. It's a mortal sin if you don't go to mass on Sunday. It's even in the top-10 list. Keep holy the sabbath etc.
Christian !
Couldn't you just be honest with your children and tell them that we dress up for each other at Church....not really for God...:)
–
I know of some people who put on diapers to look like Jesus
Will someone publish a listing including the names and addresses of all atheists in America. We are about to layoff a bunch of people due to Obamanomics and I want to get the right ones the slip.
I really think you want to ask your GOD that question... then come back and post the results here, please...
Wow, how christian of you. I bet your family is proud.
you're an |diot.
Blessed are the cheese makers? What's so special about them?......
blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.... Will you see him? 🙂
i like cheese.
Christian !
blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
--–
You really should clarify..there are many manmade gods/
Jesus Christ yesterday today and forever!
i will pray for the day that you wake up from the dreamworld in which you exist, and think for yourself.
La la la la la la.
Um yesterday 2000+ years ago. Today and all the tomorrows..worm food to dust
"Jesus Christ yesterday today and forever!"
Last I checked he was still dead, if that's what you mean.
God bless you fellow believer! They will learn the hard way if at all
Faith is the thief of Reason
and man has done everything in his power that he is not a reasonable creature...just a wild dog with a cloak of civility
The bible clearly explains that GOD the almighty is not the god of this system yet. He left it in satans hands to prove that man cannot rule themselvse succesfully. Basicly proving a point to the devil since the devil challenged his son Jesus. Peolpe need to get a clear understanding of what the bible says. God is in heaven with his son weatching this system fall apart and when he decides it time, he will send his son to clean up and bring order back to the earth forever. Read the bible people every last comment prove nobody has any clue to its teachings. I have never post and probally never will again, I just had to lay it out there!! 🙂
Promise you won't post again? Please?
For you, never posting again would be a great service to the rest of the world...
brickphil
" Peolpe need to get a clear understanding of what the book of Harry Potter says.
.
Huh????
Thank you! Finally someone with some sense 🙂
Any religion based on Jesus Christ is gonna lick balls, because Jesus does in fact lick balls.
Osama
Fuk Jesus and Mohammed, fuk them up their stupid as.ses.
mr me
Jesus and Mohammed are one-note jokes that only retards follow. They’re fuking clown shoes. If they were real I’d beat the sh.it out of them for being so stupid.
Bad Just Sayin’
WDinDallas
All you motherfukers are gonna pay! You are the ones who are the ball-lickers! We’re gonna fuk your mothers while you watch and cry like little whiney bi.tches. We’re gonna make you eat our sh.it, then sh.it out our sh.it and then eat your sh.it that’s made up of our sh.it that we made you eat!
Jesus and Mohammed.
An 80 or higher IQ is required to post here, so....move along OK?
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Hello WDinDallas!
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Hello Osama!
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Hello Jesus and Mohammed!
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why do people blame God for the evil men perform? "Where was God in Aurora" seriouly? Where was human decency in Aurora. Where were Holmes' parents while he was growing up when they should have been whooping his ass. God never said he would be jumping in everytime mankind fuggs up. He gave us a way to live to prevent these types of episodes so if we deviate from that than it is on us not him. GROW UP!
a lack of understandign is what you have... 🙂
@ Mr Me
I find this strange/ funny /intersting
you as a believer read "Where was God in Aurora" as an accusation
I as a non beliver read "Where was God in Aurora" as a question.
Religious people get in your face and tell you that what they believe is right and what you believe is wrong. Atheists get in your face and tell you what they believe is right and what you believe is wrong, yet they talk about tolerance. Atheists are about as tolerant is a radical Muslim. People need to quit talking like they got it all figured out and everyone else is stupid for believing, or not believing in whatever it is they believe in. No one has anything figured out, all we have is ideas. And rather then spending your time trying to convince someone they are stupid and you are smart, spend that same time on your own view points and ideas, try and learn form someone else rather then critiquing them. Diversity is essential to the survival of the human race, why do you think we all think and do things differently? So stop trying to make everyone the same. We are supposed to be different.
that's only because you're i America.... peopel act more civilized in third wordl countries today than Americans do...we have a gerneral sense fo lack of respect for one another..... I believ we just wannna be heard...
we're impatient , a lot of us are neuratic... 🙂 and a bunch of other things.. 🙂