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October 9th, 2013
02:27 PM ET
Creationists taunt atheists in latest billboard warBy Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor (CNN)– A new video billboard in New York's Times Square has a message from creationists, "To all of our atheist friends: Thank God you're wrong." The video advertisement at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue in Manhattan is one of several billboards going up this week in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, paid for by Answers in Genesis. Answers in Genesis is best known as the multimillion-dollar Christian ministry behind the Creation Museum outside Cincinnati. The museum presents the case for Young Earth creationism, following what it says is a literal interpretation of the book of Genesis, which says the Earth was created by God in six days less than 10,000 years ago. Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis, said the idea for the advertisements came from an atheist billboard in Times Square at Christmas. During the holidays, the American Atheists put up a billboard with images of Santa Claus and Jesus that read: "Keep the Merry, dump the myth." “The Bible says to contend for the faith,” Ham said. “We thought we should come up with something that would make a statement in the culture, a bold statement, and direct them to our website. "We're not against them personally. We're not trying to attack them personally, but we do believe they're wrong," he said. "From an atheist's perspective, they believe when they die, they cease to exist. And we say 'no, you're not going to cease to exist; you're going to spend eternity with God or without God. And if you're an atheist, you're going to be spending it without God.' " Dave Silverman, president of the American Atheists, said he felt sad for creationists when he saw the billboards. "They refuse to look at the real world. They refuse to look at the evidence we have, and they offer none," Silverman said. "They might as well be saying, 'Thank Zeus you're wrong' or 'Thank Thor you're wrong.' " Silverman said he welcomed another competitor to marketplace, noting that after atheists bought a billboard two years ago in Times Square that read "You KNOW it's a myth," the Catholic League purchased competing space at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel for a sign that read "You KNOW it's true." "I would suggest, if they're actually trying to attract atheists, they should talk about proof and reason to believe in their god, not just some pithy play on words," Silverman said. Ham says part of the goal of the campaign is to draw people to the website for Answers in Genesis, where he offers a lengthy post on his beliefs for the proof of God. Ham insists that this campaign is in keeping with their overall mission. "We're a biblical authority ministry. We're really on about the Bible and the Gospel. Now, we do have a specialty in the area of the creation account and Genesis because that's where we say God's word has come under attack." Ham said Answers in Genesis made the decision to split its marketing budget for the ministry between a regional campaign for the museum and this billboard campaign, rather than a national campaign. IRS filings for the ministry in recent years have shown a yearly operating budget of more than $25 million. Ham said the marketing budget is about 2% of that, about $500,000 a year. Though they are waiting for all the bills to come due for this campaign, he said he expected it to cost between $150,000 and $200,000. Silverman noted that his billboards were not video and cost approximately $25,000 last year. He said another campaign was in the works for this year. "They're throwing down the gauntlet, and we're picking it up," Silverman said, adding that his group would "slap them in the face" with it. Ham said that despite criticism from other Christians for being negative and the usual criticisms from secularists he received on his social media accounts, the advertisements have been a success. "We wanted people talking about them, and we wanted discussion about this. We wanted people thinking about God," Ham said. The Creation Museum and the theory of Young Earth creationism are widely reviled by the broader science community. In a YouTube video posted last year titled "Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children," Bill Nye the Science Guy slammed creationism, imploring parents not to teach it to their children. "We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future," he said. "We need engineers that can build stuff and solve problems." The museum responded with its own video. For the past 30 years, Gallup Inc. has been tracking American opinions about creationism. In June 2012, Gallup's latest findings showed that 46% of Americans believed in creationism, 32% believed in evolution guided by God, and 15% believed in atheistic evolution. For as long as Gallup has conducted the survey, creationism has remained far and away the most popular answer, with 40% to 47% of Americans surveyed saying they believed that God created humans in their present form at one point within the past 10,000 years. The Creation Museum said it recently welcomed its 2 millionth visitor since its opening in 2007. soundoff (8,748 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 Next »
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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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that should be "used a cell phone".
Misfire.
I've been touched by Him! I'm a virgin and He got me pregnant! All the proof I need!
Am I the only one concerned 46% of Americans believe in creationism? I'm Catholic and follow the Churche's beliefs for the most part, but there is pretty clear evidence of evolution. My Catholic High School did teach evolution so I kinda got the feeling that wasn't really being debated anymore... A bit silly if you ask me.
Concerned yes, surprised, no...considering how many people believe in ghosts, big foot, aliens building the pyramids, and all sorts of other mythological characters.
Aliens building the ancent monuments of the world is much much more probible than the fairytales of monothiesm, (for note, i dont think they did it though)
@drewo-12
"...but there is pretty clear evidence of evolution."
If by evolution you mean the adaptation and variations within the same kind of animal then, yes, that is scientific. It's observable. If by evolution you mean "common descent" then, no, that's not observable. That idea remains firmly in the imagination of the evolutionists.
Paul you simply need to read some more published and verified scientific papers to help you overcome your ignorance 🙂 Doing so, you would learn that every dog on the planet, from tiny little tea cup poodles to huge great danes.......all evolved from one common ancestor, the wolf. But you aren't even going to try are you? you will tell yourself some deity mumbles, smile, thank your god for your dinner, say your prayers, and go to sleep happy. Wake up, read the bible some more, dwell in gods love, yada yada yada.
Learning is more fun 🙂 Here this video might help you understand how Humans are related to Orangutans, Chimpanzees, and Gorillas! GOOD LUCK trying to follow it!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK3O6KYPmEw
@Angus
"Doing so, you would learn that every dog on the planet, from tiny little tea cup poodles to huge great danes.......all evolved from one common ancestor, the wolf. "
Did you read what I wrote? Read again: "If by evolution you mean the adaptation and variations within the same kind of animal then, yes, that is scientific." It's scientifically verifiable that there is adaptation and variation within the same kinds of animals. Of course dogs and wolves are related. They are variations of the canine kind.
But there's absolutely no evidence of "common descent" – the idea that, if you go back far enough in time, everything has a common anscestor (i.e. dogs, cats, humans, elephants, bananas, tomatoes, etc.. have a common anscestor.)
@Paul
OK – so amphibians are in no way related to fish or reptiles? I think it is pretty obvious that land animals came out of the sea at one time, as animals that could venture out onto land to feed, but had to return to the water to breed? You truly do not see how a salamander given enough "minor" variations will be able coat their eggs so they could survive out of water and eventually did not need to return to the water. We call these animals reptiles. Hardly the distinction of members of the same genus.
@Angus,
Did you catch the fallacy in that video?
Here's what the guy said:
"Evolution argues that we share a common anscestor with the great apes: the chimpanzee, the gorilla, and the orangutan. Well if that's true, there should be genetic similarities. In fact there are."
Let me break it down for you:
If P, then Q.
Q,
Then P
That's the fallacy of affirming the consequent.
Except, Paul, it doesn't go:
If P, then Q.
Q.
Therefore, P.
It goes,
If P is true, we should see Q.
We see Q
Therefore P.
The only fallacy is yours in the form of a straw man.
Common descent is a fact. You do not have to accept it, but it is a fact. It is also a fact that unless you are of direct African descent, you are likely a hybrid and only "mostly" human. Most humans of European descent have about 4% Neanderthal DNA. Luckily for us white folks (and Asians), the hybridization of the closely related hominid species did not result in sterility. But of course there are always exceptions, the rare fertile mule does occur.
Simple cells first appeared on Earth nearly 4 billion years ago. “We had insects 400 million years ago, dinosaurs 300 million years ago and flowering plants 130 million years ago,” lead researcher Andrew Rushby, of the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, said in a statement.”Anatomically modern humans have only been around for the last 200,000 years — so you can see it takes a really long time for intelligent life to develop.”
So, someone told you that and you believed it?
Absolutely correct, and we can see from comments on this blog that some life still is not intelligent!
Paul, you appear to be a Babble Humper, a believer in the genesis myth. Who told you about The Babble and why do you believe it is true?
Seems The cat has got Paul's tongue.
son, you need to read some research papers. There is plenity of genetic evidance to suport the evilution theory. They can for instance definitivaly prove that both birds and many reptiles come from dinosaurs directly, theat the dinos didnt just go extinct. They cannot (as of yet) display where the origin of life comes from, nor the origin of inteligence. However, the bible is suposed to be the devine word of god. If any part of it is not true, which most if not all of it has been disproven, than it is not true, thus the belifs that spring from it are false. If the book is the work of man, then, it is not devine, and the faiths that spring from it are wrong. Any way you cut the logic cake, thiesm is no different then belief in fairys goblins and vampires.
Mickey you are awesome 🙂
There's a good chance that both sides agree about "evilution". 🙂
@Paul
You are ignorant of logic operations. P IMPLIES Q, that means if P is true then Q is true, but that does not mean Q implies P.
You are arguing for a circular logic that is not there.
Yes, exactly:
If P, then Q.
P
Then Q.
valid: modus ponens
But the argument from the guy in the video went like this:
If P, then Q
Q
Then P
Invalid: fallacy of affirming the consequent.
No, Paul. It did not go with that. Stop lying.
@Maxwell's Demon
I did not commit a straw man fallacy, but the guy in the video did commit the formal fallacy of affirming the consequent.
@ Paul
"I did not commit a straw man fallacy, but the guy in the video did commit the formal fallacy of affirming the consequent."
You misrepresented the man in the video. He did not affirm the consequent. I already explained why. That means, yes, you used a straw man.
"It's still the formal fallacy of affirming the consequent."
Since it in no way resembles affirming the consequent, no, it doesn't.
@Maxwell's Demon
It's still the formal fallacy of affirming the consequent.
We can directly observe a defunct gene for egg yolk production our own, placental mammal genomes. This is one of many observable pieces of evidence indicating common descent. Another nice observable piece of evidence indicating common descent is the fossil record which shows a progressive ordering of forms, including a very nice history of hominids and pre-hominds. Interestingly, all the forms appear in the correct context and in the correct order, i.e. no rabbits in the pre-Cambrian, no humans alongside dinosaurs.
As with most ID/creationists, the error in reasoning here is demanding direct observation of a macroevolutionary change which has never been predicted to occur within the short time scales ID/creationists demand. What we can and do observe are speciation events which validate the underlying evolutionary mechanisms which produce biodiversity. These arguments which concede microevolution (which is actually an advance over prior creationist arguments) but reject macroevolutionary change (despite phylogenetic comparisons, fossil record, etc) are akin to accepting inches, but insisting they cannot combine to produce miles.
@Maxwell's Demon You mean ONLY if P is true we should see Q..We see Q therefore P. If there is any other way to see Q then the whole argument fails.
Sorry, hit enter by mistake..To put those values in an analogy...P = wet grass Q = Rain...We see wet grass, therefore it must have rained. Right? Wrong!
@drewo-12
"Am I the only one concerned 46% of Americans believe in creationism?"
No, you're not the only one. I wish the percentage was higher.
99% of americans are dumb so, it is not shocking that so many waste there energy praying to false gods.
Somewhere between 20% and 30% believe in bigfoot – this country is chock full of idiots.
too bad Christ followers do not believe in death before dishonor... the creationists wouldn't last long, I don't know how they can be so utterly disrespectful to their own brains??!!
It may look worse than it is. Many of these people believe in multiple zany things. For example, a former GF of mine is both a pentacostal AND a bigfoot fanatic.
Another female friend, who should know better, believes both in astrology AND crop circle aliens. Both women, BTW, have no scientific education whatsoever.
People like these heap scorn upon skeptics despite all evidence. My astrology friend, for example, got angry with me over a FB photo that purportedly depicted a bunch of sharks around some surfers. I pointed out that it was actually a pod of dolphins, and was promptly accused of being something akin to a party p00per. She was – self-admittedly – more comfortable with the inaccuracy than with the truth, because it made a better story.
You have no right to forget how Christianity acted when it thought it was right, and strong, and powerful. A horrible framework of lies that was really real to people, when it was imagined for them...... by a sadistic, North African pseudo intellectual.
– Hitchphrase
This should be required viewing for all religious people just to get an idea of how the "other side" thinks 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Si425yfNc
Lol if these idiots are the prime candidates for Heaven, no wonder god hasn't won his little war with Satan by now. Heaven has gotta take a look at its immigration policy if it wants to win anything. IE stop revealing yourself only to those who look for religious signs in toasted bread lol
So the Flinstones are historically accurate!!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVmdCAT7Rc8
Mockery? That's all you have?
When reason is met with willful ignorance, willful ignorance needs to be mocked.
@Paul – No. I have mockery and empirical physical evidence which supports evolution while simultaneously undermining ID/creationism. Feel free to explain the observed progressive order of the fossil record. Feel free to explain why zero oil/mineral companies employ "flood geology" models to locate reserves/deposits. Feel free to explain why humans have a fused 2nd chromosome, the recurrent laryngeal nerve, male nip-ples, etc, etc. I'm willing to listen to your evidence and I'm willing to concede that I could be wrong. Are you willing to concede that you could be wrong, i.e. that we were not created/designed by an invisible supernatural deity?
Thank SCIENTISTS for science. Otherwise we would believe the following religious nonsense:
*
1) DEMONS cause disease
2) God gives people horrible diseases to punish them!
3) BIRTH DEFECTS in children are punishment for their sins or their parents' sins
4) God destroys cities with earthquakes and hurricanes to punish them (Pat Robertson is the authority on this)
5) God approved the killing of millions of NATIVE AMERICANS
etc. etc. etc. kinds of nonsense.
I think you mean "Thank Satan for science".
God is the one who gave us science. There is no conflict between science and religion.
thiestic apolology is sad. The definition of the 2 are mutually exclusive. Religon is based of faith, eg the belief of something WITHOUT EVIDANCE. Science is the study of reality by studying the EVIDANCE. Science teaches truth, religon teachs lies. man created god, not the other way around.
Paul,
This is the kind of science that Bible "God" gave you:
– Unfaithful wives' thighs rot if you make them drink some magical water – Numbers 5
– Striped goats are bred by having the mating pair stare at striped objects – Genesis 30
– Leprosy is treated by dipping a live dove in a dead dove's blood and having it fly about; and by anointing the toe of the sufferer with the blood. – Leviticus 14
The "Lord" supposedly actually SPOKE these things (and various other nonsense).
Paul
"God is the one who gave us science. There is no conflict between science and religion."
You are right as long as you believe in unicorns, talking non-humans, dragons, people turning into salt and the entire science fiction story of Noah's ark.
As for a god there is no evidence of satan.
I guess you've never taken an aspirin, watched a cell phone or used the internet then.
that should be "used a cell phone".
My call phone does tricks, so I watch it all the time.
Nathaniel,
Good to know your opinion on science. When you come down with appendicitis we'll know to just drag you to a church (sorry, no riding in our science-produced vehicle!).
p.s. It's probably better that way, since you want to leave this mortal coil anyway.
p.p.s. Please get yourself one of those Medic-Alert bracelets stating those wishes. Oh wait, that'd be using metallurgy and graphics and other sciences. I guess you can get a tattoo done with henna-soaked sharp sticks...
The best part about science is that the answer it likes to give, especially early on in a process, is "I don't know"......which leads to, "okay, let's study it and try to find out"....then ...."now, lets corroborate what we have found using different methods from different views" .... "hey...I think we're onto something here!"
Try getting a religion to admit it didn't know where Humans came from, what our "purpose" was, and how the Universe began, so it made up gods. Science has no clue to answer these three, readily admits it, but instead of sticking ones head in the sand and worshiping some fictional creature that we invented to have done these things, science just keeps trucking along searching.......hey look! Dark energy! Dark Matter! Higgs-Boson! cool people cool 🙂
Please let's lose the deities and grow up just a tad....thanks!
The only reason it's taken this long to make many scientific discoveries is because of religion claiming to know the answers already and thus many have avoided challenging those preconceived ideas for a long long time. The math and science proving Galileo correct existed long before the Church capitulated, how much progress have we lost to their moronic intervention, we may never know.
Amen to that!
1 Cor 3:19 – For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
– and –
1 Tim 6:20 – ...keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called
Nathaniel,
It sounds like you think yourself to be wise to believe that, eh?
Does it give you a special thrill to diss science by using that particular translation? The original word was "gnosis", meaning knowledge; and sure, false knowledge can be detrimental, just like your misunderstanding and twisting of words is. Also, there is no verified evidence that Paul of Tarsus had any special knowledge of any supernatural beings or events.
Hi, yes I know the original word was gnosis, and what it literally translated to was "learning". But advanced learning in Paul's day was of "science", so the transliteration in the KJV is accurate. Those who study science as it is today, make it their religion, that's what I'm opposed to, not the advancement of learning itself.
Oh, BTW, Paul had that same evidence I have, the day the Lord Saved my soul, it bears witness to God's and Christ's existence. And everything in the Bible from beginning to end. Paul received that very same gift on the road to Damascus, and one day I'll get to meet him and talk to him about it.
Wow, Nathaniel, those stories are very convincing for those folks who already accept the dubious authority of the bible
Nothing quite like self-serving quotes to leave a bad taste in the mouths of others.
@Non-man
"The best part about science is that the answer it likes to give..."
How does it give you the answer? Telepathicly? Do you pray to science?
Science is an abstract concept – a tool we use to help us understand and evaluate the world around us. We all have the exact same evidence. The only difference is the interpretation of the scientific evidence. Science is not the one giving you the answer. You're interpreting the evidence based on your presuppositions.
And that last word you wrote is where all the trouble, bias, and non-objective agendas comes from in science.
"""The religies have just too much invested in their beliefs to give them up."""
Their beliefs are ingrained from a lifetime of social religion and upbringing, for the most part. That's a tough nut to crack even when they understand how science works, much less for these science-ignorant folks who keep asking "why are there are still monkeys if we evolved from them?"
Many are more comfortable with the mythology, even when they know it's inconsistent with what they know from being modern humans in a first world society, simply because it makes for a better story. Death can be difficult for many people to deal with.
Creationism = crazy talk! Evolution is everywhere if you stop long enough to look, learn, and study.
My children will be taught about all mythologies of Man but not until they are older. It should be against the law to teach children all these biblical lies, religious mind rot, and horrible fictional tales that our ancestors thought were true 🙁 along with witches, demons, devils, angels, souls, magic, and boogey-man sky faerie father figures...
The Christian god went to hell for a spell for stealing stories to put into his book. When it comes back, it might not like what has been done to Earth in its name...
@chubby rain : carbon-14 theoretically never fully disappears from the sample.
Theoretically, yes, in actuality, no. In theory, there are infinite units of the sample.
@chubby rain : If you continuously cut something in half, you just get smaller and smaller pieces.
What happens when you divide one molecule in half?
@How funny! : Yes, all of these: 2.1 Uranium-lead dating method ...Carbon-14 dating method ... are faulty, even though they agree with each other geologically
While you're laughing, would you care to explain how they mis-dated Skull KNM-ER 1470 – if in fact they agree?
Dating was corrected after its age had been overestimated, The part of the process of science called honesty. Science has much to offer.
@Tom, Tom, the Other One : Dating was corrected after its age had been overestimated, The part of the process of science called honesty. Science has much to offer.
So, how did they know that it had been overestimated?
J Hum Evol. 2009 Aug;57(2):112-22. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.05.007. Epub 2009 Jul 14.
Seems to me that most of the confusion was due to older material being redeposited in the area. giving a mix of dates, until this was accounted for.
To our atheists friends: "thanks god you're wrong".
With circular logic like that, it's probable that Christians invented the wheel.
thanks = thank
Except that the wheel is actually useful, and I see no evidence to suggest that that can invent anything like that.
You are giving Christians too much credit.
You know, there are kids to whom parents say that the stove/candle/heater are hot and not to go near them and the kids believe and obey... then there are those that need the proof. I'm not against people being atheists, but very often they choose this path for the lack of knowledge. Sure they get a lot of information from their sources, but they rarely seek the information from the believers. I have been healed by God from cocaine and alcohol addiction, have been free of it for over 2.5 years. I know people who have been healed from mental and physical ailments. There is nothing you could say to me to change my mind about God. I have seen miracles.
Most atheists were raised in religious households. Your analogy is more apt applied to the children born into a certain faith and not exposed to other faiths. In addition, how do you define miracles? Are miracles equated with rare events or events you cannot explain?
I'm glad you have had success in fighting you addictions and hope that you remain clean.
Congrats to you being clean and sober first of all. Its amazing no matter how one accomplishes it.
However you getting clean is no miracle. A miracle implies something that could not have been done without divine intervention and really doesn't give yourself near enough credit. I got clean from crystal methamphetamine without treatment and I certainly wouldn't attribute it to a miracle. Just my own will and faith in myself.
Sorry. Clicked on the wrong reply button lol
I too battled crippling addiction in my youth.
I overcame it by changing environments and with the support of my family.
No gods required.
The 12 Step thing didn't work for me (though I tried) because it involved me admitting that I was powerless.
I was by realizing that only I had the power to change my life and habits that I was able to take responsiblity for my own sobriety.
You need to remain open to the possibility that the drugs did permanent brain damage.
But good luck to you.
Thanks for your testimony.
Katie
It's more like being raised to believe that kissing will cause blindness, only to discover that this was not true. The usual Christian indoctrination functions well to have believers keep their own doubts in check, but there are a few brave individuals who can overcome this programmed fear and see through the matrix.
This is not a stove that could be hot because we have plenty of evidence for stoves often being hot. We have zero evidence of any vengeful gods ready to smite unbelievers.
And Muslims claim miracles as well.
"I’m not against people being atheists, but very often they choose this path for the lack of knowledge."
What knowledge? Care to share some?
"they rarely seek the information from the believers"
You don't seek information from people who >believe< something! You get information from people who have information!
" I have seen miracles."
Great! Now let's set up a video camera and record them, so the rest of us can see them! Anyone who can say they've seen something should be able to show others.
Look up the ministry of Heidi Baker. This is a woman who runs an orphanage in Africa. She goes to the remote villages and visits with people, at the end of the day she requests to meet a person from that village who is deaf and/or blind, makes sure that everyone has always known them to be this way (in a small village it's not that difficult.) She and the kids from her orphanage then pray over that person and he or she gets healed instantly. It has been captured on video, and proven by the doctors. Try telling her that God does not exist. He has healed hundreds in front of her eyes.
If you want the proof of God don't sit at home and browse the internet for answers, go to the nearest healing revival and see for yourself. God is not going to stop performing miracles just because an unbeliever will be there. We, the Christians, tell you the truth because we care about you. The consequences of your unbelief are extremely harsh, but if you believe you can reap the benefits starting today. If only for the simple fact that someone loves you no matter what you've ever done or said. No human can do that.
The christian "truth" is onlyfor christians. Other people will and should go their own way – the christians do not own any rights to how people live.
You admitted previously to turning to the church/god due to a substance abuse issue you had and how that helped you. That is an issue with what the belief sells. They make you believe that you are not capable of getting by without this god but yet there are numerous people who do and numerous who overcome addiction without the need for god. So while I give you credit for overcoming the addictions, I do not give you credit for not taking credit for your recovery yourself...you did this, not god.
Those severe consequences you speak of mean nothing when they can't be verified and only stand to prove how bitter and vindictive your god is. If your god can't be verified to exist, and yet your god demands idolization then your god is no better than the abusive spouse who threatens a beating (in your gods case eternal torture) for disobedience. Please don't tell us we don't understand, in fact most of us have a better grasp than you probably do because most us were christians and then we grew up and realized how pathetic and lacking the belief system is.
Do you feel good about yourself wishing eternal torture on your fellow human? That equates to 5 billion people you're wishing that upon, including innocent children...doe that make you feel good and so special? To me it makes you as immoral as your god.
Katie
Few human parents, however, are sadistic and egotistical enough to torture their kids because of what they think. I couldn't help the serious doubts about God that led to my atheism. I seriously don't know how I could force myself to believe in something that I know in my heart just isn't true. All the rosy enticements of heaven, or threats of hell, can't convince me that the Christian world view and morality is superior to my secular ones. Discriminating against gays just makes no sense to me at all, and there isn't a single Christian argument that makes me even suspect that they have a better, more true, system than any of the other major religions. I'm glad that your faith keeps you from turning into a mass murderer, but the rest of us just don't need that protection.
When was it captured on video? Which doctors confirmed it as true?
Look in the mirror without your mask on?
Oh, gee, I missed the bill board – I must have ridden my T Rex right by it and didn't notice it – darn! Well, time to go visit my friend – he just got vomited up by a big fish after living in ithe fish's stomach for 3 days – I'll bet he wants a beer! Then we can visit ol uncle Meth – he's 901 years old today. Thank God.
Look up the ministry of Heidi Baker. This is a woman who runs an orphanage in Africa. She goes to the remote villages and visits with people, at the end of the day she requests to meet a person from that village who is deaf and/or blind, makes sure that everyone has always known them to be this way (in a small village it's not that difficult.) She and the kids from her orphanage then pray over that person and he or she gets healed instantly. It has been captured on video, and proven by the doctors. Try telling her that God does not exist. He has healed hundreds in front of her eyes.
If you want the proof of God don't sit at home and browse the internet for answers, go to the nearest healing revival and see for yourself. God is not going to stop performing miracles just because an unbeliever will be there. We, the Christians, tell you the truth because we care about you. The consequences of your unbelief are extremely harsh, but if you believe you can reap the benefits starting today. If only for the simple fact that someone loves you no matter what you've ever done or said. No human can do that.
Katie sweetie, I hope you don't have any sharp objects near you. Try spelling your name D-E-L-U-S-I-O-N-A-L from now on, you've lost the plot babe! Keep telling yourself whatever you want to hear, it will keep that smug smile on your face. Good luck with the heaven after lifey thing, I hear you get a veranda to look down at hell from, I'll try and wave if my eternal torment is not too painful 🙁
I remember watching "The Finger of God" and the thing that struck me was that the filmmaker actually bragged that he didn't have the money to check whether the claims of the villagers were authentic, or not. That's not docu mentary film making at all. Who goes into such a project without the resources to cover all the bases and open themselves up to (rightful) criticism?
Baker's claims are just a story, as far as I can tell. Let her repeat her little trick on Marlee Matlin, or somebody else proven to be deaf beforehand and not rumoured to be deaf by poor people with a vested interest in making their savor missionary richer.