ptw,
atheism is not a choice. If one can't believe mumbo-jumbo, gobbledegook and superstitious nonsense then one just can't.

*Sigh*, atheism is as much a choice as believing in God is. I grow extremely weary of all this "it's not a choice" garbage. People change their beliefs (and choices) all the time, usually to whatever fits the circumstances they're currently experiencing.

Oh, and to use two examples to imply a causal link between atheism and misery is just silly.

I agree. In fact, it's more than just silly. It's absurd, ignorant and extremely immature.

I would love to live in an atheist/secular society. The 10 nicest people I...

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ptw,
atheism is not a choice. If one can't believe mumbo-jumbo, gobbledegook and superstitious nonsense then one just can't.

*Sigh*, atheism is as much a choice as believing in God is. I grow extremely weary of all this "it's not a choice" garbage. People change their beliefs (and choices) all the time, usually to whatever fits the circumstances they're currently experiencing.

Oh, and to use two examples to imply a causal link between atheism and misery is just silly.

I agree. In fact, it's more than just silly. It's absurd, ignorant and extremely immature.

I would love to live in an atheist/secular society. The 10 nicest people I know are atheists, by the way, And (even more wonderful) the reason they are kind, generous, compassionate and thoughtful has nothing to do with fear of eternal damnation.

Uh oh, I hope you're not refuting what you said earlier. To imply a casual link between Christianity and misery is just as silly as the former. I do agree with what you said about "fear of eternal damnation", far too many Christians buy into this "work yourself out of hell" mentality. It makes for an extremely depressing outlook on life, and can be quite a burden.

atheism is not a choice...

Here you seem to be generalizing atheism as not being a choice, almost as if everyone who is atheist is "born that way" instead of learning it from others. You also seem to imply that others can never change what they choose to believe in, that's also erroneous (plenty of examples of atheists becoming believers, and vice versa). Both are erroneous. But maybe I musunderstood what you were implying, I can be a bit extreme at times .

My atheism is not a choice. I cannot and do not believe in...

Now this I can agree with. Far be it for me to tell y...

atheism is not a choice...

Here you seem to be generalizing atheism as not being a choice, almost as if everyone who is atheist is "born that way" instead of learning it from others. You also seem to imply that others can never change what they choose to believe in, that's also erroneous (plenty of examples of atheists becoming believers, and vice versa). Both are erroneous. But maybe I musunderstood what you were implying, I can be a bit extreme at times .

My atheism is not a choice. I cannot and do not believe in...

Now this I can agree with. Far be it for me to tell you what you can and cannot believe in, nobody knows you better than you.

Believe me or not - your choice

Exactly the point I was making! I can choose to believe, or I can choose not to believe. Glad we're in agreement

Not implying any causal link.

Good to hear. It sounded like you were, sorry for the misunderstanding

And your argument makes no since. People have always come to conclude that there is a higher being in charge of things first. It's a pretty obvious phenomenon in society.

And why is that you suppose?

As a small child I had no choice but to attend Sunday school and church services, however although try as I may, and although it certainly would have made my live easier (being part of the crowd etc.) I was never able to believe in God, gods, or any other form of what for me seemed, and still does, forms of escapism.

I am getting quite long in the tooth, and yet I remember plain as day, peeking at the adults while they were praying in church, and thinking, surely this must be ...

And your argument makes no since. People have always come to conclude that there is a higher being in charge of things first. It's a pretty obvious phenomenon in society.

And why is that you suppose?

As a small child I had no choice but to attend Sunday school and church services, however although try as I may, and although it certainly would have made my live easier (being part of the crowd etc.) I was never able to believe in God, gods, or any other form of what for me seemed, and still does, forms of escapism.

I am getting quite long in the tooth, and yet I remember plain as day, peeking at the adults while they were praying in church, and thinking, surely this must be some elaborate game/hoax for the supposed benefit of children.

At that early age I came to the conclusion that all this hocus pocus had much to do with the fear and knowledge that like all living things they and their loved ones too were going to die. And never being satisfied, the Achilles heel of our species, a life well-lived, and guided by the Golden Rule (empathy) is the ultimate an intelligent, non fearful, non greedy , intelligent being would wish for. Alas, for oh so many this is not so

And of heart-felt but disjointed rant. .

Any takers on what the problem is with this sentence

Other than the misspelling I corrected, nothing. It isn't a sentence but it is a functional headline which is intended to be eye-catching. It did catch you, didn't it?

I'd like to know why you believe that simply because Christianity has lasted for 2000 years it will last longer, when the trend reported on the sourced site clearly indicates that it is in fact dying. Perhaps you have a different survey analysis which shows that it is growing? Put your clipper on, dude.

I suppose, however, that if you are a Christian it is a given that your grasp of the obvious is diminished. If you want to reduce the conversation to the qui...

Any takers on what the problem is with this sentence

Other than the misspelling I corrected, nothing. It isn't a sentence but it is a functional headline which is intended to be eye-catching. It did catch you, didn't it?

I'd like to know why you believe that simply because Christianity has lasted for 2000 years it will last longer, when the trend reported on the sourced site clearly indicates that it is in fact dying. Perhaps you have a different survey analysis which shows that it is growing? Put your clipper on, dude.

I suppose, however, that if you are a Christian it is a given that your grasp of the obvious is diminished. If you want to reduce the conversation to the quibble of the argument that a sole believer in GB would mean that Christianity is still alive there, which is reasonable expectation, well that would be pedantic.