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Meta · 07-30-2003, 12:42 AM

The loudmouthed jerks do give our religion a bad name. When I was in college there was a guy wearing a sandwich board who'd sit around the courtyard of one of the busier causeways on campus and yell at people for a few hours every day. He'd call girls harlots and whores just because they'd be wearing shorts on a hot day. It was ludicrous.

What bothers me, is that if someone like myself pipes up about our religious beliefs (Christianity) then it's forcing our beliefs on people and woe be it to he who dares to come down on the poor widdle athiests with such a heavy hand.

Yet, it's perfectly ok to lounge around and talk about how Christianity is a "false religion" and how religion is for dumb people - the "opiate of the masses." This really gets me steamed, 100% of the time.

Atheism is just as much a matter of faith as religion is, though. Athiests have just as much proof to their claims as religious believers have to theirs. The way I look at it though, is that believers put their faith in something, while athiests put their faith in nothing.

I know logic students will go on and say that if belief='yes' then faith=1; and if belief='no' then faith=0, therefore athiesm is not an act of faith, but that's really reaching. The viewpoint of athiesm is based merely on a lack of empirical evidence. "Prove the existence of God to me and I'll believe," many say. Yet, the very foundation of science is designed with the ability to be disproven.

Scientific fact is merely a hypothesis with supporting evidence. The more evidence, the more solid this hypothesis is. But if one piece of contradictory evidence surfaces, then bang. It's no longer a 'fact.'

So, just like a believer has faith that there's a higher power out there, an athiest has to have the same kind of faith that there isn't.

What's the point of all this? Well, I can't help but wonder. When faced with all the complexities and intricacies of our world and the universe, and the way everything interacts so very specifically, can you really believe that everything works and is the way it is, merely on some giant coincidence? I can't.

That's why I put my faith in something.

07-30-2003, 12:42 AM	#36 (permalink)
Meta Tilted	The loudmouthed jerks do give our religion a bad name. When I was in college there was a guy wearing a sandwich board who'd sit around the courtyard of one of the busier causeways on campus and yell at people for a few hours every day. He'd call girls harlots and whores just because they'd be wearing shorts on a hot day. It was ludicrous. What bothers me, is that if someone like myself pipes up about our religious beliefs (Christianity) then it's forcing our beliefs on people and woe be it to he who dares to come down on the poor widdle athiests with such a heavy hand. Yet, it's perfectly ok to lounge around and talk about how Christianity is a "false religion" and how religion is for dumb people - the "opiate of the masses." This really gets me steamed, 100% of the time. Atheism is just as much a matter of faith as religion is, though. Athiests have just as much proof to their claims as religious believers have to theirs. The way I look at it though, is that believers put their faith in something, while athiests put their faith in nothing. I know logic students will go on and say that if belief='yes' then faith=1; and if belief='no' then faith=0, therefore athiesm is not an act of faith, but that's really reaching. The viewpoint of athiesm is based merely on a lack of empirical evidence. "Prove the existence of God to me and I'll believe," many say. Yet, the very foundation of science is designed with the ability to be disproven. Scientific fact is merely a hypothesis with supporting evidence. The more evidence, the more solid this hypothesis is. But if one piece of contradictory evidence surfaces, then bang. It's no longer a 'fact.' So, just like a believer has faith that there's a higher power out there, an athiest has to have the same kind of faith that there isn't. What's the point of all this? Well, I can't help but wonder. When faced with all the complexities and intricacies of our world and the universe, and the way everything interacts so very specifically, can you really believe that everything works and is the way it is, merely on some giant coincidence? I can't. That's why I put my faith in something. __________________ There's room for all God's creatures. Right next to the mashed potatoes.