I’ll use this space to try and answer questions that were posed. Thanks to everyone who is commenting (positively and negatively) about what I said.
Jim wrote:
Heres one - Since no one can prove or disprove the efficacy of the act of praying how can you be so sure that there prayers were in fact not being answered - What meaningful proof does an atheist have that could disuade someo one from praying.
What proof do I have that prayer doesn’t work? God, I pray that my phone rings right now. [My phone didn't ring.] There you go.
This is another one of those issues where the person saying something is there has to show it. I can’t prove a negative. We all know prayer doesn’t always work. But no one can prove that God was the reason when a prayer appears to be answered. Again, it’s a matter of faith. But if prayer worked, then I can’t believe the Pope died, because he had millions of people praying for him.
Since most of our lives are inundated with the mundane - like needing a parkign space, money or health - why would a reasonable person tell us that praying for those things is not important - What if the god we believe in cares about small and ordianry stuff - since you dont believe in god at all why should it bother an ahteist what we pray for
It doesn’t bother me that people pray. It bothers me when they’re praying for things that are inconsequential or trivial. It bothers me when they’re praying for things that don’t need to be fixed. And nd it bothers me when they’re praying for things that they could just take care of themselves.
Read the rest of this news item »
Is it possible for Atheists to convert someone into Christianity? They say that the single greatest cause of atheism today are Christians who profess Christ with their lips and turn Him away with their lifestyle. So if Christians can turn people to atheism, is the reverse possible?
Call it a plug, but since this is a more philosophical question, I have posted it on my website at www.ebayatheist.blogspot.com. Please come there to comment! (Let’s leave this particular discussion thread empty.)
*sigh* Unfortunately, we had a nice worship group all picked out for tonight, but we just found out they are not meeting :( We’ve had a lot of emails suggesting that I go to a variety of churches (denominationally, size-wise, etc), and we’re listening to what you write. So I will not be going to another church tonight because the ones that are near to me and meeting tonight would be quite similar to ones I have already been to. But I will be going to a number of services during the course of this week– and they will be a mixture of types we have not yet talked about. I hope you comment on them soon.
One thing I’d like to respond to, though:
Ir wrote: “atheists may not be 100% happy with such a church [one that focuses on making the world better, rather than on individual beliefs] because they may think, why do we have to use anything in the Bible as our inspiration?”
I don’t think there are many Atheists who oppose using the Bible as a guide to life. In fact, most think that’s all it should be used for. I personally love a good many of the messages of the Bible (even though I doubt whether they actually happened). Jesus was a loving man. Job stuck to his beliefs even in the worst of times. The list goes on. In fact, other religions also have great aspects to them. There’s no conflict between being an Atheist and following positive religious ideals. I’ve said that I used to be a Jain (an Indian religion). While I don’t call myself that anymore, I still follow many of it’s teachings.
Incidentally, while this blog has been a dialogue between Christians and Atheists (or any subgroupings of those), I am curious if there are any other religions represented in the viewership. How do you feel about this discussion?
– Hemant
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts, Atheist/Christian Dialog, Hemant's Blog Entries | 56 Comments »