What if Christians Invented Magic: the Gathering?

July 16, 2007 By Guest Contributor 14 Comments

According to Josh Combs, you would see cards like these:




[tags]atheist, atheism. Magic: the Gathering, Christian[/tags]

Filed Under: General 14 Comments
  • http://www.nullifidian.net/ null

    Wouldn’t it be rather called “Rapture: The Gathering” or some such? I don’t think christians are that big on magic, apart from their own, of course.

  • LilJase

    I really dont understand… the more i read this website, the more i get confused.

    Im a christian and I recently read the book ‘i sold my soul on ebay’ and loved it… loved it so much i am recommending my friends read it too… and I loved hemants views so i wanted to become a part of the community hemant was creating on this site.

    I loved how Hemant really wanted to show christians that athiests were open minded people who loved discussion and one of Hermants concerns were that christians put this wall between them and the rest of the world.

    The reason i bring this up is that some of the posts on this site seems to bag christians and their beliefs… so wouldnt this in turn create barriers?
    Whys does an atheist site post things against christian belief even when it has nothing to with athiesm. Do atheists like magnifying christians flaws just so they feel better or something?

    It seems this site is all to good at posting stuff that stereotypes religious people as bigots and sheep who cant think for themselves, which in turn fuels the fire of division between christians and atheists…. I guess hemant didnt mean everything he said in his book.

  • Maria

    I used to hate that game magic, and I still do. it’s annoying IMHO (the real one).

    to the above poster: I think a lot of this is targeted at fundamentalist christians, not all christians. perhaps it might be good to emphasize that fact a little more so it doesn’t appear to stereotype everyone. fundamentalists are the ones who cause the most trouble and who a lot of people on this website frequently have to deal with. at least that’s my opinion. I think though I’d like to see more about other religions too.

  • James

    Do atheists like magnifying christians flaws just so they feel better or something?

    unfortunately there are some that do…..some members of the rational response squad comes to mind (which I think are about as rational as 13 year olds-as evidenced by the fact that 90% of their followers are angry teens looking to “rebel”). I agree with Maria that the stuff on this site is more towards “fundies”. however, you can’t deny it happens in reverse a lot with fundy xtians doing it to us as well-look at what happened to nicole smalkowski, and the discrimination that takes place all over the bible belt. I would hope though, that the majority of atheists will try to take the high road most of the time. and most do, unless attacked. me personally, if someone engages me and/or provokes me, I’ll debate/defend myself. but I see no reason to go out of my way to be a jerk if there’s no reason to. I.e. I’m not going to attack someone just for being a theist when they haven’t done anything to me. I would hope most others feel that way too. then again, I’m in CA, so I have it easy compared to those in the bible belt. I would probably feel differently if I lived there.

  • stogoe

    Do atheists like magnifying christians flaws just so they feel better or something?

    There’s not a lot of magnification going on. Go, investigate what your religion believes and how other believers act out their faith.

    Religion has had thousands of years of protection from criticism, and I know it feels a little weird to have people pointing out the flaws of your religion after so long a hiatus. But you’re going to have to get used to it.

    …Or, you know, commit mass genocide for your Jebus. Again.

  • Tammy

    Actually, the fundies are much less confusing than these “progressive” or “moderate” or whatever Christians. You can tell what a fundamentalist believes by reading their bible-someone who claims to be a moderate really tends not to say much of substance concerning what they really believe.

  • Tammy

    Oh, goodness, I forgot to mention, but when a more moderate Christian does share his or her true beliefs, it tends to follow along the lines of “Lying, stealing, cheating, killing, and rudeness are bad”, which is exactly what I believe. Humility is also a virtue to me, I am blessed, and I will never understand why anybody needs a creator to explain this to them, or how any of it ties in with the ancient mythologies of virgin births and all the rest. Talk about confusing! Well, obviously, the Cherry-picker card was my favorite.

  • http://friendlyatheist.com FriendlyAtheist

    LilJase– Maria had the right idea. A lot of these things are more directed to the Fundamentalist Christians (and I should make that more clear). I thought the Creationism card alone would go to show that. The Christians who believe in those ideas do need to be called out on it– they’re wrong. I try to post stories on this site of when Christians are good and atheists are bad as well. But I don’t see what the problem is in showing that certain ideas have no foundation at all– even if well-meaning Christians happen to believe in them.

  • James

    Actually, the fundies are much less confusing than these “progressive” or “moderate” or whatever Christians. You can tell what a fundamentalist believes by reading their bible-someone who claims to be a moderate really tends not to say much of substance concerning what they really believe.

    Be glad they exist. a decent number of them (at least around here) are people who abandon the more irrational parts of their faiths. despite what some people say, they create a much needed buffer. besides, most of them are just beginning to knock on the door to light agnosticism-they just don’t realize it yet. but quite a few do move in that direction. My sister is, and I’m encouraging it. what they need to do is tell their fundie counterparts to back off more, so it’s not always secular groups doing it. I’m seeing this happening more, and it’s encouraging.

    …Or, you know, commit mass genocide for your Jebus. Again.

    Just b/c he asked a question doesn’t mean he’s going to committ genocide. both sides are going to ask and disagree and have to find a peacful way to live with each other, and the less hate there is the better. that’s just the way it is. atheists aren’t perfect either. no one is.

    Oh, goodness, I forgot to mention, but when a more moderate Christian does share his or her true beliefs, it tends to follow along the lines of “Lying, stealing, cheating, killing, and rudeness are bad”, which is exactly what I believe. Humility is also a virtue to me, I am blessed, and I will never understand why anybody needs a creator to explain this to them, or how any of it ties in with the ancient mythologies of virgin births and all the rest. Talk about confusing! Well, obviously, the Cherry-picker card was my favorite.

    yeah, that is confusing. I’ve noticed people cherry pick lots of stuff, not just religion. seeing how “wonderful” your significant other is while all your friends see the bad qualities you refuse to see is one example. it’s a remarkable human ability to compartmentalize.

  • Tammy

    Thanks, James. You are right when you say that they are “knocking on the door to light agnosticism”. My best friends fall into this category, and that’s where my confusion comes from. They know me to be a good person, and much better read than they are(I submit this in humility), but they’ve come from good Christian parents and can’t bring themselves to wholeheartedly abandon the faith. They have also almost across-the-board done away with the concept of hell, and are accepting of homosexuals and people of other religions, so I do agree with you that it’s a step in the right direction, anyways.

  • Polly

    Religion, like the humans that make it, evolves.

  • Maria

    Be glad they exist. a decent number of them (at least around here) are people who abandon the more irrational parts of their faiths. despite what some people say, they create a much needed buffer. besides, most of them are just beginning to knock on the door to light agnosticism-they just don’t realize it yet. but quite a few do move in that direction

    Yup. that’s exactly what happened to me.

    Thanks, James. You are right when you say that they are “knocking on the door to light agnosticism”. My best friends fall into this category, and that’s where my confusion comes from. They know me to be a good person, and much better read than they are(I submit this in humility), but they’ve come from good Christian parents and can’t bring themselves to wholeheartedly abandon the faith. They have also almost across-the-board done away with the concept of hell, and are accepting of homosexuals and people of other religions, so I do agree with you that it’s a step in the right direction, anyways.

    My whole town is full of people like this. these are the kinds of xtians I grew up with. I never even heard of creationism till college when I met a “bible xtian”. It’s really not hard to make the jump from this into light agnosticism at all.

    Religion, like the humans that make it, evolves.

    I agree, good quote.

  • Tammy

    Of course I don’t prefer the fundamentaists to their more moderate counterparts-I just find them less confusing. No fuzzy logic, just follow the book, even the icky parts!
    That is a good quote, Polly, and thanks, Maria, I’m glad to see that “losing your religion” can be seen by so many as a positive thing. It hasn’t been all that long ago that it would’ve been basically impossible for us to even have a civil conversation about it. I have to repeat, my best real-life friends fall into the category you used to inhabit, so if I seem abrasive online, I’m all sunshine & flowers in real life:)

  • One guy

    Atheists wouldn’t be so angry against fundamental Christians if they didn’t push religion down everyone else’s throat. Personally, I was forced to go to a church for 18 years, even though I’d lost all interest in it since the age of 12. Not long after I stopped attending to church I was forced to move out. Obviously, I spent a couple of years really angry after that.
    Basically, it’s a thing of equivalence, when parents have raised their kids strictly under the repression of religious thoughts, when these kids grow up and if they choose not to follow religion, the result is still a strict, restrictive antithetic conduct. Not every one is capable of rationalize the bitter feeling of injustice and suffering that comes from being raised in a religion background forced in your life. Hopefully in the future people will learn to tolerate each other and get to a synthesis instead of trying to force ideas onto others…