Comments on: About http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonablefaith A reasonable blog on atheism, religion, science and skepticism Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:39:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Len http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonablefaith/about/#comment-483386 Len Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:46:58 +0000 http://69.36.175.72/?page_id=3894#comment-483386 Well done for keeping on asking questions and thinking for yourself. Well done for keeping on asking questions and thinking for yourself.

]]> By: Once_christian http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonablefaith/about/#comment-483307 Once_christian Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:09:53 +0000 http://69.36.175.72/?page_id=3894#comment-483307 I too was once a very strong Christian. People often ask "what happened to you that made you turn away from Christ?", and I find this a very difficult question to answer. Nothing really "happened" other than, upon reflection, I saw that what I was doing simply did not make sense to me, and once that happened there was really no going back. This didn't happen immediately, I spent many years wrestling with it. I had Christians telling me that it was "the devil" trying to trick me and giving me all sorts of Christian related material to read through that would put me "back on track". It was then that I realised that all the material circulating in a Christian environment is completely bias, and totally dependent on what the bible saying to be true. I asked my Pastor, "But people wrote the bible, not God. How do you that the bible is really the word of god?" Then the Pastor of my church would tell me, "That may be so, but god was speaking through those people". I Would ask, "How do you know?" And he would reply, "Well, it says so in the bible." "But didn't a man write that too? So how do you know it's the word of God?" "Well. You have to have faith." Faith... That's always what it boiled down to. I can't pinpoint exactly when it happened, but one day faith just wasn't enough for me any more. I sought other literature, outside of that which was available in the church, and it opened me up to a whole new world of questions, but his time the questions had answers, and not a quick get out clause from questioning called "Faith". It's probably worth mentioning that the Pastor was my Dad, and he still is the Pastor of that church today. I am now an Atheist, and it saddens me that we no longer have the relationship we once had, and I hope that one day he'll succumb to reason, but he truly is a man blinded by "Faith". I too was once a very strong Christian. People often ask “what happened to you that made you turn away from Christ?”, and I find this a very difficult question to answer. Nothing really “happened” other than, upon reflection, I saw that what I was doing simply did not make sense to me, and once that happened there was really no going back. This didn’t happen immediately, I spent many years wrestling with it. I had Christians telling me that it was “the devil” trying to trick me and giving me all sorts of Christian related material to read through that would put me “back on track”. It was then that I realised that all the material circulating in a Christian environment is completely bias, and totally dependent on what the bible saying to be true. I asked my Pastor, “But people wrote the bible, not God. How do you that the bible is really the word of god?”
Then the Pastor of my church would tell me, “That may be so, but god was speaking through those people”.
I Would ask, “How do you know?”
And he would reply, “Well, it says so in the bible.”
“But didn’t a man write that too? So how do you know it’s the word of God?”
“Well. You have to have faith.”
Faith… That’s always what it boiled down to. I can’t pinpoint exactly when it happened, but one day faith just wasn’t enough for me any more. I sought other literature, outside of that which was available in the church, and it opened me up to a whole new world of questions, but his time the questions had answers, and not a quick get out clause from questioning called “Faith”.

It’s probably worth mentioning that the Pastor was my Dad, and he still is the Pastor of that church today. I am now an Atheist, and it saddens me that we no longer have the relationship we once had, and I hope that one day he’ll succumb to reason, but he truly is a man blinded by “Faith”.

]]> By: Danny http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonablefaith/about/#comment-466877 Danny Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:04:04 +0000 http://69.36.175.72/?page_id=3894#comment-466877 You're not an Engineer if you're a "student of science", Engineers apply mathematics to development, it has very little to do with science at all. If you can't even truthfully describe yourself without over-exaggerating it to make yourself sound clever, how can we believe anything you say about god to be anything other than over-exaggeration of an old myth created to teach children the difference between right and wrong using stories rather than instruction? You’re not an Engineer if you’re a “student of science”, Engineers apply mathematics to development, it has very little to do with science at all. If you can’t even truthfully describe yourself without over-exaggerating it to make yourself sound clever, how can we believe anything you say about god to be anything other than over-exaggeration of an old myth created to teach children the difference between right and wrong using stories rather than instruction?

]]> By: Nzo http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonablefaith/about/#comment-455438 Nzo Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:27:32 +0000 http://69.36.175.72/?page_id=3894#comment-455438 I believe your mother was impregnated by a holy donkey, and gave birth to you, a half-ass "student of the sciences". I've never found real evidence to the contrary, so it's true. Also, you're a practicing necrophiliac, and child rapist. Or would you say that your entire post is bullshit? I believe your mother was impregnated by a holy donkey, and gave birth to you, a half-ass “student of the sciences”. I’ve never found real evidence to the contrary, so it’s true.

Also, you’re a practicing necrophiliac, and child rapist.

Or would you say that your entire post is bullshit?

]]> By: Matt http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonablefaith/about/#comment-455407 Matt Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:54:41 +0000 http://69.36.175.72/?page_id=3894#comment-455407 Actually science, philosophy, and mathematical theorists all say there is no way to prove a POSITIVE. That you can only DISPROVE what's not true. Then you create the most accurate hypothesis of the truth given the evidence at hand. These closest you can come to proof of truth, is the lack of proof to the contrary. That said, as a nuclear engineer and lifelong student of the sciences, I fully believe God works through science, not against it. And I've never found real evidence to the contrary either in the secular or non-secular world. Actually science, philosophy, and mathematical theorists all say there is no way to prove a POSITIVE. That you can only DISPROVE what’s not true. Then you create the most accurate hypothesis of the truth given the evidence at hand. These closest you can come to proof of truth, is the lack of proof to the contrary.

That said, as a nuclear engineer and lifelong student of the sciences, I fully believe God works through science, not against it. And I’ve never found real evidence to the contrary either in the secular or non-secular world.

]]> By: Len http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonablefaith/about/#comment-443294 Len Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:30:38 +0000 http://69.36.175.72/?page_id=3894#comment-443294 All hail Teh Srvr Munkehs All hail Teh Srvr Munkehs

]]> By: Len http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonablefaith/about/#comment-442634 Len Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:49:35 +0000 http://69.36.175.72/?page_id=3894#comment-442634 I was thinking of the Phil Colins song "Jesus He Knows Me" (I can't link to YouTube from the office :-) But you're right - despite the hype, God is not very unchanging. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EprQGmZ3Imw" rel="nofollow"><b>[Teh Srvr Munkehs approve of linking to Phil]</b></a> I was thinking of the Phil Colins song “Jesus He Knows Me” (I can’t link to YouTube from the office :-)

But you’re right – despite the hype, God is not very unchanging.

[Teh Srvr Munkehs approve of linking to Phil]

]]> By: Nox http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonablefaith/about/#comment-442570 Nox Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:51:08 +0000 http://69.36.175.72/?page_id=3894#comment-442570 The <em>context</em> of every one of those passages (that was the short list, I kept it to 26 examples because I already knew you wouldn't answer any of them), is god or one of god's prophets telling people to commit murder. In many of those examples, it specifically says to kill everyone in a city or tribe, men women, children, infants, sheep, goats, spare alive nothing that breatheth. Are you really saying that god ordered the killing of infants because they had broken his commandments? The context of every one of those passages (that was the short list, I kept it to 26 examples because I already knew you wouldn’t answer any of them), is god or one of god’s prophets telling people to commit murder. In many of those examples, it specifically says to kill everyone in a city or tribe, men women, children, infants, sheep, goats, spare alive nothing that breatheth.

Are you really saying that god ordered the killing of infants because they had broken his commandments?

]]> By: trj http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonablefaith/about/#comment-442511 trj Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:58:09 +0000 http://69.36.175.72/?page_id=3894#comment-442511 Or: Do as I say, even though I just said not to. The Israelites have only just been given the Ten Commandments on their way to Canaan, and the first thing God orders them to do upon arriving there is to commit fullscale genocide of the Amalekites. Not a very consistent god, is he? Or: Do as I say, even though I just said not to.

The Israelites have only just been given the Ten Commandments on their way to Canaan, and the first thing God orders them to do upon arriving there is to commit fullscale genocide of the Amalekites. Not a very consistent god, is he?

]]> By: Len http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unreasonablefaith/about/#comment-442319 Len Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:55:51 +0000 http://69.36.175.72/?page_id=3894#comment-442319 Do as I say, don't do as I do. Do as I say, don’t do as I do.

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