10 Myths and Thruths about Atheism

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Your question was -

That's what I answered.
New/different questions -

He didn't say that. That is your assumption based on not understanding what he actually said. What he said was -

Its a philosophy that says you don't need a god for your life to have meaning. Really and fully living your life is meaning. Its an Atheist philosophy. Did you need him to state that its not a Christian philosophy or is that just a tiny bit obvious? Actually maybe its not obvious or I wouldn't be typing this.

He didn't say that. Its a conclusion you are making based on your incorrect understanding of what he actually said. However yes I think your statement is logical. However that logic is dependent on EVERY Atheist following the philosophy.

Your questions are based on not understanding its a philosophy. However as random questions that has nothing to do with what he actually said, MY OPINIONS are -
No
Invalid assumption
Not valid to the article in discussion.

...

If an atheists decides that murdering 6 million Jews is living life to the fullest and is his meaning in life, is that really what his life was meant for?

 

[WaltL1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stringmusic View Post
If an atheists decides that murdering 6 million Jews is living life to the fullest and is his meaning in life, is that really what his life was meant for?

I always find it interesting what some Christians decide to ask. You could make the same point/ask the same question and not use puppy dog feet or murdering Jews but yet you don't. Interesting indeed. I can only guess it somehow makes you feel good or is somehow a thrill to put atheist and murder in the same sentence. Odd way to get a thrill.
But I cant answer your twisted question because -
We don't know its a fact that we are "meant" for anything or that everyone actually ends up doing what they are "meant" for.
People, Christians included, do disgusting things for reasons we don't know or understand sometimes.

 

[stringmusic]

Quote:

I always find it interesting what some Christians decide to ask. You could make the same point/ask the same question and not use puppy dog feet or murdering Jews but yet you don't. Interesting indeed. I can only guess it somehow makes you feel good or is somehow a thrill to put atheist and murder in the same sentence. Odd way to get a thrill.
But I cant answer your twisted question because -
We don't know its a fact that we are "meant" for anything or that everyone actually ends up doing what they are "meant" for.
People, Christians included, do disgusting things for reasons we don't know or understand sometimes.

I'm not trying to get a thrill out of anything, or put atheists with murder, not even sure where you're coming up with that??

So basically, you don't have an answer to the question?

 

[WaltL1]

I'm not trying to get a thrill out of anything, or put atheists with murder, not even sure where you're coming up with that??

So basically, you don't have an answer to the question?

or put atheists with murder, not even sure where you're coming up with that??

And yet you did. That's how I came up with it. And there is a reason for it. I took a guess as to what the reason is.
I stated it was a guess -

I can only guess

Note I didn't say it was a fact.

So basically, you don't have an answer to the question

Not sure where you come from but where I come from we call this an answer to a question -

But I cant answer your twisted question because -
We don't know its a fact that we are "meant" for anything or that everyone actually ends up doing what they are "meant" for.

See all those words? I typed them in response to your question. That's called an answer. So yeah I do have an answer and that was it.

 

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And yet you did. That's how I came up with it. And there is a reason for it. I took a guess as to what the reason is.
I stated it was a guess - Note I didn't say it was a fact.

Not sure where you come from but where I come from we call this an answer to a question -See all those words? I typed them in response to your question. That's called an answer. So yeah I do have an answer and that was it.

LOL, from where I come from, I take "I can't answer your question" to mean that you don't have an answer.

Quote:

I always find it interesting what some Christians decide to ask. You could make the same point/ask the same question and not use puppy dog feet or murdering Jews but yet you don't. Interesting indeed. I can only guess it somehow makes you feel good or is somehow a thrill to put atheist and murder in the same sentence. Odd way to get a thrill.
But I cant answer your twisted question because -
We don't know its a fact that we are "meant" for anything or that everyone actually ends up doing what they are "meant" for.
People, Christians included, do disgusting things for reasons we don't know or understand sometimes.

 

[stringmusic]

We can be done with this Walt. You don't seem to want to take the implications of the statement to it's logical conclusion, you want to twist it up as, "we don't know if we have purpose", "I can only guess" "you're just trying to put atheists in the same sentence with murder to get a thrill" while at the same time give me a hard time for asking questions.

 

[WaltL1]

LOL, from where I come from, I take "I can't answer your question" to mean that you don't have an answer.

You better sit down for this one String because its gonna blow your mind - Telling you I cant answer is actually classified as an answer.
Unbelievable I know but its actually a fact! And believe it or not its a good answer because your entire question is based on whether we are "meant" for anything. Until we know that the rest of your question is meaningless.

 

[WaltL1]

We can be done with this Walt. You don't seem to want to take the implications of the statement to it's logical conclusion, you want to twist it up as, "we don't know if we have purpose", "I can only guess" "you're just trying to put atheists in the same sentence with murder to get a thrill" while at the same time give me a hard time for asking questions.

Your entire question is based on whether we are in fact
"meant" for anything. The rest of your question has zero value until we know that answer first.
That is the definition of using logic.

 

[stringmusic]

You better sit down for this one String because its gonna blow your mind - Telling you I cant answer is actually classified as an answer.
Unbelievable I know but its actually a fact! And believe it or not its a good answer because your entire question is based on whether we are "meant" for anything. Until we know that the rest of your question is meaningless.

Yea, and 37 would have technically been an answer to my question too.


I'm basing my question off the article in the OP, I didn't make the claim that life has meaning, Sam Harris did.

 

[WaltL1]

Yea, and 37 would have technically been an answer to my question too.


I'm basing my question off the article in the OP, I didn't make the claim that life has meaning, Sam Harris did.

Yea, and 37 would have technically been an answer to my question too.

Correct! And not even just technically but factually and completely.That's what makes this false -

I take "I can't answer your question" to mean that you don't have an answer.

However the difference between your example of 37 above and the answer I gave you is, 37 makes no sense although it is in fact an answer. The answer I gave you is a fact, logical and true. See String you see that as somehow dodging or evading when in fact the only way to give you the answer you are looking for or any other answer than what I gave you is to ignore fact, logic and truth and lie to you. Sorry not gonna do that.

I'm basing my question off the article in the OP, I didn't make the claim that life has meaning, Sam Harris did

that's what he said -

Life is imbued with meaning by being really and fully lived.

Notice that you are leaving off half of what he said. That half you are leaving off is crucial to understanding the philosophy and what he is saying. Its why you are asking the same question over and over and denying the oh so obvious answer over and over.

the claim that life has meaning

Don't have to do anything. Life has meaning whether you do anything or not. This is what you keep saying he says.

Life is imbued with meaning by being really and fully lived

How does life get meaning? You have to do something. What do you have to do?

by being really and fully lived

.
That's the exact opposite of this -
Don't have to do anything. Life has meaning whether you do anything or not. This is what you keep saying he says.

 

[WaltL1]

By the way String just so Im clear that I wasn't trying to dodge this question -

Originally Posted by stringmusic View Post
If an atheists decides that murdering 6 million Jews is living life to the fullest and is his meaning in life, is that really what his life was meant for?

Note that all of this is just you setting the circumstance/giving the details -

Originally Posted by stringmusic View Post
If an atheists decides that murdering 6 million Jews is living life to the fullest and is his meaning in life,

This is the actual question part of it -

is that really what his life was meant for?

Absolutely no one on this planet could honestly answer that question because how would anybody know what this particular guys life was "meant" for? I don't know, you don't know, no-one knows. All we know is that he did it. I turkey hunt, is that what my life was "meant" for? You duck hunt, is that what your life was "meant" for? Some people are alcoholics, is that what their life was "meant" for? He murdered, is that what his life was "meant" for? Apparently he decided it was but you would have to ask him. Its possible he was "meant" to be a preacher but he didn't know that so decided to be a mass murderer instead.

You don't seem to want to take the implications of the statement to it's logical conclusion

So it isnt a matter of me not wanting to take it to its logical conclusion its that it is impossible to get to a logical conclusion without knowing what his life was "meant" for. Because he did it doesn't logically mean that's what he was "meant" for.
So your judgment of me in this situation is based on dung and the fact that you asked a question that cant be answered logically. That doesn't much matter to me and maybe it doesn't matter to you. I don't know.
Im curious to know how you would answer your own same question?

 

[stringmusic]

By the way String just so Im clear that I wasn't trying to dodge this question -

Note that all of this is just you setting the circumstance/giving the details -
This is the actual question part of it -

Absolutely no one on this planet could honestly answer that question because how would anybody know what this particular guys life was "meant" for? I don't know, you don't know, no-one knows. All we know is that he did it. I turkey hunt, is that what my life was "meant" for? You duck hunt, is that what your life was "meant" for? Some people are alcoholics, is that what their life was "meant" for? He murdered, is that what his life was "meant" for? Apparently he decided it was but you would have to ask him. Its possible he was "meant" to be a preacher but he didn't know that so decided to be a mass murderer instead.

So it isnt a matter of me not wanting to take it to its logical conclusion its that it is impossible to get to a logical conclusion without knowing what his life was "meant" for. Because he did it doesn't logically mean that's what he was "meant" for.
So your judgment of me in this situation is based on dung and the fact that you asked a question that cant be answered logically. That doesn't much matter to me and maybe it doesn't matter to you. I don't know.
Im curious to know how you would answer your own same question?

The article in the OP is what suggested that we decide what "living life to the fullest" is and that gives our lives the meaning we want our lives to have. In which case a person buying this theory would have to stand over the coffin of Hilter and say "he sure did live a meaningful life"


As far as me answering the question, Hitler's life was meant to worship and glorify God in all that he did. I don't particularly think he did that.

 

[WaltL1]

The article in the OP is what suggested that we decide what "living life to the fullest" is and that gives our lives the meaning we want our lives to have. In which case a person buying this theory would have to stand over the coffin of Hilter and say "he sure did live a meaningful life"


As far as me answering the question, Hitler's life was meant to worship and glorify God in all that he did. I don't particularly think he did that.

Hitler did lead a meaningful life. So meaningful that most everyone knows who he is and what he did and we are talking about him right now.
Obviously we don't think it was a "good" life but it certainly had meaning.
And as far as him worshipping and glorifying God most everybody will say he didn't worship or glorify anybody but himself whether they think there is such a thing as a god or not.

 

[bullethead]

The article in the OP is what suggested that we decide what "living life to the fullest" is and that gives our lives the meaning we want our lives to have. In which case a person buying this theory would have to stand over the coffin of Hilter and say "he sure did live a meaningful life"

You( and others) sure talk about Hitler enough so in some ways "he sure did live a meaningful life" . 70+ years after the fact his name is mentioned regularly if not daily somewhere.

As far as me answering the question, Hitler's life was meant to worship and glorify God in all that he did. I don't particularly think he did that.

"My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God's truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison. To-day, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice... And if there is anything which could demonstrate that we are acting rightly it is the distress that daily grows. For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own people.

-Adolf Hitler, in a speech on 12 April 1922 (Norman H. Baynes, ed. The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922-August 1939, Vol. 1 of 2, pp. 19-20, Oxford University Press, 1942)

 

[bullethead]

As far as me answering the question, Hitler's life was meant to worship and glorify God in all that he did. I don't particularly think he did that.

Are you saying Hitler's and all human lives are meant to worship and glorify God in all that he did?

 

[WaltL1]

Quote:

"My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God's truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison. To-day, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice... And if there is anything which could demonstrate that we are acting rightly it is the distress that daily grows. For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own people.

-Adolf Hitler, in a speech on 12 April 1922 (Norman H. Baynes, ed. The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922-August 1939, Vol. 1 of 2, pp. 19-20, Oxford University Press, 1942)

This is why I always have to wonder when a Christian uses Hitler as an example or an example such as String used that eludes to Hitler on the subject of Atheism if they have ever cracked open a history book instead of the Bible.

 

[bullethead]

This is why I always have to wonder when a Christian uses Hitler as an example or an example such as String used that eludes to Hitler on the subject of Atheism if they have ever cracked open a history book instead of the Bible.

Walt, for some it is better to live within a comfort zone rather than go outside of it and find out why things really are as they are.

For the people that want to use Hitler as their bad guy crutch in that he is the poster boy for evil and cannot possibly be connected to a "good" God, I urge you to see where Hitler got much of his teachings from:

I am sure many of you are familiar with Martin Luther. Luther is responsible for initiating the Protestant Reformation. His theology and writings not only challenged the authority of the Roman Catholic Church but his writings reached France, England and Italy, and the Reformation eventually split Western Christianity and forever weakened the power of the Catholic Church.

Martin Luther also wrote a book called "On the Jews and their lies". Do some research into this book and you will find how it influenced many people if not a nation. I doubt anyone wants to argue just how "christian" Martin Luther was/is.

 

[stringmusic]

This is why I always have to wonder when a Christian uses Hitler as an example or an example such as String used that eludes to Hitler on the subject of Atheism if they have ever cracked open a history book instead of the Bible.

Walt, for some it is better to live within a comfort zone rather than go outside of it and find out why things really are as they are.

For the people that want to use Hitler as their bad guy crutch in that he is the poster boy for evil and cannot possibly be connected to a "good" God, I urge you to see where Hitler got much of his teachings from:

I am sure many of you are familiar with Martin Luther. Luther is responsible for initiating the Protestant Reformation. His theology and writings not only challenged the authority of the Roman Catholic Church but his writings reached France, England and Italy, and the Reformation eventually split Western Christianity and forever weakened the power of the Catholic Church.

Martin Luther also wrote a book called "On the Jews and their lies". Do some research into this book and you will find how it influenced many people if not a nation. I doubt anyone wants to argue just how "christian" Martin Luther was/is.

 

[WaltL1]

Originally Posted by stringmusic View Post
If an atheists decides that murdering 6 million Jews

Since 1945-46, the most commonly quoted figure for the total number of Jews killed in the holocaust has been an estimate of approximately six million.

Just a coincidence I guess

 

[stringmusic]

It was an example Walt. It wasn't real, I didn't say that Hilter was an atheist or a Christian or anything else. I was giving an example of something terrible.

The point was that atheists can decide to do bad things and still live a "meaningful" life, yet you never hear atheists say that anyone evil lived a meaningful life.