My problem is that I feel like believing in those contradicts the bible and if god is perfect then the bible must be perfectly written. I'm not going to call you dumb for believing in a god I just don't understand how someone could.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I think the Old Testament of the Bible is an mostly allegorical. And also, the more I learn about things like evolution, the more I believe in God. Of course evolution isn't in the Bible, they didn't know about it when it was written, so how could it be.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

The bible was was supposedly written by people blessed by god who is omniscient. They should have known.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

blessed by God=/= having the knowledge of God.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Exactly. According to the Bible, Eve ate the apple off the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. People who interpret the Bible allegorically (like me) believe that this was when humans lost the knowledge of God. (So whenever we judge, we grow more distant from God.)

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Blessed wasn't the right word. And honestly I can't think of another one. @OP You say it was when we lost knowledge of god. Your god has not always been the god. Adam and Eve would have happened far before Christianity or even Judaism came about. It because of stuff like that that atheist have a hard time not calling believers dumb. That doesn't make sense.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I don't believe in that story literally, I was just saying how the Bible is interpreted. (It's like how you can read Harry Potter, interpret it, and take away "life lessons" from it, without believing in it.)

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yea except Harry Potter never tried to tell me it was real.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

What if the Bible never tried to tell you it was real? What if it really was just a book taken too far? I mean yeah, it says everything in it is real, but what if that was just part of the story? What if the original author wasn't being serious?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

As an atheist that's kind of how I see it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I just want to point out: God probably didn't reveal evolution to His people because no one then could comprehend it. Most of the Old Testament (and a portion of the New Testament) were written for those living at that time, meaning that some things simply weren't explained in depth. The story of Genesis is just a way to explain that God created everything. Hope this helps!

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I have to say I like this theory. I don't believe in a god so I have to disagree but I do like it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Exactly, Anonymous. It's like a child looking at a TV. The child can't comprehend all the mechanics behind it, so they pick a simpler explanation, like "there are little people living in there."

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Unless you're in the Westboro Baptist Church I could care less about your religion.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Totally fair, imo.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

As an atheist, it's equally unfair when this guy determines how my worldview is seen by theists.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Obviously, I am right. If your opinion differs from mine, then I think lesser of you since in my mind, I am right. Anyone who thinks different then me makes me think that they are lesser, in my opinion.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

You know, when I went to Sunday school (Catholic) I was taught that evolution when hand in hand with the teachings of the Bible. I was also taught to love your fellow neighbor, sins and all. And I go to a very traditional church. I know firsthand that it sucks being told that you're not as intelligent because you have faith in something. Or that you're some sort of bigot just because some people in your faith have put a bad name on religon.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I know! Learning about evolution just makes me think that God's just that much cooler!

by Anonymous 12 years ago

It's not fair, but I know I subconsciously do it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I know I do it subconsciously to other Christians...

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Just because you believe in god doesn't make you a christian. Especially if you believe all those things, they go against christianity, so i wouldn't call you a christian id say you were an open-minded monotheist.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

A lot of the time I just tell people I'm Agnostic because it's simpler to explain.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Not all those things go against Christianity. And, with gay marriage, I don't necessarily believe homosexuality is right, but I'm for gay marriage because I would never take away someone else's rights.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Even if God were to be against it, we shouldn't use God's opinions as our law. Some people don't believe in God, so they'd be forced to obey the laws of a deity they don't believe in. That is just unfair.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Athiests vs. Religious Round 2 FIGHT!

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I agree and disagree. The reasons why I agree is because I know first hand what it's like to be judged for being Christian. People assume I hate everyone who's not. When clearly, the bible teaches to love one another. But I disagree because if you have a relationship with God he wil teach you his ways and give you wisdom... Which he clearly is intolerable to gay marriage.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I may agree with that. But I don't think we should make a law based on the Christian religion.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Or maybe God conveniently doesn't tolerate the things you don't tolerate?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yes, people have their say. But what I'm saying is that to me, whether or not it is against my religion is irrelevant. I do not believe in imposing my beliefs on others.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I swear CherryBlossom is the only reason I don't hate Christians.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I'm the main reason I don't hate Christian.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Sorry I didn't see her comment and then deleted

by Anonymous 12 years ago

@Pikabeau actually thats far from it. i would love to agree with everyone on gay marriage. people hate me for it, it would be much easier to go along with the majority of society and say i tolerate it. also things i want to do, i know God does not approve of.. it makes decisions very difficult.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

@cherry i tottaly get what you're saying. i view all sin as equal, and i love the post on here "don't judge me just because i sin differently than you". we all sin, and i'm not judging anyone. i have my own sin and faults.. i'm not perfect.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

How come God gives different wisdom to different people? There are some people in relationships with God who are perfectly okay with gay marriage. How is it not judging when you tell someone what they're doing is wrong? I know you might judge it as equally wrong, but it's still a judgement nonetheless.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

@pika i have never went up to someone and told them what they are doing is wrong. thats not my place. the bible says to show love, and within that love people will find God. God will show them what they are doing wrong, not you or me. it's not my place, and won't do it unless someone asks my opinion.. which is this website. and again @sob i think God views all sin as the same.. he loves us all the same. i try not to judge anyone for any sin, but being human that can be very difficult. proving my own sin in judging others. i pray to have more love for everyone.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

As a Mormon (Christian) I believe that scientific theories such as evolution are devices by which God made his will possible. We don't think science and religion ever contradict. We support out beliefs (such as that homosexuality is a sin) but we aren't bigoted. For example we think that homosexuality is just one more temptation that that person must overcome.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

sounds like someone might be suppressing homosexual urges..

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I do believe in God. I'm not exactly sure what my beliefs are beyond that. I was raised in a home that was very divided on the concept of religion. My mother is Catholic (though liberally so). My father is an atheist. He doesn't believe in God. I believe in a God that is all knowing and doing, but I also believe that he uses mechanisms such as science and evolution to make his plan happen. I believe that God created homosexuals and transgenders and the like and I believe that he loves those people just as he loves any other. I also understand that it's possible that none of this could be true and I could have spent my whole life fooling myself, but if I have, that's okay with me too. I'm not embarrassed by my faith and I'm not embarrassed by my doubt. I understand that religion makes humans feel less lonely when they realize we're pretty much on our own in this world, and if there is no God, at least I was happy while I was here. I don't judge atheists or agnostics. My friends and family members are of all levels and types of faith and honestly I couldn't care less. I think there are much more important things than whether or not someone is religious.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I agree. I am christian but i dont believe homosexuality is wrong. Thats not what defines christianity. Christianity is the belief in christ and god. Your belief in homosexuality doesnt define your religion.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

And even if it is a sin, didn't Jesus forgive our sins?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

That's dumb. If I believed in unicorns you would call me delusional, no matter how brilliant and accurate my other beliefs.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Here's my problem with it: there are so many people out there who are religious, go to church every Sunday, pray, etc, and they're also tolerating people who believe in evolution, equal rights, etc. On the one hand, I don't want to call those people delusional, because clearly they're pretty reasonable, right? On the other hand, the bible has passages that clearly contradict modern science and morality, and the counterargument to this is always "well, the bible is up to interpretation, some of it is merely metaphorical." But if the bible is capable of being so differently interpreted by so many people (see Westboro Baptist Church), how could anyone feel sure about the existence or nature of God? How could anyone *worship* the God described in the bible, put their ultimate trust and love in the God in the bible, if the bible is just a book that has to be interpreted like a piece of imperfect human literature? Personally, I had to bullshit my way through a lot of literary essays in high school in order to interpret the author's meaning. I couldn't ever worship something a book outlined unless I seriously believed that I could take every sentence literally, at face value, because

by Anonymous 12 years ago

frankly, I'm not some master literary analyst--how could I ever worship my own imperfect interpretation of a piece of literature? To me, that almost seems arrogant. I almost prefer the approach of people like Pug, who got downvoted above, because at least people like that seem to have a more literal interpretation of the bible. As an atheist, I think what they're worshiping is a delusion, but at least they're not deluding themselves about what they're worshiping. Tl;dr: who do I have more beef with, the people who worship something they don't even believe, or the people who worship something they actually do believe?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Just throwing it out there, just because you believe in God doesn't mean you're a Christian. Even Satan believes in God.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Though I don't assume you're hateful, I have no choice but to quesion your intelligence. I have searched for years to undestand why anyone would trust a book with so many contradictions. Please justify them if you can, because I sure can't.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I don't treat the Bible as a science or history book because, yes, it does have many contradictions. I believe, mostly, in what Jesus taught: feeding the poor, healing the sick, and loving everybody. Jesus was a long-haired, homeless hippie, and essentially the first liberal, so many Christians nowadays ruin this image by using his name to oppress others.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I can't assume you're stupid just because you're Christian. However, I can assume that you are close minded and irrational. The main issue I have with Christians is their belief that they are 100% right and everyone who doesn't believe is 100% wrong. A theory exists because it can be proven or disproven. There is room for errors, in order to improve the theory. Christians who believe in their God 100% are simply close minded and not interested in learning about other religions since they are so sure they are right. Intellects are interested in pursuing knowledge and believe there is room for errors in their theories. Christians, at least by the standard defintion of it, is the complete opposite.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

You're assuming all Christians have no interest in learning about other religions because they're irrational and close minded. That is very irrational and close minded of you.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

thank you! one of my friends is very liberal and is always like this. (not all liberals are like this I know) once she was making a comment about evolution and then was like "but you don't believe in it anyway" without even asking.

by Anonymous 11 years ago