Quick Arguments Against Religion
Information
Do you think I'm going to hell? If yes, why? Why would God condemn me to eternal torture just for not believing him in the face of a huge lack of evidence? Why did he create me with my questioning, rational mind ...
Members: 68
Latest Activity: Mar 19
Quick Arguments Against Religion
ALWAYS point people who use the "open mindedness" argument here to this video
Mine goes like this (assuming I'm talking to a christian): Your religion teaches that if you do not accept Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior you will burn for eternity in hell. More or less. No matter if you are a good person, or are equally devout in another faith. The religion you have as an adult is hugely dependent on the time and place of your birth. If God chose to have you born today to a poor family in India, your chances of converting to christianity to be saved are near zero. If you were born in South America before the conquistador's came, you were not going to hear about Jesus. In essence, God chooses certain people to burn for eternity and they have no say in the matter.
Religion is like football. Everyone wants to believe their home team is special, but the fact is they only think so because they were born there.
there is no credible evidence for the existence of god. two things are generally proffered as evidence of god, scripture and the natural world (argument from perceived design).
1) scripture is mere hearsay, or as more accurately stated by thomas paine: "hearsay upon hearsay". hearsay is generally inadmissible in state and federal court because it is notoriously unreliable. if hearsay isn't reliable enough for use to adjudicate simple disputes, it certainly isn't reliable enough to prove absurd stories about a god upon which you think i should base my life.
2) the natural world provides no more evidence for the existence of your god than it does for the thousands of gods imagined throughout history, which is to say, none. our ignorance relating to precisely how this all came about doesn't justify your speculation that a wizard did it.
I like to play the morality card, e.g. what motivates you to be a good person? If the answer is religion, cue argument about people with different religions (or no religion) still being good people, thus morality does not come from religion. So, what's the point of religion then?
If they bring in heaven and hell, I counter by saying that if there is a god, I would hope that he would judge people on their actions (i.e. morality) rather than their superficial beliefs/practices.
Do you think I'm going to hell? If yes, why? Why would God condemn me to eternal torture just for not believing him in the face of a huge lack of evidence? Why did he create me with my questioning, rational mind if I was going to be punished for exercising it? If no, then there's no reason to bother believing in him anyway.
Do you believe in Zeus? Do you believe in FSM? How about unicorns or fairies? How about Xorplax, a god I just made up? Why not?... Well that's why I don't believe in your god, and why you shouldn't either.
I want to believe as many true things as possible and not believe as many things that aren't true as possible. The best way to do this I have come across is the scientific method. I require evidence to substantiate claims, and a preponderance of evidence to substantiate extraordinary claims.
Faith is a weakness. Faith is the excuse we give ourselves to believe something when there is no good reason to. Faith actively stands in the way of looking for evidence and seeking further knowledge. Instead of faith, let us use reasonable expectation based on observation, and use hope for the things we cannot control.
All religious beliefs are so far objectively unjustifiable. If you can justify yours, please do so. Personal experience is fine for you, but know that if that is your only basis for belief, you have no footing on which to convince others your religion is valid; it is entirely possible you have misinterpreted your experience, or that your senses were unwittingly impaired at the time.
These were found via Reddit. Please share your own here :]
Mine goes like this (assuming I'm talking to a christian): Your religion teaches that if you do not accept Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior you will burn for eternity in hell. More or less. No matter if you are a good person, or are equally devout in another faith. The religion you have as an adult is hugely dependent on the time and place of your birth. If God chose to have you born today to a poor family in India, your chances of converting to christianity to be saved are near zero. If you were born in South America before the conquistador's came, you were not going to hear about Jesus. In essence, God chooses certain people to burn for eternity and they have no say in the matter.
Religion is like football. Everyone wants to believe their home team is special, but the fact is they only think so because they were born there.
there is no credible evidence for the existence of god. two things are generally proffered as evidence of god, scripture and the natural world (argument from perceived design).
1) scripture is mere hearsay, or as more accurately stated by thomas paine: "hearsay upon hearsay". hearsay is generally inadmissible in state and federal court because it is notoriously unreliable. if hearsay isn't reliable enough for use to adjudicate simple disputes, it certainly isn't reliable enough to prove absurd stories about a god upon which you think i should base my life.
2) the natural world provides no more evidence for the existence of your god than it does for the thousands of gods imagined throughout history, which is to say, none. our ignorance relating to precisely how this all came about doesn't justify your speculation that a wizard did it.
I like to play the morality card, e.g. what motivates you to be a good person? If the answer is religion, cue argument about people with different religions (or no religion) still being good people, thus morality does not come from religion. So, what's the point of religion then?
If they bring in heaven and hell, I counter by saying that if there is a god, I would hope that he would judge people on their actions (i.e. morality) rather than their superficial beliefs/practices.
Do you think I'm going to hell? If yes, why? Why would God condemn me to eternal torture just for not believing him in the face of a huge lack of evidence? Why did he create me with my questioning, rational mind if I was going to be punished for exercising it? If no, then there's no reason to bother believing in him anyway.
Do you believe in Zeus? Do you believe in FSM? How about unicorns or fairies? How about Xorplax, a god I just made up? Why not?... Well that's why I don't believe in your god, and why you shouldn't either.
I want to believe as many true things as possible and not believe as many things that aren't true as possible. The best way to do this I have come across is the scientific method. I require evidence to substantiate claims, and a preponderance of evidence to substantiate extraordinary claims.
Faith is a weakness. Faith is the excuse we give ourselves to believe something when there is no good reason to. Faith actively stands in the way of looking for evidence and seeking further knowledge. Instead of faith, let us use reasonable expectation based on observation, and use hope for the things we cannot control.
All religious beliefs are so far objectively unjustifiable. If you can justify yours, please do so. Personal experience is fine for you, but know that if that is your only basis for belief, you have no footing on which to convince others your religion is valid; it is entirely possible you have misinterpreted your experience, or that your senses were unwittingly impaired at the time.
These were found via Reddit. Please share your own here :]
Discussion Forum
Quik questions to force the religious to think. 2 Replies
Started by pat. Last reply by Nick Noe Mar 2.
If man arose by chance, life would have no purpose or meaning. 1 Reply
Started by Morgan Matthew. Last reply by Nick Noe Feb 8.
Claim: Evolution is only a theory. It is not a fact. 6 Replies
Started by Morgan Matthew. Last reply by Nick Noe Feb 8.
How can creationists argue that which is so apparent? 3 Replies
Started by Morgan Matthew. Last reply by Rick Watts Dec. 15, 2009.
God never makes a mistake...Everything is a part of his "GRAND" plan 2 Replies
Started by NO RELIGION. Last reply by Rick Watts Dec. 15, 2009.
God — The Supernatural Poo-Flinging Primate 2 Replies
Started by Jacqueline Sarah Homan. Last reply by Jacqueline Sarah Homan Dec. 14, 2009.
Excuse #1 - Jesus never promises to answer prayers 1 Reply
Started by Morgan Matthew. Last reply by Adriel Cruz Nov. 19, 2009.
Evolution is baseless without a good theory of abiogenesis, which it does not have. 1 Reply
Started by Morgan Matthew. Last reply by Kirk Holden Nov. 3, 2009.
Evolutionists are unwilling to debate creationists.
Started by Morgan Matthew Oct. 23, 2009.
The bible is popular 4 Replies
Started by Morgan Matthew. Last reply by Kat Sullivan Oct. 21, 2009.
Comment Wall
Comment
-
Comment by Happy Tikiman on March 1, 2010 at 1:23pm -
-
Comment by CynthiaG on February 21, 2010 at 10:19am - If I have to ignore the parts of religion that are contradictory, unbelievable, mean-spirited, or go against my sense of what is right and what is wrong, how can I be expected to have faith in it anyway?
-
Comment by M on January 24, 2010 at 10:09pm - I have started a new group called Atheist Philosophers. If you are interested we could always use more members.
-
Comment by Jacqueline Sarah Homan on December 14, 2009 at 11:53am - Simply put, Creationism is mental aroma therapy. It's "feel good" stuff, and it's an excuse to claim a "divine right" to some sort of privilege or undeserved authority. There is no "explanation" involved: just a permanent vacation while high on mental aroma therapy on the road of denial all the way to bullshitland.
-
Comment by Happy Tikiman on November 4, 2009 at 7:03pm
- God is unbelievable!
-
Comment by Morgan Matthew on October 18, 2009 at 10:46pm -
Scientific theories are always changing. You cannot trust what scientists say, since it may be different tomorrow.
Science investigates difficult questions about unknown fields, and scientists are human, so it is inevitable that scientific findings will not be perfect. However, science works by investigating more and more, which means results get checked and rechecked with further findings. The reason some findings change is because they get corrected. This process of correction helps make science one of the most successful areas of human endeavor. The people who cannot be trusted are those who are always right. Via
-
Comment by Morgan Matthew on October 11, 2009 at 11:39pm
-
Ockham's Razor says the simplest explanation should be preferred. That explanation is creation.
Creationism is not an explanation. An explanation tells why something is one way instead of an alternative way. But creationism does not rule out any alternatives, since a creator God could have done anything. Because of this, creationism adds nothing to any argument. Thus, creationism is an unnecessary entity and, by Ockham's Razor, should be eliminated. Via
-
Comment by Morgan Matthew on October 4, 2009 at 1:05am
- The Biblical objection to homosexuality is hypocritical, because those who condemn it do not condemn just as vigorously other prohibited behaviors such as wearing clothing made of two kinds of material (Lev. 19: 19), trimming or shaving sideburns (Lev. 19: 27), getting tattoos (Lev. 19: 28), and charging interest (Deut. 23: 19-20). People who condemn homosexuality do so not because the Bible tells them to, but, ultimately, because they want to. People who condemn others should first examine the morality of their own judgments. Via
-
Comment by Morgan Matthew on October 3, 2009 at 5:59pm
- The views of Darwin, or of any person, are irrelevant to the fact of evolution. Evolution is based on evidence, not on people's opinions. Via
-
Comment by Morgan Matthew on October 2, 2009 at 4:10am
- I think we need to remember that just about every Christian has two things in common: a belief in the sanctity of a book with talking animals and the expectation of being taken seriously. - Jason Long Via Nelson's page.
© 2010 The Think Atheist Foundation Created by Morgan Matthew
You need to be a member of Quick Arguments Against Religion to add comments!