Comment by archaeopteryx on February 20, 2012 at 5:03pm

Alma - I see you corrected yourself (above) after you realized I didn't say that they don't deserve your breath, because I wouldn't say that. It may be true that they don't deserve your breath (because you would be wasting it), but they DO deserve your love, patience and understanding.

You are obviously Hispanic, and while I try not to ever stereotype, I lived for six years in Mexico - not in some American colonia, but among Mexicans, some of the most real people I've ever known, and I know that to them (and that includes your parents and likely yourself as well), family is everything.

You have your beliefs, and hopefully, you are secure in them, but you need to understand that the fear you felt for all of those years, of "going to hell," your parents have felt for a lot longer than you did. To you, there's no reason to feel that fear anymore, but they don't believe that and never will. They are afraid for you and for your alma as well, and at their ages, you can't change that. But you can keep your family and your beliefs as well, if you don't make such an issue of your beliefs that it becomes either/or situation.

I'm not suggesting you take your new beliefs into the closet either. Keep your beliefs and let them have theirs, and if the subject comes up, just say, "Mom (or Dad), you know that you and I believe differently, and I love you too much to risk our relationship by discussing it - I hope you feel the same way too."

And let it be.

pax vobiscum,
archaeopteryx
www.in-His-own-image.com

Comment by archaeopteryx on February 20, 2012 at 5:48pm

RE:"does science and history support that God or Gods Exist, or that they dont?"

Science can't prove that gods don't exist, but it can prove that the universe runs perfectly well without any supernatural help. It's the job of your friend to prove that they do.

And which god are they talking about? Can your friend prove that Zeus doesn't exist? How about Thor? I could name a hundred others, can she prove they don't exist? Does your friend believe in Zeus, or Apollo, or Thor? If not, she's an atheist - the only difference between you, is that you simply disbelieve in one more god than she does. Me entiendes?

Most religious people that I know operate with what's called, "circular logic:"

"How do you know god exists?"
"Because the Bible says so."
"How do you know the Bible is true?"
Because the men who wrote it were inspired by god!"
Which brings us right back to "How do you know god exists?"

And that's why I choose to analyze the Bible and examine just what kinds of people these are who wrote it and why anyone would think we can believe them. Let me give you an example - in the Book of Joshua, there's a verse regarding a battle the Hebrews were fighting, and they needed a little more daylight to win it, so god made the sun stand still for three hours, to make the day longer. You can see from that, that the writer thought the sun went around the earth. A real god, who made everything, would know that the earth, rotating on its axis, is what causes one part of the earth to have daylight and the rest, dark, so obviously, no god would have inspired the writer to make a statement that we know is scientifically impossible, but an ancient Hebrew, not knowing any better, would have made that mistake without any help from a god. If a god inspired the writers of the Bible, it wouldn't be so full of mistakes.

pax vobiscum,
archaeopteryx
www.in-His-own-image.com

Comment by Alma Salazar on February 21, 2012 at 1:13am

Wow archaepteryz that story of the bible is a good one!  i've never would have come up with that! that was very helpful. Well its true what you say that us mexicans value family alot, i do value my family alot. I didnt really meant my parents didnt deserve my breath because the dont even know i am atheist so i have not debate them over the existince of god. I dont want to tell them that i am atheist because i know they will get hurt, and will fear for my soul, so they wont be in peace, and well i dont want that, when she talks about god i try to not make conversations about it. I do admit i am quite resentful because i was force to go to church i dont believe no one should be forced to do something they dont want. the funny think is that i am having a debate with a catholic in the internet, so i want to have the last word lol that's why i thought he doesnt deserve my breath or more like my hands because i am typing.

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