Some of the ignorance here astounds me
I never do blogs but I've actually done one on this topic:
http://atrl.net/forums/blog.php?b=6192

yankee04, I salute you you have your beliefs and are very tolerant of others as well as seeming to have a good base for what you think. I have a lot of respect for theists like you.

If you can't agree to every bit of information, theory and gospel truth laid down in the Bible, the more that you can't give credence to everything I have expounded in my previous posts. Actually, what I have shared with you in this thread are principles, creed and doctrines of my religion, Roman Catholicism, being put into practice and applied on oneself. As I've said earlier, faith or believing is only the first step. But if, in the first place, you are already finding it so hard to believe in God, in the Bible, and in religion, then it would be virtually impossible for you to take it further. And as you've said, it would be delusional of someone like me to speak of those things. The Roman Catholic Church here in the Philippines don't tackle and delve into any science and pseudoscience-related matters like the dinosaurs, geocentrism, evolution, etc. It wouldn't change a thing had they proven or not any of these. They are more focused and revolved around more important things like the areas and aspects of human welfare: spirituality, morals, values, virtues, etc.; and of how they will help people elevate and enrich them. We have already accepted Jesus Christ as our God and Savior, and we already believe in the Bible, and the creed and doctrines of our Church, now we are onto the next step after faith or believing, which is, putting our faith into action. Because that is the true essence of religion after all.

Well to me it is. Have you seen things they do in church? What a joke. Everyone should have beliefs, I do too, but those rituals and the whole "God" and "religion" thing makes people look like blind fanatics.

Seriously, I wouldn't try and argue with discostickk about this sort of thing, he/she always seems adamant that he/she is always correct.

Shouldn't everyone feel that way about their beliefs and opinions? I've never seen anyone believe that their opinions are wrong. And I was just stating my opinion about my belief in God, but that of course makes me such a bad person

And who has helped us overcome wars, hate, and injustice? God.

I don't what kind of God you are talking about, but the God I believe in is totally against all the things you listed.

I believe in God, but I don't take the bible seriously.

Yes I think I'm right in my beliefs but you seem to know you're right. And I never said belief in God makes you a bad person I get on with may theists, it isn't them I have the problem with it's the belief system. I have relatives who vote Conservative and I see them as good people even if I'm at the opposite end of the political spectrum. I just don't think you should take critiques of religion as a personal attack.

Beliefs are beliefs and opinions are opinions and thats the way it is. I didn't know you knew me personally and how I feel about opinons.

Also, whenever I state my opinion about something and people disagree, it is automatically a considered a personal attack by me. That's fine for anyone to think that way, but there's a thing called freedom of speech and I have the right to agree or disagree with any matter I want to.

I'm from a mixed background, so although my family is Christian we don't all adhere to the same church (Catholic, Protestant and Russian Orthodox). I myself was raised a Catholic, when I was younger I was religious but it faded with time. It used to mean something to me, but I don't feel like I gain anything by going to church so I don't attend. I have my own set of beliefs and I keep them to myself. I think organised religion is the greatest evil this world has ever known. In its quest for common "good", there has been so much destruction, segregation and hate. If we look at a vast majority of conflicts that this world has faced, religion is often at the root at them. Of course one could argue that it's the people who are to blame and not the religion, but that's the thing, religion is all about the people that adhere to the faith. If a religion has no followers then it is ultimately pointless, it has no purpose. Religion has always been about power, and people exploit it. If you look at some of the biggest problems that society has faced during the past 100 years (Women’s rights, Gay rights etc) we can find a the root of the problem in some of the main global religions. Is it any wonder that women have been treated like second class citizens for so long when in the world’s largest church, the Catholic Church, they are not allowed to become priests? Decrepit men have used the church as an institution for power and wealth; historically they had far more than the vast majority of people. The average, uneducated person adhered to the values of the church not because they wanted to, but because ultimately they had very little choice. Through the spread of fear and lies they were coerced into ultimately becoming slaves to their fate, for a large part of Western history the church has dictated what is acceptable. Of course women were suppressed, after all we are more likely to ride a broomstick and worship the devil. *eyeroll*. The witch hunts were one of the greatest human disasters we have faced, as many of 10 million people died and who was responsible? The church that supposedly teaches us that we are all equal in Gods eyes, but that it's perfectly acceptable for us to make our own judgments and decide that Gays will go to hell, and that women will forever be punished because of some fictional character in the bible. I'm not surprised that in this day and age so many people have rejected religion because the reality is that it only thrived for so long because it was forced upon people. With greater liberties, people will come to their own conclusion on the matter. If you adhere to a faith, it's ultimately because you choose to.

In my own experience, every person that I have met that has "found god" has had a ****ed up life. I'm sorry to be blunt but that is the case. We used to get guest speakers in during religion class, and as lunatics go they were pretty crazy. The majority of them were people who battled addiction, people who were vulnerable, easy targets to be filled with the BS and corruption that has crippled many religions. I think that organised religion will collapse in the western world this century; people no longer trust these institutions. They have absolutely no reason to, there's always been scandals in the church, most recently the child abuse scandals, so at some point people most open their eyes and ask themselves when have too many lines been crossed? A Christian can believe in god without attending church, who is to say that a priest is any more in tune with god than you are?

On the other hand, I cannot accept that we are here by mistake. I believe in the big bang theory, and of course I believe in evolution etc but I can't accept that a world so complicated could have been created by accident. I think it's a perfect example of human ignorance/arrogance that some people deem ourselves to being superior to everything else. Some people really do have a superiority complex. I most definitely do people in higher authorities, people have their doubts in what they believe in but for me I feel pretty certain. Ultimately, as long as everyone treats each other with respect then I don't think we can go wrong. It doesn't bother me what someone else chooses to believe in, everyone has the right to their own opinion and diversity is what makes this world what it is. I hope that in future society will be more harmonious and that differentiating views will not cause the conflict that we have currently come to expect. I think everyone just needs to be more open-minded, is that too much to hope for?

^ Yes, unfortunately it is too much to hope for, although I hope for it every day.

Here in Mexico, the Catholic Church supported women's suffrage only until they realized that they tended to be more conservative than men, thus they'd finally get ride of the anti-clerical party that ruled this country for over seventy years, making room for the rise of right-wing parties. It's all about the power to them. That's why I cannot take Catholics seriously, especially when their current leader is a former Nazi.
So now we, atheists, are lifeless just because we do not believe in some sort of supernatural force that guides our lives?
Most atheist believe in themselves. I thought that was stated several pages ago. And, yes, we're happy. If anything, not questioning anything and attributing everything to a supernatural force is lazy. Just saying.
We don't want to go back to the Middle Ages. We've already witnessed what has happened to this world for blindly believing in a god. At least you're not being persecuted like many atheists were.
Then do not refer to this god you're talking about as a he. That was my point.
Yet you discriminate against others based on their sexual orientation just because "the Bible told you so." I cannot take this level of bigotry and hypocrisy. No wonder Christianity is in decline.
Any idea about how Christianity was introduced to the Philippines? Ever heard of Spanish colonialism?

I'm not even gonna argue in this thread anymore. Like I said, it's just plain ridiculous for anyone to be Atheist.

Why is it ridiculous though? You tried to explain yourself in a very flawed argument. You said that people who didn't believe in some sort of higher power are living life without purpose. So how about we ask an athiest to see if they believe their life is without purpose.

And this is the kind of bigotry I was referring to. Thank you for proving my point.

Does anyone realize how bad the world would be if everyone went against God? All people would eventually lose morals and the world would come to an end. It is a person's own choice to believe in God today, but I don't know why anyone is bringing up persecution in the middle ages. Was it God's idea to do that? I don't think so... But the point is, have some respect for people who believe in God

If it wasn't because of the Spaniards, the whole Philippines would've been either pagans, Muslims or Buddhists by now. We, Filipinos, are proud that we are considered the "Light" in Asia, the only Christian nation (apart from East Timor) in a continent of primitive beliefs and antediluvian practices.

To be honest I respect yankee04 and arkl's opinions but I have no respect for NE. or discostickk23's views

Exactly, they're blind. Their whole point is "I believe in God because it makes me feel better".