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- kanojo1969, on 04/16/2009, -26/+421I was raised by parents who weren't atheists but certainly didn't believe in God. For me, religion was a social thing that filled in Sundays and formed a big part of every day as I went to a heavily religious private school from the age of 7 to 13.
Most people seem to reach a point in their lives where they question whether God exists, but my experience was exactly the opposite. I never beleived in God at any age.
It just seemed to be "a priori" knowledge to me, all this stuff was just stories. I read most of the bible before I was ten and right from the very first page you are presented with events that were obviously not possible.
So I've spent most of my life understanding perfectly why people go to church or send their kids to sunday school. It's a social, community thing. It teaches basically good moral values and the bible contains a ton of really good stories.
But it was a real shock to me around the age of 8 or 9 when I realised that some of the people in church actually believed that the stuff in the Bible was real. I was like 'What? Adam and Eve? Jesus raising the dead? The book of revelations? The story of Samson? You actually take that as the literal truth?"
It was a genuine epiphany for me that people were capable of being much, much more stupid than I had previously thought possible. It took a few more years for me to understand that having faith was more related to a person's emotional needs than their ability to reason.
Now I just group the religious in the same box as people who believe in ghosts, or astrology, that perpetual motion is possible or that tarot readers really can see the future. They have an emotional need that drives their acceptance of kooky ideas and it's got nothing to do with intelligence whatsoever.
The real insight is that our brains are incredibly good at accommodating beliefs that are thoroughly contradictory, with almost no effort at all. - NcSteve173, on 04/16/2009, -15/+292"Agnostics are just atheists without balls."
— Stephen Colbert - OfNumbers, on 04/16/2009, -7/+205"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma." - Lincoln
"Religions are all alike – founded upon fables and mythologies." - Jefferson
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." - Nietzsche - rdhazrd, on 04/17/2009, -2/+143Leave my gardener out of this!
- kplo, on 04/16/2009, -3/+137I had no idea Theodorus the Atheist was an atheist.
- inactive, on 04/16/2009, -4/+124You are exactly the kind of people atheists use as examples that religion can make people stupid.
- Monotonousblob, on 04/16/2009, -11/+121I'd like to add Sartre, Camus, and Nietzsche to this list, along with Bill Hicks.
- seanayb, on 04/16/2009, -12/+122No, no it doesn't. You're not even taking that scripture passage in context. If you were, you'd know that neither psalm 14 nor psalm 53 (in which that quote originates) use the fact that the fool is foolish as evidence to establish there being a God. No causation or necessity is implied. Either that, or you're just arguing from authority (and not only that, but an authority for which you must believe in God to take seriously, begging the question again). Stop making us look ignorant and uneducated.
The fool said in his heart, "I think I'll beg the question (a logical fallacy) when demonstrating that there is a God and in doing so make theists look like *****". - chadsexingtime, on 04/16/2009, -14/+102Damnit. I'm not mentioned in there at all!
- Anzat, on 04/17/2009, -16/+98Anyone notice the 50 most brilliant atheists of all time overlaps quite a bit with the 50 most brilliant people of all time? Not a coincidence, I think...
- IpwnZnoobs, on 04/17/2009, -6/+77The facebook guy? Really? If Tom from myspace was atheist would he be on there too?
- diggnidy, on 04/16/2009, -35/+102# 51 Jesus
- kanojo1969, on 04/16/2009, -3/+62So... you're implying that atheists can't be 'brilliant', because (presumably) any brilliant person would recognise that the bible is truth?
You must also recognise that there are many 'non-brilliant' people who are believers? Being religious isn't something that only 'brilliant' people can do, right?
Put both of those ideas together and you could probably argue that there are no Atheists at all.
Either that, or you are full of *****. - knightblade2oo4, on 04/17/2009, -0/+50isaac asimov.
- enantiodromia, on 04/17/2009, -5/+51Matthew 5:22 (King James Version)
"... whosoever shall say, 'Thou fool', shall be in danger of hell fire."
Have fun in the lake of fire... - dafoe, on 04/16/2009, -6/+52I logged in to un-bury you
- liah, on 04/16/2009, -1/+44Where on earth is Stephen Fry? They mention Mick Jagger, but not Stephen Fry? Come on now!
- vlmusicalsound, on 04/17/2009, -9/+47Although I'm already proud to be an atheist, this list just makes me prouder. I'll gladly go to Hell if I'm in the presence of Noam Chomsky, George Carlin, Bruce Lee, Paul Dirac, Katherine Hepburn, The Facebook Guy, Ayn Rand, and Mick Jagger.
- hawkspur, on 04/17/2009, -0/+37And all he ended up with was a bunch of personal pronouns.
- enantiodromia, on 04/17/2009, -0/+36Jefferson carried a Bible he re-wrote, removing all of the mythology and super natural mumbo-jumbo.
- inactive, on 04/17/2009, -9/+42god is an imaginary friend for adults.
- XtheXlanternX, on 04/17/2009, -7/+39no Christopher Hitchens? but you put the racist idiot Watson on there?
- Apokalyps2547, on 04/17/2009, -0/+30"I was raised by parents who weren't atheists but certainly didn't believe in God."
I think you and I have different definitions of "atheist". - Decimit, on 04/17/2009, -2/+32I'm going to attempt to paraphrase Penn Jillette.
Atheist and agnostic are two completely separate things. Agnostic is stating that you don't believe the existence of god can be proven. Atheist is stating that you don't believe in the existence of a god. They are completely separate things and can actually exist together in any combination. - inactive, on 04/17/2009, -3/+30Agnostic != Atheist.
- d3dm, on 04/16/2009, -13/+40#51 God. He doesn't believe in himself - he believes in you.
- ratherstupid, on 04/17/2009, -3/+30Right, its much more far fetched than "the universe was created out of nothing by an invisible supernatural being and after you have died your invisible and unprovable 'spirit' goes to join the invisible all powerful supernatural being and all of your loved ones 'spirits'". Oh I also forgot "but if you aren't a 'nice person' then you spend all of eternity with the one thing the all powerful being couldn't stop and/or get rid of".
Thanks for clearing that up. - bratterscain, on 04/17/2009, -1/+27Who needs Atheists when Christians can verbally tear each other apart with all the contradictions in the bible.
- iamsmooth, on 04/17/2009, -6/+30Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Einstein an atheist?
- ScienceMatters, on 04/17/2009, -2/+25yeah, but he wasn't brilliant enough.
- someguy92, on 04/17/2009, -0/+23Exactly! Now nobody can deny the existence of Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster. All hail His Noodliness!!!
- ThaDRD, on 04/17/2009, -3/+26Isn't Bill Gates an atheist too?
- inkswamp, on 04/17/2009, -5/+27Hiding behind "I don't know" is an excuse and philosophically wishy-washy. The agnostic view is "We can't know anything for sure about what's beyond our world." However, saying that implies some certainty in your understanding of the matter (otherwise, how can you state unequivocally that we can't know anything about it?) So there's some arrogance hidden in that view along with assumptions not based on any reason.
Atheists simply do not accept something that is based purely on the claims of religion and for which there is no concrete evidence that can be tested. I don't see the arrogance in that. If there's no evidence or proof, why believe it? How is that arrogant? - inkswamp, on 04/17/2009, -2/+24We atheists don't need the "scare us into being good people" tactic. See, we can intellectually process the notion that being good people is its own reward and the best way to ensure peace. We don't need the childish threat of scary punishment in the afterworld to keep us in line.
You religious folks ought to look into it. Might help you avoid some of those wars you all are so keen on starting with each other. - enantiodromia, on 04/17/2009, -2/+24Jesus was an Apocalyptic Jew, which means he did not only believe in the Jewish God, but that he would "surly come back within our life time".
Still waiting... - wizardzatz, on 04/17/2009, -3/+25I pray to Joe Pesci
- inactive, on 04/17/2009, -1/+23well said i particularly like this insight " It took a few more years for me to understand that having faith was more related to a person's emotional needs than their ability to reason"
freind request on the way - Mike.ohara, on 04/17/2009, -1/+22Church is where people go to hedge their bets.
Most don't entirely belive it, but are there... just in case. - inactive, on 04/17/2009, -1/+22No H.P. Lovecraft??
- pradaaddict, on 04/17/2009, -1/+22Atheists evangelizing? I've never had an Atheist approach me and ask if I believe that the Scientific Method died for my sins
- mikeman10001, on 04/17/2009, -4/+24It's funny how people critisise scientists, and have never opened a science text book in their lives.
- enantiodromia, on 04/17/2009, -2/+22I _love_ the "if you don't believe in God, what keeps you from killing and raping people?!" argument.
"uh, my Humanity. you should get some of your own" - ApokalypseNow, on 04/17/2009, -1/+20Me 3:14159 "And I say unto thee, 'Get thee a life! Thy ridiculous passages matter not to those that do not already believe in thy myths!'"
- Toshibi, on 04/17/2009, -1/+20In other words...take something written a long time ago and apply modern understanding and fitting to make your stupid religion look scientific. Give me a break.
- enantiodromia, on 04/17/2009, -3/+21Bill Hicks was certainly spiritual though. I'm not sure where modern society draws the line anymore between "Theist" and "Atheist" anymore.
I would love to have done mushrooms with that dude. - cmt5061, on 04/17/2009, -2/+20Zuckerberg shouldn't be labeled as the "MOST BRILLIANT" atheist.. at least not top 50 cmon
- themastersb, on 04/17/2009, -7/+25I'm pretty sure the title could just say "The 50 most brilliant people of all time" and still have relatively the same list.
- dylio, on 04/17/2009, -2/+20By further reflecting that the clearest evidence would be requisite to make any sane man believe in the miracles by which Christianity is suppoted, -- that the more we know of the fixed laws of nature the more incredible do miracles become, -- that the men at that time were ignorant and credulous to a degree almost incomprehensible by us, -- that the Gospels cannot be proved to have been written simultaneous with the events, -- that they differ in many important details, far too important as it seemed to me to be admitted as the usual inaccuracies of eyewitnesses; -- by such reflections as these, which I give not as having the least noveltry or value, but as they influenced me, I gradually came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation. The fact that many false religions have spread over large portions of the earth like wild-fire had some weight on me. Beautiful as is the morality of the New Testament, it can hardly be denied that its perfection depends in part on the interpretation which we now put on metaphors and allegories. - Charles Darwin
He was a ***** atheist. - miamicat, on 04/17/2009, -4/+22I like big font.
- enantiodromia, on 04/17/2009, -0/+18And the King of Unicorns is the Twonicorn, with his dual horns.
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