If our belief as agnostics is specifically defined as I do not know what form God may be?

DavidLaDeau comments on Jan 2, 2018:

Ironically, without intention, I have found myself defending the FSM using tactics I learned as a fundamentalist. This has been entertaining and I hope instructive. We can justify anything we want, we can deceive yourself about anything despite the facts. I think this has turned into a great thought experiment in theist thinking. Thank you all for your participation!

What's so important for a guy to be attractive to a lady according to Evolution.

DavidLaDeau comments on Jan 1, 2018:

According to evolutionary standards all that is required is that you are "good enough" to procreate. Not particularly flattering.

Does anyone still make new year's resolutions?

DavidLaDeau comments on Jan 1, 2018:

When I was seventeen I came to the conclusion that new years resolutions were not normally kept by anyone, so I vowed to keep mine. I decided not to make them. It has been twenty years and I have kept it completely.

Aren't we all agnostic?

DavidLaDeau comments on Jan 1, 2018:

Matt Dillihunty and Aron Ra often say that people claim to "know what they don't know". Aaron Ra also says "if you can show it you don't know it". If the definition of a God includes something that cannot be perceived then we are all agnostic. We can not claim to "know" something that by definition we can not "know". This being said with all of my knowledge and experience I am certain that a God does not exist. I just cannot claim to "know" it.

SHOULD WE UPDATE THE 10 COMANDMENTS?

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 31, 2017:

I would not consider fixing a lead sled. I would consider what task must be accomplished and then consider what and how to accomplish it. A sled my not have been the best tool for flying, reworking a lead one would be a waste of time. Can I be any more emphatic that it's completely worthless?

Is there any youtube channel you would recommend for the topic of atheism?

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 31, 2017:

The coolest kid out there is cosmicskeptic. He just might be our new Christopher Hitchens!

Is there such a thing as a Christian child, Muslim Child or any kind of religious child?

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 31, 2017:

Absolutely there is, I was one. My family indoctrinated me into fundamentalism from birth. I was a Christian because I had no choice. I was incapable of not thinking religiously. I got older and was able to think for myself and understand that everything I was taught may not always be correct . It was then that in was able to become an Apistevist- one whom does not make decisions based on faith. This being said I was religious as I was taught to be. We are not born Broncos fans, democrats, or dead heads. We certainly are not born religious.

Theist claims

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 31, 2017:

Does a good loving parent walk in the child's room and destroy its toys just because well they better figure it out? Further more, would an adult destroy some other kids toys because their own children displeased them? If a God resorts to childish temper tantrums what good it she? A reasonable God would simply let us know what is on her mind by simply telling us. Instead we are told by unthinking people that their God is well....unthinking.

What should we do with people and governments that persecute (even murder) Agnostic.

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 30, 2017:

It would be a good idea to look to the civil rights movement and lgbt movement. They both were very successful in reducing bigotry. The civil rights movement brought us actual equality as opposed to just words. The lgbt movement normalized what was already normal "gay". What we are dealing with is a bigoted culture, thus we must actively change that culture by helping the masses understand that questioning ones beliefs is normal. While the is a time and place to "stand up to the man", only going after the government or bigots will not change cultural norms.

Matthew 4:24 - " News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill ...

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 30, 2017:

Real miracles would have been helpful, even real illusions there of. The fact is there were magicians everywhere, religious leaders whom were said to do all kinds of miracles. When everyone can call a psychic in a second and none of them really do any miraculous things like win the lottery no one pays them any attention. The same was true for Jesus, the claims about him were what was to be expected and thus not noteworthy.

Should prostitution be illegal?

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 30, 2017:

I really avoid posting curse words but here it is rather significant and appropriate. George Carlin once said " Sellings legal. Fuckings legal. Why is selling fucking illegal?" Sex is at the least necessary for our species to survive. Prohibitions ( barring what actually hurts another person ) are completely arbitrary based on religious influence. The reason for this is by suppressing and or controlling sex religion could control people. This was done to make people more dependent on religion. The hijacking of humanity and our natural instincts is what is immoral. Not two consenting adults having sex.

does desire to convert someone to atheistic belief sometimes undercut our abiding love for science?

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 30, 2017:

I do not desire to "convert" anyone to atheism. I do have a very strong, irresistible desire to inspire people to question everything and understand how they know what they know. Is what I believe just cus some guy said so or is their factual evidence to support his claim? When people actually stop to take the time to understand why they believe what they do believe it leads them to solid decision making. I do not have to agree with people's ideas or like their ideas. What I am concerned about is that their reasoning is not based on myth or fairy tales. In this since I am an Apistevist- I do not make decisions based on faith. It is just a very bad idea to do so and I encourage people to avoid doing so. This does however end up making people become atheist.

Does all life have inherent value?

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 30, 2017:

This is a tough and very uncomfortable question, thus it is a good one. Yep it would suck to take care of this child and I would not want to. I very likely would none the less. Does this make me right or moral? Probably not. We are products of evolution and in order for us to propagate our species we have a strong sense of altruism. We want to help each other, it is part of our nature, we can not help ourselves. This is good as it will ensure our existence as a species. This being said I have a real problem with suffering. What if this child for some reason suffered horrific pain continuously that doctors could not stop? In that case I would have to take suffering into account.

What do you think

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 25, 2017:

We exist. We are one planet in one solar system, in on galaxy in the universe. There is an almost infinite amount of possible chances for life to exist somewhere other than our planet. We are proof it can happen. Considering there vastness and as far as we know infinite universe, simple math tells us extraterrestrial life is not only possible but infinitely likely. We are dealing with infinite numbers here. We are also dealing with billions or perhaps trillions of years. Many planets may have a few billion years head start on us in having life. But no, I don't think that extraterrestrials come to our planet because they have a fascination with probing our rectums. But not only is life on other planets likely, it would be irrational to think otherwise.

I have just joined this group.

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 25, 2017:

I've studied the bible and Christianity for 30 years and do not recall the phrase "Post-Modern Seminary" I honestly don't know what that means. I will look it up as soon as I post this but I would like to know your understanding of the term so I know what (you) means by it. And yes I would be stoned because I can't believe in the unbelievable.

Faith and Darwinian evolution.

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 24, 2017:

It is odd to me that the Intelligent Design crowd says we have to have a transitional species(we have literally tons of fossils that fit their definition) and we can not observe evolution. First of all, ALL creatures are transitional species. Second we are not born looking exactly like our fathers or mothers, the reason for this is small changes in our DNA as a result of combinations of inheritance, how these traits combine and we actually throw in a few mutations of our own. All species must change slightly in order to procreate that's how biology works. As there are constantly changes all species are constantly transforming slightly. And no cows do not give birth to flowers such miracles or magic only happen in fiction or religious books.

Anyone else not celebrating xmas?

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 24, 2017:

I am not celebrating Christmas in any formal way. I really just don't care. This being said I do love to observe and appreciate watching people around me offer a little more"good will", at this time of year. People do seem to be more cognizant of others and act more humanistic. I really love and enjoy that aspect of this time of year. So I do enjoy the holiday season very much. I just have no inclination to "celebrate" any particular aspect of it. I am enjoying spending time with my family that is what is most important, if there I'd anything to celebrate it is that.

Think VERY CAREFULLY......

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 24, 2017:

Really this is too easy, particularly on a sight such as this. I would like the people of my country (why stop there) the world to simply accept reality as fact rather than embracing mysticism. It is simply unhealthy and dangerous for people to think of fairy tales as fact and live their lives based upon them. In psychology if someone believes that something that is not real is real they are called delusional, but if it deals with religion they are deemed healthy and normal. While those whom have been brainwashed into religion are not burdened with psychological problems necessarily, they are burdened with a group think delusion. The world would simply work much better if people made reasonable decisions based on fact not fiction.

How do you define agnostic, atheist, and theist?

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 23, 2017:

Isn't it great that we are on sight that is called agnostic.Com and we really don't know or have no consensus on what it means. How much more are theist confused about such terms. So lets get into it. Matt Dillihunty I believe gives the best definitions of atheist. 1) I do not believe in God 2) I do not believe there is a God. Atheism is about belief As far as the term Agnostic I believe there are also two distinctive meanings used that are very confusing. Gnosticism is about knowledge. 1) I do not know if there is a Devine being or what it might be like 2) If God can not be comprehended or perceived by man I can not claim to "know" he does not exist Theism is much simpler and more easily understood be religious people. This is usually stuffed into one general loose meaning. 1) the belief in a magical supernatural being. This is my very simplistic definition. I hope that was helpful.

Are atheist as racist as religious people?

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 23, 2017:

I have never met an Atheist racist. I'm sure they are out there but I have never even seen any sort of racist comments from an atheist on social media. There are reasons for this I believe. Atheists question just about everything. We tend to be skeptical and rational. Religion despises rational thought and encourages group think. It also teaches exclusivity, that is only x group is enlightened. This easily sets up racial, ethnic, and cultural divisiveness. I have a strange since of humor. The other day racism came up in a conversation with my son's friend. I wanted to illustrate how stupid racism was. So I told him in our family we do not judge people on the basis of race or ethnicity....just the color of their skin. He laughed and understood the lesson. It's all stupid no matter how you put it.

Which major world religion do you think is the worst and why?

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 23, 2017:

From the perspective of a historian, without hesitation I would say Christianities are the absolute worse. Part of this is simply longevity though many others have been practiced much longer. The exception with Christianity is violence to include genocide. The old testament brags about genocide but we know most of it is mythology. Christians have had no problems with murdering anyone that opposes their thinking and is responsible for more death than any other religion. Currently, Christians in the last 60 years have mellowed out a little. Now Islam is credited with mass murder. I don't know that Islam is indeed more violent than Christianity today or if Islam simply manages to get more headlines. If we are concerned with human rights issues, then Hinduism takes the prize without any question. Hinduism is hostile to humans due to the cast system and is horrible to women. It is due to its prolific nature being the second most observed religion in the world and the fact that it is one of our oldest practiced religions that it takes the prize for lacking humanism.

Are We Born Atheist??

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 23, 2017:

We are not born atheist. Theism must exist in a community for one not to believe in it. This being said many cultures have been found over the last 200 years that had no concepts of God's or spirits. They were not born atheist because there were no theist. Many believe that we are born with a desire to seek spirituality. History and sociology proves this wrong. This line of thinking is as much of a myth as gods.

About Jesus

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 23, 2017:

It does not matter if Jesus was or was not an actual historical person. Almost two thousand years of history doesn't care. The Bible very clearly refutes itself, history very clearly refutes the bible, science very clearly refutes the bible. The fact is Christians are more concerned about being religious than if what they believe in is actually factual. If they were concerned with facts they would bombard us with facts, instead they bombard us with mythology. I am on the fence as to whether there was a historical Jesus. It just doesn't matter anyway. If GOD told Christians Jesus was made up many Christians would reject him as the devil.

As Agnostic, are you more inclined to believe in higher power (of any kind) or more inclined to deny...

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 23, 2017:

I am agnostic only as I can not to claim that I know what I do not know. If God by definition can not be perceived by man, I can not claim to know he does not exist. This being said I am certain with all knowledge and experience that I have that God does not exist, thus it is more proper to call me an atheist. I do not wonder if there might be a magic unicorn living in my butt, I am an magic butt unicorn atheist. If by definition I can not know the magic unicorn is living in my butt then I am a magic butt unicorn agnostic. The problem here is there are two distinctive meanings of agnostic we are dealing with here.

What would make you believe in a God?

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 23, 2017:

A God is the only thing that could make me believe in God. I would like to say empirical evidence, but I really don't know. Frankly I am unconcerned about it. If God is all knowing, God would know what it would take to convince me. If a God exists and fails to convince me of its existence than it must be as unconcerned about it as I am.

If one believes in a god that exists out of time, that is, is timeless, then what does it matter if ...

DavidLaDeau comments on Dec 23, 2017:

My biggest problem with the whole existence out side of time is that it means that God does not exist in time and therefore does not exist. Apologetics get so desperate that they actually often destroy their own positions. If God exists outside of time he is not in the past, present, or future. The argument here is that he exists because he doesn't exist.??????