Newtboy, this is simply a strawman argument. What you've got is a list of (inaccurate and biased) gotcha arguments but they are not tethered to a framework of understanding of what is in the bible. There are atheists out there who have studied the bible (not saying you haven't) and could tell you the difference between the Old and New Covenants for example. There is an intellectual honesty that comes to table which allows you to have a substantive discussion. You're free to have opinions about what God has done and why He has done it but at least let's get our facts straight so we can have a honest conservation.

Let's say you're right and everything you said is true. On what basis are the things you brought up like slavery or murder objectively wrong?

Short answer, no, not if they make cakes with messages.

Because there's no way to tell if it's really a firmly held belief or just douchbaggery, and it's far more likely to be the latter (examples of that above), no. The next step might be no cakes for blacks, because they're unclean descendants of Cain, or Jews because they don't serve Jesus, or people wearing blended fabrics because they should be stoned to death, and certainly no cake for atheists.

If you have a public business, serve the public, otherwise partner with your church and limit your customers to like minded people instead of singling out certain groups to publicly deny service....or move to a religiously intolerant country where your intolerance is allowed and not antithetical to the national morals.

It's almost stupid to drag religion into the gun violence/ownership issue. There are religious/atheist citizens who support/detest gun violence/ownership. What's the benefit of doing it?

As an atheist who was born Christian, I love you guys. Merry tree day!

Tim Minchin - White Wine In The Sun has been added as a related post - related requested by mxxcon.

Tim Minchin, "White Wine in the Sun" (Studio 360 Live) has been added as a related post - related requested by mxxcon.

Tim Minchin - White Wine in the Sun (2012) has been added as a related post - related requested by mxxcon.

White Wine In The Sun an Atheist Xmas Song by Tim Minchin has been added as a related post - related requested by mxxcon.

*related=https://videosift.com/video/Tim-Minchin-White-Wine-In-The-Sun
*related=https://videosift.com/video/Tim-Minchin-White-Wine-in-the-Sun-Studio-360-Live
*related=https://videosift.com/video/Tim-Minchin-White-Wine-in-the-Sun-2012
*related=https://videosift.com/video/White-Wine-In-The-Sun-an-Atheist-Xmas-Song-by-Tim-Minchin

@Buck, I did upvote it.

I’m just not sure that videos like these do anything other than reinforce people’s beliefs (regardless of what position they hold).

Religion is only a symptom of the fundamental problem with modern society: unwillingness to accept facts that contradict your beliefs.

While those on the right (especially the religious right) tend to suffer more from it, liberals are not immune either (anti-vaxxers, ridiculous fad diets).

The Oatmeal made a fantastic comic about this. I genuinely believe that if we could get more people to read that, it would do more good than one million atheist videos.

Agreed. this "as long as you don't try to push your fairytales onto my life or the lives of others, I really don't care anymore...." is why I can't just shut up about it. The term "Islamaphobia" is why I won't shut up about it. People call me that when I criticize their ancient misogynist death cult. Politicians make friends with religions, that is very dangerous to human progress. I too get sick of it, over and over . But to me it's a rallying call as well, the more these vids are shared, the more exposure to data based education, the less cults can brainwash. I had NO idea how many atheists are actually out there until the web. Videos like this one may be tired to us (long atheists years) but to someone who is say a teen brought up religious, just one of these videos could save a mind. I hope you voted it up even if it's old news to you good sir.

When you're talking about something that clearly skews the stats, like hyper religious people thinking divorce is totally a slap at God, that's not confirmation bias, it's statistics.

It's also evidence that it is a better way of life, but that is something you apparently refuse to consider. That is why I am calling confirmation bias.

Do you feel the same about those who imprison women, force their silence with abuse, and treat them like abused pets because their religion says that's proper? What if they're Christians?

The bible says that husbands should lay down their lives for their wives, like Christ loved the church and died for it.

What say you about those God has chosen to be non believers? According to you, God created them with no purpose besides eternal torture in hell, because according to you they have no alternative since God never revealed himself to them so heaven is barred to them. Pretty fucked up God imo. I prefer Mt (Mot, Mewt, etc). He's older than Yahweh and far more honest and stable.

It's not that God wouldn't reveal Himself to them; a lot of ex-christian atheists simply inherited the faith of their parents, and when they got turned loose in the world, they fell away because they didn't really know God. They need to have their own faith that is wholly theirs. No one can make you or by proxy give your life to Christ. That is a decision each individual person has to come to on their own.

I'm not really debating about the quality of the marriage, although I believe that would be far better to only love one person and stay with them your entire life. Your argument about the rates being skewed because they are highly religious; it's interesting that you choose to explain that away rather than count it as evidence for the opposing view. That's a classic case of confirmation bias.

When I said Christians raise Christians, I meant it to mean that you shouldn't be surprised that these men are raising their daughters that way. I think you should be thanking God to see a father in this day and age take such an interest in his daughters well being. They are following biblical principles which is exactly what they should be doing.

There are plenty of ex-christian atheists, I understand your point. However, a profession of faith doesn't make you a Christian; God has to do a work in your heart. You have to be born again and many of those "ex" christians never met God. There will be some though that did meet God and fell away from the faith.

No, it's not really a no brainer. The few studies done, when other known factors are considered, showed that virgin marriages had <2% difference in satisfaction, probably within the margin of error....divorce rates are obviously skewed because most virgin couples are extremely religious, which accounts for lower divorce rates...it doesn't mean they have happy or successful marriages.
STDs and unwanted pregnancy are easily avoided with responsible safe sex...granted, most teens aren't very responsible.

Your reasoning is flawed...if Christians raise Christians, (and I assume you think the same goes for other religions) where do atheists come from? Also, you do know that children given abstinence only sex ed, usually Christians, have the highest rates of teen pregnancy and STDs, don't you? Very few follow church instructions once outside of church, that's why less than 5% of marriages are by virgins.

Syria had a fractured military, where part went with Assad, and part went with the [effectively "Neo Hama"] rebellion (i.e. anti secularist rebellion).
Russia supported Assad.
Militants from the region came to support the rebellion and were given shelter and resources by rebels.
(Which is why moderate Muslims, Christians, atheists, etc, are now hiding on Assad's side of the conflict (or running to Europe))
That place really sucks. If you're a regular person, the options are bad and worse.

Land and buildings don't produce wealth and taxes without people.

-scheherazade

Our legal system up here already has codified that 'idiocy', and it's been in place quite awhile.

The women's only clothing optional spa that tried to say 'no penises allowed' is legally at odds with the provincial human rights code:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/male-genitalia-policy-spurs-backlash-at-toronto-women-s-spa-1.3456844

The Canadian charter of human rights also lists freedom from discrimination as being no different for choice/behaviour things like religion, alongside birth traits like race or gender. So legally our system doesn't think rejecting a clergy application for being atheist as any different to rejecting it because of race.

And I kind of hate using a 'trivial' and much trumpeted example from America but a bakery not wanting to make a cake based on people's sexual preferences was declared illegal:
http://aclu-co.org/court-rules-bakery-illegally-discriminated-against-gay-couple/

I'll try to summarise my last paragraph better.

The Democratic party needs to reach out to people that didn't vote Hillary. They are instead choosing to condemn those that didn't vote Hillary as racists or friends of racists. They need to be doing the exact opposite. They need to find things to compromise on and reach out to the people that didn't vote Hillary. That doesn't have to necessarily be on any of the ideas I've tossed out above, but they've gotta do something.

A last point, the moral relativism or correctness of the cause here isn't the only thing that matters. If you can't convince a majority of the population that you are on the side of their self interest and liberties and freedoms, then you are going to lose. The things I've listed are examples of the left taking away freedoms that many on the right consider important or even fundamental to them. If no compromises can be made, the Democrats haven't got much reason for optimism about the next election looking any better.

I'm Canadian so maybe that's only a problem here from my country. We have complaints and confrontations against churches for not hiring or rejecting a hire based on sexual practices, or even in one case for being an atheist. We also have a 'women's only' nude spa facing human rights complaints for keeping out people with penises because they are women too.

http://vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/will-atheist-rev-gretta-vosper-obtain-no-fault-divorce-from-church

A 5 second google at least has some American tracking of demanding sexual practices be untouchable when religions or other clubs add new members or hires:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/lgbt-employment-discrimination-churches_n_6082846

It is happening, and more importantly, whether the laws are all there already or not, the fact a complaint likely would travel to the supreme court at least is certainly a pretty legitimate concern about where that line is being drawn.

And hey, maybe the Dems don't want to try and find common ground with that particular demographic. The fact is though that there are plenty of anti-nazi people in that demographic and many others that the Democrats have currently cast as 'enemy' thinkers. The Dems need to pick some things they are willing to compromise on that will help them reach out to voters that didn't show up for Hillary.

Wait....what? Who says you cannot control the membership of a private club?

Um...Pastafarians do eat pasta....religiously (see what I did there). We would be more inclined to shun a non pasta eater, but we're an inclusive group.

No one has EVER said churches should have atheists or people from other religions in their hierarchy...no sane person anyway. That's coming from one of the most anti religious people who you will ever meet. Where on earth did you come up with that insanity?

You went off on some insane tangent decrying something that has never happened and likely has never been suggested, and something that absolutely is not part of the left's platform. Huh?