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dc3f7bd
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We are all born free from all religious affiliations and only come to believe in such things after being introduced to it -- so, atheism is the default position. Although some children are not indoctrinated with a specific religion before the age of reason, there are many more who are.
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born-atheist
default-position
religion-christianity
indoctrination
dad
mom
atheist
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David G. McAfee |
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ad19ed2
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This life is only a test' is a counter-productive mindset; it encourages wishful thinking toward and elusive and likely non-existent afterlife while often enabling the believer to squander this life as somehow less important.
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responsibility
counter-productive
god-test
life-is-a-test
test
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David G. McAfee |
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6496f93
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Because of Jesus' supposed predestination, God would have had to choose the people who would kill and betray his son, choose the method by which he would be killed (crucifixion), and the time at which the event would occur. Those guilty of killing Jesus would therefore be simply carrying out God's wishes without the free will to have chosen a path for themselves.
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heaven
jesus
free-will
judas
romans
guilty
hell
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David G. McAfee |
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61ccb18
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You have two lives. The second one begins when you realize you only have one." --Unknown"
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David G. McAfee |
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1c3fb41
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Without cultural indoctrination, all of us would be atheists. Or, more specifically, while many may dream up their own gods as did our ancestors, they would certainly not be 'Christian' or 'Jewish' or 'Muslim' or any other established religion. That's because, without the texts and churches and familial instruction, there are no independent evidences that any specific religion is true. Outside of the Bible, how would one hear of Jesus? The ..
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jesus
bible
default-position
muhhamad
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David G. McAfee |
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109c187
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One of the misconceptions about atheism is that it somehow means someone denies the possibility of a deity. In all actuality, it simply means you don't believe it to be the case -- a point that should not be hard to understand with the complete lack of physical evidence that points to the existence of such a being or beings. Even if you're 51 percent sure that there is no magical man in the sky, you are an atheist; and admitting that is the..
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myth
existence
god
possible
atheist
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David G. McAfee |
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517e6bc
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Not only do I believe that it is possible to maintain moral standards without the crutch of religion--but I would argue that it is the only way to achieve true goodness and express real altruism. Free from the constraints of organized religion, a human being is able to express decency from one's self--as opposed to attempting to appease whatever higher power he or she may believe in.
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morality
religion
good-without-god
morality-versus-worship
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David G. McAfee |
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8005860
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I became suspicious as I noticed things like the time lapses in the writing, contradicting books, questionable authenticity of the authorship of certain books, and the different forms the bible had taken over the years as the church continued to disagree over which books were inspired. I also noticed things in the bible I had somehow missed before. When I chose to read the bible without the filter that it was the infallible word of God, I s..
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David G. McAfee |
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a3c2eb2
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Here's an easy way to figure out if you're in a cult: If you're wondering whether you're in a cult, the answer is yes." --Stephen Colbert" --
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David G. McAfee |
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01d3af5
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I don't claim to know an over-arching 'Meaning of Life,' but I do operate under the understanding that life should not be lived under the pretense that it is simply a test propagated by an invisible, intangible, Creator-God. And it should not be spent identifying with religious traditions and organized groups that, historically, have been at the root of a tremendous amount of oppression and violence.
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live-life-to-its-fullest
meaning-of-life
test
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David G. McAfee |
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1ebedf3
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The requirement to obey and acknowledge God and Jesus Christ has caused the teachings of the Christian tradition to stray from morality to idol worship, creating a world in which a murderer can be forgiven and sent to heaven, whereas a loving and caring skeptic would be cast into damnation.
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David G. McAfee |
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6169ae4
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The modern teachings of Christianity often preach of a peaceful, merciful, and loving God/Creator. Culturally, this concept of a God of peace is well liked and accepted amongst clergymen and the Christian community alike; however, some scriptural evidence gives us a contradictory and seemingly destructive version of our Creator.
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david-g-mcafee
god-of-love
war-god
contradiction
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David G. McAfee |
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27b83fc
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According to your holy book, every single Buddhist, Jew, Hindu, Muslim, follower of various minor traditions or sects, those who do not affiliate themselves with a religious tradition and the approximately 2.74 billion humans who have never had the 'privilege' of hearing the word of your Messiah will be sentenced to eternal damnation in a lake of fire--regardless of moral standings or positive worldly accomplishments. If this sounds like a ..
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worship
heaven
joshua-project
only-way-through-jesus
christian
jew
hell
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David G. McAfee |
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9fb04c9
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If we presuppose that Jesus and God are one--as many (but not all) Christians do--then we can also infer that Jesus Christ was omnipotent, omniscient, and omni-benevolent, and it is with this that the idea of sacrifice is lost. The martyrdom was premeditated on the part of the Creator, and Jesus was resurrected afterward--showing that the act of 'death' was not an inconvenience for the immortal 'man' who was said to have known that he would..
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jesus
sacrifice
glitch
omnipotent
resurrection
knowledge
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David G. McAfee |