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I Went To A Christian Forum....

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nimble

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truthfully, no i didnt know it was popular. I guess maybe thats because college really isnt a place where religious beliefs are encouraged. I only have maybe 7 people I know that are religious. The other couple hundred friends are atheist or at least agnostic.

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Wow, that must have come as quite a shock.  But how innocent your childhood must have been!  In a way, I envy you that.  :blink:

Yeah, I envy me too. (Well, I knew that SOME people believed in God, but I kind of thought they were just a few maniacs in Alabama.) In 7th grade science class, I was talking to a friend and learned that he was religious. So I thought, wow, how odd. Then he insisted that I was the odd one. So we polled the class, and, sure enough, he was right.

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i doesnt really bother me too much. Just I didnt realize it was that popular. From what I hear and read in the media, and by what I see around me, I have no reason to believe that christianity is popular.

Wow! Where do you live man? Where I live, it's crawling with religious people and sometimes it looks to me that I am the only non-religious person in the whole world! (then I come here)

People here are mostly christian. It's tradition here. Nobody really asks to be one, they're born with it and a vast majority doesn't bother to question christian principles. Those who do don't get to talk about it much, but even they don't get far - they become Jehovah's witnesses. :)

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Then he insisted that I was the odd one. So we polled the class, and, sure enough, he was right.

Actually you polled the class and found out there were a lot more odd people than you thought. :)

VES

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Wow! Where do you live man? Where I live, it's crawling with religious people and sometimes it looks to me that I am the only non-religious person in the whole world! (then I come here)

People here are mostly christian. It's tradition here. Nobody really asks to be one, they're born with it and a vast majority doesn't bother to question christian principles. Those who do don't get to talk about it much, but even they don't get far - they become Jehovah's witnesses. :confused:

I live at a college in Michigan. And I visit home in the suburbs off of the bigger city Flint MI. At college, I find maybe 1 in 10 are christian or actually practice it. Some might say they believe in god, but they dont act christian or go to church. The media rarely portrays religion in a good light if it mentions it at all. All of my relatives are atheist. All but a few of my friends are atheist. I, until a few days ago when you mentioned it, never knew that christianity was ACTUALLY popular. I thought maybe 2 in 5 claim to be, and maybe 1 in 10 practice and thats about it.

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Using the media as an indicator, two examples of the popularity of Christianity are:

1. The Passion of the Christ

2. the Left Behind series (whose authors' names slip my mind)

I live in a small town where I would guess 50% of the people are religious, and the closer you go towards the outskirts and isolated suburbs the more of them you tend to find. I heard some discussion about Kerry being and atheist but I haven't had enough interest to research it. Has anyone else heard whether or not that is accurate? And why?

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Using the media as an indicator, two examples of the popularity of Christianity are:

1.  The Passion of the Christ

2.  the Left Behind series (whose authors' names slip my mind)

I live in a small town where I would guess 50% of the people are religious, and the closer you go towards the outskirts and isolated suburbs the more of them you tend to find.  I heard some discussion about Kerry being and atheist but I haven't had enough interest to research it.  Has anyone else heard whether or not that is accurate?  And why?

he is catholic, sorry. I think catholics are the easiest to convert to atheism, since they can see religion as it is: dogmatism.

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I was amazed how active it is. There are a few sites that have about 2000 members each. Kinda hurts to see how well its doing.  but I guess they are free to believe what they want, just bothers me.  :)  B)  :P  :)  ;)

The largest online forum that I know of is an atheist forum, Internet Infidels.org. This may be because "fringe" groups tend to form online forum communities much more often since it is easier to find more like-minded people on the internet where millions are connected.

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I live at a college in Michigan. And I visit home in the suburbs off of the bigger city Flint MI. At college, I find maybe 1 in 10 are christian or actually practice it. Some might say they believe in god, but they dont act christian or go to church. The media rarely portrays religion in a good light if it mentions it at all. All of my relatives are atheist. All but a few of my friends are atheist. I, until a few days ago when you mentioned it, never knew that christianity was ACTUALLY popular. I thought maybe 2 in 5 claim to be, and maybe 1 in 10 practice and thats about it.

When it comes to actually practicing their religion, it looks like only older people practice their faith here. Younger ones are usually forced to do their "duties to the church" by their parents. Especially when it's about confirmation. Most young people have by then made up their minds that they don't care about the allmighty even if he existed, but their parents (or sometimes even grandparents) force them to go to confirmation. It's just a horrible thing to see. My brother just made that confirmation and he too didn't want to go. But due to my mother, who practices her religion only when she feels like it, and who is very traditional, he had no choice but to go. There were terrible rows, but all I could do was say that if he doesn't want to go, then he shouldn't be forced, at which point I'd be discredited as an atheist and therefore had no say in these matters.

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I was amazed how active it is. There are a few sites that have about 2000 members each. Kinda hurts to see how well its doing.  but I guess they are free to believe what they want, just bothers me.  :)  B)  :P  :o  ;)

nimble,

Which forum did you visit?

I am a member of theology forums, but understand that all members are not Christians. That is why we have an apologetics section. There have been a number of atheistic and agnostic contributors, as well as religionists who are not sympathetic to Biblical Christianity. Nevertheless we welcome anyone who is willing to follow the forum rules.

Many unbelievers are suprisingly frustrated when they arrive at the forums with the assumption that Christians cannot reason. After reading the comments here, perhaps some of you might like to pay a visit. Also, we have a formal debate forum (its been slow lately).

Lastly, not everything labeled "Christian" really is. If an idea, teaching or expression is in clear conradiction with an inductive interpretation of scripture, it cannot logically be considered "Christian". Much of what people come into contact with today is likely a psuedo-christianity.

conan

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Conan, Just out of morbid curiosity what is an example of christian reasoning that is distinctly christian?

Hi Nate.

Like Plato and Aristotle, we all reason from certian presuppositions we hold. The "School of Athens" fresco is probably a good picture of that. There would be nothing disctinctly Christian about reason. However, a mature Christian will reason from presuppositions that are biblical, or otherwise it would not be rightly called "Christian".

I hope that answers your question.

conan

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...Like Plato and Aristotle, we all reason from certian presuppositions we hold.... However, a mature Christian will reason from presuppositions that are biblical...

You seem like an intelligent guy, so I assume you realize the circularity in that description. Taking the Bible as a given is an article of faith and precisely what is at issue (if one is attempting to defend Christianity). That is not the way Plato and Aristotle argued. Their presuppositions they regarded as basic to and inherent in thought itself, as preconditions, if you will, of all knowledge - and reflective of the way reality actually was, not merely because we happened to or wanted to believe it.

Fred Weiss

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nimble,

Which forum did you visit?

I am a member of theology forums, but understand that all members are not Christians. That is why we have an apologetics section. There have been a number of atheistic and agnostic contributors, as well as religionists who are not sympathetic to Biblical Christianity. Nevertheless we welcome anyone who is willing to follow the forum rules.

Many unbelievers are suprisingly frustrated when they arrive at the forums with the assumption that Christians cannot reason. After reading the comments here, perhaps some of you might like to pay a visit. Also, we have a formal debate forum (its been slow lately).

Lastly, not everything labeled "Christian" really is. If an idea, teaching or expression is in clear conradiction with an inductive interpretation of scripture, it cannot logically be considered "Christian". Much of what people come into contact with today is likely a psuedo-christianity.

conan

i went to christian forums unite or something like that. And I am a moderater at Aliveforums.tk. And i have visited a few others. but i cant remember their names. I usually get banned for arguing, or I just dont care enough to stick around. most of the arguments in those forums arent intriguing enough for me to stick around. Since I know only a limited amount of the bible (which i learned from catholicism) I cant participate in 90% of the threads in christian forums.

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Mr. Weiss,

I am not sure exactly what you mean. Maybe you could clarify a bit. You seem to be saying that presuppositions are inherently circular. At any rate, presuppositions are presupposition reguardless as to how one arrives at them.

Also, Plato's metaphysics are almost identical to the metaphysical principals found in the bible. And as you stated, this was relective of the way reality actually was.

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Also, Plato's metaphysics are almost identical to the metaphysical principals found in the bible. And as you stated, this was relective of the way reality actually was.

I think you're a little confused if you think that Objectivism holds that Plato's metaphysics are an accurate identification of the nature of reality.

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