Why are you an atheist? - Page 11

General AI · #**101** (**permalink**) 03-12-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom31deecc FTW

Religion was pretty much a fact to most people in medieval times. It did a very good job of controlling the masses actually.

Pretty much. That's why the church had such a ridiculous hold on the public. Eternal damnation makes an excellent threat.

TooMuchButtHair · #**102** (**permalink**) 03-12-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by General AI

Pretty much. That's why the church had such a ridiculous hold on the public. Eternal damnation makes an excellent threat.

Actually, it wasn't the threat of eternal damnation that caused most inhabitants of medieval times to convert to Christianity. The people of the time had really sh.tty lives. Only 1 in 5 children lived past the age of 5, food and water was in short supply (stupid climate change), and the few who had power didn't share their life sustaining wealth with anyone. Wars were frequent, bloody, and the promise of food, water, and medical care for your family was enough to bring hordes of men into armed service.

No, threatening those people with damnation would do no good. The reason people coverted was because of the promise that if you live by the Church's rules, you'd get to spend eternity in paradise. That is what converted people - the promise of a better life.

SicktistiK · #**103** (**permalink**) 03-12-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by TooMuchButtHair

Actually, it wasn't the threat of eternal damnation that caused most inhabitants of medieval times to convert to Christianity. The people of the time had really sh.tty lives. Only 1 in 5 children lived past the age of 5, food and water was in short supply (stupid climate change), and the few who had power didn't share their life sustaining wealth with anyone. Wars were frequent, bloody, and the promise of food, water, and medical care for your family was enough to bring hordes of men into armed service.

No, threatening those people with damnation would do no good. The reason people coverted was because of the promise that if you live by the Church's rules, you'd get to spend eternity in paradise. That is what converted people - the promise of a better life.

As to the same in roman times. Most religions back then were categorized, and only benefited certain people, when christianity rolled along, people (the general public of pheasants and slaves) fell in love with the fact that everyone was promised eternity in paradise. Was it Constantine who finally made it the official religion of rome? I'm going off like 7th grade knowledge here, so pardon me if I am wrong, its been...4 years.

TooMuchButtHair · #**104** (**permalink**) 03-12-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by SicktistiK

As to the same in roman times. Most religions back then were categorized, and only benefited certain people, when christianity rolled along, people (the general public of pheasants and slaves) fell in love with the fact that everyone was promised eternity in paradise. Was it Constantine who finally made it the official religion of rome? I'm going off like 7th grade knowledge here, so pardon me if I am wrong, its been...4 years.

Christianity didn't fly with a lot of folks. For the first 1,500 years of it's existence, it demanded of it's flock that everything said flock had, belonged to the Church. From the time that pesky Roman Emperor demanded on his death bed that Christianity become the religion of Rome (Christianity was dead, until that time) to the 1,500's and the first reformations, Christianity was a cash cow that demanded money, loyalty and your life. Their motto was essentially, 'give everything you have now, for eternal paradise'. The vast majority of Christians never saw a single benefit from the Church. Said vast majority of Christians suffered horribly from the Church's demands, wars, and neglect. Only the ignorance of the populace and the power of the Church (and their almost constant subjugation of their followers) kept the Church in power.

SicktistiK · #**105** (**permalink**) 03-12-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by TooMuchButtHair

Christianity didn't fly with a lot of folks. For the first 1,500 years of it's existence, it demanded of it's flock that everything said flock had, belonged to the Church. From the time that pesky Roman Emperor demanded on his death bed that Christianity become the religion of Rome (Christianity was dead, until that time) to the 1,500's and the first reformations, Christianity was a cash cow that demanded money, loyalty and your life. Their motto was essentially, 'give everything you have now, for eternal paradise'. The vast majority of Christians never saw a single benefit from the Church. Said vast majority of Christians suffered horribly from the Church's demands, wars, and neglect. Only the ignorance of the populace and the power of the Church (and their almost constant subjugation of their followers) kept the Church in power.

Yeah, we didn't even touch on any of that. I'm motivated now to do some more research on my own of this.

TooMuchButtHair · #**106** (**permalink**) 03-12-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by SicktistiK

Yeah, we didn't even touch on any of that. I'm motivated now to do some more research on my own of this.

I enjoy history. Well, I enjoy reading about parts of it. I could give two sh.ts about most of it. LOL!

General AI · #**107** (**permalink**) 03-12-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by TooMuchButtHair

Actually, it wasn't the threat of eternal damnation that caused most inhabitants of medieval times to convert to Christianity. The people of the time had really sh.tty lives. Only 1 in 5 children lived past the age of 5, food and water was in short supply (stupid climate change), and the few who had power didn't share their life sustaining wealth with anyone. Wars were frequent, bloody, and the promise of food, water, and medical care for your family was enough to bring hordes of men into armed service.

No, threatening those people with damnation would do no good. The reason people coverted was because of the promise that if you live by the Church's rules, you'd get to spend eternity in paradise. That is what converted people - the promise of a better life.

Well I'm reading up on Medieval history right now, and though you're right about how the promise of a better life helped people convert, threats of damnation actually kept a lot of Christians in check.

Seriously, many people were terrified about their afterlife. And unless they were having some serious troubles with their daily lives, they would try nearly anything to please the church (of course the extent of the church's power varied from place to place). Their quest to please the church is actually one of the man reasons why the church was so damn wealthy!

Socom · #**108** (**permalink**) 03-12-2008

I'm an atheist because God apparently made me that way.

- Cursed Lemon

ashTREv2 & SCL · #**109** (**permalink**) 03-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Socom

I'm an atheist because God apparently made me that way.

- Cursed Lemon

I thought this was an amazing statement.

If god understands and knows what he is making, ex: an atheist, why would he do it?

Because if he did know what he was doing, the atheist would surely go to hell, or I think they would, seeing how it states in the bible that if you don't believe in him you will be condemned.

This theory goes with many other things, such as rapists, murderers, terrorists, and other relgions.

But he made “free will”.

Which is what I ask:

How is it free will if he knows you are going to do something?
If he made you, then he's making the decision for you to do those sins on Earth, making him the sinner(?)

If he knows you are to sin, why would he allow it to happen?

If he's all loving, he wouldn't want you to go to hell, or atleast I think.

Response please.