Why do non - religious people get married in churches?

prophet wrote:

hyper ian wrote:

Answer me this: Why should I, as a reasonably crafty guy, not lie, cheat, steal and in general act $hitty to people to get why I want, as long as I'm sure I won't get caught?

Because you have an innate sense of human morality. It's the result of evolutionary development that allowed the human race to survive. Religions simply co-opt this natural morality and profit from it.

Or, the character of God.

Either way, I am glad that you don't believe in moral relativism.

hyper ian wrote:

Answer me this: Why should I, as a reasonably crafty guy, not lie, cheat, steal and in general act $hitty to people to get why I want, as long as I'm sure I won't get caught?

These are the words of someone whose morality only exists because they fear angering an all-seeing god.

I'm an atheist. I don't steal because I don't like being stolen from and it's important to lead by example. I saw a man looking sad on the street today with a sign saying that he was a homeless veteran. There are only three days until Christmas and he looked sad, so I bought him a cup of coffee. No one else needed to know this. I have plenty of money and it's something small I can do to temporarily make a fellow human being feel better. It's something I would appreciate if I were homeless and feeling awful.

Be good for goodness' sake and not because you think it will lead you to paradise everafter.

hyper ian wrote:

Answer me this: Why should I, as a reasonably crafty guy, not lie, cheat, steal and in general act $hitty to people to get why I want, as long as I'm sure I won't get caught?

.

Sounds like you are thinking of becoming a Catholic

theJeff wrote:

prophet wrote:

Because you have an innate sense of human morality. It's the result of evolutionary development that allowed the human race to survive. Religions simply co-opt this natural morality and profit from it.

Or, the character of God.

Either way, I am glad that you don't believe in moral relativism.

Um, God was killing all kinds of firstborn and generally making nuisance of himself.

If everyone descends from Adam why were there so many people out there who hadn't heard the good word yet? Shouldn't it have ben passed down pretty well?

Because people believe in God to various degrees. Some are very religious and others just somewhat.

Angry Egyptian wrote:

theJeff wrote:

Or, the character of God.

Either way, I am glad that you don't believe in moral relativism.

Um, God was killing all kinds of firstborn and generally making nuisance of himself.

If everyone descends from Adam why were there so many people out there who hadn't heard the good word yet? Shouldn't it have ben passed down pretty well?

I don’t see why. Dialects change within a generation. Languages emerge within five. Why should stories remain unchanged across all human history for millennia?

Or

If we all evolved from a common ancestor/chimp/Neanderthal/caveman, why don’t we all have the same stories?

Or

Maybe we do. We all seem to innately know about God. We all seem to have common ideas about stealing, murdering, and raping being bad. It’s just that the majority of tribes have screwed up the details enough to look like a twisted game of Telephone.

Take your pick :-)

piles of money wrote:

hyper ian wrote:

Answer me this: Why should I, as a reasonably crafty guy, not lie, cheat, steal and in general act $hitty to people to get why I want, as long as I'm sure I won't get caught?

.

Sounds like you are thinking of becoming a Catholic

What's wrong with being a catholic?

Better than being a copycat Protestant. right? I mean, as Catholics we follow God, and Jesus Christ. as Protestants they follow a former catholic priest - Martin Luther, who took his ball and went home, the little b!tch. Protestants actually follow a guy who said "I don't like this (religion) anymore, so, I'm going to take this very same religion, follow the very same God and cut and paste the things from this religion he likes and doesn't like. Three pillars, right? Pope is not recognized as the voice of God. Anyone can interpret what they see from the bible. And, priests can marry.

Yet, Protestants hate Catholics and their church. The very religion they copy!

You are sick, deluded...and very stupid! Seek help.

theJeff wrote:

Third, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Plenty of biblical stories have historical/scientific evidence (sea fossils in the mountains, or Moses prescribing quarantine millennia before the invention of the microscope and any concept of communicable disease , for example); others don't... yet.

1) Seashells in mountains? Ummm . . . ever heard of continental drift?

2) Before the microscope? Sure, but WTF? It was also before visits to the moon. Equally relevant.

But before "any concept of communicable disease"? Surely you are joking. Nobody ever noticed that people caught diseases from other people back then? What drugs are you on, dude?

Sometimes it is difficult to tell if you are just trolling or if you are really that dumb.

456 wrote:

piles of money wrote:

Sounds like you are thinking of becoming a Catholic

What's wrong with being a catholic?

Better than being a copycat Protestant. right? I mean, as Catholics we follow God, and Jesus Christ. as Protestants they follow a former catholic priest - Martin Luther, who took his ball and went home, the little b!tch. Protestants actually follow a guy who said "I don't like this (religion) anymore, so, I'm going to take this very same religion, follow the very same God and cut and paste the things from this religion he likes and doesn't like. Three pillars, right? Pope is not recognized as the voice of God. Anyone can interpret what they see from the bible. And, priests can marry.

Yet, Protestants hate Catholics and their church. The very religion they copy!

Catholics copied the Jews.

theJeff wrote:

Good question. Why would a pastor agree to conduct a wedding of a man and a woman who are not living their lives for the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

Nobody, sans Jesus Christ, lives their life for Jesus Christ.

Nobody.

Ever.

antitheist wrote:

atheism is here wrote:

Why do religous people take medication, go see doctors and go to hospitals. That is the real question.

That's not a real question. That's a stupid question that has nothing to do with anything.

You're talking about the one in the subject line, right?

wtfunny wrote:

theJeff wrote:

Good question. Why would a pastor agree to conduct a wedding of a man and a woman who are not living their lives for the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

Nobody, sans Jesus Christ, lives their life for Jesus Christ.

Nobody.

Ever.

Agreed.

portsea57 wrote:

theJeff wrote:

First, I challenge you to find me an ancient historical account that is corroborated better than the biography of Jesus.

Second, the gospels are, by definition, biographies. The fact that they are in the Bible tells you that they are biased; it tells me that they are authentic enough to be included in something as important as the Bible.

Third, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Plenty of biblical stories have historical/scientific evidence (sea fossils in the mountains, or Moses prescribing quarantine millennia before the invention of the microscope and any concept of communicable disease , for example); others don't... yet.

You are sick, deluded...and very stupid! Seek help.

I forgive you. Merry Christmas :-)

STSBO wrote:

theJeff wrote:

Third, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Plenty of biblical stories have historical/scientific evidence (sea fossils in the mountains, or Moses prescribing quarantine millennia before the invention of the microscope and any concept of communicable disease , for example); others don't... yet.

1) Seashells in mountains? Ummm . . . ever heard of continental drift?

2) Before the microscope? Sure, but WTF? It was also before visits to the moon. Equally relevant.

But before "any concept of communicable disease"? Surely you are joking. Nobody ever noticed that people caught diseases from other people back then? What drugs are you on, dude?

Sometimes it is difficult to tell if you are just trolling or if you are really that dumb.

Get back to me after you have reaearched Hippocrates’ humoral theory.

I forgive you.

theJeff wrote:

STSBO wrote:

1) Seashells in mountains? Ummm . . . ever heard of continental drift?

2) Before the microscope? Sure, but WTF? It was also before visits to the moon. Equally relevant.

But before "any concept of communicable disease"? Surely you are joking. Nobody ever noticed that people caught diseases from other people back then? What drugs are you on, dude?

Sometimes it is difficult to tell if you are just trolling or if you are really that dumb.

Get back to me after you have reaearched Hippocrates’ humoral theory.

I forgive you.

In other words, you really are that dumb. Wow!

Why do religious people always use the I forgive you or I'll pray for you taunt?

Creation or Iration wrote:

Why do religious people always use the I forgive you or I'll pray for you taunt?

Because, while they would never admit it, religion is actually a weapon for them - a way of being permanently passive aggressive.

hyper ian wrote:

Answer me this: Why should I, as a reasonably crafty guy, not lie, cheat, steal and in general act $hitty to people to get why I want, as long as I'm sure I won't get caught?

Also, to the person who says religion makes the world a worse place, that's an assertion impossible to quantify. Religion also helps in countless ways. Via charity, hospitals, schools, and motivating good behavior. Not sure how you place the positives and negatives on a scale and make this determination objectively.

If you're able to make the world better, or make someone's world better, you should, in my opinion. It's in your best interest. It's in the best interest of the species as a whole. It's in the best interests of humanity. Clearly, most people don't think that, but that's life.

Personally, I'd take all of your positives in a much more positive light if they came from true altruistic motivations rather than some feeble and ultimately selfish motivation to please a deity they believe in.