Yes, in many sad cases that is so.

A lot of what you mentioned has been discussed. I’ll try to remark best I can.

One thing I make very clear is that I don’t argue and breed contempt. I’m always more than happy to share, though.

Let us first address your question: How is that you’re a caring, forgiving, loving individual without choosing to have God in your life?

Partly to your point, we all have this desire to be loved and in fact, I know you find it hard to believe, but that emptiness is from God. As we grow, because of that design, we look for ways to satisfy this lack, often times by giving what we want to others. For example, such as when we are very young, we do many inconsiderate things that require correction. Our social interactions with friends, parents, teachers, etc. around us will teach us what is proper and how to keep people from being upset with us. I believe this is from where non-believers learn it.

Fact is, by nature, we are selfish people, when a baby is first born, it doesn’t come out and go, “oh mommy and daddy, let me help you clean up this mess we made here on the delivery room floor.” right? They need: food, and coddling (security) there are couple other main needs but those are critical for a baby and that’s all they want and care about: their needs, satisfied. Makes sense right?

So some questions are: Where did the people who taught us how to behave know what was right? And how did the folks who taught them know, on and on?
And If we’re just animals in this Darwinistic theory of survival of the fittest, how would we ever have compassion to teach others how to succeed and gain in life?

As mentioned above, Jesus Camp disturbed me as well. And as for the other hypocritical behavior you mentioned: again, the heart of humans is naturally wicked (selfish). We all fall short of God’s glory, some fall shorter than others. Women and men who profess their bigotry in the name of Jesus will be dealt with harshly on their day of judgment. Even more severely will the leaders and teachers be judged because God holds them more accountable.

Jesus said,

6 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!

If those children are in fact in sin because of what those teachers are teaching, them… they’re screwed.

I’m in no position to judge those people though, or anyone for that matter, but I can inspect their “fruit.” Meaning that which other people produce in their lives (all human creations). I pray for those people. Speaking in tongues is a questionable and debatable issue – even amongst theologians.

As for the bigots, hypocrites, and false teachers, I pray for them, because they are going to be hosed when the die and Jesus turns them away because they never cut their crap and developed a true relationship with Him. But, think about this: How cool would it be if their hearts were changed and they became the peacemakers they ought to be instead of the antithetical hate-mongers they are, before they die?

You talked yourself into the point that we Christians make all the time: Our friend Jesus did not force himself on others. Anyone cramming the Gospel down the throats of others are not acting Godly. Not sure what their problem is, but it’s certainly not how Jesus’ true teachings tell us how to act.

As I said, I don’t argue or debate, but I do have questions about a couple of your statements, though:

People do want true happiness and contentment. Are you there? Do you have an everlasting contentment in your life? And if you do, as an atheist, why don’t you care that your life will one day end?

Jessica said:

“It is not my place to tell them one way to live or think, because we are all born with the capacity to do that for ourselves. I have never seen the inside of a church and am a firm atheist. Yet, I feel as though my way of looking at the world is much more forgiving and loving then what I have heard preached by the Christian faith.”

True, the Bible does teach us there is only one God given gift that we have that can _never_ be taken away: free-will. We have our right to choose our own behaviors, but don’t forget we will have to accept the responsibility and the consequences from those behaviors.
I guess what concerns me about your statement is, if you never stepped foot in a church and you’ve never made the choice to even know God, how do you know your way and POV is more forgiving and loving?

Also, what is your opinion about this forum for discussion? Would you say this forum is considered a gathering, or does the technology between us separate us too much to consider it as such?

To conclude, see as Christians, we don’t have to wonder what this whole meaning of life and death is ‚Äì we already know. And it’s really more simple than you can imagine. Darwin’s theory for example is just that, a theory. One that changes and rewrites itself and becomes more complicated and difficult to understand as time goes on. God Word is not. It’s never-changing and always consistent. (If you question the translations through time, the game of telephone, etc. read the above comments) Knowing that God has got my back, gives me a security no man’s theory could ever touch.

If you want to get more on this conversation, we took it over to Dieter’s site for a little while as well: http://urltea.com/1bit

“Yet, I feel as though my way of looking at the world is much more forgiving and loving then what I have heard preached by the Christian faith.”
That might very well be true – I don’t know. What I do know however, is that God already loved you enough to die for you, and that this is what sets people free from everything you just mensioned: idolatry, greed, insecurity, intolerance, hatred and more.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. …” (Gal 5:22-23)

Didn’t it ever occur to you that it could be the other way around?

The common-sense you’re referring to comes not from within the broad minded atheist, but from the society around them. Remove that environmental influence and you’re left with “survival of the fittest”, fittest in this case being those politically connected, wealthy and loyal to the party.

I think it’s important to realise that while atheists might claim not to believe in a God, in many ways they live as if they do. If you’d like more clarification, I’d be happy to oblige.

:)

As an aside, and this is a thorny comparison, there have been more deaths due to atheistic regimes in the 20th century than probably all the religious wars put together. Since 1950, it is estimated that about 60 million have been killed by the Chinese Communist Party alone…
For a disturbing view of what happens when you remove all higher moral authority from a society, read
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-23/25124.html

We all have a sin nature, whether we are religious or not. Fortunately Christ offers a way of dealing with our past, present and future sin, and even offers to change our hearts so that our sin nature is dealt with.

Yeah, come by whenever and jump in. It’ll be here. ;-)