muzungu

There is all kind of discussion about what a loving God would or would not do, but little discussion about what "loving" means. How would you define loving as it pertains to God?

Atheists - obviously you don't believe in a loving God, but often you'll argue against the existence of one. So that means you have some concept of what a loving God would be. How would you define that God, even if you do not believe in Him?

Polls again and again confirm that the percentage of atheists in America has held steady for quite some time at about 4% (though it appears probably about 98% of these comment on R&S). Yet from the way most atheists talk, you would think that they are a solid majority. Why is this?

Do you think that people are by nature good, evil, or neutral?

Athiests often attack theists by saying that religion has been the cause of violence. However, the two most murderous political regimes in history have been explicitly athiestic ones (Lenin & Stalin's Russia, Mao's China). The third most murderous was a Darwinist one (Nazi Germany, which was based on the belief that the Aryan people were the most evolved and that all lesser evolved people should be eradicated), and it started the most widespread, destructive, and deadly war in history. And, when it comes down to it, there aren't many more explicitly athiestic or darwinist political regimes that have existed. Since athiesm and darwinism have been the causes of the greatest period of violence in human history, can athiests use past episodes of theistic violence to argue against religion?

Is it fair to judge a religion on the basis of its most nominal members? So often people look to those who claim to be Christians who have most nominally followed the teachings of Jesus, if they've followed them at all, when coming up with reasons to critique the Christian faith. Should they not look instead at those who have really given their lives to follow Jesus? Isn't a religious system best judged by its most devout, rather than its most nominal, members?

And if so, would it not change many people's judgments about Christianity?

Or would you not want to have anything to do with him, but would prefer to keep living your own way. Is your rejection of God as much intellectual as it is moral?

If you believe in relative truth, please refrain from answering...you have your own question in which to respond.

What is the logical basis for your belief? How do you reconcile it with what would appear to be undeniable absolute truths?

If you don't believe in relative truth please refrain from commenting.

Why don't you believe in Christianity? What stands between you and faith, be it a disbelief in God, an aspect of the faith, something about Christians, or whatever else?