Is the phrase "What is sin?" really just more of a universal attitude than a relevant question?

Atheist are responsible for their beliefs, but so are we. What I think you fail at grasping in your response is God ability to prick the heart. It takes God to do that by His Spirit, It can not be done by us commanding them to bow to God.

1 Corinthians 3:6-15 KJV

(6) I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

(7) So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

(8) Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

(9) For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

(10) According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

(11) For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

(12) Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

(13) Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

(14) If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

(15) If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

To gain is not to loose site of who is the master builder of our faith. Allow God to do the work and prayfully ask God to allow you to use His word to combat those who believe not. God word is sharper then any two edge sword you use. The sword meaning your words are not has sharp as God's.

If I heard someone say that I'd think they weren't interested in the Lord, or in

what they were doing at all. I'd think they were not asking a question at all.

I'd think it was like a rhetorical question, like saying 'Who cares?' or 'Everyone sins,

so it doesn't matter what I do'.

I'd think it was getting out of things, escaping things.

There are very serious, and 'heavy' addictions that would take God to help the

person break assuming there was some interest in this. Or, something would

happen and the person would 'see' it differently.

I think those who say such things as you put here, are not interested at all in

the future, maybe not even in next month or even tomorrow. It would just

be what's in it for me, right now.

I remember that way of existing, and that's what it was, existing. But at the time,

that was all I knew, all I had, and no one can help very much at all. It takes

'grace' to move a person to understand things differently.

...

Most of the things defined as "sin" by religion are either crimes, misdemeanors or unwise behavior. Most of these are obvious enough to any person of moderate intelligence who cares to think about them. That fact that this is true is that the written and unwritten laws of most societies that have ever existed provided against crime etc. long before any of them had heard of the Bible. It is even true of social animals, among which some behaviors are not tolerated. It is a fact that Christians using these pages conveniently ignore this. Sin is an invention of the religious. It does not exist.

There is no evidence for an afterlife. None whatsoever. The opinions, guesswork and wishful thinking of any person either now or in the past are not evidence no matter what you or anyone else claims.

There is no evidence for the existence of any gods. None whatsoever. The opinions, guesswork and superstitions of any person now or in the past are not evidence, no matter what you or any other person may claim.

As for Christianity, it consists of a set of claims for which there is no evidence, or very little in the case of the existence of Jesus who may have existed as a Jewish religious reformer but not divine. The fact that these claims are all entirely unsupported is an unanswerable indication that the entire system is without any basis in fact and the same goes for all other forms of religion. All of them.

You people consistently attribute crimes, misdemeanors and unwise behavior to atheists without a shred of evidence that this is true.

In reality, it is clear from actual measurements of crimes including murder and rape are lowest in countries where religions are weakest and even in states of the USA where religion is weakest. In addition, the rated of abortion and childbirth outside marriage are generally lowest in countries and US states where religion is weakest. It is also true that as developed countries have become more secular, the rates of major crime have been declining on the whole ever since measurements have been taken around 150 years ago, In reality declines in crime rates are associated with higher levels of education which also militate against religious beliefs.

Religion has nothing to boast about, .

How does sin affect a person’s relationship with God?

1 John 3:4, 8: “Everyone who practices sin is also practicing lawlessness, and so sin is lawlessness. He who carries on sin originates with the Devil.” (How forceful this is! Those who deliberately choose a course of sin, making a practice of it, are viewed by God as criminals. The course they have chosen is the one that Satan himself first took.)

Rom. 5:8, 10: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. . . . When we were enemies, we became reconciled to God through the death of his Son.” (Notice that sinners are referred to as enemies of God. How wise, then, to avail ourselves of the provision that God has made for reconciliation to him!)

1 Tim. 1:13: “I was shown mercy [says the apostle Paul], because I was ignorant and acted with a lack of faith.” (But when he was shown the right way by the Lord, he did not hold back from following it.)

2 Cor. 6:1, 2: “Working together with him, we also entreat you not to accept the undeserved kindness of God and miss its purpose. For he says: ‘In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation I helped you.’ Look! Now is the especially acceptable time. Look! Now is the day of salvation.” (Now is the time when the opportunity for salvation is available. God will not forever extend toward sinful humans such undeserved kindness. So, care needs to be exercised in order that we do not miss its purpose.)

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Prov 14:34).

<the voice of one gnat who fears God>