Atheists, you're gonna love this one...?

Question

Check out the lovely answer I just got from one john_d_ayer:

"Heaven is for people; who believe that God's rules make sense, admit they make mistakes, learn from their mistakes and become better people.

"Hell is for people who think; God's rules are a joke, they don't make mistakes or if they do - so what, who cares if you learn anything and who think they are as good as they will ever be."

Wow. So, I wonder if other Christians agree with this guy. Atheists, do you feel that you never learn from your mistakes, or who cares if you do? Do you think you're as good as you'll ever be?

How disgusting of him to say such a thing about people who don't believe in his God.

Answer 1

If I thought I was as good as I'll ever be why have I spent the past 5 years getting my BS in Biology with a double minor in Chemistry and Criminal Justice. And if I thought I was as good as I will ever be then why do I have plans to spend another three years in law school. That answer you were given is laughable, it's just another piece of evidence to show that religiosity promotes bigotry and ignorance. I would have, like I'm sure you have, just laughed at this answer and taken it with grain of salt, because clearly this person's ignorance is showing and they don't care.

Answer 2

The difficulty we face here has less to do with theology than perhaps neurobiology. We are predisposed to associate with people who hold the samve views as we do. We are after all, clannish, social animals.

Once we establish ourselves in a clan, there is a tendency to begin to view everyone outside the clan as a potential threat, if not an outright enemy.

What each of us is, atheist, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Taoist, Buddhist or whatever else we may be, is a person living in an unpredictable and often incomprehensible world. There is much we cannot know.

When our brain is confronted with an unknowable concept, it tries to resolve the anxiety that arises out of that confrontation. Since the answer is unknowable, we tell ourselves stories that are accepted as answers, thus reducing the anxiety. This is a good strategy if we live in a small clan or tribe which has no contact with other clans or tribes.

As we make contact with other clans or tribes and their stories, our faith in our own stories may be threatened, and so we fight to defend them.

Whether we believe that there is no deity or that God is the supreme being, encountering our opposing story elevates the anxiety level again and we being to throw metaphorical stones at our neighbors.

What we might want to consider is that we don't really have the answers to the unanswerable questions. No one has them. We're all doing the best we can.

If we can ease the anxieties of our fellow humans, that might be better than winning a debate.

Answer 3

I like the Revelations version, myself. Christians get a "get in Heaven free" pass. Everyone else is judged by his or her actions with the bad ones getting chucked into the lake of fire. Presumably the good ones get to go to Heaven. Lesson to be learned: be Christian, or be good, or be d--ned.

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This Christian does not agree with this guy. Minimal Christianity doesn't require learning from mistakes or becoming a better person. All that's required is praying to G-d to accept the gift of Salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus; and then praying to G-d in Jesus' name for forgiveness for sins. That's it; two prayers, and you're a Christian and you're going to Heaven. Oh happy day.

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Oddly, by the Dawkins "The God Delusion" seven levels of atheism, I'm a level 6 atheist. Continuing,
> Atheists, do you feel that you never learn from your mistakes, or who cares if you do?
I learn from some of my mistakes. If I didn't, I could never ride a bicycle, right?

> Do you think you're as good as you'll ever be?
At some things, yes. At others, no -- practice makes better. There are plenty of things I'm not interested in doing at all.

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You don't have to be a Christian, or even religious, to be "good" or "nice."
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By the way, your picture is still beautiful. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Answer 4

I think an atheist can feel remorse for their sins, and everyone has a conscious. I think that we need to all strive to better than we are. I think we all want to be a good person, I think Christians feel it is their duty to be a good person and learn from their mistakes.

I think that heaven is there for us, and as we accept Christ we can be accepted into there.

But I also think that there is way to much fighting over whether Christianity was okay or not.

I mean we all are going to believe what we want to believe right, and no matter how much we try to change someone they will be how they are.

Don't you think if we all just respected each others opinions, we'd have a much happier world?

Answer 5

I do wish to point out I like John. His puncuation was horrid on that leading me to believe he didn't put down a complete thought or left words out.

As for the not learning, that would just be stupid to ever believe that.

My goal in life is to be 1/4 of the man my father is and 1/100 of the man Schindler was.

Answer 6

Yeah, that's typical of this guy. I've seen a number of his answers and they all read like they were written by someone who has bought into some kind of radical church doctrine (or his own ideas he's concocted) even to the exclusion of actual scripture. And certainly to the exclusion of an intelligent argument from a non-Christian.

So to answer your question, I do learn from my mistakes. In fact, I believe I learn a lot more from them than Christians do because I'm willing to see the experience from perspectives outside of the constraints of a religion's narrow world view.

Answer 7

Yeah. i've got considered that one before. i admire "The Atheist adventure" -- particularly the main host, Matt Dillahunty. those persons make mince meat of religion on a customary foundation. And that's totally captivating listening to the religion-crammed callers make the main illogical arguments which you will probable conceive. large stuff!

Answer 8

Everyone learns from their mistakes unless something is wrong in their brain and they lack a conscious...and normally those people end up in prison pretty fast.

Had to laugh though at the part about people who go to hell "don't make mistakes..." Uh, ok. Meaning good people are punished... sounds about right... lol

Answer 9

hmm....im wondering what then would happen to those people who make mistakes and admit it and become better people for it and who understand the rules of the universe that govern this very earth with an iron fist (these rules cant be broken)

and yes that was very good. thanks!

Answer 10

I think that when we die, we will all be judge according to what is in our hearts and souls. No one knows who is going to heaven, NO ONE. Not me, not John, not anyone - anywhere. God is the only person who does, and you won't find out till you die. I think that hell is a complete absence of God. Hell terrifies me, personally because I believe in God and have faith in Him. I can't imagine my life without God, so to be in a place (hell) forever, without him... well it is scary. It is complete darkness, and it does scare me.

But that is what I believe. And if you don't believe that, then that is ok with me. I don't think you are a better or worse person for that. And I would never tell anyone that they are going to hell for not believing as I do.

Because it is not my place to judge anyone. God is the only judge. I am called as a Christian, to love everyone. (So is John by the way, but maybe he forgot that part.) I don't think you can show love by telling someone they are doomed to hell. Especially since we don't know if they are doomed to hell.