How do you know the biblical god is not a false god?

     I, of course, think the biblical god is a false god. Whether or not the biblical god is a real being, my conscience speaks against the actions of that being. And it makes sense to consider that the biblical god could be trying to trap people. It would certainly explain the idea of requiring faith before evidence.

I have seen quite a few atheists telling christians to "get professional help."

     Personally, I would hope that we were beyond institutionalizing people who are not carbon copies of some "standard." Several of these "get professional help"s were directed at people who are harmless. I think that that is entirely inappropriate. It ulimately comes down to doing the same thing we find objectionable when religions do it. It is a means of suppressing "heresies."
     Now, there are christians I consider dangerous. Those would be the ones trying to enforce christianity by law. Making all non-christians into second-class citizens is very harmful indeed. Those people trying to harm others because they were born homosexual should be separated from society to limit their damage. But if they are harmless and simply hold unusual beliefs, I think we should leave them be. It shouldn't matter if they believe in some god, little green men from Mars, or the Easter Bunny.

A thing about people who say not to "judge god."

     I do not understand them when they do that. Do they not realize that declaring him holy and just is no less judging him than calling him vile and depraved is? And the fact is that the actions described in the bible and attributed to or supposedly commanded by its god are evil. A common claim by christians is that "it is okay when he does it." First, I don't believe it; and furthermore, it would make it meaningless to call him good.
     I see many people worshipping an obvious evil, and putting blinkers on and calling it good. If anyone other than their "god" were to do or command the same things, they would denounce him as a heinous criminal. Well, I give no such special consideration. The christian god is unquestionably wicked. The only redeeming part to the stories is that it is likely that that is all they are -- stories. Were the christian god real, I would advocate locking him up somewhere where he could do no harm.

Possible pretender alert.

     A commenter on one the posts at Raytractors (not one of the main posters) recently said in regards to a video about someone who lets her religion dictate her votes, "exterminate them all." Now, every so often, a little alarm goes off suggesting that someone is posing as something he is not in order to create a bad image. This is one of those times. I can't actually know that the person is a fraud. But I believe that he is. I think that he is trying to create an undue stain upon atheists in general. Calls for genocide generally come from people with power over many others that want to eliminate competition. So, they generally come from priests or kings, both of which would be better served by having more people like the one in the video. It does not make sense for someone nonreligious to say something like that. But it does make sense for someone trying to create a bad image for the nonreligious to do so while pretending to be nonreligious.

"Depart from me. I never knew you."

     According to christian dogma, those words are supposed to be heard by people who actually consider themselves christians. Overt non-christians would have no cause to claim that they had done anything in Jesus's name. I have noticed several christians that seem to take some sort of delight in imagining the horrors that await outsiders. These christians, when their spiel is not immediately embraced, will tell people that they are done with them and that they have already heard plenty of "god's word."
     Now, I do not believe the bible to be accurate and so I don't think that will happen. But people like that should be concerned. They, supposedly, do think that will happen. And the verse seems fitted to them. I'm not going to name any names. This is just a personal rant. I highly doubt that any of the people that fit the description I gave will read this. They will have dismissed me long ago.
     There is something else to consider. If, to my great surprise, the bible proves even approximately accurate, I will have a consolation. I have renounced the cruelty and torture as unjust. I do not endorse it. However, in such a situation, christian finding themselves thrust into that eternal torment will have endorsed it. The anguish of knowing that one declared just a torment that one thought one had escaped but instead has to endure is beyond my imagining. Those people may not know it, but they have far more reason than I do to want the bible to be false.

Repost of a comment to Ray's blog

Ray:

     Does this Jesus of yours command you to lie? I'm serious. You started off admitting that Kaitlyn gave reasons. No matter how much you lie now, it is in the record that you know that people gave reasons and not excuses.
     There is no need for a direct answer. Whether you correct your blog to remove the lie will tell all. If you keep the change to "excuse" everyone will know that you worship a liar and a father of lies -- though I am sure that many will continue to play the game. I will also post this in a couple other conspicuous places in case you decide not to let this through.

I have noticed christian leaders talking about "the mark of the beast.."

     They even quote the passage from Revelation. They must be pretty smug if they don't expect their pigeons, uh, I mean followers to fail to notice the general abolition of slavery. With the current political climate, it would be possible to unite the world peaceably without enforcing the no-slave rule universally. (It probably wouldn't be possible to unite the world peaceably at all.) The passage was written by a person (not a god) who expected all this to take place within his lifetime. Back then, slavery was common. But, it is effectively a prophecy that slavery would continue in the developed world until the "end of days." As such, it fails.
     Incidentally, I say "in the developed world" because in any merger between developed and undeveloped lands, the rules of the developed land are what take hold. Of course, I am sure that all True Christians™ are praying for a return to slavery. For those who protest and say they do not want a return to slavery, it simply means that they are "false converts."

Overwhelming evidence?!

     The blogger at Debunking Atheists recently did a post entitled "Overwhelming Evidence!" attempting to say the bible must be accurate because it has not been tampered with in a few thousand years. In this effort, he only manages to convince those who already believe the bible to be accurate. The fact is that that standard is worthless.
     Let's leave aside, for the time being, the fact that some passages (like the "let he who is without sin" line) appear to be additions after the fact. Some passages are conpicuously absent from the earliest versions available. What is important to my position is that the bible was not written by historians. It was written by people (anonymous people) who had an interest in spreading their, uh, religion. It bears no credibility. The legends of the Greek and Roman gods have been likewise preserved. They are of no value as historical records. (They have value as historical artifacts. They help us understand earlier cultures.) Would we expect, three thousand years hence, the writings of Joseph Smith to be taken as "the word of god." He certainly claimed that they were.
     Ultimately, I recognize that the bible is an ancient book. It is an ancient book of legends. And I give it the same regard as any other ancient book of legends. The burden is still on the believer of those legends to demonstrate that it contains history rather than legends.

Wow! I thought someone would contradict me on my last post.

     So, complete agreement. I must have hit the nail on the head. I really expected that one of the christian readers would say they thought claims of persecution were different from my perception.

Okay, so I can't draw.

     This is my opinion of most christian claims of persecution. Any comments?

Something to consider

     This world could be a test to see who has the courage to stand up to an evil fiend even if the fiend is believed to be unbeatable. The actions attributed to the biblical god are rather plainly evil. A lot of people make excuses for him simply because of an ability to throw his weight around. Suppose this world is such a test. Who has the courage to stand on principle? And who cops out with claims like "there must be a good reason if he does it"?

One person said he thought that christians attempt to use reasoning to convince themselves of their faith.

     I disagree. I think that they are simply trying to procure more victims... er... followers of the faith. A pretense of logic and reasoning seems to be the only tool at their disposal at the moment. I have little doubt that many of them would prefer swordpoint conversions. They will deny this; and may even be convinced of their denial. But the history is rather plain. Whenever christianity had the power to coerce people into the fold, that is what it did. Even now, we see fearmongering in telling people they will burn forever if they don't join up.
     I consider it quite possible that such christians really are possessed by evil spirits. It seems to fit. (No, I don't consider that a scientific assessment in any way shape or form.) There could be a world beyond what we see that is different from what christianity claims.

Ray deleted another one of my comments.

     I'm not really surprised, even though it didn't violate any of his stated rules. The comment exposed an inconvenient truth that might detract from his income.
     My comment was in response to Ray asking German Mike what would happen if "god" took him up on his request to have Ray show up at his door. Ray said he had important things to do. I pointed out that he is just not that important. And the only people who would seriously pray for Ray to show up are the ones that WORSHIP RAY.

     After I called Ray on it, the comment mysteriously appeared between other comments where it had not been before. I still think he is dishonest.

Worldviews can be interesting.

     One person seems to be claiming to have concluded that the bible is "the word of god." But he rejects the plain meaning of passages and goes with what "bible scholars" say they "really mean." He can't be trusting the bible if he can't decide for himself what it means. Historically, "bible scholars" have adjusted these meanings always avoiding having to admit that the bible contains errors. I find them completely untrustworthy. But there is also an obvious tear in the belief system. The belief that the bible is "the word of god" had to have been a premise. Seeking out scholars to smooth over passages only makes sense if one is trying to protect a belief.
     Another person claims that "everyone knows that god is real." First off, I think the biblical god is fake. More importantly, such beliefs are learned. And these beliefs are taugh by fiat. There has, to date, been no independently verified evidence in favor of the biblical god. But he is probably sincere in his belief that people have such ingrained "knowledge."