Simple question?

Quote: Nareed

You keep trying to figure out how atheists live a religious life according to Jesus, when it's effingly, patently obvious we do not.

I think it is effingly obvious you do live what I would consider a religious life. You are a good person seeking truth through discussion and dialogue you are smart and interesting and you stand up for what you believe in with passion and conviction. You don't get this through you non belief in God, because that is just what atheism is a disbelief in the existence of God nothing more. So where does this pseudo-religious virtues come from? It is evidence to me of the foundational goodness of the human being and the gift of our conscience that guides us even when we are unaware of it.

Quote: FrGamble

I think it is effingly obvious you do live what I would consider a religious life.

So you're saying Augustine was right. Without "God" people are little more than brutes and savages. And you're ok thinking so little of yourself?

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You are a good person seeking truth through discussion and dialogue you are smart and interesting and you stand up for what you believe in with passion and conviction. You don't get this through you non belief in God,

And I don't get it from my support for the Steelers, or my liking of SF, or my girl-crush on Rey, or my passion for cooking, or my love of history, or my liking of craps and VP, or my interest in science, or any of a myriad other things.

People are capable of all these things you mention, and much more. This is inherent in each of us, and it depends on whether we choose to make use of our capabilities or not.

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So where does this pseudo-religious virtues come from?

These are not related to religion or any deity. You may as well claim I should have no use of my hands because I'm an atheist.

Quote: Nareed

So you're saying Augustine was right. Without "God" people are little more than brutes and savages.

There is no "without God", He dwells in all of us and is active in all of us sometimes without us recognizing it.

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And I don't get it from my support for the Steelers, or my liking of SF, or my girl-crush on Rey, or my passion for cooking, or my love of history, or my liking of craps and VP, or my interest in science, or any of a myriad other things.

Besides your support for the Steelers which is intrinsically disordered I too have a crush on Rey, love cooking (even more love eating), I love history, I like Craps and VP a lot, I love science, and a myriad of other things as well. These things are inherent in each of us because they are a pursuit of the good. As St. Augustine said we all pursue the good, even when we sin. It is ingrained in us all to be good and strive for what we think is good even without recognizing that this comes from the goodness we all have as God's creation.

Quote: FrGamble

There is no "without God",

There is only without "God" because Jehovah/Jesus doesn't actually exist.

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Besides your support for the Steelers which is intrinsically disordered

At least they never abandoned their long-suffering fans with too little notice.

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These things are inherent in each of us because they are a pursuit of the good.

No, they are inherent in you because they are inherent in you. Like the ability to digest food, move your hands and draw breath.

Just as you choose to move your hand or eat, you choose whether and how to use your brain.

Quote: FrGamble

There is no "without God", He dwells in all of us and is active in all of us sometimes without us recognizing it.
.

'Sometimes'? How about never, because
he doesn't exist. This is just more magical
thinking while you cross yourself obsessively,
splash 'holy water' everywhere, caress your rosary
beads, pray to dead 'saints' and Jesus mom,
and magically change wine into blood. No
superstition in these actions, we should all
be doing them according to you.

Your Church is still buried in an avalanche of 14th
century superstition, will it ever see the world as
it really is.

Quote: Nareed

There is only without "God" because Jehovah/Jesus doesn't actually exist.

Far be it for me to argue with such exquisite evidence and well thought out reason. No seriously, you can't really believe there is no God.

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No, they are inherent in you because they are inherent in you. Like the ability to digest food, move your hands and draw breath.

Just as you choose to move your hand or eat, you choose whether and how to use your brain.

Yes it is inherent in us to choose to seek what is good.

Quote: FrGamble

Far be it for me to argue with such exquisite evidence and well thought out reason.

It's not an argument. It's a statement of the effing obvious.

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No seriously, you can't really believe there is no God.

I'm slightly past my teenage years when I did say things for shock value. I hold many unconventional beliefs, still, and am rather eccentric. But all this is by conviction. Any shock value is incidental.

Quote: Nareed

It's not an argument. It's a statement of the effing obvious.

You must have your eyes closed, then it becomes a question. Open your eyes, it could not be more obvious that there is a God.

Quote: FrGamble

You must have your eyes closed, then it becomes a question. Open your eyes, it could not be more obvious that there is a God.

If it were obvious, we'd all have the same religion and we'd have no need for holy books. There's no controversy about the existence of clouds or whether water is wet.

Speaking of effingly obvious facts:

Virtual particles (see?) come in and out of existence all the time. Therefore, in a way, energy is created and destroyed all the time. But the average content of energy of the universe is constant. ergo the law of conservation of energy is right, as extended by quantum mechanics.

But the fact that it can be created in small amounts does not mean it has to be created at all. To the best of our knowledge, energy predates the universe, if you interpret the Big Bang as the beginning of the universe. Therefore energy is eternal.

We can't tell whether space existed before the Big Bang. It may be that it did not.