hi i m ron reagan, lifelong atheist...

[wesw]

...and I m not afraid of burning in hell.

have you seen the new Freedom From Religion ad, Jim?

[Lord Jim]

Yes I've seen it, and I wonder what his mother thinks about it...

I suspect that if Mr. Reagan were around he'd just shrug, smile and say, "Well, when kids grow up, they're going to do what they're going to do"...

That's the attitude he took when Patti went through her "wild child" phase...

But Nancy has always been much less "forgiving"...

That having been said, I have a hard time believing that Reagan The Lesser would have done this without getting at least acceptance (though probably not approval) from his mother for it...(everything I've seen and read suggests they have a pretty close relationship; if she told him this would cause her pain, I don't think he'd have done it)

But he's definitely lying about one thing in that commercial:

"I'm a life long atheist"...

He couldn't be; he certainly wasn't raised as one....

[BoSoxGal]

There are several religions wherein affirmation of the faith isn't made until young adulthood - just because a child is indoctrinated by her parents doesn't mean she isn't also an athiest. Many of my athiest friends knew they were atheists while growing up in a church.

[RayThom]

... centered around my atheism. Except for a brief moment in the 7th grade I, too, considered myself a "life long" atheist. I would speak out and then get smacked down and shunned for my insolence.

Within my family there are nuns, priests, monsignors and (arch)bishops. For someone baptized (Irish) catholic I was surely the scourge on the family lineage. Fortunately, over the years, more and more relatives and friends have gravitated toward my godless based faith and I've grown very comfortable with what I believe to be true.

AMEN.

[wesw]

I too was a lifelong atheist....

[rubato]

An intelligent person would interpret the statement "life-long athiest" as representing the beliefs of a person beginning with the age at which they form beliefs of their own and no longer mindlessly parrot their parents dogmas.

As would a moral religious person.


Infant baptism is a barbaric practice based on self delusion.


yrs,
rubato

[BoSoxGal]

It's hardly barbaric to drizzle a little holy water over an infant's forehead. It comforts the parents who are believers, and does no harm to the infant.

I will agree that there are varying degrees of barbarity in all the religious indoctrination that older, cognizant children are exposed to. All that rape, murder, mayhem, and a terrible angry God. Imagine the nightmares little one have!

[Joe Guy]

I too was a lifelong atheist....

How can you use past tense to describe something that you claim is lifelong?...

[Crackpot]

Simple he's a zombie

[Joe Guy]

[wesw]

because, up until the point where I was not, I was. duh.

the downside is that now I worry about hell, or my version of it.

you see, some might say I m not a Christian because I don t believe the same as them. kind of a shallow view but that s ok. jesus kinda dumbed it all down for us, so we could understand. he even had to explain his parables to his apostles and he knew that not everyone could grasp the big picture. he who has ears, let him hear, right?

I believe that ever lasting life comes thru the life of your children and their children....

those who help each other and love each other and are meek and humble will survive and inherit the earth. even atheists cherish the earth, it is their god in a way. the way I see it anyone who cherishes and loves the earth is loving god. we have dominion over earth and it s creatures, that means that we are responsible for their well being. we were given earth in trust, we must take good care of it. just like the parable of the vineyard.

let s look at Germany. a bold and strong Germanic people. well they were. now after the Kaiser Wilhelm, stalin and hitler, the strongest and boldest were killed mostly. now they are meek. japan too. scandanavia too. same thing

but what do I know, I m just a simple fisherman....

[Lord Jim]

Infant baptism is a barbaric practice based on self delusion.

Thanks rube, for yet again providing an object lesson in the direct relationship between bigotry and ignorance...

You never disappoint...

[wesw]

yes jim, if someone said that about a muslim practice he would be sensitive to their culture and object.... (eye rolling emoticon)


beheading and slavery and gay stoning are just cultural norms that we should be sensitive to....