Another round of applause for Sells. What a beautiful post-modern narrative! It now seems that (among many other statements of the faith) the apostles creed, long the mainstay of catechism lessons, is out and (inter alia) 'educated' triune worship is in.
The problem totally unaddressed in the essay is simply that there is not one iota of proof for any of it. It is no more than an enslaving fairy-tale - a ridiculous 'feel good' one at that - and is simply perpetuated albeit reluctanly by constant adjustment and modification in accord with our ever expanding knowledge of the world as revealed by consistent scientific analysis.

I feel I owe you an apology, Sells.

I've realized that every time I've posted a comment about one of your articles, my comments were based on wrong assumptions. I assumed that, as a Christian, you must necessarily believe the same sort of things that I believed back when I was a Christian. But it's became plain that you don't.

Having gone back and read some of your earliest articles on OLO, I have a lot more sympathy for your position. I may not be ready to renounce my agnosticism, but I am starting to get a glimmer of how a rational person could believe some of the stuff you've been talking about.

And I should also thank you for pointing me in the direction of a few interesting books, like Pascal Boyer's "Religion Explained", and especially some of the stuff by Don Cupitt.

However - I suspect that the majority of people who call themselves Christians do, in fact, believe in the sort of objective God that the athiests are talking about. So I'm not sure it's accurate to say that they're aiming their arguments at the wrong God.

Cheers!

I am astounded at the lack of understanding believers have about atheists. This ignorance is on full display in this article, which seems to be to be amazingly obtuse and incoherent. Atheists do not accept the concept of a god. The concept itself is preposterous - it has no basis in reality, no evidence. It's that simple really. It is not enough just to be born into belief and accept the cultural indoctrination handed out by the particular family and society a person finds themselves in. Atheists need to be able to see how the belief relates to reality. If some sort of god - Ra, Vishnu, Jesus, whoever - were to provide any sort of evidence, then I daresay all atheists would revise their views. Every human society has had some sort of consoling myth. Christianity, in its many often contradictory forms, is more successful (in terms of numbers) than others have been. It remains to be seen if it goes on as long as other belief systems. It is successful partly because it addresses specific human fears and prejudices. It also proved politically useful at the time of its establishment. In some parts of the world it is still politically useful, which keeps it going. In Australia, where it is less useful, it is fading away. The sheer natural wonder of the universe is enough to be going on with and far more complex, beautiful and sustaining than anything found in that atrocious book called the bible. We do not need any supernatural explanations any more as a species, now that we have grown up.

Sellick,

All the time I thought I was an athiest simply because I found no reason to believe, I never realised that I had gone through all the tortured reasoning to reject belief.

I don't reject JC as a fraud and trickster, simply because I take the bible incl genesis with a pinch of salt and not as an accurate historical document. Even the new testiment was written generations after he lived, and is mostly based on heresay.

Athiesm is not an active rejection of christianity, more a disinterest.

Now he's peddling falsehoods, only supernatural belief is impossible to prove true.

Why don't we delete the phrase "advancement of religion" from the section of the Tax Act for exemptions, and make this lot pay their own way in society for a change. Charities would continue to be exempt, but churches, well perhaps not.

Already churches pay no motor rego, get NSW road toll cashback, no council rates, no waste charges to council, concessional water and energy charges, no stamp duty on property transfer, no stamp duty on motor cars the list goes on.

This means most of us who aren't into religion are forced to pay for it as all tiers of government tax and charge us to the hilt to cover the shortfalls in revenue caused by purple parasites.

Is this guy insane or something. Biggest load of gobbledegook ive ever read.
I read it 3 times and still cant get what he is going on about.
God doesn't "exist"? If your god/s "are not beings in the ordinary sense of being or persons in the ordinary sense of persons" then what the hell are they? Sounds like spooks to me
So who exactly are you christians praying to? What role does prayer play in your life mr sellick and why do you do it?

Seems to me you are having your cake and eating it too. Is Jesus the son of god? If so then god must exist. If he isnt then he is just another man. This trinity business sounds like some sort of scam to blind people with BS and hope they will just accept that their "betters" understand it. From the writings of mr sellick its obvious he is struggling.

His last comments seem to mark him as an atheist himself who just follows some bloke named Jesus. Nothing supernatural or fantastic just the man Jesus. Is he still alive somewhere? Life after death etc. Who do you pray to and why? Can he answer your prayers? Can he intervene and do miracles? Sounds pretty supernatural to me.

If he cant do anything/dosent exist somewhere then it would seem pretty weird to be doin all that prayin and worshippin! hmmm