Josephus thinks that humans should only use their intelligence for scientific truths if they follow his Christian beliefs. Anything that disproves his beliefs must be evil.
Why is that Josephus?

Who is to say that my beliefs are 'evil' while yours are not, simply because you believe in fairy tales of invisible gods?
Why should the wider community have to go along with the crazy beliefs of a few, on subjects such as abortion, contraception, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, and homosexuality?

Luckily, the majority of the community DO support euthanasia and same-sex marriage, so, like abortion, contraception and homosexuality, they will soon be accepted as law in our country. And not before time.

*The important thing is to believe in life and have hope in a better future, and be part of creating that future.*

Exactly. So when a 35 year old woman who lives on the Manilla rubbish tip, has her 8th child and pleads with the hospital to tie her tubes and they deny her request as it is seemingly evil, people like me point out the suffering and poverty created by religion and we protest loudly. We hope to create a better future than that.

Do I, Josephus?

<<AJ Philips, believes believes the reality of the world is evil…>>

The world, or the “reality” of it (I’m not sure what the difference is in this context), as a whole isn’t necessarily evil.

Oh, the stuff you crazy kidders will invent to avoid facing an uncomfortable truth about your god. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch, ain’t it?

<<We are all doomed!>>

...he says sarcastically, as if that were an accurate portrayal of my mindset.

On the contrary, that’s more a Christian belief. Your holy book even prophesised about doom and gloom as a sign of the end times that so many of you think is just around the corner (and have thought for so 2000 years). That’s why you lot are always on about how the world’s supposedly going to pot. The State of Israel has once again been created, all you guys need now is a nuclear war to bring on judgement day. You fundamentalist Christians are a dangerous as you are nuts.

It is in fact myself who is continuously reminding the stuffy old conservative majority on this forum that violence has continued to decline since early human history; as has the overall crime rate.

You’re a lost cause, Josephus. You come onto this forum and mumble to yourself about how supposedly hopeless and purposeless life must be for those who aren’t gullible enough to believe the same nonsense that you do. What hope or motivation to improve anything is there in a doctrine that has people convinced that the world in which they live the only life they know they're going to get is just a place to wipe their feet.

I would rather an uncomfortable truth than a reassuring lie.

//That is the problem with atheists they see no purpose or hope in their world view//

Why do I need to be Christian to be hopeful, Josephus? As far as I can tell, hope is an emotion shared by all people regardless of their faith. People were clearly devoting thought to the subject well before Christianity was invented; I'm sure we're all familiar with the ancient Greek myth of Pandora's box, in which hope plays crucial role. So the idea that Christians have a monopoly on hope would seem to have about as much evidential basis as homeopathy.

I find that I hear far more doom & despair coming from certain types of Christians ("Evolutionary theory! Gay marriage! Contraception! Caitlyn Jenner! Ethics classes! Catholics! - The end of the world is nigh! Never mind that the Book of Revelations is very specific on the signs that foretell the end times, and there is absolutely no mention of gay marriage or contraceptives but lots of stuff about strange mythical creatures like seven-headed dragons and sea-monsters showing up, because as a fundamentalist wacko I choose to read Genesis literally but Revelations figuratively, and I'll get very stroppy and start making personal attacks if anybody points out the inconsistencies in my approach to the Bible.") than I do from people of other faiths, who in my experience exhibit just as much hope as the nut-free Christians.

Why do you feel the need to negatively caricature people who don't share your faith, Josephus? Is it because of some niggling doubt or insecurity that makes you feel the need reassure yourself of your Christian virtue by denigrating non-Christians? Is it some sort of strange new evangelism strategy - the "treat 'em mean and keep 'em keen" approach to winning converts to Christianity (I don't think it's working)? Do you believe that your God looks favourably on this sort of behaviour? What benefits for inter-religious dialogue do you think will be achieved by being rude and unpleasant about other people's faiths (or lack thereof)?

>>Why do you feel the need to negatively caricature people who don't share your faith, Josephus? … What benefits … do you think will be achieved by being rude and unpleasant about other people's faiths (or lack thereof)? <<

An admonition very much to the point, but was it really only Josephus who “caricatured people who don’t share his faith” (or unfaith), e.g. by writing “you believe in fairy tales of invisible gods” ?

AJ
"He could also intervene when bad things happen. That’s another option."
Good thinking AJ. So back to my q. - God can block your vote , bank withdrawals and spoken opinions.
Interesting to imagine that. And imagine your expression when it happens.