Does anyone write atheist based songs?

[atomictoyz]

Fast Fact:

-In American households more than half contain at a Porno Magazine....

How Many Own a Gun?

I accidentally left Marx in with Hitler, my mistake. Communism for the most part basis itself off of athestic concepts. Hitler was in fact an atheist, read "My Struggle" its nearly a plageristic swag from Darwins introduction to "Origin of Species". While the Catholic Church said it did nothing and repented somewhat, the Catholic Church is not by the bibles definition as good example of Christs teachings. I would go farther than the puritans though, Christianity has had numerous cases where fanatics have taken over a group of people and used the bible to promote some sort of crusade of hate. The Teachings of Christ are not aggressive in nature, they are simple and easy to follow if your willing to actually read and study. Im dissapointed in the number of americans in general that claim to be Christians but but absolutely no effort in finding out what that means, or making the changes in their lives to be a reflection of the teaching. I can't tolerate watching TBN because of all the garbage I see, its embarrasing. If you want a definition of what a Christian is, read the bible for yourself, don't look at an individuals like David Koresh or Jimmy Sawaggart, though they might have been sincere in their faiths, they protrayed somebody entirely different than what the bible says they should be.
Our forefathers had some concepts we still haven't figured out obviously. Tolerance Breeds Intolerance, for decades scientific evolutionists begged for tolerance, and once they recieved it, they wanted to and did for the most part take over public education, media, and science as a full time job.
I have no doubt that this door will swing both ways. When I was being converted I was amazed at the difference between what I saw people doing in their lives verses what the bible said. I cannot defend practices that promote hate and descrimination, Christ was tolerant of those who were trying to do the best they could, he was harsh to those people who were manipulative, selfish, blood thirsty...All the things we despise by our nature as humans. Ive never once ever thought about burning my sister at the stake, that was a "Roman" practice, no where in the teachings of Christ will you find orders or commands to cause physical harm or death, he certainly condemned practices that were sinful, but he was compassionate. I challenge you to confront people who claim to be Christians but are doing something the bible teaches against. I know people have different beliefs than me, and since I come from the other side of the fence Im more understanding than most, but I have to make sure people understand that a majority of the things I see as anti-christian have nothing really to do Christianity because of the way people define Christianity. I try not to make gross generalizations as much as possible, trying not lump all atheists into heartless murderers, because I know not all Christians are witch burning fanatics. You may disagree with absolutely everything I typed, and that is your right and I encourage you to go beyond the knee jerk reaction and find out more in the areas of love, compassion, respect and tolerance. Or you can just burn me at the stake of feed me to some lions, your choice.

Peace and Love and Good Happiness Stuff!

Dennis

 

[db51]

huh??

Communism for the most part basis itself off of athestic concepts

Could you clarify?

Don't you think communism just like capitalism is an economic concept?? What does it have to do with religion (or the lack of)??
Which concepts are you talking about?

 

[Fangar]

Yes.

<><
George

There's always one

 

[atomictoyz]

Ok, The clarification....

Capitalism and Communism could be considered strictly economic concepts if you could remove the political idealologies that they have attached to them. The attachment of the idealologies is caused by the governing bodies belief system. It happens. From my perspective, greed and power have more to do with the failings of any economic concept than anything. The teaching of Christ had ideas that cross over into all of the economic concepts, the idea of community was stongly encouraged, to help those who are needy but not lazy. A strong work ethic along with benevolence can do wonders for a community. Enter greed and power into any equation and there will be problems. Power seems to lead to oppression historically, even within what I would call pseudo-christianity there has been power struggles, money problems and oppression. Right now Im trying to teach my 5 year old, that its better to give than receive, that selfishness is not a trait that is socially acceptable. We try by using ourselves as examples. I emptied my savings account for my best friend, Ive had people stay at out home for months until they could get back onto their feet, its hard, but its worth it to know your doing a good thing for them. My parents gave me food and shelter for years, at least 18 of them without asking anything in return, should I bring shame to them by being selfish...IM not trying to brag or anything but Im trying to make a point with realistic and true examples.
The concepts of economics, while in a text book in college may be nice and tidy, outlined with math and thoeries, its the applications of the political parties that most people think of.
Maybe I should say Communism was corrupted by Individuals whose belief system was extreme atheistism in nature. Where as extreme atheism being more than just disbelief in a diety, but rather an aggressive distaste for people who believe in a deity. Its a bit longer than what db51 quoted but maybe a bit more descriptive.

Peace,
Dennis

 

[Nate]

I think I disagree with your remark that Mein Kampf is plagiarizing Origin of Species. The downside of OS is that it allowed some Christians to offer a "scientific" justification of their antisemitic beliefs...beliefs promoted by nearly two thousand years of Christianity. The attitude changed from "Jews are inferior because of their religion" to "Jews are less than human". That is a BIG DIFFERENCE.
Whether Hitler was Christian or not may be irrelevant. He made statements that he was Christian--he also made statements regarding his contempt of Christianity. He was, before anything, a politician.
Who, in your opinion, is a Christian?
This is a question that interests me highly. After studying the synoptic gospels and the gospel of Thomas, I have a much different picture of Jesus than the one presented by Christianity. Would Jesus have been Christian?
Were Jesus' prophecies true? In terms of ethics, was Jesus promoting anything _truly_ new? What was his ethical teaching? Can statements like "blessed are the poor" be interpreted or misinterpreted?
Can Protestantism be exempted from Christian "teaching of contempt"?
Can Christians exempt themselves from their past by saying "those people that did those horrible things weren't REALLY Christians"?
Sounds like I am slamming on Christians. Don't mean to...I'm just really curious about that mindset.

Nate

 

[barefoot]

It's always amazing to me how quickly discussions of this sort degenerate into debates about the particulars of one religion or another, or "who did what in the name of what?" arguments.

I guess it's only natural because by definition the term "atheist" means disbelief in the existence of God(s). This is why I don't refer to myself as an atheist. It's too restricting. There are many things I don't believe in. I also don't believe in the theories:

E = mc^3

or

Force = Mass times the Average Number of Fur Balls a cat throws up in a month

These are as arbitrary as the theory

All Actions in the universe = The Will of a thinking feeling God

Before we go off into the details of what God said, let's see the proof of why a god is even necessary to explain anything that goes on in the universe to begin with. And just because there are still many things we don't understand doesn't mean that it's valid to insert God.

The ancients didn't understand why the sun arose every morning, so they said "God". Galileo and Newton brought us much closer to the real explanation. Now we are faced with more fundamental and abstract questions. What sparked the big bang? How did life begin? But so few have apparently learned from the lessons of the past, and still insist on arbitrarily assuming "God" as the answer.

If you want to speak seriously about your God, prove it's necessity. Until then, you might as well be talking about gremlins, fairies or fur balls.

barefoot

 

[atomictoyz]

Who, in your opinion, is a Christian?

This is a question that interests me highly. After studying the synoptic gospels and the gospel of Thomas, I have a much different picture of Jesus than the one presented by Christianity.

There it is isnt it, how "christianity" presents itself in contrast to how the bible presents it.

Would Jesus have been Christian?

How does the bible define what a Christian is?

Were Jesus' prophecies true?

I do believe that certain prophecies have come true

In terms of ethics, was Jesus promoting anything _truly_ new?

He was repeating alot of the ideas and concepts in Mosaic Law, even the Apostles note this teaching was an old commandment. But ethics in itself is highly subjective, its like trying to say whose morals should be imposed on other people.

What was his ethical teaching?

why whoms subjective definition would you like to refer me to? I would say love would be the simplest teaching

Can statements like "blessed are the poor" be interpreted or misinterpreted?

yes, now define the popular definition of interpretation

Can Protestantism be exempted from Christian "teaching of contempt"?

Let me ask this, can a christian be exempt from christian teachings? Is Protestantism Christianity in your opinon?

Can Christians exempt themselves from their past by saying "those people that did those horrible things weren't REALLY Christians"?

If Christians are supporting or practicing really horrible things, are they really Christians? You see, what people claim they are, does not mean that is what they are. Just because I say something doesn't make it true. If you are going to call yourself a "christian" you should know the definition as well as have some, if not most of the characteristics of what the bible says a christian is. We can go back to Hitler, lets say its irrefutable that he claimed to be a christian (outright) and that he hated Jews more than previously known. Where in the bible does Jesus..The Christ.....teach that killing Jews is ok? Im glad you think you disagree that MK isn't plagerizing OS, I didn't mean it like it came out, there are spooky similarites in the how the Survival of the Fittest section in OS is prevalent in Hitlers thought process of eliteism. My fault sorry. good call. If I recall Hitler used to quote the NT with a Political twists, Hitler took special note on how leaders in his day exploited and used the Catholic Church as a contol model. Hitler blamed the Catholic Church for not giving more attention to the Germans. Anyhow Hitler by biblical definition was not Christian. Which actually should make my point more important. Great questions though, ones in which everyone should ask themselves. Does the name in which they call themselves properly reflect who they are or want to be.

Sounds like I am slamming on Christians. Don't mean to...I'm just really curious about that mindset.

Nate

originally quoted by Adolph Hitler
Under certain circumstances, in periods of distress or under bad climatic condition, or if the soil yields too poor a return, Nature herself tends to check the increase of population in some countries and among some
races, but by a method which is quite as ruthless as it is wise. It does not impede the procreative faculty as such; but it does impede the further existence of the offspring by submitting it to such tests and privations
that everything which is less strong or less healthy is forced to retreat into the bosom of tile unknown. Whatever survives these hardships of existence has been tested and tried a thousandfold, hardened and renders
fit to continue the process of procreation; so that the same thorough selection will begin all over again. By thus dealing brutally with the individual and recalling him the very moment he shows that he is not fitted for
the trials of life, Nature preserves the strength of the race and the species and raises it to the highest degree of efficiency.

My mindset is not mainstream by any means, and I can't speak for everyone of coarse. I learned about Christianity from the Bible, not from TBN or the Tabloids, not by looking at people or history, just as one looks into a dictonary for a definition, I looked to the bible for what a Christian is. Regardless to whether or not you think its true doesn't matter, its a set of instructions I use for life issues. Some people use instructions for installing Windows XP, some don't. Sorry for the long posts.

Peace,
Dennis

 

[tribalbeeyatch]

Arrghh. This is a pet peeve of mine, so please excuse the rant.

Atheism and agnosticism are not mutually-exclusive positions. They really are answers to completely orthogonal questions. Atheism is a lack of belief in deities while agnosticism is a lack of knowledge of deities (although we could quibble about what Huxley actually intended when he coined the term...let's not, though). To wit, I am an agnostic atheist because I have neither knowledge of nor a belief in gods.

Oh, and to answer the original question, I write what might be called atheistic lyrics (not all that well, but I try). I tend to label them as skeptical, though, as they touch on many themes that aren't religious in nature but always approach the subject matter from a similar skeptical angle.

 

[atomictoyz]

Can we please get back into the main thread, Im sorry I digressed into what looks like another debate. Its clear Im a minority in this forum and my opinions are of less value because everyone one disagrees.

Peace,
Dennis

 

[George Parler]

Can we please get back into the main thread, Im sorry I digressed into what looks like another debate. Its clear Im a minority in this forum and my opinions are of less value because everyone one disagrees.

Peace,
Dennis

You might want to hang on to those pearls there Dennis. Know whata mean Vern?

<><
George

 

[tribalbeeyatch]

You might want to hang on to those pearls there Dennis. Know whata mean Vern?

<><
George

Well, if it was your intention to insult atheists, then consider this a rousing success, George. I, for one, don't appreciate the implication that I am a pig just because I don't agree with you on the existence of gods.

 

[tombuur]

A couple of days after September 11 my 15-year old son said: "Atheism is the only way to peace!"

Thought provoking. But there wil probably always be believers and non-believers, anyway, and the wars will continue.

In this household none of us understands why people need to believe in a God. We just don't have that need. But we don't go preaching about it, nor do we write atheistic songs.

Tom

 

[db51]

Yeah, i think it's ironic how a lot of people who believe in god think that those who don't are somehow 'lost' or in need of help or guidance.

I usually see it the other way around. In my opinion those who believe 'god' created the universe are a lot more confused than me

Oh well.

 

[synergy]

"Atheism is the only way to peace!"

While this statement is definetly thought provoking, it is not true. If every human being was atheistic, this would possibly increase the level of peace, but theoritically if every human converted to Buddhism, Muslim, or Christianity this would also increase the level of peace. It is futile, but fun none-the-less to debate religion, I find it interesting to be presented with other's ideas, whether I agree with them or not.

 

[VOXVENDOR]

Or you can just burn me at the stake of feed me to some lions, your choice.

What a terrible thought....... we would never do a thing like that to you. Feeding you to some lions......
.
.
.
.
.
.
.....We would use tigers........

 

[VOXVENDOR]

By the way, that was a joke......

just want to clarify that....

 

[Nate]

Okay...this is my last post on this tangent-

Atomictoyz--

I don't know if one can look to the Christian Bible as the only rulebook for being a Christian? Isn't the Christian Bible the product of Christian writers? Those writers brought an agenda with them when they wrote. I guess what I am getting at is the difference between Jesus and Christianity, and the difference between Christianity during its formative years and its interpretation between then and now.

"Its clear Im a minority in this forum and my opinions are of less value because everyone one disagrees."

"Or you can just burn me at the stake of feed me to some lions, your choice. "

"... Hey if you don't like Christians, and you want to remove any possible threat of hearing about us, you can kill us all, or move to China."

No one (well, maybe some ) want to burn you at the stake for your beliefs. Please stop the martyrdom...

This isn't an attack. I think there are some completely valid questions and issues that can be raised. To me, any set of beliefs that cannot be questioned are probably not worth having. Isn't this what Jesus did? Again, this is not an attack upon Christianity. The same basic questions can be asked of any religion.

George- I don't expect an answer on this, and I won't be checking back for anything else on this thread, but-- where do "pearls before swine" enter in to the subject? Are Jews "swine" because they won't accept Jesus as the Christ? Muslims? If I understand you, then anyone who does not believe the same things as you is damned to the lake of fire with much weeping and gnashing of teeth. I can't possibly understand why Christians are held in such disregard by those who aren't. I thought this was a _fairly_ reasonable thread (though definitely a tangential one) involving different and irreconciliable beliefs. Don't jump in with a agenda of proselytization-- it defeats the purpose of discussion.

To everyone: good luck ... I'll see you on a different thread...one related to actually writing songs


Nate

 

[atomictoyz]

Caution: Religious Content!!

I don't know if one can look to the Christian Bible as the only rulebook for being a Christian? Isn't the Christian Bible the product of Christian writers? Those writers brought an agenda with them when they wrote. I guess what I am getting at is the difference between Jesus and Christianity, and the difference between Christianity during its formative years and its interpretation between then and now.
Please stop the martyrdom...
To me, any set of beliefs that cannot be questioned are probably not worth having. Isn't this what Jesus did? Again, this is not an attack upon Christianity. The same basic questions can be asked of any religion.
o everyone: good luck ... I'll see you on a different thread...one related to actually writing songs

To finalize what questions Nate was asking. The Bible, if you are a believer, so don't get excited if your not, is the inspired word of God, in which the writers through that inspiration wrote down the things that God wanted them to. Jesus is the model Christian, his life is the example all Christians are supposed to emulate. So Christians are desciples of Jesus Christ and part of being a Christian is proclaiming the word of God. Jesus did not give us a teaching model such as seen in the world today, mostly because of denominationalism, people twist, add amd remove Christs teachings to do things for political or personal benefit. What Christianity has become in main stream is not what the bible teaches, in fact Christ prophesied of the Apostacy, the falling away of people into their own ways. When I was being converted I asked alot of the same questions, and I actually had a hard time finding people who were actually trying model themselves, and the worship practices after the examples given in the bible, nothing more, nothing less. I think thats why I get so frustrated, I see what the bible says, and then I see how Christianity is portrayed to the masses, Im sorry if I offended anyone, regardless of their beliefs, but TBN makes a mockery of Christianity. Its turned Jesus into some sort of MTV money making entertainment machine. If I was a person without knowldedge of the bible and saw that going on, Id turn and walk away. Its very similar where the temple in Jeruselam had become a open market of swindlers, and Jesus rebuked them for turning something that should be respected into a joke. If thats what I see, what do non-believers see?
And the martyrdom comment was nice, not my intention though. My comments were geared for people who like my sister have an uncontrollable hate for Christians who like in days of past give non-believers a bad name.

This is also my last post on this tangent.

Maybe the reviewers of this thread from now on my actually write some lyrics here to voice their thoughts and opinions in musical terms. That certainly would fit in the context of Song writing forum.

Peace,
Dennis

 

[VOXVENDOR]

NO! Dont't stop now... this is just getting good....

Im not going to dive into the debate, but here is just one small example of why Im not into the god thing.

A church at the end of my street has a sign out front, one of the signs that you can slide in interchangable letters.....

It's Says:
"Come in and Pray with us, Our world is filthy with sin...Lets change that



I think that is a terrible way to think of our world.... From the days when we used to burn people on crosses and drag women around by there hair, and people died at the age of 25 from illness......

We have come a long way....

I think we have done a wonderful Job and anyone who thinks differently cannot be truly religious.

Yeah there is shit going on with Osama and Ethiopia and mass murderers......and lots of other stuff....But compared to 2000 years ago, we, as a human whole have done a wonderful job......


And to all you christians..... don't pick apart the statement thats on the sign and tell me that it just means we have to help get rid of the bad people by praying, cause thats BULL!

It is written in black in white.....A Statement is a Statement.... And this is an offensive statement.

In my opinion at least.......



Just wanted to add this little story... as for whatever you guys are talking about... I don't have time to read through the 5000 word posts

BG

 

[VOXVENDOR]

Oops.. One more Little statement from yours truly..

Put your family first, and If you wish to be religious, put your religion second!

I often see people putting god in front of there family, and that is Evil!

"Worship your family, Love your God"

IN THAT ORDER!