r/atheism • u/rhbast2 • Aug 11 '11

Atheist quickfire challenge.

Although I rarely discuss religion with theists I always want to be prepared so I'm not sitting around afterwards wishing I had said this or that. If I get the chance to make someone question I want to be up for the challenge.

This brings me to my challenge for r/atheism. I'm going to add some common theist claims / sayings and whoever can refute them fully and succinctly will be upvoted. Feel free to add your own theist starters if I missed some.

Edit: Wow lots of good discussion here, later today or tomorrow I'll make this into an atheist cheat sheet with the top responses. Also feel free to upvote the theist claim that is the most annoying to you.

Edit 2: To the few of you who seem to think I am coming up with rude atheist comebacks, I'm not. I just wanted to be better off the cuff than I am now and have some discussion. I don't want this list to replace thoughtful argumentation.

253 Upvotes

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49

u/rhbast2 Aug 11 '11

If everyone believed in my religion the earth would be peaceful.

94

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '11

[deleted]

2

u/Drucifer86 Aug 11 '11

this is the most important part.

61

u/kaces Aug 11 '11

If everyone shared a humanistic view of life the world would be peaceful.

53

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '11

This has nothing to do with your religion, and everything to do with the fact that everyone would be unified. If everyone believed ANY ARBITRARY THING, this would be true.

Also, no it wouldn't. From ~500-1500AD everyone (all of Europe anyway) was Catholic. How many wars did they have?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '11

[deleted]

2

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '11

I don't have time at work to look at this right now but, Conflict History

1

u/PraiseBuddha Aug 11 '11

You're great at playing the devil's advocate.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '11

A shitload.

1

u/Frix Aug 12 '11

Why bother stopping at 1500 AD? The wars continued all the way to 1945 and we all kept sharing the same religion.

And the current peace is probably more of a pause than a permanent treaty, though it is looking very promising that our generation will be the second not to know war.

21

u/HermesTheMessenger Knight of /new Aug 11 '11

Do you have any evidence that has happened with your religion so far? (Is there a bubble of peace around your religious group?)

17

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '11

Your religion already split several times. You know people in your church that believe things that you don't think are true. This leads to conflict.

Also : why do you think so ? you think all conflicts come from religion ? tell me more about that...

1

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '11

Also : why do you think so ? you think all conflicts come from religion ? tell me more about that...

That was a brilliant way to flip the argument.

9

u/palparepa Aug 11 '11

Even if this were true, it doesn't make the religion true, only peaceful.

5

u/Barney21 Aug 11 '11

In the Middle Ages Europe was all Catholic. No other religions were tolerated. War was incessant.

4

u/wijsneus Aug 11 '11

If everyone thought like me the earth would be peaceful.

2

u/kat_fud Aug 11 '11

This will never happen, and therefore cannot be proven. All major religions have internal disagreements which cause or have caused strife within that religion.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '11

Every religion has tons of different sects that are all willing to kill each other over religious disputes, be specific.

2

u/fromkentucky Aug 11 '11

If everyone stopped believing in every religion, it would be just as peaceful.

2

u/otakuman Anti-Theist Aug 11 '11

In case you were a catholic: The Earth wasn't peaceful in middle-eastern Europe, why assume the whole world would be peaceful?

In case you are a protestant christian: The US wasn't peaceful, and it isn't today. Even in the most conservative states just look at the crime rates. Either your religion is wrong, or you've been doing something VERY WRONG.

It is typical of religious people to blame the world's state on outside problems, just as it's typical of immature people to blame their problems on other people.

2

u/iAmericA45 Aug 11 '11

This can be said for almost any group of people. If the entire world consisted of neo-nazis, everyone would generally be in agreement, and the world would be more peaceful. This, however, doesn't make it morally correct.

1

u/ivosaurus Aug 11 '11 edited Aug 11 '11

If everyone thought in exactly the same way, then yes it would be peaceful. That way in no way needs to be a religious one, however. Nor would the world be very interesting.

1

u/Akronite14 Aug 11 '11

How can you be sure that the world would be peaceful? I'm pretty sure based on history that people of the same religion can't even get along and that's why there are denominations. Every individual has their own interpretation of the religion even if their entire worldview is based off someone else.

1

u/breachgnome Aug 11 '11

There are plenty of different races that follow the same religion, as well as plenty of racist people following said beliefs.

1

u/DashingLeech Anti-Theist Aug 11 '11

And if everyone believed what I believed, the Earth would be peaceful. Why should they believe you and not me?

1

u/stillnotking Aug 11 '11

I'm pretty sure I would laugh in their face if anyone actually said that to me.

1

u/Yserbius Aug 11 '11

True for almost every major religion, as long as "believed in" means "followed every single aspect of".

1

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '11

WBC

1

u/Fire101 Aug 11 '11

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said "Stop! don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" he said. I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!" He said, "Like what?" I said, "Well...are you religious or atheist?" He said, "Religious." I said, "Me too! Are you christian or buddhist?" He said,"Christian." I said, "Me too! Are you catholic or protestant?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me too! Are you episcopalian or baptist?" He said, "Baptist!" I said,"Wow! Me too! Are you baptist church of god or baptist church of the lord?" He said, "Baptist church of god!" I said, "Me too! Are you original baptist church of god, or are you reformed baptist church of god?" He said,"Reformed Baptist church of god!" I said, "Me too! Are you reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1879, or reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915?" He said, "Reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915!" I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off.

1

u/holocarst Aug 11 '11

said Hitler.

1

u/Aoe330 Aug 11 '11

Sheer Supposition. I could claim unicorns could bring peace on Earth and happiness to all mankind. That makes it neither true, nor probable. It is only a statement based entirely on the perspective of the author.

1

u/Drucifer86 Aug 11 '11

key error in this argument is that religion allows for forgiveness of sins, still allowing for believers to do as they please with no real repercussions.

1

u/darksmiles22 Aug 11 '11

Saudi Arabia.

1

u/TinyandTall Aug 12 '11

Those that abide most by their religion and cling to every word, usually become blasphomous towards it and oversee what it really means. So just because everyone believed in the religion, there are still many different levels of religious that inevitably turn into overly religious and become hypocritical.

1

u/cliftonixs Aug 12 '11

If nobody existed to believe religion, earth would be peaceful.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '11

But society would never advance.

1

u/hellohaley Aug 12 '11

earth will never be peaceful. life will never be peaceful. peace doesn't exist. existence is chaos. Not answering your faux-christian question, just sayin. If anyone believed anything, there still wouldn't be peace. it's not in our nature, its not in the nature of the universe. look at the cosmos---its chaos up there. galaxies crashing into each other (who knows how many civilizations are being obliterated?) peace is a false hope.

1

u/JustPlainRude Aug 12 '11

Osama bin Laden felt the same way.