Christian pastor tries Atheism for a month

[squealpiggy]

A job of a pastor is to be a believer right? Well like any job, if you don't do it, you will get fired.

He was under fire as pastor before he decided to try his experiment because of things like... not hating gay people. Read the article, it's quite interesting.

jesus walked this earth and was crucified for it. [citation needed] His resurrection proved he was who he said he was guy. [citation needed] And when he comes back u will be getting a boot up the azz to[citation needed]

FIFY

That applies to anybody, religious or not. And the more intelligent you are, the more you realize you dont know ****.

And yes, there are intelligent religious people, before anybody tries to get cheeky with me

The difference is when the question is asked "why do I believe what I believe?"

In other words when one must examine the reasons for one's belief certain things hold up to scrutiny better than others and the only reason for this is evidence.

Anyone who actually reads the bible doesn't believe that question things is a bad thing.

Evidently you haven't read the bible. Questioning is not only a sin, it's the original sin. If there is a message in the Bible that is consistent through both the old and new testaments it's that obedience, blind and unwavering obedience to the faith, is the over-arching virtue, the one thing valued by god. Look at how doubters are treated: Adam and Eve, everyone except Noah, Lot's wife, the Israelites who worship the golden calf, the Israelites who start to question Moses' idea of wandering around a desert for 40 years, Saint 'Doubting' Thomas!

Pastors/religious leaders don't want you to question things because they want to keep you under their umbrella (smart business move)

A bit of knowledge about the origins and compiling of the bible at Nicaea will show you that the book as we know it is one long sales manual for the Roman Christian religion. Modern churches are simply continuing the tradition.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

big deal...
$19,000 covers 6 months of my mortgage no bills included that's chump change when you have to maintain a family and keep a roof over their heads now and days.

Exactly.

Not everybody lives with mommy and daddy. 19k will only last me less than 6 months and have my cars repo'd, utilities cut off, and a for sale sign on my front lawn.

My neighbors will sure be asking a lot of questions, and offer me jobs.

Well since he is only doing it for 30 days......

Do the math.

[-jose-]

Well since he is only doing it for 30 days......

Do the math.

and after those 30 days are up do you really think everything is gonna go back to how it was...
his job and everything he lost.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

and after those 30 days are up do you really think everything is gonna go back to how it was...
his job and everything he lost.

He's an educated man, has a degree I'm sure he will find another job. I think the shock came when he was let go originally, well actually he was asked to resign, he technically wasn't fired.

Plus, if there is a god, I don't think he would be so petty as to get him fired over something that is just testing your faith. Seems like a very petty and immature thing to do for a supreme being that is omnipotent.

[-jose-]

He's an educated man, has a degree I'm sure he will find another job. I think the shock came when he was let go originally, well actually he was asked to resign, he technically wasn't fired.

Plus, if there is a god, I don't think he would be so petty as to get him fired over something that is just testing your faith. Seems like a very petty and immature thing to do for a supreme being that is omnipotent.

it was actually pretty immature of him to jeopardize his job knowing he's got a family to feed.

it's like me delivering empty oxygen tanks to the elderly for 30 days to see what would happen, then asking for my job back after my research was done.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

it was actually pretty immature of him to jeopardize his job knowing he's got a family to feed.

it's like me delivering empty oxygen tanks to the elderly for 30 days to see what would happen, then asking for my job back after my research was done.

Come on Jose, it's nothing like that. He did what he did because he had a real and true moment in his life where he questioned everything he believed. He did that not because some evil being called the Devil crept into his mind, or because he was falling from grace from god.

He did that because he has a brain, and analyzed the information and all of his beliefs and realized that it's not logical to believe in these things. Now, that doesn't mean he will stop believing in god and become and atheist, but it's just a natural doubt that someone would have when looking at things from a rational, logical point of view.

It was very MATURE and courageous to do something like that. I like the way that the community in which he demonized (atheists) for so long, was the one that came to his aid when he needed it the most, and the one that was supposed to be Christ like, turned their backs on him.

If you were my friend in real life, I would never turn my back on you because you doubted yourself or something you believed in. I would stand by your side until you came to a conclusion.

[KaL-EL]

Im a believer in God and Christ...but what I dont get is why religious ppl always blame GOD for everything that goes wrong in their life. So the Devil gets a pass?

Even non-religious ppl who dont believe in God always seem to use God as there defense mechanism to religious ppl.

[sparkman0811]

Well since he is only doing it for 30 days......

Do the math.

He's doing it for a year, not 30 days.

[Khalid X]

When religious people say this it's so amusing to me. The Bible and Quran do encourage to "think for oneself" and to "question" certain ideologies.

Why do you find that statement "amusing"?

The problem with that is there's only so much you are allowed to question. In religion, you can have inter theological debates. Talk about different beliefs within the religion and have those types of debates.

I actually discuss any and everything. However, in my post I stated their is a difference between what religions teach and what the bible teaches.

You cannot however, have discussions where you deny god, the divinity of Jesus Christ (in Christianity for example) or have any type of discussion that insults the prophet Mohamed.

Why not?

So this encouragement to "think for one's self" is very limited. I mean since the penalty for apostasy is death in Islam, I think that rules out a big question one might have regarding the religion....LOL

Do you even understand what it means to be an apostate?

Science and religion are diametrically opposed. In science the whole purpose is to find the truth, with no authority or dogma involved.

Not as much as you think.

Religion is very rigid, there's dialog's you can have, but in the end you have to have FAITH to really understand the basic premise of that religion.

Key word "religion".

[Jim Jeffries]

Well since he is only doing it for 30 days......

Do the math.

Actually he's doing it for a year. Did you even read your own article?

He's an educated man, has a degree I'm sure he will find another job. I think the shock came when he was let go originally, well actually he was asked to resign, he technically wasn't fired.

Plus, if there is a god, I don't think he would be so petty as to get him fired over something that is just testing your faith. Seems like a very petty and immature thing to do for a supreme being that is omnipotent.

Yessir, he has a degree ......... from Fuller Theological Seminary.