Lurker > red sox 777

It's on, Link!

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SFF (Same Fanbase Factor) - Same Fanbase Factor is the theory that, if two contestants share a common fanbase, the weaker of the two options will underperform in a direct matchup. For instance, Link was expected to defeat Ganon with 65% of the vote in 2004, based on their 2003 values. Instead, Link collected near 88% of the vote. This is the best example of SFF we've ever seen. However take some SFF labels with a grain of salt, as many people will slap it onto any match that doesn't make perfect sense.

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Well, I'm okay with that, but I'd argue that Christianity isn't really a religion then. The requirements to be a Christian are simple: believe that Jesus died for your sins and accept him as your lord and savior. Hermits who lived on rock pillars in the desert were Christians, and rightly so. I don't like excessively organized religion so I rather like this line of thinking.

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You don't believe in a negative.

Of course we can believe in negatives. We do it all the time. It will not rain today, so let's go hiking. I don't know what I got on the exam, but I know I didn't fail, so I'm going to graduate. Apple stock is not going to hit $500 within the next week so I'm going to write calls for it.

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And there are plenty of atheists who do not have an "affirmative belief in the nonexistence of God".

In which case they can correctly claim that they do not have a religion.

Panthera: If that's the case, then many Christians could say they were not part of a religion also. To be a Christian you have to profess a very small number of beliefs.

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Only an affirmative belief in the nonexistence of God can qualify as a religion.

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A lack of belief in God is quite different from a belief in the lack of God.

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Also: whoever is not for us is against us (paraphrasing here).

The idea that one religion is true and all else is false may seem harsh, but if you think about it, it makes complete sense and is the only possible way a religion could be true. Because different religions and non-religions claim different things. Contradictory things. They cannot possibly all be true. Indeed, only one of them can be true. With Christianity and Atheism, either God exists, or God doesn't exist. There's no middle ground here, there's no room for both to be right. It's impossible, and if you try to hold such a position, you're holding a logically false position.

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I think people's problem lies not so much in the fact that people are trying to convert non-believers to Christianity, but the attitude that atheists are "bad" and "sinners."

Just because your method is good doesn't mean everyone else's is bad.

That is exactly what the Bible tells us. Everyone is bad. (Including Christians, actually).

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Death by drowning is a tangible thing that we know kills people and is horrifically painful - if you walk by a beach and someone is drowning, of course you should help them. But nobody - not Christians or atheists or whoever - knows what happens when we die. People believe things, but it's not the same as knowing, and watching somebody physically, tangibly drown in front of you is vastly different from assuming that something might happen if a person doesn't believe something a specific way.

What's the difference between believing in something and knowing something? If you don't know something to be true, do you really believe it?

And it hardly even matters in this case, because even if we don't think that belief should be treated the same as knowledge, belief is quite sufficient to try to convince someone else about said belief.

Remember, you NEVER EVER EVER have the right not to be offended. You ALWAYS have the right to offend people. That is freedom of speech, and that is possibly the most important principle our society stands on. I do not begrudge Atheists their right to try to convert Christians. Obviously I don't like it if they succeed, but they have an absolute right to do it. It is moreover not just what they have a right to do, but what their honest belief tells them to do. If they didn't really believe in Atheism and were still trying to convert people to it, that would be pretty lousy IMO, although they would still have the right to do it.

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Christians can't even agree on their own doctrine. Here you are openly calling other Christians wrong, while they would say the same of you. You can't even agree with each other, yet you think it is your place to tell me that my beliefs are wrong when you can't even agree on what is right. What kind of monumental arrogance does it take to do that?

Indeed they would openly call me wrong. And that's perfectly fine, because that's what they believe. I am saying that you are wrong because that is what I believe. And if you believe I am wrong, then I expect you to say that. It takes no arrogance at all to say what you believe- everyone can do it if they want.

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I mean really, if you guys don't like this, why aren't you guys upset about Atheist campaigns to convert Christians?

Everyone should be free to try to persuade others of what they see as the truth. No one has to listen. That's freedom.

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ITT, people are talking about their religion as if it were a fact.

This is true. But consider: if you believe in a religion, you must believe in it! So you think it is true. If you don't believe it's true, then what's the point?

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That said, the Catholic Church does a lot of things wrong. Especially its core premise. Jesus commands in the Bible to call no one father but God, and no one teacher but the Christ. Catholics call priests father, and Pope even means father. And of course people are supposed to accept church teaching- not advice or interpretation but teaching.

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Also, being an Atheist is far worse than being gay. Because you choose to be an Atheist, but you do not choose to be gay. Indeed, as you do not choose to be gay, it is not a sin at all.

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"good for nothing" is wrong, sure. But that's only a few words and shouldn't destroy the overall message here- not to mention that they're only quoting whoever said that, and contextually are not giving that quote full support.

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