quote:
I wouldn't have these sparatic, repressed, calvinistic-fueled aggression outbursts had I not. lol I'd be like the Christians in this thread, I wouldn't care about this stuff, and if ever brought up I'd slap another layer of faith on it. Problem solved.

Which is why I understand that you're bitter, and don't necessarily fault you for it. But as you delve deeper and deeper in to what modern atheists are, and how they act, you have a choice to make. You can mimic their behavior and determine your philosophy in life out of the contradictions and fallacies in the Bible, or you realize that "Faith" isn't just a tool for blindly accepting a fairy tale. It's a tool for upholding what you think is important to you. Let me explain.

Churches do a pretty good job of understanding the value of community, for instance. I'm guessing you're from some fairly rural area of Dixie, so your world view might be a tiny bit limited; but let me let you in on a little secret. The world isn't divided in to Methodists, Baptists, Southern Baptists, Catholics, whatever flavor of the week like 'Church of Christ' is, and non-believers. You may not see them in Chatanooga, but there are Muslims, Mormons, the various Eastern Orthodox Churches, moderate Jews, Orthodox Jews, and a whole host of others. I went to 10 or 15 Bah/Bat Mitzvahs growing up, was the best man(well I wasn't the Koumbaro, but I gave a best man speech damnit) in a Greek wedding, and I have had the fortunate pleasure of calling a Mormon(now ex-Mormon) one of my closest friends in the world. I have never seen an atheist be a part of a community that helped strengthen their own like the Greeks and the Mormons in Dallas have. As far as Mormonism goes, I think that Joseph Smith was a con-man and how they treat gays is despicable, but some of the finest men and women I know have come from that community. The Greeks have their own problems as well, but I admire how much their families love each other. Why is that? Well. Atheists have faith in themselves first. Or, in a way, they have faith that Christianity is wrong, and thus they have less reason to trust the community. Now. They have very good reasons to do this, as Noah didn't put a grizzly bear on a boat for 40 days, but as you become more self aware of your own human nature, you'll start to see that the rejection of a silly story alone isn't a basis for living a fulfilling life. I wish more people would reject the silly stories myself, but I want less people to hate on the idea of religion itself.

Religion is a reflection of human need. It's survival and growth over the millenniums isn't just due to the human need for a bed time story. It's served a vital function in the human condition. Do you want a husband or wife? Do you want to leave a legacy? Do you want to be fulfilled? Do you want to have lasting and fulfilling relationships with friends and family? Do you want to experience community? Do you want to be wealthy? Do you want to be comfortable? How do you want to accomplish these things? Will you back stab and betray your way to happiness? How will you face adversity if those things happen to you?

Spend some time on r/atheism and see how those people act. They are angry, unfulfilled, and don't have hope of ever changing. The echo chamber reinforces their useless circlejerk much like the Church you've grown to hate reinforces their own.