TulsaSooner78

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2) any human who presumes to know what prayers God answers or doesn’t is so full of hubris they can’t even recognize it.

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“God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew”

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Quote from Rev. Bailey Smith, president of the Southern Baptist Convention at the time that he said it.

Link to story

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the atheist I encounter whether it be my friends or people at a party, they want to just live their own life, for them. Have no accountability for their actions or what they choose to do.

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That makes no sense.

Atheists are accountable to themselves, their families and society as a whole. They don't think they are above the law, although they may scoff at laws that are obviously based on religion, like no alcohol sales on Sunday.

If they had no sense of accountability, then they'd all end up in prison.

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industries pop up to address the needs.

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^^ this right here ^^

People smell blood and they convince you that they can fix you for a small fee, of course. Then it drags on and on. They keep finding reasons for you to come back and pay them more money. It becomes an addiction, just like a drug.

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It’s the only thing I can think of that gets them out and away and cuts the cord with the parents. Any other suggestions?

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The problem is, as someone else pointed out, if their anxiety is that bad, they probably would not make it through boot camp.

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Brother, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke tell you in no uncertain terms what the expectations are:

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Good post.

I think it is funny that Christians think atheists don't know scripture.

I'm sure many don't, but it is almost impossible to grow up in the Bible Belt without being exposed to the Bible. My parents did not attend church, but they did send me and my brothers to "vacation Bible school" during the summers. And I enjoyed reading the Bible. Still do on occasion. I find it to be very entertaining. It is a good tool to keep in your tool belt.

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What about Allah?

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The Arabic name for the god of Abraham.

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When my two girls, 26 and 24 started that shite around 20, I lost my shite! I was pretty strict on them growing up. I told them to basically grow up and quit crying about adulting.

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I guess I got lucky. Mine got out there and figured out how to obtain a mortgage and buy a house, all on her own, one year after graduating from college. I offered to help, but she said, "Nope. I got this." I was very proud of her.

She's a successful 42-year-old now.

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The 24yr old flew from Louisville to Dallas this past Thursday with a connection to LAX for a pharmacy school function. She got to Dallas and couldn't make herself get on the 2nd flight. This was her 2nd flight, first alone. She and my cousin concocted a plan for her to rent a car and drive from Dallas to my house in B'ham, AL, my cousin would drive down from KY to take her to the Louisville airport to get her daughters car, then drive back to Harlan KY.

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Weird that she couldn't get on the plane but was OK with driving a car alone from Dallas to Birmingham. That would be way more nerve wracking to me, and I love driving. I-20 totally sucks.

Was it the plane flight or attending the school function that she was more anxious about?

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Nobody really knows for sure exactly how Christianity began. But it presumably began in part because Paul had some delusions.

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Every religion I can think of began with someone having delusions.

Islam and Mormonism are two more recent examples.

Ultimately, smart people will latch on and appropriate the religion for their own purposes. Usually to exercise control over people, to make money off it, or both.

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I think a lot of people try not to use the label "athiest" because most people picture an incompetent, overweight, liberal redditor type when they hear that word. I know I do.

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Then maybe the question in the title should be "Is this how Christians think all atheists are?"

I cannot speak for all atheists. I'm sure there are some who do fit your description.

In my case:

Incompetent - no - I have a masters degree in electrical engineering and have had a very successful career.

Overweight - no. I'm very fit. I have worked out with weights and been a runner and biker most of my adult life. I'm 65 years old and run 2 miles at dawn 5 days a week.

Liberal - no, I'm an anti-abortion libertarian who voted for Reagan and Trump, and all of the other conservative candidates for president in between.

Redditor - I occasionally read Reddit. I don't post there.

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Is this how atheists think Christianity started?

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Atheists are not a homogeneous group.

They all have one thing in common - by definition, they do not believe in the existence of divine / supernatural beings.

Other than that, they are extremely diverse culturally, politically, racially, ethnically, etc.

If you polled 100 atheists as to how Christianity started, you'd probably get close to 100 different answers.