You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

Question to discuss:

What is the secret to loving Jesus with all your heart?

You: FUCKING HIM IN THE ASS

Stranger: there isnt one

You: I'm an atheist.

Stranger: pray man

You: For what? The end of religion?

Stranger: your loss.

Stranger: why?

Stranger: JW?

You: No, your loss.

You: Prove god exsists, right now.

Stranger: just pray about something

Stranger: he always, comes through

Stranger: always.

Stranger: just believe my dude

You: 34,000 children die a day from starvation.

You: SO no, Jesus does not always come through.

Stranger: yeah but all i know is hes always been there for me.

Stranger: have you ever prayed?

You: Oh yeah, how?

You: Oh is a jewish zombie who is his own father ever come through for you.

Stranger: ''You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, ''

You: Written in a 2000 year-old fairy tale.

Stranger: hows your life going?

Stranger: without god?

You: What makes your religion more true than Islam, or Buddhism.

You: Pretty great actually.

Stranger: nothing, everyone believes what they wanna believe

Stranger: just like you believe in nothing.

You: I am a morally sound person who gives back to my community and I am successful both financially and academically.

Stranger: i respect that.

You: I don't believe in nothing. That's nihilism, learn your philosophy.

You: I just don't believe in gos.

You: god**

Stranger: thats your choice. im just saying.

You: What're you saying?

You: I appreciate your civility?

You: No question mark.

Stranger: no everyone believes what they wanna believe. i cant make you believe in god

Stranger: i think you should try it out

You: I already have.

Stranger: and what happened?

You: I used to be religious. I grew up and saw the body of evidence that disproved it. Mainly science, but also suffering.

Stranger: yeah you suffered

Stranger: now look

Stranger: you sound pretty good to me.

You: I did not. I live in America.

You: I saw suffering.

Stranger: i live in america too?

You: No higher power would allow children to be turned into soldiers, or allow infants to be consumed by cancer. It becomes apparent that we live in a cold and indifferent universe.

Stranger: i think about that all the time

Stranger: and idk why it happens

Stranger: but it is what it is

Stranger: maybe he has a plan for all those people

You: YOur question of "Why" is fundamentally flawed. To think that an event would have reason is an error in and of itself.

You: Our very existence is the entirely arbitrary byproduct of natural selection.

Stranger: so what is the bible?

You: Things do not happen for a reason, unless there is human intent behind them.

Stranger: how did the very first human get here? or even animal?

Stranger: plant, anything.

Stranger: how did earth get here? how did the other planets get here?

You: A book written in order to either gain power or define a moral code, in an age when authority was determined through mysticism.

You: Do you know much about science? Look up the Big Bang Theory, and the Origins of life. They are explained, through a body of evidences and scientific proofs.

Stranger: im only a senior in highschool

Stranger: they dont teach us any of that man

You: Earths has the right conditions to produce life, it's only a matter of evolution that they came about.

You: I'm a senior in High School too. I learned that stuff in 9th grade.

You: It's all part of biology.

Stranger: different states im sure..

You: Michigan.

Stranger: im from FL

You: I see.

You: Do you believe in evolution?

Stranger: umm

Stranger: i believe in what the bible says.

Stranger: tbh

You: So that man was created out of a rib bone, and the a talking snake gave them knowledge so god cast them out?

You: What do you think about the Skeletons of Dinosaurs?

Stranger: you should read stories of people like dying and going to heaven.

Stranger: and coming back to life

Stranger: somehow.

You: Oh yeah, and who's done that.

Stranger: or people like being blind and then praying, and having sight again

You: How can you prove someone's done that.

You: Those things are not true.

Stranger: i cant, but people say it has. i know it sounds dumb but

Stranger: just read stuff about stuff that happens in peoples daily lifes thats from god... little things

You: You should read stories about the 5 guys, they wanted to go to heaven, because they were told they'd receive a great reward.

You: So you know what they did?

Stranger: killed themselves?

You: They flew airplanes into buildings in New York City. Because "God willed it.".

Stranger: ........

Stranger: 9/11 is a soft spot for me

You: No try to claim your religion is different than theirs.

You: They differ only in extremity, not in principle.

Stranger: and maybe that happened for a reason

Stranger: maybe all those people were meant to die that day.

Stranger: maybe god had one worker in one of the world trade centers move 5 years prior to the attacks just so they would be there that day. because god knew it was his time

You: Based upon that argument, you are implying our destinies are controlled and we do not have free will.

Stranger: you know seth mcfarlene ? or whatever his last name is

You: That goes against your bible.

Stranger: you know how he was suppose to be on the flight that went into the tower? but he was hungover so he missed the flight?

Stranger: you think thats just chance?

You: So you think god wanted those people to have fire at their backs, and force them to jump from the 87th story?

You: God wanted the first firefighter to arrive on the scene to be killed by the falling body of one of these jumpers?

Stranger: i think he wanted them to go to heaven. it was their time

You: He wanted them to go to heaven screaming in agony, never getting to live out the entirety of their lives or see their loved ones again?

Stranger: people die all the time. not living a full life

You: They do. But there's not a REASON for it.

Stranger: so where will we go when we die?

You: It just happens. Their organs cease to function, and they slowly decompose.

Stranger: no where? we're just gonna be nothing?

Stranger: forever?

You: No where. You know that thing you call your soul? That's your brain, and merely your conciousness. When your brain ceases to function, you are dead.

You: There's not nothing, you simply cease to exsist.

You: It

You: It's not easy to realize, but it is the truth.

Stranger: yeah its creepy

Stranger: id choose not to think about it lol

You: "exsisting" as you know it, is merely a functioning of your mind.

Stranger: thats true.

You: See, and that is precisely why you turn to religion! You are faced with the result of an meaningless universe, and you find a way to fill it with meaning.

Stranger: i believed in god ever since i can remember though man

Stranger: before i knew about dying

Stranger: or even thought about it

You: That is really the only difference between you and me. I choose to face these truths, however ugly they may be.

You: Of course you have, you've been taught to believe. It's prectically instinct.

Stranger: well not really.. me and my sister grew up the same house and everything

Stranger: same church we've always went too

Stranger: shes atheist now

Stranger: im not.

You: Some childen rebel against their parents. Others do not. It's the same.

Stranger: hmm

Stranger: you make some good arguements. you should be on the debate team or something

You: It's impossible for us to comprehend death. So we choose to believe that our conciousness will somehow be preserved.

Stranger: what are your parents?

You: You know how I'd give myself an afterlife? After I die, I could pay a service to freeze my brain in liquid nitrogen so I can be reanimated in the future. My father is agnostic/jewish, my mother is Irish Catholic.

Stranger: hm

Stranger: what do they say about you being athiest?

You: They don't understand, because they were raised to believe. I was raised to find my own answers, and it's one of the greatest gifts they have ever given me. Were you given that choice?

Stranger: i went to church

Stranger: but

Stranger: that doesnt mean i had to believe

Stranger: especially when you get older

Stranger: you believe what you want.

You: What you are presented with as a child stay with you your entire life. You learn right from wrong, these are learned behaviors, the same as faith. You would not know that there was a god to believe in, had you never seen a church. RIght?

Stranger: welll i mean people talk about god all the time.. just tv books etc

Stranger: but

Stranger: eventually is the answer

You: As you grow older, you may become a criminal, but you still know what you're doing is wrong. What you learn as a child is indelible upon your identity.

Stranger: you're right

You: Unless you question. Leave behind all outside influence and really look inside yourself, and be willing to truly search for the truth no matter how unpleasant it may be.

Stranger: i will

Stranger: but im just saying i believe god has been here for me

Stranger: always

Stranger: i pray and i recieve

You: What do you receive?

Stranger: good health, im always safe, i have a roof over my head. a job.

Stranger: things like that

You: I have all those things too.

Stranger: yeah but a lot of people dont.

You: I do not pray.

Stranger: right?

You: Right! And most of those people are CONSTANTLY praying. Are you implying your god favors you over those people?

Stranger: like i didnt have a job. i quit mine and hoped i would get another one. i prayed. and what happened? i got a job. right when i gave up looking

Stranger: not at all

Stranger: they might not get it right away

Stranger: but he didnt bring them this far just to leave them

You: Why did god bring them? I think you underestimate the resiliency of humanity. We were on 6 of the 7 continents before all modern technology.

Stranger: explain

You: Here's is your fundamental problem, and the problem with much of religion. You seek to explain what is already explainable, not in terms of truth, but in terms of god. It's refuting rational thought in favor of faith. People survive in poverty because produce very rapidly. They lack proper birth control and education. An HIV/AIDS infected person can live long enough to have a child. and they can produce so quickly the virus coul not even wipe out the population.

Stranger: you're a smart kid

You: Chance is also something that religion attempts to claim for itself. A man misses his flight and the flight crashes.He thanks god, when in fact he should be thanking the mere fact that he overslept that morning. God was not there. He was tired, and he missed his alarm.

Stranger: opinion..

You: Hahaha, that's what they tell me. Sometimes I'm not so sure.

Stranger: no you are trust me

Stranger: why are you on here anyways?

Stranger: lol this is the longest convo ive had on here... really thought provoking too

You: You need to be able to question your beliefs, is really what I'm trying to say here. If you are able to really truly question what you believe and then still remain faithful, then I have nothing but respect for you.

Stranger: i have.

Stranger: but i always stay believing

Stranger: i went a few years without believing in god.

You: And what made you change your mind?

Stranger: to which part?

Stranger: not believing?

Stranger: or believing again?

You: Believing again.

Stranger: i just started to pray and stuff started happening

Stranger: you may call it chance..

Stranger: but thats when i really got into it

You: I think that when people pray, they begin to associate events in an irrational manner.

You: One of the erroneous ways that people read into economic results is that they view Correlation as Causation, which is incorrect.

You: They believe that One things affects the outcome of a another thing, when in fact, that thing (pray) is merely associated with that other thing (a positive result).

Stranger: you make good points

Stranger: you could probably make a lot of people switch religion lol

You: In other words, Praying is not the cause of good things, I believe it merely opens your eyes to the good things happening around you. Because you have prayed, therefore you EXPECT these things to happen and are even more aware of these things when they do happen.

You: Does that make any sense?

Stranger: yeah man

Stranger: im gonna go...i respect you though

Stranger: hope good things keep happening for you man

You: You as well. Have a nice night.

Stranger: you too. nice talking

You: See you later.