Bear in mind it was the 60s and religion was much more prominent then, Irish of all people can’t be throwing stones.Neil Armstrong was very obscure about his religious beliefs and it cased quite a bit of controversy with the bible thumpers at the time.

As far as is recorded (taken with a pinch of salt as always) Armstrong was a Deist, and yes the 60′s were not a great time to question religion or its lack of fact. As for the throwing stones, the Irish are/still as bad in my opinion and I don’t put myself in any bracket that associates with it, I am a secularist if that makes the dirty word Atheist easier to deal with, I don’t want people to change their views as that will never happen and I don’t particularly have a vendetta against what someone thinks, just how it effects others who want to make choices, as in gay marriage/adaption (not adopting a gay person :0), but to change how they see their belief and how it cannot infringe on others, so it works both ways, anyway, its Friday, Im off for a coffee and hope everyone has a splendid day and keep an eye out for each other and help others when you can :0)

Deism was a factor in founding the U.S. to begin with. A lot of people are Deists but may not recognise that word.

in founding, you mean slaughtering the injuns and making Murika great!

No that came later alas. Founding principles (declaration of independence) stand the test of time. You have to see it in context to understand it. These people fled a sick continent in leaving Europe behind – a place wallowing in sectarianism, pompous corrupt monarchies, and ignorance. They hoped to start anew.

What else do you expect when you actually think logically about it, believe in whatever explanation helps you deal with life, but you cannot feel that society needs to really look deep into the book, the reason atheists comment on it is because some have actually taken the time to read it, and that’s when you can then see how flawed and ridiculous it is, but we have not even began to understand the why’s, and how it was recorded in a book that states “God said Let there be light”, it just makes me feel we are sold silly tales and maybe its fear that stops many from just standing up and thinking for themselves.

Hi Graham, thanks for the reply, I accept your opinion. It just annoys me that people in the liberal media and commentators will get all PC and claim the higher moral ground on all issues. They’ll stand up for gay rights, women’s rights, animal rights etc… However, When it comes to religion they’ll tear it and anyone apart who believes in it. The whole thing has come full circle, where once religious people abused their powers, they are now being abused by non believers and the so called PC-brigade. I believe in God, but I don’t push it on those who don’t, I in return don’t want to be labeled as stupid. Furthermore, I also have a PhD in science (biology) so it’s not like I’m totally ignorant of the current state of knowledge out there. Rant type thing over!

And you have every right to believe in what you wish. But there has to be a system to sustain everyone’s belief, and to me a secular environment would be a start, most of the issues you state, gay/women’s rights actually stem from the views of the religious, so if you were to remove say any reference to homosexuality being “wrong” in the words of some belief systems, then we most likely would not have any, or little issue. The same for women, Sharia Law, this law is clearly written from a man’s point of view. I don’t want to bash religious people, but I will question the system and its aims, I don’t have a doctorate nor a degree but that’s irrelevant (clearly you are not ignorant) in concern’s of morality and the treatment of people/classes in society. If religion was less judgmental, and I don’t mean in having a view, but having to follow precise rules without any concern for the person themselves, then it might have a chance.

A handful of stories up from here, a pregnant Christian woman is going to be executed for marrying a Christian man – because her father was a Muslim. This “crime” was reported to the authorities by her own family. If the worst that happens at the hands of atheists is that they make fun of a tiny Bible in space, I’d say we’ll all be fine.

we are harmless Emily, we like bunnies and flowers too :0)

Graham religious people are really only hedging their bets in case there is an after life.

Very true

Logic escapes the atheist as always! Willingly ignorant of their own beginning and stubborn to admit that fact the from nothing, nothing shall come.

Troll

A typical comment from a Theist attempting to escape logic – even with inverted phrases. I presume you mean ‘something cannot come from nothing’. Just because it cannot be demonstrated, does not make it a fact.

Sorry, didn’t check before I pressed send but yes, that is what I meant to type David. Green tick for you :)
The big bang from nothing delusion “we’ve” all come to know and love, maybe it makes absolutely no sense, its opinion that your welcome have but I’m sorry but its ludicrous. Its loony stuff to think that astronomically extreme complexity can come from nothing, I don’t expect a free lunch in this world, why do you!

The evidence for ‘The Big Bang’ theory is overwhelming. Everything from Hubble’s discovery of distance to red-shift relationship to the discovery of cosmic background radiation, notwithstanding the enormous amounts of data from particle accelerators including the large hadron collider. At no stage has there ever been a scientific claim that this construction came from ‘nothing’ – never. It is simply unexplained as of yet.
The theistic stance of ‘we don’t know, therefore god did it’ and the presentation of this as evidence is simply a cop out, an attitude that would have us living on a flat earth at the centre of the universe being ruled by bronze age witch doctors.
“God did it?” – now who is constructing from nothing?

A truly astounding comment.