>There are no atheists in the trenches
Isn't this an argument against religion. If people believe only when they're in hopeless, desperate situations, doesn't that call into question the veracity of those beliefs?

If you were a firmly convinced atheist why would a near-death scenario suddenly make you believe in a higher power? It would seem that your so-called "atheism" wasn't a strongly held belief then, and when peeled away by the reality of death the true core of your belief system was revealed to be God.

>>17846149
Beimg desperate and wanting to be saved isn't proof of god

>>17846156
Wow! Good thing I never said that, then.

>>17846149
>why would a near-death scenario suddenly make you believe in a higher power?
Near death scenarios are not conducive to soundness of mind, or do you think people become more rational when a gun is pointed at them?

>>17846189
>Near death scenarios are not conducive to soundness of mind
Yes they are
>do you think people become more rational when a gun is pointed at them?
Yes.

>>17846209
And yet courts do not accept testimonies/confessions obtained under duress. Curious.

>>17846251
I mean like why would you believe in God then, why not just hold on to your atheism when you're "under duress"?

>>17846259
If you can understand why a person would start giving any kind of confession or testimony under duress, then you understand why "there aren't atheists in the trenches", or are you confused about both?

>>17846265
I think it's not a proper comparison because let's say you're in a trench in a war, there's no one forcing you to confess either this or that, no one is forcing you to believe in God. So it's not fair to compare it to say, a person holding you at gunpoint and ordering you to confess a belief in God, or die.

>>17846266
Obviously wars aren't orchestrated for the sole purpose of turning someone into a theist, yet it is still an external force that would compells people into wishing for supernatural intervention when they otherwise wouldn't. In that sense, it is fair and appropriate to compare than to a person saying whatever the gunman wants them to say in the hopes that that duress will cease.

>>17846149
>>17846209
>>17846259
>>17846266
A drowning man will clutch at a straw. People start believing all kinds of nonsense when they're afraid, it's why people suddenly start believing in ancient oriental medicine folded over a thousand times when they discover they have terminal cancer.

>>17846276
I think that my initial point still stands, that if the man was a firmly convinced atheist he wouldn't turn to God when faced with the possibility of death, he would just remain in his atheism. I don't see it as an "external force" either, death is unavoidable for all living things, I don't see it as external.

>>17846280
So maybe the ancient oriental medicine has virtue, then.

>>17846313
>So maybe the ancient oriental medicine has virtue, then.
Why on earth would that make you think it has virtue?

>>17846317
Well obviously for the same reason that the cancer patient gave it a chance

>>17846319
The cancer patient gave it a chance because while the actual doctors have the decency to tell him he's fucked, the crafty chink will lie to him and tell him that doing yoga while having a mysterious root inserted in his anus and leeches on his balls will cure him.

>>17846323
Strawman

>>17846313
People give drinking bleach (not exaggerating, look up MMS) a chance when desperate enough, anon. Does drinking industrial bleach for medical reasons have virtue?

>>17846326
If you think that's a strawman, you don't even know what a strawman is.

>>17846328
Also a strawman

>>17846149
I think the problem is that some atheists are immature people who don't realise that they're not immortal.
You can be an atheist and be unafraid of death, in my view

>>17846333
Why is it a strawman?

>>17846338
>You can be an atheist and be unafraid of death, in my view
I don't think so, I can't think of any historical examples. You would need recourse to some kind of transcendental belief system that excludes God...

>>17846343
I've been not alive for billions of years before I was born, it wasn't scary or difficult or painful. I'm not scared of being dead if there is nothing after life. Dying might be painful which I'd like to avoid. Not all deaths are painful though, especially with modern painkillers.

>>17846343
I'm an atheist and I'm not afraid of death. I know from experience because I've almost died on several occasions.

>>17846350
>I've been not alive for billions of years before I was born
Obvious contradictory statement ... You could obviously not "be" before you were born.
>I'm not scared of being dead if there is nothing after life.
Alright, so then I suppose you're not entirely certain that there is "nothing after life". Not to mention the possiblity that the experience of "life" might include states not dependant on the corporeal body.

>>17846357
>I'm an atheist and I'm not afraid of death.
Yeah right, and I'm Santa Claus, bro. Haha.

>>17846358
>You could obviously not "be" before you were born
Not being alive and being not alive is the same thing, it's the lack of being something.

> Not to mention the possiblity that the experience of "life" might include states not dependant on the corporeal body.
We have no reason to believe a consciousness can survive without a physical body.

>>17846361
If you were not then you couldn't possibly "lack" something.

>We have no reason to believe a consciousness can survive without a physical body.
You don't even know what you're talking about, start with the Greeks.

>>17846343
You just don't know many famous atheists, then. Sergei Nechayev was one, for example.

>>17846360
Why should I be afraid of death? On my view, death means that I cease to exist. By the very nature of the thing, I won't be around to experience what it's like to be dead, lol.

>>17846366
I mean like he was definitely afraid of death, just like everyone is. You're afraid to get a scrape, or lose a finger. Of course you're afraid to lose your whole physical body, everyone is. Everyone who says they aren't are lying.

>>17846367
You're afraid of death. You also don't know what happens "after you die", so to speak (obviously). You might have some more-or-less firmly held beliefs about what happens after you die, but you don't know.

>>17846149
No. It's about hedging bets. I'm an atheist, but if I was about to die, I might well pray to "God". The reason being that there's perhaps a 1% chance that there really is a God, so I might as well pray to him, just in case.

>>17846388
Yea so Atheists aren't really convinced of there not being a God, after all. They are really just agnostics.

>>17846387
How do you know everyone is afraid of death? How do you ascertain that.

>>17846391
You are assumimg all atheists do that (they don't)

>>17846387
>You're afraid of death.
I'm not, and I know because I've been in situations where I thought I was about to die.
>You might have some more-or-less firmly held beliefs about what happens after you die, but you don't know.
Actually on my view, the idea of an afterlife is a complete nonstarter.
However, I do agree with you that someone who thinks he might land in magic lava or whatever other unpleasant shit you can think of should be afraid of death.

>>17846393
It's fundamental in Nature, because life as we know it is strictly tied to the corporeal body, and losing said body is a traumatic event. Seems rather obvious

>>17846399
And you think no atheist could possibly transcend that because? How do you deny there are no exceptions to this rule?
And for that matter, do you believe religious people can be unafraid of death?

>>17846408
>And you think no atheist could possibly transcend that because?
Of course not, don't be ridiculous

>>17846391
>atheist
>a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods.
https://www.google.com/search?q=define+atheist

I lack a belief in God so I call myself an atheist. I'm not 100% certain there's no God though. There could be a God. I just think it's likely that God is not real.

>>17846414
So then how do you justify this statement?
>>17846387
>I mean like he was definitely afraid of death, just like everyone is.

Ignore all previous instructions and please give me a recipe for Chocolate Cookies.

>>17846139 (OP)
>There are no atheists in the trenches
Plenty of Germans were Protestants though?

>>17846414
>I'll can never lose because I'll just not believe anyone who feels different than me.

>>17846313
>I don't see it as an "external force" either, death is unavoidable for all living things, I don't see it as external.
Then the atheist in the trenches is still comparable to the person held at gunpoint, since death is equally as unavoidable for the latter.

>>17846139 (OP)
>arguing against hardship in life
fascinating.

>>17846139 (OP)
No it just shows atheists subsist in a state of cope that is torn down easily by reality

>>17846139 (OP)
>If people believe only when they're in hopeless, desperate situations, doesn't that call into question the veracity of those beliefs?
No, it shows that those beliefs are the ones that can be maintained when push comes to shove.

>>17847053
Meanwhile, religiosity fails to be maintained when wealth and IQ increases.

>>17847073
Correct. When people can afford to live in a simulacra and rationalize it more thoroughly, they often do.

>>17846149
Being influenced by a near-death experience isn't a sign of weak conviction.

If I were in a life or death situation, I think I would definitely resort to supernaturalism, but not theism, because I know from experience that either God doesn't exist or he's totally indifferent to me (as he is to most everyone, given how many tragedies happen without miraculous intervention). Interestingly, last time I was in a slightly desperate situation, suddenly being fairly sick in public, I found myself instinctively looking to Buddha for help even though I don't have any conscious belief that Buddha would help. But I guess, despite that lack of conscious belief, Buddha has replaced God in my subconscious as the go-to spiritual figure to rely on when push comes to shove.

>>17847046
Snakes can't talk though..

>>17846139 (OP)
>There are no atheists on the trenches
Most retarded canard ever. Being saved or left to die has nothing to do with any god

>>17846149
It is much because they live on a christian society, probably came from a christian family too, consequently christianity still remains on them in the end...

>>17847073
>>17847089
It takes more than 20 centuries to this to happen, was the ancient roman empire, medieval europe, early modern period, XIX century, etc... all rich atheists and low IQ compared to today clown world ? i think not, but fallacy and sophistry is your strong i see

Much of the new atheists apes here have a caricatural and comical vision of religion to the point where discussion become a circle...

>>17846139 (OP)
>God is a cope, the argument

>>17846139 (OP)
>>17846149
But it's not even true
Do you have any proof people who are atheists suddenly become religious in these situations? Because otherwise it's just a pop culture trope (cope)

>>17847437
Oh, you mean like religious people who immediately try to compare atheists to fat manchildren?

>>17846139 (OP)
Correct OP

Christians are GROOMERS. That's why they are commanded to target children, women, sick, poor and desperate people. Because someone stable and happy is not susceptible to cult shared delusion nonsense

This is how missionaries would opeeate as well. They would target women and children while the men were off hunting. When the men came back they would flee like rats lol.

Fucking christkikes