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378
379

True Athiest (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by markieb09

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[–]Karmanacht 88 points89 points ago

Met Jesus, still an atheist? I wouldn't call him a true atheist; this is someone who is as dogmatic as the fundamentalist Christians.

I'm an atheist because I see no evidence for gods. It's an extension of my skepticism. If I meet a god, I'll sure as shit start believing.

[–]MrPartridge 49 points50 points ago

Well, it would make sense for him to be dogmatic, wouldn't it?

[–]DoubleRaptor 23 points24 points ago

http://imgur.com/B2uyc

[–]Allidish 0 points1 point ago

I don't know why I love puns so much.

[–]ZankerH 32 points33 points ago

If I meet a god, I'll start doubting my sanity before I start doubting my atheism.

[–]CalCapone 8 points9 points ago

That's probably a smart move, considering how many murderers claim god told them to.

[–]Lots42 4 points5 points ago

Do crazy people ever get told to hug kittens and help old ladies?

[–]Abyisto 5 points6 points ago

sometimes the old ladies who need help are hugging kittens http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crazy-cat-lady.jpg

[–]heavyfuel 1 point2 points ago

Troper? Have an upvote

[–]thimblyjoe 1 point2 points ago

Yes. We just don't hear about them on the news because they don't make huge headlines. That being said, I'm pretty sure that's what Sainthood is for.

[–]Lots42 0 points1 point ago

Holy fuck, you are brilliant.

That would explain a TON of visions.

Nobody would attribute 'Kill the women' to God, but 'Give them free food' ...

[–]kingseed 8 points9 points ago

Nope. The wording is correct. If he still does not believe in God then he is still an atheist. Adding true in front of that doesn't change it.

Would he be right? Nope. Atheism would be wrong, but he'd still be a true atheist.

[–]LoganardoDVinci 1 point2 points ago

Right. Its probably not indicative of what most atheists would do, but that doesn't make it not atheism.

[–]pngwn56 1 point2 points ago

Yeah... the statement is true in logical context, but it gives the impression that it is better to stay an atheist even if you see evidence to the contrary.

[–]Karmanacht 0 points1 point ago

Good point. I guess I'd say he's just not a very good skeptic, but I'll leave my original wording as a response to the title of the post.

[–]burentu 1 point2 points ago

I never quite got the impression of Brian being a bad atheist. Sure as a person, he has a lot of shortcomings as indicated by Quagmire. But he never has shown any resentment to religion. only vice versa.

[–]Lots42 2 points3 points ago

Quagmire has no moral standing to lecture anyone.

[–]supergenius1337 0 points1 point ago

Isn't he like a 61 year old man who was implied to have date raped a woman at least once and had sex with an underage girl? And he also had a baby daughter that he implied he would have sex with in 18 years if he could.

[–]bigbangbilly 1 point2 points ago

Try this one instead!

[–]BobIV 1 point2 points ago

If I meet a god, I'll sure as shit start believing.

If I met a god, i'd sure as shirt start doubting that I met a "god". Or at the very least I would begin to question the definition of the word God.

[–]Klepto666 1 point2 points ago

First question I'll always ask: "Do you need a Starship?"

[–]BobIV 1 point2 points ago

Mine would be "Do you want a beer?"

But I'm sort of the friendly type like that.

[–]CoastalCity -5 points-4 points ago

But if you met a god, would there be a reason to believe?

If the consensus was that the earth is flat, you would believe the earth is flat.
Then, with evidence, it was reviled to you that the earth is round - would you need to believe the earth is round, or would you be able to accept it as truth?

[–]Karmanacht 5 points6 points ago

That's exactly what I said. If I meet a god, I'll start believing. Meeting a god would fulfill the requirement for evidence. Of course, this is assuming I'm not hallucinating or crazy, but there's not much I can do if my mind starts playing tricks on me.

[–]mgraunk 5 points6 points ago

If I meet a god, I'll start knowing.

FTFY

[–]pngwn56 1 point2 points ago

Not necessarily. Maybe he's insane. Maybe it isn't a god. Maybe it's an elaborate hoax. Maybe we live in the matrix.

Believing is correct.

[–]mgraunk 0 points1 point ago

If he claimed to be the god of any specific religion, I would demand indisputable proof of everything that religion claims. If he could present that, I think the overwhelming evidence would convince me.

[–]pngwn56 0 points1 point ago

That still isn't knowing. It is still a strong belief.

[–]mgraunk 0 points1 point ago

By that logic we can never know anything. I personally think that even the things we "know" have the ability to change. Thus, a very strong belief supported by evidence is, in fact, knowledge.

[–]pngwn56 0 points1 point ago

By that logic we can never know anything.

Correct, but why is that logic faulty?

I personally think that even the things we "know" have the ability to change.Thus, a very strong belief supported by evidence is, in fact, knowledge.

Then our definitions of "to know" are different. Your definition means a very strong belief, whereas mine means that is must and does occur. Either way, you shouldn't criticize someone because they have a different definition than you. Especially because your definition of knowing includes belief as you stated here

Thus, a very strong belief supported by evidence is, in fact, knowledge.

But then you "fixed" a previous comment when, even by your definition, it would be correct. In other words, you fixed it from being correct in all definitions, to only being correct in yours. Your fixing, therefore, made it less correct, not more.

Anyways, this is a pretty useless thing to argue over because we mostly agree with each other's train of thought but simply have a different definition of the word. Have a nice day.

[–]pngwn56 0 points1 point ago

By that logic we can never know anything.

Correct, but why is that logic faulty?

I personally think that even the things we "know" have the ability to change.Thus, a very strong belief supported by evidence is, in fact, knowledge.

Then our definitions of "to know" are different. Your definition means a very strong belief, whereas mine means that is must and does occur. Either way, you shouldn't criticize someone because they have a different definition than you.

[–]LaheyShitStorm 0 points1 point ago

When you meet a god, you know that your battle against insanity has taken a turn for the worse and should seek help immediately.

[–]CoastalCity 1 point2 points ago

Well I hope I never meet myself then.
:rimshot:

[–]Crim91 18 points19 points ago

How would seeing Jesus be proof of the existence of a god?

[–]Duhve 5 points6 points ago

People have downvoted this comment... But I actually think you raise a valid point. Meeting Jesus only proves the existence of jesus, not necessarily god, therefor not in itself proof of theism.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

meeting jesus doesn't prove the claims of an alleged jesus. i'll introduce you to my neighbor, but i don't think it will fix anything.

witnessed miracles start getting closer, but still doesn't prove you have the right guy. if he started proslethetizing christianity while doing miracles then you have both theism and reliable branch.

problem is theism hinges on theory of forms and plato's cave (vs materialism)...

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

Yeah, I've met plenty of Jesus'

[–]otakuman 0 points1 point ago

Furthermore, WHICH Jesus are we talking about? The Christian Jesus? The gnostic Jesus? The Jesus of Marcionism?

Assumming that Jesus indeed had the power to make miracles, there were quite different views about him in the first centuries. Which means that Jesus' God might NOT be the judeoChristian God that today's people believe in.

Furthermore, how do we know that Jesus' miracles were not the product of a sufficiently-advanced technology?

Which leads us to the question: Are miracles (taken as the sudden and verifiable breaking of natural laws) enough for us to authenticate a prophet? The Bible tells us that the antichrist will fool people with "signs and wonders", how do we know that the Biblical Christ didn't do exaclty the same? In fact, how do we know that the biblical prophecies were NOT induced by Jesus' hypnotic powers in order to deceive us?

The possible alternative explanations may even be infinite. To gain our trust, this Jesus would have to:

  • Perform large scale miracles (like curing AIDS on all the people, for example)
  • Lead an impecable life, full of virtue and show a constant ethical life.
  • Speak numerous prophecies that will inevitably come true.

And even then, we couldn't still be 100% sure that this Jesus wasn't some kind of demon in disguise, waiting for us to lower our defenses in order to implant some kind of dictatorship at a later time.

Perhaps Jesus would require to live among common humans for several generations to earn our trust. But maybe... maybe solving all the world's problems in only one year might be a very, very reliable indicator of his divinity and good-will.

[–]DoubleRaptor 0 points1 point ago

If Jesus is to exist, as we know it, he is the son of god and part of god.

If you mean that simply he has met some guy named Jesus, then this obviously isn't the point being made.

[–]WhatABeautifulMess 0 points1 point ago

Even if it was the person described in The Bible, a Jewish carpenter/preacher from Galilee named Jesus etc doesn't prove that he's divine. People in religious scripts may have existed, but that doesn't mean they were magic.

[–]Lots42 0 points1 point ago

In Family Guy, Jesus is magic.

Hell, Brian met Death.

[–]WhatABeautifulMess 0 points1 point ago

true enough.. I personally have tried to remove all the Family Guy I've had to watch from my memory.

[–]DoubleRaptor 0 points1 point ago

I guess he's just like 2040 years old then. And magic.

[–]WhatABeautifulMess 0 points1 point ago

Yeah, and meeting a talking dog, I guess the whole think is pretty ridiculous.

edit: wrong word

[–]SlckJwdBtnk 0 points1 point ago

This is what fucks people up.

I'm an atheist. I'm not superstitious in any way.

However, I do think, based on evidence and basic intuition, that approximately 2000 years ago there was this Jesus guy. He may have said the things they wrote in that dumb bible.

Here is how I see it. I don't believe in magic, let alone god like people. I think love your neighbor is a good idea. He's not a messiah. He's just a fucking hippie.

[–]Kind_Of_A_Dick 1 point2 points ago

If you get a chance, watch "The Man From Earth".

[–]fnargendargen 1 point2 points ago

Do this. Amazing movie.

[–]SlckJwdBtnk 1 point2 points ago

Giving it a try right now.

:)

[–]Kind_Of_A_Dick 1 point2 points ago

What did you think?

[–]SlckJwdBtnk 1 point2 points ago

Pretty good. I really liked the concept of how time would be viewed by a 14k yo man. His brain could only remember so much.

Thanks for the recommendation.

[–]globalchill 1 point2 points ago

Anybody have that image macro of Kyle from south park which says;

Meet Jesus multiple times

Still a Jew.

[–]JonnyRobbie 0 points1 point ago

to be honest, there were all kind of deity amongst The Super Best Friends-Moses, Muhammed, Budha, Jesus, etc.

[–]pngwn56 1 point2 points ago

Moses Muhammed and Buddha were never seen as deities...

[–]Max45a -1 points0 points ago

Funny, if you turn it around (some Mom = Brian)

Details and evidence is in front of you. True Christian

Jesus is right in front of you. True Atheist

[–]Karmanacht 1 point2 points ago

I have a computer monitor right in front of me. If you have evidence of a god, then many of us would love to know about it.

[–]Max45a 0 points1 point ago

I was being sarcastic. -_-

[–]bacongravy 0 points1 point ago

Meeting Jesus doesn't make you a christian. I believe that Jesus exited. He was an arabic man who had human parents. Not the son of god from a virgin mother.

[–]Iazo 0 points1 point ago

Yes, and he's also supposedly dead, and incapable of miracles. Both things that didn't happen in Family Guy. (Jesus was alive and did miracles.)

If I were in Brian's..err..paws, I would believe that there was a guy named Jesus who can do miracles, at the very least.

[–]NeoBlueArchon -1 points0 points ago

Isn't that stupid though? If you've observed a deity than why believe it doesn't exist?

[–]DrJesusPhD 0 points1 point ago

Because our own brains fool us sometimes. Like ZankerH said above, "If I meet a god, I'll start doubting my sanity before I start doubting my atheism."

[–]fixthecopier 1 point2 points ago

Isn't Brian kind of a dick about his beliefs?

[–]Kind_Of_A_Dick 1 point2 points ago

No.

[–]Jesterfellah 0 points1 point ago

However he still believes in ghosts and poltergeists. (Just re watched this episode "Petergeist" and he suggested it could be a poltergeist) What's up with that?

[–]Philosophical_Zombie 0 points1 point ago

Well, in their universe ghost do exist. So he's right to believe in them. Also God and other deities exist. So it's all kinda fucked up.

Being skeptic and reasonable just leads to different conclusions in the family guy universe.

[–]Jesterfellah 0 points1 point ago

Well, I guess all you get from trying to make sense of a nonsensical world is a headache...

[–]algo 0 points1 point ago

About a month since last posted: http://karmadecay.com/www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/ujojg/true_athiest/

[–]jameskauer 1 point2 points ago

I know Jesus on a personal basis. He used to work with me at Wendy's. He goes back to Mexico about twice a year to see his family. I don't see what that has to do with atheism. :)

[–]Lots42 0 points1 point ago

Does it take him two seconds to go to Mexico?

[–]jameskauer 0 points1 point ago

No, he usually goes in his van with the rest of his family. It is a long drive from Idaho.

[–]Princethor 0 points1 point ago

Your talking about the stupid dog that started praying when the news brodcasted the end of the world. hahahahahahahahahahhaahha! True atheist indeed.

[–]tailcalled 0 points1 point ago

Flat Earth Atheist

[–]mbd34 0 points1 point ago

I thought that was an inconsistency in the show. God and Jesus exist within the "Family Guy" universe. Brian saw direct evidence of this, and he's still an atheist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkPgYbdQ1kQ

[–]anarcho-fox 1 point2 points ago

even if i met god,id still be atheist.... because even if god is real,he isnt good

[–]alias-of-a-girl 0 points1 point ago

Have you ever read the Dresden Files? There's a character in that series that reminds me of this: he's a knight of the cross (as in, he was gifted a holy sword by an archangel and charged with protecting humanity from demons) and he's an atheist. The book's main character can never quite wrap his head around it :P

[–]Lots42 0 points1 point ago

The book's main character can cast magic spells.

The Knight probably believes he has a magic object.

[–]alias-of-a-girl 0 points1 point ago

He is pretty well aware of the difference between magic and faith. Still, regardless of the source of power of that particular object, gods are simply a fact of life for supernatural beings in that series. It's so foreign for them to encounter someone like him who stays an adamant atheist that it makes some of his interactions with other characters hilarious :P

[–]knighmare 0 points1 point ago

Well actually a true atheist would accept evidence, were there any, that a god exists, he met the dude, saw several miracles, he isnt a true atheist. Like Quagmire said, he is just a textbook liberal

[–]Lots42 0 points1 point ago

Hell, God is a regular down at Brian's favorite bar.

[–]knighmare 0 points1 point ago

i think he murdered a woman there at least once

[–]Lots42 0 points1 point ago

Probably but I don't recall.

[–]knighmare 0 points1 point ago

yeah, cause he was hitting on her, lit her smoke with some lightning, pointed at her and she got hit with the lightning as well, jesus drove the gettaway

[–]andybent25 0 points1 point ago

False, that one time, when they thought an asteroid was going to hit the earth, Brian turned to religion.

[–]pseudocide 0 points1 point ago

he's also the most pretentious character on the show, so he's perfect for /r/atheism

[–]Tomgeek 0 points1 point ago

considering jesus is not a god this he is still an atheist if he met god and could confirm it was god then he would be a very stupid person to disagree with proof ( luckily there will never been any proof that god exists :) because he is complet fiction)

[–]fs337 0 points1 point ago

No, that's just called willful ignorance. That's not true atheism. If you meet Jesus personally and continue to deny his existence, you are an idiot. Especially when your entire family has met him too.

[–]AnomalousX12 -2 points-1 points ago

Ahhaha. This is a funny point. It doesn't really make sense that someone as reasonable as Brian would remain an atheist after finding firm proof of god.

[–]hellbrainsx 1 point2 points ago

lol Brian is hardly ever a reasonable character.

[–]AnomalousX12 1 point2 points ago

Sorry, when he believes something so reasonable/logical*

I highly doubt many/any atheists would continue to insist that there is no god after being given proof (The canon of the show is that Jesus exists, you know?).

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