*Warning: May contain nuts, Christians and/or both

[Cheerful Charlie]

As for the quote, it is confusing, but here is at least one explanation. It is not from me, but you can read more here. It includes this: Jesus was not predicting that his Second Coming would occur within the lifetime of some of his hearers. He wasn’t speaking of the Second Coming at all.v He was referring to the fulfillment of Daniel 7, his reception of the kingdom from the Father, and this was fulfilled within the lifetime of some of his hearers (cf. Matt. 28:18).vi

So Cheerful Charlie. Cheer up. There is hope!

-----

Mosrcertainly Jesus did so.

Matthew 24
³⁴ Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Mark 14

⁶¹ But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
⁶² And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Matthew 26
⁶⁴ Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Matthew 10
²³ But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

Matthew 16
²⁸ Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

And so on. Stop bullshitting us.

 

[southernhybrid]

On my side, I have a mountain of Biblical Archeology that just increases year by year. What about that crazy Noah's Ark story. Check out this youtube video and tell me that you belief in Noah's Ark does not increase.

My belief in Noah's Ark does not increase.

That was easy.

Apart from the fact that Ron Wyatt has been dismissed as not at all credible by any number of archaeologists, historians, bible scholars and even other creationists, and the fact that his own colleague and co-promoter of the supposed Ark site told a court in sworn testimony that the claims were "absolute BS" ...

Even if we assume, purely for the sake of the discussion, that what was found there is actually a ship or boat, it still does not follow that it's "Noah's Ark". Simply put, the mountains of geological and historical evidence that show no such thing as a world-wide flood ever took place preclude "Noah's Ark" from ever being a thing in the first place. And one vaguely ship-shaped rock formation, touted by a man whose motto was "If it won’t help somebody get to heaven I don’t want to do it" and who allowed his pro-biblical pre-assumptions to dictate his approach to archaeology, dents that evidence not a jot.

The only way to make my "belief in Noah's Ark increase" would be, first, to demonstrate conclusively that there is scientific evidence for a world-wide flood having occurred, then to show that Noah existed and built a ship that could withstand such a deluge, despite the biblical description of it not matching anything that would be seaworthy.

Actually, my view isn't that much different from yours. If a Christian doesn't judge me and respects me as an atheist, I see no reason for creating conflict. But, if Christians are hateful and judgmental, they are just setting themselves up for an argument with me. I would be lying if I didn't admit that there have been times that I enjoyed engaging such nasty people, but I have mellowed a bit with age and sometimes, it's just not worth it. I rarely give people who aren't educated or don't seem to be very smart any arguments. It would be unfair. But, if an educated person or a total asshole starts with me, I'll give it right back to them. To be honest, there have only been a few times in the workplace when I've been confronted by Christians. For the most part, I was almost always very open about my atheism, especially during the years when I worked in an office as a QA nurse.

Let me share my favorite and most surprising one. When I was living in Florida, I worked as a QA supervisor for a large home health agency. Our wound care nurse was extremely intelligent and had a MS degree in nursing. I had a lot of respect for her. Then one day, she overheard me saying that I was an atheist. She got down on her knees and started screaming, "Tell me it's not true. Tell me it's not true". My coworker, who was a liberal Catholic and I rolled our eyes and then my coworker said, "Debbie, get off of your knees". We were both shocked by her behavior and while it didn't hurt our working relationship, I knew that Debbie now thought of me as hell bound. I sort of felt sorry for her. She liked me. It must have been hard for her to think of me being tortured for all eternity. There was no point in arguing with her. She was beyond hope. It just surprised me that someone so intelligent and well educated would believe that shit.

I have plenty of other stories about the weird reactions I've received from Christians, including a physician who attended a party at my brother in law's home. He was a real asshole so after a few minutes of listening to him rant at me, I told him that he was too abrasive to have a conversation with, so I walked away. His wife later apologized to me and said, "You have to remember that my husband is a pathologist, who has to deal with death on a regular basis." I told her that I was a nurse who cared for older adults, who I often watched suffer and die, but I didn't attack other people for having different beliefs from my own.

I have a hard time telling my friends who are poor minorities that I'm an atheist. I simply tell them that I'm not at all religious. Not a single one seemed to care. They like me regardless of what I believe. That's the way it should be, imo. There was one white aide who I worked with many years ago, that always told me she would pray for me after she learned that I was an atheist. I'd respond by saying, "cool and I'll think for you". She didn't even seem to realize that I was playfully insulting her. Poor thing.

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

So how does this work? OP throws down a provocative first post, then comes back once a week just to stir the pot?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I would just say that this is your thread/opportunity to discuss religious matters with a real life Christian, however unsophisticated. My apologies.

You do realize that we have met Christians in real life already, right?

Also, I didn't primarily come here to try and save/convert people. I am happy to be able to just share my viewpoint with others - Christian or otherwise.

And when you say viewpoint, you mean your own opinion with a caveat that you are untrained in about the dozen categories you are about to share opinions in?

For my close friends, who I do not discuss any of this with, I fear that when the truth is revealed (the truth that I believe in) that they will be rightful upset that I did not try harder to get through to them. On the other hand, I trust that God, in his utmost wisdom, will sort it all out for the best.

Have you read the Bible? Guy could barely remember the flood or take notice of Hebrews in Egyptian captivity for hundreds of years! Clearly his mind easily wanders and he isn't good at organizing anything.

I'd recommend not wasting your time, and head over the Freethought & Humor section for some good fun.

 

[atrib]

atrib - I look forward to more of your examples. As for the 6000 year old earth, find for me in the Bible where it says that. Sure, a bunch of bone head 'christians' might have thought that up, but that is not what we all believe. Of course, the world is billions of years old. Those first 6 days mentioned in the Bible are symbolic.

What criteria do you use to decide that something in the Bible is meant to be taken literally, or to be taken as a metaphor? Because as you pointed out, some Christians do read the Bible and estimate the age of the Earth anywhere from about 6,000 to about 10,000 years. Why is your interpretation correct, and their interpretation "bone headed"?

And what's wrong with the Bronze age.

Nothing is wrong with the Bronze age. But the people who lived in the Bronze age did not possess the level of understanding of the natural world that humans do today. You had asked why atheists are skeptical of some of the claims to be found in the Bible, and in my case that is because I find the Bible to be a collection of Bronze age mythology unsupported by evidence, and even contradicted by what we know today.

Was Jesus supposed to come back 5 years ago, or 10...what is acceptable to you fine sir?

I have no idea what you are talking about. Are you asking whether I think Jesus will return some day? The answer is no. In fact, I am not convinced that the Jesus described in the Bible even existed.

Here we are now still talking about it - so it really has stood the test of time.

Over a billion Hindus still talk about Ganesha, the elephant headed god. Does that mean Ganesha is real too? Do you understand where your reasoning is faulty? Hint: just because an idea or belief is popular doesn't mean ........

No one on your 'side' in all that time has proven it wrong. If they had - there would not be 33% of this World believing it.

I am on the side of truth. I am yet to see convincing evidence that Biblegod exists and that he created a human clone called Jesus who had to be sacrificed in order to allow Biblegod to forgive humans. It is not my responsibility to disprove your position, but yours to demonstrate your claims using facts and reason. Do you have any evidence, and are you willing to show it to us?

And look up Argumentum ad populum while you are at it. Might stop you from resorting to fallacies in your arguments in the future.

No, you are not a slave. And that is your problem. You will not recognize or bow down to God. And he, being God, will have the last say. It's his way - the way of love - or....wherever you're headed. Your bitterness is evident.

It would be impossible for me to submit myself as a slave to an entity for whose existence I see no evidence. And even if Biblegod were to make his presence known to me, which as an omnipotent entity he could easily do, I would still not voluntarily enslave myself to his authority. That is because the god described in the Bible is a brutal, violent, deranged, psychopathic, homicidal, genocidal tyrant, and my personal ethical beliefs prevent me from submitting to such an authority.

Biblegod's way is NOT the way of love.
He allegedly cursed his own children, Adam and Eve, and all of their descendants to disease and death for disobeying an instruction. How is this an act of love?
He cursed every human with the defect of original sin and held them accountable for the actions of their distant ancestors. How is this an act of love?
He had an innocent human-god-clone murdered in a brutal and painful manner so he could bring himself to forgive the defects that he built into all humans. How is this an act of love?
He will send you to hell and burn you for eternity if you don't submit to his authority and get on your knees. How is this an act of love?

Calling such behavior love is perverse. Can you imagine a world where you might expect to read a newspaper article like this:

The Principal at Mytown High School sacrificed his only son by crucifixion yesterday in order to bring himself to forgive all the students in his school that misbehaved. The Principal is being praised as a loving father and teacher, and as a condition of receiving this forgiveness, all students are required to get on their knees and accept the Principal as their lord and savior. Any student who has not done so by the end of the term will be subjected to torture for a year.

Yet that is the world we live in. As you said, about a third of the planet's population accepts such a story as being normal, even praiseworthy. What does that say about our species?

 

[Keith&Co.]

Here we are now still talking about it - so it really has stood the test of time.

Over a billion Hindus still talk about Ganesha, the elephant headed god. Does that mean Ganesha is real too? Do you understand where your reasoning is faulty? Hint: just because an idea or belief is popular doesn't mean ........

Or 21 Dec, 2012. Everyone was talking about the Aztec calendar and the end of the world...even people who were not Aztecs.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Here we are now still talking about it - so it really has stood the test of time.

Over a billion Hindus still talk about Ganesha, the elephant headed god. Does that mean Ganesha is real too? Do you understand where your reasoning is faulty? Hint: just because an idea or belief is popular doesn't mean ........

Or 21 Dec, 2012. Everyone was talking about the Aztec calendar and the end of the world...even people who were not Aztecs.

I didn't know the world already had ended. Nobody tells me stuff. I have to get my apocalyptic clothes out from storage.

 

[C_Mucius_Scaevola]

Here we are now still talking about it - so it really has stood the test of time.

Over a billion Hindus still talk about Ganesha, the elephant headed god. Does that mean Ganesha is real too? Do you understand where your reasoning is faulty? Hint: just because an idea or belief is popular doesn't mean ........

Or 21 Dec, 2012. Everyone was talking about the Aztec calendar and the end of the world...even people who were not Aztecs.

It was the Mayan calendar, not Aztec. But, yeah.

 

[C_Mucius_Scaevola]

We were both shocked by her behavior and while it didn't hurt our working relationship, I knew that Debbie now thought of me as hell bound.

I haven't heard "hell bound" for a while. Mostly these days, it's "lost". I read a new one (to me) the other week, as a reply on facebook to a friend I haven't seen for years but keep in touch with on there. He's a xian, as are many of his fb friends, and one of them replied to a post saying he was trying to "reach out to the broken". WTF? We're "broken" now? Some xians, the sheer contempt for humanity pours right out of them.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Lenny Bruce on the supposedly cursed nature of mankind: The fault lies with the manufacturer.

 

[atrib]

Or 21 Dec, 2012. Everyone was talking about the Aztec calendar and the end of the world...even people who were not Aztecs.

I didn't know the world already had ended. Nobody tells me stuff. I have to get my apocalyptic clothes out from storage.

We joke about this stuff, but in reality, many of the people who hold elected office (at least here in the United States), both high and low, believe in this nonsense. And some actively pray for the world to end so their favorite prophesies can come true and they can meet their messiah.

 

[ideologyhunter]

And I stood on the sands of the sea, and, lo, I saw Lord Jesus come, riding on nuclear clouds shot through with gold and the blood of the unworthy. And there was a beast at His side, and the beast had 7 heads and 10 horns, and on each horn a crown, and on each crown a MAGA sticker. And riding the beast was Michele Bachmann, in a bronze-tipped brassiere, and carrying the Sword of Judgment, and those that believed, she tapped with the sword, and those that believed not and contributed not, she beheaded.

 

[1ICrying]

Hey Gang - sorry to be away for so long; I will try to check in more often.

How is everybody? One reason that I hope I can convert all of you into card carrying Christians is because it just makes life a joy to be alive. You get to believe in a God who loves you and who will take care of you (some guardian angels in there); you get to believe in heaven and the eternity of good times that awaits; a place that you will be reunited with loved ones. Yes, the future is bright as a Christian, which makes this present brightened. That's why Ned Flanders and I are some happy. Come, join us.

But, of course, you're not there. You can't believe because of this or that. Discrepencies in the four gospels and beyond; hard to believe Biblical stories; contradictions with logic and science. I'm going to try and help you through these, even though, as misguided as Sohy thinks that might be. She's right, I'm probably just wasting my breath, but you never know. Plus I am programmed to try and snatch you from the fire. BTW: I believe too that the end is near.

Discrepancies in the four gospels: I was just brushing up on those. I admit, I was not aware of how many there appear to be. Did they dent my faith. No. Here is how I deflect those. Firstly, some of you out there don't even believe that the character Jesus existed, but then you turn the microscope right side up and point to the tiniest of contradictions, such as was he riding one donkey or two. As someone pointed out, we can't even get our stories straight on the 6 oclock news, let alone 2000 years ago when recording devices were scarce. To have a few contradictions gives it all MORE of an air of authenticity. As much as God had a hand in engineering the Bible, perhaps he did not go so far as to personally dot the i's and cross the t's (no pun intended).

in other words, I believe the Bible is God inspired, but I am not one of those who believes that it is 100% perfect or infallible. God himself, right near the end, says that he will severely punish anyone who adds or takes away from the Bible. With those words, he is admitting to us all that this may have happened.

So when we have four gospels being written years after the fact, only with word of mouth as reference, I think it is only surprising that there are not more contradictions. And most of these contradictions mentioned are along the lines of: why did Matthew not mention the crown of thorns while the other 3 did? Well maybe because it was mentioned three times he didn't bother. The bottom line is, these hair splitting arguments do not shake the mighty over-all story that the Bible is conveying: that we fucked up, that we put ourselves in danger of death, that we have been provided a saviour to get us past death, all we need to do is believe it.

Rather than believing it though, most of you seem to be searching very hard for reasons not to believe it. You will scour the book store for anyone who has something to say about why it's not true. Yes, you are so smart, you have gone to extraordinary lengths to kill any sort of hope. May I ask - are you all just cool with death? Do you have any other belief that you will escape it? Sounds boring - death. Wishful thinkers you call us. Yes! And it is great fun.

Noah's ark.
I threw that out there, because it is maybe the biggest story to swallow. How do we do it. For one, we can look at that big boat shaped figure on the mountains of Ararat, that is the right length, etc etc, and say - there it is. I know Ron Wyatt, who rediscovered that site, is not the easiest of persons to believe - I can't vouch for all of his findings - but regardless of who found it first or second, it's there for all to see. Looks like an ancient boat to me, but even if it's not, that's okay. Did the animals all go marching two by two onto it, including bugs etc. For one, we might say that with God, all is possible. For two, we might say that this story is closer to myth than reality, but does not take away from the overall story of the Bible.

How do we know what stories to consider as symbolic, and which are hard facts? Well, I don't think there is always a way to tell. Could Jonah have spent three days in the belly of a whale? It's certainly hard to believe, but there it is stated. Again, I have to go with the - with God, it's possible, or just Wow - if that happened- that's amazing.

We were discussing the timeline of the planet etc. The reason that I know that the Earth is not six thousand years old is that a) it just isn't we can see that it is much older and more spread out. So then we have to go back to the Bible and see if this created in 7 days story maybe is symbolic. Since a day is the time that it takes for the earth to spin around (the sun) so to speak, and since the planets and stars were not created until about the fourth 'day', then we can conclude that 'days' does not refer to our common 24hr day. No, it must have been symbolic.

Was there an Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with a snake etc? I believe that there may have been, however, this is maybe just tied in with the stories of creation that the Jewish people had been passing down forever and ever - just as the local first nations would tell you that an Eagle had sex with a porcupine (or something like that). Again - not crucial to the over all message.

Well folks - sorry to stir the pot and run. There is much more I could add. Sohy, my friend, your story about the woman who fell to your feet after you shared about being an atheist, welll....I wouldn't have done that, and it obviously made you feel uncomfortable, but maybe her actions, obviously sincere, are the actions that more of us should be taking. No, I don't fall down before all of my friends and act like that, but inside...I am. I have to be reminded that God makes the judgement, and that God is ultimately more fair, just, loving, compassionate than I could ever be - so...

Peace ya'll

1I

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Was there an Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with a snake etc? I believe that there may have been, however, this is maybe just tied in with the stories of creation that the Jewish people had been passing down forever and ever - just as the local first nations would tell you that an Eagle had sex with a porcupine (or something like that). Again - not crucial to the over all message.

What message was that? That god was a lying bitch? Criminey! That's it!!!

The narrative of The Fall was a warning to not trust God! Had Abram ignored the guy, his son wouldn't have been traumatized, his progeny wouldn't have been enslaved for hundreds of years in Egypt, the Babylonian Captivity doesn't happen! So it should have been like:

And the Lord spoketh unto Abram and said you must leave the land of Ur and go to a better place. And Abram replied, but was it not you who said the man and woman would die if they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Well yeah replieth the Lord. And they didn't die, questioned Abram? Wellth no'eth. Then you shall fuckth off Lord.

And Abram, having heeded the words of the Narrative of The Fall, would become the father of a nation that wouldn't get fucked with so much.

 

[Keith&Co.]

One reason that I hope I can convert all of you into card carrying Christians is because it just makes life a joy to be alive.

Oh, fuck off with your assumed
monopoly on joy. I've been a card-carrying Christain. I am a card-carrying atheist.
I have a loving wife, three sons, and one of them is expecting my first grandkid. I have plenty if joy in my life. I mean, i have a job i can wear a dino costume at.
No skybeast required.

You get to believe in a God who loves you and who will take care of you

Sorry, too many people died in church bombings, church shootings, church burnings, and church members choosing faith over medical knowledge* for me to believe that the skybeast takes care of anyone. Heck, Koresh knew HE was THE skybeast and couldn't prevail over BATF.

That's why Ned Flanders and I are some happy. Come, join us.

Join you and a lampoon?
How is that meant to be even slightly appealing? Do you not GET that he's not created out of love for the faithful?

Or are you saying YOU are a lampoon? That would explain flogging Wyatt's bullshit...


*to include anti blood, anti meds, anti vax, and "9 / 10 doctors agree people who handle snakes is crazypants. Yes, we know some people have as their JOB to handle snakes, but being paid to crazypants does not make it any less crazypants."

 

[bigfield]

How is everybody? One reason that I hope I can convert all of you into card carrying Christians is because it just makes life a joy to be alive.

You're starting to sound like a Linux user.

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

How is everybody? One reason that I hope I can convert all of you into card carrying Christians is because it just makes life a joy to be alive.

You're starting to sound like a Linux user.

Which denomination?

 

[Atheos]

So when we have four gospels being written years after the fact, only with word of mouth as reference, I think it is only surprising that there are not more contradictions. And most of these contradictions mentioned are along the lines of: why did Matthew not mention the crown of thorns while the other 3 did? Well maybe because it was mentioned three times he didn't bother. The bottom line is, these hair splitting arguments do not shake the mighty over-all story that the Bible is conveying: that we fucked up, that we put ourselves in danger of death, that we have been provided a saviour to get us past death, all we need to do is believe it.

I decided to lift just this paragraph and respond. It is not true that "most of these contradictions are along the lines of" what you described. Most of the contradictions are genuine contradictions which means at least one of the versions is completely wrong. As an example GMatt has Jesus being born 10 years earlier than GLuke (Herod vs Quirinius). Can't both be right. GJohn has Jesus attending a wedding in Cana of Galilee 3 days after getting baptized. GMark has Jesus "immediately" being driven out into the wilderness for 40 days after being baptized. Can't both be right. GJohn has Mary coming to a desolate and empty scene early on resurrection Sunday with an empty tomb but no clue what happened. She then goes to Peter and tells him, "They have taken his body and we don't know what they did with it." GMatt has Mary coming to a boisterous scene with an earthquake, an angel rolling the stone back with such impressive visage that he scared the shit out of the hardened Roman guards and they fainted, who told Mary Jesus had risen, and then Mary encountered Jesus himself while on the way to see Peter. They can't both be right.

These are just the tip of the iceberg. They can't both be right. But they can both sure as hell be wrong. I don't believe it for a lot of reasons, but the fact that they can't even get the big details right is good reason not to believe the rest of it.

 

[southernhybrid]

Well, as we say in the south, "bless your heart 1I! Maybe it's good that you don't live in the southern US or you might find my sarcasm a bit insulting. I honestly don't mean to insult you, but your assumptions that you can witness us all into being card carrying Christians is a bit delusional. I know you mean well, but you really don't understand why we are atheists.

But, it is insulting to assume that we aren't happy people. I am very happy and despite of all the horrible things going on in the world, I learned years ago how to detach myself when necessary so I can enjoy my life. That doesn't mean that I don't have compassion for all the suffering people in the world. I know that all I can do as one individuals is give what I can afford to a few charities, vote for the people who I feel will do more good than harm, and offer some support and help to a few people locally.


There is nothing loving about Bible god, other than some scattered stories in the Bible that do make god look better. Why not concentrate on I Corinthians 13, the so called love chapter. I read it at my first wedding to please my mother, and because it does say a few good things. What about the verse that says, Faith, hope and love....the greatest of these is love"? I like that verse because it emphasizes that love is more important than having a faith. Love is the only defense that we have against hate. It doesn't always change haters into decent people, but sometimes it does. Love is the only thing that motivates people to do good works and help others. Love is what keeps relationships intact. Why not try to spread the love instead of trying to spread an old mythology that we are all very familiar with?

Let me tell you what Christianity did for me. It made me feel terrible because I was taught that I was special, chosen by god, and while everyone outside of my silly belief system would be punished eternally, I would be rewarded with eternal life. That started bothering me by the time I was 7 or 8 years old. No loving god would be capable of such evil, but an 8 year old, often accepts what her parents tell her is true. She learns to detach herself from an ugly myth she is told to take as truth, and hope that one day it will make sense. I might have told you before that I left Christianity while attending a conservative Christian college for one semester. I'm thankful I went there because it helped me see evangelical Christianity for what it really was, a harmful, hateful, tribal myth. No, my dear. I know that you mean well, but you are wrong. It took me about 8 years to completely come to terms with the fact that all religions were mythology. It didn't leave me angry. It made me feel happier, more relieved that I had been able to lift the burden of that horrendous belief system I've had a wonderful life. I've probably experienced more happiness than the majority of people in the world. I have a son, also an atheist. I never told him what to believe. I even introduced him to religion, and he went with his father to religious meetings. He is happily married with two young children. So, your assumption that atheists aren't happy people is wrong. I've actually known and cared for many unhappy, depressed Christians, so being a Christian has nothing to do with happiness. In many cases, it helps one establish community and build a social support system. Those are important things, so I get that. I have built my own circle of friends and most of them are Christians, who know I'm an atheist. I don't judge them and they don't judge me. As the Bible says, "don't judge others and you won't be judged". Okay, that's my own translation of "Judge not that ye be not judged" as found in the KJV. I've seen Christians try to distort those words to mean something very different. That's too bad because we would all be better off if we learned not to judge others who think differently than we do. Maybe one day, you too will reach full enlightenment. But, your journey is your own and I will not try to sell you on something if you aren't interested in buying.

So, while I honestly think that you have good intentions, I see no point in mindlessly arguing with someone who takes religious mythology seriously. Others here are probably happy to engage you. Have fun!

 

[abaddon]

One reason that I hope I can convert all of you into card carrying Christians is because it just makes life a joy to be alive.

I once became a "born again" Christian. Then I suffered the worst depression of my life. Then I recovered from the depression by recovering from the religion.

There's no good reason to believe God exists and it'd be horrific if he did.

"... the mighty over-all story that the Bible is conveying: that we fucked up, that we put ourselves in danger of death, that we have been provided a saviour to get us past death, all we need to do is believe it."

The human species never fucked up, they evolved to be as they are.
Death's a feature of life, it is not a punishment.
There's nothing to be saved from.
Just get over the childish self-centeredness that makes you so graceless about dying.

Rather than believing it though, most of you seem to be searching very hard for reasons not to believe it.

There's nothing compelling in your mythology - skeptics don't have to resist the pull because there is no pull.
But it's fun pointing out the plotholes and it's fun puzzling about the kind of mind that will believe mythology is real.

You will scour the book store for anyone who has something to say about why it's not true.

It has to pass the test of my reason.
To some extent, I'll compare notes with other atheists. It's actually a good education in improving one's logic skills. That's the use of theists: they give examples of impulsive 'reasoning' and one can practice at logic by finding the flaws. So arguing is not resistance against the message, it's self-improvement.

... May I ask - are you all just cool with death?

In fact, mostly yes. More by using the fear than trying to repress it. Knowing "this is my brief time to be aware" gives a compelling reason to pay attention and engage life. If I were eternal, then killing time wouldn't matter.

Do you have any other belief that you will escape it?

Nope.

"Belief, belief, belief". It's silly going on and on about "having" beliefs, as if a pile-up of beliefs is a good thing.

Sounds boring - death.

Try to think that through. For death to be boring, there'd have to be an experience of "being dead". It's almost certainly the same non-experience of the ages before you're born. How boring was that? Answer: not at all.

Wishful thinkers you call us. Yes! And it is great fun.

The more wise religious thinkers, including a few Christian ones, say wishing is clinging to your ego's desires and it separates you from reality (in theist-speak, from "God").

If there's anything good in religion it's clear that you, like all 'fundagelical' creationist folk, have missed it.