Sweetie, there is a difference. I can't speak for everyone but when you sin, a Christian knows to ask for forgiveness and to repent. I don't know what atheists do when they sin, but there is a difference between sinning for the hell of it and sinning and asking for forgiveness and repentance.
[Ha ha...oh, the irony!]
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there is a difference between sinning for the hell of it and sinning and asking for forgiveness and repentance
Casuistic Test:
Question 1: Your car is stolen and driven into a tree by someone who
(a) did it for the hell of it
(b) asked God for forgiveness for his sin
Which one results in a lower repair bill for your car?
Question 2: You're beaten senseless, tied to a fence and left to freeze to death by someone who
(a) did it for the hell of it
(b) asked God for forgiveness for his sin
Which one results in your coming back to life?
Question 3: After having the most incredible sex of your life, you tell your partner that you
(a) did it for the hell of it
(b) asked God for forgiveness for your sin
Which one will more likely result in your being invited back?
A little parable to understand protestantism:
When I was young, I prayed and prayed for a bike.
Then I discovered God didn't work that way.
So I stole a bike and prayed for forgiveness.
Sin is a foreign concept for atheists. People simply act morally god or morally bad. It's up to the society to reward or punish the individual. There's no gold standard, but some "truths" are accepted in every society because they simply make sense - and because people who were too mean and selfish simply died off when human survival still depended on small groups.
Assuming that "sin" roughly translates to "doing something that, in retrospect, is recognized as a bad idea with unpleasant consequences," we say, "Well, that was a bad idea. Let's see what I can do to make amends, and then not do it again."
Now, isn't that better than yelling "Sorry!" to an invisible flying undead guy, then pretending it all never happened?
"Sweetie, there is a difference. I can't speak for everyone but when you sin, a Christian knows to ask for forgiveness and to repent."
Forgiveness? Repent? Why? Didn't that whole Jesus thing and the "covered in the Blood of the Lamb" bullshit remove such a need? If it didn't than what was the point?
"I don't know what atheists do when they sin, but there is a difference between sinning for the hell of it and sinning and asking for forgiveness and repentance."
I do nothing as "sin" doesn't exist.
As an atheist, I don't sin. As sin is an offense to a deity, and deities don't exist, sin doesn't exist.
When I do something I consider a breech of my good ethics, I try to stop and make it right. No different from professed Christian ethics except that I don't need an imaginary deity to threaten me into proper behavior.
Can someone please point out to me where, in any religious text that invokes to concept of "sin", sin is actually defined? I don't recall ever having read a formal description; only examples of what can be called a sin and a general vague treatment of sin as something to be ashamed of and punished. Until we get better definitions, debate is futile.
Yes...there is a difference between sinning and sinning knowing that you will use a get-out-of-jail-free card afterwards...
It is the difference between genuine human error and a "I did because I can get away with it!" mentality.
You said it yourself, you don't know atheists.
A christian sins then asks for forgiveness, then goes and commits the same sin again and again, in the knowledge the he/she will be forgiven again and again.....
When I make a mistake, I admit it and take the consequences without complaint.
Now go hide behind your bible.
when an atheist 'sins' ie, 'does something bad' , we take responsibility for our actions, forgive ourselves, and move on with our lives.
is that so bad?
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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