This sign uplifts hopes in humanity

[syringis]

[PatrickforO]

1. Indeed. I believe God does.

[dalton99a]

2. Amen to that

[iluvtennis]

12. Ditto

[raccoon]

3. Way to go! Nt

[Ilsa]

4. Main stream denomination, too.

The Methodist ministers I know are kind, tolerant, intelligent folk. Methodists in general have always been big on promoting higher education, not ignorant decision-making based on shunning of science and empirical research.

[left-of-center2012]

5. From the church: "We've gone viral"

It all began with this sign.
Little did we know what a response we would get.
On our signboard in the front of our church we put up a sign that said “GOD PREFERS KIND ATHEISTS OVER HATEFUL CHRISTIANS.”
The rest, as they say, is history!

Read more at:
http://www.rcpumc.org/weve-gone-viral/

They also have other signs at the link. Here’s one of the many:

[syringis]

6. A great one too n/t

[murielm99]

17. I wish the United Methodist Church

would get off its butt and endorse this officially.

If there are some people who choose to leave over it, so be it.

[Towlie]

7. Sounds good, but it's not exactly in line with Methodist doctrine.

The New Testament is self-contradictory in that some sections claim that you have to be good to go to heaven (good works), while other sections, such as often referenced John 3:16, take what I like to call the "Hitler's in Heaven" view that you only have to believe, or in other words, be a Christian.

Wikipedia features a complex and confusing summary of Methodist beliefs, but here's something that stands out:

"According to Wesleyan understanding, good works are the fruit of one's salvation, not the way in which that salvation was earned."

("Wesleyan" refers to the founders of the Methodist church.)

[Joe Nation]

8. Arguing over what "God prefers".....

is the insanest aspect of this fight to any atheist I imagine.

[syringis]

9. I'm atheist

I focused on the hopes the sign shares.

[List left]

10. Message not directed at atheists. nt

[Nitram]

35. List Left, I don't see why you don't assume the message is aimed at everyone, including atheists.

[NastyRiffraff]

11. I'm an atheist

And I like the signs. The first one speaks to the hateful Xtians, not to atheists. Their 2nd sign speaks to hypocritical Xtians.

[Joe Nation]

14. I don't see a difference between atheists and believers....

They are both just as convince as the other that what they believe or don't believe is the absolute truth while neither could possibly know if they are actually right or not in the absence of facts supporting either position. What's the difference in their beliefs or non-beliefs if neither can be truly known? Answer...None!

[NastyRiffraff]

15. Um....no.

The difference between belief in religion, mythology, astrology, Santa Clause, etc. etc. and the ABSENCE of belief is that one believes entirely on faith. The atheist doesn't believe in gods..whether it's Yaweh, Baal, the Egyptian Crocodile god, or any of the thousands of gods throughout history. That does NOT mean that the atheist denies the POSSIBILITY of a god of some sort, only that there is no evidence of a god or gods.

As Carl Sagan famously said, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. The claim of an unseen god is extraordinary.

[Mariana]

16. Nah. Very few, if any atheists would say that.

There may be such things as gods, but I don't believe in them. I also don't believe there are any gray aliens levitating people out of their beds to take them aboard their ships and implant them with probes. The gray aliens may exist, but I don't believe it. Exactly the same way I don't believe in gods.

[whathehell]

19. Yes, which is why I'm an agnostic..

We know what we don't know.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

30. K & R - Agree.

Humans can never know absolute truth.

[GoneOffShore]

34. No.

I'm going to quote Dylan Moran on this sort of nonsense

'I respect all the differences but if you believe any of it you're a moron. To me, it's just people talking about their imaginary friend at length'

[Ilsa]

33. The signs are intended to start dialogue between Christians,

not believers vs nonbelievers.

Believers debate the will of God based on their understanding of the Bible and what scholars have written, FWIW, even if that sounds just as crazy.

[smirkymonkey]

13. As far as churches go, I kind of like this one!

[SergeStorms]

18. That's me in a nutshell.

Although I prefer 'secular humanist' instead of the religiously based word 'atheist'.

Yeah, I come from a long line of christians. They're all so miserable! I'm the happiest, and probably the most well balanced mentally, of the bunch. It took years of self-guilt and family/friend criticism to get past my religious indoctrination, but it was like a great weight lifted from my entire being when I finally shed the unnecessary baggage. I'm as happy as a clam.

[BarbD]

26. It took me over 60 years to evolve to a secular humanist.

Like you, I too am as happy as a clam.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

31. I'm with you, Barb but maybe closer to 50 years to see the light.

I'm 70 now and not always 100% happy with all the aches and pains of life, but at least I know it's my doing and my responsibility.

Some wise 'ole bird once said that spirituality is nothing but deep self-knowledge, and I like that definition.

[DFW]

20. We all had to read "Abou Ben Adhem" in school when I lived in the States

Probably no one has heard of it any more (except maybe this Tom Tate).

[Stonepounder]

28. May his tribe increase, Awoke one night from a sweet dream of peace.

Tom Tate and me

[DFW]

29. You're right. There must be a few of us left.

Seeing as I'm so old, I own fossils of animals that used to be my house pets, I tend to forget.

[kimbutgar]

21. My kind of minister.

[Brainstormy]

22. Shared on my Secular/Humanist FB site

Big hit!

[ProudProgressiveNow]

23. K&R nt

[Puzzler]

24. This atheist approves!!! K&R (n/t)

.

[brewens]

25. You'd certainly think so. In fact, if I saw more of that kind of thing from Christians, I

would be more inclined to believe.

[whathehell]

32. Not sure who is considered a "Christian" anymore since the Fundies

seem to have expropriated the title to themselves alone, that being kind of a joke, since they comprise only about 30% of self-identified Christians in this country.

Having been raised among the majority, I can assure you the attitude expressed by this Methodist Church is far more prevalent than you might think.

[oasis]

27. Amen!