God has a sense of humor

Steve, why do you hate atheists so much? It seems like every time you post there's some sideways dig at atheism.All we've ever wanted to do as atheists is not have folks prevent our free excercise of religion by making us worship a god we don't believe exists. All we've ever wanted to do is live by the rules that are good for society, not the rules found in a 2000-year-old book. All we've ever wanted to do is ensure freedom and equality for all people, not just the people who believe the same as us, or as you.Believe what you want, Steve. Nobody's stopping you or trying to make you have less rights than anyone else. But it'd be nice if you could afford us the same courtesy.

A pastor, a rabbi, and an atheist are out playing golf. On the back 9 they stumble across a big bag of money. Overjoyed, they agree to split it amongst themselves and donate it to the church, the temple, and the atheist organization."Wait," says the pastor. "We must also give a share to God, from whom all blessings flow. What we'll do is, we'll draw a circle on the ground and throw the money in the air. The money that lands inside the circle, we give back to God.""I've got a better idea," says the rabbi. "We draw a circle on the ground, toss the money in the air, and whatever lands outside the circle, we give to God.""You're both wrong," says the atheist. "We draw the circle on the ground, toss the money in the air, and whatever God wants - he keeps!"Ba-dum-bum.

When there's a joke that seems to perpretrate a stereotype against an ethnicity/religion - ala "Jews are selfish" - I change the butt of the joke to be something that I am. One can hardly be accused of perpetrating Italian stereotypes (for instance) when one is Italian oneself.

I for one am convinced that the person of Jesus really did exist - maybe under a different name, perhaps - but: That's only if you assume that the Bible is an accurate recounting of Jesus's life. If you're willing to countenance the idea that most of the stuff in the Bible didn't happen, it makes a lot more sense.C.S. Lewis looks at Jesus's claim that he's the son of God and concludes either lunatic, liar, or savior. I simply conclude that he made no such claim.